SPANIEL SPARROW-HAWK. 



347 



induced him to enter tbe service of the elector of i 

 Brandenburg, afterwards king of Prussia, who 

 raised him to the order of nobility, while ambassa- 

 dor extraordinary at Paris. In 1702, he proceeded 

 in the same capacity to London, where he died in 

 1710. His principal works are a Dissertation on 

 the Excellence and Use of the Medals of the An- 

 cients (folio, 2 vols.); Letters and Essays on 

 Medals; a Commentary on the writings of Aristo- 

 phanes and Callimachus ; an edition of the writings 

 of the emperor Julian, in Greek and Latin, and a 

 French translation of the same work, illustrated by 

 medals. 



Frederic Spanheim, brother of Ezekiel, was born 

 in 1631, at Geneva, studied at Leyden, and suc- 

 ceeded to the divinity chair at Heidelberg, in 1665, 

 which he exchanged for that at Leyden in 1670. 

 He was a voluminous writer, principally on theolo- 

 gical subjects, and compiled an elaborate history of 

 the Christian church. His death took place in 

 1701. 



SPANIEL (ca >is extrarius, L.). The spaniel 

 has the hair verj long in parts; it is generally 

 white, with large brown, liver-coloured or black 

 spots, of irregular shape and size; the nose is some- 

 times cleft; the ears are very long and pendulous, 

 and covered with long hair. This race came ori- 

 ginally from Spain, whence its name. The setter 

 is sometimes called the English spaniel. It cor- 

 responds, in every point, with the true spaniel, but 

 is trained more particularly for field sports. The 

 Alpine or St Bernard's variety of the spaniel breed 

 exceeds all others in size and beauty. It is gener- 

 ally two feet high at the shoulders, and full six feet 

 from the nose to the end of the tail. These dogs 

 are sent out in couples to scour the mountain in 

 search of lost or weaned travellers. They have 

 frequently been of great use in this way. 



The smaller spaniel, king Charles's dog (cants 

 brevipilis, L.), is a small variety of the spaniel, used 

 as a lap dog. It is sometimes found entirely black, 

 and is then called, in England, king Charles's dog, 

 from the liking of Charles II. for this variety. 



The Maltese dog and the lion dog (canis leoni- 

 nus, L.) are small species of spaniel. The first is 

 supposed to have sprung from the intercourse of the 

 little spaniel with the smaller water dog. It has 

 the hair, all over the body, very long and silky, and 

 generally pure white. The other has long silky 

 hair about the head, neck, shoulders, and extremity 

 of the tail; but, on the other part, short, giving 

 the little animal a leonine appearance. It is pro- 

 bably bred between the little spaniel and one of the 

 naked varieties. 



The great water spaniel (canis ayuaticus, L.) is 

 supposed to be the offspring of the great water dog 

 and the little spaniel. It is very much like the for- 

 mer animal, but the curly hair is more silky, and 

 like that of the land spaniel. There is also a 

 useful variety of this breed between the water 

 spaniel and the shepherd's dog. These animals are 

 used to find water-fowl, shot over water. 



SPANISH FLY. See Cantharides. 



SPANISH MAIN; the Atlantic ocean and coast 

 along the north part of South America, from the 

 Leeward islands to the isthmus of Darien. 



SPANISH SUCCESSION, WAR OF THE. 

 See Spain, and Utrecht. 



SPAR. See Barytes, Corundum, Fluor, &nd Lime, j 



SPARRMAN, ANDREW, a Swedish naturalist 

 and traveller, was born about 1747, and studied 

 medicine at Upsal. His attention to natural his- 



tory attracted the notice of Linnaeus. In 176j, 

 ne made a voyage to China. On his return, he de- 

 scribed the animals and vegetables which he had dis- 

 covered; and, to continue his researches, went to 

 the cape of Good Hope in 1772. Doctor Forster 

 and his son visiting the cape with captain Cook, he 

 joined them in the voyage round the world, and re- 

 turned, in 1775, to Africa, undertook a journey into 

 the interior; and, after penetrating to the distance 

 of 350 leagues from the cape, he returned to that 

 settlement in April, 1776, bringing a copious col- 

 lection of African plants and animals. The same 

 year he returned to his native country. In 1787, 

 he engaged in an abortive attempt to explore the 

 interior of Africa, and returned home ir 1788. He 

 died at Stockholm, July 20, 1820. He was the 

 author of several worics, among which is an Acco unt 

 of his Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, and 

 Travels in Africa, written in Swedish, and pub- 

 lished in German at Berlin, and in English at Lon- 

 don, 1785 (2 vols., 4to.). 



SPARROW, OB FINCH (fringilla). The com- 

 mon European sparrow is almost domesticated in 

 this portion of the globe, frequenting the habita- 

 tions of man, even in the midst of populous cities, 

 and nestling under the eaves of houses, in holes in 

 the walls, in pots placed for their use, &c. It is 

 of a robust form, and has a stouter bill than the 

 majority of the finches. It is found almost through- 

 out the Eastern continent, supporting equally well 

 severe cold and extreme heats. It is inconveniently 

 familiar, and its incessant and monotonous note is 

 fatiguing to the ear. In many districts it is so 

 numerous as to do great injury to the grain fields. 

 Its voracity is extreme; neither can its flesh or 

 plumage be applied to any useful purpose. Fortu- 

 nately for America, they are free from this pest on 

 that side of the Atlantic. They have, in its place, 

 the chipping sparrow, a delicate bird, almost as 

 familiar, but nowise obtrusive. They have, besides, 

 numerous species of finch, which are readily dis- 

 tinguished from other small birds, by the short, 

 conical bill, with cutting edges, which seems pecu- 

 liarly adapted to the purpose of freeing seeds of 

 the hulls an operation which these birds accom- 

 plish with great adroitness. Though granivorous, 

 they feed their young on worms and soft insects only. 



SPARROW-HAWK, AMERICAN (falco spar- 

 verius, L.). This beautifully marked bird appears 

 to reside principally in the warmer parts of the 

 United States. It is particularly abundant, in the 

 winter, throughout South Carolina, Alabama, Geor- 

 gia and Florida, whither the birds assemble from 

 the remote interior of the Northern States, wander- 

 ing, in summer, as far as the Rocky mountains. 

 They do not seem to visit the maritime districts of 

 New England. They are found in the West Indies, 

 also south of the equator, even in Cayenne and 

 Paraguay. The nest is built in a hollow, shattered 

 or decayed tree, at a considerable elevation. The 

 eggs are said to be four or five, of a light brownish- 

 yellow, and spotted with brown. The food of this 

 bird is sparrows and other small birds, also mice, 

 grasshoppers and lizards. The female is eleven 

 inches long; the stretch of the wings twenty-three 

 inches. The male is about nine and a half or ten 

 inches long. The cere and legs are yellow; the 

 head bluish-ash ; crown rufous. The upper parts 

 are reddish-bay, striped transversely with dusky 

 brown; the lower parts pale yellowish- white, 

 marked with longitudinal spots of brown; the 

 claws black The European sparrow-hawk, is a 



