when in want of meat; are particularly busy at the approach of bad weather; during the cold season keep in their nest for several days together; seldom leap from tree to tree, only run up and down the bodies; their hordes are often destroyed by swine; and, when their magazines are covered with deep snow, the squirrels often perish for want of food; they are not easily shot, nimbly changing their place when they see the gun levelled; have the actions of the common squirrel; are easily tamed; and their flesh is esteemed very delicate. Their furs, which are imported under the name of petit-gris, are valuable, and used as linings to cloaks.

8. S. erythræus, the ruddy squirrel, is of a yellow color, mixed with dusky, on the upper parts; the under parts blood-red mixed with tawny; the tail the same, with a longitudinal blackish stripe; the ears slightly tufted. It is larger than the common squirrel; the fore 'paws have a large protuberance instead of a thumb. They inhabit India.

9. S. flavus, the fair squirrel, with the body and tail of a flaxen color; of a very small size, with plain round ears and rounded tail. Inhabits the woods near Amadabad, the capital of Guzerat, in great abundance, leaping from tree to tree. Linné says it is an inhabitant of Carthagena in South America.

10. S. Hudsonius, the Labradore squirrel, is of a ferruginous color along the back, the sides paler, and the belly ash color mottled with black; the tail is like the back, but barred and tipped with black; the ears are plain. It is smaller than the common squirrel, and apt to vary in color to a gray. They inhabit the pine forests of Labradore, and round Hudson's Bay. 11. S. Indicus, the Bombay squirrel, is of a dull purple color on the head, back, sides, and upper parts of the legs and thighs; the belly and lower parts yellow; the tail tipt with orange; the ears tufted. The head and body are sixteen inches long; the tail seventeen. They inhabit India, near Bombay.

12. S. Madagascarensis, the Madagascar squirrel, in the slowness of its pace and general manners resembles the sloth; but in the form of its tail, the number and form of its toes, five on each foot, and the number and arrangement of its teeth, it is more nearly allied to the squirrel. It lives in holes under ground; is slothful, timid, and sleeps much; it feeds chiefly on worms, picked from the hollows of trees by its toes. The middle toe on the fore feet is very long and naked; the thumb on the hind feet has a flat rounded nail. The ears are large, flattened, black, and covered thickly with rough hair; the face has two bunches of hair above the eyes, on the nose and cheeks, and under the chin; the fur is of two sorts, an under downy fleece-like wool, of a pale tawny, with longer straight black hairs intermixed, the face and throat are of a pale whitish tawny color; the tail is flattened, about eighteen inches long, covered with thick set white hair from the base to the middle, and the rest black; the toes on the fore paws are long; four of the claws on the hind feet are hooked and sharp-pointed. They inhabit the east side of Madagascar.

mer.

15. S. palmarum, the palm squirrel, is of a mixed black and red color, with three longitudinal yellow stripes on the back and sides; the tail is encircled with coarse dirty yellow hair, and is barred with black.-Shreber. This species inhabit the hot regions of Asia and Africa; live much on cocoa nuts, and are fond of the sury, or palm wine, whence the Dutch call them suricatsjie, or little cats of the sury. They are only three inches long; the tail is as long, and is carried erect, the ears are short, broad, and fringed with hair at the edges; an obscure pale yellow stripe runs along the back, and other two on each side. The hair on the head, back, and sides, is a mixed black and red; on the thighs and legs redder; on the belly pale yellow.

16. S. petaurus australis, the southern flying squirrel, is the largest and most elegant of all the flying squirrels; its most remarkable characteristic is the rounded thumbs or great toes of the hind feet, which are furnished with a flattened nail, while all the other toes, five to each foot, have sharp hooked claws; the two toes next this are united by the skin, but have separate claws; the color is a fine sable, or deep gray-brown, on the upper parts, darkest on the middle of the back, and the under parts are nearly white; the edges of the membrane are somewhat scalloped, and of a lighter color; the fur is exquisitely soft and beautiful; the tail is long and bushy, thickly clothed with very soft loose hair, longest towards the outer end; the ears are longish, and there is a black streak over each eye. They inhabit New South Wales.

17. S. petaurus petaurista, the Indian flying squirrel, or flying cat, has a tail longer than the body, flattened, and very full of long hair. This species is eighteen inches long from nose to rump; the head is rounded; the whiskers and claws are black; the female has six teats on the breast and belly; the eyes have long narrow pupils like those of a cat. They inhabit the islands of the Indian Ocean. There are two varieties.

18. S. petaurus sagitta, the arrow or Java flying squirrel, with a small round head, cloven

forming the sail. Boys frequently nurse this beautiful and active animal under cats. There are three creatures, the squirrel, the field-mouse, and the bird called the nuthatch, which live much on hazel nuts; and yet they open them each in a different way. The first, after rasping off the small end, splits the shell in two with his long fore feet, as a man does with his knife; the second nibbles a hole with his teeth, as regular as if drilled with a wimble, and yet so small that one would wonder how the kernel can be extracted through it: while the last pecks an irregular ragged hole with its bill; but as this artist has no paws to hold the nut firm while he pierces it, like an adroit workman he fixes it, as it were in a vice, in some cleft of a tree, or in some crevice, when, standing over it, he perforates the stubborn shell.'-White's Selborne. They are preyed on by martins and other animals of the mustela and viverra tribes: also by serpents and birds of prey. Mr. Kerr describes six varieties.

23. S. vulpinus, the vulpine or fox squirrel, of the planter, is of a large size, and ruddy color, mixed with black and dirty white, and has plain ears. It inhabits Virginia, and is the size of a small rabbit. The fur is coarse; the throat and insides of the thighs and legs are black; the tail is shorter than that of the common squirrel; and of a dull yellow color, mixed with black and reddish at the tip, as are also the ears.

SCLAVI, or SLAVI, the ancient inhabitants of Sclavonia or Slavonia. This name originally signified illustrious.

SCLAVONIA, a province in the south of the Austrian empire, which, in official documents, bears the title of the kingdom of Sclavonia. It is long and narrow, the Drave and Danube running along its northern frontiers, and separating it from Hungary; while the Save, also a great river, extends along its southern confines, dividing it from Turkey. Its area is about 6600 square miles; population about 530,000. It lies between 45° and 46° of N. lat.; and, being a frontier province, its inhabitants are exempt from taxes, but subject (see the article HUNGARY) to military duty. The mountainous tracks are barren in dry years, and in the low grounds there are many districts too marshy for cultivation; but the greatest part of the country produces wheat, barley, maize, flax, hemp, and madder. The fruits are chestnuts, plums, and vines; also figs, almonds, and other products of a warm climate. The forests contain the finest oak. Domestic animals are reared with little care, and vast numbers of hogs are found in the woods. Of wild animals, the bear, the wolf, the fox, the polecat, and the vulture are common. Equal mischief is experienced from insects, which multiply surprisingly in the heats of summer, and it sometimes happens that a continuance of southerly winds brings a swarm of locusts from Turkey. The mineral treasures of Sclavonia have not been explored. The only minerals known to exist in large quantities are salt, limestone, sulphur and coal. The manufactures are insigni

ficant.

Sclavonia formed part of the ancient Illyria, and derives its present name from a tribe of Sclavi or Slavi, who settled here in the sixth

century. Then the Venetians, having acquired possession of Dalmatia, extended their conquests hither. It remained alternately subject to them and to the Hungarians, until overrun by the Turks, in whose possession it continued about 170 years.

SCLERANTHUS, in botany, German knotgrass, or Knawel, a genus of the digynia order, and dodecandria class of plants; natural order twenty-second, caryophylleæ: CAL. monophyllous: coR. none: there are two SEEDS contained in the calyx; species three, natives of this country.

SCLERIA, in botany, a genus of the tetrandria order, and monoecia class of plants; natural order fourth, gramina: CAL. a gluma, with from two to six valves; the flowers are numerous; the SEEDS a sort of nut, small, oblong, and shining. There are six species, all natives of the West Indies.

SCLEROTIC, adj. Fr. sclerotique; Gr. okλnpos. Hard; an epithet of one of the coats of the eye.

rotick tunicles of the eye, serve instead of a muscle, The ligaments observed in the inside of the scleby their contraction, to alter the figure of the eye.

SCOFF, v. n. & n. s. SCOFFING, n. s.

SCOFF INGLY, adv.

Ray on the Creation.

Belgic schoppen Goth. skimp. To treat with insolent ridicule,

or contumelious language, with at: the nounsubstantive and adjective corresponding.

In open market-place produced they me.
With scoffs and scorns, and contumelious taunts,
Shakspeare. Henry VI.

Sell when you can; you are not for all markets: Foul is the most foul, being found to be a scoffer. Cry the man mercy, love him, take his offer; Shakspeare.

Of two noblemen of the west of England, the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his house; the other would ask of those that had been at his table, Tell truly, was there never a float or dry blow given?

Bacon

There is no greater argument of a light and inconsiderate person, than prophanely to scoff at religion.

Tillotson.

Our answer, therefore, to their reasons is No; t their scoffs, nothing. Holder.

Consider what the apostle tells these scoffers they he tells them that they were ignorant that the heavens were ignorant of; not that there was a deluge, but and the earth of old were so and so constituted.

Burnet's Theory of the Earth. How could men surrender up their reason to datery, more abusive and reproachful than the rudest scuffs, and the sharpest invectives? South

Such is love.

And such the laws of this fantastic empire, The wanton boy delights to bend the mighty, And scoffs at the vain wisdom of the wise. fane scoffers, not that they are convinced by their re Divers have hoarded themselves among these presons, but terrified by their contumelies.

Government of the Tongue. cophants at Athens. Aristotle applied this hemistick scoffingly to the Bro Some little souls, that have got a smattering tronomy or chemistry for want of a due acquatance with other sciences, make a scoff at them all, in comparison of their favourite science.

Can in celestial language scold.

Swift.

Id.

A shrew in domestick life is now become a scold in politicks. Addison's Freeholder. SCOLOPAX, in ornithology, a genus of birds belonging to the order of gralla. The back is cylindrical, obtuse, and longer than the head; the nostrils are linear; the face is covered; and the feet have four toes. There are numerous species; of which the following are a selection:

1. S. ægocephala, the godwit, weighs twelve ounces and a half, the length is sixteen inches; the breadth twenty-seven; the bill is four inches long, turns up a little, black at the end, the rest a pale purple; from the bill to the eye is a broad white stroke; the feathers of the head, neck, and back, are of a light reddish brown, marked in the middle with a dusky spot; the belly and vent feathers white, the tail regularly barred with black and white. The six first quill-feathers are black; their interior edges of a reddish brown; the legs in some are dusky, in others of a grayish blue, which perhaps may be owing to different edges; the exterior toe is connected as far as the first joint of the middle toe with a strong serrated membrane. The male is distinguished from the female by some black lines on the breast and throat. These birds are taken in the fens, in the same season and in the same manner with the ruffs and reeves (see TRINGA); and when fattened are esteemed a great delicacy, and sell for 2s. 6d. or 5s. a piece. A stale of the same species is placed in the net. They appear in small flocks on our coast in September, and continue with us the whole winter; they walk on the open sands like the curlew, and feed on insects. 2. S. arquata, the curlew, frequents our seacoasts and marshes in winter, in large flocks, walking on the open sands; feeding on shells, frogs, crabs, and other marine insects. In summer they retire to the mountainous and unfrequented parts of the country, where they pair and breed. Their eggs are of a pale olive color, marked with irregular but distinct spots of pale brown. Their flesh is very rank and fishy; they differ much in weight and size; some weighing thirty-seven ounces, others not twenty-two: the length of the largest to the tip of the tail, twentyfive inches; the breadth three feet five inches; the bill is seven inches long: the head, neck, and coverts of the wings, are of a pale brown; the middle of each feather black; the breast and belly white, marked with narrow oblong black lines: the back is white, spotted with a few black strokes the quill feathers are black, but the inner webs spotted with white; the tail is white, tinged with red, and beautifully barred with

black; the legs are long, strong, and of a bluish gray color: the bottoms of the toes flat and broad, to enable it to walk on the soft mud in search of food.

3. S. calidris, the red-shank, is found on most of our shores; in the winter time it conceals itself in the gutters, and is generally found single, or at most in pairs. It breeds in the fens and marshes, and flies round its nest when disturbed, making a noise like a lapwing. It lays four eggs, whitish tinged with olive, marked with irregular spots of black chiefly on the thicker end. It weighs five ounces and a half: the length is twelve inches, the breadth twenty-one; the bill nearly two inches long, red at the base, black towards the point. The head, hind part of the neck, and scapulars, are of a dusky ash-color, obscurely spotted with black; the back is white, sprinkled with black spots; the tail elegantly barred with black and white; the cheeks, under side of the neck, and upper part of the breast are white, streaked downward with dusky lines; the belly white; the exterior webs of the quillfeathers are dusky; the legs long, and of a fine bright orange color; the utmost toe connected to the middle toe by a small membrane; the inmost by another still smaller.

4. S. gallinago, the common snipe, the length to the end of the tail is nearly twelve inches; the breadth about fourteen; the bill is three inches long, of a dusky color, flat at the end, and often rough like shagreen above and below. The head is divided lengthways with two black lines, and three red, one of the last passing over the middle of the head, and one above each eye: between the bill and the eyes is a dusky line; the chin is white; the neck is varied with brown and red. The scapulars are beautifully striped lengthways with black and yellow; the quillfeathers are dusky; but the edge of the first is white, as are the tips of the secondary feathers: the quill-feathers next the back are barred with black and pale red; the breast and belly are white; the coverts of the tail are long, and almost cover it; they are of a reddish-brown color. The tail consists of fourteen feathers, black on their lower part, then crossed with a broad bar of deep orange, another narrow one of black; and the ends white or pale orange. The legs pale green; the toes divided to their origin. In the winter time snipes are very frequent in all marshy and wet grounds, where they lie concealed in the rushes, &c. In summer they disperse to different parts, and are found in the midst of the highest mountains as well as of the low moors; their nest is made of dried grass; they lay four eggs of a dirty olive color, marked with dusky spots. When they are disturbed much, particularly in the breeding season, they soar to a vast height, making a singular bleating noise; and, when they descend, dart down with vast rapidity: it is also amusing to observe the cock, while his mate sits on her eggs, poise himself on her wings, making sometimes a whistling and sometimes a drumming noise. Their food is the same with that of the woodcock; their flight very irregular and swift, and attended with a shrill scream. These birds are found in every quarter of the globe, and in very various cli.

mates.

5. S. glottis, the greenshank, is in length to the end of the tail fourteen inches; to that of the toes twenty; its breath twenty-five. The bill is two inches and a half long; the upper mandible black, straight, and very slender; the lower reflects a little upwards; the head and upper part of the neck are ash-colored, marked with small dusky lines pointing down; over each passes a white line; the coverts, the scapulars, and upper part of the back, are of a brownish ash-color; the quill-feathers dusky, but the inner webs speckled with white; the breast, belly, thighs, and lower part of the back, are white; the tail is white, marked with undulated dusky bars: the inner coverts of the wings finely crossed with double and treble rows of a dusky color. It is a bird of an elegant shape, and small weight in proportion to its dimensions, weighing only six ounces. The legs are very long and slender, and bare two inches above the knees. The exterior toe is united to the middle toe, as far as the second joint, by a strong membrane which borders their sides to the very end. These birds appear on the English coast and wet grounds in the winter time in but small numbers.

6. S. rusticola, the woodcock, during summer inhabits the Alps of Norway, Sweden, Polish Prussia, and the northern parts of Europe: they all retire from those countries the beginning of winter, as soon as the frosts commence; which force them into milder climates, where the ground is open, and adapted to their manner of feeding. They live on worms and insects, which they search for with their long bills in soft grounds and moist woods.-Woodcocks generally arrive here in flocks, taking advantage of the night or a mist: they soon separate; but, before they return to their native haunts, pair. They feed and fly by night; beginning their flight in the evening, and return the same way to their day retreat. They leave England in the end of February or beginning of March; though they sometimes continue longer. These birds appear in Scotland first on the eastern coasts, and make their progress from east to west. Our species of woodcock is unknown in North America: but a kind is found that has the general appearance of it; but is scarcely half the size, and wants the bars on the breast and belly. The length nearly fourteen inches; and the breadth twenty-six; the bill is three inches long, dusky towards the end, reddish at the base; tongue slender, long, sharp, and hard at the point; the eyes large, and placed near the top of the head, that they may not be injured when the birds thrusts its bill into the ground; from the bill to the eyes is a black line; the forehead is a reddish ash-color; the crown of the head, the hind part of the neck, the back, the covert of the wings, and the scapulars, are prettily barred with a ferruginous red, black, and gray; but on the head the black predominates: the quill feathers are dusky, indented with red marks. The chin is of a pale yellow; the whole under side of the body is of a dirty white, marked with numerous transverse lines of a dusky color. The tail consists of twelve feathers, dusky or black on the one web, and marked

with red on the other; the tips above are ashcolored, below white. The legs and toes are livid; the latter divided almost to their very origin, having only a very small web between the middle and interior toes; as those of the two species of snipes found in England.

SCOLOPENDRA, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of aptera. The feet are very numerous, being as many on each side as there are joints in the body; the antennæ are setaceous: there are two jointed pappi, and the body is depressed.-These insects are very formidable and noxious in the warm countries, where they grow to the length of a quarter of a yard or more, though in this climate they seldom grow above an inch long. The scolopendra is also called the centipes from its number of feet. In the East Indies it grows to six inches in length, and as thick as a man's finger: it consists of many joints; and from each joint proceeds a leg on each side: they are covered with hair, and seem to have no eyes; but there are two feelers on the head, with which they find out the way they are to pass: the head is very round, with two small sharp teeth, with which they inflict wounds that are very painful and dangerous. Some of the species live in holes in the earth; others under stones, and among rotten wood; so that the removing of these is exceedingly dangerous in the countries where the scolopendra breed. The scolopendra forficata is the largest in this country, of a dun color, smooth, and composed of nine scaly segments, without reckoning the head. The feet are fifteen in number on each side, and the last longer than the rest, and turned backwards, form a kind of forky tail. The antennæ are twice the length of the head, and consist of forty-two short segments. The insect's progressive motion is very quick, and sometimes serpentine. It is found under stones on the ground, under flower-pots and garden boxes.

SCOLYMUS, in botany, golden thistle; a genus of the polygamia æqualis order, and syngenesia class of plants; natural order forty-ninth, compositæ: receptacle paleaceous: CAL. imbricated and prickly, without any pappus. Species three, natives of Barbary and the United States of Europe.

SCOMBER, the mackerel, in ichthyology, a genus belonging to the order of thoracici. The head is smooth and compressed, and there are seven rays in the gill membrane. There are twenty-two species; the most remarkable are the following :

1. S. communis, the common mackerel, a summer fish of passage that visits our shores in vast shoals. It is less useful than other species of gregarious fish, being very tender, and unfit for carriage; but it may be preserved by pickling and salting. See FISHERY. It was greatly esteemed by the Romans, because it furnished the garum, a sort of pickle that gave a high relish to their sauces; and was also used medicinally. This fish is easily taken by a bait; but the best time is during a fresh gale of wind, which is thence called a mackerel gale. In the spring the eyes of mackerel are almost covered with a white film; during which period they are half