Scalp
the term employed to designate the outer covering of the skull or brain case. Except in the fact that hair in both sexes grows more luxuriantly on the scalp than elsewhere, the skin of the sc scalp differs only slightly slightly from ordinary skin. Besides the skin the scalp is composed of the expanded tendon of the occipito-frontalis muscle, and of intermediate cellular tissue and blood vessels. Injuries of the scalp, however slight, must be watched with great caution, for they may be followed by erysipelas, or by inflammation and suppuration under the occipito-frontal muscle, or within the cranium, or by suppuration of the veins of the cranial bones, and general pyæmia that may easily prove fatal. If dressed antiseptically at an early stage the risk of such accidents is of course greatly diminished. Burns of the scalp are very liable to be followed by erysipelas erysipelas and diffuse inflammation, but the brain is comparatively seldom affected in these cases. Tumors of the scalp are not uncommon.
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Scalper
a term applied in the United States to a man who buys railroad, theater, or steamship tickets at a discount from people unable to use them, and sells them again at an advance on the price he paid for them.
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Scalping
the act peculiar to North American Indian warfare, of partly cutting, partly tearing off a piece of the skin of the head, with the hair attached; whether the victim is alive or dead at the time does not affect the operation. The Indians, with whom scalps are the trophies of victory, have always left a long lock or tuft on the scalp as a challenge. Bounties have, in American history, more than once been offered for scalps: in 1724 £100 (about $500) was offered by Massachusetts for Indian scalps; in 1754, during the French and Indian War, a bounty was offered by the French for British sca scalps, and by the colonies for Indian scalps; in 1755 Massachusetts offered £40 (about $200) for every scalp of a male Indian over 12 years old, and £20 (about $100) for scalps of women and children.
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Scamander
a small stream in the Troad, in northwestern Asia Minor; associated with the little river Simois in the story of the Trojan War.
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Scammony
in botany, the scammony bindweed. In chemistry, scammonium, a purgative gum resin obtained from the root of Convolvulus scammonia. When the root is cut there exudes a milky juice, which dries up to a yellowish-brown, gummy-looking substance. Two varieties are known in commerce, Aleppo and Smyrna, the former being considered the more valuable. It forms flat irregular masses, very brittle, and having a dark gray or blackish hue. Viewed in thin fragments, it appears translucent and of a golden brown color. Genuine scammony should contain from 75 to 82 per cent. of resinous matter, soluble in alcohol, the remainder being wax, gum, starch, etc. It is, however, frequently adulterated. Pure scammony is a powerful drastic purgative and anthelmintic. Montpellier scammony is obtained from Cynanchum mouspeliacиt.
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Scanderbeg
(properly ISKENDER BEY, or PRINCE ALEXANDER), an Albanian chief whose real name was George Castriota; born in Croia, Albania, in 1403. He was the son of a Christian prince, but was brought up by the Turks and fought for some time for Amurath II. Becoming possessed of the chief city of his country, which the Turks had taken, he turned against them, abjured Mohammedanism, raised hammedanis of Epirus in revolt. For 25 years he withstood all the efforts of the Turks to overcome him, defeating them in 22 bat, tles, even when led by the Sultan. Shorts ly before he died, he was compelled to yield to superior forces. He died in Alessio, Albania, Jan. 17, 1467.
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Scandinavian Peninsula
. See Norway ; Sweden
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Scandium
in chemistry, an element discovered by Nilson in 1879; symbol, Sc; at. wt. 44.91. It occurs, together with the other rare earths, in gadolinite and euxenite, but the metal itself has not yet been isolated. It forms one oxide, scandia or scandium oxide, Sc2O3, a white infusible powder, resembling magnesia, sp. gr. 3.8, insoluble in water and acids.
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Scape
in architecture, the shaft of a column; also, the apophyge of a shaft; also, a botanical term for a flower stalk springing straight from the root, as in the primrose, snow-drop, etc.
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Scape Goat
a term applied to one who is made to bear the blame due to another. The idea is drawn from the Jewish ritual, in which a scape goat was a goat designed to 'scape, i.e., escape, as opposed to one killed and offered in sacrifice. Once a year, on the great day of atonement, after Aaron had offered a bullock in sacrifice for the sins of himself and his house (Lev. xvi. 1-8), he was to take two goats "for a sin offering." Lots were to be cast, one for the Lord, and one for Azazel. The goat on which Jehovah's lot fell was to be offered for a sin offering. Under the later Judaism the goat was thrown over a precipice about 12 miles from Jerusalem. The scape goat is generally considered the clearest type of the substitution of Christ for sinners, and His eternal removal of their transgres sion (Isaiah liii. 11-12; I. John Heb. ix. 28; I. Peter ii. 24).
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Scapegoat
in the ancient Jewish ritual, a goat loaded with the sins of the people and sent away into the wilderness. After the Hebrews settled in Jerusalem the scapegoat was driven over a precipice about twelve miles from the city. In Leviticus xvi: 21, 22, it is said: And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel . . . and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness, and the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited. In literature, the term scapegoat is applied to anyone who is made to bear the blame for the wrong doings of others. See Jews
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