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SPURGEON

1806

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zone below. Artesian wells merely are deepened, artificially assisted springs. Springs that rise from a great depth are generally permanent; but many springs are intermittent; others quite variable. The largest springs may indicate the exit of considerable subterranean rivers.

Spur'geon, Charles Haddon, a celebrated English preacher, was born in Essex, June 19, 1834. He never received a collegiate education, beginning his great work by making religious addresses. In 1850, while living at Cambridge, he entered the Baptist church, preaching his first sermon in a cottage four miles from Cambridge. When only 18 he had charge of a Baptist church at Waterbeach, and the small congregation soon doubled. He went to London in 1854, his church there being twice enlarged to accommodate the crowds that flocked to his preaching, until, in 1861, the great Tabernacle, seating 6,000, was built. At one service in Crystal Palace he preached to 24,000 people. His sermons were issued in weekly numbers and translated into many languages. Besides preaching, he conducted a training-school for ministers, an orphanage and an almshouse, and built 36 churches in London. His publications reached nearly 100 volumes, including several volumes of sermons. He preached without writing his sermons, which were taken down in shorthand as they were delivered, and carefully revised by himself, The weekly circulation averaged 30,000, but that of particular sermons was much larger. He died at Mentone, France, Jan. 31, 1892. See Life by Spindler, Dyer etc.

Spy, one employed in war to collect information of the enemy. Spies are always used in regular warfare, and no disgrace attaches to the officers employing them. The dishonor which seems to belong to the person acting as a spy comes probably from the fact that the greater number of spies have been traitors to their country, offering their services freely to the enemy. When a soldier volunteers to penetrate the enemy's lines in disguise, to help his own country and army, it is a brave and honorable act and is so recognized, though the laws of war mete out the same ignominious death to all classes of spies. Major Andre* and Nathan Hale, though hanged, are honored for their devotion and self-sacrifice. The risks of the undertaking have made it attractive to those loving adventure, and many thrilling stories are based upon them, notably Cooper's Spy. Political spies are those employed by governments to detect conspiracies. They were used in England in the days of the Tudors and, lately, in Ireland. Bismarck was believed to employ them to a large extent, and Napoleon III had a regularly organized system. Russia has the most perfect arrangements for using spies, both at home and abroad, of any

modern nation. See Secret Service under Pitt by Fitzpatrick and The Two Spies by Lossing.

Squid, an elongated cuttlefish extensively used as a bait by cod-fishers. They are found in nearly all seas and are very abundant on the New England coast. They swim in large schools, following young mackerel and herring, upon which they feed. They in turn are eaten by larger fishes. The common squid ranges in size from six to 18 inches, or even longer. They swim backward by throwing jets of water through the siphon. They have ten long arms provided with suckers, being in this regard similar to other members of the group (cephalopoda). Giant squids, of a different genus, have been taken, measuring 52 feet long, counting the arms. One is reported whose body alone measured 23 feet. See CUTTLEFISH.

Squier (skwir), Ephraim George, an American antiquarian author, was born at Bethlehem, N. Y., June 17, 1821. He was for several years an editor, but, becoming interested in the antiquities of the Scioto valley in Ohio, began to make a study of such remains, traveling through the Mississippi valley and New York. He published the results of his work in 1848 in the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge While charge d'affaires in Guatemala, he made further explorations there, receiving a gold medal from the French Geographical Society for his work. He continued his researches while surveying a railroad-route in Honduras in 1853 an(^ while United States commissioner to Peru in 1863. Among his works are Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery and Ancient Monuments; Notes on Central America; and Peru: Explorations in the Land of the Incas. He died at Brooklyn, N. Y., April 17, 1888.

Squir'rel, the name for any one of a group of small rodents or gnawing animals. They

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are found in all parts of the world, except Australia. They are   abundant   in   North