Part 638

Sper`ma*to*zo"oid (?) n. (Biol.) A spermatozoid.

||Sper`ma*to*zo"ön (?), n.; pl. Spermatozoa (#). [NL., fr. Gr. ||&?;&?;&?;, sperm + &?;&?;&?; an animal.] (Biol.) Same as ||Spermatozoid.

Sper"mic (?), a. Of or pertaining to sperm, or semen.

||Sper*mid"i*um (?), n.; pl. Spermidia (#). [Nl., fr. Gr. spe`rma ||seed.] (Bot.) An achenium.

Sperm"ist (?), n. (Biol.) A believer in the doctrine, formerly current, of encasement in the male (see Encasement), in which the seminal thread, or spermatozoid, was considered as the real animal germ, the head being the true animal head and the tail the body.

Sper"mo*blast (?), n. [Spermo- + -blast.] (Physiol.) One of the cells formed by the division of the spermospore, each of which is destined to become a spermatozoid; a spermatocyte; a spermatoblast.

||Sper`mo*coc"cus (?), n. [NL. See Spermo-, and Coccus.] (Physiol.) The ||nucleus of the sperm cell.

Sper"mo*derm (?), n. [Spermo- + derm: cf. F. spermoderme.] (Bot.) The covering of a seed; -- sometimes limited to the outer coat or testa. Lindley.

||Sper`mo*go"ni*um (?), n. [NL.; spermo- + Gr. &?;&?;&?; offspring.] ||(Bot.) A conceptacle of certain lichens, which contains spermatia.

Sper*mol"o*gist (?), n. [Gr. &?;&?;&?;&?;&?; picking up seeds; spe`rma sperm, seed + &?;&?;&?;&?; to gather.] One who treats of, or collects, seeds. Bailey.

Sper"mo*phile (?), n. [Gr. spe`rma a seed + fi`los loving, fond.] (Zoöl.) Any ground squirrel of the genus Spermophilus; a gopher. See Illust. under Gopher.

Sper"mo*phore (?), n. (Zoöl.) A spermatophore.

||Sper*moph"y*ta (?), n. pl. [Nl., from Gr. spe`rma a seed + fyto`n a ||plant.] Plants which produce seed; phænogamia. These plants ||constitute the highest grand division of the vegetable kingdom.

Sper"mo*phyte (?), n. (Bot.) Any plant which produces true seeds; -- a term recently proposed to replace phænogam.

Sper`mo*phyt"ic (?), a. (Bot.) Capable of producing seeds; phænogamic.

||Sper`mo*plas"ma (?), n. [NL. See Spermo-, and Plasma.] (Physiol.) The ||protoplasm of the sperm cell. Haeckel.

Sper"mo*sphere (?), n. [Spermo- + sphere.] (Physiol.) A mass or ball of cells formed by the repeated division of a male germinal cell (spermospore), each constituent cell (spermoblast) of which is converted into a spermatozoid; a spermatogemma.

Sper"mo*spore (?), n. [Spermo- + spore.] (Physiol.) The male germinal or seminal cell, from the breaking up of which the spermoblasts are formed and ultimately the spermatozoids; a spermatospore. Balfour.

Sper"mule (?), n. [Dim. fr. sperm.] (Physiol.) A sperm cell. Haeckel.

Sperm" whale` (?). (Zoöl.) A very large toothed whale (Physeter macrocephalus), having a head of enormous size. The upper jaw is destitute of teeth. In the upper part of the head, above the skull, there is a large cavity, or case, filled with oil and spermaceti. This whale sometimes grows to the length of more than eighty feet. It is found in the warmer parts of all the oceans. Called also cachalot, and spermaceti whale.

Pygmy sperm whale (Zoöl.), a small whale (Kogia breviceps), seldom twenty feet long, native of tropical seas, but occasionally found on the American coast. Called also snub-nosed cachalot. -- Sperm-whale porpoise (Zoöl.), a toothed cetacean (Hyperoödon bidens), found on both sides of the Atlantic and valued for its oil. The adult becomes about twenty-five feet long, and its head is very large and thick. Called also bottle-nosed whale.

Sper"ry*lite (?), n.[Named after F. L. Sperry, who discovered it.] (Min.) An arsenide of platinum occuring in grains and minute isometric crystals of tin-white color. It is found near Sudbury, Ontario Canada, and is the only known compound of platinum occuring in nature.

Sperse (?), v. t. To disperse. [Obs.] Spenser.

Spes"sart*ite (?), n.[From Spessart, in Germany.] (Min.) A manganesian variety of garnet.

Spet (?), v. t. [AS. sp&?;tan. See Spit.] To spit; to throw out. [Obs.]

Spet, n. Spittle. [Obs.]

Spetch"es (?), n. pl. Parings and refuse of hides, skins, etc., from which glue is made.

Spew (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spewed (?); p. pr.& vb. n. Spewing.] [OE. spewen, speowen, AS. spwan;n to D. spuwen to spit. OS & OHG. spwan, G. speien, Icel. sp&?;ja to spew, Sw. spy, Dan. spye, Goth. spiewan, th. spjauti, L. spuere to split, Gr. &?;&?;&?;, Skr. shtiv, shthv. Cf. Pyke, Spit.] [Written also spue.] 1. To eject from the stomach; to vomit.