VISCOUNT 



6102 



VIVISECTION 



lymph is a more exact term. Generally speak- 

 ing, the culture of any bacteria may be called 

 a virus (see BACTERIA, page 539). 



VISCOUNT, vi'kount, an English title of 

 nobility next in rank to that of earl. The title 

 was originally conferred upon the officer who 

 acted as the earl's deputy, and it was first 

 granted to John Beaumont in 1440. The vis- 

 count is addressed as "right honorable," his 

 wife is styled '"viscountess," and the children, 

 both sons and daughters, are addressed as 

 "honorable." 



VISE, a tool used extensively by carpenters, 

 blacksmiths, machinists, jewelers and others for 

 holding tight, in one position, wood, metal or 

 other material upon which work is being done. 

 A vise has two jaws, one stationary and the 

 other movable, 

 worked by a 

 screw, lever or 

 cams. The arti- 

 cle to be held is 

 placed between 

 the two jaws, and 

 the screw, or tight- 

 ening apparatus, 

 is turned until the 

 object is firmly 

 clasped between 

 the two jaws in the position required for work- 

 ing, such as filing or planing. 



Carpenters' vises are usually of wood, though 

 large iron vises are sometimes used with pad- 

 ding of wood to prevent damage to the surface 

 of the object on which work is being done. 

 Machinists' and blacksmiths' vises are made of 

 metal. Usually vises are mounted on a bench 

 or table by means of a shank or plate, though 

 small ones are made to be held in the hand, as 

 is sometimes found most convenient by jew- 

 elers. 



VISH'NU is the second god of the Hindu 

 triad, the others being Brahma and Siva. In 

 the Vedas he appears as a manifestation of the 

 sun. He "establishes the vault of heaven," 

 and "measures out the extreme places of the 

 earth." In later times he was the god of the 

 middle classes of India. Descending to earth 

 to set right what was wrong, he assumed the 

 form of some animal, or some superhuman or 

 human being. In the human forms of Rama 

 or Krishna he is worshiped by millions of Hin- 

 dus. It is claimed that Buddha was an incar- 

 nation of Vishnu. He is represented with four 

 hands, holding in one a conch shell blown in 

 battle, in another a disk as emblem of supreme 



A VISE 



power, in the third a mace as the emblem of 

 punishment, and in the fourth a lotus, the type 

 of creative power. He is also represented some- 

 times as riding on Garuda, a being half bird 

 and half man. 



VISIGOTHS, viz'igoths. See GOTHS. 



VISION, vizh'un, a term derived from the 

 Latin word videre, meaning to see, and applied 

 in physiology to the faculty of perceiving ob- 

 jects by means of the eye. In this sense it is 

 synonymous with sight. The process of seeing 

 is described fully in these volumes in the arti- 

 cle EYE. 



VIS 'TULA, a large river of Europe, of 

 especial importance to Poland because of its 

 facilities for navigation. Its source is in the 

 Carpathian Mountains in Austrian Silesia. It 

 follows a circuitous course through Poland and 

 West Prussia, and discharges by several branches 

 into the Baltic Sea; the most eastern stream, 

 the Nogat, discharges into the sound called 

 Frisches Haff. The Danzig branch is the one 

 principally used for navigation; lighter craft 

 proceed as far as Cracow, where the river is 

 about 300 feet wide. 



The Vistula receives the waters of several 

 navigable rivers, and its commercial impor- 

 tance is further increased by canal connection 

 with the Oder, the Dnieper and the Niemen 

 rivers. The construction of extensive engineer- 

 ing works was found necessary to regulate the 

 discharge channels. The total length of the 

 river is about 650 miles, and the area of its 

 basin is about 76,000 square miles. The princi- 

 pal cities along its course are Cracow, Warsaw, 

 Danzig, Thorn and Marienburg. See map, fac- 

 ing page 2092. 



VITRIOL, vit'riul, OIL OF, the common 

 name of strong sulphuric acid. See SULPHURIC 

 ACID. 



VIVISECTION, vivisek'shun, a term mean- 

 ing literally the cutting of the living. It is ap- 

 plied to the practice of operating upon living 

 animals for the purpose of studying facts of 

 interest to the physiologist. Though strictly 

 applied to cutting processes, in general practice 

 the term covers a wide variety of operations in 

 which animals are used for experimentation, 

 such as the administration of poisons and medi- 

 cines, inoculation with disease germs, studies in 

 temperature and dieting and the like. 



Though objection is frequently made to vivi- 

 section on sentimental or humanitarian grounds, 

 the good accomplished through this practice 

 cannot be overestimated. The discovery of the 

 antitoxin for the prevention and cure of diph- 



