Scottish Highlands, it is rugged, and of a 

 deep purple. In S. Gunnii, a flue Tasmanian 

 species, it resembles a Turk's-cap gourd ; 

 while in 8. ampullaceum, which occurs in 

 marshy places on a level with the sea or on 

 the dung of animals, it is pitcher-shaped, 

 and of a reddish or golden-yellow colour. 

 The swelling is hollow, the central portion 

 (a continuation of the axis) being connect- 

 ed with the outer by delicate threads. 

 Several genera have been separated from 

 it, but most of them rest on insufficient 

 grounds. French : Splanc. [M. J. B.] 



SPLEENWORT. Asplenium. 



SPLENDENS. The same as polished, 

 but having the lustre a little broken from 

 slight irregularity of surface. 



SPLITGERBERA. A Japanese shrub 

 forming a genus of Urticacece. The leaves 

 are opposite or in threes, entire or two- 

 lobed, membranous ; and the flowers in 

 axillary spikes, with four-leaved unequal 

 involucre ; perianth of the male flowers 

 four-parted, with four stamens opposite 

 its segments ; filaments flattened petaloid, 

 at first infolded, afterwards spreading. 

 The female flowers are placed above the 

 males in the upper part of the stein ; they 

 have an ovate perianth closely applied to 

 the ovary, and nearly adnate to it. The 

 ovary is one-celled, with a single ovule, 

 and a cylindrical style terminated by an 

 elongated hairy stigma. [M. T. MJ 



SPODO. In Greek compounde = ash- 

 grey. 



SPONDIACEiE, or SPONDIE.E. A tribe 

 of Anacardiacece, considered by some bo- 

 tanists as a distinct order, but only differ- 

 ing from the other tribes by the ovary 

 being completely two to five-celled instead 

 of being reduced by abortion to a single 

 cell. Besides Spondias itself, it only in- 

 cludes nine species distributed into six 

 genera. 



SPONDIAS. By some authors this ge- 

 nus is considered as the type of a distinct 

 natural order, while others refer it to 

 Anacardiacece. The points of distinction 

 are to be sought in the alternate dotless 

 leaves, and in the cup-like disk surrounding 

 the Ave distinct carpels, each of which 

 contains a single pendulous seed. 



The species are natives of the tropics of 

 both hemispheres, and the fruits of some 

 of them are edible. Thus in Brazil and 

 the West Indies, 8. lutea, S. Mombin, S. 

 tuberosa, &c. yield fruits eaten under the 

 name of Hog Plum, the taste of which is 

 said to be peculiar, and not agreeable to 

 strangers. These fruits are chiefly used to 

 fatten swipe. S. dulcls, a native of the 

 Society Isles, yields a fruit compared in 

 flavour to that of the pine-apple. S. man- 

 gifera yields a yellowish-green fruit, which 

 is eaten in India, and is used as a pickle in 

 the unripe state. 



Some of the species are employed medi- 

 cinally. Thus the bark leaves and wood 

 of S. mangifera are used in various com- 

 plaints in India. An insipid gum also 



exudes from the hark of this tree. S. 

 Mombin has astringent leaves, while its 

 fruits are laxative, and its seeds are said 

 to be poisonous. The bark of 8. venulusa 

 has aromatic astringent properties. S. 

 tnbcrusa is also employed in fevers; the 

 fruit is the part used. S. Birrea affords to 

 the natives of Abyssinia an edible kernel, 

 while its fruits are employed in Senegal 

 in the preparation of an alcoholic drink. 

 A The flower-buds of 8. Mombin are used as 

 !§i sweetmeat with sugar. One or two 

 species are in cultivation in this country. 

 The generic name is said to be derived 

 from the Greek name for a kind of plum ; 

 it may also be derived from sponde ' a cup,' 

 in allusion to the peculiar cup-like disk in 

 the flowers. [M. T. M.] 



SPONEE. (Fr.) Spergula. 



SPONGELET, SPONGIOLE. The young 

 tender extremity of a root, by which fluid 

 food is absorbed from the earth. 



SPONGE-TREE. Acacia Famesiana. 



SPONGE WOOD. uEscliynomene aspera. 



SPONGIOCARPE^E. A natural order of 

 rose-spored Algce, consisting of a solitary 

 genus, Polyides : which see. [M. J. B.] 



SPONGY. Having the texture of a 

 sponge, that is to say, very cellular, with 

 the cellules rilled with air : as the coats of 

 many seeds. 



SPONTANEOUS GENERATION. In the 

 days of Aristotle, and to a late date in the 

 last century, the notion that corruption 

 is the source of life was almost universal, 

 and it is a common popular opinion even 

 in the present day. In the scientific world 

 indeed, except amongst a few philosophers 

 of the German school, the opinion has 

 been all but exploded, that organised 

 beings can arise without pre-existent 

 germs. It has, however, of late been re- 

 vived by Pouchet and others in France; 

 and if their facts could be implicitly de- 

 pended upon, the doctrine would certainly 

 Vie in a condition less exposed to doubt 

 than it has of late been considered. Its 

 opponents, however, in France— amongst 

 whom may be reckoned men of no mean 

 pretensions, as Payen, Quatrefages, Ber- 

 nard, and Dumas— have met the subject 

 with counter-statements which appear 

 quite irresistible. 



Wherever due attention has been paid 

 to prevent the possibility of access of 

 atmospheric air, no vegetation has ever 

 appeared, provided proper precautions 

 have been taken to place all possibly pre- 

 existent germs in such a condition that 

 their reproductive powers musfbe de- 

 stroyed. If the residue of rain or snow- 

 flakes or the dust of tradewinds is care- 

 fully examined, numerous animal and 

 vegetable productions may always be 

 detected ; and the lower forms of either 

 kingdom are propagated with such ex- 

 treme rapidity, that the swarming of 

 animals or vegetables in infusions seems 

 almost maeical. Some of these will bear. 



