580 
S T E 
STEVENSWAERT, or Fort St. Etienne, a village 
and fortress of the Netherlands, in the province of Limburg, 
on the Maes?, with only 900 inhabitants; 19 miles north- 
north-east of Maestr.cht. 
STEVENTON, a parish of Eugland, in Southampton- 
shire; 5 miles east of Whitchurch. 
STEVENTON, or Stevington, a parish of England, 
in Bedfordshire; 5| miles north-west of Bedford. Popula¬ 
tion 436. 
STEVENTON, a parish of England, in Berkshire ; 5 
miles south-south-west of Abingdon. Population 584. 
STEVIA [so named by Cavanilles, in memory of Peter 
James Steve, or Esteve, an eminent physician of Va¬ 
lencia], in Botany, a genus of the class syngenesia, order 
polygamia-sequalis, natural order of compositae discoideae, 
corymbiferae (Juss.) —Generic Character. Common calyx 
simple, oblong, of several, nearly equal, leaves, in a simple 
row. Corolla: compound, uniform, discoid. Florets all 
uniform, perfect, fertile, funnel-shaped, with a five-cleft 
spreading limb, not numerous. Stamina: filaments in each 
floret five, capillary; anthers united into a cylindrical tube. 
Pistil: germen oblong ; style thread-shaped ; stigmas two, 
long and slender. Pericarp none, except the permanent 
upright calyx. Seeds solitary to each floret, oblong; down 
chaffy, or partly bristly. Receptacle small, naked.— Essen¬ 
tial Character. Receptacle naked; down chaffy; calyx 
cylindrical, of a simple row of leaves. This genus is distin¬ 
guished from eupatorium and ageratum, by its simple row of 
calyx-leaves. From the former, moreover, the chaffy seed- 
down keeps it clearly distinct. 
1. Stevia linearis, or linear stevia. — Stems shrubby. 
Leaves simple, linear, entire. Seed-down of five lanceolate 
scales.—Native of New Spain. 
2. Stevia eupatorio, or three-ribbed stevia.—Stem herba¬ 
ceous. Leaves lanceolate, nearly entire, three-ribbed; flowers 
crowded ; seed-down of short scales, with intermediate 
bristles.—Native of Mexico. 
3. Stevia salicifolia, or willow-leaved stevia.—Leaves lan¬ 
ceolate, serrated; tapering and entire at each end, Seed- 
down of two awl-shaped bristles.—Native of Mexico. 
4. Stevia serrata, or serrated stevia.—Leaves linear-lanceo¬ 
late, most serrated towards the point. Seed-down of three 
short scales, with intermediate bristles.—Native of Mexico. 
5. Stevia pedata, or compound-leaved stevia.—Leaves 
pedate, entire. Seed-down of several short equal scales.— 
Native of Mexico. 
STEV1N (Simon), was born at Bruges after the middle of 
the 16th century, but the year of his birth is not ascertained. 
He was held in great estimation by Maurice, Prince of 
Orange, whose own taste led him to respect the mathematical 
and mechanical acquirements of Stevin, and he was em¬ 
ployed in Holland as an inspector of the dykes. He seems 
to have been the first person who discovered the true pro¬ 
portion between the power and the weight on an inclined 
plane, which he accurately determined in all the different 
cases. In hydrostatics he was also no less an adept than in 
mechanics; and to him we owe the discovery of the famous 
paradox, that a fluid contained in a tube decreasing up¬ 
wards, acts with the seme pressure on the base as if the tube 
were every where uniform. He was also the inventor of a 
sailing-boat, which was moved entirely by the impulse of 
the wind, and with such velocity, that it conveyed passen¬ 
gers from Scheveling to Putten, though a distance of about 
forty miles, in the space of two hours. 
It is also asserted by Swertius and Valerius Andreas, that 
Stevin could raise any weight with a small power, by a simple 
machine, called by the latter, “ pantacrator.” Stevin died 
at Leyden, according to Weidler, in 1633. His woiks are, 
“ A Book of Arithmetic, in French,” printed by Plantin, at 
Antwerp, in 1585, 8vo., and reprinted with his Algebra, in 
Flemish, in 1605; “ Problematum Geometricorum, Lib. V.” 
4to.; and various other treasises in Flemish, translated into 
Latin by Snellius, under the title of “ Hypomnemata Mathe¬ 
matical' Lugd. Bat 1608, 4 tom. fol., of which there is a 
French edition, with curious notes and additions by Albert 
S T E 
Girard, 1634, 6 vols. folio. The first contains arithmetic 
and algebra, with tables of interest; the second, cosmo¬ 
graphy, that is, the doctrine of triangles, geography, and 
astronomy; the third, practical geometry; the fourth, 
statics; the fifth, optics; and the sixth, castrametation, for¬ 
tification by sluices, and general fortification. One of his 
treatises relates to the finding of harbours, and is entitled in 
the French edition, “ Du Trouve-Port, ou la Maniere de 
trover les Havres,” which was translated by Grotius into 
Latin verse, 1599, 4to. Montucla says, that none of Stevin’s 
works contain any new things, except his Mechanics; but 
Dr. Hutton informs us, that his improvements in algebra 
were many and ingenious. Hutton's Diet, and Mathema- 
tical Tracts. 
STEVINGTON END, or Bartlow End, a hamlet of 
England, in Essex ; 5 miles north-east of Saffron Waldon. 
STEUSSLINGEN, a large village of the west of 
Germany, in Wirtemberg, not far from Ehingen. Popula¬ 
tion 1100. 
I'o STEW, v. a. [ estuver, Fr.; stoven, Dutch.] To 
seethe any thing in a slow moist heat, with little water.—I 
bruised my skin with playing at sword and dagger with a 
master of fence, three veneys for a dish of stew'd prunes. 
Shakspeare. 
To STEW, v. n. To be seethed in a slow moist heat. 
STEW, s. [ estuve , Fr.; stufa, Ital.; estufa, Span.; 
stufwa, Su. Goth.] A bagnio; a hot-house.—The Lydians 
were inhibited by Cyrus to use any armour, and give them¬ 
selves to baths and stews. Abbot. —A brothel; a house of 
prostitution. This signification is by some imputed to this, 
that there were licensed brothels near the stews or fish-ponds 
in Southwark; but probably stew, like bagnio, took a bad 
signification from bad use. 
I have seen corruption boil and bubble. 
Till it o’er-run the stew. Shakspeare. 
With them there are no stews, no dissolute house, no cur- 
tesans. Bacon. —Making his own house a stews, a bordel, 
and a school of lewdness, to instil the rudiments of vice into 
the unwary flexible years of his poor children. South. — 
A prostitute. Unused. —It was so plotted betwixt the lady 
her husband, and Bristoll, that instead of that beauty he had 
a notorious stew sent him. Sir A. Weldon. — [stowen, 
Dutch, to store. ] A store-pond; a small pond where fish 
are kept for the table. 
Full many a fat partrich had be in mewe. 
And many a breme, and many a lucre in stew. Chaucer. 
Meat stewed: as, a stew of veal, beef, or the like.—Con¬ 
fusion : as when the air is full of dust, smoke, or steam; 
which is a northern expression, as Grose observes. 
STE'WARD, s. [pcipapb, Sax.; Dr. Johnson.—From 
stivardur, Cimbr. of stia, work, and vardur, warden, 
overlooker. —One who manages the affairs of another. 
There sat yclad in red, 
Down to the ground, a comely personage. 
That in his right hand a white rod managed; 
He steward was, high diet, ripe of age. 
And in demeanour sober, and in council sage. Spenser. 
An officer of state. 
The Duke of Suffolk is the first, and claims 
To be high steward. - Shakspeare. 
To STE'WARD, v. a. To manage as a steward. Un¬ 
used. —Did he thus requite his mother’s care in stewarding 
the state ? Fuller. 
STE'WARDSHIP, s. The office of a steward. 
The Earl of Worcester 
Hath broke his staff, resign’d his stewardship. Shaksveare. 
STEWART (Matthew, D.D.), professor of mathematics in 
the University of Edinburgh, was born in the year 1717. As 
soon as he left school in 1734, being intended for the church, 
he was placed at the University of Glasgow, where his ap¬ 
plication and proficiency engaged the peculiar notice and 
friendship of the two eminent professors, Dr. Hutcheson and 
Dr. Simson 
