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STAEL-HOLSTEIN 45 STAG, or RED DEEB Connection with Society"; and her very equivocal novel "Delphine" appeared in 1802. In that year her husband died. Madame de Stael was much too in- dependent to be acceptable to Napoleon, who banished her from Paris, and after- ward ordered her to confine herself to her chateau at Coppet, on the Lake of Geneva. From 1803 till 1815 she traveled much in Germany, Italy, and England, and visited Sweden and Russia. Her "Corinne," in form a novel, an eloquent tribute to the antiquities and scenery of Italy, appeared in 1807. Her most ambitious work, "On Germany," printed at Paris in 1810, was seized by the police. After the second restoration she lived chiefly in Switzerland, where she contracted a secret marriasre with M. de Rocca. "Thoughts on the French Revolution" and her "Ten Years of Exile," appeared after her death, which occurred July 14, 1817. STAFF, a kind of artificial stone used for covering and ornamenting buildings. It is made chiefly of powdered gypsum or plaster of Paris, with a little cement, glycerin, and dextrine, mixed with water until it is about as thick as molasses, when it may be cast in molds into any shape. To strengthen it coarse cloth or bagging, or fibers of hemp or jute, are put into the molds before casting. It becomes hard enough in about a half hour to be removed and fastened on the building in construction. Staff may easily be bent, sawed, bored, or nailed. Its natural color is murky white, but it may be made of any tiat to resemble any kind of stone. Staff was invented in France about 1876 and was used in the construction and ornamentation of the buildings of the Paris Expositions of 1878 and of 1890. It was also largely used in the construction of the buildings of the Columbian Exhibition at Chicago in 1893, at the Omaha and Buffalo Ex- positions in 1898 and 1900, and at later expositions and on temporary buildings of other kinds. STAFF, GENERAL. See MILITARY Organization, United States. STAFFA, a celebrated island on the W. of Scotland, 4 miles S. W. of Ulva, 6 N. by E. of lona, and 54 W. of Oban. It forms an oval uneven table-land, rising at its highest to 144 feet above the water, 1% miles in circumference, and 71 acres in area. In the N. E., in the lee of the prevailing winds, is a tract of low shore, stretching out in beaches and forming a landing place; but elsewhere the coast is girt with cliffs from 84 to 112 feet high. Regarded in section, the rocks show themselves to be of three kinds — conglomerated tufa, forming the base- ment; columnar basalt, arranged in colon- nades, which form the facades and the walls of the chief caves; and amorphous basalt, overlying the columnar basalt, but pierced here and there by the ends of columns and by angular blocks. The most remarkable feature of the island is Fingal's, or the Great Cave, the entrance to which is formed by columnar ranges on each side, supporting a lofty arch. The entrance is 42 feet wide, and 66 feet high, and the length of the cave is 227 feet. The floor of this marvelous cham- ber is the sea, which throws up flashing and many-colored lights against the pendent columns, whitened with cal- careous stalagmite, that form the roof, and against the pillared walls of the STAFFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England. Area, 1,128 square miles. Pop. about 300,000. The capital of the county is Staffoi-d (pop. about 30,000). In the north and in the south the county is hilly, with wild moorlands in the north. In the midland regions the surface is low and undulating. Throughout the entire county there are vast and important coal fields. In the southern part there are also rich iron ore deposits. The so-called Black Country, between Birmingham and Wolverhampton, about 15 miles in length, is one of the principal iron and steel man- ufacturing districts of England. The largest river is the Trent. The soil is chiefly clay and agriculture is not highly developed. The manufacturing interests, however, are of great importance and diversity, and besides the above men- tioned steel and iron industries they in- clude the manufacture of bricks, chem- icals, cotton goods, glass, leather goods, pottery, shoes, silk, and of many other articles. The pottery industry is cen- tered around Stoke-on-Trent and the brewing industry around Burton-on- Trent. STAG, or RED DEER (Cervus ela- phus), a typical species of Cervidss or deer, occurring in the N. of Europe and Asia. It was once found throughout the whole of Great Britain, but is now con- fined to the Scotch Highlands. The horns or antlers are round and have a basal snag in front. The females are hornless and are named hinds. The horns of the first year are mere bony projections; they advance in development during the second year, when the stag is named a brocket. In each succeeding year the horns grow more and more branched, the stag being named a hart in its sixth year, when the Cyc— Vol. IX