———. 
308 SPHAGNUM. 
in appearance and properties to common whale 
oil, but of finer quality, is obtained from 
the spongy oily mass of the cavities, by digging 
it out and dripping it ; and spermaceti itself, by 
first powerfully compressing the mass, next puri- 
fying the solid hard product by boiling in water, 
next subjecting it three times to the washing 
action of a weak ley of potash, and next concret- 
ing it in cooling vessels, Purified spermaceti 
commonly occurs in flaky or crystalline plates of 
a white colour and silvery lustre; it is brittle, 
and feels soft and slightly unctuous to the touch ; 
it has no taste, and scarcely any odour ; it is in- 
soluble in water, but dissolves in about thirteen 
times its own weight of boiling alcohol; and it 
liquefies at a temperature a little below 212° 
Fahrenheit, and evaporates, a very little alter- 
ed, at a temperature of 500°. It saponifies with 
pure potash, and then generates an acid to which 
Chevreul gave the name of cetic acid. Sperma- 
ceti is used by pharmacists in the compounding 
of several ointments, and sometimes by physi- 
cians as a demulcent and an emollient. 
SPERMACOCE. See BurronwEep. 
“SPHAGNUM. A genus of mosses, of the 
gynostomous tribe. Four species, all of a yellow- 
ish green colour, grow in the bogs of Britain at all 
seasons of the year; and one of these, the blunt- 
leaved, comprising the three varieties, common, 
smaller, and floating, is one of the most abun- 
dant and most generally diffused of our bog 
mosses. See the article Boe. 
SPHENOGYNE. A genus of exotic, ornamen- 
tal, yellow-flowered plants, of the sunflower di- 
vision of the composite order. About a dozen 
species, varying in height from 6 to 20 inches, 
four of them annuals, and the rest evergreen 
undershrubs, and the greater number very hand- 
some, have been introduced to the gardens of 
Britain, principally from the Cape of Good Hope; 
and the ligneous kinds love a soil of loam and 
peat, and are propagated from cuttings. 
SPICKNEL,—botanically Athamanta. A ge- 
nus of plants, principally herbaceous and white- 
flowered, of the umbelliferous order. Upwards of 
a, dozen species, varying in height from 1 foot to 
5 feet, have been introduced to Britain from Si- 
beria, Continental Europe, and the Levant ; and 
all thrive in any common garden soil, and are 
propagated from seeds. 
SPIDER. The aranea genus or araneides fa- 
mily, or spinner group, of the pulmonarious 
order of arachnides. See the articles Insxcts 
and Rep Sprper. 
SPIDERWORT,—botanically Zradescantia. A 
genus of ornamental exotic plants, of the com- 
melina family. Several hardy annuals and bi- 
ennials, several hardy annual-stemmed herba- 
ceous perennials, and upwards of a dozen tropical 
evergreen herbaceous species, have been intro- 
duced to the gardens of Britain ; and most love 
a soil of rich mould, and have a height of from 
10 to 30 inches, and carry blue flowers in the 
SPIKE-RUSH. 
latter part of summer. The Virginian species, 
Tradescantia Virginica, one of the hardy peren- 
nials, was the earliest introduced, and is the best 
known, and may serve as a sufficient specimen 
of the whole. ‘The root,” says Miller, “is com- 
posed of several fleshy fibres, which spread wide 
on the ground, from which arise many long, nar- 
row keeled leaves, which embrace each other at 
their base. They are about half an inch broad 
at the bottom, and gradually lessen to a point ; 
they are veined and rough on their edges, of a 
greyish colour and succulent. Between the 
leaves arises a thick jointed stalk about a foot 
long, garnished at each joint with one leaf, whose 
base embraces it. At the top of the stalk are two 
leaves which spread asunder ; above these come 
out many flowers almost ina sort of umbel ; these 
have a three-leaved empalement, and three large 
roundish petals of a deep blue colour, which in 
the morning spread open flat, but in the middle of 
the day they shrink up, and do not open again. 
But there isa succession of flowers from the same 
bunch daily, for a considerable time. The ger- 
men swells to a roundish capsule with three 
angles, having three cells, including a few angular 
seeds. It flowers in June, and there is common- 
ly asuccession of flowers for two months on the 
same plant, especially in cool moist seasons.” 
Five varieties of it occur in gardens,—the double- 
flowered, the pilose, the white, the red, and the 
blue and white. 
SPIGELIA. A genus of exotic herbaceous 
plants, of the gentian family. The Maryland 
species or worm-grass, S. marilandica, is a medi- 
cinal plant, and has a place in all the British 
pharmacopeeias. It is a native of the warmer 
partsof North America, and was introduced to the 
gardens of Britain towards the close of the 17th 
century. Itsroot is perennial; its stems are an- 
nual, simple, erect, quadrangular, rough, rigid, 
and about 6 or 8 inches high ; its leaves are op- 
posite, sessile, ovate-lanceolate, entire, smooth, 
and spreading ; and its flowers grow in solitary 
spikes, and have a bright red colour without, 
and a deep orange within, and bloom in July 
and August. The root is the medicinal part, 
and is most active in a recent state. It hasa 
bitter taste ; and acts as a narcotic, an anthel- 
mintic, and a purgative; and is administered 
either in substance or in the form of aqueous in- 
fusion. 
SPIKED-ROLLER. See Rotumr. 
SPIKENARD (Proveuman’s). See BaccHaris. 
SPIKE-RUSH, —botanically Zleocharis. A 
genus of rush-plants, of the cyperaceous order. 
Three species grow wild in Britain ; seven or 
eight have been introduced from North America, 
Australia, and Continental Europe; and about 
twenty more are known. They are principally 
bog plants, more curious than either beautiful or 
useful ; and all the species in British collections 
are perennials of between 3 and 15 inches in 
height. The three indigenous species are Z. 
