Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/506

* WERNER. 430 WERWOLF. corvette during the war with Denmark in 1SG4 fought with distinction at Jasmund. During the Seven Weeks' Var Werner seized the Hanoverian ports on the North Sea, acted subsequently as chief of the naval docks at Danzig and in 1873 ■was detailed, at the head of a squadron of five ships, to service off the coast of Spain, where the revolutionary movement was then in progress; he was recalled because of his hostile attitude toward the insurgent forces. He became rear- admiral in 1875, but was retired three years later. In 1898 he was nominated to be vice-ad- miral and in 1901 was ennobled. Of his numerous ■writings the best known are: Die preussische Ex- pedition tiach China, Japan ■und l?iam (1863); Die Schule des Seewesens (1866) ; Das Buck von der dmischen Flotte (1868); Seebilder (1876); Erinnerunyen und Bilder aus dem. fieeleben (1881); BerUhmte Seeleute (1882-84); Drei Monate an der Sklavenkiiste (188.5) ; Dirk Mal- limga (1888); Bilder aus der deutschen See- kriegsgeschicht e von Oermanicus bis Kaiser Wil- helm II. (1898). In 1864 he founded at Ham- hurg the Tlansa, a periodical devoted to seaman- ship and the life-saving service. WERNER, Z.CHARiAS (1768-1823). A Ger- man romantic dramatist, born in Kimigsberg, Prussia. He studied law at Konigsberg, entered (1793) the Prussian civil service, and after sojourns in A'arsaw and Berlin went to Rome, where he joined the Catholic Church. He be- came a priest in 1814 and thereafter resided mainly in ^ienna, where he became noted for the sensational eloquence of his preaching. Werner owes his place in literatire to four dramas, Die Sohne des Thais (1803), Das Kreuz an der Ostsee (1806), Martin Luther (1807), and Der 2J,. Februar ( 1809 ). His Works ( 13 vols., 1841 ) contain four other dramas and many poems, hymns, and sermons. The dramas are typical of the luridly romantic "Fate Tragedy." Consult Jlinor, Die Schielcsalstragiidie (1883). There are Lives of Werner by Hitzig (Berlin, 1823), Schiitz (Grim- ma, 1841), and DUntzer [Zu-ei Bekehrte, Leip- zig, 1873). Consult also Carlyle, Miseellanies (4th cd.. London, 18.57), and Madame de Stael, L'All< iiuignc (London, 1813). WERNERITE (named in honor of Abraham Gottlob Werner, q.v.). A mineral calcium- sodiumaluminum silicate crystallized in the tetragonal system. It- has a vitreous or pearly lustre, and is light gray, blue, green, or red in color. It occurs in crystalline rocks, in granu- lar limestone, frequently near granite contacts, and is found in Finland, in Norway, and in the Pnited States at various localities in the New England States, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. This mineral includes the following local varieties: A brown variety called nultal- lite. from Bolton, Mass.; a green and red variety called ehelmsfordite, from Chelmsford, Mass. ; and a glassy variety called ontariolite, from Galway, Ontario. Wenierite is included in the scapoliie groip of minerals; !ind is fre- quently referred to by that name. WERNIGERODE, ver'negero'de. A town of I'ru^sia. in the Province of Saxony, 43 miles southwest of Magdeburg, at the northern base of the Brocken. In the castle, the residence of the counts of Stolberg-"ernigerode, is an extensive library of over 100,000 volumes, including a fa- mous biblical and hymnological collection of 8500 volum&, and 10,000 maps. The town manufac- tures chocolate, maehinerv, cigars, and dvestufl's. Population, in 1900, 11,581. WERRA, ver'ra. A river of Germany, rising in Saxe-!Meiningen in the southeastern part of the Thuringian Forest (Map: Germany. C 3). It flows in a generally northwest direction, passing Meiningen and at JMiinden uniting with the Fulda to form the Weser. It is 181 miles long and is navigable from Wanfried, 42 miles. WERTH, vert (or WERDT), Joiiakx vo:^ (c.lGOO-52). A German soldier, born at BUttgcn, near Jiilich, He entered the Imperial Army, and then the Bavarian Army, and fought in the Thirty Years' War. Although not able to read or write, he was a cavalry leader of rcmai'kable ahilitj', and rose to high rank. By a spirited charge at Niirdlingen in 1G34 he turned the day against the Sw'edes, and in reward was made a baron and a lieutenant marshal. In 1035 he took Speyer ; and in 1636 lie invaded France, caused great alarm at Paris, and finally re- treated with immense boot}'. Two years after- wards he was defeated by Bernhard of Saxe- Wei- mar at Rheinfclden, and was taken prisoner, but in 1642 was exchanged for the S^^vedish General Horn. In the next year he helped the Imperial- ists to win the great victory of Tuttlingen. He shared in the defeat at .Tankau in 1(145. In the same year at the head of his redoubtable cavalry he decided the battle of Mergentheim against Turenne and conducted the retreat of the Impe- rialists after the death of General Mercy at Al- lersheim. When the Elector of Bavaria made peace with France and Sweden in 1647, Werth attempted to transfer a part of the Bavarian Army into the service of the Emperor, but his plan was discovered, and he escaped with only a i('' followers, ^Vlien the Elector again de- clared war, he was restored to command, but the Peace of Westphalia soon afterwards brought an end to the long struggle. Consult Teichcr, Johann Freihcrr von Werth (Augsburg, 1876). WERTHER, ver'ter. See Sorrows of Wertiier. WERWOLF, or WEREWOLF (AS. icer- wulf, man-wolf, from )c(t, man -}- toulf, wolf). According to a widespread superstition, a man who, either pei-iodically or at any time, is trans- formed or transforms himself into a wolf, be- coming possessed of all the powers and appetites of a wolf in addition to his own. and being es- pecially remarkable for his appetite for human flesh. There is perhaps no jieople among whom some evidence of its former prevalence does not exist. It is not yet extinct, even in Europe, although its details vary in different countries and districts. The animal whose shape is taken is not always, though usually, a wolf. The wolf appears most often as the animal most formidable, or considered most inimical to man. Occasional notices of lycanthropy are found in classical writers; and lycanthropy, as there described, was the change of a man or a woman into a wolf, or, more rarely, into a dog or bull, so as to enalile the man or wonian to gratify an appetite for human flesh, eitlier by magical means or through the judgment of the gods, as a pinishment for some dire ofTense. According to Herodotus, the Neuri were believed to be sorcer-