VIO 



442 



VIT 



the vascular fetters or fibres are 

 slender and loose bands, forming 

 accessory fibres to the sheaths of 

 the flexor tendons of the fingers. 



Violaceae, n. plu., vl^dl-af-s^e (L. 

 vffila, the violet), the Violet 

 family, an Order of plants, 

 distinguished by the emetic prop- 

 erties of their roots : Violeaa, n. 

 plu., vi'dl'&'e, a tribe of plants : 

 Viola, n., vl'ol-a, a genus of 

 plants, esteemed for the beauty 

 and scent of their flowers : Viola 

 odorata, dd'-or-at'-a (L. odordtus, 

 having a scent or smell from 

 oddr, scent, smell), the sweet or 

 March Violet, whose roots have 

 been used. as an emetic, and the 

 petals as a laxative : V. tricolor, 

 tri'kdl'-dr (OL. tris, three; ctilor, 

 colour), Heart's- ease, which, with 

 other species, have been used as 

 demulcent .expectorants ; all the 

 cultivated varieties of the pansies 

 have originated from V. .tricolor : 

 V. canina, kan-m'a (L. canlnus, 

 of or pert, to a dog from cams, 

 a dog), said to be good in cutan- 

 eous diseases. 



Viperina, n. plu., vip'%r-in f -a (L. 

 vlpZrinus, pert, to an adder 

 from vlpera, an adder, a snake), 

 in zooL, a group of the snakes : 

 viperine, a., vip'er-m, of or pert, 

 to a snake. 



virescence, n., vtr-fotynz ((L. vir- 

 escens, growing green), in bot.., 

 the production of green in petals 

 instead of the usual colouring 

 matter : virescent, a., vir-Zs'sZnt, 

 approaching a green hue. 



virgate, a., verg'dt (L. virga, a 

 rod), in bot., long and straight 

 like a wand. 



virus, n., vlr'-us (L. virus, poison), 

 a morbid poison, as of an ulcer ; 

 the agent which transmits infec- 

 tious diseases. 



vis-a-fronte, vis' -a-frfait'-e (L. vis, 

 strength, force ; a, from ; frons, 

 the front, f route, from the front), 

 in anat. , one of the forces, called 

 the 'Aspiratory force,' which 



tend to produce a regular flow of 

 blood ; in bot., the evaporation 

 of the leaves, which assists the 

 ascent of the sap in plants : 

 vis-a-tergo, -terg'o (L. tergum, 

 the back, tergo, from the back), 

 in anat., the constant pressure 

 from behind which causes the 

 flow onwards of the blood towards 

 the veins ; in bot., the pushing 

 force from below upwards by 

 which the ascent of the sap in 

 plants is assisted, caused by the 

 absorption of moisture by the 

 rootlets : vis nervosa, nerv-vzf-a 

 (L. nervosus, nervous from 

 nervus, a nerve), the property of 

 nerves by which they convey 

 stimuli to muscles either directly 

 or circuitously. 



viscera, n. plu., vts'er-a (L. 

 Discus, a bowel, visc&ra, the 

 bowels), in anat., the bowels, 

 situated in the abdomen ; the 

 contents of the thorax ; the con- 

 tents of the cranium : viscus, n. , 

 visk'-us, any internal organ of the 

 body : visceral, a. , vis'-sZr-al, 

 pert, to the viscera. 



viscous, a,, visWus (L. viscum, 

 the mistletoe, a sticky substance 

 called birdlime made from it), 

 glutinous.; clammy, like bird- 

 lime. 



Viscum, n., vislt'-urn (L. viscum, 

 the mistletoe ; viscus, birdlime, 

 from the sticky nature of the 

 berries), a genus of plants, Ord. 

 Loranthacese : Viscum album, 

 alb'-tim (L. albus, white), the 

 Mistletoe, a parasitic plant, chiefly 

 found on apple trees, but was 

 .esteemed most by the Druids 

 when found on oaks. 



VitacesB, n. plu., vit-d'-s&e (L. 

 vltis, a vine), the Vine family, 

 an Order of plants, also named 

 ' Ampelideas,' which see: Vitis, 

 n., vlt'-is, a very valuable and 

 interesting genus of fruit-bearing 

 plants : Vitis vinifera, vin-if-^r-a 

 (L. vinum, vine ; fero, I bear), 

 the grape vine, whose unripe fruit 



