VEIN 



6045 



VELASQUEZ 



by Vegreville's chief business and industrial 

 Mishments, which are grain elevators, brick 

 and terra cotta works, a creamery, flour mill, 

 marble and granite works, two stockyards, and 

 several farm-implement warehouses. Several 

 parks, the exhibition hall and several schools 

 are attractive features of the town. Population 

 in 1911, 1,029; in 1916, estimated, 2,000. 



VEIN, vane. It is not uncommon to find 

 pebbles and boulders having seams of rock of 

 a different kind running through them in all 

 directions. The rock filling these seams forms 

 veins; it is usually harder than the surrounding 



VEINS 



rock and forms ridges on the surface. Veins 

 are usually formed by molten rock which is 

 forced into the crevice by pressure. But they 

 may be formed by water containing the min- 

 in solution, as sometimes occurs in caves 

 \\hc-re the water charged with lime or silica in 

 solution in course of time fills a crevice by de- 

 positing its material as it evaporates, the same 

 as in the formation of stalactites (see STALAC- 

 i) STALAGMITES). Large veins often 

 contain metals; they are then called lodes. 



VEINS, vanes. Blood is circulated through 

 thr body through a system of tubes or blood 

 vessels, of which there are three kinds capil- 

 -. arteries and veins. The special purpose 

 of tin- veins is to carry back to the heart thr 

 M..(iI whic-h has given out nourishment to th<> 

 tissues and taken up worn-out and poisonous 

 venous, or blue, blood circulates 

 mli the heart and then is sent to the lungs 

 to be recharged and purified, after which it be- 

 gins again its journey through the body. 



irculatory system are told in the 

 IRCULATION OP THE BLOOD, accompany- 

 ins which is a colored picture showing all the 

 principal \. in.-j. 



begin at the capillaries. They are 

 minute at first, but as they proceed from th 



Capillaries 



Circulation of the Blood 



capillaries they unite to form larger veins, and 

 this is repeated until all unite to form two large 

 vessels. One of these, the descending vena 

 cava, carries blood from the head and arms to 

 the heart; the other, the ascending vena cava. 

 conducts it from the trunk and lower limbs. 

 The veins, like the arteries, have walls com- 

 posed of three coats, but those of the veins 

 are thinner and less elastic than those of the 

 arteries. The blood current flows through the 

 veins more slowly than through the arteries and 

 without pulsation. A distinguishing feature of 

 most veins is their possession of many valves, 

 formed by pouches in their inner coat. ' Thr 

 purpose of these valves is to keep the blood 

 flowing toward the heart. When the current is 

 flowing onward they lie against the walls, but 

 if the flow is obstructed, the valves automat- 

 ically close and bar the backward passage of 

 the fluid. Valves are most numerous in the 

 veins of the extremities, and they are lacking 

 in the smallest veins and in those of the abdo- 

 men brains and lungs. Some veins may be 

 clearly seen through the skin. C.B.B. 



Relnted Subject*. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 Arteries 

 Bleeding 



VELASQUEZ, or VELAZQUEZ, 

 kayth, DIEGO RODRIGUEZ DE SILVA Y (1599- 

 1660), the greatest master of Spanish pair- 

 and one of the foremost of all ages. In the 

 city of Seville, his birthplace, he received hi- 

 early art instruc- 

 tion under ex- 

 cellent teachers. 

 Velasquez went 

 to Madrid in 

 1622, where he 

 presently won the 

 favor of King 

 Philip IV. The 

 lain r made him 

 court painter, 

 conferred on him 

 a pension and a 



studio, and for YIM.AS- .ri:/. 



the next thirty- Tho wor id ha produced 

 six years was his fw, if any. greater painters. 

 faithful friend. Vela*quci painted numerous 

 portraits of the kinn ami other members of the 

 royal family, as well as the lords and ladies of 

 the court. He delighted e*p< cully in por- 

 ing the royal children and the dwarfs and jest- 

 ers whom the king gathered about him for 

 amusement in periods of depression. 



