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Scapular, or Scapulary, a part of'the habit of several reli-gious orders in the church of Rome, worn over the gown lis abadge of peculiar veneration for the Blessed Virgin .

SCAR NOSE, a Cape of Scotland, on the N. coast of Banff-shire . Lon. 2. 40. W. Lat. 57. 40. N.

SCARA, or SCAREN, a town of Sweden, in VV. Gothland , S.of lake Wenner, 66 miles N. E. of Gottenburg. Lon. 12. 14. E.Lat. 58. 16. N.

SCARABiEL r S, the Beetle , in zoology, a genus of insects ofthe coleoptera order. Antenna; clavate, fissile longitudinally ; legsfrequently denated ; feelers four; there are several hundred spe-cies.

S. Capiucoknus, the small Gilded Capricorn, is of a truegold colour, but in some lights has a cast of green and purple. Itis’often found among reeds by the hanks of rivers.

S. Carabus, the May-bug, Dorr-beetle, or Cock-cha-fer, has like all the vest, a pair of cases to its wings, which are ofa reddish brown colour, sprinkled with a whitish dust, which easilycomes off. In some years their necks are seen covered with a redplate, and in others with a black ; these, however, are distinct sorts,and their difference is by no means accidental.

S. Fullo, or Variegated Beetle , is an elegant insect. It isnearly twice the size of the cockchafer, and of an elegant chesmit-colour, with the wing-sheaths beautifully marbled with white va-riegations. It is common in many parts of Europe , but extremelyrare in England. See Plate CXXXVI.

S. Hercules, the Elephant-Beetle, is the largest of thiskind hitherto known ; and is found in South America , particularlyin Guinea and Surinam , as well as about the river Oroonoko. Itis of a black colour; and the whole body is covered with a veryhardshell, full as thick and as strong as that of a small emb. Itslength, from the hinder part to the eyes, is almost four inches;and from the same part to the end of the proboscis or trunk, 4|.The transverse diameter of the body is 2^ inches; and the breadthof each elytron, or case for the wings, is an inch and three tenths.See Plate CXXXVI.

SCARBA, SKARBA, an island of Scotland , on the W. coastof Argyllshire, and at the N. end of the island of Jura.

SCARBOROUGH, a town of Yorkshire , in the North Riding,much frequented both for sea bathing, and for its waters, whichspring out df a rock. The town is partly surrounded by the sea,and has a very convenient pier-harbour. Lon. 54. 18. E. Lat. 0.3 0. N.

SCARDONA, a sea-port-town of Maritime Austria, in Dal-matia . It is thirty-five miles N. W. of Spalatro. Lon. 17. 25. E.Lat. 43. 55. N.

SCARFING, a term in carpentry, by which is meant the join-ing of two beams of wood together to increase the length ; thebeams in the joint are indented into one another.

SCARIFICATION, in surgery, the operation of making seve-ral incisions in the skin by means of lancets, or oilier instruments,particularly the cupping instrument.

SCARLET. In painting in water-colours, minium mixed witha little Vermillion produces a good scarlet : but if a flower in aprint is to be painted a scarlet colour, the lights as well as theshades should be covered with minium, and the shaded partsfinished with carmine, which will produce an admirable scarlet.

Scarlet, is a beautiful bright red colour given to cloth, eitherby a preparation of kermes, or more completely by the Americancochineal. \

Scarlet Fevf.r. See Medicine.

SCARO, the capital of the island of Santorini . Lon. 25. 28. E.Lat. 36. 10. N.

SCARP, in geography, one of the Western Islands of Scotland ;about two miles long and one broad, near the W. coast of the isleof Lewis.

Scarf, in fortification, is the interior talus, or slope of the ditchnext the place, at the foot of the rampart.

Scarp, in heraldry,' the scarf which military commanders wearfor ornament. It is borne somewhat like a battoon sinister, but isbroader than it, and is continued out to the edges of the field,whereas the battoon is cut off at each end.

SCARPANTO, an island of the Archipelago , and one of theSporades, S, \V. of Rhodes, and N. E. of Candia ; anciently Car-patluis,

SCARPE, a river of France , which has its source near Aubig-ny, in the department of the Straits of Calais, and province ofArtois, and runs into the Scheldt.

SCARUS, a genus of fishes of the order thoracici. The ge-neric character is, jaws bony, divided in the middle, crenated onthe edge; the teeth connate and conglomerate. There are eightspecies.

SCAVAGE, a toll or custom anciently exacted by mayors,sheriffs, and bailiffs, of the cities and towns corporate, and of mer-chant-strangers, for wares exposed and offered for sale within theirliberties ; which was prohibited by 19 Hen. VII. But the city ofLondon still retains this custom.

SCAVENGERS, two officers annually chosen in every parishin London and its suburbs by the church-wardens, constables, andother inhabitants, to hire persons called rakers, with carts, to cleanthe streets, and carry away the dirt and filth, with the ashes anddust from every house.

SCENE, [mom,'] in its primary sense, denoted a theatre, or theplace where dramatic pieces and other public shows were ex-hibited.

Scene is also a part or division of a dramatic poem. Thusplays are divided into acts, and acts are subdivided into scenes ; inwhich sense the scene is properly (lie persons present at, or con-cerned in, the action on the stage at such a time; whenever, there-fore, a new actor appears, or an old one disappears, the action ischanged into other hands ; and therefore a new scene then com-mences. It is one of tile laws of the stage, that the scenes be wellconnected ; that is, that one succeed another in such a manner as(hat the stage may be never quite empty till the end of the act.See Poetry.

SCENOGRAPHY, [vxvei and y^w,] in perspective, is a re-presentation of a body on a perspective plane; or a descriptionthereof in all its dimensions, such as it appeaxs to the eye. SeePerspective.

SCENOPEGIA, [Cxuvott,;-/[«,] the feast of Tabernacles, amongthe Jews .

SCENT. See Anatomy, Smell , and Smelling.

SCEPTICS , [from crwro^'u, I consider,] an ancient sect ofphilosophers, founded by Pyrrho, who, according to Laertius , hadvarious other denominations. From their master they were calledPyrrhonians; from the distinguishing tenets or characteristic oftheir philosophy they derived the name of Aporetici, from imtojhv,to doubt; from their suspension and hesitation they were calledephectici, from mtixuv, to stay or keep hack ; and lastly, they werecalled zetetici, or seekers, from their never getting beyond thesearch of truth. That the sceptical philosophy is absurd, can ad-mit of no dispute in the present age; and that many of the fol-lowers of Pyrrho carried it to the most ridiculous height, is no lesstrue. But we cannot believe that he himself was so extravagantlysceptical as has sometimes been asserted, when we reflect on theparticulars of his life, which are still preserved, and the respectfulmanner in which we find him mentioned by his contemporariesand writers of the first name who flourished soon after him. Thetruth, as far as at this distance of time it can be discovered, seemsto be, that he learned from Democritus to deny the real existenceof all qualities in bodies, except those which are essential to pri-mary atoms, and that lie referred every thing else to the percep-tions of the mind produced by external objects, in other words, toappearance and opinion. All knowledge of course appeared tohim to depend on the fallacious report of the senses, and conse-quently to be uncertain; and in this notion he was confirmed bythe general spirit of the Eleatic school in which lie was educated.He was further confirmed in his scepticism by the subtilties of theDialectic schools, in which he had been instructed by the son,ofStilpo ; choosing to overturn the cavils of sophistry by recurringto the doctrine of universal uncertainty, and thus breaking theknot which he could not unloose. For being naturally and habi-tually inclined to consider immoveable tranquillity as the greatend of all philosophy, he was easily led to despise the dissensionsof the dogmatists, and to infer from (heir endless disputes, theuncertainty of the questions on which they debated ; controversy,as it lias often happened to others, becoming also with respect tohim the parent of scepticism. Numerous sceptics have arisen inmodern times, varying in their principles, manners, and character,as chance, prejudice, vanity, weakness, or indolence, prompted

them. .