STAFFORDSHIRE (1,083), a midland mining and manufacturing county of England, wedged in on the N. between Cheshire (W.) and Derby (N.), and extending southward to Worcester, with Shropshire on the W., and Leicester and Warwick on the E.; with the exception of the wild and hilly “moorland” in the N. consists of an undulating plain crossed by the Trent, and intersected in all directions by canals and railways; embraces two rich coal-fields, one in the “Black Country” of the S., where rich deposits of iron-stone are also worked, and one in the N., embracing the district of the “Potteries”; famous breweries exist at Burton; Wolverhampton is the largest town.

STAGIRITE, THE, ARISTOTLE (q. v.), so called from his native place Stagira.

STAHL, FRIEDRICH JULIUS, writer of jurisprudence, born at Muenich, of Jewish parents; embraced Christianity; wrote “The Philosophy of Law”; became professor thereof at Berlin; was a staunch Lutheran, and a Conservative in politics (1802-1861).

STAHL, GEORG ERNEST, a German chemist, born at Anspach; was professor of Medicine at Halle; author of the theory of PHLOGISTON (q. v.) and of ANIMISM (q. v.) (1650-1735).

STAINES (5), a pretty little town of Middlesex, on the Thames (spanned here by a fine granite bridge), 6 m.  SE. of Windsor; St. Mary’s church has a tower designed by Inigo Jones; has breweries, mustard-mills, and other factories; in the neighbourhood are RUNNYMEDE and COOPER’S HILL (q. v.).

STAIR, JOHN DALRYMPLE, 1ST EARL OF, eldest son of James Dalrymple (1619-1695) of Stair (a distinguished lawyer in his day, who rose to be President of the Court of Session; wrote a well-known work, “Institutes of the Law of Scotland”; as a Protestant supported the Prince of Orange, and by him was raised to the peerage as viscount in 1690); adopted law as a profession, and was called to the bar in 1672; got into trouble with Claverhouse, and was fined and imprisoned, but in 1687 was received into royal favour, became Lord Advocate, a Lord Ordinary in the Court of Session, and subsequently as Secretary of State for Scotland was mainly responsible for the MASSACRE OF GLENCOE (q. v.); was created an earl in 1703, and later was active in support of the union of the English and Scottish Parliaments (1648-1707).

STAIR, JOHN DALRYMPLE, 2ND EARL OF, second son of preceding; entered the army at 19, and fought with his regiment, the Cameronians, at Steinkirk; studied law for some time at Leyden, but went back to the army, and by 1701 was a lieutenant-colonel in the Scots Foot Guards, and in 1706 colonel of the Cameronians; fought with distinction under Marlborough at Venlo, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and, as commander of a brigade, at the siege of Lille and at Malplaquet; was active in support of the Hanoverian succession, and subsequently in the reigns of George I. and II. filled important diplomatic and military posts (1673-1747).

STALACTITE, a cone of carbonate of lime attached like an icicle to the roof of a cavern, and formed by the dripping of water charged with the carbonate from the rock above; Stalagmite being the name given to the cone formed on the floor by the dripping from a stalactite above.