Scatophagoidea 
post-temporal intimately united with the pos- 
terior and inferior edges of the sides of the 
cranium, containing only the family Scatojiha- 
gidee. 
scatophagous (ska-tof'a-gus), a. [< NL. scato- 
phagus, < Gr. ovzro</>ayof, dung-eating, < axi>p 
(anar-), dung, -t- <pa-/lv, eat.] Feeding upon ex- 
crement, as a dung-fly. 
Scatophagus (ska-tof'a-gus), . [NL. (Cuvier 
and Valenciennes, 1831): see scatophagous.'] In 
ichth., a genus of acanthopterygian fishes, typi- 
cal of the family ScatOjiJiaqidse. The most common 
species, S. argus, enters rivers to some extent. It is said 
to feed upon excrementitious matter. See cut under 
Scatophagidx. 
scatoscopy (skat'o-sko-pi), n. [< Gr. oniip 
(roar-), dung, ordure, + aKoirelv, view.] Inspec- 
tion of excrement for the purpose of divination 
or diagnosis. 
scatt, . See scat 1 . 
scatter (skat'er), v. [< ME. seateren, skateren, 
nchateren, scatter, < late AS. "scaterian, scat- 
craii = MD. scheteren, scatter ; formed (with a 
freq. suffix) < -\/ scat, not found elsewhere in 
Teut., but answering to Gr. -^ ms.s6, in OKeSdvuva- 
6at, sprinkle, scatter, cuedaaic., a scattering. Cf. 
shatter, an assibilated form of scatter.'] I. trans. 
1. To throw loosely about; strew; sprinkle. 
He ecatteretli the hoarfrost like ashes. Ps. cxlvii. ia 
At the end of which time their bodies shall be con- 
sumed, and the winde shall scatter their ashes under the 
soles of the feet of the iust. Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 182. 
Scattered wide the seeds, 
Lies, and words half true, of the bitterest deeds. 
William Morris, Earthly Paradise, II. 3-27. 
2. To besprinkle or strew as with something 
thrown here and there. 
Where cattle pastured late, now scatter'd lies 
With carcases and arms the ensanguined field. 
Milton, P. L., xi. 663. 
3. To separate and drive off in disorder and 
in all directions; rout; put to disorderly re- 
treat or flight; disperse; dissipate: as, to scat- 
ter an enemy's forces ; to scatter a mob. 
I'll find some cunning practice out of hand 
To scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. 
Sfialc., Tit. And., v. 2. 78. 
I leave the rest of all my Goods to my first-born Edward, 
to be consumed or scattered. Hou'ell, Letters, I. vi. 17. 
Our Fleet being thus scattered, there were now no hopes 
of getting together again. Dampier, Voyages, I. 38. 
In order that a surface may be illuminated at all, it 
must be capable of scattering light, i.e., it must be to some 
extent opaque. P. G. Tait, Encyc. Brit., XIV. 583. 
The cavalgada was frequently broken, and scattered 
among the rugged defiles of the mountains ; and above 
five thousand of the cattle turned back, and were re- 
gained by the Christians. Irving, Granada, p. 82. 
Hence 4. To throw into confusion; over- 
throw; dispel; put to flight: as, to scatter hopes, 
fears, plans, etc. 
So doth God scatter the counsells of his enemies, and 
taketh the wise in their craftinesse. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 45. 
No one did more to scatter the ancient superstitions than 
Cicero. Lecky, Europ. Morals, I. 430. 
5f. To let fall as by accident or at random; 
drop. 
It is directed to you ; some love-letter, on my life, that 
Luce hath scatterd. The Wizard, a Play, 1640, MS. (Nares.) 
= Syn. 1. To diffuse, spread, distribute. 3 and 4. Dis- 
perse, Dispel, etc. See dissipate. 
II. inlrans. 1. To separate and disperse; pro- 
ceed in different directions ; hence, to go hither 
and thither at random. 
The commons, like an angry hive of bees 
That want their leader, scatter up and down, 
And care not who they sting. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., tli. 2. 126. 
2. Specifically, to throw shot too loosely or 
without concentration of the charge: said of 
a gun. 
scatteration (skat-e-ra'shpn), n. [< scatter + 
-ation.] A scattering or dispersion; a break- 
ing up and departing in all directions. [Col- 
loq.] 
By some well-directed shots, as they [the enemy] crossed 
a hill, the Virginia guns with us sent wagons flying in the 
air, and produced a scatteration. N. A. Rev., CXXVI. 244. 
SCatterbrain (skat'cr-bran), n. A thoughtless, 
giddy person; one incapable of serious, con- 
nected thought. Cowper. [Colloq.] 
Poor Alexander, he is a fool, a scatter-brain, and for 
aught I know a versifier ; but he is my son. 
C. Iteade, Art, p. 23. 
scatter-brained (skat'er-brand), a. Thought- 
less; heedless; giddy. 
This functionary was a good-hearted, tearful, scatter- 
brained girl, lately taken by Tom's mother . . . from the 
village school. Uughes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 2. 
5383 
scattered (skat'erd), p. a. 1. Widely sepa- 
rated; found, occurring, or placed at wide or 
irregular intervals of distance. 
A few scattered garrisons still held out; but the whole 
open country was subjugated. 
Maeaulay, Frederic the Great. 
2. Wandering; vague. 
When the instruments of praise begin to sound [in the 
sanctuary), our scattered thoughts presently take the 
alarm, return to their post and to their duty, preparing 
and arming themselves against their spiritual assailants. 
op. Atterbury, Sermons, II. xxii. 
3. Disunited; divided; distracted. 
From France there comes a power 
Into this scatter'd kingdom. Shale., Lear, iii. 1. 31. 
4. In lot., irregular in position; without appa- 
rent regularity of order : as, sea tiered branches ; 
scattered leaves. 5. In entom., irregularly 
spread or strewn over a surface : noting punc- 
tures, dots, or other small marks of sculpture 
or color. Compare dispersed. Scattered eyes, 
eyes in which the lenses are unconnected, and arranged 
without definite order. This is the rudimentary condi- 
tion of the compound eyes as seen in many caterpillars, 
etc. Scattered light, in optics, light which is irregu- 
larly reflected from a surface that is not smooth or is 
broken up into a multitude of small surfaces. 
It is by scattered light that non-luminous objects are, in 
general, made visible. Tait, Light, 78. 
scatteredly (skat'erd-li), adv. In a dispersed 
or diffused manner. [Bare.] 
SCatterer (skat'er-er), n. [< scatter + -er 1 .] 
One who or that which scatters. 
scattergood (skat'er-gud), re. [< scatter, v., + 
obj. good.'] A spendthrift. 
Which intimates a man to act the consumption of his 
own fortunes, to be a scatter-good; if of honey colour or 
red, he is a drunkard and a glutton. 
Sanders, Physiognomic (1653). (Nares.) 
SCatter-gunt (skat'er-gun), n. A shot-gun. 
[U. S.J 
scattering (skat'er-ing), n. [Verbal n. of scat- 
ter, .] 1. The act of sprinkling, strewing, or 
dispersing ; dispersion. 
When we examine the Milky Way, or the closely com- 
pressed clusters of stars of which my catalogues have re- 
corded so many instances, this supposed equality of scat- 
tering must be given up. 
Herschel, Philos. Trans., XCII. 495. 
2. That which has been scattered or strewn 
abroad. 
The promiscuous scatterings of his common providence. 
South, Sermons, II. 378. (Latham.) 
3. One of a number of disconnected or frag- 
mentary things. 
He has his sentences for Company, some scatterings of 
Seneca and Tacitus, which are good vpon all occasions. 
Bp. Earle, Micro-cosmographie, A Pretender to Learning. 
4. The irregular reflection of light from a sur- 
face not perfectly smooth, or from many mi- 
nute surfaces. 
The four principal processes by means of which a ray of 
light may be polarised are reflexion, ordinary refraction, 
double refraction, and scattering by small particles. 
Spottiswoode, Polarisation, p. 2. 
scattering (skat'er-ing), p. a. 1. Separating 
and dispersing in all directions : as, a scattering 
flock of birds ; a scattering shot. 
The sun 
Shakes from his noon-day throne the scattering clouds. 
Thomson, Spring, 1. 442. 
2. Of rare or irregular occurrence ; sporadic. 
Letters appearing in the record less frequently than five 
per cent, of these numbers have been regarded as scatter- 
ing errors, and only the percentage of them all together 
has been given. Amer. Jour. Psychol., I. 408. 
3. Miscellaneous; diversified: as, scattering 
votes. 4. Separated from the school, as fish : 
hence, sparse ; scarce. [New Eng.] 
scatteringly (skat'er-ing-li), adv. In a scat- 
tered or dispersed manner; here and there. 
SCatterling(skat'er-ling),ji. [(scatter + -lingl.] 
A vagabond; one who has no fixed abode. 
[Bare.] 
Many of them be such losells and scatterlings as that 
they cannot easely by any sheriff, constable, bayliff, or 
other ordlnarye officer be gotten, when they are chal- 
lenged for any such fact. Spenser, State of Ireland. 
scattery (skat'er-i), a. [< scatter + -i/l.] Scat- 
tered or dispersed; hence, sparse; scarce; 
few and far between. [New Eng.] 
scatty (skat'i), a. [< scat? + -w 1 .] Showery. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
scatula (skat'u-lS), n. [ML.] A rectangular 
parallelepiped having two dimensions equal 
and the third one tenth of the others. 
scaturient (ska-tu'ri-ent), a. [< L. scaturi- 
cn(t-)s, ppr. of scatm-ire, gush out, < scatere, 
gush out, well forth.] Springing or gushing 
out, as the water of a fountain. [Rare.] 
scavenge 
Sallying forth at rise of sun, ... to trace the current 
of the New River Middletonian Stream ! to its scatu- 
rient source. Lamb, Newspapers Thirty-five Years Ago. 
SCaturiginoust (skat-u-rij'i-nus), a. [< L. sca- 
turigiiiosiai, abounding in springs, < scaturigi- 
nes, gushing waters, spring- water, < scaturire, 
gush out: see scaturient^] Abounding with 
springs. Imp. Diet. 
scaud (skad), v. t. A Scotch form of scald 1 . 
scauld, v. A Scotch form of scold. 
scaup 1 (skap), n. A Scotch form of scalp 2 . 
scaup a (skap), . [< Icel. skdlp- in skdtp-hsena, 
the scaup-duck.] A duck, Fuligula or Fulix 
marila and related species. The common scaup 
inhabits Europe, Asia, ana North America. It is from 
18 to 20 inches long, and from 30 to 35 in extent of 
Scaup {b'vlix marita). 
wings ; in the male the head, neck, breast, rump, and vent 
are black ; the back and belly are white, the former 
finely vermiculated with zigzag lines of black ; the wing 
has a white speculum, and is lined with white ; the bill 
is dull-blue, with black nail ; the feet are dark-plum- 
beous ; the iris is yellow. In the female a belt of white 
encircles the bill. A smaller species is F. affinis of North 
America. The ring-neck scaup, F. cottarit or rujitorques, 
has a chestnut or orange-brown ring around the neck. 
All the scaups are near the pochards and redheads (in- 
cluding the canvasback) in general pattern of coloration, 
but the males have black instead of reddish heads. The 
American scaups, of 3 species, have many names, mostly 
local, as broadbill and bluebill (both with various qualify- 
ing words prefixed), blackhead and black neck (with qualify- 
ing words), raft-duck, mussel-duck, greenhead, grayback, 
flock-duck, facking-fmol, troop-fowl, shuffler, etc. 
scaup-duck (skap'duk), n. Same as scaup 2 . 
Scaup-Duck, meaning a Duck so called "because she 
feeds upon Scaup, i. e. broken shelftsh," as maybe seen 
in Willughby's Ornithology (p. 365) ; but it would be more 
proper to say that the name comes from the " Mussel- 
scaups " or " Mussel-scalps," the beds of rock or sand on 
which Mussels ... are aggregated. 
A. Newton, Encyc. Brit, XXI. 378. 
scauper (ska'per), n. [Prob. a dial, form (in 
shop use ?) of scalper 2 .] A tool having a semi- 
circular face, used by engravers in the manner 
of a chisel to clear away the spaces between 
the lines of an engraving. 
scaur 1 (skar), a. A Scotch form of scare 1 . 
scaur 2 (skar), n. Same as scar 2 . 
scaury (ska'ri), n. [Also scaurie, scarie,scorey, 
scorie; said to be < Sw. skiura, Norw. skiure (?).] 
A young gull. [Shetland.] 
scavage 1 ! (skav'aj), n. [< ME. scavage, sche- 
vage, schewage, < OF. "scavage, escavage, escau- 
wage, escaulvaige, etc. (ML. scavagium), an ac- 
com. form, with suffix -age, of escaminghe (ML. 
sceicinga, scheawing, inspection), < ME. shewing, 
inspection, examination, show, verbal n. of 
shewen, etc. (> OF. eseavwer, escanver), inspect : 
see show, showing.'] A toll or duty anciently 
exacted from merchant strangers by mayors, 
sheriffs, etc., for goods offered for sale within 
their precincts. 
scavage' 2 (skav'aj), v. i. [A back-formation, < 
scavager, taken as formed from a verb 'scavage 
+ -er 1 .] To act as a scavenger: used only or 
chiefly in the derived form scavaging. 
scavagert (skav'aj-er), n. Samo as scavenger, 1. 
SCavagery (skav'aj-ri), n. [< scavage 2 + -ry.~\ 
Street-cleaning; the sweeping up and removal 
of filth from the streets, etc., of a town. Also 
scavengery. 
In scavagery, the average hours of daily work are twelve 
(Sundays of course excepted), but they sometimes extended 
to fifteen, and even sixteen hours. 
Mayhem, London Labour and London Poor, II. 245. 
scavaging (skav'aj-ing), . [Verbal n. of scav- 
age 2 , i:~\ Street-cleaning; scavenging. 
The scavaging work was scamped, the men, to use their 
own phrase, " licking the work over anyhow," so that 
fewer hands were required. 
Mayhcw, London Labour and London Poor. 
scavenge (skav'enj), v. t.; pret. and pp. scav- 
t/ir/fil, ppr. scavenging. [A back-formation, < 
scavenger, taken as formed from a verb "scav- 
enge + -e-l.] To cleanse from filth. 
