&T1. 6 



ber, in order that the water may be kept 

 out during any repairs. 



STO'RAX. The most fragrant of all the 

 resins. It is obtained from a tree, the 

 Styraxofficinalis, which grows in the Le- 

 vant. The best is imported in red tears, 

 but the common sort in large cakes. This 

 last is the most fragrant, though very 



impure. 2. The Peruvian balsam is 



sometimes called white storax. See, also, 

 STYRAX. 



STOR'TEI.VG. The parliament of Nor- 

 way. 



STO'RY. In architecture, a subdivision 

 of the height of a house, comprehended 

 by one flight of stairs. 



STO'RY-POSTS. Upright timbers used in 

 sheds, workshops, and old wooden houses, 

 to support the floors or superincumbent 

 walls. 



STO'RY-ROD. A rod equal in length to 

 the height of a story of a house, and di- 

 vided into as many parts as there are 

 intended to be steps in the stair, for mea- 

 suring and laying them off with accuracy. 



STOUP. A basin for holy- water in a 

 niche at the entrance of a Catholic church. 



STOVE, Sax. stofa. 1. A place in which 

 a tire in dwelling-houses, churches, pub- 

 lic rooms, &c., is made, and so contrived 

 that it may heat the air of the apartment, 

 and lead the smoke up the chimney. 

 Stoves are of various constructions, and 

 numerous patents have been taken out 

 for inventions and improvements upon 

 them. Franklin's stove, which is much 

 used in France, is one of the best. The 

 German stove, recently brought into no- 

 tice in this country by Dr. Arnott, has 

 the peculiar advantages of thoroughly 

 avoiding smoke and of burning little fuel. 

 When a stove allows the burning coals to 



be seen, it is called a stove-grate. 2. In 



horticulture, a structure in which plant* 

 are cultivated that acquire a considerably 

 higher temperature than the open air. 



STRA'BISM, Lat. strabismus, from trr^a,- 

 Stfe, to squint. Squinting : an affection 

 of the eye, by which a person sees objects 

 in an oblique manner, from the axis of 

 vision being distorted. 



STRAIGHT ARCH. In architecture, the 

 arch over an aperture, whose in trades is 

 straight. 



STRAIGHT JOINTED FLOOR. A floor in 

 which the joints are continued from one 

 end to the other, and the heading joints 

 are not in the same straight lines as fold- 

 ing floors. 



STRAIN'INO PIECE. Strutting piece. A 

 beam placed between two opposite beams, 

 to prevent their nearer approach, as raft- 

 ers, braces, struts, &c. 



STRAIT. In geography, a narrow pass 

 or frith separating one country from an- 

 other. 



5 8TR 



STRAND (of a rope). Oneof the twistsar 

 divisions of which the rope is composed. 

 When one (or more) of the strands of a 

 rope is broken, the rope is said to be 

 stranded. 



STRAND'ING. In navigation, the running 

 of a ship on shore, beach, or strand, by 

 which she is wrecked (in this case said to 

 be stranded). 



STRAN'GLES. In farriery , a collection of 

 foul humours in the body of a colt; gene- 

 rally voided by the nostrils. 



STRAN'GURY, Lat. stranguria, from 

 ff-Tfayl, a drop, and ov$t>v, urine. A dis- 

 ease in which there is pain in passing the 

 urine, which is excreted by drops. 



STRAP. In carpentry, an iron plate, se- 

 curing the junction of two or more pieces 

 of timber, into which it is bolted or keyed. 



STRAPPA'DO, Ital. from strajypare, to pull. 

 A military punishment formerly practised. 

 It consisted in drawing the offender to 

 the top of a beam, and letting him fall, 

 by which means a limb was sometimes 

 dislocated. 



STRASS. The basis of factitious gems 

 or pastes. See PASTE. 



STRA'TA, Lat. pi. of stratum, a bed. In 

 geology, the thicker layers of mineral 

 matter, forming the crust of the glob* 1 : 

 the thin layers are commonly called beds. 

 The strata present very different charac- 

 ters when compared with each other, yet 

 they are composed of but comparatively 

 few primary elements, so concreted as to 

 produce considerable variety. Most of 

 them also contain foreign matters, frag- 

 ments of other rocks, shells, animals, and 

 plants, llocks arranged in layers are said 

 to be stratified, and the order of their ar- 

 rangement is termed stratification. 



STRATH. In Scotland, generally signifies 

 a valley of considerable size. 



STRA'TUM (Lat.). A layer or bed. See 

 STRATA. 



STRA'TUS. Fall-cloud. A name applied 

 to fogs, mists, and other extensive sheets- 

 of clouds, that rest on the earth's surface. 



STREAK, Ger. striche. A term in min- 

 eralogy for that appearance of a mineral 

 which arises from its being scratched by 

 a hard sharp instrument. It is said to be 

 similar when the powder obtained by 

 scratching the mineral is of the same 

 colour as the mineral ; and dissimilar when 

 the colours differ. 



STREAM-TIN. Among miners, tin ore 

 found beneath the surface of alluvial 

 ground, and separated from the earthy 

 matters by passing a stream of water over 

 it. 



STRETCH'ING COTTRSE. In building, a 

 course consisting wholly of stretchers ihat 

 is, bricks, stones, or the like, laid leDjrtn- 

 ways in th? longitudinal direction of the 

 wail. 



