C53 



SPURINNA VESTRITIUS. 



STACKHOUSE, THOMAS. 



661 



' Allgemeineu historischeu Schulatlas,' and a ' Leitfaden zur Geschichte 

 von Baiern ' (Guide to the History of Bavaria), of which a second 

 edition appeared iti 1853. 



SPURI'NNA VESTRITIUS, a Roman poet, who lived in the time 

 of Pliuy the younger, who in one of his letters (iii. 1) speaks of him 

 as one of the most delightful persons that he ever met with, and 

 states that he wrote lyric poetry both in Latin and Greek. He further 

 adds that his poems were distinguished for their extraordinary sweet- 

 ness, elegance, and cheerful spirit. At the time when Pliny wrote 

 this letter, Spurinna was seventy-seven years old, and enjoyed in his 

 old age the leisure and comforts which he had earned by a long and 

 active life, during which he had held several offices, and had also dis- 

 tinguished himself in the administration of the provinces. (Compare 

 Plin., ' Epist.,' i. 5 ; ii. 7.) 



There are extant four odes bearing the name of Spuriuna, which 

 however, as some critics think, were written by another person, as 

 they do not possess those merits which Pliny assigns to the poetry of 

 Spurinna. But the whole letter in which Pliny speaks of the poet is 

 written with such an enthusiastic admiration of the man, that nothing 

 is more natural than to conceive that he greatly overrated his poetical 

 powers. The odes were first edited by Caspar Earth, in 1613, in his 

 collection of ' Poetse Latini Venatici et Bucolici,' from an ancient 

 manuscript in the library of Marburg. They are also contained in 

 Wernsdorf's ' Poetse Latini Minores,' iii., p. 326, &c. 



SPURZHEIM, JOHANN GASPAR, was born in 1776, at Longwich, 

 near Trcves. He was educated in the University of Treves, and in 

 1799 went to study medicine at Vienna, where he first became ac- 

 quainted with Dr. Gall, the founder of the system of phrenology. 

 Spurzheim attended his lectures for the following four years, and then 

 associated himself with him for the prosecution of his researches. In 

 1805 they left Vienna and visited the principal parts of Germany, 

 France, Prussia, and Denmark, to confirm and promulgate their 

 doctrine. In 1807 they settled at Paris, and there first delivered 

 their joint courses of lectures. They pursued their subject together 

 till 1813, when they separated ; and Spurzheim, after taking the degree 

 of Doctor of Medicine at Vienna, came to this country and continued 

 for three years, lecturing in many of our principal towns, and actively 

 engaged in publishing works on phrenology, and in defending it 

 against the severe criticisms to which it had been subjected. From 

 1817 to 1825 he resided and lectured at Paris; and when the French 

 government prohibited the delivery of lectures except with special 

 permission, he returned to England. At this Visit he found his 

 doctrines entertained with much more favour than during his former 

 residence here; but he still occupied himself with the greatest energy 

 in their promulgation by lecturing in nearly all the large towns of the 

 whole kingdom, and by repeated publications. In 1832 he embarked 

 on a similar mission for America; and in a few months after his 

 landing, he died at Boston. 



In the article GALL we have referred to the difference between the 

 systems of Spurzheim and his preceptor. The scientific reputation 

 of Spurzheim must rest chiefly on his having proved the fibrous struc- 

 ture of the brain, and many other very important facts in its anatomy, 

 which, though published in his name jointly with that of Gall, were 

 certainly due to the researches of Spurzheim alone. These indeed 

 have no certain application in phrenology ; yet Spurzheim must be 

 regarded as having exercised an important influence on the progress 

 of that system. He claims the merit of having discovered eight new 

 cerebral organs, of analysing and classifying the mental powers, of 

 pointing out the moral and religious relations of phrenology, and the 

 relation of natural language or bodily actions to it, and of having made 

 many improvements in the mode of investigating the facts bearing 

 upon it. Admitting these claims however to their fullest extent, the 

 scientific merit of Spurzheim (whether phrenology be true or not) 

 must stand far below that of Gall. The great influence which he has 

 had in giving the predominant character to the phrenology of the 

 present day must be ascribed entirely to his power of rendering it a 

 subject of popular study. For this purpose he was admirably adapted. 

 He was an eloquent lecturer, and a most agreeable companion; his 

 style both of speaking and of writing was fluent, bold, positive, and 

 unhesitating ; his illustrations were pointed and amusing ; his argu- 

 ments, though very often quite illogical, were very easy of apprehension; 

 his conclusions general and indefinite; and he always treated his subject 

 with an enthusiasm which satisfied his hearers of" his own conviction 

 of the truth of his cause, and which was enough in itself to carry 

 conviction to the minds of all who were not well-disciplined in the 

 fallacies of science. That which Gall discovered and invented, but 

 could scarcely have taught, was by Spurzheim made to seem intel- 

 ligible to the most ordinary understanding ; and to him therefore must 

 be attributed the reputation of having made phrenology one of the 

 most popular studies or pursuits of the day. 



The works of Spurzheim are very numerous, and most of them are 

 generally known. A complete account of them is given, with his 

 Life, in the ' Phrenological Journal,' vol. viii. A memoir of the life 

 and philosophy of Spurzheim was published at Dublin, in 1833, by 

 Mr. Carmichael. 



SQUARCIO'NE, FRANCESCO. This painter, celebrated for his 

 superior acquirements, as well as his great school and rich collections 

 of works of art, was born of a good family at Padua in 1394, and 



after performing many tours in Greece and Italy lived there in great 

 affluence and distinction until bis death in 1444. His house was one 

 of the chief attractions in Padua. He was the master of Andrea 

 Mantegna, who lived some time in Squarcione's house, and also of 

 Jacopo Bellini and Marco Zoppo. From his very numerous school (he 

 had 137 scholars) he was called the father and primo maestro of 

 paintr-rs. He appears to have been more engaged in teaching than in 

 practising the art. He received indeed many commissions, but he 

 appears to have entrusted their execution mainly to his scholars. 

 The only work at Padua known to have been executed by Squarcione 

 himself is one painted for the Lazara family in 1432, which excels 

 alike in colour, expression, and perspective. The celebrated illus- 

 trated Book of Anthems in the church of the Misericordia, which 

 used to be commonly ascribed to Mantegna, is now by competent 

 judges considered one of the commissions of Squarcione executed by 

 his numerous scholars. Vasari terms him erroneously Jacopo Squar- 

 cione. (Ridolfi, Vite de' Pittori Veneti, d-c.) 



SQUIRE, SAMUEL, D.D., a learned prelate of the English Church, 

 and author of various works, was the son of an apothecary at War- 

 minster in Wiltshire, where he was born in 1714. He was educated 

 in St. John's College, Cambridge, and became early in life chaplain to 

 Dr. Wynne, bishop of Bath and Wells, by whom he was made chan- 

 cellor of Wells and archdeacon of Bath. He was afterwards chaplain 

 and private secretary to the Duke of Newcastle. In 1750 he became 

 rector of St. Ann's, Westminster. He had no other preferment, till 

 in 1760 he was made dean of Bristol, and in 1761 bishop of St. 

 David's. His life was prosperous, but short : he died in 1766. at the 

 age of fifty-two. His principal published writings are ' An Enquiry 

 into the Nature of the English Constitution ; ' ' The Ancient History 

 of the Hebrews Vindicated ;' two essays, 1, ' A Defence of the Ancient 

 Greek Chronology,' 2, 'An Enquiry into the Origin of the Greek 

 Language ;' an edition of Plutarch's treatise ' On Isis and Osiris;' 'An 

 Essay on the Balance of Civil Power in England ;' 'Indifference for 

 Religion inexcusable;' and 'Remarks on Mr. Cart's Specimen of his 

 General History of England.' There is also a Catechism by him, and 

 a collection of sermons preached by him on public occasions. More 

 may be read respecting him in Nichols's ' Literary Anecdotes of the 

 Eighteenth Century,' vol. ii., p. 348. 



STACKHOUSE, JOHN, principally known as a botanist, was the 

 youngest son of William Stackhouse, a minister of the Established 

 Church, and the nephew of Thomas Stackhouse, the subject of the 

 following article. He pursued his studies at Oxford, and was made a 

 fellow of Exeter College, which he resigned in 1763, and went to live 

 at Bath, where he resided all the remainder of his life. He employed 

 the leisure which an independent fortune gave him in the pursuit of 

 botany, and made many valuable contributions to that science. He 

 was one of the earliest fellows of the Linneean Society. His attention 

 was principally directed to the study of Algce. In 1801 he published 

 his ' Nereis Britannica,' in folio, a work containing descriptions in 

 Latin and English of the Fuci, Algce, and Conferva growing in England, 

 and illustrated with coloured plates. Many new species of marine 

 Algce were described in this work, and dissections given of some other 

 species. Of this work a second edition appeared in quarto in 1816 ; 

 the descriptions are entirely in Latin, and the plates uncoloured. In 

 1814 he published an edition of Theophrastus 'On Plants,' in 2 vols., 

 which was illustrated with plates, and contained a catalogue of the 

 plants of Theophrastus, with a copious glossary and many valuable 

 notes. In 1811 he published ' Illustrationes Theophrasti,' in which 

 the plants of that author are arranged according to the Linnaaan 

 system, and the modern synonyms are given. He also published an 

 essay on the Balsam and Myrrh trees, with remarks on the notices of 

 them by modern travellers and ancient writers, especially Theophrastus. 

 He contributed two papers to the ' Linnrean Transactions,' one on the 

 Ulva punctata, the other on the preparation of plants for herbaria. He 

 died at Bath, in November 1819. 



STACKHOUSE, THOMAS, a divine of the English Church, and 

 one of the first persons who wrote extensive works in theology for the 

 booksellers, expressly for the purpose of sale among the less educated 

 portions of the population. He is said to have been born in 1681, 

 but of the place of his birth, his education, and early history, nothing 

 appears to be known. The letters M.A. appear after his name on his 

 monument, and in the title-pages of some of his books, but his name 

 is not found in the list of graduates of Oxford or Cambridge. We 

 have his own authority for saying that he was in early life living at 

 Amsterdam, and performing clerical duties there, but we look in vain 

 in Mr. Stevens's work on the English and Scottish churches in 

 Holland for any notice of him ; and the first that is known of him 

 when in England is, that he was curate at Richmond, as afterwards at 

 Ealing and at Fiuchley, in all which places he was much respected. 

 He continued a citrate for the greater part of his life, and the utmost 

 preferment which he obtained was the vicarage of Benham in Berk- 

 shire, which was given him in 1733, and where, in 1752, he died and 

 was buried. 



Various anonymous tracts have been attributed to him, and there 

 are others to which his name is affixed that are supposed to be by 

 other writers, but none of them are of sufficient importance to 

 require more than this general notice. His first publication was on a 

 subject which continued ever after to be a favourite one with him 



