S P u 



S P u 



men fait and fome carbonate of lime. The principal con- 

 Itituents of fpnnge, according to Mr. Hatchett's experi- 

 ments, are animal gelatin, albumen (which fee), a fmall 

 portion of common fait, and carbonate of lime. Spunge, 

 when cleaned and fit for ufc, is of a brownifh-yellow colour, 

 foft, light, and very porous ; abforbing rapidly by capil- 

 lary attrattion as much as it can contain of any fluid in 

 which it is immerfed, and again yielding it when com- 

 pre'lcd. 



Spunge is a very ufeful fubftance in the arts. In its 

 ufual form it is never employed as a remedy ; but in furgery, 

 rt is a very ufeful inftrument on various occafions. 



A fpunge applied to bleeding veflels has been found a 

 Tery fucccfsful method of flopping the effufion of blood. 

 Phil. Tranf. N° 478. p. 33. 



For this purpofe, a very dry and folid piece, of a cubical 

 •r conical form, (hould be applied in clofe contaft with the 

 veffel, and retained by proper compreifion ; and it will foon 

 adhere with great force. Very large arteries have been 

 prevented from bleeding by this application. 



Dry fpunge, from its property of imbibing and fwelling 

 by moilture, is fometimes ufed as a tent for dilating wounds 

 and ulcers : for this purpofe, after being carefully freed 

 from the tmall Itones generally lodged in it, it is dipt in 

 melted wax, and the wax fqueezed out from it in a prefs. 

 Lewis. 



Taken inwardly, it choaks ; and is, for that reafon, cut 

 fmall, and fried or dipped in honey, and given to quadru- 

 peds to kill them, which it feldom fails to do, by fwelling 

 and preventing the pallage of the food into the inteitines. 



The officinal preparation of fpunge for medical purpofes 

 is the " fpungia uita," or burnt fpunge. The London 

 Pharmacopeia direfts to cut fpunge into fmall pieces, and 

 to bruife it, that it may be thus freed from any adhering 

 extraneous fubltance ; then to burn it in a covered iron veffel, 

 until it become black and friable ; and, lalUy, to reduce it 

 to a very fine powder. Burnt fponge confilts of carbonate 

 and phofphate of lime, fubcarbonate of foda, and charcoal. 

 The principal aftive ingredient is the fubcarbonate of foda ; 

 but it is aiierted, that a mixt\ire of this principle and char- 

 coal does not produce the effedts of burnt fpunge. This 

 fubftance is tonic, deobftruent, and antacid. It has been 

 much recommended in bronchocele, fcrophulous affcftions, 

 and hepatic eruptions. The dofe is from _;j to ^iij, mixed 

 into the form of an eleftuary, with powdered cinnamon and 

 honey. In bronchocele the patient is dircfted to fwallow 

 the portion of elertuary very flowly, from a fuppofition that 

 fome local eifeft is produced. See Bronchocele. 



Some have pretended to cure the leprofy with it, and 

 others extol it againll the bite of a mad dog ; but thcfe lafl 

 are virtues not un'verfally received. 



In fpunges are found a kind of Itones called cyftlolitht, 

 held good for the worms in young children, and to this pur- 

 pofe given in powder. 



Spungr, in the Manege, is the extremity, or point of a 

 horfe'a {hop, that anfwers to the heel of his foot ; upon it 

 tiiecalkuis are to be made. Thick fpunge ruins the horfe's 

 heels, and therefore ought never to be ufed. See Shoeing 

 of Horfes. 



Spun«ks, PyrotechnkalyVrc made of the large muftirooms 

 or fungous excrefcences growing on old oaks, adies, firs, 

 kc. which, being boiled in common water, then dried and 

 well beaten, are put into a llrong ley, prepared with falt- 

 pctre, and again dried in an oven. 



Thefc make the black match or tinder brought from Ger- 

 many, ufed to receive and fuftain the Are ilruck from a 

 Hint and fteel, kc- 



Spunge is ufed, in Gunnery, for a cylinder of wood, 

 from ten to twelve inches long, of the fame diameter with 

 the rammer, with a piece of llieep or lamb-lkin wound about 

 its end, to ferve for Icouring great guns when difcharged, 

 before they be charged with frelh powder ; hence called 

 fpung'mg. In fmall guns it is commonly fixed to the other 

 end of the handle of the rammer ; but has a leparate one iu 

 thofe of a larger calibre. 



SPUNGING. See Spunge. 



SPUNK, a term ufed indifferently for half-rotten wood, 

 match for guns, and a fubftance growing on the fides of 

 trees. See Ag.vuic. 



SPUN-YARN, among Sailors, a fmall line or cord, 

 formed of two or three rope-yarns twifted together by a 

 winch ; the yarns, of which it is ufually made at fea, are 

 drawn out of the itraiids of old cables, or other ropes, and 

 are knotted together, and tarred. It is employed for feve- 

 ral purpofes, particularly to faften one rope to another, to 

 feize block-ftrops to the fhrouds, and to ferve ropes which 

 are liable to be chafed, &c. 



SPUR was anciently a piece of the armour of a ca- 

 valier, fattened to the talary, that is, the hind part of that 

 piece of a complete armour which covers the legs and 

 feet. 



The word is derived from the German, fpohr ; or rather 

 the Saxon, fpora ; or Danifh, /par ; which all fignify the 

 fame. 



At prcfent, the fpur is a piece of iron, or other metal, 

 confining of two branches encbmpafTing the horfeman's heel, 

 and a rouelle or rowel in form of a ftar, advancing out be- 

 hind, to prick the horfc. 



Louis le Debonnair forbad ecclefiaftics the profane fafhion 

 of wearing fpurs. Anciently the difference between the 

 knight and efquire was, that the knight wore gilt fpurs, 

 whence the appellation of eques auratus ; and the fquire, 

 filvered ones. 



Two forts of fpurs fecm to have been in ufe about the 

 time of the Conquett, one called a pryck, having only a 

 fingle point, like the gaffle of a fighting-cock ; the other 

 confining of a number of points of confiderablc length, ra- 

 diating from and revolving upon a centre, thence named the 

 rouelle, or wheel-fpur. Delineations of the firll occur in 

 the feals of niort of our kings and great barons, prior to the 

 reign of Edward III., and alfo on the engraved and fculp- 

 tured figures of crof^-leggcd knights. The rouelle is fome- 

 times found on figures of equal antiquity ; inftanccs occur- 

 ring of the fame perfon being delineated with the pryck- 

 fpur on one leal, and the rouelle on another. Some fpcci- 

 mens of the pryck-fpur are ilill to be found in the cabinets 

 of the curious. 



Si'Uit, Order of the GoliUn, in Rome, is fuppofed by fe- 

 vcral writers to have been inftituted by pope Pius IV., in 

 1559. The badge is a ftar of eight points argent, and be- 

 tween the two bottom points a fpur or. 



Spur, in jigricullure, the name of a vegetable difcafe, 

 which frequently attacks rye, and which fometimes likewife 

 damages wheat. It is found that the grains which have the 

 fpur are thicker and longer than the found ones, and gene- 

 rally projeft beyond their hulks, appearing (ometimei 

 ilraii;lit, and fometimes more or Icfs crooked ; and that 

 their outfides arc brown or black ; their lurface is rough, and 

 three furrows may fiequently be perceived in them, wliich 

 run from end to end. Their outward end is always thicker 

 than that which llicka to the chafl, and the moll fwolleii 

 end is fometimes fplit into two or three parte. It is not un- 

 ulual to find on their iurfacee cavities which fecm to have 

 been made by infeds Further, that when a fpircd grain is 

 4 M 2 broken, 



