SQU 



677 



STA 



SQUAD' RON. A body of cavalry, of from 

 100 to 200 men. Also, a detachment of 

 ships employed on an expedition. 



SQUALL. The sea term for a gust of wind. 



SQUALOID, from sqtutlus, a shark. The 

 squaloid division of fossils are related to 

 the shark tribe. The species abound in 

 the tertiary strata. 



SQUALUS. The name given by IAnn6 to 

 the true shark. Order Chondropterygii 

 Eranchiisjixis, family Selachi. There are 

 numerous species, several viviparous. The 

 most celebrated is the white shark (S. 

 carcharias, Lin.), which attains a length 

 of 25 feet. It inhabits every sea. See 

 CARCHARIAS. The basking shark (S. 

 maximus, Lin.), is the largest of all the 

 equali, but it has none of the characteristic 

 ferocity of the tribe. The blue shark, 

 angel fish, or monk, sea-fox, or long-tailed 

 shark, hammer-headed shark, or balance- 

 fish, are species of less note. 



SQUAMIPEN'NES, from squama, a scale, 

 and peiina, a wing or fin. The name 

 given to a family of acanthopterygious 

 fishes, because the soft and frequently the 

 spiiious parts of their dorsal and anal fins 

 are covered with scales. The species are 

 abundant in the seas of hot climates, and 

 are adorned with the most beautiful co- 

 lours. They frequent rocky shores, and 

 are eaten. They form the genus Chceto- 

 don, Lin. 



SQUARE. In geometry, a quadrilateral 

 figure, with right angles and equal sides. 



SQUARE MEASURES. The squares of the 

 lineal measures. 



SQUARE NUMBER. The product of a 

 number multiplied by itself. 



SQUARE-RIGGED. An epithet applied to 

 a ship that has long yards, at right an- 

 gles with the length of the deck, in con- 

 tradistinction to sails extended obliquely 

 by stays or lateen yards. 



Suv ARE-ROOT. In arithmetic, &c., the 

 second power of any number or the pro- 

 Quct arising from the multiplication of a 

 number into itself. See INVOLUTION and 

 EVOLUTION. 



SQUARE-SAILS, are such as are extended 

 by a yard, distinguished from others, ex- 

 tended by booms, stays, lateens, and gaffs. 



SQUARING THE CIRCLE is attempting to 

 make a square that shall be equal to a 

 given circle. 



SQUJLR'ROSE, \ Lat. squarrosus, rough, 



SQUAR'ROUS. . scabby, scurfy, scaly, 

 from squarra, roughness of skin. Applied 

 chiefly innatural history, when the body is 

 invested with scales widely divaricating. 



SQUILL. Sea Onion. A plant with a 

 large bulbous root, the Scilla maritima, 

 which grows spontaneously on the sandy 

 shores of Spain and the Levant. The root 

 is one of the most powerful and useful 

 remedies in the Materia Medica. 



SQUIRREL. The several species of 



squirrel form the genus Sciurus, Lin. 

 They are light, active creatures ; live on 

 trees, feed on fruits, and are particularly 

 marked by their long bushy tail. See Sci- 

 URUS. 



STACCA'TO (It.), separated. In music, 

 denoting that the notes to which it is af- 

 fixed are to be detached in a striking way 

 from each other. 



STACK. Corn in the sheaf piled up in a 

 circular or rectangular figure, brought to 

 a point or ridge at top. 



STAC'TE. "S.Ta.xrr,, from tr-rtxgcu, to distil. 

 1. That kind of myrrh which distils or 



falls in drops from the trees. 2. A very 



liquid species of amber. 



STADIUM. 2-raS/ov. 1. An ancient Gre- 

 cian measure of length, containing 125 

 geometrical paces, or 625 Roman feet; 

 consequently it corresponded nearly to our 



furlong. 2. Also a race-course for men 



and horses, and the ground on which the 

 wrestlers and athleta? exercised. 



STAFF, Fr. estafette, It. staffetta. An 

 express, a courier. 1. In the army, an es- 

 tablishment of officers, in various depart- 

 ments, attached to the commandant of an 

 army. It consists of a quarter-master- 

 general, adjutant-general, and majorof bri- 

 gade. The regimental stajfconsists of the ad- 

 jutant, quarter-master, chaplain, surgeon, 



&c. 2. In surgery (Sax. staef, a stick, 



a crook, prop, or support), a grooved steel 

 instrument, introduced through the ure- 

 thra into the bladder, to guide the knife 



in the operation of lithotomy. 3. In 



music, the five lines upon which the mu- 

 sic is written. 4. In architecture, a staff - 



angle is a square rod of wood, standing 

 flush with the wall on each of its sides, at 

 the external angles, to prevent their being 

 damaged. 



STAG'GERS. In farriery, a disease of 

 horses, cows, and sheep. It is said to be 

 a kind of apoplexy, in which the animal 

 reels or staggers. It appears rather to be a 

 species of hydrocephalus. 



STAG'YRITE. An appellation given to 

 Aristotle, from Stagira, a town of Mace- 

 donia, where he was born. 



STAINED GLASS. Glass on whieh pic- 

 tures have been painted with metallic 

 oxides, chlorides, &c., ground up with 

 proper fluxes, and fused into its surface 

 by the application of heat. The colours 

 are all transparent. 



STAITH. The line of rails forming the 

 extremity of a railway, and generally oc- 

 curring next rivers, being laid down 

 upon high platforms, for the purpose of 

 discharging coals, &c. into the holds of 

 the vessels, or receptacles prepared for 

 them. 



S-I-ALA(;'TITE,O-TXT/S, from ffrec>4tac, 

 to drop. A concretion of carbonate cf 

 lime, pendent from the roof of a cavern, 



