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SPRUCE SQUARE. 



the sail of a boat diagonally from the mast to the 

 upper aftmost corner, which it is used to extend 

 and elevate. These sails are accordingly called 

 sprit anils. Sprit-sail is also a sail attached to a 

 yard which hang? under the bowsprit. 



SPR UCE (abies.) The spruces are more strictly 

 confined to the north than tin- pines, and their 

 deep, gloomy forests form a striking feature in the 

 .ition of the colder parts of North America, 

 Asia, and Europe. They are distinguished from 

 the pines by their habit, and by their solitary ever- 

 green leaves, deprived of a sheath at the base. 



The black or double spruce (A. nigar^) is very 

 abundant in Lower Canada, Newfoundland, New 

 Brunswick, Isova Scotia, Maine, and the upper 

 parts of New Hampshire and Vermont. It grows 

 to the height of seventy or eighty feet, with a 

 trunk a foot or a foot and a half in diameter; and, 

 as the summit has a regular pyramidal form, a soli- 

 tary tree makes a beautiful appearance. The 

 timber is distinguished for lightness, strength, and 

 elasticity, and furnishes most of the spars used for 

 vessels in the United States. These spars are 

 exported to the West Indies and to Britain, where 

 they are preferred to those of the Norway spruce ; 

 but they are not sufficiently large for the yards of 

 ships of war. Knees for vessels, made from the 

 base of the trunk and one of the principal roots, 

 are much used in Maine, and sometimes also at 

 Boston. The timber is, besides, extensively sawed 

 into boards, M'hich are sold one fourth cheaper 

 than those of the white pine, and are exported to 

 the West Indies and to England. 



The red spruce is a mere variety of this timber, 

 produced by a difference in soil. It is chiefly with 

 the young branches of this species that the whole- 

 some drink called spruce beer is prepared. 



The white or single spruce (A. alba') inhabits 

 the same districts, but is less abundant. It is a 

 smaller tree, rarely exceeding fifty feet in height, 

 and twelve or sixteen inches in diameter at the 

 base of the trunk. The wood is employed for the 

 same purposes as the preceding, but is inferior in 

 quality. The fibres of the roots are very flexible 

 and tough, and after maceration in water are used 

 in Canada to stitch together the birch-bark canoes. 

 It is distinguished from the preceding by its less 

 crowded leaves, and their pale green colour, and 

 the longer and more cylindrical form of its cones. 

 It is much esteemed in Europe as an ornamental 

 tree, and is frequently cultivated in parks and 

 gardens. 



The American silver fir {A. balsamea) is still 

 less than the white spruce, and rarely exceeds forty 

 feet in height. It is a beautiful tree, having the 

 leaves longer than those of the black spruce, and 

 silvery beneath. The cones are four or five inches 

 in length, cylindrical, obtuse, and violaceous. The 

 wood is light, but slightly resinous, and is little 

 used. A few bottles of the turpentine are collected 

 and sold under the improper name of balm of Gilead; 

 and this remedy has acquired some celebrity in 

 England, in certain stages of the pulmonary con- 

 sumption. 



The hemlock spruce (A. Canadensis) is readily 

 distinguished by having the leaves distichous, or 

 disposed in two ranks, and the cones terminal. It 

 is particularly valuable for the properties of the 

 bark. 



SPUNGE. See Sponge. 



SPUNGE; an instrument used to clean the 

 cannon after firing, and to extinguish any sparks 



that may remain behind. They are sometimes 

 made of bristles, resembling a round brush, but 

 more generally of sheep-skin, with the wool out- 

 wards, nailed upon a block of wood nearly as large 

 as the calibre of the piece. The block is either 

 fixed upon a long wooden staff, or upon a thick 

 piece of rope, well stiffened by serving it with spun- 

 yarn. This latter is much more convenient on 

 board of ships, on account of its flexibility, and 

 generally has a block at the upper end, to use as a 

 rammer. To spunge a gun is to clean it out with 

 the spunge. 



SPUN-YARN ; a small line, or cord, formed of 

 two, three, or more rope-yarns, twisted together 

 by a winch; the yarns are usually drawn out of 

 the strands of old cables, and knotted together. 

 Spun-yarn is used for various purposes, as serving 

 ropes, weaving mats, &c. 



SPURRED RYE. See Ergot. 



SPURZHEIM, GASPARD, doctor, a celebrated 

 physiologist, was born near Treves, in 1776, and 

 received his medical education at Vienna, where he 

 became acquainted with doctor Gall, the founder 

 of the science of craniology. To this science 

 Spurzheim became exceedingly partial; and he soon 

 joined doctor Gall in making inquiries into the 

 anatomy of the brain. They quitted Vienna, in 

 1805, to travel, and went, in 1807, to Paris. From 

 that period, doctor Spurzheim travelled and lectured 

 in England, Scotland and Ireland, and, in conjunc- 

 tion with doctor Gall, published the result of his 

 inquiries into the Anatomy and Physiology of the 

 Nervous System; Inquiry into the Nervous System 

 in general, and that of the Brain in particular; 

 Physiognomical System of Doctors Gall and Spur- 

 zheim, &c. ; an Examination of the Objections urged, 

 in England, against the Doctrines of Gall and Spur- 

 zheim; Observations, &c., &c., on Mental Derange- 

 ments ; and Observations on Phrenology. In 

 August, 1832, he visited the United States of 

 America, and began his lectures in Boston, but 

 death interrupted his labours, on the 10th of Nov., 

 in the same year. See the article Phrenology. 



SQUARE, in geometry ; a quadrilateral figure, 

 both equilateral and equiangular, or, in other 

 words, a figure with four equal sides and equal 

 angles, which geometry proves must be right angles. 

 It holds the first place among the parallelograms. 

 The height and width of a square are equal : all 

 squares are geometrically similar, and the diagonal 

 line, or the Mne through two opposite vertices, di- 

 vides the square into two equal and similar tri- 

 angles. On account of its perfect regularity, the 

 square is of great importance both in pure and ap 

 plied mathematics. In the measurement of surface, 

 it is the form to which all others are reduced. 

 From the rules for calculating the superficial con- 

 tents of parallelograms in general (to multiply the 

 base by the perpendicular height), and from the 

 nature of the square, it appears that it is only 

 necessary to multiply one side by itself to have the 

 area of the square, because each of the sides may 

 be considered as the basis, or as the perpendicular 

 height. Thus a square, the sides of which mea- 

 sure four feet, is equal to sixteen square feet: i. e. 

 sixteen squares each a foot high and a foot long. 

 The area of countries is generally given in square 

 miles. Sometimes a great mistake is made by 

 using square miles for miles square : 300 square 

 miles is an area of 300 squares, each of which mea- 

 sures one mile in length and breadth, whilst 300 

 miles square is a square each side of which measures 



