S T A 
S T A * 
S T A 
the following list of plants from the roots of 
which it may be extracted. 
Arctium lappa, 
Atropa belladonna, 
Polygonum bistorta, 
Bryonia alba, 
Colchicum autumnale. 
Spiraea lilipeudula. 
Ranunculus bulbosus, 
Sciophularia nodosa, 
Sambucus ebulus, 
nigra, 
Orchis morio, 
Imperatoria ostrutheum, 
ilyoscyamus niger, 
Rumex obtusifoliuj, 
acutus, 
aquations. 
Arum maculatum, 
Orchis mascula, 
Iris pseudacorus, 
• — foetidissima, 
Orobosus tuberosus, 
Bunium bulbocastanum. 
It is found also in the following seeds ; 
Oats, Millet, Peas, 
Rice, Chesnut, Beans, 
Maize, Horse-chesnut, Acorn, 
Indeed the greater number, if not the 
whole, of the vegetable seeds employed by 
man as an article of food, consists chiefly of 
starch. But that substance is always com- 
bined with some other which serves to dis- 
guise its properties ; such as sugar, oil, ex- 
tractive, &c. It is only by processes similar 
to those described in the beginning of this 
article, that it is extracted from these sub- 
stances in a state of tolerable purity. The 
following substances, which may be consider- 
ed as varieties of starch, deserve particular 
attention : 
1. Potatoe starch. We are not yet in 
i possession of a precise chemical- analysis ol 
the potatoe. When raw, its taste is exceed- 
ingly disagreeable, and it is said to be in some 
degree noxious; but it loses these qualities 
when boiled. The water acquires a deep 
brown colour, and the potatoe itself, when 
broken, appears to be composed of a conge- 
! ties of fine soft shining crystals, to which it 
owes its mealy appearance. When exposed 
to the action of frost, it becomes soft, and 
acquires a very sweet taste. The nature of 
tliis change has not been examined into. 
When the potatoe is grated down to a pulp, 
and placed on a fine scarce, if water is pour- 
ed on it, a great deal of starch passes through 
tiie meshes of the searce, and may be col- 
! lected in proper vessels. When washed with 
water and dried, it assumes a tine white co- 
lour, arid possesses all the essential proper- 
j ties of starch. Indeed it goes much farther ; 
a smaller quantity being sufficient to form a 
' thick paste with water than is required of 
wheat-starch. It has a very perceptible 
crystallized appearance, and is much heavier 
apparently than common starch. It is not 
likely therefore that it could be employed 
i with'the same advantage as a hair-powder. 
2 . Sago. This substance is extracted from 
i the pith of several species of palm in the Mo- 
! iuccas, Philippines, and other East Indian 
j islands. Tiie palm is cut into pieces of five 
Or six feet in length ; the woody part is cut 
off one side, exposing the pith lying, in a 
1 manner, in the hollow of a canoe. Cold 
Yol. II. 
water is poured in, and the pith well stirred; 
by which means the starch is separated from 
the fibrous part, and passes through with the 
water when the whole is thrown on a searce. 
The sago, thus separated, is allowed to settle ; 
tiie water is poured off; and when it is half 
dry it is granulated, by being forced through 
a kind of funnel. It is said to acquire its grey 
colour while dried in an artificial heat. This 
substance is employed as an article of food, 
and its nourishing properties are well known. 
3. Salop. This, substance comes from 
Persia ; but is said also to be manufactured 
in Europe. It is supposed to be the pre- 
pared roots of different species of orchis, as 
the morio, mascula, bifolia, pyramidalis. Ac- 
cording to Moult, the bulbous roots of these 
plants are deprived of their cuticle, baked in 
an oven for ten or tw T elve minutes, which 
gives them their semitransparency, and then 
fully dried in a moderate heat. Like sago, 
Salop is used as a nourishing article of food. 
4. Cassava is prepared from the roots of 
the jatropha manihat, an American plant. 
They are pealed, and subjected to pressure 
in a kind of bag made of rushes. The. juice 
that is forced out is a deadly poison, and is 
employed by the Indians to poison their ar- 
rows ; but it deposits gradually a white 
starch, which when properly washed is inno- 
cent. What remains in the bag consists 
chiefly of the same, starch. It is dried in 
smoke, and afterwards passed through a kind 
of sieve. Of this substance the cassava bread 
is made. 
5. Sowans. This very nutritious article of 
food is made in this country from, the husk 
of oats, by a process not unlike that by which 
common starch is made. The husk of the 
oat (called seeds) is separated from oatmeal 
by the sieve. It still retains a considerable 
portion of farinaceous matter, which forms a 
very nourishing food. 
STARLING. See Sturnus. 
STATIC E, Thrift, a genus of plants be- 
longing to the class of pentandria, and order 
of pentagynia ; and in the natural system 
ranging under the forty-eighth order, aggre- 
gate.. The calyx is monophyllous, entire, 
folded, and scaricose. There are five petals, 
with one superior seed. There are thirty- 
nine species ; three, of these are British plants. 
1. The armeria, thrift, or sea gilly-iiower, 
has a simple naked stem about six inches 
high. The radical leaves are like grass. The 
flowers are terminal, pale red, with a round 
head, and not very large. This plant flow- 
ers in July or August, and grows in meadows 
near the sea. 2 . Limonium, sea-lavender. 
The stem is naked, branched, and about a 
foot high. 3. Reticulata, matted sea-laven- 
der. The stem is prostrate, and terminated 
by a panicle of flowers. This species is also 
found on the sea-coast of South Britain. 
STATICS, that branch of mathematics 
which considers the motion of bodies arising 
from gravity. See Motion. 
Statics- then is the doctrine, or theory, of 
motion, considered merely as arising from the 
weight of bodies ; in which sense-it is distin- 
guished from mechanics, which is the appli- 
cation of statics to machines, engines, &c. 
though, it must be owned, that statics and 
mechanics are frequently confounded. See 
Mechanics. For the laws and principles 
whereon the doctrine of statics is founded, 
see the articles Gravity, Gravitation. 
4 U 
7Qf> 
STATIONARY. See Astronomy • 
STATISTICS, a word lately introduced 
to express a view or survey of any kingdom, 
county, or parish. 
A grand and extensive work of this kind 
was undertaken in Scotland in the year 1790 
by sir John Sinclair, whose patriotic exertions 
in favour of his country will be gratefully re- 
membered by posterity. The great object 
of it is to give an accurate view of the state 
of the country, its agriculture, its manufac- 
tures, and its commerce ; the means of im- 
provement, of which they are respectively 
capable ; the amount of the population of a 
state, and the causes of its increase or de- 
crease : the njanner in which the territory of 
a country is possessed and cultivated; the 
nature and amount of the various produc- 
tions of the soil ; the value of the personal 
wealth or stock of the inhabitants, and how it 
can be augmented ; the diseases to which the 
people are subject, their causes and their 
cure: the occupations of the people ; where 
they are entitled to encouragement, and 
where they ought to be suppressed ; the con- 
dition of the poor, the best mode of main- 
taining them, and of giving them employ- 
ment ; the state of schools, and other insti- 
tutions, formed for purposes of public utility ; 
the state of the villages and towns, and the 
regulations best calculated for their police 
and good government ; the state of the* man- 
ners, the morals, and the religious principles 
of the people, and the means by which their 
temporal and eternal interests can best be 
promoted. 
STATUARY, a branch of sculpture, said 
to.be the invention of Daedalus, amidst other 
productions of ingenious talents: others as- 
sert him to have been only the improver of 
an art known long before his time, and that 
lie was the fli-st who endeavoured to give the 
appearance of motion and action to figures. 
The Phenicians are said to have been the 
first who erected statues in honour of their 
gods ; but, if we believe tiie accounts gener- 
ally given of the Phenician worship, the re- 
ligious statuary of that nation did not exhibit 
human forms, but merely pointed stones or 
other symbolical expressions of their divi- 
nities. 
STATUES, are figures, representing !iy* 
. ing or deceased creatures, of whatever spe- 
cies, real or imaginary ; and carved, cast, 
modelled, or moulded, in full relievo, insu- 
lated on every part. 
, Statues are formed with the chisel, of se- 
veral materials, such as marble, stone, &c, ; 
they are carved in wood ; or cast in plaister 
of Paris, or other matter of tiie same nature ; 
they artv.als.q cast in several metals, as lead* 
brass, silver and gold. 
Statues are divided into 
Colossal, or considerably exceeding the 
dimensions of nature ; as, for instance, the 
celebrated, statue of Apollo, at Rhodes. 
Allegorical, or such as, under human or 
other symbolical forms, represent subjects of 
a different kind, as Time, (jfoean, Winds, 
or qualities of an intellectual nature, as 
Mercy, Justice, &c. &c. 
Statues of deities, demi-gods, and heroes 
were, among the antients," generally repre- 
sented somewhat larger than life. * 1 
Monumental, either representing the per. 
son, the virtues, or the actions of tim'd,; 
. ceased. 
