Stratiotes 
dier,' < oTpanurrif, a soldier, < arparid, an army, 
< orparoY, an army: see strategy. Cf. xtradiot, 
estradiot] 1. A genus of water-plants, of the 
order Hydrocharidex, type of the tribe Sti-atio- 
tex. It is without floating leaves, unlike the rest of 
its tribe, and is characterized by spathes of two leaves 
which in the male inclose the base of a long pedicel bear- 
ing two or more flowers with from 11 to 15 stamens each. 
The female flowers are solitary and short-pedicelled, with 
numerous linear staminodes, slender two-cleft styles, 
and a beaked ovary becoming in fruit ovoid and acumi- 
nate, externally fleshy, and exserted from its spathe on a 
recurved pedicel. The only species, S. aloides, the water- 
soldier, is a native of Europe and Siberia, and resembles a 
small aloe. It isa perennial submerged aquatic, with some- 
what fleshy crowded sword-shaped leaves, which are acute. 
sessile, and sharply serrate. The flowers are borne above 
the surface of the water ; each perianth consists of three 
calyx-like segments and three much larger wavy crisped 
white petals. Old names are Icnightxwort, crab's-claw, and 
water-sengreen. 
2. In entom., a genus of South American cara- 
bid beetles. Putzeys, 1846. 
strato-cirrus (stra-to-sir'us), n. [NL., < stratus 
+ cirrus] A cloud very like cirro-stratus, but 
more compact in structure, and formed at a 
lower altitude. Abercromby. 
Stratocracy (stra-tok'ra-si), n. [< Gr. orparoi;, 
an army, + -Kparia, < Kparetv, rule.] A military 
government; government by force of arms. 
Enough exists to show that the form of polity [according 
to Plato's system] would be a martial aristocracy, a quali- 
fied stratocracy. De Quincey, Plato. 
StratO-CUmulus (stra-to-ku'mu-lus), . [NL., < 
stratus + cumulus] A stratum of low cloud 
consisting of separate irregular masses; a cloud 
of the layer type, but not sufficiently unif orm to 
be pure stratus. Also called eumulo-stratus. 
Stratographic (strat-p-graf'ik), a. [< stratog- 
rapn-y + -ic] Pertaining to stratography. 
Stratographical (strat-o-graf'i-kal), a. [< strat- 
ographic + -al] Same as stratographic. 
stratographically (strat-^-graf 'i-kal-i), adv. In 
a stratographic manner. 
Stratography (stra-tog'ra-fi), . [< Gr. arparof, 
an army, + -ypafyia, < ypaif>uv, write.] Descrip- 
tion of armies or what belongs to an army. 
A great commander by land and by sea, he [Raleigh] 
was critical in all the arts of stratography, and delights to 
illustrate them on every occasion. 
/. D'liraeli, Amen, of Lit., II. 278. 
Stratonic (stra-ton'ik), a. Same as Stratonical. 
Stratonical (stra-ton'i-kal), . [< Strata (see 
def.) + -ic-al] Pertaining to Strato or Straton 
of Lampsacus, called "the physicist," the third 
head of the Peripatetic school of philosophy, 
over which he presided from 288 to 270 B. c. He 
was a thorough materialist, and held that every particle 
of matter has a plastic and seminal power, and that the 
world is formed by natural development. Stratonical 
atheism t, a form of evolutionism which replaces the ab- 
solute chance of the Epicureans by a sort of life which Is 
regarded as an intrinsic attribute of matter. 
There is, indeed, another form of atheism, ... we for 
distinction sake shall call Stratonical, such as, being too 
modest and shamefaced to fetch all things from the for- 
tuitous motion of atoms, would therefore allow to the 
several parts of matter a certain kind of natural (though 
not animal) perception, such as is devoid of reflexive con- 
sciousness, together with a plastic power whereby they 
may be able artificially and methodically to form and 
frame themselves to the best advantage of their respective 
capabilities something like to Aristotle's Nature, but 
that it hath no dependence at all upon any higher mind 
or deity. Cudworth, Intellectual System, ii. 3. 
stratopeite (stra-to'pe-it), n. [< NL. stratum. 
a layer; second element uncertain.] A hydrous 
silicate of manganese, of uncertain composi- 
tion, derived from the alteration of rhodonite. 
stratose (stra'tos), o. [< NL. "stratosus, < stra- 
tum, a layer: see stratum] In lot., stratified; 
arranged in more or less clearly defined layers. 
Farlow, Marine Algas, p. 51. 
Stratotic (stra-tot'ik), a. [Irreg. < Gr. crr/xzroY, 
an army, + -i-ic; or erroneously for "stratiotic, 
< Gr. OTpaTiaririf, of or pertaining to a soldier, 
< trrpanoriK, a soldier: see Stratiotes] Warlike; 
military. [Kare.] Imp. Diet. 
Stratum (stra'tum), H.; pi. strata (-ta). [NL., < 
L. stratum, a spread for a bed, a coverlet, quilt, 
blanket, a pillow, bolster, a bed, also pavement, 
prop. neut. of stratus (= Gr. or/jaro?, an army), 
pp. of sternere, = Gr. aropevvmai, spread, extend. 
Cf. strew] A layer of material, formed either 
naturally or artificially. Specifically- (o) In geol., 
same as bed. See fcedl , 6 (c), and stratification, also cut un- 
der Artesian, (b) In Hoot, and anat., a layer of tissue, as 
a membrane, etc. ; a lamina or lamella ; especially, one of 
several similar or superposed layers specified by a quali- 
fying word : used with either English or Latin context. 
Oonidial stratum. See^ontrfioJ. Rise of strata in 
geol. See dip, n., 4 (o). - Secondary strata, in geol. , the 
Mesozoic strata. Stratum bacilloaum. Same as rod- 
ana-cone layer of the retina (which see, under retina). 
Stratum cinereum, a layer of gray matter in the nates, 
lying Just beneath the stratum zonale, with few and small 
.-,982 
ganglion-cells. Stratum corneum, the outer layer of 
the epidermis, above the stratum granulosum. See cut 
under W. Stratum cylindrorum. Same as stratum 
bacillosum. Stratum gelatmosum, a layer of gray 
matter of the olfactory bulb, consisting of fusiform or 
pyramidal gray nerve-cells in a flue mesh of white nerve 
fiber. Stratum glomerulosum, a layer of gray mat- 
ter of the olfactory bulb, consisting of nodulated masses 
containing small nuclear cells, among which is a con- 
voluted olfactory nerve-fiber. Stratum granulosum, 
the thin stratum next above the stratum spinosum of the 
epidermis, consisting of cells rendered granular by minute 
globules of ceratohyalin. It is wanting over the lips and 
under the nails, and gives the white color to the skin. 
See cut under skin. Stratum lacunosum, a layer of 
the hippocampus major, next above the stratum radiatum, 
characterized by the open reticulated nature of the neu- 
roglia. Stratum lucidum, the lowest layer of the stra- 
tum corneum of the epidermis. See cut under skin. 
Stratum opticum, the layer in the upper quadrigemi- 
nal body which lies below the stratum cinereum, com- 
posed of longitudinal white fibers interspersed with gan- 
glion-cells. Stratum radiatum, a layer of the hippo- 
campus major, striated at right angles to its surfaces by 
the processes of the large pyramidal cells which lie along 
its inner border. Stratum spinosum, the lowest layer 
of the epidermis, next to the corium, formed of prickle- 
cells, ana limited above by the stratum granulosum. Also 
called rete mucosum, rete Malpighii or Malpighi, and stra- 
tum Malpinhii or ilalpiyhi. See cut under *Kn. Stra- 
tum zonale, a superficial stratum of white nerve-fibers. 
Stratus (stra'tus), H. [NL., < L. stratus, a 
spread for a bed, a coverlet, < sternere, pp. 
stratus, spread, extend : see stratum.] A con- 
tinuous horizontal sheet of cloud, generally of 
uniform thickness. It is essentially a fine-weather 
cloud, and is characteristic of areas of high pressure. In 
the evening and morning of fine days it frequently appears 
as a low foggy canopy overspreading the whole or a part 
of the sky, and disappears as the heat of the day increases. 
All low detached clouds which look like lifted fog and are 
not consolidated into definite form are stratus. It is the 
lowest of the clouds. Abbreviated . See cut under cloud. 
All cloud which lies as a thin flat sheet must either be 
pure stratus or contain the word strata in combination. 
Abercromby, Weather, p. 71. 
Straucht, straught 1 (stracht), . and r. Obso- 
lete or dialectal (Scotch) forms of straight^. 
Straught 2 t (strat), a. [By apheresis from dis- 
traught. Cf. struct] Distraught. 
So as being now straught of minae, desperate, and a 
verie foole, he goeth, etc. 
R. Scot, Witchcraft, L 8 b. (Kara.) 
straughtet, Straught 3 t. Obsolete forms of the 
preterit and past participle of stretch. 
stravagantt, a. [= It. stravagante; an aphetic 
form of extravagant] Extravagant ; profuse. 
Stravaig (stra-vag'), r. i. [Alsostravaige; prop. 
"ittravague, < OF. estravaguer = Olt. stravagare, 
< ML. extravagari, wander out or beyond : see 
extravagant. Cf. straragant] To stroll ; wan- 
der ; go about idly. [Scotch and Irish.] 
What did ye come here for? To go prancing down to 
the shore and back from the shore and stravayging 
about the place? W. Black, In Far Lochaber, vii. 
stravaiger (stra-va'ger), n. [<stravaig + -er'i] 
One who wanders about idly; a stroller; a 
wanderer. [Scotch and Irish.] 
straw 1 (stra), . and a. [= Sc. strae; < ME. 
straw, strau, stra, stre, stree, < AS. "stream, 
"sired, "stredw (found independently only in the 
form strewn (appar. pi.), in two glosses, other- 
wise only in comp. streawberie, etc.: see straw- 
berry) = OS. stro = OFries. stre = MD. stroo, 
stray, D. stroo = MLG. stro, LG. stro = OHG. 
stro, MHG. strou, stro (straw-, strouu--, strow-), 
G. stroll = Icel. stra = Sw. strA = Dan. straa, 
straw; appar. 'that which is scattered about' 
(if so, it must have been orig. applied to the 
broken stalks of grain after threshing, the 
simple sense 'stalk' being then later), from the 
root of strew (dial, straw) : see strew, straw? ; 
cf. L. stramen, straw, < sternere, pp. stratus, 
strew (see strand 3 , stramage, strammel, stra- 
tum)] I. n. 1. The stalk or stem of certain 
species of grain, pulse, etc., chiefly of wheat, 
rye, oats, barley, buckwheat, and pease, cut or 
broken off (and usually dry) ; also, a piece of 
such a stem. 
When shepherds pipe on oaten straics. 
Shalt., L. L. L., v. 2. 913. 
2. Such stalks collectively, especially after 
drying and threshing : as, a load of straw. In 
this sense a collective without plural. 
Ne how the fyr was couched first with stree, 
And thanne with drye stokkes cloven a three. 
Chaucer, Knight's Tale, 1. 2075. 
3. Figuratively, anything proverbially worth- 
less ; the least possible thing. 
For thy sword and thy bow I care not a straw, 
Nor all thine arrows to boot. 
Robin Hood and the Tanner (Child's Ballads, V. 226). 
I jive, like despair, catches at straws. 
Scott, i .'in-lit in Durward, xxxv. 
4. [In allusion to the proverb, "A straw shows 
which way the wind blows."] A slight fact, 
strawberry 
taken as an instance in proof of a tendency. 
5 . A clay pipe, especially a long one. [Colloti. ] 
6. Same as alrau--needle. 7. In entom., a 
Ktick-insect ; a walking-stick Dunstable straw, 
wheat-straw used for bonnet-plaits. The middle part of 
the straw above the last joint is selected. It is cut into 
lengths of about 10 inches, which are then split by a ma- 
chine into slips of the requisite width. Whole Dunstable 
signifies a plait that is formed of seven entire straws, while 
n patent Dunstable consists of fourteen split straws. Sim- 
monds. Face Of Straw, a sham ; a mere effigy. 
Off drops the Vizor, and a Face of Straw appears. 
Roger North, Examen, III. viii. 6. 
In the straw, lying-in, as a mother ; in childbed. 
Our English plain Proverb de Puerperis, " they are in 
i/ir .itraif," shows Feather-Beds to be of no ancient use 
among the common sort of our nation. 
Fuller, Worthies, Lincolnshire, II. 263. (Davies.) 
Jack of straw. Same mjadntrav, i. Leghorn straw. 
See let/horn. Man of straw. .See man. Pad In the 
strawt. See pad?. To break a strawt, to quarrel. 
UdaU, tr. of Apophthegms of Erasmus, p. 68. To draw 
straws, to give indications of sleepiness. 
Lady Anew. I'm sure 'tis time for honest folks to lie 
a-bed. 
Miss. Indeed my eyes draw straws. 
Swtft, Polite Conversation, iii. 
To lay a Btrawt, to pause and make a note. Holland, tr. 
of Camden, p. 141. 
II. . 1. Made or composed of straw: as, a 
straw hat. 2. Sham; fictitious; useless: as, a 
straw bid. Compare straw bail, under bail 2 , 5. 
Straw bond. See hmdi. Straw bonnet, a bonnet 
made of woven or plaited straw. See straw hat, Dun- 
stable straw (above), and leghorn. Straw hat, a hat made 
of straw either woven together in one piece or, as is more 
common, plaited into a narrow braid which is wound 
spirally, the separate turns being sewed together where 
the edges touch. Hats for men and bonnets for women 
are included under the general term. Straw mosaic, 
rope, etc. See the nouns Straw vote, a vote taken 
without previous notice, in a casual gathering or other- 
wise. See I., 4. 
straw 1 (stra), r. t. [< strawi, .] To furnish or 
bind with straw ; apply straw to stra wed seal 
a seal containing a straw, a blade of grass, or a rush, or 
several of these, embedded in the wax, often around it as 
a border, or tied in fastening the seal to the document. 
Such additions to the ordinary seal were often made in 
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ; but whether the 
purpose was to strengthen or protect the wax or to pre- 
serve a fragment of the clod delivered in making livery 
of seizin seems to be matter of conjecture. 
straw' 2 (stra), v. t. An obsolete or dialectal 
form of strew. Ex. xxxii. 20. 
She strawed the roses on the ground, 
Threw her mantle on the brier. 
Lord John (Child's Ballads, I. 136). 
strawberry (stra'ber*i), n. ; pi. strawberries 
(-iz). [< ME. strawbery, strauberi, strabery, stra- 
beri, strebery, slreberi, strebere, also (in comp.) 
strawbyry, strobery, < AS. streawberie, stredw- 
berige, also contracted stredberie, stredberige, 
streaberge, also stredtcberge, streuberie, late AS. 
strxberie (in comp.), strawberry (also called 
eorthberie, G. erdbeere, ' earth-berry'), < "stredw, 
straw, + berie, berry: see straw" and berry 1 . 
The first element, lit. ' straw,' is very rare in 
AS. use, and its exact application here is un- 
certain. It may be taken in the sense of 'a 
long stem,' referring to the runners of the 
plant, or it may allude to an old habit of string- 
ing the berries on a straw. The word is often 
erroneously explained as a corruption of a sup- 
posed "strayberry, or even as referring to the 
common use of straw or hay about the plants 
to keep the earth from soiling the berries. No 
corresponding name appears in the other lan- 
guages. Cf. strawberry-wise] The fruit of any 
of the species of the genus Fragaria, or the 
plant itself. The plants are stemless, propagating by 
slender runners (whence they are often called strawberry- 
nines), with trifoliate leaves, and scapes a few inches high, 
bearing mostly white-petaled flowers in small cymes, fol- 
lowed by the " berry," which consists of an enlarged fleshy 
receptacle, colored scarlet or other shade of red, bearing 
the achenes on its exterior. About six natural species are 
recognized, though these are so variable as to make it pos- 
sible that they all belong to one multiform species. F. 
vesca is common throughout the northern Old World and 
northward in North America. It includes the alpine straw- 
berry, hautboy, and wood-strawberry (see belowX was prob- 
ably the first cultivated, and is the source of many artifi- 
cial varieties, including the perpetuals. The Virginian or 
scarlet strawberry, F. Virginuma, Is common eastward 
in North America, and in the more robust variety jllinoen- 
sit extends perhaps to Oregon. The achenes, which in f. 
vesca are superficial, are in this species sunk in pits. It was 
the source of the famous Hovey's seedling, produced near 
Boston about 1840, and later of Wilson's Albany (or sim- 
ply Wilson's), whose production marked an epoch in 
American strawberry-culture. In Chili and along the 
Pacific coast from San Francisco to Alaska grows the Chili 
strawberry, F. Ctiilensis, a low stout densely hairy plant 
with thick leaves and large flowers, which has been the 
source of valuable hybrids in France and England. The 
Indian strawberry, F. Indica, peculiar in its yellow petals 
and tasteless fruit, is only of ornamental value. The 
strawberry was not cultivated by the ancients ; its culture 
in Europe began probably in the fifteenth or sixteenth 
century. It is now grown in great quantities in Europe 
