STACK. 
| inner end of his handful of thatch, gathered. into 
| a neck or wisp, into the butts of the sheaves, and 
spreads out the lower end like a fan, overhanging 
the eaves. Beginning at the eaves, and cover- 
ing as much of theseas he can reach at arm’s 
length, he works upwards, causing each succes- 
sive handful to overlap that immediately below ; 
and he thus covers the roof in triangular portions, 
till he has gone round the whole backwards, that 
he may avoid treading on his work. When he 
has reached the top of all, he laysa considerable | 
thickness of short straw upon the crown, over 
which a straw-rope is carried perpendicularly, 
dividing the roof into two equal sections. He 
then covers this topping ef short straw with long 
thatch, drawn to a point at the summit, and ties | 
the upper ends of this with a small straw-rope | 
into a peak, giving this last part the resemblance 
With the aid of two assistants 
on the ground, while he remains aloft on a ladder, | 
so as to be able nearly to reach the top of all 
with his hands, the thatcher now places a num- 
ber of straw-ropes, which obliquely embrace the 
conical roof, te secure the thatch. The middle | 
of each rope is fixed, by means of a small wisp of 
of an umbrella. 
straw, to the perpendicularly transverse rope 
already mentioned, and the ends of all the oblique | 
ropes are fixed belew by the assistants, either to. 
the butts of the sheaves in the cylindrical body | 
of the stack, or to a circular belt rope which | 
life, 
this is too high for the assistants, each has a 
short ladder to enable him to reach up. This, 
series of ropes has a considerable obliquity from 
above downwards, and they are placed at about a 
In! 
firmly embraces the body below the eaves. 
foot or 15 inches distant from each other. 
case of hurry from the prospect of bad weather, 
this first series of oblique ropes may secure the 
| thatch from being blown off for some time ; and 
in such emergencies, all the stacks belonging to 
a farm may be left for a time in this state. The 
whole fabric is effectually secured by a similar 
and opposite series of straw-ropes, put in the 
same manner on the other side of the roof, and 
obliquely crossing the first series of ropes. When | 
thus finished, the entire roof is covered by a net- 
work of lozenge-shaped meshes, all the sides of 
every one of which are in a direction obliquely 
downwards, to facilitate the descent of moisture, 
either from rain or melting snow. A contrivance 
for promoting ventilation through the centre of 
a stack is noticed in the article Boss. 
An oblong stack may be built with interrup- 
tions at regular intervals, for the convenience of 
taking it down in parts without disturbance to 
the remainder ; and it is roofed in a ridge-form 
like a house, and is thatched similarly to a circu- 
lar stack, but with the straw ropes stretched 
directly across. A main and very important ob- 
jection to it, showing its vast inferiority to a cir- 
cular stack, is its obstruction of the free circula- 
tion of the air, and its special liability to injury 
from the moisture of wet weather. The practice 
STAGGERS. 323 
which prevails in some English districts of stor- 
ing sheaf-corn wholly or principally in barns, is 
both inconvenient and very expensive. See the 
article Barn. 
STACKHOUSIA. A small genus of exotic, 
monochlamydeous plants, constituting the type 
of the small natural order Stackhouseze. Only 
two or three species have as yet been introduced 
to Britain ; and all are from Australia, and but 
slightly ornamental. The flax-leaved stack- 
housia is an evergreen shrub of about two feet 
in height; and the one-styled is an evergreen 
shrub, of about one foot in height, carrying light 
pinkish flowers in April. 
STACKYARD. See Farm-Buitprines and Barn. 
STADDLE. See Srack and Haymaxrne. 
STAHELINA. A genus of ornamental exotic 
plants, of the thistle division of the composite 
order. Its plants possess considerable affinity to 
the helichrysums and the finer kinds of gna- 
phaliums, and used formerly to be called wild 
immortal flowers. The deubtful species, S. dubia, 
is a hardy, deciduous, fragrant, purple-flowered 
shrub, about 3 feet high, blooming in June and 
July, loving a soil of peaty loam, and propagable 
from cuttings; and was introduced about two 
centuries ago from the south of Europe. Two 
frame, purple-flowered, evergreen shrubs have 
been introduced from Crete ; and nearly a dozen 
other species are known. 
STAFF-TREE. See Crnastrvs. 
STAG. See Drzr. 
STAG-EVIL. See Teranvs. 
STAGGERS. Several analogous yet widely 
different diseases of the chief domesticated ani- 
mals. All are violent, and take their name from 
a staggering gait in their subjects, and require 
great promptitude and skill of treatment. The 
mad staggers of horses is phrenitis, and has been 
noticed in the article Inrnammartion. A similar 
staggers to this sometimes occurs in sheep and 
hogs, and ought to be similarly treated. The 
common staggers of sheep and:oxen arises from 
the presence of a peculiar entozoon in the head, 
and has been noticed in the article Hyparip. 
The stomach staggers or symptomatic staggers 
of horses arises from distention of the stomach 
with dry undigested food, producing pressure on 
the brain, and sometimes exciting inflammation 
in the intestines and the lungs. A horse affected 
with it hangs down his head, or rests it in the 
manger, appears drowsy, and refuses his food. 
His tongue and mouth are tinged of a yellowish 
colour ; and commonly the membrane under his 
eyelid is more deeply tinged, and approaches in 
general to a dusky orange colour. A slight con- 
vulsive or twitching motion occurs in the muscles 
of the chest; the forelegs appear suddenly to 
give way at times, as if the horse would fall; 
and he rarely lies down, unless the disease is 
going off or death is approaching. The pulse is 
never affected in the early stage of this com- 
plaint, but sometimes begins to indicate by and 
