different woods; the other requires much more art, in representing flowers, birds, and the like figures. The first kind is properly called veneering; the latter is more properly called marquetry. The wood used in veneering is first sawed out into slices or leaves about a line in thickness: i. e. the twelth part of an inch. In order to saw them, the blocks, or planks, are placed upright in a kind of sawing press. These slices are afterwards cut into narrow slips, and fashioned divers ways, according to the design proposed: then, the joints having been exactly and nicely adjusted, and the pieces brought down to their proper thickness, with several planes for the purpose, they are glued down on a ground or block, with good strong glue. The pieces being thus joined and glued, the work, if small, is put in a press; if large it is laid on a bench covered with a board, and pressed down with poles on pieces of wood, one end of which reaches to the ceiling of the room, and the other bears on the board. When the glue is thoroughly dry it is taken out of the press and finished; first with little planes, then with divers scrapers, some of which resemble rasps, which take off the dents, &c. left by the planes. After it has been sufficiently scraped they polish it with the skin of a sea-dog, wax, and a brush, or polisher, of shave grass; which is the last operation. VENTER, is used in the law for the children by a woman of one marriage. There is a first and second venter, &c. where a man hath children by several wives. VENTILAGO, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Essential character: calyx tubular; corolla scales protecting the stamens, which are inserted into the calyx; samara winged at the top, and one seeded. There is only one species, viz. V. made. raspatana. VENTILATOR, a machine by which the noxious air of any close place, as an hospital, jail, ship, chamber, &c. may be changed for fresh air. VENTRE inspiciendo, a writ to search a woman that saith she is with child, and therebywithholds lands from the next heir. As if a man, having lands in fee-simple, die, and his widow soon after marry again, and say she is with child by her former husband; in this case, this writ de ventre inspiciendo lies for the heir against her; by which writ the sheriff is commanded, that in presence of twelve men, and as many women, he cause exa mination to be made, whether the wo man is with child or not; and if with child, then about what time it will be born; and that he certify the same to the justices of the assize, or at Westminster, under his seal and under the seals of two of the men present. Cro. Elizabeth, 506. This writ is now granted, not only to an heir at law, but to a devisee, whether for life, in tail, or in fee. VENTRILOQUISM, an art of speaking, by means of which the human voice and other sounds are rendered audible, as if they proceeded from various different places; though the utterer does not change his place, and in many instances does not appear to speak. It has been supposed to be a natural peculiarity, because few, if any persons, have learned it by being taught; and we have had no rules laid down for acquiring it. It seems to have been in consequence of this notion, that the name ventriloquism has been applied to it, from a supposition that the voice proceeds from the thorax or chest. It has seldom been practised but by persons of the lower classes of society; and as it does not seem to present any advantages beyond that of causing surprise and entertainment, and cannot be exhibited on an extended theatre, the probability is that it will continue amongst them. Mr. Gough, in the Manchester Memoirs, and in various parts of Nicholson's Journal, has entertained the opinion, that the voice of ventriloquists is made to proceed, in appearance, from different parts of a room by the management of an echo. But the facts themselves do not support this hypothesis, as a great and sudden variety and change of echoes would be required; and his own judicious remarks, in the same work, on the facility with which we are deceived as to the direction of sound are adverse to his theory. From numerous attentive observations, it appears manifest that the art is not peculiar to certain individuals, but may with facility be acquired by any person of accurate observation. It consists merely in an imitation of sounds, as they occur in nature, accompanied with appropriate action, of such a description as may best concur in leading the minds of the observers o favour the deception. Any one who shall try, will be a little surprised to find how easy it is to imitate the noise made by a saw, or by a snuffbox when opened or shut, or by a large hand-bell, or a cork-cutter's knife, a watch while going, and numberless other inanimate objects; or the voices of ani mals in their various situations and necessities, such as a cat, a dog, or an hen enraged, intimidated, confined, &c.; or to vary the character of the human voice by shrillness or depth of tone, rapidity or drawling of execution, and distinctness or imperfection of articulating, which may be instantly changed by holding the mouth a little more open or more closed than usual, altering the position of the jaw, keeping the tongue in any determinate situation, &c. And every one of the imitations of the ventriloquists will be rendered more perfect by practising them at the very time the sounds are heard, instead of depending on the memory. The leading condition of performance is, that the voices and sounds of the dramatic dialogue to be exhibited should succeed each other so rapidly, that the audience should lose sight of the probability that one actor gives effect to the whole, and that where the business is simple, the aid of scenery or local circumstance should be called in. 66 We have seen an eminent philosopher of our own time, who had no previous practice of this art, but when speaking on the subject in a mixed company, took up an hat, and folding the flaps together, Suppose I said, by way of example, had a small monkey in this hat ;" and then cautiously putting his hand in, as if to catch it, he imitated the chatter of the supposed struggling animal, at the same time that his own efforts to secure it had a momentary impression on the spectators, which left no time for them to question whether there was a 'monkey in it or not: this impression was completed, when, the instant afterwards, he pulled out his hand, as if hurt, and exclaimed, " he has bit me." It was not till then that the impression of reality gave way to the diversion arising from the mimic art; and one of the company, even then, cried out, "Is there really a monkey in the hat?" In this manner it was, that, at the beginning of the last century, the famous Tom King, who is said to have been the first man who gave public lectures on experimental philosophy in this country, was attended by the whole fashionable world, for a succession of many nights, kill a calf" This perto hear him formance was done in a separate part of the place of exhibition, into which the exhibitor retired alone; and the imagination of his polite hearers was taxed to supply the calf and three butchers, be 66 sides a dog, who sometimes raised his A similar fact may be quoted in the A very able ventriloquist, Fitz-James, performed in public, in Soho Square, about four years ago. He personated various characters by appropriate dresses; and by a command of the muscles of the face he could very much alter his appear ance. He imitated many inanimate noises, and among others, the repetition of noises of the water-machine at Marli. He conversed with some statues, which replied to him; and also with some persons supposed to be in the room above, and on the landing place; gave the watchman's cry, gradually approaching, and when he seemed opposite the window, FitzJames opened it, and asked what the time was, received the answer, and during the proceeding with his cry, FitzJames shut the window, immediately up. on which the sound became weaker, and at last insensible. In the whole of his performance it was clear that the notions of the audience were governed by the auxiliary circumstances, as to direction, &c. This mimic had, at least, six different habitual modes of speaking, which he could instantly adopt, one after the other, and with so much rapidity, that when in a small closet, parted off in the room, he gave a long, confused, and impassioned debate of Democrats (in French, as almost the whole of his performance was); it seemed to proceed from a multitude of speakers; and an inaccurate observer might have thought that several were speaking at once. A ludicrous scene of drawing a tooth was performed in the same manner. These examples, and many more which might be added, are sufficient, in proof, that ventriloquism is the art of mimicry, an imitation applied to sounds of every description, and attended with circumstances which produce an entertaining decep tion, and lead the hearers to imagine that the voice proceeds from different situations. When distant, and consequently low voices are to be imitated, the articulation may be given with sufficient distinctness, without moving the lips or altering the countenance. It was by a supposed supernatural voice of this kind, from a ventriloquist, that the famous musical small-coal man, Thomas Britton, received a warning of his death, which so greatly affected him, that he did not survive the affright. VENUE, the neighbourhood from whence juries are to be summoned for trial of causes. In local actions, as of trespass and ejectment, the venue is to be from the neighbourhood of the place where the lands in question lie; and in real actions the venue must be laid in the county where the thing is for which the action is brought; but in transitory ac tions, for injuries that may have happered any where, as debt, detinue, slander, or the like, the plaintiff may declare in what county he pleases, and then the trial must be in that county in which the declaration is laid. Though if the defendant will make affidavit that the cause of action, if any, arose not in that, but in another county, the court will direct a change of the venue, and oblige the plaintiff to declare in the proper county. And the court will sometimes move the venue from the proper jurisdiction (especially of the narrow and limited kind), upon a suggestion duly supported, that a fair and impartial trial cannot be had therein. With respect to criminal cases, it is ordained by statute 21 James I. c. 4, that all informations on penal statutes shall be laid in the counties where the offences were committed. : VENUS, the most beautiful star in the heavens, known by the names of the morning and evening star, likewise keeps near the sun, though she recedes from him almost double the distance of Mercury. She is never seen in the eastern quarter of the heavens when the sun is in the western; but always seems to attend him in the evening, or to give notice of his approach in the morning. The planet Venus presents the same phenomena with Mercury but her different phases are much more sensible, her oscillations wider, and of longer duration. Her greatest distance from the sun varies from 45° to nearly 48°, and the mean duration of a complete oscillation is 584 days. Venus has been sometimes seen moving across the sun's disk in the form of a round black spot, with an apparent diameter of about 59". A few days after this has been observed, Venus is seen in the morning, west of the sun, in the form of a fine crescent, with the convexity turned toward the sun. She moves gradually westward with a retarded motion, and the crescent becomes more full. In about ten weeks she has moved 46° west of the sun, and is now a semicircle, and her diameter is 26'. She is now stationary. She then moves eastward, with a motion gradually accelerated, and overtakes the sun about 94 months after having been seen on his disk. Some time after she is seen in the evening, east of the sun, round, but very small. She moves eastward, and increases in diameter, but loses of her roundness till she gets about 46° east of the sun, when she is again a semicircle. She now moves westward, increasing in diameter, but becoming a VEN crescent, like the waning moon: and, at Venus, as we have already observed, is This last number, VENUS, in natural history, a genus of the VERATRUM, in botany, a genus of the Polygamia Monoecia class and order. Natural order of Coronaria. Junci, Jussieu. Essential character: calyx none; corolla six-petalled; stamina six: hermaphrodite, pistils three: capsule many-seeded: male, rudiment of a pistil. There are four species. VERB. See GRAMMAR. VERBASCUM, in botany, mullein; a genus of the Pentandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Lurida. So. laneæ, Jussieu. Essential character: coThere rolia wheel-shaped, a little unequal; capsule two-celled, two-valved. are nineteen species. VERBENA, in botany, vervain, a genus of the Diandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Personatæ. Essential character: Vitices, Jussieu. corolla funnel-shaped, almost equal, curved; calyx, one of the teeth truncate; seeds two or four, naked or very thinly arilled; stamina two or four. There are twenty-three species. VERBESINA, in botany, a genus of the Syngenesia Polygamia Superflua class and order. Natural order of Composite Corymbiferæ, Jussieu. Oppositifolia. Essential character; calyx a double row; florets of the ray about five; pappus awned; receptacle chaffy. There are twelve species. : VERDICT, the answer of a jury made upon any cause, civil or criminal, committed by the court to their examination and this is two-fold, general or special. A general verdict is that which is given or brought into the court in like general terms to the general issue; as, guilty or not guilty generally. A special verdict is, when they say at large that such a thing they find to be done by the defendant, or tenant, so declaring the course of the fact as in their opinion it is proved; and as to the law upon the fact, they pray the judgment of the court; and this special verdict, if it contain any ample declaration of the cause from the beginning to the end, is also called a verdict at large. A special verdict is usually found where there is any difficulty or doubt respecting the laws, when the jury state the facts as proved, and pray the advice of the court thereon. A less expensive and more speedy mode, however, is, to find a verdict generally for the plaintiff, subject, nevertheless, to the opinion of the judge, or the court above, or a special case drawn up and settled by counsel on both sides. VERDITER, a kind of mineral substance, sometimes used by the painters, &c. for a blue; but more usually mixed with a yellow for a green colour. &c. though it is also an ingredient in some medicinal compositions, and is used by the wax-chandlers to purify their wax. VERMES, in natural history, the last class of the animal kindom, according to the Linnæan system. The animals in this class are not merely those commonly known by the name of worms, but likewise those which have the general character of being "slow in motion, of a soft substance, extremely tenacious of life, capable of reproducing such parts of their body as may have been taken away or destroyed, and inhabiting moist places." There are five orders in this class, viz. the These animals are generally considered as the lowest in the scale of animated being. The simplicity of their form, the humility of their station, and the low degree of sense and motion which they seem to enjoy, have rendered them objects of but little attention to mankind in general, excepting, as they contribute to the supply of their wants, or to render themselves formidable, by the pain and distress which they occasion to those bodies which nature seems to have destined for their habitation. But, to the curious investigator of the ways of heaven, every part of the vast creation becomes interesting, and this class of animated beings has, in latter times, attracted a considerable share of attention. To this they seem fully entitled, if we consider the number of animals which are included under the general The term verge is also used for a stick name of worms: if we observe the simplior rod, whereby one is admitted tenant city of form in some of them, and the comto a copyhold estate, by holding it in his_plicated structure of others; in short, if hand, and swearing fealty to the lord of VERDOY, in heraldry, denotes a bor. dure of a coat of arms, charged with any kinds or parts of flowers, fruits, seeds, plants, &c. VERGE, signifies the compass of the King's court, which bounds the jurisdiction of the Lord Steward of the House hold; and which is thought to have been twelve miles round. the manor. VERGERS, certain officers of the courts of King's Bench and Common Pleas, whose business it is to carry white wands before the judges. There are also vergers of cathedrals and collegiate churches, who carry a rod tipped with silver before the bishop, dean, &c. VERGETTE, in heraldry, denotes a pallet, or small pale; and hence a shield, divided by such pallets, is termed vergette. VERJUICE, a liquor obtained from grapes or apples, unfit for wine or cyder: or from sweet ones, whilst yet acid and unripe. Its chief use is in sauces, ragouts, we reflect on the various modes in which they are propagated, and on the surprising faculty which many of them possess, of spontaneous reproduction, the imagination will be astonished with their number and variety, and confounded by their wonderful properties. The waters are peopled with myriads of animated beings, which, though invisible to our unassisted eyes, are unquestionably endowed with organs as perfect as the largest animals, since, like these, they reproduce others similar to themselves, and hold in the scale of nature a rank as little equivocal, though less obvious and obtrusive. The elegance of form, and beauty of colour, which some of the "mollusca," and “ zoophyta" possess, cannot fail to render them |