STE (i 



on the wall, and the colour brushed 

 over it. 



STEN'CILLIXG. A method of pnimine on 

 walls with a stencil, so as to imitate the 

 figures of paper-hangings. 



STENESAU'BCS. A genus of fossil sau- 

 rians, thus named by M. Geoffroy St. 

 Hilaire, from -vs> narrow, and <reti/eos, 

 a saurian. 



STESOG'RAPHT, from trnvos, short, and 

 ?$.$*,, writing. Short-hand writing. 



STEPPES. The name used in Russia to 

 designate very extensive flat uncultivated 

 plains. 



STEPS. 1. In ship-building, large pieces 

 of timber into which the heels of the 



masts are fixed. 2 In architecture, the 



degrees or gradients of a stair, composed 

 of two parts, the tread or horizontal part, 

 and the riser or vertical part. Steps round 

 the circumference of a circle are called 

 winders, and when they proceed straight- 

 forward they are named flyers. 



STER'CULIA. A genus of plants. J/on- 

 adelphia Polyandria. Name from sterctts, 

 dung, on account of the foetid odour of the 

 flowers. 



STEREoo'RAPHY.from ffTtetc?, solid, and 

 yfotfu, to describe. The art of drawing 

 solids upon plane surfaces. 



STEREOO'RAPHIC PROJECTION, rri^ii?, 

 solid, y(<fi7i, description. The projection 

 of the sphere upon the plane of one of its 

 great circles, the point of view being at 

 the pole of that circle. 



STEREOM'ETER , ore^eof , and ,aTjov , mea- 

 sure. An instrument for measuring the 

 specific gravity of liquids, porous bodies, 

 and powders, as well as of solids. 



STEREOM'ETRT, from trrt^tof, solid, and 

 ptrtstj, to measure. The mensuration 

 of solids. 



STEREOTYPE, from ffrtqtos, solid, and 

 TUTS?, a type. Literally, a fixed metal- 

 type : hence one entire solid plate of 

 metallic type for book-printing, made by 

 taking an impression in stucco, of one or 

 more pages composed of movable types, 

 and casting a reverse from this impres- 

 sion, by pouring upon it, in a melted 

 state, a metallic composition, very nearly 

 approaching type-metal, in the propor- 

 tions of its ingredients. The process of 

 making such plates is called stereotype- 

 founding, or stereotyping; the plates so 

 cast are stereotype-work ; the art of print- 

 ing from them is stereotype-printing ; and 

 books so printed are said to be stereotyped. 



STER'LING. 1. A term probably from 

 fosterling, used to distinguish English 



money of account, as 10 sterling. 2. 



English money. 



*T*KN (of a ship). The hinder part 

 ^bwe the rudder is placed: the steer- 

 piaet or helm-place. 



2 STI 



STERNAI/GIA, from r T6jv0v > the sternum, 

 and aXyaf, pain. 1. Pi) in about the 



sternum. 2. A name of the pectoral 



angina (angina pectoris). 



STERN OP'T-VX. A genus of small fishes, 

 with a very elevated and compressed 

 body, and having a series of small fossuhe 

 along each side of the pelvic crest, which 

 has been considered as a festooned dupli- 

 cature of the sternum ; whence the name 

 sternoptyx. They frequent the warm 

 parts of the Atlantic ocean. 



STER'NUM. Pectoris os. The breast- 

 bone ; the oblong flat bone placed at the 

 fore-part of the thorax. 



STETH'OSCOPE, from (rrr,8o<;, the chest, 

 and O-XGV-M, to explore. An instrument 

 invented byLiennec, to aid auscultation. 

 It is made of cedar- wood, of a cylindrical 

 form, about eleven inches long, and about 

 an inch and a half in diameter, and has a 

 cylindrical perforation through its whole 

 length. It is a highly useful instrument. 



STEW'ARD, Sax. stiicard, from sted, a 

 place, and ward, a keeper. 1. Aman em- 

 ployed in great families, to superintend 

 the household generally, to keep accounts, 



collect rents, &c. 2. In law, a title of 



several officers of distinction. Thus, the 

 greatest officer under the crown is the 

 lord high steward of England. The office 

 was anciently the inheritance of the earls 

 of Leicester, till forfeited by Simon de 

 Montfort. The office is now, in a mea- 

 sure, abolished: a lord high steward 

 being made only for particular occasions, 

 as a coronation, the arraignment of a 

 peer for high treason, &c. There is also 

 a lord stevard of the royal household, who 



is chief officer of the court, &c. 3. In 



a ship of war, an officer appointed by the 

 purser, to distribute provisions to the 

 officers and crew. In common ships, a man 

 who supplies the table and superintends 

 the provisions. 4. In colleges, the per- 

 son who superintends the concerns of the 

 kitchen. 



STHE'NIA, Lat. from rflwof, strength. 

 In nosology, strength is opposed to asthe- 

 nia or debility. 



STIB'IUM. The ancient name of anti- 

 mony. 



STICH'OMANCY, from fri^tf , a line, and 

 ^avri.'a, prophecy. Divination by lines 

 or passages in books taken at hazard. 



STICK, GOLD. The colonels of the Lifo 

 Guards are so called. 



STIG'MA. 2-riyfMt, from ffn^u, to 

 mark. 1. In botany, that part of the 

 female organ of a plant which is placed 

 at the summit of the style. 2. In pa- 

 thology, a small red speck on the skin, 

 occasioning an elevation of the cuticle. 

 When stigmata assume a livid colour, 

 they are termed fetecl>i<r and jirpw. 



