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SPBAGUE, LEVI L. 37 SPRING as a delegate to three General confer- ences, in 1892, 1896 and 1904. He wrote "Practical Bookkeeping" (1873) ; "Prac- tical Grammar" (1894). SPRAGUE, FRANK JULIAN, an American engineer and inventor, born in Milford, Conn., in 1857. He graduated from the United States Naval Acad- emy, in 1878, and served as engineer in the navy until 1883, when he resigned to devote his attention to electrical work. He founded, in 1884, the Sprague Elec- tric Railway & Motor Co., which, using his constant speed electric motor, was the first to engage in general manufac- ture and the introduction of industrial electric motors. He was a pioneer in the electrification of railways, and in 1887 equipped the first modern trolley rail- way in the United States, in Richmond, Va. He invented and perfected many applications used in the electrical sys- tems of railways. During the World War he was engaged in the development of fuses in air and depth bombs. He was a member and official of many sci- entific societies and was awarded many prizes and medals for his inventions. He was the author of many scientific papers on electricity. SPRAT, the Clupea sprattus, a well- known fish, common on all Atlantic coasts of Europe, extending to the Bal- tic and the W. half of the Mediterranean. Scales smooth and easily shed; lower jaw prominent, oval patch of small teeth on tongue. SPRECKELS, RUDOLPH, an Ameri- can banker and civic reformer, born in San Francisco, Cal., in 1872, the son of Claus Spreckels. He was educated in the public schools of San Francisco and at an early age began work in his father's sugar refinery. He was soon appointed president of the Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co., which he de- veloped from a losing to a profitable venture. He became identified with the gas company which furnished San Fran- cisco with gas and reorganized that com- pany, freeing it from many abuses. At the time of the San Francisco fire, in 1906, he was a member of the committee of 50, and was also a member of the committee of 5 of the San Francisco Relief and Red Cross Funds. In the same year he organized and financed the San Francisco graft prosecution, and took an active part in the political up- rising against corporation control of State and city governments. He was an official and director in many important financial institutions. SPREE, a river of Prussia, rises in the E. of Saxony, on the borders of Bohe- mia, and after a winding course of 227 miles, but bearing generally N. and N. W., falls into the Havel at Spandau; area of drainage basin, 3,655 square miles. The principal towns on its banks are Bautzen, Kottbus, and Berlin. By the Frederick William or Miillrose canal it is connected with the Oder. It has been reopened below Berlin to admit vessels of large tonnage. SPRENGER, JACOB, of the Order of Preachers, and Professor of Theology in Cologne, and Henricus Institor (Lat- inized form of Kramer), two names of enduring infamy as the authors of the famous "Malleus Maleficarum" or "Hex- enhammer" (1489), which first formu- lated in detail the doctrine of witchcraft, and formed a text-book of procedure for witch trials. They were appointed in- quisitors under the bull "Summis desi- derantes affectibus" of Innocent VIII. in 1484, and their work is arranged in three parts — "Things that pertain to Witch- craft"; "The Effects of Witchcraft"; and "The Remedies for Witchcraft." It discusses the question of the nature of demons; the causes why they seduce men and particularly women; transfor- mations into beasts, as wolves and cats; and the various charms and exorcisms to be employed against witches. They tell with complete composure of mind how in one place 40, in another 50, per- sons were burned by their means. The book contains no distinct allusion to the proceedings at the Witches' Sabbath any more than did the "Formicarium" (1440) of John Nider, whose fifth book is de- voted to the subject of sorcery. See Witchcraft. SPRING, an elastic substance of any kind, having the power of recovering, by its elasticity, its natural state, after being bent or otherwise forced, inter- posed between two objects in order to impart or check motion or permit them to yield relatively to each other. Also, one of the four seasons of the year ; that season in which plants begin to spring and vegetate; the vernal season. In the Northern Hemisphere the spring season begins about March 21, when the sun en- ters the sign of Aries and ends about June 22, at the time of the summer sol- stice. Popularly, however, spring is con- sidered to begin in February or March, and end in April or Mr.y. As a nautical term: (1) A crack in a mast or yard, running obliquely or tranS" versely. (2) A rope or hawser passed from the stern of a ship and made fast to the cable on the anchor from the bow, by which she is riding. The object is to bring the broadside to bear in any