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S T R 



rians, with long and~narrow beaks ; thus 

 named by M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire. 



STE'RNAL. (from sternum, the breast- 

 bone.) Pertaining to the sternum or 

 breast-bone. 



STE'RNUM. (orspvov, Gr. sternum, Lat.) 

 The breast-bone. In the human subject the 

 sternum is divided into three parts ; in 

 some vertebrated animals it is formed of 

 nine elementary species, each proceeding 

 from a separate centre of ossification. 

 Few subjects in comparative osteology, 

 says Dr. Roget, are more curious and in- 

 structive than to trace the development of 

 these several elementary parts in the dif- 

 ferent classes of animals, from the rudimen- 

 tal states of this bone as it occurs in fishes, 

 to its greatly expanded conditions in the 

 tortoise and the bird, which severally 

 exhibit the most opposite proportions of 

 these animals. Bridgewater Treatise. 



STI'GMA. (orty/za, Gr. stigma, Lat.) In 

 botany, the apex of the pistil ; the stigma 

 is variously formed, being either a fine 

 point, a round head, or lobed ; generally 

 downy, often hollow and gaping, and 

 more or less moist. Sometimes, though 

 there is only one style, there are two or 

 more stigmas : when there is no style, the 

 stigma is sessile on the ovarium. 



STIGMA'RIA. A family of extinct fossil 

 plants of the coal formations. Professor 

 Buckland says, " the centre of the plant 

 presents a dome -shaped trunk or stem, 

 three or four feet in diameter, the sub- 

 stance of which was probably yielding 

 and fleshy ; both its surfaces were slightly 

 corrugated, and covered with indistinct 

 circular spots." The stigmaria was an 

 aquatic plant, inhabiting swamps or lakes, 

 and, as regards its external structure, 

 resembled the euphorbiacese. Fragments 

 of stigmarise occur abundantly in the coal 

 shales. It appears to have been dicotyle- 

 donous. 



STI'GMATA. Spiracles from which the 

 tracheae of insects commence. See Spi- 

 racle. 



STI'LBITE. (from ori'X/3w, to shine, Gr.) 

 The name given to this mineral from the 

 degree of lustre which it possesses. The 

 radiated zeolite of Jameson ; strahl- 

 zeolith of Werner ; prismatoidischer ku- 

 phon-spath of Mohs. Stilbite is of a 

 white colour generally, sometimes pure, 

 at others shaded with grey, yellow, or 

 red. It occurs both crystallized and 

 massive. It is splendent externally ; in- 

 ternally shining and pearly. Translu- 

 cent, and sometimes transparent. Spe- 

 cific gravity 2'2. It does not scratch 

 glass. It consists of 52*5, alumine 

 17-5, lime 11'5, water 18-5 It occurs in 

 secondary trap rocks, in Scotland, Nor- 

 way, and in the Faroe islands. 



STINK STONE. The name given to a variety 

 of limestone, from the fetid odour which 

 it gives out on friction ; a smell resem- 

 bling rotten eggs. It is the chaux car- 

 bonatee fetide of Hatty ; the stinkstein 

 of Werner. It occurs in masses, either 

 compact, or having a granular or foliated 

 structure, frequently forming large beds, 

 or even whole mountains. 



STIPE, (stipes, Lat.) In botany, the stem 

 or base of a frond ; a species of stem 

 passing into a leaf, or not distinct from 

 the leaf : the name given to the stem of 

 palm trees ; it differs essentially in form, 

 structure, and mode of growth, from the 

 trunk, increasing in length only, and not 

 in thickness. The stem of a fungus is 

 also called a stipe, as is the thread, or 

 slender stalk, which supports the down, 

 and connects it with the seed. 



STI'PULA. ^ (from stipula, Lat.) In bo- 



STI'PULE. S tany, a membranous leafy 

 appendage, placed at the part of the stem 

 whence the leaf or footstalk arises. Sti- 

 pules vary in number, being solitary or 

 in pairs ; in situation, being either exter- 

 nal with regard to the leaf or footstalk, 

 or internal, the internal sometimes em- 

 bracing the stem in an undivided tube ; 

 in form, linear at the base, or crescentic ; 

 in attachment, connected directly with 

 the stem, or with the petal ; in direction, 

 erect, or variously reflected. Stipulae 

 serve to protect the nascent leaves. 



STIPULATE. Having stipules ; producing 

 stipulse. 



STONE GALL. The name given by the 

 workmen to an oval or round mass of 

 clay, occurring in variegated sandstone. 

 These stone galls often fall out of the 

 sand-stone, when it is exposed to the 

 weather, and diminish the value of the 

 stone for architectural purposes. 



STONE-BORER. The name for a mollus- 

 cous bivalve which mechanically per- 

 forates, or bores into, rocks. These 

 stone-borers are also called lithophagi : 

 they effect their purpose by means of a 

 fleshy foot, upon which they turn as upon 

 a pivot. 



STRA'TA. The plural of stratum. See 

 Stratum. 



STRATIFICATION. The arrangement of 

 substances in strata or layers, like the 

 leaves of a book, one upon another. 



STRA'TIFIED. Arranged in layers or strata, 

 one upon another, like the leaves of a 

 book. 



STRA'TUM. (stratum, Lat. from sterna, to 

 lay out, to spread.) A layer of any 

 deposited substance. The term stratum, 

 says Professor Phillips, is of general sig- 

 nification, and independent of the abso- 

 lute thickness of the mass : it need never 

 be used as a special term of definition, 



