STAR, in pyrotechny, a composition of combustible matters, which, being thrown aloft in the air, exhibits the appearance of a real star. Stars are chiefly used as ap pendages to rockets, a number of them being usually inclosed in a conical cap or cover, at the head of the rocket, and car ried up with it to its utmost altitude, where the stars, taking fire, areapread a round, and exhibit an agreeable spectacle.
STAR-board denotes the right hand aide of a ship, when a person on board stands with the face looking forward to. wards the head or fore part of the ship ; in contradistinction from larboard, which denotes the left hand side of the ship in the same circumstances. They say, "starboard the helm," or " helm a star board," when the man at the helm should put the helm to the right hand side of the ship.
Sys a falling, or Shooting Star, a luminous meteor darting rapidly through the air, and resembling a star falling. The ex plication of this phenomenon has puzzled all philosophers, till the modern disco veries in electricity have led to the moat probable account of it. Signior Beccaria makes it pretty evident that it is an elec trical appearance, and recites the follow ing fact in proof of it. About an hour af ter sunset, he and some friends that were with him observed a falling star directing its course towards them, and apparently growing larger and larger, but it disap peared not far from them, when it left their faces, bands, and clothes, with the earth, and all the neighbouring objects, suddenly illuminated with a diffused and lambent light, not attended with any noise at all. During their surprise at this ap pearance, a servant informed them that he had seen a light shine suddenly in the garden, and especially upon the streams which he was throwing to water it. All
these appearances were evidently electri. cal ; and Beccaria was confirmed in his conjecture, that electricity was the cause of them, by the quantity of electric matter which he had seen gradually advancing towards his kite, which had very much the appearance of a falling star. Some times also he saw a kind of glory round the kite, which followed it when it chang ed its place, but left some light, for a small space of time, in the place it had quitted.
STA.a.cnazniza was a very ancient court, but new modelled afterwards by di vers statutes. It consisted of several of the lords, spiritual and temporal, being privy councillors, together with two judges of the courts of common law, with out the intervention of any jury. The legal jurisdiction extended over riots, perjury, misbehaviour of public officers, and other notorious misdemeanors. But afterwards they stretched their power beyond the ut most bounds of legality, vindicating all the encroachments of the crown in grant ing monopolies, in issuing proclamations which should have the force of laws, in punishing small offences, or no offences at all but of their own creating, by exor bitant fines, imprisonment, and corporeal severities; until at last this court became so odious, that it was finally abolished by the 16 Charles I. c. 10. Most of the an cient authorities respecting the law of li bels come from this court.