the well-known Venus’s looking-glass, called by 
Linneus Campanula speculum. 
SPEED. Inflammatory fever in cattle. See 
the article Ivruammavory FEVER. 
SPEEDWELL,—botanically Veronica. A large 
genus of ornamental plants, of the figwort order. 
Highteen species grow wild in Britain ; about 
120 species have been introduced from other 
countries ; and about 50 more are known. Some 
have perennial roots and terminal clusters ; 
some have perennial roots and lateral clusters ; 
and some have annual roots and solitary axillary 
flowers. A small number are greenhouse ever- 
green undershrubs; a small number are green- 
house evergreen herbs; about twenty are hardy 
annuals; and nearly all the rest are hardy, an- 
nual-stemmed, herbaceous perennials. A few 
have a height of from 4 to 8 feet,—and a few 
have a height of only from 1 to 4 inches; but 
the great majority have a height of from 10 
inches to 3 feet. A few have white flowers ; 
a considerable number have flowers of some 
shade of pink or red; and nearly all the rest 
have blue flowers. Most of the perennials are de- 
cidedly beautiful, and of very easy culture ; and 
they thrive in any common garden soil, and are, 
for the most part, readily propagated by division 
of the plant. 
Two of the indigenous species are noticed in 
the articles Breccasunea and Brirp’s Kyz.—The 
officinal species, Veronica officinalis, inhabits dry 
sandy banks, barren heaths, mountain pastures, 
poor woods, and waste grounds. Its root is per- 
ennial; its stems are cylindrical, prostrate, 
creeping, variable, and from 6 to 18 inches long; 
its leaves are elliptical, roundish, obtuse, and ser- 
rated ; and its flowers grow in lateral clusters, 
and have a light blue colour with dark streaks, 
and bloom from April till July. The leaves of 
this plant have sometimes been used as a substi- 
tute for tea.—The spiked species, V. spicata, is a 
perennial-rooted indigen of the chalky pastures 
of England, and hasa height of abouta foot, and car- 
ries blue flowers from July till September.—The 
hybrid species, V. hybrida, is a perennial-rooted 
indigen of the mountains of some parts of Eng- 
land, and has a height of from 10 to 15 inches, 
and carries blue flowers from July till September. 
—The mountain species, V. montana, is a peren- 
nial-rooted inhabitant of the moist woods of Bri- 
tain, and has a height of 6 or 8 inches, and car- 
ries blue flowers in July and August.—The 
bristled species, V. setiyera, is a perennial-rooted - 
indigen of the meadows of some parts of Scotland, 
and hasa height of 3 or 4 inches, and carries blue 
flowers from April till July—The saucer-leaved 
species, V. scwtellata, is a perennial-rooted indigen 
of the marshes of Britain, and has a height of 
about 2 feet, and carries flesh-coloured flowers 
from June till August.—The pimpernel-like spe- 
cies, V. anagallis, is also a perennial-rooted in- 
digen of the marshes of Britain, and has a height 
of about 2 feet, and carries blue flowers in July. 
SPERMACTI. 
—The shrub-like species, V. fruticutosa, is a per- 
ennial-rooted indigen of some of the lofty moun- 
tains of Scotland, and has a shrubby stem and a 
height of 6 or 8 inches, and carries flesh-coloured 
flowers from June till August.—The rock species, 
V. saxatilis, is also a perennial-rooted indigen of 
some of the lofty mountains of Scotland, and has 
a small, low, prostrate stem, and carries blue 
flowers in July.—The serpyllium-leaved species, 
V. serpyllifolia, is a small, prostrate-stemmed, 
perennial-rooted indigen of the meadows and 
pastures of Britain, and carries blue flowers from 
April till June. Five or six varieties of it have 
been introduced from Continental Europe.—The 
obtuse-leaved variety of the alpine species, V. 
alpina obtusifolia, is a perennial-rooted native 
of the Scottish mountains, and is small and creep- 
ing, and carries blue flowers in May. Five va- 
rieties of this species, and also the normal plant, 
have been introduced from Continental Europe. 
—The field or rural species, V. agrestzs, is a small, 
creeping, annual weed of the cultivated lands of 
Britain, and carries blue flowers from March till 
July. Two varieties of it, the opaque and the va- 
rious-coloured, also occur in our fields. — The 
corn-field species, V. arvensis, isa small creeping 
weed of old walls and other situations in Britain, 
and carries blue flowers from April till July.— 
The spring and the three-leaved species, V. verna, 
and V. triphyllos, are small, annual weeds of the 
sandy fields of Britain, and carry blue flowers 
in April and May.—The ivy-leaved species, V. 
hederefolia, is a small, creeping, annual weed of 
the cultivated lands of Britain, and carries blue 
flowers from March till June. 
SPELT. See Wuerat. 
SPERGULA. See Spurrey. 
SPERMACHTI. A fatty substance prepared 
from a peculiar secretion of the cachelots or sper- 
maceti whales. These animals are occasionally 
seen in the European seas, but chiefly inhabit 
the Southern Ocean. They are of a blackish 
colour in the upper part of the body, and white 
on the belly ; and each, when full grown, mea- 
sures on the average about thirty feet in girth 
at the thickest part of the head, and about sixty 
feet in length. Their head is very voluminous, 
and has proportionally a far greater size than the 
body ; the upper jaw has no whalebone and either 
no tooth or a very small and unprojecting one ; 
the under jaw is narrow, elongated, and armed 
on each side with a range of conical or cylindri- 
cal teeth, which, when the mouth closes, are 
sheathed in cavities of the upper jaw ; the cra- 
nium or brain-depository is situated in the pos- 
terior part of the head, and is rather small; and 
large cavities, separated and covered by carti- 
lages, and filled with a spongy oily mass, which 
becomes fixed as it cools, occupy most of the su- 
perior part of the enormous head, and _ send off 
oil-filled ducts in ramifications through several 
parts of the body and through the blubber. The 
common spermaceti oil of commerce, similar 
