Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/771

 W H I

WHINCHAT, in zoology, the Englifn name of a fpecies of tenant he, or fallow- finch, called by Aldrovand and fome other authors, anthus and floras.

It is of the fize of the common water- wagtail. Its head, neck ■and back, are of a reddifli brown, with regular rows of black fpots. Each feather has a black ftreak along its middle, and a brown till one on each fide. The belly is whitifh, with a flight tinge of a reddifh brown. The upper part of the brcaft and the iides are of a brownifh yellow. Its wing-feathers are brown, with yellowifh edges. The tail is part black and part white. The beak is ftrait, flendef, and black. The male has much of a white variegation on his wings, which the fe- male has not. It lives about ditch banks, and the like places, and feeds on beetles and other infccls.

The colours are very uncertain in this bird, and it often much refembles the ftone-chatter ; but may always, by an accurate obferver, be diftinguifhed from that bird by the white fpots in its win^s, by the whitenefs of the under part of its tail, and the white lines on its head. Ray's Ornithol. p. 169.

WHIPLADE, in hufbandry, a term ufed by the farmers in fome places for a particular fort of cart, whofe hinder part is made up of boards, after the manner of a dung-cart, having alio' a head of boards, and lhamb'es over the thills ; this head being made fo as cither to be taken out or left in. The cart may be indifferently ufed to carry dung or other tilings ; dung when the head is in, and corn, &i. when it is taken out. Plot's Oxfordfhire, p. 262*

"WHIRL- Pw/ (Cj/ t 7.)— Thefe in rivers are very common, from various accidents, and are ufually very trivial, and of little confequence. In the fea they are more rarej but more dan- gerous. Sibbald has related the effects of a very remarkable marine Whirlpool among the Orcades, which would prove very dangerous to ftrangers, though it is of no confequence to the people who are ufed to it. This is not fixed to any particular place, but appears in various parts of the limits of the fea among thofe iflands., Wherever it appears it is very furious, and boats, &c. would inevitably be drawn in and periffa with it ; but the people who navigate them are prepared for it, and always carry an empty veflel, a log of wood, or large bundle offtiaw, or fome (uch thing, in the boat with them ; as foon as they perceive the Whirlpool^ they tofs this within its vortex, keeping themftlves out j this fub- ftance, whatever it be, is immediately received into the cen- ter, and carried under water; and as foon as this is done;, the furface of the place where the Whirlpool 'was, becomes fmooth, and they row over it with fafety ; and in about an hour they fee the vortex begin again in fome other place, uninHy at about a mile diftance from the firft. Si&tetid's Prodr. Hift. Scot.

WHISTLE Fljh, a name given by the people of Cornwall to a fpecies of gadus, with only two fins on the back, otherwife called mufteta fiwoiatilis. See the articles Gadus and Mu- st el a.

WHITE (Cycl.) — WniTE-fc, or Blaze, in the manege, is a white mark upon a horfe, defcehding from the forehead almoft, to the nofe. It is called in French cbanfnn blanc. See the article Chanfrin.

W H it e- Foot, in the manege, called in French Balzane, is a white mark that happens in the feet of a great many horfes, both before and behind, from the fetlock to the coffin. The horfes thus marked are either tramelled, crofs-tramelled, or white all four. Some horfemen place an unlucky fatality in the white of the far foot behind. See the articles Chausse irop haut, and Tramelled.

White- Hart- Silver, in cur old cuftoms, a muItSf, on certain lands in or near the foreft of 'White-hart, paid yearly into the exchequer, impofed by King Hen. 3. upon Thomas de la Linde for killing a beautiful Wbite-hart, which the King be- fore had fpared in hunting. Cambd. Brit. 150. Blown, Cowel.

White- Horfe- Fijh, a common Englifh name for a thorn-back, called by Willughby the rata afpera noflras, and fuppofed by ihoft authors to be the fulknica of Rondeletius. It has a long and pointed nofe, and is covered with prickles upon the back. When it is of a yellowifh colour, its belly is perfectly white, without fpot or ftain, whence it has its name. IVillughby's Hift. Pifc. p. 78.

White Land, in agriculture, a tough clayey foil, naturally of a fomewhat whitifh hue when dry, efpecial'ly when it has Iain fome time untilled, but becoming blackifh after rain ; this ap- pears of a light grey ifli colour, when turned up by the plough, and Aides off from the plough-fhare with eafe, and with a fmooth glofly furface.-

It has often a yellowifh hue with the grey, and is often veined with large parcels of a blue marly earth. Moreton's North, p.43-

White Swelling, We have feveral examples of fuccefsful cures of White Swellings of the joints, or tumors from infpif- f'lted lymph, by a finall ftrcam of warm water falling from a height on them.

When the water is impregnated with penetrating medicines, or natural minerals, its virtues are greater. The application of bladders, containing warm water, to the parts affected, is alfo recommended. See Le Dran, Obf. Chirurg. Tom. 2. Obf. 93, 94.

W I D

WuirE-Tail, in zoology, an Englifh name for the. cbmmori cenanthe, more frequently called the fallow-finch^ or wheat- ear. See the article WnEAT-Ear. WniTE-Tbroat, in zoology, the name of a finall bird, very common in our gardens and hedges, andfeerning to have been defcribed under the name oifpipola by Aldrovandus and fome others, though moflr approaching to the ficedula clafs. Its beak is black above, and whitifh below ; its feet of a yel- lowiih brown ; its neck and back are of a brownifh-grcy ; its bead more grey than either, and upper part of the throat white, the reft reddifli ; its breaft and belly are- alfo a little reddifh ; but in the female the breaft is perfectly white. The edges of the long-wing feathers are fome whitifh and others- brownifh, and the tail is variegated with black and white, and fome grey or afh-colour intermixed. It is extremely common in our gardens and orchards, and feeds on flies, fpiders, and other infects. ■ It builds in bullies, at a fmall height from the ground, with ftubble and horfe-hair, and lays five brownifh- greeneggs, with black fpots. Ray's Ornithology, p. 171. White upon White, in the porcelain manufa6tory, a name given by the Englifti merchants to a, particular China-ware, which is formed of three different white fubftances, the body being of one, the flowers of another, and the varnifh which covers thefe of a third.

The principal art in the making this fort of China, is the find- ing the proper degree of dry nets in the veilcls for receiving the pencilling or upper coats. It is a fine art, and the principal colour is made of an earth called hoachc, which is much of the nature of omjleatites. Sec the articles Hoache and Stea- tites. WHITES^ the popular name of a diforder incident to Women."

See the article t? lu or- dlbus. WHITENING of Bones, for a fkeleton. See the article BoNEi WHITING, in zoology, the Englifh name of a common' fifhof the, afellus kind,' commonly diftinguifhed by the -writers in ichthyography by the name of ajeilus mollis, though by fome called ajeilus albus and merlangus.

The Whiting is diftinguifhed from the other fpecies of the cod 'kind by thefe characters : It is of a fmall iiz.y fcklom much exceeding afoot in length, and is thin and flender in propor- tion to its length, particularly about the tail. Its (bates are" very finall, and its colour much more pale and whitifh than in any other rifli of the cod kind, whence it has its Englifh name* The belly is white, and the belly-fins behind the tail are (pot- ted with fmall black dots. It has no beard. Its eyes are large, and its upper jaw longer than its under; fo that its teeth, which are large -and crooked, fall over, and are unco- vered when the mouth is fhut ; and the inner part of this jaw is armed alfo with very fmall teeth. Its belly, or rather its hreaft-fins, are nearer the head than in any other fpecies. It is common in the Englifh feas and clfe where. WUlughby's Hilt. Pile. p. 170.

According to the Artedian fyftem of ichthyology, the Whiting is one of the gadi, diftinguilhcd by that author by the name of the gadus with three fins, on the back, without beards, with a white body, and with the upper jaw longer than the under. See its defcription and.hiftgry under the article Asellus. See alfo thearticles Gadus and Merlangus. Whiting-Ms^, a fifh of the cod kind. See the article

Huitingo Pollachius. WHITLOW- Grafs, in botany, the Englifh name of a geniis

of plants. See the article Paronychia. WHOLSOME Ship, in the fea language, one that will try, hull, and lide well, without rolling, or labouring in the iea. A long {hip that draws much water, may try, hull, and ride well ; but if fhe draws little water, fhe may try and ride welly but never hull well ; and a fhort fhip, that draws much wa- ter, may hull well, but neither ride nor try well ; and fuch is called an unwholfome fhip. WICKER Tree, a name given by the Englifh to a tree com- mon in China, and defcribed by Kircher and others. It is, as it were, a rope twifted by nature, about an inch thick, and creeps along the earth often for above a hundred paces together, much embarrafling the way, hut ferving for cables of fhips, feats, hurdles, beds, mats, and various other neceftary ufes. It endures no vermin, and is much valued for being cool and refrefhing in the hot feafons. Kircber's China illuft. WICRANGLE, in zoology, an Englith name for the matta- gefs, or greater butcher-bird, the lanius chief etis major of au- thors. Ray's Ornithol. p. 53. See the articles Lanius and Mattagess. WICRANTUM, in natural hiftory, a name given by the peo- ple of the Eaft-Indies to certain foffile bodies, of the nature of the pyrites, of the fize of peas, and formed into varioudy an- gular figures.

They look black and glofly, and much of the nature of blende, or mock lead j but when put into the fire, they fhew us by their fmell that they, contain fulphur. They are found in the diamond mines.

The natives firft powder them 5 and then mixing them with- the juices of certain plants, they dry them, and then calcine them again, Thefe proceffes they repeat at leaft fixty times ; but the firft calcinations are made with a mixture of divers urines, as that of the horfe,- the camel, the-cow 7 and the like.

Afte;