V A L 



Female, Sheath divided, fingle-flowered. Perianth in 

 three deep fegments, fuperior. Corolla in three deep linear 

 fegments. Stigmas three, cloven. Capfule cylindrical, of 

 one cell, with many feeds. 



Obf. Such is the original genus, of which Micheli's 

 figure is more clear than his defcription. There can be no 

 doubt that the part marked A, B, in the middle of his 

 plate, below, reprefents the under fide of the three ftigmas. 

 Linnaeus, who never faw a living flower, miftook this point ; 

 but has corrected himfelf in manufcript. We have profited 

 of this, and partly of Mr. Brown's definition. F. oaandra 

 of Roxburgh, if it be thought the fame genus, mull lead to 

 fome further correftion of the generic characters. 



I. V.fplralis. Spiral Valhfueria. Linn. Sp. PI. 1441. 

 Willd. n. I. Brown n. i. (V. paluftris, alga; folio, 

 itahca, foliis in fummitate denticulatis, flore purpurafcente ; 

 Mich. Gen. 12. t. 10. f. i, female. Valifneroides paluftre, 

 algx folio, italicum, foliis in fummitate tenuiffime denticu- 

 Jatis, floribus albis, vix confpicuis ; Mich. Gen. 13. t. 10. 

 ■f, 2, male. ) — Stalk of the female flower fpiral. Leaves 

 floating, linear, obtufe, finely ferratcd at the fummit ; ta- 

 pering at the bafe. — In ditches in Italy, efpecially near 

 Pifa. Communicated from near Aries, in Provence, by the 

 Lite Dr. BroufTonet, in 1784. Mr. Brown found, what he 

 is almoft certain of being the fame fpecics, in New South 

 Wales, about Port Jackfon. This plant is perennial, flow- 

 ering in fummer and autumn. The root confifts of long 

 fibres, and propagates itfelf very widely by means of run- 

 ners, fo that the canals, in which the Vallifmna grows, are 

 choaked up with its foliage, and rendered not navigable for 

 boats. Stem none. Leaves all radical, very long, linear, 

 flaccid, pellucid, ribbed, fmooth, entire, except at the end. 

 Stalks of t\\e female Jlowcrs very long, thread-fliaped, un- 

 branchcd, naked, fingle-flowered, curioufly fpiral, but be- 

 coming more or lefs ilraight when the Jioiuer is ready to 

 open, by which means the latter floats on the furfacc, and 

 after impregnation, the ilalk coils up again, and lodges the 

 fruit at the bottom of the water. ThisyVu/V is three or four 

 inches long, and judged by Mr. Brown to be rather of the 

 nature of a berry than a capfule. The male Jloiuers grow on 

 a feparatc plant, on fliort, fimple, ftraight, radical ilalks. 

 Each minute white flower feparates from the common 

 fpadix, and rifes clofed, like a little bubble, to the furface 

 of the water. Burlling there, thefe flowers float about in 

 immenfe numbers, covering the water, and impregnating the 

 females above defcribed. Micheli has faithfully defcribed 

 the economy of this interefl:ing plant, though blind to its 

 phyfiology. 



2. V. americana. American Vallifneria. Michaux 

 Boreal. -Amer. v. 2. 220. Willd. n. 2. Purfli n. i. — 

 " Stalk of the female flower nearly ftraight. Leaves ereft, 

 linear." — At the bottom of muddy and flow rivers in North 

 America, flowering from Auguft to OAober. Michaux 

 obferved it in the Mifliflippi and St. John's rivers, Florida ; 

 Purfli in the Delaware, near Philadelphia, and elfewhere. 

 The latter doubts whether it be a diftinft fpecies from V. 

 fpiralis ; for he found the Jlalis of the female floivers to be, 

 in deep water, really fpiral. Michaux remarks, that the 

 leaves are ereft, lefs elongated than in the foregoing, and 

 not tapering at the bafe. Thefe circumftances may all be 

 owing to the ft»llownefs and ftillnefs of the water. 

 • 3. V. na«a.' jtowarf Vallifneria. Brown n. 2. — "Stalk 

 of the female flower fpiral, capillary. Leaves under water, 

 linear, acute, entire." — Obferved by Mr. Brown, in the 

 tropical part of New Holland. 



4. V. oBandra. Oftandrous Vallifneria. Roxb. Coro- 

 mand. v. 2. 34. t. 165. Willd. n. 3 — Stalk of the female 

 Vol. XXXVI. 



V A L 



flower ftraight. Leaves hnear, taper-pointed. Stamens 

 eight — Native of fliallow, ftagnant, fwcet water, on the 

 coaft of Coromandel. Roxburgh. Roots annual, fibrous. 

 Leaves radical, ereft, flat, fmootli, entire, gradually taper- 

 ing to a point, from nine to twelve inches high. Slalh all 

 radical, ftraight, cylindrical, ereft, fimple, much ftiorter 

 than the leaves. Sheath of the male flowers near three inches 

 long, tumid below, tapering upwards, containing many 

 ilAkcd flowers, which, by the elongation of their partial 

 ftalks, rife one by one out of the fheath. Each has a 

 three -leaved ca/yx ; three longer linear white petals, or feg- 

 ments of the corolla ; eight unequal flamens, with oblong 

 anthers ; and an abortive germen, with three linear ftigmas. 

 The flalis of the female flo'-Mcrs, on a feparate plant, are 

 fliortcr than thofe of the males, fingle-flowered. Sheath as 

 in the male, but the flower is elevated above it and the 

 germen by a partial ftalk, or receptacle. Calyx fliorter 

 than in the male ; petals longer and narrower, white. Stig- 

 mas long, thread-fhaped, white. Seeds roundifli, ftalked, 

 ranged numeroufly along one fide of the tapering cap- 

 fule. 



We have already hinted the affinity of this plant to 

 Loureiro's Physkium ; fee that article. 



VALLISNEROIDES, Micheli's name for the male 

 plant of his Vallisneria ; fee that article. 



VALLOIRE, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of Mont Blanc ; 9 miles S.S.E. of St. Jean de 

 Mauriennc. 



VALLON, a town of France, in the department of the 

 S.irte ; 10 miles W. of Le Mans. — Alfo, a town of France, 

 in the department of the Ardeche ; 9 miles N.E. of Pont 

 St. Efprit. 



VALLONISE, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Higher Alps ; 9 miles S.W. of Brian^on. 



VALLOR, Vai.low, or Fale, among country people, 

 a hollow mould, in which a new-made checfe is prefTed. 



VALLOTTI, Padre Francesco Antonio, in Biogra- 

 phy, an ecclefiaftic, and maeftro di capella of the church 

 of St. Antonio at Padua in 1770, was born in Piedmont in 

 1705. He was efteemed one of the beft compofers for the 

 church in Italy. Tartini fpeaks of liim in his Trattato di 

 Mufica, p. 100, in the following manner : " Padre Vallotti 

 was formerly a moft excellent performer on the organ, and 

 is now an admirable compofer, and niaftcr of his art." This 

 good father was of fo amiable a charadler, that it was im- 

 poflible to know and not efteem him. He compofed an an- 

 them for the pubhc funeral of Tartini, March 31, 1770; 

 and in 1779 publiflied at Padua the firft book of a treatife 

 entitled " Delia Scienza Teorica e Prattica della moderni 

 Mufica." This firft book is purely theoretical. The author 

 promifed three other books, the pubhcation of which has 

 not arrived at our knowledge. Book the fecond was to 

 contain the praftical elements of mufic ; the third, the pre- 

 cepts of counterpoint ; and the fourth, rules of accompani- 

 ment. It is to be feared, tiiat this venerable author did not 

 live to complete his defign, as we have been informed that 

 he died in 1780, at the age of 75. 



VALLS, in Geography, a town of Spain, in the province 

 of Catalonia ; 9 miles N. of Tarragona. 



VALLUCE, a fmall idand in the Englifli Channel, ne.u 

 the co,aft of France. N. lat. 47° 26'. W. long. 2° 55'. 



VALLUM, in Roman .Antiquity, denote a kind of para- 

 pet with which they fortified their camps. In the vallum, 

 fome diftinguifli two pai'ts ; the agger, which was no more 

 than the earth caft up to form the vallum ; and the fades, which 

 were a fort of wooden ftakes to fecure and ftrengthen it. 

 VALLY Creek, in Geography, a river of Pennfylvania, 

 4 D which 



