Scabbard
the sheath of a sword or bayonet, made of metal, wood, leather, rawhide, or paper.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: S (39)
These 14 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Scabbard, Scabbard Fish, Scabiosa.
Scabbard Fish
the Lepidopus cau- , datus fairly common in the Mediterranean and the warmer parts of the Atlantic. It is probably a deep sea fish. Its length is from five to six feet, dorsal extending the whole length of the body, which is much compressed. ressed . known in New Zealand, where it is called It is well the frost fish and is much esteemed for food.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scabiosa
the scabious; a genus of Dipsaceæ, involucel, membranous or minute; receptacle hemispherical, hairy, with scaly floral bracts; fruit with eight depressions; known species about 90, from the Eastern Hemisphere. S. succisa yields a green dye, and seems astringent enough to be used in tanning.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scabious
an extensive genus of annual and perennial herbs, belonging to the natural order Dipsaceæ. They are annual or perennial herbs, with entire or divided leaves and heads of blue, pink, white or yellowish flowers. S. succisa, devil's bit, is a common plant. It was formerly supposed to be of great efficacy in all scaly eruptions, hence the name. SCAD or HORSE MACKEREL (Caranx trachurus, or Trachurus vulgaris), a genus of fishes included in the family Scomberidæ or mackerels, and found around the coasts of Great Britain. It appears in large shoals, and the flesh, though coarse, is esteemed and eaten salted during the winter months. SCÆVOLA, GAIUS MUCIUS, an illustrious Roman, who distinguished himself when Porsenna besieged Rome, 507 B. C. Mucius entered the camp of Porsenna to assassinate him and by mistake stabbed one of his attendants. Being seized and brought before Porsenna, he said that he was one of 300 who had engaged, by oath, to slay him; and added, "This hand, which has missed its purpose, ought to suffer." On saying this, he thrust it into the coals which were burning on the altar, and suffered it to be consumed. Porsenna, struck with his intrepidity , made peace with the Romans. The name of Scævola, or "Left-handed," was given as a mark of distinction to Mucius and his family.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scafell
a double-peaked , the mountain loftiest summit in England, on the Westmoreland border of Cumberland: 14½ miles S. S. W. of Kes- R-Cyc oil, and arsenical solutions such as are wick. Of the two peaks, the higher, Scaused for sheep dipping. fell Pike, attains 3,210 feet, the other 3,161.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scaglia
a red, white, or gray argillaceous limestone occurring in the Venetian Alps, and believed by De Zigno to be the age of the chalk. The beds are usually thin, fragile, and almost schistose, whence the name of scaglia.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scale Fern
a popular name for a British species of fern (Ceterach officinarum), so named from the imbricated tawny scales at the back of the fronds. To this plant was formerly attributed a marvelous influence over the liver and spleen.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scale Moss
a popular name given to the Jungermannias, plants resembling moss, and belonging to the order Hepati- They grow on the trunks of trees, cx. in damp earth, and in similar places, and are so called from the small scale-like leaves.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scale Tree
an important tree (Lepidodendron), fossil remains of which are found in the coal-measures, whose trunk was very regularly man marked with ornamental patterns like the scales of some fishes. The height was 60 to 70 feet.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scalene
in mathematics, a term applied to a triangle whose sides are all unequal; also a cone such that a section made by a plane through the axis perpendicular to the plane of the base is a scalene triangle. In this latter case the term is equivalent to oblique.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scales
the imbricated plates on the exterior of certain animals, as the pangolins or scaly ant eaters, serpents and other reptiles, and especially especially fishes. classed, in accord- Fishes are sometimes ance with the structure of their scales, into Ctenoid, Ganoid, Cycloid, and Placoid. The term scale is applied also, in botany, to a small rudimentary or metamorphosed leaf scale-like in form and often in arrangement, constituting the covering of the leaf buds of the deciduous trees in cold climates, the involucrum of the Compositæ, the bracts of catkins, etc.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scales of Notation
methods of representing numbers of any magnitude by means of a few symbols. We ordinarily express numbers in terms of the first nine digit symbols and the symbol known as the cipher-i. e., 10 in all. The number "ten" is then represented by 10, a combination of the "one" and cipher symbols, and so on in the familiar manner. Mathematically there is no reason why 10 should be chosen in preference to any other number as the radix of our common scale of notation. Its convenience arises from the way in which it suits our numeration or naming of numbers.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scaliger
JULIUS CÆSAR (originally DELLA SCALA), a celebrated Italian scholar; born near Lago di Garda, Italy, to France in April 23, 1484. He went 1526, and there practiced medicine. According to some scholars, "no one of the ancients could be placed above him, and the age in which he lived could not show his equal" in learning and talent. He published an "Oration against Erasmus" (1531), in reply to that scholar's "Ciceronianus"; "Poems" (1533-1574), in Latin, filling several volumes; "Comic Meters"; and a variety of dissertations and essays on classical subjects. He died in Agen, France, Oct. 21, 1558,
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Scallop
a well-known bivalve, one of those with a single muscle closing the are fan-shaped, the shell. The valves left often more or less flat, the right more arched; both are marked with sinuous radiating ridges, to which the name Pecten (Latin, "a comb") refers. The hinge line is without teeth, and is extended laterally in two ears. The beautiful coloring of the shells is remarkable even among bivalves. On the margins of the mantle there are hundreds of small sparkling eyes of different degrees of visual efficiency. The small finger-shaped foot is usually marked with bright orange or red color. The scallops are widely distributed in all seas, at depth of 3 to 40 fathoms. When young they are active and able to swim a little by rapidly opening and closing their valves, but as they grow older they become more sedentary. P. Jacobæus, a native of the Mediterranean, is the scallop shell which pilgrims were accustomed to wear in front of their hat in token of having visited the shrine of St. James at Compostella. P. maximus, found on many parts of the British coasts, is about six inches broad. About 180 living species are known, and over 400 are recorded as fossils from Carboniferous strata.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia