S T A 



C 2-14 ] 



S T E 



STA'NDARD. In botany, the upper large 

 petal of a papilionaceous flower ; also 

 called the banner. 



STAU'ROLITE. (There appears to be some 

 incorrect arrangement, or confused mixing 

 together, by some authors, of the words 

 staurolite and staurotide. Dr. Ure, in his 

 explanation of staurolite, gives merely 

 " grenatite, or prismatic garnet ;" then, 

 immediately after, in his dictionary of mi- 

 neralogy, comes staurotide, which he states 

 to be ' ' grenatite, prismatic garnet, or stau- 

 rolite. Dr. Webster, in his dictionary, 

 brackets staurolite and staurotide, as 

 meaning the same mineral. I believe 

 both these gentlemen to be wrong, and ] 

 imagine staurolite and staurotide to be 

 two distinct minerals.) Staurolite is the 

 name given by Kirwan to the harmo- 

 tome of Haiiy, the cross-stone of Jame- 

 son ; kreutzstein of Werner. The com- 

 position of staurolite differs entirely from 

 that of staurotide. Staurolite contains, 

 according to some analyses, upwards of 

 twenty per cent, of baryta, and no oxide 

 of manganese ; whereas staurotide con- 

 tains no baryta, but four per cent, of 

 oxide of manganese. For a description 

 of staurolite, see Cross-stone. 



STAU'ROTIDE. The name given by Haiiy 

 to prismatoidal garnet or grenatite. The 

 prismatoidischer garnet of Mohs ; the 

 granatit of Werner ; the grenatite of 

 Jameson and Brochant. This mineral 

 occurs crystallized in four and six-sided 

 prisms, sometimes intersecting each other 

 at right angles. Its primitive form, un- 

 der which it sometimes appears, is a 

 four-sided prism, whose bases are rhombs 

 with angles of 1 29 30' and 50 30'. Its in- 

 tegrant particles are triangular prisms. 

 Its colours are reddish-brown to black- 

 ish-brown. Specific gravity from 3'3 to 

 3-9. Hardness from 7-0* to 7'5. It 

 feebly scratchesquartz, but does not yield 

 sparks with steel. Fracture uneven or 

 imperfectly conchoidal. It does not fuse 

 before the blow-pipe, but its surface is 

 converted into a kind of black frit. It 

 consists of silica, alumina, lime, and the 

 oxides of iron and manganese. It is 

 found in primary rocks only. It may be 

 distinguished from garnet by its form and 

 infusibility.-Cleaveland. Jameson. Brande. 



STEA'RTN. } (from arkaD, Gr.) The name 



STEARI'NE. } given by Chevreuil to the 

 solid part of oil and fatty matter. Fat is 

 composed of two constituent principles, 

 which Chevreuil distinguished by the 

 terms stearine and elaine. 



STE'ATITE. (from orcap, gen. ortarof, 

 Gr. steatite, Fr.) Called also soap-stone. 

 See Soap-stone. 



STEATI'TIC. Containing steatite ; resem- 

 bling steatite. 



STEEL, (stahl, Germ.) Iron combined 

 with carbon. The proportion of carbon 

 has, perhaps, never been accurately as- 

 certained ; but steel containing one-six- 

 tieth of its mass of carbon is said to have 

 the maximum degree of hardness. The 

 following are some of the properties of 

 steel : It is so hard as to be unmalleable 

 when cold ; it is brittle, resists the file, 

 cuts glass, affords sparks with flint, and 

 retains the magnetic virtue for an inde- 

 finite length of time. By being ignited, 

 and afterwards slowly cooled, it loses its 

 hardness. It fuses at 130 Wedgewood. 

 When red-hot it is malleable. It is more 

 sonorous than iron, and may be ham- 

 mered out into much thinner plates. 

 The conversion of iron into steel is 

 effected by combining it with carbon. 

 This combination is performed in three 

 ways, by three different processes, and 

 the products are distinguished by the 

 names of natural steel, steel of cementa- 

 tion, and cast-steel. Of these, the most 

 valuable is cast-steel, its texture being 

 the most compact, and it admitting of 

 the finest polish. The manufacture of 

 articles of steel, says Mr. Babbage, af- 

 fords a most striking example of the 

 value conferred by human labour on the 

 raw produce of nature. The value of a 

 pound of crude iron is twopence. This 

 pound of iron, after having been con- 

 verted into steel, is manufactured into 

 balance-springs for watches. One of 

 these springs weighs -^j of a grain, and 

 sells for twopence. After deducting for 

 waste, a pound of iron will make fifty 

 thousand springs, and the twopenny- 

 worth of iron becomes worth 416/. 

 13*. The value of the charcoal is too 

 minute to be taken into the calcula- 

 tion. 



STEI'NHEILITE. A variety of iolite, a mi- 

 neral of a blue colour. 

 STE'LLA MARI'NA. The name employed by 

 Linck, on the authority of Pliny, to sig- 

 nify the asteria or star- fish. 

 STE'LLITE. A fossil asteria or star-fish. 

 STELLE'RIDAN. An animal resembling an 

 asteria. Fossil stelleridans have not been 

 discovered in strata more ancient than 

 the muschel-kalk, a member of the new 

 red sandstone group. 



STELLI'FEROUS. (from stella, a star, and 

 fero, to bear, Lat.) Having stars, as 

 some of the corallines. 

 STE'LLIFORM. In the form of a star ; ra- 

 diated. 



STE'LLULAR. Having markings resembling 

 stars. The surface of the tubipora, or 

 organ-pipe coral, is covered with a green 

 fleshy substance, studded with stellular 

 polypi. Mantell. 

 STENEOSAU'RUS. A genus of fossil sau- 



