ST. ELMO'S FIRE 



312 



STARBOAED 



St. Elmo's fire. A variety of brush-formed 

 discharge of lightning, seeii oo masts of ahipa 

 and other pointed bodies. 



St. Ignatius's beans=Ignatiaamara. 



St. John's Wort=Hypericum. 



St. Patrick's cabbage Saxifraga umbrosa. 



St. Vitus's dance. Chorea, a disease in which 

 the muscles are affected. 



Stable. S. equilibrium, v. Equilibrium. 



Stachys, (sta'kis). [Gk. slachys.}= Wound- 

 wort: an herb be- 

 longing to Lamiaceai. 



Stackhousiaceas, 

 (stak-ho w-si-a'se-e. ) 

 [Mr. Stackhouse.] 

 = Stack housiads : 

 herbs with mono-/ 



the 



petalous flowers, be- 

 longing to Rhaiu- 



nales. 

 Stag (stag) [Steggr 



the Icelandic name.] 



A general term for 



a male deer. S. 



beetle = Lucanus cervoa = Iloru-bug : 



largest British beetle; 



lives in rotten wood. 

 Staganolepis, ( stag - a- 



nol'e-pis). A crocodile- 

 like reptile, known by 



fossil remains found in 



Trias rock. 

 Stagmaria, ( stag - mu'- 



ri-a). [Gk. stagma, 



drop.] A plant belong- 

 ing to Terebintbacew; named from the trees 



exuding resin. 

 Stalactites, ( sta-lak'tlts ). [Gk. italasso, I 



drop.] Pendant masses 



of carbonate of lime, 



usually found in 



caverns where calca- 

 reous water percolates 



through the roof. 

 Stalagmites, ( sta-lag 7 - 



mits). [Gk. stalagma, . 



drop.] Carbonate of W 



lime projections, rising Stalactites. 



from the floor of caverns where calcareous 



water falls from the roof. 

 Stalk-eyed prawn : passes through the forms of 



Nauplius, Zoea, and Mysis, before becoming 



fully developed Palaemon. 

 Stallion, (stal'yun). [Etalon, the French 



name.] An entire horse ; a male horse used 



for breeding. 

 Stamen, (sta'men). [L. stamen, upright 



thread. ] The male organ of 



flowers: consists of a head, or 



anther, containing pollen, usu- 

 ally at the extremity of a stalk 



or filament. Polyadelphous S.: 



having the stamens united by 



the filaments. 

 Standard, (standard). S. gold: 



of 22 carats=f pure gold. stamens. 



S. temperature : for measures of length, 62 F. 



in Britain; 3 C. in France. S. of length: 



the yard in Britain; metre in France. S. of 



weight: the pound avoirdupoise in Britain; 

 the kilogramme in France. 



Standards. Pieces to connect the stern-post 

 of a ship to the deck-beam. 



Stanhope. [Lord Stanhope.] S. lens: a hand 

 lens for examining microscopic objects. S. 

 Itvers: in S. printing pi-ess, by which great 

 pressure is obtained for a short interval of 

 time. 



Stannate, (stan'nat). [Stannic, q.v.] A com- 

 pound of stannic acid with a base. S. of 

 gold and in=Purple of Cassias. 



Stannic, (stan'nik). [L. stannum, tin.] Used 

 for the persalts of tin. S. oci(i=H 2 SnO 3 : 

 h yd rated stannic oxide. S. oxide=tii\Q<>= 

 Binoxide of tin=Tin-stone, the usual ore" of 

 tin. S. wIpAirfe=Mosaic gold=SnJ>2: a scaly 

 substance used to imitate bronze. 



Stannous, (stan'nus). [L. stannum, tin.] S. 

 ozide=SnO=Protoxide of tin. 



Stannum, (stan'uum). [The Latin word.]= 

 Sni=Tin, q.v. 



Stapedius, (sta-pC'di-us). [L. stapes, stirrup.] 

 A muscle in the ear, which tightens the tym- 

 panic membrane. 



Stapelia, (sta-pe'li-a). [J. Stapel, a Dutch 

 botanist.] An African plant belonging to 

 Asclepiadaceae. 



Stapes, (stii'pGz). [L. stapes, stirrup.) A 

 stirrup-shajwd bone in the tympanic cavity 

 of the human ear. 



Staphyleaceoe, (staf-i-le-a'se-e). [Gk. staphyle, 

 bunch of grapes. ]=Bla(lder-nuts: shrubs with 

 terminal flowers and oily seeds, belonging to 

 Sapindales. 



Star. r. Stars. Pole S. t y. Pole-star. S. apple 

 =Chrysophyllum cainito: belongs to Sapo- 

 tacese. S. clusters: nebulous groups of stars, 

 such as the Pleiades, Hyades, Prsesepe, &c. 

 S. fishes= Attendee, q.v. 

 S. /rui<=Actinocarpos, 

 q.v. S. pazer=Urano- 

 scopus. S. reed=Aris- 

 tolochia bnicteatii. /S. 

 icheel=A. wheel having 

 the teeth cut deeply, 

 so as to resemble a star 

 in form. S. icorts~ 

 Callitrichaceoj, q.v. 



Stars, (starz). [4s<r,theGreek Star-fish, 

 word.] Luminous bodies, all at a vast distance 

 from the earth, about 20 millions in number: 

 from 1st to 14th magnitude: those below 6th 

 magnitude are telescopic: only about 0000 are 

 visible to the unassisted eye, between 1st and 

 6th magnitudes. Double S.; two stars which 

 appear to be one, from being in the same 

 line of sight : in some instances two stars re- 

 volving round a common centre. PardlaxS.; 

 having a sensible parallax: Arcturus, Caprlla, 

 Polaris, Sirius, &c. San S.: a term some- 

 times applied to those which appear to be 

 the centres of systems resembling our solar 

 system: Arcturus, Capella, Sirius, &c. Vari- 

 able S.: those which vary, periodically and 

 regularly, in magnitude. 



Starboard, (star'bord). [Steorbonl, the A.-S. 

 word.] On the righthand side of a vessel, 

 looking at the bows. cf. Port. 



