S P I 



S P I 



When the diieafe does not admit of the radical or pal- 

 liative cure, the furgeon fhould inltruft the friends of the 

 patient to keep the tumour out of the way of every thing 

 that has a tendency to make it inflame and ulcerate ; and, 

 if any thing at all is done, the fwelling fhould be tenderly 

 bathed every now and then with fpirituous and mildly aftrin- 

 gent lotions, with a view of averting inflammation and ul- 

 ceration of the flcin. Firft Lines of tlie Praftice of Sur- 

 ,a^ry, by S. Cooper, edit. 3. 



Spina Burgi, in Botany, a name ufed by fome authors for 

 the alaternus, or ever-green privet, a garden fhrub, the fruit 

 of which is a mild aitringent. 



Spina Ventofa, in Surgery, a caries or abfcefs of the in- 

 ternal part of a bone. Spina was a term applied by the 

 Arabian writers, becaufe the difeafe occafioneda pi'ickingin 

 the fielh ; and the epithet ventofa was added, becaufe the 

 part affe^ed communicates a feel as if it contained air. 

 Spina ventofa is often employed fynonimoufly with white- 

 fwelling. See White-swelling. 



SPINACH, or Spinage, in Botany. See Spinacia. 



Spinach is fometimes cultivated in the field for the ad- 

 vantage of the feed. The different forts of it are raifed 

 in this manner, in order to fupply the demand for the dif- 

 ferent kind? of feed. 



The land for thefe crops is finely prepared by different 

 ploughings and harrowings in the early fpring, and a little 

 well rotted dung intimately blended with the foil, where the 

 land is not of a good quality. 



The different forts of feed are then fown in fmall furrows 

 made for the purpofe, in the ground, either by the hand- 

 hoe, or by means of a drill for this ufe, at the diftance of 

 from about twelve to fourteen inches from each other ; the 

 prickly fort of feed being u(ed in the proportion of fix gal- 

 lons to the acre, and the round fort in that of four to the 

 fame quantity of land. 



Some time in the early part of March, when the plant* 

 have advanced fo as to have leaves of about one or two 

 inches in length, they are thinned out by the hoe to the 

 diitance of four or five inches. The rows of plants are 

 always kept well moulded up both before and after the pe- 

 riod of thinning, and the whole crop preferved in a pcrfeftly 

 clean Itate from weeds. As foon as the crop has reached 

 the time of being in full bloom, the greater part of the 

 male plants are drawn out, by the hand, from among the 

 others, by which means the female plants are allowed more 

 room, light, and air to grow in, and thereby to perfedl; their 

 feed in a better and more full manner. The plants which 

 are thus drawn out anfwer in a very profitable manner in 

 the feeding of young pigs, and they may probably be given 

 10 fome other foris of animals with advantage. 



When the crop becomes quite ripe, it is pulled up, and 

 the feed either threlhed out on a cloth in the field, or the 

 whole carried to the barn, to be afterwards threfhcd out. 

 See Spinacia. 



The produce is ufually from about two to five quarters on 

 the acre, according as the fealon and other circnmllances are 

 lefs or more favourable. 



Tiie cultivation of fpinach for feed in the field often turns 

 out very advantageouily, but it is attended with fome de- 

 gree of uncertainty, as is the cafe with moll cropj of this 

 nature. 



It is a crop whicli is much grown in the illc ol Tlianct, 

 and in Eail Kent, in order to fupply feed for the London 

 feedfmen. 



Spinach, Strawberry. See Blitum. 



Spinach, Wild, in ]/1gricullure, the name of a weed, a« 

 Vol. XXXIII. 



the goofe-foot. It is very troublefome in fome fort« of 

 land. 



SPINACHIA, in Ichthyology, a name given by fome 

 authors to our common fticklcback, or banftickle, more 

 ufually known among writers by the n?Lmes pmigitim, or acu- 

 leatus pifcictilus. See STlCKl.v.-Back. 



SPINACIA, in Botany, a name of dubious origin, but the 

 mod general and probable etymology deduces it from fptna, 

 a thorn, on account of the prickly or fpinous integumcnl 

 of the fruit. — Linn. Gen. 520. Schreb. 688. Willd. Sp. 

 PI. V. 4. 766. Mart. Mill. Dift. v. 4. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 v. 5. 385. Tournef. t. 308. Jufl". 85. Lamarck Illiiftr. 

 t. 815. Ga;rtn. t. 126. — Clafs and order, Dioecia Pentan- 

 dria. Nat. Ord. HoJeraceie, Liuii. Atrlplices, Jiifl. 



Gen. Ch. Male, Cal. Perianth inferior, deeply cloven 

 into five concave, oblong, obtiife fegmonts. Cor. none. 

 Stam. Filaments five, capillary, longer than the calyx ; an- 

 thers oblong, twin. 



Female, Cnl. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, permanent, 

 cloven into four, alternately (mailer fegments. Cor. tone. 

 P'lfl. Germen inferior, roundifh, comprefied ; ftyles four, 

 capillary ; ftigmas fimple. Per'ic. none, except the lur- 

 rounding, hardened calyx, which enclofcs a folitar)-, roundifh 

 feed. 



Obf. The fruit is occafionally round, but generally befet 

 with two or four horns' or fpines. 



Efl". Ch. Male, Calyx deeply five-cleft. Corolla none. 



Female, Calyx four-cleft. Corolla none. Styles four. 

 Seed folitary, within the hardened calyx. 



1. S. oleracea. Garden Spinach. Linn. Sp. PI. I4j6. 

 <'Schkuhr. Handb. v. 3. 469.1. 324." (Spinachia ; Ger. 

 Em. 330.) — Fruit feffile. — Native place of growth un- 

 known. It was cultivated in Great Britain fo long back as 

 the year 1568, and flowers throughout the fummer. Root 

 annual. Stem one or two feet high, herbaceous, branched, 

 hollow. Lea'ves arrow-fhapcd. Male Jloiuers herbaceous, 

 in long fpikes, abounding with pollen. Female Jloiuers on a 

 feparate plant, in clutters on the llalks at every joint, her- 

 baceous, fmall. Seeds roundifh, unarmed, fubjeft to vary 

 with regard to fpines. 



There are two or three varieties of the garden fpinach, 

 one called />r/Vi-/y, another ymoo/A; differing in the fize and 

 fliape of the leaves, and in their feeds being more or left 

 prickly. 



This plant does not appear to have been known to the 

 ancients. It is called Hifpanac by Arabian phyficians, and 

 has been fo long and generally cultivated in Spain, as to have 

 obtained the name of Htfpammnlus. A conjefture is pro- 

 pofed by profeffor Martyn refpefting the introduftion of this 

 plant into Spain by the Saracens. 



2. S. /era. Wild Spinach. Linn. Sp. PI. 1456. (S. 

 foliis ex deltoideo-ovatip, fubfinuofis capfulis in orbcm dif. 

 pofitis; Gmel. Sib. v. 3. 86. t. 16.)— Fruit llalkcd.— Native 

 of Siberia, in damp, unfrequented places. — Root annual, 

 whitifli. j'/fm nearly two feet high, branched, creft. Leaves 

 ftalked, triangular or ovate, occafionally finuated, obtufe. 

 Male flowers in clofc heads, near \.\\c females, or in folitary, 

 interrupted fpikes. Fruits axillary, three or more, on 

 llalks of their own length, ovate or obovatc, obtufe, 

 (lightly keeled on each (ide, fmooth, very obtufe. 



Spinacia, in Gardening, contains a plant of the annual 

 culinary kind, of wliich the fpecijs cultivated is the garden 

 fpinach (S. oleracea.) 



There are varieties of this which differ in the fize »nd 

 fliapc of the leaves, and the greater or lefs pricklinefs of the 

 feeds ; as the triangidar with prickly feeds, in which the 



■^ Y le^vcf 



