Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 09.djvu/59

SPOFFORD. HARRIET PRESCOTT 33 SPONGE 'Sir Rohan's Ghost"; "The Amber Gods, and Other Stories"; "New England Legends"; "Hester Stanley and St. Marks"; "A Master Spirit"; "Old Wash- ington" (1906); etc. She died on Aug. 15, 1921. SPOKANE, a city of Washington, the county-seat of Spokane co. It is on the Northern Pacific, the Great Northern, the Oregon-Washington Railroad and Navigation Company, the Spokane In- ternational, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy, and other railroads. It has in all 6 trans-continental lines and 12 branches. Situated at the foot of a val- ley, midway between the rise and mouth of the Spokane river, it is 350 miles E. of Seattle and 375 miles N. E. of Portland. It is the commercial cen- ter of the eastern part of the State of Washington, and of the northern part of Idaho, and the distributing point for a great agricultural, lumbering, horticul- tural, and stock raising region. The climate is unusually healthful. The an- nual normal temperature is 48° and there is seldom excessive heat or cold. The city rises from the banks of the Spokane river on the N. and S., to an elevation of 1,900 feet above sea-level. The streets are on the level portions while the houses are chiefly on the slopes. Latah creek, a tributary of the Spokane river, is spanned by a concrete bridge 1,070 feet long. The Monroe Street bridge is also of concrete, with an arch of 281 feet long. The Spokane river provides water power from which 172,000 horse power has been developed. This is used for street lighting, street car and interurban trolley service, and manufacturing. There is an excellent park system which includes about 2,000 acres of land. There are 43 park places and 8 play- grounds. The educational advantages are exceptional. In addition to public and private schools there are several institutions of higher learning, some located within the city and others in adjacent towns. There are 35 grade schools, a parental school, two high schools, a school for defectives, 5 pai'o- chial schools, and 7 colleges and tech- nical institutions. Gonzaga University is the largest Roman Catholic institu- tion of its kind in the N. W. The city has over 300 manufacturing establish- ments, with an annual output valued at $75,000,000 and employing 12,000 people. Among the leading products are lum- ber, flour, breakfast foods, paper, brick, meats, iron, agricultural machinery, dairy products, cement, clothing, crackers, candy, extracts, and soap. There is also a large jobbing and whole- sale business. The city is the center of an important mining district. In 1919 there were 14 banks with a total capital of $4,325,000 and deposits of $53,220,725. There are many newspapers, over 140 churches, and a public library with 75,- 000 volumes. The fire and police de- partments are of the latest municipal models. There are hospitals and other public institutions. The growth of the city dates from 1881, when the Northern Pacific Railway was completed at this point. Pop. (1900) 36,848; (1910) 104,402; (1920) 104,437. SPOLETO. an archiepiscopal city of ancient Umbria in the middle of Italy; on a rocky hill, 75 miles N. E. of Rome. It is commanded by a citadel which dates from the days of the Goths, and has a fine cathedral, built in the time of the Lombard dukes, and containing fine frescoes by Lippo Lippi. The churches of St. Domenico, St. Peter, St. Gregory, and St. Nicholas present in- teresting architectural features. Water is brought to the city by a 7th century aqueduct, 270 feet high and 680 long. The ancient Spoletium had its origin in a Roman colony planted here about 240 B. c. ; Hannibal was repulsed in an as- sault he made on the town (217 B. c.) after the battle of Lake Trasimene. Under the Lombards it became the cap- ital of an independent duchy, and its dukes ruled over great part of Central Italy. Having been united to Tuscany, it was bequeathed by the Countess Matilda to the Pope (1115). Pop. com- mune, about 26,000; town, about 10,000. SPONGE, Spongida, a horny substance valued for its ready imbibition of water, and consisting of the keratode skeleton of certain^ Protozoa or lowest animals. A sponge is thus a colony of living ani- mals. Such a colony communicates with the outer world by means of certain openings (capable of being closed at will), traceable in an ordinary sponge, and of which the larger are named oscula and the smaller pores. By the latter, currents of water are continually drawTi into the sponge, while through the oscula currents are as continually discharged. These currents are kept up through the action of the minute vi- bratile processes named cilia, which are limited usually to certain spaces of the canals named ciliated chambers. The main use of this circulation in the sponge is evidently nutritive. Particles of food are thereby swept into the organisms, while oxygen is also inhaled and effete matters exhaled. Sponge reproduction is effected by means of specially developed masses of