strap-work 
represented as folded and crossed, and occa- 
sionally interlaced with another. 
Strap-worm (strap'werm), n. A cestoid worm 
of the family Ligulidts. 
strapwort (strap'wert), . A sea-coast plant 
of the Mediterranean region and western Eu- 
rope, Corrigiola littoralis, of the Illeeebratw. 
It is an herb witli numerous slender trailing stems, sug- 
gesting the name, and small white flowers in little heads 
or cymes, the sepals petal-like on the margin. 
Strasburg finch, pate, ware, etc. See finch*. 
etc. 
strass (stras), n. [So called from the name of 
the German inventor, Josef Sinister. ] 1. Same 
a.a paste 1, 3. 2. The refuse of silk left in mak- 
ing up skeins. E. H. Ktiiglit. 
Strata, . Plural of stratum. 
stratagem (strat'a-jem), n. [Formerly also 
xtrategem; early mod. E. stratagems; < OF. 
stratagenw, F. stratagem = Sp. estratrigema = 
Pg. estratagema, strutagema = It. stratagemma 
(in Bom. erroneously spelled with a in the sec- 
ond orig. syllable), < L. stratege.ina, < Gr. arpaT/t- 
ytlfia, the act of a general, a piece of general- 
ship, < aT/tan/yelv, be a general, command an 
army, < aTpan/yoc, a general, the leader or com- 
mander of an army: see strategy.] 1. An arti- 
fice in war; a plan or scheme for deceiving an 
enemy. 
The man that hath no music in himself, 
Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
Is tit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils. 
Shak., M. of V., v. 1. 85. 
He [Henry V.] never fought Battel, nor won Town, 
wherein he prevailed not as much by Stratagem as by 
Force. Baker, Chronicles, p. 179. 
2. Any artifice; a trick by which some advan- 
tage is intended to be obtained. 
Ambition is full of distractions ; it teems with strata- 
gems, and is swelled with expectations as with a tympany. 
Jer. Taylor. 
It is an honest stratagem to take advantage of ourselves. 
Sir T. Browne, Keligio Medici, ii. 13. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Artifice, Maneeuver, Trick, etc. See orti- 
Jtce. 2. Deception, plot, trap, device, snare, dodge, con- 
trivance. 
stratagematic (strat'a-je-mat'ik), a. [< OF. 
stratagematique, < NL. * strategematicus, < Gr. 
<rrpa7-#yj7/ia(r-),astratagem: see stratagem.'] Us- 
ing stratagem ; skilled in strategy. Puttenham, 
Arte of Eng. Poesie (ed. Arber), p. 35. [Bare.] 
stratagematically (strat"a-je-mat'i-kal-i), adv. 
By stratagem or artifice. G . Harvey, Four Let- 
ters. 
stratagemic (strat-a-jem'ik), a. [< stratagem 
+ -ic.J Containing or characterized by strata- 
gem or artifice. [Bare.] 
stratagemical (strat-a-jem'i-kal), a. [< strata- 
gemic + -al.~\ Same as stratagemic. Cotgrave; 
Swift (?), Tripos, iii. 
stratarithmetry (strat-a-rith'me-tri), n. [Irreg. 
< Gr. arparof, an army, 4- apiO/j6f, a number (see 
arithmetic), + -peTpia, < /icrpov, measure.] Milit., 
the art of drawing up an army or body of men 
in a geometrical figure, or of estimating or ex- 
pressing the number of men in such a figure. 
Imp. Diet. 
strategetic (strat-e-jet'ik), a. [< Gr. aTparriyrrn- 
n6f, pertaining to the command of an army, < 
arparriyew, be a general, command an army : "see 
stratagem.] Same as strategic. 
strategetical (strat-e-jet'i-kal), a. [< strate- 
getic T -al.] Same as strategical. 
strategetically (strat-e-jet'i-kal-i), adv. In a 
strategetical manner. 
strategetics (strat-e-jet'iks), n. [PI. of strate- 
getic (see -teg).] Same as strategy. 
strategi, n. Plural of strategic, 1. 
Strategic (stra-tej'ik), a. [= F. strategiqtie, < 
LL. *strategictts (in neut. pi. strategica, the 
deeds of a general), < Gr. cTparnymor, of or per- 
taining to a general. < oTpaTrryof, a general: see 
stratagem, and cf. strategy.] Of, pertaining to, 
or of the nature of strategy ; demanded by, used 
in, or characterized by strategy: as, strategic 
movementsstrategic battle. See battlei, l. 
strategical (stra-tej'i-kal), a. [< strategic + 
-til.] Same as strategic" 
strategically (stra-tej'i-kal-i), adv. In a stra- 
tegic manner; as regards strategy. 
Strategics (stra-tej'iks), n. [PI. of strategic (see 
-ic*).] Same as strategy. 
strategist (strat'e-jist), n. [= F. strategiste; 
as strateg-y + -ist.] One skilled in strategy. 
He [Milton] was a strategist rather than a drill-sergeant 
in verse, capable, beyond any other English poet, of put- 
ting great masses through the most complicated evolutions 
without clash or confusion, but he was not curious that 
every foot should be at the same angle. 
Lowell, Among my Books, 2d SIT, p. 286. 
5981 
Strategus (stra-te'gus), . [< I,, strategus, < Gr. 
arpartf) df , the commander of an army, a gen- 
eral: see *?m/<y/_i/.] 1. PL ttratoffi ($). A mili- 
tary commander in ancient Greece: as, Dm-us 
vitiKstriilri/Hxot' the Achean league. 2. [my;.] 
[NL. (Hope, 1837).] In ,-i,toin.. a genus of large 
American searabaiid beetles, whose males usu- 
ally have three prothoracie horns. They are 
mainly tropical and subtropical, but .s. 
extends north to Massachusetts. 3. 
[NL.] A genus of mollusks. 
Strategy (strat'e-ji), H, [< OF. strategic, F. 
strategic = Sp. estrategia = It. stratci/iii, strat- 
egy (cf. L. xtratci/iii, a government, province), 
< Gr. frpanryia, the office or dignity of a com- 
mander, generalship, a pretorship, government, 
province, < arparri-juf, the leader or commander 
of an army, a general, a governor, pretor, consul, 
< arpardf, an army, host, soldiery (prop, an en- 
camped army, lit. ' scattered, spread ' (= L. xtru- 
tits, scattered, spread), < aropcwvvai = L. ster- 
nere (pp. stratus), scatter, spread, strew: see 
stratum), + ayetv, lead (see agent).] 1. The sci- 
ence of combining and employing the means 
which the different branches of the art of war 
afford, for the purpose of forming projects of 
operations and of directing great military move- 
ments ; the art of moving troops so as to be ena- 
bled either to dispense with a battle orto deliver 
one with the greatest advantage and with the 
most decisive results; generalship, in strategy 
three things demand especial consideration : (1) the base 
of operations, or line from which an army commences its 
advance upon an enemy ; (2) the objective, or objective point, 
the point which it aims to possess, or the object which it 
strives to attain ; (3) the line of operations, or that line 
which an army must pass over to attain Its objective point. 
When an army assumes a strictly defensive attitude, the 
base of operations becomes the line of defense, and in a 
retrograde movement the line of operations becgmes the 
line of retreat. Strategical points are the points of opera- 
tions of an army namely, points whose occupation secures 
an undoubted advantage to the army holding them for 
offensive and defensive purposes, and points which it 'is 
the chief object of an army to attain. The tJteater of op- 
erations comprises the territory to be invaded or defended 
by an army. It includes the base of operations, the objec- 
tive point, the front of operations, the lines of operation, 
the lines of communication which connect the several lines 
of operations, obstacles, natural or artificial, lines of retreat, 
and places of refuge. The front of operations is the length 
of the line in advance of the base of operations covered 
or occupied by an army. 
2. The use of artifice, finesse, or stratagem for 
the carrying out of any project. 
Strath (strath), n. [< Gael, srath = Ir. srath, 
sratha = Vf. ystrad, a valley; perhaps connect- 
ed with street, ult. < L. strata : see street.] In 
Scotland, a valley of considerable size, often 
having a river running through it and giving it 
its distinctive appellation: as, Strathspey (the 
valley of the Spey), Stratheam (the valley of 
the Earn), and Strathmoie (the great valley). 
Strathspey (strath-spa'), [So called from 
Strathspey in Scotland.] 1. A Scotch dance, 
invented early in the eighteenth century, re- 
sembling the reel, but slower, and marked by 
numerous sudden jerks. 
While youths and maids the light strathspey 
So nimbly danced, with Highland glee ! 
Scott, Glenflnlas. 
2. Music for such a dance or in its rhythm, 
which is duple, moderately rapid, and abound- 
ing in the rhythmic or metric figure called the 
Scotch snap or catch (which see, under Scotch 1 ), 
or its converse. 
Straticulate (stra-tik'u-lat), a. [< NL. "strati- 
culatus, < "straticulum, dim. of stratum, a layer: 
see stratum.] Arranged in thin layers, as a 
banded agate. 
Stratification (strat'i-fi-ka'shon), n. [= F. 
stratification = Sp. estratificacion = It. stratifi- 
cazione; as stratify + -ation.] 1. The act of 
stratifying, or the state of being stratified; 
formation or arrangement in layers. 
It was formerly the practice in England, as it still is on 
the Continent, to tan by the process of stratification, for 
which purpose a bed of bark is made upon the bottom of 
the pit ; upon this is laid the hide, then bark, then a hide, 
and so on until the pit is full. Encyc. Brit., XIV. 386. 
2. Specifically, in geol., deposition in beds or 
strata ; the mode of occurrence of those rocks 
which harce been laid down or spread over the 
surface by water. The most important indication and 
result of stratification is that the rock separates more or 
less easily along the planes separating the beds or strata. 
Each stratification-plane marks a change in the character 
of the deposit, or a shorter or longer period during which 
deposition was suspended. Often one stratum is succeeded 
by another of quite different character, showing a change 
in the existing conditions. Sometimes, however, a rock is 
distinctly stratified, but each stratum separates easily into 
much thinner layers, closely resembling one another in pet- 
rography; character : this is generally called lamination. 
Stratiotes 
In some cases the apparent stratification seems to bo of 
the nature of an imperfect cleavage, there having been a 
certain amount of reftmngement of tin- partii let* of the 
rock p:irallel to the planet of deposition. s< > cuts muter 
Arteximi :ttnl rruxi'.n 
3. Iii /tlii/>ii<il., the thickening of a cell-wall by 
the deposition of successive thin layers of 
formed material; also, the arrangement of the 
layers so deposited. 
It is now known that xtnttifiratifm is due to a subsequent 
change in the amount of water of organization [in-sent in 
particular parts of the |eell Jwall. Betsey, Botany. 
4. In elect., the appearance presented by an 
electric discharge, or a series of rapid dis- 
charges, in a rarefied gas, light and dark bauds 
or striie licino; produced. 
Stratified (strat'i-l'id), i>. a. Arranged or dis- 
posed in layers or strata: as. xtrutijii-tl rocks. 
See cut under erosion Stratified cartilage, ordi- 
nary white flbrocartilage. Stratified epithelium. See 
tfUheHum. Stratified thallus, in lichens, a thallus in 
whieh the gonidia, or algal cells, are disposed in one or 
more layers, thus producing stratification. See heterom- 
erous, (c) (2). 
Stratiform (strat'i-fdrm), a. [< NL. stratum, a 
layer, + forma, form.] Forming or formed into 
a layer or lamella ; embedded as a stratum or 
layer; stratified: specifically used in the anato- 
my of a form of cartilage stratiform cartilage 
or fibrocartllage, a layer of cartilage embedded in a 
groove of bone along which the tendon of a muscle plays : 
referring not to a special kind of cartilage, but to the par- 
ticular form in which it is arranged. The cartilage lining 
the bicipital groove of the hnmerus, on which the tendon 
of the long head of the biceps glides, is an example. 
stratify (strat'i-fi), r. t. ; pret. and pp. stratified, 
ppr. stratifying. [= F. strattfier = It. stratifi- 
care, < NL. stratum, a layer, + li.facere, make, 
do.] To form into a layer or layers, as sub- 
stances in the earth ; lay or arrange in strata. 
Stratigrapher (stra-tig'ra-fer), n. [< stratig- 
raph-y + -er 1 .] One who devotes himself to 
the study of stratigraphical geology. Nature, 
Stratigraphic (straU-graf'ik), a. [< stratig- 
raph-y + -ic.] Having to do with the order of 
succession, mode of occurrence, and general 
geological character of the series of stratified 
rocks of which the earth's crust is largely 
composed. 
Stratigraphical (strat-i-graf 'i-kal), a. [< strati- 
grapliic + -al.] Same as Stratigraphic. 
stratigraphically (strat-i-graf'i-kal-i), adv. In 
a Stratigraphic manner; as regards stratigra- 
phy, or the disposition of strata. 
stratigraphist (stra-tig'ra-fist), M. [< stratig- 
raph-i/ + -ist.] One who studies stratigraphy ; 
a Stratigrapher. Nature, XXXVIII. 506. 
Stratigraphy (stra-tig'ra-fi), n. [< NL. stratum, 
a layer, + Gr. -jMifo, < ypaipeiv, write.] In 
geol. , order and position of the stratified groups ; 
all that part of geological science which is not 
specially theoretical or paleontological ; gen- 
eral descriptive geology. 
Stratiomyia (strati-o-ml'i-a), n. [NL. (Mac- 
quart, 1838), orig. Stratiomys (Geoffrey, 1764), 
also Stratiomua (Schiner, 1868), Stratyomis 
(Schelling, 1803), Stratyomys ( J. E. Gray, 1832) ; 
irreg. < Gr. arpaTt^n/f, a soldier, + fima, a 
fly.] The typical genus of the family Stra- 
tiomyidse. They are medium-sized or rather large flies 
of dark color with light spots or stripes. The larvue live 
in mud or damp sand, and the flies are found upon um- 
belliferous and other flowers growing near water. About 
40 species are known In North America, and about 20 In 
Europe. They are sometimes called chameleon-flies, from 
the name of one species, 5. chamteleon. 
Stratiomyidae (strat"i-o-mi'i-de), n. pi. [NL. 
(Leach, 1819, as Stratiomydee), < Stratiomyia + 
-idee.] A family of true flies, belonging to the 
brachycerous Diptera and to the section ynta- 
cantha. It is a large and wide-spread family; about 200 
species occur in North America. They vary much in size 
and color, and have a large hemispherical head, flattened 
or convex abdomen, and tibiae usually without spurs. 
They are mostly flower-flies, and are often found upon 
vegetation in damp places. 
Stratioteae (strat-i-6'te-e), n.pl. [NL. (Link, 
1829), < Stratiotes + -e&.] A tribe of monocoty- 
ledonotis plants, of the order Hydroeharidese 
and series Glycydrx. It is characterized by a very 
short stem bearing crowded sessile submerged leaves and 
usually also long-petioled floating leaves, by peduncled 
spathes, and by one-celled ovaries spuriously six-celled 
by intrusion of the lobed placentro. It includes five gen- 
era, of which Stratintes is the type. (See also llydrocharit.) 
The others are mostly tropical plants of fresh water, with 
ovate-oblong or broadly cordate floating leaves and ribbed 
or winged spathes. 
Stratiotes (strat-i-6'tez), . [NL. (in def. 1 
( Linmeus, 1737) so called from the sword-like 
leaves),< Gr. arpaTi&n/f, sc. Korafitof, an Egyptian 
water-plant, by some said to have been the 
water-lettuce, Pistia Stratiotes; lit. 'river-sol- 
