318 SQUILL ROOT. 
of most or all of the other species, contains some 
acrid or poisonous matter,—whence is derived 
the names squill and scilla, from a word signify- 
ing to injure; but it also contains much useful 
mucilage, which can easily be separated from 
the acrid matter, and is extensively employed by 
calico-printers.—The spring squill, Scilla verna, 
grows wild in rocky situations in Britain; and 
has a height of 3 or 4 inches; and carries blue 
flowers in April and May. ‘Two pretty varieties 
of it—the one with white flowers, S. v. alba, and 
the other with rose-coloured flowers, S. v. rosea 
—occur in gardens. — The two-leaved squill, 
Scilla bifolia, grows wild in the woods of some 
parts of England; and has a height of 3 or 4 
inches; and carries blue flowers from February 
till April. Two varieties of it—the one with 
white flowers, S. 6. aléa, and the other with red 
flowers, S. 6. rubra—have been introduced from 
the south of Europe—The autumnal squill, Sezl/a 
autumnalis, grows wild in the dry pastures of 
some parts of England; and has a height of 3 or 
4 inches; and carries pink flowers in August 
and September. Two varieties of it—the one 
much taller than the normal plant, S. a. major, 
and the other with white flowers, S. a. alba— 
occur in gardens. 
Some of the most beautiful, or otherwise in- 
teresting, of the introduced species, are the cam- 
panulate, S. campanulata, a native of Spain, a 
foot high, carrying dark purple flowers in May 
and June, and comprising two varieties with 
respectively white and pink flowers; the Italian, 
S. italica, a native of Switzerland, 9 or 10 inches 
high, carrying blue flowers from April till July ; 
the Peruvian, S. peruviana, a native of Southern 
Europe, a foot high, carrying dark blue flowers 
in May, and comprising a variety with white 
flowers; the Siberian, S. sibirica, a native of 
Siberia, 3 or 4 inches high, carrying blue flowers 
in February and March; the pleasing, S. amena, 
a native of the Levant, 3 or 4 inches high, carry- 
ing light blue flowers in March and April; the 
hyacinth-like, 8. hyacinthoides, a native of Ma- 
deira, rather tender, 6 or 7 inches high, carrying 
blue flowers in August; and the esculent, or 
quamash, S. esculenta, a native of North America, 
a foot high, carrying white flowers from May 
till July. : 
SQUILL ROOT. The bulb of Ornithogalum 
squilla. See the article OrnirHocaLum. ‘This 
bulb is medicinal, and has a place in the phar- 
macopeeias, It isinodorous, bitter, and nauseous ; 
and possesses so much acridity that, when much 
handled, it inflames and ulcerates the skin; but 
loses a considerable portion of both its acridity 
and its medicinal virtues by drying and long 
keeping. It consists, according to Vogel, of 30 
per cent. of woody fibre, 24 of tannin, 6 of gum, 
6 of saccharine matter, and 35 of a peculiar bit- 
ter principle called scillitina ; and this principle, 
when separated, is white, transparent, and pul- 
verulent, breaks with a resinous fracture, is very 
STABLE. 
soluble in water and in alcohol, rapidly absorbs 
moisture from the atmosphere till it liquefies, and 
has an intensely bitter taste with a perceptible 
degree of sweetness. Squill root, in small dozes, 
is expectorant and diuretic,—in large doses, eme- 
tic and purgative,—and in over-doses, produc- 
tive of strangury, bloody urine, cold sweating, 
and convulsion; and it is administered, in com- 
bination with other medicines, in asthma, dysp- 
noea, and dropsy, —and is also a principal in- 
gredient in a number of expectorant pharma- 
ceutical preparations, ordered in the pharmaco- 
poeeias and kept in the drug shops. 
SQUIRREL. A genus of mammals, of the 
order rodentia. They have four grinders, va- 
riously tuberculated, and a very small additional 
one above in front,—strongly compressed inferior 
incisors,—large head, with lively projecting eyes, 
—four toes before, and five behind, the thumb of 
the fore-feet sometimes marked by a tubercle,— 
and a long tail, furnished with hairs, and, in the 
case of the most characteristic, so spread out on 
the sides as to resemble a large feather. They 
are light and active animals, living on trees, and 
feeding on fruits——The common squirrel, Sczu- 
rus vulgaris, is a well-known, lively, little inhabi- 
tant of the woods of Britain. 
bright red colour: its belly is white; and its 
ears are terminated by a tuft of hair. It feeds 
on nuts, acorns, cones, buds, and young shoots of 
trees. The female constructs among the branches 
of trees a nest of moss and dried leaves, and 
brings forth from three to seven young in April 
or May. 
SQUITCH-GRASS. See Coucn-Grass. 
STAAVIA. A genus of ornamental, calyciflo- 
rous, white-flowered, Cape-of-Good-Hope, ever- 
green undershrubs, of the brunia family. Three 
species, varying in height from 12 to 24 inches, 
and blooming in the early part of summer, have 
been introduced to the greenhouses of Britain ; 
and they are heath-like and beautiful, and love 
a soil of peaty loam, and are propagated from 
cuttings. 
STABLE. The size, arrangement, and fur- 
nishing of stables must considerably vary accord- 
ing to the circumstances of their owners, and to 
the number and quality of their inmates ; and 
yet ought, in every instance, to be determined by 
certain great general rules for the promotion of 
convenience, cleanliness, ventilation, comfort, 
and health. Some hints for wisely constructing 
them on farm-steads are given in the article 
Farm-Buinpines; and instructions respecting 
their efficient management are contained in the 
articles Horsr, Groomine, Liguip Manovrs, and 
Farm-Yarp Manure; so that, in this place, we 
have to concern ourselves principally with the 
statement and illustration of the most important 
of the general rules. 
The site of every stable ought to be such as to 
ensure complete drainage, not only of all rain 
and snow water, but also and stringently of all 
Its back has a> 
