SPREESPRIT. 



365 



Athens, followed in the same style. On the 

 restoration, he showed an equal excess in the con- 

 trary direction, and, taking orders, was recom- 

 mended by Cowley to the duke of Buckingham, 

 who made him his chaplain, and whom he assisted 

 in the composition of the Rehearsal. Being intro- 

 duced by that nobleman to the king, the latter 

 nominated him one of his chaplains. His intimacy 

 with bishop Wilkins caused him to be chosen one 

 of the fellows of the new royal society, of which, 

 in 1667, he wrote the history. In 1668, he edited 

 the Latin poems of Cowley, to which he added a 

 life of the author. His reputation and talents for 

 society rapidly advanced him in the career of pre- 

 ferment, and he became, in 1686, bishop of 

 Rochester, probably as a reward for drawing up an 

 account of the Rye-house plot. The manner in 

 which he accomplished this task, undertaken, as 

 he asserts, at the king's command, rendered it 

 expedient for him, after the revolution, to print an 

 apology. He was nominated by James II. one of 

 the commissioners for ecclesiastical affairs, in the 

 execution of which office he exhibited compliances, 

 in expectation, it is said, of the archbishopric of 

 York, which produced general censure, that was only 

 partially alleviated by his withdrawing from the 

 commission, in 1688. When James retired, Sprat 

 spoke in his favour in the great conference on the 

 vacancy of the crown, but submitted to the new 

 government, and was left unmolested. In 1692, 

 he was involved, with Sancroft, Marlborough, and 

 others, in a pretended conspiracy. He detected the 

 infamous practices of the informers, and cleared 

 himself from the charge, but was so affected by 

 the danger, that he commemorated his deliverance 

 by an annual thanksgiving. He died in 1713. His 

 writings are little esteemed at present. 



SPREE, a river of Germany, which rises in 

 Upper Lusatia, intersects the Spree forest, in 

 Lower Lusatia, with more than a hundred arms, 

 becomes navigable at Kossenblatt, forms at Berlin, 

 an island, on which lies Kbln (see Berlin), and 

 falls, below Spandau, into the Havel. 



SPRING. This season begins when the sun, in 

 its ascent, crosses the equator, and ends when it 

 reaches its highest position in the heavens at mid- 

 day. In this country, February ,JVlarch, and April 

 are reckoned the spring months of fte year; but the 

 variableness of the climate renders the period of the 

 real approach of spring a matter of great uncertainty. 

 In the southern hemisphere, the astronomical spring 

 begins September 23, and ends December 21 ; thus it 

 falls about the time of our autumn. Under the equator, 

 and, in general, in the torrid zone, the seasons of 

 the year are not divided in the same manner as in 

 the temperate. They are distinguished into the 

 dry- and wet seasons. See Seasons. 



SPRING, among sailors, implies a crack running 

 transversely or obliquely through any part of a mast 

 or yard, so as to render it unsafe to carry the usual 

 quantity of sail thereon. Spring is also a rope 

 passed out of a ship's stern, and attached to a cable 

 proceeding, from her bow, when she lies at anchor. 

 It is usually employed to bring the ship's broadside, 

 or battery of cannon, to bear upon some object, as 

 another ship, a fortress, &c. When a ship rides by 

 anchors which are only attached to one end, she 

 will move according to the direction of the wind 

 or tide. Now, if a rope be extended from the 

 other end to the same anchor, it is evident that, by 

 slackening one of these ropes, and keeping the 

 other fast, her side will lie more or less obliquely 



to the wind or tide, as occasion may require, so as 

 to be opposed to any distant object to the right or 

 left. Spring is likewise a rope extending diagonally 

 from the stern of one ship to the head of another 

 which lies abreast of her at a short distance, and is 

 used to make one of the ships sheer off to a greater 

 distance from the other. Springs of this kind are 

 occasionally applied to a wharf or pier for the same 

 purposes. To spring a mast, yard, &c. is to crack 

 it transversely or obliquely. 



SPRING TIDE; the periodical excess of the 

 elevation and depression of the tide, which happens 

 soon after the new and full moon. See Tide. 



SPRINGS. The origin of the numerous springs 

 that break forth from beneath the earth's surface 

 cannot be referred to one exclusive cause. The 

 internal reservoirs by which they are supplied are, 

 in many cases, derived from the water which the 

 earth absorbs from rains and melted snow; from 

 these reservoirs, wherever there is uneven or 

 mountainous ground, the water flows out by minute 

 fissures in the sides of the hills. But when we see 

 springs rising up in plains, it is evident that they 

 must have ascended, that is, travelled in a direction 

 contrary to that produced by the force of gravity, 

 in order to reach the surface. This, no doubt, is 

 sometimes to be attributed to water flowing under 

 ground from distant elevations, and to the natural 

 tendency of a liquid to find its level. But the 

 rising up of springs in plains cannot always be ac- 

 counted for in this manner; and it has, therefore, 

 been supposed, that the earth contains capillary 

 tubes, (q. v.) It is also evident that such springs 

 as suffer no diminution even from the longest con- 

 tinued dry weather, must be derived from a source 

 quite independent of rains, and other external 

 means of supply. They must, therefore, proceed 

 from some vast body of water within the earth : 

 and it has, with apparent reason, been con- 

 cluded, that many springs arise from the ocean, 

 filtering through the pores of the earth, the salt 

 particles being lost in the passage. Springs which 

 have their waters combined with mineral substances, 

 and are, from that circumstance, called mineral, 

 are very numerous, and of various kinds. (See 

 Mineral Waters.) Warm and hot springs are also 

 common, especially in volcanic* countries, where 

 they are sometimes distinguished by violent ebulli- 

 tions. Iceland is noted for these curious pheno- 

 mena: its celebrated boiling fountain, the great 

 Geyser, frequently throws out its contents to the 

 height of more than a hundred feet; sometimes to 

 twice that elevation. Periodical or intermittent 

 springs are those which differ periodically in the 

 quantity of water which they deliver, or even 

 cease to flow entirely for a time. The spring of 

 Fonsanche, near Nismes, flows daily for a little 

 more than seven hours, and cease five hours ; that 

 of Colmars, in Provence, ceases to flow every seven 

 minutes. In 1755, the great earthquake which 

 destroyed Lisbon rendered it a perpetual fountain ; 

 but in 1763, it again became intermittent. This 

 phenomenon is explained with much probability by 

 the supposition, that there are cavities or basins 

 under the earth, filled from above, and emptied by 

 siphons. These empty the basin to the level of 

 the point where the legs meet, then cease to flow 

 until the leg connected with the basin is again 

 filled to its highest point. (See Siphon.) If the 

 siphon conducts the water to a distance, it may 

 flow in dry weather and cease in wet. 



SPRIT; a small boom, or pole, which crosses 



