SCURVY, (Scorbut, Fr.) A disease to which soldiers and seamen are peculiarly exposed, from idleness, inattention to cleanliness of person and food, eating salted meat and drinking bad water, &c.
SCUTE or Canot, Fr. In Dutch Schoot, and Canot, is pronounced with us as if written cannoo. Any small boat which is used in navigation for the accommodation of a ship.
SEARCHER, an instrument used by the founders to discover any flaws in the bore of cannon, &c. See [Proof].
To SEASON. In a military sense, to accustom, to enure. Soldiers are frequently sent to Gibraltar in order to be seasoned for a hot climate.
Seasoned Troops. Troops that have been accustomed to climate, and are not so liable to become the victims of any endemical disorder, as raw men must unavoidably be. The French use the word acclimater; to get accustomed to a change of climate. Hence Troupes acclimatees; troops that have been seasoned.
SEAT of war. The country in which war is carrying on.
SECANT, (Secante, Fr.) A line which cuts another, or divides it into two parts. See [table] at the end of the word [Gunnery].
Secant of an arch. In trigonometry, is a right line drawn from the centre of the circle to the extremity of the tangent.
Secant of an angle. Supposing an angle to be terminated by a base that is perpendicular to one of the sides, and that the smallest side of the angle be taken for the radius or whole sinus, the greatest of the two sides of that angle will be its secant.
SECOND, (Second, Fr.) The next in order to the first. The ordinal of two. The next in dignity, place, or station. The French use the word Second in military matters, somewhat differently from the English, viz.