STR
S T R
StraToR likewife denotes a furveyor of the high-ways.
Pitifi. loc. cit. STRAWBERRY, fragaria, in botany. Sec Fragaria. The common ftrawberry is frequent in the wood; of England, and is thence tranfplanted into gardens, The beft feafon for tiiis is in September, that the plants may be rooted before the frofts. They may alfo bt tranfplanted in February ; but then, if the fpring fhould prove dry, they will require a great deal of watering to keep them alive.
The proper fail for ftrazvberrics is a light hazely loam, not over rich ; the ground muft be well dug, and very carefully cleared of all noxious weeds ; and when it is levelled even, it fhould be marked out into beds about three feet and a half wide, leaving a pathway between each bed of two feet broad. In each of thefe beds fhould be planted four rows of plants, fo that they may ftand about a foot diftant from each other in the rows, and they fhould be planted at about eight inches plant from plant in each. This is the proper diftancc for the wood ftrawberry, which is of the leaft growth of any ; but the fcarlet ftrawberry muft be planted at a foot diftance every way, and the heautboy fixteen inches ; and finally, the large Chili ftrawberry, which is the Iargeft grower of all, muft be fet at twenty two inches diftance plant from plant.
In the fpring, when the firawberrics begin to flower, if the feafon is dry, they muft be very plentifully watered, and they muft be kept very carefully cleared from weeds. At Michaelmas the beds fhould be drell'ed, the weeds all very carefully taken up, all the firings or runners muft be taken from the roots, and the weak plants, which ftand too clofe, muft be pulled up ; throwing a little fine earth, at the fame time, over the plants, alfo greatly ftrengtbens their roots. Thefe beds, however well managed, will not continue good above three years ; and the beds of the firft year bearing but few fruit, it is necefl'ary to new-plant fome frefh ground every third year, and deftroy the old beds ; but the new ones muft be firft of one year's growth.
Different palates prefer different fpecies of ftrawberry, but the white-fruited one is, of all others, the beft flavoured though it is but a very bad bearer. The great Chili ftraw- berry is cultivated in the fields in that country ; it is much ftronger and larger plant than any of our kinds, and its fruit is as large as a wallnut, but not fo well tafted as our own ftrawberries. Mr. Frezier brought them fome years ago to Paris, and fince that they have been fpread over the feveral parts of Europe. They grow beft in a loamy foil, under the fhade of trees. Miller's Gard. Diet. Strawberry-/™?. See the article Arbutus. STREAK-falloiuing, in hufbandry, a particular fort of tillage, The way of doing it, is to plow one furrow, and leave one, fo that but half the land is plowed, each furrow that is fo lying on that which is not: when this is ftirred, it is then clean plowed, and laid fo fmootb, that it will come, at fowing time, to be as plain as before. This is done, when lean and poor lands are not fwardy enough to bear clean til- lage, nor light enough to lie to get fward. The intent of this tillage is to keep the fun from fcorching them too much ; but in many places they think this wears their land too faft, and therefore are not fond of having recourfe to it. Plat's Oxfordfh. p. 248. STREAMERS, in a fhip, the fame with pendants. See the
article Pendant, Cycl. STRENGTH (Cycl.) — Strength of fpirits, among diftillers, that quality by which they become inflammable, and which they have in greater or lefTer proportion, as they are more or lefs debafed by an addition of water. Dr. Shaw has very well recommended to the world the me- thod of felling and buying fpirits in their moft highly-recti- fied ftate, that is, when they are totally inflammable. By this means, as the burning a fpoonful of the goods would always be a proof of their quality, there could be no room for thofe cheats, which are now too common between the feller and buyer. As this, however, is not likely to be brought into practice, it may be of great ufe to thore, who traffic in fpirits, to have fome more certain way of judging of their ftrengib than that by the bubble proof, or crown of fpume ariftng on fhaking; which being wholly owing to a mixture of the eflential oil of the ingredient from "which the fpirit is made, with the fpirit, may be fophifticated by the addition of other oils, or faponaceous fubftances, or by any thing that can give a greater vifcofity to the fpirit than it had before.
The fureff. method of judging of the ftrength of fpirits is by the hygrometer, water-pcife, or balance ; or 1. by diftillati- on ; or finally, by deflagration. The fperific gravity of totally inflammable fpirit is fo much lefs than that of phlegm, or common water, that it is eafily fenfible upon the ba- lance ; whence an exact hygrometer, well balanced and gra- duated, and furnifhed wkh a proper fcale and weights, may be of great ufe to aflign the proportions in which pure fpirit and water are mixed in any given liquor. Though perhaps a readier -way than this may be that of Mr. Homberg's, mentioned in the Memoirs of the Paris Academy 17 18, for determining the different gravities of different fluids, by
means of a bottle with a very long and flender neck ; which being filled to a certain height with any mixture of fpirit, is weighed againft the fame bottle filled with pure water. The moft exact, of all methods of determining the ftrength of any fpirit, is by diftillation, rectifying it up to an alco- hol, or totaily inflammable fpirit; but this, though liable to no error, is too tedious to come into common ufe. And, upon the whole, the beft method, of all others, feems to be that of deflagration, which Mr. GeofFroy has been at much pains to adjuft and improve. Shaw's EfTay on Diltillerv. See the article Spirits. STRENGTHNERS (Cycl.)— An artificial method of procur- ing a powerful, fafe, and innocent ftrengthner, is the follow- ing. Put half a pound of fine Peruvian bark, reduced to a fubtile powder, into a long or tall glafs body, and pour upon it two quarts of fpirit of wine ; fhake them well together, and fet them in a fand-heat two or three days, or till the fpirit of wine is of a fine purple colour; pour off this tincture, and prefs the faeces very ffrongly, to get it all away ; then return the powder into the fame vcffel, and pour upon it 'two quarts of ftrong white wine ; fet this in fand for two or three days, then pour off this tincture ; mix it with the former, and putting the whole into a glafs body, diftill off* a great part of the fpirit of wine; then put the remainder into a glazed earthen pan, and evaporate it to the form of an extract, adding, toward the end, three ounces of fyrup of orange peel.
This is the invention of Charas, and feems the beft pre- paration of bark known. Befide all the common cafes in which the bark is given, this preparation may be tried in other weakening diftempers, as well as intermitting fevers, as the inconveniencies attending the taking the bark in fub- ftance are obviated by this preparation, which is equally powerful and innocent. It may be aromatized at pleafure with any of the eflential oils. Sbazv's Lectures, p. 232. STREPITOSUS, the name of a diftemper common to the inhabitants of fome parts of the Alps, in which the face, neck and arms, are fo diftended with flatulencies, as to make a nolfe, when ftruck, like a dry bladder half diftended with wind. STREPSICHEROS ovis, in natural hiftory, the name of a fpecies of fheep defcribed by Eellonius, and found in the if~ land of Crete in great flocks. They are of the fize of our common fheep, but their horns are erect, and twirled into a fpiral line, and beautifully furrowed on their outfide. Bellon. Obferv. lib. I. cap. 14. STRETTO, in the Italian mufic, is fometimes ufed to fignify that the meafure is to be fhort and concife, and confequently quick. In this fenfe it ftands oppofed to largo. See the ar- ticle Largo. STRETWARD, in our old writers, an officer whofe bufinefs it was to take care of the ftreets, like our furveyor of the high- ways, or rather fcavenger. Blount. STREVER, in zoology, a name given by many to the fifh called by authors afper pifdculus.
It in fome degree refembles in figure the lucioperca, or pike- pearch, but is more flender than that fifh toward the tail. Its back has a hollow on its anterior part near the head, and its fides are marked with feveral obliquely tranfverfe lines, like thofe of the pearch. Its back is fcaly, its breaft braked. It has two back fins, a fhort and prickly one before, and a longer behind ; and the bony coverings of its gills terminate each in a fharp fpine. Gefner, de Aquat. p. 478. Gefner, in particular, calls this fifh gobius afper. It is a ge- nuine fpecies of pearch, and is diftinguifhed by Artedi by the name of the pearch variegated with eight or nine tranf- verfe black lines on a fide. STRIATA corpora, a term ufed by anatomifts to exprefs two protuberances of the brain, upon the crura of the medulla oblonga. See Cerebrum. STRIATED leaf, among botanifts. See Leaf, j
Striated ftalk. See the article Stalk. STRIATULA, in natural hiftory, a name given by Mr. Lhuyd to a fpecies of foflile plants of the fern kind, re- markable for their Jfriat^d appearance. See the article Fojfile Plants STRIBILIGO, a name given by fome authors to any fort of
cutaneous efHorefcence. STRIGA, among the Romans, a fpace or interval in a camp, 120 feet long, and 60 feet broad, ufed for currying and rub • bing down the horfes. Pitif: in voc. Striga is alfo ufed for a furrow drawn out at length, for a long row, or feries of any thing, and by furveyors for a long meafure. Pitifi. in voc. STRIGIL, an inftrument ufed among the antients in their baths, and at fome of their gymnaftic exercifes. It ferved to abfterge the fweat, or other fordes from the body. Perfons who intended to bathe, or to ufe any of thefe exercifes, when they entered the gymnafium, put oft' their clothes in the apodyterium ; after which, fuchofthem as intended to box, wreftle, or ufe any of the more violent exercifes, went into the alipterium, where they were anoint- ed, and thence returning into the place where the duft was, they were fprinkled with this as they patted along, and then 1 entred
