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thoracic). Membrane of the gills has six rays ; opercula andwhole head scaly.

SCIAGRAPHY, [o-xiayjBjun!,] in architecture, the profile orsection of a building, to shew the inside thereof.

Sciaguaphy, in astronomy, the ait of finding the hour of theday or night by the shadow of Uie sun, moon, or stars.

SCfAlI, or SKIATI, an island in the Grecian Archipelago ,near the coast of Janna ; 18 miles N. of Negropont.

SCIATICA, the Hip-Gout; a violent and obstinate pain inthe hip, chiefly in the joint. See Medicine.

SCIENCE , in philosophy, denotes any doctrines deduced fromselbevident principles. Sciences may be properly divided as fol-lows: 1. The knowledge of things, their constitutions, properties,and operations: this, in a little more enlarged sense of the word,may be called or natural philosophy ; the end of which is

speculative truth. See Philosophy, and Physics. 2. The skillof rightly applying these powers, ttomtiioi : The most considerableunder this head is ethics, which is the seeking out of those rules andmeasures of human actions (hat lead to happiness, and the meansto practise them ; (see Moral Philosophy, ) and the next is me-chanics, or the application of the powers of natural agents to theuses of life. (See Mechanics.) 3. The doctrine of signs,oifAsiujTixti; the most usual of which being words; it is aptly enoughtermed logic. See Logic. This, says Mr. Locke, seems to bethe most general, as well as natural, division of the objects of ourunderstanding. For a man can employ his thoughts about nothingbut either the contemplation of things themselves for the discoveryof truth ; or about the things in his own power, which are his ac-tions, for the attainment of his own ends; or the signs.the mindmakes use of both in the one and the other, and the right orderingof them for its clearer information. All which three, viz. thingsas they are in themselves kuowable, actions as they depend on usin order to happiness, and the right use of signs in order to know-ledge, being toto ccelo different, they seem to be the three greatprovinces of the intellectual world, wholly separate and distinctone from another.

SCILLA, the Squill ; in botany, a genus of the monogyniaorder, and hexandria class of plants; natural order, Coronaris.Corolla six-petaled, spreading, deciduous ; filaments filiform.There are twenty-two species.

S. Maritima, or Sea-Onion, whose roots are used in medi-cine. Of this there are two sorts, one with a red, and the otherwith a white root; which are supposed to be accidental varieties,but the white are generally preferred for medicinal use. Theroots are large, somewhat oval-shaped, composed of many coatslying over each other like onions ; and at the bottom come outseveral fibres.

SCILLY, or S1LLEY, a cluster of small islands and rocks,situated in the Atlantic Ocean , in Ion. 7° VV.lat. 50° N. Theseislands were first called Cassiterides , or live Tin Isles, from theirbeing rich in that metal.

Scili.y Islands, a cluster of islands in the S. Pacific Ocean,extremely dangerous. Lon. 155. 30. W. Lat. 16. 28.S.

SCiO, or CHtO, a celebrated island of the Archipelago . It is32 miles long, and from 10 to 18 broad, and is a mountainous butvery pleasant country.

Scio, a town in the above island, 47 miles W, of Smyrna, and510 S. W. of Constantinople .

SClOPTtC, a sphere, or globe of wood, with a circular holeor perforation, wherein a lens is placed. It is so filled that, likethe eye of an animal, it may be turned round every way, to beused in making experiments of the darkened room.

SC1P10, the cognomen of a celebrated family in ancientRome , who were a branch of the Cornelian family, and by theirbravery, and other virtues, rose to the highest honours in therepublic.

SCIPIO, Publius Cornelius, surnamed Africanus , was theson of l’ublius Scipio. He first distinguished himself by hisbravery at the battle of Ticinus, next after the fatal battle ofCanna?, when some Romans proposed to abandon Italy to the vic-tors, iie made his countrymen swear eternal fidelity to Rome , andenact that the first who should repeat such a proposal should beput to death. So early as in his twenty-first year he was madeAfdile. On the slaughter of the Roman armies under his fatherand unde Scipio was sent to avenge their deaths; and within four

] years he expelled the Carthaginians from Spain , and reduced it to| a Roman province. At the capture of New Carthage , which| yielded in one day, 54,000 of the enemy were killed. After theacquisition of these signal victories, he was called home to defendRome against Hannibal, but gave it as his opinion that Han-nibal could only be conquered in Africa . On this he was electedconsul, and sent to Africa , where his conquests were as rapid as inSpain ; the Carthaginians under Asdrubal were totally routed, andHannibal called home from the gates of Rome . These two greatgenerals met soon after, hut could come t" no terms of agreement.'1 he battle of Zania was therefore fought, where Scipio was sosuccessful, that 20,000 Carthaginians were killed, ami as manymade prisoners, while the Romans only tost 2000. Peace was askedand granted, but upon tbe most humiliating terms. On his return toRome, Scipio was honoured with a triumph ami with the agnomenof Africanus . lie married iEmilia, daughter of the celebratedPaulus yEmilius, who fell at the baltle of Canna:, and died at hiscountry seat at Liternnm, about B, C. 181, aged only 5). Hiswidow raised a mausoleum to his memory, and placed upon it hisstatue with that of Ennius .

Scipio, Lucius Cornelius, surnamed Asiaticus, was the bro-ther of tbe preceding, and accompanied him in his expeditions intoSpain and Africa . He was rewarded with the consulship for hisservices, A. U. C. 562 ; and was sent against Antioclius, king ofSyria, whom, with die assistance and advice of his brother Africanus ,he completely defeated in a battle at Magnesia, near Sardis,wherein Antioclius lost 50,000 infantry, and 4000 cavalry, andsoon after submitted. On bis return to Rome, Scipio was decreeda triumph and the surname of Asiaticus. lie died about B.C. 170.

SCIRE FACIAS, [Latin, ] a writ judicial, in law, most com-monly to call a man to shew cause unto the court, whence it is sent,wliy execution of judgement passed should not be made. Thiswrit is not granted before a year and a day is passed, after thejudgement given.

SC1RO, SCIROS, or SKYItOS, an island of tbe Archipelago ,N. E. of Negropont, and S. E. of Sciati. It is 14 miles long, and8 broad.

Sciro, or Scmos, tbe only town in the above island. Lon.24. 47. E. Lat. 38. 54. N.

SCIROCHO, or SIROCCO, a name generally given in Italy to every unfavourable wind.

SC 111 PUS, Rush-Grass ; in botany, a genus of the mono-gynia order, and triandria class of plants; natural order Calamarix.Glumes paleaceous, imbricated all round; corolla none ; seed one,beardless. There .are sixty-nine species.

SCIRRUS, in surgery and medicine, is a hard tumour of anypart of the body, void of pain, arising, as is supposed, from theinspissation and induration of the fluids contained in a gland,though it may appear also in any other part of the body, especiallyin the fat; being one of the ways in which an inflammation ter-minates. These tumours are exceedingly apt to degenerate intocancers. See Medicine.

SC1TAMINE/E, in botany, the name of the eighth order in Lin-naius’s Fragments of a Natural Method, consisting of beautiful exo-tic plants, some of which, as the banana, furnish exquisite fruits,and others have a fine aromatic scent : among these are the amo-muni, or ginger; the'canna, Indian (lowering iced ; and musn, tbebanana, or plantain-tree. The plants of this order are all nativesof very warm countries.

SCiURIS, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and di-andria class of plants. Calyx quinquedentate; corolla bilabiated ;filaments barren; capsnles’iive, joined together; bivalved, withone seed. Of this there is only one species.

S. Akomatica, a native of Guiana.

SCiURUS, the Squirrel ; in natural history’, a genus of mam-malia, of the order glires. 'Two fore-teeth in the upper jaw,wedge-formed, in the lower sharp; live grinders in each side ofthe upper-jaw, anti four in each of the lower; clavicles in theskeleton ; tail spreading towards each side ; long whiskers, Theseanimals live principally on seeds and fruits. They are extremelyactive and nimble, climbing trees with great rapidity, and boundingfrom one to another with wonderful agility.

S. Vulgaris, the Common Squirrel, has ears terminated withlong tufts of hair: large, lively black eyes; head, body, legs, ai>®tail, of a bright reddish brown ; breast and belly white ; hair or*

each