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V E S 



Cuvier places Venus in the family Car- 

 diacea. The common clam is a true 

 Venus. 



VERDE-ANTI'QUE. A very beautiful marble, 

 highly prized, and used for ornamental 

 purposes. It is an aggregate of serpen- 

 tine and white crystallized marble, irre- 

 gularly mingled. 



VE'RRUCOSE. > (verrucosus, full of warts, 

 VE'RRUCOUS. ] from verruca, Lat.) 



1. In entomology, applied to the surface 

 of insects, when studded with large smooth 

 elevations, resembling warts. 



2. In conchology, applied to shells beset 

 with excrescences resembling warts. 



3. In botany, applied to the surface of 

 stems, beset with hard tubercles or warts. 



VE'RTEBER. ) (vertebra, Lat. from verto, to 

 VE'RTEBRA. $ turn ; vertebre, Fr.) A 

 bone of the spinal column, or back-bone. 

 The different vertebrae composing the 

 back-bone are distinguished into cervical, 

 dorsal, and lumbar. The vertebral column 

 or spine, from the constancy with which 

 it has been found in all animals of this 

 type, and from the uniformity of plan 

 with which, amidst endless variations, it 

 is modelled, has been chosen as the dis- 

 tinctive character of all that great assem- 

 blage of individuals denominated Verte- 

 brata. In man the number of vertebrae 

 is twenty-four, namely, seven cervical, 

 twelve dorsal, and five lumbar. In dif- 

 ferent animals the number of vertebrae 

 varies exceedingly ; the vertebral column 

 of the Ichthyosaurus consisted of more 

 than one hundred joints. The cervical 

 vertebras alone of the Plesiosaurus were 

 about thirty, three in number. In birds 

 the number varies from nine to twenty- 

 three, and in living reptiles from three 

 to eight. In the Mososaurus, the whole 

 number of vertebrae amounted to one 

 hundred and thirty-three. 

 VERTEBRA'TA. The whole animal king- 

 dom has been distributed into four great 

 divisions, namely, Vertebrata, Mollusca, 

 Articulata, and Radiata. In the ascend- 

 ing series, the first of the true vertebrated 

 animals is the class of Fishes ; then fol- 

 lows Amphibia, comprehending the vari- 

 ous forms of frogs, toads, and tritons ; 

 the third class is the reptiles. These 

 three classes are all cold-blooded. The 

 fourth class comprises the birds ; these 

 form the first class in the ascending series 

 of hot-blooded animals ; the fifth, or 

 highest class, comprehends Mammalia, 

 and includes man. 



VE'RTEBRATED. (vertebratuSf'La.t.) Pos- 

 sessing an osseous spinal column. 

 VE'RTEX. (vertex, Lat.) The crown, or 

 top of the head ; the summit. In con- 

 chology, in some shells the most promi- 

 nent part, in others the apex. 



VE'RTICAL. (vertical, Fr. verticale, It.) 

 In a direction perpendicular to the plane 

 of the horizon. 



VE'RTICIL. (verticillum, Lat. a whirl.) 

 In botany, a little whorl ; thus when, 

 instead of two opposite leaves, three or 

 more are produced from points forming a 

 ring on the stem, such ring is termed a 

 verticil. 



VERTICI'LLATE. } (verticillatus, Lat. ver- 



VERTICI'LLATED. $ ticille,Fr.) Whorled ; 

 growing in rings or whorls. Leaves pro- 

 duced from three or more points, forming 

 a ring on the stem, are called verticillate 

 leaves. Verticillate leaves are considered 

 as being produced by the non develope- 

 ment of several adjacent internodia. 



VE'SICLE. (vesicula, a little bladder, Lat. 

 vesicule, Fr. vescichetta, It.) 



1. A small bladder filled with serum. 



2. A small membranous cavity, either in 

 animals or vegetables. The simplest and 

 apparently the most elementary texture 

 met with in vegetables is formed of ex- 

 ceedingly minute vesicles, the coats of 

 which consist of transparent membranes 

 of extreme tenuity. These vesicles vary 

 from the one-thousandth to the thirtieth 

 of an inch in diameter. 



VESI'CULAR. Consisting of vesicles ; con- 

 taining vesicles ; full of small cavities, 

 hollows, or interstices. 



VE'STIBULE. (vestibulum,~Lat.) The name 

 given to a cavity of the internal ear. 



VESU'VIAN. (from Vesuvius.) The Ido- 

 crase of Haiiy ; the Vesuvienne of Bro- 

 chant. Pyramidal garnet. A mineral of 

 different shades of green, brown, red, and 

 sometimes, though rarely, of a blue co- 

 lour, occurring in granular distinct con- 

 cretions, crystallized, and massive. The 

 primitive form is a four- sided prism with 

 square bases, and one side of the base is 

 to the height nearly as 13 to 14 ; hence 

 it differs but little from a cube, and is 

 divisible into triangular prisms for the 

 integrant particles. Haiiy has described 

 eight modifications of its primitive form. 

 It is somewhat harder than quartz. Spe- 

 cific gravity from 3'2 to 3'4. It is often 

 translucent, sometimes transparent, and 

 sometimes nearly or quite opaque. It 

 possesses double refraction. Fracture 

 uneven, inclining to small conchoidal. 

 Before the blow-pipe, it fuses easily into 

 a yellowish translucent glass which after- 

 wards becomes black. Its constituents 

 vary, in some degree, according to the 

 locality whence it has been obtained. 

 Klaproth obtained from a specimen from 

 the neighbourhood of Vesuvius, silex 

 35-50, lime 33-00, alumine 22-2, oxide of 

 iron 7'50, oxide of manganese 0'25. It is 

 found abundantly in the vicinity of Mount 

 Vesuvius, from which circumstance it has 



