for twelve years (1609). The neighborhood of Juliers-Cleves-Berg had tempted the Dutch to take part in the dispute concerning the succession to that duchy, (see League), and Spain, instigated by hatred of Protestantism, by her connexion with the house of Austria, and the hope of recovering her lost dominion over Holland, entered into the war (1621). Cleves fell into the hands of Spinola, Breda was invested by the Spanish forces, and Maurice perished in his efforts to compel the enemy to raise the siege. Spinola himself was made sick by the noxious air of the marshy soil; but the gates were finally opened to him after a ten months' siege (May, 1625). This was his last achievement; his health obliged him to resign the command, although he once more appeared in the field, in Italy (1630). But chagrin at the ill treatment of the Spanish court hastened his death, which took place in 1630, too soon for Spain, but not too soon for his fame, which, perhaps, like that of Tilly, would have suffered, had he lived to encounter Gustavus Adolphus. His rival, Maurice, when asked who was the greatest captain of the age, said, "Spinola is the second."

command of the Spanish fleet on the coast of the Netherlands, induced him to join the Spanish forces in the Low Countries, with 9000 Italian and Spanish veterans. After the manner of the old Italian condottieri, or leaders, who collected forces on their own account, and then served at their head in the pay of the Italian states, he was permitted to pay his troops himself, and to receive his compensation from the Spanish treasury. This circumstance, at a time when the conduct of wars depended so much upon the troops being paid regularly, and the best concerted expeditions failed for want of money, assured him of the success which soon rendered him so celebrated. While mutiny and insubordination prevailed in the rest of the army, his 9000 Walloons were models of discipline and order. The archduke Albert of Austria, whom Philip II had appointed governor of the Netherlands, employed Spinola in the capture of Ostend, which had been so long besieged by the Spanish troops, that Albert despaired of reducing it. Spinola was more successful: it fell into his hands in 1604, after having sustained a siege of three years and two months. He obtained possession of a mere heap of ruins, but his reputation was at once spread over all Europe, in which every eye was fixed upon this siege. Spinola hastened to Madrid, to give the feeble Philip information of the state of his troops, and received full powers to suppress their disorders. He was named commander-in-chief of all the Spanish and Italian forces in the Netherlands. On his way back to the theatre of war, he had a conversation with Henry IV, at Paris, who inquired of him his plan for the next campaign. Spinola explained to him all his designs without reserve; but Henry, supposing that this was a mere feint, and that he would follow exactly a contrary course, communicated his suspicions to prince Maurice, and both of them were thus completely duped. " "Others," said Henry, "deceive their enemies by falsehood, Spinola by the truth." Maurice at length discerned the artifice, but was able to gain no decisive advantage over his adversary. The two generals ably availed themselves of the fortresses and the nature of the ground, to keep each other in check. A decisive naval action near Gibraltar, in which the whole Spanish fleet was destroyed by the Dutch admiral Heemskerk (1607), induced the Spanish court to propose an armistice, which was concluded between Spinola and Maurice

SPINOZA. (See Appendix to this vol.) SPIRAL. Geometry usually considers two curves, under the name of spiralsthe logarithmic and that of Archimedes. (q. v.) The latter is generally defined to be a curve of the circular kind, which in its progress recedes from its centre. But it is easily perceived that this definition is not mathematically satisfactory. The spiral may be imagined to be thus generated: If a right line has one end fixed, while the other describes the periphery of a circle, and at the same time a point is conceived to advance continually on the right line from the fixed towards the movable end, this point, with its double motion, will describe a spiral curve. spiral spring of a watch gives a good idea of this curve.

The

SPIRE, OF SPEYER (anciently Noviomagus, and Nemetes); a city of Bavaria, capital of the circle of the Rhine, formerly the capital of a bishopric of the same name; 12 miles south-west of Heidelberg; lon. 8° 26' E.; lat. 49° 19′ N.; population, 7700, chiefly Lutherans. It contains an old cathedral, in the Lombard or Byzantine style of architecture, begun by Conrad in 1030, and finished by Henry IV in 1061, and a gymnasium. It was frequently the seat of the German diet, and it was in the diet held here in 1529, that a protest, entered against certain pro

SPIRITUALES; the officers who superintended the observance of piety and good morals in the seminaries of the Catholic bishops, and direct the religious exercises; also a branch of the Franciscans.

SPIRITUALISM; that hypothesis in philosophy, according to which, 1. every thing is spirit; 2. the physical proceeds from the spiritual, and can be explained from it; 3. the human soul, in particular, is opposed to matter, or the physical phenomena can be explained from the soul. Spiritualism is opposed to materialism, and therefore may be called immaterialism. (See Matter.) The system of Des Cartes had the character of spiritualism. SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS. (See the article Temperancc.)

SPITHEAD; a noted roadstead for shipping in the English channel, situated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, directly facing Portsmouth harbor. It is about twenty miles in extent, and is said to be capable of holding 1000 vessels in great security.

SPITTLE. (See Saliva.)

SPITTLER, Louis Timothy, baron von, a distinguished German historian, was born at Stuttgart, in 1752. He showed, at a very early age, a disposition for historical and critical research. From 1771 to 1775 he studied at Tübingen. In 1777, he was an instructer in the theological seminary at Tübingen. Here he produced his Critical Inquiry into the 60th Laodicean Canon (Bremen, 1777); History of the Cup in the Lord's Supper; History of the Canon Law to the Times of the spurious Isidore (Halle, 1778), all in German; and was appointed professor ordinarius of philosophy at Göttingen. In 1797, he was made a privy counsellor in his native country. In 1806, he was appointed a minister of the Würtemberg government, and curator of the university of Tübingen. He died in 1810. His chief works are Sketch of the History of the Christian Church; History of Würtemberg under the Counts and Dukes (Göttingen, 1782); History of Würtemberg (ibid., 1783); History of the Principality of Hanover (1786); and Outlines of the History of the European

States (3d ed., 1823), continued by Sarto rius. He also wrote a History of the Danish Revolution of 1660 (1796), and many articles in the Göttingen Historical Magazine, which he edited in connexion with Meiners. (q. v.) All his works are in German. They are full of research, erudition, and just reflection, concise, yet complete. He never colors; the facts speak for themselves. His style is not free from negligence. His complete works were published by Wächter (Stuttgart, 1827). Plank, Heeren, Hugo and Woltmann have borne testimony to his merit.

SPITZBERGEN, or EAST GREENLAND; a group of islands, in the Frozen sea, supposed to have been first discovered by sir Hugh Willoughby, in the year 1553. They received their name from their mountainous and rocky appearance. The sun never sets for three months-June, July and August: for the rest of the year, it is hardly seen, light being chiefly produced by the Aurora Borealis. In the month of June it freezes; in July the heat is violent; the cold returns in August. On the coasts are found whales, sea-dogs, sea-cows and sea-lions, with otner marine and amphibious animals. These islands are uninhabited. Eight English sailors, accidentally left there by a whalefishing ship, survived the winter, and were brought home the next season. Dutch attempted to settle a colony there, but the settlers perished. Schmeerenburg is the best harbor (in lon. 9° 51′ E.; lat. 79° 44' N.) in the later season of the whale fishery. Lon. 6° to 16° E.; lat. 76° 30′ to 79° 40′ N. (See the article North Polar Expeditions; and Scoresby's work on the Arctic Regions.)

The

SPIX, John Baptist von, a distinguished German naturalist, was born at Höchstadt, in Bavaria, in 1781, and, after devoting two years to the study of theology, was led, by his taste for natural science, to apply himself to medicine. In 1808, the Bavarian government provided him with the means of visiting Paris for the purpose of studying comparative anatomy, and soon after his return appeared his History of all Zoological Systems, from the time of Aristotle (in German). Ir. 1815, he published his Cephalogenesis, seu Capitis ossei Structura per omnes Ani malium Classes, &c., tracing the human head, in its gradual developement, from those of insects, up through all classes of animals. In 1817, doctor Spix was appointed by the government, with doctor Martius, to make a scientific expedition to

Brazil. The travellers landed at Rio de Janeiro, July 14, and, after exploring the eastern parts of the empire, embarked on the Amazons, July, 1819, which they ascended, and returned to Europe in 1820. Doctor Spix died in 1826. The results of the expedition to Brazil have been given in the following works; Travels in Brazil (from the German, London, 1824); Spix's Simia, Serpentes, Testudines et Rana, Aves, Lacerta Brasilienses; and Martius's Genera et Species Plantarum, &c. (Munich, 1824-26), Nova Genera et Species Plantarum, &c. (3d vol., folio, 1829), and Icones selecta Plantarum cryptogamicarum Brasiliensium (1829, folio).

SPLANCHNOLOGY (from onλayxvov, an intestine); a branch of anatomy, which treats of the viscera, including not only the viscera of the abdomen, but all the organs contained in the other cavities of the body, as the brain, lungs, &c.

SPLEEN, or MILT (Greek on, Latin lien); a spongy viscus, varying much in form and size, situated on the left side, between the eleventh and twelfth false ribs, and covered with a simple, firm membrane, arising from the peritonæum. (See Stomach.) It is of an oval form, and about one fifth smaller than the liver. Its upper surface is connected with the diaphragm, and its interior with the stomach. It is convex towards the ribs, and concave internally, and of a livid color. The splenic artery is very large in proportion to the size of the organ, and is divided into numerous small branches penetrating the substance of the spleen. The splenic vein is larger than the artery in the pro portion of five to one, and, by its junction with the mesenteric, constitutes the trunk of the vena porta, which carries the blood into the substance of the liver. From this splenic artery, several branches (called vasa brevia) go off to the stomach, which they supply with blood. The uses of the spleen are entirely unknown; but they appear to have some connexion with the process of digestion. The spleen is subject to inflammation (splenitis), and, as often happens after agues, the inflamination sometimes becomes chronic. The tumor is then commonly called the aguecake, though that name is also given to a tumor of the liver succeeding intermittents. It is also in some cases too feeble in its action, and then the digestion suffers. Spleen is also sometimes used to signify the hypochondriasis. (q. v.)

SPLICING, among seamen, to join the two ends of a rope together, or to unite the end of a rope to any part thereof, by

interweaving the strands in a regular manner. There are several methods of splicing, according to the services for which it is intended; all of which are distinguished by particular epithets. The term is also used in architecture. (See vol. i, page 338.)

SPLINTERS; the pieces of a ship's side, masts, decks, &c., which, being knocked off by a shot, acquire great velocity, and frequently do more damage among the men than the shot itself.

SPLINTER-NETTING; sinnet made into nets, and nailed upon the inner part of the ship's sides, to lessen the effect of the splinters.

SPODUMENE is a mineral found massive, in large cleavable individuals, whose primary form is an oblique rhombic prism of 93°. Its cleavage, parallel with the lateral planes of this figure, is easily effected; but its terminal cleavages are obscure; lustre pearly; color various shades of grayish-green, passing into greenish-white; streak white; translucent; brittle; hardness nearly equal to that of quartz; specific gravity 3.17. It consists of

If exposed to a red heat, it loses its transparency and color. Before the blow-pipe, it exfoliates, intumesces, and then melts into a nearly colorless, transparent glass. It occurs in primitive rocks, usually associated with quartz and feldspar. It was first discovered in Sweden, at Utoe, afterwards at Sterzingen, in the Tyrol, and was considered a rare mineral until within a few years, during which period it has been found in the greatest abundance in Massachusetts, in the towns of Goshen, Chesterfield and Sterling.

SPOHN, Frederic Augustus William, a distinguished German philologer, was born at Dortmund, in 1792, studied at Wittenberg, and became professor of the Greek and Latin languages at Leipsic in 1819. Notwithstanding his early death in 1824, he had published several works which show his learning and industry. Among them are a dissertation De Agro Trojano (1814); Commentarius de extrema Odyssea Parte; Nicephori Blemmida duo Opuscula geographica; Lectiones Theocritee (1822 and 1823). The last years of his life were devoted to Egyptian studies; and an account of his system of hiem

glyphics will be found under that head. His friend Seyffarth (q. v.) has edited some of his papers on this subject.

SPOHR, Louis, a distinguished violinplayer and composer, was born in 1783, at Seesen, in Brunswick, visited Russia, and, in 1805, was appointed concertmaster at Gotha, where he composed many musical pieces, mostly instrumental, also songs, an oratorio (the Last Judgment), and an opera (the Duel of the Lovers). He is probably at present the most perfect performer on the violin in Germany. In 1813, he received an appointment in Vienna. Here he wrote his Faust (1814), his first great symphony, and the oratorio Germany Delivered. In 1817, he went to Italy, where he met with great applause. In 1819, he went to London, and at present is chapel-master in Cassel. He has produced many works besides those above mentioned; for instance, the operas of Zemire and Azor, Jessonda, and Peter of Apone. His oratorio "The End of Things" is somewhat in Mozart's style. Spohr is one of the greatest harmonists. His compositions have been blamed for an excess of modulation.

SPOLETO; a delegation, formerly a duchy, of the ecclesiastical states, comprising the great part of ancient Umbria; population, 102,053.

SPOLETO, the capital of the delegation, with a population of 6000, is a bishop's see, and lies fifty-three miles north of Rome; lon. 12° 36′ E.; lat. 42° 45′ N.; on an eminence near the small river Mareggia. It was once the residence of some of the Gothic kings. It contains twentytwo churches, twenty-one convents, and seventeen hermitages, and several ruins of Roman antiquities, the chief of which are a triumphal arch, an aqueduct, and an amphitheatre. The cathedral is built almost entirely of marble, and contains some good pictures.

SPONDEE, in prosody; a foot consisting of two long syllables, as omnes. (See Rhythm.)

SPONGE. (See Appendix, end of this vol.) SPONSOR. (See Godfather.) To the remarks contained in that article we will only add that, when the person baptized is an adult, the sponsor answers for his religious belief. Some suppose that sponsors came into use in the first centuries of Christianity when the assurance of a Christian of known character, that those who presented themselves for baptism were worthy of it, was considered requisite. This surety was also to answer for

their further instruction. But Neauder, in his excellent General History of the Christian Religion and Church (Hamburg, 1826, vol. i, part 2), says that sponsors were probably introduced with the baptism of infants, in order to make a profession of the Christian faith in their name, and to guaranty their religious education. Tertullian, who opposed the baptism of infants, mentions the case of the sponsors as one of the objections, because they must take upon themselves an obligation, which they may be prevented from fulfilling by death or the sinfulness of the godchild. The Roman and Greek Catholic churches consider the relation of the sponsor to the godchild a kind of adoption, and therefore forbid marriage between them. Between the sponsors themselves, they do not allow marriage to take place. The Catholics sometimes take a sponsor for confirmation.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. The phenomenon of combustion, it is well known, is often produced by friction, fermentation, and other causes, without the application of fire. Forests have sometimes been set on fire by the friction of dry wood; and it is well known that moist wool, hay, corn, madder, meal, malt, hemp and flax, and linseed-oil, and other animal and vegetable substances, take fire of themselves. In the latter case, the combustion is the result of a chemical action, being produced by the decomposition of the substance inflamed, and a new combination of its component parts, or by some other chemical change, attended with the evolution of heat. (See Combus tion, and Oxygen.) A similar phenomenon is exhibited on sprinkling new-burnt lime with water, which is rapidly absorbed with the evolution of heat and light. The heat, in this instance, proceeds from the consolidation of the liquid water into the lime, and the consequent developement of the latent caloric which always attends the conversion of a liquid into a solid. (See Caloric.) There have also been instances of spontaneous combustion taking place in living bodies, by which they have been reduced to ashes. It has been observed that persons who have suffered in this way were addicted to the excessive use of ardent spirits.

SPONTINI, Gasparo, one of the most distinguished theatrical composers now living, since 1819 master of the chapel of the king of Prussia, was born in 1778, at Cesi, a small city in the States of the Church. He studied music at Bologna, at Rome and at Naples. At the age of

seventeen, he composed the opera buffa, 1 Puntigli delle Donne, which was received with great applause. The next year he went to Rome, then to Venice, but soon returned to Rome, and afterwards went to Naples. Here he lived with Cimarosa five years, after which he went to Florence and Palermo. After having produced fourteen operas, eleven comic and three serious, for the best theatres in Italy, he resolved to go to Paris. Here he was first made known by his Finta Filosofa, which was brought out in 1804. His opera of Milton attracted general admiration. His great opera is the Vestal. In 1809, his Ferdinand Cortez appeared at the imperial opera; but it seems not to have maintained the fame acquired by the Vestal: it is, however, a work full of spirit and energy, and the contrast in it between the heathen Mexicans and the Christian Spaniards is excellently represented. In December, 1819, his opera of Olympia was brought upon the stage in Paris. It is supposed that its lukewarm reception, and the fact that the composer did not receive the direction of the grand opera there, induced him to accept the office of master of the chapel at Berlin. His later operas, particularly in Berlin, have been objected to as depending too much on the aid of stage effect.

SPORADES; the general name for nineteen islands in the Archipelago (q. v.), lying to the east of the Cyclades. The principal are Scio, or Chios, Samos, Cos, Rhodes and Lesbos (see the articles), Patmos, or Pathmos, a small rocky island of the Sporades, is celebrated as the place of St. John's exile. The grotto in which he is said to have written the Apocalypse is still shown, and a monastery, called the monastery of the Apocalypse, has been erected in commemoration of the event. The name Sporades is derived from the Greek anaipav, to sow, indicating the scattered position of the islands: hence the medical phrase sporadic diseases, in opposition to epidemic, signifying those which seize a few persons at any time or season.

SPORTS. The national amusements and pastimes of a people form an important feature in the national character. Taking their tone from the manners, habits and condition of the age or country in which they prevail, they lead us behind the scene on which the great drama of public life is exhibited, to the daily and familiar customs and events of popular life. The sports of a nation are of a religious or martia spirit, gay and mild, or dark and

fierce, rude or refined, bodily or intellect ual, as they are tinged by its habits and character, on which they reciprocally exercise a powerful influence. Besides numerous local holydays and sports, such as the harvest-home, in honor of Ceres and Bacchus, the panthenoa (q. v.), celebrated in honor of Minerva by all the people of Attica, &c., there were four great national festivals among the Greeks, open to all people of the Grecian name. The Olympic, Pythian, Nemæan and Isthmian games (see the articles), were great public festivals, which inspired that polished people with a love of the arts, and imbued them with the spirit of social life. In these games, which were at once religious festivals and commercial fairs, the gymnastic and musical contests were exhibited in union (see Music); and the productions of genius, poems and histories, were rehearsed before all that was choice and learned of Greece, surrounded by the masterpieces of statuary, painting and architecture. The public amusements of the Romans were of a fierce and sanguinary, or of a coarse and rude character. Their triumphs, their gladiatorial fights, their combats of wild beasts, their religious festivities, which were scenes of boisterous revelry, showed how much behind the Greeks they were in refinement and taste. (See Circus, Gladiators, and Triumph.) In the middle ages, religion and war were the chief elements of the social life, and the amusements chiefly of a religious or military character. (See Festivals, Chivalry, and Tournament.) Many of the modern popular sports originated from religious festivals: such are morris-dances (q. v.), theatrical shows (see Mysteries, and Moralities), &c. Bull-fights (q. v.) continue to form the national amusement of the Spaniards, though the baiting of beasts has nearly gone out of use in England. Cock-fighting, horseracing, and boxing, national dances, and the field sports of hunting, hawking or archery, are the favorite amusements of some people. But, in some countries, the progress of industry, the habits of domestic life, and the general diffusion of books have in a great measure superseded the pastimes which were formerly so univer sal. (See Strutt's Sports and Pastimes of the People of England; Brand's Popular Antiquities; and Smith's Festivals, Games and Amusements.) Among the amusements of most nations, games of chance hold an important place, and are un doubtedly of very ancient origin. Those in which the fingers are the instruments.

were