Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/69

SQUIER, GEORGE OWEN 43 SQUIBBEL award of the Elliott Cresson gold medal, and of the Franklin medal. SQUILL { S cilia) , a genus of lAliaceas numbering about 72 known species of bulbous plants with radical linear leaves; usually blue flowers (rarely pur- ple or white), in racemes on leafless scapes; perianth segments six, free or nearly so; capsule three-angled, loculi- cidally three-valved, seeds small, swollen. The genus is confined to the Old World. Three are British. S. autumnalis, in which the leaves are autumnal, succeed- ing the flowers, is confined to a few counties in Southern England; while S. verna, with leaves appearing in spring in anticipation of the light-blue fragrant flowers, is met with in localities near the coast between Cornwall and Shetland. The third is the familiar wild hyacinth often called "bluebell" in England, the "English lacint" of old writers, the Hyacinthus nonscripttis ot Linnaeus, now named S. nutans. It is common from Ross S., often occurring in such profusion as to render large tracts of woodland a sheet of blue from April to June. The medicinal squill belongs to an allied genus of the tribe Scillese, named Urginea, comprising 24 species spread through the whole of Africa, and reach- ing Hindustan and Southern Europe. It is the species known as U. scilla or maritima (formerly S. maritima) , a native of the coast district from Syria to the Canaries, appearing also in the Cape flora. From a bulb of four to six inches in diameter leaves are produced in spring, followed in autumn by a raceme of whitish flowers borne by a round scape of one to three feet high. Medicinally, squill is used as a diuretic in certain forms of dropsy, and as an expectorant. SQUIRE, an attendant on a knight; a knight's shield or armor-bearer. (2) An attendant on a person of noble or royal rank; hence, colloquially, an attendant on a lady; a beau, a gallant; a male companion, a close attendant or fol- lower. (3) The title of a gentleman next in rank to a knight. (4) A title popularly given to a country gentleman. (5) A title given to magistrates and lawyers in some parts of the United States. In Nev/ England it is given especially to justices of the peace and judges; in Pennsylvania to justices of the peace only. SQUIRES, VERNON PURINTON. an American educator, born at Cortland, N. Y., in 1866. He was educated at the State Normal School, Cortland, N. Y., Brown University, and the University of Chicago. After some years of teaching at preparatory schools, he became pro- fessor of English at the University of North Dakota in 1897, serving until 1901, and returning in the same capacity to this institution in 1902. In 1914 he was made dean of the College of Liberal Arts of the University of North Dakota. He was a member of several educational societies and lectured frequently at chautauquas and educational gatherings. SQUIRREL, in zoology, a popular name for any of the Sciuridx; widely distributed in America, Europe, the Caucasus, Southern Siberia, and prob- ably in Persia. It is a little animal with bright black eyes; from 8 to 10 inches in length, with a bushy tail nearly as long; color gray or reddish-brown, CALIFORNIA GROUND SQUIRREL white beneath, but the hue varies with the seasons, in Lapland and Siberia the upper surface becomes gray, and in Cen- tral Europe is sprinkled with gray in the winter. Squirrels haunt woods and forests, nesting in trees. They feed on nuts, acorns, beech mast, which they store up, birds' eggs, and the young bark and shoots. They pass the winter in a state of partial hibernation, waking up in fine, warm weather. They are monogamous, and the female produces three or four young, usually in June. In Lapland and Siberia they are killed in great numbers for the sake of their winter coat. This is inferior to the fur of the North American gray squirrel {S. carolinensis) . SQUIRREL ELYING- in zoology, the Petaurus South Australia, about inches long, with a tail body. Color, ash-gray stripe from the nose to tail, cheeks white with under surface white. PHALANGER, sciureus; from eight or nine as long as the with a black the root of the a black patch,