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* VORPARLAMENT. 224 vos. VORPARLAMENT, for'par'la-ment. A 'pre- liniinai-y' railianient wiiicli met at Franktort-on- the-Main irom JMarch 31 to April 4, 1848, to de- vise wavs and means for calling a national Ger- man Parliament to deal with the widespread demand for reorganization of the Germanic po- litical system on the basis of a closer national unity. The Vorparlament, which consisted of some five luindred Liberal leaders, decided that a national assembly, elected by direct vote of the people without distinction of property, rank, or religious belief, and endowed with sovereign powers, should meet at Frankfort for the pur- pose of drawing up a constitution for the (Ger- man nation. Great dissensions prevailed in the Vorparlament between the monarchical and re- publican factions. The latter, headed by Hecker and Struve (qq.v.), finding themselves outnum- bered, seceded from the Parliament, and with the aid of Polish and French radicals stirred up an insurrection in Southern Baden, which was sup- pressed in a short time. After the dissolution of the Vorparlament its work was continued by a committee of fifty until the assembling of the National Parliament on May 18th. See Ger- many. VORSPIEL, for'shpel. The German word for introduction or prelude (qq.v.). Beginning with Lohenfirin Wagner abandoned the word 'overture' for his dramatic works and designated the orchestral introductions, both to the entire drama and the separate acts, as Vorspiel. Sev- eral later operatic composers have also adopted this term. Bach wrote a series of preludes for organ which he called Choral-YorspieJe. These are intended as introductions to a chorale. Of course the chorale is made the basis of these Vors])ielc, which treat certain phrases in canonic or fugal writing. VORSTERMAN, fOr'ster-man, Lucas, the Elder (c.iriila c.l(!75). A Flemish engraver, born in Bommel ( Gelderland ). He was a pupil of Rubens, who turned him from painting to en- graving and for whom he reproduced many pic- tures. Afterwards he went to England, where he worked for Charles I. and the Earl of Arundel (l(i24-31). About 22,5 of his plates remain, among which "The Adoration of the JIagi" and "The Descent from the Cross," after Rubens, are the most important. While in England and after his return to Antwerp Vorsterman executed nu- merous portraits after Van Dyck. — His son, LucA.s ( l24-c.67), was admitted to the Guild in 1651. He engraved New'castle's Art of Moiinliiirj the Horse, Sanderus's Chorographia Sacrw Bra- hniiiUt', (10.59-00), Teniers's Tculro de T'iiitura.s' (1000). and single plates after Lowland and Italian masters. VORTEX, VORTEX RING. A mass of fluid rotating about a closed curve as an axis; a motion similar to that of the particles of a rublicr ring (such as a bicycle tire) when it is so turned that the inside of the ring is becoming the outside, and vice versa. The most familiar form of vortex ring is that of a smoke ring pro- duced intentionally by a smoker, or accidentally by the discharge of a gun, or by the exhaust of an engine. Vortices are usually circular, but may be of other and comiilicated shapes, the essentia! condition being that the axis around which the whirl takes place must be either a closed curve, or a curve both ends of which rest upon a boundary surface of the fluid. Such rings are very persistent and have many interest- ing properties. They may be projected to con- siderable distances and exhibit mutual attrac- tion and repulsion. Such smoke or air rings have been shot into the clouds to disturb the un- stable equilibrium of an approaching storm, thus precipitating the rain before liail develops and the crops are injured. See Matter. VOR'TICEL'LA ( Xeo-Lat., diminutive of Lat. vortex, whirl, whirlpool). A genus of Infusoria (q.v.), notable for the highly contractile stalk by which thej' are ordinarily attached. They are inhabitants of both fresh and salt water and often occur in large numbers together, although those which form actual colonies are now sepa- rated from the true vorticellas, as other genera. These minute creatures are very graceful in all their movements and under normal conditions are constantly extending and contracting their stalks. Under unfavorable conditions, and occa- sionally at other times, they detach themselves, draw in the stalk, and swim aliout freely. When fully expanded the body is somewhat bell-shaped, the flaring end forming the oral disk, which is surrounded with long cilia, and at one side of this is the mouth. The opposite end of the body tapers into the stalk, which may be two or three times the length of the body itself. They are able to contract with great rapidity and force, when irritated, until they become a mere globule. The cilia surrounding the oral disk are in constant motion when the animal is expanded, and by their movement cause a miniature whirlpool the vortex of which is right at the animal's mouth. Consult Calkins, TJie Protozoa (New York, 1901). VOR'TIGERN AND ROWENA, ro-e'na. A drama by William Henry Ireland, who pretended that it with other forgeries was the work of Shakespeare. It was produced in 1790 and gave rise to considerable controversy. VOS, vos. CoRXELis DE ( 15S.5-1651 ). A Flem- ish painter, born in Hulst. He was a pupil of David Remeeus, and in 1019 became dean of the (Uiild at Antwerp. Among his own pu]iils were Jean Cossiers and Simon de Vos. With the lat- ter he has often been confused. One of the most famous contemporaries of Rubens, he re- mained untouched by the influence of that master, merely carrying the old school to a further re- finement of execution. His ])ortraits are more valued than his religious and mythological paint- ings. His works inchide: "The Saint Norbcrt." and "The Descent from the Cross" (Catlicdrnl at Antwerp) ; the portrait of the artist with his family, at Brussels: "Tlic Huttcn Family" (Mu- nich) ; and "The Anointing of David" (Vienna). — A second Cohnelis de Vos is known to have been a member of the (iuild in 1033 and to have painted backgrotinds in the works of other masters. VOS. GEEuiiARDrs (1802 — ). An American theologian, binn in lleercnveen, Holland, and edu- cated in .msterdam at the Seminary of the Hol- land Christian Rcfornieil Church, at the Presby- terian Theological Seminary in Princeton, and at Berlin an<l Strassliurg. He taught theology at the Holland Christian Reformed Seminary in (irand Rapids from 1888 to 1894, and then in