612 



SPA11TANBURG 



SI' WIN 



captured and sold to a trainer of gladiators at 

 Capua. He formed a conspiracy to escape, and, 

 when it was discovered, broke out with some 

 seventy followers, with whom he made for the 

 crater of Vesuvius, where hordes of runaway slaves 

 soon joined him. He first overpowered and seized 

 the amis of a force sent against him from Capua, 

 next routed an army of 3000 men under C. Clodins, 

 and so passed from victory to victor}*, overrunning 

 Southern Italy nnd sacking many of the cities of 

 Campania, his numbers growing to forty, seventy, 

 and even a hundred, thousand men. (Jreatpartof 

 Out nil and Southern Italy had l>een thrown into 

 pasture-land, on which the flocks l>elonging to rich 

 absentee nobles were tended by gangs of discon- 

 tented slaves, who flocked eagerly to the standard 

 of revolt. Spartacus, who failed to get support from 

 the Italian communities, and from the first knew 

 the real weakness of his position, strove to j>er- 

 snade his victorious bands to march northwards to 

 the Alps and disperse to their native regions ; but 

 they were intoxicated with victory, and aaw glitter- 

 ing before their eyes all the plunder of Italy. 

 Against his better judgment he continued the war, 

 showing himself a consummate captain in the 

 strategy and valour with which he routed one 

 Roman" consular army after another, and the policy 

 by which for long he assuaged the jealousies and 

 dissensions amongst his followers. At length in 71 

 M. Licinius Crassus received the command, and 

 after some time of cautious delay forced Spartacus 

 into the narrow peninsula of Khegium, from which, 

 however, he burst out through the Roman lines 

 v itli a portion of his force. Crassus, in despair, 

 urged the senate to recall Lucullus from Asia anil 

 Pompey from Spain, but meantime he himself pur- 

 sued active hostilities against the dreaded enemy. 

 Spartacus finding all hope at an end made a dash 

 on Bniiidusiuin, hoping to seize the shipping and 

 get across the Adriatic, but was foiled by the 

 presence of Lucullus, whereupon he fell back upon 

 the river Silarus, and there made a heroic stand 

 against Crassus until he was cut down. 



Spartanburg, capital of Spartanburg county, 

 Bon tli Carolina, 93 miles by rail NNW. of Colum- 

 bia. Bricks and carriages are manufactured ; and 

 here are boys' and girls high schools and the \Vof- 

 ford ( Methodist ; 1853) College. Pop. ( 1890) :V.H. 



Spasm (Gr. spasma) consists in an irregular 

 and violent contraction of muscular parts in- 

 voluntary even when the voluntary muscles are 

 concerned. There are two sorts of spasm. In one 

 there is an unusually prolonged and strong muscu- 

 lar contraction, not rapidly alternating as usual with 

 relaxation, the relaxation only taking place slow 1 y, 

 and after some time. This is known as tonic s/ 



{(Jr. fonti.1, 'a bracing up')or Cramp (Q.V.). When 

 in a more moderate degree affecting tlie voluntary 

 muscles generally it constitutes Catalepsy (q.v.), 

 in which, from the muscles remaining contracted, 

 the limits will retain whatsoever attitude they are 

 placed in, until the spasm is over. Hut the extreme 

 example is Tetanus (q.v.), in which the spasms are 

 so violent and so enduring that they may 1x3 s;iid 

 to squeeze the patient to death. In the other 

 form of spasm the contractions of the affected 

 nm-cles take place repeatedly, forcibly, and in 

 quick succession ; the relaxations being, of course, 

 equally sudden and frequent. This is named clonie 

 matin ((Jr. klotioi, 'an agitation'), and is popu- 

 larly known as convulsion*. The spasmodic twitch- 

 ings which sometimes occur in the muscles that 

 close the eyelids (orbictilaris pal|M>hrarum) are 

 familiar to almost everybody, and arc an example 

 of clonie spasm on a very small scale. Epilepsy 

 and convulsive hysteria afford the host examples of 

 this kind of spasm. Chorea (q.v.), or fit rilas't 



dance, is an allied but less regular and character- 

 istic form. 



The treatment varies according to the cause of 

 the excessive muscular irritability, l-'irm pres-ure 

 on muscles affected with spasm will promote their 

 relaxation, and by strong steady pressure on the 

 masseter muscles the lower jaw has lieen depressed, 

 so as to open the mouth, in cases of lock-jaw. The 

 medicines which are employed to counteract in> 

 lar or inordinate muscular action are termed niili- 

 spasmoditt ; but spasm may dt-jx-nd ii|M>n so many 

 different causes that the remedies which are found 

 must successful in combating it must vary extremely 

 in their nature. There are, however, a few medi- 

 cines which appear to exercise a control over spa-- 

 modic action generally. These may be termini 

 pure or true antisjrnsniodics. They are Asafu-tida, 

 Cotyledon umbilicus (or Common Navel-won), 

 \\dod-soot, Gallwuiuni, Musk, Rue, Sa^aj.enum. 

 Sumbul (Jatamansi or Musk Root), and Valerian 

 and the Bromides. Amongst the narcotic.- often 

 useful in these affections we may es|iecially men- 

 tion Belladonna, Cannabis Indica (or Indian hemp), 

 Chloral, Opium, and Stramonium. Sulphuric ether 

 in draught or inhaled, and inhaled chloroform, are 

 often of service. In some cases, remedies which 

 directly depress the vital powers, such as the pro- 

 longed use of the warm bath, or even, in rare ca-e-, 

 the abstraction of blood, are the most effectual 

 means of subduing spa-m. 



Spasmodic School, a name applied to a 

 group of English poets about the middle of the 

 19th century, among whom were Philip James 

 Bailey, Sydney Dobell, and Alexander Smith. 

 The name implied an overstrained and unnatural 

 method of sentiment and expression, which some 

 times grew out of sheer affectation and not seldom 

 sank hopelessly into bathos. Professor Aytonn's 

 /'iriniliini (1S54) was an excellent burlesque of 

 the high-strung and grandiose style of thc-o poet- 

 who took themselves much too seriously, and weie 

 for a moment also taken at their own valuation by 

 the world. 



Spa tin- (Spaiha), in Botany, a sheathing bract 

 which encloses one or more flowers, as in the 

 Narcissus. Very frequently the flowers within a 

 spathe are arranged upon a xpaduc, which is a 

 succulent spike, with numerous flowers, and of 

 which a familiar example may be seen in Arum 

 iiiiH-ii/ii/iiin. The spadix is a characteristic feature 

 of the Palms, and in them is compound or branch 

 ing, and in general is provided not onlv with a 

 common spathe, but with secondary spathes at it* 

 division-. 



Spathic Iron Ore. See IRON, Vol. VI. p. 216. 



Spavin, a disease of horses, occurs under two 

 different forms, both interfering with soundness. 

 In young, weakly, or overworked subjects the hock- 

 joint is sometimes distended with dark colon red 

 thickened synovia or joint-oil. This is bog spavin. 

 Fomentations, occasional friction, a laxative diet, 

 and rest should be diligently tried ; and if such 

 remedies prove unsuccessful the swelling must 

 lie dressed with strong blistering ointment or fired. 

 The second variety of spavin is the more common. 

 Towards the inside of the hock, at the head of the 

 shank-lKine, or lietween some of the small bones of 

 t In' hock, a bony enlargement may be seen ami felt. 

 This is IMHII? spavin. At first there is tenderness, 

 heat, swelling, and considerable lameness ; but as 

 the inflammation in the bone and its in\ e-t inj: mem 

 brane abates the lameness may entirely di-appeai. 

 or a slight stiffness may remain. In recent and 

 slight cases cold water should he applied eontimi- 

 oii-l v ; but in serious cases, when the part is swollen 

 ami tender, hot fomentations are best. For several 

 days they must be peraeveringly employed. When 



