conveniences, various modifications of the common stoves have been introduced, to render them more powerful, and their heat more effectual. The Swedish and Russian stoves are small furnaces, with a very circuitous smoke flue. In principle, they resemble a common stove, with a funnel bent round and round, until it has performed a great number of turns or revolutions, before it enters the chimney. It differs, however, in being wholly enclosed in a large box of stone or brick work, which is intersected with air pipes. In operation, it communicates heat more slowly, being longer in becoming hot, and also slower in becoming cold, than the common stove. Russian stoves are usually provided with a damper, or valve, at top, which is used to close the funnel or passage, when the smoke has ceased to ascend. Its operation, however, is highly pernicious, since burning coals, when they have ceased to smoke, always give out carbonic acid in large quantities, which, if it does not escape up chimney, must deteriorate the air of the apartment, and render it unsafe.

Cellar Stoves and Air Flues. Such is the tendency of heated or rarefied air to ascend, that buildings may be effectually warmed by air flues communicating with stoves in the cellar, or any part of the building below that to be warmed. A large suite of apartments may be sufficiently heated in this way by a single stove. The stove, for this purpose, should be of a kind best adapted to communicate heat. It should be entirely enclosed in a detached brick chamber, the wall of which should be double, that it may be a better non-conductor of heat. The space between the brick chamber and stove should not exceed an inch. In the apparatus of the Derbyshire and Wakefield infirmaries, which has been imitated in this country, the whole of the air is repeated ly conducted, by numerous pipes, within half an inch of the stove and its cockle. For the supply of fuel, the same door which opens into the chamber, should open also into the stove, that there may never be any communication with the air of the cellar. A current of external air should be brought down by a separate passage, and delivered under the stove. A part of this air is admitted to supply the combustion; the rest passes upward in the cavity between the hot stove and the wall of the brick chamber, and, after becoming thoroughly heated, is conducted through passages in which its levity causes it to ascend, and be delivered into any

apartment of the house. Different branches being established from the main pipe, and commanded by valves or shutters, the hot air can be distributed at pleasure to any one or more rooms at a time. This plan is very useful in large buildings, such as manufactories, hospitals, &c., on account of the facility with which the same stove may be made to warm the whole, or any part of them. The advantage of a long vertical draught enables us to establish a more forcible current of warm air. The rooms, while they are heated, are also ventilated, for the air which is continually brought in by the warm pipes, displaces that which was previously in the room, and the air blows out at the crevices and key-holes, instead of blowing in, as it does in rooms with common fireplaces. (See Bigelow's Technology, 2d ed. 1832.)

Srow, John; an English historian and antiquary, born about 1525, in London. His father, a tailor, brought him up to his own business; but his mind early took a bent towards antiquarian researches. About the year 1560, he formed the design of composing the annals of English history, for the completion of which he quitted his trade. For the purpose of examining records, charters, and other documents, he travelled on foot to several public establishments, and purchased old books, manuscripts, and parchments, until he had made a valuable collection. Being thought to be favorable to the ancient religion, an information was laid against him, in 1568, as a suspicious person, who possessed many dangerous books. The bishop of London accordingly ordered an investigation of his study, in which, of course, were found many popish books among the rest; but the result has not been recorded. Two years afterwards, an unnatural brother, having defrauded him of his goods, sought to take away his life by preferring one hundred and forty articles against him, before the ecclesiastical commission; but he was acquitted. He had previously printed his first work, entitled a Summarie of the Englyshe Chronicles, compiled at the instance of Dudley, afterwards earl of Leicester, which was published in 1565, and afterwards continued by Edmond Howes, who printed several editions. He contributed to the improvement of the second edition of Holinshed, in 1587, and gave corrections and notes to two editions of Chaucer. At length, in 1598, appeared his Survey of London, the work on which he had been so long employed, and which

came to a second edition during his lifetime. He was very anxious to publish his large chronicle, or history of England, but lived only to print an abstract of it, entitled Flores Historiarum, or Annals of England. From his papers, Howes published a folio volume, entitled Stow's Chronicle, which does not, however, contain the whole of the larger work, which he had left, transcribed for the press, and which is said to have fallen into the possession of sir Symonds Dewes. A license was granted him by James I, "to repair to churches or other places, to receive the charitable benevolence of well-disposed people," in the seventy-eighth year of his age. He died, afflicted by poverty and disease, in 1605, at the age of eighty. Stow's Survey has run through six editions, the last in 1754, with considerable additions, and a continuation of the useful lists.

STOWE; a parish in Buckinghamshire, England, two miles north-west of Buckingham, containing the celebrated seat, garden and pleasure-grounds of the duke of Buckingham. The house, situated on an eminence rising from a lake, measures 916 feet from east to west; the saloon, 60 feet long, 43 feet broad, and 564 feet high, cost nearly 60,000 dollars; the state drawing-room, 50 feet by 32, and 22 feet high, contains a collection of fine pictures, mostly by the old masters. The library consists of 10,000 printed volumes, with many valuable manuscripts. The house is approached through a Corinthian arch, 60 feet high by 60 wide. The gardens comprise four hundred acres of highly decorated grounds. Temples, obelisks, statues, grottoes, &c., scattered around in great profusion, seem to realize the descriptions of enchanted gardens. The Elysian fields, watered by a small rivulet, issuing from a grotto, and emptying into a lake, contain the figures of heroes, poets and philosophers. In the temple of Ancient Virtue, a circular building of the Ionic order, stand the statues of Homer, Lycurgus, Socrates, and Epaminondas. The temple of British worthies contains busts of Shakspeare, Milton, Pope, Newton, Bacon, Locke, &c. The temple of Concord and Virtue is a handsome building, of an oblong shape, surrounded with 28 fluted Ionic columns. Lord Cobham's pillar is a column 115 feet high, surmounted by a statue. The Gothic temple, a triangular building, with a tower at each end, is richly adorned with old painted glass.

STOWELL, lord. Sir William Scott, who was created baron Stowell in 1821, is the elder brother of lord Eldon (q. v.),

and was born at Newcastle, in 1745. His father, a respectable proprietor of coal mines there, determined to train him to his own business. But the talents and eager inclination for study, manifested by the young man, finally induced his father to send him to Oxford, where, after taking his degree of doctor of civil law, he was appointed Camden professor of history. His lectures there gained him reputation; and, in 1779, he left the university, and entered upon the study of ecclesiastical law. His practice in the spiritual courts soon became extensive, and raised him, in 1788, to the post of king's advocate-general: he was at the same time knighted. In 1799, he was appointed judge of the high court of admiralty, which post he resigned a few years ago. (See Commercial Law.) Sir William Scott entered parliament in 1792, and continued to represent the university of Oxford, in that body, from 1802 till he was summoned to the house of peers, in 1821.

STRABO, a distinguished Greek_geographer, was born at Amasia, in Cappadocia, about 19 A. D., studied rhetoric and the Aristotelian philosophy, and afterwards embraced the Stoic doctrines. He travelled through Greece, Italy, Egypt, and Asia, endeavoring to obtain the most accurate information in regard to the geography, statistics and political conditions of the countries which he visited. The time of his death is unknown. His great geographical work, in seventeen books, contains a full account of the manners and governments of different people: his materials were derived from his own observations and inquiries, or from the geographical works of Hecatæus, Artemidorus, Eudoxius, and Eratosthenes, now lost, and the writings of historians and poets. His work is invaluable to us. The last editions are those of Siebenkees (continued by Tzschucke, but not completed, Leipsic, 1796-1811, 7 vols.) and of Coray (4 vols., Paris, 1819.) Those of Casaubon (1620, fol.) and Almeloveen (Amsterdam, 1707, 2 vols., fol.) are also highly esteemed.

STRADA, Famianus; an Italian historian, and elegant writer of modern Latin poetry, born at Rome, in 1572. He entered into the society of the Jesuits in 1592, and became professor of rhetoric at the Roman college, where he resided till his death, in 1649. His most famous works are a History of the Wars in the Netherlands, in Latin, and Prolusiones Academice, which have been repeatedly published. In one of these prolusions, he has

introduced ingenious imitations of the style of the most celebrated Roman poets, of which there are many translations, including those published by Addison, in the Guardian.

STRAFFORD, Sir Thomas Wentworth, earl of, an eminent minister and statesman, was the eldest son of sir William Wentworth, of an ancient family in Yorkshire. He was born in London, in 1593, and entered of St. John's college, Cambridge. After leaving the university, he travelled, and, on his return, received the honor of knighthood. The death of his father, in 1614, gave him possession of a large fortune; and he was soon after appointed custos rotulorum of the west riding of Yorkshire, in lieu of sir John Savile. In 1621, he was chosen member of parliament for the county of York; and when Charles I asserted that the commons enjoyed no rights but by royal permission, sir Thomas Wentworth, already distinguished for ability, strenuously called upon the house to maintain that their privileges were rights by inheritance. In 1622, he lost his first wife, of the noble family of Clifford, and in 1625, married Arabella, second daughter of Holles, earl of Clare. On the convening of the new parliament, in the same year, he was one of the six popular members who were prevented serving their country in that assembly, by being appointed sheriffs for their respective counties. He submitted to this arbitrary act in silence; and, soon after, the duke of Buckingham, alarmed at the measures taken against him in parliament, made him overtures, which proved ineffectual, and the favorite revenged himself by obliging him to restore his office of custos rotulorum to sir John Savile. When Charles, among other expedients for raising money, had recourse to a forced general loan, Wentworth refused to pay his contribution, and was first imprisoned in the Marshalsea, and then confined to a range of two miles round the town of Dartford. This restraint was, however, removed when it became necessary to summon a new parliament, in 1628; and he again took his seat for Yorkshire, and became one of the most conspicuous advocates of the petition of right. As he had now proved the strength of his abilities, high terms were offered him by the court, which he finally accepted; and, in 1628, he was created baron Wentworth, and some months afterwards a viscount and privy-counsellor, and on the resignation of lord Scrope, nominated president of the north. The assassination of Buckingham, soon after,

as

freed him from a powerful enemy at court, and he became so influential in the king's councils, that his powers in the four northern counties, over which he presided, became enormous; and his commission contained fifty-eight instructions, of of which scarcely one did not exceed or violate the common law. In the exercise of this authority, he displayed equal haughtiness, impetuosity, and ability, and, by his strictness in levying exactions, increased the revenue in his district to four or five times the previous amount. Having assiduously cultivated the friendship of archbishop Laud, he was selected by that prelate to proceed to Ireland, as lorddeputy, in 1632. He greatly improved the state of the country, both as regarded law, revenue, and trade (the manufacture of linen being of his own creation); but, at the same time, nothing could be more arbitrary than his system of government, it being his boast that he had rendered the king as absolute in Ireland " any prince in the whole world could be." On the first symptoms of resistance to the royal authority, he counselled the strongest measures; and after the failure of the king's first expedition against Scotland, he was sent for from Ireland, and created earl of Strafford, and knight of the garter. He returned with the full title of lord lieutenant, with a view to gain subsidies and troops, in which he fully succeeded; and, again repairing to England, took the command in the north, but found himself obliged to retire before the Scottish army, and retreat to York. Charles was now by his necessities obliged to call the long parliament; on which Strafford, aware of the enmity which he had inspired among the popular leaders, wished to return to his government; but the king, hoping that his great talents would be serviceable, encouraged him by a solemn promise that "not a hair of his head should be touched by parliament." Strafford's apprehensions were well founded. The very first movement of the party opposed to arbitrary power, was to impeach him of high treason, with which charge Pym appeared at the bar of the house of lords, November 18, 1640. The articles of impeachment, at first nine in number, were afterwards increased to twenty-eight, the object of which was to convict him of an attempt to subvert the fundamental laws of the country. As in the case of Laud, it was easy to prove that he acted as a friend and promoter of arbitrary measures, but not to substantiate any particular fact to justify a capital

charge. Although treated with the extreme of legal rigor, and debarred the assistance of counsel, his own great abilities and force of mind supplied every deficiency; "And never man," says Whitelock, the chairman of the impeaching committee," acted such a part, on such a theatre, with more wisdom, consistency and eloquence, or with greater reason, judgment and temper." His defence, indeed, was so strong, that the original impeachment was deserted, for the unjustifiable proceeding of a bill of attainder. The bill passed by a great majority; and so great was the animosity borne towards him, that the house of lords was intimidated into compliance. The king, who had imprudently endeavored to stop the bill by his personal interference, had not sufficient firmness to redeem the pledge of safety which he had previously given, but yielded to the advice of his counsellors, backed by a letter from Strafford himself, who urged him, for his own safety, to ratify the bill. This act has the semblance of being truly heroical; yet it is probable that he did not think that the king would have been swayed by it, since, being assured of the fatal truth, he lifted his eyes to heaven, and, with his hand on his heart, exclaimed, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men; for in them there is no salvation." His conduct, from this time to his execution, was in the highest degree composed and noble. At the scaffold, he addressed the people, expressing entire resignation to his fate, and asserting the good intention of his actions, however misrepresented. He fell in the forty-ninth year of his age, lamented by some, admired by more, and leaving behind a memorable but certainly not an unspotted name. The parliament, not long after his death, mitigated his sentence as regarded his children; and in the succeeding reign, his attainder was reversed. He married three times, and, by his second wife, left an only son, and several daughters. (See Macdiarmid's Lives of British Statesmen.)

STRALSUND; a town of Prussian Pomerania, capital of a government of the same name, formerly capital of Swedish Pomerania, on a strait which separates the island of Rugen from the main land; 120 miles east of Hamburg; lon. 13° 32′ E.; lat. 54° 19' N. population, 15,800. It has a safe and capacious harbor, admitting ships of fifteen feet draught. It was formerly one of the principal Hanse towns. (See Hansu.) It has considerable trade. Corn is the principal article of

export, of which there are sometimes shipped from 30 to 40,000 quarters. It contains a government house, town house, public library, &c. The aspect is gloomy, the streets narrow, the houses low, built of brick, and remarkable for being pointed at the top. (See Pomerania.)

STRAMONIUM (Sometimes called Jamestown-weed), a species of datura, is now common in waste places throughout the U. States, as well as in Europe. It belongs to the solaner, the same natural family with the tobacco and nightshade, and amply sustains the poisonous character of the tribe. The stem is herbaceous, fleshy, two or three feet high, and branching, furnished with large angular and dentate leaves. The flowers are large, and the corolla funnelshaped. All parts of the plant exhale a strong and nauseous odor. It is one of the most dangerous of narcotic poisons; and when taken internally, produces vertigo, torpor, and death. Goats, however, eat it with impunity. In small doses, it has been employed with advantage in convulsive and epileptic affections; and smoking the dried leaves has proved beneficial in asthmatic complaints.

STRAND; a street in London, running from Westminster to London proper. It was formerly the road which connected the two towns, when they were entirely distinct from each other, and received its name from its position along the Thames.

STRANGLES; a disorder which attacks most horses, and generally between the ages of three and five years. When strangles occurs in the stables, and now and then also in the field, it proves a severe disease, and shows itself under the appearance of a cold, with cough, sore throat, swelling of the glands under the jaws, or behind and under the ears. Sometimes there is not much external swelling, and the tumors break inwardly, and nature effects a cure. At others, they break outwardly, and sometimes disperse. When the swelling lingers, poultices are preferable to fomentations. Peal recommends blistering the part, to promote suppuration. The horse should be kept very cool, and bran mashes, with warm water, should be his principal support, unless the complaint last long, and produce much weakness, when malt mashes should be substituted. Bleeding is only advisable when the early symptoms are violent.

STRAPPADO; a barbarous military punishment, now abandoned. It consisted in having the hands of the offender tied behind his back, by which he was drawn to a certain elevation, by a rope, and then