Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/299

 SPRAT SPRING 28T ligion" (1832); "Hints on Christian Inter- course " (1834) ; " Lectures illustrating the Contrast between true Christianity and vari- ous other Systems" (1837) ; "Life of E. D. Griffin" (1838); "Life of Timothy Dwight, D. D., President of Yale College," in Sparks's "American Biography" (1845); "Letters to Young Men, founded on the History of Jo- seph" (2d ed., 1845); "Aids to Early Reli- gion " (1847) ; " Words to a Young Man's Conscience " (1848) ; " Women of the Bible " (1850) ; " Visits to European Celebrities " (1855) ; " Annals of the American Pulpit," a collection of biographies of leading clergymen of all the denominations (9 vols. 8vo, New York, 1856-'69); and "Memoirs of Rev. John and W. A. M'Dowell, D. D." (1864). SPRAT, a small fish of the herring family, and genus harengula (Val.). There are teeth on the jaws, tongue, palate, and pterygoid bones, but none on the vomer ; the branchios- tegal rays are six or seven. There are about ten species, of which the most common is the English sprat (H. sprattus, Val.), called garvie in Scotland; it is 5 or 6 in. long, with the body proportionately deeper than in the her- ring, and the edge of the abdomen strongly serrated ; the scales are large, round, and de- ciduous ; the upper part of head and back dark blue, with green reflections, passing into silvery white on the gill covers, sides, and abdomen ; dorsal and caudal dusky, other fins white. It is found on the coasts of Great Britain and Sweden ; it ascends the rivers in large shoals in November, after the herrings have disappeared. Though smaller than the herring, it furnishes in winter an abundant, cheap, and wholesome food, and is generally eaten fresh. The fishery is prosecuted by drift or stationary nets, and with most success in dark and foggy nights. Several species in the West Indian seas are called sardines. SPRAT, Thomas, an English prelate, born at Tallaton, Devonshire, in 1636, died at Brom- ley, Kent, May 30, 1713. He was educated at Oxford, and became chaplain first to the duke "Buckingham, and afterward to Charles II. In 1668 he was made prebendary of Westmin- r, in 1680 canon of Windsor, in 1683 dean of Westminster, and in 1684 bishop of Roches- ter. He was clerk of the closet to James II., and in 1686 was made one of the commis- sioners for ecclesiastical affairs. He published " The Plague of Athens " and " The Death of Oliver Cromwell," poems (1659) ; " The His- tory of the Royal Society," of which he was one of the original fellows (1677); a history of the Rye House plot (1685); and a volume of sermons (1710); and he edited Cowley's "Poems," with a life in Latin (1668), after- ward in English with additions. SPRMGEL, Knrt, a German physician, born at Boldekow, Prussia, Aug. 3, 1766, died in Halle, March 15, 1833. He took his degree at Halle in 1787, and became professor there of medicine, and in 1797 also of botany. His 759 VOL. xv. 19 works include VersucJi einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneilcunde (5 vols., Halle, 1792 -1803; 3d ed., 1821-'8 ; 4th ed. by Rosen- baum, 1846 et seq.} Handbuch der Pathologic (3 vols., Leipsic, 1795-'7; 4th ed., 1815) ; Imti- tutiones Medicce (6 vols., 1809-'! 6; new ed. of the last 5 vols., 1819) ; Historia Eei Herbaria (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1807-'8) ; Geschichte der Botanik (2 vols., Altona and Leipsic, 1817-'18) ; and Neue Entdeckungen im ganzen Umfange der Pflanzenlcunde (3 vols., 1819-'22). SPRENGER, Aloys, a German orientalist, born at Nassereut, Tyrol, Sept. 3, 1813. After study- ing at Vienna, he went in 1836 to London, where he assisted the earl of Munster in his work on the " Military Science of the Moham- medan Nations." He joined the East India service, in 1845 became president of the college of Delhi, and in 1850 examiner at the college of Fort William, Calcutta, government inter- preter, and secretary of the Asiatic society. He published in the Bibliotheca Indica trans- lations from the Arabic and Persian, besides works in the Urdu dialect, and a "Life of Mohammed" (vol. i., Allahabad, 1851). He returned to Europe in 1857, became profes- 'sor of oriental languages in Bonn, and pub- lished Das Leben und die Lehre des Mohamad (3 vols., Berlin, 1861-'5 ; 2d ed., 1868 et seq.). SPRING, in astronomy, one of the four sea- sons of the year, beginning for the northern hemisphere at the time of the vernal equinox, or on March 21, and ending at the time of the summer solstice, or June 21. In the United States the spring is regarded as including March, April, and May. (See SEASONS.) SPRING, Samuel. I. An American clergyman, born at Northbridge, Mass., Feb. 27, 1746, died in Newburyport, March 4, 1819. He grad- uated at Princeton college in 1771, and in 1775 became a chaplain in 'the continental army, and accompanied the expedition under Col. Arnold to Canada. In 1777 he was ordained pastor of a church in .Newburyport. He was a man of great influence and weight of character, and as the leading minister of the Hopkinsian party was active in promoting the union of the two parties in the Congregational churches, effected by the establishment of the Andover theologi- cal seminary, and also in originating the Amer- ican board of commissioners for foreign mis- sions. II. Gardiner, an American clergyman, son of the preceding, born in Newburyport, Mass., Feb. 24, 1785, died in New York, Aug. 18, 1873. He graduated at Yale college in 1805, and taught and studied in Bermuda nearly two years. After his return he was admitted to the bar in December, 1808, and practised more than a year. He then studied at Andover sem- inary, and was ordained as pastor of the Brick church (Presbyterian) in Beekman street, New York, Aug. 10, 1810, in which office he con- tinued till his death. In 1856 he removed with his congregation to the new church on Hur- ray hill. During the last years of his life Dr. Spring seldom preached, his place being filled