Scale-armor of the Early 
Middle Ages. (From Viollet- 
le-Duc's "Diet, du Mohilier 
(ratals."} 
scale 
It will require seventeen and one-half years, provided 
there be no failure of the bills during that period, and 
that the item be not scaled <lf,i. 
ii'iir. FraiMin Inst., CXXVI. 340. 
II. iiitrans. To afford an ascent, as a ladder 
or stairs; lead up by steps or stairs. 
Satan from hence, now on the lower stair 
That scaled by steps of gold to heaven's gate, 
Looks down with wonder. Milton, p. L, 111. 541. 
scaleable, . See scalable. 
scale-armor (skal'iir"mor), n. Armor consist- 
ing of scales of metal 
or other hard and resis- 
tant substances secured 
to a flexible material, 
such as leather or linen, 
so as to lap over one an- 
other. It has been used by 
all armor-wearing nations, but 
never as the most common 
style. In Europe it was intro- 
duced as early as the begin- 
ning of the twelfth century, 
and was not absolutely relin- 
quished until the fifteenth, 
but never replaced other kinds 
or became very common. See 
horn-mail. Also called plate- 
mail. 
Scaleback (skal'bak), . An annelid of the 
family Aphroditidx ; a scaleworm; a kind of 
marine worm covered with scales or elytra on 
the back, as a sea-mouse or sea-ceutiped: as, 
the scolopendrine scaleback, Polynoe scolopen- 
drina. See cut under Polynoe. 
scale-beam (skal'bem), . The beam or lever 
of a balance. 
scale-bearer (skarbar"er), . A hydrozoan of 
the family Khodophysidte. 
scale-bearing (skal'bar'ing), a. Having on the 
back a series of scales called hcmielytra : spe- 
cifically noting certain marine annelids, the 
sea-mice or Aphroditidfe. 
Scale-board (skal'bord, often skab'ord), . 1. 
A very thin board, such as is used for the back 
of a picture or a looking-glass. 
Pasteboard, millboard, and fcaleboard were included in 
the tax. S. Darnell, Taxes in England, II. 78. 
2. In printing, a thin strip of wood, less than 
type-high, formerly used around pages of type 
to aid in getting exact margins and register. 
Cardboard is now used for this purpose Scale- 
board plane. See plane?. 
scale-borer (skal'bor'er), n. A machine for 
removing scale from boiler-tubes. 
scale-bug (skal'bug), n. Same as scale-insect. 
scale-carp (ak&Tkarp), . See carp*, 1. 
scaled (skald), a. [< ME. scaled; < sea/* 1 + 
-prf 2 .] 1. Having scales, as a fish or reptile; 
scaly; squaraate. 2. Having scutella, as a 
bird's tarsus; scutellate. See cuts under Goura 
and Guttera. 3. Having color-markings which 
resemble scales or produce a scaly appearance : 
as, a scaled dove or quail. See cuts under 
Scardafella and Callipepla. 4. In entom., cov- 
ered with minute scales, as the wings of but- 
terflies and moths, the bodies of many weevils, 
etc. See cut under scale 1 , n. 5. In her., im- 
bricated; covered with an imbricated pattern. 
See escalloped Scaled pattern, a pattern made by 
irregular impressions in the surface, close together, leav- 
ing small, rough ridges between them. Scales scaled, 
in her. , a bearing representing a field imbricated, and hav- 
ing every one of the imbrications cusped or lobed with 
three or more divisions. 
scale-degree (skal'de-gre"), n. See degree, 8 
(d), and scales, 3 ( rt )/ 
scale-dove (skal'duv), . An American dove 
of the genus Scardafella, as S. inca or S. srjua- 
mata, having the plumage marked as if with 
scales. Cones, 1884. See cut under Scarda- 
fella. 
scale-drake (skal'drak), w. Same as sheldrake. 
[Orkneys.] 
scale-duck (skal'duk), . See dueV*. C. Swnin- 
son, 1885. 
scale-feather (skal'feTH"er), . A scaly fea- 
ther. See scaled, n., 3 (c), (1) and (2). 
scale-fern (skal'fern), . [Also dial, sciilfi ni : 
< scale 1 + fern 1 .'] Same as scaly fern (which 
see, under scaly). 
scale-fish (skal'fish), . 1. Same as scabbiird- 
fisli, 1. See scalefoot. 2. A dry-cured fish, as 
the haddock, hake, pollack, cusk, or torsk, hav- 
ing much less commercial value than the cod, 
which is distinguished as. /(/(. [A fishmongers' 
name.] 
SCalefoot (skal'fut), n. The scabbard-fish: so 
called from the reduction of the ventral fins to 
scale-like appendages, being a translation of 
the generic name Lepidopiis. See scabbard- fish. 
5870 
scale-ground (skiil'ground). . Ground orna- 
mented with scalework. 
scale-hair (skal'liar), n. In entom., a short, 
flattened hair, having the form of a scale: 
applied especially to such hairs clothing the 
lower surfaces of the tarsi in certain in- 
sects. 
scale-insect (skal'in'sekt), n. Any insect of 
the homopterous family Coccida; a scale: so 
called from the appearance they present when 
sticking fast to plants, and from the fact that 
most of the common forms secrete a large 
shield-like scale under which they hide and 
feed. The genera and species are numerous, and all are 
destructive to vegetation, usually remaining stationary 
upon the bark and sucking the sap through their slen- 
der beaks. Chionaspi* pintfolife is a common species 
throughout the United States, and infests the different 
species of Pima. (See cut under scale', n., 4 (d) (6).) 
Scalenohedron. 
k 
Scale-insect. Oyster-shell bark-louse of the apple {Mytilaspis 
ptimorum) ; male. 
a, ventral view with wings closed; f>, dorsal view with wines ex- 
panded ; c, scale (line shows natural size) : rf. leu ; /, antenna! joint. 
(All much enlarged.) 
Mylilaspi* ponwrmn is the cosmopolitan oyster-shell 
bark-louse or scale-insect of the apple, probably origi- 
nally European, now found in both Americas, Australia, 
and New Zealand. Mealy-winged scale-insects, the 
Alev.rod.idx. 
scaleless (skal'les), a. [< seali l -f- -/eg*.] Hav- 
ing no scales : as, the scaleless amphibians ; the 
scaltlcsx rhizome of a fern. 
scale-louse (skal'lous), n. A scale-insect, es- 
pecially of the subfamily Diaspinte. 
scale-micrometer (skarml-krom"e-ter), n. In 
a telescope, a graduated scale fixed in the field 
of view to measure distances between objects; 
a linear micrometer. E. H. Knight. 
scale-moss (skal'mos), n. A popular name for 
certain plants of the class Hepaticae, and espe- 
cially of the order Jun- 
germanniaceie. They re- 
semble moss, and grow on 
the trunks of trees, in damp 
earth, and in similar places, 
and are so called from the 
scale-like leaves. See Jun- 
germannia, Junyermaitni- 
acetr, and Hepatictt. 
scalene (ska-leV), a. 
and n. [= OF. sca- 
lene, F. scalene = Sp. 
escaleiio = Pg. escale- 
no, scaleno = It. sca- 
leno,<. ii.scalenus,<: Gr. 
GKaf.riv6(, uneven, un- 
equal, odd, slanting, 
scalene, oblique (rpl- 
yuvov aKaA>fi<6v, a sca- 
lene triangle); prob. 
akin to ano'/.iof, crooked ; oiceA/.6f, crooked-legged ; 
, a leg.] I. a. 1. In math., having three 
sides unequal: noting a triangle so 
constructed. A cone or cylinder is also 
caid to be scalene when its axis is inclined to 
its base, but in this case the epithet oblique 
is more frequently used. See also cut under 
ttttlenohedron. 
2. In aitat.: (a) Obliquely situated and un- 
equal-sided, as a muscle: specifically said of 
the scaleni. See scalenus. (b) Pertaining to 
a scalene muscle. scalene tubercle, a prominence 
on the inner border of the first rib for attachment of the 
scalenus anticus muscle. 
II. n. 1. A scalene triangle. 2. One of the 
scalene muscles. See scalenus. 
Scaleni,". Plural of scalenus. 
SCalenohedral (ska-le-no-he'dral), a. [< scale- 
nnhedron + -a/.] ' Pertaining to or having the 
form of a Scalenohedron. 
The etchings were of very great beauty and perfection, 
the outline of the scalenohedral cross sections being in 
almost all cases very distinct and free from distortions 
of any kind. Amer. Jmir. Sci., 3d ser., XXXIX. 375. 
Scale-mosses. 
I, Ptilidium ciliare ,- y, Lophoco- 
Ua minor. (Both natural size.) 
scaling 
Scalenohedron (ska-le-no-he'dron), n. [NL.. 
< Gr. oa?j?i'<if, uneven, 4- eipa,~ seat, base.] 
In crystal., a twelve-aided form 
under the rhombohedral division 
of the hexagonal system, in which 
the faces are scalene triangles. It 
is regarded as a hemihedral form 
of the double twelve-sided pyra- 
mid. See In mihedral. 
scalenon (ska-le'non), a. [< Gr. 
OKa'Arfvov (sc. rpiyuvov), neut. of rreu- 
?1v6c, scalene: see scalene, scalr- 
ii n m. ~\ Scalene. 
A triangle . . . must be neither oblique, 
nor rectangle, neither equilateral, equi- 
crural, nor tcalenon. 
Locke, Human Understanding, IV. vii. 9. 
scalenous (ska-le'nus), a. [< L. 
scalenus, scalene: see scalene.'] Same as sca- 
lene. 
Scalent (ska'lent), n. In geol., the name giveil 
by H. D. Rogers to a division of the Paleozoic 
series in Pennsylvania. It forms, with the Preme- 
ridian, the upper part of the Upper Silurian, and is the 
equivalent of the Unondaga shales of the New York Sur- 
vey. 
scalenum (ska-le'nnm), . [NL., < Gr. am/u?v6v 
(sc. rpiyuvov), neut. of aKa?.rfv6r, scalene: see 
scalene, scalenon."} A scalene triangle. 
Suppose but a man not to have a perfect exact idea of 
a right angle, a scalenum, or trapezium. 
Locke, Human Understanding, IV. xii. IS. 
scalenus (ska-le'nus), .; pi. scaleni (-m). [NL. 
(sc. musculus), < Gr. anal.itvof, uneven : see sca- 
lene.] A scalene muscle Scalenus anticus, me- 
dius, and postlcus, the anterior, middle, and posterior 
scalene muscles three muscles in man connecting the 
transverse processes of the six lower cervical vertebra) with 
the first and second ribs. They assist in respiration, and 
belong to the group of muscles called prevertebral. Also 
called respectively preecalemis, mediscalenui, and //>,- 
If, i at. See first cut under mueclel. 
scale-pattern (skal'pat'ern), n. and a. I. n. 
An imbricated pattern. 
II. a. Imbricated; having a pattern resem- 
bling scales : as, a scale-pattern tea-cup. 
scale-pipette (skal' pi-pet"), . A tubular pi- 
pette with a graduated scale marked on it, for 
taking up definite quantities of liquid. 
scale-quail (skal'kwal), . An American quail 
of the genus Callipepla, as C. s<jnamata, having 
scale-like markings of the plumage. Coves, 
1884. See out under Callipepla. 
sealer 1 (ska'ler), ?i. [< scalet + -er 1 .] 1. One 
who scales fish ; distinctively, a person in the 
act of scaling, or who makes a business of it: 
used specifically of the scaling of menhaden. 
2. An instrument resembling a currycomb and 
usually made of tin, used for removing scales 
from fish. 3. An instrument used by dentists 
in removing tartar from the teeth. 
sealer 2 (ska'ler), B. [< scales + -er 1 .] One 
who scales or measures logs. 
scale-shell (skal'shel), B. A bivalve mollusk 
of the family Leptonidse. See cut under Lep- 
tonidse. 
Scale-Stone (skal'ston), n. Tabular spar, or 
wollastonite. 
SCaletail (skal'tal), n. An animal of the genus 
Anomalurus. See Anomalurida. 
The scale-tails are unmistakably sclurine. 
Stand. Xat. Hist., V. 132. 
scale-tailed (skal'tald), a. Having scales on 
the under side of the tail: noting the Anoma- 
luridse. Cones. See cut under Anomaluridse. 
scale-Winged (skal'wingd), a. Having the 
wings covered with minute scales ; lepidopter- 
ous, as a moth or butterfly : specifically noting 
the Lepidoptera. Also scaly-winged. See cuts 
under Lepidoptera, and scale 1 , n., 4 (d) (1). 
scalework (skal'werk), . 1. Objects or parts 
of objects consisting of scales lapping over 
one another, as in a kind of armor. See 
scale-armor. 2. Imbrication; imbricated or- 
nament. 
scaleworm (skal'werm), n. A scaleback. 
scaliness (ska'li-nes), n. Scaly character or 
condition. 
scaling 1 (ska'ling), n. [Verbal n. of scale 1 , c.] 
1. The process of removing incrustations of 
salt and other foreign matters from the inner 
surface of boilers. 2. In metal-working, the 
first process in making tin-plate, in which the 
plates are placed in a bath of dilute muriatic 
acid and then heated in a scaling-furnace to 
remove the scale. 3. The act or process of 
removing the scales of fish. 
scaling 1 (ska'ling), a. Liable to rub the scales 
off fish, as some nets. 
