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SPH^lROLOBIUM [so named by Sir J. E. Smith, from 
the Gr. o-tpaioa, a globe, and \o(3k>v, the diminutive of XojSo?, 
a pod, to express the roundish form of its very small legume], 
in Botany, a genus of the class decandria, order monogynia, 
natural order of papilionaceee, leguminosee (Juss.J —Generi 
Character. Calyx: perianth inferior, of one-leaf, perma¬ 
nent, bell shaped, two-lipped. Corolla: papilionaceous, of 
five petals. Stamina: filaments ten, linear, awl shaped. 
Pistil: germen stalked, roundish; style linear; stigma 
smooth. Pericarp on a stalk half its own length, obliquely 
orbicular, turgid, pointed, of one cell and two coriaceous 
valves. Seeds one or two, kidney-shaped. 
1. Sphserolobium vimineum, or yellow-flowered sphaero- 
lobium.—Tube of the calyx rather shorter than the lips. 
Style curved from the very base, included in the keel.— 
Native of New Holland and Van Diemen’s island. 
2. Sphaerolobium medium, or small red-flowered sphaero- 
lobium.'—Tube of the calyx half the length of the lips. 
Corolla red.—Native of New Holland. 
SPILEROMACHIA [ apaigopaxia .> Gr.], > n Antiquity, 
a particular kind of boxing, in which the combatants had 
balls of stone or lead in their hands, which were called 
<7-paipai. 
SPII/EROPHORON [from the Gr. c-fair,a, a globe, and 
<p€pu, to bear, because of the globular fructification], in 
Botany, a genus of plants formed of the species lichen glo- 
biferus, and lichen fragilis, &c. See Lichen. 
SPHAGNUM [from ~&<pa.yvov, the ancient name for a 
kind of moss], in Botany, a genus of cryptogamia musci.— 
Generic Character. Male flower club shaped: anthers flat. 
Capsule on the same plant, sessile, covered with a lid. 
without any entire veil: mouth smooth. 
SPHENOGYNE. See Arctotis. 
SPHENOID BONE, a bone of the cranium. See Ana¬ 
tomy. 
SPHERE, s. [ sphere, Fr., sphccra, Lat.] A globe ; an 
orbicular body; a body of which the centre is at the same 
distance from every point of the circumference.—First the 
sun, a mighty sphere, he fram’d. Milton. —Any globe of 
the mundane system. 
What if within the moon’s fair shining sphere. 
What if in every other star unseen. 
Of other worlds he happily should hear ? Spenser. 
A globe representing the earth or sky. 
Two figures on the sides emboss’d appear; 
Conon, and what’s his name who made the sphere. 
And shew’d the seasons of the sliding year ? Dryden. 
Orb ; circuit of motion. 
Half unsung, but narrower bound 
Within the visible diurnal sphere. Milton. 
Province ; compass of knowledge or action ; employment. 
[From the sphere of activity ascribed to the power emanat¬ 
ing from bodies.]—To be call’d into a huge sphere, and not 
to be seen to move in’t. Shakspeare. 
To SPHERE, v. a. To place in a sphere. 
The glorious planet Sol, 
In noble eminence enthron’d and spher'd 
Amidst the rest, whose med’cinable eye 
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil. Shakspeare. 
To form into roundness. 
Light from her native east 
To journey through the airy gloom began. 
Spher'd in a radiant cloud ; for yet the sun 
Was not. Milton. 
SPHE'RIC, or Spherical, adj. [ spherique, Fr. 
Round; orbicular ; globular.—Though sounds spread round, 
so that there is an orb or spherical area of the sound, yet 
they go farthest in the forelines from the first local impulsion 
of the air. Bacon. —Planetary; relating to orbs of the 
planets.—We make guilty of our disasters the sun, the 
moon, and stars, as if we were villains by spherical pre¬ 
dominance. Shakspeare. 
S P H 
SPHE'RICALLY, adv. In form of. a sphere.—Birds 
build their nests spherically. Wotton. 
SPHE'RIC ALNESS, or Spheri'city, s. Roundness; 
rotundity; globosity.—Water consists of small, smooth, 
spherical particles: their smoothness makes’em slip easily 
upon one another; the sphericity keeps ’em from touching 
one another in more points than one. Chevne. 
SPHE'RICKS, s. The doctrine of the sphere. 
SPHE'ROID, s. [(Tijjatcta. and eiSo?, Gr.; spheroide, Fr.] 
A body oblong or oblate, approaching to the form of a 
sphere.—They are not solid particles, by the necessity they 
are under to change their figures into oblong spheroids, in 
the capillary vessels. Cheyne. 
SPHEROI'DICAL, or Spheroi'dal, adj. Having the 
form of a spheroid.—If the surface of the earth was covered 
with water, it would put on a spheroidal, or egg-like figure. 
Adams. 
SPHEROFDITY, s. Deviation from a sphere. Mason. 
—The orbit of the earth has an eccentricity more than 
double in proportion to the spheroidity of its globe. 
Adams. 
SPHE'RULE, s. [ sphcerula, Lat.] A little globe.— 
Mercury is a collection of exceeding small, vastly heavy 
spherules. Cheyne. 
SPHE'RY, adj. Spherical; round. 
What wicked and dissembling glass of mine 
Made me compare with Hermia’s sphery eyne ? Shakspeare. 
Belonging to the spheres. 
Mortals, that would follow me, 
Love Virtue ; she alone is free: 
She can teach ye how to clime 
Higher than the sphery chime. Milton. 
SPHEX, in Entomology, a genus of insects of the order 
hymenoptera, of which the Generic Character is as follows: 
—the mouth is formed with an entire jaw; the mandibles 
are horny, incurved and toothed; the lip is horny and 
membranaceous at the tip; it has four feelers; the antennae 
have about ten articulations; the wings in each sex are 
plane, incumbent, and not folded; the sting is pungent, and 
concealed within the abdomen. The insects of this genus 
are said to be the most savage and rapacious of this class of 
beings: they attack whatever comes in their way, and by 
means of a poisonous sting, overcome and devour others 
far beyond their own size. Those of division II. are found 
chiefly on umbellate plants ; the larvae are without feet, soft, 
and inhabit the body of some insect, on whose juices they 
exist; the pupa has rudiments of wings. 
“ As the insects,” says Dr. Shaw, “ of the genu3 Ich¬ 
neumon deposit their eggs in the bodies of other living 
insects, so those of the genus Sphex deposit their’s in dead 
ones, in order that the young larvae, when hatched, may 
find their proper food.” There are more than a hundred 
species of the genus Sphex, which are separated into divi¬ 
sions. 
I. Antennae setaceous; lip entire; and no tongue. 
1. Sphex appendigaster.—This species is black ; the 
abdomen is spotted, very short, and placed behind the 
thorax; the hind legs are very long.—This is found in 
divers parts of Europe, Africa and New Holland. 
2. Sphex maculata.—Thorax spotted; first segment of 
the abdomen with a white dot on each side; the second is 
edged with white.—It is an English insect. 
3. Sphex fasciata.—Black; abdomen with two white 
bands, the first interrupted; and the tail is white.—It is 
found in different parts of Italy. The thorax is black, co¬ 
vered with silvery down on the fore-part; the fore margin 
is marked with a white line; the wings are white, but 
tipped with brown. 
4. Sphex sessilis, so named on account of its short, cylin- 
drincal, sessile abdomen. The insect is black.—It inhabits 
France; is very like the Sphex appendigaster. 
5. Sphex punctum.—This is black; but the tail is marked 
with a white dot.—It is an Italian insect, 
6. Sphex 
