objects with both eyes; nence called binoculi. Though F. Rheita had mentioned the same before him, in his Oculus Enoch et Eliæ. See BINOCLE. The same author invented a kind of spectacles, with three or four glasses, which performed extraordinarily. letters with any tolerable convenience, either a portion of a sphere of solid glass, or a hollow sphere of glass filled with water, must be placed between the object and the eye of the spectator. The latter of these the ancients certainly had in use, and applied them as dioptric burning glasses. That they could do this, and be ignorant of their magnifying power, would not be credible, and the contrary is plainly affirmed. Seneca observes-Litera quamvis minutæ et obscuræ, per vitream pilam aquâ plenam, majores clarioresque cernuntur. Spectacles were certainly unknown to the ancients, though it is by no means improbable that they had dioptric instruments for the same purpose. Francisco Redi, in a very learned treatise on spectacles, will have them to have been invented in the thirteenth century, be-Letters, though minute and obscure, appear tween the years 1280 and 1311 (probably about the year 1299 or 1300) and adds, that Alexander de Spina, a monk of the order of Predicants of St. Catharine, at Pisa, first communicated the secret, which was of his own invention; upon learning that another person had it as well as himself. This history is written in the chronicles of that convent. The same author tells us, that in an old manuscript still preserved in his library, com. posed in 1299, spectacles are mentioned as a thing invented about that time: and that a famous jacobin, one Jourdon de Rivalto, in a treatise composed in 1305, says expressly, that it was not yet twenty years since the invention of spectacles. He likewise quotes Bernard Gordon in his Lilium Medicinæ, written the same year, where he speaks of a collyrium, good to enable an old man to read without spectacles. Muschenbroeck, Introd. vol. ii. p. 786. observes, that it is inscribed on the tomb of Salvinus Armatus, a nobleman of Florence, who died in 1317, that he was the inventor of spec. tacles. Du-Cange, however, carries the invention of spectacles farther back; assuring us, that there is a Greek poem in manuscript in the French king's library, which shews, that spectacles were in use in the year 1150: nevertheless, the dictionary of the academy della Crusca, under the word 'occhiale, inclines to Redi's side; and quotes a passage from Jourdon's Sermons, which says, that spectacles had not been twenty years in use: and Salvati has observed, that those sermons were composed between the years 1330 and 1336. It is probable, that the first hint of the construction and use of spectacles as they exist among the moderns was derived from the writings either of Alhazen, who lived in the twelfth century, or of our own countryman Roger Bacon, who was born in 1214, and died in 1292, or 1294. larger and clearer through a glass bubble filled with water." Ibid. cap. 7. No curious philosopher (and the Romans had many) could be acquainted with such a fact, and not go farther. But it is said, they could not proceed farther without grinding glass, and Dr. Hook has declared (see Smith's Optics, vol. ii. pa. 16. art. 94, of the Remarks) that they were ignorant of this. Yet this is clearly a mistake, as the evidence of Pliny will clearly prove, Aliud flatu figuratur, aliud torno teritur, aliud argenti modo cælatur. Sidone quondam iis officinis nobili, siquidem etiam specula excogitaverat. Hæc fuit antiqua ratio vitri. “Some glass is fashioned by blowing; some is ground upon a wheel or in a turning lathe; and some is engraved like silver. Sidon was celebrated for its glass works; having also invented specula. Such was the ancient art of glass." Nat. Hist. lib. xxxvi. cap. 26. That glass was ground by the ancients may farther be proved from the writings of Seneca: for how could a prism of glass be made by blowing? Yet such things were in use among the virtuosi of Rome in the days of Nero. Virgula solet fieri vitrea-pluribus angulishæc si ex transverso solem accipit, colorem talem, qualis in arcu videri solet, reddit. “A rod or bar of glass is made with several angles, which, if it receive the rays of the sun through it, makes such colours as we see in the rainbow." Nat. Quæst. lib. i. cap. 7. He also speaks of multiplying glasses, the several faces of which must have undoubtedly been cut upon a wheel. Si apte fabricata foret, totidem redderet soles, quot habuisset insecturas. After all this we fancy it will not be thought any very strained inference to conclude that the ancients had at least something that answered the purpose of our reading glasses. Other traces may be found which will carry the matter back to a date much earlier than has been usually assigned to this class of inventions, Amongst the adages of Junius (published in For our own parts, however, we cannot the same volume with those of Erasmus) this bring ourselves to believe that the ancients were short passage is extracted from Pisidas, a chrisignorant of the power of glass in magnifying tian writer who flourished at Constantinople objects. Indeed we have tolerably conclusive in the 7th century-Ta Medharta w; dia SOUTH OF evidence of the contrary. Seneca has these "You see things future as by a dioptrum." words-Poma per vitrum aspicientibus multo majora sunt,—or, as he expresses it in another part of the same book,-si innatant vitro, apples appear greatly magnified to those who view them as they swim in a vessel of glass." Nat. Quæst. lib. i. cap. 6. To read small What can this dioptrum be? Must we not understand by it either a spectacle-glass or a prospective glass? We know of no other instruments whereby things indistinct and at a distance may be seen as if they were near at hand: and this the adage obviously requires, to give it any propriety and force of application. d thus again we are brought to the same clusion: but, however amusing the enmay be, we must not here pursue it far Jes used by short-sighted persons are ncave; as the spectacles employed gated are convex. of spectacles being an object of ace to all who are anxious to ves, we shall select a few rules 's valuable Essay on Vision. tion to such directions, the be retarded, and the eyes in need of spectacles o choose such as reprenlarging or diminishing a being placed near the characters clearly and disstraining that organ. It will, every instance, be advisable to artist of whom the glasses are for, though every person must ly determine what lenses afford him ...ost accurate vision, the former will thus be enabled to accommodate them to the ee of the latter, with greater certainty and advantage. Besides the fatigue of trying a variety of glasses will thus be obviated; and the purchaser will procure a pair best adapted to the structure of his eyes.-Short-sighted persons ought always to make a very gradual allowance in changing their spectacles, so as to select others which magnify a little more than the preceding pair, though somewhat less distinetly, without obscuring the object. Thus, their sight will be imperceptibly improved; and, after making use of less concave lenses, the defect of vision may, in process of time, be entirely remedied. These transitions, however, ought not to be sudden, lest the resources of art should be too early exhausted. And as it would be difficult to meet either with a pair of glasses in the shops that exactly fit both eyes, or with a person whose organs of sight are both of a size and construction perfectly equal, it rationally follows, that such important choice should be separately made, with respect to each of these useful organs. Spectacles are generally transparent and colourless; though sometimes green lenses are preferred by those whose eyes are unable to support a vivid light. Such colour is believed to be the most soothing to the human eye, though it tends at first in some degree to darken the object. Hence, this shade will prove beneficial only to persons who possess strong but irritable eyes; yet even such individuals should not indulge in it, if light-coloured objects continue to assume a reddish tinge, after having tried the experiment for a few days. In all cases, however, spectacles ought to be employ ed only in writing, reading, or similar occupations that render this artificial aid necessary; and during which the eye is retained at an uniform distance. Dr. W. H. Wollaston took out in February, 1804, a patent for what he considered a new invention in spectacles, in which each glass should be of the shape well known by the term meniscus, the focal distances of the concave and convex faces to be varied as circumstances rendered necessary. Mr. W. Jones the optician has disputed the utility of this invention; and has clearly proved that, whether it be useful or not, Dr. W. is not the original inven tor. SPECTACLED. a. (from the noun.) Furnished with spectacles (Shakspeare). SPECTATION. s. (spectatio, Latin.) Regard; respect (Harvey). SPECTATOR. s. (spectateur, Fr. spectalor, Latin.) A looker-on; a beholder (Sh.). SPECTATORSHIP. s. (from spectator.) Act of beholding (Shakspeare). SPECTRE. s. (spectre, Fr. spectrum, Lat.) 1. Apparition; appearance of persons dead (Stilling fleet). 2. Something made preternaturally visible. SPECTRUM. s. (Latin.) An image; a visible form (Newton). SPECULAR. a. (specularis, Latin.) 1. Having the qualities of a mirror or lookingglass (Donne). 2. Assisting sight. Improper (Philips). To SPECULATE. v. n. (speculer, Fr. speculor, Latin.) To meditate; to contemplate; to take a view of any thing with the mind (Digby). To SPECULATE. v. a. To consider attentively; to look through with the mind (Bro.). SPECULATION. s. (from speculate.) 1. Examination by the eye; view, 2. Examiner ; spy (Shakspeare). 3. Mental view; intellectual examination; contemplation (Hooker), 4. A train of thoughts formed by meditation (Temple). 5. Mental scheme not reduced to practice (Temple). 6. Power of sight: not in use (Shakspeare). SPECULATION, in card-playing, a sociable and talkative round game, in which many may join, using a complete pack of cards, bearing the same import as at whist, with fishes or counters, on which such a value is fixed as the company agree to; the highest trump, in each deal, wins the pool; and whenever it happens that not one is dealt, the company pool again, and the event is decided by the succeeding coup. After determining the deal, &c. the dealer pools six fishes, and every other player four; next three cards are given to each by one at a time, and another turned up for trump; the cards are not to be looked at, except in this manner,-the eldest hand shews the uppermost card, which, if a trump, the company may speculate on or bid for; the highest bidder buying and paying for it, provided the price offered is approved of by the seller. After this is settled, or if the first card do not prove trump, then the next eldest shews the uppermost card, and so on; the company speculating as they please, till all are discovered; when the possessor of the highest trump, whether by purchase or otherwise, gains the pool. To play this game well, little more is requisite than a recollection of what superior cards of that particular suit have appeared in the preceding deals, and a consequent calculation how far the trump offered has a probability of proving the highest in the deal then undetermined. SPECULATIVE. a. (from speculate.) 1. Given to speculation; contemplative (Hooker). 2. Theoretical; notional; ideal; not practical (Bacon). SPECULATIVELY. ad. (from speculative.) 1. Contemplatively; with meditation. 2. Ideally; notionally; theoretically. SPECULATOR. s. (from speculate.) 1. One who forms theories (More). 2. (speculateur, French.) An observer; a contemplator (Brown). 3. A spy; a watcher (Broome). SPECULATORY. a. (from speculate.) Exercising speculation. SPECULUM. s. (Latin.) A mirror; a looking-glass (Boyle). SPECULUM for reflecting telescopes, is made of a kind of white copper, consisting of 32 parts of fine red copper, one of brass, 15 of grain tin, and three of white arsenic. The process given by the late J. Edwards, who was rewarded by the board of longitude for disclosing it to the public, was published in the Nautical Almanac for 1787, and is as follows: Melt the copper in a large crucible, employing some black flux, composed of two parts of tartar and one of nitre; when melted, add to it the brass and the silver. Let the pure tin be melted into another crucible, also with some black flux. Take them both from the fire, and pour the melted tin into the fused mass in the large crucible. Stir the whole well with a dry spatula of birch; and pour off the fused metal immediately into a large quantity of cold water. The sudden chill of the water will cause the fluid metal to divide into an infinite number of small particles, which will cool instantly. 2. If the copper is completely saturated, the fracture of one piece of this mixed metal will appear bright, and of a glossy look, resembling the face of pure quicksilver. But if it is a brown reddish colour, it wants a little more tin. To ascertain the required proportion, melt a small quantity, known by weight, of the mixed metal, with a known very small part of tin; and, if necessary, repeat the trial with different doses, till the fracture of the new mixture looks as already described. Having now ascertained the necessary addition of tin that is required, proceed to the last melting of the whole metal, together with the additional proportional dose of tin; fuse the whole, observing the same cautions as before, and you will find that the mixture will melt with a much less heat than that for the first fusion. Have ready as many ounces of white arsenic in coarse powder, as there are pounds in the weight of metal; wrap up the arsenic in a small paper, and put it, with a pair of tongs, into the crucible; stir it well with the spatula, retaining the breath to avoid the arsenical fumes or vapours (which, however, are not found to be hurtful to the lungs) till they disappear; take the crucible off the fire, clear away the dross from the top of the metal; pour in about one ounce of powdered rosin, with as much nitre, in order to give the metal a clean surface, and pour out the metal into the moulded flasks. 3. The speculum should be moulded with the concave surface downwards, and many small holes should be made through the sand upwards, to discharge the air. The moulding-sand from Highgate near London, used by the founders, is as good as any for casting these metallic mirrors. The cast metal should be taken out from the sand of the flasks whilst it is hot, or else it may happen to crack if left to cool within. See GRINDING, MIRROR, TELESCOPE, &c. SPECULUM OCULI. (from specio, to view.) An instrument used by oculists to keep the eyelids open and the eye fixed. SPECULUM ORIS. open the mouth. An instrument to force SPECULUM VENERIS. LIUM. See MILLEFO SPED. The pret. and part. pass. of speed. SPEECH. s. (from speak.) 1. The power of articulate utterance; the power of expressing thoughts by words, or vocal sounds (Walls). 2. Language; words considered as expressing thoughts (Milton). 3. Particular language as distinct from others (Com. Prayer). 4. Any thing spoken (Shakspeare). 5. Talk; mention (Bacon). 6. Oration; harangue (Swift). 7. Declaration of thoughts (Milton). SPEECHLESS. a. (from speech.) 1. Deprived of the power of speaking; made mute or dumb (Raleigh). 2. Mute; dumb (Shakspeare). To SPEED. v. n. pret. and part." passive sped and speeded, (spoeden, Dutch.) 1. To make haste; to move with celerity (Philips). 2. (rpedian, to grow rich, Saxon.) To have good success (Shakspeare). 3. To succeed well or ill (South). 4. To have any condition, good or bad (Waller). To SPEED. v. n. 1. To dispatch in haste; to send away quickly (Fairfax). 2. To hasten; to put into quick motion (Shakspeare). 3. To furnish in haste. 4. To dispatch; to destroy; to kill; to mischief; to ruin (Pope). 5. To execute; to dispatch (Ayliffe). 6. To assist; to help forward (Dryden). 7. To make prosperous (St. Paul). SPEED. s. (spoed, Dutch.) 1. Quickness; celerity (More). 2. Haste; hurry; dispatch (Decay of Piety). 3. The course or pace of a horse (Shaks.). 4. Success; event (Shaks.). SPEED (John), an English historian and antiquary, was born at Farrington, in Cheshire, about 1555. He was bred a taylor, but sir Fulk Greville, it is said, put him in the way to pursue his studies. In 1596 he published, his Theatre of Great Britain, and in 1614, The History of Great Britain, from Julius Cæsar to king James I. He was also author of a work in 8vo. called The Cloud of Wituesses, or the Genealogies of Scripture, con firming the Truth of Holy History, and Humanity of Christ. He died in 1629, having survived his wife only one year. With her he had lived happily in the married state 57 years; and by her he had 12 sons and six daughters. SPEEDILY. ad. (from speedy.) With haste; quickly (Dryden). SPEEDINESS. s. (from speedy.) The quality of being speedy. SPEEDWELL, in botany. See VERO NICA. SPEʼEDY. a. (from speed.) Quick; swift; nimble; quick of dispatch (Dryden). SPEIGHTS TOWN, a seaport of Barbadoes, formerly much frequented by the Bristol traders, and thence called Little Bristol. It is situate on the N.W. coast of the island. Lon. 58. 31 W. Lat. 13. 15 N. SPELL. s. (rpel, Saxon, a word.) 1. A charm consisting of some words of occult power (Milton). 2. A turn of work (Carew). To SPELL. v. a. pret. and part. passive spelled or spelt. (spellen, Dutch.) 1. To write with the proper letters (Dryden). 2. To read by naming letters singly (Shakspeare). 3. To charm (Dryden). To SPELL. v. n. 1. To form words of letters (Locke). 2. To read (Milton). 3. To read unskilfully (South). SPELMAN (Sir Henry), a learned English antiquary and historian, born in Norfolk, about 1561. He was sent by king James three several times into Ireland upon public business; and at home was appointed one of the commissioners to enquire into the oppression of exacted fees, in all the courts and offices of England, as well ecclesiastical as civil, in which he rendered such service, that government gratefully expressed the obligation by a present, and James I. conferred on him the honour of knighthood. In 1613 he published his De non temerandis ecclesiis: and in 1626 the first part of his Glossary. The next work which he undertook was an edition of the English Councils, in which he was encouraged by archbishops Abbot, Laud, and Usher. The first volume was published in 1639, but the second not till after his death, which happened in London in 1641. Sir Henry wrote several other works, all relating to ancient laws and customs. SPELMAN (sir John), eldest son of the preceding, a very learned man, who had great encouragement and assurance of favour from Charles I. who knighted him, and presented him with the mastership of Sutton's hospital: and after the civil war broke out often called him to his private council. He was author of several works. He died in 1643. SPELMAN (Clement), youngest son of sir Henry, was bred to the law, and became puisne baron of the exchequer upon the restoration of Charles II. He published some pieces relating to the government, and a large preface to his father's book De non temerandis ecclesiis. He died in 1679. (Watkins.) SPELLO, a town of Italy, in Umbria. Here are the ruins of a theatre, and other re mains of antiquity. It is seated on a hill, three miles N.W. of Foligni, and 13 N. of Spoletto. Lon. 12. 24 E. Lat. 42. 50 N. To SPELT. v. n. To split; to break. SPELTER. See ZINCUM. SPENCE (Joseph), an elegant writer, was a fellow of New college, Oxford, where he took the degree of M.A. in 1727; and in that year became first known to the learned world by An Essay on Pope's Odyssey, in which. some particular beauties and blemishes of that work are considered, in two parts, 12mo. With this criticism Pope was so little offended that he sought the acquaintance of the writer, who lived with him from that time in great fa miliarity, attended him in his last hours, and compiled memorials of his conversation. The regard of Pope recommended him to the great and powerful, and he obtained very valuable preferments in the church. In June 1742 he succeeded Dr. Holmes as his majesty's professor of modern history, at Oxford; and in 1754 was installed prebend of Durham. In 1747 he published his Polymetes, or an Enquiry concerning the Agreement between the Works of the Roman Poets, and the Remains of the Ancient Artists, being an attempt to illustrate them mutually from each other. He was author of several other ingenious works. Mr. Spence was unfortunately drowned in a canal in his garden, at Byfleet, in Surry, in 1768. SPENCER (Dr. John), a very learned divine, was born in Kent, in 1630, and educated at Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, where he proceeded through all his degrees, and of which college he was chosen master.. In 1667 he was preferred to the deanry of Ely. He died in May, 1695. His greatest works are, 1. De Legibus Hebræorum Ritualibus & earum Rationibus, 1685. 2. A Discourse concerning Prodigies, with another concerning Vulgar Prophecies, 8vo. 1665. SPENCER (William), fellow of Trinity college, in Cambridge, a learned man, who published at the university press, in 1658, the eight books against Celsus and Philocalia of Origen, with a corrected Latin version, and notes of his own, in 4to. To SPEND. v. a. (rpendan, Saxon.) 1. To consume; to exhaust; to waste (Milt.). 2. To bestow, as expence; to expend, as cost (Isaiah). 3. To bestow for any purpose (Boyle). 4. To effuse (Shakspeare). 5. To squander; to lavish (Wake). 6. To pass; to suffer to pass away (Job). 7. To waste; to wear out (Burnet). 8. To fatigue; to harass (Addison). To SPEND. v. n. 1. To make expence (South). 2. To prove in the use: as, pork fed with pease spends well (Temple). 3. To be lost or wasted: as, life spends in trifles (Bacon). 4. To be employed to any use (Bacon). SPENDER. s. (from spend.) 1. One who spends (Taylor). 2. A prodigal; a lavisher (Bacon). SPENDTHRIFT. s. (spend and thrift.) A prodigal; a lavisher (Swift). grant from queen Elizabeth of three thousand acres of land in the county of Cork. In this retirement he finished his Fairy Queen, and here he was a more successful lover than when he courted his Rosalind, for the collection of his sonnets are a kind of short history of the progress of a new amour, which we find ended in marriage, and gave occasion to an excellent Epithalamium, which no one could write so well as himself. Here he was visited by sir Walter Ralegh in his return from the Portugal expedition in 1589, who persuaded him to return to England, and introduced him to the queen; but in the Irish rebellion under the earl of Desmond, our author was plundered and deprived of his estate, and seems to have spent the latter part of his life with much grief of heart, under the disappointment of a broken fortune. He died in 1598, and was interred in Westminster Abbey. Besides his works already mentioned, he wrote a poem called Mother Hubberd's Tale, Hymns, Daphnaida, and Elegies on sir Philip Sidney. He wrote likewise nine comedies, in imitation of the admired Ariosto, which are inscribed with the names of the nine Muses, but are unhappily lost. SPENSER (Edmund), an English poet of the 16th century, was born at London, and educated in Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, where he took the degree of master of arts in 1576; but at length standing for a fellowship without success, this disappointment, together with the narrowness of his circumstances, forced him from the university; and we find him next taking up his residence with some friends in the north, where he fell in love with his Rosalind, whom he so finely celebrates in his Pastorals, and of whose cruelty he has written such pathetic complaints. The Shepherd's Calendar, which is so full of his unprosperous passion for Rosalind, was the first of his works of any note, and this he addressed by a short dedication in verse to sir Philip Sidney, concealing himself under the humble title of Immerito. After he had staid some time in the north, he was prevailed upon by some friends to quit his obscurity, and come to London, that he might be in the way of promotion. The first step he made towards preferment was his acquaintance with sir Philip Sidney, who was then in the highest reputation for his wit and polite accomplishments. Though nothing could have been more happy for Mr. Spenser than his being introduced to court by sir Philip, yet he did not immediately receive any great benefit from it. He was indeed created poet laureat to queen Elizabeth, but for some time only wore a barren laurel, and possessed the place without the pension. The lord treasurer Burleigh had no taste for Spenser's merit, and is said to have intercepted the queen's favour to him. Fuller, in his Worthies, observes, that her majesty, upon Spenser's presenting some poems to her, ordered him a gratuity of an hundred pounds; but the lord treasurer objecting to it, said with some scorn of the poet, "What! all this for a song?" To which the queen replied, "Then give him what is reason." Spenser waited for some time, but had the mortification to find himself disappointed of the queen's bounty. Upon this he took a proper opportunity to present a paper to her majesty, in the manner of a petition, in which he reminded her of the order she had given in the following, seed, a ow, to sow, and cete or cetus, lines: I was promis'd on a time, To have reason for my rhyme; This paper had, however, the desired effect, We find Spenser, some time after his appearance at court, in considerable esteem with the most eminent men of that time. In 1579, he was sent abroad by the earl of Leicester, but in what service he was employed is uncertain. He was afterwards recommended as secretary to the lord Grey of Wilton, on that no bleman's being appointed lord deputy of Ireland; and he was at length rewarded by a Spenser's whole works, with his life by Hughes, were published in 6 vols. 12mo. in 1715 and 1750. SPERGULA. Corn-spurrey. In botany, a genus of the class decandria, order pentagynia. Calyx five-leaved; petals five, undivided; capsule superior, ovate, one-celled, five-valved. Seven species; four common to the corn-fields, moist sands, and wet mountains of our own country. The chief is S. arvensis, common corn-spurrey, with leaves in whorls; fruit reflected; seeds kidney-form; flowers small, white, terminal. In Holland it is cultivated, on unthrifty soils, where it will grow, as food for cattle. Poultry are fond of the seeds; which in Finland and Norway are had recourse to for bread, when the common grain fails. SPERM. s. (sperme, French; sperma, Latin.) Seed; that by which the species is continued (Bacon). SPERMACETI. (spermatis-ceti, from the whale.) An oily, concrete, crystalline, semi-transparent matter, obtained from the cavity of the cranium of several species of whales. It was formerly very highly esteemed, and many virtues were attributed to it; but it is now chiefly employed in affections of the lungs, primæ viæ, kidneys, &c. as a softening remedy, mixed with mucilages. It is also employed by surgeons as an emollient in form of cerates, ointments, &c. The species of whale in which this material is found in the largest abundance is the physeter macrosephalus, or cachalot (see PHYSETER), and hence called spermaceti whale. But though spermaceti is found among these animals in the cavity of the scull, it appears to be entirely different from the proper brain. When first extracted it is mixed with a considerable quantity of oil, which is separated by putting |