SPA 



the iris is golden. It inhabits Carolina. The body is 

 blueifh. 



Argykops. Tail femi-lunar ; the back is grooved ; 

 iris is filvery. It inhabits Jamaica and Carolina. It re- 

 fembles the laft. The three firft rays of the dorfal fin end 

 in a long bridle. 



Dentex. The tail is bifid ; the body is variegated ; 

 four of the teeth are larg-er. It inhabits many parts of 

 Europe, and the Cape of Good Hope. 



Spinus. Tail bihd ; dorfal fpine recumbent. It inhabits 

 South America and India. The body is apparently 

 painted with blue recurved blotches. 



Radiatus ; Pudding-fifh. The tail is entire ; lateral 

 line compofed of linear fcales, divided into tliree bifid 

 branches. This is found on the coaft of Carolina. Above 

 it is a green purple at the fides ; beneath rufous ; head 

 varied with blue, yellow, and green ilreaks. 



VlRGlNrCL's. The tail is bifid ; the body with two 

 black tranfverfe bands, and numerous longitudinal lines. It 

 inhabits North America. 



MoRMYRUS. The tail of this fpecies is bifid ; body 

 with numerous filvery and black bands. It inhabits 

 Tufcany. 



Capistratus. The tail of this is entire ; the body is 

 reticulate with white. It inhabits America. Body ob- 

 long ; fcales loofely imbricate, with a white band bent into 

 a right angle before the edge. 



Galil^us. The tail entire ; body above is greenifh, 

 beneath white. It inhabits the lake Genezareth, in Galilee. 



FuscESCENS. Brownifti ; fcales golden ; near the pec- 

 toral fins a black fpot. It inhabits Japan, and is about 

 four inches long. 



* Niger ; Toothed Gilt -head. The back is black ; the 

 fides brighter ; belly filvery. This is found on the coafts 

 of Yorkfhire. It is defcribed in Pennant's Britifh Zoology. 

 The body is twenty-fix inches long, and ten broad ; eyes 

 large ; teeth in the lower jaw flender, Iharp, and on each 

 fide a flender canine tooth, in the upper jaw a fingle row ; 

 the firft feven rays of the dorfal fin high, the reft low ; this 

 fin and the anal covered with imbricate fcales. 



Sparus, among the Romans, a kind of ruftic weapon, 

 bent backwards like the foot. It was likewife ufed for a 

 fmall dart, or miffive weapon. 



SPASA, in Geography, a town of Ruffia, in the govern- 

 ment of Archangel ; 40 miles S.W. of Mczen. 



SPASK, a town of Ruffia, in the government of Kazan, 

 on the Volga ; 40 miles S. of Kazan. N. lat. 55°. E. 

 long. 49° 14'. — Alfo, a town of Rufiia, in the government 

 of Tambov ; 92 miles N.N.E. of Tambov. N. lat. 54® 2'. 

 E. long. 42" 58'. — Alfo, a town of Rufiia, in the oovern- 

 ment of Riazan, on the Oka ; 32 miles E.S.E. of Riazan. 

 N. 1st. 54° 32'. E. long. 39° 50'. 



SPASKAIA, a town of Rufiia, in the country of the 

 Colfack", on the Don ; 52 miles S.S.W. of Arkadinflfaia. 

 — Alio, a town of Rufiia, in the government of Upha ; 

 8 miles S. of Verchouralflc. 



SPASKOI, a town of Rufiia, in the government of 

 Kolivan. N. lat. 55° 38'. E. long. 86° 14'.— Alfo, a town 

 of Rulfia, in the government of TobolH< ; 36 miles N. of 

 Tomfl<. — Alfo, a town of Rufiia, in the j^overnmcnt of 

 Tobolflc ; 20 miles W. of Narim. — Alfo, a town of 

 Rufiia, in the government of Olonetz ; 60 miles N.E. of 

 Pudora. 



S'-'ASM, in Medicine, (r-^xTfio:, from o-Tas;, I draiu, or 

 contraB, a cramp, in its modern fenfe, fignifies a continued 

 and painful contraftion of a mufcle, or any portion of muf- 

 cular fibres ; in which fignification it Hands in oppofition to 



Vol. XXXIII. 



SPA 



eonvulfion- This, however, appears to have been an arbi- 

 trary determination of its acceptation, which does not 

 ftriftly accord with the original ufe of the word. For 

 Celfus has diftinftly defined fpafm, as meaning convulfive 

 motion, and applies the word tetanus to the rigid and fixed 

 contraftion, as we have Hated in another place. " Mode 

 nervorum dillentionem, niodo rigorem ; illud o-racj-jixo:-, hoc 

 if.-a.io-, Graece nominatur." (De Medicina, lib. ii. cap. 1.) 

 See Convulsions. Some writers, however, have applied 

 the term, fpafm, to both thefe forms of difeafe ; ufing the 

 epithet of tonic to fignify the ttate of rigid contraftion, and 

 clonic to denote the violent contradlions and relaxations of 

 convulfion. Others again have applied tiie word to every 

 irregular attion of the mufcular or moving fibres, in any part 

 of the body. (See CuUen, Firft Lines, par. 1251.) This 

 latitude has led the celebrated author, jult quoted, to bring 

 together difeafes, which have very little refemblance in the 

 morbid atlions which conftitute them ; as, for inftance, 

 hyfteria, diabetes, colic, and hydrophobia, which are clafled 

 together as fpafmodic affeftions of the natural fun&ions, in 

 his fyftem of nofology. 



The various funftions of the animal body are performed 

 by certain contraftions of the moving or mufcular fibres, in 

 which alone that power is inherent. Thefe contradlions are 

 excited either by the will, in thofe mufcles which obey the 

 faculty of vohtion ; or by certain llimuli or caufes of irrita- 

 tion, appointed by nature for that purpofe, in thofe which 

 are not under the influence of the will. The blood, for in- 

 ftance, excites the motions of the heart ; the pafling ali- 

 ments produce the periftaltic contraftions of the bowels ; 

 and fo forth. In a ftate of health, the contraAions are re- 

 gulated in force and velocity by the will, or by thefe natural 

 irritations ; and whether produced by the one or the other, 

 they are always foon fucceeded by a ftate of relaxation, and 

 are not repeated, until the will or thefe natural excitement* 

 operate again. But in a morbid ftate, the contraftions of 

 the moving fibres, ordinarily depending on the will, are ex- 

 cited without the concurrence of the will, or contrary to 

 what it intends ; and in the other funftions, they are excited 

 by the aftion of unufual and unnatural caules, or, from too 

 ereat mobility, are rouled to more violent and continued 

 contraftions by the ordinary caufes. When the contrac- 

 tions are more violent in degree than is ufual in health, and 

 are neither fucceeded by a fpbntaneous relaxation, nor even 

 yield readily to an extenfion, either from the adtion of anta- 

 gonift mufcles, or from other extending powers applied, 

 this Itate is called a tonic fpafm, or fimply z fpafm. For an 

 account of the fucceflive violent contraftions and relaxations 

 under this morbid excitement, fee Convulsions. 



The prefence of fpafm, in any mufcular part, is indicated 

 by intenfe/iain, (and it muft be obvious, from what has juft 

 been ftated, that thofe pathologills, who fpeak of fpafmodic 

 affeftions of nerves, membranes, and fuch uncontr;.ftiblc 

 parts, ufe an erroneous language;) a fymptoin, however, 

 which occurs alfo in inflammation of the fame parts : and 

 as the remedies for inflammation are injurious in Ipafm, and 

 vice verfii, it is always important to afcertain the real origin 

 of fuch pain. The pain arifing from fpafm commonly at- 

 tacks very fuddcnly, or even inftantaneoufly ; it generally 

 comes and goes, or is intenfe for a while, and then fiibfides 

 at intervals, as the fpafm reci'.s and relaxes; it very often 

 fiiifts its feat, as difiercnt portions of the mufcular fibres of 

 any part are fi'ccefiively contrafted ; and, above all, it is 

 not attended with general fever, and the pulfe is neither 

 accelerated, nor increafcd in hardnefs. The pain connected 

 with inflammation of any organ is commonly more flow and 

 gradual in its attack ; it is accompanied or preceded bf 

 3 N fiiivering ; 



