360 



SPLANCHNOLOGY SPONGE. 



Animalium Classes, &c., tracing the human 

 head, in its gradual development, from those of 

 insrcts, up through all classes of animals. In 1817, 

 doctor Spix was appointed by the government, with 

 doctor Martius, to make a scientific expedition to 

 Brazil. The travellers lauded at Rio de Janeiro, 

 July 14, and, after exploring the eastern parts of 

 the empire, embarked on the Amazons, July, 1819, 

 which they ascended, and returned to Europe in 

 ISi'O. Doctor Spix died in 1826. The results of 

 the expedition to Brazil have been given in the fol- 

 lowing works; Travels in Brazil (from the Ger- 

 man, London, 1824) ; Spix's Simice, Serpentes, 

 Testudines et Rana, Aves, Lacertae Brasilienses ; 

 and Marti us's Genera et Species Plantarum, &c., 

 (Munich, 1824 26),^Vowa Genera et Species Plan- 

 tarum &c., (3d vol., folio, 1829, and /cones selectee 

 Plantarum cryptogamicarum BrasiUensium (1829, 

 folio). 



SPLANCHNOLOGY (from <-A..J,;V, an in- 

 testine) ; a branch of anatomy, which treats of the 

 viscera, including not only the viscera of the abdo- 

 men, but all the organs contained in the other ca- 

 vities of the body, as the brain, lungs, &c. 



SPLEEN, oa MILT (Greek ff *\w, Latin lien) ; 

 a spongy viscus, varying much in form and size, sit- 

 uated on the left side, between the eleventh and 

 twelfth false ribs, and covered with a simple, firm 

 membrane, arising from the peritonaeum. (See 

 Stomach.) It is of an oval form, and about one fifth 

 smaller than the liver. Its upper surface is con- 

 nected with the diaphragm, and its interior with 

 the stomach. It is convex towards the ribs, and 

 concave internally, and of a livid colour. The 

 splenic artery is very large in proportion to the size 

 of the organ, and is divided into numerous small 

 branches penetrating the substance of the spleen. 

 The splenic vein is larger than the artery in the 

 proportion of five to one, and, by its junction with 

 the mesenteric, constitutes the trunk of the vena 

 portce, which carries the blood into the substance of 

 the liver. From this splenic artery, several branches 

 (called vasa brevia*) go off to tie stomach, which 

 they supply with blood. The uses of the spleen 

 are entirely unknown ; but they appear to have 

 some connexion with the process of digestion. The 

 spleen is subject to inflammation (splenitis), and, 

 as often happens after agues, the inflammation some- 

 times becomes chronic. The tumour is then com- 

 monly called the ague-cake, though that name is also 

 given to a tumour of the liver succeeding intermit- 

 tents. It is also in some cases too feeble in its action, 

 and then the digestion suffers. Spleen is also some- 

 times used to signify the hypochondriasis. (q. v.) 



SPLICING, among seamen, to join the two ends 

 of a rope together, or to unite the end of a rope to 

 any part thereof, by interweaving the strands in a 

 regular manner. There are several methods of 

 splicing, according to the services for which it is 

 intended ; all of which are distinguished by particu- 

 lar epithets. The term is also used in architecture. 

 SPLINTERS ; the pieces of a ship's side, masts, 

 decks, &c., which, being knocked off by a shot, ac- 

 quire great velocity, and frequently do more damage 

 among the men than the shot itself. 



SPLINTER-NETTING; sinnet made into nets, 

 and nailed upon the inner part of the ship's sides, 

 to lessen the effect of the splinters. 



SPODUMENE is a mineral found massive, in 

 large cleavable individuals, whose primary form is 

 an oblique rhombic prism of 93. Its cleavage, 

 parallel with the lateral planes of this figure, is . 



easily effected ; but its terminal cleavages are ob- 

 scure; lustre pearly; colour various shades of grayish- 

 green, passing into greenish-white ; streak white ; 

 translucent ; brittle ; hardness nearly equal to that 

 of quartz; specific gravity 3-17. It consists of 



Silex, 

 Alumine, 

 Lithia, 

 Oxide of iron, 



102-00 



If exposed to a red heat, it loses its transparency 

 and colour. Before the blow-pipe, it exfoliates, 

 intumesces, and then melts into a nearly colourless, 

 transparent glass. It occurs in primitive rocks, 

 usually associated with quartz and feldspar. It was 

 first discovered in Sweden, at Utoe, afterwards at 

 Sterzingen, in the Tyrol, and was considered a rare 

 mineral until within a few years, during which 

 period it has been found in the greatest abundance 

 in Massachusetts. 



SPOHN, FREDERIC AUGUSTUS WILLIAM, a dis- 

 tinguished German philologer, was born at Dort- 

 mund, in 1792, studied at Wittenberg, and became 

 professor of the Greek and Latin languages at Leip- 

 sic in 1819. Notwithstanding his early death in 

 1824, he had published several works, which show 

 his learning and industry. Among them are a dis- 

 sertation De Agro Trojano (1814) ; Comrnentarius 

 de extrema Odyssece Parte; Nicephori BlemmidcR 

 duo Opuscula geographica ; Lectiones Theocritece. 

 (1822 and 1823). The last years of his life were 

 devoted to Egyptian studies ; and an account of his 

 system of hieroglyphics will be found under that 

 head. His friend Seyffarth has edited some of his 

 papers on this subject. 



SPOLETO ; a delegation, formerly a duchy, of 

 the ecclesiastical states, comprising the great part 

 of ancient Umbria ; population, 102,053. 



SPOLETO, the capital of the delegation, with a 

 population of 6000, is a bishop's see, and lies' fifty- 

 three miles north of Rome ; Ion. 12 36' E. ; lat. 

 42 45' N. ; on an eminence near the small river 

 Mareggia. It was once the residence of some of 

 the Gothic kings. It contains twenty-two churches, 

 twenty-one convents, and seventeen hermitages, 

 and several ruins of Roman antiquities, the chief of 

 which are a triumphal arch, an aqueduct, and an 

 amphitheatre. The cathedral is built almost en- 

 tirely of marble, and contains some good pictures. 



SPONDEE, in prosody ; a foot consisting of two 

 long syllables, as omnes. See Rhythm. 



SPONGE (spongia) ; a marine production, gene- 

 rally to be met with in the shops in pieces only. 

 Its texture is cavernous and porous. Its great 

 elasticity, and its property of imbibing, and as readily 

 parting with a large quantity of water, renders it 

 useful. Sponge is to be chosen as light as possible, 

 perfectly clean, and free from stone, of as pale a 

 colour as may be, with small holes, and fine, and 

 soft, to the touch. It grows in the Archipelago, at 

 considerable depths, on the rocks, about some of 

 the islands there ; and multitudes of people make a 

 trade of diving for it. It is also common in the 

 Mediterranean and many other seas, though in gene- 

 ral browner or yellower, and not so fine as that of 

 the Archipelago. It adheres in large masses to 

 rocks and stones, sometimes to large shells, and is 

 either round, flat, or hollow, like a funnel. There 

 bas been much dispute among naturalists concern- 

 ing the real nature of the sponge ; nor is it yet 

 satisfactorily decided whether it belongs to the 

 animal or vegetable kingdom. But it appears to 



