SPICE ISLANDS SPINE. 



355 



bcaling-wax came intp use. (See Seal.) Sphra- 

 gistics, as a science, dates from the great work of 

 Heinecciws on seals, in 1709 (new edition 1719, 

 folio, Leipsic). See also Ficoroni's I Piombi Antichi 

 (Rome, 1740,. 4to.) ; Manni's Osservazioni istoriche 

 sopra i Sigilli antiche de' Secoli JBassi (Florence, 

 173986, 30 vols., 4to.); and Ph. W. Gercken's 

 Ammerkunacn iiber die Siegel zumNutzen der Diplo- 

 matik (Augsburg, 1781; Stend., 1786). 



SPICE ISLANDS. See Moluccas. 



SPIDER (aranea'). These well-known animals 

 are among the most interesting of the insect world, 

 from their habits and mode of life. They differ 

 essentially, in their internal structure, from insects 

 proper, and their external form is so peculiar that 

 they are easily recognised. The body is composed 

 of two pieces only, the head being united with the 

 thorax; and the feet are always eight in number; 

 the jaws consist of two cylindrical, horny pieces, 

 each having a palp, or feeler, at base, and termi- 

 nated by a movable hook ; the eyes are six or 

 eight, variously disposed in the different genera, 

 but always simple. They do not undergo meta- 

 morphoses; all envelope their eggs in a cocoon of 

 silk, varying, however, in form and texture. The 

 spiders are now arranged under numerous genera, 

 differing, not only in anatomical characters, but 

 very generally in their habits and the form of the 

 web which they construct. The most familiar 

 form of a web is that of a wheel, perpendicular or 

 slightly inclined, having its radii or spokes crossed 

 by numerous concentric circles; in the centre of 

 this the spider remains immovable, or more fre- 

 quently in a little cell, at some distance from the 

 web, but connected with it by threads. The 

 struggles of an entangled insect communicate an 

 undulatory motion to the whole web, which gives 

 notice to the spider, who immediately sallies forth, 

 and, if his victim be small, seizes it at once, and 

 immediately sucks its blood: if, however, it be too 

 large to be thus disposed of, the spider rolls it with 

 his hinder feet, encircling it with a new thread at 

 every turn, until, sometimes, the 'insect is com- 

 pletely coated, when it may be devoured at pleasure. 

 Other spiders spin an irregular web, consisting of 

 threads intersecting each other at every angle. 

 Others, again, make a horizontal, closely-matted 

 web, having a funnel-shaped retreat, into which 

 they convey their prey. Others make only a re- 

 treat by binding a few leaves together, from which 

 they sally forth and seize insects which approach 

 them. Some of these seem to be extremely veno- 

 mous ; for it is observed that no insect that has 

 been once bitten by them, ever recovers, even 

 though it be many times larger and more powerful 

 than its adversary. Some are aquatic, and spin a 

 cup-like web, which answers the purpose of a 

 diving-bell, under which they disengage the air 

 they bring down from the surface, and pass their 

 lives feeding on aquatic insects. Some spiders spin 

 no web, but take their prey by running ; others, by 

 approaching quietly till within a certain distance, 

 when they suddenly leap upon their prey. Other 

 spiders form cylindrical and perpendicular holes in 

 the ground, into which they retreat on the approach 

 of danger. ^ 



SPINAGE (spinacia oleracea). This plant is a 

 native of Persia, and has been cultivated in Europe, 

 as an esculent, for about two centuries. The root 

 is annual; the stem herbaceous, smooth, upright, a 

 foot or more high, and somewhat branching; the 

 leaves alternate, petiolate, and arrow-shaped; the 



flowers small and greenish, disposed in several little 

 bunches, in the axils of the superior leaves, and 

 direcious : in short, the whole plant much resembles 

 some of the species of goose foot (chenopodium), to 

 which genus it is allied in its botanical characters. 

 It is eaten sometimes in salads, but more frequently, 

 cooked in various manners. It is a wholesome and 

 agreeable aliment, but contains little nutriment, 

 and is not suitable for delicate stomachs. The 

 plant is of the easiest culture, and may be procured 

 nearly all the year round, by sowing at intervals of 

 time. It requires a rich soil, and frequent water- 

 ing in dry weather. 



SPINE (from spina, thorn, so called from the 

 shape of the processes of the vertebrae), in anatomy 

 the vertebral or spinal column, the bach-bone in com- 

 mon language, is the articulated bony pillar at the 

 back of the trunk, forming the foundation or basis 

 of support and connexion to all the other parts of 

 the frame. It is placed perpendicularly in the body, 

 supporting the head on its upper extremity, while 

 the lower end rests on the pelvis. The bones of 

 the chest, to which the upper extremities are at- 

 tached, are fixed to its sides, while the ossa innomi- 

 nata, or the great bones to which the lower limbs 

 are articulated, are immovably united to it below. 

 It is the point of attachment and support in front 

 for the viscera of the thorax and abdomen, and for 

 the great trunks of the blood-vessels. We may 

 thus regard it as the central and most essential 

 piece of the skeleton, as the centre of motion for 

 the head and limbs, and the basis of support for all 

 the great internal organs. Again, the bones which 

 compose it give attachment to the principal muscles 

 moving the head, the shoulders and the arms, to 

 those which act on the trunk, and to some part of 

 the abdominal muscles, and of those which move 

 the lower limbs. Further, it constitutes a canal, 

 which receives and protects the spinal marrow, and 

 gives issue to the various nerves proceeding from 

 that organ to the trunk and limbs. The import- 

 ance of the spine is so great that it modifies all the 

 details of the organization of the animals which pos- 

 sess it. It is formed of twenty-nine pieces of bone, 

 strongly articulated into each other, and placed in 

 succession from above downwards. 4 The twenty- 

 four upper ones are called vertebra. 



Distortions of the Spine are the unnatural inflec- 

 tions of the spine, which gave a more or less de- 

 formed figure to the trunk, and even to the limbs; 

 hence wry neck, high shoulders, humpback, uneven 

 hips, lameness, &c., are very frequent among the 

 higher classes of our time, particularly among fe- 

 males, and generally owing to want of care or 

 judgment in those who have charge of children, or 

 to the injudicious habits of the persons afflicted, 

 and frequently aggravated or made permanent by 

 improper means used for remedying them. The 

 beauty of the whole body depends chiefly upon the 

 natural formation of the spine. This column of 

 vertebra ought not permanently to deviate from the 

 straight line to the right or left ; but it has natur- 

 ally some slight curvatures forwards and backwards. 

 In the region of the loins, it is bent a little for- 

 ward; in the region of the chest, a little backward, 

 and, at the neck, again, somewhat forward. This 

 regular formation of the spine is produced by the 

 character of the vertebrae, the cartilages which unite 

 them, and the muscles of the back, which support 

 and move them. If the vertebra themselves suffer 

 from disease, as, for instance, in case of rickets, the 

 spine is not capable of supporting the head and 

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