SCI 
judgment, recognizances, and letters pa- 
tent, on which it lies to enforce the execu- 
tion of tliem, or to vacate or set them 
aside ; and if execution is not taken out 
within a year, it is necessary to revive the 
judgment by scire facias. But if execution 
has issued within that time, a further lyrit of 
execution may be hadwithoHt a.seire facias. 
This writ is so far in nature of an original, 
that the defendant may plead to it, and it is 
in that respect considered as an action. 
Wherefore a release of all actions, or a re- 
lease of all executions, is a good bar to a 
scire facias. 
SCIRRHUS, , in surgery and medicine, a 
hard tumour of any part of the body, void 
of pain, arising from the inspissation and 
induration of the fluids contained in a gland, 
though it may appear in any other part, es- 
pecially in the fat, being one of the ways 
wherein an inflammation terminates. See 
Surgery. 
SCITAMINEjE, m botany, the name of 
the eighth order in Linnaeus’s^ Fragments of 
,a Natural Method, consisting of beautiful 
exotic plants, some of which, as the banana, 
furnish exquisite fruits, and others have a 
fine aromatic scent ; among these are the 
amomum or ginger; the canna, Indian 
flowering reed ; and musa, tlie banana, or 
plantain tree. The plants of this order are 
all natives of very warm countries ; they 
grow to great heights, but they are only pe- 
rennial at the roots, borne of these plants 
are cultivated in high perfection at the bo- 
tanical garden at Liverpool. 
SCIURIS, in botany, a genus of the 
Diandria Monogynia class and order. Es- 
sential character ; corolla unequal, with 
the upper lip trifid, the lower bifid and 
shorter ; stamina five, but three barren, 
capsule five, united, one celled, one seeded. 
There is only one species, viz. S. aromatica, 
found in the wood of Guiana. 
SCIURUS, the squirrel, in natural his- 
tory, a genus of Mammalia, of the order 
Glires. Generic character : two fore-teeth 
in the upper-jaw wedge-formed, in the 
lower sharp ; five grinders in each side of 
the upper-jaw, and four in each in the 
lower ; clavicles in the skeleton ; tail spread- 
ing towards each side ; long whiskers. 
These animals live principally on seeds and 
fruits. They are extremely active and nim- 
ble, climbing trees with great rapidity, and 
bounding from one to another with a spring 
truly astonishing. Some are supplied with 
membranes, which enable them to extend 
this leap into something approximating to a 
short flight. Some are subterraneous, and 
SCI 
others build in trees. They are sprightly, 
elegant, and interesting. 
S. maximus, or the great squirrel, is the 
largest known species, being equal in. size 
to a cat. It is found in the East Indies, 
where it pierces the cocoa for the sake of 
the liquor, to which it is extremely attach- 
ed. It is easily tamed. 
S. vrdgaris, or the common squirrel, 
abounds almost throughout Europe, and in 
the temperate climates of Asia. Its length 
is about seven inches to the tail, which mea- 
sures about eight. During the summer's 
day, it generally remains in its nest, ap- 
pearing to be annoyed by the heat ; but at 
night it is full of alertness and vivacity, and 
devoted to excursion and repast. It con- 
structs its nest generally in the fork of two 
branches of trees, and with particular pre- 
caution, with respect to dryness, warmth, 
and cleanliness. The young are produced 
sometimes about the beginning of summer, 
in general, about the middle of it, and are 
three or four in number. Its food consists 
of various nuts and fruits, of which it stores 
considerable quantities for its winter con- 
sumption ; it is fond also of certain species 
of fungi, Jn confinement it will take a vast 
variety of vegetable substances ; but ap- 
pears to prefer sugar to every other nourishr 
ment. See Mammalia, Plate XVIII. fig. i, 
S. cinereus, or the grey squirrel, is pecu- 
liar to North America, and is about the 
size of a half grown rabbit. It resembles 
the former in its shape and manners. These 
animals have occasionally committed ex- 
treme ravages in some of the states of 
North America, in the cultivated lands; 
and to reduce their numbers, the legisla- 
ture proclaimed a reward for their destruc- 
tion. In tlje year 1750, a sum of no less 
than eight thousand pounds was distributed 
in premiums, to persons who had been en« 
gaged in killing them, and who must have 
destroyed between six and seven hundred 
thousand. It is not easily destroyed by 
the gun, on account of the perpetual veisa- 
tility of its movements, andsome of the best 
marksmen are often baffled by this extreme 
agility. It is easily familiarized, and ap- 
pears susceptible of affection and gratitude 
to its benefactors. 
The S. variegatus, or varied squirrel, is 
nearly twice the size of the last, and differs 
also in habits, as it resides in holes under 
the roots of trees, where it produces its 
young, and, like the rest of the genus, accu- 
mulates its stores. It is a native of Mexico. 
S. striatus, or the striped squirrel, is mef 
with in the north of Asia and America, is 
