Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/803

SCYLLA AND CHAKYBDIS. 729 SEA-ANEMONE. the sliip of Odysseus. Opposite her, a bowshot's distance, is a low rock, where under a wild fig- tree C'harybdis sucks in and belches forth the water three times daily, and nothing that conies near can escape. Tliis dangerous passage, where it was impossible to avoid both dangers, was early localized by Oreck travelers at the Straits of llessina. In Homer Scylla's mother is called Cratais, but later legend told many sto- ries about her, which in general relate that she was a beautiful maiden, beloved by a god (as (Jlaucus or Poseidon) and transformed by a jealous rival, Circe or Amphitrite. The Greeks of the Saronie Gulf told how Seylla, daughter of Nisus, King of Megara, won bj- her love or a bribe, betrayed her father to Jlinos of Cn'le. Slinos, however, di.sgusted by her unnatural treachery, dragged her at his rudder vuitil she was transformed into the monster or the sea-bird Ciris, which is always pursued by the sea-eagle into which Xisus had been changed. SCYLLIS, sil'lis (Lat., from Gk.SxuWis, Hkijl- lis). An early Greek sculptor wliose name is associated with tluit of Dipoenus. See Dii>(ENU,s AND SCYLLIS. SCYPHOZOA, si'fo-zo'a (Neo-Lat. nom. pi., from Gk. o-kiJ^os, skiijihof:. cup + f(?ov, coon, ani- mal). A class of Ccelenterata (q.v. ) cliaracter- ized by the seyphistoma or polyp-like early stage. See Medusa. SCYBOS, si'ros. An island in the ^Egean Sea, the largest of the northern Sporades, 2.5 miles northeast of Cape Kumi, Euboea (ilap: Greece, F 3). Length, 19 miles; area, 77 square miles. Skyros is mountainous and uncultivated in the south, but the northern part has fertile plains wliieh produce excellent wheat. The principal in- dustries are vine growing and the raising of sheep and goats. The only town on the island is Skyros, Imilt on a high peak on the eastern coast, the broad smnniit of which is occupied by the ruins of a castle, and was the site of 'the lofty Scyros' of Homer. The island is connected with the Homeric legends of Theseus and Achilles. Popu- lation, in 1896, 3512. SCYTHIA, sith'J-a (Lat., from Gk. ^KuSla, likifthia). According to the ancient Greeks, a vast, undefined region, lying north and east of the Black and Caspian seas, and inhabited by a large number of barbarous nomadic tribes; though in a more restricted sense the Scythians are identified with the Scoloti. who inhabited the plains of Southeastern Europe. These tribes have been thought to be of Mongolian origin, but the prevalent modern opinion is that they belonged to the Indo-IIuropean family. They are frequent!}' mentioned by Herodotus (see espe- cially book iv. ) and other Greek writers, and are described as herdsmen without settled abodes, living like Gypsies in tent-covered wagons, cruel in war and filthy in their habits. In the seventh century B.C. they invaded iledia and were driven off by Cyaxares only after a ten years' struggle. Darius invaded their country about B.C. .508, but retreated after heavy losses from attacks and from the hardships of the trackless country. The Scythians of Europe were finally overcome and exterminated or assimilated by the Sarmatians. who afterwards occupied their country. In the farther East, however, the Scythian tribes main- tained themselves, and invaded Parthia and In- dia, where their leaders adopted Huddhism and established dynasties that lasted foi centuries. To the Romans, iScylhia meant the little-known wastes of Northern Asia, from the river Volga to India and China. Consult: Neumann. Die Ilclhnen iin Sl.-iillunlainlr (Herlin, 18n.5) ; Hei- chardt, l.anilisUiiittU' ion SLiilhirn (Halle, 188!)); Krau.se. ruisl.o-Land (Glogau, 18!ll); Latyshtehev. Kcylliica ct Cdiicosica (Saint Peters- burg. 18!I3). SCYTHOP'OLIS (I.at.. fnmi (ik. Ix^gdwoXit, .*<'Ai///i(>/)o/i.s) . The classical name of a town of Palestine, the biblical lieth-sliean or IJelhshan, the modern Beisan, about 1.5 miles .south of the Sea of Galilee and 3 miles west of the .lordan. .lt hough assigneil to the tribe of Manas- sch (.losh. xvii. 11, l(i), the original Canaanites kept possession of it (.lud. i. 27), and it is not initil the days of Solomon that we find it in the hands of the Hebrews (I. Kings iv. 12). When Saul and his sons fell in the battle of (lilboa, the Philistines fastened their bodies to the wall of Bethshean, whence the nien of .Jalnssh-Gilead afterwards removed them (I. Sam. x.xxi. 10-13; 11. Sam. xxi. 12). Bethshean was called Scythopolis in the third century B.C., at which time it was tributary to the Ptolemies. It be- longed to the Decapolis. It was the seat of a Cliristian bishopric in the fourth century. There are extensive ruins in the neighborhood of the modern town. SEA. See Ocean. SEA, Law.s of the. See Makitimk Law; N.4VIGAT10N Laws. SEA-ADDER. The fifteen-spined stickleback (q.v.). SEA-ANEMONE. The name applied to polyps iir zci.qihytes (Actinozoa) which do not secrete a coral-stock, and resemble Mowers, espe- cially those of the mesembryanthemum. They are also called aetinians. They arc practically station- ary, though they can slowly move over the sur- face of the rock to which they are attached. They are in general as broad as high, and nmre or less vase-like, the mouth being surrounded by one or more circles of tentacles. They may at- tain a diameter of several inches, though few are ever more than three inches across. The com- mon aetinian of our coast (.irlinohohi mar- ginala) is to be found l>etwcen tide-marks on rocks under seaweed, in liilal pools, but grows most luxuriantly on the piles of wharves and bridges. In the tentacles are lo<lged the lasso- cells, or nematocysts (q.v.). by which it ob- tains its prey. When a passing shrimp or small fish comes in contact with certain tentacles, the barbed thread is thrown out from the lasso-cell; these paralyze the victim, and the other tentacles assist in dragging it into the distensible month, where it is partly digested, the process being com- pleted in the second or lower division of the digestive canal. At the base of certain tentacles are the eye-specks. The process of taking food is almost purely reflex. Nearly all aetinians multiply by budding, as well as by eggs. The new individuals arise at the base of the body, sometimes as many as twenty young ones growing out from the base, and finally becoming free, .dult sea-anemones in rare cases subdivide longitiulinally. (See Sciiizor.oxY.) The young grow up without any