WAG 



WAl 



ering of the embryo in seeds. The 

 white of the egg. 



VITREOUS HUMOUR. The fluid 

 or humour which fills the posterior 

 chamber of the eye. 



VITRIOL. An old name for the 

 sulpliates. 



V I T R I L, OIL OF. Sulphuric 

 acid. 



VIVES. A disease in horses, con- 

 sisting of an enlargement of the glands 

 at the curve of the jaw, and nearly 

 resembling strangles. It is treated 

 by slight bleeding and purging ; and if 

 it does not give way, becomes changed 

 into strangles. 



VIVIPAROUS. Producing living 

 young, and not eggs. 



VOLATILE ALKALL Ammonia. 

 See Nitrogen. 



VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY. Gal- 

 vanism. 



VOLUTE. In architecture, a scroll. 



VOLVA. The wrapper or veil of 

 certain fungi, as the agaricus. 



V U S S O I R S. "In bridges, 

 the stones which immediately form 

 the arch, being of the shape of a 

 truncated wedge. Their under sides 

 form the intrados, or soffit. The 

 length of the middle voussoir, or key- 

 stone, ought to be about one fifteenth 

 or one sixteenth of the span, and the 

 rest should increase all the way down 

 to the imposts. Their joints should 

 be cut perpendicular to the curve of 

 tlie intrados ; consequently, the an- 

 gle of the sides is determined by the 

 curvature." — {Huttons Tracts, vol. i.) 



W. 



WACKE. A hard rock of the ba- 

 saltic kind. 



WAGON. " A wheel-carriage, of 

 which there are several varieties, ac- 

 commodated to the different uses 

 which they are intended to serve. 



" In the business of husbandry, 



; wagons constructed in different 

 forms, and of various dimensions, 

 are made use of in different districts, 

 \ and mostly without much attention 

 j to the nature of the roads, or the ar- 

 ^ tides which are to be conveyed by 

 I them, being in general heavy and in- 

 ! convenient. 



j " Wagons require more power in 

 I the draught than carts, which is cer- 

 i tainly an objection, though they carry 

 a much greater load, and are far from 

 being so handy and convenient ; and 

 Mr. Parkinson is of opinion that more 

 work may be done in any particular 

 time, with the same number of hor- 

 ses, by carts than by wagons, on level 

 land, m the general run of husbandry 

 business, especially where the dis- 

 tance is small between loading and 

 unloading ; a fact which has long 

 been known and attended to in Scot- 

 land. 



" Where wagons are used for hus- 

 bandry, they should be made wide 

 and low. Manures may be carried 

 in this sort of wagon almost as well 

 as in carts. Broad wheels are im- 

 proper for passing and repassing upon 

 tillage lands ; for, if in fallow, they 

 press the land too much, and make 

 it so hard as to prevent its being 

 ploughed ; but on grass land broad 

 wheels are proper for all uses, as 

 there they operate as rollers. 



" Wagons are probably the best 

 conveyances for different sorts of 

 heavy loads to a distance ; but for 

 home business, especially harvest, 

 and other work which requires to be 

 speedily performed in the field, carts 

 with proper shelving will be found 

 preferable." 



WAIN. Alight harvest wagon. The 



following {Ftg:), which is called the 



Cornwall wain, is an excellent kind. 



WAINSCOT. A panelled framing 



between rooms or against a wall. 



834 



