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SPABKS, EDWIN EBLE SPARTA, or LACEDJEMON stitution the degree of Ph.D. in 1900. He also holds honorary degrees from Lehigh University and Allegheny Col- lege. From 1884-1885 he was an assist- ant in history at Ohio State University, from 1885-1890 he taught school in Ohio, and from 1890-1895 he was princi- pal of the preparatory department and teacher of history at Pennsylvania State College. From 1895-1907 he was con- nected with the University of Chicago successively as lecturer, instructor, as- sistant professor, associate professor, and professor of American History, cura- tor of the historical museum, and dean of the University College. In 1908 he became president of Pennsylvania State College. He was a member of various historical and patriotic societies and committees. He wrote "Expansion of the American People" (1899) ; "Forma- tive Incidents in American Diplomacy" (1902) ; "The United States of America" (2 vols., 1904) ; "Foundations of National Development" (1907) ; etc. He also contributed many essays and articles on historical and educational topics to periodicals and journals. SPARKS, JARED, an American his- torian; born in Willington, Conn., May 10, 1789 ; was graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1815; studied theology; and was ordained in the Unitarian Church in Bal- timore in 1819. He took part in the doc- trinal controversy with orthodox theolo- gians; was chosen chaplain of the National House of Representatives in 1821; edited the "Unitarian Miscellany and Christian Monitor" in 1821-1823; conducted the "North American Review" in 1824-1831; and was the originator and first editor of the "American Almanac and Repository of Useful Knowledge." He was Professor of Ancient and Mod- em History at Harvard in 1839-1849; president of the college in 1849-1853; and the author of a large number of sermons, biographical and historical works, theological papers, etc., most notably "The Library of American Biog- raphy" and "Correspondence of the American Revolution." He died in Cam- bridge, Mass., March 14, 1866. SPARROW, in ornithology, Passer do- mesticus, the house sparrow, a well known bird, the constant follower of civilized man. It ranges over Europe, into the N. of Africa and Asia, and has been introduced into America and Aus- tralia. Sparrows are found in crowded cities and in manufacturing towns. Man- tle of male brown striped with black; head bluish-gray; two narrow bands, one white and the other rusty-yellow, on •wings; cheeks grayish-white, fr^nt of neck black, underparts light gi'ay. From a high antiquity, their great fecundity, their attachment to their young, their extreme pugnacity, and the large tolls they levy on the farmer and market gar- dener have been commented on by writers on ornithology. In many places a small sum is paid for the destruction of these birds, the legislatures of some of the States having made appropria- tions for this fund. The name sparrow is also loosely applied to several of the Fringillidse. SPARROW HAWK, in ornithology, the Accipiter nisus, extending across Eu- rope, through Asia to Japan. The adult male is about 12 inches long, dark-brown on the upper surface, softening into gray as the bird grows old; the entire under surface is rusty-brown, with bands of a darker shade. The female is about 15 inches long, the upper surface nearly re- sembling that of the male bird in ground-color, but having many of the feathers white at the base; under sur- face grayish-white, with dark transverse bars. The sparrow hawk is very destruc- tive to small quadrupeds and young birds. The hen lays four or five eggs ir- regularly blotched with brownish-crim- son on a bluish-white ground. The name is also applied to the American falcon, the Australian collared sparrow hawk, the European kestrel, and the New Zealand quail hawk. SPARTA, or LACED^MON, a cele- brated city of ancient Greece; capital of Laconia and of the Spartan state, and the chief city in the Peloponnesus; on the W. bank of the Eurotas river, and embraced a circuit of 6 miles. Sparta was a scattered city consisting of five separate quarters. Unlike Athens it was plainly built, and had few notable pub- lic buildings J consequently there are no imposing rums to be seen here as in Athens, and the modern Sparta is only a village of some 4,000 inhabitants. La- conia, the district in which Sparta was situated, was the S. E. division of the Peloponnesus, bounded on the W. by Messenia, from which it was separated by the chain of Taygetus, on the N. by Arcadia and Argolis, and on the E. and S. by the sea. The Eurotas (Vasilo- potamo, "king of rivers") here flows through a picturesque valley and empties into the Gulf of Laconia. The Spartan state was founded, ac- cording to tradition, by Lacedaemon, son of Zeus. The most celebrated of its legendary kings was Menelaus. It is said to have been conquered by the Heraclidae from N. Greece about 1080, "who established a dyarchy or double