Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 4, 1802).djvu/146

124] S P U small doses, which should not ex- ceed ten grains. — On account of its elegant green and yellow flowers, which appear in the early spring, and sometimes in the winter, this evergreen is coltivated in shrub- beries ; but it deserves to be re- marked that its VjJack berries, though eagerly eaten by pheasants, prove mortal food to man, and all the mammillary animals. Spurge-Olive. SeeMEZEK EON. SPURREY, or Spergu/a, L. a genus of plants comprising five species; three being natives of Bri- tain. Tlic principal of these is the arvensis, or Com Spurrey, which grows in corn-fields, and sandy situations ; flowers from July to September. This vegetable is eaten by horses, sheep, goats, and hogsj but is, according to Withering, refused by cows. Bech stein, FuNKE, and other naturalists, how- ever, inform ns that the corn-spurrey is not only devoured with avidity by all cattle, but is also conducive to their health, while it remarkably tends to increase the milk of cows, and to fatten sheep. Hence this tveed is industriously cultivated in Flanders ; because it is so far su- perior to other pasture-grasses, that it continues green till a late period of autumn, and often throughout the winter. Its seeds are eagerly swallowed by poultry, and altbrd on expression a good lamp-oil : nay, the flour obtained from them, •when mixed with that of wheat or r)'e, produces wholesome tread; for which purpose, it is often used In Norway and Gothland. SPURS, a well-known contri- Tarice, or machines consisting of plated steel, silver, &c. fitted to the hind-quarters of a horscmansbcots, aa4 iiimisbcd with a rowcl^ which SCLU turns on an axis, in order to urge tiie animal to greater speed. In July, 1786, a patent was granted to Mr. Thomas Ches- To N, for an invention of making spurs, and elastic spring-buckles. His improvement consists in giving the metallic substances the requi- site forms, by means of dies, worked either with a hammer, or by machinery ; after which they are rolled, and submitted to an oven, stove, or other place, heated by fire, till they become nearly red-kot. The spurs, &c. are thea immersed in oil, water, turpentine, butter, or other matter, with the addition of salt, to render them hard ; next, they are tempered by various processes, till they become elastic. — A more ample descrip- tion of the patentee's contrivances is inserted in the 5 th volume of die Repertory of Arts, &c. On the whole, it will be allowed that spurs are weapons equally useless and dangerous, if used by unskilful horsemen, or applied to unruly horses ; but, as fashion has greater influence on the actions of men than reason, we advise the noviie in the equestrian art, to avail himself of those spurs, the rowels of which may, by means of a spring, be inflected towards the boots 3 in order to prevent acci- dents, when riding or walking with such cumbersome instruments.— For the same reason, we admire the dispassionate unanimity of a certain pacific society, the mem- bers of which never spur, but oc- casionally u-hip their phlegmatic horses, agreeably to the old, but excellent adage, " slow and sure. SQUILL, the Common, or Sea- onion, Scillamaritima, L. an ex- otic plant, growing on the sandy gliorcg