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the different intendants or governors ofprovinces, and in small towns underthose of the magistrates, who are usuallycalled podeste, or vicarii, somewhat likeour country justices.

The sbirri are employed, like our Bow-street officers, in taking up thieves andassassins, whom they are authorized tolodge in the ditferent prisons, and atwhose execution they must personallyattend. These men are, in general,despised, and not much feared by thdpeople ; they are often accused of beingin connivance with the leaders of thevarious gangs of robbers and assassinsthat infest Italy , particularly the Apen-|iine mountains.

When M. De Cr6qui was sent ambas-sador from France to the court of Homein 1662, the sbirri joined the Corsican guards, and insulted that nobleman.The French treated them with contempt,and called them sbirri, or thief-takers :the latter said they were not sbirri, hutsoldiers! Upon which a Frenchman drew his sword, find slightly woundedone of the set. The Abbe Regnier, andthe Imperial Cardinal, (i. e. the one inthe interest of the house of Austria ) en-couraged the sbirri and the Corsicans torevenge this insult; and a dreadful mas-sacre ensued. In consequence of which,Louis XIV . who was then all powerful,insisted upon the most public atonementbeing made, by causing the sbirri to beseverely punished, and the Corsican guard to be broken and dismissed. Inaddition to which, he forced the courtof Rome to erect a pyramid in a conspi-cuous part of the city, and to inscribeupon it, iu large letters, the crime andthe punishment. Several writers asset t,and, indeed, appear to give good testi-mony in behalf of their assertion, thatthe sbirri and the Corsican guards hadbeen designedly provoked and insultedby the French ambassador’s suit.

SCAB, or Itch, a distemper in horses,proceeding from their being over heated,or from a corrupt state of their blood.

SCABBARD , (J'ourreau, F’r.) a casecommonly made of black leather, witha ferrel at the end, in which a sword,sabre, &c. may be sheathed.

Bayonet Scabbard , a leathern sheath made in a triangular form to correspondwith the shape of the bayonet.

To Scabbard , to punish with thescabbard of a bayonet. Infantry sol-

diers are sometimes scahbarded undeF'the sanction of the captains of compa-nies, for slight offences committedamong themselves. A court-martial isheld in the serjeant’s room or tent, toascertain the culprit’s guilt; it havingbeen previously left to him to abide bythe judgment of his comrades, ill thismanner, or be tried by a regimentalcourt-martal.

ScABBAiin-iiitfoii, a brass button, orhook, by which the scabbard is attachedto the frog of the belt.

The word scabbard has been some-times used, in a figurative sense, to dis-tinguish those persons who have obtainedrank and promotion in tile army, with-out having seen much hard service, fromthose who have fought their way throughail the obstacles of superior interest, &c.lienee the favourite expression of a de-ceased English general —Some rise by thescubbard, and some by the sword/ Whichmeans more than we are at liberty toillustrate, hut which may be easily ap-plied to cases in point. However, theseavenues to promotion are not peculiarto England. Petticoat interest haireigned in France , notwithstanding thesalique law, and will reign again,

SCABBED heels in horses, a distem-per called also tile J'rush. -

SCALADE, from the French Esca-lade, a furious attack upon a wall orrampart, contrary to form, and withoutany regularity. This is frequently doneby means of ladders, to insult the wallby open force.

SCALE, (echelle, Fr.) a right linedivided into equal parts, representingmiles, fathoms, paces, feet, inches, &c.used in milking plans upon paper; givingeach line its true length, &c. See alsoBalance, Escalade, &c.

SCALES, a sort of armour consistingof brass plates laid like scales one overthe other, to defend the glandular partsand the side-face of a dragoon. Thesescales are attached to the helmet, andcan be buttoned up ill front.

SCALENE, a term used in geo-metry, to express a triangle whose threesides and three angles are unequal to oneanother.

SCALING -ladders. See Lajders.

SCALLOP, any segment of a circle.

To SCALP, to deprive the scull ofits integuments; a barbarous custom, inpractise among the Indian warriors, of5 II