alone remaining, and, constituting thin brown scales around
the corm (as at h). Meanwhile, the young, bud-corm.(h″) in
the axil of the middle leaf grows rapidly at the expense of
its parent corm (k′), but it does not attain a great size.
In autumn it produces new leaves, which remain small, but
from the axil of the two upper the
flowering stem rises up and bears
flowers; whilst in the axil of one of its
middle leaves a new bud-corm appears,
which will the following autumn
produce young leaves, flowering stem, and
a new bud-corm, and thus the cycle goes
on. The buds or new corms formed
from the old corms may be produced
either laterally, as in Colchicum autumnale,
or terminally, as in crocus and
gladiolus. The bulb is another form of
underground stem or bud. The axis in
this case is much shortened, and the
internodes are hardly developed. The
bases of the leaves rising from the stem
are quite close together, and become
succulent and enclose the axis. In the
lily the thick and narrow scales are
arranged separately in rows, and the
bulb is called scaly; while in the leek,
onion, squill and tulip the scales are
broad, and enclose each other in a concentric
manner, the outer ones being thin
and membranous, and the bulb is
tunicated. In the axils of these fleshy scales
new lateral shoots arise, forming new
bulbs. The lateral buds or cloves
sometimes remain attached to the axis, and
produce flowering stems, so that apparently
the same bulb continues to flower
for many years, as in the hyacinth and tulip; at other times
the young bulbs are detached, and form separate plants. In the
axil of the leaves of Lilium bulbiferum, Dentaria bulbifera, and
some other plants, small conical or rounded bodies are produced,
called bulbils or bulblets (fig. 14, b). They
resemble bulbs in their aspect, and consist
of a small number of thickened scales
enclosing a growing-point. These scales
are frequently united closely together, so as
to form a solid mass. Bulbils are therefore
transformed leaf-buds, which are easily
detached, and are capable of producing
young plants when placed in favourable
circumstances. The scales in bulbs vary in
number. In Gagea there is only one scale;
in the tulip and Fritillaria imperialis they
vary from two to five; while in lilies and
hyacinths there are a great number of
scales. In the tulip, a bud is formed in
the axil of an outer scale, and this gives
rise to a new flowering axis, and a new
bulb, at the side of which the former
bulb is attached in a withered state.
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Adventitious shoots are those, which arise elsewhere than in the
normal predetermined place, as from old stems, or roots. Such
Fig. 15.—Leaf of Bryophyllum
calycinum, producing buds along the margin,
at the extremities of the primary veins.
shoots are frequent on
the roots of elm, poplar,
plum and other fruit-trees.
Occasionally
adventitious buds are
produced on the edges
of leaves, as in
Bryophyllum calycinum (fig.
15), Malaxis paludosa,
and various species of
Asplenium, and on the
surface of leaves, as
in Ornithogalum thyrsoideum.
These are
capable of forming
independent plants. Similar
buds are also made to appear on the leaves of Begonia,
Gesnera, Gloxinia and Achimenes, by wounding various parts of
them, and placing them in moist soil; this is the method often
pursued by gardeners in their propagation. The ipecacuanha
plant has been propagated by means of leaves inserted in the
soil. In this case the lower end of the leaf becomes thickened
like a corm, and from it roots are produced, and ultimately a bud
and young plant.
STENBOCK, MAGNUS GUSTAFSSON, Count (1664-1717), Swedish soldier, was educated at Upsala and at Paris, chose the military profession, and spent some years in the service of the United Provinces. Returning to Sweden he entered the army, and in 1688 became major. He served with the Swedes in the Low Countries and on the Rhine, distinguishing himself for skill and courage at Fleurus. During the War of the Grand Alliance he was employed not only in the field but also as a confidential agent in diplomatic missions. Soon afterwards as colonel of the Dalecarlian regiment he led it in the astonishing victory of Narva. He distinguished himself still more at Dünamünde, Klissow and Cracow. In 1703 he fought the successful battle of Pultusk, and three years later, having reached the rank of general of infantry, was made governor general of the province of Scania, which he delivered from the Danish invaders by the decisive victory of Helsingborg. He was a great favourite with Charles XII. in the earlier campaigns, but later the two drifted somewhat apart. It is recorded that the king, before whom General Lagercrona accused Stenbock of drunkenness, replied that “Stenbock drunk was more capable of giving orders than Lagercrona sober.” His activities were not confined to war and diplomacy; the university of Lund was under his care for some years, and he had no mean skill as a painter and a poet. He became councillor in 1710, and Charles gave him his field marshal's bâton in 1712. In the same year he invaded Mecklenburg (with but 9000 men) in order to cover Stralsund. He won the brilliant action of Gadebusch, but numbers prevailed against him in the end. Cut off in Tönning he was forced to surrender after a gallant resistance, and passed into captivity. Five years of harsh treatment in Copenhagen brought his life to a close in 1717.
See Loenbom, Magni Stenbocks lefverne (1757-1765); Lilljestråle, Magnus Stenbock (Helsingborg, 1890).
STENCIL, a thin plate or sheet of metal, leather, paper or other material cut or pierced with a pattern or design; this is laid upon a surface and colour or ink is brushed or rubbed over it, thus leaving the ground colour of the surface imprinted with the design or pattern cut out. In ceramics the stencil is produced by coating the biscuit with a preparation which prevents the transfer-paper or enamelling from adhering to the surface at those parts where the original colour of the biscuit is to be preserved. According to Skeat (Etym. Dict., 1910) the word stands for an earlier stinsel, and is to be derived from Old French estinceller, to sparkle, to powder with stars, an old term in heraldry, from Latin scintilla, a spark. The same French word has given the English “tinsel,” strips, disks or pieces of thin glittering metallic substances used for the decoration of fabrics, hence any gaudy, showy and pretentious material or substance.
STENDAL, a town of Germany, in the province of Prussian Saxony, picturesquely situated on the Uchte, 70 m. W. of Berlin on the main line of railway to Hanover and at the junction of lines to Bremen, Magdeburg and Wittenberge. Pop. (1905), 23,281. Among the relics of its former importance are the cathedral, built in 1420–1424 (though originally founded in 1188), restored in 1893 and now housing the archaeological collection of the Altmark, the Gothic church of St Mary, founded in 1447, a “Roland column” of 1535, and two fortified gateways, dating from the 13th century. The last form the chief remains of the ancient fortifications, the site of which is now mostly occupied by promenades. A monument to the archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768) commemorates his birth in the town. Stendal is the seat of a large railway workshop, and carries on various branches of textile industry, besides the manufacture of tobacco, machinery, stoves, gold-leaf, &c. The earliest printing-press in the Altmark was erected here, and published an edition of the Sachsenspiegel in 1488 as its first book.
Stendal was founded in 1151 by Albert the Bear, on the site of a Wendish settlement, and soon afterwards acquired a municipal charter. Becoming capital of the Altmark and a frequent imperial residence, it rose to a considerable degree of prosperity, in part recently restored to it by its railway connexions. When the mark was divided in 1258, Stendal became the seat of the elder or Stendal branch of the house of Ascania, which, however, became extinct in 1320. The original Wends were gradually
