S H O 



S H O 



whofe fleece is (horn off ; and by a morling, a flieep that 

 dies. 



SHORN Velvet. See Velvet. 



SHORT, Thomas, in Biography, a phyfician of the early- 

 part of the lall century, and theauthor of many works relating 

 to chemiilry, meteorology, and medicine. Few particulars 

 are recorded of his life, which feems to have been fpent 

 more in the purfuit of fcience, than in the excrcife of his 

 profefTion. He was a member of the Royal Society. The 

 following are the principal works which he left. " Me- 

 moir on the Natural Hiftory of Medicinal Waters," 1725. 

 "A Didcrtation on Tea," 1730. " Natural Hiftory of 

 the Mineral Waters of Yorkihirc, Lincolnfhire, and Derby- 

 fliire," 1733. " A General Chronological Hiftory of the 

 Air, Weather, Seafons, Meteors, &c. for the Space of 

 250 Years," 1749. " Difcourfes on Tea, Sugar, Milk, 

 made Wines, Spirits, Punch, Tobacco, &c." 1749. 

 " New Obfervations, Natural, Moral, Civil, Political, and 

 Medical, on Bills of Mortality," 1750. See Eloy, Dift. 

 Hift. and the Works of Short. 



Short, James, an eminent optician, was born at Edin- 

 burgh in the year 17 10. At the age of ten he loft his 

 parents, and being left in a Hate of mdigence, he was ad- 

 mitted into Heriot's Hofpital, where he foon (hewed a fine 

 mechanical genius, by conftrudling for himfclf a number of 

 curious articles with common knives, or fuch other inftru- 

 ments as he could procure. At the age of twelve he was 

 removed from the hofpital to the High-fchool, where he 

 (hewed a confiderable tafte for claflical learning, and he 

 foon became at the head of his forms. He was intended 

 for the church, but after attending a courfe of theological 

 leftures, he gave up all thoughts of a profclTion, which he 

 found little fuited to his talents, and from this period he 

 devoted his whole time to mathematical and mechanical 

 purfuits. He was pupil to the celebrated Maclaurin, who 

 perceiving the bent of his genius, encouraged him to pro- 

 fecute thofe particular ftudies for which he feemed bed 

 qualified by nature. Under the eye of his preceptor he 

 began, in 1732, to conftrudl Gregorian telelcopes ; and, as 

 the profcfTor oblerved, by attending to the figure of his 

 fpecuhn, he was enabled to give them larger apertures, and 

 to carry them to greater perfeftion, than had ever been 

 done before him. 



In 1736 Mr. Short was invited to London by queen 

 Caroline, to inftrudl William, duke of Cumberland, in the 

 mathematics ; and on his appointment to this office, he was 

 elefted a member of the Royal Society, and patronized by 

 the earls of Macclesfield and Morton. In the year 1739 

 he accompanied the former to the Orkney idands, where 

 he was employed in making a furvcy of that part of Scot- 

 land. On his return to London he eftablilhed himfelf as 

 an optician, and in 1743, he was commiffioned by lord 

 Thomas Spencer to make a rc(le£lor of twelve-feet focus, 

 for which he received 600 guineas. He afterwards made 

 feveral other tclefcopes of the fame focal diftance, with 

 improvements and higher magnifiers: and in 1752 he com- 

 pleted one for tlie king of Spain, for which, with the whole 

 apparatus, he received I 200/. This was the nobleft inftru- 

 ment of the kind that had ever been conftrufted, and has 

 probably not been furpafied, Hnlefs by the grand telefcopes 

 manufaftured by Dr. Herfchel. 



Mr. Short was accullomed to vifit the place of his na- 

 tivity once every two or three years during his rcfidence in 

 London, and in the year 1766 he paid his laft vifit to Scot- 

 land. He died in June 1768, after a very (hort illnefs, 

 when he was in tlie 58th year of his age. His eminence 

 as an artift is univerfally admitted, and he is (pokcn of by 



Vol, XXXIL 



thofe who knew him from his youth upwards, as a man of 



virtue and very amiable manners. 



Short Accent, in Grammar. See Accent. 



Short Crooks, in Agriculture, are a fort of crooks, 

 which are formed of bent pieces of wood of the oak or 

 elm kind, and fo contrived as to be fixed on the horfe's 

 back^ the ends or crooks turning up, fo as to fecure the 

 loads on them. They are in ufe in the counties of Devon 

 and Cornwall, in the latter of which they have both (hort 

 and long crooks, as they term them, which are made ufe 

 of for carrying (lieaf-corn, hay, faggot, biUct-wood, (late, 

 and flag-ftones. They are a relic of the old mode of 

 carrying loads in hilly diftrifts. Single-horfe carts would 

 probably anfwer the purpofe in a far better way. See 

 Cart. 



Short Grafs, in Gardening, a term applied to the 

 pieces of grals which are kept in a continually mown, 

 Ihort, clofe (late, as on lawns, and in pleafure-grounds, or 

 other fituations about country refidences. The portions of 

 mown or fhort grafs about feats and houfes of the above 

 fort in the modern improved modes of laying out pleafure- 

 grounds, are moilly much more confined in their hmits than 

 was formerly the cale ; as they are not only troublefome, 

 but very expenfive in keeping in that proper order aF.d neat- 

 nefs whicli is necefiary for the purpofe of ornamental 

 effeft, and the utility of walking upon them as occaCon 

 may require; and becaufe a much better and more natural 

 effedl is found capable of being produced without them ; 

 while at the fame time the lands can be rendered ufeful in 

 fupporting animals, and of courfe no lofs be fuftained. 



Where pieces of fhort grafs are, however, formed, and 

 to be kept in order, it will be necefiary to roll, mow, and 

 (weep up the grafly litter in a clean neat manner from 

 them once or oftcner in the courfe of the week during the 

 fpring feafon, and frequently at other times. The rcfufe 

 litter, tlius procured, may be employed for different garden 

 purpofes, where it cannot be converted to better ufes. See 

 Lawn and V i,Y.s^\i\\v.-Ground. 



It is moftly in too dirty a date to be applied as food 

 for any fort of cattle (lock. 



Short- Gra/} Scythe, that fort of tool of this kind 

 which i:; employed in mowing (hort grafs. Scythes for 

 this ufe (liould be rather (liort, and laid in the (haft with 

 the edges low, in order that the grafs may be cut in a clofe 

 neat manner, without leaving any fcythe ridges or bulks, ag 

 they are ufually termed. The fwaths or fcythe cafls, in 

 performing this fort of mowing, are commonly made nar- 

 row, in the intention, that the grafs may be well and levelly 

 cut out of the bulks or parts under the Iwaths, and by 

 fuch means have a more neat and even appearance. See 

 Scythe. 



Short Smalls, in Agriculture, a fort of oat, which is fo 

 named on account of its remarkable (liortnefs. It is much 

 grown in the county of Eftex, and is a thick, full, weighty 

 fort, that fuccecds well on mod lands of the more dry 

 kind. See Oats. 



Short Sails, in a Mun of War, are the fame with_/f^A/. 

 ing fails, being the fore-lail, main-fail, and fore-top-(ail, 

 which are all that are iifed in fight, lelt the reft Ihould be 

 fired and fpoiled : befides the trouble of managing them 

 when a (liip gives chafe to another. 



If a chafe (hews a difpofition to figlit, they fay the chafe 

 flrips into her Oiort fails, i. e. puts out her colours in the 

 poop, her flag at the main-top, and her dreamers or pen- 

 dants at the yard's arms ; furls her fprit-fail, pecks her 

 niizcn, and flings her main-yard. 



'I'ojhorten Sail. See Sail. 



4 I SHORT- 



