WINGS WINTER. 



79 



stems of plants as are furnished, all their length, 

 with a sort of membranaceous leaves, as the thistle, 



&c Winged leaves are such as consist of divers 



little leaves ranged in the same direction, so as to 

 appear only as the same leaf. Such are the leaves 



of agrimony, acacia, ash, &c Winged seeds are 



such as have down or hairs on them, which, by the 

 help of the wind, are carried to a distance. 



WINGS, in military affairs, are the two flanks 

 or extremes of an army, ranged in order of battle. 

 Wings, in fortification, denote the longer sides of 

 horn-works, crown-works, tenailles, and the light 

 out-works, including the ramparts and parapets, 

 with which they are bounded on the right and left 

 from their gorge to their front. 



WINGOLF. See Northern Mythology. 

 WINKELRIED, ARNOLD VON; a knight of the 

 Swiss canton of Underwalden, who, in the battle 

 at Sempach, July 9, 1386, by the sacrifice of his 

 life, enabled his countrymen to defeat the troops of 

 Leopold, duke of Austria. The long lances of the 

 latter frustrated the efforts of the Swiss to break 

 their ranks. Many of the Swiss had already fallen, 

 when Arnold von Winkelried called out to his 

 comrades, "I will make a lane for you: faithful 

 dear confederates, think of my family," then ex- 

 claiming, " Make way for Liberty I" he rushed on 

 the enemy, grasped several lances, and, heedless of 

 the thrusts, bore them to the ground. His coun- 

 trymen followed through the opening which he had 

 made, and won the battle of Sempach. The Swiss, 

 on the anniversary of this day, celebrate a national 

 festival, in honour of Winkelried, and those who 

 fell with him. See Muller's History of Switzer- 

 land. 



WINKLER, JOHN HENRY, the son of a miller 

 in Lusatia, was born in 1703, studied at the uni- 

 versity of Leipsic, from 1731 to 1739, was a teacher 

 in a school in that city, in 1737, delivered lectures 

 on experimental philosophy, natural theology, &c., 

 and was afterwards appointed professor of philoso- 

 phy in' the university. In 1741 1745, he pub- 

 lished a work on the souls of animals. In 1742, 

 he was appointed professor of Greek and Latin, 

 and published some philological works. He subse- 

 quently exchanged this professorship for that of 

 natural philosophy, and published various works in 

 this branch. Winkler and Hausen, professor of 

 mathematics in Leipsic, did much to make the pro- 

 perties of electricity known in Germany, after pub- 

 lic attention had been directed to the subject in 

 England and France, about 1740, by William Gil- 

 bert. Winkler improved the electrical machines ; 

 and his Inquiries into Electricity were translated 

 into English. He was chosen a member of the 

 royal society, and was the first person in Germany 

 who suggested the use of lightning-rods, in his dis- 

 sertation De avertendi Fulminis Artificio exDoctrina 

 Electricitatis (1753), in which he alludes to Frank- 

 lin's discoveries. He died in 1770. 



WINNIPECK, OB WINNIPEG; a lake of 

 North America, 240 miles long, and from 5 to 60 

 in breadth; Ion. 95 48' to 99 12' west; lat. 

 50 22' to 53 57' north. It communicates on 

 its west side, with Little Winnipeck lake, by 

 Dauphin river, St Martin's lake, and Wetarhen 

 river. On the south side, it receives the Assini- 

 boin or Red river; and on the south-west it re- 

 ceives Winnipeck river. At this point the British 

 far companies have forts. The country around the 

 lake is low, covered with timber, and the soil is 

 pretty good. Wild rice grows in abundance. 



WINNIPISEOGEE ; a lake of America, in New 

 Hampshire, east of the centre ; Ion. 71 5' to 71 

 25' west ; lat. 43 29' to 43 44' north. It is 

 twenty-three miles long, and ten broad. It re- 

 ceives several small streams, and its waters are 

 conveyed off" by Winnipiseogee river, which joins 

 the western branch of the Merrimack at Sanborton, 

 opposite Salisbury. This lake is 472 feet above 

 the ocean, and 232 above Merrimack river. It is 

 very deep, and in some parts is unfathomable by 

 any means possessed by the inhabitants. Its waters 

 are very pure, and abound with fish. Its form is 

 very irregular, and it contains 365 islands. Some 

 of these are large enough for extensive farms. The 

 scenery connected with this lake is said to be su- 

 perior to any thing else of the kind in the United 

 States. A pleasing description of it has been given 

 by doctor Dwight in his Travels. 



WINTER (from wind, on account of the pre- 

 valence of storms at this season ; so with the 

 Greeks xtipuv from %ttt, to pour, and with the 

 Romans, hyems, from uuv, to rain, because in the 

 more southern climates of the northern hemisphere 

 it is a rainy season) ; the coldest season of the 

 year, which begins astronomically on the shortest 

 day (December 22), anfl ends with the vernal equi- 

 nox (March 21). In the southern hemisphere, it 

 is of course winter when it is summer with us. 

 (See Summer.) In our hemisphere, the winter is 

 but eighty-nine days, while, in the southern hemi- 

 sphere, it is ninety-three days ; our winter occur- 

 ring during the earth's parhelion, and the winter or 

 the southern hemisphere during its aphelion, when 

 its motion in its orbit is slower. (See Seasons.) 

 The coldness of winter is owing, therefore, to the 

 shortness of the days, or time during which the sun 

 is above the horizon, and the oblique direction in 

 which his rays fall upon our part of the globe at 

 that season. In the torrid zone, there is no win- 

 ter, in our sense of the word ; but a rainy season, 

 without ice, snow, or frost, takes its place. (See 

 Climate and Temperature.) This remark is also 

 true of countries bordering on the tropical regions, 

 to a considerable distance north and south. 

 WINTER SOLSTICE. See Solstice. 

 WINTER, JOHN WILLIAM DE, vice-admiral, 

 was born in 1750, in Texel. At the age of twelve 

 years, he entered the navy. In 1787, when the 

 revolution broke out in Holland, De Winter was 

 a lieutenant, and embraced with ardour the cause 

 of the patriots ; which circumstance obliged him to 

 take refuge in France, when the party of the stadt- 

 holder prevailed. In France, he entered the army 

 and served, in 1792 and 1793, under Dumouriez 

 and Pichegru, and soon rose to the rank of gene- 

 ral of brigade. In 1795, when Pichegru invaded 

 Holland, De Winter returned to his country, where 

 the states-general offered him the rank of rear-ad- 

 miral. The year following, he was made vice- 

 admiral and commander of the naval forces at 

 Texel. Having been blockaded here for a long 

 time, he at last succeeded in evading the vigilance 

 of the enemy, and, October 7, 1797, set sail with 

 twenty-nine vessels, of which sixteen were ships 

 of the line. The English fleet consisted of twenty 

 ships of the line, and about fifteen frigates, and 

 other vessels, under Admiral Duncan. The action 

 began October 11, and was maintained about three 

 bours with equal spirit on both sides. De Winter's 

 ship was at last taken, and he was carried on board 

 the vessel of the British admiral. The Dutch lost 

 nine ships of the line, taken or sunk, and about 



