Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/218

* VIKGINIXJS. 170 VIRUS. Crassus. The story has been a favorite theme for literary treatment. Besides the versions re- ferred to under Appius and Virgixi.^, it was the subject of tragedies by the French authors Mairet, Leclcre, and Campistron in the seven- teenth century, and the movement for political freedom from the middle of the eighteenth re- vived it once more. Lessing in 1772 threw it with this intention into a modern Italian set- ting: and it was also treated bv Aliieri in Italy (1773), by Miss Brooke in England (1760), and in France by La Beaumelle (17(50). Chabanon (17G0), Laharpe (1786), Guiraud (1827), and Latour Saint-Ybars (1845). The role of Vir- ginius in .James Sheridan Knowles's tragedy (1820) was created by ilacready. VIRGINirrS MASSACRE. On October 31, 1873, the Mrf/iiiiiis. a vessel flying the United States flag, owned by an American, and com- manded by Captain Fr}% an American citizen, which was carrying arms and men to the aid of the Cuban insurgents, was captured on the high seas off Jamaica by the Spanish man-of-war Tornado, and was taken into the port of Santiago de Cuba, where on November 4th four leaders of the Cuban patriots, Cespedes, Ryan, Varona, and Del Sal, who had been captured on board, were executed in pursuance, it was claimed, of prior sentences. The remainder of the passengers and the crew were then hastily tried on a charge of piracy, and on November 7th and 8th Captain Fry, 36 of the crew, and 16 of the passengers were summarily executed, some of the victims being American citizens. Further executions were prevented by the timely arrival of the British sloop Siohe, whose commander. Sir Lamp- ton Lorraine, forced the Spanish officer, General Buriel, to reprieve the remainder of the prisoners. The affair caused widespread excitement in the L'nited States, where the feeling against Spain was alreadj' strong by reason of the latter's course in Cuba, and for a time war seemed im- minent; but, after protracted negotiations, a peaceful settlement was agreed upon, and Spain surrendered to the United States, conditionally, the Yirginiiis and the survivors of her passen- gers and crew. The vessel was overtaken by a storm on its voyage to New York, was abandoned by her crew, and sank off Cape Fear. England exacted and received pecuniary reparation for those of her subjects who were executed. Con- sult Message of the President licjnting to the Hieamcr 'Mrgiiiius,' irilh Accompanying Docu- ments (Washington. 1S74). VIRGIN MARTYR, The. A tragedy by Massingcr and Dckker, founded on the story of the martyr Uorothea. It was licensed in 1620, printed in quarto in 1621, revived at the Drury Lane in 1668, and adapted in 171.') by Grillin. !Massinger is judged, from internal evidence, to be responsible for the first act, the first two scenes of the third act, the third scene of the fourth act, and the second scene of the fifth act. VIRGIN QUEEN. A popular and affect ion- nte name given In (,Mieen Elizabeth, suggested by her resolute refusal to marry. The popular con- ception was adopted by Spenser in the Faerie Queinr, in his cniir eiil i(iii of lieljiliuhe. VIRGIN'S BOWER. See CrJCMATls. VIRI'ATHUS. A Lusitanhm patriot, who lived in the second century B.C. Originally a shepherd, he afterwards became a guerrilla chief, and appears to have supported himself by pred- atory excursions into the neighboring Spanish territory. This mode of life brought him into collision with Rome, and in the year B.C. 1.51 the propra'tor, Servius Galba, was ordered to in- vade the country and reduce the Lusitanians to subjection. At first Viriathus kept mainly to the mountains, and contented himself with har- assing the enemy by sudden and fierce descents, but in 147 he gave battle to Vetilius, the Roman proi>r;ptor, near Tribola, south of the Tagas, and inflicted on him a severe defeat. In the course of the next two years he repeatedly eamc/off vic- torious, but in 144 the consul, Q. Fabius .F^mili- anus, encountered him in Andalusia with a large army and Viriathus was driven back into his native fastnesses. The proprietor. Q. Pompeius, was then sent against Viriathus, but the Roman force was crushed at the 'hill of Venus,' and forced to take refuge at Corduba. while the conqueror wasted all the country round the Guadalquivir. In 142 the Romans were more fortunate. Q. Fabius Servilianus, the consul, conducted the war, and succeeded in driving Viriathus once more out of Spain and in annihilating several guerrilla bands; but in 141 the whole of his army was surrounded in a mountain pass and forced to surrender. Viriathus released his cap- tives on condition that Servilianus would allow the Lusitanians to retain their independence. In 140 the consul, Q. Servilius Coepio (brother of Servilianus), having received the command in Farther Spain, resumed the war against Viri- athus, and bribed some Lusitanian envoys to murder their master, which they did while he lay sleeping in his tent. His death was prac- tically the end of Lusitanian independence, VI'RI 'RO'MM (Lat., lien of Rome). A pop- ular Latin schoolbook compiled in the eighteenth century by Charles Francois Lhomond, a pro- fessor of the University of Paris. The material is taken from the works of various authors, chiefly Livy and Eutropius, simplified in lan- guage and construction wherever necessary to fit it for the requirements of beginners. It deals with the early stories of Rome and has proved a favorite textbook. VIRUS (Lat.. poison, venom, slime). The term used in medicine to denote a palpable mor- bid ]n'oduct causative of a contagious disease. If the contagiiun be fixed it is called a virus. If volatile, the term formerly used was miasm. Since the discovery of the ha'niatozoiin which causes malaria, the old term miasm has been restricted or abandoneia. etc., meaning tlic miirbilic tinid which contains the germs of these diseases and is <'a])alde of propa- gating them if inocnlaled into the human body. In this way a culture of any bacteria may loosely be called a virus. The active principle of a virus has the teinlenty to re])rocluce itself after a period of variable length, called the period of