S H A

564

S H A

passing over the corner of the object, and from S drawing a line tothe point of sight T. To find the shadow of the object P, it mustbe remembered that the foot of the light must always be supposedon the plane where the object is placed. Accordingly, the ray C,cutting the little line AB, shews how far the shadow of the littleobject P must go, to be thence drawn to the point of sight T.The object V casts its shadow ail along, though in its way it de-scends into a ditch. The shadow of the wall R is found by thesame rule as the rest; as appears from the lines AB and thera y C.

Shadows by Torch-Light'. The shadow of an erect pyramidby torch-light falls as it would by the light of the sun ; and in bothcases there is but one line, whereon the vertical point of the py-ramid will be found. Upon tiie planes BCDE, fig. 3, draw thediagonals EB and DC ; through the central point F, raise theperpendicular FA; and from the four points, B, C, D, E, drawlines to the point A, and the pyramid will be erected. Then, tofind its shadow, draw an indefinite line from its basis G of the illu-minating body, passing through F ; and from the central flame ofthe torch H draw another line over the vertex of the pyramid inthe line GF, till it cut the point I, which point will limit the sha-dow of the pyramid. Lastly, draw a line from C to I, and ano-ther from E to I, and the triangle CIE will be the shadow of thepyramid. To gain the shadow of an inverted pyramid, draw per-pendicular lines from the angular points of its base, and from thes'uhjacent plane, by means thereof, after the manner directed forthe sun. And from all the angles of this plane draw lines to thebase of the torch G ; then from fl, the central point of the flame,draw other lines touching all the angles of the base of the invertedpyramid, and dividing those of the plane, whereby the shadow willbe defined. Shadows from the sun are cast all the same way, andhave the same disposition ; it being impossible that the sun shouldoccasion one shadow towards the east, and another towards thewest, at the same time. It is true, in different times of the day,it makes this difference: but never in one and the same hour.But the torch, candle, and lamp, have always this effect; for inwhat place soever one of these luminaries be found, j providedthere be a number of objects about them, the shadows will be castvarious ways; some to the east, some to the west, some to thenorth, and others to the south, according to the situation of theobjects around the luminary : the foot of which here representedby A, (fig. 4.) serves asacommon centre, from which (hey all pro-ceed : and the flame, here represented by B, shews were they areto terminate, though at different distances; as the nearest producethe shortest shadows, and the remotest the longest.

Shadows on several parallel Planes. The first planehere is the floor, whereon the chair A, (fig. 5,) stands; the secondplane is the upper part of the table, parallel to the first, and maybe either above or below it. There might also be more of theseplanes, wherein to find the foot of the illuminating body, in orderto come at the shadow of the object. Suppose the foot of theilluminating body to be C, and the upper flame B; from thepoints C and B draw lines through the upper and under parts ofthe object D, which will give the shadow E upon the table. Tofind the shadow of the chair A, which is placed on the ground, de-termine the foot of the luminary on the table in C on the ground :this is easy by the following instructions. From the point of dis Itance, which is here supposed to be without the limits of thepaper, draw a line through the foot of the table F ; thenfrom the angle G upon the table let fall a perpendicular, cuttingthe line F in the point FI, and from II draw a parallel to the baseHI, which is equal to the upper part of the table, and will directto the tiring required. For drawing a line from the point of sight K,through the foot of the luminary C, to the extremity of the table L,from the same point L let fall a perpendicular to HI, which willgive the point M. Then from M draw a line to the point of sight K,in which line MK the foot of the luminary will be found. To de-termine the precise point, let fall a perpendicular from the point C,which, cutting the line Mil will give the point N for the foot of theluminary. This point In' being thus found, there will be no diffi-culty in finding the shadow of the chair A, the method being thesame as for the other objects taught before, that is, from the footof the luminary N draw lines through all the angles of the plane ofthe chair, and other lines through the upper part of the chairfrom the luminary B ; these latter, by intersecting the former, ex-

press the bounds of the shadow. For the rest, the figure gives suf.ficienl directions.

SHADRAGH, MESHACH,and ABEDNEGO, names givenby the prince of the Babylonian eunuchs, to the three captiveJewish princes, Ilananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, the companionsof Daniel. Their temperance, wisdom, and promotion, along withDaniel, their heroic refusal to worship Nebuchadnezzar ’s goldenimage, and their miraculous deliverance from the fiery furnace,with the appearance of the Messiah, the destruction of theirenemies, and subsequent promotion over the province, are re-corded in Daniel, ch. 1. and iii.

SHAFT OF A COLUMN, in building, is the body thereofbetween the base and capital; so called from its straightness. SeeArchitecture. The term shaft is also used for the spire of achurch-steeple, and for the tunnel of a chimney. See Spire , andChimney .

Shaft, in mining, is the pit or hollow entrance into it. SeeMine.

SHAFTESBURY, SIIAFTSBURY, or SIl ASTON, a townof England, in Dorsetshire , 25 miles W. by S. of Salisbury, and102 IV. by S. of London . Lon. 2. 20. XV. Lat, 51. 0. N.

SHAG, in ornithology. See Pelicanus .

Shag Island, an island of N. America , on the S. coast ofTerra del Fuego ; near the entrance into Christmas Sound.

SHAGREEN, or CI1AGREEN, in commerce, a kind ofgrained leather prepared of the skin ot a species ot Squalis, muchused in covering cases, books, See. Shagreen is also made of theskin of the Onager, or wild ass, as well as of horses; of the partthat covers the rump. There are great manufactures of it at Astra*can, and in all Persia .

SHAKERS, in church-history, a religious sect, in New York ,somewhat resembling the Quakers , in their general principles.They emigrated from England in 1774. There chief seal is atNisqueunia.

SHAKESPEARE , or SHAKSPEARE, William, the princeof dramatic writers, was born at Stratford upon Avon, in War-wickshire , on the 23d of April 1564. Ilis father, who was a con-siderable dealer in wool, had so large a family that he could givehim but a scanty education. He was indeed for some time at thegrammar-school at Stratford , where he learnt the rudiments of theLatin language, but was prevented from making any further pro-gress by being taken home to follow his father’s business. Whilehe was yet very young he married the daughter of one Hathaway, asubstantial farmer in the neighbourhood. In this kind of settle-ment he continued till, by an act of folly and dissipation, he wasobliged to leave the country and his family. He had, by a mis-fortune common to young fellows, fallen into bad company, andamongst them were some who were in the practice of deer-stealing.By them he was prevailed upon, more than once, to engage in rob-bing the park of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charh-cote, near Stratford .For this he was prosecuted by that gentlemen, and out of revengehe made a ballad upon Sir Thomas, which is said to have been sobitter that the prosecution was redoubled, and lie was obliged toshelter himself in London . Here he formed an acquaintance withthe players, and was enrolled among them, as his name is in thelist of performers prefixed to several old plays, though what sortof characters he performed does not appear. Mr. Rowe observesthat he never could meet with any further account of him as anactor than that his highest part was the Ghost in his own Hamlet .We are equally ignorant which was the first play hr. wrote, thoughthe dates of many of his pieces are easily fixed by particular pas-sages. Queen Elizabeth had several of his plays acted before her,and without doubt gave him many marks ot her favour. She wasso pleased with the character of Falstaffin the two parts of HenryIV. that she commanded him to exhibit him in love, on uhiu* 1occasion Shakspeare wrote his rich and admirable comedy of the“ Merry Wives of Windsor .” The earl of Southampton was btsparticular friend, ami hearing that he had an inclination to make apurchase, but wanted the means, he generously sent him one thoU*sand pounds. Shakspeare was also very intimate with Ben Jo' 1 'son, who gives him a high character in his Discoveries. Aft e ^conducting the theatre many years with great reputation, he t e 'tired (o his native place, where his wit and good nature introdU"ced him to the acquaintance of the gentlemen in the neighbourhood. Amongst others was one Mr. Combe, an old gentle 1 ” 31