STIGMA

(Gr. criyua.) An impre ion, such as that made by branding with a hot iron. Stigmatizing was a common practice among the ancients to mark their slaves as property; and it is pursued at the present day among slave-drivers. It was customary also to stigmatize the votaries of some of the gods with some recognised emblem of their divinity, such as the ivy of Bacchus, the trident of Nep tune, or with the initial of their names, or some mys tical number. It is supposed that reference is made to this practice by St. John, Rev., ch. 13. See Tattooing. Stigma. In Botany, the upper extremity of the style without a cuticle, in consequence of which it has almost uniformly a humid and papillose surface. It is the part upon which the pollen falls, and where it is stimulated into the production of the pollen tubes, which are indispensable to the net of impregnation. [s. 1194]