SCO 



645 



SCO 



Immediately under the conjunctiva. It 

 is thus named from its hardness. 



Scoi/or.vx. A genus of birds. Order 

 Grallatorits , family Longirostres. Name 

 ffxoKo'^at.i, a snipe or a woodcock. These 

 are the only birds included by Cuvier in 

 the genus Scolopax, but, according to 

 Linne, the genus comprehends besides 

 the Ibis, the Curlews (\umeniits, Cuv.), 

 the Godwits (Liiiw.a, Bech.), the Sand- 

 pipers (Calidris, Cm-.), the Sanderlings 

 (Arenaria, Hech.), the Ruffs (Machetes, 

 Cuv.), the Turn-stones (Strcpsilas), and a 

 great number of birds foreign to Europe, 

 as Rhynchtca, Cuv., Pelidiia, Cuv., Eurin- 

 orhynchus, Nilson, Phalaropus, Brisson, 

 Himantopus, Brisson, and Totanus, Cuv., 

 the species of which are found through- 

 out almost the whole globe. 



SCOLOPEN'DRICM. The hart's- tongue or 

 spleenwort : a genus of ferns. Name from 

 a-xy/.oTino^a,, the earwig, which its leaves 

 resemble. One species found on most 

 shady banks, walls, &c. Britain. 



SCOM'BER. A genus of acanthoptery- 

 pious fishes, forming the type of the 

 family Scomberoides, Cuv. Name ~2xofjL- 

 C; 05, common to the mackerel and tunny. 

 The Scomber, Lin., is now subdivided into 

 Scomber, Cuv., comprising the mackerels, 

 and Thymts, Cuv., which receives the 

 tunny. 



SCOM'BEROIDES. A family of acanthop- 

 terygious fishes: type, the genus Scomber. 

 This family is composed of a multitude of 

 fishes with small scales, a smooth body, 

 and whose tail and caudal fin in particu- 

 lar are extremely powerful. The family 

 is of the greatest utility to man, on ac- 

 count of the size and flavour of its species, 

 and their inexhaustible reproduction, 

 which brings them periodically into the 

 same latitudes, where they constitute the 

 object of the most extensive fisheries. 



SCOS'CES. In fortification, an obsolete 

 name for small forts, for the defence of a 

 pass, &c. 



SCOOP-WHEEL. A certain description of 

 wheel, which is formed of cast-iron, and 

 employed in conveying a stream of water 

 from one pond to another situated above 

 it. Scoop- wheels are therefore employed 

 in a contrary way to water-wheels, since, 

 instead of being acted upon by the im- 

 pulse of the water, they operate upon it, 

 being turned by the aid of a steam-engine. 



SCO'PIPEDES, Lat. scopifa, broom, and 

 pe$, foot. A tribe of melliferous insects, 

 having the tarsi of the hind feet furnished 

 with a brush of hairs. 



Scopes. In ornithology, the generic 

 name ^'iven by Brisson to the Vmbre, an 

 African bird, about the size of our crow, 

 and of an umber-colour. Order Gratia- 

 toriee : family Cttltrii-ustrei. Name from 

 sentinel. 



RCORBIC'CLATE. Pitted scorbiculus, a 

 depression or cavity. Applied in natural 

 history to denote that a surface is closely 

 marked with little depressions. 



SCORE. In i*c, the original and 

 entire draught of a composition, or its 

 transcript. 



SCO'RIA, Lat. from crxucte-., rejected 

 matter. 1. Dross : the oxide formed on 

 the surface of metals, when kept for a 



length of time in a state of fusion. 2. 



Scoriee, plural of scoria, is commonly used 

 to denote the cinders of volcanic erup- 

 tions, and the vitrified earthy materials, 

 which are produced in the smelting of 

 ores. 



SCORP.S'NA. A genus of acanthoptergyi- 

 ous fishes, belonging to the family Succee 

 Loricatee, Cuv. Head mailed and rough- 

 ened, but compressed on the sides ; body 

 covered with scales ; several rays in the 

 branchiae, and but a single dorsal fin. 



SCOR'PIO, ) 1. In entomology, a genus 



SCOR'PION. ( of arachnides : order Pul- 

 monarice : family Pedipalpi. Body elon- 

 gated, and suddenly terminated by along 

 slender tail, formed of six joints, the last 

 of which terminates in an arcuated and 

 excessively acute point or sting, which 

 affords issue to a venomous fluid, con- 

 tained in an internal reservoir. The 

 scorpions inhabit the hot countries of 

 both hemispheres, live on the ground, 

 conceal themselves under stones and 

 other bodies, most commonly in ruins, 

 dark and cool places, and even in houses. 

 They use their tail for the purposes both 

 of attack and defence, and the wound 

 occasioned by the sting of some of the 

 species, the occitanus for instance, is not 

 without danger. The remedy employed 

 is the volatile alkali, used externally and 



internally. 2. In astronomy, the eighth 



sign of the zodiac, and the second of the 

 southern signs, containing 44 stars, of 

 which one, Antares, is of the first magni- 

 tude, marked Ify . 



SCORZOSE'RA.. Viper's-grass. A genus 

 of plants, mostly perennials. Syngenesia 

 Poly, cequalis. Name from sctirzo, the old 

 Spanish word for viper, because it is said 

 to be a specific for the bite of all venom- 

 ous animals. Most of the species are 

 esculent. 



SCOT, Sax. sceat, a part. 1. In toicand 

 English history, a customary tax or tri- 

 bute, laid on subjects according to their 

 ability ; also a tax or custom paid for the 



use of a sheriff or bailiff. 2. Scot and 



lot are parish payments. When persons 

 were taxed unequally, they were said to 

 pay scot and lot. 



SCO'TIA., Gr. from trxo-nu;, shady. In 

 architecture, the hollow moulding in the 

 bases of Ionic columns ; also the grooY* 



