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 UVAKOFF 239 account of the dryness of the seasons. The chief productions in 1870 were 18,225 bushels of Indian corn, 1,820 of sweet potatoes, 5,650 Ibs. of butter, and 4,800 of wool. There were 162 horses, 24,778 cattle, 4,930 sheep, and 1,378 swine. Capital, Uvalde. UVAROFF, Sergei Semenovltch, count, a Russian statesman, born in Moscow in 1785, died there in September, 1855. He studied in Gottin- gen, and was successively curator of the uni- versity of St. Petersburg and president of the academy of sciences, director of the depart- ment of trade and industry, and minister of education. He was made a count in 1846, and retired in 1848 on account of the restrictions on public instruction, which he had much pro- moted. More than any other Russian states- man he called into existence learned institu- tions, and laid the foundation of oriental stud- ies and of the Asiatic department in the chan- cellery. His works have been collectively published under the titles of Etudes de phi- lologie et de critique (St. Petersburg, 1843) and Esquisses politiques et litteraires (Paris, 1849), including his Notice sur Gathe. I VILA, a conical fleshy appendage, hanging down toward the tongue from the border of the soft palate, on the median line. It is made up of muscular substance, covered by mucous membrane ; from it arise on each side two folds, called the pillars of the fauces, between which, on the back part and sides of the throat, are the tonsils. It varies in size and length in different individuals, but is generally one half to three quarters of an inch long ; it is some- times so long as to rest upon the tongue, caus- ing harassing cough from its continued tickling, requiring the use of astringent gargles or even a partial excision. Its function is supposed to be that of affording, by the contraction of its muscular fibres, a firm point of support upon the median line to the lateral muscles of the soft palate when this organ is stretched across the upper part of the pharynx in deglutition, shutting off the communication between the pharynx and the posterior nares. UWINS, Thomas, an English painter, born in London in 1783, died at Staines, Middlesex, Aug. 25, 1857. In early life he designed for illustrated works, and prepared copies for en- gravers. Subsequent to 1826 he painted a pop- ular series of pictures illustrating the social life of the Italian peasantry. He also painted Eng- lish and French peasant pieces and illustrations from sacred and profane history. In 1836 he was elected a royal academician ; and for sev- eral years he was keeper of her majesty's pic- tures and of the national gallery. UZBECKS, a people of Turkistan, belonging to the Turkish or Tartaric branch of the Tu- ranian race, of which they are the most civil- ized tribe in that country, and constituting the dominant native population in Khiva, Bo- khara, and Khokan. The typical Tartar char- acteristics of the Kirghiz are modified in the Uzbecks, probably by the introduction of an Aryan element. They are tall, muscular, and well formed, ruddy in complexion, with broad noses flattened at the end, receding foreheads, and but little beard. Although many of the Uzbecks still live as nomads, the larger num- ber belong to the class known as Sarts or set- tled inhabitants of Turkistan, and dwell in or about the principal towns, where their mili- tary, official, and social influence has induced many persons of different race to assume their name. The population, according to a Rus- sian estimate, numbers 1,500,000 persons. In the time of Timour, about the end of the 14th century, the Uzbecks dwelt N. of the Jaxartes, whence they subsequently overran Bokhara. The purest specimens of the people are met with in Khokan. They are bigoted Moham- medans. UZZIAH, or Azariah, a king of Judah. See HEBREWS, vol. viii., p. 588. V VTHE 22d letter and 17th consonant of j the English alphabet. It was anciently called U consonant. Though found on the most ancient Roman monuments of which we have any knowledge, and even in Etruscan and Samnite inscriptions, it was unknown, accord- ing to Tacitus, to the primitive alphabet of the Latins. The same character was used to rep- resent both U and V, these letters also being frequently interchanged (see U) ; and when the emperor Claudius, as Suetonius relates, wished to introduce a separate sign for the sound of V, he made choice of the inverted digamma, J. In the inscriptions of the Etrus- cans and other primitive inhabitants of Italy, V is frequently confounded with the ^Eolian digamma, F, through which it claims relation- 812 VOL. xvi. 16 ship with the Semitic vat). Among the He- brews, too, and probably also among the Phoe- nicians, the corresponding letter was employed both as consonant and vowel. The present form of V is derived from the Greek vpsilon (Y), which is sometimes represented without the stem or vertical bar. Besides, this letter is interchanged with 6, /, and m. The Hebrew leth sometimes had a sound approaching that of V, and the Greek leta (/3) is pronounced by the modern Greeks vita. The Spanish and Por- tuguese B, too, is in many cases pronounced like V. In German V is pronounced like F. (See B, and F.) The change with m is noticed chiefly in Welsh, in which tongue Eoman be- comes Rofan (pronounced Rovan), while for the Latin amni, river, the Welsh equivalent