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 URCHIN FISH URINE 223 URCHIN FISH. See SEA PORCUPINE. URE, Andrew, a Scottish chemist, born in Glasgow in 1778, died in London, Jan. 2, 1857. Ho was educated at the universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, took the degree of M. D., and in 1806 was appointed professor of chemistry and natural philosophy in the Andersonian institution at Glasgow. On the establishment of the astronomical observatory in Glasgow he was placed in charge of it. In 1813 appeared his " Systematic Table of Materia Medica," with a dissertation on the action of medicines, followed in 1818 by a remarkable paper enti- tled " New Experimental Eesearches on some of the leading Doctrines of Caloric." He also published a " Dictionary of Chemistry " (1821), a translation of " Berthollet on Dyeing " (1823), a "System of Geology" (1829), and numerous papers on chemical subjects. In 1830 he re- moved to London, and in 1834 was appointed analytical chemist to the board of customs. His subsequent works are : " The Philosophy of Manufactures" (1835), " The Cotton Manu- facture of Great Britain compared with that of other Countries" (1836), and his "Diction- ary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines " (2 vols. 8vo, 1837-'9), which has passed through several editions in England and the United States (5th English ed., revised and enlarged by Robert Hunt and several contributors, 3 vols., 1858- 60; 7th ed., enlarged, with more than 2,100 woodcuts, 3 vols., 1875). UREA. See URINE. CREDO (Lat. urere, to burn), a genus of fungi, to which were formerly referred those minute plants which, under the names of emut, bunt, and rust, sometimes produce such disastrous effects upon grain and grasses. The later authorities in this department of botany place the fungi so injurious to grain crops in other genera ; those causing what is known as grain mildew are placed in puccinia ; that which injures the grain of wheat, and is known as bunt, is a Tilletia ; the various smuts are included in wtilago ; and the species thus left in uredo are not found upon crop plants to an injurious extent. For a general account of these and their polymorphism see FUNGI ; an illustration of the effects of one most injurious to our agriculture is given under MAIZE ; for more popular descriptions, see " Rust, Smut, Mildew, and Mould," by M. C. Cooke (Lon- don, 1865), and a more recent work by the same author, edited by the Rev. M. J. Berke- ley, "Fungi, their Nature and Uses" ("Inter- national Scientific Series," New York, 1875). FRFA, or Orfab. See EDESSA, Mesopotamia. URI, a canton of Switzerland, bounded N. by Schwytz, E. and S. E. by Glarus and Gri- sons, S. by Ticino, from which it is separated by the St. Gothard mountains, and "W. by Valais, Bern, and Unterwalden ; area, 415 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 16,107, almost all Roman Catholics speaking German. It is one of the three original cantons of the Swiss league, and one of the Four Forest Cantons afterward 811 VOL. xvi. 15 confederated. It is celebrated for sublime scenery. The Galenstock, the highest peak of the St. Gothard group (12,481 ft.), is near the village of Hospenthal in this canton, and the Uri Rothstock (9,600 ft.) is near the My- thenstein, commemorative of Tell, near the bay of Uri, on the S. E. end of Lake Lucerne. The road over the St. Gothard pass runs through Uri and Ticino and crosses the Reuss, the prin- cipal river of the former canton, over many bridges, the most stupendous being the Devil's Bridge (see DEVIL'S BRIDGE, and REUSB) ; and it also passes the Urnerloch tunnel or hole of Uri. The new St. Gothard railway tunnel passes near Airolo. This village, Andermatt, and Hospenthal are the best known localities in the Urseren valley, the finest in Uri, which is 9 m. long, 1 m. broad, and 5,000 ft. above the sea. In the lower part of the valley is the detile of Schollenen, which was repeatedly contested during the memorable campaign of the allies against Napoleon in 1799. Uri is essentially a pastoral country. It abounds in cattle, sheep, and goats, and produces ex- cellent cheese. Despite the rough climate, nut and other trees flourish in the valleys. The revised constitution of 1850 is purely demo- cratic. The canton forms two districts, that of Uri, formerly part of the see of Constance, and that of Urseren. Capital, Altorf. FRIC ACID. See URINE. TRIM AND TIHMMIM (Heb. urim, light; tum- mim, truth or perfection), a part of the breast apparel of the high priest among the ancient Hebrews. According to one opinion, they de- note the four rows of brilliant precious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, upon each of which was engraved the name of one of the sons of Israel. When an appeal was made to God by the high priest in difficult cases, the divine answer was manifested in some way by means of this breastplate, or, in the opinion of some commentators, by an audible voice speak- ing to the priest arrayed in full pontificals. According to others, the Urim and Thum- mim were two images personifying revelation and truth placed between the folds of the breastplate. The first time they are mention- ed in the Bible, they are referred to as things already familiar to the Israelites : " And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim." (Exod. xxviii. 30.) It is unknown when this oracular method of consulting God ceased. There is no instance of it in Scripture during the time of the first temple, and it certainly was not practised du- ring that of the second. There is a rabbini- cal saying that God spoke to his people during the tabernacle by the Urim and Thummim, during the first temple by the prophets, and during the second by the Bath-Kol. URINE, the excrementitious fluid eliminated by the kidneys, and containing the products of disintegration or physiological waste of the animal system. The physical and chemical characters of urine present a general resem-