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SHORT-SIGHT SHOULDER-JOINT.

The fundamental difference between these systems will be understood from the examples; in the first system, all syllabic sounds are definitely shewn by means of vowel points, but without these latter, a reader could not distinguish the number of syllables contained in a word; in the second system, the consonant outline, without inserted vowels, informs the eye of the number of syllables in every word-all full as well as all half-sized consonants being necessarily syllabic. Some systems of shorthand consist mainly of ideographic signs, alphabetic writing being used only as supplementary to the arrangement of arbitrary symbols and ruled lines. Thus the positions upon, above, or below a single line, are associated with such meanings as present, past, and future for verbs; affirmative, interrogative, and negative for propositions; personal, relative, and demonstrative for pronouns, &c.; while the symbols for the various classes of words are merely uniform points, commas, hyphens, and other non-alphabetic marks. Sometimes the principle of different positional values of symbols is carried to so great an extent, that the projectors of such systems are able to boast, paradoxically, that one-half of any speech is virtually written before the speaker opens his lips! Reporters have discovered several objections to Pitman's method, most of which, it is said, are obviated by the Tachygraphy of D. P. Lindsley, of Mendon, Massachusetts, which experts declare is more easily read. Lindsley's Tachygraphy is described as purely phonetic, and uses the simplest geometrical lines so arranged as to insure a linear direction, and not a perpendicular style of writing, while a word can be written without raising a pen. Mr Lindsley has, as said Horace Mann, 'phonographied Phonography,' so that it really appears to be an attainable art. The following specimen of 'dot' positions is extracted

from Moat's Shorthand Standard:

Moat's system may be taken as the representative of this class. It is certainly the most elaborate and methodical-in fact, a marvel of ingenuity and perseverance-but, like other ideographic systems, it is so burdensome to the memory of a learner, as well as difficult in application, that it could never be of much use to any other person than the contriver.

In all systems, more or less use is made of what may be called analogical symbols, such as a circle, for the earth, the world, &c., with a point above, below, before, after, or within the circle, for such phrases as above the earth, under the earth, in the world, &c. But alphabetic writing by sound can derive little assistance from such arbitrary signs, however suggestive. Abbreviated phonetic writing undoubtedly furnishes the simplest and most exact method of stenography; and the two systems above exemplified, sufficiently illustrate the nature of the art of shorthand, as most widely practised on the phonetic basis at the present day.

The older methods of Byrom, Taylor, Gurney, Lewis, Odell, and other authors, still find many adherents. In fact, any system to which a writer is accustomed is better than longhand; and, practically, reporters and others modify for themselves, to a great extent, the systems they employ. Fancutt's Stenography on the Basis of Grammar (1840) may be referred to as a very ingenious work, Jones's Phonography (1865), a modification of Pitman's, is one of the more recent publications on the subject. A History of Shorthand, containing a chronologi

cal enumeration of authors, was published a few years ago.

SHORT-SIGHT. See SIGHT, EFFECTS OF.

SHOT is the term applied to all solid balls fired from any sort of firearms; those for cannon and carronades being of iron, those for small-arms, of lead. The latter are known as bullets and smallshot. The shot used for guns at present vary from the 3-pounder, for boat and mountain artillery, to the 10-inch shot, which weighs about 150 lbs. as a sphere, or 300 lbs. as an elongated bolt. Generally, shot are cast. There are simple practical rules for calculating the weight from the diameter of a shot, and vice versa, which are often useful in reading of artillery actions. Given the diameter in inches, to find the weight in pounds: Cube the diameter, and multiply the result by 14; reject the two righthand figures; those remaining give the weight in pounds. Given the weight in pounds, to find the diameter in inches: Multiply the cube-root of the weight by 1-923, and the result is the diameter of the shot in inches.

Small-shot is of various sizes, from swan-shot, nearly as large as peas, to dust-shot. It is made by dropping molten lead through a colander in rapid motion from a considerable height into water. The lead falls in small globular drops. The holes in the colanders vary in size according to the denomination of the shot, No. 0 requiring holes th inch in diameter, No. 9, th inch. The colanders are iron hemispheres, 10 inches in diameter, and are coated within with the cream or scum which is taken off the molten metal. A small portion of arsenic is melted with the lead, and the fusion in the colanders is maintained by those vessels being surrounded by burning charcoal. The discovery of the advantage attending a long fall was made in England towards the end of last century. Previously the shot had dropped from the colanders at once into the water. The lead was then so soft that the shot were flattened by the water. The fall through the air enables the lead to cool and harden before taking its plunge. The smaller sizes require less fall than the larger100 feet suffices for sizes Nos. 4 to 9-the larger sorts demand 150 feet. is at Villach in Carinthia, where there is a fall of The highest shot tower 249 feet. After cooling, shot is sifted in successive sieves to separate the sizes. Misshapen shots are found by their inability to roll; and finally, the whole are polished by rotatory motion in small octagonal boxes, in which a little plumbago has been thrown. also CASE-SHOT, CANISTER, GRAPE-SHOT.

See

SHOTTS, a small and ancient village of Lanarkshire, close to the Kirk of Shotts, about 16 miles east of Glasgow. About 3 miles to the south-east of the Kirk, modern S., or S. Proper, began to rise at the close of the last century, when the Shotts Iron Company erected their extensive iron works there. S. may be said to consist of three villages-viz., Stane, Shotts Iron Works, and Dykehead; and the district within a radius of a mile from the works-which district includes these three villages-contains about 5000 inhabitants. Valuable coal and iron-stone, peculiarly suited for the manufacture of iron, abound in the district, and 1000 hands are employed in ironmaking and moulding.

SHOULDER-JOINT, THE, is a ball-and-socket joint. The bones entering into its composition are the humerus or arm-bone, and the scapula or shoulder-blade, the large globular head of the former being received into the shallow glenoid cavity of the latter, an arrangement by which extreme freedom of motion is obtained, while the apparent insecurity of the joint is guarded against by the strong ligaments and tendons which surround it, and above by

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Fig. 1.-The left Shoulder-Joint and its Connections. 1, the clavicle or collar bone; 2, the acromion process; 3, the coracoid process; 4, the capsular ligament; 5, the coracohumeral ligament; 6, the tendons of the biceps muscle; 7, the shaft of the humerus or arm-bone; 8, the greater tuberosity of the humerus; 9, the lesser tuberosity; 10, the neck of the scapula: 11, anterior surface of the scapula.

derives much of its strength. Accordingly, in paralysis of the arm, one or two fingers can often be pressed into the joint towards the head of the glenoid cavity, from which the head of the humerus is now separated.

The shoulder-joint exhibits the following varieties of motion: 1. Flexion, to a great extent; 2. Extension, in a much more limited degree; 3. Adduction, in an oblique direction, forwards and inwards; 4. Abduction very freely; 5. Circumduction; and 6. Rotation slightly.

The morbid affections of the shoulder-joint may be divided into (1) those arising from disease, and (2) those dependent on an accident. The most common diseases are acute and chronic inflammation of the joint, which often terminate in its anchylosis or immobility. The principal accidents are fractures and dislocations. There may be fracture (1) of the acromion process, or (2) of the coracoid process, or (3) of the neck of the scapula, or (4) of the superior extremity of the humerus; or two or more of these accidents may be associated. Again, the head of the humerus may be dislocated from the glenoid cavity as the result of accident in three different directions-viz. (1), Downwards and inwards into the axilla, which is by far the most common form; (2) Forwards and inwards; and (3) Backwards on the infra-spinous fossa, or the dorsum of the scapula. The first of these varieties is of such common occurrence, that persons of ordinary intelligence should know how to recognise, and even (in an emergency) to treat it. The bones are in the position shewn in the figure; and the following are the most prominent symptoms: The arm is lengthened; a hollow may be felt

Fig. 2.-Dislocation of the Shoulder-Joint downwards. 1, the clavicle; 2, the acromion process; 3, the coracoid process; 4, the glenoid cavity; 5, the head of the humerus lying in the axilla.

to touch the ribs; and the head of the bone can be felt if the limb be raised, although such an attempt causes great pain and weakness, from the pressure exerted on the axillary plexus of nerves.'-Druitt's Surgeon's Vade-mecum, 8th ed. p. 282. There are at least five methods of treating this form of dislocation. It is sufficient to notice two of them. 1. Reduction by the heel in the axilla. The patient lies on a couch, and the operator sits at the edge, and puts his heel (the shoe or boot being previously removed) into the axilla, to press the head of the bone upwards and outwards, and at the same time pulls the limb downward by means of a towel fastened above the elbow. There is a figure of this operation in the article DISLOCATIONS. 2. Reduction by the knee in the axilla. The patient being seated in a chair, the surgeon places one of his knees in the axilla, resting his foot on the chair. He then puts one hand on the shoulder, to fix the scapula, and with the other depresses the elbow over his knee. For a description of the symptoms and mode of treatment of the other forms of dislocation, and of the different varieties of practice, we must refer the reader to any systematic treatise on Surgery.

SHO'VELLER (Rhynchaspis), a genus of ducks,

Shoveller, male and female (Rhynchaspis clypeata).

of the section having no lobe or pendent membrane on the hind toe, and remarkable for the expansion

SHOWERS OF FISHES-SHREWSBURY.

of the end of the mandibles in adult birds, particularly of the upper mandible. The lamellæ of the mandibles are long and very delicate. The legs are placed near the centre of the body, so that these birds walk much more easily than many of the ducks. The Common S. (R. clypeata) is smaller than the wild duck, but rather larger than the widgeon. The S. is a winter visitant in New Jersey, but not very common. A few remain in the northern states all the year. It is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North America. Its flesh is very highly esteemed. A species of S. is found in Australia.

SHOWERS OF FISHES have occasionally fallen in different parts of the world, exciting great astonishment. Instances of this kind have occurred in Britain. A few years since, a shower of small three-spined sticklebacks fell near Merthyr-Tydvil in Wales, sprinkling the ground and house-tops over an area of at least several square miles. They were alive when they fell; yet if caught up by a whirlwind from any of the brackish ponds near the sea, in which this species of fish abounds, they must have been conveyed through the air a distance of almost thirty miles. Another recent instance occurred at Torrens, in the isle of Mull, in which herrings were found strewed on a hill five hundred yards from the sea, and one hundred feet above it.

Showers of fishes occur much more frequently in those tropical countries where violent storms, sudden gusts of wind, and whirlwinds are most common. In India, a shower of fishes varying from a pound and a half to three pounds in weight has

been known to fall. Sometimes the fishes are living, more frequently they are dead, and sometimes dry or putrefying. They are always of kinds abundant in the sea or fresh waters of the neighbourhood; and it cannot be doubted that they are carried up into the air by violent winds or whirlwinds; although they sometimes fall at a considerable distance from any water which could supply them. The sudden reappearance of fresh-water fishes in ponds which have been dried up for months in tropical countries, is often popularly ascribed to their falling from the clouds; but the truth is, that they have been buried in the mud below, existing probably in a state analogous to that of animals in cold climates during hybernation. A pool, the bottom of which has long been dry, and on which grass has grown and cattle have walked, is again illed with fishes in a few hours after it is filled with water.

SHRA'PNELL SHELL. See SHELL.

SHREW (Sorex), a genus of small quadrupeds of the family Sorecida. They are often popularly confounded with mice and rats, but are really very different, having insectivorous and not rodent teeth. The head is very long; the snout elongated, attenuated, and capable of being moved about; the eyes small; the tail long; both body and tail covered with fine short hair; the feet have a broad sole and 5 toes. The genus has recently been subdivided, and the British species belong to more than one of the subdivisions. The COMMON S. of Britain (S. or Corsira vulgaris) was, until recently, confounded with S. araneus, a species common in continental Europe. It is nearly 24 inches in length from the snout to the root of the tail, the length of which is about 1 inches. It abounds in dry fields, gardens, and hedge-banks; feeding chiefly on insects and worms, for which it grubs with its long snout amongst the roots of the herbage. It burrows, and makes long runs just under the surface of the ground. It is an excessively pugnacious little animal, and the males have fierce combats in spring,

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Common Shrew (Sorex vulgaris).

dread and aversion by the vulgar. (See White's Natural History of Selborne).-The WATER S. (Neosorex albibarbis) is larger than the Common S., being fully 3 inches long, and the tail 2 inches. It is of a blackish-brown colour, gray or white on the underparts. It burrows in the banks of streams, northern United States. Some of the Indian species and is very aquatic in its habits. It is found in the of S. attain a much larger size, as that called the is the smallest of all known Mammalia. It is only Musk Rat (q. v.). There is an Italian species which about 14 inch in length, exclusive of the tail, which

measures about 1 inch.

SHREW MOLE (Scalops), a genus of insectivorous Mammalia, of the family Talpida, and very nearly allied to the moles. There are 6 incisors, 2 canine teeth, 8 false molars, and 6 true molars in each jaw. The ear is destitute of auricle; the eyes are very small, and much concealed; the feet are 5-toed, the fore-feet large, as in the mole. The whole figure, and also the habits, resemble those of the mole.-There are several species, all natives of North America.

SHREW'SBURY, a parliamentary and municipal borough and market-town, the capital of Shropshire, stands on the Severn, by which it is nearly surrounded, 163 miles north-north-west of London by the London and North-western Railway. It is irregular in plan, contains many inferior houses, partly built of timber, but often of very picturesque

appearance.

In the modern quarters, the houses are handsome and regular. Two bridges, the 'English' and the Welsh,' cross the Severn, and connect the town with the suburbs of AbbeyForegate and Coleham on the east, and Frank well on the west. To the north, is the other suburb of Castle-Foregate. The town contains interesting remains of the ancient walls, the castle, two monasteries, and a Benedictine abbey. The remains of the Abbey Church now form the church of Holy Cross. There are other ecclesiastical edifices, a Free School, with an income from endowment of £3100 a year, and 22 exhibitions to the universities; a number of other important schools, institutes, hospitals, &c. The Town and County Hall, the Public Rooms, a handsome Greek structure, and the Market-house, dating from the reign of Elizabeth, are worthy of mention. S. carries on manufactures of linen-thread, canvas, and iron wares, and there is a salmon-fishery on the Severn. The Brawn and Shrewsbury Cakes' made here have long been held in esteem. The borough returns two members to the House of Commons. (1861) 25,803.

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