Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 08.djvu/316

SCALE FERN 270 SCALLOP a Latin hymn quoted in all musical his- tories. Ut was afterward called do by many nations, and the name si was given to the seventh degree of the scale, when the ancient system of hexachords was converted into the modern system of oc- taves. When the scales, whatever the pitch, start from do, the system is said to be that of the movable do; when the first note of the scale is called do, re, mi, etc., according to a stated pitch called do, the system is called that of the fixed do. In painting, a figure subdivided by lines like a ladder, which is used to measure proportions between pictures and the things represented. Scale of a series, in algebra, a succession of terms, by the aid of which any term of a recur- ring series may be found when a suf- ficient number of the preceding ones are given. Scale of longitudes; a scale used for determining geographically the num- ber of miles in a degree of longitude in any latitude. SCALE FERN, a popular name for a British species of fern (Ceterach offici- ncvrum) , so named from the imbricated tawny scales at the back of the fronds. To this plant was formerly attributed a marvelous influence over the liver and spleen. SCALE MOSS, a popular name given to the Jungermannias, plants resembling moss, and belonging to the order Hepati- cse. They grow on the trunks of trees, in damp earth, and in similar places, and are so called from the small scale-like leaves. SCALE TREE, an important tree ( Lepi- dodendron) , fossil remains of which are found in the coal-measures, whose trunk was very regularly marked with orna- mental patterns like the scales of some fishes. The height was 60 to 70 feet. SCALENE, in mathematics, a term ap- plied to a triangle whose sides are all unequal; also a cone such that a section made by a plane through the axis per- pendicular to the plane of the base is a scalene triangle. In this latter case the term is equivalent to oblique. SCALES, the imbricated plates on the exterior of certain animals, as the pan- golins or scaly ant eaters, serpents and other reptiles, and especially fishes. Fishes are sometimes classed, in accord- ance with the structure of their scales, into Ctenoid, Ganoid, Cycloid, and Pla- coid. The term scale is applied also, in botany, to a small rudimentary or meta- morphosed leaf scale-like in form and often in arrangement, constituting the covering of the leaf buds of the deciduous trees in cold climates, the involucrum of the Composite, the bracts of catkins, etc. SCALES, ARCHIBALD HENDER- SON, an American naval officer, born in Greensboro, N. C, in 1868. He gradu- ated from the United States Naval Aca- demy in 1887, and became an ensign in 1889. He saw service in Korea, where, in 1896, he assisted in protecting the life of the Emperor of Korea, who had sought refuge in the Russian Legation. During the Spanish-American War he served on the "Topeka." He was promoted to be commander in 1909, and captain in 1914. In 1916 he was appointed captain of the "Delaware," and took part in the oper- ations of the Grand Fleet in the North Sea, following the entry of the United States into the World War. He com- manded the Great Lakes Naval Train- ing Station, and in 1919 was appointed superintendent of the United States Naval Academy. SCALES OF NOTATION, methods of representing numbers of any magnitude by means of a few symbols. We ordi- narily express numbers in terms of the first nine digit symbols and the symbol known as the cipher — i, e., 10 in all. The number "ten" is then represented by 10, a combination of the "one" and cipher symbols, and so on in the familiar man- ner. Mathematically there is no reason why 10 should be chosen in preference to any other number as the radix of our common scale of notation. Its con- venience arises from the way in which, it suits our numeration or naming of numbers. SCALIGER, JULIUS CAESAR (origi- nally Della Scala), a celebrated Italian scholar; born near Lago di Garda, Italy, April 23, 1484. He went to France in 1526, and there practiced medicine. Ac- cording to some scholars, "no one of the ancients could be placed above him, and the age in which he lived could not show his equal" in learning and talent. He published an "Oration against Erasmus" (1531), in reply to that scholar's "Cicero- nianus"; "Poems" (1533-1574), in Latin, filling several volumes; "Comic Meters"; and a variety of dissertations and essays on classical subjects. He died in Agen, France, Oct. 21, 155&, SCALLOP, a well-known bivalve, one of those with a single muscle closing the shell. The valves are fan-shaped, the left often more or less flat, the right more arched; both are marked with sinu- ous radiating ridges, to which the name Pecten (Latin, "a comb") refers. The hinge line is without teeth, and is ex- tended laterally in two ears. The beau- tiful coloring of the shells is remarkable