Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/33

This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
15
RIGHT

SPECTRUM 15 SPEEDWELL ual effects, there are many more beyond the red at one end of the spectrum and the violet at the other, which produce powerful chemical and heating effects. This portion is sometimes called the in- visible spectrum, sometimes described as the ultra-red or ultra-violet spectrum. Its length greatly exceeds that of the visible spectrum, and it is found to com- prise lines and bands precisely analogous to those occurring in the luminous por- tion. SPECTRUM ANALYSIS, in physics and chemistry, the determination of the chemical composition, the physical con- dition, or both, of any body by the spec- trum of the light which it emits or suf- fers to pass through it, under certain conditions. (See Spectroscope.) SPEDDING, JAMES, an English his- torian, born near Bassenthwaite, Cumber- land, England, June, 1808. The labors of his whole life were concerned with the works of Lord Bacon ; and his first work, "Evenings with a Reviewer" (2 vols., privately printed in 1848, published 1881), was an elaborate review of Macaulay's essay on the great philos- opher. He published "The Works of Francis Bacon" (7 vols. 1857-1859) ; "Life and Letters of Francis Bacon" (7 vols. 1870-1876) ; "Life and Times of Francis Bacon" (2 vols. 1878) ; and a volume of miscellaneous "Reviews and Discussions" (1869). He died in Lon- don, March 9, 1881. SPEECH, spoken language; uttered sounds intended to convey meaning, and produced by the organs of voice, namely, the larynx, and the mouth and its parts, including the tongue and teeth. In speech tv/o great classes of sounds are produced, these being usually known as vowels and consonants. Vowels are pro- nounced by sounds coming primarily from the larynx and passing with com- parative freedom through the mouth cavity, though modified in certain ways; while consonants are formed by sounds caused by the greater or less interrup- tion of the current of air from the larynx in the mouth. Vowels can be uttered alone and independently of con- sonants, and their sounds can be pro- longed at will; consonants have no im- portance in speech as apart from vow- els, and are naned consonants from being used along with vowels. Both vowel and consonant sounds are very numerous if we investigate the different languages of the world, but any one lan- guage only has a fraction of those that may be used. A single sound may con- vey an idea of itself and thus form a word, or several may be combined to form a word, and if the word is uttered by several distinct successive changes in position of the vocal organs it is a word of so many syllables. Words, again, are combined to form sen- tences or complete statements, and the aggregate of words used by any people or community in mutual intercourse forms its language. See Philology; Voice: Vowel. SPEED, JAMES, an American lawyer; born in Jefferson co., Ky., March 11, 1812; was graduated at St. Joseph's Col- lege in that State; commenced the prac- tice of law in Louisville, and in 1847 was elected to the lower house of the Legislature, and in 1861 to the Senate. The outbreak of the Civil War found Judge Speed an uncompromising Union man, and he took charge of the recruit- ing stations in Kentucky. He was a brother of Joshua F. Speed, the friend of Abraham Lincoln, and it was prob- ably through this acquaintance with his brother that Lincoln came to select Speed for a place in his cabinet, though he had previously gained distinction as a lawyer and professor in the Law School of Transylvania University at Lexington. Speed was appointed At- torney-General in November, 1864, and was retained in the office by President Johnson after the assassination of Mr. Lincoln till July, 1866, when he re- signed. He died June 25, 1887. SPEEDWELL, the common name of plants of the genus Veronica, natural order Scrophulariaceae, natives of tem- COMMON speedwell