S T A 



the ftaircafe, according as that is in bignefs. If very fmall, 

 the newel is but i, and if large a, &c. 



In ftairs that wind round an open newel, Palladio orders 

 the newel to be one half of the diameter of the ftaircale ; 

 tiiough there does not appear any reafon why the newel 

 here Ihould not be proportioned to the ftaircafe, as in the 



former. t» n j- 



As to the number of ftairs in each revolution ; Palladio 

 orders, that, in a ftaircafe fix or feven feet diameter, the 

 ftairs in each revolution be twelve; if the diameter be eight, 

 the ftairs to be iixteen ; if nine or ten, the ftairs to be 

 twenty ; and if eighteen, to be twenty-four. 



Ell'iptkal tuint/ing Jlairs, of which there are two kinds ; 

 the one winding round a folid, the other round an open 

 newel : they are much of the fame nature as circular ftairs, 

 excepting that, in the one, the newel is a circle, and, in 

 the other, an ellipfis. 



Square luindius Jlairs are fuch as wind round a fquare 

 newel, cither folid or open ; the fore-fide of each fquare 

 being in a right line, pointing to the centre of the newel. 



Triangular ivinHing ftairs are fuch as wind round a trian- 

 gular newel ; the fore- fide of each being a right line, point- 

 ing to the centre of the newel. 



Calumniated luinding Jlairs. — Palladio mentions a ftair- 

 cafe, in Pompey's portico at Rome, fet on columns, fo as 

 that the light they receive from above, may dilbribute itfelf 

 to all parts alike. 



Double -winding Jlairs. — Scamozzi mentions a ftaircafe in 

 this form, made by Piedro del Bergo, and Jean Coflin, at 

 Sciamberg, in France, in the king's palace. It is fo con- 

 trived, a"! that two perfons, the one afcending, and the 

 other defcending, ftiall never meet. 



Dr. Grew defcribes a model of this kind of ftaircafe, 

 kept in the Mufeum of the Royal Society. The foot of 

 one of the ftaircafes, he fays, is oppofite to that of the 

 other ; and both make a parallel afcent, and within the 

 fame cylinder. The newel in the middle is hollow, and 

 built with long apertures, to convey light from candles 

 placed at the bottom, and on the fides of the newel into 

 both cafes. 



Quadruple ivinding Jlairs . — Palladio mentions a ftaircafe 

 of this form, in the caftle of Chambor, near Bloys. It 

 confifts of four ftaircafes, carried up together, having each 

 its feveral entrance, and going up one over another, in fuch 

 manner, as that, being in the middle of the building, the 

 four ferve to lead to four apartments ; fo that the people 

 of the one need not go up and down the ftairs of the 

 other; yet being open in the middle, they all fee each 

 other pafs. 



Mixed Jlairs are fuch as partly J{y, and partly wind; 

 whence fome call them ^iers and -winders. Of thefe there 

 are feveral kinds ; as, 



Dog-legged Jlairs, which firft fly direftly forwards, then 

 wind a femicircle, and then fly direitly backwards, parallel 

 to that. 



Square Jliers and winders have a fquare newel, either folid 

 or open ; and fly by the fides of the newel, winding a quad- 

 rant of a circle at each Corner. 



Solid and open newelled Jliers and winders are of two 

 kinds ; the one winds a quadrant of a circle about a foHd 

 newel ; then flies by the fide of a fquare open newel ; then 

 winds again by the fide of a folid newel ; then flies again, 

 and fo alternately. The other flie» firft, then winds, and 

 then flies again alternately. 



ST AIRING, in Geography, a town of Auftria ; four 

 miles W. of Voglabruck. 



STAIRS, in Building, the fteps by which we afcend 



S T A 



and defcend from one ftory of a houfe to another. See 

 Staircase. 



STAITH is a ftage or ftrong wooden fcafFoId, to which 

 coal-waggons are condufted by a rail-way, in order to (hoot 

 their contents into Ihips, boats, or carts. 



STAKE, in Agriculture, a long piece of branch-wood, 

 or ftrong ftaff^ or ftick fixed upright in the ground, in 

 making hedges, between which the brufh-wood is laid and 

 interwoven in the making of them. 



Stake, the name of a fmall anvil ufed by fmiths ; 

 fometimes it ftands on a broad iron foot, on the work- 

 bench, to be moved up and down occafionally ; and fome- 

 times it hath a ftrong iron fpike at the bottom, by which 

 ic is fixed to fome place on the work-bench. Its ufe is to 

 fet fmall and cold work ftraight, by hammering it on the 

 ftake, or to cut and punch upon it with the cold chiffel, 

 or cold punch. 



Stake of a Plough. The ftake is an upright piece of 

 wood, pafling at Us bottom through that link of the tow- 

 chain which pafles through the box of the plough, and at 

 its upper end receiving the end of what is called the Iridic 

 chain, which ties it to the crow-ftaff^, or if it be not long 

 enough, a wyth, or cord, is ufed to tie it : it is alfo tied 

 to it again, a little below the pillow of the plough, by 

 another wyth or cord. See Plough, Pillow, Crovt- 



STAVES, &C. 



Stakes, in Ancient Armoury, were long and pointed 

 at both ends, and ufed to proteft the archers from the at- 

 tacks of the enemy's horfe : thefe were planted in the earth, 

 Hoping before them. In the firft of Edward VI. three 

 hundred and fifty of thefe were in the Itores of the town 

 of Berwick, under the article of archers' ftakes : there 

 were alfo at the fame time eight bundles of archers' ftakes 

 in Pontefrad caftle. 



Stake.- Heads, in Rope-making, are pofts, about four feet 

 long and four by three inches fquare, with four wooden 

 pins fixed in the upper fide to keep the ftrands afunder. 

 For lines they are about two feet long and three by two 

 inches fquare, and have fix pins. 



SrAKK-Pofts, are pofts of oak, about four feet high 

 and twelve inches diameter, with a mortife-hole in each, 

 for the ftake-heads to go in and out, to keep the rope from 

 the ground. They are placed about ten yards diftant from 

 each other, along the whole length of the rope-walk. 



STAKING, Pointing, or Sharpening Hop-poles, the art 

 and praftice of rendering their bottom parts pointed and 

 fliarp, in fomewhat the manner of the common hedge-ftake, 

 in order that they may be fet into the ground or foil in a 

 firm and ready manner. See Hop, and Stacking and Pre- 

 Jerving Hep-poles. 



ST AL.-Boat, a kind of fiftiing-boat mentioned 27 Eliz. 

 c. 21. 



STALACTAGNIA, in Natural Hijlory, the name 

 of a genus of fpars. The word is derived from the 

 Greek raXaxlo;, Jlillatitious, or formed by dropping, and 

 aiyyc,-, pure. 



The bodies of this genus are formed by the dropping of 

 water from the roofs of fubterraneaii caverns, and are the 

 purer fort of what are called by anthoTsJlalaSitie. They 

 are cryftalline fparry bodies, formed into oblong conical 

 figures, corapofed of various crufts, and ufually found in 

 form of icicles. Of this genus there are three known 

 fpecies. Hill. 



STALACTITE, plural Stakaites, in Mineralogy, are 

 the pendent protuberances from the roofs or fides of 

 caverns, formed by the depofition of calcareous or other 

 earths, from the water which percolates through rocks. 



Some 



