S T R 
S T R 
S T R 
Strata in England, Wales, and part of Scot- 
land, have been prepared and repeatedly 
submitted by Mr. Smith to the inspection of 
the learned and curious in these matters; and 
that a first part or volume on the subject, 
may shortly be expected from that gentle- 
man. The subject is of immense impoi tance 
to the owners of the soil, to those who are in 
search of springs of good and wholesome 
water, and to mine-owners in particular, 
while science cannot but be benefited by the 
new field of investigation which is thus 
opened. 
STRATIOTES, zvater-soldier , a genus of 
plants belonging to the class of polyandria, 
and to the order of hexagynia, and in the 
natural- ss stem ranking under the first order, 
paltnse. 1 he spatha is diphyllous ; the peri- 
anthitira is trifid; there are three petals, and 
the berry is six-celled and inferior. There 
are three species, the aloides, the acoroides, 
and alisinoides. The aloides alone is of 
British extraction, which is also called the 
water aloe, or fresh- water soldier. The root 
consists of long fibres tufted at the ends. The 
leaves are thick, triangular, pointed, and 
prickly at the edges. The flowers are white 
' and floating on the water, and blossom in 
June. This plant may be seen in slow rivers 
and fens. 
STRAWBERRY. See Fragaria. 
Strawberry-tree. See Arbutus. 
STRELITZIA, a genus of the class and 
order pentandria monogynia. The spufb.es 
are universal and partial ; no calyx ; corolla 
three-petalled ; nectarium three-leaved ; cap- 
sule three-celled ; cells many-seeded. There 
are two species of this magnificent plant, na- 
tives of the Cape. 
STRENGTH. See Timber, strength 
of. 
STREPTIUM, a genus of the didynamia 
angiospermia class and order. The calyx is 
five-toothed; stigma two-lipped ; drupe two- 
lobed. There is one species. 
STRIKE, a measure, of capacity, contain- 
ing four bushels. See Measure. 
Strike, among seamen, is a word various- 
ly used. When a ship, in a tight, or on meet- 
ing with a ship of war, lets down or lowers 
her top-sails, at least half-mast-high, they say 
she strikes, meaning she yields, or submits, 
or pays respect to the ship oi war. Also, 
when a ship touches ground, in shoal-water, 
they say she strikes. And when a top-mast 
is to be taken down, the word of command is, 
strike the top-mast, &c. 
STRIX, the oil l, in ornithology, a genus 
belonging to the order of accipitres. The 
bill is hooked, but has no cere or wax; the 
nostrils are covered with setaceous feathers ; 
the head is very large, as are also the ears 
and eyes ; and the tongue is bifid. There 
are 46* species ; the most remarkable are, 
1. The bubo, or great-eared owl, in size 
is almost equal to an eagle. Irides bright 
yellow ; the head and whole body finely 
varied with lines, spots, and specks of black, 
brown, cinereous, and ferruginous ; wings 
long ; tail short, marked with dusky bafs ; 
legs thick, covered to the very end of the toes 
with a close and full down of a testaceous 
colour; claws great, much hooked and 
dusky. It has been shot in Scotland and in 
Yorkshire. It inhabits inaccessible rocks and 
desert places ; and preys on hares and tea- 
s' QL II. 
thered game. Its appearance in cities was 
deemed an unlucky omen ; Rome itself once 
underwent a lustration because one of them 
straved into the capitol. The antients had 
them in the utmost abhorrence, and thought 
them, like the screech-owls, the messengers 
of death. Pliny styles it bubo funebris, and 
noctis monstrum. See Plate Nat, Hist. fig. 
373. 
2. The braebyotos, or short-eared owl, is 
14 inches long, three feet broad ; the head 
is small and hawk-like; the bill is dusky ; 
weight 14 ounces. The horns of this species 
are very small, and each consists of only a 
single leather ; these it can raise or depress 
at pleasure ; and in a dead bird they are with 
difficulty discovered. These species may be 
called long-winged owls ; the wings when 
closed reaching beyond the end of the tail ; 
whereas, in the common kinds, they fall short 
of it. This is a bird of passage, and has been 
observed to visit Lincolnshire in the begin- 
ning of October, and to retire early in the 
spring; so probably, as it performs its mi- 
grations witli the woodcock, its summer re- 
treat is Norway. During day it lies hid in iong 
old grass ; when disturbed, it seldom flies 
far, but will light, and sit looking at one, at 
which time the horns may be seen distinctly. 
It has not been observed to perch on trees 
like other owls ; it usually flies in search of 
prey in cloudy hazy weather. Farmers are 
fond of seeing these birds in the fields, as 
they clear them from mice. 
3. The liammea, or common white owl. 
The elegant plumage of this bird makes 
amends for the uncouthness ot its form ; a cir- 
cle of soft white feathers surround the eyes. 
Thisspecies is almost domestic; inhabiting, for 
the greatest part of the year, barns, hay- 
lofts, and other out-houses ; and is as useful 
in clearing those places from the mice as the 
congenial cat. Towards twilight it quits its 
perch, and takes a regular circuit round the 
fields, skimming along the ground in quest 
of field-mice, and then returns to its usual 
residence: in the breeding season it resorts 
to the eaves of churches, holes in lofty build- 
ings, or hollows of trees. During the time 
the young are in the nest, the male and fe- 
male alternately sally out in quest of food, 
make their circuit, beat the fields with the 
regularity of a spaniel, and drop instantly on 
their prey in the grass. They very seldom 
stay out above five minutes ; return with 
their prey in their claws ; but as it is neces- 
sary to shift it into their bill,, they always 
alight for that purpose on the root, before 
they attempt to enter their nest. This spe- 
cies does not hoot, but snores and hisses in a 
violent manner ; and while it flies along will 
often scream most tremendously. Its only 
food is mice. As the young of these birds 
keep their nest fora great length of time, and 
are fed even long after they can fly, many 
hundreds of mice will scarcely suffice to 
supply them with food. Owls cast up the 
bones, fur, or feathers, of their prey, in form 
of small pellets, after they have devoured it, 
in the same maimer as hawks do. A gentle- 
man, on grubbing up an old pollard ash 
that had been the habitation of owls for 
many generations, found at the bottom many 
bushels of this rejected stuff. Some owls, 
when they are satisfied, hide the remainder 
of their meat like dogs % 
4. ITe stridula, or tawny owl, weighs 
ounces. This is a hardier species than the 
former ; and the young will feed on any dead 
thing, whereas those of the white owl must 
have a constant supply of fresh meat. It is 
the strix of Aldrovandus, and wii^t we call 
the screech-owl, to which the folly of super- 
.station has given the power of presaging 
death by its cries. 
5. The ulula, or brown owl, agrees with 
the former in its marks, differing only in the 
colours. Both these species inhabit woods, 
where they reside the whole day ; in the 
night they are very clamorous, and when they 
hoot, their throats are inflated to the size of a 
hen's egg. In the dusk they approach our 
dwellings, and will frequently enter pigeon- 
houses, and make great havoc in them. 
They destroy numbers of little leverets, as 
appears by the legs frequently found in their 
nests. They also kill abundance of moles, 
and skin them with as much dexterity as a 
cook does a rabbit. They build in hollow 
trees or ruined edifices ; lay four eggs, of an 
elliptic form, and of a whitish colour. 
6. The passerina, or little owl, is very 
rare in England ; it is sometimes found itt 
Yorkshire, Flintshire, and also near London. 
In size it scarcely exceeds a thrush, though 
the fulness of its plumage makes it appear 
larger. The Italians make use of this owl to 
decoy small birds to the limed twig; the 
method of which is exhibited ia Olina’s 
Uccelliera. 
7. The spectacle owl of Cayenne, which 
is accurately described by Dr. Latham, is 
21 inches in length: the upper parts of the 
body are of a reddish colour ; the lower 
parts of a rufous white ; the head and neck 
are white, and not so full of feathers as those 
of owls generally are, and from this circum- 
stance it appears not unlike a hawk ; a large 
patch of dark brown surrounds each eye, giv- 
ing the bird much the appearance of wearing 
spectacles ; the legs are covered with fea- 
thers "quite to the toes, and are of a yellowish 
colour. 
STROMBUS, a genus of the vermes tes- 
tacea. The generic character is, animal a 
Umax; shell univalve, spiral ; aperture much 
dilated ; the lip expanding, and produced into 
a groove leaning on the left. This genus 
comprises 53 species, which are separated 
into divisions. Only one species, viz. the 
peo pelecane, or corvorant’s foot, is found iu 
this country. These shells, in their younger 
state, want the lip, and have a thin turbinate 
appearance. On this account they have by 
many naturalists been referred to a genus to 
which they do not belong. 
STKONGYLUS, a genus vermes in- 
testina. The generic character is, body 
round, long, pellucid, glabrous; the fore 
part is globular, truncate, with a circular 
aperture fringed at the margin ; the hind 
part of the female entire and pointed ; of the 
male dilated into loose, distant, and pellucid 
membranes. There are two species : 1, the 
equinus, that inhabits the stomach of the 
horse in great numbers ; and, 2, the ovimuq 
found in the intestines of sheep. 
STRONTIAN. About the year 1 7.37, a 
mineral was brought to Edinburgh In a 
dealer in fossils, from the lead-mine of Sii oa- 
tian, in Argyleshire, where it is found im- 
bedded in the ore, mixed with several otiun. 
