764- 



UllN USBECKS. 



acid. In ?; v.ro riiM-s of jaundice, the bile passes 

 from the blood, into the kidneys, and communicates 

 a yellow colour to the urine. Though albumen is 

 contained in a very minute quantity in healthy urine, 

 in some diseases it is present in large proportion. 

 It is characteristic of certain kinds of dropsy. In 

 certain states of the system, urea is generated in an 

 unusually small proportion. This occurs especially 

 in diabetes raellitus, and in acute and chronic in- 

 flammations of the liver. An abundant secre- 

 tion of uric acid is by no means uncommon. In 

 some instances, this acid makes its appearance in a 

 free state ; but happily it generally occurs in com- 

 bination with an alkali, especially with soda or am- 

 monia. The undue secretion of these salts, if tem- 

 porary, occasions scarcely any inconvenience, and 

 arises from such slight causes, that it frequently 

 takes place without being noticed. This affection 

 is generally produced by errors in diet, whether as 

 to quantity or quality, and by all causes which in- 

 terrupt the digestive process in any of its stages, or 

 render it imperfect. Doctor Prout specifies unfer- 

 mented, heavy bread, aud hard-boiled puddings or 

 dumplings, as, in particular, disposing to the for- 

 mation of urates. These sediments have commonly 

 a yellowish tint, which is communicated by the 

 colouring matter of the urine ; or, when they are 

 deposited in fevers, forming the lateritous sediment, 

 they are red, in consequence of the colouring matter 

 of the urine being then more abundant. As long as 

 uric acid remains in combination with a base, it never 

 yields a crystalline deposit ; but when this acid is 

 in excess and in a free state, its very sparing solubi- 

 lity causes it to separate in minute crystals, even 

 within the bladder, giving rise to two of the most 

 distressing complaints to which mankind are sub- 

 ject to^race/when the crystals are detached from 

 one another, and, when agglutinated by animal mat- 

 ter into concrete masses, to the stone. These dis- 

 eases may arise either from uric acid being directly 

 secreted by the kidneys, or from the formation of 

 some other acid, by which the urate of ammonia is 

 decomposed. The tendency of urine to contain 

 free acid occurs most frequently in dyspeptic persons ' 

 of a gouty habit, and is familiarly known by the 

 name of the uric or lithic acid diathesis. In these 

 individuals, the disposition to undue acidity of the 

 urine is superadded to that state of the system which 

 leads to an unusual supply of the urates. A defi- 

 ciency of this acid in urine, however, is no less in- 

 jurious than its excess. As phosphate of lime in 

 its neutral state, is insoluble in water, this salt can- 

 not be dissolved in urine except by being in the 

 form of a superphosphate. Hence it happens that 

 healthy urine yields a precipitate, when it is neu- 

 tialized by an alkali ; and if, by the indiscriminate 

 employment of alkaline medicines, or from any other 

 cause, the urine, while yet in the bladder, is ren- 

 dered neutral, the earthy phosphates are necessarily 

 deposited, and an opportunity afforded for the for- 

 mation of a stone. 



URN ; a species of vase of a roundish form, but 

 largest in the middle, destined, among the ancients, 

 to receive and enclose the ashes of the dead ; which 

 destination, its name, in fact, sufficiently indicates, 

 the Latin word urna, or urnula, being most probably 

 a derivative of the verb urere (to burn). The Ro- 

 mans often made use of Grecian vases for this pur- 

 pose, as is evident from those found in the tombs in 

 the vicinity of Naples, which contain both bones and 

 ashes. (See Vase.) Urns are commonly met with 

 io almost all collections of antiquities ; and Mont- 



lime-on, in particular, has drawn and engraved a great 

 number of them. The substances employed in the 

 construction of these vesselsarenumerous. Amongst 

 them are gold, bronze, glass, terra-cotta, marble and 

 porphyry. They were made of all shapes and sizes ; 

 some had smooth surfaces ; others were engraved in 

 basso rilievo. Many have been discovered beat ing in- 

 scriptions; others with the name only of the party 

 to whose remains they were devoted. Several have 

 no other character than the two letters D. M., Diis 

 Manibus (To the Shadowy Deities). Others, 

 again, present nothing more than the name of the 

 artist by whom they were wrought, written either 

 on the handle or at the bottom. Little vessels have 

 occasionally been found in ancient tombs, denomi- 

 nated lachrymal urns. See Lachrymatory. 



URSA MAJOR AND URSA MINOR; the Great 

 and Little Bear. See Constellations. 



URSULA, ST; a virgin martyr; according to 

 the legend, a daughter of a prince in Britain, put to 

 death at Cologne, some say in 384, others in 453, 

 together with 11,000 virgins who accompanied her. 

 According to another reading, the number of her 

 companions was only eleven. The number may 

 have been increased to 11,000 by a mistake in tak- 

 ing the name of one of her attendants (called, ac- 

 cording to the legend, and according to a mis-sal, 

 which belonged to the Sorbonne, Undecimilla*) for 

 a number. The Roman martyrology mentions the 

 saint and her virgin companions, without stating 

 their number. St Ursula was the patroness of the 

 Sorbonne. See Ursulines, and Cologne. 



URSULINES, OB NUNS OF ST URSULA ; a 

 sisterhood founded by St Angela, at Brescia, in 

 1537, at first without being bound to the rules of 

 the monastic life, but devoting themselves merely 

 to the practice of Christian charity and the educa- 

 tion of children. Paul III. confirmed them in 1544, 

 under the name of society of St Ursula. In 1572, 

 Gregory XIII. made the society a religious order, 

 subject to the rule of St Augustine, at the solicita- 

 tion of St Charles Borromeo. They add to three 

 religious vows a fourth, to occupy themselves gra- 

 tuitously in the education of children of their own 

 sex. The order is under the superintendence of 

 the bishops. In the eighteenth century, it had 350 

 convents. Many governments which abolished 

 convents in general, protected the Ursulines on ac- 

 count of their useful labours, particularly in tin- 

 practice of Christian charity towards the sick. The 

 Dictionnaire de Thcologie, published in 1817, says 

 that 300 convents of these sisters existed at that 

 time in France. Their dress is black, with a leather 

 belt, and a rope for the purpose of self scourging. 

 Their congregations, however, did not universally 

 accept the monastic rule ; and in France and Italy, 

 there were societies, the members of which only 

 took the vow of chastity, and gave instruction like 

 their sisters. Their dress was that commonly worn 

 about 200 years ago by widows. There are some of 

 these sisterhoods in the United States of America. 



URUS. See Ox. 



USAGE, in law. See Common Law, and Pre- 

 scription. 



USANCE, in bills of exchange. See Bills cf 

 Exchange. 



USBECKS ; a Turkish tribe, now ruling in Tar- 

 tary, and, for three centuries, the terror of part of 

 Central Asia. They occupy the modern Bucharia 

 (or Usbeckkistan) and Turcomania. Us is the 

 Turkish word for self, and beck signifies lord ; hence 

 Usbeck signifies master of one's self. Shaibtck, or 



