S P o 



it a variety «f this fort of fruit called the leather-coat, 

 from the appearance of its fkin. 



Method of Culture.— ll is increafed by fowing the ftones 

 of the fruit in pots filled with hght mould, plunging them in 

 the bark-bed of the ftove ; and by planting, cuttings, or put- 

 ting down layers, and managing them m the fame way : the 

 plants may be taken off and removed into feparate pots 

 when they have ftricken good roots, being re-plunged m 

 the bark-bed. 



They require afterwards to be kept conftantly in the 

 ftove, and to have the fame management as other woody 

 exotics of the fame nature. 



They afford variety in ftove coUeftions among other 

 fimilar plants. 



SPONDYLI, SffovJi-Xoi, in Antiquity, pellets of brafs 

 ufed in giving fentence, before the xiya|aoi, or beans, came 

 into ufe. 



SPONDYLOLITHOS, a name given by authors to a 

 ftone found in the country of Tyrol, and elfewhere, refem- 

 bling the vertebrae of an animal. It is in reality no other 

 than the vertebrx of fome fea-fifti petrified, as is common 

 with us. 



SPONDYLUS, j-Tov&Xo;, a term anciently ufed for a 

 vertebra of the fpina dorfi. 



Spondylus, in Natural Hlflory, a genus of the clafs 

 and order Vermes Teftacea, of which the generic charafter 

 it : Animal a tethys ; (hell hard, folid, with unequal valves ; 

 one of the valves is convex, the other rather flat ; hinge with 

 two recurved teeth, feparated by a fmall hollow. There are 

 four 



Species. 



G^DAROPUS. The (hell of this fpecies is (lightly eared 

 and fpinous. It inhabits the Mediterranean, the Indian, and 

 other feas, and is found in almoft infinite varieties, as to fize, 

 thicknefs, and colours ; fometimes entirely purple, orange, 

 white, or bloom-colour ; fometimes marked with various 

 ftreaks, fpots, dots, or bands. 



Regius. Shall without ears, and fpinous. There are 

 four varieties. One inhabits India, and one is found near 

 Malta, which is very rare. The (hell is fub-globular ; within 

 it is white ; without purplifli, fcarlet, flame-coloured, orange 

 er white ; the fpincs are ufually two inches long ; it is 

 fometimes cylindrical, with a crenate margin. 



Plicatus. Shell without ears or fpines, plaited. It is 

 found in India, fome parts of America, and in the Mediter- 

 ranean. The (hell is white, with yellowifh, reddi(h, brown- 

 ifli, or violet lines and veins. 



ClTREUs. Shell oblong, plaited, fpinous. The (hell is 

 imbricate, about two inches long, and nearly as broad ; it 

 is of a citron-colour, or red, with an orange inner margin. 

 SPONGE. See Spongia and Spunge. 

 Sponge-7V«, in Botany. See Mimosa. 

 SPONGIA, the Spunge, in Natural Hiflory, a genus of 

 the clafs and order Vermes Zoophytes. The generic cha- 

 rafter is as follows : Animal fixed, flexile, torpid, of various 

 forms, compofed either of reticulated fibres, or maffes of 

 fffiall fpines, interwoven together, and clothed with a ge- 

 latinous fle(h, full of fmall mouths on its furface, by which 

 h abforbs and rejefts water. There are about fifty fpecies, 

 of which nine or ten belong to this country. 



The fponges confift of a ramified mafs of capillary 

 tubes, that were formerly fuppofed to be the produftion of 

 a fpecies of worms, which are often found within thefe ca- 

 vities ; an idea, however, which is now generally exploded. 

 Others have imagined them to be only vegetable produftions : 

 that they are, howerer, po(re(red of animality, appears evi- 



S P o 



dent, from the circumftance of their pores alternately cok 

 tradling and dilating, and from their even (hrinking, in fom? 

 degree, from the touch, when examined in their native fitua- 

 tions. Their ftrufture enables them, it is thought, to ab- 

 forb nourifhment from the furrounding fluid. Sponges are 

 the moll torpid of all the zoophytes. The individuals differ 

 very much from each other in form and ftrufture. Some of 

 them, as the S. officinalis, or common fponge, arc of no 

 determinate figure, but others are cup-(haped, tubular, &c.; 

 irregularly formed, porous, rough, lobed, and woolly. 



Species. 



Ventilabrum. Fan-(haped, regular, foft, with reti- 

 culate woody veins, covered with pores like thofe of a honey- 

 comb. It is found in the Norwegian and American feas ; 

 about fix inches high, and five broad : it exaftly refembles 

 a fmall gorgonia flabellum in its (hape and ramifications, 

 except that the pores are angular, and the fubitance is 

 fpongy. 



Flabelliformis. Fan-(haped, orbicular, cartilaginous, 

 with fquare articulate fibres. This fpecies inhabits the In- 

 dian and Red feas. It is from fix to eight inches in height, 

 and four or five broad, and refembles the ventilabrum. 



Infundibuliformis. This is funnel-formed, flexile, 

 with the furface more or lefs roughened. It inhabits the 

 Mediterranean and Indian feas, adhering to rocks, and is 

 from fix to eighteen inches in diameter ; in colour it is a pale 

 brown, and lefs tenacious than common fponge. 



FisTULARis. Tubular, fimple, brittle, and gfrowing 

 gradually larger. It inhabits the Indian ocean, is from three 

 to four feet long : when dry it is blacki(h fulvous. 



AcuLEATA. Tubular, Ijranched, tough, the tubes ereft, 

 proceeding from one fide of the ilem, and tapering. It in- 

 habits the Indian ocean ; is from four to fix inches high, 

 of a deep orange-yellow colour, and hollow through the 

 whole infide. 



* CoRONATA. Minute, confifting of a fingle tube, and 

 crowned at the tip with a ray of fpines. This is found in 

 our own country, on the Sufiex coaft : its colour is of a pale 

 yellow ; the rays that compofe the crown are of a bright 

 pearl yellow, hollow, and open at the top ; and when feen 

 through a magnifier, it appears covered with httle rifing 

 points. 



Cli.iATA. Simple, tubular, conic, flexuous, tapering 

 upwards, and fringed at the tip. It inhabits the Greenland 

 feas, adhering to the larger ulvse ; is about eight inches long ; 

 white, filky, downy on the outfide, and rarely found 

 double. 



Cancellata. Tubular, porous, with cancellate fibres. 

 It inhabits the ocean ; is ferruginous, elaftic, with a prickly 

 furface ; the tube as thick as the finger, with a few elaftic 

 perforations. 



Rubra. Tough, fimple, carious, dull red, roundiih, 

 depreffed with elevated tubercles and equal pores. Inhabits 

 the Red fea, fixed to ftones. 



Nigra. Tough, globular, equal, inflated, black with- 

 out, cinereous within. It is found on rocks in the Red 

 fea. 



Officinalis. This fpecies is irregularly formed, porous, 

 tough, lobed, woolly. It is elaftic, and very full of holes ; 

 it grows into irregular lobes of a woolly confiftence, and 

 generally adheres, by a very broad bafe, to the rocks. It 

 is chiefly found about the iflands in the Mediterranean, where 

 it forms a confiderable article oi commerce. A variety of 

 fmall marine animals pierce and gnaw into its irregular 

 winding cavities. Thefe appear on the outfide, by Targe 

 holes raifed higher than the reft. When it is cut perpendi- 

 cularly, 



