S P I S P I 479 
not resolve to act the part of a hypocrite. He did not how¬ 
ever, altogether desert the synagogue, till after he had received 
a stab from a Jew (probably actuated by bigoted zeal) as he 
was coming from a play. His open defection caused a sen¬ 
tence of excommunication to be pronounced against him; 
upon which he attached himself to some Christians of his ac¬ 
quaintance, and frequented the churches of the Arminians 
and Mennonites. He was assisted by them in the prosecu¬ 
tion of his studies, among which was that of the Cartesian 
philosophy; and either for the purpose of living more free 
from interruption, or, as some say, in consequence of an ac¬ 
cusation of impiety before the magistrates, which occasioned 
his banishment, he withdrew from Amsterdam, and took up 
his residence at Rhensburgh. He published in 1664 a trea¬ 
tise, entitled “ The principles of the Cartesian philosophy de¬ 
monstrated geometrically,” adding an appendix, in which he 
advanced metaphysical opinions wholly at variance with those 
of Descartes. In 1670 he published his most famous work, 
entitled “Tractatus Theologo-Politicus,” which made him 
extensively known, and brought upon him a number of 
attacks. His final residence was in the neighbourhood of the 
Hague, where he died of a decline in 1677, at the age of 45. 
It is agreed that his private character was unexceptionable; 
sober, decent, friendly, and disinterested. He died in the 
full persuasion of the truth of his system, which was more 
fully developed in his Posthumous Works, and had some 
resemblance to that maintained by several of the ancient 
Greek philosophers, especially Strabo of Lampsacus, who 
held the notion of the soul of the world, and an univer¬ 
sal whole, though it was more essentially atheistical. The 
sum of his doctrine is thus stated by Brucker:—The 
essence of substance is, to exist. There is in nature only 
one substance, with two modifications, thought and exten¬ 
sion. This substance is infinitely diversified, having within 
its own essence the necessary causes of the changes through 
which it passes. No substance can be supposed to produce, 
or create, another: therefore, besides the substance of the 
universe, there can be no other; but all things are compre¬ 
hended in it, and are modes of this substance, either thinking 
or extended. To this one universal substance, Spinoza, as a 
cover to his atheism, gives the appellation of God, and 
assigns to it divine attributes. He asserts that God is the 
immanent, not the transitive, cause of all things. His doc¬ 
trine therefore differs from that of the philosophers who held 
God to be the universal whole, since, according to them, 
the visible and intellectual worlds are produced by emanation 
from the eternal fount of divinity ; that is, by an expanding 
or unfolding of the divine nature; the effect of intelligence 
and design; whereas in Spinoza’s system, all things are 
immanent, and necessary modifications of one universal sub¬ 
stance; which manifestly excludes all idea of creative design. 
SPINOZISM, s. The doctrine of Spinoza. 
SPPNSTER, s. A woman that spins. 
The spinsters and the knitters in the sun. 
And the free maids that weave their thread with bones, 
Do use to chant it. Shakspeare m 
[In Law.] The general term for a girl or maiden woman- 
—If a gentlewoman be termed spinster, she may abate the 
writ. Sir E. Coke. 
SPI'NSTRY, s. The work of spinning.—What new de¬ 
cency can then be added to this by your spinstry ? Milton. 
SPINTRLE [from the Gr. ar.ivO-t)^, annulus .] It is said 
by Suetonius, that there were a set of men thus named in the 
reign of Caligula, who invented new obscenities or debau¬ 
cheries. 
SPINUS, a bird. See Fringilla Spjnus. 
SPl'NY, adj. [spina, Lat.] Thorny; briary; perplexed; 
' difficult; troublesome.—The first attempts are always imper¬ 
fect ; much more in so difficult and spiny an affair as so nice 
a subject. Dighy. 
SPIO, a genus of the class vermes, and order mollusca. 
The Generic Character is as follows-.—Body projecting from 
a tube, jointed, and furnished with dorsal fibres; peduncles 
or feet rough with bristles, and placed towards the back; 
two feelers, which are long and simple; it has two oblong 
eyes. 
1. Spio secticornis.—-Feelers thin and striate. This spe¬ 
cies inhabits the ocean, principally where there is a clayey 
bottom ; it is about three inches long; the tube is composed 
of agglutinated particles of earth, thin, erect, and thrice as 
long as the body. From this the animal projects its capillary 
white feelers in search of food, which consists of small ma¬ 
rine worms; the body is whitish, with a tinge of green, with 
a red line down the middle of the back ; the hind-part is of 
a sea green; the fore-part is blackish-grey, with transverse 
white striae; the head is pale. 
2. Spio filicornis.—Feelers thick and annulate. Body 
oblong, yellowish or reddish, with a cinereous line in the 
middle, and at each end; the tube is fragile, erect, and 
greenish, from which it projects its feelers in search of pla¬ 
nar i a:, and other small marine worms.—It inhabits the sea¬ 
shores about Greenland, and is an inch long. 
SPI'RACLE, 5. [ spiraculum, Lat.] A breathing hole; 
a vent; a small aperture.—Most of these spiracles perpe¬ 
tually send forth fire, more or less. Woodward. 
SPIRACULA, are little holes or pores placed singly on 
each side of every segment of the abdomen of insects, through 
which they breathe; and if oil be applied so as to stop these 
up, it proves fatal. 
SPIRAEA [Spireon of Pliny. Iiteioaia. of Theophrastus. 
From crneioa, a rope'], in Botany, a genus of the class ico- 
sandria, order pentagynia, natural order of pomace®, rosa¬ 
ce® (Juss .)—Generic Character, Calyx: perianth one- 
leafed, five-cleft, flat at the base, with acute segments; per¬ 
manent. Corolla: petals five, inserted into the calyx, ob¬ 
long-rounded. Stamina: filaments more than twenty, fili¬ 
form, shorter than the corolla, inserted into the calyx. An¬ 
thers roundish. Pistil: germs five or more. Styles as 
many, filiform, length of the stamens. Stigmas headed. 
Pericarp: capsules oblong, acuminate, compressed, two- 
valved. Seeds few, acuminate, small, fastened to the inter¬ 
nal suture.— Essential Character. Calyx five-cleft. Petals 
five. Capsules many-seeded. 
I.—Shrubby. 
1. Spiraea laevigata, or smooth-leaved spiraea. — Leaves 
lanceolate, quite entire, sessile; racemes compound; flowers 
white. Shrubby, with round branches.—Native of Siberia, 
in valleys at the foot of the loftier Altaic mountains, which 
are covered with snow. 
2. Spiraea salicifolia, or willow-leaved spiraea.—Leaves 
oblong, serrate, smooth; racemes decompounded. There are 
five varieties. This shrub is about four feet high, with rod¬ 
like stems, smooth ; the branches yellow. Racemes termi¬ 
nating, solitary, erect, decompound, obtuse, many-flowered; 
with linear, solitary bractes. Corollas of a rose-red, paler 
when expanded.—Native of North America. 
3. Spiraea callosa, or callous spiraea.—Leaves lanceolate, 
acute, serrate, subvillose; panicle decompounded, subfas- 
tigiate.—Native of Japan, in the island Nipon: flowering 
in June. 
4. Spiraea tomentosa, or scarlet spiraea.—Leaves lanceo¬ 
late, unequally serrate, tomentose beneath; flowers doubly- 
racemed.—Native of Pennsylvania. 
5. Spiraea argentea, or silvery-leaved spiraea. — Leaves 
silky, wedge-shaped, marked with lines; serrate at the tip, 
and somewhat plaited; racemes compound.—Native of New 
Granada. 
6. Spiraea Alpina, or Siberian Alpine spiraea.—Leaves li¬ 
near, lanceolate, toothletted, very smooth ; corymbs lateral. 
-—Native of eastern Siberia, especially beyond the Lake 
Baikal, and about the lake itself: flowering in June. 
7. Spit®a hypericifolia, or hypericum-leaved spiraea.— 
Leaves obovate, quite entire; umbels sessile.—It came from 
from the north-west parts of America. 
8. Spiraea chamasdrifolia, or Germander-leaved spiraea.— 
Leaves obovate, gash-toothed at the tip; corymbs peduncled. 
—Native 
