VOLEMIT 



name]. A genus of leguminous plants indigenous to 

 the African tropics. V. subterranea, Dup. Th., a 

 food-plant largely cultivated in Africa under the name 

 of Woandsu. It has been introduced into southern 

 Asia and Brazil. It contains 58^0 starch, 4% cellu- 

 lose, 19% nitrogenous substances, 10% water, gf 

 oily matter. 



Volemit {vol' -em-it). A heptet or heptahydric alcohol 

 isomeric with perseit, found by E. Fischer, 1895, in 

 the mushroom, Lactarius volemus, Fr. 



Volley (vol'-e) [volare, to fly]. A series of artificially 

 induced muscle-twitches. 



Voltage (volt'-aj). Electromotive strength measured 

 in volts. 



Voltagram (volt'-ah-gram). A faradic battery so ar- 

 ranged as to produce an almost continuous current. 



Voltameter. (See Illus. Diet.) V., Detonating, a 

 voltameter devised by Berlin in which a decomposition 

 of water is accompanied by detonation. 



Voltammeter (volt-am' '-et-ur). A combined voltame- 

 ter and transformer for measuring alternating currents. 



Volumeter (vol'-u-me-tur) [yolumen, volume; metare, 

 to measure]. An instrument for determining the vol- 

 ume of gases. 



Volumometer. See Volumeter. 



Volution (vol-u'-shun) [voluta, a spiral scroll]. A 

 convolution, a gyrus. 



567 



WEAKNESS 



Volutoid (vol'-u-toid). Resembling a volute; scroll- 

 like. 



Volvate (vol '-vat) [volva, a wrapper, an integument]. 

 Furnished with a volva. 



Vomerobasilar (vo-mur-o-bas'-ilar). Relating to the 

 vomer and to the basal part of the cranium. 



Vomicose [yom'-ik-dz) [vomicus, purulent]. Purulent, 

 ulcerative. 



Vomiting. (See Illus. Diet) V., Cyclic, vomiting 

 recurring at regular periods. V., Rosenthal's Hy- 

 peracid. See Disease, Rossbach' s (Illus. Diet.). 



Vomito prieto. Yellow fever. 



Vuerometer wu-ur-om' '-et-ur). An apparatus for de- 

 termining the distance of the eyes from each other. 



Vulneral (vul'-mir-al). A proprietary salve for 

 wounds and ulcers said to consist of compound tinc- 

 •ture of benzoin and myrrh, each 75 parts ; paraffin and 

 vaselin, each 300 parts ; wax, spermaceti, and lanolin, 

 each 100 parts; boric acid and zinc oxid, each 40 

 parts; carbolic acid, 12.5 parts; liquid aluminium 

 acetate and camphor, each 7.5 parts; lard, 360 parts. 



Vulvitis. (See Illus. Diet) V., Gonorrheal, that 

 due to infection with gonococcus. 



Vulvouterine (vul-vo-u / -ter-in) . Relating to the 

 vulva and the uterus. 



Vutrin (vtS-trin). A concentrated powdered meat ex- 

 tract. 



w 



Wabai-ki-bokhar [East Indian epidemic fever]. Ver- 

 nacular for trypanosomiasis. 



Wagogo. See Mshangu and Acokanthera abyssinica. 



Wakker's Disease. A bacterial disease of hyacinths. 



Waldeyer's Doctrine of the Individuality of the 

 Nerve-elements. See under Neuron. 



Waldiwin (ival' -de-win). A very poisonous alkaloid 

 obtained from seeds of Simaba waldrvia, Planch., in- 

 digenous to South America. 



Wall-diseases. Applied by Vallin to the condition 

 of the walls of inhabited houses marked by the pres- 

 ence of saltpeter, due to the penetration into the body 

 of" the walls of the bacilli of nitrification, making the 

 houses cold and unwholesome, especially in damp 

 localities. As a preventive the isolation of the walls 

 from the surrounding esrth by trenches and the use of 

 cement, asphalt, or coal-tar are recommended, as well 

 as mixing the mortar with antiseptic solutions, such as 

 dissolved sulfate of copper. Where the walls are in- 

 fected the treatment indicated is the scraping and 

 washing away of the traces of saltpeter and inoculating 

 the walls with active cultures of the antinitrifying ba- 

 cilli and covering them with impermeable paint. 



Water. (See Illus. Diet. ) W. on the Brain, hydro- 

 cephalus. W. on the Chest, hydrothorax. ' W. 

 Cress, the plant Xasturtium officinale, R. Br. It is 

 said to be a specific remedy for beriberi. W. -glass, 

 a solution of sodium silicate. W., Heart. See 

 Heart-water. W.-itch. See Itch, Coolie. W.- 

 jags, chicken-pox. W. of Pagliari, a preparation 

 employed in France as a hemostatic consisting of crys- 

 tallized alum, 15 gr.; gum benzoin, 75 gr. ; distilled 

 water, 3 oz. W.-pox. See Itch, Coolie. W., St. 

 Boniface, water containing I 'i gr. of lithia to the 

 pint, from springs near Frankfort, Germany; used in 



treatment of gout. W. Sores. See Itch, Coolie. W.- 

 stroke, a name for meningitis when there is a rapid 

 effusion of fluid. W. -whistling, Vierordt's term 

 for designating a metallic rale heard in pneumothorax 

 if the patient draws a breath when his position is such 

 that the opening in the pleura is directly below the 

 smooth surface of the fluid. 



Watery Eye. See Epiphora (Illus. Diet.). 



Wattle. (See Illus. Diet.) 3. The native Australian 

 name for trees of the genus Acacia. W.-gum, any 

 true gum furnished by a tree of the genus Acacia. 



Wave. (See Illus. Diet. ) W.s, Erb's, undulatory 

 movements produced in a muscle by passing a moder- 

 ately strong, constant current through it and leaving 

 the electrodes in place, the circuit remaining closed. 

 They are sometimes seen in Thomsen's disease. W.- 

 length, the length from the crest of one wave to the 

 crest of the next 



Wax. (See Illus. Diet.) W., Japan, wax consisting 

 chiefly of glyceryl palmitate obtained from the peri- 

 carp of fruits of various species of Rhus, growing in 

 Japan, particularly Rhus succedanea, L. It occurs in 

 yellow, greasy, flat discs, cakes, or squares, soluble in 

 carbon disulfid, petroleum ether, hot ether, hot alcohol, 

 or alkalis; melts about 55 C. W., Rod, a natural 

 mineral wax deposited on the pump-rods in oil wells. 

 It has been used in bronchial affections. 



Weak. (See Illus. Diet.) W. Foot, anterior meta- 

 tarsalgia. W.-mindedness, Chronic, "progressive 

 loss of control of the emotions, loss of memory, and 

 tendency to collect articles of no value on the one hand, 

 while there is thoughtless and reckless extravagance on 

 the other, a redevelopment of lust and a tendency to 

 intemperance. ' ' [Savage. ] 



Weakness. (See Illus. Diet. ) W., Cerebroacous- 



