Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/529

* SPIRAL. 453 SPIRITUALISM. consult Brocard, yoUs tie bihtiographie dcs courbts ycoiiniriqucs (Harlc-Uuc, 1897, p. 252; pai'tii; coiiipK'iiii'iitaiie, ISD'J, p. lUO). On the spiral of AifliinitdL's, consult Pfail, Betracli- tiuiycn iibcr die Hpirale (Jlunich, 1830). On the parabolic spiral and that of Cotes, consult Sacdii in tlic Xuucclles Aiiiiulcs de Malhe- Dnitiijuen (ISlJU). On the logarithmic spiral, Turtpian in the same journal (lS4li) and Wliit- wortii (ISUU). On the hj-perbolic sjural, Fouret and Lelion in the same journal (ISSU). SPIRE (AS. splr, stalk, Ger. Spier, needle, pointer). A very acute jiyianiidal roof in com- mon use over the towers of churches or secular buildings. The history of spires is somewhat obscure, but there is no doubt that the earliest examples of anything of the kind are the pyra- midal roofs of towers in the Komanesipie build- ings of the eleventh century. In the twelfth centur.y, especially in France, these stone roofs were often made octagonal and pointed and took the form we call spire. They were less used in England and Ital}', where square and flat tops remained common; they were most developed in France and Germany. The point where the square tower merged into the octagonal base of the spire was marked by angle turrets and pin- nacles, to Avhich tabernacles and windows often corresponded in the alternate faces of the spire. This masking afterwards was carried still farther up b}' galleries, flying buttresses, and pinnacles, enhanced by every variety of tracing and surface ornament, breaking up the outlines of the spire. At lirst the surface of the spire was of solid masonry merely varied by angle moldings and scaled surfaces, but before the close of the thir- teenth century the masonry was often more or less pierced and the outlines infinitely varied, first with windows and galleries and then by a network of tracery which made of the entire spire a series of lacework patterns or grouped arcades and pinnacles. SPIRE. A town of German}'. See Speyee. SPIRIFER (Neo-Lat., from Lat. spira, coil, spire + feirc, to bear). A genus of long hinged fossil brachioi)ods of Paleozoic age. The shells are biconvex with the greatest width on the hinge line, the hinge areas are well marked and usually large, the ventral beak prominent and overreach- ing that of the dorsal valve, the surface marked by strong radial folds or striations. and with a pair of calcified spirally coiled brachidia within the interior of the shell. These brachidia served as supports for the breathing organs and are coiled in the form of cones with the apices of the cones directed toward the outer angles of the shell. The genus has many species, ranging from the Silurian system upward into the Carbonifer- ous and distributed all over the world. Consult Schuchert, "Synopsis of American Fossil Brachi- opoda, etc.,'' Bulletin of the Uxilcd States Geo- logical Survey, Xo. S~ (Washington, 1807). SPIRILLUM, See B.cteeia. SPIRIT ( Fr. esprit, from Lat. spiritus, spirit, breath, air, from spii-are, to breathe). A term sometimes used in connection with a variety of volatile substances, and more especially with solutions of volatile substances in alcohol. Spirits of tcine is ordinary alcohol : spirits of irood or pi/roxi/lic spirit, is wood alcohol, or methyl alco- hol : spirit of hartshorn is aqueous ammonia; spirit of copper is acetic acid (when distilled from verdigris) ; spirit of alum is aqueous sul- phurous acid, etc. Among the 'spiriis,' i.e. alcoholic solutions, used in medicine may be mentioned those of lemon, pe[)permint, ellier, chloroform, phosphorous, eami)hor, lavender, bit- ter almonds, etc. Aromatic spirits of ((»i»io«i« is made up of 34 jiarts of ammonium carbonate, !J0 parts of ammonia water, 1 part of nutmeg oil, 10 parts of oil of lemon, 700 parts of alcoliol, and 1 part of oil of lavender flowers, enough water being added to make 1000 parts. In the British pharmacopteia alcoholic solutions of 20 per cent, strength arc called 'essences.' SPIRITUALISM (from spiritual, Lat. sfiri- tuiilis, relating to spirit or breath, from spiritus, spirit, lireath, air, from spirarc, to breathe). A term which, as most commonly used, describes the belief of those who think that comruuuications are occasionally established between the living and the dead who survive in some other mode of e.xistence. This conception, in so far as any gen- eral acceptance of the doctrine is concerned, is probably not more than half a century old, al- though sporadic instances of the belief are pos- sibly as old as human nature. In modern times the first definite movement in the direction of a general interest in spiritualism took place in 1848 in America, and was associated with the Fox sisters, at H.ydesville, New York. The 'phenomena' associated with these sisters were the traditional 'raps' and 'knockings,' the meaning of which required that the experimenter agree upon some certain number of 'raps' as an indication of an allirmative or negative answer to questions. In more complicated matters the answers were spelled out by pointing to letters, etc. The modus operandi of the 'communications' is not important, as it was only the familiar pro- duction of physical phenomena supposed to be evidence of some transcendental origin. The Fox sisters jierformed their wonders for all classes of men and women and numbered among their fol- lowers many intelligent people. But opinion was divided as to the value and significance of their 'phenomena.' The more intelligent investigators discovered fraud in them, and finally the sisters confessed to the manner in which they had con- scioush' produced the 'raps' and 'knocks.' In the meantime the excitement and interest in spirit- ualism had spread to England and the Continent. It was probably much less the actual facts in the alleged phenomena that created the widespread interest in the subject than it was two facts in. the mental condition of the age wholly indejiend- ent of the inciting cause. The first was the im- mense strides which skepticism and criticism had made in discrediting the older theology; the sec- ond was the growing faith in scientific experiment and methods. It was about the samt; time that hypnotism (q.v. ) began to arouse a scientific interest and to contribute to the spiritualist's cause. It had arisen about 1770 or 1780 under jNIesmer and was called mesmerism (q.v.) after him. But the quackery and incautiousness associated with it, encouraged by the inertia of scientific academies, brought it into neglect, and it was not heard of more until Dr. Braid, of Manchester, England, reopened the question by showing that there were genuine phenomena in it worthy of scientific at- tention. This was about 1840. He changed the