SHA 
mit. He was of a middle stature, but very 
tliin, being of a weakly constitution; he 
was remarkably feeble the last three Or four 
years before he died, which was on the 
eighteenth of July, 1742, in the ninety-first 
year of his age. 
In his retirement at Little Horton, he 
employed four or five rooms or apartments 
in Ills house for different purposes, into 
which none of his family could possibly 
enter at any time without his permission. 
He was seldom visited by any persons, 
except two gentlemen of Bradford, the one 
a mathematician, and the other an ingeni- 
ous apothecary : these were admitted when 
he chose to be seen by them, by the sig- 
nal of rubbing a stone against a certain part 
of the outside wall of the house. He duly 
attended the dissenting chapel at Bradford, 
of which he was a member, every Sunday, 
■ at these times he took care to be provided 
with plenty of halfpence, which he very 
charitably suffered to be taken singly out 
of his hand, held behind him during his 
walk to the chapel, by a number of poor 
people who followed him, without his ever 
looking back; or asking a single question. 
Mr. Sharp was very irregular as to his 
meals, and remarkably sparing in his diet, 
which he frequently took in the following 
manner ; A little square hole, something 
like a window, made a communication be- 
tween the room where he was usually em- 
ployed in calculations, and another chamber 
or room in the house where a servant could 
enter ; and before this hole he bad con- 
trived a sliding board : the servant always 
placed his victuals in this hole, without 
speaking or making the least noise, and 
when he had a little leisure he visited his 
cupboard to see what it afforded to satisfy 
his hunger or thirst. But it often happened 
that the breakfast, dinner, and supper have 
remained untouched by liim when the ser- 
vant has gone to remove what was left, so 
deeply engaged had he been in calculations. 
Cavities might easily be perceived in an old 
English oak table where he sat to write, 
by the frequent rubbing and wearing of his 
elbows. Giitta cavat lapidem, &c. By 
Mr. Sharp’s epitaph it appears that he was 
related to Archbishop Sharp ; and Mr. 
Slrarp, the eminent surgeon, who some 
years since retired from business, is the ne- 
phew of our author. Another nephew was 
the father of Mr. Ramsden, the present 
celebrated instrument maker, wbo says that 
his grand uncle Abraham, our author, was 
some time, in his younger days, an excise- 
SHE 
man, which occupation he quitted on com*- 
ing to a patriinonial estate of about two 
hundred pounds a year. 
SHASTER, or Shastram, a sacred 
book, containing the religion of the Banians ; 
it consists of three tracts ; the first of whicli 
contains their moral law ; the second, the 
ceremonial ; and the tliird, delivers the 
peculiar observances for each tribe of In- 
dians. 
SHAWIA, in botany, so named in me- 
mory of Thomas Shaw, D.D. a genus of the 
Syngenesia Polygamia Segregata class and 
order. Essential character : calyx imbri- 
cate, with five or six scales, three interior 
longer ; corolla five-cleft ; seed one, oblong. 
There is only one species, viz, S. paniculata, 
a native of New Zealand. 
SHEADING, a term used in the Isle of 
Man for a riding, tything, or division of that 
isle; the whole being divided into six of 
these sheadings ; in each of which there is 
a coroner or constable, who is appointed 
by the delivery of a rod at the tinewald 
court, or annual convention. 
SHEATHING, in ship building, a sort 
of casing or covering nailed all over the 
outside of a ship’s bottom, to protect the 
planks from the pernicious effects of the 
worms. It has been customary many years 
past to sheath the ships of the Royal Navy, 
and those of the East India service with 
copper. 
SHEAVH, or Sheeve, in maritime af- 
fairs, the wheel on which the rope works 
in a block ; it is generally formed of lignum- 
vitae, sometimes of brass, and frequently 
compounded of both : the interior part, or 
that which sustains the friction against the 
pin, being of brass, let into the exterior, 
which is of lignum- vitae ; it is then denomi- 
nated a sheave with a brass bush. 
Sheave hole, is a channel c'ut in a mast, 
yard, or timber, in which to fix a sheave, 
and answering instead of a block. 
SHEEP, in zoology, a well-known genus 
, of quadrupeds, the horns of w'hich are hol- 
low, bent backw'ard, twisted, and rugose ; 
the fore- teeth are eight, and the hinder ones 
are narrower than the others ; there are no 
canine, or dog-teeth. See Ovis. 
Sheep. Any person who shall feloniously 
drive away, or feloniously steal any sheep 
or lamb, or wilfully kill any sheep or lamb, 
with a felonious intent to steal the carcase, 
or any part thereof, or assist or aid in com- 
mitting any of the said offences, shall be 
guilty of felony, without benefit of clergy. 
14 George II, c. 6. Any person who shall 
