Encyclopaedia Britannica [10, 2 ed.]

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ENCTCLO P^DIA BRITANNICA; OR,

A

DICTIONARY O F

ARTS,

S C I E N C E S, &c.

On a PLAN entirely NEW: BY

WHICH,

THE DIFFERENT SCIENCES AND ARTS Are digefted into the FORM of Diftina

TREATISES

OR

SYSTEMS,

COMPREHENDING

The

HISTORY, THEORY,

and PRACTICE, of each,

according to the Lateft Difcdveries and Improvements; AND FUL LEXPLANATIONS ARE GIVEN OF THE

VARIOUS DETACHED PARTS OF KNOWLEDGE, WHETHER RELATING TO

NATURAL

and

ARTIFICIAL

Objeas, or to Matters

CIVIL, MILITARY, COMMERCIAL,

ECCLESIASTICAL, &C.

TOGETHER WITH

A

of all the Countries, Cities, principal Mountains, Seas, Rivers, drc. throughout the WORLD;

DESCRIPTION

A General

HISTORY,

Ancient and Modern, of the different Empires, Kingdoms, and States; AND

An Account of the LIVES of the mofl Eminent Perfons in every Nation, from the earlieft ages down to the prefent times. ‘ THE WHOLE COMPILED FROM THE WRITINGS OF THE BEST AUTHORS, IN SEVERAL LANGUAGES; THE MOST APPROVED DICTIONARIES, AS WELL OF GENERAL SCIENCE AS OF PARTICULAR BRANCHES; THE TRANSACTIONS, JOURNALS, AND MEMOIRS, OF LEARNED SOCIETIES, BOTH AT HOME AND ABROAD; THE MS. LECTURES OF EMINENT PROFESSORS ON DIFFERENT SCIENCES; AND A VARIETY OF ORIGINAL MATERIALS, FURNISHED BY AN EXTENSIVE CORRESPONDENCE.

The

SECOND EDITION;

greatly Improved and Enlarged.

ILLUSTRATED WITH ABOVE THREE HUNDRED COPPERPLATES.

VOL.

X.

INDOCTI DISC4.NT, ET AMENT MEMINJSS E PERITI.

EDI NBU Printed for J.

RGH:

and Co. W. GORDON, J. BELL, J. DICKSON, C. ELLIOT, W. M CH£SH, A. BELL, J. HUTTON, and C. MACFARQJJHAR.

BALFOUR J.

C

MDCCLXiXXIir.

CREECH,

A

NEW

Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, &c. s c u

Sculpture.

CULPTURE, the art of carving wood, or hewing (lone, into images. The antiquity of this art is paft doubt; as the facred writings, the mod ancient and authentic monuments we have of the earliell ages, mention it in fevera! places: witnefs Laban’s idols ftolen away by Rachel, and the golden calf which the Ifraelites fet up in the defart, &c. But it is very difficult to fix the original of the art, and the firft artifts, from profane authors ; what we read thereof being intermixed with fables, after the manner and talle of thofe ages. The firft works in fculpture were with clay, not only in making ftatues, but in forming models; and to this day a fculptor never undertakes any thing confiderable, without forming a model either in clay or wax. In making figures of thefe materials, they begin and finifh their work with their hands, ufing only three or four pieces of wood, which are roundifh at one end, and at the other flat, with a fort of claws and teeth, which are to fmooth and fcratch the work. For waxen models, to every pound of wax add half a pound colophony ; fome add turpentine, and melt it together with oil of olives, more or lefs of the latter being iifed as they would have the matter harder or fofter ; fome alfo add a little vermilion to give it a colour: this is wrought and moulded with the fingers like clay. For fcnlpture in wood, which we properly call CARVING., the firft thing required is tochoofe wood proper for the work the fculptor is to perform. If it be any thing large, and that requires a great deal of (Length and folidity, the hardeft and moft durable wood is to be chofen ; and for fmaller works and ornaments, the fofter wood is ufed ; but it mud be fuch, however, as is firm and clofe : for a large work, though it be only a (ingle figure, it is better to make ufe of feveral pieces of wood, or bits of board, glued together, than of one whole piece, which is more liable to crack ; for a thick piece of wood may not be dried to the heart, however it may appear on the outfide. See CARVING. In fculpture in marble and other done, the fit ft thing to be done is to faw out a block of marble, of the bignefs of the work to be performed ; and this being done, the fuperfiuities are to be taken off by a dubbed point and a heavy mallet : thus bringing it near the tneafures required, the fculptor reduces it Hill nearer with a finer tool, called a clog’s tooth, it having two points, but one not fo (harp as the other. After this he makes ufe of his gradine, which is a flat cutting tool

s c u with three teeth ; he then takes off, with a fmooth Sculpture chifel, the fcratches the gradine left on the marble, I! and ufes it with dexterity and delicacy to give foftnefs and tendernefs to his figure ; till at length, taking .... rafps of different degrees of finenefs, the work is gradually rendered fit for polifhing. To polifli the work, the fculptor ufes pumice-ftone and fmalt ; then he goes over it with tripoli ; and when he would give it more luftre, rubs it with leather and ftraw-aflies. There are feveral other tools ufed by feulptors, adapted to the different parts of the work and the nature of the (lone they make ufe of. As the models of clay (brink as they grow dry, whenever fculptors undertake a confiderable piece of work, they only ufe the model for .making a mould of plafter or ftucco, in which is formed a figure of the fame matter, which ferves them thenceforth for a model, and by which they adjuft all their meafures and proportions. To proceed the more regularly, on the head of the model they place an immoveable circle divided into degrees, with a moveable rule or index, fixed in the centre of the circle, and divided alfo into equal parts : from the end of the rule hangs a line with a plummet, which ferves to take ali the points, to be transferred thence to the block of marble, from whofe top hangs another plummet like that of the model. But there are fome excellent fculptors who difapprove of this method ; urging, that the fmalleft motion of the model changes their meafures ; for which reafon they choofe rather to take all their meafures with the compaffes. For the calling of ftatues or figures of metal, and the moulding of ftatues, &c. of (lucco, plader, See. fee the articles CASTING, FOUNDERY of Statues, &c. SCUM, properly denotes the impurities, which a liquor, by boiling, cads up to the furface. The term feum is alfo ufed for what is more properly called the Icoria of metals. SCURVY, in medicine. See that article, n° 97, 448. SCURVY-GRASS, in botany. See COCHLEAREA. The officinalis, or common officinal feurvy-grafs; grows upon rocks on the fea coaft, and on the Highland mountains, abundantly. It has an acrid, bitter, and acid tafte, and is highly recommended for the feurvy. There are inftances of a whole (hip’s crew having been cured of that diftemper by it ; and as it abounds with acid falts, there can be no doubt but that it is a great refifter of putrefa&ion. The bed way of taking 40 F 2 it

C Sc

Lla

Y

r

8060

jt is raw in a falad. It is alfo diuretic, and ufeful in dropfies. The Highlanders efteem it as a good ftol—machic. The corqnopus, another fpecies, was forae years ago rendered famous, the afliCs of it being an ingredient in Mrs Joanna Stephens’s celebrated medicine for the done and gravel; but, unfortunately for thofe affii&ed with that excruciating complaint, it has not been able to fupport its credit. It is acrid, and taftes like garden crefs. SCUTAGE {fcutagium. Sax. fcildpcning), was a tax or contribution raifed by thofe that held lands by knights-fervice, towards furniihing the king’s army, at one, two, or three merks for every knight’s fee. Henry III. for his voyage to the Holy Land, had a tenth granted by the clergy, and fcutage three merks of every knight’s fee by the laity. This was alfo levied by Henry II. Richard I. and king John. See KviGHT-&xf/V(?. SCUTE, (fcutum) a French'gold coin of 3s. 4d. in the reign of king Henry V. And Catharine queen of England had an afl’urance made her of fundry caftles, manors, lands, &c. valued at the fum of 40,000 fcutes, every two whereof were worth a noble. Rot. Pari. 1. Hen. VI. SCUTTLES, in a (hip, fquare holes cut in the deck, big enough to let down the body of a man, and which ferve upon fome occafions to let the people down into any room below, or from one deck to another. SCYLAX, a celebrated mathematician and geographer in the ifle of Caryanda, in Caria, flourifhed under the reign of Darius Hyftafpts, about 522 B. C. Some have attributed to him the invention of geographical tables. We have under his name a geographical work publifhedby Hoefchelius; but it is written by a much latter author, and is perhaps only an abridgement of Scylax’s Ancient Geography. SCYLLA, (anc. geog.) a rock in the Fretum Siculum, near the coaft of Italy, dangerous to (hipping, oppofite to Charybdis, a whirlpool on the coaft of Sicily : both of them famous in mythology. SCYROS, (anc. geog.) an ifland in the Egean fea, oppofite to the middle of Euboea to the call, with a oognominal town, (Ptolemy). The country of king Lycomedes ; where Achilles, in the habit of a girl, was educated and lay concealed, to prevent going to the fiege of Troy ; who debauchrd Diedamia, the king’s daughter, and by her had Pyrrhus, (Ovid.) Famous alfo for the death and place of exile of Theftus, king of Athens, (Valerius Maximus). Anciently inhabited by the Dolopes, a race of intolerable robbers, expelled by Timon the Athenian, (Thucydides, Plutarch). Now Sciro. E. Long. 25. o. N. Lat. 38.15. SCYTALA LACONICA, in antiquity, a ftratagem or device of the Lacedemonians, for the fecret writing of letters to their correfpondents, fo that if they (hould chance to be intercepted, nobody might be able to read them—To this end they had two wooden rollers, or cylinders, perfeflly alike and equal; one whereof was kept in the city, the other by the perfon to whom the letter was diredted. For the letter, a fkin of very thin parchment was wrapped round the roller, and thereon was the matter written; which done, it was

Scutage

1

S

C

Y

taken off, and fent away to the party, who, upon putting it in the fame manner upon his roller, found the" lines and words in the very fame difpofition as when they were firft wrote. This expedient they fet a very high value on ; though, in truth, artlefs, and grofs enough : the moderns have improved vaftly on this method of writing. See CIPHER. SCYTHIA, an ancient name for the northern parts of Afia, now known by the name of Tartary; alfo for fome of the north-eaflern parts, of Europe. This vail territory, which extends itfelf from the Ifter or Danube, the boundary of the Celtes, that is from about the 25th to almoft the noth degree of eaft longitude, was divided into Scythia in Europe, and Scythia in Afia, including, however, the two Sarmatias ; or, as they are called by the Greeks, Sauromafias, now the Circaffian Tartary, which lay between and fevered the twq Scythias from each other. Sauromatia was alfodiftinguifhed into European and Afiatic; and was divided from the European Scythia by the river Don or Tanis, which falls into the Paulus Meotis ; and from the Afiatic by the.Rha, now Volga, which empties itfelf into the Cafpian fea. 1. The Afiatic Scythia comprehended, in general, great Tartary, and Ruflia in Afia ; and, in particular, the Scythia beyond or without Imaus contained the regions of Bogdoi or Ofliacoi, and Tanguti. That within, or on this fide Imaus, had Turkeflan and Mongal, the Ufbeck or Zagatai, Kalmuc and Nagaian Tartars ; befides Siberia, the land of the Samoiedes, and Nova Zembla. Thefe three laft not being fo foon inhabited as the former, as may be reafonably fuppofed, were wholly unknown to the ancients; and the former were peopled by the Badtrians, Sogdians, Gandari, Sack?, and Maffagetes. As for Sarmatia, it contained Albania, Iberia, and Colchis; which makes now the Circaflian Tartary, and the province of Georgia. 2. Scythia in Europe, reached (towards the fouthweft) to the Po and the Alps, by which it was divided from the Celtes, or Celto-Gallia, and' by the Rhine northward. It was bounded on the fouth by the Ifter or Danube, and the Euxine fea. Its northern limits have been fuppofed to ftretch to the fpring-heads of the Borifthenes or Nieper, and the Rha or Volga, and fo to that of the Tanais.—The ancients divided this country into Scythia Arimafptea, which lay eaftward, joining to Scythia in Afia ; and Sarmatia Europeana on the weft. In Scythia, properly fo called, were the Arimafpsei on the north ; the Getse or Dacians along the Danube, on the fouth; and the Neuri between thefe two. So that it contained the European Ruffia, or Mufcovy, and the leffer Crim Tartary eaftward ; and, on the weft, Lithuania, Poland, part of Hungary, Tranfilvania, Walachia, Bulgaria, and Moldavia. Sarmatia is fuppofed to have reached northward, to that part of Swedeland called Feningia, now Finland; in which they placed the Ocenes, Panoti, and Hippopodes. This part they divided from northern Germany, now the weft: part of Sweden and Norway, by the Mare Sarmaticum or Scythicum, which they fuppofed ran up into the nprthern ocean, and, dividing Lapland info two parts, formed the weftern part of Sweden, with Norway, into one illand, and Finland into another j fuppofing this

SEA Scythian, Sea

-

[

8o6l

alfo to be cut off from the continent by the gulph of that name. Although the ancient Scythiaps were celebrated as a warlike people, yet their hiftory is-too uncertain and obfcure to enable us to give any detail which would not prove equally tirefome and uninterefting to the reade r. SCYTHIAN Lamb, in natural hiftory. See Scythian LAMB.

. SEA, is frequently ufed for, that vaft tra£t of water encompafiing the whole earth, more properly called ocean. See OCEAN. What proportion the fuperficies of the fea bears to that of the land, is not precifely known, though it is faid to be fomewhat more than two-thirds. As the waters of the earth mult neceffarily rife to the furface thereof, as being fpecifically lighter than the earth, it was neceffary there Ihould be large cavities therein for receptacles to contain them; otherwife they would have overfpread all the fuperficies of the earth, and fo have rendered it utterly uninhabitable for terreftrial animals: for the centre of the earth being the common centre of gravity, and the nature of fluids being fuch that they equally yield to equal powers, and the power of attraflion being every where equal at equal diftances from the centre, it follows, that the fuperficial parts of ihe water will every where conform thhnfelves to an equidiftant fituation from the centre, and confequently will form the furface of a fphere fo far as they extend. Hence, that the fea feems higher than the earth or land, refulisfrom the fallacy of vifion, whereby all obje&s, and the parts of land as well as fea, the farther they are off from us, the higher they appear ; the reafon of all which is plain from optics : for it is well known, that the denfer any medium is through which we-behold obje&s, the greater is the refraftion, or the more their images appear above the horizontal leveli alfo the greater quantity of the medium the rays pafs through, the more will they be bent from their firft direflion : on both thefe accounts, the appearances of things remote, and on the fea, will be fomewhat above the horizon, and the more fo as they are the more remote. With regard to the depth or profundity of the fea Varenius affirms, that it is in fome places unfathomable, and in others very various, being in certain placesI-J^Q, 4-J.Englifti miles,in other places deeper, and much lefs in bays than in oceans. In general, the depths of the fea bear a great analogy to the height of mountains on the land, fo far as is hitherto difcovered. There are two principal reafons why the fea doth not increafe by means of rivers, &c. falling every where into it. The firft is, becaufe waters return from the fea by fubterranean cavities and aquedu&s, thro’ various parts of the earth. Secondly, becaufe the quantity of vapours raifed from the fea, and falling on the land, only caufe a circulation, but no increafe, of water. It hath been found by calculation, that in a fymmer’s day there may be raifed in vapours, frpm the Mediterranean Sea, 52800&OOOO tuns of Water ; and yet this fea receiveth not, from all its nine great rivers above 18270COCOO tuns per day, which is but a third part of what is exhaufted in vapours. SEA, is more properly ufed for a particular part or

]

SEA

divifion of the ocean; denominated from the countries it wafhes, or from other circumftances.—Thus we fay, the Irijhfea, the Mediterranean fea, the Baltic fea, the Red fea, &c. Till the time of the emperor Juftinian, the fea was common and open to all men : whence it is that the Roman laws grant an a&ion againft a perfon who (hall prevent another in the free navigation or fiftiing therein.—The emperor Leo, in his 56th novel, fitll allowed fuch as were in poffeffion of the land the foie privilege of filhing before their refpe&ive territories, exclufive of all others: he even gave a particular commiffion to certain perfons, to divide the Thracian Bofphorus among them. From that time, the fovereign princes have been endeavouring to appropriate the fea, and to withdraw it from the public ufe. The republic of Venice pretends to be fo far miftrefs in her gulf, that there is a formal marriage every year, between that feignory and the Adriatic. In thefe laft ages, the Britiih have particularly claimed the empire of the fea in the channel; and even that of all the feas encompaffing the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland ; and that as far as the (bores of the neighbouring dates. In confequence of which pretenfion it is, that children bom on thefe feas are declared natural Britons, as much as if born on Britifti ground.—The juftice of this pretenfion is ftrenuonfly argued between Grotiua and Selden, in the Mare Liberum, and Mare Claufum. Encroachments by the SEA on the Dry Land. It has. been matter of difpute whether the land or the water are gaining upon each in this terraqueous globe, and it is a difpute which feems not to be capable of an eafy faint ion. In many places, it is certain that the fea has gained very confiderably, and very recently too. In Britain feveral remarkable encroachments have been remarked. In the reign of Auguftus, the ifle of Wight made part of the ifland of Britain, fo that at low water the Britons croflcd over towards it with cart loads of tin ; but now the connection is totally cut off, and the ifle of Wight is conftantly feparated from Britain by a channel half a mile wide. And in other places the fame encroachments are perceptible. In general, on the eaftern coaft, the fea has gained ground; while on the fouthern and weftern, it has gained in fome places, and loft in others. It has gained confiderably on the coaft of Yorklhire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Effex, and the eaftern fhore of Kent ; as alfo that of Suffex, Hampflbire, Dorfetftiire, and Cornwall. Within this laft; half century alfo the fea has made large encroachments upon the iflands of Scilly, and from May 1766 to May 1767 was obferved to encroach 40 inches. It has alfo encroached upon the coafts of North Dcvonftiire, Pembrokefliire, and Cardiganlhire. But, on the other hand, in the fouthern parts of Kent, in Lincolnihire and Lancafhire, the land has gained upon the fea. In Kent, it has retreated from the beach of Sandwich, funk the fmall aeftuary of Solinus into an infignificant current, and converted a fine harbour, called by the Romans Rhu~ tupce, where their fleet were regularly laid up, into a valley watered by a river. In Lincolnfliire it has added a confiderable quantity -of ground to the coaft, and left many thoufand acres betwixt the old bank o£ its.

SEA Sea.

f

S062

waters and the prefent margin of its (hore. And in Lancaihire, the fands which originally formed the beach of the fea, and were covered every tide with its waters, are now regularly inhabited. They-ftill retain the name given them by the Britons, viz. Meales, or Icofe quaggy lands ; tho’, loofe and quaggy as they once were, they are now cultivated, and a parochial church and village ere&ed upon them. From confidering thefe fafls, we may doubt whether the fea in fadt has gained on the land, or the land on the fea ; as what is gained by either on one fide may perhaps be loft on the other. Buffon imagines, that the fea is perpetually gaining upon the land, and will at la-ft cover the tops of the higheft mountains, leaving its prefent bed quite dry ; but his notions concerning the gradual motion of the waters from one place to. another have been fo fully refuted under the article EARTH, that it is needlefs to mention any thing further concerning them in this place. Others there are who argue ftrenuoufly for the continual incre^feof dry land, and decreafe of the fea. Their principal argument is drawn from a fnppofition of the vegetation of ftone, and a petrifying quality inherent in fea water. A Scotch gentleman, who w’as at Boulogne in the fummer 1750, has favoured us with a remarkable inftance of this petrifying quality in fea-water. He obferved, that the Britilh channel, which wafhes the bottom of a hill near that place, (commonly called ■Ctffar’s Font, from a Roman encampment ftill vifible on it, faid to have been conttru&ed by Julius Ctefar when he invaded Britain), had worn in thro* a great part of the hill, which confifts moftly of mixed land, with about three or four feet of a ftrong bluilh clay foil above. As the Tandy part is wafhed away, the clay falls down in large mafl'es, and, as the inhabitants there affirm, is petrified by the fait water. In fa