country, covered with vast forests, beautifully in- The muriate is composed of VERAGUA, ST. JAGO DE, the capital of the above province, is a handsome town, in a moist and warm climate, surrounded by a small district, which produces Indian corn, a root called yucca, of which they make bread, and plantains. Cattle and hogs are here also very numerous. The Indians in the vicinity dye their cottons, manufactured by themselves, with the juice of shell fish found in the bay of Salinas, in Costa Rica, and on the coast of Veragua, affording a rich and delicate purple. With this juice, and with gold, which they find in the hills, they carry on a trade with Panama and Guatimala. VERATRIA, a new vegetable alkali, discovered lately by MM. Pelletier and Caventou, in the veratrum sabatilla or cevadilla, the veratrum album or white hellebore, and the colchicum autumnale or meadow saffron. The seeds of cevadilla, after being freed from an unctuous and acrid matter by ether, were digested in boiling alcohol. As this infusion cooled, a little wax was deposited; and the liquid being evaporated to an extract, redissolved in water, and again concentrated by evaporation, parted with its coloring matter. Acetate of lead was now poured into the solution, and an abundant yellow precipitate fell, leaving the fluid nearly colorless. The excess of lead was thrown down by sulphureted hydrogen, and the filtered liquor, being concentrated by evaporation, was treated with magnesia, and again filtered. The precipitate, boiled in alcohol, gave a solution, which, on evaporation, left a pulverulent matter, extremely bitter, and with decidedly alkaline characters. It was at first yellow, but by solution in alcohol, and precipitation by water, was obtained in a fine white powder. The precipitate by the acetate of lead gave, on examination, gallic acid; and hence it is concluded that the new alkali existed in the seed as a gallate. 100 4.3181 Veratria 95.8606 Muriatic acid 4.1394 Iodine and chlorine produce with veratria an iodate, hydriodate, chloride, and muriate. VERATRUM, in botany, a genus of plants of the class of polygamia and order of monœcia, and in the natural system arranged under the tenth order, coronaria. There is no calyx; the corolla has six petals; there are six stamina; the hermaphrodite flowers have three pistils and three capsules. There are three species, none of which are natives of Britain. The most important is the V. album, or white hellebore, a perennial root, about an inch thick, externally brown, internally white, and beset with many strong fibres; the stalk thick, strong, upright, hairy, and usually rises four feet in height; the leaves numerous, large, oval, entire, and of a yellowish green color, and surrounding the stem at its base: the flowers are greenish, and appear from June to August in very long, branched, terminal spikes. Every part of this plant is extremely acrid and poisonous. The ancients, though sufficiently acquainted with its virulency were not deterred from employing it internally in several diseases, especially those of a chronic and obstinate kind, as mania, melancholia, elephantiasis, &c. Veratrum has likewise been found useful in epilepsy and other convulsive complaints; but the diseases in which its efficacy seems least equivocal are those of the skin. VERB, n. s. Fr. verbe; Lat. verbum. A part of speech signifying existence, or some modification thereof. Men usually talk of a noun and a verb. Shakspeare. It was such a denial or confession of him as would appear in preaching: but this is managed in words and verbal profession. VERB, in grammar. See GRAMMAR. South. Fr. verbul; Lat. verbalis. Spoken; oral; not written; full of words; merely literal; relating to a verb: the adverb and noun substantive correspond. Made she no verbal quests? am sorry You put me to forget a lady's manners, Jd. Whosoever offers at verbal translation, shall have the misfortune of that young traveller, who lost his own language abroad, and brought home no other instead of it. Denham. Veratria was found in the other plants abovementioned. It is white, pulverulent, has no odor, but excites violent sneezing. It is very acrid, but not bitter. It produces violent vomiting in very small doses, and, according to some experiments, a few grains may cause death. It is very little soluble in cold water. Boiling water dissolves about part, and becomes acrid to the taste. It is very soluble in alcohol, and rather less soluble in ether. It fuses at 122° Fahrenheit, and then appears like wax. On cooling it becomes an amber-colored translucent mass. Heated more highly, it swells, decomposes, and burns. Decomposed by oxide of copper, it gave no trace of azote. It acts on test papers like an alkali, and forms salts uncrystallisable by evaporation. The salts appear like a gum. The supersulphate only seems to present crystals. Strong solutions of these salts are Browne's Vulgar Errours. partially decomposed by water. Veratria falls Being at first out of the way to science, in the down, and the solution becomes acid. The bi- selves, and the truth, in a verbal labyrinth. progress of their inquiries they must lose themsulphate appears to consist of Veratria Sulphuric acid 6·227 93.723 100 6.6441 His wasted country freed from Punick rage, Sometimes he will seem to be charmed with words of holy scripture, and to fly from the letter and dead verbality, who must only start at the life and animated materials thereof. Glanville. 'Tis almost impossible to translate verbally, and well, at the same time. Dryder. The manner of our denying the deity of Christ, tandria and order of monogynia, and in the na- Think not, although in writing I preferred Word Shakspeare. See the transcripts of both charters verbatim in Mat. Paris. Hale. VERBENA, in botany, vervain, a genus of the class of diandria and order of monogynia, and in the natural system arranged under the fortieth order, personatæ. There are seventeen species, only one of which is a native of Britain, viz. V. officinalis, or common vervain, which grows on the road sides near towns and villages. The leaves have many jagged clefts; the blossoms are pale blue. It manifests a slight degree of astringency, and was formerly much in vogue as a deobstruent, but is now disregarded. Mr. Millar says that it is never found above a quarter of a mile from a house; whence the common people in England call it Simpler's Joy, because wherever it is found it is a certain sign of a house being near. Sheep eat it; cows, horses, and goats, "efuse it. Each odorous bushy shrub Milton. VERDE, CAPE, a cape of Africa, stretching out into the Atlantic, and forming the most westerly point of that continent: the soil here is arid, upon a bottom of hard sand, whence, however, spring a considerable number of those immense trees called Baobabs, which give to the peninsula a verdant appearance, whence its name is derived. On the northern coast are two mountains of sand, which rise to the height of about 600 feet, with summits in the form of domes: these form a useful guide to mariners. VERDE, ISLANDS OF CAPE, a groupe situated in the Atlantic, about eighty miles west of the above cape. It consists of ten islands, of which the largest are St. Jago, St. Antonio, and St. Nicholas; the small Mayo, Bonavista, Sal, St. Vincent, St. Lucia, Brava, and Fogo. The large islands rise in the interior into very lofty mountains, from which they derive a copious supply of water. Fogo also, as its name expresses, is composed of a very formidable volcano. The rest of the smaller islands, though rocky, are destitute of very considerable elevations, and are thus at once deprived of good water, and rendered highly unproductive. Even the most fertile districts of this little archipelago cannot rival the rich soil of Madeira and the Canaries. The only product for which its arid and stony soil is well adapted is that of cotton, which, being manufactured by the natives into a species of coarse cloth, not only supplies the inhabitants with dress, but is exported in considerable quantity to Africa. A peculiarly excellent breed of mules and asses is also found here, and the best parts of the islands are fruitful in Indian corn. Poultry also thrive, and turtle are caught plentifully on the shores. But the most valuable product of the islands is sea salt, for the formation of which Mayo is peculiarly well adapted. On the western side is a great saline, or pond separated from the sea by a sand-bank, with an opening which admits the water at spring tides. The water, introduced by one tide, is congealed and formed into salt before the influx of another: it VERBESINA, in botany, naked-headed hemp is then collected in heaps, and kept ready for exagrimony, a genus of plants of the class of syn-portation. The dry season, from November till genesia and order of polygamia superflua, and in the natural method ranking under the forty-ninth order, compositæ. VERBOSE', adj. Į Lat. verbosus. ExubeVERBOSʼITY, n. s. rant in words; prolix; tedious by multiplicity of words: the noun substantive corresponding, VERBERATION, n. s. Fr. verberation. Blows; beating. Riding or walking against great winds is a great exercise, the effects of which are redness and inflammation; all the effects of a soft press or verberation. Arbuthnot. May, is the period suited for this operation. The Americans lade here many cargoes of salt; and a good deal is also sent to the opposite coast of Africa. The Cape de Verde Islands ever since their discovery have been subject to Portugal; but have never proved of any great value. The original settlers went out in consi derable numbers; but they suffered severely from drought and bad seasons, and many of them returned to Portugal. At present, the Portuguese inhabitants are few, and very poor; and the negro and mulatto natives have become in a great measure independent. A governor-general, however, resides on the island of St. Jago, at Porto Praya, to which he has removed from Ribeira Grande, his former residence. VERDICT, n. s. Lat. verum dictum. The determination of a jury declared to the judge; declaration; decision. Before the jury go together, 'tis all to nothing what the verdict shall be. Spenser. Deceived greatly they are, who think that all they whose names are cited amongst the favourers of this cause are on any such verdict agreed. Hooker. They have a longing desire to overcome, and to have the verdict pass for them, be it right or wrong. Kettlewell. These were enormities condemned by the most natural verdict of common humanity; and so very gross and foul that no man could pretend ignorance avoided. South. A very likely matter, indeed, that the emperor should ask the Arians whether they would be tried by the verdict of those who had before condemned the Arians by name. Waterland. VER'DIGRISE, n. s. Fr. vert de gris, the hoary green.-Peacham. The rust of brass, which in time, being consumed and eaten with tallow, turneth into green. Brass turned into green is called verdigrise. Bacon. VERDIGRISE, or the acetite of copper, is much used by painters as a green color. It is chiefly manufactured at Montpelier, the vines of Languedoc being very convenient for this purpose. See CHEMISTRY. A solution or erosion of copper, and consequently of verdegrise, may be prepared by employing vinegar instead of wine. But it would not have the unctuosity of ordinary verdegrise, which quality is necessary in painting. Good verdigrise must be prepared by means of a vinous acid, or solvent half acid and half spirituous. Accordingly the success of the operation depends chiefly on the degree of fermentation to which the wine employed has been carried; for this fermentation must not have been so far advanced that no sensibly vinous or spirituous parts remained in the liquor. Verdigrise is employed externally for deterging foul ulcers, and as an escharotic. It is rarely or never given internally. VER'DITER, n. s. Fr. verd de terre. Chalk made green. Verditure, ground with a weak gum arabic water, is the faintest and palest green. Peacham. VERDITER, OF VERDATER, is a preparation of copper sometimes used by the painters, &c., for a blue, but more usually mixed with a yellow for a green color. See CHEMISTRY and COLORMAKING. Dr. Merret says that verditer is prepared in the following manner :-A quantity of whiting is put into a tub, and upon this the solution of the copper is poured. The mixture is to be stirred every day for some hours together, till the liquor loses its color. The liquor is then to be poured off, and more solution of copper is to be added. This is to be repeated till the whiting has acquired the proper color. Then it is to be spread on large pieces of chalk, and dried in the sun. It appears from M. Pelletier's analysis that 100 grains of the very best verditer contain of carbonic acid 30, of water 3, of pure lime 7, of oxygen 93, and of pure copper 50. The author remarks that the verditers of inferior quality contain more chalk and less copper. VERDUN, a town in the north-east of France, department of the Meuse, and traversed by that river. The population somewhat exceeds 9000; and the town is divided into three parts, the Upper, Lower, and New town. The first forms the larger portion, and stands on an eminence sloping towards the Meuse. The whole is strongly fortified, and has a citadel situated on an emimence, bathed by the river. Verdun is the see of a bishop, and stands thirty-five miles west of Metz, and fifty-five north-west of Nancy. or VER'DURE, n. s. Į Fr. verdure. Green; VERDUROUS, adj. green color: hence grass; pasturage the adjective means covered decked with green. Its verdure clad Her universal face with pleasant green. Higher than their tops The verdurous wall of paradise up-sprung: Which to our general sire gave prospect large. Id. Let twisted olive bind those laurels fast, Whose verdure must for ever last. Milton. Prior. VERE (sir Francis), an English general, was the second son of Geoffrey de Vere, a branch of the ancient family of that name, earls of Oxford, born in 1554. About the age of thirty-one he embarked with the troops sent by queen Elizabeth, under the earl of Leicester, to assist the states of Holland; in which service his courage became immediately conspicuous; but his gallant behaviour in the defence of Bergen-op-Zoom in 1588, when besieged by the prince of Parma, established his reputation. After the siege was raised he was knighted by lord Willoughby, who had succeeded Leicester. He continued in the service of the states till 1595; in 1593 he was elected member of parliament for Leominster. The famous expedition against Cadiz being resolved upon, sir Francis was called home, and appointed to a principal command under the earl of Essex. The success is well known. In 1597 he was in Holland at the battle of Turnhout, of which he has given a particular description in his Commentaries. In the same year he embarked with the earl of Essex in the expedition to the Azores; and, at his return, was appointed governor of the Briel in Holland, with the command of the English troops in the service of the states. In 1600 he was one of the three generals at the battle of Nieuport, and the victory was universally ascribed to his conduct and resolution. But the last and most glorious achievement of his life was his gallant defence of Ostend, with about 1600 men, against an army of 12,000, from July, 1601, until March, 1602, when he resigned the government and returned to Holland. He died in 1608 in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His Commentaries were printed at Cambridge, 1657, folio. VERE (sir Horace), brother of the above, was born in 1565. He was created a peer by the title of lord Vere. VEREMUND, a native of Spain, who was archdeacon of St. Andrew's in Scotland in the middle of the eleventh century. He wrote a history of Scotland from its origin to the year 1060, and dedicated it to king Malcolm III. VERGE, n. s. Fr. verge; Lat. virga. A VERGER. Srod. carried as an emblem of authority; the mace of a dean: verger, he who carries the mace. I can tip the verger with half a crown, and get into the best seat. Suppose him now a dean compleat, Devoutly lolling in his seat; The silver verge, with decent pride, Farquhar. Swift. VERGE, n. s. & v. n. Lat. virgo. The brink; border; edge; compass; that which compasses; see below for both its legal meanings: to verge is, to tend; bend; press toward, particularly downwards. Would the inclusive verge Of golden metal, that must round my brow, You are old: Shakspeare. Nature in you stands on the very verge Of her confine. ld. King Lear. Verge is the compass about the king's court, bounding the jurisdiction of the lord steward of the king's household, and of the coroner of the king's house, and which seems to have been twelve miles round. Verge hath also another signification, and is used for a stick, or rod, whereby one is admitted tenant, and, holding it in his hand, sweareth fealty to the lord of the manor; who, for that reason, is called tenant by the verge. Cowell. Serve they as a flowery verge to bind The fluid skirts of that same watery cloud, Lest it again dissolve, and shower the earth. Milton. Such are indicated, when the juices of a human Arbuthnot. body verge to putrefaction. Then let him chuse a damsel young and fair, To bless his age, and bring a worthy heir To sooth his care, and, free from noise and strife, Conduct him gently to the verge of life. Pope. The nearer I find myself verging to that period of life, which is to be labour and sorrow, the more I prop myself upon those few supports that are left. Swift. VERIFY, v. a. , Fr. verifier. To jusVERIFICATION, n. s. tify against charge of falsehood; confirm; prove true: the noun substantive corresponding. What seemeth to have been uttered concerning sermons, and their efficacy or necessity, in regard of divine matter, must consequently be verified in sundry other kinds of teaching, if the matter be the same in all. Hooker. Versimilitude and opinion are an easy purchase; but true knowledge is dear and difficult. Like a versimilitude, like the expanded superficies, is obvious, point, it requires an acuteness to its discovery: while sensible, and affords a large and easy field for loose enquiry. Glanville. The plot, the wit, the characters, the passions, are exalted as high as the imagination of the poet caa carry them, with proportion to versimility. VERITY, n. s. VERITABLE, adj. VER'ITABLY, adv. Dryden on Dramatick Poetry. Fr. verité; Lat. veritas. Truth; consonance to the reality of things: veritable is true; agreeable to fact: the adverb corresponding. Wherefore should any man think, but that reading itself is one of the ordinary means whereby it pleaseth God, of his gracious goodness, to instil that celestial verity, which, being but so received, is nevertheless effectual to save souls ? Hooker. That's verity. Indeed! is 't true? The presage of the year succeeding, made from insects in oak apples, is I doubt too indistinct, nor veritable from event. Browne's Vulgar Errours. The precipitancy of disputation, and the stir and noise of passions that usually attend it, must needs be prejudicial to verity; its calm insinuations can no more be heard in such a bustle than a whistle among a crowd of sailors in a storm. Glanville. It is a proposition of eternal verity, that none can govern while he is despised. We may as well imagine that there may be a king without majesty, a supreme without sovereignty. South. VER'JUICE, n. s. Fr. verjus; Lat. veris jus. Acid liquor expressed from crab-apples. The barley-pudding comes in place : Dryden. Hang a dog upon a crab-tree, and he'll never love verjuice. L'Estrange. The native verjuice of the crab, derived Through the' infixed graff, a grateful mixture forms Of tart and sweet. Philips. VERJUICE is obtained from grapes or apples when unfit for wine or cider, or from sweet ones while yet acid and unripe. Its chief use is in sauces, ragouts, &c.; it is also an ingredient in some medicinal compositions, and is used by the wax-chandlers to purify their wax. A VERMES, worms, in zoology, the sixth class of the Linnean system, thus classically characterised :-Of slow motion, soft substance, able to increase their bulk, and restore parts which have been destroyed, extremely tenacious of life, and the inhabitants of moist places. Many of them are without distinct head, and most of them with out feet; they are principally distinguished by their tentacles or feelers. They are divided into the five orders of intestina, mollusca, testacea, zoophyta, and infusoria; for which see ZOOLOGY. VERMICELLI, n. s. Ital. vermicelli. paste rolled and broken in the form of worms. With oysters, eggs, and vermicelli, She let him almost burst his belly. VERMICELLI, or VERMICHELLY, a composition of flour, cheese, yolks of eggs, sugar, and saffron, reduced to a paste and formed into long slender pieces like worms, by forcing it with a piston through a number of little holes. It was first brought from Italy where it is in great vogue; it is chiefly used in soups and pottages. VERMICULAR, adj. Lat. vermiculus. VERMICULATION, n.s. Acting like a worm; S VER'MICULE. continued from one part to another of the same body: the noun substantive corresponds: a vermicule is a little worm or grub. Prior. My heart moves naturally by the motion of palpitation; my guts by the motion of vermiculation. Hooker. I saw the shining oak-ball ichneumon strike its terebra into an oak-apple, to lay its eggs therein: and hence are many vermicules seen towards the outside of these apples. Derham. VERMIFUGE is a medicine which expels worms from the intestines. Dr. Hæmmerlin of Ulm has lately recommended as a very powerful and safe vermifuge the coralline of Corsica, and says that it has been so used in that island with complete success from time immemorial. It is a fucus adhering to the rocks washed by the sea, and sometimes to the stones and shells thrown upon the shore. In the system of plants of Linnæus it belongs to the class cryptogamia. Its most common names are sea rock moss, the Grecian herb, lemithochorton, and the coralline of Corsica. VER'MIL, n. s. Fr. vermeil; vermil- There grew a goodly tree him fair beside, Spenser. Id. The imperfect metals are subject to rust, except mercury, which is made into vermillion by solution or calcination. Bacon. Simple colours are strong and sensible, though they are clear as vermillion. Dryden's Dufresnoy. A sprightly red vermillions all her face, And her eyes languish with unusual grace. Granville. The stars determine You are my prisoners, base vermin. Hudibras. Redi discarding anomalous generation, tried experiments relating to the vermination of serpents and flesh. Derham. He that has so little wit To nourish vermin, may be bit. Swift. Great injuries these vermin, mice, and rats, do in the field. Mortimer's Husbandry. all VERMIN is a collective name, includi kinds of little animals and insects which are hurtful or troublesome to mankind, beasts, or fruits, &c., as worms, lice, fleas, caterpillars, ants, flies, &c. VERMIP'AROUS, adj. Lat. vermis and pario. Producing worms." Hereby they confound the generation of vermiparous animals with oviparous. Browne's Vulgar Errours. VERMONT, one of the United States of South America, bounded north by Lower Canada, east by the Connecticut, which separates it from New Hampshire, south by Massachusetts, and west by New York. Long. 71° 33′ to 73° 26' W., lat. 42° 44' to 45° N.; 157 miles long, and ninety broad on the north line, and forty on the south; containing 10,212 square miles. Population, in 1780, 85,589; in 1800, 154,465; and |