V A R 



V A R 



by Dr. Willan. Thefe are vulgarly confidered as the ex- 

 tremities of fniall worms or grubs, becaufe, when they are 

 preffed out, a fort of worm-like appendage is found attached 

 to them ; but they are, in faft, only little plugs of con- 

 creted mucus or febaceous matter, moulded in the fmall 

 dufts of the cuticular glands into this vermicular form, the 

 extremity of which is blackened by contaft with the air. 

 In confequence of this diftention of their dufts, the glands 

 themfelves fometimes inflame, and form fmall tubercles, or 

 ■vari, with the little black points upon their furface, which 

 partially fuppurate, as in the preceding fpecies ; but many 

 of them remain ftationary for a long period, without ever 

 paffing into the inflammatory ftate. Not unfrequently they 

 are intermixed with a few vdrl, in which the puncfa have not 

 appeared. 



Thefe concretions may be extrafted, by preffing on both 

 fides of the fpecks with the nails, until the hardened mucus 

 is fufficiently elevated to be taken hold of. A blunt curved 

 forceps may be employed with advantage for this purpofe ; 

 and fuch a one has been contrived by a furgeon's inftrument- 

 fnaker in London. When the plugs are removed, the 

 diforder becomes fimple iiari, and requires the treatment 

 above-mentioned. The formation of thefe concretions, 

 indeed, feems to be in a confiderable degree prevented, by 

 increafmg the tone of the flcin, both by the ufe of the ftimu- 

 lant lotions before recommended, and by friction, ufing 

 always a ftrong rough towel. 



The preceding varieties of the eruption of vari occur 

 only in young perfons, of either fex, from the period of 

 puberty to the age of thirty or thirty-five, and principally 

 m thofe of the fanguine temperament, and they are ge- 

 nerally accompanied by good health, and are totally uncon- 

 nefted with any diforder, or with habits of intemperance ; 

 but there is another variety of this eruption, which does not 

 occur till after the age of forty, which is always, except 

 from ftrong hereditary taint, fympathetic of fome difeafe 

 of the digeftive organs, or vifcera connefted with them, and 

 which therefore is not fo eafily cured, and is not even bene- 

 fited by the fame local means which are fo efficacious in 

 the former fpecies. This variety of the difeafa is the gutta 

 rofea of medical authors, and the acne rofacea of Dr. 

 Willan. 



This eruption of t)arl, indeed, differs in its appearance 

 ver}' effentially from the preceding fpecies. In addition to 

 the eruption of fmall fuppurating tubercles, there is alfo a 

 fhining rednefs, and an irregular granulated appearance of 

 the /km of that part of the face which is aflfefted, which is 

 not the part ufually occupied by the former fpecies. The 

 rednefo commonly appears firft at the end of the nofe, and 

 afterwards fpreads from both fides of the nofe to the cheeks ; 

 the whole of which, however, it very feldom covers. In 

 the commencement the rednefs is not uniformly vivid ; but 

 is paler in the morning, and readily increafed to an intenfe 

 fcarlet after dinner, or at any time if a glafs of wine or 

 fpirits be taken ; or if the patient be heated by exercife, or 

 by fitting near a fire. After fome continuance in this ftate, 

 the texture of the cuticle becomes gradually thickened, and 

 its furface uneven or granulated, and variegated by reticula- 

 tions of enlarged cutaneous veins, with fmaller red lines 

 ftretching acrofs the cheeks, and fometimes by the inter- 

 mixture of fmall fuppurating vari, which fucceffively arife 

 on different parts of the face. Where there is a ftrong he- 

 reditary predifpofition, or by the conftant immoderate ufe 

 of wine and fpirituous liquors, this difeafe may affeft the 

 greater part of the face, even the forehead and fkin ; but 

 the nofe efpecially, in fuch cafes, becomes tumid, and of a 



9 



fiery red colour : and, in advanced life, it fometiYiies enlarges 

 to an immoderate fize, the noftrils being diftended and patu- 

 lous, or the alie fiffured, as it were, and divided into feparate 

 lobes. 



Little can be done in way of cure for this fpecies of vari, 

 the vifceral or conftitutional malady being the root of the 

 difeafe ; againft which, of courfe, the remedies, both moral 

 and phyfical, muft be direfted. 



Vari, in Zoology, a name given to the maucuaco, or lemur 

 catta of Linnaeus, with his tail marked with rings of black and 

 white ; it is about the fize of a cat, and inhabits Madagafcar 

 and the neighbouring ifles. The vari of Buffon is the ruffed 

 maucuaco of Pennant, the black maucuaco of Edwards, and 

 lemur caudatus iiiger, collari harhato, of Linnaeus. It has 

 orange-coloured irides ; long hair round the fides of the 

 head, ftanding out like a ruff ; long tail ; the colour wholly 

 black, but fometimes white fpotted with black ; the feet 

 black. It inhabits Madagafcar ; is very fierce in a wild 

 ftate ; and makes fo violent a noife in the woods, that the 

 noife of two may be eafily miftaken for that of a hundred : 

 when tamed, gentle and good-natured. Pennant. 



Vari, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in Concan ; 

 25 miles N. of Goa. 



VARIA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Hifpania Ci- 

 terior, on the Iberus, N.W. of Calagaris. 



Varia, Vico-Varo, a tovsm of Italy, in the Sabine terri- 

 tory, but belonging to the Latins ; fituated on the Valerian 

 way ; 8 miles from Tibur, and 27 from Rome. It was 

 alfo called Valeria. 



Varia, in Zoology, a name by which fome authors have 

 called the leopard, or pardal'is, from the beautiful variega- 

 tions with which it is marked. 



VARIABLE, in Geometry and Analytics, is a term ap- 

 plied by mathematicians to fuch quantities as either increafe 

 or diminifli, according as fome other quantity either increafed 

 or diminifties. 



Thus, the femiordinates and abfcifies of an eUipfis, &cj 

 are variable quantities ; becaufe, if the oneincreafe, the other 

 increafe hkewife. 



They are thus called, in contradiftinftion to conjlant, or 

 giruen, or Jlable quantities ; which are always the fan>e 

 though others change : as the femidiameter of a circle, which 

 remains the fame, though the abfciffes and femiordinates 

 increafe. 



Variable quantities are ufually denoted by the laft letters 

 of the alphabet, x, y, z. 



Some authors, inftead of variable and conjlant quantities, 

 ufe the terms jluent ^-nAJlable quantities. 



The infinitely fmall quantity by which a variable quantity 

 is continually increafing or diminiftiing, is called the incre- 

 ment or decrement, or difference ; and the velocity with which 

 it increafes or decreafes at any given point, is called its 

 Jluxion ; the calculation of which is the fubjeft of the new 

 melhodus differentialis , or dodrine ofjluxions. 



Variable Wind. See Wind. 



VARI AM, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the pro-] 

 vince of Irak ; 120 miles E. of Hamadan. 



VARIANA, in Ancient Geography, a town of Lowe 

 Moefia, upon the route from Viminacium to NicomediaJ 

 between Augufts and Valeriana. Anton. Itin. 



VARIAN.£, a town of Pannonia, upon the route fron 

 (Emona to Sirmium, betweeji Sifcia and Menneianas. Anton^ 

 Itin. 



VARIANCE, Variantia, in Law, an alteration or! 

 change of condition in a perfon, or thing, after fome former 

 concern or tranfadtion- therewith. 



Thus 



