Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 24.djvu/677

Rh W M W M 637 extensive clay-retort works, chemical works, grease works, dye- works, varnish works, coach works, corn and saw mills, cooperages, ropewalks, mailings, and breweries. The place was originally called Hanton or Hamtune, but on the foundation of a college for a dean and secular canons in 996 by Wulfruna, sister of Ethelred II. and widow of Anthelm, duke of Northumberland, it was named Wulfrunahamton. By William Rufus the church was placed under the care of Sampson, bishop of Worcester, who settled it on a prior and convent of his own cathedral. In the reign of Stephen it was taken possession of by Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and subsequently it came into the hands of the secular canons, who held it until Dean Peter of Blois resigned it to Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, that he might build an abbey of Cistercian monks. The church was accounted one of the king s free chapels, and was annexed by Edward IV. to the deanery of Windsor. The college and prebends were granted to the duke of Northumberland in the reign of Edward VI., and on his attainder they came again to the crown. The deanery and prebends were refounded by Queen Mary, and this was confirmed by James I. The town received the grant of a market and fair from Henry III. in 1258. It suffered severely from fire in 1590, the conflagration lasting five days. During the Civil AVar its sympathies were Royalist, and it was visited by Charles I., accom panied by his sons Charles and James. In 1645 it was for a time the headquarters of Prince Rupert. Its importance as a seat of manufactures is entirely of modern date and due to the rise of the iron industry. Although it received the privilege of returning members to parliament in 1832, it was not incorporated as a muni cipal borough till 1848. It is divided into eight wards, and is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 councillors. It has separate commissions of the peace and quarter sessions. In 1885 the number of its parliamentary representatives was increased to three, the borough being separated into three parliamentary divi sions East, South, and West. WOMBAT. The animals which have received this name belong to the Marsupial family Phascolomyidse (see MAMMALIA, vol. xv. p. 383). They have the following dental formula : i, c , p 1, m - = ; total 24. All the teeth are of continuous growth, having persistent pulps. The incisors are large and scalpriform, much as in Eodents. The body is broad and depressed, the neck short, the head large and flat, the eyes small. The tail is rudimentary, hidden in the fur. The limbs are equal, stout, and short. The feet have broad, naked, tuberculated soles; the fore-feet Common Wombat (Phascolomys ursinus ). with five distinct toes, each furnished with a long, strong, and slightly curved nail, the first and fifth considerably shorter than the other three. The hind feet have a very short nailless hallux ; the second, third, and fourth toes partially united by integument, of nearly equal length ; the fifth distinct and rather shorter ; these four are pro vided with long and curved nails. There are two distinct forms of wombat : (1) Phascolomys proper. Fur rough and coarse. Ears short and rounded. Muffle naked. Post-orbital process of the frontal bone obsolete. Ribs fifteen pairs. Vertebrae : C 7, D 15, L 4, S 4, C 10-12. The wombat of Tasmania and the islands of Bass s Straits (P. ursinus) and the closely similar but larger animal of the southern portion of the mainland of Australia (P. platyrhinus) belong to this form. (2) Lasiorhinus. Fur smooth and silky. Ears large and more pointed. Muffle hairy. Frontal region of skull broader than in the other section, with well-marked post- orbital processes. Ribs thirteen. Vertebrae : C 7, D 13, L 6, S 4, C 15-16. One species, P. latifrons, the Hairy- Nosed Wombat of Southern Australia. In their general form and actions the wombats resemble small bears, having a somewhat similar shuffling manner of walking, but they are still shorter in the legs, and have broader flatter backs than bears. They live entirely on the ground, or in burrows or holes among rocks, never climbing trees, and they feed entirely on grass, roots, and other vegetable substances. They sleep during the day, and wander forth at night in search of food, and are shy and gentle in their habits generally, though they can bite strongly when provoked. The only noise the common wombat makes is a low kind of hissing, but the hairy- nosed wombat is said to emit a short quick grunt when annoyed. The prevailing colour of the last-named species, as well as P. ursinus of Tasmania, is a brownish grey. The large wombat of the mainland is very variable in colour, some individuals being found of a pale yellowish brown, others dark grey, and some quite black. The length of head and body is about three feet. Fossil remains of wombats, some of larger size than any now existing, have been found in caves and post-Pliocene deposits in Australia, but in no other part of the world, (w. H. F.) WOMBWELL, a township of England, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, on the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, 4J miles south-east of Barnsley, 7 north-west of Rotherham, and 184 from London by rail. The church of St Mary is an ancient structure, enlarged and altered in 1835. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in the extensive collieries. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 3851 acres) in 1871 was 5009, and in 1881 it was 8451. WOMEN, LAW RELATING TO. The law as it relates to women has been gradual in its operation, but its tend ency has been almost uniformly in one direction. Dis abilities of women, married or unmarried, have been one after another removed, until at the present day, in most civilized countries, the legal position of women differs little from that of men as far as regards private rights. Politi cally and professionally the sexes are still not upon an equality, but even in this aspect women have considerably greater rights than they once possessed, and the old theory of their intellectual and moral inferiority is virtually exploded. Those who defend their exclusion must now do so on other grounds. Much of the law relating to married women has been already dealt with under the heads of ADULTERY, BIGAMY, DIVORCE, MARRIAGE, HUSBAND AND WIFE, and SETTLEMENT, the last two especially dealing with their rights of property. The dependent position of women in early lavv is proved by the evidence of most ancient systems which have in whole or in part descended to us. In the Mosaic law divorce was a privilege of the husband only, 1 the vow of a woman might be disallowed by her father or husband, - and daughters could inherit only in the absence of sons, and then they must marry in their tribe. 3 The guilt or innocence of a wife accused of adultery might be tried by the ordeal of the bitter water. 4 Besides these instance: , 1 Deut. xxiv. 1. 3 Numb, xxvii., xxxvi. &quot; Numb. xxx. 3. f - Numb. v. 11.