S T E 
Though shoijt he fall of old Corvino’s age* 
His steppings with the other footsteps fit. More. 
STEPPINGLEY, a parish of England, in Bedfordshire; 
3 miles south-west of Ampthill. 
STE'PPINGSTONE, s. Stone laid to catch the foot, and 
save it from wet or dirt. 
Like Stepping-stones to save a stride, 
In streets where kennels are too wide. Swift. 
STER. Used in composition, as webster , malster, spin¬ 
ster, &c. Somner derives this from the Sax. pteope, 
direction, the power of a master. See Lye in V. pCeojie. 
STERBA, or Csorba, a small town of the north-west 
of Hungary, in the county of Liptau, with 1400 inhabitants, 
chiefly Protestants. 
STERBECKIA [so named in memory of Francis Van 
Sterbeeck, author of Theatrum Fungorum], in Botany, a 
genus of the class polyandria, order monogynia, natural order 
of guttiferse (Juss.) —Generic Character. Calyx : perianth 
three or five-leaved : leaflets roundish, concave, acute. Co¬ 
rolla : petals three or five, roundish, crenate, clawed, longer 
than the calyx. Stamina: filaments very many, capillary, 
inserted into the receptacle. Anthers roundish. Pistil: 
germ ovate, superior. Style long, curved in at the top. 
Stigma headed, concave. Pericarp: capsule, cylindrical, 
long, corlicose, one-celled, not opening. Seeds many, large, 
angular, incumbent on each other, nestling in the pulp.— 
Essential Character. Calyx three or five-leaved. Corolla 
three or five-petalled. Capsule corticose, not opening, le¬ 
gume-shaped, many-seeded. Seeds imbricate. 
Sterbeckia lateriflora.—This is a scandent shrub. Leaves 
subopposite, petioled, elliptic, acuminate, quite entire, veined, 
smooth. Peduncles many flowered, very short, lateral. 
Flowers white, small.—Native of Guiana, in woods. 
STERCORA'CEOUS, adj. [stercorosus, Lat] Belong¬ 
ing to dung ; partaking of the nature of dung.—-Green juicy 
vegetables, in a heap together, acquire a heat equal to that of 
a human body ; then a putrid stercoraceous taste and odour, 
in taste resembling putrid flesh, and in smell human faeces.. 
Arbuthnot. 
STERCORARIANS, a name which the Roman church 
anciently gave to such as held that the host was liable to 
digestion, and all its consequences, like other food. 
STERCORA'TION, s. [from stercora , Lat.] The act 
of dunging; the act of manuring with dung.—The first help 
is stercoration: the sheeps’ dung is one of the best, and the 
next dung of kine, and that of horses. Bacon. 
STERCULTA [from Stercus. So named on account of 
its fetid smell], in Botany, a genus of the class dodecan- 
dria, order monogynia, natural order of tricoccae, malvaceae 
(Juss.)— Generic Character. Calyx : perianth one-leafed, 
very large, coriaceous, flat, deciduous, five-parted: parts 
lanceolate, acute. Corolla none: but a nectary placed 
on a cylindric column, bell-shaped, small, five-toothed: 
teeth subtrifid. Stamina: filaments ten or about fifteen, 
very short, two or three on each tooth of the nectary. An¬ 
thers ovate. Pistil: germ globular, five-grooved, in the 
bottom of the nectary. Style filiform, curved in. Stigma 
club-shaped, bifid or five-lobed. Pericarp: capsules five, 
ovate, rcniform, from spreading reflexed, one-celled, opening 
by the interior angle. Seeds many, oval, fastened to the 
suture.— Essential Character. Calyx five-parted. Corolla 
none. Nectary bell-shaped, five-toothed, staminiferous, 
fastened to the column of the germ. Germ pedicelled. Cap¬ 
sules five, one-celled, opening by the inner side, many- 
seeded. 
1. Sterculia lanceolata, or lance-leaved sterculia.—This is 
a tree of moderate size, with smooth, veined, lanceolate 
leaves; the fruit appears to consist of five rather larger ovate 
capsules disposed in a-stellated direction on the footstalk; 
they are of a red colour and contain three or four large 
black round seeds in each.—Native of China. 
2. Sterculia balanghas.—This is a tall tree, with a stem 
of two feet in diameter, thick branches, covered with a thick 
S T E 575 
ash-coloured bark, and furnished with alternate, smooth, 
veined, lanceolate leaves; in general about nine inches long 
and-three broad: the flowers are produced in sparse fascicles 
at the tips of the shoots: the capsules are rather large, 
smooth, ovate, and stand by fives in a stellated direction; 
each capsule containing six, seven or eight moderately large 
round seeds.—Native of Malabar, Amboina, &c. 
3. Sterculia crinita.—A tree of sixty feet high, branching 
in a spreading manner at the top : leaves alternately scattered, 
and on long footstalks: they are smooth above, downy be¬ 
neath, where they are also of a reddish cast; the flowers are 
borne on panicles the footstalks of which have each a sti¬ 
pule at the base.—Native of Guiana, in the woods of Sine- 
mare, and near the river Galibien, 
4. Sterculia cordifolia, or heart-leaved sterculia.—Leaves 
cordate, obsoletely, three-Iobed; capsules acuminate, tomen- 
tose. Stem arborescent.—Native of Senegal. 
5. Sterculia colorata, or coral sterculia.—Leaves five- 
lobed ; lobes acuminate ; calyxes cylindric-club-shaped; 
capsules oblong, smooth, coloured. Trunk erect, growing 
to a very great size. Bark ash-coloured, and a little sca¬ 
brous. Branches numerous, spreading irregularly; bark as 
on the trunk, but smoother. Panicles terminating, small, 
numerous, red like coral, covered with many red stellated 
hairs. Flowers numerous, about an inch long. This tree 
casts its leaves during the cold season. It flowers in April, 
and then appears as if entirely covered with fine ramifica¬ 
tions of red coral. Soon after the leaves make their appear¬ 
ance-—Native of the mountainous parts of the Rajahmundry 
Circar. Called by the Telingas Caraka. 
6. Sterculia urens.—Leaves five-lobed ; lobes acuminate; 
calyxes bell-shaped; capsules ovate, hispid. Trunk erect, 
very straight, with the top large and shady.—It is a very 
large tree, chiefly a native of the mountainous countries of 
the coast of Coromandel. 
7. Sterculia platanifolia, or maple-leaved sterculia.— 
Leaves palmate, five-lobed ; calyxes wheel-shaped, reflexed. 
This is a very lofty tree.—Native of Japan and China. 
8. Sterculia feetida, or fetid sterculia.—Leaves digitate. 
This is a tree above the middle size, with spreading unarmed 
branches.—Native of the East Indies, Cochin-china, &c. 
Propagation and Culture. —Propagated by seed; and 
treated in the same way as Sida. 
STERDYN, a small town in the east of Poland, near the 
town of Siedlee. 
STEREOBATA, or Stereobates [from erTeyeafomj*, 
Gr., solid prop], in Architecture, the basis or founda¬ 
tion, whereon a column, wall, or other piece of building is 
raised. 
This answers pretty well to the continued focle or base¬ 
ment of the moderns. 
STEREOCAULON [from irrepeo;, hard and solid, and 
navXoi;, Gr., a stem], in Botany, a name applied to a genus 
of the Lichens, invented by Screber in his Gen. PI. 768. 
g ee 
STEREOGRATHTC, adj. Delineated on a plane; done 
according to the rules of stereography.—The angles made by 
the circles of the sphere are equal to the angles made by their 
representatives in the stereographic projection. Reid. 
STEREOGRAPHY, s. [o-reoeoj, solid, and ygatpa, I 
write; Gr.; stercographie, Fr.] The art of drawing the 
forms of solids upon a plane. 
STEREO'METRY, s. [gTepeoi; and geroea, Gr.; ste¬ 
reometric, Fr.] The art of measuring all sorts of solid 
bodies. 
STEREO'TOMY, s. [o-repeo; and rep.va, Gr.; stereo- 
tomie, Fr.] The art of cutting solids; as walls, arches, &c. 
STE'REOTYPE, [from o-repeo;, Gr., solid , and tutcm;, 
type; stereotype. Fr.] A multiform solid type; a type- 
metal plate to print from at the letter-press; the art of making 
type-metal plates, or other solid multiform types. See 
Printing. 
STE'REOTYPE, or Stereoty'pic, adj. Pertaining to 
stereotype. 
T€ 
