Chapter XLII: Part 42

Stags are mostly kept in parks, with fallow deer. Dr. Johnson describes them as not exceeding the common deer in size, and that their flesh is of equal flavour. From a stag that had been committing depredations on the farmers’ corn during a whole summer, and which was accidentally hunted and killed, after a long run, a haunch weighing forty-six pounds, was allowed by very competent judges to be the highest flavoured and fattest venison they had ever tasted. The stag’s age is partly known by the horns, which he begins to shed about the end of February, and the new horns are complete and polished in July or August: at six years, the antlers amount to six or seven on each side; their number is uncertain, nor can the years be precisely ascertained beyond that period, as the new horns come like those last shed. The eye of the stag is peculiarly beautiful, soft, and sparkling, and is, for these attributes, frequently alluded to in Eastern poetry; he hears quickly, and his sense of smelling is highly perfect; his powers of leaping are often astonishingly exerted during the chase, and in the New Forest is a celebrated spot called the Deer Leap, where a stag was once shot, and in the agony of death, collecting his strength, gave a bound which so surprised those that saw it, that it is commemorated by two posts, fixed at the extremity of the leap: the space between them is something more than eighteen yards. The stag’s rutting season is in August, and continues about three weeks, when he becomes a dangerous animal: he then frequents rivers or pools of water, to cool his ardour; he swims with great power and facility, and to this element he always retreats, when hard pressed by the hounds. The hind, at the expiration of eight months and a few days, produces seldom more than one young, which she resolutely protects from every enemy, and carefully conceals from the stag, one of the worst. During the whole summer the fawn never quits the dam; and in winter the stags and hinds of all ages keep together in herds, which are more or less numerous, according to the mildness or rigour of the season. They separate in the spring; the hinds retire to bring forth, while none but the young ones remain together. Stags are gregarious, delight to graze in company, and are separated but by danger or necessity.

* * * * *

While traversing a low range of moors, an incident occurred which, at this season, was unaccountable. A red-and-white setter pointed at the top of a little glen. The heathy banks on both sides of a mountain rivulet undulated gently from the stream, and caused a dipping of the surface; the ground seemed a favourable haunt for grouse, and our dogs were beating it with care. Observing the setter drop, his companions backed, and remained steady, when suddenly Hero rose from his couchant attitude, and next moment a wild deer of enormous size and splendid beauty crossed before the dog and sprang the birds he had been pointing. The apparition of the animal, so little expected, and so singularly and closely introduced to our view, occasioned a sensation I had never hitherto experienced. I rushed up the bank; unembarrassed by our presence, the noble deer swept past us in a light and graceful canter, at the short distance of some seventy or eighty yards. I might have fired at and annoyed him—but on a creature so powerful small shot could have produced little effect, and none but a cockney, under such circumstances, would waste a charge. To teaze without a chance of bringing down the gallant beast, would have been a species of useless mischief, meriting a full month upon the tread-mill. I gazed after him as he gradually increased his distance; his antlers were expanded as fully as my arms would extend; his height was magnificent, and compared with fallow-deer he seemed a giant to a dwarf. The sun beamed upon his deep bay side, as he continued describing a circular course over the flat surface of the moor, till reaching a rocky opening leading to the upper hills, he plunged into the ravine, and we lost sight of him.

What could have driven the red deer so low upon the heath was marvellous. Excepting when disturbed by a solitary hunter, or a herdsman in pursuit of errant cattle, or driven from the summit of the hills by snow and storm, those deer are rarely seen below the Alpine heights they inhabit. But the leisure pace of the beautiful animal we saw to-day, proved that he had not been alarmed in his lair, and led one almost to fancy, that in freakish mood, he had abandoned his mountain home to take a passing glance at men and things beneath him.

* * * * *

I will not pretend to describe the anxious, nay agonising hour that I passed in this highland ambuscade. The deep stillness of the waste was not broken even by the twittering of a bird. From the place where I lay concealed, I commanded a view of the defile for the distance of some eighty yards, and my eye turned to the path by which I expected the deer to approach, until to gaze longer pained me. My ear was equally engaged; the smallest noise was instantly detected, and the ticking of my watch appeared sharper and louder than usual. As time wore on my nervousness increased. Suddenly a few pebbles fell—my heart beat faster—but it was a false alarm. Again, I heard a faint sound, as if a light foot pressed upon loose shingle—it was repeated—by Saint Hubert, it is the deer! they have entered the gorge of the pass, and approach the rock that covers me, in a gentle canter!

To sink upon one knee and cock both barrels was a moment’s work. Reckless of danger, the noble animals, in single file, galloped down the narrow pathway. The hart led the way, followed by the doe, and the old stag brought up the rear. As they passed me at the short distance of twenty paces, I fired at the leader, and, as I thought, with deadly aim; but the ball passed over his back, and splintered the rock beyond him. The report rang over the waste, and the deer’s surprise was evinced by the tremendous rush they made to clear the defile before them. I selected the stag for my second essay; eye and finger kept excellent time, as I imagined—I drew the trigger—a miss by every thing unfortunate! The bullet merely struck a tyne from his antler, and, excepting this trifling graze, he went off at a thundering pace, uninjured.

* * * * *

The deer had separated—the hart and doe turned suddenly to the right, and were fired at by my cousin, without effect. The stag went right a-head; and while I still gazed after him, a flash issued from a hollow in the hill, the sharp report of Hennessey’s piece succeeded, and the stag sprang full six feet from the ground, and tumbling over and over repeatedly, dropped upon the bent-grass with a rifle-bullet in his heart.

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In addition to a herd of fallow deer, amounting to about one thousand six hundred, which are kept in Richmond Park, there is generally a stock of from forty to fifty red deer. Some stags from the latter are selected every year, and sent to Swinley, in order to be hunted by the king’s stag-hounds. When a stag, which has been hunted for three or four seasons, is returned to the park, to end his days there, he is generally more fierce and dangerous than any of the others at a particular season of the year. At that time it is sometimes not safe to approach him: and the keepers inform me that they have been obliged to fire at them with buck shot, when they have been attacked by them. They account for this ferocity, by the circumstance of the deer having been much handled, and consequently rendered more familiar with, and less afraid of, those whom they would naturally shun. It is sometimes very difficult to take stags for hunting. One fine stag was so powerful, and offered so much resistance, that two of his legs were broken in endeavouring to secure him, and he was obliged to be killed. One who had shown good sport in the royal hunt, was named ‘Sir Edmund,’ by his late Majesty, in consequence of Sir Edmund Nagle having been in at the ‘take’ after a long chase. This stag lived some years afterwards in the park; and it is a curious fact that he died the very same day on which Sir Edmund Nagle died. This deer herded with the cows, probably from having been so long separated from his usual companions.

Does are longer lived than bucks. One doe in Richmond Park lived to be twenty years old; and there are other instances of their having attained the same age.

A curious circumstance lately occurred, respecting the red deer in the park in question. In the year 1825, not a single calf was dropped by any of the hinds, though they had bred freely the preceding, and did the same in the subsequent year. I find an event recorded in the ‘Journal of a Naturalist,’ as having happened in the same year in regard to cows. It is there stated that, for many miles round the residence of the author, scarcely any female calves were born. This diminution of the usual breed of deer, and the increase of sex in another animal, is not a little remarkable.

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Of the stag’s longevity much has been asserted, which latter observations have refuted, and upon the received maxim, that animals live seven times the number of years that bring them to perfection, and this requiring six to arrive at its maturity, the stag’s age may be fixed at nearly forty years.

* * * * *

Of the stag’s courage, when his personal safety requires it, the combat promoted by William, Duke of Cumberland, many years since, in an area where a stag was inclosed with a hunting tiger, and which made so resolute a defence that the tiger was at length obliged to give up, is a faithful record. It was in Ascot race week, and this novelty attracted an additional concourse of people. On a lawn by the road-side, a space was fenced in with very strong toiling, fifteen feet high, into which an old stag was turned, and shortly after the tiger was led in, hoodwinked, by two blacks who had the care of him, and his eyes and himself at once set at liberty. The instant he saw the deer, he crouched down on his belly, and creeping like a house-cat at a mouse, watched an opportunity of safely seizing his prey. The stag, however, warily turned as he turned, and this strange antagonist still found himself opposed by his formidable brow antlers. In vain the tiger attempted to turn his flanks, the stag had too much generalship, and this cautious warfare lasted until it became tedious, when his royal highness enquired, if, by irritating the tiger, the catastrophe of the combat might not be hastened; he was told it might be dangerous, but it was ordered to be done; the keepers went to the tiger, and did as they were ordered, when immediately, instead of attacking the deer, with a furious and elastic bounce, he sprang at, and cleared the toiling that enclosed him; great indeed was the confusion amongst the affrighted multitude, every one imagining him or herself the destined victim to the tiger’s rage, who, regardless of their fears, or their persons, crossed the road, and rushed into the opposite wood.

It happened a herd of fallow deer were feeding not far from the scene of action, on the haunch of one of them he instantly fastened, and brought it to the ground. His keepers, to whom he was perfectly familiarised, for some time hesitated to go near him; at length they ventured, cut the deer’s throat, and separating the haunch he had seized, which he never left from his hold for a moment, hoodwinked, and led him away with it in his mouth.

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_Stag Hunting._—I hunted two winters at Turin: but their hunting, you know, is no more like ours, than is the hot meal you there stand up to eat to the English breakfast you sit down to here. Were I to describe their manner of hunting, their infinity of dogs, their number of huntsmen, their relays of horses, their great saddles, great bits, and jack-boots, it would be no more to our present purpose than the description of a wild boar chase in Germany, or the hunting of jackalls in Bengal. _C’est une chasse magnifique, et voilà tout._ However, to give you an idea of their huntsmen, I must tell you that one day the stag (which is very unusual) broke cover, and left the forest; a circumstance which gave as much pleasure to me as displeasure to all the rest—it put every thing into confusion. I followed one of the huntsmen, thinking he knew the country best; but it was not long before we were separated: the first ditch we came to stopped him. I, eager to go on, hallooed out to him, “_Allons piqueur, sautez done._” “_Non pardi_,” replied he, very coolly, “_c’est un double fossé—je ne saute pas des double fossés_.” There was also an odd accident the same day, even to the king himself, you may think interesting; besides it was the occasion of a _bon mot_ worth your hearing.—The king, eager in the pursuit, rode into a bog, and was dismounted: he was not hurt,—he was soon on his legs, and we were all standing round him. One of his old generals, who was at some distance behind, no sooner saw the king off his horse, but he rode up full gallop to know the cause, “_Qu’est ce que c’est? qu’est ce que c’est?_” cries the old general, and in he tumbles into the same bog. Count Kevenhuller, with great humour, replied, pointing to the place, “_Voilà ce que c’est! voilà ce que c’est!_”—_Le Keux_—_Jesse_—_Wild Sports_—_White of Selborne_—_Beckford._

STAGECOACH, _s._ A coach that keeps its stages; a coach that passes
and repasses on certain days for the accommodation of
passengers.

STAGER, _s._ A player; an old cock grouse.

STAGHOUND (_Canis Strenuus_), _s._ A hound kept for hunting stags.

The stag-hound is now the largest and most powerful of all the dogs which go under the general term of hound. He is held higher in estimation than any other dog of chase, and has a most commanding and dignified aspect, blended with every mark of intellectual mildness.

It has been asserted by the most celebrated naturalists, that the hound, harrier, turnspit, water-dog, and spaniel, are originally of the same race; and there seem to be strong reasons for believing this to be the case, as their figures and instinctive properties are nearly allied in all of these kinds; the principal difference consisting in the length of their legs and the size of their ears, which are in all of them soft in their texture and pendulous. The hound and harrier are supposed to be the natives of Britain, France, and Germany, an opinion which is attended with some degree of reason, for when transported to warmer climates they quickly degenerate.

It seems extremely probable that this large, strong, and bony hound was the primeval stock from which all the collateral branches of this race have descended, and that all deviations from the original stem have been the result of crosses and improvements, during many centuries, by those skilled in rearing and breeding dogs of the chase, and varied in size and strength, according to the particular sport for which they are intended. At the present day there cannot be a doubt but that the practical breeder, by judicious crosses, can either enlarge or diminish the stature and strength of his pack in the course of three or four generations.

The stag-hounds exclusively devoted to that sport, in the royal establishment of this country, it is well known, have been an improved cross between the old English southern hound and the fleeter foxhound, grafted upon the bloodhound.

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Things gradually continue thus to improve in proportion as the face of the country becomes more cultivated, till animals of the chace are greatly reduced in number, so much so, that even the stag is now but seldom seen in a state of nature in this country, decreasing as the sequestered places of its abode become fewer. They are now only to be met with in a state of unrestrained freedom in those extensive moors upon the borders of Cornwall and Devonshire, and in some places of the Highlands of Scotland, and the mountains of Kerry in Ireland, in which last place they add greatly to the beauty and magnificence of the justly celebrated Lake of Killarney, where they are pursued with hound and horn.

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There is a fine breed of buck-hounds in Richmond Park, and their sagacity is very extraordinary. In taking the deer, according to annual custom, either for the royal hunt or for the fattening paddocks, a stag or a buck, which has been previously fixed upon, is ridden out of the herd by two or three of the keepers in succession, each of whom is closely followed by a hound, the young dogs only being kept in slips. As soon as the deer has been separated from his companions, the dogs have the requisite signal given to them, and they immediately follow in pursuit. The scene is then highly interesting. A strong deer will afford a very long chase, but when he comes to bay the dogs generally seize him by the throat or ears; the keepers come up, take him by the horns, and after having strapped his hind and fore legs together, put him into a cart which follows for the purpose, and he is then disposed of as he may be wanted. I have seen an active young keeper throw himself from his horse upon a deer at bay, which he had come up to at full gallop, and hold his horns till assistance arrived. Some danger, however, attends this sport; as, when a deer has been hard pressed, I have seen him, in more than one instance, suddenly turn upon the horsemen and injure the horses, and in one case wound the leg of the horseman. The dogs are so well trained, and are so soon made aware which buck is intended to be caught, that they seldom make a mistake, even if the deer regains the herd after having been driven from it, but press him through it, till they have again separated him from it. It is well known that when a hard pressed deer tries to rejoin his companions, they endeavour to avoid and get away from him as much as possible, or try to drive him away with their horns. So severe is the chase in Richmond Park in taking deer, especially when the ground is wet, that three or four good horses may be tired by a single horseman in one day’s deer taking, if each deer is ridden out of the herd, and followed till he is taken. When dogs are in slips, the man who holds them merely rides as near as he can to the person who is endeavouring to single out the deer, and awaits his signal for slipping the dog. These dogs who are a large, rough sort of greyhound, and very powerful and sagacious, are soon taught not to injure the deer when they come to them. The cry of ‘hold them,’ made use of by the keepers in urging them forward, seems to be perfectly understood by the dogs.—_Brown_—_Jesse._

STAGGARD, _s._ A four-year-old stag.

STAGGERS, _s._ A kind of horse apoplexy; madness.

STAGNATE, _v._ To lie motionless, to have no course or stream.

STAIN, _v._ To blot, to spot, to dye.

STAKE, _s._ A post or strong stick fixed in the ground; a piece of
wood; anything placed as a palisade or fence; the post to which
a beast is tied to be baited; anything pledged or wagered; the
state of being hazarded, pledged, or wagered.

STALK, _v._ To walk with high steps; to walk behind a stalking horse
or cover; to follow deer.

STALKINGHORSE, _s._ A horse, either real or fictitious, by which a
fowler shelters himself from the sight of the game.

STALL, _s._ A crib in which an ox is fed, or where any horse is kept
in the stable.

STALLFED, _a._ Fed not with grass but dry feeding.

STALLION, _s._ A horse kept for mares; a horse not castrated.

STANCH, _v._ To stop blood, to hinder from running.

STAND, _s._ A station; a place where one waits standing; station; a
stop; a halt; stop, interruption; the act of opposing; highest
mark; stationary point.

STANDHOUSE, _s._ A building erected on a racecourse, to accommodate
the subscribers or company generally.

STAR, _s._ One of the luminous bodies that appear in the sky; the
pole star; mark on the forehead of a horse.

STARE, _v._ To be rough in the coat, as a horse.

STARFISH, _s._ A fish branching out into several points.

STARHAWK, _s._ A kind of hawk.

STARLING or STARE, (_Sturnus vulgaris_, LINN.; _L’Etourneau_, BUFF.)
_s._ A bird that may be taught to whistle, and articulate words.

The length of this bird is somewhat less than nine inches. The bill is straight, sharp-pointed, and of a yellowish brown; in old birds deep yellow; the nostrils are surrounded by a prominent rim; the eyes are brown; the whole plumage is dark, glossed with green, blue, purple, and copper, but each feather is marked at the end with a pale yellow spot; the wing-coverts are edged with yellowish-brown; the quill and tail-feathers dusky, with light edges; the legs are of a reddish-brown. From the striking similarity, both in form and manners, observable between this bird and its congeners, we have no scruple in removing it from its usual place, as it evidently forms a connecting link between them, and in a variety of points seems equally allied to both. Few birds are more generally known than the stare, it being an inhabitant of almost every climate; and as it is a familiar bird, and easily trained in a state of captivity, its habits have been more frequently observed than those of most other birds. The female makes an artless nest in the hollows of trees, rocks, or old walls, and sometimes in cliffs overhanging the sea; she lays four or five eggs, of a pale greenish-ash colour; the young birds are of a dusky-brown colour, till the first moult. In the winter season these birds fly in vast flocks, and may be known at a great distance by their whirling mode of flight, which Buffon compares to a sort of vortex, in which the collective body performs a uniform circular revolution, and at the same time continues to make a progressive advance. The evening is the time when the stares assemble in the greatest numbers, and betake themselves to the fens and marshes, where they roost among the reeds; they chatter much in the evening and morning, both when they assemble and disperse. So attached are they to society, that they not only join those of their own species, but also birds of a different kind, and are frequently seen in company with red-wings, fieldfares, and even with crows, jackdaws, and pigeons. Their principal food consists of worms, snails, and caterpillars; they likewise eat various kinds of grain, seeds, and berries, and are said to be particularly fond of cherries. In a confined state they eat small pieces of raw flesh, bread soaked in water, &c.; are very docile, and may easily be taught to repeat short phrases, or whistle tunes with great exactness, and in this state acquire a warbling superior to their native song.

* * * * *

The time to shoot starlings by wholesale is just before the dusk of the evening, when they come down to roost among the reeds. Here they assemble in swarms, that darken the air; and for some time keep up a chatter, which even surpasses that of Frenchmen in their warmest political debates.

Having swept down some dozens with your duck-gun, let their heads be immediately pulled off; as this will, in a great degree, prevent their having a bitter taste.

Starlings are very good when stewed with rice, or made into a curry.

* * * * *

Before I conclude under the head of starlings, I must ask leave to become my own trumpeter, in order to name a shot that I made at these birds, which will give some idea as to the manner in which they swarm together. Happening, in the early part of last winter, to have put my punt afloat on Lord Rodney’s pond, at Alresford, I loaded my new double swivel-gun with a pound of small shot in each barrel, and a little before day-light paddled across to a retired part of the pond, where the reeds were literally swarming with these birds. Having placed the punt “stern on,” so as to command the eastern light, and shoot well clear of the reeds, I gave a little signal, as previously agreed on, to Mr. Macilwain (who, with Captain Hill, was in another punt behind) to discharge both barrels of my little double gun. On hearing this report up sprung the whole army, consisting I should say of every starling in Hampshire, and making the valley echo like a peal of thunder. No sooner had they cleared the reeds than I opened my battery, and cut such a lane through them, as I could scarcely have thought possible, and the quantity of feathers which came flying back to leeward, I could compare to nothing but a fall of black snow. What number were killed and wounded we never could ascertain, from the extreme difficulty of getting the birds that fell among the reeds and quagmires, but we fairly bagged two hundred and forty-three, as fast as they could be picked up, and the workmen, when the reeds were cut down, declared that they found between two and three hundred more; for this, however, I have only their word, though there is no reason to doubt it, as we all felt confident that at least five hundred fell in this one volley.—_Bewick_—_Hawker._

STARRED, _a._ Marked with stars.

STARSHOOT, _s._ A supposed emission from a star.

START, _v._ To feel a sudden and involuntary twitch or motion of the
animal frame; to wince; to deviate; to set out from the barrier
at a race; to set out upon any pursuit; to alarm.

START, _s._ A motion of terror; a sudden twitch or contraction of
the frame; a sudden rousing of an animal; a quick spring or
motion; first emission from the barrier; act of setting off.

_Start in Racing._—The person appointed to start the horses shall mark in his list the time when the horses in each race actually started; and if there have been any false starts, the first of them shall be considered as the time of starting for that race. And he shall make a report thereof to the keeper of the match-book in the afternoon of the day the races are run. And if any delay beyond the allowed time shall have taken place, he shall state by whom, or by what cause, the delay was occasioned. He shall regulate his watch by the coffee-room clock, which shall be considered as the true time for this purpose.—_Turf Expositor._

STARTLE, _v._ To fright, to impress with sudden terror.

STARVELING, _s._ An animal thin and weak for want of nourishment.

STEEL, _s._ Steel is a kind of iron, refined and hardened, of great
use in the making of tools and instruments of all kinds;
chalybeate medicines.

STEEL, _v._ To point or edge with steel; to make hard or firm.

STEELYARD, _s._ A kind of balance, in which the weight is moved
along an iron rod, and grows heavier as it is removed farther
from the fulcrum.

STEEPLE CHACE, _s._ A race over the country by hunters.

STEER, _s._ A young bullock.

STEM, _v._ To oppose a current, to pass across or forward
notwithstanding the stream.

STERN, _s._ The hinder part of anything; the tail of a dog.

STERN (_Sterna nigra_, LINN.), _s._

This species is less than the common tern; weight about two ounces and three-quarters; length ten inches; bill black; irides dusky; forehead, sides of the head, beneath the eyes, throat, and fore part of the neck white; the rest of the head, back of the neck, and under part of the body, black; back, wings, and tail, deep ash-colour; vent and under tail-coverts white; the tail is less forked than in either of the other species; the outer feathers edged with white; legs dull red, the webs much indented or semipalmated. In some the forehead and fore part of the neck are mottled with black; and as most authors have omitted, or at least have not made mention of any white on the forehead, such is probably another variety. The female has no white about the head.—_Montagu._

STERNA (LINN.), _s._ Tern, a genus thus characterised:—

Bill as long, or longer than the head, almost straight, compressed, fringed, cutting and pointed; the mandibles of equal length, the upper slightly inclined towards the point; nostrils towards the middle of the bill, slit lengthwise, and pierced from part to part; legs small, naked to above the knee; shank very short; four toes, the three fore ones reunited by a cut membrane, the hind toe free; claws small and arched; tail more or less forked; wings very long and pointed, the first quill the longest.

STEW, _v._ To seeth anything in a slow moist heat.

STEW, _s._ A storepond, a small pond where fish are kept for the
table.

STICKLEBACK, _s._ The smallest of fresh water fish; applied to a
horse means heavy, lazy, not flippant.

The _stickleback_ is the smallest fish in this country, and is called by several names in different parts of it; they are not worthy the angler’s notice, except as baits with the prickles cut off (which kills the fish), for which purpose they are equal to the minnow, or superior in pond fishing for perch; they may be taken with the least sized hook, and a bit of small red worm, and are found in little inlets of streams, and also in stagnated waters. Walton considers the stickleback preferable to the minnow, as being capable of whirling round quicker, which is the perfection of this sort of fishing: to acquire this velocity, the hook is to be put in at the mouth and out at the tail, and having first tied him with white thread a little above the tail, and placed him in such a manner on the hook as he is likely to turn quick, his mouth is then sewed up to the line; should he not whirl so speedily as is wished, the tail should be more or less turned towards the inner part, or side of the hook, or put somewhat more crooked or straight on the hook, until it turns both true and fast: in a swift stream any great trout will be tempted; the loach will have the same effect, provided it be small.—_Daniel._

STIFF, _a._ Rigid, inflexible; _stiff country_, heavy soil, much
enclosed, difficult to ride over or pass through.

STIFLE, _s._ The bone of a horse.

The upper bone of the thigh is united to the lower by a somewhat complicated joint. It terminates by two round prominences behind, which are received into slight depressions on the upper surface of the lower bone; and in front is a curious groove over which plays a small irregular bone, the patella or stifle bone. The whole is called, by farriers, the stifle joint.

The stifle joint is not often subject to sprain. The heat and tenderness will guide to the seat of injury. Occasionally, dislocation of the patella has occurred, and the horse drags the injured limb after him, or rests it on the fetlock: the aid of a veterinary surgeon is here requisite. The muscles of the inside of the thigh, generally, have sometimes been sprained; this may be detected by diffused heat, or heat on the inside of the thigh above the stifle: rest, fomentations, bleeding, and physic, will be the proper means of cure.—_The Horse._

STILTS, _s._ Supports or poles by which water may be crossed.

STIMULATE, _v._ To excite by some pungent motive; in physic, to
excite a quick sensation, with a derivation towards the part.

STINT, _v._ To bound, to limit, to confine, to restrain; to
impregnate a mare.

STIRRUP, _s._ An iron hoop suspended by a strap, in which the
horseman sets his foot when he mounts or rides.

STOAT, _s._ An animal of the weasel tribe.

This animal, which is equally agile and mischievous with the weasel in pursuit and destruction of the hare, and all other sorts of game, poultry, and eggs, has, from its habits and the small difference in shape from the weasel, been often described under the same denomination. Its height is about two inches; the tail five and a half, very hairy, and at the points tipped with black; the edges of the ears and ends of the toes are of a yellowish white; in other respects it perfectly resembles the weasel in colour and form. In the most northern parts of Europe the stoat regularly changes its colour in winter, and becomes perfectly white, except the end of the tail, which remains invariably black. It is then called the ermine: the fur is valuable, and sold in the country where caught, from two to three pounds sterling per hundred. The animal is either taken in traps, made of two flat stones, or shot with blunt arrows.

The stoat is sometimes found white during the winter season in Great Britain, and is then commonly called the white weasel. Its fur, however, having neither the thickness, the closeness, nor the whiteness, of those which come from Siberia, is, with us, of little value.

To destroy these worst of all four-footed vermin to game in its infant state, the following mode is recommended:—Provide small square-made steel traps, with a small chain and iron peg to fix them down; get two drachms of musk, shoot some small birds, and dip the tail of these birds in the musk; tie one on the plate of each trap, and set in the hedges, or where it is suspected they frequent: this will soon reduce the number, should it be ever so considerable: if it so happen, that no musk is immediately to be got, the trap must be baited with a bit of rabbit; and it should be remembered that this bait cannot be too stale.

* * * * *

Some time since, as Mr. Clarke, of Horndean, was going a few miles on foot, in the forest of Bere, to visit a friend, he observed a hare come into the green road before him, which seemed to be listening, and looking back for something which pursued her. He stood still, and hearing no dog, was curious to discover the cause of her alarm; when, to his great surprise, he discovered the object of it to be a small yellow red and white stoat, which hunted her footsteps with the utmost precision. He, wishing to know if so diminutive an animal could have a chance of coping with the great speed of the hare, retreated to a holm-bush hard by, where he was an attentive observer of this silent hunt for near two hours, during which, he is certain to have seen both hare and stoat at least forty times. They were frequently gone for five or ten minutes; but the hare, still unwilling to leave the place where she was found, came round again, and her little pursuer sometimes close at her heels. Towards the end of this remarkable chase, which became uncommonly interesting, the hare took advantage of the thickest covert the place afforded, and made use of all her cunning and strength to escape, but without effect; till at length, wearied out by the perseverance of the stoat, Mr. C. heard her cry for some time.

At last, the cries coming from one point, he concluded she was become the victim of the chase; on which he went to the spot, where he found the hare quite dead, and the stoat so intently fastened on her neck, as not to perceive his approach. The stoat, in its turn, now fell a victim to Mr. C’s stick; after which, he proceeded with both hare and stoat to the house of his friend.—_Sporting Anecdotes._

STOCK, _s._ The trunk, the body of a plant; a log; a post; the
handle of anything; a support of a ship while it is building; a
close neckcloth; a race, a lineage, a family. _Vide_ GUN.

STOCK, _v._ To store, to fill sufficiently; to fit a gun stock.

STOCKDOVE, _s._ The ringdove.

STOCKFISH, _s._ Dried cod, so called from its hardness.

STOMACH, _s._ The ventricle in which food is digested; appetite.

_Stomach of Birds._—The stomach of birds forms them into two distinct natural classes: those with cartilaginous stomachs, covered with very strong muscles, called a gizzard; and those with membranaceous stomachs, more resembling that of carnivorous quadrupeds. The former is given to birds whose principal food is grain and seeds of various kinds, or other hard substances that require much friction to comminute, to assist which gravel is necessary; the latter is given to birds which feed upon flesh or fish, and whose digestion is accelerated more by the gastric juice than by the action of the stomach. Those of the first class digest or retain every substance swallowed; and those which eject or disgorge innutritious matter unavoidably taken in, such as feathers, fur, bones, &c., belong to the second class; as is conspicuous in the falcon (_Falconidæ_, LEACH), and owl (_Strigidæ_, _Leach_), and others that feed on fish. Granivorous birds seem to possess a power of retaining the small stones taken into the gizzard, or evacuating them when they become polished and less useful, but cannot disgorge them. In a state of nature the quantity of gravel taken in must be regulated, no doubt, by the sensation of the stomach; but, extraordinary as it may seem, in domesticated animals those instinctive faculties are deranged. We have known instances where the whole cavity of the gizzard has been filled with gravel stones. We once remember part of a brood of young ducks, half grown, taking in such a quantity of gravel, as not only filled the gizzard but the craw, and even the gullet; they soon after died. Many species of birds possess a reservoir for food, called a craw, or crop, which seems to answer the same purpose as the first stomach in ruminating animals, and here it is that the food is softened and prepared for the stomach, or carried to the young.

* * * * *

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH.

_Flatulent colic, gripes, &c._—This is a disorder of considerable importance, and often terminates in inflammation of the bowels, entirely from the circumstance of not being sufficiently understood. The symptoms are well known. The horse is very uneasy, paws his litter, looks round to his flanks, sometimes endeavours to kick his belly, gathers up his hind legs, and falls down rather suddenly, rolls upon his back, suddenly gets up again, and appears in extreme pain. The pulse is in its natural state, and the inner surface of the eyelids is not unusually red. The disorder comes on suddenly, the animal being previously in good health. The horse is sometimes costive, but not often, and in some cases the dung is rather loose. Bleeding can scarcely be considered an essential remedy in this complaint, because it is often cured without it. But it is a safe practice, as the distension of the bowels by the confined air may otherwise produce inflammation before relief is afforded. It should never therefore be omitted. The next thing to be done is to give some carminative medicine; and about a pint of brandy or gin and water is as good a carminative as can be given: on all common occasions it may be considered the best, because it is the most innocent as well as effectual. There are cases, however, where the stomach has been so injured by ill treatment, that a more powerful medicine is required. The following tincture should then be given in the dose I shall soon name. Brandy and water, however, that is, from four to six ounces of brandy to twelve ounces of water, should always be preferred, because it is sufficiently strong, in almost all cases, to answer the purpose. For it should be known that the strong medicines usually employed in this disorder, especially oil of turpentine and peppermint, pepper, large doses of ginger and grains of paradise and opium, though they generally afford relief, are sure to increase the disposition to the disorder by weakening the stomach. The weakest stimulant, therefore, that will afford relief with certainty should be preferred, and its repetition avoided for the future, by avoiding the causes which produced the disorder, and these will soon be pointed out.

It sometimes happens, and not unfrequently, that there is an accumulation of excrement in the cœcum, by which the valvular orifice is so completely obstructed, that it cannot be overcome by any efforts of the stomach, though excited by opium and the most powerful carminatives. Clysters in this case will always afford relief, if properly administered; that is, by means of a large ox’s bladder and a long pewter pipe, not less than fourteen or fifteen inches in length. The only clyster required is from half a pound to a pound of salt, and five or six quarts of warm water. This will excite the whole of the large bowels to action, and dislodge the fæces from the cœcum. By this means the animals may always be relieved, and without it he will in such cases certainly die.

There are cases of flatulent colic, however, which are in their nature incurable, that is, first, when there is such a quantity of food taken into the stomach, and the digestive power of the organ has been so depressed by previous disorder, that no effort it can make, however powerfully it may be excited, can enable it to get rid of its contents. Secondly, when the horse is put to work, and into quick exercise in that state: such cases are by no means uncommon in post and coach horses, and rupture of the stomach is sometimes the consequence. When this happens, the horse breaks out into a profuse, but very cold perspiration, is extremely depressed, breathes quickly; the pulse can scarcely be felt, but is very quick. It is soon followed by death. The distension of the small intestines sometimes forces a portion of them through the mesentery, in such a manner that one coil of it becomes so completely tied that the included air cannot escape.

ANODYNE CARMINATIVE TINCTURES, RECOMMENDED
FOR RELIEVING COLIC.

Turkey opium 1 oz.
Cloves, bruised 2 oz.
Ginger, ditto 3 oz.
Brandy, rum, or gin 1 quart.

Or,

Turkey opium, cloves, and ginger, of each 1 oz.
The best old brandy, rum, or gin 1 quart.

Let them be digested together in a well-corked bottle, and shaken several times a day for three or four weeks. It is then to be strained through blotting paper, and is fit for use. The medium dose is two ounces, which may be given in a little mild ale, or an infusion of some aromatic herb, such as peppermint, pennyroyal, camomile, &c. Mr. Bracey Clarke recommends a tincture made with allspice, bruised, half a pound; brandy, gin, or rum, two quarts. The following mixture has been found effectual.

Camphor ½ oz.
Oil of turpentine 6 oz. Mix.

One half of this is a dose, and if the first dose does not afford relief, the second, it is said, has always been found effectual.

I am inclined to believe that flatulent colic is sometimes brought on by drinking largely of cold pump water, or hard water, in hot weather.

_Stomach staggers, or sleepy staggers—Paralysis of the stomach._—The symptoms of this disorder are great heaviness and drowsiness, resting the nose in the manger, or inclining the head, and resting the cheek, or bearing against the wall. The head is forced against the manger, or rack, or the nose between the rack staves. In this way the eyes and face are often much bruised and swollen. The horse stands with his fore leg much under him, appearing to give way every now and then, as if he would fall. There is an appearance of convulsive twitching of the muscles of the neck and chest. There is, too, a great degree of yellowness, approaching to orange-colour, of the membranes of the eyes, and often a yellowness of the mouth also. Urine scarcely any, and high-coloured; sometimes none is voided, and sometimes it is discharged by a convulsive effort. Sometimes the disorder is attended with locked jaw, ending in paralysis and death. In the early stage of the disorder the horse is sometimes suddenly roused by opening the stable door, he lifts up his head, and sometimes neighs; but this is only a momentary effort. When the disease happens at grass, the animal is generally found forcing his head against the hedge, or a gate, or moving about in a state of stupor and apparent insensibility. Sometimes he is found struggling in a ditch, and in that situation he often dies.

As soon as stomach staggers are observed, the horse should be bled, in order to relieve the head in some degree; but the principal object is to enable the stomach to get rid of the load which oppresses it. Various remedies have been proposed for this purpose. The best I believe are purgatives joined with cordials and stimulants, and small quantities of warm water frequently, in order to soften the contents of the stomach. Clysters of salt and water are useful also, and should be thrown up several times a day. The disease is often incurable, probably from a want of early attention.

When medicine cannot be readily procured, two or three tablespoonfuls of flower of mustard, and three or four ounces of common salt may be tried.

DRENCH FOR THE STAGGERS.

No. 1.

Barbadoes aloes 6 dr. to 1 oz.
Calomel 2 dr.
Oil of peppermint 20 drops.
Warm water 1 pint.
Tincture of Cardamoms 2 oz.

Mix for one dose.

No. 2.

Common salt 4 oz.
Ginger 2 dr. or 2
teaspoonfuls.
Carbonate of soda 1 oz.
Water 1 quart.

Mix for one dose.

About a quart of water may be given every now and then with a horn; and if a teaspoonful or two of compound spirit of ammonia (sal volatile) be added to it, the effect will be promoted. A tablespoonful or two of common salt may also be added three or four times a day. The horse should be drenched and clystered during the night as well as the day; in short, without unremitting attention success must not be expected.—_Montagu_—_White._

STOMACHIC, _s._ A medicine for the stomach.

STONE, _s._ Stones are bodies insipid, hard, not ductile or
malleable, not soluble in water; calculous concretion in the
kidneys or bladder.

STONECHATTER, _s._ A bird; the wheatear.

STONEFLY, _s._ An insect.

STONEHAWK, _s. obs._ A kind of hawk.

STONEHORSE, _s._ A horse not castrated; a stallion.

STONEPLOVER, _s._ A bird, commonly called the red godwit.

STOOLBALL, _s. obs._ A play where balls are driven from stool to
stool.

STOOP, _v._ To bend down; to bend forward; to submit; to descend
from rank or dignity; to come down on prey as a falcon: to
alight from the wing.

STOOP, _s._ Act of stooping; fall of a bird upon his prey.

STOP, _v._ To hinder from progressive motion; to teach dogs to stand
to game.

_Stopping for the Feet._—A mixture of clay and cowdung, or either of these separately, is commonly used for this purpose; and, by keeping the bottoms or soles of the feet moist and cool, often does good. In soles that are too thin and soft, or for the frogs when in that state, the following composition is more proper:

Tallow and tar, of each 1 lb.
To be mixed by melting together.

Mr. Goodwin has contrived a kind of boot for keeping the feet cool and moist, as well as for applying the above composition.—_White._

STORK, _s._ A bird of passage, famous for the regularity of its
departure.

STRAGGLER, _s._ A wanderer; a rover; anything that separates from
the rest, or stands singly.

STRAIN, _v._ To squeeze through something; to purify by filtration;
to sprain, to weaken by too much violence; to put to its utmost
strength.

STRAIN, _s._ An injury by too much violence; race, generation,
descent.

STRAND, _s._ The verge of the sea or of any water; a division or
portion of a rope.

STRANGLES, _s._ A disease incident to young horses.

The treatment of strangles is very simple. As the essence of the disease consists in the formation and suppuration of the tumour under the jaw, the principal, or almost the sole attention of the practitioner should be directed to the hastening of these processes; therefore, as soon as the tumour of strangles evidently appears, the part should be actively blistered. Old practitioners used to recommend poultices, which, from the thickness of the horse’s skin, must have very little effect, even if they could be confined on the part; and from the difficulty and almost impossibility of this, and their getting cold and hard, they must weaken the energies of nature, and delay the ripening of the tumour. Fomentations are little more effectual. A blister will not only secure the completion of the process, but hasten it by many days, and save the patient much pain and exhaustion; and it will produce another good effect—it will, previous to the opening of the tumour, abate the internal inflammation and soreness of the throat, and thus lessen the cough and wheezing.

If there is much fever, and evident affection of the chest, and which should carefully be distinguished from the oppression and choaking occasioned by the pressure of the tumour, it will be proper to bleed.

A few cooling medicines, as nitre, emetic tartar, and perhaps digitalis, may be given, as the case requires. The appetite, or rather the ability to eat, will return with the opening of the abscess. Bran-mashes, or fresh cut grass or tares, should be liberally supplied; which will not only afford sufficient nourishment to recruit the strength of the animal, but keep the bowels gently open. If the weakness be not great, no further medicine will be wanted, except a dose of mild physic, to prevent the swellings or eruptions which sometimes succeed to strangles. In cases of debility, a small quantity of tonic medicine, as camomile, and gentian with ginger, in doses of a couple of drachms, may be administered.—_The Horse._

STRANGURY, _s._ A difficulty of urine, attended with pain.

STRAP, _s._ A narrow long slip of cloth or leather.

STRAW, _s._ The stalk on which corn grows, and from which it is
threshed.

STRAWCOLOURED, _a._ Of a light yellow.

STREAM, _s._ A running water; the course of running water; current.

STRETCHER, _s._ Anything used for extension; the timber against
which the rower plants his feet.

STRIDE, _s._ A long step, a wide stretch of the legs; the pace of a
horse.

STRINGHALT, _s._ A sudden twitching and snatching up of the hinder
leg of a horse much higher than the other.

STRIPE, _s._ A lineary variation of colour; a shred of a different
colour; a weal, or discoloration made by a lash or blow; a blow,
a lash.

STRUCTURE, _s._ Act of building, form, make; edifice, building.

Under the term _Structure of the Eye_, Mr. White, describing its anatomy and physiology, divides the subject into two parts, that is, the eye itself and its appendages. Under the latter head, he comprehends the eyelids, the muscles which move it, the eyelashes, the lachrymal gland, the puncta lachrymalia, and lachrymal duct, the caruncle of the eye, the haw, and the membrane named conjunctiva, and the muscles by which the eye is moved.