STXTNDISTS. 642 STURGEON. Bible). A Russian sect, which owes its origin, to German infiuences. It lias gained many con- verts among the peasants, particularly since 1870, and has attracted the hostile attention of the Government. The Stimdists bear some resem- blance to the Anabaptists, give to the sacrament a purely .symbolic interpretation, and hold com- munistic views concerning property. They are most numerous in Little Russia and Bessarabia. STUPA. A form of Buddhist architecture in India. See Tope. STtTBDY. A disease of sheep. See GiD. STTJRDZA, sttiord'za, Alexander (1701- 1854). A Moldavian publicist and diplomat, educated in Germany and afterwards in the ser- vice of Russia. His Memoirc siir I'ctat actticl dc VAllematiiw, published at the Congress of Aix- la-Chapelle in 1818, by order of Alexander I., aroused great indignation in Germany because of the unbecoming levity with which its author ar- raigned the German national character and branded the universities as hotbeds of the revolu- tionary spirit and atheism. In 1819 he settled at Dresden, married a daughter of Huf eland, and subsequently retired to his estate of Mansyr, Bessarabia. Of his other writings may be men- tioned La Orece en 1S21 (1822) ; a biography of Hufeland (1837); and CEm-res posthumes relioieiiscs, historiques, philosopliiqucs et litt(r- aires (1858-61). STTJRDZA, Demeter (1833—). A Rumanian statesman and author. He studied political science at Munich, Gottingen. Bonn, and Berlin, became Minister of Public Instruction in 1859, and was one of the most zealous promoters of the overthrow of Cuza and the election of Prince Charles of Hohenzollern, in 1866. In the Cabi- net of Bratianu, 1876-88, he held repeatedly ministerial posts, and in 1895-96 presided over a National-Liberal Ministry. Again in 1897- 99 and since 1901 he was at the head of the Government as president of the Council and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He wrote La Marche progressive de ht Riissie sur le Danube (1878) ; ITebersicht der Miinzen und MedaiUen des Fiirs- tentums Rumilnien (1874); Eiiropa, Russia, Romania (1888); La question des partes de fer et des cataractes du Danube (1899); and Charles I., roi de Roumanie (1899 et seq.). STTJRE, stoo're. A noble family of Sweden which played a very prominent part in the affairs of that country in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and be- came extinct in 1616. Its chief represen- tatives were : ( 1 ) Sten Sture the Elder (d.l5n3). He was a son of Gustaf Sture and the nephew of King Charles ^TIL, on whose death, in 1470. he became Regent of Sweden, in spite of the opposition of the Swedish nobility, who supported the claims of Christian I. of Den- mark. He defeated the Danish King in the battle of Brukeberg. near Stockholm (1471). He intro- duced printing, and founded the University of Upsala (1477). In 1497 he was forced to resign his place to John of Denmark, but regained power in 1501 and ruled till his death (1503). He was followed by (2) Swante Nillson Sture, a kins- man, who also kept the Danes and the nobility in check and died in 1512. (3) The latter's son, Sten STiiRE the Younger, aided by the peas- antry, foiled the plan of the nobles to place Trolle, one of their own number, in power, gained the Regency for himself, twice defeated (1517 and 1518) Gustaf Sture, Archbishop of Upsala, whom he had deposed in 1517. and was himself defeated and mortally wounded in a battle against Christian II. of Denmark at Bogesund in 1520. His widow, Christina Gyllenstierna, held Stockholm until the new King guaranteed a constitutional government. (4) His son, SWANTE Sture, though a loyal partisan erf the House of 'asa, was murdered by Eric XIV. (1567). STURGEON (AF. sturjoun. OF., Fr. estur- geon, Sp. esturion. It. storione. from ML. sturgio, sturio, from OHG. sturjo, sturo, Ger. Star, AS. styria, stiriga, sturgeon: perhaps connected with OHG. stOran, Ger. storcn, AS. styrian, Eng. stir). A large fresh-water fish of the ganoid family Acipenseridse. Sturgeons have an elongated, subcylindrical body, armed with five rows of bony plates or bucklers, each bearing a median keel. The head is covered by bony plates joined by sutures. The snout is produced ; the mouth is inferior, opening on the under side of the head, A FOSSIL STURGEON. A lonp-beaked eturgreon {BelonorhyDchus strioLltaB) fossil in the Trias aud Lias formatious of tlie Old Wurld. protractile and without teeth. Just anterior to the mouth there are four barbels. The tail has the up])er lobe much larger than the lower. There is a single dorsal fin. placed like the anal fin far back. They have a large air bladder, con- nected by a tube with the cesophagus. About 25 species, in two genera, are recognized, all in- habitants of the fresh waters and seas of the northern regions. Most of the species are migra- tory and ascend streams to spavni, but some live permanently in fresh waters. They spawn in the spring and summer, and are very prolific, a large female producing from two to three million eggs, constituting from a fifth to a third of its SKULL OF A STURGEON WITH MEMBRANE BONES REMOVED. a, RostniTu; b, nasal capsule; c. e.ve-socket: d. foramina for spinal nerves: e. notochord: ^, quadrate bone: i, hjo- mandibnlar bone: i, mandible; j. basibranchiale; i, ribs; y, hyoid bune; I, u, iii, it, v, branchial arches. entire weight. They feed on small animals and plants, which they suck into their mouth. The common sturgeon ( Acipensrr sturio) , of the coasts and rivers of Europe and Northeastern America, has been known to weigh 500 pounds. The lake or rock sturgeon (Aeipenser rubicundus). once very abundant in the Great Lakes and the Mis- sissippi Valley, attains a weight of 200 pounds.
