employers. In 1820 he became teller in the State bank; and in 1825, on the establishment of the Globe bank, he was appointed its cashier, an office which he still holds. In 1821 he became known as a poet by being the successful competitor for the prize offered for the best prologue at the opening of the Park theatre in New York. Similar successes were won by him in 1822, at the opening of the new Philadelphia theatre; in 1828, at the opening of the Salem theatre; in the same year, at the opening of another theatre in Philadelphia; and in 1830 at the opening of the Portsmouth theatre. In 1823 he obtained the prize offered for the best ode to be recited at the exhibition at the Boston theatre of a pageant in honor of Shakespeare; and in 1830 he pronounced an ode at the centennial celebration of the settlement of Boston. In 1829 he delivered a poem on "Curiosity," in the heroic measure, before the Phi Beta Kappa society in Cambridge, considered his best production. On the 4th of July, 1825, he pronounced the usual commemorative discourse before the citizens of Boston; and in 1827 he gave an address on intemperance. A new and revised edition of Mr. Sprague's writings was published in Boston in 1850.

SPRAGUE, WILLIAM BUEL, D.D., an American clergyman and author, born in Andover, Conn., Oct. 16, 1795. He was graduated at Yale college in 1815, and for nearly a year thereafter was a private tutor in the family of Major Lawrence Lewis, a nephew of Gen. Washington, who resided on a part of the original Mount Vernon plantation. He afterward studied for 3 years in the theological seminary at Princeton; and in Aug. 1819, he was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian church at West Springfield, Mass., as a colleague of the Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D.D. Here he continued 10 years, and on Aug. 26, 1829, was installed pastor of the second Presbyterian church in Albany, where he still remains. He visited Europe in 1828, and again in 1836. The degree of D.D. was conferred upon him by Columbia college in 1828, and by Harvard college in 1848. Dr. Sprague published in 1822 a volume of "Letters to a Daughter," which, being issued anonymously, was soon after published in Great Britain, and then republished in America as an English book. His subsequent works are: "Letters from Europe" (12mo., 1825); "Lectures to Young People" (1825); "Lectures on Revivals of Religion" (8vo., 1832); "Hints on Christian Intercourse" (1834); "Lectures illustrating the Contrast between true Christianity and various other Systems" (1837); "Memoir of Edward D. Griffin, D.D.," as an introduction to the volumes of sermons of that distinguished divine (1839); "Life of Timothy Dwight, D.D., President of Yale College," in Sparks's "American Biography" (1845); "Aids to Early Religion" (1847); "Words to a Young Man's Conscience" (1848); "Letters to Young Men, founded on the History of Joseph" (1854); "Visits to European Celebrities" (1855); and

"Annals of the American Pulpit," a collection of biographies of leading clergymen of all the denominations, which has reached 7 vols. 8vo. (1857-61), and 2 more remain to be published. Of the books above named, nearly all have passed through several editions. He has written introductory essays to many works, contributed much to periodicals, and published also about 140 occasional sermons, addresses, &c.

SPRAT, a small fish of the herring family, and genus harengula (Val.). There are teeth on the jaws, tongue, palate, and pterygoid bones, but none on the vomer; the branchiostegal rays are 6 or 7. There are about 10 species, of which the most common is the English sprat (H. sprattus, Val.), called garvie in Scotland; it is 5 or 6 inches long, with the body proportionally deeper than in the herring, and the edge of the abdomen strongly serrated; the scales are large, round, and deciduous; the upper part of head and back dark blue, with green reflections, passing into silvery white on the gill covers, sides, and abdomen; dorsal and caudal dusky, other fins white. It is found on the coasts of Great Britain and Sweden, and in the English channel and North sea; it ascends the rivers in large shoals in November, after the herrings have disappeared. Though smaller and not commercially so important as the herring, it furnishes in the winter an abundant, cheap, and wholesome food, and is generally eaten fresh. The fishery is prosecuted by drift or stationary nets, and with most success in dark and foggy nights; it employs about 500 boats, which capture many thousand tons in some seasons; the excess is sold at 10 to 12 cents a bushel for manure, the farmers using about 40 bushels to an acre of land. The blanquette of the French coasts (H. latulus, Val.) is 3 to 4 inches long, of a brilliant silvery white, tinged with greenish on the back; the flesh is dry, but sweet; they live a long time out of water. Several species in the West Indian seas are called sardines.

SPRAT, THOMAS, an English prelate and author, born in Tallaton, Devonshire, in 1636, died at Bromley, Kent, May 30, 1713. He was educated at Wadham college, Oxford, and after the restoration entered holy orders, and became chaplain first to the duke of Buckingham, and afterward to Charles II. He was one of the original fellows of the royal society. In 1668 he was made prebendary of Westminster, in 1680 canon of Windsor, in 1683 dean of Westminster, and in 1684 bishop of Rochester. He was clerk of the closet to James II., in 1685 was made dean of the chapel royal, and in 1686 one of the commissioners for ecclesiastical affairs. On the abdication of James, Sprat was one of those who, in the convention held on that occasion, proposed the appointment of a regent. An unsuccessful attempt was made in 1692 to implicate the bishop in a pretended plot to restore King James. He published "The Plague of Athens" and "The Death of Oliver Cromwell," poems (1659); "The His

tory of the Royal Society" (1677); "The History of the Rye House Plot" (1685); and a volume of sermons; and he edited Cowley's "Poems," with a life (1679).

SPRENGEL, KURT, a German physician and botanist, born at Boldekow, Pomerania, Aug. 3, 1766, died March 15, 1833. In 1784 he began at Halle the study of theology and medicine, but relinquished the former study, and took his medical degree in 1787. In 1789 he was appointed extraordinary professor of medicine in Halle, in 1795 ordinary professor in the same department, and in 1797 professor of botany, in which position he passed the remainder of his life. Sprengel's first work, Anleitung zur Botanik für Frauenzimmer, was published when he was but 14 years old; and his subsequent medical and botanical works procured for him honorary diplomas from upward of 70 learned societies, and invitations to fill various important professorships.

SPRENGER, ALOYS, a German orientalist, born at Nassereut, Tyrol, Sept. 3, 1813. After having studied medicine, natural sciences, and oriental languages at the university of Vienna, he went in 1836 to London, where he assisted the earl of Munster in his work on the "Military Science of the Mohammedan Nations." On the recommendation of Munster before his death, he received an appointment in the East India service, and in 1845 became president of the college of Delhi. In 1850 he was appointed examiner at the college of Fort William, interpreter of the government, and secretary of the Asiatic society of Bengal. He has published several editions of oriental writers, several works in the Urdu dialect, and a "Life of Mohammed" (vol. i., Allahabad, 1851). In 1859 the academy of inscriptions at Paris divided between Sprenger, Noeldeke, and Amari a prize for the best history of the Koran. He has engaged upon a new biography of Mohammed, in the German language, to be completed in 4 volumes, the first of which appeared in 1861.

SPRING, a current of water flowing out of the ground. Springs are produced from the water that falls upon the earth, and percolates through the soil, gathering in little rills, the "fountain heads of lakes and rivers under'ground." These find their way to the surface at lower levels, often at great distances from the localities that received the supplies from the atmosphere, and exhibit in their flow and the qualities of their waters a variety of interesting phenomena, some of which have already been considered in the articles ARTESIAN WELLS, GEYSERS, and MINERAL WATERS. From the times of earliest history, springs or wells of water have been objects of special regard. The wells in the vicinity of eastern towns and cities, and in the pasture lands, were resorted to by the women to draw water for domestic uses and for watering their flocks. The same custom there prevailed when Isaac met Rebekah at the well of Haran, and again when, 2,000 years afterward, it is alluded to

in the account of the woman of Samaria. Everywhere springs are suggestive of fertility, and even where they abound some among them are resorted to for the peculiar purity and refreshing coolness of their waters. Those of the same vicinity, supplied through different strata and from different sources, vary materially in their qualities. Some, forced up through beds of clean sand, are filtered of all impurities, though their source may be in dense swamps filled with decaying vegetable matters. Some, flowing to the surface through strata of limestone, though clear and apparently pure, contain so much calcareous matter in solution, that the water is characterized by that quality termed hardness; while others but a few yards distant, coming out through sandstone rocks, are eminently soft and pure. The phenomenon of hot and cold springs in close proximity has often been noticed since the time of Homer, who ascribed the source of the Scamander to two neighboring fountains of this character. A singular phenomenon relating to springs, observed by Prof. Brocklesby of Hartford, Conn., is their rising a little while before rain. Upon the summit of a high hill in the W. part of Rutland, Vt., is a spring which is almost always thus affected, sometimes two days before the rain appears; and another of similar character is said to exist in Concord, Mass. Prof. Brocklesby supposes the phenomenon is due to a diminished atmospheric pressure, which would also be indicated by a fall of the barometer. For the height of the spring at any time is determined by the relative force exerted by the atmosphere to keep the water down, and by the hydrostatic pressure to lift it up; and the channels and sources of supply of some springs may be so formed that the effect of diminished atmospheric pressure may thus be very sensibly indicated. The discharge of springs is often so uniform through periods of drought as well as of rain, that it is evident they must be connected with reservoirs beneath the surface too extensive to be affected by ordinary irregularities of supply; and there may well be such reservoirs of water when those of rock oil, as described in the article PETROLEUM, are sufficient to maintain continual supplies of this fluid for thousands of years. Such springs, called perennial, gush forth sometimes in large currents as well as in little rivulets, and rivers thus originate from the continuation of great subterranean currents. Instances of this kind are most common in limestone regions. It is this rock in which the great caves of the earth are usually found, and a common feature in these is a river large enough sometimes to be navigated by boats. In the Nicojack cave, Dade co., Ga., near the Tennessee river, there is said to be a waterfall 3 miles underground. As the rivers leave the caverns, and flow over the surface, they occasionally fall into other chasms and disappear, coming out again in great springs, it may be several miles off. Sometimes it happens that

the readiest outlet is in the bed of the ocean, and the fresh water is violently forced by its greater head up through the salt water, so that it may be collected at the surface almost or entirely unmixed. A spring of this kind in Boston harbor, now covered by Long wharf, supplies the shipping with water; another in the gulf of Spezia, a branch of the gulf of Genoa, rises in a powerful jet; and on the S. coast of Cuba, some distance from the shore, the fresh water springs burst upward with such violence that boats cannot safely approach the spot. Intermitting springs are those which flow for a certain period and then cease for a time, and so on alternately flowing and disappearing without regard to the supplies of rain. This is probably owing to the water collecting in a natural reservoir at an upper level, the outlet of which is a close channel through the rock curved upward so as to act like a siphon. When the water fills the reservoir and rises above the arch of the siphon, the flow commences, and continues until the discharge has carried the water down to the level of the shorter limb of the siphon; it then stops until the water has regained its former height. The younger Pliny in a letter to Licinius describes a spring of this character near the Larian lake, the modern lake of Como, which ebbs and flows regularly 3 times a day. A more celebrated one is the ancient pool of Siloam, which was observed by Dr. Robinson as still rising and falling at intervals in the manner described by Jerome and subsequent writers. From the inhabitants of the vicinity he learned that the flowing occurs at irregular intervals; sometimes 2 or 3 times a day, and sometimes, in summer, once in 2 or 3 days. The Geysers are intermitting hot springs; but the changes in their flow are due to other causes, as probably the sudden conversion of the waters into steam by coming in contact with beds of highly heated rock or lava, or the accumulation of large quantities of steam in the upper part of cavities until it can drive out the water beneath through the channels leading from the bottom to the surface. Hot springs are common in volcanic countries, in regions of extinct volcanoes, as that of Auvergne in central France, and in districts where the rock formations are traversed and displaced by long and deep lines of faults, as in central Virginia. In these localities the waters must penetrate far down to highly heated beds of rock, possibly ancient lava beds not yet cooled; or the depth may be so great that their high temperature may be owing to the general increase of heat observed in descending into the interior. (See CENTRAL HEAT.) Heated, and at the same time under great pressure, the waters possess powerful solvent properties, and thus they become charged with salts and gases by which the mineral springs are characterized. As the waters cool or evaporate, some portion of the solid matters held in solution is set free and deposited around the springs. Thus are produced

great beds of travertine, such as are observed in Tuscany and other parts of Italy-a spongy deposit of calcareous matter, which incrusts all substances it comes in contact with, and rapidly forms one class of petrifactions. The thermal springs of Hierapolis in Asia Minor were particularly celebrated in ancient times; and it was stated of the transforming power of the waters, that if these were led about the vineyards and gardens the channels became long fences, each a single stone. At the present time there is to be seen a powerful hot spring at the place, and a cliff of calcareous rock formed from its deposits. The Geysers furnish examples of silicious deposits similarly produced. Cold springs as well as hot are of ten charged with ferruginous matters, derived from the decomposition of pyritous iron contained in the rocks over which the waters have flowed. The great ochreous deposits result from such springs, and the accumulations sometimes amount to important beds of iron ore, as described under BOG ORE. Springs charged with different mineral substances which give to them special importance are further noticed in the account of these minerals under their own names, as BORACIO ACID, GAS, PETROLEUM, and SALT.

SPRING, in astronomy, one of the 4 seasons of the year, commencing for the northern hemisphere at the time of the vernal equinox, or on March 21, and ending at the time of the summer solstice, or June 21. In the United States the spring is regarded as including the 3 months March, April, and May. (See SEASONS.)

SPRING, in mechanics, an elastic body, variously constructed and of different materials according to the purpose for which it is designed. The applications of springs are very numerous and for many totally different objects. Many are used, as in carriages, to relieve the jar caused by hard bodies coming suddenly in contact with each other; others as a moving power, acting through the tendency of a coiled metallic spring to unwind itself (see CLOCKS AND WATCHES), or by sudden release from a state of tension to communicate motion, as the bow to the arrow, the gun spring to the cock, the spring pole to the drill, and in many more such instances; others are employed as regulators to control the movements of wheel work, as seen in the hair springs of watches. All of the above act on the principle of resisting compression; others, by the amount of extension produced in a spring coiled around a central axis, are used as measurers of weight. (See BALANCE.)—In organic bodies springs are also a common feature, and serve some of the purposes for which they are introduced in mechanical structures. The cartilages in the joints are springs that prevent the ends of the bones from jarring upon each other. It is by the sudden release of a springy membrane in the structure of the flea, that this little animal is enabled to project itself instantaneously 200 times the height

of its own body; and in the vegetable kingdom springs are provided, sometimes round the outside and sometimes round the inside of the seed vessels, which finally burst these suddenly open, and scatter the seeds for the next crop.-Carriage springs contribute not merely to the comfort of the rider, but they lessen the force of draught by easing the load over the obstacles, and very materially increase the durability of the carriage itself. One of the early forms of these springs, introduced in the 17th century, consisted of two broad leather straps extending from an elevated framework on one axle to a similar frame on the other; upon these the body of the carriage was securely fastened. The antique 4-wheeled state carriages of Europe are mostly constructed on this plan; and a good evidence of its efficiency is the fact that many of the best stage coaches of the present time are thus supported. The principle was also in common use not long since in 2-wheeled gigs or chaises, and is still in the West Indian volante, points of support behind being provided by two long slender arms, connected by a cross bar at their extremities, to which bar the straps are secured. Swung upon the straps, which admit a limited lateral motion, with the advantage of the elasticity of the arms behind and of the shafts in front, the spring of these carriages is most perfect. An improvement was early introduced by making the frames that supported the straps elastic, by means of bands of steel curved over in the shape of the letter C, over the top of which the straps, secured at the bottom, were passed. The strength of these springs may be increased to any desired extent, by introducing several thicknesses of steel plates in the lower portion of the spring. Sometimes the framework which supports the C springs rests itself upon the form of elliptic springs known as under springs. Steel springs of various forms are now generally in use for carriages, being light and occupying little room. Those known as elliptic are steel plates or thin bars, so shaped that when two are put together they present an elliptical figure, and being secured together at the ends a spring is produced as pressure is brought to bear upon them to flatten the ellipse. They are bolted below upon the axle and above to the frame of the carriage by their central part, and are strengthened by additional thicknesses of steel in this portion. Very strong springs, for the heaviest wagons and railroad cars, are made of straight pieces of steel plates of gradually increasing lengths piled one upon another and fastened directly to the axle, or else over and across each end of it to the frame which rests upon the axles at these points. The frame of the carriage is secured to the ends of the longest and uppermost plate by eye bolts passing through these ends, which are turned over for their reception.-The varieties of steel springs for carriages are too numerous to be particularly named. Locomotives and railroad carriages demanded springs of unusual strength

and efficiency, and to act as near as possible with equal effect under heavy and light loads. These also have been devised of different forms and materials. Air, being the most elastic of all bodies, makes an excellent spring, the weight resting upon inverted hollow cylinders, set upon pistons fitting air-tight. In practice it has been found exceedingly difficult to prevent the escape of the air around the piston; and the following improvement has been devised for this purpose. The inverted cylinder, or rough cup, is provided with a very strong but flexible diaphragm or cover of several thicknesses of India rubber, stout canvas, and leather, covered on the inside with sugar house molasses. This rests upon a rounded head of wood, and is filled out with compressed air forced in by a small air pump, the pressure amounting it may be to 150 lbs. to the square inch. To prevent the air from passing through the pores of the cast iron pump, this is lined with tin. India rubber car springs are very extensively used. They are made of disks of any thickness, piled upon each other to any desired height, and contained in a cylindrical case, in the top of which fits a piston resting on the pile. It is obvious that between the frame to which the pistons are attached and the weight other springs may be introduced. Instead of India rubber disks others of steel are also used, saucer-shaped, and arranged in pairs upon each other, the pair consisting of two disks set face to face. The disks are made more durable and efficient by corrugating the metal. Another form is of flat disks of steel, less than of an inch thick, set between disks of cast iron of the same diameter, and made alternately with convex and concave surfaces. The tendency of the pressure applied to such a pile is to change the flat steel face into a slightly dishing form, which is resisted by the elasticity of the steel. Single disks operate when the load is light; the occasional introduction of two together in the pile provides for the same action with an increased load, and of three or more for still greater weights. Thus the same pile is very ingeniously made to furnish springs of different degrees of stiffness, which are brought into action only as the load upon them requires. A pile 6 inches high and of 5 inches diameter of outside case admits a motion of 13 inches before it is fully compressed. Springs thus designed for sustaining heavy bodies may be also applied to prevent their horizontal concussion, as of cars upon railroads, and also to relieve them from the sudden jerk which without springs they would receive in starting.-How it is that steel when tempered receives the high degree of elasticity that renders this metal so useful for springs is not understood. By grinding and polishing the property may be lost, and by hardening and tempering it is restored. It thus seems probable that the elasticity resides in the thin blue oxidized surface. The removal of the blue tint from a pendulum

spring by its immersion in weak acid was found by Mr. Dent to impair its elasticity, causing the chronometer to lose nearly a minute each hour; and a second and equal immersion scarcely caused any further loss. In stating this to the British association, he added that such springs get stronger in a minute degree during the first 2 or 3 years they are in use, from some atmospheric change; when they are coated with gold by the electrotype process no such change is observable. Watch springs, as described by Holtzapffel, are hammered out of round steel wire, of suitable diameter, until they fill the gauge for width, which also insures equality of thickness. When the holes are punched in their ends and they are filed smooth on the edge, they are bound with wire in a loose open coil, and heated over a charcoal fire upon a perforated revolving plate. They are then hardened by dipping them in oil, and the oil is blazed off. The next process is grinding and polishing with emery and oil between lead blocks, which destroys the elasticity. A subsequent hammering on a very bright anvil restores this, "putting the nature into the spring." The coloring of orange or deep blue, which some consider merely ornamental, is imparted by moving the spring back and forth 2 or 3 inches at a time over a flat plate of iron or wood under which a little spirit lamp is kept burning. The spring is finally coiled by attaching it when cold to a small axis and causing this to revolve by means of its winch handle. Chronometer balance springs, of screw form, are shaped and tempered by winding them into the square thread of a screw of the right diameter and pitch. The two ends being fastened to the screw, the whole is carefully enveloped in platinum foil and tightly bound with wire. It is then heated in a piece of gun barrel closed at one end and plunged into oil, which hardens the spring almost without discoloring it. The outer covering is now taken off, and the spring is let down to the blue before it is released. The hair springs of common watches are frequently left soft; but the best are hardened in the coil upon the plain cylinder, and are then curled into the spiral form between the edge of a blunt knife and the thumb, as in curling up a narrow ribbon or paper. These springs are so delicate that it takes 3,200 of them to weigh an ounce; the soft ones are valued at 28. 67. each, and the hardened and tempered ones at 103. 6d. Thus an ounce of metal, worth originally less than 2d., is made in the one case worth £400, in the other £1,600.

SPRING BALANCE. See BALANCE. SPRING, SAMUEL, D.D., an American clergyman, born at Northbridge, Mass., Feb. 27, 1746, died in Newburyport, March 4, 1819. He was graduated at Princeton college in 1771, and in 1775, having been licensed to preach, became a chaplain in the continental army, and accompanied the expedition under Col. Arnold to Canada. At the close of 1776 he

left the army, and in 1777 was ordained pastor of a church in Newburyport, in which relation he continued till his death. He was a man of great influence and weight of character, and, as the leading minister of the Hopkinsian party, was active in promoting the union of the two parties in the Congregational church, effected by the establishment of the Andover theological seminary, and also in the organization of the American board of commissioners for foreign missions. He published about 25 miscellaneous discourses, and one or two small controversial works.-GARDINER, D.D., LL.D., an American clergyman, son of the preceding, born at Newburyport, Mass., in Feb. 1785. He was graduated at Yale college in 1805, and after studying law a short time went to the island of Bermuda as a teacher, and remained there nearly two years, at the same time pursuing the study of law. After his return he was admitted to the bar, and practised more than a year, when he resolved to devote himself to the ministry. He studied about 8 months at the Andover seminary, and was ordained as pastor of the Brick church (Presbyterian) in New York, Aug. 10, 1810, in which office he still continues (1862). He has been elected successively president of Hamilton and Dartmouth colleges, but in both cases declined. Beside a large number of sermons and addresses in pamphlet form, and numerous contributions to periodicals, he has published "Essays on the Distinguishing Traits of Christian Character" (8vo., 1813); "Memoirs of the Rev. Samuel J. Mills" (8vo., 1820); "Fragments from the Study of a Pastor" (12mo., 1838); "Obligations of the World to the Bible" (12mo., 1844); "The Attraction of the Cross" (8vo., 1845); "The Bible not of Man" (12mo., 1847); "Discourses to Seamen" (12mo., 1847); "The Power of the Pulpit" (12mo., 1848); "Memoirs of Hannah L. Murray" (8vo., 1849); "The Mercy Seat" (8vo., 1849); "First Things" (2 vols. 8vo., 1851); "The Glory of Christ" (2 vols. 8vo., 1852); "Contrast between Good and Bad Men" (2 vols. 8vo., 1855); "Brick Church Memorial" (8vo., 1861).

SPRINGFIELD, a city and the shire town of Hampden co., Mass., situated on the E. bank of the Connecticut river, 98 m. W. by S. from Boston, and 138 m. N. N. E. from New York, in lat. 42° 6' 10" N., long. 72° 35' 12" W.; pop. in 1860, 15,199. The town is drained by Mill river, which furnishes water power for manufacturing establishments. The E. portion of the town, where the U. S. armory is situated, is considerably elevated, while the W. part is level. The city is well built, and has wide streets which are lined with trees. The city hall is a noble building in the Romanesque style, and, beside the city offices and library, has a large public hall which will accommodate comfortably an audience of over 2,500 persons. There are 12 churches in the city, viz.: 1 African, 1 Baptist, 4 Congregational, 1 Episcopal, 1 Roman Catholic, 1 Second Advent, 1 Swedenbor