Skanderbeg Or George Castriota
Skanderbeg Or George Castriota (14o3 1468), The National Hero Of The Albanians, "ranked By Sir Wil Liam Temple Among The Seven Chiefs Who Have Deserved, With Out Wearing A Toyal Crown," Was Of Serbian Origin. The Founder Of The Family Of Castriota Was A Certain Branilo, Who Was Gov Ernor ...
Skara Brae
Skara Brae, The Name Of Sand-dunes, Parish Of Sand Wick, Orkney. About 1851 A Great Storm Laid Bare Here An Im Mense Kitchen-midden And Remains Of Ancient Walls. Subsequent Researches During The Sixties By William Watt Of Skail House, Revealed A Conglomeration Of Stone Chambers Or Huts, Opening Onto A ...
Skat
Skat, A Game Of Cards, Much Played In Central And Northern Germany. It Is Generally Supposed To Have Been Invented About 1817 By An Advocate Of The Name Of Hempel In Saxe-altenburg. There Is, However, Some Reason For Believing That The Game Is Of Much Earlier Origin And Was Played ...
Skating
Skating, A Mode Of Progression On Ice With The Aid Of Appliances Called Skates, Attached To The Sole Of The Shoe By Straps, Clamps Or Screws. The Earliest Form Of Skate That We Know Is That Of The Bone "runners" Worn By The ,primitive Norsemen. These Were Bound To The ...
Skeleton
Skeleton. In Most Animals And Plants, The Shape Could Not Be Maintained Without A Thickening And Hardening Of Certain Parts To Form A Support For The Whole. These Hardened Parts Are The Skeleton; They Dry And Remain After The Rest Of The Body Has Disappeared. In Higher Animals The Skeleton ...
Skin Diseases
Skin Diseases. The Diseases Of The Skin Do Not Essentially Differ From Those Of The Other Organs Of The Body. But Skin Has Certain Differences From Other Organs, Some Dependent On Its Structure And Some On Its Exposed Position. There Are No Depths To Be Attacked, And Any Diseases, If ...
Skin And Exoskeleton
Skin And Exoskeleton, In Anatomy. The Skin Is The Covering Of The Whole Body, And Is Continuous At The Different Orifices With The Mucous Membrane. It Acts As A Protective Layer, As A Regulator Of The Temperature, As An Excretory Organ And As A Tactile And Sensory Organ In Which ...
Skoplje
Skoplje, The Capital Of Southern Serbia, Yugoslavia (turk Ish Uskiib). It Lies On A Fertile Plain, With The Vardar Running Through It, And Is Completely Encircled By A Turkish Cemetery. Pop. (1931) 64,807, Comprising Serbs, Albanians, Turks, Bulgars And A Few Gipsies. The Agricultural Production Of The District Includes Maize, ...
Skoptsi
Skoptsi, A Secret, Religious Sect Of Russia. It Is An Off Shoot Of The Sect Known As The "people Of God" Or Khlysti (see Russia : Religion). It Was In 1771 In The Government Of Orel That The Skoptsi Were First Discovered By The Authorities. A Peasant, Andrei Ivanov, Was ...
Skull
Skull, The Skeleton Of The Head, Composed Of 22 Bones, 8 Of Which Form The Skeleton Of The Cranium, 14 That Of The Face. Ex Cept The Lower Jaw, Which Is Mov Able, The Bones Are United By Im Movable Joints. In The Following Article The Skull Is Considered As ...
Skunk Cabbage
Skunk Cabbage (symplocarkus Foetidus Or Spathyema Foetida), A Fleshy Herbaceous Plant Of The Arum Family, Araceae (q.v.), So Called Because Of Its Fetid Odour And Large Leaves, Native To Eastern North America And North-eastern Asia. It Grows In Swampy Places And In Very Early Spring (march Or Sometimes February) It ...
Skye
Skye, Largest Island Of The Inner Hebrides, Inverness-shire, Scotland. From The Mainland It Is Separated By The Sound Of Sleat, Kyle Rhea, Loch Alsh And The Inner Sound, And From The Outer Hebrides By The Minch And Little Minch. At Kyleakin, On The Western End Of Loch Alsh, The Channel ...
Slate
Slate, In Geology, A Fissile, Fine-grained Argillaceous Rock Which Cleaves Or Splits Readily Into Thin Slabs Having Great Tensile Strength And Durability. Some Other Rocks That Occur In Thin Beds Are Improperly Called Slate, Because They Can Be Used For Roofing And Similar Purposes. Stonefield Slate, A Thinly Bedded Limestone ...
Slaughter House Or Abattoir
Slaughter-house Or Abattoir. Slaughter-houses Are Of Two Kinds, Those Which Belong To Individual Butchers (private) And Those Which Belong To Public Authorities (public). Private Slaughter-houses In Existence In England Before The Passing Of The Public Health Act 1875 Were In Most Instances Established With Out Licence By The Local Authority, ...
Slavery
Slavery. It Appears To Be True That, In The Words Of Dunoyer, The Economic Regime Of Every Society Which Has Recently Become Sedentary Is Founded On The Slavery Of The Industrial Professions. In The Hunter Period The Savage Warrior Does Not Enslave His Vanquished Enemy, But Slays Him ; The ...
Slavonic Languages
Slavonic Languages. The Slavonic Languages Be Long To The Eastern Or Satem Division Of The Indo-european Family, And Are Very Closely Connected With The Baltic Group, Which Embraces Lithuanian, Lettish And The Now Extinct Old Prussian. The Phonetic And Morphological Affinities Between The Two Groups Are So Striking That Many ...
Slavs
Slavs. The Slays Are The Most Numerous Linguistic Group In Europe. Outside Europe There Are The Russians In Siberia, A Mere Extension Of The Main Body, And Emigrants In America. Pendent Of The Religions, And Across These Lines Run The Frontiers Of The Political Divisions. In The Extreme North-west, In ...
Sleaford
Sleaford, A Market Town In Lincolnshire, England, In A Fertile And Partly Fenny District On The River Slea. Pop. Of Urban District (1930 7,024. The Fine Church Of St. Denis Exhibits Transi Tional Norman Work In The Base Of The Western Tower. The Nave Is Of Beautiful Late Decorated Work ...
Sleep
Sleep. Sleep Is A Normal Condition Of The Body Which Occurs Periodically. During Sleep There Is Greater Or Less Depression Of Most Physiological Activities, Accompanied By A Greater Or Less Degree Of Unconsciousness. Until The Present Century, Neither Physiologists Nor Psychologists Have Been Able To Offer Any Expla Nation Of ...
Sleeper
Sleeper. A Term Used With Many Technical Applications For A Piece Of Timber, Metal, Etc., Used As A Support; In Carpentry It Is Such A Piece Of Timber Laid On Low Cross Walls As A Plate To Receive Ground Joists; In Shipbuilding, A Strengthening Timber For The Bows And Stern ...
Sligo
Sligo, A County Of Ireland In The Province Of Connaught. The Area Is 452,356 Acres Or About 707 Sq.m. Pop. (1926) The Coast-line Is Very Irregular, The Principal Inlets Being Killala Bay And Sligo Bay. Among The Islands Are Inishmurray And Coney. In The North Are The Limestone Elevations Of ...
Sligo_2
Sligo, A Seaport And County Town Of Co. Sligo, Ireland. Pop. (1926) It Lies On Sligo Bay And The River Garvogue, M. N.w. From Dublin By The Great Southern Railway. The Dominican Abbey, Founded In 1252, Was Partly Destroyed By Fire In 1414 And Again In 1642. Three Sides Of ...
Sling
Sling, An Implement For Casting Missiles, Also, A Hanging Loop To Support A Wounded Limb, A Chain With Hooks For Raising Or Lower Ing Heavy Goods (from M.e. Slingen, To Fling, Throw. With A Jerk, Icel Slyngva, Cf. Ger. Schlingen, To Twist). The Sling Is Probably The Earliest Device By ...
Slovak Language
Slovak Language. The Two Languages Of The Former Czechoslovak Republic, Czech And Slovak (for Which The Com Bined Designation Czechoslovak Is In Common Use), Are Not Identical, Either In Their Literary Form Or In Their Dialects, In The Same Way As Are Serb And Croat (to Express Which The Compound ...
Slovakia
Slovakia, An Independent Republic In Central Europe, Under The Protectorate Of The German Reich, Had Been Before 1918 A Part Of The Kingdom Of Hungary And Had Constituted From 1918 To 1939 A Province Of The Czechoslovak Republic. It Covered In 1931 An Area Of 18,895 Sq.mi., With A Population ...
Slovene Language
Slovene Language. Slovene, The Most Westerly Lan Guage Of The South Slavonic Branch, Is Quite Distinct From Slovak, Which Is Spoken Principally In The State Of Slovakia And Belongs To The Western Branch. The Slovenes Inhabit Those Districts Of Yugoslavia Which Border On Austria And Italy; The Capital Of Their ...
Slug
Slug. The Name Generally Given To The Members Of A Group Of Land Molluscs Related To The Land Snails But Lacking An External Shell. They Include The Families Limacidae And Arionidae Of The Pulmonate Gastropoda. There Are Several Other Groups Of Less Familiar Pulmonates (e.g., The Daudebardiidae, Veronicelli Dae And ...
Slum
Slum. The Expressions "slum" And "slum Conditions" Scarcely Admit Of Any Exact Definition. For Practical Purposes They Are Recognized As Consisting Of Home Conditions In Which, Owing Either To The Dilapidated, Insanitary Or Unsuitable Character Of The Housing Provision, Or To The Overcrowding To Which It Is Subjected, The Conduct ...
Small Holdings
Small Holdings. The Term "small Holding" Was First Given An Arbitrary Definition By The British Parliament In The Small Holdings Act Of 1892. This Empowered County Councils To Acquire Land For The Provisions Of "small Holdings"—i.e., Holdings Of Not More Than 5o Acres In Extent, Or Exceeding £50 In Annual ...
Smallpdx Or Variola
Smallpdx Or Variola, An Acute Infectious Disease Characterized By Fever And Eruption, Which, After Passing Through Various Stages Of Papule, Vesicle And Pustule, Dries Up, Leaving More Or Less Distinct Scars. By Far The Most Common Cause Of Conveyance Of The Disease Is Contact With The Persons Or The Immediate ...
Smell
Smell The Olfactory Organ.—the Organ Of Smell In Man Is Located In The Nose. The Delicate Membranous Lining Of The Uppermost Part Of The Nasal Chamber Is Different In Colour From That Of The Rest Of The Chamber And Is The True Olfactory Organ. The Area Covered By This Organ ...
Smerdis
Smerdis (pers. Bardiya; By Ctesias, Pers. 8, Called Tany Oxarces; By Xenophon, Cyrop. Viii. 7. Ii, Who Takes The Name From Ctesias, Tanaoxares; By Justin I. 9, Mergis; In Aeschylus, Pers. 774, Mardos), A Persian King. Smerdis Was The Younger Son Of Cyrus The Great Who, According To Ctesias, On ...
Smith College
Smith College, An Institution For The Higher Education Of Women, At Northampton, Mass. It Was Founded By The Will Of Sophia Smith (1796-187o) Of Hatfield, Who Chose The Neigh Bouring Town Of Northampton As The Site Of The College, And Selected The First Trustees. The College Was Chartered In 1871 ...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution, An American Institu Tion Of Learning In Washington, D.c., Founded By The Bequest Of James Smithson (q.v.). His Estate Was Left To A Nephew, Henry James Hungerford, With The Stipulation That Should Hungerford Die Without Issue The Whole Estate Should Go "to The United States Of America To ...
Smithsonite
Smithsonite, A Mineral Species Consisting Of Zinc Carbo Nate, And Forming An Important Ore Of Zinc. It Is Rhombo Hedral In Crystallization And Isomorphous With Calcite And Chaly Bite. Distinct Crystals Are Rare; They Have The Form Of The Primi Tive Cleavage Rhombohedron. Botryoidal And Stalactitic Masses Are More Common, ...
Smoke And Smoke Prevention
Smoke And Smoke Prevention. Smoke And Its Production.—smoke Is A General Term Applied To The Visible Exhalations From Burning Materials. The Character Of Smoke Varies According To Its Source, Which May Be A Waste Heap, A Bon Fire Or A Cigarette; But The Smoke Which Is Produced In By Far ...
Smoke In Warfare
Smoke : In Warfare. The First Historical Reference To The Use Of Smoke In War, Was The Miracle Whereby The Israelites Were Protected During Their March From Egypt To The Promised Land (exod. Xiv. 19). In This Old Biblical Story Of The Israelites Lies The Whole Essence Of The Use ...
Smokeless Domestic Fuel
Smokeless Domestic Fuel. Attention Has Been Increasingly Drawn To This Subject Of Late Years, And Many Organ Izations Have Carried Out Useful Propaganda In Relation Thereto. By The More Scientific Consumption Of Fuel, Not Only Could Enormous Waste Be Obviated But The Atmosphere Of Towns Would Be Rendered Vastly Clearer ...
Smolensk
Smolensk, A Province Of European Russia, Smaller Than The Pre-1917 Province Of That Name. Area 57,200 Sq.kilometres. Pop. (1926) 2,258,064. It Is Bounded On The West By White Russia, On The North By Pskov And Tver, On The East By Moscow And Kaluga And On The South By Briansk. The ...
Smolensk_2
Smolensk, A Town Of Russia, The Administrative Centre Of The Province Of Smolensk, Situated On The Dnieper River, In 54° 50' N., 32° 5' E., At A Point Where The Plateau Is Deeply Entrenched And Approaches The River Both On The North And South. The Ancient Kreml Or Fortress Was ...
Smuggling
Smuggling, A Breach Of The Revenue Laws Either By The Importation Or The Exportation Of Prohibited Goods Or By The Eva Sion Of Customs Duties On Goods Liable To Duty. Legislation On The Subject In England Has Been Very Prolific From The 14th Century Downwards. In The Reign Of Edward ...
Smyrna
Smyrna (ismir), In Ancient Times One Of The Most Important And Now By Far The Greatest Of The Cities Of Asia Minor, Has Pre Served An Unbroken Continuity Of Record And Identity Of Name From The Dawn Of History To The Present Time. Between The Mountains And The Sea. When ...
Smyth
Smyth (or Smith), John (c. 157o-1612), English Non Conformist Divine, Commonly Called The Se-baptist, Was Born About 157o, And Was Educated At Christ's College, Cambridge, Where He Proceeded M.a. In 1593. He Was Probably Vicar Of Hutton Cranswicke In The E. Riding Of Yorkshire From 1593 To 1600, When He ...
Snail
Snail, The Name Usually Given To Land Molluscs Of The Class Gastropoda Which Have Spiral Shells, Such As The Common Snail (helix Asperse) And The Wood Snail (cepea Nemoralis). In Scot Land Both Shell-bearing And Shell-less Land Molluscs Are Known As "snails." Marine Gastropod Molluscs Are Sometimes Called "sea Snails" ...