S T I
S T I
Stibium ccratum. See the article Vitrum antlmonii ce- r'atum.
STICA, a name given by fome authors to all externa! aftrin gents ufed in hemorrhages.
Stica, in our old writers, a brafs Saxon coin, of the value of half a farthing, four of them making an helfing. Blount.
STICHOMANTIA, £Ti*»jim>1n«, in antiquity, a fort of div nation by verfes, (commonly thofe of the Sibylline oracles) "which being wrote on litile pieces of paper, and thrown in- to a veffel, the firft drawn out was fuppofed to contain the will of the Gods. Potter, Archseol. Gnec. Tom. I. p. 333 See Sortes, Cycl.
STICHOS, a name given by the old writers to a pectoral confection, the principal ingredient of which was the herb marrubium, or hore-hound.
STICKLEBACK, in ichthyology, a name given by us to that fmall fifh, called by authors by the feveral names of fpinaehia, fpinax, &i\& pugnitius pifcis\ as alfo pifciculus ofp, pifciculus aculeatus, and the like ; and finally, by Artedi, by the much more expreffwe name of gajlerojlcus, expreffing that great Angularity it has in the bony ft ructure of its belly. The common Jlicklcbuck is diftinguifhed by Artedi by the name of the gajlerojlcus with three fpines on the back' ; and by this character it differs from two other fpecies, the one the fpinarclla of authors, a fmall fpecies with ten prickles in the back ; and the other a long tea kind with fifteen fpines on its back, called by Willughby, and others, the pugnitius marinus longus. See the article Gasterosteus. As contemptible a fifh as this may fcem, its mifchief in eat- ing the young fry in ponds is not greater than its value. In a fort of manufacture carried on at Bofton, and fome other parts of Lincolnihire, they have fallen into a way of making oil of it, and have made annually a hundred tun, or more, to their very great advantage. All the waters thereabout fwarm with this little fifh, and doubtlefs a fuf- ficient quantity might *be found in other places for the fame fort of ufe. They grow in the Bofton river to an inch and half in length, and about half an inch in breadth, and are taken out at a bufhel a draught. Eight chalder of them make a barrel of oil ; their barrel is a hogfhead ; they are -obliged to ufe them very frefh, elfe the oil runs from them to wafte, and they ufually boil every night what they have caught by day. It is a wonder that this quality of this little fifh was not found out fooner, for in frying them in the common way for eating, they all run into an oil in the pan. Philof. Tranf. N° 223.
STICKLER, in our old writers, an inferior officer, who cut wood within the king's parks of Clarendon. Rot. Pari. 1 Hen. VI. Blount.
STICKS of eels, a quantity, or meafure of twenty five. A bind of eels contains ten Jlicks, and each Jlick twenty five eels. Stat. Weights and Meafures. Blount.
STIFFLE, or Great mufcle, in the manege, is the part of the hind leg of a horfe which advances towards his belly. This is a moft dangerous part to receive a blow upon.
STIGMA, among botanifts. See the article Pistil.
STIGMATA, in natural hiftory, the apertures in different parts of the bodies of infects communicating with the tra- cheie, or air veffels, and ferving for the office of refpiration. Reaumur, Hilt. Infect, paffirri.
Nature has given to thefe minute animals a much larger number of trachea and bronchia, than to us. We have the ramifications of the trachea reaching no farther than into the breaft, whereas, in the bodies of thefe infects, we find them extended through the whole, and finely and admirably in- terlaced one with another. We have but one mouth to re- fpire by ; and the organization of the parts, infervient to re- fpiration, is very admirable in us ; but in the infect clafs, the mouths, or openings to breathe at, are much more nume- rous, and the organization much more complex. All the two-winged and four-winged flies, which have a fingle or undivided corcelet, to which their legs are all fixed, ( have alfo four Jligmata in that corcelet, two on each fide. They have them alfo on the rings of their body, but thofe on the corcelet arc the molt confiderable. Of the four on the corcelet, the two anterior ones are ufu- ally the iargeft. The belt: way to find them, in the gene- rality of flics, is to examine them firft in the larger fpecies of the libelhc, where they are very diftinQ and plain, and after their fituation is well known in that fpecies, they will be much the more readily found in the reft. Thefe Jligmata of the corcelet, as well the anterior as the pofterior, are oblong, and placed obliquely to the length of the body ; that end of them next the head is more elevated than the other, and their fize is fufficiently large to render them vifible, efpecially the firft pair. Each of thefe feems not a little to refemble a fea-mufcle with its fhells a little open, or is fomewhat like the opening of an eye. It is alfo furrounded by two eyelids, proportionably thick ; and befide thefe, which make its outer circumference, one may difcover two others within, which are bordered with hairs, and which, when clofed, often quite fhut up the open- ing. The colour of tins Jligmata often is fome help alfo to us for
the difcovering them ; they are very frequently different in colour from the corcelet ; fome are yellowifh, others of a coffee colour, or fome degree of a fallow colour, in flies whofe corcelet is brown, or black, or bluifh. Flies have, befide thefe, kverzl Jligmata alfo in the rin<*s of their bodies, perhaps in every one of them, though com- monly thofe in the two or three firft are only to be diftin- guifhed : thefe are not like thofe of the corcelet, but are round, ufually a little eminent above the reft of the furface, and refembling pin's heads ; they are not eafily difcovered, becaufe they are not only fmall, but ufually hid by the folds, or commiffures of the rings. They are ufually two on each ring, placed on the two oppofite fides, and partly under the belly. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. Vol. 4. p. 248.
STIGMATICI, among the Romans, were fervants marked in the face for fome crime. Pltifc. in voc.
STIGMATIZING, among the antients, was inflicted upon Haves as a punifhment, but more frequently as a mark to know them by ; in which cafe, it was done by applying a red-hot iron, marked with certain letters, to their fore- heads, till a fair impreffion was made, and then pourino- ink into the furrows, that the infeription might be the more confpicuous. Potter, Archaol. GrKC. Tom. I. p. 64.
Stigmatizikc, among fome nations, was looked upon as a diftinguifhing mark of honour and nobility. Potter, loc. cit. p. 65.
STIL de grain, in the colour trade, the name of a compofiti- on ufed for painting in oil or water, and is made of a de- coction of the lycium, or Avignon berry, in alum-water which is mixed with whiting into a pafte, and formed into twifted flicks. It ought to be chofen of a fine gold yellow, very fine, tender, and friable, and free from dirt. Pomet'% Hift. of Drugs, p. 14.
STILE (Cycl.)— In a philofophical Jlik, the only end is accu- rately to explain our thoughts to others ; thence the par- ticular rules to be obferved by a philofopher, in delivering his doctrines, naturally follow : fuch as, l°. Not to deviate from the received fignifications of terms. 2°. That the fame terms be always taken in the fame fenfe. 3°. To fix the meaning of fuch words as have only a vaoue fenfe. ' °
4°. To fignify objefls, effentially different, by different names.
From thefe rules, the ufe and neceffity of terms of art ap- pear, and fhews with how little reafon they are vulgarly con- demned. B ' 5 . The philofopher ought always to make ufe of proper expreffions, and ufe no more words than what are precifely neceffary to eftablifh the truth of his doctrines. IVolJ, Difc. Praslim. Logic, cap. 5.
STIth-bottoms, in the diftillery, a name given by the traders to what remains in the Jlill after the working the wafh into low wines.
Thefe bottoms are procured in the greateft quantity from the malt wafh, and are of fo much value to the diftiller in the fattening of hogs, £?r. that he often finds them one of the moft valuable articles of the bufinefs. They might alfo be put to other ufes, fuch as the affording a large proportion of an acid fpirit, an oil, a fuel, and a fixed fait ; and with fome addrefs, and good management, a vinegar, and a tartar. An- other very advantageous ufe of them, is the adding them to the next brewing of the malt for more fpirit : the encreafe of the produce from this, is more than could eafily be con- ceived. It alfo more readily difpofes the new wafh to fer- ment, and gives the fpirit a vinofity that it cannot have without it ; the proportion, in this cafe, muft never exceed that of a fifth, or fixth part of the whole quantity of liquor employed.
The liquor left behind in the Jlill, after the reaifying the low wines into proof fpirit, is alfo called by fome by the name of Jlill-bottoms ; but this is little more than mere phlegm, or water impregnated with a few acid, and fome oily parts, not worth feparating, unlefs for curiofity. The liquor left in the Jlill, after the reaifying the proof fpirit into alcohol, is alfo of the fame kind. The bottoms of melaffes fpirits feem calculated for many ufes. It is very probable that the vinegar-makers would find their account in the trying them, and the fti'ong, and lafting yellow colour, with which they tinge the hahds, may recommend them to the dyers. A fmall proportion of them added to the new treacle to be fermented, greatly promotes the operation, and encreafes the quantity of fpirit. The bottoms of the wine fpirit, that is the remainder, after diftilling the fpirituous part from damaged wines, or wine lees, may be brought to afford Mr. Boyle's acid fpirit of wine, and that fubftance called by Becher the media fub- Jlantia vini. ^ A parcel of tartar ma)' alfo be procured in very great perfection ; and the laft remainder may be converted into excellent and genuine fait of tartar. The liquor may otherwife be ferviceable in making vinegar and white lead. Show's Effay on Diftillery.
Still-Ao»/}. The Dutch have much the advantage of us in
the Jtruaure of their JliU-houfes, and have every thing in
2 great
