STE 



681 



8TE 



same, and surmounted by a hollow cup. 

 The steam escapes at the top, and passing 

 round the thin edge of the cup, strikes 

 the same with considerable force, and 

 thereby produces a loud shrill whistle, 

 heard at a distance of many miles. 



STE'ARIC ACID (see STEARINE). The 

 solid constituent of fatty substances, as 

 of tallow and olive oil converted into a 

 crystalline mass by saponiflcation with 

 alkaline matters, and abstraction of the 

 alkali by an acid. By this process fats 

 are converted into three acids, the stea- 

 ric, margaric.and oleic : the first two are 

 solid, the last liquid. 



STE'ARINE, ) from , fat, the sub- 



STB' AROSE, ) stance of which factitious 

 wax candles are now made. It consists 

 of the stearic and margaric acids com- 

 bined. 



STEATITE. Soapstone. A mineral of 

 the magnesian family, usually of a grey- 

 ish-white colour, often marked by den- 

 dritic delineations. It has a coarse, splin- 

 tery fracture, and a dull fatty lustre, and 

 feels like soap to the touch, whence the 

 name from <rria$, soap. It is found in 

 contemporaneous veins, traversing ser- 

 pentine, as at Portsoy, in Shetland ; in 

 the limestone of Icolmkill ; in the ser- 

 pentine of Cornwall ; in Anglesey ; in 

 Saxony, Bavaria, Hungary, &c. It is 

 used in the manufacture of porcelain ; in 

 polishing marble, &c.; as the basis of 

 cosmetic powders, in the composition of 

 crayons, &c. "When steatite occurs in 

 lamellar forms it is named talc. 



STEATO'ME, from trnet;, fat. An en- 

 cysted tumour, the contents of which are 

 of a fatty consistence. 



STEEL, Sax. style. A carburet of iron : 

 the best, hardest, finest, and closest 

 grained iron, combined with carbon by 

 a particular process. 



STEEL'IARD. Statera Romana. A de- 

 scription of balance consisting of a short 

 arm, from which a required weight is 

 suspended, and a long graduated arm, to 

 which an invariable movable weight is 



attached. Equilibrium is attained when 

 the weights are reciprocally proportioned 

 to their distances from tin- V'Oint of sus- 

 pension. 



STEE'MINO or STEAM'ING. The brick or 

 stone lining of a well. 



STEE'PLE-CHASE. A hunt, in which the 

 sportsmen agree to follow the fox directly 

 over the country, regardless of all ob- 

 structions, as hedges, ditches, rivers, <&c. 

 Steeple-races are sometimes got up on the 

 same plan. 



STEER'AGE. In a ship, an apartment 

 forward of the great cabin, from which it 

 is separated usually by a bulk-head. In 

 ships of war it serves as an anteroom to 

 the great cabin. In steam vessels, the 

 great cabin and steerage are separated 

 by the whole space occupied by the ma- 

 chinery, &c. 



STEER'ING. In nautical language, di- 

 recting or governing a ship or other ves- 

 sel in her course. The steersman manages 

 the helm by means of the steering-u-heel, 

 which is connected with the rudder. 



STEEV'ING. In nautical language, the 

 angle of elevation which a ship's bowsprit 

 forms with the hori/on. 



STEGANOG'RAPHY, ffTVyatv&s, covered, 

 and ygct$u, I write. The art of writing 

 in cypher. 



STEL'ECHITE. The name given to a fine 

 variety of Storax, in larger pieces than 

 the catamite. 



STEL'LATE, Lat. stellatus, star-like. Ap- 

 plied to plants and parts of plants. 



STEL'LEIU-S. The name of a genus of 

 herbivorous cetacea. One species only is 

 known, and it is confined to the north 

 part of the Pacific Ocean. 



STEL'LITES. Fossil star-fish. See As- 

 TERITES. 



STEL'UFORM, Lat. slclliformis, star-like. 

 Radiated. 



STEL'LULAR. Having marks resembling 

 stclla or stars. Applied in natural history. 



STEM. 1. In botany (see STALK). 2. In 



navigation, the prow or foretimber of the 

 ship, which comes bending up from the 

 keel. 



STEM'M ATA. In entomology, three smooth 

 hemispheric dots, generally on the top of 

 the head; chiefly observable in hynienop- 

 terous insects. 



STEMMAT'OPUS. The generic name given 

 by Fred. Cuvier to the hooded seal (Ph. 

 cristata, Gm.), from the Arctic Ocean : 

 ffTi^ua and o^f, the animal being fur- 

 nished with a loose skin on the head, 

 which it can inflate at pleasure, and 

 which is drawn over the eyes on the ap- 

 proach of danger, the nostrils then being 



inflated like bladders. 2. In music, the 



upright line appended to the notes. 



STEM'FLES. In mining, the cross-bars 

 of wood in the shaft of a mine. 



STES'CIL. A piece of thin leather, or 

 oil-cloth, used in painting on walls to 

 imitate paper. The pattern is cut out on 

 the IcaUier, &c., which is then laid flat 



