655 
S T U 
relation they bear to musical tones; of poetical licences, 
metre, &e. The last part has never been published. Not¬ 
withstanding the general merit of Snorro, he is described as 
a cunning and deceitful man; unsteady in his friendship, 
fond of money, as well as ambitious, and of a violent and 
quarrelsome disposition. Gen. Biog. 
STURM (James), was born of a family of eminence at 
Strasburgh, in 1489, and elected at the age of twenty-five 
into the senate of his native place. He was an active pro¬ 
moter of the Reformation, and deputed to the imperial diet, 
assembled on that occasion. When the deputies of the 
reformed were excluded, in 1529, from the diet at Spire, 
Sturmius boldly entered his protest against the measure, and 
on behalf of his constituents and the other confederates, 
declared, that if good citizens were thus divested of their 
privileges, contrary to the customs of the empire, it could 
not be expected that they should contribute to the public 
expenses. This protestation on his part gave rise to the 
appellation of “ Protestants." Amongst other offices of 
important trust, which were committed to him, he was one 
of the ambassadors sent in 1536 from the states of Germany 
to Henry VIII. of England. By his influence a college was 
established at Strasburgh in 1538, and at his death he left to 
its support a considerable legacy. Sleidan, in his “ History 
of the Reformation,” availed himself of much valuable 
information communicated by Sturmius, of whom it is 
recorded, that being scandalized by the violent disputes 
among the Reformers concerning the Lord’s Supper, he 
abstained for many years from receiving it. After having 
several times served his state as mayor, and having been 
ninety-one times delegated from it on public business, 
he died in high esteem, at the age of sixty-four. Gen. 
Biog. 
STURM (John), was born at Sleida, near Cologne, in 
1507, and studied at Liege and Louvain, in which last city 
he set up a press, and joined Rescius, the Greek professor, 
in printing several Greek books. In 1529 he transferred 
his printing-press to Paris, where he delivered lectures on the 
classics and on logic. He married there; but being sus¬ 
pected of an attachment to the new opinions, he removed 
to Strasburgh, where he was appointed first rector of the 
newly appointed college, which flourished greatly under his 
care, as he was well versed in the learned languages, 
wrote Latin, with purity, and had a good method of teach¬ 
ing. By his influence the college was raised, in 1566, by 
the emperor Maximilian II., to the rank of an university. 
The benefactions of Sturm to refugees from France and 
other parts, on account of their religion, injured his own cir¬ 
cumstances; and his life was disquieted by the persecutions 
of the Lutheran ministers. His own sentiments were those 
of Zuinglius, though he conformed to the mitigated Lu¬ 
theranism which he found at Strasburgh. However, in pro¬ 
cess of time, as the ministers became rigid on the subject of 
consubstantiation, he withdrew from the religious services, 
and at length, when he was obliged to declare his opinion, 
he was deprived of his office at the age of 67 years. Be¬ 
fore his death he became blind, and terminated his life in 
1689, in his 82d year. Sturm was the editor of many 
works, which gave him reputation in the learned world. 
From the Greek he translated Aristotle’s books on Rheto¬ 
ric, and the works of Hermogenes concerning oratory; and 
he composed some original treatises on the method of teach¬ 
ing those arts. Several of his letters are contained in the 
Latin correspondence of Roger Ascham, printed at Oxford. 
Baffle. Moreri. 
STURM, or Sturmius, (John-Christopher,) bom at 
Hippolstein in 1635, was a professor of philosophy and 
mathematics at Altdorf, where he died in 1703. In 1670 
he published a German translation of the works of Archi¬ 
medes, and afterwards many books of his own composition. 
The titles and dates of several of them are as follow: “ Col¬ 
legium experimental curiosum,” 4to. Nuremberg, 1676; 
u Physica electiva et hypothetica,’’ 2 vols. 4to. Nuremberg, 
1675, reprinted at Altdorf, 1730; “ Scientia Cosmica,” 
fob Altdorf, 1670; “ Architecture Militaris Tyrocinia,” 
S T U 
fol. 1682; “ Epistola de Veritate propositionum Borelli de 
Motu Animalium,” 4to. Nuremb. 1684; “ Physicse Con- 
ciliatrix Gonamina,” 8vo. Altd. 1684; “ Mathesis enu- 
cleata,” 8vo. Nuremb. 1695; “Mathesis Juvenilis,” Nu¬ 
remb. 2 vols. 8vo. 1699; “Physicse modemae Compen¬ 
dium,” 8vo. Nuremb. 1704; “Tyrocinia Mathematica," 
fol. Leipsic, 1707; “ Prselectiones Academicae,” 4to. 1722; 
“ Prselectiones Academicae,” Strasburg, 12mo. 
STURMERE, a parish of England, in Essex; 9| miles 
north-west of Castle Hedingham. 
STURMFIAUBE, a mountain of Bohemia, in the 
Riesengebirge chain, about 4500 feet in height. 
STURMINSTER MARSHAL, a parish, formerly a 
market town, of England, situated on the river Stour; 8| 
miles south-west of Shaftsbury. Population 588. 
STURMINSTER NEWTON CASTLE, or more generally 
Sturminster Newton, a market town of England, in the 
county of Dorset, situated on the river Stour. It consists of 
two townships that stretch along each side of the river, and 
communicate with each other by means of a causeway, and 
a bridge consisting of six arches. The buildings are rather 
low, and mostly covered with thatch. In the market-place, 
however, are some good houses covered with tiles. The 
market-house is a lolty oblong building, the upper part of 
which is used as a warehouse, and the under part serves for 
butchers’ shambles. The church is a very lofty spacious 
piece of architecture. Baxter conjectures this place to be 
the Anicetis of Ravennas. It was undoubtedly known in 
the early ages of the Saxons; for the castle boasts of very 
remote antiquity. Its ruins are in the form of a Roman D, 
and stands on a high hill, surrounded by a high vallum and 
deep ditch on the south west, and part on the east. Near 
the centre is a small artificial mount or keep. The manor 
was held by the abbey of Glastonbury, by a grant from king 
Edgar, having formerly been bequeathed by Alfred the 
Great to his son Ethel wald. Market on Thursday, and two 
annual fairs. In 1811 Sturminster contained 1461 inhabit¬ 
ants; 20 miles north-north-east of Dorchester, and 111 west- 
by-south of London. 
STURNUS, the Stare, or Starling, in Ornithology, a 
genus of birds of the order passeres, of which the Generic 
Character is as follows: Bill subulate, angular, depressed, 
bluntish; the upper mandible is entire, somewhat open at 
the edges; the nostrils are surrounded with a prominent 
rim; tongue notched and pointed. There are seventeen 
species. - 
]. Sturnus vulgaris, or common starling.—Bill yellowish; 
body black, with white dots.—-This is very common in our 
own country, and is found in other parts of Europe, Asia, 
and America. It is about nine inches long, and builds its 
nest in the hollows of trees, eaves of houses, towers, or rocky 
cliffs ; it lays from four to five eggs, which are of a palish- 
green colour. In the winter season, starlings assemble in 
vast flocks in marshy places; feed on worms and insects; 
are very docile, and may easily be taught to speak. The 
flesh is bitter, and scarcely eatable. The other character¬ 
istics of this species are, that their quili-feathers and tail are 
of a dusky hue; the former are edged with yellow on the 
outer side, the latter with a dirty-green ; lesser coverts edged 
with yellow, and slightly glossed with green; the legs are 
of a reddish-brown. Male is shining, with purple, green, 
and gold. 
During the winter months, starlings crowd together in such 
close and well-arranged battalions, that no bird of prey dare 
to penetrate their ranks. This manner of flight, which is ex¬ 
tremely useful in defending them against rapacious birds, ren¬ 
ders them a more easy prey to the wiles of the bird-catcher, 
who dispatches among them a number of birds of their own 
kind, each having a glued thread tied to its leg, by which 
some of them are entangled and brought to the ground 
Their love of society not only prompts them to associate 
with birds of their own species, but with others in no way 
allied to their tribe. In the spring and summer they are fre¬ 
quently seen with crows and choughs, and even with pigeons. 
It is, however, principally towards night that the starlings 
unite 
