USH 



736 



VAC 



behind. The hase of the tail in ani- 

 mals and birds. 



UR'SA. The bear. In astronomy, the 

 Ursa Major, or Great Bear, a constella- 

 tion north by Camelopardalis and Draco, 

 east by Canes Venatki, south by Leo 

 Minor, and west by Lynx and Came- 

 lopardalis, popularly called Charles's 

 Wain, and in some places the Plouyh. 

 According to some, the Great Bear is 

 Calisto, an attendant of Diana, the god- 

 dess of hunting. Ursa Minor, the Little 

 Bear, called by the Greeks Cynosura, or 

 the Dog's-tail, is the north-pole constella- 

 tion, easily distinguished by 7 stars in the 

 same form, but in a contrary position, to 

 those of the "VVain in the Great Bear. 



UR'SUS. The bear. A genus of planti- 

 grade mammalia, of the order Carnaria, 

 and family Carnirora, Cuv. The bears 

 are stout -bodied animals, with thick 

 limbs, and a very short tail. They exca- 

 vate dens, and construct huts, in which 

 they pass the winter in a state of somno- 

 lency , more or less profound, and without 

 food. It is in these retreats that the 

 female brings forth her young. The 

 species are not easily distinguished, yet 

 the genus is much divided. There is the 

 European Brown Bear, the North Ameri- 

 can Black Bear, the Polar Bear, the 

 Thibet Bear, the Malay Bear, the Grisly 

 Bear ; and India has several species of 

 Black Bears, among which is the Thick- 

 lipped Bear, which is a great favourite 

 among the Indian jugglers, on account 

 of its ugliness. 



UR'TICA. The nettle: an extensive 

 genus of plants. Moncecia Ictrandria. 

 Name 06 urendo, because it excites a 

 painful heat like that of burning. The 

 common, small, and Itoman nettles, are 

 natives of Britain. 



URTICA'TIOX. The whipping of a be- 

 numbed or paralytic limb with nettle 

 (\irtic<s), in order to restore its feeling. 



U'SANCE. In commerce, a period of time 

 after the date of a bill of exchange allowed 

 for payment of the same: it answers to 

 pur three days of grace, but differs accord- 

 ing to the custom or usage of different 

 places, where the bill may be drawn. 



USE. In law, imports a trust and con- 

 fidence reposed in a man for the holding 

 of lands granted and limited to A for the 

 use or benefit of B. Stat. 27, Henry VIII., 

 c. 10, unites the use and possession. 



U>H'ER, Fr. huissier, a door-keeper ; 

 huis, a door. The title of several officers, 

 whose business it is to introduce strangers, 

 execute orders, walk before persons of 

 rank,&c. There are four gentlemen-ushers 

 in the royal household, one in the exche- 

 quer, &c. Schoolmasters have assistants 

 denominated ushers, probably because 

 Vhey are entrusted with the younger 



classes, and introduce them into thf 

 higher branches of scholarship. 



USQUEBAU'GH. An Irish word, mean- 

 ing mad-water, originally and appro- 

 priately used to designate the pure spiri- 

 tuous liquor distilled from malt, <&c., and 

 now generally known as tchiskey, a term 

 corrupted from usquebaugh. The term 

 usquebaugh is, however, now applied 

 technically to a strong compound spirit, 

 distilled from cinnamon, coriander, nut- 

 meg, mace, aniseed, citron, thyme, balm, 

 savory, mint, rosemary, Spanish liquorice, 

 sugar candy, raisins, and dates infused in 

 brandy ! 



L'SUCAP'TION, from tutu, use, and capio, 

 to take. A term in civil law, having the 

 same meaning as prescription in common 

 law ; the acquisition of the title of right 

 to property by the uninterrupted and un- 

 disputed possession of it for a certain term 

 prescribed by law. 



L T T. In music, the first of the musical 

 syllables. 



U'TERINE, Lat. utertts, belly. In ciril 

 law, an uterine brother or sister is ont 

 bom of the same mother. 



U'TERINE. Appertaining to the uterus 

 or womb. 



U'TERDS. The womb. 



UTILITA'RIANS. A sect of politicians, 

 who would try the excellence of modes of 

 government, &c. simply by their utility. 



UTI POSSIDE'TIS. In politics, a treaty by 

 which belligerent parties are left in pos- 

 session of what they have acquired during 

 the war. 



U'TRICLE, ILat. utriculus, from uter, 



U'TRICULE, I a bottle. A little bag. 

 bladder, or vesicle. Applied in botany tc 

 a sort of capsule which never opens, but 

 falls off with the seed. 



U'VEA, from uva, grape. The black pig- 

 ment of the eye on the back part of the 

 iris. 



U'VULA, dim. of uva, a grape. The coni- 

 cal fleshy substance hanging over the root 

 of the tongue. 



U'VULA-SPOON. A surgical instrument, 

 like a spoon, for conveying any substance 

 into the cavity behind the uvula. 



V. 



V, the twenty-second letter of the En 

 glish alphabet, as a numeral stands for 5, 

 and with a dash over it, V, for 5,000. 



VA. An Italian word used in musical 

 compositions as a direction to proceed, as 

 va crescendo, go on increasing. 



of permanent plants. Octandria Mono 

 gynia. Name quasi vaccinium, in allusion 

 to the berries produced by various of the 

 species. The bleaberry.bogwhortle berry, 

 and the bilberry are natives of Britain 

 Most of the species are hardy plants. 



