in a military sense, are generally horsemen sent out before, and on the wings of an army, at the distance of a mile or two, to discover the enemy, and give the general an account of what they see.

SCRATCH-PANS, in the English salt-works, a name given to certain leaden pans, which are usually made about a foot and a half long, a foot broad, and three inches deep, with a bow or circular handle of iron, by which they may be drawn out with a hook when the liquor in the pan is boiling. Their use is to receive a scalding matter, known by the name of soft scratch, which falls during the evaporation of the salt-water. See the article Sea Salt.