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 290 VENETIA all danger of splitting. Strong plain wood, as black walnut, may be used for the inner layers, while the outer may be of rosewood or other highly ornamental wood. The tops of tables thus made are not liable to warp, and the method has been successfully applied to the construction of tables for sewing machines. Dished or spheroidal pressed work may be made in any desired curves by cutting the veneers into strips of varying width according to the part of the mould into which they are to be pressed. Ornamental surface in relief has been given to veneers by pressing them between two moulds or dies, and filling the concavities on the hollow side with mastic or some plastic substance. Before pressing them, the surface to be in relief is smoothed and polished, and paper is pasted over the other. The dampness of the paste favors the adjust- ment of the wood to the irregularities of the die, from which the veneer is not removed until all moisture has disappeared. VENETIA, in ancient geography, a district of upper Italy, bounded by the Carnic Alps, the Timavus (now Timavo), the Adriatic, and the Athesis (Adige), which separated it from Cisal- pine Gaul proper, of which it sometimes formed part. It was a fertile territory, the princi- pal productions of which were wool, sweet wines, and race horses. The chief cities were Aquileia, Ateste (Este), Patavium (Padua), Vi- centia (Vicenza), and Tarvisium (Treviso). The inhabitants, the Veneti or Heneti, were reputed to be descendants of the Paphlagonian Heneti, brought to the shores of the Adriatic by Antenor, a Trojan hero, the legendary founder of Patavium (Padua). Others sup- posed them to be kindred to the Celtic Veneti in Gallia Lugdunensis; but they not only spoke a different language from that of the Celts, but also lived in continual hostility to the Gallic tribes in their neighborhood. According to Herodotus, the Veneti inhabit- ed Illyria. Modern critics are inclined to re- gard them as Slavs, of the same branch as the Winds in the neighboring Illyrian provinces of Austria. They early entered into an alliance with Rome, and subsequently became her sub- jects without resistance. Under the earlier emperors they enjoyed great prosperity, but during the 3d, 4th, and 6th centuries their ter- ritory was frequently devastated by the in- vading barbarians. The invasion of the Huns, under Attila, drove many of them to the isl- ands and lagoons of the Adriatic, where they became the founders of Venice, with whoso history that of Venetia became closely con- nected. The republic gradually absorbed the petty states which had arisen in the early part of the middle ages, and extended its possessions in Italy beyond the limits of the ancient terri- tory. (See VENICE.) In 1815 the country as far W. as the Mincio and S. to the Po was made part of the Lombardo-Venetian king- dom of the Austrian empire, and in 1866 be- came a territorial division of the kingdom VENEZUELA of Italy; it is bounded N. W., N., and N. E. by Tyrol and Carinthia, E. by G6rz and Gra- disca, 8. E. by the gulf of Venice and the Adriatic, S. by the division of Emilia, and S. W. and W. by Lombardy ; area, 9,060 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 2,642,807. It is divided into the provinces of Belluno, Padua, Rovigo, Treviso, Udine, Venice, Verona, and Vicenza. The chief rivers are the Po, Adige, Brenta, and Piave. Lake Garda and the Mincio form part of the western boundary. VENEZUELA, tnited States of, a republic of South America, extending from lat. 1 8' to 12 16' N., and from Ion. 60 to 73 17' W. It is bounded N. by the Caribbean sea, E. by the Atlantic and by British Guiana, S. by Brazil, from which it is partly separated by the Pacaraima mountains, and W. by the United States of Colombia. Its maximum length from E. to W. is about 900 m., and its maximum breadth from N. to S. 770 m. The area (in- cluding the islands), according to the Alma- nack de Gotha, is 403,000 sq. m. Codazzi, in his Resumen de la geogrqfia de Venezuela (1841), set it down at 431,000 sq. m. It is divided into 20 states, 1 federal district, and 1 terri- tory, which, with their population and capi- tals, are as follows : STATES, Ac. Pop. In 1873. CAPITALS. Apuro - -. l - t;:, c,;-, San Carlos. (' 11111:111. i 65.476 Cumana. Falcon or Coro 99,920 Coro. Guarleo 191.000 Calabozo. Guayana 84,058 Ciudad Bolivar. Ouzinan Blanco 94,151 Victoria. Maturln 47,868 Maturln. M .Ti.ln. 67,849 Merlda. Nueva Egparta (Margarita) Portaguesa 80,988 79,984 Asuncion. Ouanare. Tachlra 68619 San Crist6bal. TruJillo 103,672 Trujillo. Yaracul . 71,689 Zainora
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Dlstrito Federal 60,010 r.n.h-o'. Territory of Amazonas 28,048 Total 1 7-1 I'.i-l Differences between populations of certain states in the above table and the figures given in the separate articles on such states, different capitals, &c., are attributable to the new terri- torial division of the republic and the official census of November, 1878, first published in 1875. The populations of some of the chief cities, according to that census, were as fol- lows: Caracas, the capital, 48,897; Valencia, 28,594; Barquisimeto, 25,664; Maracaybo, 21,- 954; Maturin, 12,944. The white population was estimated at about 1 per cent, of the total, and the foreigners resident in the republic at 10,000. Much the largest part of the popula- tion consists of half-breeds and hybrids from the union of Europeans (chiefly the early Span- ish colonists) and Indians, and the intermin-