SPO 6 



parties to a suit suggesting that his ad- 

 versary has wasted the fruit of his benefice. 



SPON'DEE, Lat. spotdceus. A poetic foot 

 of two ong syllables, as tmnls. 



SPON'DYLE, Lat. spondyliis. A joint of 

 the spine ; a vertebra. 



SPON'DILIS. The name given by Fa- 

 bricius to a genus of tetramerous coleop- 

 tera, belonging to the family Longicornes, 

 Cuv. Named from its globular and spi- 

 nose thorax. 



SPON'DYLUS. The name of a genus of 

 marine shells found attached to rocks, 

 coral, &c., and remarkable for their spines 

 and rich colouring ; whence the name. 



SPONGE, 1 Lat. spongia, Gr. -Tcyy<. A 



SPUSGE, ] marine production, very soft, 

 light, and porous, and highly compres- 

 sible ; readily imbibing water and as rea- 

 dily giving it out again. It is found ad- 

 hering to rocks, particularly in the 

 Mediterranean Sea, about the islands of 

 the Archipelago, and in the Red Sea. It 

 was formerly supposed to be a vegetable 

 production, but it is now classed among 

 the zoophytes, and when analysed affords 

 the same principles as animal substances 

 generally. 



SPONGE-TENTS are employed by sur- 

 geons to dilate fistulous cancers, &c. 

 These are prepared by dipping sponge 

 into some hot cerate, and pressing it be- 

 tween two iron plates ; when cold it may 

 be cut into any desired forms. 



SPON'GIA. Sponge. A genus of zoo- 

 phytes. Order Coralliferi ; family Corti- 

 cati. The species are numerous, and as- 

 sume innumerable shapes, as shrubs, 

 horns, tubes, vases, fans, globes, &c. &c. 

 The common sponge is the S. officinalis of 

 naturalists. See SPONGE. 



SPON'GIFORM QUARTZ. A name of Float- 

 stone. It is light and porous like sponge. 



SPON'GIOLE. In vegetable physiology, an 

 organ situated at the extremity of the 

 root, and thus named from its peculiar 

 texture. It is by the spongioles, thus 

 situated, that plants are enabled to ab- 

 sorb. They are constructed of common 

 cellular spongy tissue, and they imbibe 

 the fluids which are in contact with them 

 partly by capillary action, and partly by 

 a hygroscopic power. 



SPON'SIONS, in international late, are 

 authorised engagements made on behalf 

 of states. 



SPONTOO'N. A military weapon borne 

 by officers of infantry : a sort of half pike. 



SPOOL, Ger. spule. A hollow cylinder 

 on which yarn is wound. It is larger 

 than the pirn on which the yarn is wound 

 for the shuttle. 



SPOON'DRIFT. In nauti-cal language, a 

 spray swept from the surface of the agi- 

 tated water during a tempest. 



SPORADIC, from 0-sr<<ga, to sow. An 



5 SPU 



epithet applied to diseases which are not 

 epidemic, but occur here and there from 

 causes affecting only the individual. 



SPOR'ULE, from trircttt,, seed. The organ 

 of reproduction in cryptogamic plants. 



S. P. Q.R. In antiquity, an abbreviation 

 of the words Senatus Pfpnlusque Romanut, 

 the Senate and the Roman people. 



SPRAIN. A subluxation; an excessive 

 strain of the ligaments of a joint, without 

 dislocation. 



SPRAT. A small fish, the Clupea sprattux, 

 Cuv. and Yarr., found to frequent the 

 whole of the British Coasts. The sprat 

 rarely reaches 6 inches in length. It feeds 

 on small crustaceous animals, and itself 

 forms an agreeable and cheap food. 



SPRAY. Water driven from the top of 

 a wave, &c. by the wind: spray is only 

 occasional ; spoondrift is continuous. 



SPRING. 1. In mechanics, an elastic 

 body which, when distorted or compress- 

 ed, has the power to restore itself. Thus 

 the spring of a watch is a fine piece of 

 tempered steel, coiled up in a cylindrical 

 case; by stretching itself it puts the 

 wheels, &c. in motion. 2. In naviga- 

 tion, a rope passing out of one extremity 

 of a ship, and attached to a cable from the 

 other, to bring her broadside to bear on 



the object. 3. In astronomy, one of the 



seasons: that commencing, in the north- 

 ern hemisphere, when the sun enters 

 Aries, about the 21st of March. In com- 

 mon language, we reckon spring from the 

 1st February. 4. In hydraulics, a foun- 

 tain of water rising out of the ground. 



SPRINGES. Nooses of horse-hair, &c. to 

 catch birds. 



SPRIN'GINO. In architecture, the lowest 

 part of an arch, or the point from which it 

 springs or rises. 



SPRING-TIDES. The tides that follow 

 the new and full moon : in distinction to 

 neap-tides. 



SPRIT. A small boom, pole or spar, 

 which crosses the sail of a boat diagon- 

 ally, from the mast to the upper aftermost 

 corner, which it is used to extend and 

 elevate. 



SPRIT-SAIL. 1. The sail extended by a 



sprit. 2. A sail attached to a yard 



which hangs under the bowsprit. 



SPRUCE. 1. A species of fir, the Pini 



abies. 2. A fermented liquor called 



spruce-beer, being made of treacle or mo- 

 lasses, and the "essence (decoction) of 

 spruce. " 



SPUN-YARN. Among seamen, a line 

 formed of three rope yarns twisted. 



SPUR-ROYAL. Spur-rial, or royal. A 

 gold coin first struck in the reign of Ed- 

 ward IV. It was worth 15s. in the reign 

 of James I. 



SFUR'LING-LINE. Among seamen, the 

 line which forms the communication be- 

 tween the wheel and the tell-tale. 



