at 68° F., and a little leaven is added, or the skimmings of a former operation, to hasten the process. The portion of gluten carried through with the starch is thus separated and removed by skimming. The starch is then treated like that otherwise obtained. The product by this method is about 50 per cent. of the weight of the flour, while by the other process it is only from 35 to 40 per cent. Nearly the whole of the gluten also is saved in a condition suitable for food, either by mixing it with flour and making of it macaroni and similar pastes, or, as recommended by M. Robine, with boiled potatoes, and thus making a cheap and nutritious bread, by adding to the potatoes a nutritive element in which they are deficient. Potato starch is made from rasped or grated potatoes, by a process similar to that just described. This variety does not assume the columnar form in drying, and is also peculiar in retaining a large amount of moisture, generally 20 per cent., or when saturated 23 per cent. It is largely consumed for a variety of farinaceous preparations sold by the druggists as delicate food for invalids, under numerous high-sounding names. (See ADULTERATION.)-The corn used for starch is the white flint kind. Received at the factory, it is hoisted to the top of the building, winnowed to remove foreign substances, and then transferred to vats, where it is long soaked before grinding. It is run through troughs with water to the mills, and when ground the mixed meal and water is conveyed in a similar manner to the tubs in which the separation of the starch is effected. The gluten fluid that flows from these has a musty and disagreeable odor and appearance in the troughs, and the substance lacks when concentrated the consistency of wheat gluten, not "rising" like it in fermentation by the expansive action of the carbonic acid gas generated in this process. Its only value is for feeding horses, cattle, and swine. The starch fluid is conveyed through troughs to great vats in the basement of the building, where the water is partially removed, and then it flows into smaller wooden vessels from which a portion of the surplus water drains away through a cloth laid in the bottom of each. The mass of starch, then tolerably solid, is placed upon shelves made of loose bricks, when more moisture escapes by absorption and evaporation. Kiln drying finishes the process, and the starch is obtained in prismatic forms ready to be put up in papers or boxes for the market.-Rice is treated by a process patented in 1840 by Mr. Orlando Jones, which is also quite as applicable to the other grains, and by the use of which the offensive odors from the putrefactive fermentation are avoided. The rice is macerated in a weak alkaline solution, a gallon of water to every 2 lbs. of rice, and about 200 grains of caustic soda or potash to the gallon. Of this strength the solution takes up the gluten, leaving the starch. After standing about 24 hours, the alkaline li

quid is drawn off, and the rice after being well washed is drained, and is then ground into flour. A fresh quantity of lye is added to it, and it is again digested for 24 hours, with frequent stirring. It is now left for 70 hours, in which time the dissolved gluten rises and is all found in a turbid, yellowish stratum at the top. This portion is carefully drawn off, leaving the fibrous portion of the grain at the bottom intermixed and covered with starch. The deposit is then stirred up and washed with abundance of cold water, and the mixture being left to repose, the fibrous portion is deposited with very little starch, and the remainder is drawn off by a siphon through a fine sieve into a cistern. Further washings of the deposit are added to this, and the water is finally removed, and the starch is dried in the usual way. The gluten is recovered by neutralizing its solution with the exact quantity of sulphuric acid required for this, when it is set free and falls in flakes to the bottom. These are collected, washed, and ground into flour, when the substance is prepared for culinary purposes. This process applied to wheat results in the saving of all the gluten for food. The principal use of starch has already been noticed. It has at present a very limited application in medicine; it is used externally as an absorbent of irritating secretions; it may also be given as an antidote to iodine taken in poisonous quantities. Those varieties described under ARROWROOT, Cassava, and SAGO, form a mild nutritious diet for the sick. Starch is sometimes adulterated with carbonate and sulphate of lime, and is purposely charged with water, sometimes to the extent of 12 per cent.-The importations of starch into the United States in 1860 amounted only to $1,400, the largest quantities coming from Scotland, China, and England.-The subject of starch is treated by Dumas in Chimie appliquée, vol. vi., and by Parnell in "Applied Chemistry;" and the manufacture from the potato is described by M. Payen in Précis de chimie industrielle (Paris, 1851).

STARGAZER, a spiny-rayed percoid fish of the family trachinide or weevers, and genus uranoscopus (Linn.), so called from the position of the eyes, which look directly upward. The body is elongated, covered with smooth cycloid scales; head depressed, large and wide, bony and rough, with the gape ascending or vertically cleft, the upper jaw the shorter, and the teeth small and crowded on the jaws, palate, and vomer; branchiostegal rays 6; dorsals 2, of which the 1st is small and spinous, the 2d and the anal long; ventrals in front of the large pectorals and on the throat; anus very far forward; air bladder absent. In some of the family the dorsal and opercular spines are capable of inflicting painful wounds; they have the power of raising the eyeballs from and retracting them within their sockets. There are more than a dozen species of the genus, mostly East Indian, of which the best known is the U. scaber (Linn.) of the Mediterranean, about a foot

long, of a grayish brown color above, with irregular series of whitish spots and grayish white below; ugly as it is, some people eat it. This was well known to the ancients, and Aristotle correctly describes the gall bladder as larger than in most other fishes; it is also called callionymus by the old authors, and is proverbially referred to by dramatic writers as the emblem of an angry man; the bile was formerly supposed to possess great medicinal virtues in defective vision and hearing, and in arresting fungous growths. On the coast of South Carolina has been found the U. anoplos (Cuv.), about 2 inches long, greenish above with minute black dots, and silvery below; the cheeks are unarmed. These fishes live on the bottom in deep water, burying all but the head in the sand or mud, and there lying in wait for prey; they are voracious, and like other ground fish some have sensitive barbels about the mouth; though the gills are widely open, they live a long time out of water; some have a slender fleshy filament in front of the tongue, which can be protruded, probably to attract fishes within reach of their jaws, like the cutaneous appendages on the head of the goose fish (lophius).

STARK. I. A N. E. co. of Ohio, drained by the Tuscarawas river and its branches; area, 570 sq. m.; pop. in 1860, 42,976. The surface is undulating, and the soil a rich, sandy loam. Coal and limestone are abundant. Swine are largely exported, and it produces more wheat and butter than any other county in the state. The productions in 1850 were 590,594 bushels of wheat, 578,171 of Indian corn, 414,434 of oats, 41,746 tons of hay, 275,664 lbs. of wool, and 1,211,021 lbs. of butter. There were 5 newspaper offices, 98 churches, and 13,290 pupils attending public schools. It is intersected by the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne, and Chicago, and the Cleveland and Pittsburg railroads, and the Ohio canal. Capital, Canton. II. A N. W. co. of Ind., drained by the Yellow and Kankakee rivers; area, 432 sq. m.; pop. pop. in 1850, 557; in 1860, 2,195. The surface is level and in many places marshy, with several small lakes, and the soil is fertile. The productions in 1850 were 3,153 bushels of wheat, 11,170 of Indian corn, and 698 tons of hay. Capital, Knox. III. A N. W. co. of Ill., intersected by the Spoon river; area, 290 sq. m.; pop. in 1860, 9,004. The surface is partly prairie and the soil fertile. The productions in 1850 were 54,327 bushels of wheat, 312,475 of Indian corn, 50,703 of oats, and 5,630 tons of hay. Capital, Toulon.

STARK, JOHN, an officer in the American revolution, born at Londonderry, N. H., Aug. 28, 1728, died at Manchester, N. H., May 8, 1822. In 1752 he went with 3 friends on a hunting expedition to Baker's river in the N. part of the state remote from the settlements, and while separated from his companions was captured by the St. Francis Indians, and remained with them several months until ransomed by the Massachusetts commissioners.

During his stay with the Indians he became very popular among them by his frequent exhibitions of courage and independence, and was adopted into the tribe. In 1754 he joined the rangers under Major Rogers in the war against the French and Indians, in 1756 was made a lieutenant, and in 1757 a captain, distinguishing himself by his bravery and coolness in several severe engagements. He rendered efficient services in bringing off the troops after the ill-fated expedition to Ticonderoga under Lord Howe in 1758, and was actively employed in the subsequent campaign of Gen. Amherst; and in 1760, the war being virtually closed, he retired from the service, and was not again conspicuous until the outbreak of the revolution. In 1775, on receipt of the intelligence of the beginning of hostilities, he hastened to Boston after directing the volunteers in his neighborhood to rendezvous at Medford. Of those who followed him two regiments were formed, of one of which he was elected colonel, and at its head he thrice repulsed the veteran forces of the British army at Bunker hill. He afterward remained with his regiment at Winter hill until the British evacuated Boston in March, 1776. He was in the expedition against Canada, and remonstrated against Gen. Schuyler's retreat to Ticonderoga. In December he marched with his regiment under Gen. Gates to reënforce Gen. Washington. He led the van in the attack upon Trenton, and was in the battle at Princeton. In 1777, the time of his regiment having expired, he returned to New Hampshire and raised a new one; but being as he thought unjustly neglected by congress in the list of promotions, he retired from its service. He however received a vote of thanks from the New Hampshire legislature, and in a short time was placed in the independent command of the troops raised by New Hampshire to oppose the British advance from Canada. Acting upon the authority of the state and his own judgment, he firmly refused to obey the orders of Gen. Lincoln to march to the west of the Hudson, leaving Burgoyne's rear unmolested; and on Aug. 16, 1777, he fought the battle of Bennington, killing over 200 of the enemy and taking 600 prisoners and 1,000 stand of arms. and 1,000 stand of arms. For this brilliant action congress passed a vote of thanks to him and created him a brigadier-general, notwithstanding they had just previously passed a vote of censure for his disobedience of the orders of Gen. Lincoln. He joined Gen. Gates at Bemus's heights, but the term of his militia having expired, he was obliged to return to New Hampshire and recruit a new force, with which he cut off Burgoyne's retreat from Saratoga, and thus compelled him to surrender. In 1778 he was placed in command of the northern department; in 1779 and 1780 he served in Rhode Island and New Jersey, and at West Point, where he was a member of the court martial which condemned André; and in 1781 he again had command of the northern depart

ment, with his head-quarters at Saratoga. At the close of the war he retired to private life, and was not again connected with public affairs. With the exception of Sumter, he was the last surviving general of the revolution at the time of his death.-See "Life of John Stark," by Edward Everett, in Sparks's “ American Biography," 2d series, vol. i.

STARLING, or STARE, the common name of the conirostral birds of the family sturnidæ, and sub-family sturnina, of which the genus sturnus (Linn.) is the type; the family also includes the straight-billed birds like the grakles, oxpecker, red-winged blackbird, and satin bower bird, described in separate articles. In sturnus the bill is long, straight, and sharp, with flattened culmen and tip; wings long and pointed, with 1st quill spurious and 2d and 3d nearly equal; tail short and nearly even; tarsi strong and broadly scaled; toes long, including the hind one, the outer united at the base; claws long, curved, and sharp. In habits the starlings resemble the smaller species of the crow family, and the food consists of worms, snails, insects, seeds, and fruits; they are docile in captivity, and may be taught to repeat a few words and to whistle short tunes. They are confined to the old world, migrating in large flocks, preferring swampy places; the flight is rapid and even, accompanied toward evening by singular circular evolutions; the note is a shrill whistle, with an occasional chatter or imitation of the cry of other birds and of animals; the nest is made of dried grass, in holes of trees or old buildings, and the eggs are 4 to 6. The best known species is the common_starling (S. vulgaris, Linn.), about 8 inches long, of a black color, with purple and greenish reflections, and spotted with buff; the female is much less brilliant, and the young males are brownish gray. This well known, handsome, and sprightly bird is found from N. Europe to S. Africa, and in E. Asia, occurring in as large flocks as the allied grakles (quiscalus) in North America; in England it often migrates south in October, returning in March; it is frequently kept in cages; the flesh is disagreeable; the eggs are pale blue. -The American starling (sturnella Ludoviciana, Swains.) has been described under MEADOW LARK. In the genus pastor (Temm.) the bill is shorter and more curved; it contains about a dozen species in the old world, with the habits of the preceding genus, also the one of seeking insects on the backs of cattle. The rosy starling (P. roseus, Temm.) is about 8 inches long, with the head, neck, quills, and tail black with violet gloss, and the rest of the plumage delicate rosecolored; the head is crested, and the bill and legs yellowish. It is found in S. E. Europe, and in the warm parts of Asia and Africa; in some places it is held in great veneration for the enormous quantity of noxious insects, especially locusts, which its flocks devour.

STARR, a S. co. of Texas, bounded S. W. by the Rio Grande, which separates it from the Mexican state of Tamaulipas; area, 4,420 sq.

m.; pop. in 1860, 2,406, of whom 6 were slaves. It is well adapted to grazing and to the cultivation of cotton, corn, and sugar cane. Large droves of wild horses are found on the prairies. Capital, Rio Grande City.

STARVATION. See ABSTINENCE.

STASSART, GOSWIN JOSEPH AUGUSTIN, baron, a Belgian statesman and author, born in Mechlin, Sept. 2, 1780, died in Brussels, Oct. 16, 1854. He completed his education in Paris, and was appointed successively intendant in the Tyrol (1805), successor of Bignon in Berlin (1808), and prefect of the department of the Bouches de la Meuse (1811). He took part as an officer of artillery in the defence of Paris (1814), offered his services to the emperor of Austria after the first restoration, attached himself again to Napoleon as envoy to Austria and master of requests during the Hundred Days, and on the second restoration retired to Namur and devoted himself to literary studies. He represented Namur in the second chamber at the Hague from 1821 to 1830, and supported the opposition. After the Belgian revolution of 1830, he was appointed governor of the provinces of Namur and Brabant, was president of the senate from 1831 to 1838, was sent as envoy extraordinary to the court of Turin in 1840, and lived in retirement from 1841. His writings, including Idylles (1800), Penseés de Circé (1814), Fables (1818), and treatises on agriculture and archæology, were collected by Dupont-Delporte (Paris, 1855).

STATEN ISLAND. See RICHMOND CO., N. Y.

STATICS. See MECHANICS.

STATISTICS, the science which has for its office the collection and arrangement of facts relative to the physical, social, political, financial, intellectual, and moral condition and resources of a state or nation. Some departments of statistical knowledge are of very ancient origin. No nation has made any considerable advance toward civilization, which has not at stated periods taken a census more or less complete of its inhabitants. That such statistical records were kept by the Jews, the Greeks, and the Romans, there is abundant evidence. In later times, the first writer on statistics was the Venetian doge Tommaso Mocenigo, who in 1421 collected the materials for a memoir on the situation of different empires, their monetary systems, finances, public debts, &c. In 1467 Francisco Sansovino published a statistical work entitled Del governo e amministrazione di diversi regni e republiche (4to., Venice, 1467), which was translated into several languages and often reprinted. During the next century Ventura, Paruta, and Giovanni Botero, all Italians, wrote on the subject. Botero's Relazioni universali (Rome, 1592) was translated into most of the languages of Europe. Pierre Davity, a French writer, published in 1621-2 a valuable work on the geography, government, finances, religion, and customs of the principal countries of the world.