Sclerite

“ Skelton put his sword back into its scabbard, gave one glance over his shoulder, and made towards the dais.
"Good saints, a man feels a knife at his back in such a place! Some devil's work a-brewing. What's to be done? Maybe she is dead with fear."
He bent over her, touched the black hair and the white neck, and a sudden awe came over him. This helpless thing lying like a wounded bird! Skelton's eyes softened. He lifted her and carried her out into the courtyard, passing the dead man, who still stared into nothingness. ”

“ Afar off, at the negro quarters, a circle of dark figures sat around an outdoor fire, and a song faintly echoed from them. Skelton tried to distinguish Sylvia’s window from the dark pile of the Belfield house, but could not, and smiled at himself for his folly, and was glad to know such folly. He was no mean philosopher in the actual experiences of life. ”

“ Calling one day upon the wife of the surgeon, however, she met the chaplain face to face, and with the consummate art of acting which most women possess, rallied him upon his absence from her house. The behaviour of the poor devil, thus stabbed to the heart, was curious. He forgot gentlemanly behaviour and the respect due to a woman, flung one despairingly angry glance at her and abruptly retired. Sylvia flushed crimson, and endeavoured to excuse North on account of his recent illness. ”

“ My eyes became affected by sclerotitis, a severe inflammation of the sclerotic. Gradually my eyes, those most beautiful structures of the human body which manifest in such small compass the great, the unspeakable, the incomprehensible power of our Creator, grew dim. My sight was slowly but surely failing me. ”

“ EPISCLERITIS. INFLAMMATION OF THE SCLERA. Scleritis in man is described as a manifestation of rheumatism, gout, or tuberculosis. It occurs in animals in connection with traumatic lesions, with iritis, cyclitis and choroiditis and is manifested by more or less congestion, swelling and tenderness of the sclerotic, but is always subordinate in importance and the treatment demanded is for the more serious disease. ”

“ In patients with scleroderma, there is an excess production of collagen, the main fibrous component of connective tissue. As a result, the formation of dense, compact tissue causes the skin to lose its elasticity. Scleroderma is also a disease of the vascular and immune systems and can impair internal organs, such as the kidneys, lungs, heart, and gastrointestinal tract.
New biomedical research findings and innovative approaches to diagnosis and treatment are essential in fighting against this multifaceted disorder. ”

“ But growing old soothed by Sylvia’s charming companionship and tender ministrations, and with new ties, new emotions, new pleasures, was not terrifying to him. He revolved these things in his mind, occasionally looking fondly at the sleeping boy, who was indeed all that Skelton said he was. Skelton had no idea of falling asleep, but gradually a delicious languor stole on him. How merrily the blackbirds were singing outside, and the sparrows chirped and chattered under the eaves! ”

“ Waste no pity! Let it be done quickly!"
A dozen thoughts hastened together through Skelton's mind. "By my honour, she is but a child! Is it madness, or some terror greatly to be feared? What manner of man am I held to be? And this sword, too? Those eyes of hers stare one into stammering." He went forward three steps, and, dropping the point of his sword to the floor, looked at her compassionately with his shrewd grey eyes. ”

“ So can a man of brains wrest disadvantage to his advantage.
Sylvia heard him through, making occasionally little faint stands against him that never amounted to anything. There was already treason in the citadel, and all she wanted was a chance to surrender. Skelton knew all the transformations of the cunning passion called love, and Sylvia’s flutterings were those of a bird in the snare of the fowler. ”

“ The reverend gentleman was luckily deaf to this, and Skelton immediately rose to go, with a wicked smile at Sylvia, who, in her way, seemed to lack for appreciation of her mother’s ecclesiastical idol quite as much as Bulstrode. When Skelton was back at Deerchase that night he thought Sylvia one of the most winning girls he had ever met. But then, he could not admire a charming girl as other men could. ”

“ What makes our army so slack of duty, cousin?"
Though no fault of his, Edmund blushed deeply in very shame—the approach of Heron, Skelton, Trereife, and three or four other principal rebels, cut off his reply. It had been agreed that Skelton, who had a gift of eloquence, should speak, and many words he used to welcome his liege. "We will have every man with a red rose in his cap, in a drag chain, please your grace, and give a sound lesson to the saucy burghers of Exeter withal. Not a knight shall live in the land, but of your majesty's dubbing. ”

“ Certainly Skelton was not. He loved power better than anything on earth, and the conquest of a woman worth conquering gave him infinite pleasure.
He felt this intoxication of power as he watched Sylvia. Although he was not a vain man, he could almost have fixed the instant when she, who had been long trembling on the brink of falling in love with him, suddenly lost her balance. They had sat in the summerhouse a long time, although it seemed short to them. ”

“ I sew'd it up with scarlet silk
⁠Last night upon my knee,
And my heart grew sad and sore to think
⁠Thy face I'd never see.
I sew'd it up with scarlet silk,
⁠As I lay upon my bed:
Sorrow! the man I'll never see
⁠That had my maidenhead. ”

“ Such an interview, perhaps, would have been more terrible than even to meet him as she now did, with the hot, mid-day sun burning down upon her face, and lighting up its shame; with the scarlet token of infamy on her breast; with the sin-born infant in her arms; with a whole people, drawn forth as to a festival, staring at the features that should have been seen only in the quiet gleam of the fireside, in the happy shadow of a home, or beneath a matronly veil, at church. ”

“ With these words she advanced to the margin of the brook, took up the scarlet letter, and fastened it again into her bosom. Hopefully, but a moment ago, as Hester had spoken of drowning it in the deep sea, there was a sense of inevitable doom upon her as she thus received back this deadly symbol from the hand of fate. She had flung it into infinite space! she had drawn an hour’s free breath! and here again was the scarlet misery glittering on the old spot! So it ever is, whether thus typified or no, that an evil deed invests itself with the character of doom. ”

“ Diffuse symmetric scleroderma, or hide-bound disease, is quite rare, and presents itself in two phases: that of infiltration (more properly called hypertrophy) and atrophy, caused by shrinkage. The whole body may be involved, and each joint may be fixed as the skin over it becomes rigid. The muscles may be implicated independently of the skin, or simultaneously, and they give the resemblance of rigor mortis. The whole skin is so hard as to suggest the idea of a frozen corpse, without the coldness, the temperature being only slightly subnormal. The skin can neither be pitted nor pinched. ”

“ Skelton, you don’t know what it is to be caged!”
Skelton thought he understood her.
“Some day you will see the world,” he said, “and then you will lose all of your illusions. I am satisfied at Deerchase, because I know it is as good a spot as any in the world.”
“Do you think I will ever see the world?” said Sylvia. “Well, I don’t think I will. I want it too much. We never get what we want very, very much.”
“Yes, we do,” replied Skelton, looking skyward. “We want rain very, very much, and we will get it very soon.” ”

“ The lips were curved together in a line, expressing delicate and honest sensibility; a silent enthusiasm, impetuosity not unchecked by melancholy, gleamed in his softly kindled eyes and pale cheeks, and the brow was high and thoughtful. To judge from his portraits, Schiller's face expressed well the features of his mind: it is mildness tempering strength; fiery ardour shining through the clouds of suffering and disappointment, deep but patiently endured. Pale was its proper tint; the cheeks and temples were best hollow. There are few faces that affect us more than Schiller's ”

“ Scleroderma. (Synonyms: Sclerema; Scleriasis; Dermatosclerosis; Morphœa; Keloid of Addison.)
What is scleroderma?
Scleroderma is an acute or chronic disease of the skin characterized by a localized or general, more or less diffuse, usually pigmented, rigid, stiffened, indurated or hide-bound condition.
Morphœa, by some formerly thought to be a distinct affection, is now believed to be a form of scleroderma; as typically met with it is characterized by one or more rounded, oval, or elongate, coin- to palm-sized, pinkish, or whitish ivory-looking patches. ”

“ The name of Skelt itself has always seemed a part and parcel of the charm of his productions. It may be different with the rose, but the attraction of this paper drama sensibly declined when Webb had crept into the rubric: a poor cuckoo, flaunting in Skelt's nest. And now we have reached Pollock, sounding deeper gulfs. Indeed, this name of Skelt appears so stagey and piratic, that I will adopt it boldly to design these qualities. Skeltery, then, is a quality of much art. It is even to be found, with reverence be it said, among the works of nature. The stagey is its generic name ”

“ He had been in the habit of evacuating completely the contents of the scleral cavity in cases of phlegmonous inflammation of the globe, and then—as also in excision of anterior portions of the globe in cases of anterior staphyloma or hydrophthalmia—of bringing the edges of sclera together with sutures. A very good stump, sometimes with little diminution in size of the globe, is thus obtained, which partly fills the orbital cavity and affords good support to an artificial eye. ”

“ He noticed, sardonically, the manœuvring mothers and designing daughters gave faint indications that he was not in the running; and worldly-wise young women would be likely to be shy of his attentions, for they could mean nothing. Skelton gave them no cause to be shy of him, but the whole thing humiliated him. There was that charming Sylvia—so thought Skelton, sitting in the library that afternoon with a book in his hand which he was not reading—she entertained him vastly ”

“ The atrophic type of scleroderma is preceded by an edema, and from pressure-atrophy of the fat and muscles the skin of the face is strained over the bones; the lips are shortened, the gums shrink from the teeth and lead to caries, and the nostrils are compressed. The strained skin and the emotionless features (relieved only by telangiectatic striae) give the countenance a ghastly, corpse-like aspect. The etiology and pathology of this disease are quite obscure. Happily the prognosis is good, as there is a tendency to spontaneous recovery, although the convalescence may be extended. ”

“ As for Skelton, he walked down towards the river in a kind of ecstasy. The boy’s heart was his. No lover winning his mistress ever felt a more delicious triumph.
As he strolled along by the cedar hedges near the river, and the masses of crape myrtle and syringa, that could withstand the salt air and the peevish winds of winter, he began to consider all his new sources of happiness. There was the deep, tumultuous joy of Sylvia’s love, and the profound tenderness he felt for Lewis, that had only grown the more [309] for the stern subduing of it ”

“ IV. LIFE OF SCHILLER.10 The hundredth anniversary of the birthday of Schiller, which, according to the accounts published in the German newspapers, seems to have been celebrated in most parts of the civilized, nay, even the uncivilized world, is an event in some respects unprecedented in the literary annals of the human race. A nation honors herself by honoring her sons, and it is but natural that in Germany every town and village should have vied in doing honor to the memory of one of their greatest poets. ”

“ Still greater was the annoyance they experienced when they discovered that the scarlet flash which had so scared them was produced—not by the red coats of a body of regulars—but by the whittles worn by a parcel of women! ”

“ Slicko hid deeper down in the leaves, and, a little later, as the brown animal came closer, the girl squirrel saw that it was not the kind of a boy she had ever seen before. For, though boys can climb trees, they can not climb up and down as fast as the brown animal was doing, nor can they hang by their tails. In fact, as Slicko knew, boys have no tails. ”

“ Well, Tell, I promised thou shouldst have thy life;
I gave my knightly word, and I will keep it.
Yet, as I know the malice of thy thoughts,
I'll have thee carried hence, and safely penn'd,
Where neither sun nor moon shall reach thine eyes.
Thus from thy arrows I shall be secure.
Seize on him, guards, and bind him!
[They bind him.]
STAUFF.
How, my lord—
How can you treat in such a way a man
On whom God's hand has plainly been reveal'd?
GESSL.
Well, let us see if it will save him twice!
Remove him to my ship; I'll follow straight,
At Kussnacht I will see him safely lodged. ”

“ FIESCO. This note invites me to her. I'll be with you, madam!—and find means to lure you hither, too. Now haste thee, with all thy speed, and call together the conspirators.
MOOR. This order I anticipated, and therefore at my own risk appointed every one to come at ten o'clock precisely.
FIESCO. I hear the sound of footsteps. They are here. Fellow, thy villany deserves a gallows of its own, on which no son of Adam was ever yet suspended. Wait in the ante-chamber till I call for thee. ”