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2. (Biol.) The setting apart of a particular organ for the performance of a particular function. Darwin.
Spe"cial*ize (?), v. t. 1. To mention specially; to particularize.
2. To apply to some specialty or limited object; to assign to a specific use; as, specialized knowledge.
3. (Biol.) To supply with an organ or organs having a special function or functions.
Spe"cial*ly, adv. 1. In a special manner; particularly; especially. Chaucer.
2. For a particular purpose; as, a meeting of the legislature is specially summoned.
Spe"cial*ty (?), n.; pl. Specialties (#). [F. spécialité. Cf. Speciality.] 1. Particularity.
Specialty of rule hath been neglected.
Shak.
2. A particular or peculiar case. [Obs.]
3. (Law) A contract or obligation under seal; a contract by deed; a writing, under seal, given as security for a debt particularly specified. Chitty. Bouvier. Wharton (Law Dict.).
Let specialties be therefore drawn between us.
Shak.
4. That for which a person is distinguished, in which he is specially versed, or which he makes an object of special attention; a speciality.
Men of boundless knowledge, like Humbold, must have had once their specialty, their pet subject.
C. Kingsley.
||Spe"ci*e (?), abl. of L. species sort, kind. Used in the phrase in ||specie, that is, in sort, in kind, in (its own) form.
"[The king] expects a return in specie from them" [i. e., kindness for kindness].
Dryden.
In specie (Law), in precise or definite form; specifically; according to the exact terms; of the very thing.
Spe"cie (?), n. [Formed as a singular from species, in sense 5.] Coin; hard money.
Spe"cies (?), n. sing. & pl. [L., a sight, outward appearance, shape, form, a particular sort, kind, or quality, a species. See Spice, n., and cf. Specie, Special.] 1. Visible or sensible presentation; appearance; a sensible percept received by the imagination; an image. [R.] "The species of the letters illuminated with indigo and violet." Sir I. Newton.
Wit, . . . the faculty of imagination in the writer, which searches over all the memory for the species or ideas of those things which it designs to represent.
Dryden.
In the scholastic philosophy, the species was sensible and intelligible. The sensible species was that in any material, object which was in fact discerned by the mind through the organ of perception, or that in any object which rendered it possible that it should be perceived. The sensible species, as apprehended by the understanding in any of the relations of thought, was called an intelligible species. "An apparent diversity between the species visible and audible is, that the visible doth not mingle in the medium, but the audible doth." Bacon.
2. (Logic) A group of individuals agreeing in common attributes, and designated by a common name; a conception subordinated to another conception, called a genus, or generic conception, from which it differs in containing or comprehending more attributes, and extending to fewer individuals. Thus, man is a species, under animal as a genus; and man, in its turn, may be regarded as a genus with respect to European, American, or the like, as species.
3. In science, a more or less permanent group of existing things or beings, associated according to attributes, or properties determined by scientific observation.
In mineralogy and chemistry, objects which possess the same definite chemical structure, and are fundamentally the same in crystallization and physical characters, are classed as belonging to a species. In zoölogy and botany, a species is an ideal group of individuals which are believed to have descended from common ancestors, which agree in essential characteristics, and are capable of indefinitely continued fertile reproduction through the sexes. A species, as thus defined, differs from a variety or subspecies only in the greater stability of its characters and in the absence of individuals intermediate between the related groups.
4. A sort; a kind; a variety; as, a species of low cunning; a species of generosity; a species of cloth.
5. Coin, or coined silver, gold, ot other metal, used as a circulating medium; specie. [Obs.]
There was, in the splendor of the Roman empire, a less quantity of current species in Europe than there is now.
Arbuthnot.
6. A public spectacle or exhibition. [Obs.] Bacon.
7. (Pharmacy) (a) A component part of compound medicine; a simple. (b) (Med.) An officinal mixture or compound powder of any kind; esp., one used for making an aromatic tea or tisane; a tea mixture. Quincy.
8. (Civil Law) The form or shape given to materials; fashion or shape; form; figure. Burill.
Incipient species (Zoöl.), a subspecies, or variety, which is in process of becoming permanent, and thus changing to a true species, usually by isolation in localities from which other varieties are excluded.
Spec"i*fi`a*ble (?), a. Admitting specification; capable of being specified.
Spe*cif"ic (?), a. [F. spécifique, or NL. cpesificus; L. species a
## particular sort or kind + facere to make. Cf. Specify.] 1. Of or
pertaining to a species; characterizing or constituting a species; possessing the peculiar property or properties of a thing which constitute its species, and distinguish it from other things; as, the specific form of an animal or a plant; the specific qualities of a drug; the specific distinction between virtue and vice.
Specific difference is that primary attribute which distinguishes each species from one another.
I. Watts.
2. Specifying; definite, or making definite; limited; precise; discriminating; as, a specific statement.
3. (Med.) Exerting a peculiar influence over any part of the body; preventing or curing disease by a peculiar adaption, and not on general principles; as, quinine is a specific medicine in cases of malaria.
In fact, all medicines will be found specific in the perfection of the science.
Coleridge.
Specific character (Nat. Hist.), a characteristic or characteristics distinguishing one species from every other species of the same genus. -- Specific disease (Med.) (a) A disease which produces a determinate definite effect upon the blood and tissues or upon some special tissue. (b) A disease which is itself uniformly produced by a definite and peculiar poison or organism. -- Specific duty. (Com.) See under Duty. -- Specific gravity. (Physics) See under Gravity. -- Specific heat (Physics), the quantity of heat required to raise temperature of a body one degree, taking as the unit of measure the quantity required to raise the same weight of water from zero to one degree; thus, the specific heat of mercury is 0.033, that of water being 1.000. -- Specific inductive capacity (Physics), the effect of a dielectric body in producing static electric induction as compared with that of some other body or bodies referred to as a standard. -- Specific legacy (Law), a bequest of a particular thing, as of a particular animal or piece of furniture, specified and distinguished from all others. Wharton. Burrill. -- Specific name (Nat., Hist.), the name which, appended to the name of the genus, constitutes the distinctive name of the species; -- originally applied by Linnæus to the essential character of the species, or the essential difference. The present specific name he at first called the trivial name. -- Specific performance (Law), the peformance of a contract or agreement as decreed by a court of equity.
Spe*cif"ic, n. 1. (Med.) A specific remedy. See Specific, a., 3.
His parents were weak enough to believe that the royal touch was a specific for this malady.
Macaulay.
2. Anything having peculiar adaption to the purpose to which it is applied. Dr. H. More.
Spe*cif"ic*al (?), a. Specific. Bacon.
Spe*cif"ic*al*ly (?), adv. In a specific manner.
Spe*cif"ic*al*ness, n. The quality of being specific.
Spe*cif"i*cate (?), v. t. [See Specify.] To show, mark, or designate the species, or the distinguishing particulars of; to specify. [Obs.] ir M. Hale.
Spec`i*fi*ca"tion (?), n. [Cf. F. spécification, LL. specificatio.] 1. The act of specifying or determining by a mark or limit; notation of limits.
This specification or limitation of the question hinders the disputers from wandering away from the precise point of inquiry.
I. Watts.
2. The designation of particulars; particular mention; as, the specification of a charge against an officer.
3. A written statement containing a minute description or enumeration of particulars, as of charges against a public officer, the terms of a contract, the description of an invention, as in a patent; also, a single article, item, or particular, an allegation of a specific act, as in a charge of official misconduct.
Spe*cif"ic*ness (?), n. The quality or state of being specific.
Spec"i*fy (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Specified (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Specifying (?).] [F. spécifier, or OF. especifier, fr. LL. specificare. See Species, -fy.] To mention or name, as a particular thing; to designate in words so as to distinguish from other things; as, to specify the uses of a plant; to specify articles purchased.
He has there given us an exact geography of Greece, where the countries and the uses of their soils are specified.
Pope.
||Spe*cil"lum (?), n. [L.] (Med.) See Stylet, 2.
Spec"i*men (?), n. [L., fr. specere to look, to behold. See Spy.] A part, or small portion, of anything, or one of a number of things, intended to exhibit the kind and quality of the whole, or of what is not exhibited; a sample; as, a specimen of a man's handwriting; a specimen of painting; aspecimen of one's art.
Syn. -- Sample; model; pattern. -- Specimen, Sample. A specimen is a representative of the class of things to which it belongs; as, a specimen of photography. A sample is a part of the thing itself, designed to show the quality of the whole; as, a sample of sugar or of broadcloth. A cabinet of minerals consists of specimens; if a part be broken off from any one of these, it is a sample of the mineral to which it belongs. "Several persons have exhibited specimens of this art before multitudes of beholders." Addison. "I design this but for a sample of what I hope more fully to discuss." Woodward.
Spe`ci*os"i*ty (?), n.; pl. Speciocities (#). [Cf. LL. speciositas.] 1. The quality or state of being specious; speciousness.
Professions built so largely on speciosity, instead of performance.
Carlyle.
2. That which is specious. Dr. H. More.
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Spe"cious (?), a. [L. speciosusgood-looking, beautiful, specious, fr. species look, show, appearance; cf. F. spécoeux. See Species.] 1. Presenting a pleasing appearance; pleasing in form or look; showy.
Some [serpents] specious and beautiful to the eye.
Bp. Richardson.
The rest, far greater part, Will deem in outward rites and specious forms Religion satisfied.
Milton.
2. Apparently right; superficially fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible; as, specious reasoning; a specious argument.
Misled for a moment by the specious names of religion, liberty, and property.
Macaulay.
In consequence of their greater command of specious expression.
J. Morley.
Syn. -- Plausible; showy; ostensible; colorable; feasible. See Plausible.
-- Spe"xious*ly (#), adv. -- Spe"cious*ness, n.
Speck (?), n. [Cf. Icel. spik blubber, AS. spic, D. spek, G. speck.] The blubber of whales or other marine mammals; also, the fat of the hippopotamus.
Speck falls (Naut.), falls or ropes rove through blocks for hoisting the blubber and bone of whales on board a whaling vessel.
Speck, n. [OE. spekke, AS. specca; cf. LG. spaak.] 1. A small discolored place in or on anything, or a small place of a color different from that of the main substance; a spot; a stain; a blemish; as, a speck on paper or loth; specks of decay in fruit. "Gray sand, with black specks." Anson.
2. A very small thing; a particle; a mite; as, specks of dust; he has not a speck of money.
Many bright specks bubble up along the blue Egean.
Landor.
3. (Zoöl.) A small etheostomoid fish (Ulocentra stigmæa) common in the Eastern United States.
Speck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Specked (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Specking.] To cause the presence of specks upon or in, especially specks regarded as defects or blemishes; to spot; to speckle; as, paper specked by impurities in the water used in its manufacture.
Carnation, purple, azure, or specked with gold.
Milton.
Spec"kle (?), n. [Dim. of speck; cf. D. spikkel.] A little or spot in or anything, of a different substance or color from that of the thing itself.
An huge great serpent, all with speckles pied.
Spebser.
Spec"kle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Speckled (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Speckling (?).] To mark with small spots of a different color from that of the rest of the surface; to variegate with spots of a different color from the ground or surface.
Spec"kled (?), a. Marked or variegated with small spots of a different color from that of the rest of the surface.
Speckled Indians (Ethnol.), the Pintos. -- Speckled trout. (Zoöl.) (a) The common American brook trout. See Trout. (b) The rainbow trout.
Spec"kled-bel`ly (?), n. (Zoöl.) The gadwall. [Local, U.S.]
Spec"kled-bill" (?), n. (Zoöl.) The American white-fronted goose (Anser albifrons).
Spec"kled*ness, n. The quality of being speckled.
Speck`sion*eer" (?), n. The chief harpooner, who also directs in cutting up the speck, or blubber; -- so called among whalers.
Speckt (?), n. A woodpecker. See Speight.
Spec"ta*cle (?), n. [F., fr. L. spectaculum, fr. spectare to look at, to behold, v. intens. fr. specere. See Spy.] 1. Something exhibited to view; usually, something presented to view as extraordinary, or as unusual and worthy of special notice; a remarkable or noteworthy sight; a show; a pageant; a gazingstock.
O, piteous spectacle? O, bloody times!
Shak.
2. A spy-glass; a looking-glass. [Obs.]
Poverty a spectacle is, as thinketh me, Through which he may his very friends see.
Chaucer.
3. pl. An optical instrument consisting of two lenses set in a light frame, and worn to assist sight, to obviate some defect in the organs of vision, or to shield the eyes from bright light.
4. pl. Fig.: An aid to the intellectual sight.
Shakespeare . . . needed not the spectacles of books to read nature.
Dryden.
Syn. -- Show; sight; exhibition; representation; pageant.
Spec"ta*cled (?), a. 1. Furnished with spectacles; wearing spectacles.
As spectacled she sits in chimney nook.
Keats.
2. (Zoöl.) Having the eyes surrounded by color markings, or patches of naked skin, resembling spectacles.
Spectacled bear (Zoöl.), a South American bear (Tremarclos ornatus) which inhabits the high mountains of Chili and Peru. It has a light-colored ring around each eye. -- Spectacled coot, or Spectacled duck (Zoöl.), the surf scoter, or surf duck. [Local, U.S.] -- Spectacled eider (Zoöl.) See Eider. -- Spectacled goose (Zoöl.), the gannet. -- Spectacled snake (Zoöl.), the cobra de capello.
Spec*tac"u*lar (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to a shows; of the nature of a show. "Spectacular sports." G. Hickes.
2. Adapted to excite wonder and admiration by a display of pomp or of scenic effects; as, a spectacular celebration of some event; a spectacular play.
3. Pertaining to spectacles, or glasses for the eyes.
Spec"tant (?), a. [L. spectans, p. pr. of spectare to look at.] Looking forward.
Spec*ta"tion (?), n. [L. spectatio.] Regard; aspect; appearance. Harvey.
Spec*ta"tor (?), n. [L. spectator: cf. F. spectateur. See Spectacle.] One who on; one who sees or beholds; a beholder; one who is personally present at, and sees, any exhibition; as, the spectators at a show. "Devised and played to take spectators." Shak.
Syn. -- Looker-on; beholder; observer; witness.
Spec`ta*to"ri*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to a spectator. Addison.
Spec*ta"tor*ship (?), n. 1. The office or quality of a spectator. [R.] Addison.
2. The act of beholding. [Obs.] Shak.
{ Spec*ta"tress (?), Spec*ta"trix (?) }, n. [L. spectatrix.] A female beholder or looker-on. "A spectatress of the whole scene." Jeffrey.
{ Spec"ter, Spec"tre } (?), n. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.] 1. Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom.
The ghosts of traitors from the bridge descend, With bold fanatic specters to rejoice.
Dryden.
2. (Zoöl.) (a) The tarsius. (b) A stick insect.
Specter bat (Zoöl.), any phyllostome bat. -- Specter candle (Zoöl.), a belemnite. -- Specter shrimp (Zoöl.), a skeleton shrimp. See under Skeleton.
Spec`tion*eer" (?), n. Same as Specsioneer.
Spec"tral (?), a. 1. Of or pertaining to a specter; ghosty.
He that feels timid at the spectral form of evil is not the man to spread light.
F. W. Robertson.
2. (Opt.) Of or pertaining to the spectrum; made by the spectrum; as, spectral colors; spectral analysis.
Spectral lemur. (Zoöl.) See Tarsius.
Spec"tral*ly, adv. In the form or manner of a specter.
Spec"tre (?), n. See Specter.
Spec`tro*log"ic*al (?), a. Of or pertaining to spectrology; as, spectrological studies or experiments. -- Spec`tro*log"ic*al*ly, adv.
Spec*trol"o*gy (?), n. [Spectrum + -logy.] (Chem.Phys.) The science of spectrum analysis in any or all of its relations and applications.
Spec*trom"e*ter (?), n. [Spectrum + -meter.] (Physics) A spectroscope fitted for measurements of the luminious spectra observed with it.
Spec`tro*pho*tom"e*ter (?), n. [Spectrum + photometer.] (Opt.) An instrument for measuring or comparing the intensites of the colors of the spectrum.
Spec"tro*scope (?), n. [Spectrum + -scope.] (Physics) An optical instrument for forming and examining spectra (as that of solar light, or those produced by flames in which different substances are volatilized), so as to determine, from the position of the spectral lines, the composition of the substance.
{ Spec`tro*scop"ic (?), Spec`tro*scop"ic*al (?) }, a. Of or pertaining to a spectroscope, or spectroscopy. -- Spec`tro*scop"ic*al*ly, adv.
Spec*tros"co*pist (? or ?), n. One who investigates by means of a spectroscope; one skilled in the use of the spectroscope.
Spec*tros"co*py (?), n. The use of the spectroscope; investigations made with the spectroscope.
Spec"trum (?), n.; pl. Spectra (#). [L. See Specter.] 1. An apparition; a specter. [Obs.]
2. (Opt.) (a) The several colored and other rays of which light is composed, separated by the refraction of a prism or other means, and observed or studied either as spread out on a screen, by direct vision, by photography, or otherwise. See Illust. of Light, and Spectroscope. (b) A luminous appearance, or an image seen after the eye has been exposed to an intense light or a strongly illuminated object. When the object is colored, the image appears of the complementary color, as a green image seen after viewing a red wafer lying on white paper. Called also ocular spectrum.
Absorption spectrum, the spectrum of light which has passed through a medium capable of absorbing a portion of the rays. It is characterized by dark spaces, bands, or lines. -- Chemical spectrum, a spectrum of rays considered solely with reference to their chemical effects, as in photography. These, in the usual photogrophic methods, have their maximum influence at and beyond the violet rays, but are not limited to this region. -- Chromatic spectrum, the visible colored rays of the solar spectrum, exhibiting the seven principal colors in their order, and covering the central and larger portion of the space of the whole spectrum. -- Continous spectrum, a spectrum not broken by bands or lines, but having the colors shaded into each other continously, as that from an incandescent solid or liquid, or a gas under high pressure. -- Diffraction spectrum, a spectrum produced by diffraction, as by a grating. -- Gaseous spectrum, the spectrum of an incandesoent gas or vapor, under moderate, or especially under very low, pressure. It is characterized by bright bands or lines. -- Normal spectrum, a representation of a spectrum arranged upon conventional plan adopted as standard, especially a spectrum in which the colors are spaced proportionally to their wave lengths, as when formed by a diffraction grating. -- Ocular spectrum. See Spectrum, 2 (b), above. -- Prismatic spectrum, a spectrum produced by means of a prism. -- Solar spectrum, the spectrum of solar light, especially as thrown upon a screen in a darkened room. It is characterized by numerous dark lines called Fraunhofer lines. -- Spectrum analysis, chemical analysis effected by comparison of the different relative positions and qualities of the fixed lines of spectra produced by flames in which different substances are burned or evaporated, each substance having its own characteristic system of lines. -- Thermal spectrum, a spectrum of rays considered solely with reference to their heating effect, especially of those rays which produce no luminous phenomena.
Spec"u*lar (?), a. [L. specularis (cf., from the same root, specula a lookout, watchtower): cf. F. spéculaire. See Speculum.] 1. Having the qualities of a speculum, or mirror; having a smooth, reflecting surface; as, a specular metal; a specular surface.
2. (Med.) Of or pertaining to a speculum; conducted with the aid of a speculum; as, a specular examination.
3. Assisting sight, as a lens or the like. [Obs.]
Thy specular orb Apply to well-dissected kernels; lo! In each observe the slender threads Of first-beginning trees.
J. Philips.
4. Affording view. [R.] "Look once more, ere we leave this specular mount." Milton.
Specular iron. (Min.) See Hematite.
Spec"u*late (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Speculated (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Speculating.] [L. speculatus, p. p. of speculari to spy out, observe, fr. specula a lookout, fr. specere to look. See Spy.] 1. To consider by turning a subject in the mind, and viewing it in its different aspects and relations; to meditate; to contemplate; to theorize; as, to speculate on questions in religion; to speculate on political events.
It is remarkable that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most pefect quietude to the external regulations of society.
Hawthorne.
2. (Philos.) To view subjects from certain premises given or assumed, and infer conclusions respecting them a priori.
3. (Com.) To purchase with the expectation of a contingent advance in value, and a consequent sale at a profit; -- often, in a somewhat depreciative sense, of unsound or hazardous transactions; as, to speculate in coffee, in sugar, or in bank stock.
Spec"u*late, v. t. To consider attentively; as, to speculate the nature of a thing. [R.] Sir W. Hamilton.
Spec`u*la"tion (?), n. [L. speculatio a spying out, observation: cf. F. spéculation.] 1. The act of speculating. Specifically: --
(a) Examination by the eye; view. [Obs.]
(b) Mental view of anything in its various aspects and relations; contemplation; intellectual examination.
Thenceforth to speculations high or deep I turned my thoughts.
Milton.
(c) (Philos.) The act or process of reasoning a priori from premises given or assumed.
(d) (Com.) The act or practice of buying land, goods, shares, etc., in expectation of selling at a higher price, or of selling with the expectation of repurchasing at a lower price; a trading on anticipated fluctuations in price, as distinguished from trading in which the profit expected is the difference between the retail and wholesale prices, or the difference of price in different markets.
Sudden fortunes, indeed, are sometimes made in such places, by what is called the trade of speculation.
A. Smith.
Speculation, while confined within moderate limits, is the agent for equalizing supply and demand, and rendering the fluctuations of price less sudden and abrupt than they would otherwise be.
F. A. Walker.
(e) Any business venture in involving unusual risks, with a chance for large profits.
2. A conclusion to which the mind comes by speculating; mere theory; view; notion; conjecture.
From him Socrates derived the principles of morality, and most part of his natural speculations.
Sir W. temple.
To his speculations on these subjects he gave the lofty name of the "Oracles of Reason."
Macaulay.
3. Power of sight. [Obs.]
Thou hast no speculation in those eyes.
Shak.
4. A game at cards in which the players buy from one another trumps or whole hands, upon a chance of getting the highest trump dealt, which entitles the holder to the pool of stakes.
Spec"u*la*tist (?), n. One who speculates, or forms theories; a speculator; a theorist.
The very ingenious speculatist, Mr. Hume.
V. Knox.