Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/716

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VERVAIN* Vtirbtn4 % ihbotany^ the name of a genus of plants ; the characters of which are thefe ; The flower confiils of one leaf, and is of the labiates! kind; The upper lip is erect, and divided into two fegments, the lower into three ; and thefe are fo difpofed, that at firft fight the flower has not at all the appearance of a labiated one, but feems only divided into five fegments. The piftil arifes from the cup* and is fixed in the manner of a nail to, the lower part of the flower. It is fur- rounded by four embryos; Which afterwards become four (len- der oblong feeds, which ripen in the cup, and fill it almofi: wholly up. To thefe marks it may be added, that the flow- ers of the Vervains grow in fpikes, or fometimes in fhort heads, but neververticillately.

The fpecies of Vervain, enumerated by Mr. Toumefort^ are thefe: i. The common Vervain. 2. The common Vervain with white flowers. 3. The taller broad-leaved Portugal Vervain. 4. The fine leaved Vervain, 5. The nettle-leaved Vervain of Canada. 6. The nettle-leaved Vervain, with lagged leaves, and larger flowers. 7. The narroW-leav'd nettle Vervain, of America, with blue flowers, and branched fpikes. 8. The very narrow-leaved nettle Vervain of America, with numerous fpikes and purple flowers, Tournef. Infr. p. 200. Vervain was ufed among the Antients at their facrifices, and was thought to contain fomething divine. The Romans, in the beginning of the year, made a prefent of this herb Co their friends. Danet. in vocj

VERVISE, in ourftatur.es, is ufed for a kind of cloth^ Stat. 1 R. 3. cap. 8. Blount, Cowel, See the article Plonkets.

VERULCA, the fame as Verva, a name for an amulet ot ivory worn en the arm as a cure for the epilepfy. Scribonim Largus.

VERZELLINO, in zoology, the name of a bird common in Italy, and kept in cages for its Tinging, called by authors ciiri- nella, and thraupis. See the article Citrine ll a.

VESICARIA, a name given by Rivinus to a genus of plants, the fame with the corindwnoi Tournefort. Rivinus, 4. 144. See the article Corindum.

VESICUL/E fe7m.na.lcs. Thefe veflcls are very evident in fifties ; the females of moil fifth have double ovaria, though in fome they are fingle, as in the ofmerus, and perca fluviatilis of . Beilonius ; but the Veficulce feminaks in the males are two in number in all fifh, not excepting the males of thefe here men- tioned. They differ, however, very much in regard to their figure and fituation. As to their fituation, they in fome fifh occupy almoft the whole length of the abdomen, as in the

. fpihofe kinds m general, and in the petromyzum, accipettfer, and many of the other cartilaginous kinds. In fome fifh, they are placed only in the lower part of the abdomen, as in the cetaceous kinds, &rV, As to figure, in the generality of iifh, they are oblong, and comptefTed, but tti fome they are round, as in the cetaceous kinds. The other parts of gene- ration are wanting in moft fifh* Artedi Ichthyolog. See the article Testes.

VESP, or Wasp, Fefpa 9 in the hiftory of infects. See the article Wasp.

YEsv-Iclmeumon. Of this infect, Mr. Ray mentions a great number of fpecies ; the greater part of which are common on the fides of mud banks in the borders of fields. Thefe have all flender bodies, and are armed with flings. The origin of this creature is very Arrange ; it is ufua'lly found iffuing from the body of the common cabbage caterpil- lar. The occafion of which is this : The parent fly ftrikes her tail through the fkin of the back of this caterpillar, and depofits her eggs in the creature's flefh. The eggs hatch into fmall maggots of the carnivorous kind j and thefe prey upon the flefh of the caterpillar till they arrive at their full growth : the creature that ftipports them, keeping itfelf

- alive all this time by the vaft quantities of nourishment it is continually taking in. At length, when thefe worms are ar- rived at their full growth, they fpin themfelves a webb, under which they change into ehryfates, and foon after come out in form of the fly that laid the egg. This is not peculiar to this iingle fpecies of fly ; but many are educated thus in the bodies of caterpillars of feveral kinds : fome of thefe fpin their webs under the fkin of the caterpillar, and eat their way through it, when arrived at their pcrfea ftate ; but others crawl out while yet in their worm ftate, after having eaten their full time, and bury themfelves under ground in order to fpin their webs. The fpecies are thefe: 1. The red-tailed Ichneumon, with

. long wings fpotted with black. 2. The black- tail'd Ichneu- . men, with a long and flender body, variegated with annular . marks of red and black, 3. The black Ichneumon, with three hairs at its tail j the body of this fpecies is intircly black, with- out the Ieaft variation. 4. The black Ichneumon, with a white circle on the legs, and on the antenna?. 5. The Ich- neumon with a thick breafc, and a body beginning by a flender filament, and terminating in a thick tail. 6. The great large winged Ichneumon, with a yellow body, and large yellow

- fpots on the wings. 7. The (mailer large-wing'd Ichneumon, with black wings, and a black body and tail. 8. The red- leg'd Ichneumon, with a body red at the beginning, and a white large fpot upon the back. 9. The large Ichneumon, with a black head, breaft, and legs, a red body, and black

-tail. 10. The fiat-body'd Ichneumon, with a black back,

and greenifli white belly, -u, TJie flender body'd Ichneumon,

■ brown on the back,with one yellow tranfverfc line, and yellow-

ifh on the belly. 12. The fmall three-haired Ichneumon, with long antenna;.

13. The fmall black Ichneumon, with a white crofs upon its back. 14, The reflex horned Icbncimton, wich its anterior feet clypeated. 15. The black body'd Ichneumon, with two broad circles of yellow on the middle of the back. 16. The black body'd Ichneumon, with a white tail, and a white triangular fpot on the fhoulders. 17; The long bodied Ichneumon, with a yellow body and black tail : this is an inch and quarter in length.* and is a very beautiful fpecies. 18. The large cater- pillar IchneuTnon, with the anterior half of the body of a bright orange colour, and the other half black. This is produced in the body of another fpecies of caterpillar.' 19. The black Ichneumon^ with orange coloured legs. 20. The fmall Ich- neumon, with yellow legs, and a yellow back* and three hairs at the tail. 21. The fmall Ichneumon, with three hairs at its tail, with fh'ining wings. 22. The black Ichneumon, with fe- veral narrow yellow circles on the hinder part of the body. 23. The black brealted Ichneumon, with the anterior part of the body yellow^ and the hinder part black. 24. The cater- pillar Ichneiunon, with no hairs at the tail, and with very long horns. 25. The long- bodied caterpillar Ichneumon, with on- ly one hair at the tail; thefe are produced of worms lodged in the bodies of different kinds of caterpillars. 26. The black and yellow Ichneumon^ with purple wings. 27. The flender bodied Ichneumon^ with purple wings. 28. The orange-co- loured Ichneumon^ The whole body in this fpecies, is of a reddifh yellow* with no fpot, or variegation in it. 29. The black bodied Ichneumon^ with red legs, and mining wings ; each marked with one fpot. 30. The variegated leg'd Ich- neumon, with a white circle on each antenna. The legs ■ of this fpecies are partly black, and partly red. 31. The large Ichneumon, with a yellow body and black tail : and, 32. The inky wing'd Ichneumon. Ray's Hift. of Infecte, p. 254, &feq„

VESPERTILIO, the bat. In the Linnsean fyflem of zoology, this animal makes a diftinct, genus ; but that not as a bird, as the vulgar eflreem it, but as one of the quadruped clafs. The characters of the genus are thefe ; That the creature is. vivi- parous, whereas all the birds are oviparous : that it has two paps: its feet have five toes on each ; and the four feet are expanded into a fort of wings. Under this clafs, the author takes in the canis volans, and glis volans ; the flying dog and flying dormoufe, as they are called by other authors. Linnai Syftem. Nat. p. 37.

Bontius defcribes a very ftrange kind of Vefpertilio, or bat, as he calls it, found in the Eaft-lndies ; and Pifo, who has tho- roughly confidered the fubject, doubts much, whether it can properly be referred to the bat kind or not. Indeed, it feems more properly to belong to the clafs of the flying fquirrel. Bontius calls it the Verjpertilioadjnirabilis, and defcribes it as be* ing of thefize of a cat, and'of aflefhy body* and fays, that it flies by means of membranesannexed to the fides of its body, and to its fore-legs; and that it can expand thefe to a vaft com- pafs. From all this it appears to be of the fquirrel kind; but he adds, that they fly in flocks, like our wild geefe^ which feems very improbable ; and it feems rather, that the creature was intended only for long leaps. If Scaliger had known this animal, it would be very natural to believe he meant it under the name of the felts volans, or flying cat 5 which is generally fuppofed another name only for the common flying fquirrel.

Vespertilio, in conchyliology, the name of an elegant fpe- cies of voluta, fuppofed to have fome refemblance to the co- lour of a bat. See the article Voluta.

VESPIVORUS buteo, in zoology, a name given byfome au- thors to the bird, called in Englilh, the honey-buzzard, from its feeding its young with the maggot worms out of honey- combs. fVillughby's Ornithol. p. 39. See the article Api- vorus Buteo.

VESSEL [Cycl.) — ExtraordinaryVEsszLS, in anatomy. It is not uncommon to nieetin the bodies of diflected perfons remarkable variations from the common courfe of nature in the ftruct ure of the body ; and among thefe, fometimes duplicates of parts naturallyfingle: thus Kerkring mentions a double vena cava, and a treble ductus thoracicus in different bodies, as alfo four fpermatic arteries in one body, with no fpermatic veins: there are accounts alfo of defects of parts ufually judged eiler.tial 5 but it is to be obferved, that the ends of nature being much more eafily anfwered by the excefs, than by the defect of parts, the accidents of excefs aFe greatly more common than thole, of defect. Ker&ring's SpiciL Anat.

Chemical Vessels. Seethe Appendix.

VESSIGON, in the manege, a wind-gall, or foft fwelling^ on the in and outfide of a horfe's hough, that is, both on the right and left of it.

VETCH, Vicia, in botany. See the article Vici a.

Horfefioe Vetch. Seethe article Ferrum equinum.

Bitter Vetch, in botany. See the article Arobus.

VETO, in Roman antiquity, was the folemn word ufed by the tribunes of the people, when they inhibited any decree of the fenate, or law propofed to the people, or any act of other magifrrates. Liv.b. 37. Middlei.of Rom. Sen. p. 160. See the article Intercession.

VETOLA, in zoology, a name ufed by the Venetians, and from them by many others for a water-bird of the godwit

kind,