number, and were offered to God in the name of the twelve tribes of Israel. They were shaped like a brick, were ten palms long and five broad, weighing about eight pounds each. They were unleavened, and made of fine flour by the Levites. The priest set them on the table in two rows, six in a row, and put frankincense upon them to preserve them from moulding. They were changed every. sabbath, and the old ones belonged to the priest upon duty. Of this bread none but the priests might eat, except in cases of necessity. It was called the bread of faces, because, the table of the shew bread being almost over against the ark of the covenant, the loaves might be said to be set before the face of God. The original table was carried away to Babylon, but a new one was made for the second temple. It was of wood overlaid with gold. This, with the candlestick and some other spoils, was carried by Titus to Rome. SHIELD. In Armory, a weapon of defence, worn upon the arm, to fend off lances, darts, and hand arms. The surface, or, as it is called in heraldry, the field, of the shield, or escutcheon, appears to have been, in all ages, decorated with figures emblematical or historical, serving to express the sentiments, record the honors, or, at least, distinguish the person of the warrior. In some of the northern nations, indeed, it seems that the young soldier was obliged to wear his metal covered shield perfectly plain, and could pretend to no glory till it bore the marks of battle. The heralds lay considerable stress upon the shape of the shield. In England, the triangular is supposed to have been the most ancient, and therefore ranks as the most honorable. In Scotland, the shields were circular; and on the continent of Europe, some adhere to the oval, as resembling the Roman clypeus; while others consider that form as a badge of disgrace. The square shield, rounded and pointed at the bottom, is taken from the samnite shield, used by the Romans. and indiscriminate acceptation. In the sea language, however, it is more particularly applied to a vessel furnished with three masts, each of which is composed of a lower mast, topmast, and topgallant mast, with the usual rigging and appendages thereto belonging. The invention of ships is very ancient, and, at the same time, very uncertain. Mythologists attribute it to Dædalus, and pretend that the wings he invented to save himself withal from the labyrinth of Crete, were nothing but sails, which he first gave to vessels, and with which he eluded the vigilance and pursuit of Minos. Others give the honor to Janus, on the credit of some ancient Greek and Latin coins, on one side of which is represented his double face, and on the reverse á ship. Lastly, others look on Noah to have been the first ship builder. The most celebrated ships of antiquity are, that of Ptolemy Philopater, which is said to have been 280 cubits (i. e. 420 feet) long, 38 broad, and 48 high: it carried 4000 rowers, 400 sailors, and 3000 soldiers. That which the same prince made to sail on the Nile, we are told, was 312 feet long, 45 feet broad, with a mast 120 feet high. Yet these were nothing in comparison with Hiero's ship, built under the direction of Archimedes, on the structure of which Moschion, as we are told by Snellius, wrote a whole volume. There was wood enough employed in it to make 60 galleys. It had all the variety of apartments of a palace: banquetting rooms, galleries, gardens, fish ponds, stables, mills, baths, a temple of Venus, &c. It was encompassed with an iron rampart, and eight towers, with walls and bulwarks, furnished with machines of war, particularly one, which threw a stone of 300 pounds, or a dart twelve cubits long, the space of half a mile; with many other particulars related by Athenæus. A ship is undoubtedly the noblest machine that ever was invented, and consists of so many various parts, that to form some idea of its importance and qualities will require the attention of the gentleman and the artist. All ships at first were of the same form, whatever uses they were designed for; but the various ends of navigation, some of which were better answered by one form, some by another, soon gave occasion to build and fit out ships, not only differ ent in size, but also in their construction and rigging: and as trade gave occasion to the fitting out large fleets of different kinds of merchants ships, so ships of war became necessary to preserve them to their just owners. SHIBBOLETH, or SIBBOLETH. A Hebrew word which signified spica, or an ear of corn. It was used by way of distinguishing the Ephraimites from the men of Gilead. For the latter having killed a great number of the former, set guards at all the passes of Jordan; and when an Ephraimite, who had escaped, came to the water side, and desired to pass over, they asked him if he was not an Ephraimite? If he said no, they bade him pronounce Shibboleth. But he pronounced it Sibboleth, according to the manner of the Ephraimites, and thus not enunciating the first letter, was SHIPS OF WAR. Commonly called Men of killed on the spot: on this occasion, 42,000 War. Vessels properly equipped with artillery, Ephraimites were killed. By thus not distinguish- ammunition, and all the implements of war necesing between the schin and the sin, they exposed sary for attack and defence. Ships of the first rate themselves to this massacre: hence the terms have been used to denote the trivial grounds on which contending parties, particularly in theological disputes, often differ, and proceed to think ill of, and actually to persecute, one another. or class mount from 100 to 110 guns and upwards; of the second from 90 to 98 guns; third rate from 64 to 74 guns; fourth rate, from 50 to 60 guns; fifth rate, from 32 to 44 guns; and sixth rate, from 20 to 28. Vessels carrying fewer than 20 guns are denominated sloops, cutters, fireships, and bombs. SHIP. A general name for all large vessels navigated with sails. Among people unacquainted SHIP WORM. A destructive little animal that with marine distinctions, this term has a very vague has two calcareous jaws, hemispherical, flat before, and angular behind. The shell is taper, winding, penetrating ships, and submarine wood. These insects were brought from India to Europe: they bore their passage in the direction of the fibres of the wood, which is their nourishment, and cannot return or pass obliquely, and when two of them meet together, with their stony mouths, they perish for want of food. In the year 1731 and 1732, the United Dutch Provinces were under a dreadful alarm concerning these insects, which had made great depredations on the piles which support the banks of Zealand; but it was happily discovered a few years afterwards, that these insects had totally abandoned that island. The celebrated Linnæus saved the Swedish navy by finding out the time in which the ship worm laid its eggs, and recommending the immersion in water of the timber of which the ships were to be built, during the season that the worms deposited their eggs. SHIVERING. The state of a sail when the wind is too oblique to fill it, so that it flutters about. This must be the case when a vessel is put about, till the sails are filled again with the wind. SHOES. Among the Jews, were made of leather, linen, rush, or wood; those of soldiers were sometimes of brass or iron. They were tied with thongs which passed under the soles of the feet. To put off their shoes was an act of veneration; it was also a sign of mourning and humiliation to bear one's shoes, or to untie the latchets of them, was considered as the meanest service. Among the Greeks, shoes of various kinds were used. Sandals were worn by women of distinction. The Lacædemonians wore red shoes. The Grecian shoes generally reached to the middle of the leg. The Romans used two kinds of shoes; the calceus, which covered the whole foot somewhat like our shoes, and was tied above with latchets or strings; and the salea or slipper, which covered only the sole of the foot, and was fastened with leathern thongs. The calceus was always worn along with the toga when a person went abroad; slippers were put on during a journey and at feasts, but it was reckoned effeminate to appear in public with them. Black shoes were worn by the citizens of ordinary rank, and white ones by the women. Red shoes were sometimes worn by the ladies, and purple ones by the coxcombs of the other sex. Red shoes were put on by the chief magistrates of Rome on days of ceremony and triumph. The shoes of senators, patricians, and their children, had a crescent upon them, which served for a buckle; these were called calcei lunati. Slaves wore no shoes: bence they were called cretati, from their dusty feet. Phocion also and Cato Uticensis went without shoes. The toes of the Roman shoes were turned up in the point; hence they were called calcei rostrati, repandi, &c. In the ninth and tenth centuries the greatest princes of Europe wore wooden shoes, or the upper part of leather and the sole of wood. In the reign of William Rufus, a great beau, Robert, surnamed the horned, used shoes with long sharp points, stuffed with tow, and twisted like a ram's horn. It is said the clergy, being highly offended, declaimed against the long pointed shoes with great vehemence. The points, however, continued to increase, till in the reign of Richard II. they were of so enormous a length that they were tied to the knees with chains sometimes of gold, sometimes of silver. The upper parts of these shoes in Chaucer's time were cut in imitation of a church window. The long pointed shoes were called crackowes, and continued in fashion for three centuries in spite of the bulls of popes, the decrees of councils, and the declamations of the clergy. At length the parliament of England interposed by an act, A. D. 1463, prohibiting the use of shoes or boots with pikes exceeding two inches in length, and prohibiting all shoemakers from making shoes or boots with longer pikes under severe penalties. But even this was not sufficient: it was necessary to denounce the dreadful sentence of excommunication against all who wore shoes or boots with points longer than two inches. The present fashion of shoes was introduced in 1633; the buckle was not used till 1670. In Norway they use shoes of a particular construction, consisting of two pieces, and without heels; in which the upper leather fits close to the foot, the sole being joined to it by many plaits or folds. The shoes or slippers of the Japanese, as we are informed by professor Thunberg, are made of rice straw woven, but sometimes, for people of distinction, of fine slips of ratan. The shoe consists of a sole without upper leather or hind piece; forwards it is crossed by a strap of the thickness of one's finger, which is lined with linen; from the tip of the shoe to the strap a cylindrical string is carried, which passes between the great and second toe, and keeps the shoe fast on the foot. As these shoes have no hind piece, they make a noise when people walk in, like slippers. When the Japanese travel, their shoes are furnished with three strings made of twisted straw, with which they are tied to the legs and feet, to prevent them from falling off. Some people carry one or more pairs of shoes with them on their journeys, in order to put on new, when the old ones are worn out. When it rains, or the roads are very dirty, these shoes are soon wetted through, and one continually sees a great number of worn out shoes lying on the roads, especially near the brooks, where travellers have changed their shoes after washing their feet. Instead of these, in rainy or dirty weather, they wear high wooden clogs, which underneath are hollowed out in the middle, and at top have a band across like a stirrup, and a string for the great toe; so that they can walk without soiling their feet. Some of them have their straw shoes fastened to these wooden clogs. The Japanese never enter their houses with their shoes on; but leave them in the entry, or place them on the bench near the door, and thus are always barefooted in their houses, so as not to dirty their neat mats. During the time that the Dutch live at Japan, when they are sometimes under an obligation of paying visits at the houses of the Japanese, their own rooms at the factory being likewise covered with mats of this kind, they wear, instead of the usual shoes, red, green, or black slippers, which on entering the house they pull off: however, they have stockings on, and shoes made of cotton stuff with buckles in them, which shoes are made at Japan, and can be washed when dirty. Some have them of black satin, to avoid washing them. a number of falling stars, that the mountain was thought to be in flames. This extraordinary light lasted more than an hour. Those meteors which are heard to burst, the exSHOOTING STARS, or METEORS. The plosion being followed, as is sometimes the case, luminous appearances, known by the name of by the fall of stones, are called Aerolites. These shooting stars, are too common not to have been stones often descend with such force as to bury seen by most of the persons for whom this book is themselves several feet in the earth. Many atdesigned. But as frequent as they are, the phe-tempts have been made to account for the formanomenon is not well understood. Some imagine tion and ignition of these grand objects; but the that they are occasioned by electricity, and others subject still remains enveloped in mystery. that they are nothing but luminous gas, perhaps It has been said that the stones, thus incontestaphosphuretted hydrogen. Others have again sup-bly proved by different authorities, and from variposed, that some of them are luminous bodies ous places, to have fallen after the explosion of mewhich accompany our planet in its revolution teors, are heated and luminous when they reach about the sun, and that their return to certain the earth, and they have been seen in Europe, Asia, places might be calculated, with as much certainty and America. The stones are of different sizes, and exactness as that of any of the comets. and from a few ounces in weight to several tons. They are generally of a circular form, and covered with a rough black crust. Meteoric stones have been subjected to chemical analysis, and are found to be entirely different from all known stones belonging to the earth. Signior Baccaria supposed they are occasioned by electricity. His opinion is confirmed by the following observations. About an hour after sunset, he and some friends that were with him observed a falling star, directing its course directly towards them, and apparently growing larger and larger, but just before it reached them it disappeared. On vanishing, their faces, hands, and clothes, with the earth and all the neighboring objects, became suddenly illuminated with a diffused and lambent light. It was attended with no noise. During their surprise at this appearance, 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. Baccaria also observed a quantity of electric matter collect around his kite, which had very much the appearance of a falling star. Sometimes he saw a kind of halo accompanying the kite, as it changed its place, leaving some glimmering of light in the place it had quitted. Shooting stars have been supposed by those meterologists who refer them to electricity or luminous gas, to prognosticate alterations in the weather, such as rain, wind, &c. The duration of the brilliant track which they leave behind them, in their motion through the air, will be found to be longer or shorter, according as watery vapor abounds in the atmosphere. The most remarkable of these meteors, so recently seen, were those of 1783, and 1805. The former was very luminous, and its diameter was estimated to be a thousand yards. The latter passed with such astonishing rapidity, that amazement had not subsided ere it vanished; consequently, but very little dependence can be placed on what has been said concerning its bulk and shape. The light which it emitted was a pale blue, and almost as instantaneous as a flash of lightning, and the rushing of the enormous body produced a sound like very distant thunder. SHOUT, or CLAMOR. In Antiquity, was frequently used on ecclesiastical, civil, and military occasions, as a sign of approbation, and sometimes of indignation. Thus as Cicero, in an assembly of the people, was exposing the arrogance of L. Antony, who had the impudence to cause himself to be inscribed the patron of the Romans, the people, on hearing this, raised a shout to show their indignation. In the ancient military discipline shouts were used, 1, upon occasion of the general's making a speech, or harangue to the army, from his tribunal; this they did in token of their approving what had been proposed. 2. Before an engagement, in order to encourage and spirit their own men, and fill the enemy with dread. On the 12th of November, 1799, there was seen a very remarkable exhibition of shooting stars, at Cumana, in South America, and over most of the West India Islands. The following account of it is from the pen of a gentleman who witnessed it. He says, 'I was called up about three o'clock in This is a practice of great antiquity, besides the morning, to see the shooting of stars as it is which, it wants not the authority of reason to supcalled. The phenomenon was grand and awful. port it, for as mankind are endowed with two The whole heavens appeared as if illuminated with senses, hearing and seeing, by which fear is raised sky rockets, which disappeared only by the light in the mind, it may be proper to make use of the of the sun after daybreak. These meteors appear-ear as well as the eye for that purpose. ed as numerous as the stars, flying in all possible directions except from the earth, towards which they all inclined more or less, and some of them descended perpendicularly over the vessel we were in, so that I was in constant expectation of their falling on us.' About thirty years previous to this time, a similar phenomenon was observed on the table land of the Andes. At Quito, there was seen in one part of the sky, above the volcano of Gayamba, so great Shouts were also raised in the ancient theatre, when what was acted pleased the spectators. It was usual for those present at the burning of the dead to raise a great shout, and call the dead person by his name before they set fire to the pile. SHORT SIGHTEDNESS, or MYOPIA. A defect in the conformation of the eye, wherein the crystalline, &c. being too convex, the rays reflect ed from different objects are retracted too much, and made to converge too fast, so as to unite before they reach the retina, by which means vision is rendered dim and confused. A learned author thinks it probable, that out of so great a number of shortsighted persons as are daily to be met with, few are born so, for it generally grows upon young people at the age of twenty or twenty-five, and therefore might possibly be prevented by using their eyes, while young, to all sorts of conformations, that is, by often looking through glasses of all sorts of figures, and by reading, writing, or working with spectacles of several degrees of convexity; for whatever be the powers by which the eye conforms itself to distinct vision, they may possibly grow weak, or lose their extent one way or other, for want of variety of exercise. It seems an opinion without foundation, to think that such an exercise of the eyes can anywise injure them, provided due care be taken to avoid looking at objects that are too bright. Shortsightedness may come by accident; of this we have a remarkable instance, mentioned by Dr. Briggs in his Ophthalmographia, of a person upwards of seventy years old, who had used spectacles for ten years, and yet by catching cold, he suddenly became so shortsighted, that he could not distinguish objects three feet off, and after the cold and defluxion were cured, he continued to read the smallest print without spectacles for many years. Dr. Smith mentions a young gentleman, who became shortsighted immediately after coming out of a cold bath, in which he did not totally immerse himself, and has ever since used a concave glass for many years. same manner as if the object itself were in the place. It is true, the image will appear inverted, but we have expedients to remedy this too; for, in reading, there needs nothing but to hold the book upside down. To write, the best way, in this case, will be, for the person to learn to do it upside down. For distant objects, the doctor asserts, from his own experience, that with a little practice in contemplating inverted objects, one gets as good an idea of them as if seen in their natural posture. SHROWDS, or SHROUDS. In Sea Language, are great ropes in a ship, which go up on both sides of all masts, except the bowsprit. The shrouds are always divided into pairs, i. e. one piece of rope is doubled, and the two parts fastened together at a small distance from the middle, so as to leave a sort of noose or collar to fix upon the masthead. They are fastened below by chains to the ship's sides, and aloft, over the head of the mast; their pennants, fore-tackle, and swifters, being first put under them: and they are served there, to prevent their galling the mast. The top-mast shrouds are fastened to the puttocks, by plates of iron, and by what they call dead-men's eyes, and laniers also, as the others are. The shrouds, as well as the sails, are denominated from the mast to which they belong. Thus they are the main, fore, and mizzen shrouds, the main-topmast, fore-topmast, or mizzen-topmast shrouds, and main-top-gallant, fore-top-gallant, or mizzen-top-gallant shrouds. The number of shrouds by which a mast is sustained, as well as the size of the rope of which they are formed, is always in proportion to the size of the mast, and the weight of the sail it is intended to It is commonly thought that shortsightedness wears off in old age, on account of the eye becoming flatter: but the learned doctor questions wheth-carry. The two fore-mast shrouds, on the starer this be matter of fact, or hypothesis only. board and larboard side of the ship, are always fitted first upon the mast-head; and then the second on the starboard, and the second on the larboard, and so on till the whole number is fixed. It is remarkable, that shortsighted persons commonly write a small hand, and love a small print, because they can see more of it at a view. That it is customary with them not to look at the person The intention of this arrangement is to brace the they converse with, because they cannot well see yards with greater facility, when the sails are closethe motion of his eyes and features, and are there-hauled, which could not be performed without fore attentive to his words only. That they see great difficulty, if the fore-mast shrouds were last more distinctly, and somewhat farther off, by a fitted on the mast-head, because the angle which strong light than by a weak one; because a strong they would make with the mast would then be light causes a contraction of the pupil, and conse-greatly increased. quently of the pencils, both here and at the retina, which lessens their mixture, and consequently the apparent confusion; and, therefore, to see inore distinctly, they almost close their eyelids, for which reason they were anciently called myopes. The ordinary remedy for shortsightedness is a concave lens, held before the eye, which making the rays diverge, or at least diminishing much of their convergency, makes amends for the too great convexity of the crystalline. SHRUB. A compound liquor, made of ardent spirits, orange juice, and sugar. Though we do not profess to be acquainted with the exact proportion of the ingredients employed by shrub drinkers, yet it appears that one pint of the best cognac brandy requires to be diluted with the expressed and filtered juice of four or six China oranges, and half a pound of refined sugar. Thus, a very palatable, but seductive liquor is produced; the effects Dr. Hook suggests another remedy. Finding of which if frequently resorted to, cannot fail that many shortsighted persons are but little help- of undermining the constitution of its votaries. ed by concaves, he recommends a convex glass, As the injurious consequences to be apprehended placed between the object and the eye, by means from the liberal use of arrack, brandy, gin, and of which the object may be made to appear at any rum, must be known to all; we need at present distance from the eye: and consequently, all ob- only remark, that shrub is comparably more temptjects may be thereby made to appear at any dis- ing and insinuating especially to weak females, tance from the eye, so that the shortsighted eye than any of the simple spirits; because in combishall contemplate the picture of the object in the nation with sweet ingredients, this liquor imper ceptibly stimulates, and gradually impairs the digestive organs, while it deprives such persons of that share of tottering health which they vainly hoped to support. SIGHT. The exercise, or act of the sense of seeing. Our sight, the noblest and most useful of all our senses, father Malebranche shows, deceives us in abundance of instances; nay, almost in all: particularly with regard to the magnitude and extent of things; their figures, motions, &c. Our eyes do not show any thing less than a mite: half a mite is nothing, if we believe their report. A mite is only a mathematical point, with regard to it; and we cannot divide it without annihilating it. In effect, our sight does not represent extension, such as it is in itself; but only the relation and proportion it has to our body. Hence, as half a mite has no relation to our bodies, and that it cannot either preserve or destroy us, our sight hides it entirely. Were our eyes made like microscopes, or were we ourselves as small as mites, we should judge very differently of the magnitude of bodies. SHUME, or ASSHUME. A violent hot wind of Africa, or, as they are called, oncas, which, in the intermediate journeys between several parts of the desert of Sahara, occasions great inconvenience and distress to travellers. It sometimes wholly exhales the water carried in skins by the camels for the use of the passengers and drivers: on which occasions the Arabs and people of Soudan affirm, that five hundred dollars have been given for a draught of water, and that ten or twenty are commonly given, when a partial exhalation has occurred. In 1805, a caravan proceeding from Tombuctoo to Tafilet was disappointed in not finding water at one of the usual watering places, when, as it is It may be added, that our own eyes are really no said, all the persons belonging to it, 2000 in num-other than a kind of natural spectacles; that their ber, besides 1800 camels, perished by thirst. The humors do the same office as the lens in spectacles; intense heat of the sun, aided by the vehement and and that, according to the figure of the crystalline, parching wind that drives the loose sand along the and its distance from the retina, objects are seen boundless plains, gives to the desert the appear-very differently by us; insomuch that we are not ance of a sea, the drifting sand resembling exactly the waves of the sea, and hence aptly denominated by the Arabs 'el Bahar billa mâa,' a sea without water. During the prevalence of this wind, it is impossible to live in the upper rooms of the houses; so that the inhabitants retire to subterraneous apartments, cellars, or warehouses on the ground floor, eating only fruits, as the water-melon or prickly pear, as animal food at this time is loathsome whilst hot, and has scarcely time to cool before it becomes tainted. The walls of the bed chambers, being of stone, are moistened by throwing upon them buckets of water, in order to render the rooms habitable towards the night; and so great is their heat, that in doing this, the effect is similar to that which is produced by casting water on hot iron. SIBYLS. Prophetesses, or such as professed to be so, among the Romans and Greeks. The Romans preserved their books with great care, and consulted them only on great occasions. SIDEREAL. Pertaining to any star or planet, as a sidereal day, the time in which any star appears to revolve from the meridian to the meridian again, which is 23 hours 56 minutes 4 seconds and 6" of mean solar time, there being 366 sidereal days in a year, or in the time of the 365 diurnal revolutions of the sun. SIENITE. A compound granular aggregated rock, composed of felspar and hornblende, with a portion sometimes of quartz and black mica. sure, that there are any two persons in the world who see them equally big. It is even very rare, that the same person sees the same object equally big with both eyes; as both eyes are very seldom perfectly alike: on the contrary, we generally see things bigger with the left than the right eye. The Acta Leipsiensia gives us an account of a man, who received a smart stroke on the pupil of one of his eyes from the end of a fiddle string, which broke while he was tuning the instrument, and chanced to fly that way. Some cooling things were applied to the eye, and a bandage used to shade it from the light; but at midnight the patient, chancing to wake in the dark, found that he could see with that eye, though not with the other; this continued a long time, and on trial he found that he could read a small print at midnight with this eye, but could scarcely distinguish any thing with it in a bright and clear day. We have, in the same collections, an account of a man, who, after the cure of a confirmed pox, saw every object double for a long time. It is a very common, and a very just observation, that children do not see any thing clearly when new-born; and if their eyes be then examined, they are found to want that brilliancy which they afterwards acquire; and finally, when any object is presented to their view, they at first turn their eyes about in such a manner, that it is evident they either do not see at all, or at best but very imperfectly and obscurely. SILICA. One of the primitive earths, which forms one of the constituent parts of all stones, SIGHING. An effort of nature, by which the and is found in greatest abundance in agates, jasJungs are put into greater motion, and more dilat-per, flints, quartz, and rock crystal. In the latter, ed, so that the blood passes more freely, and in it exists nearly in a state of purity. greater quantity, to the left auricle, and thence to the ventricle. Hence we learn, says Dr. Hales, how sighing increases the force of the blood, and consequently proportionably cheers and relieves nature, when oppressed by its too slow motion, which is the case of those who are dejected and sad. SILK, SERICUM. A very soft, fine, bright, delicate thread; the work of an insect, called bombyx, or the silkworm. The ancients were but little acquainted with the use and manufacture of silk; they took it for the work of a sort of spider, or beetle, who spun it out of its entrails, and |