Villari Pasquale
Villari Pasquale Italian Historian And Statesman, Born At Naples Oct. 3, 1827, Studied With Luigi La Vista Under Francesco De Sanctis. Implicated In The Riots Of May 15, 1848, At Naples, Against The Bourbon Government, He Took Refuge In Florence Where He Published His Storia Di Giro Lamo Savonarola E ...
Villarreal
Villarreal, A Town Of Eastern Spain, In The Province Of Castellon De La Plana; 4 M. From The Mediterranean Sea, Near The Right Bank Of The River Mijares, And On The Barcelona-valencia Railway. Pop. (1930) 18,982. Villarreal Has A Station On The Light Railway Between Onda And The Seaports Of ...
Villars
Villars (villars-sur-ollon), A Swiss Winter Sports Centre, Frequented In Summer Also, Situated At Over 4,iooft. Above Sea-level, On A Narrow Gauge Railway That Branches From The Lausanne-brig Main Line At Bex, About 81m. Beyond The Point At Which The Railway Leaves The Lake Of Geneva. It Is Some Distance Above ...
Villaviciosa
Villaviciosa, A Seaport Of Northern Spain, In The Province Of Oviedo ; On The Rio De Villaviciosa, An Estuary Formed By The Small River Villaviciosa Which Here Enters The Bay Of Biscay. Pop. (193o) 22,117. The Town Is The Headquarters Of A Large Fishery, And Has Some Coasting Trade. Its ...
Villefranche De Rouergue
Villefranche-de-rouergue, A Town Of France, Capital Of An Arrondissement In The Department Of Aveyron, 36 M. W. Of Rodez By Road. Pop. (1931) 5,596. Villefranche, Founded About 1252, Owes Its Name To The Numerous Immunities Granted By Its Founder Alphonse, Count Of Toulouse (d. 1271), And In 1348 It Was ...
Villefranche Sur Saone
Villefranche-sur-saone, A Manufacturing Town Of East-central France, Capital Of An Arrondissement In The De Partment Of Rhone, On The Morgon Near Its Junction With The Saone, 21 M. N. By W. Of Lyons By Rail Pop. (1931) 17,162. Founded In 1212 By Guichard Iv., Count Of Beaujeu, Villefranche Became In ...
Villena
Villena, A Town Of Eastern Spain, In The Province Of Ali Cante ; On The Right Bank Of The River Vinalapo, And At The Junction Of Railways From Valencia, Alicante, Albacete And Yecla. Pop. (1930) 17,638• Villena Contains Some Interesting Examples Of Moorish Domestic Architecture. It Is Dominated By A ...
Villenage Villeinage Villainage
Villeinage (villainage, Villenage), A Mediaeval Term (from Villa, Villanus), Pointing To Serfdom, A Condition Of Men Intermediate Between Freedom And Slavery. It Occurs In France As Well As In England, And Was Certainly Imported Into English Speech Through The Medium Of Norman French. The Materials For The Formation Of The ...
Villeneuve Les Avignon
Villeneuve-les-avignon, A Town Of South-eastern France, In The Department Of Gard On The Right Bank Of The Rhone Opposite Avignon. Pop. (1931) 2,933. In The 6th Century The Benedictine Abbey Of St. Andre Was Founded On Mont Andaon, And The Village Which Grew Up Round It Took Its Name. In ...
Villeneuve Sur Lot
Villeneuve-sur-lot, A Town Of South-western France, Capital Of An Arrondissement In The Department Of Lot-et Garonne, 22 M. N. By E. Of Agen On A Branch Line Of The Orleans Railway. Pop. (1931) 7,199. Villeneuve Was Founded In By Alphonse, Count Of Poitiers, Brother Of Louis Ix., On The Site ...
Villeroi
Villeroi, Francois De Neufville, Duc De (1644-173o), French Soldier, Was The Son Of Nicolas De Neufville, Marquis De Villeroi, Marshal Of France (1598-1685). His Father, Created A Duke By Louis Xiv., Was The Young King's Governor, And The Boy Was Thus Brought Up In Close Relations With Louis. An Intimate ...
Villers La Ville
Villers La Ville, A Village Of Belgium In The Province Of Brabant, 2 M. E. Of Quatre Bras, With A Station On The Direct Line From Louvain To Charleroi. Pop. (192o) 1,059. It Is Chiefly Interesting On Account Of The Fine Ruins Of The Cistercian Abbey Of Villers Founded In ...
Villon
Villon, Francois (1431-c. 1463), French Poet, Was Born In 1431, And, As It Seems, Certainly At Paris. He Was Entered On The Books Of The University Of Paris As Francois De Montcorbier, But Was Always Known By The Name Of His Patron, Guillaume De Villon. It Appears That He Was ...
Vilna Or Wilno
Vilna Or Wilno, A Province Of Poland, Having The Prov Ince Of Nowogrodck On The South, Russia On The East, Latvia On The North And Lithuania On The West. Area 10,965 Sq.m., Pop. (1931) 1,272,851, Of Whom 59.9% Are Poles, Many Others Are White Russians, The Rest Lithuanians, 9% Jews ...
Vilna Or Wilno
Vilna Or Wilno, A Town Of Poland, Capital Of The Province Of The Same Name, 436 M. S.s.w. Of Leningrad, At The Inter Section Of The Railways From Leningrad To Warsaw And From Libau To The Mouth Of The Don. Pop. (1931) With Its Suburbs Antokol, Lukishki, Pogulyanka And Sarechye, ...
Vincennes
Vincennes, A Suburb 7 Kilometres East Of Notre Dame, De Paris, In The Department Of Seine, On A Wooded Plateau. Pop. (1931), 46,563. Its Celebrated Castle, Situated To The South Of The Town And On The Northern Border Of The Bois De Vincennes, Was Formerly A Royal Residence, Begun By ...
Vincennes_2
Vincennes, A City Of S.w. Indiana, U.s.a., On The Wabash River; The County Seat Of Knox County, The Oldest Settlement Of The State. It Is On Federal Highways 41 And 5o; Has A Municipal Airport; And Is Served By The Baltimore And Ohio, The Big Four, The Chicago And Eastern ...
Vincent
Vincent (or Vincentius), St., Deacon And Martyr, Whose Festival Is Celebrated On Jan. 22. In Several Of His Discourses St. Augustine Pronounces The Eulogy Of This Martyr, And Refers To Acts Which Were Read In The Church. It Is Doubtful Whether The Acts That Have Come Down To Us (acta ...
Vindelicia
Vindelicia, In Ancient Geography, A Country Bounded On The South By Rhaetia, On The North By The Danube And The Vallum Hadriani, On The East By The Oenus (inn), On The West By The Territory Of The Helvetii. It Thus Corresponded To The North Eastern Portion Of Switzerland, The South-east ...
Vindhya
Vindhya, A Range Of Mountains In Central India. They Form A Well-marked, Though Not Continuous, Chain With The River Narbada Nn The South And Separate The Ganges Basin From The Deccan. Starting On The West In Gujarat, They Cross The Southern Edge Of The Malwa Plateau And, Continued By The ...
Vinegar
Vinegar. There Can Be No Doubt That Vinegar Was First Obtained By The Natural Souring Of Fermented Wine, Whence It Received Its Name ; The Alcohol Natural To Wine Or Beer, Under Appropriate Conditions, Readily Becomes Oxidized By The Atmos Phere To Form Acetic Acid—a Change Represented By The Chemist ...
Vineland
Vineland, A Borough Of Cumberland County, New Jersey, U.s.a., 35 M. S. Of Philadelphia; Served By The Central Of New Jersey And The Pennsylvania Railways. Pop. (1930 7,556. It Has An Area Of I Sq.m., Laid Out In Unusually Broad Streets, Straight And Well Shaded. The Surrounding Country Is Devoted ...
Vine
Vine. The Grape-vine, Botanically Vitis (family Vitaceae), Is A Genus Of About 4o Species, Widespread In The North Temperate Zone, But Richest In Species In North America. The Best Known And Longest Cultivated Species Is The Old-world Grape-vine, Vitis Vinifera; A Variety Of This, Silvestris, Occurs Wild In The Medi ...
Vinita
Vinita, A City Of North-eastern Oklahoma, U.s.a., On Fed Eral Highways 66 And 73, And Served By The Frisco And The Mis Souri-kansas-texas Railways; County Seat Of Craig County. Pop. (193o) 4,263. Vinita Is The Trade Centre And Shipping Point Of A Farming, Dairying, Stock-raising, And Fruit-growing Region. It Has ...
Vinland Or Wineland
Vinland Or Wineland. This Was The Southernmost Of The Countries Discovered By Leif Ericsson (q.v.), The Scandi Navian Discoverer, On His Voyage From Norway To Greenland In The Year Zoo°, And It Was Later Visited Also By Thorfinn Karlsefni (q.v.), Probably In The Year 1004. It Derived Its Name From ...
Viol
Viol, A Generic Term For The Bowed Precursors Of The Violin (q.v.), But In England More Specially Applied To Those Immediate Predecessors Of The Violin Which Are Distinguished In Italy And Germany As The Gamba Family. The Chief Characteristics Of The Viols Were A Flat Back, Sloping Shoulders, "c"-shaped Sound-holes, ...
Viola
Viola, A Member Of The Violin Family Standing In Point Of Size Between The Violin And The Violoncello. It Is Known Variously As The Tenor And The Alto Member Of The Family, The Latter Term Obtaining In France And Italy And Being Derived From The Fact That In Earlier Days, ...
Violin
Violin, The Smallest And Highest-pitched Of One Of The Most Important Families Of Stringed Musical Instruments, To Which It Gives Its Name. It Consists Essentially Of A Resonant Box Of Peculiar Form, Over Which Four Strings Of Different Thicknesses Are Stretched Across A Bridge Standing On The Box In Such ...
Violoncello
Violoncello, The Third Largest Member Of The Violin Fam Ily, Standing Midway, Therefore, In Point Of Size And Pitch Be Tween The Viola And The Double-bass. Although The Word Vio Loncello Is A Diminutive, Signifying "small Violone," Or Double-bass, The Instrument Is Really A Bass Violin, Formed On A Differ ...
Vionville
Vionville, A Village Of Lorraine, Near Metz, Celebrated As The Scene Of The Battle Of Vionville (also Called Rezonville Or Mars-la-tour), Fought On Aug. 16, 187o Between The French And The Germans (see Metz And Franco-german War). ...
Vipers Bugloss
Viper's Bugloss (echium, Vulgare), A Hairy Herb Of The Borage Family (boraginaceae), Indigenous To Europe, Including Great Britain, And Western Asia. The Flowers Are Brilliant Blue When Expanded, But The Buds Are Reddish. Viper's Bugloss, Called Also Blue-weed, Has Become Widely Naturalized In The United States And Canada, From Nova ...
Vipers
Vipers, Snakes Of The Family Viperidae, Which Is Character Ised By The Presence Of Poison Fangs On A Movable Upper Jaw. The Fangs Are Simply Enlarged Teeth Perforated Longitudinally For The Passage Of The Venom And, Like Those Of All Other Snakes, They Are Fused To The Supporting Bones. In ...
Virbius
Virbius, An Old Italian Divinity, Associated With The Worship Of Diana At Aricia (see Diana). Under Greek Influence, He Was Identified With Hippolytus (q.v.), Who After He Had Been Tram Pled To Death By His Own Horses Was Restored To Life By Asklepios And Removed By Artemis To The Grove ...
Vire
Vire, A Town Of North-western France, Capital Of An Arron Dissement In The Department Of Calvados, 47 M. S.w. Of Caen By Rail. Pop. 5,345. Vire Stands On A Hill Surrounded On Three Sides By Thy Vire And Crowned By The Remains Of A 12th-century Château. The Church Of Notre ...
Virelay
Virelay, The Title Applied To More Than One Fixed Form Of Verse (virer, To Turn). Its History And Character Are Very Obscure. It May Be Connected With The Provençal Ley. Historians Agree That It Is A Modification Of The Mediaeval Lai; But No Example Of But This Seems To Be ...
Vireo
Vireo, The Common Name Of Birds Of The American Passerine Family Vireonidae. There Are About So Species Of These Insectiv Orous Birds, Which Have Characteristic And Often Very Musical Songs. Twelve Species Inhabit The United States, All Building Deep, Pendent, Cup-shaped Nests, Usually Hung Between The Forks Of A Branch. ...
Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro
Virgil (publius Vergilius Maro) (7o-19 B.c.) The Great Roman Poet, Was Born On Oct. 15,7o B.c., On A Farm Not Far From The Town Of Mantua. In The Region North Of The Po A Race Of More Imaginative Susceptibility Than The People Of Latium Formed Part Of The Latin-speaking Population. ...
Virgin Islands
Virgin Islands, A Group Of Small Islands In The West Indies, About Ioo In Number, Mostly Uninhabited. They Extend E. From Porto Rico, Lying Between 17° And 18° 5o' N.. And 1o' And 65° 3o' W.: Total Area About 465 Sq.m. The Islands Are Rocky, Or Sandy And Barren, But ...
Virginal Or Pair Of
Virginal Or Pair Of Virginals, A Name Applied In England (and Also Recognized On The Continent Of Europe) To The Spinet As Being Pre-eminently An Instrument For Girls. (for Fur Ther Particulars See Pianoforte And Spinet.) ...
Virginia Cowslip
Virginia Cowslip (mertensia Virginica), A North American Plant Of The Borage Family (boraginaceae), Called Also Bluebells, Roanoke-bells, And Tree-lungwort. It Grows In Low Meadows And In Open Woods Along Streams From New York And Ontario To Minnesota And Southward To South Carolina And Kansas. The Plant Is A Smooth Perennial, ...
Virginia Creeper
Virginia Creeper (parthenocissus), A Well-known Genus Of Climbing Plants, Containing Ten Species In Temperate Asia And America, Of Which P. Tricuspidata, Native To China And Japan, And P. Quinquefolia, Of Eastern North America, Are Culti Vated. Parthenocissus Belongs To The Family Vitaceae And Climbs By Means Of Sucker-like Tendrils. The ...
Virginia Or Verginia
Virginia Or Verginia, In Roman Legendary History, Daughter Of L. Virginius, A Plebeian Centurion. Her Beauty Attracted The Notice Of The Decemvir Appius Claudius, Who Instructed Marcus Claudius, One Of His Clients, To Claim Her As His Slave. Marcus Accordingly Brought Her Before Appius, And Asserted That She Was The ...
Virginia Reel
Virginia Reel, A Lively American Country-dance, For Merly Very Popular In The United States, Derived From The Sir Roger De Coverley. Originally Intended For Six Couples Only, In Longways Formation, It Later Became Common Practice To Form In One Long Set, The Men And Women In Separate Lines Facing Each ...
Virginia
Virginia, A City Of St. Louis County, Minnesota, U.s.a., 6o M. N.w. Of Duluth, At An Altitude Of 1,5oo Ft., In The Heart Of The Mesaba Iron Range And The Vast Playground Of "the Arrow Head Country." It Is Served By The Duluth And Iron Range, The Duluth, Missabe And ...
Virginia
Virginia, "the Old Dominion," Is The Most Southerly Of The Middle Atlantic Group Of States In The United States Of Amer Ica, And Lies Between 36° 3o' And 39° 37' N. Lat., And 75° 15' And 83° 4o' W. Long. The Potomac River Separates It On The North From Maryland, ...
Virus
Virus: See Filter-passing Viruses; Bacteria And Dis Ease ; Bacteriology. Vis, An Island In The Adriatic, Forming Part Of Dalmatia, Yugo Slavia (italian, Lissa). Pop. (1921) 5,139, Divided Between Two Villages. In Vis, The Capital, Which Has An Excellent Harbour, Is The Old Palace Of The Counts Gariboldi, The Monastery ...
Visalia
Visalia, A City Of South-central California, U.s.a., 160 M. N. By E. Of Los Angeles; The County Seat Of Tulare County. It Has A Municipal Airport, And Is Served By The Santa Fe, The Southern Pacific And Electric Railways, And Motor-coach Lines. Pop. (1920) 5,753 (85% Native White) ; In ...
Visby
Visby, The Capital Of The Swedish Island And Administrative District (ian) Of Gottland, In The Baltic Sea. Pop. (1934) 10,835. The Name Visby Is Derived From The Old Norse Ye (sanctuary) And By (town). This Was No Doubt A Place Of Religious Sacrifice In Heathen Times. At Any Rate It ...
Viscacha Or Biscacha
Viscacha Or Biscacha, A Large South American Bur Rowing Rodent Belonging To The Family Chinchillidae. The Viscacha (viscaccia) Is Distinguished From The Other Members Of That Group By Having Only Three Hind Toes; It Is The Heaviest-built And Largest Member With Smaller Ears Than The Rest. It Has A Long ...
Vischer
Vischer, The Name Of A Family Of Nuremberg Sculptors, Who Contributed Largely To The Masterpieces Of German Art In The 15th And 16th Centuries. ...
Visconti
Visconti, The Name Of A Celebrated Italian Family Which Long Ruled Milan; They Claimed Descent From King Desiderius, And In The 11th Century Possessed Estates On Lakes Como And Maggiore. A Certain Ottone, Who Distinguished Himself In The First Crusade, Is Mentioned In 1078 As Viscount Of Milan. The Real ...
Viscose Rayon
Viscose Rayon. In 1938, 83% Of The World Output Of Continuous-filament Rayon And An Even Higher Percentage Of Rayon Staple Fibre Were Produced By The Viscose Process. For Particulars Of The Process See Synthetic Fibres. ...
Viscosity
Viscosity. All Bodies, Whether Solids, Liquids Or Gases, Oppose A Resistance To Deformation Or Relative Displacement Of Portions Of The Body Against One Another. This Resistance May Be Of Different Kinds; It May, For Instance, Increase As The Velocity With Which Parallel Planes A Fixed Distance Apart Are Displaced Relatively ...
Viscount
Viscount, The Title Of The Fourth Rank Of The European Nobility. In The British Peerage It Intervenes Between The Dignities Of Earl And Baron. The Title Is Now Purely One Of Honour, Having Long Been Dissociated From Any Special Office Or Functions. In The Carolingian Epoch The Or Missi Comitis, ...
Vishnu
Vishnu [sanskr. The "active One"], In The Indian Rig-veda A Minor Deity, Who Takes Three Strides, Vi-kram, The Last And Highest Beyond Mortal Ken ; These Probably Denote The Three Divisions Of The Universe. Closely Allied With Indra In His Fight With Vritra, The Drought-dragon, And Against The Dasas, The ...
Vision Or Sight
Vision Or Sight, The Function, In Physiology, Of The Organ Known As The Eye (q.v.). The Sense Of Vision Is Excited By The Influence Of Light On The Retina, The Special Terminal Organ Con Nected With The Optic Nerve. By Excitation Of The Retina, A Change Is Induced In The ...
Visit And Search
Visit And Search, A Term For The Procedure Adopted By A Belligerent Warship To Ascertain Whether A Vessel Is Enemy Or Neutral, And If Neutral Whether It Is Carrying Contraband. If Upon Visitation The Vessel Proves To Be The Former She May Be Seized And Sent Into A Port Of ...
Visiting Cards
Visiting Cards. The Use Of Cards Of Identification For Social Purposes Is Generally Supposed To Have Had Its Origin At The Court Of Louis Xiv. Of France. But In A Ruder Form, This Mark Of Intercourse Dates From Much Earlier Times; The Chinese In Bygone Ages Employed Such Mediums Of ...
Visoko
Visoko, A Town Of Bosnia, Yugoslavia. Pop. (1931) 4,706. It Is Connected By Rail With Sarajevo, And Has A Brisk Trade In Leather, Carpets, Sugar Beet And Tobacco. Between The 16th And 17th Centuries It Was Second Only To Jajce As A Stronghold Of The Bosnian Rulers. ...
Vistula
Vistula, A River Of Europe, Which Rising In Polish Silesia Runs Through Poland, Along The Frontier Of East Prussia, And De Bouches Through The Territory Of The Free City Of Danzig. Its Situ Ation Fits It To Be A Waterway Of The First Importance, Although It Is Liable To Floods ...
Visual Education
Visual Education, A Term Used In The United States To Designate Those Forms Of Instruction In Which Use Is Made Of Prepared Visual Aids, Such As Models, Maps And Charts, Mounted Pictures, Lantern Slides, Films For The Projection Of Still Pictures, Stereographs And Motion Picture Films. Visual Education Is A ...
Visual Sensation
Visual Sensation. The Problem Of Visual Sensation Has To Do With The Dependence Of Visual Experience Upon Certain Features Of The Physiological Visual Process Which Lie On The So Called "afferent" Side Of The Nervous Arc. These Features Include The Elementary Properties Of (i) The Stimulus (light Or Electro Magnetic ...
Vital Statistics
Vital Statistics. This Important Subject Is Treated In A Number Of Articles In This Work, Including Population; Census ; Birth-rate ; Death-rate ; Marriage-rate ; Illegiti Macy ; Sex-ratio At Birth And Death ; Birth Control. ...
Vitalianus
Vitalianus, Bishop Of Rome From 657 To 672, Succeeded Eugenius I. And Was Followed By Adeodatus. In The Monothelite Controversy Then Raging He Refrained From Express Condemnation Of The Typus Of Constans Ii. The Chief Episode In His Pontificate Was The Visit Of Constans To Rome; The Pope Received Him ...
Vitamins
Vitamins. Substances Of Unknown Composition Normally Present In Certain Foodstuffs In Minute Quantities, The Absence Of Which From The Diet Leads To Well Defined Morbid States. Accessory Factors And Growth.—the Realization Of The Existence Of Vitamins Grew Gradually Out Of Numerous Attempts, Made At Various Times, To Feed Animals On ...
Vitebsk
Vitebsk, A Town Of The White Russian S.s.r., Situated On Both Banks Of The Western Dwina (daugava), And On The Railway, In 55° 1o' N., 3o° It' E. Pop.(1933), 127,30o. Its Indus Tries Include The Manufacture Of Glass, Agricultural Machinery, Boots And Shoes, Sewn Goods, Sewing Needles, Spectacles And Bristles. ...
Vitellozzo Vitelli
Vitelli, Vitellozzo ( Italian Dottiere. Together With His Father, Niccolo, Tyrant Of Citta Di Castello, And His Brothers, Who Were All Soldiers Of Fortune, He Instituted A New Type Of Infantry Armed With Sword And Pike To Resist The German Men-at-arms, And Also A Corps Of Mounted Infantry Armed With ...
Viterbo
Viterbo, A Provincial Capital And Episcopal See Of The Dis Trict Of Lazio (latium), Italy, 54 M. By Rail N.n.w. Of Rome, 1,073 Ft. Above Sea-level. Pop. (1931) 59,473 (town), 37,059 (commune). A Line (25 M.) Runs North-east To Attigliano, On The Railway From Rome To Florence. It Is Picturesquely ...