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tip of the sling. Scorpions are viviparous 
insects, producing a very considerable num- 
ber of young at once : these are at first en- 
tirely white, but acquire their dusky colour 
in the space of a few days: they aie ob- 
;Served to cast their skin from time to time, 
in the manner of spiders : the larva and pu- 
pa are eight-footed, nimble, aud resembling 
the perfect insect. 
Scorpion, scorpio, in astronomy, the 
eighth sign of the zodiac, denoted by the 
character Hi. The stars in the constellation 
Scorpio, in Ptolemy’s catalogue, are 20 ; in 
Tycho’s 10 ; and in Mr. Flamsteed’s 49. 
Scorpion, in the ancient art of war, an 
engine chiefly used in the defence of the 
walls of fortified places, by throwing ar- 
rows, fire-balls, or great stones. 
SCORPIURUS, in botany, caterpillar, 
a genus of the Diadelphia Decandria class 
aud order. Natural order of Papilionaceas 
or Leguininosae. Essential character: le- 
gume divided by isthmuses, or transverse 
partitions, revolute cylindrical. There are 
four species, all natives of the south of 
Europe. ' 
SCORSONERA, in botany, viper’s grass, 
a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia jEqua- 
lis class and order. Natural order of Com- 
positae Semifloscnlos®. Cichoraceae, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character : calyx imbricate 
■with scales, scariose at the edge; pappus 
feathered, sessile ; receptacle naked. There 
are nineteen species. 
SCOT, a customary contribution laid 
upon all subjects according to their abilities. 
Whoever were assessed to any contribution, 
though not by equal portions, were said to 
pay scot :ind lot. 
SCOTLAND. By 5 Anne, c. 8, the 
anion of England and Scotland was effected, 
and the tw'enty-five articles of union, agreed 
to by the parliaments of both nations, were 
ratified and confirmed as follows : viz. the 
succession to the monarchy of Qreat Britain 
shall be the same as vvas before settled with 
pgard to that of England. The united 
kingdoms shall be represented by one par- 
liament. There shall be a communication 
of all rights and privileges betryeen the 
subjects of both kingdoms, except w’here it 
is otherwise agreed. When England raises 
2,000,0001. by land-tax, Scotland shall raise 
48,0001. The standards of the coin, of 
weights, and measures, shall be reduced to 
those of England thiougliout the united 
kingdoms. The laws relating to trade, 
customs, and the excise, shall be the same 
in Scotland as in England. But all the 
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other laws of Scotland shall remain in 
force, though alterable by the Parliament 
of Great Britain; and, particularly, laws 
relating te public policy are alterable at 
the discretion of Parliament. Laws relat- 
ing to private right are not to be altered, 
but for the evident utility of the people of 
Scotland. Sixteen peers are to be chosen 
to represent the peerage of Scotland in 
Parliament, and forty-five members to sit 
in the House of Commons. The sixteen 
peers of Scotland shall have all privileges of 
Parliament, and all peers of Scotland shall 
be peers of Great Britain, ranking next 
after those of the same degree at the time 
of the union, and shall have all privileges of 
peers, except sitting in the House of Lords, 
and voting on the trial of a peer. 
It was formerly resolved by the House of 
Lords, that a peer of Scotland, claiming and - 
having a right to sit in the British House of 
Peers, had no right to vote in the election 
of the sixteen Scotch peers ; and that if any 
of the sixteen Scotch peers are created 
peers of Great Britain, they thereby cease 
to sit as representatives of the Scotch peer- 
age, and new Scotch peers must be elected 
in their room. 
SCOTOGRAPH, an instrument to en- 
able a person to write in the dark, invented 
by Mr, John Isaac Hawkins, and included 
in a patent taken out by him in 1803 for 
several other inventions relating to the gra- 
phic art. 
Plate Scotograph explains the construc- 
tion of this instrument. Fig. I is a plan of 
it ; fig. 2, 3, and 4, parts ; and fig. 5, a per- 
spective view of the whole put together. 
A B D E is a small box, covered with mo- 
rocco leather, to be carried in the pocket : 
its lid, F G, is made in two pieces, joined 
together by hinges in the middle, so as to 
turn back, as shown in fig. 5, and is kept 
shut by a small spring catch, a a, (fig. 1 ) 
is a small brass shelf, fixed along one side of 
the box, at about one-half of its depth from 
the bottom, it is also seen in the end section 
(fig. 4.) b (t ef, is a small pentagraph made 
of brass ; one end of tlie rod, b, is jointed to 
a small hinge, g, by which its motion allows 
the whole pentagraph to be lifted up ; the 
other end of the rod, b, is jointed to the rod 
f, and the small handle, h, or pencil, which 
the writer liolds in his hand when in use, is 
attached to the other end by an universal 
joint, which allows it to rhove in any direc- 
tion, to imitate as much as possible the mo- 
tion of a pen : e and d are the other two 
bars, completing the pentagraph ; i is the 
