Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/183

LEFT VALENTINIAN III. 153 VALETTA elder brother, Gratianus, the provinces of Italy, Illyricum, and Africa, as his share of the Western Empire. During his long minority the Empress Justina administered the government; and about three years after her death Valentinian was murdered by Arbogastes, the com- mander-in-chief of his army (392). VALENTINIAN III., Emperor of the West; grand-nephew of the preceding, being the son of Constantius III. by Pla- cidia, the daughter of Theodosius the Great and Galla; bom about A. d. 419, and was seated on the throne of the West by Theodosius II., emperor of the East, in 425. Valentinian was a weak and contemptible prince, and never really ruled during the 30 years that he sat disesteemed and unhonored on the impe- rial throne; his mother, Placidia, gov- erned till her death in 450, and was suc- ceeded by the eunuch, Heraclius, one of those malignant fribbles who swarmed around the throne of the falling empire. His treatment of Bonifacius made the latter throw himself into the arms of Genseric {q. v.), chief of the Vandals, and thus lost Africa to the empire. Aetius, the buttress of his empire, he stabbed to death in a fit of envious jeal- ousy (454), but next year was himself slain by Maximus, whose wife he had ravished. VALEBIAN (VALERIANUS, PUB- LIUS liUCINIUS), a Roman emperor; born about 190. He was proclaimed after the death of Gallus in 253. He was defeated in the East by Sapor, King of Persia, and is supposed to have been flayed alive in 260. VALERIAN, the type genus of Vale- rianacese; an order of herbs of rarely shrubs belonging to the division of mono- petalous dicotyledons having the sta- mens arising from the petals. The order is distinguished from its congeners by the opposite leaves; small irregular flow- ers in which the corolla lobes are imbri- cate; stamens, one to three or five, free; ovary one to three celled, one cell one- ovuled; ovule pendulous; seeds exalbumi- nous. It contains 12 genera and about 190 species, distributed through Europe, northern Africa, temperate Asia, and northwestern America — unknown in Australia, and only one species south African. The properties are aromatic, antispasmodic, sometimes stimulant. The genus ValeHana numbers 130 species. Of these, V. officinalis, ranging across northern and central Europe and Asia to Japan, is a common British plant. Its rootstock has long been valued as an antispasmodic, and is successfully em.- ployed in hysteria. It has a penetrating odor, and a bitter, acrid, somewhat aro- matic taste ; when distilled with water it yields a volatile oil and valerianic acid. Cats have a strange liking for the odor, and it exercises a remarkable intoxicat- ing or stimulating power over them; the plant is sometimes called cats'- valerian. The roots of V. celtica are used by East- ern nations as a substitute for spikenard for aromatizing their baths, and those of v. edulis as an article of food by the Indians of northwestern America. The red valerian (F. pyrenaica), a native of southern France and Spain, has become naturalized in parts of Great Britain, and several other species are commonly grown in gardens. The word valerian is from Latin valere, "to heal," and one of the names of V. officinalis is "all-heal." VALERIC, or VALERIANIC ACID, CsHioO:, an organic acid present in va- lerian root, angelica root, in the berries of Viburnum opulus, and probably in many other plants. It is prepared arti- ficially by Gradation of ordinary amyl alcohol (G5H12O), two atoms of hydrogen being removed and one of oxygen added. The most advantageous method of ef- fecting the oxidation is to treat the amyl alcohol with a mixture of sulphuric acid and potassium dichromate. After a se- ries of operations the acid separates as an oily liquid lighter than water and having the composition C5H10O2H2O. The water is driven off by distillation, and the pure acid obtained as a mobile col- orless oil. It has a shai'p acid taste, reddens litmus, and burns with a bright but smoky light. It has a density of .973, and boils at 175°. It forms val- eriates with metallic oxides, but its com- pounds are not of much importance. Ethyl valerate (C0H5C5H0O2) is formed by passing hydrochloric acid gas into an alcoholic solution of valeric acid. VALETTA, a strongly fortified sea- port and capital of Malta; on the N. E. coast of the island; on an elevated neck of land, with a large and commodious harbor on each side. The town has wide streets paved with lava, spacious squares, and fine quays, lined with ele- gant buildings. From the inequality of the site the communication between the different streets is maintained by flights of steps. The cathedral, built in 1580. contains the tombs of the Knights of Malta or of St. John, and in a chapel are the keys of Jerusalem, Acre and Rhodes. Other notable buildings are the gover- nor's residence, formerly the palace of the grandmasters; the library, museum, university, and the military hospital. The dockyard is capable of admitting the largest men-of-war. Som.e shipbuilding