feet have been common. Instruments have | been floated around and spirit voices heard, phenomena supposed to be produced by the exercise of the materializing power. But notwithstanding the accumulated assumed testimony in regard to spirit photographs and materializations, spiritualists themselves are not yet unanimous in admitting them among what they believe to be fully verified phenomena. Besides the thousands in every grade of society, throughout the civilized world, who are more or less influenced by a belief in | the supernatural origin of the manifestations, many persons in Europe and America, distinguished in the walks of science, philosophy, literature, and statesmanship, have become avowed converts, or have admitted the phenomena so far as to believe in a new force not recognized by science, or have testified that the manifestations they have witnessed are not capable of explanation on the ground of imposture, coincidence, or mistake, or at least have considered the subject worthy of serious attention and careful consideration. Among these are: Alexander Aksakoff, Robert Chambers, Hiram Corson, Augustus De Morgan, J. W. Edmonds, Dr. Elliotson, I. II. von Fichte, Camille Flammarion, Hermann Goldschmidt, Dr. Höffle, Robert Hare, Lord Lynd- | hurst, Robert and Robert Dale Owen, W. M. Thackeray, T. A. Trollope, Alfred Russel Wallace, Nicholas Wagner, and Archbishop Whately. As the organized bodies of spirit- | ualists include but a small proportion of those who wholly or partially accept these phenomena, it is impossible to make even an approximate estimate of their numbers. While spiritualism has its converts from every religious denomination, no small proportion of its advocates are from the ranks of those who previously doubted or totally disbelieved the immortality of the soul, and who affirm that they carry their skeptical tendencies into the investigation of this subject. On matters of speculative theology, there seems to be among them the widest latitude of opinion, though a majority of them perhaps are in their speculations inclined to what may be termed a sublimated naturalism. They tell us that it is not the object of the spirits to teach theological dogmas as by any authority superior to that of man, but rather, by the mental and physical phenomena incidentally presented in the course of their manifestations, to furnish those elements of reasoning from which each one may work out his own conclusions; while we are told that the main object of their manifestations is to furnish actual demonstration of the immortality of the soul and of some of the conditions and laws of the post mortem existence. The books relating to spiritual manifestations may be reckoned by hundreds. The following are a few of the more important: J. Kerner, Die Seherin von Prevorst (Stuttgart, 1829; translated by Mrs. Crowe, London, 1845); Allan Kardec, Le livre des esprits (Paris,

1853), with a supplementary work, Le livre des médiums (1863), the first translated into English by Anna Blackwell under the title, "The Spirits' Book” (Boston, 1875), and the second by Emma A. Wood, "The Book of Mediums" (Boston, 1875); S. B. Brittan and B. W. Richmond, "A Discussion of the Facts and Philosophy of Ancient and Modern Spiritualism" (New York, 1853); John W. Edmonds and G. T. Dexter, "Spiritualism" (2 vols., New York, 1854-5); Charles Linton, "The Healing of the Nations," with an introduction and appendix by N. P. Tallmadge (New York, 1855); Hudson Tuttle, "Scenes in the Spirit World, or Life in the Spheres" (New York, 1855); E. W. Capron, "Modern Spiritualism, its Facts and Fanaticisms" (Boston, 1855); Robert Hare, "Experimental Investigations of the Spirit Manifestations" (New York, 1856); Louis de Guldenstubbe, La réalité des esprits et le phé nomène merveilleux de l'écriture directe démontrés (Paris, 1857); Catharine Crowe, “Spiritualism and the Age we Live in " (London, 1859); Robert Dale Owen, "Footfalls on the Boundary of Another World" (Philadelphia, 1860), and "The Debatable Land between this World and the Next " (New York, 1872); D. D. Home, "Incidents of my Life" (London, Paris, and New York, 1862; a second volume with the same title, 1872, and a third announced in 1875); Mrs. A. De Morgan, "From Matter to Spirit" (London, 1863); J. E. de Mirville, Question des esprits et de leurs manifestations diverses (Paris, 1863); William Howitt, "History of the Supernatural in all Ages and Nations" (London, 1863); C. W. Upham, "Salem Witchcraft, and a History of Opinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects" (2 vols., Boston, 1867); Epes Sargent, "Planchette, or the Despair of Science" (Boston, 1869), and "The Proof Palpable of Immortality" (1875); Emma Hardinge, "Modern American Spiritualism" (New York, 1870); William Crookes, "Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism" (London, 1874); A. R. Wallace, "On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism, three Essays" (London, 1875); and H. S. Olcott, "People from the Other World" (Hartford, 1875). With the exception of these and a few other books, the best portion of the literature of spiritualism is to be found in the various periodicals devoted to that subject, the number of which in 1875, in Europe, America, and Australia, was at least 60.

SPITZBERGEN, a group of islands in the Arctic ocean, between lat. 76° 30′ and 80° 30′ N., and lon. 10° and 28° E., and nearly midway between Greenland on the west and Nova Zembla on the east; area estimated at 30,000 sq. m. The principal islands are Spitzbergen, Northeast land, Prince Charles, Edge, and Barentz. Spitzbergen proper, the largest of the islands, is nearly divided N. and S. by two arms of the sea, Weyde bay and Ice fiord, which stretch so far inland that their heads are separated by only a narrow peninsula 5

or 6 m. in breadth. The two divisions are sometimes called respectively West Spitzbergen and East Spitzbergen or New Friesland. E. of Spitzbergen lie Barentz island and Edge island (Russ. Maloi Brun), separated from it by a strait called Wybe Jans water, or by the Swedes Stor fiord. Between Edge and Barentz islands is Freeman or Thymen strait, and between Barentz island and Spitzbergen on the north Heley's sound. Hinlopen or Waygat strait separates Spitzbergen from Northeast land, so called from its relative position to the larger island. Its coast line is rugged and penetrated by numerous fiords, and it is surrounded by many islands, the principal of which are High island on the east, the group called the Seven islands on the north, and Low island on the west. Near the southern mouth of Hinlopen strait is Waygat or Wilhelm island, explored by Smyth in 1871. W. of Spitzbergen, and separated from it by Foreland strait, lies Prince Charles island or foreland. Little is known of the interior of Spitzbergen, but many mountains are visible from the coast, some of them 3,000 to 4,000 ft. high, the valleys of which are filled with glaciers. On the W. coast the mountains rise generally within 3 m. of the shore, leaving a level. space between them and the sea. The N. shores are not so high, but inland the ice hills gradually rise to an elevation of more than 2,000 ft. Around the South cape or Point Lookout, the S. termination of Spitzbergen, the coast is flat, but it soon rises into a mountain chain which extends northward. The E. coasts have not been thoroughly explored. Spitzbergen feels the influence of two ocean currents flowing from nearly opposite directions: a polar current, which blocks up the E. and N. E. sides with ice and renders navigation dangerous, if not impossible; and a warmer Atlantic current, which flows up the W. coast and keeps it comparatively free from ice. The climate is intensely cold, the mean temperature on the W. coast during the three warmest months not exceeding 84.5°. The longest day in the N. parts is four months, and from Oct. 22 to Feb. 22 the sun does not rise above the horizon; but the long night is relieved by a faint twilight and the occasional brilliant light of the aurora borealis, and the moon and stars shine with great brightness. Winter begins at the end of September, and by the middle of October the cold is intense. Storms are frequent, and great quantities of snow fall. During the short summer the climate is temperate for the latitude, and a scanty vegetation springs up. About 40 species of plants have been classified, the most vigorous of which do not exceed 3 or 4 in. in height. The animals are polar bears, polar foxes, and reindeer. Sea fowl are numerous, and the surrounding waters abound with whales, seals, walruses, and large fish. Marble and coal of good quality have been found. These islands have been visited by whalers for 2 centuries, and though there

is no permanent settlement on any of them, Russian sailors have lived for years at a time on the W. coast. Their sovereignty is claimed by Russia.-Spitzbergen is supposed to have been first seen by Willoughby in 1553, in the voyage in which he perished with his crew. Barentz came in sight of the N. end of the W. coast, lat. 77° 49', on June 19, 1596. He named it Greenland, and the Dutch navigators who followed him called it Nieuwland. By the English it was called King James's Newland. The name Spitzbergen (pointed mountains) first appears in a tract published by Hessel Gerard in 1613. Henry Hudson visited the N. and W. coasts in 1607, and soon after the seas around Spitzbergen became a favorite fishing ground for whalers, principally English and Dutch. In 1617 a ship of Capt. Edge's fleet explored the E. coast as far as lat. 79°, and discovered Wiche's land E. of Spitzbergen. This was renamed King Karl land in 1870 by Baron von Heuglin, who saw it from off Edge island and supposed he had made a new discovery. It was visited for the first time in 1872 by Nils Jansen, a Norwegian whaling captain. Important additions to our knowledge of Spitzbergen and its surroundings have been made by the Swedish expeditions under Nordenskjöld in 1858, '61, '64, 68, and '72; by B. Leigh Smyth and Ulve in 1871-'2; and by Altmann and Nilsen in 1872.

SPITZ DOG, a small variety of the Pomeranian dog. It is evidently derived from some of the arctic or wolf dogs, and resembles in its short, ovate, erect, and hairy ears, pointed muzzle, much curved and bushy tail, the Esquimaux, Hare Indian, Siberian, Lapland, and Iceland dogs, though of smaller size and with finer and longer hair. The hair is long, espe

tive germs within; they are said also to grow by division, or growth of detached portions of the parent body; they are believed to be nourished by minute algae drawn within their pores. Some live in shallow, others in very deep water; scarce and small in cold latitudes,

Sponge attached to its rocky bed.

they increase in size and number toward the tropics, being most abundant in the Australian seas. According to Dr. Bowerbank, there are 24 genera on the shores of Great Britain. While spongia is the type of the corneous sponges, thethys (Cuv.) and Grantia (Flem.) are types of the silicious and calcareous sponges respectively. (See PROTOZOA.)-For the latest researches on the sponges see the papers now in course of publication (1876) by Prof. A. Hyatt, in the "Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural History," with figures and bibliography. Haeckel (Monographie der Kalkschwämmer, 1872) regards the sponges and acalephs as having been evolved from a common ancestor, which he calls protascus, described as a body cavity surrounded by two layers of cells; he compares the sponge to the embryos of higher animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate. In his view, the germ of all animals, and the adult of such forms as hydra, may be reduced to the simple form of the young of a calcareous sponge, which he calls gastrula; this he considers the "truest and most significant embryonal form of the animal kingdom."-The sponges of commerce are procured chiefly in the Mediterranean and the Bahama islands; most of them are obtained

by diving, to which persons are trained from childhood in the Greek islands; the adhesion to the bottom is generally firm, and the growth slow. To bleach sponges, the finest and softest are selected, washed several times in water, and immersed in very dilute hydrochloric acid to dissolve out the calcareous matters; having been again washed, they are placed in another bath of dilute hydrochloric acid to which 6 per cent. of hyposulphite of soda dissolved in a little warm water has been added; the sponge is left in this bath 24 hours, or until it is as white as snow. Smyrna is the chief place for the export of fine sponges. The coarse sponges used for horses and carriages, &c., are obtained chiefly from the Bahamas; when taken from the water they have a sickish, disagreeable odor, which soon becomes disgusting, like that of decomposing animal matter; they are first buried in dry sand, and when decomposition has ceased are exposed in wire cages to the action of the tide for purification.-Fossil sponges are found in the Trenton limestone, and, if scolithus be a mining sponge, even as low as the Potsdam sandstone, and probably were in existence long before the oldest Silurian epoch. Brachiospongia, discovered by the Rev. Mr. Hovey in the Birdseye group of the lower Silurian, is characterized by armlike processes radiating from a central cup. Eospongia of Billings has been found in the lowest Potsdam.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION. TION, SPONTANEOUS.

See COMBUS

SPONTANEOUS GENERATION, the direct production of living beings from inanimate material, in contradistinction to the ordinary mode of generation, in which young animals or plants appear only as the progeny of other living organisms. The views held by physiologists. on the question of spontaneous generation have varied greatly at different times. In the earlier periods of scientific culture, the Grecian naturalists, as represented by Aristotle, recognized among animals three different modes of generation: 1, viviparous generation, as in man and the quadrupeds, where the young were known to be produced alive from the bodies of their parents; 2, oviparous generation, as in birds, reptiles, and fish, where the young were hatched from eggs produced by the female; 3, spontaneous generation, where no connection could be traced between the young animals and any previously existing parents, and where they were consequently thought to be formed by the spontaneous organization of earthy deposits or decaying organic material. Spontaneous generation was therefore regarded as one of the regular and natural methods for the production of living forms; but as a physiological doctrine it rested entirely upon negative grounds, and was due to the incomplete knowledge then possessed by naturalists as to the real origin of many animal species. Maggots, for instance, were thought to be formed by spontaneous genera