Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/168

LEFT TJRSXTLINES 140 URUGUAY numeral 1,000. However this may be, it seems probable that some Christian maidens were really murdered by heathen invaders near Koln, and that the story has thus some basis of fact. URSITLINES, members of one of those religious orders which resulted from the rise of the Roman Church of the evan- gelical zeal which was so remarkable a reflex effect of the Reformation. An- gela or Angelica Merici (1470-1540), a poor maiden of Desenzano, was their founder. She began in that town, and continued afterward in Brescia, the education of poor children. At the grave of Varallo at Milan, a favorite resort of pilgrims, she was inspired with the de- termination to found a new religious or- der, and at the celebration of the mass in St. Afi-a Church at Brescia, on Nov. 25, 1535, the order, as a free union with- out binding vows, was solemnly inaugu- rated, and named in honor of St. Ursula. Its object was the performance of cer- tain church and household devotions, the instruction of young females, and the bodily and spiritual care of the poor and sick. The order was to be immediately under the supervision of a priest and matron, and Angelica was herself chosen as first matron on March 18, 1537, by the 76 members of the society, and as such she watched over the affairs of the order till her death, three years later, when she was succeeded by the Countess Lucrezia of Ladrone. On June 9, 1544, the order received papal sanction from Paul III., and in 1584 it had increased to 600 nuns in 18 establishments. It quickly spread itself from Italy into other lands, and at the beginning of the 18th century had 20 congregations, 350 convents, and from 15,000 to 20,000 nuns. It was not quite the same in all countries, and was never bound together so strictly as other religious orders were. No general assembly or provincial chap- ters were held, so that each settlement of the Ursulines stood under the power of the bishop of the diocese. One of its latest developments was the congregation of Chavagnes, in La Vendee, founded by Demoiselle Brechard in 1805, and con- taining, in 1862, 300 to 400 sisters in about 30 houses. ITRTICACE^, in botany, nettleworts; an order of declinous exogens, typical of the alliance Urticales. Tree, shrubs, or herbs, never milky. Leaves alternate, usually covered with asperities or sting- ing hairs; stipules membranous, often deciduous; flowers small, green, unisex- ual, scattered, clustered, in catkins or in close heads; calyx membranous, per- sistent — in the males it is four or five- parted, with four or five stamens in- serted into its base opposite to its lobes; females with a tubular, four to five-cleft calyx, three to five staminodes, the style simple or wanting, the stigma simple, fringed, the ovary superior, sessile, one- celled, with a single erect ovule ; the fruit a simple inhediscent nut surounded by the calyx. URUGUAY, a republic of South Amer- ica; bounded on the N. and N. E. by Brazil, E. and S. E. by the Atlantic Ocean, S. by the Rio de la Plata, and W. by the Uruguay, which last-named rivers separate the state from the Ar- gentine Confederation. Uruguay has an extreme length of 350 miles by a breadth of 320; area, 72,153 square miles; pop. about 1,500,000. Uruguay is divided into 19 provinces, and the chief towns are Montevideo (the capital), Maldonado, Salto, Paysandu, Mercedes, Colonia, and San Jose. Physical Features. — The coast to the N. of Cape Santa Maria is low and sandy, but S. and W. of it, and on the estuary of the Plata, it is more bold and indented, presenting some fine bays and harbors. The most important rivers in the interior are the Rio Negro, with its numerous affluents, and the Arapey, Daiman, Yaguaron, and SeboUati. The greater portion of the surface consists of an elevated plateau, penetrated by many fertile valleys along the S. coast line. The surface of this tableland presents a series of extensive plains, ti'aversed by occasional ranges of hills of no gi'eat elevation, the whole being almost desti- tute of trees. The climate is remarkably mild and salubrious. The minerals are copper, potter's earth, umber. The soil is generally rich and fertile. Wheat, maize, barley, oats, rice, pulse, flax, hemp, cotton, tobacco and sugar are the products. Fruits and wine are produced in abundance. Zoology. — Among the wild animals are the tapir, deer, ounce, monkey, paca, rabbit, and fox; and large packs of wild dogs roam over the plains. There are also many varieties of birds and water fowl. Vast droves of horses and homed cattle run wild on the pampas, the latter furnishing the jerked and salted beef, tallow, hides, horns, and hair, which con- stitute the great bulk of the exports of the country. Products and Comriierce. — ^The im- ports of the republic are principally from the United States, Great Britain, Argentina, and Brazil. In 1919 the im- ports amounted to about $42,000,000; ex- ports to about $137,000,000. In 1916 there were 1,654 miles of railroads, and 4,808 miles of telegraph in operation. For the year 1918-1919 the revenue was