States, wandering, in summer, as far as the Rocky mountains. They do not seem to visit the maritime districts of New England. They are found in the West Indies, also south of the equator, even in Cayenne and Paraguay. The nest is built in a hollow, shattered or decayed tree, at a considerable elevation. The eggs are said to be four or five, of a light brownish-yellow, and spotted with brown. The food of this bird is sparrows and other small birds, also mice, grasshoppers and lizards. The female is eleven inches long; the stretch of the wings twentythree inches. The male is about nine and a half or ten inches long. The cere and legs are yellow; the head bluish-ash; crown rufous. The upper parts are reddish-bay, striped transversely with dusky brown; the lower parts pale yellowish-white, marked with longitudinal spots of brown; the claws black. The European sparrowhawk is a short-winged hawk, which destroys many pigeons and partridges.

SPARRY IRON. (See Iron, Ores of.) SPARTA, or LACEDEMON, one of the most powerful states of ancient Greece, called also Laconia, lay to the east of Messenia (q. v.), in the Peloponnesus. The Eurotas here empties into the gulf of Laconia, the western shore of which terminates in cape Tænarus (Matapan). Here, near the town of Tænarus (q. v.), was pointed out a cave, which was said to be the entrance to the regions of Pluto. At Amyclæ, near Sparta, stood one of the most celebrated temples of Apollo. According to fable, Lacedæmon, son of Jupiter, and of the nymph Taygeta, married Sparta, daughter of Eurotas, king of the Leleges, succeeded his fatherin-law on the throne, and gave the country his own name, calling the city by that of his wife. He was probably a Hellenic prince, and one of the leaders of the Achæan colony, which Archander and Architeles led into Laconia, after their expulsion from Phthiotis. Here Lacedæmon, having persuaded the natives to receive the colony, gave his own name to the united people. Among the most celebrated of the early kings was Tyndarus, with whose sons Castor (q. v.) and Pollux the male line of Lacedæmon became extinct. Menelaus, between whom and Lacedæmon five kings had reigned, married Helen (q. v.), the daughter of Tyndarus, and thus acquired the throne. Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who had married Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus, united Argos and Mycenae with Lacedæmon. In the reign of his son and

successor Tisamenes, it was conquered by the Heraclidæ (q. v.) about 1080, who established a dyarchy or double dynasty of two kings in Sparta. For, as neither the mother nor the Delphic oracle could decide which of the twin sons of Aristodemus, Eurysthenes and Procles, was first born, the province of Laconia was assigned to them in common; and it was determined that the descendants of both should succeed them. The Lacedæmonians, however, had little cause to rejoice at the arrival of the foreigners, whose fierce disputes, under seven rulers of both houses, distracted the country with civil feuds, while it was, at the same time, involved in constant wars with its neigh bors, particularly the Argives. The royal authority was continually becoming feebler, and the popular power was increas ed by these divisions, until the government ended in an ochlocracy. At this time, Lycurgus was born, for the healing of the troubles. He was the only man in whom all parties confided; and, under the auspices of the gods, whose oracle be consulted, he established a new constitution of government in Sparta (about 80 B. C.), and thus became the savior of his country. (See Lycurgus.) Lacedæmon now acquired new vigor, which was manifested in her wars against her neighbors, particularly in the two long Messenian wars, which resulted in the subjugation of the Messenians (B. C. 668). battle of Thermopyla (B. C. 480), in which the Spartan king Leonidas (q. v. successfully resisted the Persian forces at the head of a small body of his countrymen, gave Sparta so much distinction among the Grecian states, that even Athens consented to yield the command of the confederated forces, by land and sea, to the Spartans. Pausanias (q. v.) guardian of the infant son of Leonidas, gained the celebrated victory of Plate (q. v.) over the Persians (B. C. 479), at the head of the allies. On the same day, the Grecian army and fleet, under the command of the Spartan king Leotychides, and the Athenian general Xanthippus, defeated the Persians, by land and sea, near Mycale. With the rise of the political importance of Sparta, the social organization of the nation was developed. The power of the kings was gradually limited, while that of the ephori was increased. After the Persians had been victoriously repelled, the Grecian states, having acquired warlike habits, carried on hostilities against each other. The jealousy of Sparta towards Athens rose to such a

The

height that the Lacedæmonians, under pretence that the Persians, in case of a renewal of the war, would find a tenable position in Athens, opposed the rebuilding of its walls, and the fortification of the Piræus. Themistocles (q. v.), discerning the real grounds of this proceeding, baffled the designs of Sparta by a stratagem, and thus contributed to increase the ill will of that state towards Athens. The tyrannical conduct of Pausanias alienated the other allies from Sparta; and most of them submitted to the command of Athens. But, while Sparta was learning moderation, Athens became so arrogant towards the confederates, that they again attached themselves to the former power, which now began to make preparations in secret for a new struggle. The Athenians, however, formally renounced the friendship of Sparta, and began hostilities (B. C. 431). This war, the Peloponnesian (q. v.), ended in the ascendency of Sparta, and the entire humiliation of her rival (405). The rivalry of the Spartan general Lysander and the king Pausanias soon after produced a revolution, which delivered the Athenians from the Spartan yoke. The Spartans next became involved in a war with Persia, by joining Cyrus the Younger in his rebellion against his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon. The Persian throne was shaken by the victories of Agesilaus; but Athens, Thebes, Corinth, and some of the Peloponnesian states, were instigated by Persian gold to declare war against the Lacedæmonians, who found it necessary to recall Agesilaus. The latter defeated the Thebans at Coronæa; but, on the other hand, the Athenian commander, Conon, gained a victory over the Spartan fleet at Cnidus, and took fifty galleys. This war, known as the Baotian or Corinthian war, lasted eight years, and increased the reputation and power of Athens, by the successes of her admiral, Conon, and her fortunate expeditions against the Spartan coasts and the islands of the Ægean. The arrogance of Athens again involved her in hostilities with Persia; and Antalcidas (B. C. 388) concluded the peace which bears his name, and which, though highly advantageous to Persia, delivered Sparta from her enemies. The ambitious designs of Sparta in concluding this peace soon became apparent she continued to oppress her allies, and to sow dissensions in every quarter, that she might have an opportunity of acting as umpire. Besides other outrages, she occupied, without provocation, the city of Thebes, and introduced

an aristocratical constitution there. Pelopidas delivered Thebes, and the celebrated Theban war followed, in which Athens took part, at first against Sparta, but afterwards in her favor. The latter was so much enfeebled by the war, that she thenceforward ceased to act a distinguished part in Greece. No state was strong enough to take the lead, and the Macedonian king Philip at last made himself master of all Greece. Agis, king of Sparta, one of the bravest and noblest of its princes, ventured to maintain a struggle for the liberties of Greece; but he lost his life in the battle of Megalopolis against Antipater. Archidamus IV was attacked by Demetrius Poliorcetes, and Sparta was saved with difficulty. New troubles soon arose: Cleonymus, nephew of the king Areus, invited Pyrrhus into the country in aid of his ambitious projects, which were frustrated, partly by the negligence of Pyrrhus, and partly by the courage of the Spartans. Luxury and licentiousness were continually growing more and more prevalent, and, though several succeeding kings attempted to restore the constitution of Lycurgus, and restrain the power of the ephori, it was without success. Cleomenes, indeed, accomplished a reform; but it was not permanent. After an obstinate and unfortunate war against the Achæans and Antigonus, king of Macedonia, Cleomenes fled to Egypt, where he died. The state remained three years without a head, and was then ruled by the tyrants Machanidas and Nabis (q. v), by the latter of whom the most atrocious cruelties were committed. The Romans and the Achæan league effected the final fall of the state, which had been upheld for a short time by Nabis. Sparta was obliged to join the Achæan league, with which it afterwards passed under the dominion of the Romans. Sparta, or Lacedæmon, the capital of Laconia and of the Spartan state, lay on the west bank of the river Eurotas, and embraced a circuit of forty-eight stadia, or six miles. The ruins are still seen nearly a league to the east of Misitra, and are known by the name of Palæopolis (Ancient City). Sparta was irregularly built, and consisted of five separate quarters, which, as late as the 120th Olympiad, were not enclosed by any common wall. Among other remarkable objects enumerated by Pausanias are the following: the market-place (ayopa), containing the public buildings, in which the most distinguished magistrates held their meetings, and the principal or

nament of which was the Persice, a celebrated colonnade, built from the spoils taken from the Persians; its roof was supported by statues of Persians: the chorus, or place in which the ephebi executed their dances, in the gymnopædia, adorned with statues of Apollo, Diana and Latona: the Baroneta, or residence of the kings of the family of Eurysthenes, in the street Aphetai, so called because the people bought it of the widow of Polydorus for a herd of cattle: the Leschai, or halls in which the popular assemblies were beld, and of which there were two, the Lesche of the Crotanes, near the tombs of the Agides, and the Lesche Pacile: the temple of Minerva Poliouchos (Chalcioca), on the Acropolis, &c. The Spartans were distinguished among the people of Greece by their manners, customs and constitution. Their kings ruled only through the popular will, as they had no other privileges than those of giving their opinion first in the popular assemblies, acting as umpires in disputes, and of commanding the army: their only other advantages were a considerable landed estate, a large share of the spoils, and the chief seat in assemblies and at meals. The Spartans, that is, the descendants of the Dorians, who acquired possession of Laconia under the Heraclidae, were occupied only with war and the chase, and left the agricultural labors to the Helots (q. v.); but the Lacedæmonians, or Periceci (the ancient inhabitants of the country), engaged in commerce, navigation and manufactures. Although the Spartan conquerors were superior in refinement and cultivation to the Lacedæmonians, the arts of industry flourished only among the latter. They gradually intermingled with the Spartans, whom they exceeded in number, and formed one people. Herodotus states the number of Spartans at only 8000. Both people constituted one state, with a national assembly, to which the towns sent deputies. The military contributions in money and troops formed the principal tribute of the free Lacedæmonians to the Spartans (Dorians). The former were sometimes divided by jealousy from the latter, and, in the Theban war, several towns withdrew their troops from the Spartans, and joined Epaminondas. The distinguishing traits of the Spartans were severity, resolution and perseverance. Defeat and reverse never discouraged them. But they were faithless and crafty, as appears from their conduct in the Messenian wars, in which they not only bribed the Arcadian king,

Aristocrates, to the basest treachery towards the Messenians, but also corrupted the Delphic oracle, of which they made use to the prejudice of the Messenians. The age at which marriage might be contracted was fixed by Lycurgus at therty for men and twenty for women. When a Spartan woman was pregnant, it was required that pictures of the handsomest young men should be hung up in her chamber, for the purpose of producmg a favorable effect on the fruit of her womb. The child was brought forth, is said, upon a shield, and, if a male, was laid, without swaddling clothes (to leave him the free use of his limbs), in a shield, with the words. A tar å rurav (Either with this or upon this). The other Greeks washed the new-born infants with water, and afterwards rubbed them over with oil; but the Spartans bathed them in wine, to try the strength of their constitution. They had a notion that a win bath produced convulsions or even death in weakly children, but confirmed the health of the strong. If the infant proved vigorous and sound, the state received it into the number of citizens; otherwise it was thrown into a cave on mount Taygetus. In the other Grecian states, the exposition of children was a matter of cus tom: in Sparta it was forbidden by law. If we may trust to Homer, it was, at an early period, a custom among the Spartan women to employ nurses in order to preserve the beauty of their breasts. The Burses were treated as part of the family. The Spartan children were early inured to hardship and accustomed to freedom. Stays, which were in use among the other Grecians, were unknown to the Spartans. To accustom the children to endure hunger, they gave them but little food; and, if they stood in need of more, they were obliged to steal it; and, if discovered, they were severely punished, not for the theft, but for their awkwardness. Every ten days, they were required to present themselves before the ephori, and whoever was found to be too fat, received flogging. Wine was not generally given to girls in Greece, but was commonly allowed to boys from earliest childhood. In Sparta, the boys were obliged to wear the hair short, until they attained the age of manhood, when it was suffered to grow. They usually ran naked, and were generally dirty, as they did not bathe and anoint themselves, like the other Greeks. They took pride in having the body covered with marks of bruises and wounds. They wore no outer garment, except in bad

weather, and no shoes at any time. They were obliged to make their beds of rushes from the Eurotas. Till the seventh year, the child was kept in the gynæceum, under the care of the women; from that age to the eighteenth year, they were called boys (ownOES), and thence to the age of thirty, youths (inẞo). In the thirtieth year the Spartan entered the period of manhood, and enjoyed the full rights of a citizen. At the age of seven, the boy was withdrawn from the paternal care, and educated under the public eye, in company with others of the same age, without distinction of rank or fortune. If any person withheld his son from the care of the state, he forfeited his civil rights. The principal object of attention, during the periods of boyhood and youth, was the physical education, which consisted in the practice of various gymnastic exercises-running, leaping, throwing the discus, wrestling, boxing, the chase and the pancratium. (q. v.) These exercises were performed naked, in certain buildings called gymnasia. Besides gymnastics, dancing and the military exercises were practised. A singular custom was the flogging of boys (diamastigosis) on the annual festival of Diana Orthia, for the purpose of inuring them to bear pain with firmness: the priestess stood by with a small, light, wooden image of Diana, and if she observed that any boy was spared, she called out that the image of the goddess was so heavy, that she could not support it, and the blows were then redoubled. The men who were present exhorted their sons to fortitude, while the boys endeavored to surpass each other in firmness. Whoever uttered the least cry during the scourging, which was so severe as sometimes to prove fatal, was considered as disgraced, while he who bore it without shrinking was crowned, and received the praises of the whole city. According to some, this usage was -established by Lycurgus; others refer it to the period of the battle of Platææ. (q. v.) To teach the youth cunning, vigilance and activity, they were encouraged, as has been already mentioned, to practise theft in certain cases; but if detected, they were flogged, or obliged to go without food, or compelled to dance round an altar, singing songs in ridicule of themselves. The fear of the shame of being discovered sometimes led to the most extraordinary acts. Thus it is related that a boy who had stolen a young fox, and concealed it under his clothes, suffered it to gnaw out his bowels, rather than reveal

the theft by suffering the fox to escape. Swimming was considered among the Spartans to be so indispensable, that it was a proverb among them, to intimate that a man was good for nothing-He cannot even swim. Modesty of deportment was also particularly attended to; and conciseness of language was so much studied, that the term laconic is employed to signify a short, pithy manner of speaking. The Spartans were the only people of Greece who avowedly despised learning, and excluded it from the education of youth. Their whole instruction con sisted in learning obedience to their superiors, the endurance of all hardships, and to conquer or die in war. The youth were, however, carefully instructed in a knowledge of the laws, which, not being reduced to writing, were taught orally. The education of the females was entirely different from that of the Athenians. Instead of remaining at home, as in Athens, spinning, &c., they danced in public, wrestled with each other, ran on the course, threw the discus, &c. This was not only done in public, but in a halfnaked state. The object of this training of the women was to give a vigorous constitution to their children.-See Müller's History and Antiquities of the Doric Race, translated, with additions, from the German (London, 1830). The Mainots have been supposed to be the descendants of the ancient Spartans. (See Mainots.)

SPARTACUS; a Thracian gladiator, the instigator of the servile war or revolt of the slaves in Italy. He had been compelled, like other barbarians, to serve in the Roman army, from which he had deserted, and, at the head of a body of chosen companions, had carried on a partisan war against the conquerors. Being made prisoner, Spartacus was sold as a slave; and his strength and size caused him to be reserved as a gladiator. He was placed in a gladiatorial school at Capua, with two hundred other Thracian, German and Gaulish slaves, among whom a conspiracy was formed (B. C. 71) for effecting their escape. Their plot was discovered; but a small body, under Spartacus, broke out, and, having procured arms, and gained some advantages over the Roman forces sent against them, they were soon joined by the slaves and peasantry of the neighborhood, and their num bers amounted to 10,000 men. By the courage and skill of Spartacus, several considerable battles were gained; but his authority was insufficient to restrain the ferocity and licentiousness of his follow

ers, and the cities of the south of Italy were pillaged with the most revolting atrocities. In a few months, Spartacus found himself at the head of 60,000 men; and the consuls were now sent, with two legions, against the revolted slaves. Mutual jealousies divided the leaders of the latter, and the Gauls and Germans formed a separate body under their own leaders, while the Thracians and Lucanians adhered to Spartacus. The former were defeated; but Spartacus skilfully covered their retreat, and successively defeated the two consuls. Flushed with success, his followers demanded to be led against Rome; and the city trembled before the servile forces. In this crisis, Licinius Crassus, who was afterwards a triumvir, was placed at the head of the army. His lieutenant, Mummius, whom he despatched with two legions to watch the motions of the enemy, was defeated by a superior force, and slain. Crassus, after having made an example of the defeated legions, by executing every tenth man, surrounded Spartacus, near Rhegium, with a ditch six miles in length. Spartacus broke through the enemy by night; but Crassus, who did not doubt that he would march upon Rome, pursued him, and defeated a considerable part of his forces, who had abandoned their general from disaffection. Spartacus now retreated ; but his followers compelled him to lead them against the Romans. His soldiers fought with a courage deserving success; but they were overcome, after an obstinate conflict, and Spartacus himself fell fighting on his knees, upon a heap of his slain enemies. According to the Roman statements, 60,000 rebels fell in this battle (A. D. 71). 6000 were made prisoners, and crucified on the Appian way. A considerable number escaped, and continued the war, but were finally destroyed by Pompey.

SPASMODIC CHOLERA. With a view of giving more complete information on the subject of this disorder than can be obtained at present, we have thought it best to defer the account of it till we arrive at the end of the concluding volume. SPAWNING OF FISH. In the oviparous fishes, with distinct sexes, the eggs are impregnated externally, and arrive at maturity without the aid of the mother. The spawn being deposited by the female, the male then pours upon it the impregnating fluid. In the ovoviviparous fishes, sexual intercourse takes place, and the eggs are hatched in the uterus. In the oviparous fishes, which are hermaphrodite, the spawn is impregnated previous to depo

sition by the same individual which de posits the eggs. Fishes exhibit a great variety in regard to the number of ther eggs. In some, the number is smali. while in the spawn of a codfish 3,656,70 eggs have been found; in that of the floun der, 1,357,400, and in that of the mackerel, 546,681. The season of spawning varies according to the species and even the habits of the individual. In general, before spawning, fish forsake the deep water, and approach the shore, that, the roe, being placed in shallow water, may be vivified by the influence of the solar ray. At that season, some fish forsake the salt water, and ascend the rivers, and, after spawning, return again to the ocean. The eggs of various species of fish ar used as articles of food, sometimes in a recent state, and sometimes salted, as the well-known article of trade, caviar. (q. v.)

SPEAKER. The lord-chancellor is, e officio, the speaker of the British house of lords, and may, if a lord of parliament, s in practice is always the case, give as opinion and argue any question before the house. The speaker of the house of commons is a member of the house, elect ed by a majority of the votes, to act as chairman or president in putting ques tions, reading briefs or bills, keeping or der, reprimanding the refractory, adjourning the house, &c. The first thing done by the commons, upon the meeting of a parliament, is to choose a speaker, who is to be approved of by the king, and who, upon his admission, begs his majesty that the commons, during their sitting, may have free access to his majesty, freedom of speech in their own house, and security from arrests. The speaker not allowed to persuade or dissuade in passing a bill, except in committee, but only to make a short and plain narrative; nor to vote, unless the house be equaly divided, when he has a casting vote. He receives a salary of £6000 a year. (See Parliament.) The presiding officer of the French chamber of deputies is styrd président, and is chosen by the chamber itself. The chancellor of France presides in the house of peers. In the sen ate of the U. States, the presiding offer is styled president; and the constitution (i. 3.) provides that the vice-president shall be president of the senate, and shall have no vote, unless the votes of the str ators are equally divided. In his absence, or in case he exercises the office of president of the U. States, the senate chooses a president pro tempore. The speaker of tim