STY 



and others, fixes the weight of the atom of ftrontian at 6; ; 

 from \vhich the compofition of its falts may be readily 



eftimated. . , ■ n ^- j t^i 



The falts of ftrontian require to be briefly noticed. 1 hey 

 are in general more folublc than the falts of barytes, but lefs 

 fo than the falts of lime. Moil of them are capable of being 

 crvftalli'/ed. Tliev are precipitated by the fulphates, phol- 

 phates, and oxalates. Succinate of ammonia precipitates 

 barytes, but not ftrontian. When a piece of paper is dipped 

 into a folution of a fait of ftrontian, it burns with a red flame 

 The falts of ftrontian are not precipitated by the prulliate ot 

 potalli, nor are they poifonous. . rj , 



Nitnilf of Slyontian.—T\ns fait cryftallizes in Iix-fidcd 

 pyramidal dodecahedrons with their apexes truncated, fo as 

 to have the appearance of hcxahedral plates with bevelled 

 edges. Sometimes in eight-lided prifms. It is perfcftly 

 tranfparent. It has a ftrong pungent coohng tafte. Its 

 fp, gr. is 3.006. It is foluble in its own weight of \vater 

 at 60°, and in little more than half its weight of boiling 

 •water. It is infoluble in alcohol. It is not altered by ex- 

 pofure to air. It deflagrates on hot coals. When a cryftal 

 of nitrate of ftrontian is put into the wick of a candle, it 

 communicates a beautiful purple flame. 



Muriate of Sironlian Tiiis fait cryftallizes in long fiender 



hexagonal prifms. Its tafte is fharp and penetrating. Its 

 fp.gr. is 1.4402. It is foluble in lefs than its weight of 

 cold water, and in any quantity in boiling water. It is 

 foluble in about twenty-four parts of cold alcohol. The 

 c.-yftals do not deliquefce on expofure to the air, except in 

 very damp weather. 



Carbonate of Stroutian. — This, when precipitated, is a 

 white powder without tafte or fmell, and foluble in about 

 1536 parts of boiling water. Its fp. gr. is about 3.66, and 

 it is not altered by expofure to the air. 



Sulphate of Stronthw. — This fait is taftelefs, foluble in 

 3840 parts of boiUng water ; readily foluble in fulphuric 

 acid when affifted by heat, and poiTefles other properties 

 very analogous to the fulphate of barytes. 



Phofpbate of Strontian. — This fait is likewife taftelefs, 

 infoluble in water, and not altered by expofure to the air. 



Acetate of Strontian. — This is foluble in little more than 

 twice its weight both of cold and hot water. It may be 

 cryttallizcd, and the cryftals are not altered by expofure to 

 the air. It renders vegetable colours green. 



The other falts of ftrontian do not in general poflefs any 

 remarkable properties. The oxalate, tartrate, fucclnate, and 

 titrate of ftrontian, are all more or lefs foluble in water ; the 

 oxalate being the leaft foluble, and the citrate the moft. Tlie 

 malate of ftrontian is more foluble in water than the malate 

 of barytes. 



STROUD, in Geography, apariftiof Kent, part of which 

 is included within the jurifdiftion of the city of Rochefter 

 (fee Rochester) ; and the other part, in 181 1, contained 

 242 houfes, and 1394 perfons ; 718 being males, and 676 

 females. 



STYLE, in Painting, is the manner in which a painter 

 conceives and executes the fubjefts he adopts ; or, in other 

 words, in which he combines the various qualities of a pic- 

 ture. Style is properly divifible into four diftinft kinds, 

 •ulz. the grand or fublime, the beautiful, the natural, and 

 the mean. There are indeed fevcral varieties of ftyle which 

 have obtained fpecific appellations ; but they will be found 

 upon examination to combine, in different ways, the quali- 

 ties peculiar to thofe above-mentioned ; and are juftly regarded 

 as vicious in their nature : fuch are the ornamental and the 

 artificial ftyles of art, which divert the attention of painters 

 from the more pure application and exerdfe of theLr art, and 



STY 



lead them to adopt fiftitious means of attrafting attention, 

 by contraft and affeftation, by ghtter, and an idle difplay of 

 fl<ill in workmanfhip, to the negleft of nature and juft ex- 

 preffion, and fometimes even of common lenfe. 



The objeft and aim of the grand ftyle is to captivate the 

 imagination. It is the only proper one for the reprefent- 

 ation of grand and elevated ideas : of fubjefts which repre- 

 fent the actions of deities, or of heroes, or which relate to 

 the higher qualities of the mind of man : the only jufl; 

 medium whereby the art of painting can embody fuch ideas as 

 the cultivation of thofe qualities infpires, and by which alone 

 it can at all pretend to rival the grandeur and effeft of heroic 

 poetry. Its charafteriftics are fimplicity and fuhiefs of 

 form and colour ; and it is obtained, by adopting only 

 cftential parts, avoiding thofe which add nothing to fpecific 

 charafter, and fixing folely upon tliofe general forms which 

 particularly diftinguifli one race of beings, or one clafs of 

 natural objefts or of aftions from another, giving them their 

 greateft poffible degree of elevation, even to the verge of 

 extravagance, in undulation of line, and fulnefs of form. 

 This feleflion of form and of aftion requu-es an appropriate 

 chiaro-ofcuro, arranged and combined in broad and fimple 

 mafles, and painted with a ferious tone of colour ; in fadi, 

 fuch a combination of the prime qualities of the art, as will 

 moft effeftually unite in the produftion of one unmingled 

 emotion. 



The grand ftyle does not admit attempts at illufion, or 

 too clofe an imitation of natural objefts ; which, when car- 

 ried to excefs, neceflarily difturbs that finglenefs or fim- 

 plicity of effect required where the objeft is to produce an 

 elevated tone of thinking. It is not dependent upon fize, 

 but may be exhibited on a fmall fcale as effectually as 

 on a large one : witnefs many of the beautiful bronzes and 

 gems of the ancients, and the efFedt, as defcribed by Sta- 

 tins, of the ftatue of Hercules made by Lyfippus, which 

 " though not more than a foot in height, filled the imagi- 

 nation in a manner equal to the Hercules Farnefe." Ra- 

 phael's fmail pifture of the vifion of Ezekiel is alfo an 

 effeftive inftance of the truth of this aftertion. 



Style, for that word alone is adopted as fignificatory of 

 the grand in art, can only be acquired by thofe who have 

 made themfelves well acquainted with the juft proportions 

 and varieties of nature. Its aim being to reprefent her 

 works with the greateft degree of fublimity commixed 

 with truth, all attempts to produce it without real know- 

 ledge muft neceflarily lead to error, and a fpecies ofbombaft, 

 inftead of expreflion, yields only deformity. Of this, the 

 works of Gottzius, of Spranger, and the Germans who 

 followed them, are fufficient evidence. And yet fuch is 

 the rarity of perfection in form among the human or the 

 animal race of beings, that an artift whofe aim is to pro- 

 duce grandeur of ftyle muft draw largely upon his imagin- 

 ation ; and wliile he touches the verge of impoffibility, will 

 find that the difficulty he has to overcome is in uniting the 

 principle on which he depends with propriety. Even Michael 

 Angelo, great and glorious as he was among thofe who 

 have made it their principal objeft, has not unfrequently 

 allowed himfelf to be mifled by the wiffi to aggrandife, and 

 give his contours only redundancy for ftyle ; and for the 

 fake of a flowing and varied line, has fometimes given forms 

 of aftion to mufcles which ought to have been reprefented 

 tranquil. 



Of this ftyle, as far as relates to form, the beft among 

 the fculptures of the ancients afford the faireft examples, 

 particularly the torfo of the Belvidere, the head of Jupiter, 

 the Laocoon, the Apollo, the figures on Monte Cavallo, 

 &c. &c. ; and it is a ftriking feature in the works of Phi- 

 dias, 



