Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 10.djvu/88

LEFT ULTRAMONTANISM 70 UMA ULTRAMONTANISM, in Church his- tory, a name improperly given by some theologians, N. of the Alps, before the Vatican Council in 1870, to the generally received opinion of the Church in all ages, that the Papal utterances ex cathe- dra on matters of faith or morals are irreformable. The word was used in con- tradistinction to Gallicanism, which at- tributed infallibility and supreme au- thoi'ity in matters of faith, morals, and discipline to the entire Church, personi- fied in a General Council. Since the de- finition of the Vatican Council in 1870 concerning the infallibility of the Pope, Gallicanism has become a heresy, ULTRA VIOLET, a term applied to the rays beyond the violet, or high, end of the spectrum. The vibrations of these rays are too rapid for vision, but they possess greater chemical activity than any others. ULUGH BEG, the grandson of Timur, or Tamerlane; governed western Turke- stan as regent for his father Shah Rokh, while the latter was employed in regula- ting the affairs of the S. half of the em- pire, and succeeded in 1447 to the im- perial throne on his father's death. He was a successful warrior, as every ruler of this period had to be, but happened, unfortunately, to conceive suspicions of the loyalty of his eldest son, suspicions founded only on astrological indications. The offended and injured prince rebelled, defeated and captured his father, and soon after caused him to be put to death, thus fulfilling the prediction, 1449. Ulugh Beg is known to posterity as the founder of the observatory at Samarcand, as the liberal patron of astronomers, and as himself a most diligent observer. The astronomical tables which bear his name, in all probability compiled by himself and his fellow laborers, enjoy a high reputa- tion for accuracy. The astronomical works of Ulugh Beg were written in Arabic, afterward translated into Per- sian, and thence into Latin by Greaves, who followed with a Latin version of the geographical part in 1652, ULYSSES, in heroic history, one of the most renowned of the Greek heroes. Ulysses was the King of Ithaca, one of the small Ionian isles, the husband of the exemplary Penelope, and father of Tele- machus. Ulysses was not only a prudent warrior, but a sage counsellor, and was as much honored in the general confer- ence as he was valued in the field for his military skill, ready expedients, and undaunted courage. When the Greeks undertook the Trojan War, Ulysses, after long declining to join the alliance, at last consented, and, embarking his small but picked band, set sail for the Phrygian shores. During the war he acted a promi- nent part; he induced Achilles to return to the camp, slaughtered the sleeping Thracians in their tents, entered Tray in disguise, and carried off the palladium of the Trojans. After the fall of the city he embarked on board his fleet, with his followers, to return to his wife and king- dom; but the gods, enraged at his carry- ing off the palladium, defeated all his efforts to regain his native country, and for 20 years, by adverse winds and fear- ful storms, made him the sport of winds and waves. At length, after an absence of 30 years, he regained his island home and found his faithful and still beautiful Penelope surrounded by a host of im- portunate suitors. Having by stratagem obtained an entrance into his palace, and put to the sword the riotous suitors, Ulys- ses was restored to his throne, to the arms of his wife, and to his son, whom he had left a child. After a reign of 16 years, a natural son of Ulysses, not knowing Ithaca was part of his father's kingdom, landed in the island at the head of a lawless band, and, beginnning to plunder the inhabitants, Ulysses hastened to meet the invader ; when, in the contest that ensued, he fell by the sword of his son. It is the adventures encountered by Ulysses on his return voyage that form the subject of Homer's poem of the "Odyssey." UMA, in Hindu mythology, one of the principal names of the consort of the god Siva. She is also usually designated under the name of Kali, Durga, Devi, Parvati, Bhavani, etc. The myths relat- ing to this goddess, who is worshiped in various parts of India — particularly, however, in Bengal — are met with in the great epic poems and Puranas, in poetical works, such as the "Kumarasambhava," and in modern popular compositions ; but the text-book of her worshipers is the "Devimahatmya," or "the majesty of Devi" — a celebrated portion of the "Markandeya Purana," considered to be of special holiness by the worshipers of this goddess, and in which are narrated the martial feats of the goddess. The latter consisted chiefly in the destruction by her of two demons, Madhu and Kai- tabha, who had endangered the existence of the god Brahman ; the demon Mahisha, or Mahishasura, who having conquered all the gods, had expelled them from heaven; moreover, in her defeating the army of Chadna and Munda, two demon servants of Sumbha and Nisumbha. She is often represented holding the severed head of Chanda in her hand, with the heads of his soldiers formed into a gar- land suspended from her neck, and their