2. Or on the fifth; as, He comes attended" by the sultry hours. 3. Or on the sixth as, But should he hide his face", th' astonish'd sun. 4. Or, two caesuras may divide a verse into three, portions; as, Some love to stray"; there lodg'd", amus'd, and fed. 5. Some lines admirably admit that subdivision of the cæsural pause which may be called a demi cæsura; as, Warms' in the sun" refreshes' in the breeze, VER'SION, n. s. Fr. version; Lat. versio. Change; transformation; change of direction; translation. Comets are rather gazed upon, than wisely observed in their effects; that is, what kind of comet, for magnitude, colour, version of the beams, produceth what kind of effects. Bacon. Springs, the antients thought to be made by the version of air into water. Id. Natural History. This exact propriety of Virgil I particularly regarded; but must confess that I have not been able to make him appear wholly like himself. For where the original is close, no version can reach it in the same compass. Dryden. It will be as easy, nay much easier, to invent some pretence or other against the reading, version, or construction. Waterland. VERSTEGAN (Richard), an English antiquary, born in London, of Flemish parents, and educated at Oxford. He went to Antwerp, and wrote on the Antiquities of the Renowned English Nation. London, 1634, 8vo., and 1674. He also wrote, Regal Governments of England, &c. He died in 1625. Fr. vert. Green. VERT, n. s. Vert, in the laws of the forest, signifies every thing that grows, and bears a green leaf within the forest, that may cover and hide a deer. Cowell. I find no mention in all the records of Ireland of a park or free warren, notwithstanding the great plenty of vert and venison. Sir John Davies. VERT, in heraldry, the term for a green color. It is called vert in the blazon of the coats of all under the degree of nobles: but in coats of nobility it is called emerald; and in those of kings venus. In engraving it is expressed by diagonals, or lines drawn athwart from right to left, from the dexter chief corner to the sinister base. VERTEBRE, n. s. Į Fr. vertebre; Latin VERTEBRAL, adj. $ vertebra. A joint of the back relating to the spine. The carotid, vertebral and splenick arteries, are not only variously contorted, but here and there dilated, to moderate the motion of the blood. Ray on the Creation. The several vertebres are so elegantly compacted together, that they are as strong as if they were but Ray. one bone. VERTEX, n. s. Lat. vertex. Zenith; the point over head; hence the top of any thing. These keep the vertex ; but betwixt the bear And shining zodiack, where the planets err, A thousand figured constellations roll. Creech. Mountains especially bound with different species of vegetables; every vertex or eminence affording new kinds. Derham. VERTICAL, adj. > Fr. vertical, from Lat. VERTICALLY, adv. vertex. Placed in the VERTICALITY, n. s. zenith: the adverb and noun substantive corresponding. Unto them the sun is vertical twice a-year; making two distinct summers in the different points of the verticality. Browne's Vulgar Errours. From these laws, all the rules of bodies ascending or descending in vertical lines may be deduced. Cheyne. 'Tis raging noon; and vertical the sun Darts on the head direct his forceful rays. VERTICILLATE, adj. Thomson. Lat. verticillum. Verticillate plants are such as have their flowers intermixt with small leaves growing in a kind of whirls about the joints of a stalk, as pennyroyal, horehound, &c. Quincy. erhaave's Methods, consisting of herbaceous veVERTICILLATÆ, a class in Ray's and Bogetables, having four naked seeds, and the flowers placed in whorls round the stalk. The term is synonymous to the labiati, or lip-flowers of Tournefort; and is exemplified in mint, thyme, and savory. Verticillata is also the name of the forty-second order in Linnæus's Fragments of a Natural Method, consisting of plants of the above description. VERTICILLUS, a mode of flowering, in which the flowers are produced in rings at each joint of the stem, with very short foot-stalks. and the other plants of the natural order of verThe term is exemplified in mint, hore-hound, ticillatæ. VERTICITY, n. s. Lat. vertex. The power of turning; circumvolution; rotation. Those stars do not peculiarly glance on us, but carry a common regard unto all countries, unto whom their verticity is also common. Browne's Vulgar Errours. We believe the verticity of the needle, without a certificate from the days of old. Glanville. Whether they be globules, or whether they have idea of whiteness in us, the more particles of light a verticity about their own centers, that produce the are reflected from a body, the whiter does the body umph. See PARTHIA. He died in his thirtyninth year. He was a prince of dissolute man appear. Locke. VERTICITY is that property of the loadstone whereby it turns or directs itself to one particular point. VERTIGINOUS, adj. Lat. vertiginosus. Turning round; rotatory. This vertiginous motion gives day and night successively over the whole earth, and makes it habitable Bentley. all around. These extinguish candles, make the workmen faint and vertiginous; and, when very great, suffocate and kill them. Woodward. VERTIGO, n. s. Lat. vertigo. A giddiness; a sense of turning in the head. Vertigo is the appearance of visible objects, that are without motion, as if they turned round, attended with a fear of falling, and a dimness of sight. Quincy. The forerunners of an apoplexy are dulness, vettigos, tremblings. Arbuthnot. That old vertigo in his head Will never leave him till he 's dead. Swift. VERTOT D'ABOEUF (Rene Aubert de), à celebrated historian, was born of a noble family in Normandy, in 1655. At sixteen years of age he became Franciscan friar; afterwards he entered into the order of the Præmonstratenses, in which he had several benefices; and at length was a secular ecclesiastic. He became secretary to the duchess of Orleans, member of the Academy of Inscriptions, and historiographer of Malta. He died at Paris in 1735. His prinripal works are, 1. The History of the Revolution of Sweden. 2. The Revolutions of Portugal. 3. The Revolutions of the Romans. 4. The History of Malta. These works are translated into most of the languages of Europe. VERTUE (George), a celebrated engraver, born in London, in 1684. His engravings are mostly portraits. He wrote a History of Painters, which was published by Horace Walpole, in 3 vols. 4to. He died in 1757. VERTUMNUS, in mythology, a god who presided over gardens and orchards, honored among the Etruscans, from whom the worship of this deity was transmitted to the Romans. Ovid has described the various forms assumed by this deity, in order to obtain the love of Pomona. VER'VAIN, n. s. Į Fr. verveine; Lat. vervena. A plant. VER'VINE. That with his very heart despiseth me? Shakspeare. Was not my love The verier wag o' the' two? Id. Id. We can contain ourselves, Were he the veriest antick in the world. Women are as roses, whose fair flower Being once displayed, doth fall that very hour. Id. Those who had drunk of Circe's cup were turned into very beasts. Davies. There, where very desolation dwells, By grots and caverns shagged with horrid shades, She may pass on. Milton. O that in very deed we might behold it! Dryden and Lee. heart; but, finding these very cocks cutting one The cocks beat the partridge, which she laid to another, she comforted herself. L'Estrange. In a seeing age, the very knowledge of former times passes but for ignorance in a better dress. South. The Greek orator was very famous for this. Addison. The pictures of our great grandmothers in queen Elizabeth's time are cloathed down to the very wrists, and up to their very chin. Id. Guardian. VES'ICATE, v. á. Lat. vesica. To blister. I saw the cuticular tesicated, and shining with a burning heat. Wiseman. I applied some vinegar prepared with litharge, defending the vesication with pledgets. Id. Surgery. VESICATORIUM, a blister, an application of an acrid nature made to any part of the body, in order to draw a flux of humors to that part, and thus elevate the scarf-skin into a blister. VESICLE, n. s. Lat. vesicula. A small cuticle filled or inflated. in a vesicle, or little bladder. Nor is the humour contained in smaller veins, but Browne's Vulgar Ftrours. The lungs are made up of such air pipes and resicles, interwoven with blood-vessels, to purify, ferment, or supply the sanguineous mass with nitroaerial particles. Ray. A muscle is a bundle of vesicular threads, or of solid filaments, involved in one common membrane. Cheyne. VESPA, the wasp, a genus of insects belonging to the order of hymenoptera. The mouth consists of two jaws without any proboscis: the superior wings are plaited; the eyes are lunar; and there is a sharp sting in the tail. There are 159 species: three of which are natives of Britain, viz. 1. V. coarctata, the small wasp, has black antennæ, yellowish at the base; the head is black with a yellow spot between the antennæ, and another at the base of the upper lip. Each segment of the abdomen is bordered with yellow, It is about half an inch long. 2. V. crabo, the hornet, has tawny antennæ ; the segments of the abdomen are black on the anterior part, and yellow on the posterior, with two black spots on each. Its length is an inch; it builds in hollow trees. Its cakes or combs are composed of a substance like coarse paper, or rusty parchment. It is very voracious, devouring other insects, and even bees. 3. V. vulgaris, the common wasp. The male has seven yellow segments on the abdomen, with a black triangle on each :-The head is yellow, and the antennæ long. The upper lip of the female is yellow, the antennæ short; there are six segments of the abdomen with two lateral black spots on each. M. Reaumur and Dr. Derham agree in distinguishing three sorts; viz. the queens or females, the males, and the common laboring wasps, called mules, or neuters, which, according to Reaumur, are neither males nor females, and consequently barren. The queens, of which there is a great number, are much longer in the body, and larger than any other wasp they have a large heavy belly, corresponding in size to the prodigious quantity of eggs with which they are charged. The males are less than the queens, but longer and larger than the common wasps, which are the smallest of the species: they have no stings, with which both the queens and common wasps are furnished. There are in one nest 200 or 300 males, and as many females: but their number depends on the size of the nest. See ENTOMOLOGY. VESPASIAN, the tenth emperor of Rome; remarkable for his clemency and other virtues. See ROME. VESPASIAN (Titus). See ROME, and TITUS. VES'PER, n. s. Lat. vesper. The evening star; the evening; an evening prayer. These signs are black Vesper's pageants. Shakspeare. VESPERTILIO, the bat, a genus of quadrupeds, belonging to the order of primates. All the teeth are erect, pointed, near each other; and the first four are equal. The fore feet have the toes connected by a membrane expanded into a kind of wings by which the creature is enabled to fly. There are twenty-eight species, of which four are natives of Britain. The most remarkable are, 1. V. murinus, common bat, has a tail the lips and nose are simple; and the ears are smaller than the head. It inhabits Europe, and is found in Britain. This animal flies only during the night, living chiefly on moths when it lights on the ground, it is unable to rise again till it has crawled to some height it remains torpid during winter, revives in the beginning of the spring, and comes abroad in the dusk of the evening. This species is two inches and a half long, when full grown, and about nine inches in extent; the fur is of a mouse color, tinged with reddish; it generally skims near the ground, with an uneven jerking flight; and often, seeking for gnats and other aquatic insects, flies close by the surface of water. They breed in summer, and are preyed on by owls. Bats are very voracious. They have been subjected to some cruel experiments, by the abbe Spallanzani and M. de Jurine; from which it appears, 1st, That the eyes of the bat VOL. XXII. are not indispensably necessary to it for finding its way; 2d, That the organ of hearing appears to supply that of sight in the discovery of bodies, and to furnish these animals with different sensations to direct their flight and enable them to avoid those objects that may present themselves. 2. V. noctulis, have the nose slightly bilobated; ears small and rounded; on the chin a minute verruca; hair reddish ash color: length of the rump two inches eight-tenths; tail one inch seven-tenths; extent of wings thirteen inches; inhabits Great Britain and France; flies high. A gentleman informed Mr. Pennant that he saw taken, under the eaves of Queen's College, Cambridge, in one night, 185 of these animals; the second night sixty-three; the third night two; and that each that was measured had fifteen inches extent of wings. 3. V. spectrum, or spectre, with a long nose; large teeth; long, broad, and upright ears: at the end of the nose a long conic erect membrane, bending at the end, and flexible; hair on the body cinereous, and pretty long: wings full of ramified fibres; the membrane extends from hind leg to hind leg; no tail; but from the rump extend three tendons, terminating at the edge of the membrane. They inhabit South America; live in the palm trees; grow very fat; called vampyre, by M. de Buffon, who supposes it to be the species that suck human blood. 4. V. vampyrus, the vampire, or Ternate bat, with large canine teeth; four cutting teeth above, the same below; sharp black nose; large naked ears; the tongue is pointed, terminated by sharp aculeated papillæ; talons very crooked, strong, and compressed sidewise; no tail; the membrane divided behind quite to the rump; head of a dark ferruginous color; on the neck, shoulder, and under side, of a much lighter and brighter red; on the back the hair shorter, dusky, and smooth; the membranes of the wings dusky. They vary in color; some being entirely of a reddish brown, others dusky. These monsters inhabit Guinea, Madagascar, and all the islands thence to the remotest in the Indian Ocean. They fly in flocks, and perfectly obscure the air with their numbers. They live on fruits; and are so fond of the juice of the palm tree that they will intoxicate themselves with it till they drop. Many are of an enormous size: Beckman measured one whose extent from tip to tip of the wings was five feet four inches; and Dampier another, which extended farther than he could reach with outstretched arms. Their bodies are from the size of a pullet to that of a dove: their cry is dreadful, their smell rank, their bite, resistance, and fierceness great, when taken. The ancients had some knowledge of these animals. Herodotus mentions certain winged wild beasts like bats, that molested the Arabs who collected the cassia, to such a degree that they were obliged to cover their faces, all but their eyes, with skins. It is very probable, as Buffon remarks, it was from such relations that poets formed their fictions of harpies. Linnæus gives this species the title of vampyre; conjecturing it to be the kind which draws blood from people in their sleep, which however Buf 2 B fon denies; ascribing that faculty only to the spectrum. VES'SEL, 7. 8. & v. a. Fr. vasselle; Ital. va cello; Lat. vas. Any thing containing liquids: hence a thing water-tight, as a ship or boat; any thing containing; any capacity: to vessel is to put into a vessel. For Banquo's issue have I filled my mind; Shakspeare. Macbeth. The sons and nephews of Noah, who peopled the isles, had vessels to transport themselves. Raleigh's Essays. Take earth, and vessel it; and in that set the seed. Bacon. The Phoenicians first invented open vessels, and the Egyptians ships with decks. Heylyn. The vessel is represented as stranded. The figure before it seems to lift it off the shallows. Addison on Medals. If the rigid doctrines be found apt to cool all those men's love of God, who have not the confidence to believe themselves of the number of the few chosen vessels, and to beget security and presumption in others who have conquered those difficulties. I have my fill Hammond. Of knowledge, what this vessel can contain. Milton. If you have two vessels to fill, and you empty one to fill the other, there still remains one vessel empty. Burnet. From storms of rage, and dangerous rocks of pride, Let thy strong hand this little vessel guide; It was thy hand that made it: through the tide Impetuous of this life let thy command Direct my course and bring me safe to land. Prior. Another cause of a wasting ulcer in the lungs is the disruption of a vessel, whence the blood issues into the cavities and interstices of the lungs, and thence is expectorated by a cough. Blackmore. Of these elements are constituted the smallest fibres; of those fibres the vessels; of those vessels the organs of the body. Arbuthnot on Aliments. Now secure the painted vessel glides; Pope. VESSEL is a general name given to the different sorts of ships which are navigated on the ocean, or in canals and rivers. It is, however, more particularly applied to those of the smaller kind, furnished with one or two masts. SHIP. See VEST, n. s. & v. a. Lat. vestis. An outer garment to dress; deck; invest; place in pos Had I been vested with the monarch's power, Thou must have sigbed, unlucky youth! `in vain. Without whose vesting beauty all were wrapt Light! Nature's resplendent robe; Prior. Thomson. VESTA, in pagan worship, the same with Cybele. See CYBELE, and OPS. Also the goddess of Fire, the daughter of Saturn and Cybele, and the sister of Ceres. She was so much in love with chastity, that on Jupiter's ascending the throne, and offering to grant whatever she asked, she only desired the preservation of her virginity, which she obtained. Vesta was not represented in her temple by any image. VESTAL, n. s. & adj. Lat. vestalis. A virgin consecrated to Vesta; a pure virgin : pertaining to or denoting a virgin. Women are not In their best fortunes strong; but want will perjure The ne'er touched vestal. Shakspeare. Her vestal livery is but sick and green, And none but fools do wear it. How happy is the blameless vestal's lot! The world forgetting, by the world forgot. Id. Pope. The VESTALS, among the ancient Romans, were priestesses of the goddess Vesta, and had the perpetual fire committed to their charge; they were at first only four in number, but afterwards increased to six; and it does not appear that their number ever exceeded six; among whom was one superior to the rest, and called vestalis maxima. The vestals were chosen from six to ten years of age, and obliged to strict continency for thirty years; the first ten of which were employed in learning the ceremonies of religion, the next ten in the performance of them, and the ten last in teaching them to the younger vestals. The habit of the vestals consisted of a head dress, called infula, which sat close to the head, and whence hung certain laces called vittæ; a kind of surplice made of white linen, and over it a purple mantle with a long train to it. VESTALIA, in Roman antiquity, a festival celebrated in honor of the goddess Vesta, on the fifth of the ides of June; i. e. on the ninth of the month. VESTIGE, n. s. Lat. vestigium. Footstep; mark left behind in passing. The truth passes so slightly through men's imaginations, that they must use great subtilty to track its vestiges. Harvey. VESTMENT, n. s. Lat. vestimentum. Garment; part of dress. Were it not better that the love which men bear unto God should make the least things, that are employed in his service, amiable, than that their overscrupulous dislike of so mean a thing as a vestment should from the very service of God withdraw their hearts and affections? Hooker. The sculptors could not give vestments suitable to Dryden. the quality of the persons represented. Heaven then would seem thy image and reflect Those sable vestments and that bright aspect. Waller. VESTRY, n. s. Fr. vestiaire; Lat. vestiarium. A room appendant to the church, in which sacerdotal garments and consecrated things are repoited parochial assembly commonly convened in the vestry. See next page. VESTRY is also a meeting consisting of the minister, church-wardens, and chief men of most parishes, who make a parish vestry. By custom there are select vestries, being a certain number of persons chosen to have the government of the parish, make rates, and take the accounts of church-wardens, &c. By stat. 58 Geo. III. c. 69 (amended by stat. 59 Geo. III. c. 85) for the regulation of parish vestries, it is enacted that three days' notice shall be given of the holding of all vestries by publication in the church on a Sunday, and affixing a notice on the church door. That if the rector, vicar, or perpetual curate, is not present at the vestry, a chairman shall be elected by the persons present; that, in cases of equality of votes, the chairman shall have the casting vote, in addition to his vote as a vestryman; that votes shall be proportioned to the amount of the poors' rate upon the parties voting, not exceeding six votes; the parties not having neglected or refused to pay the rates when called on. That the minutes of the proceedings shall be entered in the parishbooks, and signed by the chairman, and such restrymen as choose so to do; and that such books shall be carefully kept, &c. Provision is made for vestries regulated by special acts, &c. By the act 59 Geo. III. persons rated to the poor, though not inhabitants, and the clerks, &c. of corporations, are allowed to attend and vote. A vestry was called to consider about building a work-house, where it was agreed to, and to borrow money for that purpose: and that whoever should be bound for it, should be indemnified by the parish. This order was confirmed by another, and both signed by the vicar and several of the inhabitants. £300, being the sum agreed upon, was borrowed of A., to whom B. gave bond for it. An order of vestry was made for raising the money; but, upon appeal at the quarter-sessions by some new parishioners, was quashed. B. was sued on the bond, and paid the money, and then brought a bill for relief. And the master of the rolls decreed him his principal, interest, and costs at law, and in chancery; and that the defendants the vicar, churchwardens, and overseers of the poor, call a vestry to make a rate for payment; and, if the inhabitants refuse payment, the plaintiff to be at liberty to apply to the court: And said that he did not see why the court might not as well compel those who are not parties, to pay the rate, as order tenants, though not parties to pay the rates; and, because the defendants had put in a fair answer, their costs were decreed to be raised by the same rate; but said, that if those who had appealed to the quarter-sessions had been before the court, they should have paid all the costs.-2 P. Wms. 332. See 21 Vin. Abr. P. 448. It Select vestries.-In large and populous parishes, especially in and about the metropolis, a custom has obtained of yearly choosing a select number of the chief and most respectable parishioners to represent and manage the concerns of the parish for that year; and this has been held to be a good and reasonable custom. seems also to have been held a good and reasonable custom to choose a certain number of pa rishioners as a select vestry; and that as often as any of the members die, the rest shall choose one other fit and able parishioner of the same parish to fill up the vacancy of him so deceased; but this can only be supported upon the basis of prescription, and constant immemorial usage. The custom, however, differing in different parishes as to the election, government, and proceedings of select vestries, it is enacted by the stat. 10 Ann. c. 11, sec. 20, for building fifty new churches in or near London and Westminster, that the commissioners shall appoint a con venient number of sufficient inhabitants to be vestrymen; and from time to time, upon the death, removal, or other voidance of any such vestryman, the rest, or majority of them, may choose another. In several local and personal acts, the legislature has described the persons of whom a select vestry shall respectively consist. VESTURE, n. s. Old Fr. vesture; Ital. vestura. Garment; robe; dress. What, weep you when you but behold Our Cæsar's vesture wounded? Shakspeare. Her envious vesture greedy sight repelling. Fairfax. Rocks, precipices, and gulfs, apparalled with a vesture of plants. Bentley. Her breasts half hid, and half were laid to show; Here ruddy brass, and gold refulgent blazed; There polished chests embroidered vestures graced. Pope. VESUVIAN, in mineralogy, white garnet of Vesuvius. See MINERALOGY. VESUVIUS, a volcanic mountain in the south of Italy, about eight miles S. S. E. of Naples, celebrated for its eruptions. It rises in a gentle swell from the bay of Naples, to an elevation of nearly 3700 feet. The view from the summit is very beautiful, including Naples, with its bay, its islands, and its promontories, as well as the delightful scenery of the Campagna Felice. To the west the prospect loses itself in the immensity of the sea; to the east it extends far into the interior, and is only bounded by the Appennines. The summit of the mountain is in the form of a cone, and consists of masses of burned earth, ashes, and sand, thrown out in the course of ages by the volcano. It is steep and difficult of ascent from the looseness of the materials. The crater is extensive, nearly a mile and a half in circumference, but has not above 350 feet of depth or descent from the ridge. Its sides or interior surface has been progressively formed of ashes and cinders, intermixed with some rocks and dried lava. The lower part of the crater is a level spot, of nearly three-quarters of a mile in circumference, composed of a sort of crust of brown burned earth, and containing several orifices like funnels, not large, but emitting a thin vapor. The first of these eruptions recorded in history took place in the year 79 : at which time the two. |