The number of children in Staffordshire in 1833, between | particulars are entered in a book kept by the registrar fot the ages of 2 and 15, may be taken at about 100,000. Seven the purpose, and they are receivable as evidence at law. Sunday-schools, attended by 301 children, are returned The word omnibus as applied to a carriage is borrowed from places where there are no other schools; but in every from the French. They were at first confined to London, other case the children have also the opportunity of attend- and ran to and from the extreme points of the city and its ing daily schools, but to what extent they do so cannot be suburbs, through the principal leading thoroughfares, chargascertained. Seventy-nine schools, attended by 7081 chil- ing for each passenger, whether he travelled the whole or any dren, are both daily and Sunday schools, and duplicate re- portion of the distance, the sum of one shilling, which was turns are known to be thus far created. It is probable that soon reduced to sixpence, at which price it now remains less than one half of the children between the ages of 2 and through the metropolis. The convenience of the size and form 15 were under instruction in the county in 1833. Fifty of these vehicles, heavy as they are in draught, and weighing boarding-schools are included in the number of daily schools 15 or 20 cwt., caused their early adoption in the provincial given above. towns, and they are now common throughout the country, and come under the general denomination of stage-carriages. In the principal lines of the metropolitan carriages, as the road from Paddington or from Westminster to the Bank, and frequently farther, the average number of trips each vehicle takes per day is five; and the amount of fares received by each in the course of the day is considered to be about 21. The driver and the conductor receive about one guinea a week each. The duty is calculated in the proportion of so much per mile according to the number of passengers the carriage may be licensed to carry, but as the great majority are capable of holding 14 or 16, on which number the duty is about 24d. a mile, the daily duty payable to government is very considerable. The number of miles which they journey in London, as the frequency of their trips is only limited by the will of the proprietors, some of whom possess 50 or 60 carriages, is ascertained by persons stationed The proportion of persons who attested their marriages by marks instead of writing their names, was, in 1839-40, 43 per cent. for men and 61 per cent. for women, the mean proportion being 52 per cent., while for England and Wales it is 42. Description of Maintenance of Schools. By endowment. By subscription. Schis Subscriv. and payment from scholars. Schls. Scho- Schls. By payments from scholars. Scholars. Schls. Scholars. 1 Daily Schools 124 5187 16 858 Total... 140 7345 47 80 3,191 339 4,465 Infant Schools The Schools established by Dissenters, included in the in various parts of the metropolis in the great thorough fares, to check their running and mark the number of each STA'GMARIA, a genus of the natural family of plants 423, containing 20,145 called Terebinthacea from many of them producing a turpentine-like exudation. It was named by Mr. W. Jack. assistant-surgeon in the East India Company's service, and author of Malayan Miscellanies,' from the Greek word stagmus (oráyμa), a dropping fluid. The tree S. verniciflua, which is the Arbor vernicis of Rumphius, and the Kayo Rangas of the Malays, is full of acrid resinous juice, and is a native of the Eastern Islands, but not very abundant in Sumatra, though occasionally found in the neighbourhood of rivers. STAGE-CARRIAGE, is defined by the act of 2 and 3 Wm. IV., c. 120, as a carriage of any construction for conveying passengers for hire to or from any place in Great Britain, which shall travel at the rate of not less than three miles in the hour and be impelled by animal power, provided each passenger pay a distinct fare for his place therein. Railway carriages and vehicles moved by steam are excluded from, &c. In 1799 the act of Parliament was passed (19 Geo. III., c. 51) which first imposed a duty on hired carriages of any description. This duty has at times been variously regulated, and is now by the above act (amended by 3 and 4 Wm. IV., c. 48) settled. By these acts any person above 21 years of age can keep or employ a stage-carriage, on obtaining a licence so to do from two or more commissioners of stamps, to be renewed yearly, and the amount of duty payable on every such licence is computed upon the number of miles such carriage is authorized by the licence to travel in the day, week, or month, as the case may be. This duty may be compounded for. Every stage-carriage is to have a numbered plate affixed to it, a licence is necessary for every pair of plates, and the number of passengers each carriage is allowed to carry is stated in the licence. These regulations are applicable to ali such carriages throughout the country, and include the more recently introduced conveyance termed an omnibus, a word in no way recognised by the legislature. The conduct of the stage-carriages which are employed in London and within ten miles of the General Post-Office, is further regulated by the 1 and 2 Vic., c. 79, in which they are directed to be called metropolitan stage-carriages,' and by which, besides the rules applicable by the other acts to these conveyances as stage-carriages, other enactments are made as to the stamp-office plates, &c. It also empowers the secretary of state to appoint a registrar of metropolitan stage carriages, whose office is to issue the licence which the commissioners of stamps are authorised to grant to drivers and conductors of these carriages, to whom this act more particuiarly relates. These licences the registrar may grant to any person above 16 years of age who can produce certificates of his ability to drive, and of good character. The licence is renewable yearly, and with it is given an abstract of the laws and penalties to which the receiver is amenable, and a numbered ticket, the latter of which it is his duty to keep about his person and not to transfer or lend. These The calyx is tubular, with the limb irregularly ruptured, deciduous. Petals 5, longer than the calyx, obtuse, spread ing, subreflexed. Stamens 5, alternating with, but inserted above, the petals into the stipe-like torus. Filaments filiform, equal to the petals in length. Authers oblong. Ovary stipitate, 3-lobed, lobes one-seeded, 1-2 of which are usually abortive. Styles 1-3, terminating the lobes of the ovary. Stigmas obtuse. Berry kidney-shaped, furrowed, oneseeded, with a warty rind. Embryo exalbuminous, erect, cotyledons united; radicle incurved. The genus is nearly allied to Rhus, but besides the difference indicated in the above character, it has simple leaves, which are without stipules. The wood of the tree is of a fine dark colour towards the centre. The bark exudes a resin which is extremely acrid, causing excoriation and blisters when applied to the skin; in this, as well as in becoming black when exposed to the air, it resembles the Melanorrhæa, Cashew-nut tree, poison oak, and many others of the Terebinthacea. According to Rumphius, this tree yields the celebrated Japan lacquer or varnish, and he considers it the same with that of Siam and Tonquin, Loureiro however represents the latter to be the produce of an Augeia. Mr. Jack says the varnish of Siam and Cochinchina is probably the best, but that of Celebes and of Java, which is the produce of this tree, is also employed for the same purposes, and cannot be much inferior, as it bears an equally high price. Rumphius says the exhalations of this tree are considered noxious, and the people of Macassar, and of other parts of Celebes in particular, entertain such dread of it, that they dare not remain long under it, much less repose under its shade. As however it furnishes the celebrated varnish, the Chinese and Tonkinese boldly repair to the tree, but employ caution in collecting the resin. This they do by inserting into the trunks two pieces of bamboo, sharpened at their points, in such a manner as to penetrate the bark in a somewhat oblique direction. These remain all night, and are extracted before sunrise the next morning. the trees yielding no juice during the day. This fluid resin bears a high price, being sold in Tonkin and Camboja for 30, 50, or 60 dollars, the pecul of about 133 pounds, but in many of the provinces of China for 200 or 300 dollars. The varnish is prepared for use by boiling it with an equal weight of the oil of Tang-yhu, which is a Chinese tree allied to the Mimusops Elengi, from whose fruit an oil is prepared. The proportions are varied according to the purposes for which the varnish is required. Sometimes dry pigments are added for the sake of red or other colours. The Japanese are the most skilful in preparing and ornamenting all kinds of work with this varnish, and their black lacquered works are conveyed to all parts of the world. (Jack's Malayan Miscellany, No. 3, reprinted by Sir W. Hooker.) in 1734. STAHL, GEORGE ERNEST, one of the most celebrated physicians of the last century, was born at Anspach in 1660. He studied medicine at Jena, took his degree of doctor there in 1683, and at once began to deliver lectures. In 1687 the duke of Weimar made him his physician; and in 1694, at the instance of Hoffman, he was appointed to a professorship of medicine, anatomy, and chemistry in the university of Halle, then recently established. He taught there for twenty-two years, and upon being appointed physician to the king of Prussia, went to Berlin, where he died The system of medicine which Stahl taught, and on which were founded the principles and practice of his numerous school, may be regarded as produced from a combination of the physiology of Van Helmont, which he learnt at Jena from G. W. Wedel, with the doctrines of Descartes respecting the agency of immaterial principles upon inert matter. In his life [HELMONT, VAN] it has been shown what Van Helmont taught on the nature and operations of an Archæus, as a principle resident in the living body and governing all its actions. Stahl supposed a like influence to be exercised by what he called the anima, an immaterial principle which (as far as can be ascertained in the obscurity in which his style of writing has involved his meaning) he seems to have regarded as identical with the soul, and as capable of acting both with consciousness, in the operations of the mind, and unconsciously, in the government of the processes in the living body. He held that this anima first forms for itself the body; and then, abhorring the destruction of that which it has formed, directs all the processes of the organization so as to evade death. For this purpose, it guides them to resist putrefaction, and to expel through the appropriate organs the effete particles and morbid substances accidentally introduced; it directs the repair of all injuries, and, in ordinary nutrition, maintains the due form and composition of the tissues. For this last process (as an example of its agency in all the rest) he supposes the anima to have knowledge (independently of the consciousness of the animal in which it works) of the necessary composition of every part of the body and of the materials to be given to each, and to have power to guide aright all the acts necessary to the required end. These acts, he considered, are effected by what he named tonic vital movements, that is, movements of alternate tension and relaxation, dependent on a property of tone resident in all the soft tissues of the body, and by which, under the influence of the anima, each part directs the movements of the fluid in its vessels or its parenchyma. Disturbances of the government of the anima and of this property of tone constituted the chief elements in Stahl's pathology and the signs of disease were regarded by him as indications of the efforts of the anima to remove the source of the malady and to preserve the body, either by means of extraordinary tonic movements, or sometimes by the most violent spasms and convulsions. He held that one of the commonest sources of disease was plethora, either local or general; and for this, the hemorrhages from different organs at different periods of life were regarded as the remedies employed by the anima. Especially, he applied these notions to the vena porta, in which, from the slowness of the circulation in it, plethora was thought peculiarly apt to occur; and to this condition he mainly attributed hypochondria, melancholy, gout, calculus, and he morrhoids; so that it came to be an aphorism of his school, Vena porta, porta malorum.' Fevers in general he considered to be the results of the anima endeavouring by the local tonic actions to expel some morbid matter; and their fatality, like that of most other diseases, he ascribed to the morbid matter being too abundant or the tonic powers too weak for its expulsion. Stahl's therapeutics corresponded closely with his theory of disease. His principles of treatment were to aid the be neficial efforts of the anima and to remove the obstacles to its action. His remedies were few and simple, consisting chiefly of bleeding for the relief of plethora, and of mild evacuant medicines. Medical science owes much of its progress to the energy and acuteness with which Stahl aided in overturning the notion which, before his time, was generally prevalent in the schools, that the simple laws of chemistry or of mechanics were all on which the phenomena of the living body depended, and in drawing attention to the body as an organism governed by peculiar laws, and having all its healthy processes adapted to one final purpose, namely, the preservation of the whole by the different actions of its parts. He rushed indeed into an extreme opposite to that of his immediate predecessors; for he treated with all the bitter sarcasm and morose contempt of his naturally stern temper every endeavour to apply any other science, even anatomy, in the study of medicine; and he mystified the principle which he supposed to rule the organism: but still he gave the turn towards truth, by following which his successors were gradually brought to a more just appreciation of the complexity of the forces which are in operation in the living body, and of the share which each of them has in each of its processes. His hypothesis of an anima has been ridiculed; yet, with another name, it is that which is adopted in nearly all the physiology of the present day: the vital principle and the nature of the majority of modern medical writers differ in little more than name from the anima, the archæus, and the pious of Hippocrates: the common hypothesis involved in all is that of an immaterial principle resident in the living body, and governing with reason all the processes in it for the final purpose of preserving life. Though the hypothesis be false, the medical sciences have made great progress through being pursued in the spirit which it suggests; and to this progress no man's labours have contributed more than those of Stahl. Though Stahl despised chemistry in its attempted application to medicine, we owe to him an important step in the advancement of that science. Taking up the crude opinions of Becker, as he did those of Van Helmont, he became the inventor of the theory of Phlogiston, which for many years had such influence in chemistry, and in the working out of which, though it was based in error, so many important truths were ascertained. [BECKER; PHLOGISTON.] Haller, in his 'Bibliotheca Medicinæ Practicæ,' tom. iii., p. 577, gives a list, collated by J. C. Goetz, of 250 medical works written or superintended and edited by Stahl. That in which his medical doctrines are most completely taught is entitled Theoria Medica vera Physiologiam et Pathologiam tanquam Doctrinæ Medicæ partes contemplativas e Naturæ et Artis veris Fundamentis intaminata Ratione et inconcussa Experientia sistens.' It was published by him in 1707 and 1708. All the peculiarities of his system however are discernible in his inaugural thesis De Sanguificatione,' Jena, 1684. His chemical works were comparatively few: he first proposed the phlogistic theory in 1697, in his Zymotechnia Fundamentalis.' The best brief account of his doctrines is in Haller, and in Sprengel, Histoire de la Medicine, tom. v. STAINES. [MIDDLESEX.] STAIR, LORD. [DALRYMPLE.] STAIRCASE. This is an indispensable part of the interior of buildings which consist of more than a groundfloor, and stairs of some sort must have always been employed wherever there were upper rooms, or even to obtain access to the terraced roofs which are used in the East. But we are altogether ignorant of the character of antient staircases. Vitruvius-who touches upon so many matters that are very remotely connected with his subject -gives no information about staircases; neither has much light been thrown upon the subject by the discoveries at Pompeii. Scarcely any indications even of upper floors to the houses have there been found, and what few traces of staircases, or rather of stairs, remain, show them to have been exceedingly incommodious, fitted only for obtaining access to an upper loft, or to the roof, and not at all adapted for constant communication between dwelling apartments on different floors. It may therefore very safely be taken for granted—at least until some direct evidence to the con trary shall be found that the houses of the antients were in this, as well as in many other respects, greatly inferior to our own, and had nothing whatever corresponding to the modern staircase. Nearly the same may be said with respect to the antient domestic architecture of our Own country, where, even in residences of the highest class, the staircases were generally very confined-placed within turrets, and exceedingly steep and narrow-narrow not only as regards the actual width of passage up and down, but the diameter or space occupied by the whole, there being no well, or central opening, but the steps winding around a solid newel so that in ascending or descending a person is continually revolving,-without any foot paces' for resting upon, and cannot see whether he will encounter any one else. Turnpike was a term formerly applied to staircases of this kind; also Vise, from their spiral or screw-like shape, whence the more modern appellation of Corkscrew stairs, corresponding with the Italian Scala alla Lumaca, or Scala alla Chiocciola, with the French Escalier à Limaçon, and the German Wendeltreppe. to the landing of the floor to be reached being given, it is ceasy to calculate either how many risers of a certain number of inches will be required; or what must be the dimen sions of the risers and treads, in order to ascend within the space allowed. Supposing the first-mentioned height to be 14 feet, and the risers six inches, two risers will be equiva lent to one foot of ascent, and consequently twenty-eight risers will be required, or twenty-seven treads, the upper landing being the tread to the last riser. In such case, hardly less than an area of 20 by 8 feet, on the level of the upper floor, would be sufficient for the staircase, unless there were winders instead of quarter-spaces, or of a single half-space between the two flights. The number of risers required is ascertained by reducing the given altitude of ascent to inches, and dividing it by the height of the risers: thus, taking the altitude as before (14 feet), and the risers at 5 inches, there must either be 33 risers a trifle more than 5 inches each, or 34 a trifle less. Palladio, and others following him, have laid it down that the staircase ought to be seen immediately on entering a building; but it is impossible to establish any positive rule for what must depend upon particular circumstances, and this is by no means the best as a general rule. In a public building or place where strangers go in and out without inquiry, it may be desirable that the staircase should present itself at once; but certainly this is not the case in private mansions. On the contrary, it is in every respect better that the staircase should be kept out of view until the first vestibule has been passed through, and that it should be placed as remote from the entrance into the house as the plan will admit, both in order that the approach to it may be lengthened, and that, in case it has any architectural pretensions at all, it may strike the more by not coming into view at once. At all events, only the lower part of the staircase-no more than is sufficient to indicate its situation-should be visible from the entrance, other It was not till about the time of Elizabeth that staircases began to be planned more commodiously in this country, and made a decorative feature in the interior of a mansion. But though they were greatly improved, the flights being made wider, and the steps parallel to each other, with intermediate landings or resting-places between the several flights, and although considerable decoration was bestowed upon them, the walls being pannelled, and the parapet of the stairs formed either by richly carved balusters, or open fretwork, frequently with heraldic figures of animals on the pedestals at the angles of the different flights-the staircase itself was usually enclosed within a comparatively small area, so as to admit of no general view of the whole of it, there being very little open space, or well, as it is termed; sometimes none at all. The staircases at Aldermaston, Berks, Crewe Hall, Cheshire, and Knowle, Kent, may be taken as examples of the kind. At a later period, stair-wise it will be inconveniently exposed; and if there are cases in mansions of a superior class were made disproportionably spacious, being upon a scale as to size with which the apartments themselves were not at all in keeping. The planning of a staircase is generally considered one of the most difficult matters in internal architecture, and it is certainly one that requires great consideration. Yet there is no particular difficulty, except where, as is generally the case in moderate-sized houses, the architect is cramped for room; more especially if, while restricted in that respect, the ascent from one floor to another is greater than usual. The number of stairs and the space required for the convenient arrangement of them, are easily estimated when the height of the ascent from one floor to another is given, and the dimensions are determined for the risers and treads. Stairs are technically described as consisting of Risers and Treads, the former being the fronts or heights of the steps, and the other their flat surfaces or breadths. Stairs are further distinguished as being Flyers, those which ascend straightforward; and Winders, which having their treads triangular, coming quite to a point at their ends next balusters, afford no footing there, and ought consequently to be avoided whenever it is at all practicable to do so. A Flight is a consecutive series of stairs in the same direction, or between one Quarter-space or Half-space (Palier de repos) and another, which last are short intermediate landings, serving to lessen the fatigue of a continuous ascent, by subdividing it into shorter flights. For the area containing, or rather constituting, the staircase itself, we have no distinct term in addition to the general one, similar to the French Cage, the Italian Gabbia, and the German Treppenhaus. We proceed to notice the most convenient proportions of the stairs themselves as to height and breadth for their length. As to the breadth of the flights, that is comparatively arbitrary it should never be much less than four feet, so as to allow two persons to pass, except in back-staircases; but it may be as much more as the space will permit, or the effect aimed at in the design may require. The best general and what may be considered standard proportions, are 6 inches for the risers and 12 inches for the treads; though from 6 to 7 inches may be allowed for the former, and only 10 for the latter, in secondary staircases. In those of a very superior kind, on the contrary, the risers do not exceed 5 or even 4 inches (less height than which last would be more fatiguing than convenient), and their treads are then made from 14 to 16 inches. The height therefore doors to several rooms on the upper landing, persons passing from one to the other would be seen from the hall. It is therefore a great error to place the staircase, as is sometimes done, in the first or entrance hall of a mansion, because, in addition to the inconvenience just pointed out, such hall must be made the height of two floors, and consequently, if otherwise suitably proportioned to such height, it will be the most spacious and loftiest room, and so far be attended by a degree of effect which, instead of being afterwards increased or kept up, is greatly diminished. Such arrangement also cuts off the communication above between the rooms on one side of the hall and those on the other, except there is a gallery or continuation of the landing carried over the entrance. Even when kept apart from the entrance-ball or other vestibule, a staircase will always be sufficiently striking in proportion to the rest of a house, because it will produce greater architectural effect, and be loftier than the rooms themselves. We are now speaking only of what is usually termed a 'grand staircase,' leading up no higher than the principal floor, so that the whole of the space from the level of the landing is perfectly clear, and there are no flights leading up higher, for if there were, the space over head would appear encumbered and confused. There is in fact no part of an interior which accommodates itself more readily to architectural character and display, or which admits of greater variety of design both as to plan, section, and decoration, than a staircase of the kind just referred to. If the house itself be not upon a very large scale, there is danger of doing here rather too much than too little. In regard to altitude, there will here always be greater magnitude than elsewhere; if therefore corresponding magnitude of area be given to it, the staircase will overpower everything else, cause the rooms to appear small by comparison, and appear in itself too large for the house. It is therefore desirable to make the area, at least the visible area of the staircase, rather less than more than that of any of the principal rooms. It is also rather a solecism to affect magnitude of space in other respects corresponding to that of height. While it serves as a contrast to the apartments, loftiness or excess of height, as compared with length and breadth, is as much an appropriate characteristic of a staircase as it is of a tower. Its altitude therefore from the bottom of the first flight to the ceiling, may very properly be made between two or three times the breadth. Accordingly it will be found expedient to enclose the landing, if continued quite round the staircase, not merely by a screen of columns, | but in such manner as to shut it out from view, with only partial openings at intervals, in order to avoid too much spaciousness on that level, and to keep the cage of the same size from bottom to top. Of such staircase upon a large scale there is an example at Taymouth Castle, the seat of the marquis of Breadalbane, which is about 40 feet square by 100 feet in height, with an upper corridor surrounding it, with open arches. One of the most simple and effective yet least common arrangements of a staircase, is that which may be described by the term Avenue staircase, the stairs being continued in a straight line, though broken by spaces into a succession of flights, within what would else be a level corridor or gallery; and occupying its entire width. There is something particularly noble and majestic in a staircase of this kind, for although it may be narrow, considered as a gallery, it looks unusually spacious as a staircase, the flight itself being wider than those of staircases placed within a much larger area. Besides which, the whole is more regularly disposed, and forms a more striking piece of perspective. Still simple as such plan is in itself, it is by no means adapted to general application, because, although it requires only moderate width, it requires considerable ength, short flights, and ample spaces between them, and stairs with low risers and broad treads; otherwise the descent as viewed from above, being in a straight line, looks precipitous, or at least has no dignity of appearance. Another circumstance which limits a staircase of this kind to particular cases, is, that in order for it to produce proper effect, the height to bo ascended should be very moderate, hardly more than seven or eight feet; for else, the space at the foot of the stairs looks confined, and the upper flights scarcely show themselves from that station. Hence, though it may be referred to as an instance of an avenue staircase, the one leading to the keep or round tower at Windsor Castle is more remarkable than beautiful or grand, leaving decoration out of the question; the altitude ascended being so very great. Sir John Soane has given some ideas of the kind in his designs for a 'Scala Regia'—a favourite subject with him; and he executed such a staircase, though upon a more limited scale, for the royal entrance to the House of Lords. The width of that staircase is only 10 feet, by 49 in extreme length, and the ascent 3 feet. Though not free from little conceits, the whole has considerable effect, as may be judged from the perspective view of it in vol. i. of the Public Buildings of London,' by W. H. Leeds, which also contains a longitudinal section of it. The staircase of the Chamber of Peers at Paris, designed by Percier and Fontaine, is another example of the kind upon a larger scale, but not the very best, for the ascent is so great, that the columns on its sides, on the same level as the landing, look quite insignificant. That at Covent-Garden Theatre also belongs to the same class, although it differs from the preceding in being extended in the upper part by the landing being continued along its sides as a gallery divided from it by columns; the ascent is about 10 feet, in two flights. The National Gallery, again, affords instances of a different modification of the same arrangement, half the ascent being by an external flight in the vestibule, the remainder by another within the corridor leading from it; and though not exactly suited for such a building, the idea is pleasing in itself and would produce a striking effect in one of less pretension. In public edifices or large mansions, whatever be the plan of the principal staircase, it is generally branched, that is, there is first a wide central flight, and then two other narrower ones branching off from it one on each side, either at right angles to it or as return flights parallel to it; and it is hardly necessary to observe that in all such staircases the foot-spaces are large, and that there are no winders. The staircase at Goldsmiths' Hall, which is parted off from the vestibule by a glazed screen, is an example of more than ordinary splendour, being lighted by a dome. The branching flights at right angles to the first, lead to a landing on each side, which has a double screen of Corinthian columns, so that the view across from side to side, in the upper part, is unusually rich. At Buckingham Palace, there is first a very wide flight, entered from between columns, branching off right and left in curved flights, the cage, which is about 36 by 26 feet, being curved elliptically on those sides of ends. In this example, the stairs rest upon a graduated podium or wall enclosing the space immediately beneath, which serves as a private passage behind; a mode freP. C., No. 1412. quently adopted in similar cases, being one which contributes to solidity and nobleness of appearance, and prevents that mass of shadow beneath the stairs which gives a gloom to the lower part of the staircase. Instead of there being a central flight below, the ascent frequently begins on each side, and is carried up in one or more flights to the common landing where both branches terminate; from which point the stairs are sometimes continued, returning in an upper central flight which is carried across an arch thrown from that landing or half-space, to a higher landing. Staircases of this kind, which may be termed bridge staircases, occur in the Custom-house and the Auction Mart. Their effect, however is not good, because the upper suspended flight or bridge darkens the lower part of the staircase, and has a strangely awkward cumbersome appearance when viewed from that station. At the best therefore they are suitable only for places of evening resort, where they can be lit up below as well as above. The staircase of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, claims notice, not only on account of the richness of the general design, but of some peculiarities in its arrangement. Strictly speaking however, this example can hardly be given as that of a staircase, according to the usual meaning of the term, the stairs being mere flights of steps in the entrance hall. That in the centre is a broad descending one, leading down to the libraries, which are on a lower level than the hall; and on each side of it is a rather narrower ascending flight to the spacious landing carried around three sides of the hall, and serving as a statue gallery. Though the lower area is only 32 by 26 feet, consequently that of the floor very much less, owing to the space occupied by the flights of steps, that of the upper part on the level of the landing is 68 by 44 feet, the landing itself being about 17 feet wide. In some degree similar in plan, although very different in design, is the hall at Holkham, the seat of the Earl of Leicester, which has a noble flight of steps within a recess or tribune enclosed by columns which are continued along the sides of the hall. The grand-staircase of the Reform Club-house, London, is an example, somewhat unusual in this country, though common enough in Italy, of what may be called an enclosed staircase; the flights are shut up between walls, and consequently there is no open well, nor can the whole be seen at one view. A plan of this kind therefore differs from the avenue staircase, merely in not being carried straightforward, but either returning in a parallel flight from the half-space or first landing, or having the second flight at right angles with the first. The last is the case at the Reform Club-house, where the staircase consists of three enclosed flights, the last being a return one to the first, and landing upon the gallery around the upper part of the inner hall or saloon. That at Burleigh too is similarly planned. The same mode may be adopted for circular or semicircular as well as rectangular plans; and one advantage attending it is, that while the ascent itself is as spacious and commodious as if the whole were entirely open, there may be a secondary staircase for servants, shut up within the larger one. Though Milizia objects to them as inconvenient, circular and semicircular staircases, and such also as are partly rectangular and partly semicircular, being curved in the latter form at one or both ends, are very beautiful, at least capable of being rendered so; neither is the inconvenience alleged against them one of any moment, because though all the stairs are winders, the diameter of the staircase itself may be such, that the treads may be 10 inches wide at their ends next the balusters or open part of the staircase, and the whole ascent be completed in half a revolution or semicircle; whereas in a narrow newel staircase of the kind two or more revolutions will be required. The architectural effect of a staircase will greatly depend upon the mode of lighting it. Where it is carried up only one floor, the best mode is to light it entirely from above, either through a dome or lantern in the ceiling, or by making the upper part of the walls just beneath the ceiling a continued lantern. If there are windows on the landings of the several flights, the effect will be improved by their being filled with stained glass, especially if towards a back count; or, if a conservatory can be carried out on the level of the first landing, so as to show itself through glazed foldingdoors, a very pleasing and cheerful effect is obtained, even though the conservatory itself should be hardly more than a glazed viranda. As to material, stone is greatly preferable VOL. XXII.-3 I STALACTITE and STALAGMITE. Stalactitic carbonate of lime occurs chiefly in long masses suspended from the roofs of caverns in limestone rocks. Stalactites appear to be continually forming; water containing carbonate of lime held in solution by carbonic acid, trickling through crevices in the roofs of the caverns, gradually during its exposure to the air loses its carbonic acid, and consequently deposits its carbonate of lime; the water passing over the portion first deposited gradually adds to it, and eventually gives the carbonate of lime its great length and stalactitic character. The flatter deposits, called stalagmites, are formed on the floor of the cavern by the water there depositing that portion of its carbonate of lime which is not separated during the formation of the stalactite. Stalactitic carbonate of lime is met with in the veins of lead-ore in Durham and Northumberland. Caverns are sometimes nearly filled with these deposits, which in some cases are of very large dimensions; the most remarkable instances of their occurrence in Britain are in the cavern at Castleton in Derbyshire, and Macallaster Cave in the Isle of Skye: the grotto of Antiparos in the Archipelago, the Woodman's Cave in the Harz in Germany, and that of Auxelle in France, are striking instances of their formation in other countries. Besides the occurrence of this variety of carbonate of lime in the stalactitic form, it is sometimes met with reniform and tabular, and in other imitative shapes. The fracture is sometimes perfectly lamellar, occasionally fibrous, the fibres diverging from a centre, with a pearly or silky lustre, and sometimes resinous or waxy. The colour varies from white to greyish, brown, red, and yellowish white. Opaque, but frequently translucent. to wood for stairs, if only on account of greater security inquires much experience and attention. It has been proved case of fire; in lieu of stone, cast-iron may be employed. that animals require a certain portion of meat and drink to Marble is very rarely used for stairs in this country, and keep them alive, and that this quantity, in the same specie, whenever it is, it should be left unpolished on the treads, is in general in proportion to the weight of the animal. or it would be dangerous to descend them. The same If an animal has his exact ration of food, he will continue in remark applies to stairs of wainscot, unless they are car- health, but he will not increase in weight: in this case therepeted nearly their entire width. fore it only produces a certain portion of manure, which is not equivalent to the food consumed. If a larger quantity be given, the animal, if in health, will increase in weight, and the more food he has, within a certain limit, the faster will be this increase: but there is a point where increase stops; and if by any means the animal is induced to take more, his stomach will be deranged, and he will become diseased, and occasion loss by over-feeding. It is consequently of great importance to the stall-feeder to ascertain what is the exact quantity of food which it will be most profitable to give to a stall-fed animal. Experience alone can teach this; but some rules may be given which will enable any one who wishes to stall-feed cattle not greatly to err in his mode of feeding, and soon to find out what is the most profitable course to pursue. For this purpose it is essential that after having ascertained by experiment the quantity of food which will give the greatest increase of flesh per week on a certain weight of beasts when put up to fatten, all the food given to the cattle be carefully weighed, and no more be given in any day than is needful. The quality of the food should also be attended to; for a truss of fine wellmade clover, lucern, or sainfoin hay, may contain double the nourishment of another truss of coarse marsh hay. The best kind of food should always be reserved for fatting cattle. Roots are excellent helps; but roots alone are too watery, and must be corrected by dry food, such as straw cut into chaff, or good hay, and especially farinaceous food, whether it be corn ground or bruised, or oil-cake after the oil has been expressed. By a judicious mixture of food a much greater increase of flesh may be produced than by an irregular mode of feeding, however good the quality or abun dant the quantity given may be. To overfeed is as unprofitable as to starve a beast, and produces similar effects. It is of great importance that the cattle should be fed with great punctuality, at certain hours during the day, and that the troughs should be cleared of all the remains of food which they do not eat at each time of feeding. Rest and sleep are great aids to digestion, and a little gentle exercise after sleep prepares the stomach for a fresh supply of food. Air also is highly conducive to health; and hence those beasts which are allowed to move about in a loose stall, or a small yard protected from the rain and wind, thrive better in general than those which are tied up. It is the practice of many good feeders to put oxen in pairs in small stalls, partly open, so that they may be in the air, or under shelter, as they prefer; and the finest oxen, if not the fattest, are pre pared for the market in this way. Experience shows that all domestic animals like company, and that they are more contented and quiet when they have a companion than when they are alone. This is the reason why they are put up in pairs. Whatever promotes the health and comfort of the animal will be most profitable to the feeder. When a beast has acquired a certain degree of fatness, it is a nice point to decide whether it would be best to send him STALL-FEEDING. The feeding of cattle in stalls for the to market or continue to feed him. This is often decided purpose of fatting them more readily than by simple grazing, by mere caprice or fancy; but if the food has been weighed, and at a time when they cannot get fat on pastures, as a and the weekly increase of the beast is noted, which is regular part of the process of husbandry, is comparatively best done by weighing, but may nearly be guessed by meamodern. In former times cattle were slaughtered in Octo-suring, it becomes a mere question in arithmetic to deter ber and November, which latter, in most languages derived mine whether his increase pays for his food and attendance; from the Teutonic, is called Slaughter-month, there being if it does not, there is a loss in keeping him; and if a lean no possibility of buying fresh meat of any degree of fatness animal put in his stead would increase faster on the same during winter, and salt meat was the food of all classes in food, every day he is kept there is a loss of the difference that season. But now the process of fatting cattle goes on between the increase of the two. The pride of prowithout interruption during the whole year, and fat beasts ducing a wonderful animal at a fair or show may be dearly come as regularly to market in winter as in summer. Stall-paid for, and must be put down to the account of luxuries, feeding is now the principal means by which oxen and cows such as keeping hunters or racehorses. are rendered fit for the market. The Oriental alabaster, much employed by the antients in statuary and the formation of vases, appears to be of stalactitic origin. STALAGMITES (from oraλayμós, a dropping), the name of a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Clusiacea or Guttiferæ. It has polygamous or bisexual flowers; 4-5 sepals, which are persistent and bractless; 5 petals alternating with the sepals; 4-5 united stamens, the bundles flat, elongated, and divided at the apex into several short antheriferous portions opposite to the petals, and alternating with 5 large truncated glands; the anthers are 2celled, bursting longitudinally; the ovary is 3-5-celled, with 1 ovule in each cell; stigma 3-5-lobed; and fruit a berry. The species are trees natives of the East Indies and Ceylon, and belong to the family which produces the gamboge of commerce. Dr. Wight states that one of the species, the S. ovifolia, which is a native of Ceylon, yields a true gamboge, which is employed in commerce. It is known by its oval shining leaves, its lateral fascicled flowers, male and hermaphrodite mixed. Its anthers are arranged in 6 or 8 bundles, and it possesses a 3-celled 1-3 seeded ovary. STALBRIDGE. [DORSETSHIRE.] It has been observed, in the article SOILING, that one object of that system was to save the waste of food which is occasioned by the treading of cattle in pastures, and by their choosing the sweetest grasses to the neglect of the coarser. The principal object however is to save the manure, which in the pastures goes to waste, but in the yards or stall is all preserved. In stall-feeding another object is looked to, that of increasing the substance of the animal, especially the fat; and to do this judiciously and with profit re The most profitable food for fattening cattle is, in general, the produce of the farm: the expense of all purchased food is increased by the profit of the dealer and the carriage of it. And the only compensation for this additional cost may be in increasing the manure, where the straw and roots of the farm are deficient: in that case oil-cake, or even corn, may be purchased with advantage, since by means of the manure crops may be raised which without it must fail. The stalling of cattle, as well as the fatting of pigs, is in many situ ations the best means of carrying the produce of the farm |