S P E 



doftrines of Boetliius, 52 chapters ; fixth, of the modes and 

 notation of the ancients, of the chai.ges made in their fydem 

 by Guido, and of the ecclefiallical tones, 113. Book the 

 7th, of meafured mufic ; of difcant, in treating of which he 

 has the chapter " de ineptis Difcantoribus," part of which 

 has been given in the preceding chapter ; of the time-table, 

 moods or divifions of time ; of the follv of placing a tail to 

 the femibreve, by which he feems to mean the minim, with- 

 out naming it ; of perfeft and imperfeft meafures ; and 

 laltly, a parallel between ancient and modern mufic, which 

 occupies the laft five of the 45 chapters into which this book 

 is divided, the concluding fentence of which is, " Exempli 

 caufa defcribere tibi volo quorum figurse funt in hoc ordine 

 confequentes. 



Explicit Traftatus Muficae, Magiftri 

 Johannis de Muris." 



Notwithftanding all the nice and fubtle divifions and fub- 

 divifions of his feven books into 917 chapters, the practical 

 mufician would at prefent profit but little from the ftudy of 

 them, as almoft all the doftrines contained in the firlt five 

 books are fpeculative, and fuch as may be found in Ptolemy, 

 Boethius, and other ancient authors, whom almoll all the 

 mufical writers of later times have copied in pure pedantry, 

 without underllanding themfelves what they read, and con- 

 fequently without conveying any ufeful fcience to their 

 readers by what they have written. It is only in the two 

 laft books that De Muris condefcends to fpeak of the prac- 

 tical mufic of his own times : in the fixth book he treats of 

 the ecclefiallical tones, notation, and chants, which John 

 Cotton and Walter Odington had done before ; and in the 

 feventh he defines cantus menfurabilis, difcant, moods, cha- 

 rafters of the different duration of founds, as the long, 

 breve, femi-breve, and their perfeftion and imperfeftion. 

 Here he employs feveral chapters in refutmg fuch as have 

 difputed his doftrines ; and laftly, he draws a parallel be- 

 tween the mufic of the ancients and that of the moderns, 

 in order to afcertain their feveral degrees of perfeftion. 



It is in mere charity to tiie curious in mufical antiquities 

 that we have bellowed fo much pains in examining and de- 

 fcribing this book ; vJhich, though of difficult accefs, and 

 more difhcult perufal, might tempt them, from the celebrity 

 of the author, to explore its dark regions, and impair their 

 eyes and patience in fearch of fcientific treafures which it 

 does not contain. 



Speculum Veneris, in Botany, a name borrowed from the 

 Flemings, given by Gerarde to an annual fpecies of Campa- 

 nula, common in gardens, and remarkable for the brilliancy 

 of its deep blue flowers with a white centre. Linnxus has 

 retained this as a fpecific name, and the plant is commonly 

 called Venus's Looking-glafs. See Campanula and Pen- 



TAGOhflA. 



SPEEAN, in Rural Economy, provincially ufed to fig- 

 nify to wean from the dams, as calves, hogs, lambs, and 

 other animals. ^ 



SPEEAVE, provincially to fay or cut young animals. 



SPEECH, the aft, or art of exprefling a man's thoughts, 

 by certain figns invented f )r that purpofe. 



Thefe figns are principally founds made by the voice, and 

 letters. See Languagk. 



Speech, in Grammar, denotes an affemblage of feveral 

 words ranged in order. 



The grammarians generally make eight parts of fpeech, 

 ». e. eight kinds of words ufed in difcourfc ; wz noun, pro- 

 noun, verb, participle, adverb, conjuntJion, prepoftlion, and in- 

 terjedion ; each of which fee under its proper article. 



F. Bufficr, one of the lall writers on grammar, only 

 admits of three parts of fpeech, viz. noun, verb, and 



S P E 



modtficative ; which kit includes the adverb, conjunBlon, and 

 prepofition. 



The ingenious Mr. Harris, after Ariftotle, diftribute» 

 all words into four fpecies, v'fz.. fubitantives, or nouns ; at- 

 tributives, or verbs ; definitives, or articles ; and conneftives, 

 or conjunftions ; the two former are principals, or fignificant 

 from themfelves ; and the two latter are accellories, or figni- 

 ficant by relation. Under thefe four fpecies are included 

 pronouns, adverbs, prepofitions, and interjeftions. Hermes, 

 P-3'- 



SPEED, John, in Biography, a confiderable clucidator 

 of the geography and hiltory of Great Britain, was born 

 in 1552, at Farrington, in Chefliire. He was brought up 

 to the trade of a tailor, and was, by apprenticefhip, a free- 

 man of the company of Merchant Tailors in London, when 

 that patron of learning, fir Fulk Greville, difcovering his 

 attachment to the antiquities of his country, gave him an 

 allowance to enable him to quit his employment, and devote 

 himfelf to ftudy. His firlt publication was entitled " The 

 Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain, prefenting an 

 exaft Geography of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, 

 and Ireland, and the adjacent Ifles." This work confilled 

 of a fet of maps of all the counties, witii the ichnography 

 of the principal towns, and brief defcriptions, moftly copied 

 from Camden's Britannia. His greateft work, the labour 

 of fourteen years, entitled " The Hittory of Great Britain," 

 appeared in the year 1614. It is chiefly a compilation from 

 preceding authors and manufcript records, comprifing all the 

 events in Britifli hiltory, from the invafion of Julius Cxfar 

 to the reign of king James I.; and though rude in ftyle, yet 

 it contained more valuable matter, and is better arranged, 

 than the preceding chronicles. Speed, it is faid, was the 

 firft Enghfli writer who, flighting Geoff'rey's tales, fell upon 

 more folid matter. He was aflilted by fir Robert Cotton, 

 who revifed and correfted the whole. Mr. Speed was author 

 of a work entitled " A Cloud of Witnefles, or Genealo- 

 gies of Scripture," prefixed to the new tranflation of the 

 Bible in 161 1, and to feveral fubfcquent editions of it. 

 This ufeful and indultrious man pafled 57 years in the mar- 

 riage ftate, with a wife, by whom he had twelve fons and 

 fix daughters. He died at London in 1629, and was buried 

 in the church of St. Giles, Cripplegate. 



SPEEDWELL, in Botany. See Veronica. 



Speedwell, Female. See Elatine. 



SPEEDY-CuT, a term ufed to lignify a kind of cut 

 which happens to a horfe when put to his fpced. See 

 Shoeing of Horfes. 



SPEEN, or Speenham Land, in Geography. See New- 

 bury. 



SPEGEL, Haquin, in Biography, a Swedifh arch- 

 bifliop, diftinguilhed for great learning, was born in 1645. 

 After acquiring the rudiments of a good education, he was 

 fent to the academy of Greipfwald ; made a tour to Ger- 

 many, Holland, England, Denmark ; and on his return 

 took his degree of mailer of arts at Lund, in 167 i. The 

 fame year he was appointed chaplain to Charles XL, whom 

 he accompanied in his campaigns during the whole Dutch 

 war. In 1685 he was made bifliop of Skara, was lr.uiflated 

 thence to Linkciping in 1691, and in 1711 wasrailcd to the 

 archiepifcopal chair. After the fire which took place at 

 Linkciping in 1 700, he contributed by his aftivc exertions 

 towards rebuilding the Gymnafium, a fervice of fo much im- 

 portance, that the remembrance of it is ttill prellrvcd by an 

 iiilcription on the front of the building. He augmented the 

 library with a great number of excellent books, ,ind on the 

 death of his fon, prefrntcd to it a coUcftion of medals and 

 coins. He di«U ^t Upfui, in 1714. Among his workf, 



which 



