ing the same air, either by subdivision of its notes, or by the addition of graces. 4. Variation of the moon, in astronomy, is an inequality of the moon's motion, depending on the angular distance of the moon from the sun.

VARICEL LA, dim. of variola. The chicken-pox or water-pox. A well-known eruptive disease, consisting of vesicles scattered over the body.

VARI'CIFORM. Resembling a varix. VARICO'CELE, from varix, and znλn, a tumour. A swelling of the veins of the scrotum.

VARIETY. In natural history, a term used to designate animals, shells, plants, &c., which differ in some circumstances from others of the same species, but not so essentially or permanently as to warrant their being separated as distinct species.

VARIOLA, from varius, changing colour. The small-pox.

VARI'OLOID, Resembling variola or VARI'OLOUS. small-pox.

VARIO'RUM. In literature, an abbreviation of cum notis variorum, with the notes of different authors. Used in characterising an edition of a classic author, with annotations by different hands.

VA'RIX. In surgery, a permanent dilatation of a vein.

VAR'NISH, Fr. vernis, low Lat. vernix. A solution of resinous matter, which is made to be spread over the surface of any body, in order to give it a shining, transparent, and hard coating, capable of resisting, in a more or less degree, the influence of air and moisture. The common solvents are alcohol and turpentine; but the resins are numerous, as are consequently the sorts of varnishes.

and Grecian, have been dug up in Italy. The figure represents a Grecian vase.

VAS'SAL, Welsh, gwás, a young man or page. The holder of a fief by fealty and service, of a feudal lord.

VAS'TUS. In anatomy, a name given to certain muscles of the thigh.

VATICAN. One of the hills on which the city of Rome is built; on this stands a celebrated palace of the Pope, that bears the same name; and at the foot of the hill is the Cathedral of St. Peter.

VAU'DEVILLE (Fr.). A species of song, in French poetry, frequently of a satirical turn, consisting of several couplets and a refrain, introduced into theatrical pieces.

VAULT, Ital. volto. An arched roof so contrived that the stones which form it sustain each other. There are numerous kinds of vaults, named according to their form, as cylindric, surmounted, rampant, conic, spherical, annular, simple, compound, cylindro-cylindric, and groined vaults.

VE'ADER. The 13th month of the Jewish ecclesiastical year.

VEC'TIS (Lat.). Synonymous with lever. VEDANTA. A Hindoo sect, whose philosophy is founded on the Vedas.

VE'DAS. The Hindoo sacred writings. VEDETTE (Fr.). A sentinel on horseback.

VEER'ING. Wearing. A term in navigation for the operation to which a ship, in changing her course from one board to the other, turns her stern to windward: in opposition to tacking, wherein the bow is turned to the wind and the stern to leeward.

VEGETABLE EARTH. Soil in which decayed vegetable matter is much more prevalent than the primitive earths.

name given to

the bell or naked form of the Corinthian capital, on which the leaves are disposed.-2. An ornament of sculpture, placed on socles and pediments, representing such vessels as the ancients used in sacrifices. Antique vases are of great value among antiquar

sense, embraces the anatomy, physiology, chemical composition, economical uses, and scientific classification of plants.

VEIL. The horizontal membrane in fungi, connecting the margin of the pileus with the stipes.

VEIN, Lat. vena. 1. In anatomy, a long membraneous canal, which continually becomes wider, does not pulsate, and returns the blood from the arteries to the heart. 2. In geology and mineralogy, fissures in rocks, filled up by mineral or metallic substances, differing from the rocks in which they are situated. It is in veins that metallic ores are commonly found.

piece of wood resting on two wheels, and so constructed that an individual may seat himself upon it as upon horseback, yet so that his feet touch the ground. The rider propels the machine by pressing his feet slightly against the ground, taking care to keep his balance at the same time. He may in this way travel at the rate of ten miles an hour.

VELOCITY. In dynamics, the ratio of the quantity of linear extension that has been passed over in a certain portion of time; or it is the ratio of the time that has been employed in moving along a determinate extension.

VELVET, Ital. velluto, from Lat. vellus, hair or nap. A rich silk stuff, covered on the outside with a close, fine, short shag or nap. The same name is also given to cotton stuffs manufactured in the same way.

VE'NA CAVA. Hollow vein. A large vein (the largest in the body), which transmits the blood from the extremities to the

VENETIAN SCHOOL. In painting, its dis tinguishing characteristic is colouring, and a consummate knowledge of chiarescuro, in which all is spirit, grace, and faithfulness.

VE'NIAL SIN, Lat. venia, forgiveness. In Romish theology, a sin which does not destroy sanctifying grace.

VENIRE FACIAS. A judicial writ, in law, directed to the sheriff, to cause a jury to come or appear in the neighbourhood where a cause is brought to issue,to try the same.

VENTA'YLE. The visor of a helmet. VEN'TER (Lat.). In insects, the lower part of the abdomen.

VENTILATOR. In mechanics, a machine by which noxious air may be discharged from places where it is stagnant, as hospi tals, gaols, &c., and replaced by fresh air.

VEN'TRICLE, from venter. A term applied by anatomists to the cavities of the brain and heart.

VEN'TRICOSE, Lat. ventricosus, bellied, venter, a belly. Distended, bellying. Ap plied chiefly in botany.

VENTRILOQUISM, from venter, the belly, and loquor, to speak. The formation of the voice within the mouth, in such a way as to imitate other voices than that which is natural to the person, and so as not to be seen to move the lips. This art depends on the organs of speech being very perfect, but requires no organisation different from that which is commonly found in man. A ventriloquist is a profes sor of ventriloquism.

VENUE, Lat. vicinetum, neighbourhood. In law, the county in which an action is to be tried, which is specified in all material allegations in the pleadings.

VENUS. 1. In mythology, the goddess of beauty and love among the Romans; the Greeks called her Açgodin.-2. In the old chemistry, copper.-3. In malacology, a genus of testaceous Acephala, belonging to the Cardiacea.4. In astronomy, one of the planets, situated between the from the Sun more than 45°. Diameter, Earth and Mercury, and never distant 9330 miles; distance from the Sun, 68,891,436 miles: year, 224 days and 17 hours. Designated by

VEPRECULE. The 31st natural order of Linné, comprehending pliant shrubs, as the bramble (vepres), of humble growth.

cal point is that point immediately over the head of the observer: it is the zenith. The vertical circle is a great circle passing through the zenith and nadir. The meridian of any place is a vertical circle, and these vertical circles are termed azimuths. The prime vertical is likewise a great circle of the sphere, perpendicular to the horizon, and passing through the zenith and the east and west points. In perspective, the vertical plane is a plane perpendicular to the geometrical plane, passing through the eye and cutting the perspective plane at right angles.

VERTICELLUS. A ring for organs of any kind placed round a stem upon the same plane, called also a whorl.

VERTICIL, Lat. verticillum. A whorl. The botanical name of a species of inflorescence in which the flowers surround the stem in a sort of ring.

VERTICILLATE. The 42nd of the Linnæan natural orders of plants, including those whose flowers grow in the form of a whorl (verticillus) round the main stem, as the mint.

Lat. verticillatus,

VERTICILLATE, whorled. Growing in rings or whorls. See VERTICIL.

VESA'NIE, Lat. pl. of vesania, madness. An order of diseases in the class Neurosis, comprising those in which the judgment is impaired, without coma or pyrexia.

VES'ICATORY, Lat. vesicatorius. Having the property when applied to the skin of raising a bladder (vesica), by causing a fluid to collect between the cuticle and cutis blistering.

VES'ICLE, Lat. vesicula, dim. of vesica, a bladder. An elevation of the cuticle of an organised body, like a little bladder.

VESPA, a wasp. A genus of hymenopterous insects, belonging to the family Diloptera, Cuv. Some of the vespariæ form communities, composed of three sorts of individuals, males, females, and neuters; the females and neuters are armed with an extremely powerful and venomous sting. All the larvæ and nymphs which cannot complete their metamorphosis before the month of November, are put to death and dragged from their cells by the neuters or labourers. These last perish along with the males on the approach of winter. Some of the females survive, and become the founders of new colonies. Wasps feed on insects, viands of various sorts, fruit, &c. Their habitations differ according to the species.

VES'PER. Hesperus. The evening star. The planet Venus when eastward of the sun, and consequently setting after him.

VES'PERS. In the Romish church, that part of the service which is rehearsed in the afternoon, answering to our evening prayers.

VESPERTILIO. The bat. A genus of mammalia: order Carnaria: family Cheiroptera. The arms, forearms, and fingers of the bats are excessively lengthened forming, with the membrane that occupies their intervals, true wings, possessing even a greater extent of surface than those of birds, and consequently enabling the animal to fly very high, and with great rapidity. The genus is numerous, and offers many subdivisions, as Pteropus, Bris., of which there are numerous species, found throughout the south of Asia, Molossus, Noctilio, Vampirus, &c., &c., distinguished by the absence or presence of a tail, &c.

VES'TA. 1. In mythology, a goddess of fire among the Romans, the daughter of Rhea and Saturn, and sister of Ceres and Juno.-2. In astronomy, a small planet, discovered by Dr. Olbers, in 1807. It re volves round the sun in 3 years and 66 days, and has the appearance of a star of the eighth magnitude.

VES'TAL VIRGINS. The six virgin priestesses of the goddess Vesta.

VESTIBULE, Lat. vestibulum. 1. A porch. 2. In anatomy, a cavity of the internal ear, between the cochlea and semicircular canals.

Articles of

VESTMENTS, or VES'TURES. dress or ornament worn by Roman Catholic priests during divine service.

VES'TRY, Lat. vestiarium. 1. A room appendant to a church, in which the sacerdotal garments and consecrated things are reposited.-2. A parochial assembly, commonly convened in the vestry.

VETERAN, Lat. vetus, old. An ancient Roman soldier, who had passed the legal age of military service, forty-six,-or, in later times, who have served in twentyfive campaigns.

VETO. I forbid : a prohibition. The sovereign has a veto upon every act of parliament. The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland passed a veto act, by virtue of which they pretend to have given power to congregations to prohibit the introduction of ministers presented by patrons. It has, however, been found that the assembly had no power to make such an act.

VEX'IL, Lat. vexillum. A standard applied to designate the upper large petal of a papilionaceous flower. VEXILLA'RII. Roman army.

Veteran troops in the

In botany,

VEXIL'LUM, or STAN'DARD. the upper petal of a papilionaceous corolla.

VIABLE. A term adopted from the French, to signify that the organisation of a foetus is sufficiently developed to sustain independent life.

VIADUCT, from via, a way, and dure, to

lead.

A structure made for conveying a carriage-way from one road to another, either by perforating through hills, by levelling uneven ground, by a series of arches, or by raising mounds, &c., &c.

VIA LAC'TEA. The milky-way. VIATICUM (Lat.). Perquisites for a journey. In ecclesiastics, the sacrament given to a dying person.

VIBRATION (from vibro). Reciprocal undulation. In mechanics, a regular reciprocal motion of any body, such as a pendulum, occasioned by the force of gravity. In music, the undulation of any body by which sound is produced.

VIE'RIO. The name given by Müller to a genus of Infusoria, of the order Homogenea. The body is round and slender, like a bit of thread. The vinegar and paste eels are examples.

VIBRIS'SA (Lat.). A whisker. In mammalogy, the stiff bristles which grow from the upper lip, and other parts of the

head.

VIC'AR, Lat. vicarius. A substitute:

the incumbent of a benefice.

V.CE. 1. Lat. vice, in the turn or place of. A term used in composition to designate one qui vicem gerit, who acts in the place of another, as viceroy, a governor of a country who rules in the name of the king (roi) with regal authority.2. Dut. vijs. A small iron press, with screws, used by workmen for holding an article, while it is being filed, &c.

VICE VER'SA. A Latin idiomatic phrase, signifying on the contrary.

VICIA. The vetch: an extensive genus of papilionaceous plants. DiadelphiaDecandria. Name from vincio, to bind. There are seven native species, among which are the common vetch, or tare;

but the pea-vetch is a native of Germany; and the garden-bean, which is also a species, is a native of Egypt.

VIDELICET. Viz. A Latin word signifying to wit; that is; namely.

VIELLE'. A musical instrument, the tones of which are produced by friction of a wheel, acting the part of a bow, against the strings, which are pressed by

the fingers or keys. It has two strings which always sound like the drones of a bagpipe, and is familiarly named in consequence Hurdy-gurdy.

VIGIL, Lat. vigilium, a watch. An ecclesiastical usage on the eve of a feastday.

VIGNETTE, Fr. from vigne, a vine. An ornament placed at the beginning of a book, preface, dedication, &c. : a headpiece.

VIGORO'SO, It. vigorous. In music, signifies that a movement is to be performed with strength and firmness.

In

VIL'LA (Latin). 1. A country seat, or a farm of superior character.-2. The statute of Exeter, 14 Edward I., mentions entire-vills, demi-vills, and hamlets. this sense the term is a contraction of village, a small assemblage of houses, not sufficient to make a town.

VILLAGE, OF VILL, Lat. villa, a country house. In law, a subdivision of a parish; a whole parish; a manor; most commonly, the out-part of a parish, being a few houses separated from the rest.

VIL'LENAGE. A tenure of lands by base services. The ancient villeins were of two sorts, those annexed to the manor, and villeins in gross, who were annexed to the persons of their lords, and transferrable from one lord to another.

VILLO'SE, Lat. villosus, shaggy. ApVIL'LOUS,plied in anatomy to a velvetlike arrangement of fibres or vessels, as the villose coat of the intestines; and in geology and botany to parts covered with a shaggy pubescence.

VILLUS. In botany, a species of hairy pubescence of plants.

VI'MEN. In botany, a slender and flexible twig: vieo, to bind.

VIN'CULUM (Latin). A bond or band. In algebra, a character in the form of a line or stroke drawn over an expression, when compounded of several letters or quantities, in order to connect them; thus, a + bx shows that the sum of a and b is to be multiplied by x. The expression is more neatly written (a + b) x.

VINE. In botany, see VITIS and BRYONIA. VIN'EGAR, from vin, wine, and aigre, sour. Dilute and impare acetic acid (q. v.), formerly prepared only from wine; now from an infusion of malt.

VINOUS FERMENTATION. Under this name is comprehended every species of fermentation which terminates in the formation of an intoxicating liquid.

VIOL, Ital viola. A musical instrument of the same form as the violin, but larger, and having six strings. It is played also with a bow.

VIOLA. Violet. A very extensive class Pentandriaof campanaceous plants. Monogynia. Named from Iov, because it