of the flint getting into their lungs, and producing dreadful coughs, consumptions, and other pulmonary disorders. These disasters, and the increased demand for the flint powder, induced them to try to grind it by mills of various constructions; and this method being found both effectual and safe, has continued in practice ever since. With these improvements, in the beginning of the present century, various articles were produced for tea and coffee equipages. Soon after attempts were made to furnish the dinner table also; and, before the middle of the century, utensils for the table were manufactured in quantity, as well for exportation as home consumption. But the salt glaze, the only one then in use for this purpose, is in its own nature so imperfect, and the potters, from an injudicious competition among themselves for cheapness, rather than excellence, had been so inattentive to elegance of form, and neatness of workmanship, that this ware was rejected from the tables of persons of rank; and about the year 1760, a white ware, much more beautiful, and better glazed than ours, began to be imported in considerable quantities from France. This inunda tion of a foreign manufacture, so much superior to any of our own, must have had very bad effects upon the potteries of this kingdom, if a new one, still more to the public taste, had not appeared soon after. In the year 1763, Mr. Josiah Wedgwood, who had already introduced several improvements into this art, invented a species of earthen ware for the table, quite new in its appearance, covered with a rich and brilliant glaze; bearing sudden alternations of heat and cold, manufactured with ease and expedition, and consequently cheap, and having every requisite for the purpose intended. To this new manufacture the Queen was pleased to give her name and patronage, commanding it to be called Queen's Ware, and honouring the inventor by appointing him her Majesty's potter. The common clay of the country is used for the ordinary sorts; the finer kinds are made of clay from Devonshire and Dor setshire, chiefly from Biddeford; but the flints from the Thames are all brought rough, by sea, either to Liverpool, or Hull, and so by Burton. There is no conjecture formed of the original reason of fixing the manufacture in this spot, except for the convenience of plenty of coals, which abound under all the country. The flints are first ground in mills, and the clay pre

pared by breaking, washing, and sifting, and then they are mixed in the requisite proportions. The flints are bought first by the people about the country, and by them burnt and ground, and sold to the manufacturers by the peck. The mixture is then laid in large quantities on kilns, to evaporate the moisture; but this is a nice work, as it must not be too dry; next it is beat with large wooden hammers, and then is in order for throwing, and is moulded into the forms in which it is to remain; this is the most difficult work in the whole manufacture. A boy turns a perpendicular wheel, which, by means of thongs, turns a small horizontal one, just before the thrower, with such velocity, that it twirls round the lump of clay he lays on into any form he directs it with his fingers.

There were many years ago 300 houses, which were calculated to employ, upon an average, 20 hands each, or 6000 in the whole; but of all the variety of people that work in what may be called the preparation for the employment of the immediate manufacturers, the total number is said to be not much short of 15,000, and it is increasing every day. Large quantities are exported to Germany, Ireland, Holland, Russia, Spain, the East Indies, and much to America; some of the finest sorts to France.

STOP, in music, a word applied by violin and violincello performers to that pressure of the strings by which they are brought into contact with the fingerboard, and by which the pitch of the note is determined: a string so pressed is said to be stopped.

STOP, trumpet, a reed metallic stop, so called because its tone is imitative of the trumpet. In large organs it generally extends through the whole compass. The mouths of its pipes are not formed like those of the pipes of other stops, but resemble that of the real trumpet. At the bottom of each of the pipes of this stop, in a cavity called the socket, is fixed a brass reed, stopped at the lower end, and open in front; it is furnished with a tongue, or brass spring, which covers the opening, and which, when the wind is impelled into the pipe, is thereby put into a vibratory motion, which produces the imitative tone peculiar to this stop. The trumpet stop is the most powerful in the instrument, and improves the tone as much as it increases the peal of the chorus. Unisonous with the diapasons, it strengthens the foundation, subdues the dissonances of the thirds and fifths of the sesqui

altera, and imparts to the compound a richness and grandeur of effect adequate to the sublimest subjects.

STOPPER, in a ship, a piece of cablelaid rope, having a whale-knot at one end, with a laniard fastened to it; and the other end is spliced round a thimble in the ring bolts upon deck, and at the bits its use is to stop the cable, that it may not run out too fast; in order to which, they make turns with the laniard about the cable, and the whale-knot stops it, so that it cannot slip away faster than is necessary.

STORAX. See RESIN.

STORES. If any person, who has the charge or custody of any of the King's armour, ordnance, ammunition, shot, powder, or habiliments of war, or of any victuals for victualling the navy, shall, to hinder his Majesty's service, embezzle, purloin, or convey away the same, to the value of twenty shillings; or shall steal or embezzle any of his Majesty's sails, cordage, or any other of his naval stores, to the value of twenty shillings, he shall be adjudged guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. 22 Charles II. c. 5. The treasurer, comptroller, surveyor, clerk of the acts, or any commissioner of the na vy, may act as justices in causing the offender to be apprehended, committed, and prosecuted for the same. 9 George III. c. 30. If any person shall wilfully and maliciously set on fire, burn or destroy any of his Majesty's military, naval, or victualling stores, or other ammunition of war, or any place, where any such stores or ammunition shall be kept; he and his abetters shall be guilty of felony without benefit of clergy. 12 George III. c. 24. None but the contractors with the commissioners of the navy shall make any stores of war, naval stores, with the marks commonly used to his Majesty's stores, upon pain of forfeiting two hundred pounds. And persons, in whose custody such stores shall be found con cealed, are liable to the same penalty. Statute 9 and 10 William III. c. 41.

Justices may mitigate the penalty of concealing stores; statute 9 George 1. c. 8. Justices of assize and quarter-sessions may hear and determine offences relating to stores; statute 17 George II. c. 40.

STORK. See ARDEA.

STOWAGE, in naval affairs, the general disposition of the several materials contained in a ship's hold, with regard to their figure, magnitude, or solidity.

STRAKES, in the sea language, signify

the uniform ranges of planks on the bottom, decks, and sides of ships; and the garboard strake is that next the keel.

STRAND, signifies any shore of the sea, or bank of a great river: hence an immunity from paying customs, on goods or vessels, was anciently expressed by strand and stream.

STRANDED, among seamen, is said of a ship that is driven ashore by a tempest, or runs on ground through ill steerage, and so perishes. When any vessel is stranded, the justices of the peace are empowered to command the constables near the sea coast to call assistance, in order to preserve the same, if possible.

STRATA, in natural history, the several beds or layers of different matters whereof the earth is composed. The strata, whereof the earth is composed, are so very different in different countries, that it is impossible to say any thing concerning them, that may be generally applicable: and, indeed, the depths to which we can penetrate are so small, that only a very few can be known to us at any rate; those that lie near the centre, or even a great way from it, being for ever hid. One reason why we cannot penetrate to any great depth is, that as we go down, the air becomes foul, loaded with pernicious vapours, inflammable air, fixed air, &c. which destroy the miners, and there is no possibility of going on. In many places, however, these vapours become pernicious much sooner than in others, particularly where sulphureous minerals abound, as in mines of metal, coal, &c. But, however great differences there may be among the under strata, the upper one is in some respects the same all over the globe, at least in this respect, that it is fit for the support of vegetables, which the others are not, without long exposure to the air. Properly speaking, indeed, the upper stratum of the earth all round is composed of the pure vegetable mould, though in many places it is mixed with large quantities of other strata, as clay, sand, gravel, &c. and hence proceed the differences of soils, so well known to those who practise agriculture. It has been supposed by some naturalists, that the different strata of which the earth is composed were originally formed at the creation, and have continued in a manner immuta-ble ever since: but this cannot possibly have been the case, since we find that many of the strata are strangely intermixed with each other; the bones of animals, both marine and terrestrial, are frequently found at great depths in the earth;

beds of oyster shells are found of immense extent in several countries; and concerning these and other shell-fish, it is remarkable, that they are generally found much farther from the surface than the bones or teeth either of marine or terrestrial animals.

Neither are the shells or other remains of fish found in those countries adjoining to the seas where they grow naturally, but in the most distant regions. Mr. Whitehurst, in his Inquiry into the Original State and Formation of the Earth, has given an account of many different kinds of animals, whose shells and other remains, or exuviæ, are found in England, though at present the living animals are not to be found, except in the East or West Indies. Nothing has more perplex. ed those who undertake to form theories of the earth than these appearances. Some have at once boldly asserted, from these and other phenomena, that the world is eternal. Others have had recourse to the universal deluge. Some, among whom is the Count de Buffon, endeavour to prove that the ocean and dry land are perpetually changing places; that for many ages the highest mountains have been covered with water, inconsequence of which the marine animals just mentioned were generated in such vast quantities; that the waters will again cover these mountains, the habitable part of the earth become sea, and the sea become dry land, as before, &c. Others have imagined, that they might be occasioned by volcanoes, earthquakes, &c. which confound the different strata, and often intermix the productions of the sea with those of the dry land.

STRATIOTES, in botany, a genus of the Dioecia Dodecandria class and order. Natural order of Palma. Hydrocharides, Jussieu. Essential character: spathe two leaved; perianth superior, trifid ; petals three; berry six-celled. There are three species. The stratiotes, water aloe, or water soldier, is a stoloniferous plant, and truly perennial, though each root flowers but once, as in some species of saxifraga, sempervivum, &c. The parent plant, rooted in the mud at the bottom of the ditch, after flowering, sends out buds of leaves at the end of long runners, which rise to the surface, form roots, flower, and then sink to the bottom, where they take hold of the mud, sometimes ripen their seeds, and always become in their turn the parents of another race of young offsets.

STRELITZIA, in botany, so named in

honour of Charlotte, Queen of Great Britain, of the family of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, an illustrious patroness of the science of botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Scitamineæ. Musæ, Jussieu. Essential character: spathes universal and partial; calyx none; corolla three-petalled; nectary three-leaved, involving the gen tials; capsule three-celled; cells manyseeded. There are two species, viz. S. reginæ, canna-leaved strelitzia, and S. augusta. These plants are natives of the Cape of Good Hope; they were introduced and named by Sir Joseph Banks.

STRENGTH, in physiology, the same with force.

Men may apply their strength several ways in working a machine. A man of ordinary strength, turning a roller by the handle, can act for a whole day against a resistance equal to thirty pounds weight: and if he works ten hours a day, he will raise a weight of thirty pounds through three feet and a half in a second of time: or if the weight be greater, he will raise it so much less in proportion. But a man may act, for a small time, against a resistance of fifty pounds or more. If two men work at a windlass, or roller, they can more easily draw up seventy pounds, than one man can thirty pounds, provided the elbow of one of the handles be at right angles to that of the other. And with a fly, or heavy wheel, applied to it, a man may do one third part more work; and for a little while he can act with a force, or overcome a continual resistance, of eighty pounds: and work a whole day when the resistance is but forty pounds. Men used to bear loads, such as porters, will carry, some one hundred and fifty pounds, others two hundred or two hundred and fifty pounds, according to their strength. A man can draw but about seventy or eighty pounds horizontally: for he can but apply about half his weight. If the weight of a man be one hundred and forty pounds, he can act with no greater force in thrusting horizontally, at the height of his shoulders, than twenty-seven pounds.

As to horses; a horse is, generally speaking, as strong as five men. A horse will carry two hundred and forty, or two hundred and seventy pounds. A horse draws to greatest advantage, when the line of direction is a little elevated above the horizon, and the power acts against his breast and he can draw two hundred pounds for eight hours a day, at two miles

:

and a half an hour. If he draw two hundred and forty pounds, he can work but six hours, and not go quite so fast. And in both cases, if he carries some weight, he will draw the better for it, and this is the weight a horse is supposed to be able to draw over a pulley out of a well. But in a cart a horse may draw one thousand pounds, or even double that weight, or a ton weight, or more. As the most force a horse can exert is when he draws a little above the horizontal position, so the worst way of applying the strength of a horse is, to make him carry or draw up hill and three men on a steep hill, carrying each one hundred pounds, will climb up faster than a horse with three hundred pounds. Also, though a horse may draw in a round walk of eighteen feet diameter; yet such a walk should not be less than twenty-five or thirty feet diameter.

STREPTIUM, in botany, a genus of the Didynamia Angiospermia class and order. Essential character: calyx fivetoothed; stigma two lipped; drupe twolobed, each lobe bipartite. There is but one species, viz. S. asperum; this plant has a woody, perennial, short, irregular stem: branches opposite, exactly four-sided, rough: the height of the whole plant is from two to four feet: leaves opposite, petioled, covered with stiff hooked hairs, from one to three inches long, and from one to two broad; raceme terminating, or in the cleft of the exterior branchlets, erect, long; rachis four-seeded, rough; bractes solitary, one flowered. Flowers towards the bottom of the raceme, remote; above approximated, small, white. This plant was found by Dr. Roxburgh only in the vicinity of Samulcottah, on the terraces of the old walls of pagodas. It flowers during the wet and cold seasons; when young, it is a fair looking plant. The Telingas call it obeera.

STRIKE, a measure of capacity, containing four bushels.

STRIKE, among seamen, is a word variously used: when a ship in a fight, or on meeting with a ship of war, lets down, or lowers her-top sails, at least half-mast high, they say she strikes, meaning she yields or submits, or pays respect to the ship of war. Also, when a ship touches ground, in shoal water, they say she strikes. And when a top-mast is to be taken down, the word of command is, strike the top-mast, &c.

STRIX, the owl, in natural history, a genus of birds of the order Accipitres.

Generic character: the bill hooked, but not furnished with a cere; nostrils oblong, covered with bristly feathers; head, eyes, and ears particularly large; tongue bifid; claws hooked and sharp. Birds of this genus are rapacious. They are seldom seen by day, secluding themselves in the hollows of trees and buildings, and unable, from the particular structure of the eye, to endure the glare of sunshine. When they do appear in the day, they are pursued and persecuted by a variety of small birds, who combine in their expressions of ridicule and aversion, and soon oblige them to recur again to their retreat. During the season of general repose, they are active in quest of food, which in darkness they perceive with facility, and disturb the silence of night by loud and reiterated screams. Their usual prey consists of bats, mice, and small birds. Latham enumerates forty, and Gmelin fifty species. The following are the principal:

S. bubo, or the great-eared owl, is nearly of the size of an eagle, and generally inhabits sequestered and mountainous situations, and the clefts and caverns of rocks, rarely perching upon trees, or seen in the plains. Its nest is nearly three feet in diameter, and its young are seldom more than two, for which it provides extreme plenty and variety It lives on rats, frogs, and snakes, which it swallows entire, and leverets and rabbits, which it tears to pieces. The hair is thrown up in small balls from the stomach, and many of these may be seen in the places of its favourite residence. It is very rare in England. In Italy it has been trained in the manner of the hawk.

S. otus, or the long-eared owl, is fourteen-inches long, and is common both in France and England. It haunts mountainous districts and ruined buildings, and rarely builds a nest, generally occupying that of the buzzard or magpie.

S. brachyotus, or the short-eared owl, is about the size of the last, and is distinguished by the smallness of its upright tufts, or ears, which after its death, are scarcely perceivable, and when the bird is frighted, are considerably depressed; but when it is at ease, are clearly perceiv able, and in an erect state. Its colour is

of a dark brown. It is one of the most beautiful or least disgusting, of the genus; it is often seen in small companies, and sometimes in a flock of more than twenty, and lives chiefly on mice, which it watches with all the acuteness and perseverance of a domestic cat.

3. flammea, or the white owl, is fourteen inches long, and is frequently observable in ruined and deserted buildings, though in towns of great population and extent. These it quits by night in search of prey, consisting of mice and birds. It is denominated the screech owl, from the utterance of a screaming and terrific noise, which is peculiar to it, and is distinguished also by a snoring sound during its sleep.

S. passerina, or the little owl, is sometimes found in France, and is seldom met with in woods, preferring rocks and decayed buildings. It is distinguished by its activity and clear sightedness during the day, in which it will follow swallows in chase, though rarely, if ever with success. Small birds in general constitute part of its food, and rats and mice form its principal dependence, but are necessarily torn to pieces by it, as its size is small, and its length does not exceed eight inches.

STROBILUS, in botany, signifies a cone, a species of seed vessel composed of woody scales, which are placed against one another, and split only at top, being fixed below to an axis which occupies the centre of the cone. This botanical term is exemplified in the pine, cypress, fir, and other cone-bearing plants.

STROMATEUS, the stromat, in natural history, a genus of fishes of the order Apodes. Generic character: head compressed; teeth in the palate as well as jaws: body oval, broad and slippery; tail forked. There are three species. S. fixtola, or striped stromat, is an inhabitant of the Mediterranean. Its colour, on the upper parts, is blue, and that of the sides and abdomen of a brilliant silver colour, and its body is transversely marked by serpentine lines of gold; its lips are red, and two lateral lines appear on each side of the back, that nearest the top being curved.

The paru stromat is about as large as a turbot, and is found in the American seas, is of a bright gold colour on the upper, and silver on the lower parts of its body. It is in high estimation for the

table.

The ash-coloured stromat is of the length of a foot, inhabits the Indian seas, and is valued as a high delicacy. Its bones are little more than cartilages. The largest fishes of this species are generally deemed the best.

STRONTITES, or STRONTIAN, in mineralogy, is of a green colour; it occurs sometimes massive, and sometimes

crystallized. This earth was not discovered till about the year 1791 or 1792. Dr. Crawford, indeed, previously to this period, in making some experiments on what he supposed was a carbonate of ba rytes, and observing a striking difference between this mineral and the carbonate of barytes which he had been accustomed to employ, conjectured that it might contain a new earth; and he sent a specimen to Mr. Kirwan for the purpose of analyzing it. This conjecture was fully verified by the experiment of Dr. Hope, Mr. Kirwan, and M. Klaproth, who were all engaged in the same analysis nearly about the same time. This earth is found native in combination with carbonic and sulphuric acids. With the former it is found in considerable quantity in the lead mines of Strontian in Argyleshire, from which it has derived its name, strontites, or strontian, as it is called by others; here it occurs with lead glance, heavy spar, &c. The nature and properties of this earth have been still further investigated by Pelletier, Fourcroy, and Vauquelin. This earth may be obtained in a state of purity, either by exposing the carbonate of strontites mixed with charcoal powder to a strong heat, by which the carbonic acid is driven off; or by dissolving the native salt in nitric acid, and decomposing the nitrate of strontites thus formed by heat. Strontites, obtained by either of these processes, is in small porous fragments of a greenish white colour. It has an acrid, hot, alkaline taste, and converts vegetable blues to green. The specific gravity is from 3.4 to 3.6. Light has no perceptible action upon this earth. When it is exposed to heat it may be kept a long time even in a red heat, without undergoing any change, or even the appearance of fusion. By the action of the blowpipe it is not melted, but is surrounded with a very brilliant white flame.

When

a little water is thrown on strontites, it exhibits the same appearance as barytes. It is slaked, gives out heat, and then falls to powder. If a greater quantity of water be added, it is dissolved. According to Klaproth, it requires 200 parts of water, at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, for its solution. Boiling water dissolves it in greater quantity, and when the solution cools, it affords transparent crystals. These crystals are in the form of rhomboidal plates, or in that of flattened silky needles, or compressed prisms. They effloresce in the air, and have an acrid hot taste. The solution of this earth in water is acrid and alkaline, and