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ores; when cold, it is brittle, and not dissoluble in water, beingproperly a kind of glass.

SCORIFICATJON, in metallurgy, the act or art of reducinga body, either entirely, or in part, into scoria.

SCORPAsNA, in ichthyology, a genus of fishes of the orderthoracici. Head large and sharp ; eyes near each other ; teeth inthe jaws, palate, and fauces; rays seven, in thfe membrane of thegill. There are nine species.

S. Horrida, Horrid Scorpiena. Of all the species yet dis-covered, this exhibits the most uncouth and forbidding appearance,resembling rather some imaginary monster of deformity than anyregular production of nature. The head is very large, perfectlysbrupt in front, and marked by numerous tubercles, depressions,and spines ; on the top is a semilunar cavity ; the mouth opensfrom the upper part, and is large, and of a shape somewhat resem-bling a horse-shoe, and when closed the lower jaw is in a perpen-dicular direction. It is a native of the Indian seas, and is abouttwelve or fifteen inches long. See Plate CXX1.

SCORPIO, in natural history, a genus ot insects of the orderAptera. Generic eight legs, besides two claspers, or hands, seatedon the fore-part of the head ; eight eyes, three placed on eachside of the thorax, and two on the back ; two feelers projectingcheliform ; the lip is bifid, and the tail long, jointed, and termi-nated by a sharp, crooked sting; on the underside, between thebreast and abdomen, are two instruments resembling a comb.There are ten species, all of which are armed with a slightly pun-gent sting; and in hot climates some of them are highly danger-ous: they prey upon worms, spiders, flies, &c. and even on oneanother. S. Afer, or great African scorpion, is the largest, ai:d byfar the most formidable, of the whole genus : it is held in greatdread by the inhabitants: its poison is evacuated through twovery small oblong foramina, situated on each side the tip of thesting.

Scorpio, the Scorpion , in astronomy, the eighth sign of theBodiac, denoted by the character IR. See Astronomy.

Scorpion, in the ancient art of war, an engine chiefly used inthe defence of the walls of fortified places, by throwing arrows,fire-balls, or great stones.

SCORPIURUS, the Caterpillar ; in botany, a genus of thetlecandria order, and diadelphia class of plants; natural order,Papilionaceae. Legumen contracted by incisions on the inside be-twixt every two seeds revoluted round. There are four species,natives of the south of Europe .

SCORZONERA, Viper-grass ; in botany, a genus of thepolygamia sequalis order, and syngenesia class of plants; naturalorder, Composite. Receptacle naked ; pappus plumy ; calyximbricate, with scales membranaceous on their margins. It hasnineteen species.

SCOT AND LOT, is a customary contribution laid upon allSubjects, according to their abilities. Whoever were assessed inany sum, though not in equal proportions, were said to pay scotand lot.

SCOTAL, or SCOTALE, is where an officer of a forest keepsan ale house within the forest, by colour of his office, making peo-ple come to his house, and there spend their money for fear of hisdispleasure. We find it mentioned in the charter of the forest,cap. 8. “ Nulius forestarius faciat Scotallas, vel garbas colligat,

vel aliquam collectam faciat,” &c. Manwood, 216 . The wordis compounded of scot and ale, and, by transposition of the words,is otherwise called aleshot.

SCOT-HOLM, on tiie small Shetland Isles .

SCOTI, [Lat.] llie Scots, the ancient inhabitants of Scotland ,mentioned as distinct from the Piets, so early as Claudian .

SCOTIA, [Lat] Scotland. Sue Scotland .

Scotia, in architecture, a semicircular cavity or channel, be-tween die tores in the bases of columns,

Scotia Nova, or New Scotland, one of the British settle-ments in North America , situad d between 43° and 49° lat. N. andbetween 60° and 67° Inn. W. is hounded by the St. Laurence onthe N. by the gulpli of St. Laurence and die Atlantic ocean ondie E. by tne ame ocean on tlieS. anti by Canada and New Eng-land on the W. In 1784, tins province was divided into twogovernments. The face ot tile country, i iewed a! a distance, pri -Sen » a pleasingly variegated appearance of hills and valleys, withscarcely any thing like mumitains to interrupt the prospect, espe-

cially near the sea. A near approach discovers die most sub-lime and beautiful scenes. Immense forests, formed of the tallesttrees, the growth of ages, and reaching almost to (lie clouds, every-where cover and adorn the land : their leaves falling in autumn,add continually to that crust of moss, vegetables, and decayingwood, that has for many centuries been accumulating. Everyrock lias a spring, and every spring causes a swamp or morass, ofgreater or less extent; hence travelling becomes almost impracti-cable in summer, and is seldom attempted, blit when winter beginsto set in, and the ground is already frozen.

SCOT1STS, a sect of school-divines and philosophers, thuscalled from their founder J. Duns Scotus, a Scottish cordelier,who maintained the immaculate conception of the virgin, or thatshe was horn without original sin, in opposition to Thomas Aquinas and the Thomists.

SCOTLAN D, the country of the Scots , or that part of GreatBritain lying N. of the Tweed , and hence also called North Bri-tain; is situated between 54° and 59° lat. N. and between 1° and6° Ion. W. and extends in length about 278 miles, and in someplaces near 180 in breadth ; containing an area of 27,794 miles.But if we reckon its western and northern islands, it extends north-ward to nearly 61°, and westward to about 7. 45. ion. W. On theS. it is bounded by England ; on the N. E. and W. by the Deu-caledonian, German , and Irish seas. It is difficult to give anysatisfactory account of the origin of the appellation of Scots , fromwhich this country has derived its name. It lias puzzled the mosteminent antiquaries, whose conjectures serve rather to perplexthan to clear up the difficulty. All that we know with certainty,concerning the appellation of Scot, is this, that it was first a termof reproach, framed by enemies, rather than assumed by thenation. The Highlanders, who are the genuine descendants of theancient Scots , are absolutely strangers to the name, and iiave beenalways so. All those who speak the Gaelic language call them-selves Albanich or Gael, and their country Alba or Gaeldochd ;whence Caledonia, the most ancient name of the country. ThePiets, who possessed originally the northern and eastern, and in alater period also the more southern division of North Britain,were at first more powerful than the Caledonians of the west. Itis therefore probable, that the Piets, from a principle of pride,were ready to traduce and ridicule their weaker neighbours ofArgyle. These two nations spoke the same language, tlie Gaelic.In that language Scot, or Scorle, signifies a corner or small divisionof a country. Accordingly, a corner of North Britain is the veryname which Giraidus Cambrensis gives the little kingdom of Ar-gyle, which the six sons of Muredus king of Ulster were said,according to his information, to have erected in Scotland . Scot inGaelic is much the same with little or contemptible in English ;and Scotland , literally speaking, signifies a small llock ; meta-phorically, it stands for a small body of men. (Dr. Macpherson’sDissert.) Others observe, that in the same language the wordScuit signifies a wanderer, and suppose that this may have beenthe origin of the name of Scot. The territory of llu* ancient Scots ,before the annexation of Pictavia, comprehended all that side ofCaledonia which lies along the north and western ocean, from thefrith of Clyde to the Orkneys . Towards the east, their dominionswere divided from the Pictish territories by those high mountainswhich run from Dumbarton to the frith of Tain. In process oftime, the Scots , under the reign of Kenneth, the son of Alpin, be-came so powerful as to subdue entirely their neighbours the Piets,ami gave their own denomination to all Caledonia, Pictavia, andYalentia; all which are still comprehended under the generalname of Scotland . No country in the world is better suppliedthan Scotland with rivers, lakes, rivulets, and fountains. Besidesthe principal livers of Tweed , Forth, Clyde, Tay, Spey, Dee,Don, E-k, Annan, Nith,&c. there is an iniin'ty of smaller streamsthat contribute to the beauty, convenience, and advantage, of thekingdom. Scotland and its islands are divided into 33 counties orshires, viz. those of Aberdeen, Am. Aiigyle, Banff , Berwick,or Meuse , Bote, Caithness, Clackmannan, Chomartv,Dumfries, Dunbarton, Edinburgh , or Mid Lothian,Elgin, or Murray, Fife, Forfar, or Angus, Haddinoton,or East Lothian, Inverness, Kincardine , or Mearns, Kin-ross, KiHKcuDimiGHT, or Lower Galloway, Lanark, Lin*lithgow, or West Lothian, Nairn, Orkney and Shetland ,Peebles, or Tweed-dale, Perth , Renfrew, Ross, Rox*l BURCH*

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