a kind of royal staff, or baton, borne on solemn occasions by kings, as a badge of their command and authority. Nicod derives the word from the Greek σκῆπτρον, which he says originally signified "a javelin," which the ancient kings usually bore as a badge of their authority; that instrument being in very great veneration among the heathens. But σκῆπτρον does not properly signify a javelin, but a staff to rest upon, from σκεπτόμενος, inniter, "I lean upon." Accordingly, in the simplicity of the earlier ages of the world, the sceptres of kings were no other than long walking-staves: and Ovid, in speaking of Jupiter, describes him as resting on his sceptre (Met. i. ver. 178.). The sceptre is an emblem of royalty of greater antiquity than the crown. The Greek tragic and other poets put sceptres in the hands of the most ancient kings they ever introduce. Justin observes, that the sceptre, in its original, was a ἅβατον, or spear. He adds, that, in the most remote antiquity, men adored the ἅβατον or sceptres as immortal gods; and that it was upon this account, that, even in his time, they still furnished the gods with sceptres.—Neptune's sceptre is his trident. Tarquin the Elder was the first who assumed the sceptre among the Romans. Le Gentre tells us, that, in the first race of the French kings, the sceptre was a golden rod, almost always of the same height with the king who bore it, and crooked at one end like a crozier. Frequently instead of a sceptre, kings are seen on medals with a palm in their hand. See REGALIA.

SCHÆFFERA, a genus of plants belonging to the dioecia class; and in the natural method ranking with those that are doubtful. See BOTANY Index.