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STRATFOBD-ON-AVON 115 STBATUM teresting as containing the early home of the mother of John Harvard, founder of America's oldest university. There are several interesting places besides those in and about Stratford, among these the cottage of Mary Arden (the poet's mother), at Wilmcote. Tho town owes its name to the old ford of the Avon parallel to the bridge on the road from London to the N. W. Shake- speare's tercentenary was celebrated here in 1916, with elaborate ceremonies. Here in August, 1914, the sword of Shakespeare's father was drawn from its scabbard in token that England was at war. The tradition runs that it must not be sheathed until victory crowns British arms. Pop. about 8,500. STUATFOBD, a city of Ontario, Can- ada, on the River Avon and on several railroads. It is the seat of a collegiate institute, the Provincial Normal School, several other educational institutes, a public library, etc. There are numerous churches, several parks, and the indus- trial establishments are of considerable importance, including locomotive repair shops, furniture factories, knitting mills, etc. Hydro-electric power is used ex- tensively. Pop. 18,000. STRATHCLYDE, a former indepen- dent kingdom in Scotland. In the 8th century the ancient confederacy of the Britons was broken up into the separate divisions of Wales and English and Scotch Cumbria. Scotch Cumbria, oth- erwise called Strathclyde, thenceforth formed a little kingdom, comprising the country between Clyde and Solway, gov- erned by princes of its own, and having the fortress town of Alclyde or Dumbar- ton for its capital. Becoming gradually more and more dependent on Scotland, it was annexed to the Scottish crown at the death of Malcolm I. On the death of Alexander I., without issue in 1124, it was permanently united to the Scotch kingdom under David I. STRATHCONA AND MOUNT ROYAL, DONALD ALEXANDER SMITH, 1st BARON, a Canadian statesman; born in Scotland in 1820; entered the service of the Hudson Bay Company at an early age, and was the last resident governor of that corpora- tion as a governing body. He was spe- cial commissioner dui-ing the first Riel rebellion in the Red River settlements in 1869-1870; a member of the first ex- ecutive council of the Northwest Terri- tory; represented Winnipeg and St. John's in the Manitoba Legislature in 1871-1874; and was a member of the Canadian House of Commons for Sel- kirk in 1871-1872, 1874, and 1878, and for Montreal West in 1877-1896. He was a director of the St. Paul, Minne- apolis, and Manitoba railway; the Great Northern Railway of Minnesota ; and the Canadian Pacific Railway Company; and intimately connected with many other corporations and organizations. He was made High Commissioner for Canada in 1396. In 1898 he was Governor of Fra- zer Institute and Chancellor of McGill University and also of Aberdeen Uni- versity, Lord Rector in 1903. He gave over $1,000,000 to McGill and Royal Vic- toria Hospital, Montreal, also $1,000,000 to the King Edward Hospital Fund. He endowed chairs in many colleges and contributed generously to various edu- cational funds. He died in 1914. STRATHMORE, the general name given to the extensive valley of Scotland which stretches N. E. from Dumbarton- shire to Kincardineshire, having on one side the Grampians and on the other the Campsie, Ochil, and Sidlaw Hills; but it is popularly limited to the district which stretches from Methven in Perth- shire to Brechin in Forfarshire. STRATIGRAPHY, that department of geology which deals with the disposition or arrangement of strata, or the order in which they succeed each other. STRATUM, a bed or mass of matter spread out over a certain surface, in most cases by the action of water, but sometimes also by that of wind. The method in which stratification by the agency of water has been effected in bygone times may be understood by a study of the manner in which successive layers of gravel, sand, mud, etc., are de- posited in a river or running brook. The same process has been at work through untold periods of time. The greater part of the earth's crust, in nearly every land, is found to be thus stratified. Strata may be Conformable {q. v.), or Unconformable (q. v.). In the former case there generally is a con- siderable approach to parallelism among them. It is, however, inferior in exact- ness to that of cleavage planes. Strata laid down by water, as a rule, retain fossil remains of the animals and plants imbedded in them when they were soft and plastic. Metamorphism generally destroys these organic remains, but leaves the stratification undisturbed; thus there are two kinds of strata — sedimentary and metamorphic — nearly synonymous with fossiliferous and non- fossiliferous stratified rocks. Most stra- ta have a dip and a strike. The fossils