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SPIREA

l8oo

SPOKANE

one of his works to Louts XIV. Yet he was living on only a few cents a day. Separated from his friends, suffering from ill-health and want and harassed by continual persecution, he continued his life of study until his death on Feb. 21, 1677. His philosophical system was based on that of Descartes, and is mainly contained in his Ethics, which was not published until after his death. "The world has produced no intellect more profound than that of Spinoza, and Spinoza has produced no book which can be compared with his Ethics" which attracted the admiration of such men as Goethe, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel and gave character to a school of philosophy. During his life Spinoza published only two works: Abridgement of the Meditation of Descartes and a Treatise on Theological Politics. Consult H. Smith's Sfinoza and His Environment and the Life by Pollock.

Spi'rea, a genus of plants of the rose family. The species scattered throughout the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere consist of small, unarmed shrubs or perennial herbs, with racemes or corymbs of white or reddish flowers. North American, Indian and Japanese shrubby species are in cultivation. Two very fragrant British species are known by the name of meadow-sweet. Dropwort, found in Sweden, has tuberous roots which are somewhat nutritious and are ground and made into bread. Hardtack, a species in the United States, is used as a tonic and astringent.

Spirogyra (spi'rd-ji'ra), a genus of plants belonging to the green algse, which has received its name from the fact that the very conspicuous chloroplast passes as a broad spiral band from one end of the cell to the other. The species are filamentous forms, and are very common in frothy masses in stagnant fresh water and about springs, being commonly known as pond-scums or frog-spittle. Spirogyra belongs to the conjugate forms, its filaments becoming connected in pairs by outgrowing tubes at the time of fertilization. See CHLOROPHYCE^;.

Spitzbergen (spits-berg'en), a group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, 400 miles north of Norway. They^ are covered with ice, with sharp projecting peaks, which give them their name of Spitzbergen, meaning Needle-like Mountains. On the western coast the climate is affected by the Gulf Stream, while the eastern coast is icebound and difficult of access. There is a scanty vegetation, with 40 species of plants; herds of reindeer, the arctic fox and the polar bear are found, with great swarms of sea-fowl. The longest day is four months, and the long night lasts from Oct. 22 to Feb. 22, in which the moon and stars and occasionally the aurora borealis are the only light. There are no permanent inhabitants,

but the islands are visited by Norwegian walrus-hunters and scientific explorers. Consult Lord Dufferm's Letters from High Latitudes,

Spof ford, Ainsworth Rand, a librarian of the United States Congress, was born at Gilmanton, N. H., Sept. 12, 1825, and educated by private tutors. Early in his career he settled at Cincinnati, O., as a bookseller and publisher, and also became associate-editor of the Cincinnati Daily Commercial. In 1861 he became assistant to the librarian of Congress, and four years later was appointed librarian-in-chief. In 1897 ne was succeeded by J. R. Young and later by Herbert Putnam. Mr. Spofford was an indefatigable compiler of the catalogues of the Congressional library, and for some years issued the American Almanac. He also interested himself in copyright matters, published a Manual of Parliamentary Rules, and edited the Library of Choice Literature, the Library of Historic Characters and Famous Events and the Library of Wit and Humor. He was one of the greatest librarians that ever lived and a marvel of learning and memory. He died on Aug. n, 1908.

Spofford, Harriet Elizabeth (Prescott), an American author, was born at Calais, Me., April 3, 1835. In a Cellar, one of her first contributions to the Atlantic Monthly, attracted great attention. She has since published The Amber Gods; Sir Rohan's Ghost; New England Legends; Azarian, an Episode; and still is a frequent and popular contributor to the periodicals.

Spokane (spo-kan'), Wash., formerly called Spokane Falls, a city in the eastern part of the state, is the county-seat of Spokane County and is reached by the Northern Pacific, Great Northern, Oregon Railway and Navigation Company and Spokane and Northern and other railways. Spokane River, which runs through the city, is spanned by 23 bridges, and in a series of falls has a descent of 142 feet, affording splendid water-power. Even at extreme low-water these falls deyelop 15,000 electrical horse-power. This is utilized in numerous manufacturing plants and in generating electric power, which not only serves the city but is furnished to mines in Idaho, 100 miles distant. The famous silver-lead mines of Cceur d'Alene, Idaho, which produce over one fifth of the annual lead output of the world, are thus operated. This water-power lights the city, operates the mills, 98 miles of street-railways and 258 miles of interurban lines. Spokane is the mining-center of a wide region, and does a large business in handling the products of the mines and in furnishing miners' supplies. It is surrounded by heavy pine-forests, which produce a large output of lumber and make the city an important lumber-market. It also is the chief market