Page:EB1911 - Volume 25.djvu/666 - Wikisource, the free online library (2024)

On the eve of the struggle with Napoleon, Alexander, consciousof his unpopularity, conceived the idea of making Speranski hisscape-goat, and so conciliating that Old Russian sentimentwhich would be the strongest support of the autocratic tsaragainst revolutionary France. Speranski's own indiscretionsgave the final impulse. He was surrounded with spies whor*ported, none too accurately, the minister's somewhat sharpcriticisms of the emperor's acts; he had even had the supremepresumption to advise Alexander not to take the chief commandin the coming campaign. A number of persons in the entourageof the emperor, including the grand-duch*ess Catherine, Katamzin,Rostopchin and the Swedish general Baron Armfield,intrigued to involve him in a charge of treason.^[1] Alexanderdid not credit the charge, but he made Speranski responsiblefor the unpopularity incurred by himself in consequence of thehated reforms and the still more hated French policy, and on the17th-29th of March 1812 dismissed him from office. Reinstatedin the public service in 1816, he was appointed governor-generalof Siberia, for which he drew up a new scheme of government,and in 1821 entered the council of state. Under Nicholas I.,he was engaged in the codification of the Russian law (publishedin 1830 in 45 vols.), on which he also wrote some importantcommentaries.

See the biography (in Russian) by M. Korff (St Petersburg,1861). On his public life and constitutional reforms see TheodorSchiemann, Geschichte Russlands unter Kaiser Nikolaus I., Bd. i.Kaiser Alexander I. p. 75 seq. (Berlin, 1904); Pierre Chasles, LeParlement russe p. 19 seq. (Paris, 1910), and the works of V. Vagin(St Petersburg, 1872 and Moscow, 1905). Count Nesselrode'sletters to Speranski and many references are published in vol. iii.of the Lettres et papiers du comte de Nesselrode.

SPERMACETI (from Lat. sperma, seed, and cetus, a whale),a wax found in the head cavities and blubber of the sperm-whale(Physeter macrocephalus), where it is dissolved in the sperm oilwhile the creature is living; it also occurs in other Cetacea (seeWhale Oils). At a temperature of about 6° C. the solid matterseparates in a crystalline condition, and when purified by pressureand treatment with weak solution of caustic alkali it formsbrilliant white crystalline scales or plates, hard, but unctuousto the touch, and destitute of taste or smell. It is quite insolublein water, very slightly affected by boiling alcohol, buteasily dissolved in ether, chloroform, and carbon bisulphide.Spermaceti consists principally of cetin or cetyl palmitate,C₁₅H₃₁CO₂C₁₆H₃₃. The substance is used in making candles ofstandard photometric value, in the dressing of fabrics, and inmedicine and surgery, especially in cerates, bougies, ointments,and in cosmetic preparations.

SPERM-WHALE, or Cachalot (Physeter macrocephalus), thelargest representative of the toothed whales, its length andbulk being about equal to, or somewhat exceeding those of theArctic right-whale, from which, however, it is very differentin appearance and structure. The head is about one-thirdof the length of the body, very massive, high and truncated infront; and owing its size and form mainly to the accumulationof a peculiarly modified form of fatty tissue in the large hollowon the upper surface of the skull. The oil contained in cells inthis cavity, when refined, yields spermaceti, and the thick coveringof blubber, which everywhere envelopes the body, producesthe valuable sperm-oil of commerce. The single blowhole is alongitudinal slit, placed at the upper and anterior extremityof the head to the left side of the middle line. The opening ofthe mouth is on the under side of the head, considerably behindthe end of the snout. The lower jaw is extremely narrow, andhas on each side from twenty to twenty-five stout conical teeth,which furnish ivory of good quality, though not in sufficientbulk for most of the purposes for which that article is required.The upper teeth are rudimentary and buried in the gum. Theflipper is short, broad, and truncated, and the dorsal fin a merelow protuberance. The general colour of the surface is blackabove and grey below, the colours gradually shading into eachother. The sperm-whale is one of the most widely distributedof animals, being met with, usually in herds or “schools,” inalmost all tropical and subtropical seas, and occasionally visitingthe northern seas, a number having been killed around theShetlands a few years ago. The food of sperm-whales consistsmainly of squid and cuttlefish, but also comprises fish of considerablesize. The substance called “ambergris,” formerly usedin medicine and now in perfumery, is a concretion formed in theintestine of this whale, and found floating on the surface ofthe sea. Its genuineness is proved by the presence of the hornybeaks of the cuttles on which the whale feeds. The one representativeof the genus Cogia is called the lesser or pigmy sperm whale,being only from 9 ft. to 13 ft. long.

SPES, in Roman mythology, the personification of Hope.Originally a nature goddess (like Venus the garden goddess,with whom she was sometimes identified), she representedat first the hope of fruitful gardens and fields, then of abundantoffspring, and lastly of prosperity to come and good fortunein general, being hence invoked on birthdays and at weddings.Of her numerous temples at Rome, the most ancient was appropriatelyin the forum olitorium (vegetable market), built duringthe first Punic war, and since that time twice burnt downand restored. The day of its dedication (August 1) correspondedwith the birthday of Claudius, which explains thefrequent occurrence of Spes on the coins of that emperor. Spesis represented as a beautiful maiden in a long light robe, liftingup her skirt with her left hand, and carrying in her right a budalready closed or about to open. Sometimes she wears a garlandof flowers on her head, ears of corn and poppy-heads in herhand, symbolical of a prosperous harvest. Like Fortune, withwhom she is often coupled in inscriptions on Roman tombstones,she was also represented with the cornu copiae (horn of plenty).

See G. Wissowa, Religion und Kultus der Römer (1902), accordingto whom Spes was originally not a garden goddess, but simplythe divinity to whom one prayed for the fulfilment of one's desires.

SPESSART, a highland forest country of Germany, belongingmainly to the Bavarian province of Lower Franconia, but inthe north to the Prussian province of Hesse Cassel, and it isbounded on the S. and W. by the Main, on the E. by the Sinnand on the N. by the Kinzig and Joss. The main ridge of theformation, consisting of gneiss, granite and red sandstone, runsfrom a point opposite Miltenberg, in a north-westerly directionto the source of the Kinzig near Schlüchtern—a distance of 45 m.—andattains its highest elevation in the Geiersberg (1919 ft.),which lies north of the Rohrbrunn pass, through which runs themain road from Aschaffenburg to Würzburg. The forest,with which it is densely covered, consists of oak, beech,ash and fir, and the scenery, especially on the main side,between Gemünden and Lohr, is impressive. The climate isinclement in winter and oppressively hot in midsummer.The inhabitants are engaged chiefly in woodcutting, raft-makingand quarrying, and most of the timber is floated downto Holland. Cobalt, silver, lead and copper are also worked,and the southern and western slopes yield wine of good quality.This beautiful tract of country until recent years was comparativelylittle known to the tourist, but a club (Spessart Klub)through the establishment of finger-posts and the issue of maps,has indicated the more interesting tours to be followed.

See Bücking, Der nordwestliche Spessart, geologisch aufgenommen(Berlin, 1893); Schober, Führer durch den Spessart (Aschaffenburg,1904); Wolff, Der Spessart, sein Wirtschaftsleben (ibid., 1905).

SPEUSIPPUS (4th century B.C.), Greek philosopher, son ofEurymedon and Potone, sister of Plato, is supposed to have beenborn about 407 B.C. He was bred in the school of Isocrates;