on an embassy to the German princes. Twice he went on missions to the Netherlands, and in 1594 he was knighted and was given lands at Houston. He died before 1606. His only son, Frederick (c. 1590–1625), who was created a peer as Lord Pittenweem in 1609, died childless in December 1625.
Sir William Stewart of Houston is often confused with Sir William Stewart of Monkton (d. 1588), a brother of James Stewart, earl of Arran, who was killed in a fight in Edinburgh in July 1588, and also with Sir William Stewart of Caverstoun.
STEWARTON, a municipal and police burgh, in the Cunningham district of Ayrshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901), 2858. It is
situated on Annick Water, 19 m. S.W. of Glasgow by the
Glasgow & South-Western railway. The town lies in a fine
agricultural district, famed for its dairy produce. Two cattle
and two horse fairs are held yearly; at the October cattle fair
there is the largest show of Ayrshire dairy stock in Scotland.
About 2 m. north by west is Dunlop (pop. 473), which gave its
name to a cheese that at one time commanded a large market.
STEYN, MARTINUS THEUNIS (1857–), last president of the Orange Free State, was born at Winburg in that state
on the 2nd of October 1857. He was a student in Holland and
later in England at the Inner Temple, and was called to the
English bar in November 1882. After his return to South Africa
he practised as a barrister at Bloemfontein, and in 1889 was
appointed state attorney of the Free State. A few months
afterwards he became second puisne judge, and in 1893 first
puisne judge of the high court. His decisions won him a
reputation for ability and sound judgment. In 1895, upon the
resignation of President F. W. Reitz, Steyn was the candidate
of the pan-Dutch party for the vacant post. The election
resulted (February 1896) in a decisive victory for Steyn. As
president he linked the fortunes of his state with those of the
Transvaal, a policy which led to the extinction of the republic.
After the occupation of Bloemfontein by Lord Roberts Steyn
wandered about South Africa, carrying on a semblance of
government, and on occasion taking charge of military operations.
More than once he narrowly escaped capture. Regarded as one
of the most irreconcilable of the Boer leaders, he took part,
however, in the preliminary peace negotiations at Klerksdorp
in April 1902, but was prevented by illness from signing the
instrument of surrender at Pretoria on the 31st of May. At
that date he was suffering from locomotor ataxy, brought on
by his constant exertions; and in the July following he sailed for
Europe, where he remained until the autumn of 1904. He then
took the oath of allegiance to the British crown, and returning
to South Africa partially restored to health resumed an active
participation in politics. In 1908–1909 he was vice-president
of the Closer Union Convention, where he was distinguished for
his statesmanlike and conciliatory attitude, while maintaining
the rights of the Dutch community.
STEYNING, a small market town in the mid parliamentary
division of Sussex, England, 1012 m. W.N.W. of Brighton by
the London, Brighton & South Coast railway. Pop. (1901),
1705. The church of St Andrew retains a very fine series
of Norman pier-arches in the nave. Some picturesque old
houses remain in the town. Brewing and the manufacture of
parchment are carried on.
The Anglo-Saxon church of Steyning (Stoeningas, Stoeningum, Staninges, Stenyges, Stenyng) mentioned in Domesday is attributed to St Cuthman, who is said to have settled here before the 9th century, and whose shrine became a resort for pilgrims. The later prosperity of the town was due to its harbour. Alfred bequeathed Steyning to his nephew, but it evidently reverted to the Crown, as it was granted by Edward the Confessor to the abbot and convent of Fécamp, with whom it remained until the 15th century. By 1086 Steyning was a thriving port. It had a market, a mint and two churches, and the borough contained 123 burgages. The decay of the town began in the 14th century owing to the recession of the sea, and it received another blow in the suppression of its priory by Henry IV. It was afterwards granted to the abbey of Sion, which held it until the dissolution. From the reign of Edward IV. to that of Richard III. there is evidence that the town was governed by a bailiff elected annually in the borough-court. Steyning returned two representatives to parliament from 1298 until it was disfranchised in 1832. In the 14th century the abbot of Fécamp held weekly markets in the borough on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and fairs at the Nativity of the Virgin and the Feast of St Michael, by prescriptive right. The present market day is Wednesday, for stock, and a cattle fair is held on the 11th of October.
STEYR, or Steier, a town in Upper Austria, 28 m. S.E. of Linz by rail. Pop. (1900), 17,592. It is situated at the confluence of the Steyr with the Enns, and on an eminence rises the castle of the princes of Lamberg, dating from the 10th century. The
parish church is in Gothic style and was built in 1443–1522. Steyr is the chief centre of the steel and iron industry of Upper Austria. The rifle factory, founded in 1830 by Jozef Werndl, is the largest in Austria, and since 1882 it has added the manufacture of bicycles and electrical plant. It is the birthplace of the poet Alois Blumauer (1755–1798). Steyr was founded at the end of the 10th century and was the capital of a countship, first belonging to Styria, but annexed to Austria in 1192.
STIBNITE, a mineral consisting of antimony sulphide, Sb2S3, occurring as bladed or acicuclar orthorhombic crystals; an important ore of antimony. It was mentioned by Dioscorides and Pliny under the names stimmi, stibi and platyophthalmon (πλατυόφθαλμον); the last name refers to the use which the ancients made of the powdered mineral for darkening the eyebrows to increase the apparent size of the eyes. Antimonite is a name in common use for this species. The crystals are prismatic in habit, deeply furrowed longitudinally, and usually terminated by acute pyramidal planes. There is a perfect cleavage (010) parallel to the length of the crystals, and the basal plane (001) is a plane of gliding; the latter gives rise to very characteristic transverse striations or nicks on the cleavage surfaces of crystals which have been bent. The colour is lead-grey, and the lustre metallic and brilliant: crystals become dull on prolonged exposure to light. Cleavage flakes of extreme thinness transmit a small amount of red light, but are more transparent for heat rays. The mineral is quite soft (H.=2), and has a specific gravity of 4·6. Stibnite occurs with quartz in beds and veins in gneisses and schists, or with blende, galena, &c., in metalliferous veins. Magnificent groups of brilliant crystals, up to 20 in. in length, are abundant in the extensive antimony mine of Ichinokawa, province of Iyo, Japan. Large, but dull, crystals have also been found at Lubilhac in Haute-Loire, France. Prismatic and acicular crystals often penetrating tabular crystals of barytes, are common at Felsöbánya near Magy-Bánya and Kremnitz in Hungary.
(L. J. S.)
STICHOMETRY, a term applied properly to the measurement (μέτρον) of ancient texts by στίχοι (lit. “rows’) or verses of a fixed standard length. It was the custom of the Greeks and Romans to estimate the length of their literary works by measured lines. In poetical works the number of metrical verses was computed; in prose works a standard line had to be taken, for no two scribes would naturally write lines of the same length. On the authority of Galen (de Placit. Hipp. et Plat. viii. 1) we learn that the unit of measurement among the Greeks was the average Homeric line, consisting of about 36 letters, or 16 syllables. The lines so measured were called στίχοι or ἔπη. The practice of thus computing the length of a work can be traced back to the 4th century B.C. in the boast of Theopompus that he had written more ἔπη than any other writer. The number of such στίχοι or ἔπη; contained in a papyrus roll was recorded at the end of the work; and at the end of a large work extending to several rolls the grand total was given. The object of such stichometrical calculations was a commercial one, viz. to assess the pay of the scribe and the market value of the MS. Callimachus, when he drew up his catalogue of the Alexandrian libraries in the 3rd century B.C., registered the total of the στίχοι in each work. Although he is generally lauded for thus carefully recording the numbers and setting an example to all who should follow him, it has been suggested that this very act was the cause of their general disappearance from MSS.; for that, when his
