468 
S P E 
S P K 
SPEWING, s. [fpipmje, Saxon.] Act of vomiting.— 
Shameful spewing shall be upon thy glory. Had. 
SPE'WY, adj. Wet; foggy. A provincial word.—The 
lower vallies in wet Winters are so spewy, that they know 
not how to feed them. Mortimer. 
SPEXHALL, a parish of England, in Suffolk; 2J miles 
north-by-west of Halesworth. 
SPEY, a large and rapid river of Scotland, in Inverness- 
shire, which has its rise from Loch Spey, in Badenoch, about 
16 miles south from Fort Augustus, and after a course pretty 
steadily, from south-west to north-east, of about 96 miles 
in all its windings, it falls into the sea, about 8 miles east off 
Elgin, carrying with it the waters of a track of country of 
about 1300 square miles. Its waters, a few miles from 
its source, spread out into a small lake of the same name; 
from which, resuming the form of a river, it proceeds with 
great rapidity towards the east, and is joined by the Truim 
water at Ballidbeg, and by the Trommie water, where the 
river expands into a loch of about two miles long and one 
broad, called the Inch loch. If is then joined by the Feshie, 
at Inverishe, by the Liunie water at Rothiemurchus, by the 
Nethy near Abernethy, by the Dulnain from the north, 
opposite Abernethy, by the Avon at Inveravon, by the 
Dullan water between Aberlour and Rothes, and by a great 
number of lesser streams through the whole of its course. 
This has been often said to be the largest river in Scotland, 
but can be reckoned only the third, as the Tay and the 
Tweed collect their waters from a greater extent of country. 
It is, however, liable to sudden and great inundations, and 
at such times may contain more water than perhaps any 
other river in Scotland under similiar circumstances. It runs 
in general through the best wooded country in Scotland. 
The great cause of its inundations and apparent magnitude 
is, that it runs remarkably slow for 30 miles of its course. 
Its fall from the Boat of Bog, near Gordon castle, to the sea, 
a distance of only three miles, is 60 feet. The vast forest of 
Abernethy, Glenmore, and Kingussie, are upon its banks, 
or ou its tributary streams; and extend, in succession, 30 or 
40 miles together, and in which is some of the finest timber 
in Scotland. To prevent the trees from being shivered in 
passing the great cataracts of the river, small canals have 
been cut out in the banks, with a gentle slope, down which 
the wood is directed. It gives name to the district of 
Strathspey, famous for its soldiers and music. The Spey 
abounds with trtmt and salmon, the fishery for which 
is very valuable. 
SPEYMOUTH, a parish of Scotland, in Morayshire, 
which derives its name from its local situation at the estuary 
of the Spey. Population 1124. 
SPEZIA, Gulf of, the ancient Portus Luna, a bay of 
the Mediterranean, in the eastern part of the Genoese territory. 
It is large and secure; its length from Porto Venere to the 
town of Spezia, being about 5 miles, and its breadth at the 
mouth nearly the same. It is defended from the agitation 
of the sea by several small islands, while on the land side 
it is sheltered by mountains. It might thus be rendered a 
naval station of importance. To the naturalist, it presents 
a very curious phenomenon. In the middle of the bay there 
rises from the depth of 38 feet, a spring of fresh water, 
which having a strong current, occupies at the surface a 
space several yards square, before mixing with the surround¬ 
ing salt water. 
SPEZIA, or Speccia, a town of the Sardinian states, in 
the Genoese territory, delightfully situated on an eminence at 
the bottom of the gulf of Spezia. Since the advantages of 
its maritime situation have been duly appreciated, this town 
has been rapidly increasing in population, and contains at 
present upwards of 4000 inhabitants. It is tolerably regular, 
and not ill built. The number of villas with plantations of 
olives and fruit trees, joined to its naturally picturesque 
situation, render the environs delightful; 8 miles west-north¬ 
west of Sarzana, and 40 south-east of Genoa. Lat. 44.4. 
10 N. long. 9.52. 0. E. 
SPEZZIA, a small island of Greece, in the gulf of Napoli, 
about 20 miles from Napoli di Romania. It is only six 
miles long and two broad: the channel separating it from 
the continent is only a mile and a half in width. The town 
called also Spezzia, contains about 3000 inhabitants • and 
there belong to the island between 50 and 60 barks or’petty 
vessels. The surface of the island is rugged, and its soil 
unproductive. Its ancient name was Taparenus ; the inha¬ 
bitants now call it Petza. 
SPEZZIA-PAULO, an islet to the south of Spezzia, known 
to the inhabitants under the name of Aristera. 
lo SPHACELA1E, w. a. To affect with gangrene. 
Unused. —The long retention of matter sphacelates the 
brain. Sharp. 
To SPHA'CELATE, v. n. To mortify; to suffer the 
gangrene.—The skin, by the great distension, having been 
rendered very thin, will, if not taken away, sphacelate, and 
the rest degenerate into a cancerous ulcer. Sharp. 
SPHA'CELUS, s. [ycpaKe'koc,, Gr.] A gangrene; a mor¬ 
tification. it is the ground of inflammation, gangrene, 
sphacelus. Wiseman. 
SPHACHIA, a mountainous district of the island of 
Candia, which is covered with snow during a great part of 
the year. It is inhabited by a tribe called Sphachiotes, said 
to be descended from the ancient Cretans, and who, like 
the Mainotes, have been all along independent of the Turks. 
Like the Mainotes, they are an active and spirited race, 
deriving their chief subsistence from their herds and flocks’, 
but engaging occasionally in piratical excursions. Their 
government is a kind of republic, and their magistrates are 
elected from their own body. They have a small town 
called Sphachia or Sfachia. 
SPHACTERIA, Sphagia, or Sfagia, a small island 
on the west coast of the Morea, celebrated as the refuge of 
800 Spartans, after the loss of a sea fight in the beginning 
of the Peloponnesian war. It is in the neighbourhood of 
Navurin, about 12 miles north of Modon. 
SPHiERANTHUS [from crcpoupa, a sphere; avitso/;, a 
flower. Globe-flower], in Botany, a genus of the class syn- 
genesia, order polygamia segregata, natural order of com- 
positae capitatae, cmaroceplialse (Juss.)— Generic Character. 
Calyx, common globular, imbricate : scales acuminate, per¬ 
manent, clothing the universal receptacle all 'round. Pe¬ 
rianth, partial, many-flowered, five-leaved, within each scale 
of the common calyx solitary, composed of linear, equal, 
erect leaflets. Corolla: partial corollets hermaphrodite few 
(three) in the disk: females in the ray commonly five. 
Proper of the hermaphrodite one petalled, funnel-shaped, 
with a five-cleft patulous border.—Female awl-shaped, tu¬ 
bular, with a very small trifid closed mouth. Stamina in 
the hermaphrodites; filaments five, capillary, very short. 
Anther cylindric, tubular, longer than the corolla. Pistil in 
the hermaphrodites: germ wasting. Style longer, thicker. 
Stigma quite simple. In the females: germ oblong. Style 
bristle-shaped, length of the stamens. Stigma two-parted. 
Pericarp none. Calyx unchanged. Seeds in"the hermaphro¬ 
dites none : in the females solitary, oblong, naked. Recep¬ 
tacle: common scaly: partial naked.— Essential Charac¬ 
ter. Calyx eight-flowered. Corolla tubular hermaphrodite 
and indistinct female. Receptacle scaly. Down none. 
1. Sphaeranthus Indicus, or Indian* sphaeranthus.—Stem 
herbaceous, about a foot high, which rarely branches out. 
Leaves about three inches long, and an inch broad in the 
middle, of a deep green, alternate. The peduncles come 
out from the side of the stalk, opposite to the leaf, about two 
inches long, and sustain one globular head of flowers at the 
top, of a purplish red colour. Seeds oblong, situated on the 
margin.—Native of the East Indies. 
2. Sphaeranthus Africanus, or African sphaeranthus._ 
Leaves decurrent, ovate, serrate; peduncles round. This 
differs from the preceding chiefly in having the peduncles 
round, without any decurrent wings.—It grows naturally 
at Madras, and also at La Vera Cruz, in New Spain. 
3. Sphaeranthus Chinensis.—Leaves sessile, pinnatifid. 
This is a much smaller plant than the first, with pinnate-sinu¬ 
ate leaves. Peduncles curled with the decurrent wings._ 
Native of India. 
4. Sphaeranthus 
