Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/532

* SPIRULA. 458 SPITZWEG. The genus Spirula is not known in a fossil state, but it has ancestors, Spirulirostra and Spii'ulirostrina, in the Tertiary deposits of Italy. These latter have remnants of the 'guard' at the apical portion of the shell, which feature seems to indicate the descent of Spirula from some form of shell like Belemnites. See Cephaxopoda. SPIT'ALFIELDS. An eastern district of London. England, in Whitechapel, adjoining Bethnal Green. It is a manufacturing district inhabited chiefly by the poorer class of popula- tion, and by silk-weavers, descendants of French Huguenots. It is the seat of the Spitalfields market. Spitalfields derives its name from the Hospital of Saint ilarv, founded in 1197. Popu- lation, in 1891, 26,594"; in 1901, 27,965. SPIT'HEAD. A roadstead off Portsmouth, England, between Portsca Island and the Isle of Wight (Map: England, E 6). It is U miles long by 4 miles in average breadth, and receives its name from the 'Si3it,' a sand-bank stretching south from the English shore for three miles. Fortified by circular towers, and, except on the southeast, protected from all winds, it is a fa- vorite anchorage of the British navy, styled by sailors 'the King's bedchamber,' on account of its security. SPIT'TA, Kakl .JoiiANX Philipp (1801-59). A German religious poet, born in Hanover. He was educated at Gottingen, and from 1824 to 1828 he was a tutor at Liine, and there wrote the best of his liTOins. Afterwards he was vicar or pastor in several churches, and in 1859. shortly before his death, was made superintendent at Burgdorf. His hymns, contained in Psalter und Harfe (1833; revised with biographical note by his son, Lud- wig, 1890; 'Jubitee' ed., 1901), and in the A'ac7i- gelassene geistlwlie Licder (1801 and often), rank high in the German spiritual song of the century, and attained great popularity by their freshness of thought, purity of style, and depth of senti- ment. SPITZ'BERGEN. A group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, situated about 430 miles north of the northern extremity of Norway, between 76' 30' and 80° 48' north' latitude, and between 10° and 30° east longitude (Map: Arctic Regions, H 3). The group consists of three large islands. West Spitzbergen, Xorth East Land, and Edge Island, whose areas are, respectively, about 15,- 000, 4000, and 2500 square miles, and a number of smaller islands. All of them are of a rocky and mountainous character and very irregularly indented. West Spitzbergen has au ice-eovered plateau running along its eastern coast and eroded toward the A'est into deep and narrow valleys terminating in fiords, and carrying the overflow of ice in the form of glaciers to the sea. These valleys and fiords are separated by rugged and rocky mountain spurs, here and there form- ing a network of craggy peaks and ridges inter- spersed with glaciers. The highest point is the Horn Sund Tind with an altitude of 4500 feet. North East Land is almost wholly covered with an ice sheet, while the other islands are free from permanent ice, or carry only isolated glaciers on their eastern slopes. The mean monthly temperatures range from 10° below zero in February to 37° above in August. Snow falls at all seasons, but in summer a considerable herbaceous growth covers the lower western slopes. This consists largely of mosses, though there are 130 species of flowering plants and ferns, with sedges predominating along the shores. The fauna includes the reindeer, which, however, is fast disappearing, the polar bear, and the fox. The walrus is still found along the coast, but the birds are becoming fewer. Spitzbergen has no permanent inhabitants, and no country claims possession of it. The islands were discovered by the Dutch in 1596. The interior was first explored in 1892 by Rabot, and in 1896 by Sir Martin Conway, who was tlie first to cross the large island. Spitzbergen has been an im- portant base for polar expeditions, and in 1897 Andree made it the starting point in his ill-fated attempt to reach the Pole by balloon. In recent years the west coast has been visited by a num- ber of tourists, and in 1896 a weekly steamship service during siunmer was established from Nor- way, and a small hotel was built on the coast. Bibliography. Nordenskjold, Die schwed- ischeii Expeditionen nach Spitzbergen und Biiren Eihind (Jena, 1809) ; Zeppelin, Rcisebilder aus Spitzbergen, BiireneiUnid und Xorwegen (Stutt- gart, 1892) ; Conway, The First Crossing of Spitz- bergen (London, 1897) ; Hafter. Briefe aus dem hohen yorden (Frauenfeld, 1900). SPITZ DOG, or Pomeranian Dog. See Sheep Dog. SPITZ'KA, Edward Charles (1852—). An American psychiatrist, born in New York City. He was educated at New York University, in Germany, and in 'N'ienna. He served as interne in the New York City Asylum for the Insane, was professor of medical jurisprudence and diseases of the nervous system in the New York Post Graduate Medical School and Hospital from 1881, consulting surgeon to the Northeastern Dispensary, physician to the department of nerve diseases in the New York Pnlyclinic, and phy- sician to the Metropolitan Throat Hospital. His writings include A Treatise on Insanity (New York, l8S3), besides many monographs. SPITZWEG, spits'vflK, Karl (1808-85). A Cierman genre and landscape painter, one of the most original figures in the art world of Munich, the most genial exponent of tlie humorous genre. Born and educated in JIunich.. he dispensed drugs for several years, then studied at the university, and in 1833 was won to art by his accidental surroundings in a watering place. Under the introductory guidance of the histori- cal painter Hansonn (1791-1863), he took to brush and palette, but, practically self-taught, developed his rare talent for the dejiiction of those inimitable types of German philistinism amusingly associated with his name. On the establishment of the Fliegende Blatter in 1844, he became one of its most diligent contributors, whose incomparable humorous drawings were for years the delight of the entire reading world. Among his finely colored pictures of old bache- lors, bookworms, hermits, etc.. and his poetic landscapes with fanciful accessories, may be mentioned: '-The Poor Poet" ( 1837), "Two"Her- mits" and a "Scholar in the Attic" (1882), all in the Pinakothek. ilunich : "Spanish Serenade," "The Hypochrondriac." "Herd-Girls on an Alp," and "Turkish Coffee-House." all in the Schack Gallery. Munich : "Going to Chiirch Near Da- chau" (1802), in Dresden; "His Reverence" and