SCO 
ten feet long, and on the Scotch coast one 
was taken which weighed four hundred and 
sixty pounds. In the Indian ocean it is 
said to exceed even this enormous size. It 
is recorded by Pliny, who was sufficiently 
attached to the marvellous, that the fleet of 
Alexander met with no slight obstruction 
from a host of tunnies, which it required 
considerable manoeuvering to break through. 
These fishes are not particularly admired 
for food in this country, in which, indeed, 
they are rarely seen, approaching the Bri- 
tish coast only in straggling parties, or ra- 
ther as solitary individuals. By the an- 
cients, fisheries were established for taking 
and preserving them on the coasts of the 
Mediterranean, in which sea they particu- 
larly abound, and there are at present on 
the same coasts very extensive establish- 
ments for this purpose. Indeed to the 
inhabitants on those shores the movements 
of tunny are watched and expected with as 
much eagerness as those of the herring or 
mackarel, in the north. The small fishes 
are generally carried fresh to market, and 
the large ones are cut up into pieces of a 
particular size, and preserved in salt in bar- 
rels. The tunny is a very voracious fish, 
and a great persecutor of the common 
mackarel. 
SCONCE, in fortification, a small 
field-fort, built for the defence of some 
pass. 
SCOPARIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Tetrandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Personatae. Scrophularia, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx four- 
parted ; corolla four-parted, wheel-shaped ; 
capsule one-celled, two valved, many-seed- 
ed. There are three species. 
SCOPOLIA, in botany, so named in ho- 
nour of Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, profes- 
sor of chemistry and botany at Pavia, a ge- 
nus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and 
order. Essential character : calyx five- 
cleft ; nectary none ; stigma capitate ; cap- 
sule berried, five-celled ; seeds solitary. 
There are two species, viz. S. aculeata and 
S. inerrais. 
SCOPUS, the umbre, in natural history, 
a genus of birds of the order Grallae. Ge- 
neric character : bill long, thick, com- 
pressed, a little hooked; nostrils linear, 
oblique ; feet four-toed, cleft. The only 
species, the umbretta, or tufted umbre, is 
about as large as a crow, and twenty inches 
in length ; its bill three inches and a half 
Jong ; its body of a uniform brown colour, 
whence it derives its qaine. It is supposed 
SCO 
to be a native of the Cape of Good Hope, 
but no circumstances of interest have been 
detailed by travellers of its residence, ha- 
bits, and manners. 
SCORPjENA, in natural history, a ge- 
nus of fishes of the order Thoracici, Gene- 
ric character : the head large, aculeated, 
cirrhose, obtuse, without scales ; somewhat 
compressed ; eyes near each other ; teeth 
in the jaws, palate, and throat; gill mem- 
brane, seven rayed ; body thick and fleshy ; 
dorsal fin single, long, with the rays of the 
fore part spinous. There are nine species 
enumerated by Gmelin, and fourteen by 
Shaw. We shall notice only the follow- 
ing : 
S. porcus, or the porcine scorpsena, is 
about fourteen inches long, and an inhabi- 
tant of various parts of the Mediterranean, 
in considerable numbers. It lies near the 
shores under the stones, apparently in am- 
bush for its prey, which consists particularly 
of small fishes and sea insects. It eats also 
sea weeds. The rays of its dorsal fin are 
furnished with strong spines, with which 
it often inflicts painful, if not dangerous 
wounds. 
S. horrida, is found in the Indian seas, 
and is about thirteen inches long. The 
head and body, the pectoral and the dorsal 
fins, are covered with numerous abrupt cirri 
or beards ; all the fins are supplied, on the 
fore part, with strong rays, and those of the 
dorsal extend almost completely along the 
back. ‘In various other particulars of its 
form it is singularly uncouth, and altogether 
presents one of the most repulsive objects 
which can meet the eye. 
SCORPIO, in natural history, a genus 
of insects of the order Aptera. Generic 
character : eight legs, besides two claspers, 
or hands, seated on the fore-part of the 
head ; eight eyes, three placed on each side 
of the thorax, and two on the back ; two 
feelers projecting cheliform ; the lip is bifid, 
and the tail long, jointed, and terminated 
by a sharp, crooked sting ; on the under- 
side, between the breast and abdomen, are 
two instruments resembling a comb. There 
are ten species, all of which are armed with 
a slightly pungent sting ; and in hot climates 
some of them are highly dangerous: they 
prey upon worms, spiders, flies, &c. and 
even on one another. S. afer, or great Afri- 
can scorpion, is the largest and by far the 
most formidable of the whole genus : it is 
held in great dread by the inhabitants: its 
poison is evacuated through two very small 
oblong foramina, situated on each side the 
