scu
542
SCU
place tlie original of scribes under Moses ; bul their name doesnot appear till under the judges. It is said, that in the wars of Ba-rak against Sisera , “ out of Machir came down governors, and outof Zebulun they that handle the pen of the writerJudges, v. 14.Others think that David first instituted them, when he establishedthe several classes of the priests and Levites. The scribes were ofthe tribe of Levi ; and at the time that David is said to have madethe regulations in that tribe, we read that 6000 men of them were ;jconstituted officers and judges, 1 Chr. xxiii. 4. among whom the Iscribes seem to have been included. For in 2 Chr. xxiv. 6. weread of Shemaiah the scribe, one of the Levites; and in 2 Chr.xxxiv. 13, we find it written, “ Of the Levites that were scribesand officers.” The scribes and doctors of the law, in the scripture-phrase, mean the same thing; and he that in Mat. xxii. 35, iscalled a doctor of the law, or a lawyer, in Mark xii. 28, is styleda scribe, or one of the scribes. And as the whole religion of theJews at that time chiefly consisted in Pharisaical traditions, and inthe use that was made of them to explain the scripture; the greatestnumber of the doctors of the law, or of the scribes, were Pharisees ;and we almost always find them joined together in scripture. Eachof them valued themselves upon their knowledge of the law, upontheir studying and teaching it, Mat. xxii 52; they had the keyof knowledge, and sat in Moses ’ chair, Mat. xxiii. 2. Epipha-nius, and the author of the Recognitions imputed to St. Clement,reckon the scribes among the sects of the Jews ; but it is certainthey made no sect by themselves; they were only distinguishedby their study of the law.
SCRIPTURE, a term most commonly used to denote thewritings of the Old and New Testaments; which are called some-times the scriptures, sometimes the sacred or holy scriptures, andsometimes canonical scripture. These books are called the scrip-tures by way of eminence, as they are the most important of allwritings; they are holy or sacred on account of the sacred doc-trines which they teach; and they are termed canonical, becausewhen their number and authenticity were ascertained, their nameswere inserted in ecclesiastical canons, to distinguish them fromother books; which, being of no authority, were kept as it wereout of sight, and therefore styled apocryphal, from avoxsvnnu, toput out of sight. See Bible . .
SCRIVAN, a sea-port-town of Terra Firma, 50 miles E. ofPorto Bello. Lou. 78. 49. W. Lat. 9. 40. N.
SCRIVENER, [scm'ono, Lat.] one who draws contracts;a person whose business is to place money at interest. A scrivenerif entrusted with a bond, may receive the interest: and if he fails,the obligee shall bear the loss: and so it is if he receive the principal, and deliver up the bond; for being entrusted with the secu-rity itself, it must he presumed that he is trusted with power to re-ceive interest or principal; and the giving up the bond on pay-ment of the money shall be a discharge thereof. But if a scrivenershall be entrusted with a mortgage-deed, he has only authority to•receive the interest, not the principal; the giving up the deed inthis case not being sufficient to restore the estate, but there mustbe a reconveyance, &c.
SCROLL, in heraldry. See Heraldry. When the mottorelates to the crest, the scroll is properly placed above the at-chievement; otherwise it should be annexed to the escutcheon.Those of the order of knighthood are generally placed roundshields.
SCROPHULA, or EVIL, is a swelling of the conglobateglands, particularly about the neck and ears; though sometimesextending to the arm-pit and the groin. In its progress, thejoints and bones are liable to be effected. See Medicine.
SCROPHULA1UA, Figwort; in botany, a genus of theangiospermia order, and dklynamia class of plants; natural order,
Personata:. Calyx five-cleft; corollasubglobular, resupine ; cap-sule two-celled. There are twenty-two species.
SCBOTUM. See Anatomy.
SCRUP1, in the old system of mineralogy, the name of a classof fossils, formed in detached masses, without any crusts; of nodeterminate figure or structure; and composed of a crystalline orsparry matter, debased by an admixture of earth in various pro-portions.
SCRUPLE, among goldsmiths, 24grains.
Scruple, in Chaldean chronology, is T0 Vs P al ’t of an hour,called by the Hebrews helakin. These scruples are much usedby the Jews, Arabs , and other eastern people, in computation oftime.
Scruples of Emersion, an arch of the moon’s orbit, whichher centre describes in the time from the first emersion of themoon’s limb to the end of the eclipse.
Scruples op Half-Duration, an arch of the moon’s orbit,which the moon’s centre describes from the beginning of an eclipseto its middle.
Scruples op Immersion or Incidence, an arch of themoon’s orbit, which her centre describes from the beginning of theeclipse to the lime when its centre falls into the shadow.
SCRUPULUM, or SCRUPULUS, [Lat.] a scruple; thefeast of the weights used by the ancients, which amongthe Romanswas the 24th part of an ounce, or the third part of a drachm.
Scrupulus, a small stone, which getting into the shoe, hurtsone iti walking.
SCRUTINY, \scrutinium, Lat.] in the primitive church, anexamination or probation practised in the last week of Lent , on thecatechumens, who were to receive baptism on the Easter -day.The scrutiny was performed with a great many ceremonies.Exorcisms and prayers were made over the heads of the cate-chumens; and on raim Sunday, the Lord’s Prayer and Creedwere given them, which they were afterwards made to rehearse.This custom was more in use in the church of Rome than any whereelse; though it appears by some missals, to have been likewiseused, though much later, in the Galilean church. It is supposedto have ceased about A. D. 860. Some traces of this practice stillremain at Vienne, in Dauphinl, and at Liege .
Scrutiny is also used, in the canon law, fora ticket or littlepaper-billet, wherein at elections the electors write their votes pri-vately, so as it may be known for whom they vote. Among usthe term scrutiny is chiefly used for a strict perusal and examina-tion of the several votes hastily taken at an election; in order tofind out any irregularities committed therein, by unqualified vo-ters, &c.
SCRUTOIRE, or SCRUTORE, is a kind of cabinet, with adoor or lid opening downwards, for conveniency of writingon, See.
SCUDDING, the movement by which a ship is carried preci-pitately before a tempest. As a ship flies with amazing rapiditythrough the water whenever this expedient is put in practice, it isnever attempted in a contrary wind, unless when her conditionrenders her incapable of sustaining the mutual effort of the windand waves any longer on her side, without being exposed to themost imminent danger of being overset. A ship either scudswith a sail extended on her fore-mast, or if the storm is excessive,without any sail: which, in the sea-phrase, is called scuddingunder bare poles.
SCULL, in anatomy. See Anatomy.
Scull-Cap, in botany. See Scutellaria.
SCULPONEjE, among the Romans, a kind of shoes worn byslaves of both sexes. These shoes were only blocks of wood mad*hollow, like the French sabots.