134] S T E stricken repeatedly with an iron machine, resembling a chissel, that cuts into the former, and completes the bending ; by which practice he conceives, that considerable la- bour will be saved in the manufac- turing of springs, trusses, and sur- geons' instruments. Rusty steel may be cleaned, by first anointing it with sweet-oil, which in the course of two or three days will soften the rust; after- wards wiping it dry with clean rags, and polishing the tarnished parts with pumice-stone or eme- HY, by means of hard wood : but the most effe43,ual composition for giving a high degree of lustre to steel, is a paste made of levigated blood-stone and spirit of wine. This useful article is subservient, chiefly to the manufaQures of sword-blades, table and ])en -knives, razors, and a variety of other uten- sils, employed in the arts, and by mechanics : its medicinal proper- ties differing but little from those of iron, we refer the reader to vol. ii. p, 31. — Steel pays on im- portation, various duties, according to its respeftive quality: — thus, t gad-steel% subje6t to thecharge of 2l. 9s, 8fd. per cwt, ; the long and wisp- steel pay 13s. ll|d. per cwt. ; and steel- wire is liable to the duty of 1 Id, per lb, STEEL-YARD, or Stilyaed, is one of the most ancient machines for ascertaining the weight of bo- dies, by its counterpoise. It is al. Inded to in the Pentateuch, and to this day used by the Arabs, and all the Asiatic nations. Ibe Grtek and Roman goldsmiths preferred it to the Icdance, which was the in- strument used by the people. The steel-yard consists of a lever of unequal anns j and, in its mo^t STI perfe^ form, is constructed on the principles of the usual balance ; to which however it is greatly inferior, in point of minute accuracy. Oa the other hand, the steel-yard is more compendious and conveni- ent ; nor does it admit of those subtle frauds which may be, and often are, practised with a pair of scales. — See Balance. There is another species of pa- tent steel-yard, consisting of an elastic spring, which is confined in a tube 3 thus serving by its expan- sion, as a substitute for the long arm, and pointing out the weight of substances, by marks made on the moveable perpendicular bar in its centre. It would be superflu- ous to enter into a detailed descrip- tion of these portable machines : let it therefore suffice to observe, that «uch contrivance is not sufh- ciently accurate to determine the difference of ounces or drains ; though it may answer the purpose of weighing larger quantities ; pro- vided it be properly handled, and preserved from moisture, or rust. Stewing. See vol. ii, p. 53. STICKLEBACK, theCoMMON, Banstickle, orSHARPLiNG, Gos- terosteus aculealus, L. a well -knowij fish, abounding in newly -cut ditches, canals, and other collec- tions of water. It seldom exceeds two or three inches in length : the back is covered with sharp spines ; and, Hke its sides, is of an olive- green : the belly is perfeftly white. Numerous shoals of sticklebacks inhabit the fens of Lincolnshirt;, and the adjoining rivers, where ex- periments have been made to ex- press oil from these diminutive creatures j but, we conceive, they may be more profitably employed as manure,— -See vol. iii. p. 153. Stil-
