VED 



VEG 



and fixed-oil varnishes. Lacker, or lac- 

 quer, is a lac varnish consisting of a 

 solution of shell-lac in alcohol, and ap- 

 plied to articles of brass, &c. 



VARNISH-TREES. A technical name 

 applied to trees which exude liquid 

 resins, naturally or in consequence of in- 

 cisions. 



VAR'VICITE. An ore of manganese, 

 occurring massive at Hartshill, in War- 

 wickshire, and in pseudo-crystals at 

 Ilfeld. 



VASCULAR PLANTS {vasculum, a 

 little vessel). A term applied to the two 

 great divisions of plants called Exogens 

 and Endogens, owing to the high de- 

 velopment of vascular tissue in these 

 plants, and in order to distinguish them 

 from Cellular or Cryptogamic plants, 

 in which the tissue is principally cel- 

 lular. 



VASCULAR TISSUE {vasculum, a 

 little vessel). Trachenchyma. A tissue 

 in plants, consisting of simple membra- 

 nous tubes tapering to each end, but often 

 ending abruptly, either having a fibre 

 generated spirally in the inside, or having 

 their walls marked by transverse bars 

 arranged more or less in a spiral direc- 

 tion. There are two principal kinds of 

 vascular tissue, viz. spiral vessels or tra- 

 checB, and ducts : the former present the 

 continuous spiral fibre, and are capable 

 of unrolling with elasticity ; the latter 

 present transverse lines, rings, or bars, 

 and are incapable of unrolling without 

 breaking. 



VAU'QUELINITE. Chromate of lead 

 and copper ; one of the ores containing 

 chromium, occurring massive, and in 

 minute crystals on quartz, accompanying 

 the chromate of lead, in Siberia. 



VECTOR {veho, to carry). The car- 

 rier ; a term applied, in Geometry, to a 

 radius, which is carried round a centre ; 

 any given point on such a radius de- 

 scribes a curve (See Radius Vector). In 

 Astronomy, a straight line drawn from 

 the centre of a planet to the centre of the 

 sun becomes a radius vector, and the 

 planet appears to be carried by it in its 

 orbit round the sun. In a conic section, 

 the radius vector is a straight line drawn 

 from one of the foci to any point in the 

 curve. 



VEDA {vid, Sansc to know). A term 

 signifying the sum of all knowledge ; or, 

 according to another derivation, self-evi- 

 dent knowledge or revelation. The word 

 is, however, particularly applied to the 

 four principal sacred books of the Hin- 

 360 



dus, viz. the Rt'ch, the Yajush, the 

 Saman, and the Atharvan'a. 



VEERING {virer, French). Wearing. 

 A nautical term for that movement of a 

 ship by which, when sailing with the 

 wind on either bow, she is brought, by 

 turning her head to leeward, into a con- 

 trary position, so as to present the other 

 bow to the wind, by which means her 

 course is reversed. 



VEGA. A star of the first magnitude 

 in the northern constellation Lyra. 



VEGETABLE ^ETHIOPS. A char- 

 coal prepared by incinerating the fucus 

 vesiculosus in a covered crucible. 



VEGETABLE IVORY. A substance 

 sometimes whiter and harder than ivory, 

 consisting of the seed of a genus of 

 plants called Phytelephas, belonging to 

 the natural order Pandanaceae. It is 

 commonly called tagua plant; and in 

 Peru, celebra de negro, or negro's head. 

 It is extensively used for the same pur- 

 poses as ivory, but does not retain its 

 colour so well. 



VEGETABLE KINGDOM. In addi- 

 tion to what has been written under the 

 article Botany, a sketch is here subjoined 

 of the connexion subsisting between the 

 three great kingdoms, or divisions of na- 

 tural bodies. These are represented each 

 as starting from a common point ; and the 

 further any group of beings is from this 

 point, the more are they unlike the 

 others. 



ORGANIC MATTER. 



Vegetable Kingdom. Animal Kingdom. 



Exogenae. 



Gymnospermae. 



Endogenae. 



Rhizanthae. 



Acrogenae. 



Vertebrata. 

 Mollusca. 

 Articulata. 

 R ad lata. 

 Acrita. 



Indeterminate Substances. 



Organic Elements. 



Gases, Water. 



Metallic Oxides. 



Metals 



Mineral Kingdom. 



INORGANIC MATTER. 



VEGETABLE SOIL. The thin ex 

 ternal crust of the earth in which plants 

 grow, composed of fragments of mine- 

 rals, vegetables, and animals, reduced to 

 a great degree of tenuity. 



VEGETABLE SULPHUR. Witch- 

 meal. A powder procured from the theca 

 of the lycopodium clavatum, or common 



