ciples of the Reformation, and was accused of heresy, before John De La Casa, archbishop of Benevento, the pope's nuncio at Venice. He made some concessions, and asked pardon for his errors; but the nuncio insisted on a public recantation. Spira was exceedingly averse to this measure, but, at the pressing entreaties of his wife and his friends, he at last complied. But he would have suffered much less torture at the stake, had he had the courage to have avowed his faith and dieď a martyr, than he did afterwards by the remorse he felt, and the dreadful state of melancholy he fell into. By the advice of physicians and divines, he was removed to Padua; but no change of place, medicine, regimen, or consolatory advice, could afford any relief to his wounded conscience. He thought himself certain of eternal damnation, and refused all the consolation that could be suggested. He sometimes even imagined that he already felt the torments of the damned. His melancholy case, in which he long lingered, and to which at last he fell a victim in 1548, made a great noise throughout Europe. The celebrated Henry Scrimzeor is said to have written an account of it with his life. We have seen a small work giving an account of his case in English, probably an extract or translation from Scrimzeor; but, of all the books that ever were printed, it would be the most dangerous to be put into the hands of a person inclined to melancholy. SPIRACLE, n. s. Į Lat. spiraculum. A SPIRACULA. breathing hole; vent; small aperture. Most of these spiracles perpetually send forth fire, Woodward. more or less. As these volcanos are supposed to be spiracula or breathing holes to the great subterraneous fires, it is probable that the escape of elastic vapours from them is the cause, that the earthquakes of modern days are of such small extent compared to those of ancient times, of which vestiges remain in every part of the world, and on this account may be said not only to be innocuous, but useful. Darwin. SPIREA, the spiræa frutex, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the class of icosandria, and to the order of pentagynia; natural order twenty-sixth, pomaceæ: CAL. quinquefid; there are five petals; CAPS. polyspermous. There are eighteen species; of which two only are British, the filipendula and ulmaria. 1. S. filipendula, dropwort, has pinnated leaves: the leaflets are serrated; the stalk is herbaceous, about a foot and a half high, terminated with a loose umbel of white flowers, often tinged with red. The petals are generally six, and the segments of the calyx are reflexed; the stamina are thirty or more; the germina twelve or upwards. It grows in mountainous pastures. 2. S. ulmaria, meadow-sweet. The leaves have only two or three pair of pinna, with a few smaller ones intermixed; the extreme one being larger than the rest, and divided into three lobes. The calyx is reddish; the petals white, and the number of capsules from six to ten twisted in a spiral. The tuberous pea, like roots of the filipendula dried and reduced to a powder, have been used instead of bread in times of scarcity. Hogs are very fond of these roots. Cows, goats, sheep, and swine, eat the plant; but horses refuse it. The flowers of the ulmaria have a fragrant scent, which rises in distillation. The whole plant indeed is extremely fragrant, so that the common people of Sweden strew their floors with it on holidays. It has also an astringent quality, and has been found useful in dysenteries, ruptures, and in tanning of leather. SPIRAGO, a town of the new Italian kingdom, in the department of the Olona, district and late principality of Pavia, seated on the Olona, in a fertile country. SPIRAL, adj. > Fr. spirale; Lat. spira. SPIRALLY, adv. Curve; winding'; inSPIRE, n. s. & v. n. volved, like a screw: the S adverb corresponding: a spire is a curvature; any thing wreathed or hoisted to a point; any thing taper: to shoot up in the way. "Twere no less than a traducement to silence, that Which to the spire and top of praises vouched, Would seem but modest. Shakspeare. With glistering spires and pinnacles adorned. Id. than he hath made. He cannot make one spire of grass more or less Hale's Origin of Mankind. Sublime on radiant spires he rode. A dragon's fiery form belied the god, Dryden. The process of the fibres in the ventricles, running in spiral lines from the tip to the base of the heart, shews that the systole of the heart is a muscular constriction, as a purse is shut by drawing the strings Ray. contrary ways. The sides are composed of two orders of fibres, running circularly or spirally from base to tip. Id. on the Creation. It is not so apt to spire up as the other sorts, being more inclined to branch into arms. Mortimer. These pointed spires that wound the ambient sky, In glorious change! shall in destruction lie. Prior. Why earth or sun diurnal stages keep, In spiral tracts why through the zodiack creep. Blackmore. The intestinal tube affects a straight, instead of a Arbuthnot on Aliments. spiral, cylinder. Air seems to consist of spires contorted into small spheres, through the interstices of which the particles of light may freely pass; it is light, the solid substance of the spires being very small in proportion to the spaces they take up. Cheyne. As woodbine weds the plant within her reach, Rough elm, or smooth-grained ash, or glossy beech, In spiral rings ascends the trunk, and lays Her golden tassels on the leafy sprays, But does a mischief while she lends a grace, Straitening its growth by such a strict embrace. Cowper. Where sprang the thorn, the spiry fir shall spring, Id. SPIRAL LINE, in geometry, a curve line of the circular kind, which in its progress recedes from its centre. SPIRE, in architecture, was used by the ancients for the base of a column, and sometimes for the astragal or tore; but among the moderns it denotes a steeple that continually diminishes as it ascends, whether conically or pyramidically, SPIRE, or SPEYER, an ancient town in the west of Germany, situated at the confluence of the Spirebach and the Rhine, fourteen miles south of Manheim, and sixteen north-east of Landau. It long gave name to a bishopric; and the only interesting building is the old cathedral, now falling into decay. Spire was frequently the seat of the German diet; and it was in one of these assemblies, in 1529, that a protest, entered by the reformers against certain proceedings of the emperor, procured them the name of Protestants. From 1795 to 1814 it belonged to the French; at present it is the capital of the Bavarian province of the Rhine, and has a lyceum established by government. Population about 4000. The bishopric of Spire was not of great extent. It contained 55,000 inhabitants, and yielded a revenue of £30,000 sterling. It was secularised in 1802, and at present belongs partly to Bavaria, partly to Baden. The episcopal residence was Bruchsal. SPIRIT, n. s. & v. a.) SPIRITALLY, adv. SPIRITED, adj. SPIRITEDNESS, n. s. SPIRITFULNESS, SPIRITLESS, adj. SPIR'ITOUS, SPIR'ITOUSNESS, n. s. SPIRITUAL, adj. SPIRITUALITY, N. S. SPIRITUALIZE, v. a. SPIRITUALLY, adv. SPIRITUALTY, n. s. ritally is by means of SPIRITUOUS, adj. the breath: spirited, SPIRITUOSITY, N. S. lively; vivacious: the SPIRITUOUS NESS. noun substantive corresponding spiritfulness is sprightliness; liveliness spiritless, vapid; dejected; low; depressed spiritous, defecated; refined; advanced near to spirit: spiritousness corresponds: spiritual, immaterial, mental, or intellectual; not gross; not temporal: the adverb (spiritually) and noun substantive corresponding: the spiritualty is used for the clerical body: to spiritualize is to refine; purify from the pollutions of the world: spirituous is having the quality of spirit; lively; gay: both the noun substantives following corresponding. : Fr. esprit. Lat. spiritus; Breath; air; wind; an immaterial substance or being; intellectual being; the soul; temper or disposition; genius; ardor; courage; an apparition or spectre : tc spirit is to animate or actuate as a spirit; encourage; entice: spi The spirit shall return unto God that gave it. Bible. They were terrified, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. Luke xxiv. 37. More ample spirit than hitherto was wont Here needs me, whiles the famous ancestors Of my most dreaded sovereign I recount, By which all earthly princes she doth far surmount. Faerie Queene. Place man in some publick society, civil or spiritual. Hooker. Look, who comes here? a grave unto a soul, Holding the' eternal spirit against her will In the vile prison of afflicted death. Shakspeare. King John. Farewel the big war, The spirit stirring drum, the ear piercing fife. You were used Shakspeare. To say extremity was the trier of spirits, All bodies have spirits and pneumatical parts within them; but the main difference between animate and inanimate are, that the spirits of things animate are all continued within themselves, and branched in veins as blood is; and the spirits have also certain seats where the principal do reside and whereunto the rest do resort: but the spirits in things inanimate are shut in and cut off by the tangible parts, as air in snow. Id. Natural History. Perhaps you might see the image, and not the glass; the former appearing like a spirit in the air. Bacon. Both visibles and audibles in their working emit no corporeal substance into their mediums, but only carry certain spiritual species. She is a spirit; yet not like air or wind, For she all natures under heaven doth pass, Id. Being like those spirits which God's bright face do see; Or like himself, whose image once she was, Though now, alas! she scarce his shadow be. For of all forms she holds the first degree, That are to gross material bodies knit; Yet she herself is bodyless and free, And though confined is almost infinite. Davies. This would take it much out of the care of the soul, to spiritualize and replenish it with good works. Hammond. I ask but half thy mighty spirit for me. Cowley. Oft pitying God did well-formed spirits raise, Fit for the toi'some bus'ness of their days, To free the groaning nation, and to give Peace first, and then the rules in peace to live. Id. By means of the curious inosculation of the auditory nerves, the orgasins of the spirits should be allayed. Derham. In the same degree that virgins live more spiritually than other persons, in the same degree is their virginity a more excellent state. Taylor's Rule of Holy Living. These discourses made so deep impression upon the mind and spirit of the prince, whose nature was inclined to adventures, that he was transported with the thought of it. Clarendon. He sits Upon their tongues a various spirit, to rase In spirit perhaps he also saw Rich Mexico, the seat of Montezume. So talked the spirited sly snake. Milton. Id. Id. Paradise Lost. Many secret indispositions and aversions to duty will steal upon the soul, and it will require both time and close application of mind to recover it to such a frame as shall dispose it for the spiritualities of religion. Id. Art thou so base, so spiritless a slave? Not so he bore the fate to which you doomed him. Smith. Of common right, the dean and chapter are guardians of the spiritualities, during the vacancy of a bishoprick. Ayliffe. He showed the narrow spiritedness, pride, and ignorance of pedants. Addison. Nor once disturb their heavenly spirits With Scapin's cheats, or Cæsar's merits. Prior. If man will act rationally, he cannot admit any competition between a momentary satisfaction, and and our spiritualized capacities receive. an everlasting happiness, as great as God can give, Rogers. All men by experience find the necessity and aid of the spirits in the business of concoction. Temple. In distillations, what trickles down the sides of the receiver, if it will not mix with water, is oil; if it will, it is spirit. Arbuthnot on Aliments. The ministry had him spirited away, and carried abroad, as a dangerous person. Arbuthnot and Pope. The most spirituous and most fragrant part of the plant exhales by the action of the sun. Arbuthnot. All creatures, as well spiritual as corporeal, declare their absolute dependence upon the first Author of all beings, the only self-existent God. Bentley. I shall depend upon your constant friendship; like the trust we have in benevolent spirits, who, though we never see or hear them, we think are constantly praying for us. Pope. In some fair body thus the secret soul With spirits feeds, with vigour fills the whole : Each motion guides, and every nerve sustains, Itself unseen, but in the' effects remains. Dryden's translation of Virgil is noble and spi rited. Id. Id. The king's party, called the cavaliers, began to recover their spirits. Swift. C Many officers and private men spirit up and assist those obstinate people to continue in their rebellion. Id. The elergy's business lies among the laity; nor is there a more effectual way to forward the salvation of men's souls, than for spiritual persons to make themselves as agreeable as they can in the conversations of the world. Id. If we seclude space, there will remain in the world but matter and mind, or body and spirit. Watts's Logick. You are all of you pure spirits. I don't mean that you have not bodies that want meat and drink, and sleep and clothing; but that all that deserves to be called you is nothing else but spirit. Law. Every thing that you call yours, besides this spirit, is but like your cloathing: sometimes that is only to be used for a while, and then to end, and die, and wear away. ld. SPIRIT, in metaphysics, an incorporeal being or intelligence; in which sense God is said to be a spirit, as are angels and the human soul. See ANGEL, METAPHYSICS, and THEOLOGY. SPIRIT, in chemistry and pharmacy, a name applied to every volatile liquid which is not insipid like phlegm or water; and hence the distinction into acid, alkaline, and vinous spirits. See PHARMACY, Index. SPIRIT, PYRO-ACETIC. Some dry acetates exposed to heat in a retort yield a quantity of a light volatile spirit, to which the above name is given. When the acetate is easily decomposed by the fire it affords much acid and little spirit; and, on the contrary, it yields much spirit and decomposition. The acetates of nickel, copper, little acid when a strong heat is required for its &c., are in the first condition; those of barytes, potash, soda, strontian, lime, manganese, and zinc, are in the second. The following table of M. Chenevix exhibits the products of the distillation of various acetates :TABLE of Pyro-acetic Spirit. He is the devout man, who lives no longer on his own will, or the way and spirit of the world, but to the sole will of God. Id. He is always forced to drink a hearty glass, to drive thoughts of business out of his head, and make his spirits drowsy enough for sleep. Id. She loves them as her spiritual children, and they Acetate of Acetate of Acetate of Acetate of Peracetate Acetate of Acetate of Manganese. 0.555 State of the base metallic. metallic. metallic. metallic. bl. oxide. wh. oxide. br. oxide. We see that, of all the acetates, that of silver gives the most concentrated and purest acetic acid, since it contains no pyro-acetic spirit. This spirit is limpid and colorless. Its taste is at first acrid and burning, then cooling, and in some measure urinous. Its odor approaches that of peppermint mingled with bitter almonds. Its specific gravity is 0-7864. It burns with a flame interiorly blue, but white on the outside. It boils at 138-2 Fahrenheit, and does not congeal at 5° Fahrenheit. With water it combines in every proportion, as well as with alcohol, and most of the essential oils. It dissolves but a little of sulphur and phosphorus, but camphor in very large quantity. Caustic potash has very little action on the pyro-acetic spirit. Sulphuric and nitrous acids decompose it; but muriatic acid forms with this body a compound, which is not acid, and in which we can demonstrate the presence of the muriatic acid only by igneous decomposition. Hence we perceive that pyro-acetic spirit is a peculiar substance, which resembles the ethers, alcohol, and volatile oils. To obtain it cheaply we may employ the acetate of lead of commerce. After having distilled this salt in an earthen retort, and collected the liquid products in a globe, communicating by a tube with a flask surrounded with ice, we saturate these products with a solution of potash or soda, and then separate the spirit by means of a second distillation, taking care to use a regulated heat. As it usually carries over with it a little water, it is proper to rectify it from dry múriate of lime.-Ann. de Chimie, tom. 69. SPIRITUOUS LIQUORS. Moralists, philosophers, and divines, in all ages, and in almost all countries (for all countries abound in some kind of spirituous liquors), have exclaimed against the abuse of spirituous liquors, and with justice; for no human invention has ever tended more to corrupt the morals, and ruin the character, constitution, and circumstances, of numberless individuals, than habitual and excessive indulgence in spirituous liquors. But, while these abuses of them are to be regretted, their proper use and importance should not be overlooked. The learned Dr. Rush of Philadelphia has written much upon this subject; and, in his zeal for the health and morals of the people, proposes a total abolition of the manufacture. In this we differ from that learned physician. Spirituous liquors are not only useful in social life, as a means of conviviality, but in many cases highly beneficial as a medicine. In cases of sudden faintings, apoplectic fits, extreme debility, and, above all, in cases of excessive perspiration, there is no remedy or antidote so speedy and certain in affording effectual relief, except to such as have ruined their constitutions by excessive indulgence in them, as a glass of good spirits. These have another advantage, that, in cases of sudden emergency, they are always at hand; whereas few persons in health keep an assortment of medicines in their possession; and the surgeon, physician, and laboratory, are often at a great distance. Spirituous liquors have in all nations been considered as a proper subject of heavy taxation for the support of the state. This has naturally occasioned a nice examination of their strength. It having been at last found that this was intimately connected with the specific gravity, this has been examined with the most scrupulous attention to every circumstance which could affect it, so that the duties might be exactly proportioned to the quantity of spirit in any strong liquor, independent of every other circumstance of flavor or taste, or other valued quality. The chemist at last found that the basis of all strong liquors is the same, produced by the vinous fermentation of pure saccharine matter dissolved in water. He also found that whether this vegetable salt be taken as it is spontaneously formed in the juices of plants and fruits, or as it may be formed or extricated from farinaceous fruits and roots by a certain part of the process of vegetation, it produces the same ardent spirit, which has always the same density in every mixture with water. The minute portions of aromatic oils, which are in some degree inseparable from it, and give it a different flavor, according to the substance from which it was obtained, are not found to have any sensible effect on its density or specific gravity. This seems very completely established in consequence of the unwearied attempts of the manufacturers to lessen the duties payable on their goods by mixtures of other substances, which would increase their density without making them less palatable. The vigilance of the revenue officers was no less employed to detect every such contrivance. In short, it is now an acknowledged point that the specific gravity is an accurate test of the strength. But it was soon found, by those who were appointed guardians of the revenue, that a mixture which appeared to contain thirty-five gallons of alcohol did really contain thirty-five and a half. This they found by actually making such a mixture: eighteen gallons of alcohol mixed with eighteen of water produced only thirty-five gallons of spirits. The revenue officers, finding that this condensation was most remarkable in mixtures of equal parts of water and the strongest spirits which could then be procured, determined to levy the duties by this mixture; because, whether the spirituous liquor was stronger or weaker than this, it would appear, by its specific gravity, rather stronger than it really was. This sagacious observation, and the simplicity of the composition, which could at all times be made for comparison, seem to be the reasons for our excise officers selecting this mode of estimating the strength and levying the duties. A mixture of nearly equal measures of water and alcohol is called proof spirit, and pays a certain duty per gallon; and the strength of a spirituous liquor is estimated by the gallons, not of alcohol, but of proof spirit which the cask contains. But, because it might be difficult to procure at all times this proof spirit for comparison, such a mixture was made by order of the board of excise; and it was found that, when six gallons of it was mixed with one gallon of water, a wine gallon of the mixture weighed seven pounds thirteen ounces avoirdupois. The board therefore declared that the spirituous liquor of which the gallon weighed seven pounds thirteen ounces should be reckoned one to six, or one in seven, under proof. This is but an awkward and complex formula: it was in order to suit matters to a mode of examination which had by time obtained the sanction of the board. Mr. Clarke, an ingenious artist of that time, had made a hydrometer incomparably more exact than any other, and constructed on mathematical principles, fit for computation. This had a set of weights corresponding to the additions of water or proof spirit, and the mixture one to six or one in seven was the only one which weighed an exact number of ounces per gallon without a fraction SPIRT, v. n., v. a. &n.s. Belg. spruyten, to SPIRTLE, v. a. shoot up (Skinner); Swed. spritta, to fly out (Lye); Goth. sprita. See SPRIT. To spring out in a sudden stream: stream out by intervals; throw out in a jet: sudden ejection or effort: to spirtle is a corruption of spirt. Bottling of beer, while new and full of spirit, so that it spirteth when the stopple is taken forth, maketh the drink more quick and windy. Bacon's Natural History. The brains and mingled blood were spirtled on the Drayton. wall. When weary Proteus When rains the passage hide, Gay. The terraqueous globe would, by the centrifugal force of that motion, be soon dissipated and spirtled into the circumambient space, was it not kept together by this noble contrivance of the Creator. Derham's Physico-Theology. Thus the small jett, which hasty hands unlock, Spirts in the ga.dener's eyes who turns the cock. Pope. Pyramidal ; |