SPI 



674 



SPI 



a genus of hymenopterous insects belong- 

 ing to the family Fissores, Cuv. 



SPHIGMO'METER, a-ty*//*'*, the pulse. An 

 instrument for counting the arterial pul- 

 sations. 



SPHINC'TEK, from o-ffyya, to contract. 

 The name given to certain muscles, 

 whose office is to contract the part in all 

 directions, drawing it together, as the 

 mouth of a purse is contracted by a string 

 passing round it. 



SPHINX, Lat. from o"3fy\. 1. Afabulous 

 monster of Egypt, having the body of a 



lion, and the face of a young woman. 



2. In entomology, the hawk-moth: a genus 

 of lepidopterous insects. Family Cre- 

 piisndaria. It is so named from the atti- 

 tude of several of the caterpillars, which 

 resembles that of the fabled monster. 



SPHRAOIS'TICS, ffQfotyts, a seal. The 

 science of seals, their history, peculiari- 

 ties, and distinctions. 



SPICA VIRGIN is. A star of the first 

 magnitude in the constellation Virgo. 



SPICE, Fr. epice. A name which includes 

 all those vegetable productions which 

 are fragrant to the smell, and pungent to 

 the taste, as cloves, allspice, &c. 



SPI'CATE. 1. Eared like corn : spica, an 

 ear of corn. 2. Having spikes. 



SPICCA'TO, It. divided. In music, nearly 

 synonymous with staccato (q. v.). 



SFIC'CLE. A spikelet or spiket ; spicula, 

 dim. of spica, a spike. Applied to grasses 

 that have many florets on one calyx : such 

 florets ranged on a little stalk constitute 

 the spikelet. 



SPIGE'LIA.. "Worm-grass. A genus of 

 plants. Pentandria Monogynia. Named 

 by Linn^, in commemoration of Adrian 

 Spigelius, who wrote Isagoge in Hem 

 Herbarium, in 1606. West Indies and 

 America. 



SPIKE. Spica. 1. An ear of corn. 2. 



A species of inflorescence in which ses- 

 sile flowers are alternate, on a common 

 simple peduncle, as in wheat and rye, 

 lavender, &c. 3. A long nail; also a 



Eiece of pointed iron, like a long nail, 

 iserted with the point outwards, as on 

 the tops of walls, gates, &c., to prevent 

 people from passing over them. 



PIKE'N ARD. A plant, the Nardus indica. 



SPI'NA. A thorn originating from the 

 substance of the wood : aculei or prickles 

 are only affixed to the bark. 



SPINA'CIA. Spinage. A genus of one 

 species, an annual plant. I>icecia Pent- 

 andria As an article of food it is similar 

 to cabbage and other oleraceous plants. 



SPIN'DLE. In mechanics, a term syrtony- 

 mous with axes. "When several axes occur 

 it is usual to denominate the subordinate 

 or smaller axes as spindles. 



SPINE. 1. In botany, see SPINA. 2. 



In anatomy, the fpi.ua dorsi. or bone of 



the back, reaching from the head to the 

 os sacrum. It is a series of 21 vertebrae 

 in the human subject. 



SPINEL', Fr. spinelle. A sub-species of 

 corundum, which occurs in regular crys- 

 tals, and sometimes in rounded grains 

 It is coloured red, black, blue, brown, &c 

 by oxide of chromium, chromic acid, ox- 

 ides of iron, &c. 



SPINEL'LANE. A variety of dodecahe- 

 dral zoolite which occurs on the banks of 

 the river Laach, near Andernach. Its 

 usual colour is blackish-brown, and its 

 form a six-sided prism, terminated by 

 three-sided summits, with alternate, but 

 different, faces. It is a silicate of alumina 

 and soda, with some oxide of iron. 



SPIN'ET, Ital. spinetto. A musical in- 

 strument, thus named from spina, a 

 thorn or quill, the tone being produced 

 by a crow's-quill, inserted in the tongue 

 of a little machine called a jack. 



SPIN'NERS, or SPIN'NERETS. Organs 

 with which insects spin their silk or 

 webs. 



SPIX'XING - GENIE, improperly spelt 

 jenny. A machine for spinning cotton, 

 &c., invented about 1767, by James Har- 

 greaves, a weaver, near Blackburn, in 

 Lancashire. It was long ago superseded 

 by the mule, a machine which, combining 

 the principles of the genie and water- 

 frame, has in a manner superseded both. 



SPIN'OZISM. The principles of Spinoza, 

 a native of Amsterdam, consisting of a 

 mixture of Atheism and Pantheism. 



SPI'O. A genus of annulata : order 

 Dorsibranchiata. The species are small 

 worms, from the Arctic ocean, that in- 

 habit membranous tubes. 



SPIR'ACLE, Lat. spiracuhim, a breathing 

 hole. The spiracles are the external 

 orifices of the air- tubes of insects : also 

 called stigmata. 



SPI'RAL. 1. A curve, of a circular kind, 

 which in its progress recedes from its 

 centre. The common cork-screw is a 



good example. 2. In botany, spiral 



vessels are membranous tubes lined with 

 an elastic fibre, twisted spirally, for the 

 conveyance of air. 



SPIRE, Gr. <rxu.^at,, twisting. 1. In 

 geometry, a line drawn progressively 

 round the same axis with a distance be- 

 tween each circle : also a curved line ; 



anything wreathed or contorted. 2. In 



architecture, a spire among the ancients 

 was the base of a column, and sometimes 

 the astragal or torus ; but among the 

 moderns, it designates a steeple, which 

 diminishes as it ascends, either pyra- 

 midally or conically. 



SFIR'IT. 1. Spiritus. This name was 

 formerly given to all volatile substances 

 collected by distillation. Three principal 

 kinds were distinguished: inflammable 

 or ardent spirit ; acid spirits ; and alka- 



