scioptic 
the camera obseura, or the art of exhibiting 
luminous images in a darkened room. Also 
xcii>i>lric SciOPtIc ball, a perforated globe of wood 
containing the lens of a camera obseura, tlttecl with an ap- 
pendage by means of which it is capable of being turned 
on its center to a small extent in any direction, like tile 
eye. It may be fixed at an aperture in a window-shutter, 
and is used for producing images in a darkened room. 
SCiopticon (sl-op'ti-kou), . [< Gr. o-/aa,a shade, 
5399 
with a dense compact cluster of large spreading spikelets, 
cadi often over an inch long, is a characteristic feature of 
prob. schedule.] 
viding, as with ii 
scissors 
1. The act of cutting or di- 
i edged instrument; the state 
Several species of Erinphorwn were formerly referred 
here, as E. cupi-riiium, the most conspicuous of American 
rushes in fresh-water swamps, and known as wool-grass 
and ctitton-yrass. 
scirrhoid (sir'- or skir'oid), a. [< scirrhun + 
-oid.] Resembling scirrhus. 
especially those of external objects, in a dark- 
ened room, by means of lenses, etc. 
scioptric(si-op'trik), a. Same as scioplic. Com- 
pare catoptric. 
Sciot, Sciote (si'ot, -ot), . and a. [< It. Scio, 
< Gr. Xior, Chios; cf. NGr. Xin/f.] I. n. A na- 
tive or an inhabitant of Scio or Chios ; a Chiote. 
II. a. Of or belonging to Scio, ancient Chios, 
an island of the J5gean Sea, or its inhabitants. 
sciotheism (si'o-the-izm), n. [Formed by Hux- 
ley < Gr. aiud, "a soade, shadow, + E. tlteism.~] 
The deification of ghosts or the shades of de- 
parted ancestors ; ancestral worship. 
Sciotheism, under the form of the deification of ancestral 
ghosts, in its most pronounced form, is therefore the chief 
element in the theology of a great moiety, possibly of more 
than half, of the human race. 
splitting. 
This was the last blow struck for freedom in the Wal- 
loon country. The failure of the movement made that 
scission of the Netherlands certain which has endured 
till our days. Mutley, Dutch Republic, III. 404. 
2f. Schism. Jamieson. 
SCissiparity (sis-i-par'i-ti), . [< L. scissus, pp. 
of scindere, cut, divide, + purere, bring forth, 
beget, + -ittj: see parity?.] In biol., schizo- 
- genesis; reproduction by fission; fissiparity. 
ing: see seirrhus.] Proceeding from, or of the &i S8 i ros tnini (sis-i-ros'trum), n. [NL. (La- 
nature of, scirrhus ; ^resembling a scirrhus; in- fresnave) ]g45 j a i so Sissirostrum), < L. scissus, 
pp. of scindere, cut, divide, + rostrum, beak.] 
A monotypic genus of sturnoid passerine birds 
of Celebes, with cuneate tail, spurious first 
primary, scutellate tarsi, and peculiar beak. 
A gamesome expression of face, shining, scirrhous skin, g duKu J,' was ori gj n all y named by Latham, in 1801, the 
and a plump, ruby head. S. Judd, Margaret, i. 2. 
Scirrhous bronchocele, cancer of the thyroid gland. 
Scirrhous cancer, a hard carcinoma, with abundant 
stroma, usually of slow growth. 
Scirrhus (sir'- or skir'us), n. [= OF. scirre, F. 
sqtiirre = Sp. escirro = Pg. scirrho, scirro = 
It. scirro, < NL. scirrhus, < L. seirros, < Gr. aidp- 
pof, prop, anipof, any hard coat or covering, a 
tumor.] A hard tumor; specifically and now 
exclusively, a scirrhous cancer. See above. 
dnrated : as, a scirrhous tumor. 
Blow, flute, and stir the stiff-set sprigs, 
And scirrhous roots and tendons. 
Tennyson, Amphion. 
Hiusley, Nineteenth Century, XIX. 494. scirtopod (ser'to-pod), a. and w. [< NL. scirto- 
pus(-pod-), < Gr. CKiprav, spring, leap, bound, + 
Trofcf (TTOO-) = 'E.foot.] I. o. Having saltatorial 
feet, or limbs fitted for leaping; specifically, 
pertaining to the Scirtopoda, or having their 
characters. 
II. n. A scirtopod rotifer, or saltatorial wheel- 
animalcule. 
sciotheric (si-o-ther'ik), a. Same as sciatlieric. 
Scio turpentine. Same as Chian turpentine. 
See Chian. 
SCire facias (si're fa'shi-as). [So called from 
these words in the writ: L. scire, know (see 
scient); facias, 2d pers. sing. pres. subj. of fa- 
cere, make, cause.] In Jaw, a writ to enforce 
the execution of judgments, patents, or mat- Scirtopoda (ser-top o-da), n. pi. [NL., neut. 
ters of record, or to vacate, quash, or annul pi. of scirtopus: see scirtopod.] An order of 
them. It is often abbreviated to set. fa. rotifers which swim by means of their wheel- 
scire-wytet, . [ME. (or ML. reflex), mod. E. as organs and also skip by means of hollow mus- 
if 'shirewite; < AS. scir, scire, shire (see shire), 
+ wife, punishment, tax in money : see trite.] 
The annual tax formerly paid to the sheriff for 
holding the assizes and county courts. 
scirgemot, . [AS. scirgemot: see shiremoot.] 
Same as sltircinoot. 
cular limbs; the saltatorial wheel-animalcules. 
It contains the family Pedalionidse. C. T. Hud- 
son, 1884. See cut under rotifer. 
Sfissirostrum ditbiiitn. 
dubious shrike (Lanius dubius), and in 1845 redescribed 
by Lafresnaye as Sissirostrum pagei; it is 8 inches long, 
of a slate-gray color shading into greenish-black on some 
parts, having the rump and upper tail-coverts with waxy 
crimson tips and a few crimson-tipped feathers on the 
flanks. 
sciscitationt (sis-i-ta'shon), n. [< L. sciscita- sc i sso 'r, n. The singular of scissors. 
tio(n-), an inquiry, < sciscitari, inquire, ques- sc i SSO r (siz'or), _*. t. [Formerly also scissor; 
The voice which the simple freeman, the Ceorl, had in 
the Assembly of his Mark, he would not lose in the As- 
sembly of his Shire, the Scirgemfit. 
E. A. Freeman, Norm. Conq., I. 68. 
sciroccot, n. An obsolete form of sirocco. 
Scirpe (ser'pe-e), n. pi. [NL. (Nees von Esen- 
beck, 1834), < Scirpus + -ex.] A large tribe of 
monocotyledonous plants, of the order Cypera- 
cess, the sedge family. It is characterized by numer- 
ous mostly bisexual flowers in each spikelet, without emp- 
ty glumes or with only one or two, and without perianth or 
with its representatives reduced to filiform bristles or to 
flattened scales. It includes about 1,500 species, of 17 
drical leaves. The inflorescence becomes chiefly con- 
tion, < sciscere, scisci, search, seek to know, in- 
ceptive of scire, know : see scient.] The act of 
inquiring; inquiry; demand. 
There is not a more noble proofe of our faith then to 
captivate all the powers of our understanding and will to 
our Creator ; and, without all sciscitations, to goe blinde- 
fold whither hee will leade us. 
< scissors, n"] To cut with scissors; prepare 
with the help of scissors. 
Let me know 
Why mine own barber is unblest, with him 
My poor chin too, for 'tis not sci&ar'd just 
To such a favourite's glass ? 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 2. 
Sp. Hall, The Annunciation, g^gg^m ( s i z 'or-bil), . A skimmer ; a bird of 
(siz), v. i. [< L. scindere, pp. scissus, cut, the genus Rhynchops : derived from the French 
divide : see scission.] To cut ; penetrate. bec-en-ciseaux. See skimmer^, 3, and cut under 
The wicked steel seised deep in his right side. Rhynchops. 
Fairfax. (Encyc. Diet.) gcissor-bird (siz'or-berd), n. Same as scissor- 
icismt, SCismatict, etc. Obsolete forms of tail. 
scissoring (siz'or-ing), n. [Verbal n. of sctssor, 
genera, of which Scirpus, the bulrush, is the type. They SCMSttt, etc. v? A nfinnin^'mnlfi with scissors 
are grass-like or rush-like plants, with either triangular SCiSSart, SClSSarSt. Obsolete spellings of SCIS- *>] A clipping made With 
rounded stems, and with long flat triangular or cylin- sor scissors. A Weekly Scrap paper, made up of scissoring* from other 
" SCissel (sis'el), re. IMso scissil, scissile, Sizel; newspapers. Contemporary Be*. 
Scirpus , . .. 
< L. scirpus, sirpus, a rush, bulrush.] A genus 
of monocotyledonous plants including the bul- 
sors, a connection with L. scindere, pp. scissus, in the middle ages, 
cut, divide (see scissile 1 , scission).] 1. The clip- scissors (siz'orz), . pi, 
rushes, type of the tribe Scirpeas in the order pi n g g o f various metals, produced in several 
Ci/peracese. It is characterized by small many-flowered " =--' '- " " J_J * 
roundish spikelets with imbricated and numerous glumes, 
operations. 2. The remainder of 
each'Tower 'bisexual and usually with six bristlesT repre: a plate of metal after the pknchets or circu- 
senting a perianth, and surrounding the ovary, from which lar blanks have been cut Out tor the purpose Ot 
coinage; scrap. 
scissible (sis'i-bl), a. [< L. scindere, pp. scissus, 
cut, divide, + -ible.] Capable of being cut or 
divided, as by a sharp instrument. 
The differences of impressible and not impressible, fig- 
arable and not flgurable, mouldable and not mouldable, 
scissible and not scissible, and many other passions of mat- 
ter are plebeian notions, applied unto the instruments and 
uses which men ordinarily practise. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist,, 846. 
scissil (sis'il), n. Same as scissel. 
scissile 1 (sis'il), a. [= F. scissile = It. scissile, 
< L. scissilis, that may easily be split or cleft, < 
scindere, pp. scissus, cut, divide.] Capable of 
being cut or divided, as by a sharp instrument ; 
scissible. 
Animal fat ... is scissile like a solid. 
Arbuthnot, Aliments, vi. 
scissile 2 (sis'il), re. Same as scissel. 
scission (sish'on), n. [< F. scission = It. scis- 
sione,<.Liii.scissio(n-), a cleaving or dividing, < 
L. scindere, pp. scissus, cut, divide ; cf . Gr. axi- 
fe/w, cleave, split, divide (see schism). From 
the L. scindere are also ult. E. scissile 1 , abscind, 
rescind, abscissa, shindle, shingle 1 , etc. ; also 
, 
the continuous and slender 
style falls away without leav- 
ing any conspicuous tubercle. 
Over 300 species have been 
described, now reduced to 
200 by the best authorities. 
About 30 species occur in 
the United States. They are 
small tufted or floating an- 
nuals, or strong perennials 
with a creeping rootstock, 
bearing usually a compound 
panicle of numerous brown 
npikelets, sometimes reduced 
to a small cluster or solitary. 
They are known by the gen- 
eral names bulrush and club- 
rush, the first applied espe- 
cially to S. lacuslris, a spe- 
cies of peculiar habit, with 
tall, smooth, round stems of 
a blue green color projecting 
out of lake- and river-waters; 
also called in England mat- 
rush, from its use in making 
mats, ropes, chair-bottoms, 
and hassocks. Its variety 
occidentalis and the kindred 
species S. Tatora are the tule 
of California. (See tule.) S. 
marttimus, the sea club-rush, 
.-. ,-. [The spelling scissors, 
formerly also scissors, simulating a derivation 
from L. scissor, one who cleaves or divides, a 
carver, in ML. also a tailor, is an alteration of 
the early mod. E. cisors, cizors, cizers, cizars, 
cissers, cysers, sizers, sizars, sizzers, < ME. *cis- 
ers, cysers, cysors, cisoures, cysowres, sisoures, 
sesours, < OF. cisoires, scissors, shears, F. cis- 
oires, shears (cf. cisoir, a graver), = It. cesoje, 
scissors, < ML. "scissorium, found only in other 
senses (scissorium, cissorium, cisorium, cinsori- 
um, a trencher on which meat is cut, cisorium, 
a butcher's cleaver), < L. scindere, pp. scissus, 
cleave, divide, cut: see scission, scissile^. The 
word seems to have been confused with OF. 
ciseaux, scissors, pi. of cisel, a cutting-instru- 
ment, a chisel (> E. chisel?) (cf. OF. cisailles, 
shears), prob. < ML. as if *ca?sellus, < L. cxdere, 
pp. ceesus, cut : see c hisel^.] 1 . A pair of shears 
of medium or small size. See shears. 
Wlthoute rasour or sisoures. 
Chaucer, House of Fame, 1 
690. 
i. Flowering Plant of Bulrmh 
(Scirfits 1/icitslris). 2. The 
inflorescence, a, a flower ; b, the 
And after, as if he had forgot somewhat to be done about 
it, with sillers, which he holdeth closely in his hand. 
Pvrchas, Pilgrimage, p. 302. 
Wanting the Scissors, with these Hands 111 tear 
(If that obstructs my Flight) this load of Hair. 
Prior, Henry and Emma. 
2t. Candle-snuffers. Halliwell. Buttonhole- 
scissors, scissors each blade of which is made with a step 
