scorpion 
5. A kind of whip said to have been armed with 
points like that, of a scorpion's tail ; a scourge, 
described as having a handle of iron, or of wood 
braced and ferruled with iron, and two, three, 
or more chains attached, like the lashes of a 
whip, and set with balls, rings, or angled and 
pointed masses of iron. 
My father hath chastised you with whips, but I will chas- 
tise you with scorpions. 1 Ki. xii. 11. 
II the people resisted [Reholioam], they should be pun- 
ished not with whips, but with scorpions: that is, rods of 
knotted wood furnished with barbs, producing a wound 
like the bite of a scorpion. 
Von Jtantte, Univ. Hist, (trans.), p. 57. 
6. An old military engine, used chiefly in the 
defense of the walls of a town. It resembled the 
ballista in form, consisting essentially of two beams with 
ropes stretched between them, from the middle of which 
ropes rose a third beam, called the stylus, so disposed as 
to be pulled back and let go at pleasure ; to the top of 
this beam were fastened iron hooks to which a sling of 
iron or hemp for throwing stones was hung. 
Heer crooked Coruies, fleeing bridges tall, 
Their scathfull Scorpions, that ruynes the wall. 
Hudson, tr. of Du Bartas's Judith, iii. 
He watched them at the points of greatest danger fall- 
ing under the shots from the scorpions. 
Froude, Caesar, p. 349. 
7t. An instrument for grappling a battering- 
ram. 8f. A gun whose dolphins represented 
the scorpion False scorpion. See def. 2. 
SCOrpion-broom (skor'pi-on-brom), . Same as 
scorpion-plant, 2. 
SCOrpion-bug (sk6r'pi-on-bug), . A large 
predaceous water-beetle whose raptorial fore 
legs suggest a scorpion; a water-scorpion. See 
Nepa. 
scorpion-dagger (sk6r'pi-on-dag' l 'er), it. [Tr. 
Hind, bichhwd, a small stiletto with a curved 
blade, C bichchhu, a scorpion.] A small dagger, 
sometimes poisoned, used by the people of In- 
dia. 
Scorpiones (sk6r-pi-6'nez), n. pi. [NL., pi. of 
L. scorpio(n-), scorpion : see scorpion.'] True 
scorpions as a suborder of Arachnida: distin- 
guished from Pseudoscorpiones : synonymous 
with Scorpionida. 
SCOrpion-fisb. (skor'pi-on-fish), n. A fish of the 
family Seorpeenidx and genus Scorpssna; a sea- 
scorpion : so called on account of the spines of 
the head and fins. See cut under Scorpesna. 
scorpion-fly (skor'pi-ou-fli), . A neuropterous 
insect of the family Panorpidee, and especially 
of the genus Panorpa : so called from the for- 
ceps-like apparatus at the end of the slender 
abdomen of the male, and the tendency of the 
abdomen to curl like the tail of a scorpion. P. 
communis is a European example. See cut un- 
der Panorpa. 
SCOrpion-grass (skor'pi-on-gras), H. A plant 
of the genus Myosotis ; the forget-me-not or 
mouse-ear. 
Scorpion-grass, the old name of the plant now called 
Forget-me-not. ... It was called scorpion-grass from be- 
ing supposed, on the doctrine of signatures, from its spike 
resembling a scorpion's tail, to be good against the sting 
of a scorpion. 
Dr. A. Prior, Popular Names of British Plants. {Latham.) 
Mouse-ear scorpion-grass, Myosotis palustris. 
scorpionic (skor-pi-on'ik), a. [< scorpion + -ic.] 
Of or pertaining to the scorpion. [Rare.] 
Below the Serpent Bearer we find the Scorpion (Scorpio), 
now fully risen and showing truly scorpionic form. 
Set. Amer., N. 8., LV. 3. 
Scorpionida (sk&r-pi-on'i-da), n. pi. [NL., < 
Scorpiones 4- -ida.) An order of Arachnida, 
having pulmotracheate respiration, the ceph- 
alothorax indistinctly segmented from the ab- 
domen, a long jointed postabdomen ending in a 
hook or telson, and long maxillary palpi, or pedi- 
palps, ending in a usually large chelate claw, or 
pincer; the true scorpions or tieorpioncs. The am- 
bulatory legs are seven-jointed, and of moderate and ap- 
proximately equal lengths. The eyes are from six to twelve 
rr v n 
Diagram of Structure of Seorpionicia: (most of the appendages 
removed). 
ty to^r.r., fourth to twentieth somite ;//-'., basis of the pedinalpi 01 
Ureat claws; V., KA.of two succeeding cephalic segments ; r.tvUOI 
or sting; ,i, mouth ; f>, alimentary canal; r, anus; rf, heart ; e, a pul 
111011. iry s.n ; /; line of the ventral ganylionated cortl ; , cerebro 
ganglia. 
.-,-[ 1 1 
in number. The falces or chelicerse are well developed and 
pincer-like. There are four pairs of pulmotrachese. The 
long postabdomen or tail is very flexible, and is generally 
carried curled up over the back ; the hook with which it 
ends is perforated for a poison-duct, and constitutes a sting, 
sometimes of very formidable character. The order is very 
homogeneous, and all the forms of it were formerly included 
in a single family, Scorpionidie, or even in the genus Scor- 
pio. It has been divided, according to the number of eyes 
(six, eight, ten, or twelve), into Scorpionidte, Telegonidee, 
Vejovidee, and Androctonidte, and in other ways. From 
1 to more than 30 genera are recognized. See cut for 
Scorpionidsp above, and those under Bitthus and scorpion. 
Scorpionidae (skor-pi-on'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Scorpio(n-) + -idae.~\ A restricted family of 
scorpions, typified by the genus Scorpio. See 
cut in preceding column. 
scorpion-lobster (skor'pi-on-lob // ster), w. A 
long-tailed decapod crustacean of the family 
Thalassinidae. 
SCOrpion-oil (skor'pi-on-oil), n. An oily sub- 
stance formerly prepared from scorpions, and 
supposed to be capable of curing their sting. 
scorpion-plant (skor'pi-on-plant), . 1. A 
Javan orchid, Arachnanttie moschifera (Renan- 
thcrn arachnitis). It has large creamy-white or lemon- 
colored flowers, resembling a spider, continuing to bloom 
long from the summit of the spike. 
2. Genista Scwpius of southwestern Europe. 
More specifically called scorpion-broom and 
scorpion-thorn. 
scorpion-senna (skor'pi-gn-sen' i 'a), n. See Cor- 
scorpion-shell (skor'pi-on-shel), M. A gastropod 
of the family Strombidse and genus Pteroceras, 
distinguished by 
the development 
of long tubular or 
channeled spines 
from the outer 
lip of the aper- 
ture. About a dozen 
species are known, 
some a foot long, 
all inhabitants of 
the Indian seas and 
the Pacific, as P. 
lambis. 
scorpion-spider 
(skor'pi-ou-spi"- 
der), n. Any 
arachnidan of 
the order Fedi- 
palpi ; a whip- 
scorpion: a sort 
of false scorpi- 
on. Those of the 
family Thelyphoni- 
<!'-'-. with a long slen- 
der whip-like post- 
abdomen, resemble 
scorpions very close- 
ly in superficial ap 
pearance. The like- 
ness of the Phryni- 
dse, which have mere- 
ly a button-like post- 
abdomen, is less 
striking. See cuts 
under Phrynidffi and 
Pcdipalpi. 
SCOrpion's-tail (skor'pi-onz-tal), n. See Seor- 
pinrus. 
scorpion-thorn (sk6r'pi-on-th6rn), n. Same as 
scorpion-plant, 2. 
SCOrpionwort(sk6r'pi-on-wert),w. 1. Same as 
scorpion-grass. 2. A leguminous plant, Orni- 
thopus scorpioides, native of southern Europe 
and related to the scorpion-senna. 
Scorpis (skdr'pis), . [NL. (Cuvier and Va- 
lenciennes, 1831), < Gr. rjKopmc, a kind of sea- 
fish.] In ichth. , a genus of pimelepteroid fishes, 
variously limited, containing species of the 
southern Pacific. The northern fish formerly referred 
to the genus, the medialuna of California, a handsome fish 
a foot long and valued for food, belongs to the genus 
C&siosoma. See cut under Scorpidinse. 
ScorpiuniS (skor-pi-u'rus), w. [NL. (Linnreus, 
1737), < Gr. mopmovpof, a plant so called, lit. 
'scorpion-tailed,' < oKopnloi;, scorpion, + oiipd, 
tail.] A genus of leguminous plants, of the 
suborder Papilioiiacex, tribe Hedysarese, and 
subtribe Coromlleee. It is characterized by flowers 
solitary or few on a leafless peduncle with beaked keel- 
petals, and a cylindrical, fun-owed, and circinately coiled 
pod, which is commonly warty or prickly and does not split 
open, but breaks across into joints containing roundish 
seeds with remarkably twisted and elongated seed-leaves. 
There are about (i species, natives especially of the Medi- 
terranean region, extending from the Canary Islands into 
western Asia. Theyarestemlessordecumbentherbs.witli 
entire and simple leaves, unlike most of the family in this 
last respect, and with small yellow nodding flowers. They 
are curious but not ornamental plants ; their rough coiled 
pods, called " caterpillars," are sometimes used to garnish 
dishes. The species have been named scorpion's-taii and 
caterpillar-plant. 
scorset, *' See scoiirse 1 , 6 
Scorpion-shell (Pteroceras lamtiis). 
scot 
SCOrtatory (skor'ta-to-ri), . [< L. scortntor, a 
fomicator, < xeortari, associate with harlots, < 
m-ortiini, a harlot.] Pertaining to or consisting 
in lewdness. 
SCOrtcht, r. An obsolete form of scotch 2 . 
SCOrza (skor'za), n. [< It. scorza = Pr. excorsii 
= OF. escorce, escorsse (> MD. schorsse), F. 
rcnrcv, bark; from the verb, It. scorzare = Pr. 
escorsar = OF. escorcer, F. Scarcer, < L. excorti- 
care, strip the bark from : gee excorticate.] A 
variety of epidote occurring near Muska, Tran- 
sylvania, in a form resembling sand. 
Scorzonera (skor-zo-ne'rii), n. [NL. (Tourne- 
fort, 1700) ; cf. Sp. escorzonera = Pg. escorcio- 
neira = F. scorsoncrc, F. dial, escorsionere, scor- 
sonere = G. skorzonere = Sw. skorsonera = Dan. 
gbononere, < It. scorzonera, appar. lit. 'black 
bark,' < scorza, bark (see scorza), + ncra, black, 
fern, of nero, < L. n iaer, black (see negro) ; said 
by others to be orig. Sp. escorzonera (so named 
from the use of the root as a remedy for snake- 
bites), < escorzon, snake-poison.] 1. A ge- 
nus of composite plants, of the tribe Cicliori- 
aceee, type of the subtribe Scorzonereee. it is 
characterized by flowers with involncral bracts of many 
gradually increasing series, plumose and unequal pappus 
of many rows, and many-ribbed achenes without a beak 
and commonly without wings. There are about 120 spe- 
cies, natives especially of the Mediterranean region, ex- 
tending into central Asia. They are smooth, woolly, or 
bristly plants, generally perennials, bearing alternate and 
grass-like or broader and dissected leaves, and rather large 
long-stalked heads of yellow flowers. The best-known 
speciesis S. Hispanica, the black salsify, much cultivated, 
chiefly in Europe, for its root, which is used as a vegeta- 
ble, and has, when moderately boiled, the remedial prop- 
erties of dandelion. S. deliciosa of Sicily is said to be 
equal to salsify, and S. crocijolia in Greece is a favorite 
salad and spinach. S. tuberosa and perhaps other eastern 
species afford an edible root. An old name of S. Hispanica 
is mper's-ffrass. 
2. [/. c.] A plant of this genus. 
Colonel Blunt presented the company . . . with excel- 
lent scorzoncras, which he said might be propagated in 
England as much as parsnips. 
Oldenburg, To Boyle, Nov. 15, 1666. 
Scot 1 (skot), . [Early mod. E. also Scott; < 
ME. Scot, Scott, Scotte, pi. Scottes, < AS. Scot, 
usually in pi. Scottas, Sceottas = D. Schot = 
OHG. Scotto, MHO. G. Schotte = Icel. Skotr, 
usually in pi. Skotar = Sw. Dan. Skotte, a Scot; 
cf. OF. Escot = Sp. Pg. Escoto = It. Scoto (< 
LL.) = Ir. Scot = W. Ysgotiad E.) = Pol. 
Szkot = Bohem. Skot (< G. or E.) ; first in LL. 
Scotus, also Scottus, usually in pi. Scoti, Scotti, 
MGr. NGr. 2/fuTof, pi. SKUTOI, a people in the 
northern part of Britain, called thence Scotia 
(AS. Scotland, Scotta land, E. Scotland). As 
with most other names of the early Celtic and 
Teutonic tribes, the origin of the name is un- 
known; it has been variously referred (a) to 
Gael, sguit = Ir. scwite, a wanderer; (6) to Gr. 
2/d'ft7f, L. Scytha, Scythes, a Scythian, said to 
mean 'wanderer,' 'nomad,' or, according to an 
old view, 'an archer' (see Scythian); (c) to Gr. 
<7K(irof, darkness (the LL. Scottis, prop. Scotus, 
being taken in this view as Scdtus, with a short 
vowel) (see scotia). Hence the surname Scott, 
formerly also spelled Scot, ME. Scott, Scot, D. 
Schot, G. Schott, OF. Scot, Escot, etc., ML. Sco- 
tus (as in Duns Scotus), etc., one of the few 
mod. surnames orig. tribal or national names 
(others are Britt, Brett, or Bret, Briton, Britton, 
or Britten, Saxon, Dane) ; cf . the surnames Eng- 
lish, Irish, French, G. Deutsch, Deutscher, etc., 
orig. adj.] 1. A member of a Gaelic tribe, 
which came from the northern part of Hiber- 
nia, and settled in the northwestern part of 
Britannia (Scotland) about the sixth century. 
2. A native or an inhabitant of Scotland, a 
country lying north of England, and forming 
part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Ireland. 
That hot termagant Scot had paid me scot and lot too. 
Shot., 1 Hen. IV., v. 4. 114. 
Scots, wha hae with Wallace bled, 
Scots, wham Bruce has often led. Burns. 
SCOt' 2 (skot), n. [Also assibilated shot; < ME. 
scot, scott, < AS. scotscott, sceot, also gescot, 
contribution, payment (= OFries. skot, schot, 
a payment, = MD. D. scliot = MLG. LG. schot 
= G. schoss = icel. skot, a contribution, pay- 
ment, tax; cf. Gael, sgot = OF. cscot, F. ecot 
= Pr. escot = Sp. Pg. emote = It. scotto (ML. 
smtum), scot, payment, < LG. or E.); lit. that 
which is 'shot' or thrown in, < sceotan, pp. 
scoten, shoot: see shoot, and cf. shot 2 .] 1. A 
payment; contribution; fine; mulct; reckon- 
ing; shot. 
Vor altherucrst [first] he becomth tauernyer; thanne 
he playth ate des [dice] ; thanne he zelth his ojen [own 
