SHEATFISH 378 SHEEP SHEATFISH, a name applied to any fish of the family Siluridse, but specifi- cally to Silurns giants, called also the sly silurus, with the exception of the sturgeon, the largest European fresh- water fish. It is allied to the catfish. It is common in Germany, Poland, Styria, the Danube, and the rivers of southern Russia. It attains a weight of from 300 to 400 pounds, and the flesh of the young fish is well-flavored. The fat is used in dressing leather, and the air bladder is made into gelatine. SHEATH BILL, in ornithology, the genus Chionis, made known by the natur- alists of Cook's second voyage, a speci- men of C. alba having been met with on New Year Island, on Dec. 31, 1774. It resembles a pigeon in size and general appearance ; plumage pure white ; bill yel- low at base, passing into pink at tip; round the eyes the skin is bare, and dotted with cream-colored papillae; legs bluish- gray. In the Falkland Islands it is called the kelp pigeon. Another species was discriminated in 1842 by Dr. Hartlaub; it is smaller than C. alba, with similar plumage, but having the bill and bare skin of the face black and the legs much darker. The sealers of Kerguelen Land call it the sore-eyed pigeon, from its prominent fleshy orbit. SHEATHING, that which sheathes or covers; specifically, in shipbuilding, a covering, usually thin plates of copper or an alloy containing copper, to protect the bottom of a wooden ship from worms. SHEAVE, the grooved wheel in the shell of a block or pulley over which the rope runs. In wooden blocks, it is gen- erally of lignum vitae, and has a brass bushing, called a coak, which runs on the pin. In locksmithing, a sliding scut- cheon for covering a keyhole. SHEBA, in ancient geography, a king- dom of South Arabia, embracing the greater part of Arabia Felix; named af- ter Sheba, one of the sons of Jokshan, second son of Abraham and Keturah (Gen. xxv. 3-4). The Queen of Sheba vis- ited Solomon, 990 B. c. (I Kings x. 1-13). The Greeks and Romans called the people Sabaei, or Sabaeans. SHEBOYGAN, a city and county-seat of Sheboygan co., Wis. ; on Lake Michigan ' at the mouth of the Sheboygan river, and on the Chicago and Northwestern rail- road; 52 miles N. of Milwaukee. Here are a United States Government building, an Asylum for the Chronic Insane, Home for the Friendless, St. Nicholas Hospital, State Fish Hatchery, public library, waterworks, street railroad and electric light plants, and several daily and weekly newspapers. It is the shipping point for an extensive dairying and agricultural region. Sheboygan is chiefly noted for its manufacture of chairs. Besides this industry it has stamped steel and cast- iron works, and manufactories of furni- ture, soap, boilers, bicycles, leather, pi- • anos, beehives, boots and shoes, carriages and wagons, and bricks and tiles. Pop. (1910) 26,398; (1920) 30,955. SHEEHAN, PATRICK AUGUSTINE, an Irish Roman Catholic clergyman and novelist, born at Mallow, County Cork, in 1852. He was educated at St. Colman's College and at Maynooth. He was pastor of Roman Catholic churches in several cities in England and Ireland, up to 1903, when he became canon of Cloyne. He was a prolific writer in all lines of literature, but is best known as a novel- ist. His books afford graphic pictures of Irish life and character. They include "My New Curate" (1899) ; "Parerga" (1908) ; "Miriam Lucas" (1912) ; "Graves at Kilmorna" (1915). The latter book was published after his death, which oc- curred in 1913. SHEEHAN, PERLEY POORE, an American editor and writer, born in Cin- cinnati, Ohio, in 1875. He graduated from Union College in 1898, and engaged in newspaper work in New York, London, and Paris, until 1908. He was in charge of the Paris edition of the "New York Herald," from 1905 to 1907, and from 1908 to 1910 was associate editor of the Munsey publications. He wrote "The Seer" (1913) ; "Those Who Walk in Dark- ness" (1915) ; "If You Believe It, It's So" (1919). He also collaborated in the writ- ing of several plays. SHEEP, the common name of the genus Ovis, belonging to the Cavicornia, or hollow-horned ruminant family. Nat- uralists are by no means agreed as to what was the original breed of this in- valuable animal. Of the several varieties of wild sheep which have by naturalists been considered entitled to the distinction of being the parent stock, may be men- tioned: (1) the Musmon (O. musmon), still found wild in the mountains of the larger islands of the Mediterranean and European Turkey; (2) the Argali (O. ammon), or wild Asiatic sheep, which are the tenants of the highest mountains of Central Asia, and the elevated, inhospit- able plains of its N. portions; (3) the Rocky Mountain sheep (0. montana) , which is found on the mountains of North America; (4) the bearded sheep of Af- rica (O. tragelopleus) , found on the high lands of Egypt and in Barbary. The leading fact in the geographical history of this genus is that it occurs both in
