The Meta-Encyclopedia

Single-source entries: S (161)

These 10 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Sting, Stingray, Stinkwood.

Sting

in botany, a stinging hair. Stinging hairs are sharp, stiff hairs, containing an acrid fluid which is injected into the wound which they produce; stimuli. Example, the nettle, in which the apex is expanded into a little bulb which is broken off when the sting is slightly touched. In entomology, a weapon of defense, concealed within the abdomen of bees, wasps, etc., and capable of exsertion, or forming part of the last joint of the tail in scorpions. The sting of the bee appears to the naked eye a simple needleshaped organ; but the microscope shows that it is formed of three pieces: A short ort, stout, cylindrico-conical sheath containing two setæ, or lancets, one edge thickened and furnished with teeth directed backward, the other sharp and cutting. The poison apparatus consists of two glandular elongated sacs, and terminates by one or two excretory ducts. Morphologically viewed, a sting is an altered oviduct. The term sting is sometimes inaccurately used for the bite of a venomous serpent, and of the forked tongue of snakes. See SCORPION.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stingray

a fish belonging_to the genus Trygon, natural order Elasmobranchii, family Trygonidæ , which is allied to that of the rays proper. It is remarkable for its long, flexible, whiplike tail, which is armed with a protecting bony spine, very sharp at the point, and furnished along both edges with sharp cutting teeth. Only one species (T. pastinaca ) occurs in the British seas, and is popularly known as the fire flaire. Another species ( Trygon centrura) is common on the E. coasts of North America. These fishes sometimes inflict serious wounds with their tail.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stinkwood

the Oreodaphne foetida, a tree of the natural order Lauracea, a native of the Cape of Good Hope, remarkable for the strong disagreeable smell of its wood, which , however, is hard, very durable, takes an excellent polish, and resembles walnut. It has been used in shipbuilding .

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stinnes (HUGO the stars themselves)

HUGO the_stars_themselves. First discovered the by Lord Rosse about the middle of the 19th century, their existence has more recently been revealed to the estimated number of hundreds of thousands. The largest to be seen is the great nebula in Andromeda, of which photographic study has shown the spiral form and has further revealed "knots" or gathering condensations in the arms of the spirals suggestive of new stars in process of formation. It has also been shown by spectrum analysis that the nebula is composed of non-gaseous matter. These discoveries, together with the finding of spiral nebulæ in such vast numbers in the heavens as to indicate the existence of some universal law governing their formation, has led to the proposal of the spiral or planetesimal hypothesis sis of the solar system. (See PLANETESIMAL HYPOTHESIS.) STAR STREAMING, a recently discovered condition in the stellar universe in accordance with which the stars of the heavens are moving through space in two great streams or drifts inclined to one another at an angle of 100 degrees. The discovery is thought to have important bearings on theories of the universe, and much study is being given to the nature of the stars in the two streams.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stint

a gallatorial bird, a species of sandpiper . Temminck's stint (T. Temminckii ) is the smallest species of the British sandpipers, length 51½ inches. It inhabits the edges of lakes and inland rivers , and is said to breed in North Europe.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stipa

feather grass; the typical genus of Stipeæ. Inflorescence an erect, somewhat contracted panicle ; spikelets one-flowered; glumes two, membranaceous, larger than the floret, outer one involute, with a very long, twisted awn, which finally separates at a joint near its base. Steudel describes 104 species. They are widely distributed , but are most abundant in warm countries. S. pennata is the common feather grass. It has rigid, setaceous, grooved leaves, and exceedingly long awns, feathery at the point. It is very ornamental in gardens in summer, and if gathered before the seeds are ripe it retains its long feathery awns, and is sometimes dyed of various colors and used for decorative purposes.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stipple

in engraving, a mode of producing the desired effect by means of dots; also called the "dotted style," in contradistinction to "engraving in lines." See

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stipule

or STIPULA (plural, STIPULE), in botany , one of two small appendages, generally tapering at the end, situated at the base of a petiole on each side, and generally of a less firm texture than the pet petiole itself. They either adhere to the base of the petiole or are separate; they may last as long as the leaf, or fall off before it. In texture they may be membraneous , leathery, or spiny; in margin entire or laciniated. Stipules are absent in exogens with opposite leaves, in some with alternate leaves, and in the great majority of endogens. They are probably transformed leaves. Also appendages at the base of leaves in Jungermanniaceæ and Hepaticæ.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stires

ERNEST MILMORE, an American Protestant Episcopal clergyman, born in Norfolk, Va., in 1866. He was educated at the University of Virginia and at the Episcopal Theological Seminary of Virginia , becoming a deacon in 1891 and a priest in 1892. After being pastor of churches at West Point, Va., Augusta, Ga., and Chicago, Ill., he became pastor of St. Thomas' Church, New York City. He was at various times chaplain of National Guard units, a member of the Board of Visitors of the United States Military Academy , member of the General Board of Commissions, a trustee of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, a director in many charitable organizations , and one of the candidates for the P. E. bishopric of New York, after the deaths of Bishops Greer and Burch.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia

Stitchwort

the Stellaria, a genus of Caryophyllaceæ, of which there are about 70 species (7) British) -all slender herbs, widely distributed through the temperate and cold regions of the globe. The best-known members are the great stitchwort (S. Holostea), which from its large white flowers in early summer is an ornament of hedgerows and pastures; wood stitchwort (S. nemorum), frequent in the N. of England and Scotland in shady places, but not so striking as the above; and the chickweed (S. media), native through Arctic and N. temperate regions, and now a cosmopolitan olitan naturalized weed. The great stitchwort was supposed to cure "stitch" in the side, hence the name.

Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia