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SPEEDWELL 16 SPELLING REFORM perate climates all over the world. The species consist of herbs, undershrubs, or shrubs. The flowers are of a blue, white, or red color, having two stamens. V. Virginica has a white corolla. V. officin- alis, or common speedwell, was once extensively used as a substitute for tea, and also as a tonic and diuretic. V. Teucrium, or germander-leaved speed- well, has much the same properties as common speedwell, and V. Chamaedrys, or germander speedwell, is a very gen- eral favorite, on account of its being among the very first that opens its flow- ers in the early spring. SPEER, ROBERT ELLIOTT, an American missionary secretary, born in Huntingdon, Pa., in 1867. He graduated from Princeton University in 1889, and from the Princeton Theological Sem- inary in the following year. In 1891 he was appointed secretary of the Presby- terian Board of Foreign Missions, and made tours in connection with this work in China, Persia, Korea, and Japan in 1896-7. In 1909 he visited South Am- erica, and in 1915 Japan, China, the Philippine Islands, and Siam. During the World War he was a member of the advisory committee on the religious and moral activities of the Army and Navy. He wrote "Missions and Politics in Asia" (1898) ; "Missionary Principles and Practice" (1902) ; "(Christianity and the Nations" (1910) ; "South American Problems" (1912) ; "Studies in the Gos- pel of John" (1915). SPEKE, JOHN HANNING, an Afri- can explorer; born near Bideford, Eng- land, in May, 1827. He entered the In- dian army at the age of 17, served in Sir Colin Campbell's division through the campaign in the Punjab, and during his annual leave of absence made ex- ploring expeditions in the Himalayas and in Tibet, especially studying the botany, geology, and natural history of the region, and collecting specimens. He subsequently accompanied Captain Bur- ton in his exploration of Eastern Africa, and in 1858 reached the head of the great lake Nyanza, under the Mountains of the Moon, and since called Vic- toria Nyanza. Desirous of ascertaining whether the Nile has its source in that lake, he set out from Zanzibar in 1860, accompanied by Captain Grant, to find the S. end of the lake; and after heroic struggles against extraordinary difficul- ties succeeded in his object, spent some time on the shores of the Nyanza, and striking the Nile at Urondogoni retraced its course to the lake. His "Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile" appeared in 1863, and a pamphlet, en- titled "What Led to the Discovery of the Source of the Nile," in 1864. He died Sept. 15, 1864. SPELLING REFORM, the purpose of which is to simplify spelling by the elimination of meaningless letters. In 1898 the American National Education Association adopted twelve words for simplification in spelling: program, tho, altho, thoro, thorofare, thru, thruout, catalog, prolog, decalog, demagog, and pedagog. In 1906 there was organized in New York the Simplified Spelling Board, headed by Prof. Brander Mat- thews and amply subsidized by Andrew Carnegie. This body drew up a plan for a revision of English spelling of a far more sweeping nature. The follow- ing are the chief changes recommended: (a) The use of e instead of the dia- graph ae, except at the end of a word; as in medieval, for mediaeval. (b) The elimination of the silent b before t, as dout for doubt. (c) The use of e instead of ea in words having the short e sound ; hed for head, welth for wealth. (d) The elimination of the final gh when it is silent, as in thru for through, or tho for though; and the substitution of f in such words as laf for laugh. (e) The substitution of er for re in such words as theatre and centre. (f) The omission of the silent g and the silent k before n, as in nome for gnome, or naw for gnaw; and nife for knife. (g) Tho substitution of f for ph when the latter is pronounced like f. as in fenomena for phenomena; or sfere for sphere. A strong campaign was begun after the above plan was agreed upon to per- suade newspaper editors throughout the country to lead the way in educating the people in the new idea. Special field agents were maintained, who spent their whole time traveling to interview local editors and school boards and to lecture before civic bodies. Some important publications have supported the move- ment, in part if not entirely, notably "The Outlook" and "The Literary Di- gest." Thousands of local newspapers also indicate in their columns their con- version to the idea. Undoubtedly there is sound logic on the side of the advo- cates of spelling reform, but the senti- ment of the people for old forms seems inclined to give way before reason very slowly. This was well illustrated in the effort of Theodore Roosevelt to popular- ize simplified spelling in 1906. Being then President, Mr. Roosevelt issued an order instructing the public printer to adopt the simplified spelling in all docu-