Lunenburg. It consists chiefly of heaths and high dry lands; but there are good marshes on the river Weser and Aller. In 1712 the Danes wrested this duchy from Sweden, and, in 1715, ceded it to the elector of Hanover; which cession, in 1718, was confirmed by the Swedes. The inhabitants are Lutherans. VERDEN, a town of Lower Saxony, capital of a duchy of the same name. It contains four churches, and is seated on a branch of the Aller, 26 miles S.E. of Bremen. Lon. 9.0 E. Lat. 53. 10 N. VERDERER, a judicial officer of the king's forest, elected (under his majesty's writ) by a majority of votes in a convened county court of the shire in which the forest lies, and there sworn before the sheriff, to keep and maintain the assizes and laws of the forest; and also to review, receive, and enrol, all the attachments and presentments of all manner of trespasses of the forest in respect to vert and venison. The official department of verderer bears a great similitude to that of coroner; for as the coroner, upon notice of a sudden or accidental death (if attended with circumstances to render the inquisition necessary), is to take a personal view of the body, and to make inquiry, upon the joint oaths of twelve men, how and by what means the person came by his or her death, and who and what was the occasion thereof; so it is the official duty of the verderer to look after and view the beasts of the forest; for in consequence of any of these being found hurt, wounded, or slain, upon notice given to the verderer, he is to take a view of the same, and to cause a jury of twelve men to be sunmoned from the surrounding district, that an inquisition may be made to discover (if possible) how and by whom the said beast was hurt, wounded, or killed. The office of the verderer at the court of attachments is to sit there to see, hear, and examine the attachments of the forest, both in vert and in venison, and to receive the same of the subordinate officers, or those who may attend to present them there, and then to enter them into their own rolls. VERDICT. s. (verum dictum, Latin.) 1. The determination of the jury declared to the judge (Spenser). 2. Declaration; decision; judgment (South). VERDIGRIS, the rust of copper, in mineralogy. See CUPRUM, 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. VERDOY, in heraldry, denotes a bordure of a coat of arms, charged with any kinds or parts of flowers, fruits, seeds, plants, &c. VERDUN, a town of France, in the department of Meuse, with a bishop's see, and a strong citadel. Its fortifications were constructed by the chevalier de Ville and marshal de Vauban; the latter of whom was a native of this place. In 1755, great part of the cathedral was destroyed by lightning. Verdun was taken by the Prussians in 1792, but re taken soon after. The inhabitants are noted for making fine sweetmeats. It is seated on the Meuse, which runs through the middle, 42 miles S.W. of Luxemburg, and 150 E. of Paris. Lon. 5. 22 E. Lat. 49. 9 N. VERDUN, a town of France, in the department of Upper Garonne, seated on the 'Garonne, 22 miles N.W. of Toulouse. Lon. I. 20 E. Lat. 43. 54 N. VERDURE. s. (verdure, French.) Green; green colour (Milton). VERDUROUS, a. (from verdure.) Green; covered, or decked with green (Milton). VEREA, a town of Turkey in Europe, in the province of Macedonia, and the see of a Greek metropolitan. It is 48 miles W. of Salonichi, and 115 E. of Valona. Lon. 22. 18 E. Lat. 40. 40 N. VEREA, in botany, a genus of the class octandria, order tetragynia. Calyx four-leaved; corol salver-shaped, four-cleft, with an inflated tube; nectariferous scales four, at the base of the germs; capsules four, superior, one-celled, many-seeded. One species only, a succulent shrub of Sierra Leone, with terminal, axillary racemes and yellow flowers. VERECUND. a. (verecundus, Lat.) Modest; bashful. VERGE. s. (verge, French; virga, Latin.) 1. A rod, or something in form of a rod, carried as an emblem of authority. The mace of a dean (Swift). 2. (vergo, Latin.) The brink; the edge; the utmost border (Shakspeare). VERGE, signifies the compass of the king's court, which bounds the jurisdiction of the lord steward of the household; and which is thought to have been twelve miles round. The term verge is also used for a stick or rod, whereby one is admitted tenant to a copyhold estate, by holding it in his hand, and swearing fealty to the lord of the manor. To VERGE. v. n. (vergo, Latin.) To tend; to bend downward (Pope). 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. VERIDICAL. a. (veridicus, Latin.) Telling truth. VERIFICATION. s. (from verify.) Confirmation by argument or evidence (Boyie). VERIFIER. s. (from verify.) One who assures a thing to be true. To VERIFY. v. n. (verifier, French.) To justify against charge of falsehood; to con firm; to prove true (Hooker). VERILY. ad. (from very.) 1. In truth; certainly (Shakspeare). 2. With great confidence (Swift). VERINA, a town of Terra Firma, in the province of Comana, celebrated for its tobacco. It is situate on a gulf of the Atlantic, 45 miles E. of Comana. Lon. 63.44 W. Lat. 10. 8 N. VERISIMILAR. VERISIMILOUS. a. (verisimilis, Latin.) Probable; likely (White). VERISIMILITUDE. VERISIMILITY. S. (verisimiluudo, Lat.) Probability; likelihood; resemblance of truth (Dryden). VERITABLE. a. (veritable, Fr.) True; agreeable to fact (Brown). VERITABLY. ad. In a true manner. VE'RITY. s. (verité, Fr.; veritas, Latin.) 1. Truth; consonance to the reality of things (South), 2. A true assertion; a true tenet (Davies). 3. Moral truth; agreement of the words with the thoughts. 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, &c. though it is also an ingredient in some medicinal compositions, and is used by the wax-chandlers to purify their wax. VÉRMANDOIS, a late territory of France, in Picardy, which, with the late province of Soissonnois, is now included in the department of Aisne. It abounds in corn and excellent flax. VERMANTON, a town of France, in the department of Yonne, seated on a river, 10 miles S.E. of Auxerre. Lon. 3. 49 E. Lat. 47.40 N. VERMES. Worms. In zoology, the sixth class of the Linnéan 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 without 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 and HEL MINIHOLOGY. VERMICELLI, a composition of flour, cheese, yolks of egzs, sugar, and saffron, reduced to a paste, and formed into long slender pieces, like wornis (whence its name), by forcing it with a piston through a number of little holes. VERMICULAR. a. (vermiculus, Latin.) Acting like a worm; continued from one part to another of the same body (Cheyne). VERMICULARIA, in botany, a genus of the class cryptogamia, order fungi. Capsule globular, sessile, filled with loose, worm-shaped, seminiferous bodies. Three species, exotics. To VERMICULATE. v. a. (vermiculatus, Latin.) To inlay; to work in chequer work, or pieces of divers colours (Bailey). VERMICULATION. s. (from vermiculate.) Continuation of motion from one part to another (Hale). VERMICULE. s. (vermiculis, vermis, Lat.) A little grub, worm (Derham). VERMICULOUS, a. (vermiculosus, Lat.) Full of grubs; resembling grubs. VERMIFORM. a. (vermis and forma, Latin.) Having the shape of a worm. VERMIFORM PROCESS. Protuberantia ver miformis. The substance which unites the two hemispheres of the cerebellum like a ring, forming a process. It is called vermiform, from its resemblance to the contortions of worms. VERMIFUGES. (vermifuga, from vermis, a worm, and fugo, to drive away.) See ANTHELMINTICS. VERMILION, a very bright and beautiful red colour, composed of quicksilver and sulphur, in great esteem among the ancients under the name of minium; though what goes by the name of minium amongst us is an oxyd of lead, known also by the name of red-lead. This substance is well known to artists. See CINNABAR, LEAD, and PLUMBUM. To VERMILION. v. a. (from the noun.) To colour with vermilion ; die red. VERMIN. s. (vermín, Fr. ; vermis, Latin.) Any noxious animals. Used commonly as a collective name, for small creatures, such as lice, fleas, &c. To VERMINATE. v. n. (from vermin.) To breed vermin. VERMINATION. s. (from verminate.) Generation of vermin (Derham). VERMINOUS. a. (from vermin.) Tending to vermin; disposed to breed vermin (Hurvey). VERMI'PAROUS. a. (vermis and pario, PARO Latin.) Producing worms (Brown). VERMONT, one of the united states of America; bounded on the north by Canada, on the east by the river Connecticut, which divides it from New Hampshire, on the south by Massachusets, and on the west by New York. It is 157 miles long and 65 broad, and divided into eleven counties. A chain of high mountains, running north and south, divides the state nearly in the centre, between the river Connecticut and lake Champlain. The natural growth upon this chain is hemlock, pine, spruce, and other evergreens: hence it has always a green appearance, and obtained the descriptive name of Vermont, from the French verd mont, green mountain. The country is generally hilly, but not rocky. It is finely watered, the soil is very fertile, and there is not a better climate in the world. The inhabitants have lately been estimated at 100,000. The principal town is Bennington. VERNACULAR. a. (vernaculus, Latin.) Native; of one's own country (Addison). VERNAL. a. (vernus, Latin.) Belonging to the spring (Milton). VERNANT. s. (vernans, Latin.) Flaurishing, as in the spring (Milton). VERNATION. (from ver, the spring.) See FOLIATION, which is the term in Philos. Bot. for which this is substituted in Term. Bot. and Delin. Pl.-In the two latter reclination is omitted, and there is some difference in the explanations. VERNEUIL, a town of France, in the department of Eure, seated on the Aure, 22 miles S.W. of Evreux, and 65 W. by S. of Paris. Lon. 0. 59 E. Lat. 48. 42 N. VERNEUIL, a town of France, in the de partment of Allier, three miles from the river Allier, and 15 S. of Moulins. Lon. 3. 25 E. Lat. 46. 20 N. VERNIER, is a scale, or a division, well adapted for the graduation of mathematical instruments, so called from its inventor Peter Vernier, a gentleman of Franche Comté, who communicated the discovery to the world in a small tract, entitled La Construction, l'Usage, et les Proprietez du Quadrant Nouveau de Mathematique, &c., printed at Brussels in 1631. This was an improvement on the method of division proposed by Jacobus Curtius, printed by Tycho in Clavius's Astrolabe, in 1593. Vernier's method of division, or dividing plate, has been very commonly, though erroneously. called by the name of Nonius; the method of Nonius being very different from that of Vernier, and much less convenient. When the relative unit of any line is so divided into many small equal parts, those parts may be too numerous to be introduced, or if introduced, they may be too close to one another to be readily counted or estimated; for which reason there have been various methods contrived for estimating the aliquot parts of the small divisions, into which the relative unit of a line may be commodiously divided; and among those methods, Vernier's has been most justly preferred to all others. For the history of this, and other inventions of a similar nature, See Robins's Math. Tracts, vol. ii. p. 265, &c. Vernier's method is derived from the follow ing principle. If two equal right lines, or circular arcs, A, B, are so divided, that the num ber of equal divisions in B is one less than the number of equal divisions of A, then will the excess of one division of B above one division of A be compounded of the ratios of one of A to A, and of one of B to B. For let A contain 11 parts, then one of A to A is as 1 to 11, or Let B contain 10 parts, inches radius, into how many convenient parts Example. Suppose an instrument of 30 may each degree be divided? how many of these parts are to go to the breadth of the vernier, and to what parts of a degree may an observation be made by that instrument? Now 0,01745 × R = 0,5236 inches, the length of each degree: and if p be supposed about of an inch for one division; then 0,5236 xp=4,188 shows the number of such parts in a degree. But as this number must be an integer, let it be 4, each being 15': and let the breadth of the vernier contain 31 of those parts, or 71°, and be divided into 30 parts. Here n = 1 120 1 ; m = 1 30 1 ; the then = 30 of a degree, or 30', which is the least part of a degree that instrument can show. If n = 1, and m= ; then X 60 5 X 36 36 of a minute, or 20". 1 36 VERNILITY. 9. (verna, Latin.) Servile carriage; the submissive fawning behaviour of a slave (Bailey). VERNON, a town of France, in the department of Eure, with an ancient castle, and a fortress at the end of the bridge over the Seine, 27 miles S.E. of Rouen, and 42 N.W. of Paris. Lon. 1. 42 E. Lat. 49. 6 N. VERNONIA, in botany, a genus of the class syngenesia, order polygamia æqualis. Receptacle naked; calyx ovate, imbricate; down double; the outer chafly, inner capillary, Four species; natives of the West Indies and America. VEROLI, an ancient and populous town of Italy, in Campagna di Roma, with a bishop's see. It is seated on the Cosa, at the foot of the Apennines, 45 miles S.E. of Rome. Lon. 13. 15 E. Lat. 41. 28 N. VERONA, a famous city of Italy, capital of the Veronese, with a bishop's see, three forts, and an academy. It is surrounded by thick walls, deep ditches, and good ramparts. The streets are neither clean nor straight; but there is a handsome place called the Piazza d'Armi, in which is a marble statue, representing the republic of Venice. The most remarkable structure is the amphitheatre built by the Romans, in which there are 44 rows of benches of white marble, which will conveniently hold 25,000 persons. Verona is the birthplace of Pliny the naturalist, and in the cathedral is a magnificent tomb of pope Lucius. The river Adige divides it into two parts, which communicate by two handsome bridges. Verona was taken by the French, in July 1796; but retaken by the Austrians in June 1799. It is 17 miles N.E. of Mantua, and 62 S.W. of Venice. Lon. 11. 24 E. Lat. 45. 26 N. VERONESE, a province of Italy, in the territory of Venice, bounded on the N..by the Trentino, on the E. by the Vicentino and Paduano, on the S. by the Mantuan, and on the W. by the Bresciano, It is 35 miles long and 27 broad, and one of the most fertile countries in Italy, abounding in corn, wine, fruits, and cattle. VERONICA. Speedwell. In botany, a genus of the class diandria, order monogynia. Coral wheel-shaped, four-cleft, the lowest division narrower; capsule superior, two-celled. Fifty seven species; scattered over Europe, a few over New Zealand; seventeen found wild in the woods, pastures, marshes, ditches, or on the mountains of our own country. They are thus subdivided. A. Flowers spiked. B. Flowers in a racemed corymb. 1. V. Sibirica. Siberian speedwell. VERRES (C.), a Roman who governed the province of Sicily as pretor. The oppression and rapine of which he was guilty while in office so offended the Sicilians, that they accused him before the Roman senate. Cicero undertook the cause of the Sicilians, and pronounced against Verres those celebrated orations still extant. Verres, despairing of the success of his defence, retired to one of the provinces. He was at last killed by the soldiers of Antony the triumvir, about 26 years after his voluntary exile from the capital." VERRUCÆ. (verruca, a verrendo, a verrunco, to change for the better.) Warts. A genus of disease in the class locales and order tumores of Cullen. VERRUCOSE CAPSULE, in botany, a warted capsule. Having little knobs or warts on the surface. As in euphorbia verrucosa.— Verrucose leaf. A warted leaf. Tectum punctis carnosis. Covered with fleshy points. The same with papillose or papillous. VERSABILITY. VE'RSABLENESS. s. (versabilis, Latin.) Aptness to be turned or wound any way. VERSAILLES, a town of France, in the department of Seine and Oise. It contains 60,000 inhabitants, and, since the revolution, has been created a bishop's see. In the reign of Lewis XIII. it was only a small village, and here this prince built a hunting seat in 1630. Lewis XIV. built a magnificent palace here, which was the usual residence of the kings of France, till 1789, when Lewis XVI. and his family were removed from it to Paris. The buildings and gardens were adorned with a vast number of statutes, by the greatest masters, and the water-works were magnificent. The gardens, with the park, are five miles in circumference, and surrounded by walls. Versailles is 10 miles W.S.W. of Paris. Lon. 2. 12 E. Lat. 48. 48 N. VERSAL. a. (a cant word for universal.) Total; whole (Hudibras). VERSATILE. a. (versatilis, Latin.) 1. That may be turned round (Harte). 2. Changeable; variable (Glanville). 3. Easily applied to a new task. VERSATILENESS. VERSATILITY. S. (from versatile.) The quality of being versatile. VERSE. s. (vers, French; versus, Latin.) 1. A line consisting of a certain succession of sounds, and number of syllables (Shakspeare). 2. (verset, French.) A section or paragraph of a book (Burnet). 3. Poetry; lays; metri cal language (Prior). 4. A piece of poetry (Pope). To VERSE. v. a. (from the noun.) To tell in verse; to relate poetically (Shakspeare). To be VERSED. v. n. (versor, Latin.) To be skilled in; to be acquainted with (Dryden). VERSED-SINE, of an arch, is the part of the diameter intercepted between the sine and the commencement of the arc; and it is equal to the difference between the radius and the cosine. See SINE (Versed). VERSEMAN s. (verse and man.) A poet; a writer in verse (Prior). VERSICLE. s. (versiculus, Lat.) A little verse. VERSIFICATION. s. (versification, Fr. from versify.) The art or practice of making verses (Granville). VERSIFICATOR. VERSIFIER. s. (versificateur, Fr. versificator, Lat.) A versifier; a maker of verses, with or without the spirit of poetry (Watts). To VERSIFY.v.n. (versifier, Fr. versificor, Lat.) To make verses (Dryden). To VERSIFY.v.a. To relate in verse (Dan.). VERSION. s. (version, Fr. versio, Latin.) 1. Change; transformation (Bacon). 2. Change of direction (Bacon). 3. Translation (Dryden). 4. The act of translating. VERT, a term in the forest laws including plants growing within a forest or its purlieus, bearing green leaves, and of sufficient height and magnitude to cover or form a covert for a deer; overt-vert implies trees of a higher kind; nether-vert, shrubs, or plants of a lower stature. VERTEBRÆ. (vertebra, from verio, to turn.) The spine is a long bony column, which extends from the head to the lower part of the trunk, and is composed of a number of irregular bones which are called vertebræ. The spine may be considered as being composed of two irregular pyramids, which are united to each other in that part of the loins where the last of the lumbar vertebræ is united to the os sacrum. The vertebræ, which form the upper and longest pyramid, are called true vertebræ; and those which compose the lower pyramid, or the os sacrum and the coccyx, are termed false vertebræ, because they do not in every thing resemble the others; and particularly because, in the adult state, they become perfectly immoveable, whilst the upper ones continue to be capable of motion. For it is upon the bones of the spine that the body turns, and their name has its derivation from the Latin verb verto, as observed above. The true vertebræ, from their situation with respect to the neck, back, and loins, are divided into three classes of cervical, dorsal, and lumbar vertebræ. We shall here consider the general structure of all these; referring for a description of the number, &c. in each class to our article ANATOMY. In each of the vertebræ, as in other bones, we may remark the body of the bone, its processes, and cavities. The body may be compared to part of a cylinder cut off transversely ; convex before, and concave behind, where it makes part of the cavity of the spine. Each vertebra has commonly seven processes. The first of these is the spinous process, which is placed at the back part of the vertebra, and gives the name of spine to the whole of this bony canal. Two others are called transverse processes, from their situation with respect to the spine, and are placed on each side of the spinous process. The four others, which are called oblique processes, are much smaller than the other three. There are two of these on the upper and two on the lower part of each vertebra, rising from near the basis of the transverse processes. They are sometimes called articular processes, because they are articulated with each other; that is, the two superior processes of one vertebra are articulated with the two inferior processes of the vertebra above it; and they are called oblique processes, from their situation with respect to the processes with which they are articulated. These oblique processes are articulated to each other by |