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 VARINAS VARNISH thinning of their coats or from accident, they burst and give rise to copious haemorrhage, which may prove fatal. The annoyance and suffering attending varicose veins may be very much alleviated by the application of a firm roller, or better still, an elastic stocking, to the affected limb, thus affording equable sup- port to the distended veins ; an essential con- dition is also that the patient should avoid a continued standing posture, which has nearly always so much to do with the original pro- duction of the disease. Various operative pro- ceedings have been tried with a view of oblit- erating the diseased veins and thus curing the disease. These are not always successful, nor are they unattended with danger. The best perhaps is that of M. Velpeau, which consists in passing a needle beneath the trunk of the affected vein, and applying a twisted suture around it ; if sufficient inflammation ensue to cause the occlusion of the vein, the needle may be withdrawn in a few days ; if not, it is per- mitted to ulcerate its way through. VARINAS. See BAEINAS. VARIOLOID, a mild form of smallpox, some- times occurring in persons previously vaccina- ted or inoculated, and the virus of which will produce smallpox in those not thus protected. (See SMALLPOX, and VACCINATION.) VARNA, a seaport town of European Turkey, in Bulgaria, near the N. E. spurs of the Balkan mountains, on the W. coast of the Black sea, 160 m. N. N. W. of Constantinople ; lat. 43 12' N., Ion. 27 56' E. ; pop. about 20,000; of whom one half are Christians. It occupies an elevated position on the N. W. side of a bay in the gulf of Varna, formed by two rocky prom- ontories, and is defended by a stone wall, bat- teries, and outworks. It is the seat of a Greek bishop, and contains five churches and eight mosques. The bay is sheltered on the north and northeast from the dangerous winds of the Black sea. The entrances of steamers in 1873 were 255, and the clearances 404; ag- gregate tonnage, 343,402 ; the inward and out- ward sailing vessels comprised 803 small craft with an aggregate tonnage of 89,864. The im- ports, chiefly manufactured and colonial goods, salt, and coal, amounted to $2,250,000, and the exports, mainly wheat, maize, barley, wool, and tallow, to $2,700,000. The town is connected by rail with Rustchuk and Shumla. Varna occupies the site of ancient Odessus, a Greek city said to have been founded by the Mile- sians, and which exercised authority over Tomi, Calatis, Mesembria, and Apollonia, situ- ated on the same coast. Under the Romans it was a town of Lower Moesia. In the 7th century it fell into the hands of the Bulgarians. Its strategic importance has from the earliest times made it a scene of war. Hunyady and King Ladislas of Poland and Hungary were overwhelmed, and the latter perished, in the battle fought here with Sultan Amurath II., Nov. 10, 1444. In 1610 the Dnieper Cossacks took the town and rescued several thousand Christians from Turkish bondage. Varna re- sisted the Russians in 1783, although the forti- fications proved even at that time inefficient. They have been since greatly improved. In 1828 it surrendered to the Russians after a siege of three months. It was restored to Turkey in September, 1829. In August, 1854, while Varna was occupied as a base of opera- tions against the Crimea by English, French, and Turkish troops, a conflagration destroyed almost half of the town. VARNHAGEN VON ENSE, Karl August Lndwig Pbilipp, a German author, born in Dusseldorf, Feb. 21, 1785, died in Berlin, Oct. 10, 1858. He studied in Berlin and at various periods in Halle and Tubingen, and was for some time a private tutor. He joined the Austrian army in 1809, and was wounded and captured by the French at Wagram and exchanged at Vienna, after which (1810) he visited Paris, and next resided alternately at Prague, Vienna, and Ber- lin. In 1813 he joined the Prussian rising against the French. In 1814 he married in Berlin Rahel Levin (1771-1833), a Jewess of remarkable intellect who had become a Chris- tian, and whose extraordinary social influence had a happy effect upon his career. After as- sisting Hardenberg, the Prussian minister, at the congress of Vienna, and accompanying the allies to Paris, he became Prussian minister at Carlsruhe. In 1819 he declined the mission to Washington, and henceforth chiefly resided in Berlin. He was early associated with Cha- misso, Fouque 1, and others in periodical and other publications, and began to publish stories and poems in 1815-'16. In 1822 appeared his Oeistliche Spruche des Angelus Silesiw, with an introduction, which was reproduced in 1849 with selections from Saint-Martin and with an- notations by his wife ; and in 1823 his Goethe in den Zeugnissen der Mitlebenden. He is best known as a writer of biographies ; his first series was Biographische Denkmale (5 vols., 1824-'30; 3d ed., 1872). After the death of his wife he published JRahel, ein Buch des An- denkens fur iJire Freunde (3 vols., 1834), and Galerie von Bildnissen am Rahels Umgang (2 vols., 1836); and his correspondence with her has appeared in a complete edition entitled Briefwechsel zwischen Varnhagen und Rahel (6 vols., Leipsic, 1875). His niece Ludmilla Assing has published several volumes of his posthumous works, and Alexander von Hum- boldt's letters to him. (See ASSING.) Among the many interesting posthumous publications of Varnhagen are his Tagebucher (14 vols., Leipsic, 1861-'72), Blatter aus der preussischen Geschichte (1868-'9), and Biographische Por- trait (1871). The third enlarged edition of his select works comprises three parts : the first (6 vols., 1875) entitled DenlcwurdigTceiten des eigenen Lebens, the second (10 vols., 1875) Biographische Denkmale, and the third (in pro- cess of completion, 1876) Vermischte Schriften. VARNISH, a solution of resinous matter, used for covering the surfaces of bodies to give them