Vickipedia

SPI’THEAD FORTS. The troubled state of European politics which gave rise in 1859 to the Volunteer movement, led also to the recommendation of an extensive plan of defence for the arsenals and coast. A Board of Commissioners drew up a scheme for these defences, to cost about £5,000.000, of which a sum of £2,000,000 was for Portsmouth, Spithead, and the neighboring coast. At present, the entrance to the important arsenal and dockyard at Portsmouth is defended by Fort Moncktou on the Gosport side, Southsea Castle on the opposite side, Cumberland Fort at the entrance to Langston Harbor, Lumps and Eastney Forts between the two last named, and some defensive lines between the island of Portsea and the mainland. £580.000 was voted in 1860 as a beginning, to increase the number and strength of these forts, to build detached forts on shoals in the sea between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, and to raise fortified lines on Portsdown Hill (the principal work being Fort South-wick), wholly northward of Portsmouth Harbor. The works were commenced; but the often-conflicting lessons furnished by the American war led to much delay and endless variations of plan.

The National Defence Commissioners had proposed five advanced forts on the shoals known as Horse Sand, Noman or No Man’s Land Shoal, Sturbridge Shoal, Spit Point, and a point intervening between Horse Sand and Portsea Island. But after much discussion and numerous alterations of plan, it was only in 1864 that it was determined to proceed with the foundations at least of two—the Horse and the Noman forts. The foundation of eacli fort consists of rings of stone-work, laid on the leveled bed of the shoal, tapering a little upwards from a width of 54feet to one of 43 feet; the outer diameter of the ring gradually lessening from 231 to 213 feet. From 20 to 15 feet of sub-marine masonry is required. Outside the rings of stone are layers of rubble, to protect the stone-work from the action of tidal rush. Two years later, similar forts were begun on SpitBank and St. Helens shoal. In 1865 a mortar batterjr had been erected at Puckpool in the Isle of Wight, commanding at long range the approach to Spithead-In 1868, after it had been found impossible to secure a foundation for a fifth fort on the Sturbridge shoal. Puckpool Battery was strengthened and armed with 30 mortars and four 25-ton guns.

All this time the government had not determined which of three modes to adopt for constructing the forts—whether to form them entirely of iron; or of granite faced with iron; or simply of granite, leaving the facing for after-consideration. The plan most in favor with the government in 1866 was to erect on each of the foundations at Spithead a revolving iron fort or tower of enormous magnitude.

Circumstances in 1867 induced the government again to pause. Experiments on the Hodman 15-inch and 20-inch guns led some engineers to believe that no iron casing for forts could resist shot of 500 Ibs. to 1100 Ibs. from such ordnance; while the rolling of an armor plate 15 inches thick (see ARMOR-PLATES) revived the hopes of those who believe that armor will eventually vanquish guns. Finally, the forts are nearly finished, of a granite core, surrounded by a great thickness of iron plates. Above each fort are revolving turrets carrying 35-ton guns, which throw shells of 700 Ibs. The inner line of defence has been strengthened by new works at Gilkicker, Southsea Castle, &c., and by the increase in the size of the guns, and the additon of iron shields in the embrasures.

RAPHA’NIA, or ERGOTISM, is a disease which was much more prevalent some centuries ago than it is at present. It is defined as ‘a train of morbid symptoms, produced by the slow and cumulative action of a specific poison peculiar to wheat and rye, and which gives rise to convulsions, gangrene of the extremities, and death ‘ (Aitken’s Science and Practice of Medicine, 1858, p. 332). It has been described under various names. From the 10th to the 14th c., it was known as St. Anthony’s fire, a title which has been since associated with erysipelas. It was then described as epidemic gangrene. The name Raphania was first given to it by Linne, who thought the morbid symptoms were dependent upon the mixture of Raphanus Raphanistrum, or jointed charlock, with the wheat used as food. It was suspected, as early as the end of the 16th c., that the disease was due to the development of a fungus on the grain, and this fact is now established beyond doubt, although some writers hold (like Linne) that this morbid state is also produced by the admixture of poisonous plants, especially Lolium temulentum, or darnel, being mingled with the grain. Although rye is the ordinary seat of the poisonous fungus, wheat, rice, and other grains are liable to be similarly affected, and to produce similar results. For an account of the fungus, see ERGOT.

There are two forms of the disease—the spasmodic and the gangrenous. The spasmodic form begins with tingling or itching of the feet and hands, and sometimes of the head. Violent contractions of the hands and feet, giving rise to intense pain in the joints, are a common symptom. The head is much affected, the patient complaining of drowsiness, giddiness, and indistinct vision. If coma or epileptic convulsions supervene, there is little hope of recovery. The appetite is usually enormous; spots like those of purpura appear on the face, and there are seldom any signs of improvement for some weeks. The gangrenous form begins with extreme lassitude, and is accompanied by some febrile disturbance. The extremities are painful, cold, almost insensible, and not readily moved; and after a varying time, gangrene supervenes.

With regard to treatment, the first thing to do is to replace the poisonous flour by easily digested, nourishing, wholesome food. The pain must be relieved by opiates, the blood purified by the administration of chlorate of potash, and the general tone of the system improved by tonics, such as the preparations of iron, bark, &c. In the spasmodic form, warm baths and gentle friction would probably prove serviceable. Whatever be the form of treatment adopted, the mortality in the gangrenous form is usually 90 per cent. The spasmodic form is much less destructive to life.

RAPE is the crime of having carnal knowledge of a woman against her consent and by force. The essence of the offence is that force he used, and it is immaterial what is the age of the woman, and whether she is single or married, chaste or unchaste. The only difference caused by the habitual unchastity of the woman is that in such a case it is less easy to satisfy the jury that the element of consent was wanting. The two elements of rape are the carnal knowledge and the force used. As to the element of resistance on the part of the woman, or force on the part of the man, several niceties often occur in the application of the law, from the great variety of circumstances attending this crime. With regard to an idiot woman, it lias been held that it is not necessary to prove resistance on her part, and that the crime may be committed though she made no resistance. If consent be extorted by fear and threats, or where several men join together, and resistance is useless, this is the same as using violence to overpower the woman. Where the woman is stupified by drink, so that the power of resistance is annihilated, it is the same as knocking her down. In a case, however, where force is used in the first instance, but the woman afterwards in some degree consents, the crime of rape will not be committed, though the evidence may establish the crime of assault. Some difficult cases have occurred with reference to married women who have been beguiled by men personating their husbands, and so been in a certain sense, cheated out of their consent. But it has been repeatedly decided by a majority of the court, both in England and Scotland, that such an offence was not rape.

One of the important circumstances attending the crime of rape is the mode of proof, and in this respect it differs from other crimes. It is held to be all but essential, as a corroboration of the woman’s story, that if her cries of resistance were not heard, at all events she should have, immediately after the offence, complained on the first opportunity to her friends or relations. It is not allowed to give in evidence the particulars of such complaint, but merely the fact that she made a complaint against some person. Unless this important particular be proved, her evidence is looked upon with great suspicion, and may be discredited by the jury, unless there were peculiar circumstances to account for the want of such complaint. One of the common defences to a charge of rape is the unchastity of the woman, the object being to render it unlikely that she did not consent, and hence it is in practice considered a proper question for the prisoner’s counsel to put to her, whether she had not had connection with the prisoner before or with other men; but at the same time she is cautioned by the judge that she is not bound to answer such questions unless she likes. If, however, she denies the accusation, witnesses may be called to contradict her on that point.

The crime of rape is felony by the law of England, and is punishable by penal servitude for life, or for not less than three years, or by imprisonment not exceeding two years, with or without hard labor. Of late, attempts have been made to add flogging or corporal punishment to the other punishment, but bills having that object have been thrown out of parliament. There are several other crimes in the same category as rape, but punishable under separate enactments. Thus, the crime, of having carnal connection with a girl under the age of ten years is felony,, and punishable like rape. Whoever has carnal connection with a girl who is between the age of tea and twelve years, is guilty of a misdemeanor, and liable to penal servitude for three years, or imprisonment for two years with hard labor. Consent of the girl in these two cases is immaterial. The forcible abduction of women is divided into two offences. Wherever a woman of any age has property, and is forcibly taken away with intent to marry or carnally know her, the offence is felony punishable by penal servitude of three to fourteen years, or two years’ imprisonment. Again, if a girl, though having no property, is under the age of twenty-one, and is fraudulently allured or taken away out of the possession of her parents or guardians, with intent to marry or carnally know her, this is felony, punishable as in the preceding-case. In order to the commission of the latter offence, an improper motive is necessary on the part of the man, but the consent of the girl is of no consequence.

SPI’RITUALISM. Under the head of animal MAGNETISM, an account is given, from the scientific point of view, of some of those mysterious phenomena which, under the name of modern spiritualism, have recently attracted so much public attention. It is proposed here to give a more complete account of these phenomena as they appear to those who hold that they are inexplicable by the commonly received laws of physics.

That these phenomena in their higher phases—as those of trance, healing by touch, and subjection to the thought and will of another mind—are intimately allied with those of mesmerism, Is obvious to all who have given any careful attention to them. Spiritualists, indeed, affirm that they differ only in this—that in the one case the operator is a mortal, in the other a disembodied human spirit possessing a spiritual body instead of a physical one. Those persons most readily susceptible to mesmeric influence generally prove to be the best mediums for spirit manifestation. Wherever mesmerism has been extensively practised, it would seem that the ground has thereby been prepared for the operators in the unseen world; and indeed, human magnetism is not unfrequently resorted to for this express purpose.

Many of the earliest and foremost advocates of spiritualism in England have traveled to spiritualism via mesmerism. As is fully shown in the correspondence of M. Billault and M. Deleuze, published in two volumes in 1836, the rnagnetists of France anticipated by at least half a century the revelations of what is now known as ‘ modern spiritualism,’ which was as humble in its origin as other great movements recorded in history which have so largely influenced mankind.

In the village of Hydesville, New York State, lived Mr. John D. Fox and family, much respected by their neighbors as honest upright people. The two youngest children, Margaret, then twelve years old, and Kate, nine, were staying with their parents. Soon after they had taken up their residence here, in December 1847, they began to hear knockings in the house, which towards the end of March increased in loudness and frequency. Mr. Fox and his wife got up night after night, lit a candle, and thoroughly searched every nook and corner of the house, but discovered nothing. When the raps came on a door, Mr. Fox would stand ready to open it the moment they were repeated, but though he opened the door on the instant, he could detect nothing, and no one was to be seen; nor could he obtain the slightest clue to the cause of these disturbances. But through all these annoyances Mr. and Mrs. Fox clung to the belief that some natural explanation of them would be found. Nor did they abandon this hope till the last night of March 1848.

Wearied out by a succession of sleepless nights, and of fruitless attempts to penetrate the mystery, the family had retired very early to rest; but scarcely had the mother seen the children safely in bed, and was retiring to rest herself, when the children cried out: ‘ Here they are again! ‘ The mother chid them, and lay down. Thereupon the noises became louder and more startling. Mrs. Fox called in her husband. The night being windy, it suggested to him that it might be the rattling of the sashes. He tried several, shaking them to hear if they were loose. Kate happened to remark that as often as her father shook a window-sash, the noises seemed to reply. Turning to where the noise was, she snapped her fingers, and called out ‘ Here, do as I do?’ The knockings instantly responded. She tried, by silently bringing together her thumb and forefinger, whether she could still obtain a response. Yes! It—the mysterious something—could see, then, as well as hear! She called her mother: ‘Only look, mother,’ she said, bringing her finger and thumb together as before. And as often as she repeated the noiseless motion, just so often responded the raps. This at once arrested the mother’s attention. ‘Count ten,’ she said; ten strokes were distinctly given. ‘ How old is my daughter Margaret?’ Twelve strokes responded. ‘And Kate?’ Nine! ‘What can all this mean?’ was Mrs. Fox’s thought. Who was answering her? Was it only some mysterious echo of her own thought? The answers to the next question she put seemed to refute this idea. ‘ How many children have I?’ she asked aloud. Seven strokes. ‘Ah!’ she thought, ‘it can blunder sometimes.’ And then, aloud, ‘Try again.’ Still seven strokes as before Of a sudden a thought crossed her mind : ‘ Are they all alive?’ she asked. Silence for answer. ‘How many are living?’ Six strokes. ‘How many dead?’ A single stroke; she had lost a child. Then she asked, ‘ Are you a man?’ No answer. ‘ Are you a spirit?’ It rapped. ‘ May my neighbors hear if I call them?’ It rapped again. Thereupon she asked her husband to call a neighbor, a Mrs. Redfield, who came in laughing. But her mirth was soon changed. The answers to her inquiries were as prompt and pertinent as they had been to those of Mrs. Fox. She was struck with awe; and when, in reply to a question about the number of her children, by rapping four, instead of three, as she expected, it reminded her of a little daughter, Mary, whom she had recently lost, the mother burst into tears.

Of course a knowledge of these things could not be kept secret. The news soon spread, and the utmost excitement prevailed in the little village and beyond it. Neighbors flocked in and the house was besieged and the time of the family wholly taken up with curious and eager visitors. Formal depositions appeared in more than one publication. The earliest of these, published April 1848 —a pamphlet of forty pages—contains twenty-one certificates, chiefly given by the immediate neighbors. Most of the witnesses offer to confirm their statements, if necessary, under oath, and express their conviction that the family had no agency in producing the sounds.

It was found that these were more marked in the presence of Kate Fox, and in the hope of getting rid of these annoyances, Kate was sent on a visit to Mrs. Fish, a married sister, at Rochester. The only result being that, while the rappings did not cease at Hydesville, a new and more extended scene of operations was given them at Rochester, whither they followed Kate, and were found also to accompany her sister; and a girl who resided with them.

On one occasion, a visitor suggested that the alphabet should be called over, to see if the sounds would respond to the required letters, and so spell out a communication. A shower of raps followed, as if to say: ‘Yes, that is what we want!’ The first message so given, was : ‘ We are all your dear friends and relatives.’ Then the name of ‘ Jacob Smith,’ Mrs. Fish’s grandfather, was given. Previous to the spiritual telegraphy thus commenced, the only mode of communication had been by asking-questions, one rap being understood as an answer in the negative, three in the affirmative, and two, doubtful, or that the answer could not then be given. It was now asked that a signal should be given when the alphabet was required; this was responded to by five strokes, which was henceforth understood as a call for the alphabet; and so a code of signals was instituted.

Similar demonstrations occurred about this time, independently, in the homes of some of the most respectable inhabitants of Rochester. At length it was communicated by the rapping that the facts should be given to the world, with a view to open up a more extended intercourse: and instructions were given as to where, how, and by whom, this was to be done. There was much difficulty in getting the parties named to take the responsibility, and incur the discredit and ridicule of this step : but their scruples were at length overcome; and on the 14th of November 1848, a public lecture, giving a simple narrative of the facts, was delivered in the Corinthian Hall, Rochester, to an audience of about four hundred people. The rappings, as had been promised, were distinctly heard in all parts of the hall; and a committee was appointed by the audience to investigate the subject, and report at a subsequent meeting. The committee all agreed that the sounds were heard; but they entirely failed to discover any means by which they were produced.

This result was very different to what had been confidently anticipated, and the dissatisfied audience, amazed at the failure, appointed a second committee, which it was expected would make such an investigation as could not fail to find out the trick; and when this committee, after the strictest investigation, only continued the judgment of its predecessor, the excitement became intense; and a third committee was appointed, consisting of those who had shown the most determined hostility to the reports of the previous committees, and who had expressed the utmost confidence in their ability to detect the imposition. It certainly was no fault of theirs that they did not- They resorted to every means their ingenuity could devise; but no fraud could be detected, no explanation given. The ‘mediums’ were separated, and their friends were rigorously excluded from the sittings of the committee. They were unexpectedly removed, first to one house, then to another. A committee of ladies divested them of their clothing; feather pillows were placed under their feet; the stethoscope was applied to see that there was no movement of the lungs by which the sounds could be made. Under every condition imposed, the obstinate raps came—on doors, floors, walls, ceiling; the place seemed alive with them. When this final committee, baffled and mortified, made known their failure, the meeting broke up in the greatest excitement and confusion. But the object was gained : the facts were reported and commented on in all the journals throughout the country.

Circles for investigation were now everywhere formed, and not only were the rappings obtained, but new phases of these strange phenomena were constantly developed. In Forty Years of American Life, by Thomas Low Nichols, M.D., we read : ‘ Dials were made with movable hands, which pointed out letters and answered questions without apparent human aid. The hands of mediums, acting convulsively, and, as they averred, without their volition, wrote things apparently beyond their knowledge, in documents purporting to be signed by departed spirits. Their writings were sometimes made upside down, or reversed so as only to be read through the paper or in a mirror. Some mediums wrote with both hands at a time, different messages, without, as they said, being conscious of either. There were speaking mediums, who declared themselves to be the merely passive instruments of the spirits. Some represented, most faithfully, it was said, the actions, voices, and appearance of persons long dead; others, blindfolded, drew portraits, said to be likenesses of deceased persons they had never seen—the ordinary work of hours being done in a few minutes. Sometimes the names of deceased persons, and short messages, appeared in raised red lines upon the skin of the medium. Ponderous bodies, as heavy dining-tables and pianofortes, were raised from the floor, falling again with a crash and jar. Tables on which several persons were seated were in like manner raised into the air by some invisible force. Mediums are said to have been raised into the air, and floated about above the heads of the spectators. Writings and pictures were produced without visible hands. Persons were touched by invisible, and sometimes by visible hands. Various musical instruments were played upon without visible agency. Strange feats of legerdemain, as the untying of complicated rope knottings in an incredibly short time, astonished many. Voices were heard, which purported to he those of spirits. In a word, over a vast extent of country, from east to west, these phenomena existed, or were said to exist, in hundreds of places, and were witnessed by many thousands of people—numbers of whom were of the highest credibility, and the mass of those persons whose testimony no one would think of impeaching in a trial of life and death.’

Many theories were invented to explain these phenomena: they are now for the most part obsolete or forgotten. Each theory generally began by exploding its predecessors, and was in turn exploded by its successors. No sooner was a theory invented to explain one class of facts, than another sprang up for which it made no provision, and to which it was manifestly inadequate. Not only did the flame spread, but sometimes the extinguishers caught fire; and those who at first were its opponents, ended as its advocates. The most obdurate materialists became convinced of a future life for man by the experimental evidence spiritualism supplied. For instance, Professor Hare instituted a series of experiments intended to prove that the phenomena were wholly due to natural causes : and the public, and men of science in particular, were surprised when, in place of this explanation, there appeared a large work with his name as its author, entitled Spiritualism Scientifically Demonstrated; and with diagrams of ingenious apparatus invented by him to test the genuineness of the phenomena. The Hon. J. W. Edmonds, judge in the Supreme Court of Appeal for the state of New York, brought to bear upon the subject a mind trained by long judicial experience, and the careful sifting of evidence. He investigated with many different mediums, and took notes as carefully as though in court. To his great astonishment he found he was himself a medium, and under the title Spiritualism, he published two large volumes, narrating his investigations, visions, and spiritual communications. His daughter. Laura, also became a medium, and under some foreign influence would sometimes answer freely in languages with which in her normal state she was wholly unacquainted.

Reports of these marvels soon crossed the Atlantic; but in England, for a long time, they excited little serious attention, and were generally received, not only with incredulity, but with ridicule and contempt. The visit to London of Mrs. Haydon, an American medium, in 1854, first excited any considerable degree of public interest in spiritualism. Many visited her, most of whom were puzzled, some ridiculed, a few were convinced. Among the latter were Robert Owen, the founder of English Socialism, and Dr. Ashburner, the translator of Reichenbach, and the colleague of Dr. Elliotson in the establishment of the Zoist and of the Mesmeric Infirmary. In 1855, a more remarkable medium came to England, Mr. Daniel Dunglas Home. The manifestations which occurred in his presence were soon the subject of newspaper controversy. From that time to this they have been seen and tested repeatedly by scientific and other witnesses of the highest credit and social position; and they made him a frequent and welcome guest at the Tuileries and at the courts of Berlin and St. Petersburg. A full account of his ’strange experiences is given in his> autobiography, entitled Incidents in My Life. They include nearly the whole range of ‘ manifestations ‘ referred to in the important Report of which we are about to speak.

In January 1869, the London Dialectical Society appointed a committee ‘ to investigate the phenomena alleged to be spiritual manifestations, and to report thereon.’ The committee invited evidence from all sides, and especially solicited the co-operation of scientific men. and resolved itself into sub-committees for experimental investigation and test. In July 1871, the committee presented its report, with minutes of evidence, reports of seances, and other documents, making a volume of 412 large octavo pages. The committee state that ‘ a large majority of the members of your committee have become actual witnesses to several phases of the phenomena, without the aid or presence of any professional medium, although the greater part of them commenced their investigations in an avowedly sceptical spirit.’

A synopsis of the evidence is also given as follows : ‘ Thirteen-witnesses state that they have seen heavy bodies—in some instances, men—rise slowly in the air, and remain there for some time without visible or tangible support. Fourteen witnesses testify to having seen hands or figures, not appertaining to any human being, but lifelike in appearance and mobility, which they have sometimes touched or even grasped, and which they are therefore-convinced were not the result of imposture or illusion. Five witnesses state that they have been touched by some invisible agency on various parts of the body, and often where requested, “when the hands of all present was visible. Thirteen witnesses declare that they have heard musical pieces well played upon instruments not manipulated by any ascertainable agency. Five witnesses state that they have seen red-hot coals applied to the hands or heads of several persons without producing pain or scorching; and three witnesses state that they have had the same test applied to themselves with the like immunity. Eight witnesses state that they have received detailed information through rappings, writings, or in other ways, the accuracy of which was unknown at the time to themselves or to any persons present, and which, on subsequent inquiry, was found to be correct. One witness declares that he has received a precise and detailed statement, which, nevertheless, proved to be entirely erroneous. Three witnesses state that they have been present when drawings, both in pencil and colors, were produced in so short a time, and under such conditions, as to render human agency impossible. Six witnesses declare that they have received information of future events, and that in some cases the hour and minute have been accurately foretold days and even weeks before. In addition to the above, evidence has been given of trance-speaking, of healing, of automatic writing, of the introduction of flowers and fruits into closed rooms, of voices in the air, of visions in crystals and glasses, and of the elongation of the human body.’

One of the latest scientific investigators of spiritualism is Mr. William Crookes, F.R.S., discoverer of the metal thallium, editor of the Chemical News and of the Quarterly Journal of Science. In the latter journal for January 1874 is an article by him, entitled, ‘ Notes of an Inquiry into the Phenomena called Spiritual, 1870— 1873.’ He attests phenomena similar to those affirmed by the Dialectical Society’s committee and its witnesses, which came under his notice in his own house, in the light, and with only private friends present except the medium, at times appointed by himself, and under circumstances which, he says, absolutely precluded the employment of the very simplest instrumental aids. One of the most recent phases of spiritualism in this country is ‘ spirit photographs.’ On clean and previously unused plates, marked by the sitter, and even when the sitter has used his own plates and camera, there has appeared with the sitter a second figure, which in many instances have been recognized as portraits of deceased relatives and friends. In the Spiritual Magazine for December 1872, is a list of the names and addresses of forty sitters who have so recognized these figures. They have been obtained by many photographers, both professional and amateur, in England, the United States, and on the continent of Europe.

The Spiritual Magazine (the oldest journal of spiritualism in England, and which contains a record of the movement from its establishment in January 1860) has the following as its motto : ‘ Spiritualism is based on the cardinal fact of spirit communion and influx; it is the effort to discover all truth relating to man’s spiritual nature, capacities, relations, duties, welfare, and destiny; and its application to a regenerate life. It recognizes a continuous divine inspiration in man; it aims through a careful, reverent study of facts, at a knowledge of the laws and principles which govern the occult forces of the universe; of the relations of spirit to matter, and of man to God and the spiritual world. It is thus catholic and progressive, leading to true religion as at one with the highest philosophy.’

At a conference in Liverpool in November 1873, at which delegates from about forty societies attended, steps were taken which have led to the establishment of the ‘ British National Association of Spiritualists ‘—’ to unite spiritualists of every variety of opinion for their mutual aid and benefit; to promote the study of pneumatology and psychology; to aid students and inquirers in their researches, by placing at their disposal the means of systematic investigation into the now recognized facts and phenomena, called spiritual or psychic; to make known the positive results arrived at by careful scientific research; and to direct attention to the beneficial influence which those results are calculated to exercise upon social relationships and individual conduct.’

In 1881 the chief English journals of spiritualism were Light, Medium and Daybreak, Spiritualist, and Spiritual Notes, weekly or monthly. In the United States the earliest was the Banner of Light, founded in 1857. In 1881 it was stated that there were in Germany 1 spiritualist magazine, in Austria 1, Holland 1, France 1, Belgium 4, England 7, Italy 1, Spain 5, United States 5, Argentine Republic 2, Mexico 2, Colombia 2. The literature of the movement is very voluminous. The following are important works on spiritualism : Transcendental Physics, translated from the German of Prof. Zöllner (1880), Psychic Facts, by Harrison (1880); Researches in the Phenomena, by Crookes (1874); Modern American Spiritualism, by Hardinge (1870); From Matter to Spirit, by Mrs. De Morgan, with preface by Professor De Morgan; The Two Worlds, by Thomas Brevior; Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World, and The Debatable Land, by Robert Dale Owen; History of the Supernatural, by William Howitt; A Defence of Spiritualism, by Alfred Russell Wallace; Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism, by D. D. Home (1877); Mesmerism, Spiritualism, &c., Historically and Scientifically Considered, by W. B. Carpenter, F.R.S. (1877).

LUMINO’SITY OF ORGANIC BEINGS. Many organic beings, both vegetables and animals, possess the property of emitting light.

In cryptogamic plants, it has been observed on the filaments of Schistostega osmundacea, one of the order of Hepaticæ; in Rhizomorpha subterranea, belonging to the order of Fungi (which is not uncommon on the walls of dark, damp mines, caverns. &c., and occasionally emits a light sufficiently clear to admit of reading ordinary print); in certain species of Agaricus (belonging to the same order); and in Thelaphora cærulea (also a fungus), to which decayed wood owes its phosphoric light.

An emission of light, chiefly in flashes, has been observed in the case of a few phanerogamic plants, among which may be mentioned the garden nasturtium and marigold, the orange lily, and the poppy. In these instances, the light has been emitted by the flowers; but cases are also recorded in which the leaves, juice, &c., of certain plants have evolved light. The emission of light from the common potato, when in a state of decomposition, is sometimes very striking. Dr Phipson, in his work On Phosphorescence, mentions a case in which the light thus emitted from a cellarful of these vegetables was so strong as to lead an officer on guard at Strasburg to believe that the barracks were on fire. The phosphorescence in this case is probably due to the same cause as that of decayed wood.

Before proceeding to notice the principal cases in which living animals have been observed to emit light, we shall briefly refer to the emission of light by dead animal matter. The bodies of many marine animals shine after death, but in none is the phenomenon so vivid or continuous as in the well-known boring mollusc the Pholas. The luminosity of this animal after death was known to Pliny,-who said that it shone in the mouths of persons who ate it; and has been made the subject of special investigation by Reaumur, Beccaria, and others. Among other results, they found that a single Pholas rendered seven ounces of milk so luminous that the faces of persons might be distinguished by it; and that by placing the dead animal in honey, its property or emitting light, when plunged into warm water, lasted more than a year.

It is universally known that certain kinds of dead fish, especially mackerels and herrings, shine in the dark. From a careful study of the body of a dead stock-fish in a luminous condition, Dr. Phipson finds that the phenomenon is due to a grease which shines upon the fish, and which (as it neither contains phosphorous nor minute fungi, by which the light might have been caused) contains some peculiar organic matter, which shines in the dark like phosphorous itself.

Several cases are on record in which ordinary butcher’s meat has presented the phenomenon now under consideration, but their occurrence is so rare that we need not specially notice them. It may be observed that phosphorescent light is not unfrequently observed on the dead human body by persons who visit dissecting-rooms by night. The occasional evolution of light by living human beings will be presently referred to.

The living animals which possess the property of emitting light are extremely numerous, decided cases of phosphorescence having been frequently observed, according to Dr. Phipson, ‘in infusoria, rhizopoda, polypes, echinoderms, annelides, medusæ, tunicata, molluscs, crustaceans, myriapodes, and insects.’ Following’ the arrangement here laid down, we shall mention a few of the organisms in which the phenomenon in question is most remarkable.

Among the rhizopoda, the Noctiluca miliaris, a minute animal very common in the English Channel, stands pre-eminent. Dr. Phipson relates that he has found it ‘ in such prodigious numbers in the damp sand at Ostend, that on raising a handful of it, it appeared like so much molten lava.’ It is the chief cause of the phosphorescence of the sea, which is so often observed. Among the annelides, earthworms occasionally evolve a shining light like that of iron heated to a white heat. Among the tunicata, a minute animal common in some of the tropical seas, the Pyrosoma Atlantica, resembles a minute cylinder of glowing phosphorus, and sometimes occurs in such numbers, that the ocean appears like an enormous layer of molten lava or shining phosphorus. Among the myriapodes, certain centipedes—viz., Scolopendra electrica and S. phosphorea—present a brilliant phosphoric appearance. There is reason to believe that the former will not shine in the dark, unless it has been previously exposed to the solar rays. Luminosity in insects occurs in certain genera of the Coleoptera and Hemiptera, and possibly in certain Lepidoptera and Orthoptera. Among the Coleoptera, must be especially mentioned the genus Lampyris, to which the various species of Glowworms (q.v.) belong, and the genus Elater, to which the Fireflies (q. v.) belong. In “the Hemiptera, there is the genus Fulgora, or Lantern-flies (q.v.), some species of which are highly luminous.

The evolution of light from animals belonging to the vertebrates is extremely rare. Bartholin, in his treatise De Luce Hominum et Brutorum (1647). gives an account of an Italian lady, whom he designates as ‘ mulier splendens,’ whose body shone with phosphoric radiations when gently rubbed with dry linen ; and Dr. Kane, in his last voyage to the polar regions, witnessed almost as remarkable a case of human phosphorescence. A few cases are recorded by Sir H. Marsh, Professor Donovan, and other undoubted authorities, in which the human body, shortly before death, has presented a pale luminous appearance.

It is very difficult to give a satisfactory explanation of the above facts. The light evolved from fungi is most probably connected with chemical action, while that emitted in sparks and flashes from flowers is probably electrical. In some luminous animals, a phosphorescent organ, specially adapted for the production of light, has been already detected, and as anatomical science progresses, the same will probably be found in all organisms endowed with luminous or phosphorescent properties. For full details on the subject of this article, the reader is referred to Dr. Phipson’s work, On Phosphorescence (London, 1862).

SOY is a thick and piquant sauce, made from the seeds of the SOY BEAN (Soga hispida), a plant of the natural order Leguminosæ, suborder Papilionaceæ, so nearly allied to the genus Dolichos (q. v.) as to be often included in it. It is a, native of China, Japan, and the Moluccas, and is much cultivated in China and Japan. It is also common in India, although, probably, not a native of that country. The seeds resemble those of the Kidney Bean, and are used in the same way. The Japanese prepare from them a substance called Miso, which they use as butter.

Soy is made by mixing the beans softened by boiling with an equal quantity of wheat or barley roughly ground. The mixture is covered up and kept for 24 hours in a warm place, to ferment. The mass is then put into a pot, and covered with salt, the salt used being in quantity about equal to each of the other ingredients. Water is poured over it; and it is stirred, at least once a day, for two months, after which the liquor is poured off and squeezed from the mass, filtered, and preserved in wooden vessels. By long keeping, it becomes brighter and clearer. A Chinese sauce, called Kitjap (Ketchup), is often sold in Britain as soy, but is very inferior to the true soy.

SPONTANE’ITY, the name for the doctrine, referring to the Human Mind, that muscular action may, and does, arise from purely internal causes, and independent of the stimulus of sensations. It had long been the tacit assumption, in Mental Phi losophy, that we are never moved to action of any kind, except under the stimulation of some feeling, some pleasure or pain, or some end in view. To this is now opposed the doctrine of the Spontaneous commencement of movements under certain cir cumstances; which, however, does not exclude, but only supple ments, the operation of the feelings in stimulating movements, as in the ordinary course of voluntary action. .The doctrine sup poses that the nerve-centers, after repose and nourishment, ac quire a fulness of vital energy, which discharges itself in the play of movement, without any other occasion or motive; the addition of a feeling, or end, enhances and directs the activity, but does not wholly create it.

Of the various proofs and illustrations of Spontaneity, perhaps the most striking is that furnished by the movements of young animals of the active species. A young dog or kitten shows a degree of activity out of all proportion to any feeling to be gratified, or any end to be served; we can interpret it only as internal energy seeking vent, irrespective of the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain—in other words, the action of the will. When the accumulated energy is expended, the animal falls back into a state of repose, and is then roused only by the stimulus of sensation. The state called ‘ freshness’ in a horse, for example, is a state of superabundant and irrepressible activity. Children go through the same phase : after rest or confinement, they burst forth incontinently into some form of active excitement, of which a part may be considered as pure spontaneity, while part may be owing to sensation.

The doctrine is well fitted to express the difference between the active and the sensitive temperaments; for if it were true that action is in proportion to the stimulation of the feelings, the most susceptible characters would be the most active. But, in point of fact the active temperament is manifested by a profusion of activity for its own sake, with little circumspection or regard to consequences; and constitutes the restless, bustling, roughshod, energetic, and enterprising disposition of mind, as seen in sports men soldiers, travelers, &c.

The explanation of the growth of the Will (q. v.), or voluntary power, involves the spontaneous beginning of movements.—See Bain on The Senses and the Intellect, 3d edit., p. 76.

SPLINTS, in Surgery, are certain mechanical contrivances for keeping a fractured limb in its proper position, and for preventing any motion of the fractured ends; they are also employed for securing perfect immobility of the parts to which they are applied in other cases, as in diseased joints, after resection of joints, &c.

Ordinary splints are composed of wood carved to the shape of the limb, and padded; the best pads being made out of old blankets, which should be cut into strips long and wide enough to line the splints, and laid in sufficient number upon one another to give the requisite softness. The splints should be firmly bound to the previously bandaged limb with pieces of bandage, or with straps and buckles; care being taken that they are put on sufficiently tight to keep the parts immovable, and to prevent muscular spasm”, but not so tight as to induce discomfort. Gutta percha, sole-leather, or pasteboard, after having been softened in boiling water, may in some cases advantageously take the place of wooden splints. They must be applied when soft to the part they are intended to support, so as to take a perfect mould, and then be dried, stiffened, and, if necessary, lined. An account of the more complicated kinds of splint required in certain cases, as Macintyre’s Splint, Liston’s Splint, &c., may be seen in any illustrated catalogue of surgical instruments.

The ordinary splint is now to a great degree superseded by immovable bandages, which consist of the ordinary bandage saturated with a thick mucilage of starch, or with a strong solution of a mixture of powdered gum-arabic and precipitated chalk, which, when dry, form a remarkably light but firm support. As, however, these bandages require some hours to dry and become rigid, means must be used to counteract any displacement of the limb in the interval. On this account, many surgeons prefer the plaster of Paris or gypsum bandage, which is applied in the following manner : the limb being protected by a layer of cotton-wool, a bandage composed of coarse and open material, into which as much dry powdered gypsum as possible has been rubbed, must be immersed in water for about a minute, and then rolled around the limb in a spiral manner, just as an ordinary bandage; after every second or third turn of the bandage, the left hand of the surgeon should be plunged into water, and smeared over the part last applied. When the whole has been thus treated, the exterior of the bandage should be smeared over with a paste of gypsum and water until a smooth surface and complete rigidity have been attained—a process not occupying more than ten minutes or a quarter of an hour.

In a case of simple fracture, where no surgical aid is at hand, any non-professional person of ordinary intelligence might apply this bandage, extreme care being taken that the ends of the broken bones are in their proper position.

SPONGE (Spongia), a genus which originally included all the numerous genera and species of the family Spongiadæe, all of which are still commonly spoken of by naturalists as sponges, although in its more popular sense that term is limited to a few kinds, or to their fibrous framework. The sponges are creatures of very low organization, concerning which controversies long raged, first as to whether they ought to be referred to the animal or the vegetable kingdom, and more recently as to their systematic position in the former group. At first referred to the Protozoa, and later to the Cælenterata (see ZOOLOGY), they are now considered by the greater number of naturalists as entitled to rank as a separate subkingdom, Porifera. characterized by the multitude of months or inhalent apertures which open through the body wall, the primitive mouth of the two-layered sac-like embryo being converted into the large exhalent opening.

They may be classified as follows: 1. Myxospongiæ destitute of skeleton; 2. Fibro-spongiæ, hating a fibrous skeleton, with or without siliceous spicules; 3. Calcispongiæ. having calcareous spicules. These spicules are not purely mineral, but contain a trace of organic matter. They are most beautiful microscopic objects, and spicules of different forms are sometimes found in the same species, sometimes lying close together in bundles, sometimes straight or slightly curved, sometimes in the shape of needles pointed at one end, or at both; sometimes of needles radiating from a center; whilst some have a head at one end, like a pin, some have grapnel-like hooks at the ends. Some of the species with horny framework have spicules imbedded in it; some have them implanted in the fibres; some are destitute of them. There is a beautiful West Indian species, Dictyocalyx pumiceus, in which the siliceous matter becomes itself a fibrous network, and is so fine and transparent as to resemble spun glass. In a living state, many sponges exhibit lively colors, from the presence of coloring matter.

Like any of the higher animals, the body of the sponge is com posed of a distinct outer layer of cells, the ectoderm or epidermis, and a ciliated inner layer or endoderm (often restricted to definite areas, the so-called ‘ ciliated chambers ‘), between which a middle layer of cells, the mesoderm arises. This may be of very variable thickness, and gives rise to the skeleton. From the close resemblance which the cells of the ectoderm and mesoderm present to Amœbæ, and those of the endoderm to those Infusorians known as Monads, it has been argued that the sponge is a mere colony of Protozoa. The development of the sponge, however, accords too closely with that of higher animals to admit of such a view, a free-swimming ciliated larva being produced by segmentation of a fertilized ovum; but it is undeniable that in the sponge we have a degree of independence of the cell units far greater than that which exists in any other group—a divided sponge readily re unites, and adjacent masses grow together. They assume very various forms, which, as well as the peculiarities in the structure of the framework, are characteristic of the different genera and species. Some are nearly globular; some cup-shaped, top-shaped, conical, cylindrical, thread-like, &c.; some are simple, and some branched.

The surface of a living sponge is generally covered with minute pores, through which water is imbibed, carrying with it both the air and the organic particles necessary for the support of life. The pores are supposed to be permanent in many of the sponges,

and the currents which enter through them to be produced by cilia, although these have as yet been detected only in a few species. But .in those of the very lowest organization, the pores seem to be formed for the occasion, just as the Amœba opens any where to admit food within its substance.

In Spongilla fluviatilis, a small fresh-water species found in Britain, the opening and closing of each pore occupies less than a minute, and the pores do not open simultaneously, but in irregular succession, and apparently never again in precisely the same spot. No trace of the pore remains for an instant after its closing, nor is there any indication of the point where a new one is to open. The water which enters by the pores passes out of some sponges by a single orifice, which serves for the whole mass; others have numerous orifices (oscula) which are permanent, and are much larger than the pores by which the water is imbibed, the whole mass being pervaded by canals which lead from the pores to these orifices, from which, under the microscope, a constant discharge of water may be seen taking place, minute opaque particles being carried along with its current. These particles are not only fecal matter, but gemmules and ova.

Reproduction takes place both by gemmation and by true ova. Many of the gemmules go to increase the sponge-mass; but the greater part finally become detached, and are carried out into the water, to settle down in a new locality Mr. Huxley has detected true ova and sperm-cells imbedded in the substance of sponges.

The sponges employed for domestic and other purposes derive their value from the elasticity and compressibility of their fibrous framework, divested of the glairy substance, and its power of imbibing fluids. The absence of spicules is essential to a useful sponge. The kinds fit for use are found in the seas of warm climates. Some small species of sponge live at great depths. One has been brought up in the Gulf of Macri from a depth of 185 fathoms. Numerous species of sponge are very abundant on many parts of the British coasts.

Fossil remains of sponges are found in many rocks, and of horny, fibrous kinds, as well as of those with calcareous or siliceous framework.

Several species of sponge are in use for economical purposes. Two species are chiefly brought from the Levant, and a very inferior one from the West Indies and coast of Florida. The trade in sponge is very considerable; it is carried on chiefly by the Turks and the inhabitants of the Bahama Islands. The number of men employed in the Ottoman sponge-fishery is between 4000 and 5000. forming the crews of about 600 boats. These boats find their chief employment on the coasts of Candia, Barbary, and Syria. The sponge is obtained by diving, the diver taking down with him a flat piece of stone of a triangular shape, with a hole drilled through one of its corners; to this a cord from the boat is attached, and the diver makes it serve to guide him to particular spots. When he reaches the growing sponges, he tears them off the rocks, and places them under his arms; he then pulls at the rope, which gives the signal to his companions in the boat to haul him up. The value of sponges collected in Greece and Turkey is from £90,000 to £100,000 annually. The Greeks of the Morea, instead of diving, obtain sponges by a pronged instrument; but the sponges thus collected are torn, and sell at a low price. The best sponges are obtained on detached heads of rock in 8 or 10 fathoms water.

The sponges of the Bahamas and other West Indian islands are of a larger size and coarser quality; but large quantities are gathered; and about 215,000 lbs., worth £17.000. are sent annually to Great Britain. The sponges are torn from the rocks by a fork at the end of a long pole. To get rid of the animal matter, they are buried for some days in the sand, and then soaked and washed.

The domestic uses of sponge are familiar to every one. It is also of great value to the surgeon, not only for removing blood in operations, but for checking hæmorrhage. Burnt sponge was once a valued remedy was scrofulous diseases and goitre; but iodine and bromine, from which it derives all its value, are now administered in other forms.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF THE HUMAN BODY.

In medico-legal works, cases are recorded, generally of a somewhat ancient date, in which it was supposed that the body was either spontaneously consumed by inward, combustion, or acquired such extraordinary combustible properties as to be consumed when brought into contact with fire. The following is one of the first of the cases on record. It rests on the authority of Le Cat, a distinguished surgeon of his time, and is stated to have occurred at Rheims in 1725. The remains of a woman named Millet were found burned in her kitchen, about eighteen inches from the open fire-place. Nothing was left of the body, except some parts of the head, of the legs, and of the vertebras. Suspicion was excited against the husband, and a criminal inquiry was instituted; but learned experts reported that the case was one of spontaneous combustion, and the prisoner was acquitted. The facts are explicable on the supposition, that the clothes of the deceased woman were accidentally ignited; and although the almost complete destruction of the body appeared to the medical men of that time to be inconsistent with the ordinary effects of fire, subsequent observations have shown that this is an error. In reference to this case, Liebig observes that it is easy to see that the idea of spontaneous combustion arose at a time when men entertained entirely false views on the subject of combustion, its essence, and its cause. What takes place in combustion generally lias only been known since the time of Lavosier (about a century ago), and the conditions which must be combined in order that a body should continue to burn, have only been known since the time of Davy, or for little more than half a century. From the time when the case of Millet occurred to the present day, probably somewhat over 50 supposed cases have been recorded. (In an article published on the subject by Dr. Frank of Berlin in 1843, 45 cases are adduced.)

From an analysis of all the cases on record up to 1851, Liebig arrives at the conclusion that the great majority agree in the following points : ‘1. They took place in winter. 2. The victims were brandy-drinkers in a state of intoxication. 3. they happened where the rooms are heated by fires in open fireplaces and by pans of glowing charcoal, in England, France, and Italy. In Germany and Russia, where rooms are heated by means of closed stoves, cases of death ascribed to spontaneous combustion are exceedingly rare. 4. It is admitted that no one has ever been present during the combustion. 5. None of the physicians who collected the cases, or attempted to explain them, has ever observed the process, or ascertained what preceded the combustion. 6. It is also unknown how much time had elapsed from the commencement of the combustion to the moment when the consumed body was found.’—Letters on Chemistry, 3d ed., 1851, p. 282. Out of the 45 cases collected by Frank, there are only three in regard to which it is assumed that combustion took place when no fire was in the neighborhood; and Liebig distinctly shows that these three solitary cases are totally unworthy of belief. With regard to the other cases, the writers who record them do not deny the presence of fire, but assume that the body was ignited by the fire, and then burned on like a candle or a bundle of straw, under similar conditions, till nothing but ashes or charcoal was left- These writers maintain that excess of fat, and the presence of brandy in the body, induce an abnormal condition of easy combustibility; but Liebig shows, by numerous illustrations, the utter fallacy of this view; and adds, as further evidence, ‘ the fact that hundreds of fat, well-fed brandy-drinkers do not burn, when by accident or design they come too near a fire. It may with certainty be predicted, that so long as the circulation continues, their bodies would not take fire, even if they held a hand in the fire till it was charred.’ Spontaneous combustion in a living body is (he adds) absolutely impossible.

Notwithstanding the wide promulgation of Liebig’s views, the belief in the possible occurrence of spontaneous combustion, seems not yet to have disappeared. In 1847, the body of a man, aged 71, and who was neither fat nor a drunkard, was found in bed in a state of combustion. Dr. Nasson, who was commissioned to investigate the case, reported that the burning must have resulted from some inherent cause in the person—probably roused into activity by a hot brick that was placed at his feet; and Orfila is reported to have coincided in this opinion. This case is reported in the Gazette Médicale, September 4, 1847. On the 13th of June 1847, the Countess of Goerlitz was found dead in her bedroom, with the upper part of her body partly consumed by fire. The head was a nearly shapeless black mass, with the charred tongue protruding from it. The physician who was consulted could suggest no other explanation than that the body of the countess must have taken fire spontaneously, and not even by ignition of her dress by a candle. On this evidence, she was buried; but circumstances having led to the suspicion that she had been murdered by her valet Stauff (who had been detected in attempting to poison the count), her body was exhumed in August 1848, fourteen months after her death, and was subjected to a special examination by the Hesse Medical College, who reported that she had not died from spontaneous combustion. The case was then referred to Liebig and Bischoff, and their report was issued in March 1850, when Stauff was put upon his trial. They found no difficulty in concluding that the body was wilfully burned after death, for the purpose of concealing the murder (either by strangulation or a blow on the head), which had been previously perpetrated. The prisoner was convicted, and subsequently confessed that he had committed the murder by strangulation, as indeed the protruded tongue might have suggested. Since that date, there has not been any case of alleged spontaneous combustion.—On this subject, the reader is referred to the various articles on ‘ Spontaneous Combustion’ in the Medical Dictionaries and Encyclopædias; to Dupuytren’s Leçons Orales; to Liebig’s Letters on Chemistry; and to Taylor’s Medical Jurisprudence.

SPONTANEOUS COMBU’STION is a phenomenon that occasionally manifests itself in mineral and organic substances. The facts connected with the spontaneous ignition of mineral substances are well known to chemists, and some of them have been already described in the articlepyrophorus(q. v.). Ordinary charcoal does not undergo combustion in air under a temperature of 1000°, but in some states it is liable spontaneously to acquire a temperature which may lead to unexpected combustion. Thus, lamp-black impregnated with oils, which contain a large proportion of hydrogen, gradually becomes warm, and inflames spontaneously. According to M. Aubert, Chevallier, and other French observers, recently-made charcoal, in a state of fine division, is liable to be spontaneously ignited without the agency of oil; but we are not aware that this phenomenon has been observed in this country. There have been many instances of the spontaneous ignition of coals containing iron pyrites, (q. v.) when moistened with water. The pyrites which most readily give rise to spontaneous combustion are those in which the protosulphide is associated with the bisulphide of iron; and these occur in the Yorkshire coals from Hull, and in some kinds of South Wales coal. Sulphur has no tendency to spontaneous combustion, but Dr. Taylor refers to an instance that came to his own knowledge, in which there was reason to believe that the vapor of bisulphide of carbon in an india-rubber factory was ignited by solar heat traversing glass. Phosphorus, when in a dry state, has a great tendency to ignite spontaneously, and it has been observed to melt and take fire (when touched) in a room in which the temperature was under 70°. The ordinary lucifer-rnatch composition is luminous in the dark, in warm summer nights, which shows that oxidation, and therefore a process of heating, is going on. Hence, large quantities of these matches kept in contact may produce a heat sufficient for their ignition. ‘ I have seen them ignite,’ says Dr. Taylor, ‘as a result of exposure to the sun’s rays for the purpose of drying.’—Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, 1865, p. 603.

From these cases occurring in the mineral kingdom, we pass to the consideration of spontaneous combustion in organic substances Passing over the accidents that may result from the admixture of strong nitric or sulphuric acid with wool, straw, or certain essential oils, and which, if they occur, are immediate and obvious, we have to consider the cases in which, ‘ without contact with any energetical chemical compounds, certain substances—such as hay, cotton and woody fibre generally, including tow, flax, hemp, jute, rags, leaves, spent tan, cocoa-nut fibre, straw in manure-heaps, &c.—when stacked in large quantities in a damp state, undergo a process of heating from simple oxidation (eremacausis) or fermentation, and, after a time, may pass into a state of spontaneous combustion.’—Taylor, op. cit. p. 606. There is undoubted evidence that hay and cotton in a damp state will occasionally take fire without any external source of ignition. Cotton impregnated with oil, when collected in large quantity, is especially liable to ignite spontaneously; and the accumulation of cotton-waste, used in wiping lamps and the oiled surfaces of machinery, has more than once given rise to accidents, and led to unfounded charges of incendiarism. Dr. Taylor relates a case in which a fire took place in a shop ‘ by reason of a quantity of oil having been spilled on dry sawdust.’ According to Chevallier, vegetables boiled in oil furnish a residue which is liable to spontaneous ignition; and the same chemist observes that all kinds of woollen articles imbued with oil, and collected in a heap, and hemp, tow, and flax, when similarly treated, may ignite spontaneously.

In the case of Hepburn v. Lordan, which came before Vice-chancellor Wood in January 1865, and was carried by appeal before the Lords Justices, in the following month, an attempt was made to prove that wet jute was liable to undergo spontaneous combustion; and the great fire at London Bridge in 1861 was referred to the spontaneous combustion of jute in its ordinary state. With regard to the latter hypothesis, Dr. Taylor remarks that it is wholly incredible, and from experiments which he made for the defendants in the above lawsuit, and on other grounds, he holds that there is no evidence of moist jute undergoing spontaneous combustion; but, he adds, although no cases are recorded, it is probable that jute, cocoa-nut fibre, and linen and cotton rags, imbued with oil, might undergo this change. Dry wood is supposed by Chevallier and some other chemists to have the property of igniting spontaneously. Deal which has been dried by contact or contiguity with flues or pipes conveying hot water or steam at 212°, is supposed to be in a condition for bursting into flame when

air gets access to it; and the destruction of the Houses of Parliament, and many other great fires, have been ascribed to this cause; but from the experiments of Dr. Taylor (op. cit., p. 615) this view must be regarded as untenable.

It is still an open question whether such organic nitrogenous matters as damp grain or seeds of any kind ever undergo spontaneous combustion. In a case recorded in the Annales d’Hygiène for 1841. MM. Chevallier, Ollivier, and Devergie drew the conclusion that a barn had caught fire from the spontaneous combustion of damp oats which were stored in it. No such cases are known to have occurred in this country.

The subject of the article is of extreme importance, not only because it may cause great destruction of life and property, but because it may lead to unjust charges of incendiarism.—For further details regarding it, the reader is referred to Graham’s ‘ Report on the Cause of the Fire in the Amazon,’ in the Quarterly Journal of the Chemical /Society, vol. v. p. 34; to the article ‘Combustion’ in Watts’s Dictionary of Chemistry, vol. i.; and to the elaborate chapter on this subject in Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence.

SMITHFIELD, a noted cattle-market in London, was in the 12th c. an open spot which served the citizens as a playground and a place for a stroll. Being a little north of Newgate, and west of Aldersgate, it was outside the city walls. It was in S. that the rebel Wat Tyler met his death in 1381. Several noted tournaments were held here; and the place is associated with trials by battle, the burnings of martyrs, public executions during many centuries, and a variety of incidents connected with the history of the metropolis.

The most celebrated fair in England, Bartholomew Fair (q. v.), was always held in Smithfield.

A cattle-market was held in S. at least seven centuries ago, for Fitzstephen mentioned it in 1150. The corporation had official control over the market for more than 500 years, dating from 1345; and the city authorities have never to this day relaxed their hold over the one only live-cattle market in the metropolis. At one time, there was a project for removing the market to a field near Sadlers’ Wells, at another, to a spot near the north end of Gray’s Inn Lane; while a spirited projector spent £100,000 in raiding a new market at Islington; but powerful influences prevented the removal of the cattle-market until 1855.

The last market-day in the old spot was on June llth in that year; after which, the trade was transferred to the large and very complete establishment built by the corporation at Pentonville. For several years after this, S. was practically useless. In 1860, however, the corporation obtained an act for erecting market buildings on the site of S., and the first stone of a magnificent Dead-meat Market, from the designs of Mr. Horace Jones, the city architect, was laid in June 1867. The building, which was formally opened in November 1868, is 636 feet long, by 246 broad, is traversed by numerous avenues, and has about 200 shops for dealers in meat, which is partly country-killed. This arrangement has enabled the city authorities to abolish Newgate Market, which had become a serious obstruction to city traffic. Under the market, three railways sunk deeply below the ground-level, traverse the area—one going eastward to Aldersgate and Finsbury, one southward to Ludgate and Blackfriars, and one north-westward to King’s Cross and the north of London. Near the middle of S. is a circular spiral road descending to an underground railway goods-station. The remainder is laid out in well-paved carriage and foot ways with a small ornamental green or garden, including paths, seats, and a drinking-fountain. There is also a new market for poultry, butter, cheese, pork, &c., distinct from the meat-market. The extensive new works and alterations have greatly improved the appearance of S., and increased its salubrity.

SMOKE-NUISANCE, in London, is punishable with fine. The act applies to every furnace employed in working engines by steam, and every furnace in any mill, factory, printing-house, dye-house, distillery, bake-house, &c., which is not constructed so as to consume its own smoke, or which is so negligently used that the smoke is not consumed. The penalty is from two to five pounds. The statute only applies to the metropolis and to the river Thames.—In Scotland, a similar act is not confined to the Scotch metropolis.

Large consumers of fuel are naturally more anxious about how it can be best burned economically than about how the escape of smoke into the atmosphere can best be prevented. The two questions are not at all the same, although plans may be devised which will accomplish both objects at the same time. Thus with ordinary bituminous coal not only may the volatile hydrocarbons which sometimes yield twenty per cent, of the heating-power pass up the chimney unburned, but nearly two-thirds of the coal may be wasted by the conversion of the carbon into carbonic oxide instead of carbonic acid—that is, if the carbonic oxide escapes as such—and yet no smoke may appear. At the same time, it is the fact that the most complete combustion of the coal insures there being no smoke.

There is a great difference of opinion even about the apparently simple question of how the coal should be laid on the furnace bars. The late Professor Macquorn Rankine and others, reasoning on theoretical grounds, say that the fresh coals should be laid on the front of the fire; whilst Dr. Anderson, late of the Woolwich Arsenal, judging from great practical experience, says that, on the contrary, they should be mainly piled up at the hack of the fire. Mr. Wye Williams again, whose name is so famous in connection with such questions, asserts that the coal is best spread evenly over the furnace bars.

Whether the fuel is heaped at the front, at the back, or spread uniformly over the fire, the end in view is the same. It is to secure that the volatile hydrocarbons are burned, and that carbon is converted into carbonic acid, and this can only be done when these gases are conducted over a hot portion of the fire with a sufficient supply of air. If the fresh coal is laid on the front, that of a previous charge having been pushed inwards, the coal vapors will of course pass over the thin layer of burning fuel at the back, and be more or less burned. When on the other hand, the fuel is kept banked up at the back (that is at the bridge), and spread evenly over the rest of the grate, although a little smoke may be given off at first, it would nevertheless appear that by this plan the mass of incandescent fuel at the bridge is yet more effectual in burning these vapors. The balance of opinion would, however, seem to be in favor of the method of rapid, thin, and uniform spreading of the coal over the grate, care being taken that no part of the furnace bars are left bare.

With regard to the admission of air to the furnace, it is necessary, in order to obtain the best result, that it be admitted through small orifices, and at such a point or points where the temperature is sufficiently high for the combustion of the coal vapors, and that it be so regulated that heat is not uselessly absorbed by an excessive supply. It is of course also necessary to have sufficient air passing up between the furnace bars to burn the non-volatile coke. The arrangement recommended by Mr. Wye Williams

will be understood by the help of the annexed drawing, which represents one of his furnaces under a boiler h. The fire is fed, as usual, through the door at d; it slopes downward to the bridge g, which rises much above the firebars, so that the flames have to pass over it. The bridge consists of two parts, the solid masonry or brickwork, g, and the chambered portion behind it, c, called the distributer. Into this a tube, 5, opens, through which a supply of atmospheric air enters, and becoming heated, passes through a number of plates with slits, or with perforations as shown in ee’, into the mixing-chamber, f; here the heated air enters into combustion with the carbon in the smoke-laden flame, deprives it of that element, and greatly increases the heat by its combustion. Smoke prevention arrangements may be classified as follows :

I. Apparatus for the regular addition in small quantities and uniform application of the fuel to the fireplace of the furnace. The chief kinds are : (1.) A hopper kept charged with small coal or slack, and feeding a rapidly rotating horizontal disc. (2.) A hopper and rollers to reduce the size of the coals, and a screw spreader for throwing; them on the fire. (3.) An under grate stoker, which feeds a circular furnace by causing the fresh coal to pass from below through a central orifice into the middle of the incandescent fuel. (4.) A hopper and traveling furnace bars.

II. Arrangements for the admission of air above as well as below the furnace bars. This is usually done either by means of air-holes with slide or slides to cover them; or opening and shutting slits in the furnace door or above it. Another plan is to have a valve at the further end of tubular flues in the furnace to regulate the admission of air. In one or two instances a clockwork arrangement has been introduced for gradually closing the air inlets in the furnace doors after firing.

SMUGGLING is the offence of importing or exporting goods prohibited, or without paying the duties imposed on goods not prohibited. The offence in general leads to forfeiture of the goods. If goods are imported to defraud the revenue, treble value of the goods is forfeited. Many of the offences connected with smuggling are felonies, and punished with severity under the Customs’ Consolidation Act. Where high protective tariffs separate the industry of adjoining countries, smugglers are certain to abound; no prohibitory decrees can keep the goods out. It was in vain that Napoleon fulminated the Berlin and Milan decrees for closing all continental ports against British shipping; British goods were lauded at Salonica, passed on horseback through Hungary to Vienna, and thence distributed in all directions. Similarly, French manufactures reached England, often most circuitously : some a year in transit by way of Smyrna; others, via Archangel, after two years’ journey. A vast cost was incurred in England hi maintaining a Coast Guard and Preventive Service; but so long as smuggled goods could be sold at much lower prices than those at which they could be lawfully imported, so long would it be absolutely impossible wholly to suppress the traffic. The duties on French goods evaded in 1831, by the aid of smuggling, were estimated at £800,000. The true remedy for smuggling is a free, or, at least, very liberal tariff, without any prohibitive rates. Since the adoption of free trade by Great Britain, its Coast-guard has ceased to have any preventive duties to perform, and has been converted into the far better institution of a defence for the coasts from foreign foes, a reserve of trained men for the sea-service, and last, though far from least, a branch of skilful auxiliaries ready to aid any ship thrown in distress upon the British coast. The leading instance of smuggling, so far as England or Englishmen are concerned, is the great amount of contraband traffic from Gibraltar into Spain.

SPACE AND TIME. Space and Time being the most general conditions, forms, or attributes of all existing things, their discussion is linked with the highest problems of philosophy. Space is co-extensive with, and inseparable from, the sensible, external, or Object World; time is a property both of the Object World and of the Subject Mind.

Of the so-called Innate Ideas maintained by one school of philosophy, Space and Time are the foremost examples. (Other examples are Number, Infinity, Being, Substance, Power, Personal Identity, &c.) Accordingly, it is held, on the one side, that these notions are underived, or intuitive to the mind; and, on the other side, that they arise in the course of our education or experience, like our ideas of heat, sound, color, gravity. &c.

To begin with Space. The supporters of the innate or intuitive origin of the idea, allow that it does not arise in the mind until actual objects, or extended things, are presented to the senses— until we see the visible, and touch the tangible things around us; but they declare that this contact with the sensible world is only the occasion of our becoming conscious of what was already in the mind. Thus, Mr. Mansel says : ‘ Space is not properly an innate Idea, for no idea is wholly innate; but it is the innate element of the ideas of sense which experience calls into consciousness.’ It is, in short, the superadding of some independent activity of the mind to the passive sensation.

The reasons usually given for assuming an intuitive element in the idea of Space are, in the main, the reasons given for innate ideas generally; they chiefly resolve themselves into affirming the attributes of universality and necessity in such ideas, and the inadequacy of mere sensible experience to reveal these high attributes of things. Whatever is got by experience can be thought away; Space and Time cannot. Thus, it is impossible for us to receive any sensible impression of an outward object—the sun, for example—without conceiving that thing as existing in space. To use the language of Kant, Space is a form of our sensibility, or sensible perception; and as the perception itself cannot, he thinks, give this universal and inseparable form—it must be contributed by the mind. Sir W. Hamilton supposes that we may have an ‘empirical’ notion of Space—i.e., a notion from experience; but that Space as a ‘form ‘ is not obtained from experience, but from intuition. He does not, however, explain clearly wherein consists the difference between these two notions. According to the opposite view, Space is an abstraction from our experience of extended things, exactly as gravity is an abstraction from gravitating bodies, and justice from just actions. We first obtain from experience a variety of impressions, in the concrete, of things possessing extension; and, next, from all these, by the usual process of abstraction, we gain a notion of extension in the abstract, or Space. A few remarks may be made on these two distinct operations, as both involve matters of controversy.

1. Before the Muscular Feelings were distinctly recognized as something superadded to the proper sensations of the senses—or the feelings of mere light, sound, &c., it was not easy to show that, by sensible experience alone, we could perceive objects as extended, or as occupying space. The pure optical sensibility of the eye is for color solely; the pure tactile sensibility is for softness and smartness, roughness and smoothness, &c. When, however, we make full allowance for the whole range of feeling connected with the exercise of muscular energy, there is no difficulty in accounting for the origin of such notions as Resistance (Force or Power) and Extended Magnitude. The element supposed, by the a priori philosophers, to be contributed by the mind itself, is, according to the other school, Muscularity, or the feeling of the putting forth of inward energy. The two senses related to our ‘Cognizance of Space—Sight and Touch, are compound senses; they involve an active energy, with its peculiar consciousness, as well as a passive sensibility; and all that is characteristic of Extension, or Space, arises through these muscular accompaniments.

2. Having perceived a great number of things as extended, with the intervals of unoccupied extension that separate these, we form an idea of extension in the abstract. The distinguishing peculiarity of this abstraction is related to unoccupied extension, or empty space, where we seem to have extension without anything extended; rendering the idea of Space unlike other abstract ideas, as Gravity, or Justice, which are conceivable only as embodied in gravitating things, or just actions. Still, empty space is a reality to us, inasmuch as it expresses cessation of resistance, and free scope for movement. To the senses alone, without the muscular accompaniments, Space would be a nonentity, an inconceivability; but the feeling of the sweep of the arm, or of the locomotion of the body, in passing from one point of resistance to {mother, is a genuine mental experience—the filling up of the interval between two tactile encounters, or between two optical pictures, with conscious activity.

The idea of TIME, continuance, or endurance, applies both to our feelings of energy put forth, and also to our sensations, emotions, and the flow of our ideas; in other words, it attaches both to the extended or Object World, and to the unextended or ‘Subject Mind. In our muscular feelings, which represent the universe of matter and space, we discriminate a dead strain, or effort of resistance, lasting a short time, from the same strain lasting a longer time; and also a more persisting movement from a less. So in the sensations; a sound enduring a second is different to us from a sound enduring two seconds : a transitory odor is not confounded with one of greater continuance.

We distinguish two bursts of wonder, terror, love, or anger, if they have been unequal in their duration. Abstracting from all these experiences of continuance in the concrete, we obtain the idea of Time; which idea, however, like other abstractions, must be conceived by us under some individual continuing thing. If we were to imagine the whole outward universe annihilated, we should still have, in our own consciousness, an instance of the continuing, and upon that we could sustain the conception of Time. See GENERALIZATION.

Time is measured by Space, and Space by Time. The one is often expressed by the other, but with a certain limitation; we say ‘ a space of time,’ but not a ‘ time of space.’ Movement is common to both. Of passive sensations, the best for indicating time are those of Hearing.