SPEARMAN, FRANK HAMILTON, an American author, born in Buffalo, N. Y., in 1859. He was educated in public and private schools and at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wis. He wrote, besides many short stories in magazines naturally consist of a simple pole of tough wood sharpened to a point at one extremity, which point might be both formed and hardened by charring in fire. From this an improvement would con sist in fitting to the shaft a separate spear head of bone, or flint. To flint heads succeeded heads of bronze, but these came only late in the bronze period, and were still in use when the Homeric poems were composed. The bronze spear heads found in Great Britain and in Northern Europe generally were cast with sockets, into which the end of the shaft was inserted, but on the eastern Mediterranean coasts tanged spear heads were used. These spear heads were various in form and size, some being three-edged like the old bayonets, others were expanded leaf-shaped blades, some barbed, and some having loopholes either in socket or blade by which they were lashed to the shaft.
The war lance of the medimval knights was 16 feet long; the weapon of modern cavalry regiments known as lancers may be from 81/2 to 11 feet long, usually adorned with a small flag near the head. The Persians at the present day forge spear heads, for ornamental purposes only, with two and sometimes three prongs. The modern spears of savage tribes, used equally for hunting and for warlike purposes, are frequently barbed and numerous economic articles in re views: "The Nerve of Foley" (1900) ; "Held for Orders" (1901) ; "Doctor Bryson" (1902) ; "The Daughter of a Magnate" (1902) ; "The Close of the Day" (1904) ; "Whispering Smith" (1906) ; "Robert Kimberly" (1911) ; "The Mountain Divide" (1912) ; "Mer rilie Dawes" (1913) ; "Nan of Music Mountain" (1917).