11** 



VKRD-ANTIQUE. 



VERTEBRA. 



lioo 



alto the Brazilian Tea-Tree [STACIITTARI-IU], and the Chute-Tree 

 [ VITEX'. belong to thU order. 



VEIil) ANTH.irK, [MARBLE.] 



VKRDKTKH. [CuiTKB.] 



\ KRMES. Ancient naturalists designated by this name all lower 

 acimaU resembling in form the Earth- Worm. Linnaeus adopted it as 

 the title of a class, including all animals which he could not arrange 

 umltT the Viiiilirala and Intecta. 



VERME US [TfBCLlBRASCHIATA.] 



YEItMlCULITE, a Mineral, described by Dr. Thornton aa com- 

 posed of micaceous-looking plate* cemented together by a whitish 

 matUr. Lustre soapy. Feel greasy. Sectile. Hardness 1. Specific 

 gravity 2-5252. \Vheu heated nearly to redness it projects out with 

 vermicular motion, aa if it were a man of small worms : hence the 

 name. By ignition it becomes of a silvery aspect, with a shade of red 

 or yellow. Infusible per se before the blow-pipe. With carbonate of 

 soda in the reducing flame gives a greenish, in the oxidising flame an 

 amethyst coloured glass. Dr. Thomson's analysis gave : 



Silica 49-080 



Magnesia 16-964 



Peroxide of Iron 16*120 



Alumina 7-280 



Water 10-276 



" a trace 



99-72. 



VERMl'LIA, a genus of Serpulida [Tcmcous], composed of species 

 of Strpula which are attached by the whole length of the shell, such 

 aa Serpula (Vtnuilia) triquctra, the shell of which is repent and 

 flexuous, with a simple dorsal carination': there is a variety with a 

 red line on each side of the carination. It is a native of European 

 and Mediterranean seas, on stones, shells, and other submerged marine 

 bodies. 



Trrmilia triyuetra. 



VERMILIO. [LKITIDIS.] 



VERMILION. [MnuTRT.1 



VERNAL GRASS, SWEET. 



VERNATION. [LEAF.] 



VKItXl'ClA, a name applied by Lourciro to a Plant of Cochin- 

 China, which in well known aa yielding an nil, and which belongs to 

 the same genus a* another plant, aUo yielding an oil, in China and 

 Japan. By Thunberg the hitter plant was called Jlryandra. but that 

 name being appropriated to a genus of Proleacar, these oil-trees are 

 now referred to the genus Klaococca of Commerron. This genus 

 belongs to the natural order Eupliorliiaceir. Ji. rrmtcoin the 

 tfryamlra nlriftra of Lamarck, and the J>. cordala of Thunberg, ia a 

 native of Japan, where, he states, it is called Abrarain : the oil 

 exprened from it* seeds is used both as an article of diet and for 

 affording light The Chinese are said to call the oil Mouyeou, and 

 the fruit from which it ii obtained Mouyou. The tree cultivated 

 irbon is there called Arbre d'Huile, where an oil is like- 

 wise obtained by submitting the almonds of the seeds to pressure. 

 Ji.motttana, the VmiiVia muni ana of Lourciro, is a unlive of China 

 and Cochin China : it yields a clear yellflwish futty oil, which is cm- 

 ployed to protect wood from the influence of air and water. It is 

 sometime* mixed with the rrsl varnish of these countries, which it 

 makrs more liquid, but leu valuable as a resin. 



VERXO MA, Mined after W. Vcrnon, a genus of Plant* belong- 

 ing to tho natural order Com/-,/ ,-mia (Serratula, Roxb.) 

 anihrlminlica in a pretty, large, erect, nnnual species, common on dry 

 uncultivated ground and rnhhiih in diflerent parts of India, flower- 

 ing during the cold season. The dark-coloured seeds are extremely 

 bitter, and considered powerfully anthelmintic. They are also 

 employed aa an ingr. ,li, nt in com|>omids prescribed in snake-bites. 



VERX'iXJA'CE.K, a tribe of 1'lants belonging to the natural order 

 Cotaponirr. They are distinguished from Laclueem by their corolla, 

 which is not ligulate, and from evry other tribe by their style, 

 which is the same as that possessed by Laclucta. There are 



several genera of plants belonging to this tribe, which are chiefly 

 inhabitants of America : there are a few in Asia and Africa, but none 

 in Europe. 



VERo'XICA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 ScrophulaHactte. The species consist of herbs, undenbrub*, or 

 shrubs, with opposite, alternate, or verticillate leaves. The flowers 

 are of a blue, white, or red colour, and are arranged in spikes or 

 racemes ; the calyx is campauulate or compressed, 4-6-parted ; the 

 corolla rotate, with a very short tube, a 4 -parted spreading limb ; all 

 the segments entire, the upper one the broadest ; the stamens are 2, 

 situated at the sides of the upper segment of the corolla, diverging ; 

 anthers 2-celled ; stigmas hardly thickened. The fruit a capsule, with 

 a septum in the middle or bipartible. The species of this genus are 

 exceedingly numerous ; they are distributed over all parts of the 

 world, and are especially abundant in temperate climates. The flora 

 of Great Britain contains about 20 species. 



V. tpicata, Spiked Speed well, bos iu flowers on a spiked raceme ; 

 the leaves crenatod, the radicle ones ovate or obovate, and running into 

 the petioles ; the cauline leaves are lanceolate or obloneo-lanceolate, 

 sessile, toothed, and entire at the top; the whole plant downy, 

 canescent, and rather clammy. It is a native of Germany, France, 

 and Switzerland, and is found in England, in souio parts of the county 

 of Suffolk. 



I', officinalit, Common Speedwell, has spicate flowers, with leaves 

 broadly ovate, serrated, and rough with pubescence ; stem very downy, 

 procumbent ; the capsule obovate, deeply notched ; the bracts longer 

 than the pedicles of the flowers. It is a native of Europe and North 

 America, in woods and on dry sandy banks, and is plentiful iu Great 

 Britain. It has pale blue-coloured corollas, with veins of a deeper 

 blue. Paullix, an old Danish botanist, endeavoured to prove that this 

 plant was identical with the Tea-Plant of China, and it was once 

 extensively used as a substitute for tea. 



1'. BcccaJbtmga, Brooklitne, is a glabrous shining plant, with pro- 

 cumbent stems, and elliptic oval or oblong leaves, seated on short 

 petioles, serrated or entire. It U a native of every country in Europe, 

 and is also found in North America and Nepaul, aud U abundant in 

 Great Britain. 



I'. Montana, Mountain Speedwell, has lax few-flowered racemes, 

 with ovato-cordate serrated petiolate leaves ; a stem hairy all round ; 

 and an orbicular 2-lobed membranous capsule much larger than the 

 calyx. It is a native of Europe, but is not very common in Great 

 Britain. 



V*. Chamiedryt, Germander Speedwell, has the whole plant hairy ; 

 the leaves deeply and unequally serrated ; the racemes elongated aud 

 many-flowered ; the capsule obcordate and shorter than the calyx. It 

 U common throughout Europe. 



V. Tcucriutn, Germander-Leaved Speedwell, is a downy plant, with 

 the lower leaves ovate oblong, half-clasping the stem, obtuse, and 

 coarsely serrated, the upper ones sessile, narrower, and serrated ; the 

 racemes axillary, opposite, on long peduncles, and the stems ascending 

 or prostrate. It is a native of Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, in 

 clayey soils. 



'1'h" other British species are V. tculellata, I'. Anayallii, V. lara- 

 tilii, V. al/'inn, I', tcrpyHifulia, V. arrciitii, V. rcrna, V. Irifhyllot, 

 V. agrettit, I". yWiM. I", liu./l/aumii, and I', hedtrifolia. 



VBRRU'OA. [ClBBIPEDlA.] 



VERRUCA 'RIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 of Lichens. The species of this genus are found on rocks and Hints 

 and the bark of trees, and are abundant inhabitants of Great Britain. 



VERTEBRA H the name given to each of the separate bones of 

 which the spinal column of the skeleton of the Mammalia is com- 

 posed. [SKELETON.] Although in technical anatomy the term is thus 

 restricted, it. has recently received a much more extended signification. 

 Professor Owen defines a vertebra as "one of those segments of the 

 cndo-skeleton which constitute the axis of the body and the protecting 

 canals of the nervous and vascular trunk ; such a tegment may also 

 support diverging appendages." According to this definition, the 

 vertebra becomes the type or plan on which all the bones of the 

 skeleton of vertebrate animals are constructed. It is not only a portion 

 of the spinal column, but the elementary form to which all the parts 

 of the skeleton may be reduced. The bones of the head, of the thorax, 

 the pelvis, and the limbs, however complicated, ore reducible to the 

 plan of the typical vertebra. In the history of the development of 

 this interesting branch of anatomical inquiry a variety of opinions 

 have been expressed, as to what may be regarded as the true elements 

 of a typical vertebra, since in no instance do we find all the parts of the 

 vertebra developed in exactly the same manner. 



The diagram in next page exhibits a typical vertebra, according to 

 the plan of Professor Owen. 



This plan does not include the parts which constitute the diverging 

 appendages. Of thin plan Professor Owen say*, " The names printed 

 in Roman type signify those parts which, bring usually developed 

 from distinct and independent centres, I have termed 'autogenous' 

 elements. The italics denote the parts more properly called processes, 

 which shoot out a< continuations from some of the preceding elements, 

 and are termed ' exogenous ;' e. g., the diapophyses, or upper transverse 

 processes, and the zygapophyses, or the ' oblique ' or ' articular pro- 

 ' of human anatomy." 



