fill a page: of this we could adduce many 
instances ; but, perhaps, no person has sent 
from his office more specimens of this kind 
than the printer pf tiiis dictionary. 
STERLING, a term frequent in British 
commerce. A pound, shilling, or penny, 
sterling, signifies as much as a pound, shil- 
ling, or penny of lawful money of Great 
Britain, as settled by authority. 
STERN of a ship, usually denotes all the 
hindermoft part of her, but properly it is 
only the outmost part abaft. 
Stern fast, denotes some fastenings of 
ropes, &c. behind the stern of a ship, to 
which a cable, or hawser, may be' brought 
or fixed, in order to hold her stern to a 
wharf, &c. 
Stern post, a great timber let into the 
keel at tlie stern of a ship, somewhat slop- 
ing, into which are fastened the after-planks ; 
and on this post, by its pintle and gudgeons, 
hangs the rudder. 
STERNA, the iei-n, in natural history, a 
genus of birds of the order Anseres. Gene- 
ric character: bill straight, pointed, and 
slender; nostrils linear ; tongue slender and 
pointed ; wings vhry long ; back toe small ; 
tail forked. There are twenty-five species. 
The following are the principal: S. caspia, 
or the Caspian tern ; this abounds on the 
seas wherein it derives its name. It fishes 
also in rivers, and sometimes suddenly darts 
upon its prey from a considerable height, 
and at other times skims the surface of the 
water in the manner of a swallow. It is 
nearly two feet in length. It lays only two 
eggs, and its sound resemble those of a per- 
son laughing. 
S. stolida, or the noddy, is a foot and a 
quarter long, and is frequently met with at 
sea, between the tropics. It lays its eggs 
on the bare ground ; is considered by navi- 
gators as generally indicating the neigh- 
bourhood of land ; often alights on the yards 
and rigging of vessels ; will suffer itself to 
be taken by the hand ; and from the general 
want of sagacity which it exhibits, is called 
by sailors by the name of noddy. It will, 
however, notwithstanding its alledged tame- 
ness and stupidity, often bite with great 
severity. 
S. hinindo, the great tern, is found in va- 
rious parts of Europe, and in summer on 
the British coasts. It is fourteen inches 
long. Its manners, on the water, resemble 
those of the swallow by land. It skims 
along precisely in the same manner, catch- 
ing every insect in its progress ; and when 
it perceives a fish, it darts into the water 
and reverts to the air with a rapidity truly 
astonishing. It is bold and daring ; and, in 
the season of incubation, will attack persons 
who have given it no molestation, and are 
at a distance from its nest. For the lesser 
tern, see Aves, Plate XIII. fig. 7. 
STERNOPTYX, in natural history, a 
genus of fishes of the order Apodes. Gene- 
ric character : head obtuse ; mouth abrupt ; 
teeth very small; no gill-membrane;' body 
compressed, witliout visible scales ; breast 
carinate, both ways folded ; abdomen pel- 
lucid. The transparent sternoptyx, the only 
species under this genus, is between two 
and three inches long, and is found in the 
American Seas. Its back rises into a sharp 
edge. Its general colour is that of a bright 
silver, but on the back it is somewhat olive 
coloured, and its fins and tail are of an ob- 
scure yellow ; its tail is bifid. See Pisces, 
Plate VJ. fig. 2 . 
STEW, a small kind of fish-pond, the pe- 
culiar office of which is to maintain fish, and 
keep them in readiness for the daily use of a 
family, &c. The fish bred in tlie large ponds 
are drawn out and put in here. For two 
large ponds, of three or four acres a-piece, 
it is advisable to have four stews, each two 
rods wide, and three long. The stews are 
usually in gardens, or at least near the house, 
to be more handy, and the better looked to. 
The method of making them is to carry tlie 
bottom in a continued decline fi'om one 
end, with a mouth to favour the drawing 
with a net. 
STEWARD, an officer appointed in an- 
other’s stead or place, and always taken for 
a principal officer within his jurisdiction. 
Of these there are various kinds. The 
greatest officer under the crown is the 
Lord High Steward of England, an office 
that was anciently the inheritance of the 
Earls of Leicester, till forfeited by Simon 
de Mountfort, to King Henry III. But 
the power of this officer is so very great, 
that it has not been judged safe to trust it 
any longer in the hands of a subject, ex- 
cepting only pro hue vice, occasionally : as 
to officiate at a coronation, at the arraign- 
ment of a nobleman for high-treason, or the 
like. During his office, the Steward bears 
a white staff in his hand, and the trial, &c. 
ended, he breaks the staff, and with it his 
commission expires. There is likewise a 
Lord Steward of the King’.s household, 
who is the chief officer of the King’s court, 
has the care of the King’s house, and autho- 
rity over all the officers and servants of the 
