SPA 



SPATAGOIDES, in Natural Hi/lory, the name of a 

 sfenus of the echini marini, the charafters of which are, 

 tiiat it has the aperture for the anus on one fide of the upper 

 furface, and has a large furrow on the back, which makes 

 it of a cordated form ; but has no furrows on the vertex, 

 but only four or five fmooth rays, made of a number of 

 night tranfvcrfe ilrix. 



SPATALLA, in Botany, a name of Mr. Salifbury's. — 

 Browu Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. lo. 143. Ait. Hort. Kevv. 

 V. I. 203. — Clals and order, Tetrandria Monogynia. Nat. 

 Ord. Proteacea, Juli. Brown. 



Efl. Ch. Corolla four-cleft. Stamens in the concave 

 tips of the fegments. Nettary four fcales beneath the ger- 

 men. Stigma oblique, dilated. Nut fuperior. Involucrum 

 of from two to four leaves, containing one, or a very few, 

 llovvers. Common receptacle naked. 



An occafional irregularity in the corolla, and the oblique 

 Qigmd, are the only charafters which diftinguilh this genus 

 from Sorocephalus ; for in habit they Itriftly accord. We 

 cannot but, tlierefore, advife their union, under the latter 

 name, whofe derivation is the beft. 



The fpecies of Spalalla, defined by Mr. Brown, are 15, 

 one of which only finds a place in Mr. Alton's work. They 

 are difpofed in two feftions, of each of which we (hall give 

 an example or two. 



Section l. Involucrums fingk-Jlowered. Stigma concave, 

 fpO'jn-Jl:aped. Corolla unequal. Ten fpecies. 



5. mollis. Soft Spatalla. Br. n. I. — " Involucrum of 

 two entire leaves. Leaves ftraight, villous, as well as the 

 young branches." — Native of hills at the Cape of Good 

 Hope. Communicated by Mr. John Roxburgh, to Mr. 

 Lambert. An uprightyZi/ti, with copious reddilh branches ; 

 the young ones flender, ereft. Leaves (lightly fpreading, 

 ieven or eight lines long, filky with moderately fpreading 

 iiairs, and tipped with a very (harp callous point. Spike 

 iefTile, erefl, folitary, denfe, racemofe, of an oblong cy- 

 lindrical fliape, hardly an inch in length. BraBeas leafy, 

 twice as long as the partial flower-llalks. Invohicral leaves 

 ovate, villous, the outer one broadett. Corolla denfely 

 bearded, purplilh ; the marginal hairs of its larger fegment 

 inflexed. Scales under t!ie germen linear permanent. 



6. prolifera. Proliferous Spatalla. Br. n. 8. (Protea 

 prolifera ; Thunb. Did. n. 27. t. 4. Linn. Suppl. 118. 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. I. 518.) — Involucrum of four leaves, 

 withered at the points. Spike in .1 conical head. Flowers 

 nearly feflile. Stem proliferous. — Native of hills at the 

 Cape of Good Hope. An upright Jhruh, from a foot and 

 a half to two feet high, much branched in a prohterous and 

 umbellate manner ; the young branches fomewhat filky. 

 Leaves clofely imbricated, hardly three-quarters of an inch 

 long, awl-lhaped ; filky on the younger branches. Spikes 

 fediie, folitary, terminal, but furmounted by fnbfequent 

 branches from their bafe. Corullu very denfely filky ; its 

 outer fegment twice as large as the others. Stigma flattifh, 

 with a central tubercle. 



Section 2. Involucriims •with three or four Jlo'wers. 

 Stigma rather convex. Corolla alniojl equal. Five fpecies. 



S. incurva. Incurvcd-leaved Spatalla. Br. n. 11. Ait. 

 n. I. (Protea incurva ; Thunb. Dill. n. 22. t. 3. Willd. 

 Sp. PI. v. I. 516.) — Spikes racemofe, fomewhat (talked. 

 Involucrum downy, longer than the bratteas, with about 

 four flowers. Leaves incurved. Corolla unequal. — Native 

 of moid, fandy, rather (liady fituations at the Cape of 

 Good Hope. Mr. Malfon fent it, in 1789, to Kcw, where 

 it flowers in May and June. The haves are numerous, (len- 

 der, above an inch long, fpreading, afccnding al the points. 



SPA 



Spikes generally aggregate, oblong, lax. BraBeas nearly 

 the length of the partial ftalks. Mr. Brown notices a va- 

 riety, or perhaps diltinft fpecies, whofe leaves are (liorter 

 and more crowded, /pikes folitary, and l/radeas longer than 

 the partial (talks. 6^ incurva bears a clofe refemblance to 

 fome fpecies of Conospermum. See that article. 



The defcriptions of the genera of Sorockphalus (fee 

 that article), and Spatalla, fuggeil to us a doubt whether 

 the (pecies of thefe genera may not, in fome inltances at 

 leaft, differ fexually only from each other. Not having 

 feen many of them, we cannot examine critically into each 

 fpecies, but, in a general view, the male organs feem moft 

 perfect in Sorocephalus, the female in Spatalla. The re- 

 gularity or irregularity of the corolla does not feem, in this 

 cafe, to conllitute a fufficient generic difference. 



SPATANGI, in Natural Hi/lory, tlie name of a genus 

 of the echini marini, including all thofe which are marked 

 in the (hape of a heart, and have the aperture for the anus 

 in one of the fides of the upper fuperficies. Thefe have all 

 a remarkable furrow on the back ; their bafe is nearly flat, 

 and they have feveral furrows on the vertex. By thefe 

 charaders they are diltinguilhed from the brilTi, with which 

 they have in common the marks of two lips to their mouth, 

 and want the teeth which the other kinds have. 



SPATAREI, in Geography, a town of the ifland of 

 Samos ; 5 miles S.S.W. of Cora. 



SPATARO, Giovanni, of Bologna, in Biography, 

 the difciple of Ramis, a Spaniard, the firfl modern who 

 fuflained the neceifity of a temperament ; which gave birth 

 to a controverfy among muficians in Italy, that continued 

 with gre.-it warmth during many years, and which has been 

 revived in France during the latter end of the la(t century, 

 with due polemic heat, by the writings of the abbe Rouflier. 

 (See PyxHAGORAS. ) Spataro publifhed a work in defence 

 of his matter's opinion, in which he treated the venerable 

 Franchinus, and even Guido himfelf, with great obloquy, 

 for not having difcovered the neceflity of a temperament. 

 See R.VMis. 



SPATHA, is a word ufed by different authors in va- 

 rious fenfes : fome exprefs by it a rib ; others the in(lru> 

 ment called by furgeons a fpatula, and is ufed for fpreading 

 ointments and platters ; and Celfus calls a fort of incifion- 

 knifc by this name. It is alfo ufed for the external covering 

 of the fruit of the palm-tree, and by others for a fword. 

 This lafl is indeed its proper fignification, and all the others 

 are only metaphorical applications of it to different things, 

 which bear fome refemblance to a fword. 



Spaiha, in Botany and Fegetaile Phyfiology, a Sheath, 

 is a fort of Calvx, according to Linnxus, (lee that article,) 

 more or lefs remote from the flower, of which, tlierefore, 

 it does not, like the perianthium, properly make a part. If 

 of one valve only, it burlts longitudinally, as in the Nar- 

 ciilus and Snow-drop ; but it often coniilts of many mem- 

 branous valves, leaves, or fcales, as in Soweriaa, Pancratium, 

 &c. The natural order of Palme exhibits various kinds of 

 Spathx, in great perfcAion, each enclofing a branched many, 

 (lowered Si-adix. (See that article.) Perhaps, nevcrthe- 

 lefs, this organ migiit more corrcAly be etteemcd of the 

 nature of a BraBea, or floral leaf, not conftituting, in any 

 cafe, a part of the fructification, nor aftbrding any (hare 

 of the generic characters. We cannot but confels, that the 

 more clofely the definitions of genera are reflridtcd to the 

 real organs of the flower and fruit, without recurring to the 

 inflorcicence, or any of its accompaniments, the more cor- 

 rect and philofophical the fcience of Botany has always 

 appeared in our eyes. Linnxus, led by Artedi, fwervcs 

 3 N 2 from 



