Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 2.djvu/762

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well as himfelf. This Hiftory is wrote in the Chronicles of that Convent.

The fame Author tells us, That in an old Manufcript ftill preferv'din his Library, compofed in iiy 9, Spectacles are men- tioned as a Thing invented about thatTime : And that a famous Jacobin, one Jottrdon de Rhalto, in a Treatife compofed in 1305s f a y s > exprelly, That 'twas not yet 20 Years, fince the Invention of SpeBacles. He likewife quotes Bernard Gordon in his Lilium Medicin<e, wrote the fame Year, where he fpeaks of a Gollyrium, good to enable an Old Man to read without SpeCtacies.

lJu Cange, however, carries the Invention of SpeCtacies farther back 5 affuring us, That there is a Greek Poem in Ma- nufcript in the -French King's Library, which /hews, That Speftades were in Ufe in the Year 1150 : ftill, the Dictionary of the Academy Z)ella Crufca, under the Word Occhiale, in- clines to Redi's Side 5 and quotes a PafTage from fourdon's Sermons, which fays, That SpeCtacies had not been 20 Years in Ufe : Now Sahiati has obferved, that thofe Sermons were made between the Years 1330 and 1336.

SPECTATOR, a Perfon prefent at a SpeCtacle.

Among the Romans, Spectators, Speliatores, were a kind of Gladiators, who had had their Difcharge j and were frequent- ly hired to be prefent, as Spectators, at the Combats of Gladi- ators, lye. the People were entertained withal. See Gla- diator.

SPECULARIA, the Art of preparing, and mzbmgSpecula or Mirrors : Or, the Laws of Mirrors, their Phenomena, Caufes, 0$c. call'd al& Catoptricks. See Catoptricks.

SPECULARlS£^:5,in natural Hiftory, is a kind of Stone, clear as Glafs, ufed in feveral Countries where 'tis found, for Window-lights, &c. 'Tis a kind of Talc, fplits eafily into thin Lamina or Plates ; and is fometimes calcined to make a fine PlaHter. See Talc.

SPECULUM, Mirror, in Opticks, any polifh'd Body,im- pervious to the Rays of Light : Such as Water in Wells and deep Rivers, polifh'd Metals, andGlafles lined with Mercury, or other opake Matter, popularly call'd Looking-Glaffes. See

LoOJlING-G/^/ft

The feveral Kinds and Forms of\

Specula, plain, concave and convex f

The Theory and Phenomena of the I

feveral Kinds of Specula ~ - \ See under Mirror. The Method of preparing, grind- f . ins, $$c. Glafi or Metal Specula '

otvarious Forms - - - -

The Laws and Effect of the

cilia of various Forms The Theory of concave Speci,


 * pe- } S<

- >ti

] ila 1 m

See par-r Reflection. icularlyJ under £ Burn WG-Glafs.

Speculum Ant, an Inftrument, wherewith Surgeons dilate the Fundament, examine Sores, extract Bones, or let out any peccant Matter that may be there lodged.

Speculum Matricis, is an Instrument ufed by Surgeons, to examine and drefs corrupted Places in the natural Parts of Women. Its Form is the fame with that of the Speculum Ant.

Speculum Oris, is an Inftrument ferving to examine Dif- orders in the Mouth.

There are two Kinds : the one common ; the other bigger and ftronger, fit not only to keep down the Tongue j tut alfo the lower Jaw; while the Mouth is furveyed, to the very Extremity of the Throat, and the neceflary Remedies applied.

SPEECH, the Aft, or Art of expreffing a Man's Thoughts, by certain Signs invented for thatPurpofe.

Thcfe Signs are principally Sounds, made by the Voice and Letters. See Voice and Letter.

Speech, in Grammar, an Affemblage of feveral Words ranged in Order. See Language.

The Grammarians generally make Eight 'Parts of Speech 5 i.e. Eight kinds of Words ufed in Difeourfe, viz. Noun, *Pro- nouih Verb, 'Participle, Adverb, GoajmcHon, SPrepojition and Interjection $ each of which fee under its proper Article Ad- verb, Noun, Pronoun, &c.

F. fluffier, one of the laft and beft Writers of Grammar, only admits of three Parts of Speech, viz. Nom, Verb and Modificative j which laft includes the Adverb, Cmjttntlim and Trepojit'mi. See Modificative.

SPELL, a kind of Charm, to drive away a Difeafe, by hanging a Word or Sentence on a Paper about the Neck. See Charm and Phylactery.

Spell, in the Sea Language. %o Spell, is to let go the Sheets and Bowlings of a Sail, and brace the Weather 'Brace, that the Sail may lie loofc in the Wind. To do a Spell, is to do any thing by Turns, for a fhort Time, and then leave it. To give a Spell, is to be ready to work in fuch a one's Room. JFreJh Spell, is when frefh Men come to work ; efpecially when the Rowers are relieved, with another Gang.

SPELLING, that Part of Grammarproperly called Or- tlography. See Orthography.

Dr. Jones gives the following Rules or Maxims of Sp e lli m 1°. That all Words were originally wmasjpelt. 2 Q That* all Words, whofe Sounds have been fince alter'd (the Oripiu of the Difficulty of Spelling) the Alteration was madefy the fake of Eafe and Pleafure : And hence, 3 All Words that can be written feveral Ways, mult be fpelt according to the hardeft, harfheft and moft unufual Sound.

SPELTER, or Zinck, a kind of imperfect Metal, which fome confound with Sifmuth, and others with Spalt ; others making it a female Antimony. See Zink.

The Spelter is a kind of mineral Lead, very hard, white and brilliant 5 which though not perfectly malleable vet itretches a little under the Hammer. ' J

'Tis found in greateft Quantity in the Mines of Gojfelar in Saxony ; and is ordinarily fold in large, fquare, thick Cakes whence one would judge it to have been melted as it came out of the Mines, and caft into that Figure.

'Tis ufed to clear and whiten Tin, in making of Pewter much as Lead is ufed to purify Gold and Silver.

Thofe who imagine that the Spelter is put in to increafe the Weight, are miftaken ; fince in melting Five or Six hun- dred Weight of Tin, they fcarce put in a Pound of Spelter and that mix'd with Turmaric. 'Tis alfb ufed in the makin" f Solder, and with Curcuma, in the melting of Copper, to oive that Metal a gold Colour; which, however, is not permanent. See Solder.

The Beft is white, in fine Scales, difficult to break, £&. SPERM or Sperma, the Seed whereof an Animal is form'd. See Seed. The Word is Greek, cir'mi&.

SPERMA-Cer/, in Pharmacy, ufually call'd 'Parmafty, is a Preparation made from the Brain, and Cerebel of a kind of Animal, call'd by fbme, the Male Whale, and by the Latins Orca -j only diftinguifh'd from the common Whale, by its having Teeth, in lieu whereof, the Whale has a kind of Tufts in the Throat. See Whale.

The Ancients were great Strangers to the Nature of this Preparation ; infomuch, that Schroder fecms in doubt, whether to reckon it an animal or mineral Subftance.

It had its Name Sperma Ceti, Seed or Sperm of a Whale, given it, no doubt, to raife the Value, by a Notion of its Scarcity.

The Method of preparing it, is a Secret in the Hands of a very few : The Procefs is thus ;

The Brain being taken out of the Animal, is melted over a gentle Fire, and put into Moulds, like thofe whetein Sugar- Loaves are form'd. When cold and drain'dofits Oil, 'tis taken out and melted over again ; and this they continue to do till it be well purified, and become white. ! Tis then cut with a Knife for the Purpofe, and reduced into Flakes, fuch as we have it from the Druggifls.

It muft bechofen wliite, clear and transparent, of a rankifh Smell, which fome fancy to partake of that of theViolct = fome fophifticatc it with Wax 5 but the Deceit is difcovered, either by the Smell of the Wax, or by the Dulnefs of the Colour.

Some alfb fell a Preparation made from the Tail of the Whale, inftead of that from the Brain ; which laft kind turns Yellow, afToon as opened to the Air. In the General, there is no Merchandife that fhould be kept clofer from the Air than Sperma Ceti.

'Tis of fbme Ufe in Medicine. Dr. Quincy, fays, 'tis a noble Remedy in many Cafes, as the Affhma, Ef?c. though chiefly ufed in Bruifes, inward Hurts, and after Delivery. But 'tis certain, its greateft Property, and that which makes it fo much in Vogue, is its foftning the Skin, and refolving Tumours of the Breaft. Whence it comes to be ufed by the Ladies in Paftes, Wafhes, £&r.

SPERMATIC, in Anatomy, fomething belonging to the Sperm or Seed.

The Ancients made a general Divifion of the Parts of the Animal Body into Spermatic and Flepy.

The fp&tmatic Parts, were thofe, which by their Colour, l$c. bore fome Refemblance to Seed, and were fuppofed to be form'd thereof^ fuch are the Nerves, Membranes, Bones, &c.

The Flepy, were thofe fuppofed to be form'd of the Blood, after Conception. But the Moderns, with much better Reafon, hold all the Parts to be Spermatic in this Senfe, and either form'd of the Ovum of the Female, or of the Semen of the Male. See Generation.

M. Andry mentions fpermatic Worms in the human Body. See Worms.

Spermatic Vejfels, called alfo Vafa pr&parantia, are cer- tain Veffels appointed for the bringing of the Blood to the Teftktes, }$c. to be fecreted and prepared into Seed; and for the carrying back again the Blood, remaining after the Secretion is effected. See Seed.

The fpermatic Vejfels are two Arteries and two Veins. Spermatic Arteries arife from the fore Part of the Trunk of the Aorta, below the Emulgents. Their Structure is very Angular, in that, contrary to the Fabric of all orher Arteries, which are largeft at their Exit from the Trunk, thefe are fmalleft at their Origin, and grow bigger in their Progrefs to-