Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 20.djvu/62

* VEGETARIANISM. 40 VEIL physically, intellectually, and nioially; that with it life is longer, more enjoyable, and bodily strength and symmetry superior; that the use of animal food stimulates unnaturally, begets a fierce disposition, a carelessness about life, and a callousness to the sufferings of men and ani- mals; whereas a vegetable diet has very opposite effects. It is further contended that all the ele- ments necessary for perfect nutrition are con- tained in vegetables, and that a proper dietary can be selected which is not open to objection on account of enormous bulk. On the score of economy it is urged that a diet of meals and grain can be purchased for much less than one of meat, and confers more working power; that a given acreage of land will support more people if devoted to growing grain and vegetables than if used for the raising of cattle or sheep. On moral grounds it is contended that it is wrong to slaughter animals unnecessarily, that the higher instincts revolt against taking life, and that the constant killing and eating of animals reacts unfavorably on man's higher nature. Lastly, it is pointed out that animal food is often the means of communicating disease to man, e.g. tuberculosis, trichiniasis. Scientific opinion is not favorable to vege- tarianism. The structure of man's stomach and intestines and the variety of intestinal juices are held to prove that nature intended him for an om- nivorous animal, liis digestive organs being fitted to derive nourishment from every kind of food. The possession of biting, tearing, and grinding teeth (incisor, canine, and molar) is also sug- gestive of the same conclusion. It has been a matter of almost universal experience that al- though a vegetable diet may keep a man in ap- ])arent health for some time, it eventually results in loss of strength and general resisting power against disease. That a mixed diet (i.e. one including meat) enables the individual to do more physical work and increases the staying powers has often been proved. While there are some races that live almost exclusively on a vegetable diet, and others that exist wholly on animals (for example, the Eskimos), it cannot for a moment be contended that these are the equals of peoples living on a mixed diet. VEGETATIVE PROPAGATION. The asex- ual process bj' which plants reproduce. Organs which assume this office are usually supplied with buds or they may develop them under fa- vorable conditions. For instance, the tips of black raspberry canes develop new plants from the terminal and adjoining buds if these become cov- ered with soil, and the roots of red raspberry develoi) buds when injured or when severed from the parent plant. JIany creeping plants, such as strawberry and hen-and-chickens (Heinper- vivum), reproduce by means of rosettes, stolons, etc. The term brood bud or brood body is often employed to designate the initial buds in such propagation, and these are frequently employed in artificial propagation, as in layerage, graftage, and cuttage. See ICcoi.oGY; Duration, VEGETItrS, vi^je'shi-fis, Fi.AVirs Renatt-,s, A Koinan iriililary writer of the fourth or fifth century. He was the author of Rei MUitaris InKtitutn, or Hpiloma liri Militarin. .Mthough the work is an interesting and graceful exposi- tion of the Roman art of warfare, it is merely a compilation from earlier histories. It is usually divided into four books, of which the first treats of the levying and training of recruits; the second, of the different classes into which soldiers are divided, and the organization of the legion; the third, of strateg}'; and the fourth, of the at- tack and defense of fortresses and of marine warfare. It has been edited by Sehwebel (1767), and by Lang (2d ed, 1885). The work on vet- erinary art, entitled ilulo medicina, is usually ascribed to the same author. It is printed in Schneider's Scriptores Uei Itusticw (4 vols,, Leip- zig, 1797). Consult Seeck, Die Zeit des Vegetius (Berlin, 1876). VEGLIA, vel'yS. An island belonging to the Province of Istria, Austria, situated southeast of Triest, in the Gulf of Quarnero, in the Adriatic. It is separated from the mainland by the Mor- lacca Canal, and by the Mezzo Canal from the island of Cherso on the west (Map: Austria, D 4), Area, 165 square miles. It forms an administrative district with a population (1901) of 21,141, It has forests, and exports grain, wine, silk, and marble. The capital, Veglia, is on the southwest coast, and has a cathedral in- teresting for its architecture. "^TEHMGERICHTE, ffim'ge-rlK'te, or FEM- GERICHTE (Ger., tribunals of punishment). Westphalian courts of justice which had con- siderable influence in Germany during the latter part of the Middle Ages. They arose by natural development from the courts of freemen. When the}' had reached their fullest development the Vehmgerichte included a vast body of free judges {Wissende, i.e. initiated) who constituted a secret society, scattered all over Germany. They met in secret and received complaints, to answer which they had the right to summon any one in German}-, though the trial itself took place ordinarily in Westphalia only. The death penalty was inflicted by means of hanging. The chair- man of these courts, which were to a great ex- tent held in the open country, was known as the Frcigraf, i.e. the free count. Their importance Wjis due to the fact that in the time of turmoil and petty courts, controlled by robber barons, the Vehmgerichte were tribunals which at least made an efl'ort to render impartial judg- ments. Consult: Lindner, Die Verne (Miinster and Paderborn, 1888) ; Thudichimi. Femgericht und Inquisition (Giessen, 1889) ; Lindner, Der angehliehe Vrspriing der Vemgeriehte aus der Inriuisition (Paderborn, 1890) ; Wiegand. Das Femgericht We.stfnlcn.t (2d ed„ Halle, 1893). VEI, vl, or 'ai. a tribe of negroes on the west coast of Africa from Jlonrovia nortliward. They arc the only negroes who possess a form of writing. They aie pagans, of Mandingan race and speech. See Mandingo, VEII, ve'j'i. An ancient city of Etniria, the nearest of the Etruscan cities to Rome, and in early times its most formidable rival. Its site was at Isola Farnese, a village about 12 miles nnrlh of Kome. .According to Roniiin historians file striggle between (lie two cities began as early as the time of Komulus, and continued under each of the kings, except Numa, and always to the advantage of the Komans, The Veientines had their revenge under Porsena : bi( after his lime, licing repeatedly defeated, they h:id rrcour.se to the plan of sheltering themselves behind their