spleen, together with heat, fulness, and tenderness in the extending from the diaphragm to the pelvis. When the splenic region, with pain upon pressure, is accompanied enlargement is so considerable that the lower end of the with the usual pyrectic signs, and often with a pain extend- spleen can be felt under the margin of the ribs upon the ing over the whole of the abdomen, but particularly in the left side, there can be no doubt with respect to the disease. left side,and shooting from the diaphragm to the left shoulder. When the hypertrophy does not reach this extent, its most There is also not unfrequently a dry short cough, and sense of characteristic symptoms are a sense of weight in the left constriction in the præcordia, sickness, or nausea, and a dis-side, with or without evident swelling; inability to lie with charge from the rectum of black or livid blood, from a rupture ease on the right side; debility, without corresponding of some of the splenic vessels. Of this disease a remarkable emaciation; disordered stomach, irritable bowels, dry cough, instance, which terminated in nine days, has been recorded and absence of fever. The spleen, when enlarged, is always by Dr. Ley, in the Transactions of the College of Physi- felt to be harder than in a natural state, but pressure upon cians of London' (vol. v., p. 304). The texture of the spleen it with the hand seldom produces pain. An hypertrophy of after death was in this case so altered as to resemble an ex- the spleen is sometimes followed by ascites; but there will tremely soft piece of sponge, of which the cells had been frequently be no dropsy of the abdomen, even where this filled with an intimate mixture of pus and grumous blood. organ has been for a long time much enlarged. When this On placing it in water, innumerable vessels, as fine as the form of disease has been connected with ague, it more frefibres of swans' down, floated separately, rising from every quently subsides than in any other case; and the quina, point of the superficies of the organ. The contents of this which has been prescribed to cure the latter affection, will spongy mass having been removed by repeated washings, probably be serviceable also to the former. When the ensomething like an attempt at the formation of cavities to largement has taken place independently of this cause,' contain the matter manifested itself. No regular cyst how says Dr. Baillie, ‘it hardly ever subsides of itself, or is maever had been formed. All the other viscera, abdominal and terially diminished by medicine. According to my expethoracic, were healthy, except the uterus, whose inner sur-rience, mercury, administered both externally and interface was gangrenous. The common causes of inflammation nally, produces very seldom any good effect; I have seen, of the spleen are much the same as those of inflammation I think, more advantage from a seton inserted under the of the liver, viz. suddenly suppressed perspiration, espe- skin which covers the spleen. In some cases it has apcially from currents of cold and damp air, and excess of peared to be diminished in size by this remedy, and to be spirituous potation; sometimes however the cause is too ob- rendered softer; but I do not recollect a single instance, scure for detection. With respect to the treatment, the usual except after ague, in which it has been reduced to nearly its antiphlogistic remedies may be employed, but promptly and natural size. Temperate living, abstaining from violent exenergetically. Dr. Baillie says, he is not aware that inflam- ercise, and keeping the bowels open, must be to a certain mation of the spleen would require a different treatment degree useful in retarding the progress of the disease.' The from that of other viscera. remedy largely employed in India for the cure of chronic If after a certain period the inflammation do not yield, it tumour of the spleen is a compound of garlic, aloes, and assumes the chronic form, in which the variation in the sulphate of iron. When emaciation and diarrhea are preseverity and duration of the complaint is very great. If sent, the garlic and aloes are macerated in brandy; under it has accompanied ague, the symptoms may possibly not other circumstances, in vinegar. The proportion of aloes is have been urgent in the outset, but it is almost always a so regulated as to produce three evacuations daily; and the painful as well as formidable disease. It commonly lasts medicine also produces copious secretions from the kidneys. for some months, and may continue for years with remis- The Decoctum Aloes Compositum with the Tinctura or sions. With respect to the terminations of chronic Splenitis, Acetum Scilla would probably prove equally effectual. resolution does not take place often; suppuration is also The moxa, and even the actual cautery, have been recomrare upon the whole, and Dr. Baillie says he had never mended for this disease; and emetic cataplasms of tobaccomet with an abscess in the spleen in all the dead bodies leaves, renewed constantly so as to keep up frequent vomitwhich he had examined.' When pus is formed, it is of the ing, have in some instances produced the happiest effects. ordinary creamy kind, but is sometimes concrete; it varies Atrophy of the spleen is by no means so common as hyin amount from a few ounces to many pounds. The matter pertrophy; and though some instances are related by momay find its way into the stomach, colon, or peritonealdern writers, yet their statements are so meagre and unsatiscavity; it may burst into the left side of the chest, or into factory, that no use can be made of them. It is sometimes the lungs, inducing symptoms of phthisis; or it may empty found exceedingly small and even shrivelled when some itself outwards through the abdominal walls. Ossification other organ is much enlarged, where there have been great of the spleen after inflammation is rare, as is also gangrene; discharges of blood, in ascites, and in extensive chronic softening, induration, and hypertrophy, especially the last, disease. This form of disease of the spleen obviously adare much more common. With respect to the treatment of mits of no remedy. chronic splenitis, perhaps the best plan that can be adopted is the combination of aperients with iron and sedatives; the good effects of mercury in this disease being now generally considered precarious, trivial, and at best temporary. Local applications, such as cupping, issues, setons, &c., are sometimes productive of great benefit. Besides the inflammatory softening of the spleen, there is another of a character quite peculiar, and unattended by any of the characteristics of inflammation, wherein the structure of the spleen is more or less destroyed, and it is often reduced to a simple bag, containing a substance which varies from the state of clotted or grumous blood to that of tar. This was very frequent in the Walcheren fever, in which cases the spleen was usually found after death of great size, and generally a mere bag filled with a liquid like tar, and weighing from three to five pounds. One of the most common diseases of the spleen is by pertrophy, the most usual causes of which are ague and remittent fever. It is therefore chiefly to be found where these are endemial, but it is not very uncommon in any part of Great Britain. The size which this organ sometimes attains is enormous, and it is surprising to find how long persons can carry about with them very enlarged spleens, and at last die of some other disease. Dr. Bigsby quotes from Lieutaud the case of a woman who had for seventeen years a spleen weighing thirty-two pounds; similar facts are to be found in Haller. Dr. Baillie mentions (Posthumous Lectures) having met with cases where it was so large as to occupy nearly all the left side of the abdomen, Hydatids in the spleen are found now and then, but not very often; Dr. Baillie had never met with a single case of them. It is hardly possible to discover their existence during the life of the patient, nor, even if it were more easy, could the complaint receive any cure, or even amendment, from medicine. The disease arises quite unconsciously to the patient; the first intimation of its existence being debility, dyspepsia, and the uneasiness created by a slowly increasing tumour, which in its progress causes further derangement by compression and displacement of other organs, and becomes itself perceptible externally. It is only when the containing membrane, or some organ, becomes inflamed, that fever, pain, and their fatal consequences ensue. Hydatids may prove fatal by passing into the peritoneal cavity from ulceration of the containing sac, or by disturbing the circulation, or by irritating other viscera; or the patient may live very long with this complaint, and die eventually of another disease during the indolent continuance of this. Melanosis and calculi of the spleen are noticed shortly by Dr. Bigsby, but the instances are too rare to require any particular remarks here. Rupture of the spleen from some external violence occurs not unfrequently; but in the majority of cases the injury is so overwhelming that little is left for the medical practitioner to do. Free venesection and perfect rest have occasionally saved life; but in many instances the patient dies in a few hours. In these latter cases the symptoms are great shiverings, coldness of body, vomiting, and other taken. signs of extreme collapse: when there is time and strength for reaction, there is considerable fever, with a remarkable heat of skin, and great pain in the left side or all over the abdomen; the stools and urine are not materially affected. (Good's Study of Med.; Gregory's Theory and Pract. of Med.; Bigsby, in Cyclop. of Pract. Med., from which works, with Dr. Baillie's (posthumous) Lectures and Observ. on Med., great part of the pathological part of this article is SPLINT is a piece of wood or other rigid substance which is used in surgery to maintain any part of the body in a fixed position, and especially for the purpose of holding steadily together the portions of a fractured bone. Splints vary almost infinitely in form and size, according to the part to which they have to be adapted, and the position in which it is to be held; the number and the arrangement of them in each case are equally subject to variation; nor can a surgeon have a better rule than that of following no general plan, but of determining in each case the apparatus best fitted for its peculiar exigencies. As much as can be said in general on the forms and modes of adaptation of splints is contained in the article FRACTURE. The material of which they are commonly made is light wood; each splint consisting either of one piece cut nearly to the form and size of the limb, or of several pasted together with a strap of linen so as to be flexible in one direction. In some cases tin is a preferable material; in some stiff pasteboard. In many cases also it is very advantageous to adapt the splints exactly to all the irregularities of the limb; and as this cannot be done with wood or any unyielding material, it is usual to employ one which, being applied moist and soft, gradually hardens. Stiff pasteboard will sometimes be sufficient, especially for children; but a better material for general use is sole-leather, applied while quite pliant after having been well soaked in hot water, and then bandaged closely to the limb and allowed to dry. Another plan of this kind now much employed is to form a splint of linen and some glutinous material, such as starch, or a mixture of white of egg and flour, or of mucilage of gum-arabic and whiting, made as thick as bird-lime. In using these, the limb or other part should be thinly padded with soft lint; then strips of coarse linen soaked in the tenacious material should be laid on one over the other, till on each side of the limb they form a layer about as thick as a common wooden splint. The whole should then be surrounded with a neatlyapplied bandage soaked in starch. When dry, splints of this kind will so exactly fit the part to which they are applied, and be so rigid, that a patient may with safety execute the slighter natural movements of a limb within a fortnight after it has been fractured. All the further care of a simple case of fracture will generally consist in the occasional replacement of the starched bandage, and the adaptation of the splints, by cutting their edges, to the change of form which the limb may undergo as the swelling diminishes. Splints of this kind however must not be applied till all the inflammation immediately consequent on the fracture has ceased. SPLUGEN, MOUNT. [ALPS.] SPODU'MENE, Triphane. Occurs in embedded crystalline masses. Primary form a rhombic prism. Cleavage parallel to the primary faces, and to the diagonal planes; that parallel to the smaller diagonal is most brilliant, and that parallel to the greater most difficult. Fracture uneven, granular. Hardness, scratches glass and gives fire with steel. Colour whitish and greenish grey. Streak white. Lustre pearly on the cleavage planes. Specific gravity 3.17 to 3188. Before the blow-pipe it swells and fuses into a glass almost colourless and transparent; with borax it swells, but does not easily dissolve. It is found at Uto in Sweden, in the Tyrol, Ireland, and North America. Analyses of this mineral by Arfwedson from Sweden, by Stromeyer, and Le Hunt from Ireland, give the annexed results : Silica Alumina Arfwedsou. 8tromeyer. 63.288 Le Hunt. 63.812 28.508 5.604 66.40 25.30 28.776 0.794 SPOFFORTH, REGINALD, a composer in whom were united much originality, a very elegant taste, and a thorough knowledge of his art, was born in 1768, at Southwell in Nottinghamshire, and there received his early musical instructions from his uncle, organist of the Collegiate Church of that place. Repairing to London, he took lessons on the piano-forte from the celebrated Steibelt, and completed his studies in harmony under Dr. Benjamin Cooke. It was his fate, as unhappily it is the fate of the English musician generally, to depend during the greater part of his life almost wholly on his practice as a teacher, and he was in considerable repute as a piano-forte master. As a composer, he is now, and will be hereafter, known only as a glee-writer. Two of his earliest glees gained, in the year 1793, the prize gold medals given by the Catch-Club. This merited success established his reputation, and encouraged him to produce other works of the same kind, the best of which were published by himself, and most of these have taken their station among the classical musical productions of this country. On the death of his uncle, Mr. Spofforth came into the possession of considerable property, but did not long enjoy his independence, for his devotion to his profession and his unrelaxing industry brought on a nervous disease, which terminated in paralysis, and in 1826 deprived music of one of its most ingenious votaries, and society of one of its most amiable members. SPOHN, FRIEDRICH AUGUST WILHELM, a German philologist, was born May 16, 1792, at Dortmund. He was educated at the university of Wittemberg, and afterwards went to Leipzig, where he was, in 1817, made professor extraordinary of philosophy, and in 1819 professor in ordinary of antient literature. He was a scholar of the greatest industry, and died at an early age, January 17, 1824, worn out by the severity of his studies. He illustrated antiquity by a variety of works in the several departments of criticism, philology, and geography. He published an edition of the Odyssey,' with valuable dissertations prefixed, entitled 'De Agro Trojano in Carminibus Homeri descripto,' Leipzig, 8vo., 1814; Commentarius de extrema Odysseæ parte inde à rhapsod. 297, ævo recentiore orta quam Homerico,' Leipzig, 1816. He revised the text of Hesiod with great care; the edition was commenced in 1819, but never completed. In 1817 he edited the 'Panegyricus' of Isocrates; and in the last year of his life published Lectiones Theocritea. He projected also Annals of the reign of Augustus, deduced from a chronological arrangement of the various passages Latin authors illustrative of this period. in As a geographer, he made great additions to the materials collected by Bredow. His researches into the mythology of the antients led him to study Egyptian hieroglyphics; some remarks of his on this subject appeared in a German publication called 'Amalthæa.' In 1822 he was employed in examining and arranging the Egyptian antiquities brought to Berlin by Minutoli. His untimely death arrested the publication of his work on hieroglyphics, which has since been edited by Seyffarth, of Berlin, under the title De Linguâ et Literis veterum Ægyptiorum, cum permultis tabulis lithographicis literas Ægyptiorum tum vulgari tum sacerdotali ratione scriptas explicantibus atque interpretationem Rosettanæ aliarumque inscriptionum et aliquot voluminum papyraceorum in sepulcris repertorum exbibentibus. Accedit Glossarium Ægyptiacum,' Leipzig, 1825, with a life and portrait of Spohn. This work has not contributed very much to solve the difficulties still attending the interpretation of hieroglyphics. There is a life of Spohn in the Zeit-genossen, Neue Reihe,' heft xv. SPOLETO E RIE'TI, DELEGAZIO'NE DI, an administrative division of the Papal state, formed by the union of the two former provinces of Rieti and Spoleto. The highlands of Rieti, which comprise a great part of the country of the antient Sabini, have been described under RIETI. The western part, or province of Spoleto Proper, consists of the valley of the Nera, one of the principal affluents of the Tiber, and of the valley of the Maroggia, another affluent of the Tiber, and of several ridges of highlands between these various rivers. This country was known in the dark ages after the fall of the Western Empire by the name of Umbria, being part of the region so called in antient times. (Paulus Diaconus, ii. 16.) The Longobards, about A.D. 570, established the duchy of Spoleto, which became one of the most powerful of their dukedoms, extending over the country of the Sabini, Picenum, and the country of the Vestini and Marrucini, or part of modern Abruzzo. The The dukedoms in Italy were not hereditary, but the appointment of a successor after the death of a duke depended upon the will of the kings of Italy; and accordingly we find that the duchy of Spoleto passed through several families. It was for a time united with the duchy of Tuscany, and Godfrey the Humpbacked, husband of the famous countess Mathilda, appears to have governed both Spoleto and Tuscany. The series of the dukes of Spoleto ends with the twelfth century, when Pope Innocent III. took possession of the duchy. Since that time it has been annexed to the Papal State. series of the Longobard dukes of Spoleto ends with the year | far from the left bank of the Tiber, and above the confluence 788, after which a Frank duke was appointed by Charle- of the Nera, is noted for its raisins and its prunes, which are magne. exported. Ameria is said to have been built by the Umbri several centuries before the foundation of Rome, and was afterwards in possession of the Etruscans. (Pliny, Hist. Nat.. iii. 19.) 4, Bevagna, the antient Mevania, likewise a town of the Umbri, near the confluence of the Maroggia with the Topino, has about 2000 inhabitants. 5, Norcia, the antient Nursia, at the northern extremity of the province, near the borders of Naples, and at the foot of the lofty Apennine group called Monte della Sibilla, the antient Mons Tetricus, is 1200 feet above the sea; it is a bishop's see, and has 3000 inhabitants. A great number of swine are reared in the neighbourhood. The Corno, an affluent of the Nera, flows through a deep glen near Norcia. 6, Cascia, on the Corno, south of Norcia, among the highlands of the Apennines, is situated near the site of the antient towns of Carseoli and Marruvium. Medals, idols, and other remains of antient times have been found in the neighbourhood. The whole of this highland region, though very interesting, is little known, being removed from the high roads, and scarcely ever visited by travellers. The mountains are covered with chesnut and oak trees. Cascia and its territory contain about 3000 inhabitants. (Calindri.) The united province of Spoleto and Rieti is bounded on the east by the kingdom of Naples, on the north by the Papal provinces of Ascoli and Camerino, on the west by those of Perugia and Viterbo, and on the south by the Comarca of Rome. The area is about 2000 square miles, and the population, by the census of 1833, was 166,142 inhabitants, distributed in nine walled towns, and 87 Terre, or open market-towns or villages. (Calindri; Neigebaur; Serristori.) With regard to the productions of the soil, the valleys of the Nera and of Spoleto are generally fertile, but the intervening highlands are rather poor. The fertility of the plain of Rieti has been already noticed. [RIETI.] The province of Spoleto Proper is divided into the three districts of Spoleto, Norcia, and Terni. Spoleto, the head town of the province, is situated on an elevation, below which runs the Maroggia: the Maroggia flowing northwards, joins the Topino below Foligno, after which both streams run into the Tiber. The Nera flows southwards, and the two rivers are separated by the mountain of Somma, an off set of the Apennines, which lies between Spoleto and Terni. The high road from Rome to Ancona and Perugia passes through Spoleto. An aqueduct, which served also as a bridge, crosses the Maroggia; it is a work of the Longobard times, but is now in a ruinous state. Spoletum, then a Latin colony of Rome, was attacked by Hannibal after the battle of Trasimenus, but the inhabitants repulsed his attack, and thus checked his advance towards Rome. (Livy, xxii. 9.) An inscription above the gate called the gate of Hannibal, though built in much later times, records the event. Spoletum is honourably mentioned among the faithful colonies which furnished men and money to carry on the war against Hannibal, when other colonies refused (xxvii. 10). Spoleto has a handsome cathedral, adorned with frescoes by Filippo Lippi, who was buried in it in 1469, after a life full of strange adventures. A monument was raised over his tomb by Lorenzo de' Medici, with an epitaph by Politianus. Several other churches, the town-house, and the palace of the family Ancajani, are also worthy of notice. The castle of Spoleto contains some remains of Cyclopean walls. There are also remains of a Roman theatre, of several temples, and other antiquities. Spoleto is a bishop's see, and has a college: it has also manufactories of hats and woollens, and about 7000 inhabitants. It carries on a considerable trade in corn, oil, wine, and truffles, which are found in the neighbourhood. The convent and hermitage of Monte Luco, in the neighbourhood of Spoleto, is a delightful spot, surrounded by a forest of old oaks; its attractions have been described in Latin verse, by Giustolo, a native poet, of the latter part of the fifteenth century. Near the post-house of Le Vene, half-way between Spoleto and Foligno, are the sources of the Clitumnus, a small but limpid stream, which seems to have been once much more considerable. (Pliny, Hist. Nat., viii. 8.) It is an affluent of the Maroggia, which it joins after a course of six miles. The fine large-horned cattle which fed on the banks of the Clitumnus were preferred by the antient Romans for sacrifice, and also for the ceremony of their triumphs. (Virgil, Georg., ii. 146.) There is a small temple of antient construction, but partly repaired and transformed into a Christian chapel, near its banks. The other towns of the province are-1, Terni, the antient Interamna, built near the confluence of the Velino with the Nera, a bishop's see, with an old cathedral, the remains of an amphitheatre and of an antient temple, and about 6000 inhabitants. The territory of Terni produces much oil and some wine. The country is full of picturesque localities. 2, Narni. [NARNI.] 3, Ameria, a small town of 2000 inhabitants, and a bishop's see, situated on a hill, not P. C., No. 1405. The SPON, JACOB, the son of Charles Spon, an eminent French physician, was born at Lyon, 1647, and educated at Strassburg. He took the degree of doctor of medicine at Montpellier, and returning to his native place in 1669, studied medicine and archæology. In 1673 he published Recherches des Antiquités et Curiosités de la Ville de Lyon,' 8vo., and the following year endeavoured to draw attention towards the remains of antiquity in Greece, by the publication of Relation de l'Etat Présent de la Ville d'Athenes, avec un Abrégé de son Histoire et de ses Antiquités,' Lyon, 1674, written by the Père Babin, a Jesuit, who had been resident there In 1675 he went to Italy, and spent some time at Rome studying antient art. At Venice he met with an English traveller, Sir George Wheler, and set out with him on a tour to the East. Their route lay through Dalmatia, the Archipelago, Constantinople, and Asia Minor: they then visited Athens and the Peloponnesus. From Negropont they set sail for Venice, whence Spon returned to Lyon in the middle of the year 1676. In 1678 he published his Travels, printed at Lyon, 3 vols. 8vo.; reprinted Amsterd., 1679, 2 vols. 12mo. third volume contains inscriptions, great numbers of which relate to the demi of Attica. In the same year he published 'Miscellanea eruditæ Antiquitatis, in quibus Marmora, &c., Grutero et Ursino ignota referuntur et illustrantur,' Lyon, fol., published in tom. 4 of the Thesaurus' of Polenus, and containing much interesting matter. About this time, having noticed the falsehood of Guillet's account of Athens, published under the name of La Guilletière, he became en gaged in a controversy with him, and succeeded in exposing him as a literary impostor. (Leake's Athens, 2nd ed., i. 94, contains a full account of this matter.) In 1683 appeared a work of his, entitled 'Recherches Curieuses d'Antiquité,' Lyon. He continued to practise as a physician, and published several medical treatises. Being a Protestant, he quitted Lyon before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and went to Geneva, and thence to Vevay, where he died in great distress, 25th December, 1685. His archæological works are very valuable his Travels show great learning, as well as accuracy of observation; and the fidelity of his descriptions has been confirmed by the testimony of later travellers, and by the recent discoveries at Athens. (Dr. Ross, Die Acropolis von Athen.) Spon and his companion were among the first European travellers who visited the Parthenon before its destruction during the siege of Athens hy the Venetians, A.D. 1687. The Biographie Universelle gives a list of Spon's works, but omits several which are in the Catalogue of the British Museum. (Jöcher's Allgemeines Gelehrten-Lexicon.) SPONDEE (spondeus, o tovorioç) is a foot which consists of two long syllables (-). The name is derived from novo, a libation, as the metrical prayers on such an occasion were generally of a slow and solemn movement. To produce this solemnity the spondee is often used instead of a dactyl in the hexameter or pentameter; and in iambic, trochaic, or anapaestic metres, instead of an iambus, trochee, or anapaest. There is no metre which consists of spondees alone, and indeed such a metre would be very disagreeable, even if it were possible; but spondees produce a good effect VOL. XXII.-3 B verse. when mixed with other feet. A foot consisting of two spondees () is called a dispondee. An hexameter verse which has a spondee in the fifth place, is called a spondaic SPONDIA'CEÆ, the name of a natural order of plants belonging to the syncarpous group of polypetalous Exogens. It has unisexual flowers; a 5-cleft regular calyx; 5 petals, inserted under the disk; 10 perigynous stamens, arising from the same part as the petals; superior sessile ovary, from 2to 5-celled, with 5 very short styles and obtuse stigmas; 1 ovule in each cell; fruit drupaceous; seeds without albumen. The plants of this order are trees without spines, having alternate unequally pinnate leaves without pellucid dots. The flowers are arranged in panicles or racemes. This order was formerly included in Terebintaceæ, but has been separated by Kunth and Lindley, on account of their syncarpous fruit and the absence of a resinous juice. The real affinity of Spondiaceæ appears to be with Aurantiaceæ, from which they differ in little beyond their perigynous stamens and the absence of dots on their leaves. They are natives of the West Indies, the Society Islands, and the Isle of Bourbon. The fruit of some of the species of Spondias is eatable, and is known in the West Indies by the name of Hog Plums. Spondias Mombin. establishing a new genus for them; and he cites Plagiostoma spinosa, Sow., to illustrate Defrance's genus, observing that Plagiostoma sulcata, Lam., is an internal siliceous cast of Sowerby's species, and in reality a Spondylus. a, Branch with leaves and fruit. b, Flower, showing the hypogynous disk, with the stamens and petals under it. c, Portion of branch, showing infloresconce. d, Section of fruit, showing its 5 cells. M. Deshayes goes on to institute a comparison between the Plagiostomata, left after separation from those shells, and the Lima; and the result of his observations is, that he is satisfied that the Plagiostomata are composed of Podop sides and Lima: consequently, that the genus Plagiostoma is useless. The same author, when treating of the genus Spondylus in the same work, calls attention to the structure of its shell, as meriting a particular examination, especially as a test for appreciating the value of certain very little known genera recorded by Lamarck. When, says M. Deshayes, we have before us a Spondylus, Sp. gaderopus or Sp. coccineus, for example, we see that they are composed of two layers of different colours, the one external, variously coloured according to the species, the other internal and white. It will easily be perceived that the external layer envelopes the whole shell, except that part which is called the talon-that great plane surface of the lower valve is deprived of it, and one sees that it is entirely formed by the white or internal layer. This internal layer is very thick towards the hinge, it receives the muscular impression in the tavo valves, thins out towards their edges, and leaves, in a snfall zone, which forms the border of the valves, the external layer exposed on the inner side of the shell. If a longitudinal section be made, it will be observed that the external layer is very thin on the umbones of the valves, and that it goes on increasing in thickness towards the botders. The internal layer has an inverse disposition; that is to say, its greatest thickness is at the umbones, whilst it thins out towards the borders. The same longitudinal sec tion will prove that the spines and the laminae, with which it is externally covered, are formed of the substance of the external layer. Finally, if a transverse section of a deeply furrowed species be made, the external layer will be seen of an equal thickness at the point of the furrows or the ribs, forming undulations filled by the internal matter. This is particularly well seen in the orange spondylus (Spondylus aurantius). SPONDY'LIDE, a natural family of marine Conchifera, under which may be arranged the genera Plagiostoma, Podopsis, Dianchora, Pachytes, Spondylus, and Plicatula. Of these we shall presently see that few if any have a just claim to generic appellation except Spondylus and Plicatula; he latter can with difficulty be distinguished from Spondylus, and if its distinction be admitted, can only retain the rank of a subgenus. M. Deshayes then remarks that the observations made by him on the genera Podopsis and Rudistes will show the importance of what he has here said on the shell of Spondylus, observing that this is not the only genus in which the structure exists, but that it is to be remarked in most bivalve shells; only it is most striking in Spondylus. tow the Of Podopsis, M. Deshayes says, after referring to his ob servations on Spondylus, that he had for a long time sought in vain for specimens of the former sufficiently preserved the umbones to assure him of the value of one of acters given by Lamarck. The umbo of the great valve, accog to the last-named zoologist, should be entire, and not have the triangular facet of the Spondyli; a figure in the Encyclopédie represents, in fact, all the upper part of the umbo covered with the shell, so that the specimen resembles in some respects a Gryphaa without an elevated umbo. M. Brongniart himself, in the figures which accompany the geological description of the environs of Paris, bas given many figures of Podopsides, in which may be remarked at the upper part of the umbo longitudinal and transverse striae, which lead to the supposition that M. Brongniart, like Lamarck, believed that this part possessed a shell. M. Deshayes convinced himself by the examina tion of many well preserved individuals that this was not so he found in these Podopsides a short auricle on each side, the very entire border of which auricles circumscribed a triangular aperture which, being filled, might be perfectly compared to the surface of the Spondyli, and it was this that led M. Defrance to establish for these species, with a posterior triangular opening, the genus Puchytes, which M. de Blainville adopted, and thinking that this posterior aper ture was destined to give passage to a tendon of the animal, in order to its attachment to submarine bodies, placed the genus in the neighbourhood of the Terebratule, in his group of Palliobranchiata. M. Deshayes observes that nevertheless M. de Blainville was not unaware of the fact that Pachytes has at the umbo of the great valve an irregular impression resulting from the immediate adhesion of the shell to foreign bodies, and the former states that he has seen some old individuals still attached to the substances on which they had lived at the bottom of the sea. This genus M. Deshayes, in his edition of Lamarck, states that he had for a long time rejected the genus Plagiostoma as useless He observes that it was established by Mr. Sowerby in his Mineral Conchology, and that Lamarck adopted it, ameliorating its characters; but, notwithstanding this, introducing, after the example of the English author, two sorts of shells which offered considerable differences. M. Defrance was the first to separate them. Having observed among the Plagiostomata some species which were equivalve and others inequivalve, he also remarked that among the last were to be found in the same species individuals more or less regular and symmetrical; finally, he had noticed at the upper part of the cardinal border of the great valve a very remarkable triangular aperture, similar to what is found in Podopsis. Defrance, struck with this difference of character, proposed the genus Pachytes for the reception of those shells which offered it. Now, remarks M. Deshayes, in continuation, the new genus, as we shall soon see, has no notable differences to distinguish it from Podopsis, and it would therefore have been sufficient to transfer to that genus the species in question, instead of then, says M. Deshayes, according to M. Defrance and M. de Blainville, offered the unique and curious example of animals having two modes of attaching themselves to submarine bodies. It is certain, says M. Deshayes, that in the molluscous animals actually known, one of these means of attachment excludes the other: those animals which fix themselves by the shell have neither byssus nor tendon, and those which fix themselves by a tendon or a byssus have the shell free and without immediate adhesion. which, being filled by the internal layer, would have formed that singular talon which is only seen in the Spondyli. These indisputable facts conduct M. Deshayes to this conclusion:- the Podopsides, and consequently the Dianchora and Pachytes, are Spondyli whose internal layer has been dissolved, and has left the internal or cortical layer denuded. This partial dissolution or disintegration, he observes, is presented not only in the shells now under discussion, but also in all those composed of two layers. This M. Deshayes then continues his discussion, remarking disintegration, he adds, particularly shows itself in the fosthat the genus Pachytes, as we have seen, has been formed sils of the chalk strata, but the exp' nation of this inconat the expense of the Plagiostomata. In comparing with testible fact is not yet manifest. Ho. indeed, he asks, are the Podopsides the species there introduced, the most per- we to explain the action of an agent capable of entirely disfect identity, he remarks, had been recognised. The same solving a calcareous layer, and leaving at the same time ancomparative examination exercised upon the Dianchora of other layer equally calcareous, and apparently of the same Sowerby, had convinced him that the last-named genus had nature as the first, in the finest state of preservation? Our all its characters identical with those of Pachytes and Po- chemical laboratories are, he remarks, impotent when redopsis. These observations conducted him to the conclu-quired to produce similar phenomena. M. Deshayes thus sion that it was necessary to unite these three genera. But concludes this able argument:-"The preceding observathen the question arose, what was the nature of this genus? tions prove not only that it is necessary to unite the three M. Deshayes avows that he knew not how to answer this genera in question, but also to refer them to Spondylus, and question before he had made the following observation. M. this opinion, which we have adopted for many years, will Dujardin, he tells us, well known by his highly interesting | doubtless be also entertained by other zoologists." observations on the corals of the chalk, as well as upon the Plagiostoma, Podopsis, Dianchora, and Pachytes are thus so-called microscopic molluscous cephalopods [FORAMINI- disposed of and merged in Spondylus. Now let us see what FERA], sent to M. Deshayes a very well preserved Podopsis the same learned observer says of Plicatula. from the chalk of Touraine. The latter zoologist, having remarked that in this individual the edges of the posterior triangular space were entire, and that this space itself was filled with a tender substance, was anxious to seek for some traces of the hinge; and he cleared away with precaution the interior of the umbo. The instrument with which he worked was soon arrested by a harder body, which when disengaged exhibited a singular shape, and determined him to break the part of the shell which stood in his way; and it was not without surprise that he discovered in this Podopsis an internal cast which had too many relations with its external covering to leave the supposition open that chance had thus placed it there. Well convinced that the cast belonged to the shell, M. Deshayes hesitated not to break away those parts of the external covering which obstructed the sight of the whole of the cast, the examination of which was necessary. The fracture exposed between the cast and the shell a layer of pulverulent matter very like pure chalk. This layer, which was thick towards the umbones, thinned out towards the borders, where it entirely disappeared, and left room for the examination of the solid part of the shell within. This external covering or test, extremely delicate and fragile towards the umbones of the valves, went on thickening towards the borders; it was furrowed within as well as without; no trace of hinge or muscular impression was seen; the pulverulent matter being removed, and the test placed conformably with the internal cast, it was plain that a vacant space existed between them, large towards the umbones, and progressively diminishing towards the borders of the valves; finally upon examining the internal cast itself, M. Deshayes states that there is found a great subcentral and posterior muscular impression, and that there may be observed on the side corresponding with the cardinal edge three great plaits or folds, which can only be the result of the impression made upon a strongly articulated hinge. The actually solid part of the test having no muscular impression and no hinge, it is certain that the internal cast could not have borrowed the impression of these parts from that portion, it must have taken it in the solid interior of a shell, and there is no doubt that this solid interior is represented by the new friable and pulverulent layer which in other individuals has entirely disappeared and left a void in its place. The different new characters which M. Deshayes found in his Podopsis induced him to think that the shell belonged to the genus Spondylus. To leave no doubt on the subject, he took in soft wax the impression of the internal surface of the cardinal border of a recent Spondylus, with its valves closed. This impression was found entirely to resemble that of the cardinal border of M. Deshayes's cast of Podopsis. Thus did this acute and persevering investigator find in a Podopsis a cast completely resembling what would have been made in a Spondylus. He finds between the external and preserved part of the solid test or shell, and the internal pulverulent or dissolved part, the same affinity as between the two layers constituting the shell of Spondylus; he sees at the umbo of the great valve a triangular space This small genus, instituted by Lamarck at the expense of the Spondyli of Linnæus, might, according to M. Deshayes, appear useful and sufficiently characteristic when only a small number of species are before the observer; but if he examines more, recent and fossil, he recognises the resemblance which it bears to Spondylus, and inquires whether it would be of any use to preserve it. Lamarck had himself perceived a passage from the Plicatula to the Spondyli by means of certain species. These intermediate species, participating in the character of both genera, are usually the most numerous; and M. Deshayes thinks that in a natural method the two genera ought to be united. He observes that the Spondyli and Plicatule have in common adhering inequivalve shells, which are spiny or rough, and with unequal umbones; a hinge with two strong teeth in each valve; and an intermediate fosset for the ligament, which is always internal. The characters proper to the Spondyli, according to Lamarck, consist in the existence of auricles on each side of the hinge, and of the prolongation of the umbo of the great valve into a talon, that prolongation having a flattened surface always divided by a furrow, in which the old traces of the ligament may be perceived. It is true, remarks M. Deshayes, that in the greater number of Spondyli the auricles are well marked, and that in nearly all the species of Plicatule they do not exist; but to appreciate the value of that character, it is sufficient to state that certain Spondyli have very small and hardly developed auricles, which may also be seen in the greater part of the Plicatula. It is true, he continues, that in the Spondyli the umbo of the adhering valve is always very much prolonged; but it is equally true that in the greater part of the Plicatule there is a remarkable prolongation of the adhering valve. Here we may remark that we have had in our possession Spondyli where the prolongation of the lower umbo was not great. But to return to the argument of M. Deshayes (which our remark appears to us to strengthen), though the prolongation in Plicatula is narrower and shorter, it has the same characters as in Spondylus. Finally, he argues, if it be true that in the greater part of the Spondyli the talon offers a furrow wherein one sees the old remains of the ligament, it is also true that many species of that genus have not this furrow, and have the ligament entirely concealed, and altogether resembling that of the Plicatule. These observations, says M. Deshayes in conclusion, prove that the more essential characters are entirely similar in both genera, and that those which have served to separate them are in reality of inferior importance, inasmuch as they vary in the species of the same group. These observations lead M. Deshayes to the following consequences:-that the Plicatula may be united to the Spondyli, and form a small group in the latter genus. Spondylus. Generic Character.-Animal oval, oblong; the borders of the mantle disunited, thick, and furnished with many rows of tentacular cirrhi, many of which are truncated and terminated by a smooth and convex surface. Mouth oval, furnished with great cut (decoupées) lips, and on each side |