V A R 



V A R 



dered, of each fii ounces, and Venice turpentine half an 

 ounce, in a quart of highly reftiiied fpirit of wine, and 

 ftraining off the folution. If it be required hai'der, an equal 

 weight of the gun* anime and copal may be added, and 

 the quantity of fpirit of wine doubled. In the ufe of this 

 varnifh, the painting fhould be thoroughly dry, and it 

 fiiould be fpread very gently witli a pencil. The varnifh 

 fhould be laid on in a very warm place, or the pifture itfelf 

 warmed to a moderate degree, in order to prevent the 

 chilling of the varnifh ; in which cafe another coat fhould be 

 added. And, indeed, two or three coats are neceffary to 

 preferve the painting, and to bring out a due effeft of its 

 colours, if they are in that ftate called funk in, occafioned 

 by the attraftion of the cloth on the oils mixed with them. 

 An oil of turpentine varnifh may be added by grofsly pow- 

 dering maftich and fandarac, of each four ounces ; two 

 ounces of white refin ; and farcocoUa, anime, copal, and 

 olibanum, of each one ounce ; and putting them into a phial 

 with two pounds of oil of turpentine, flopping the phial 

 gently, and placing it in any heat, fo that the mafs may 

 not boil, and ftraining off the folution for ufe. Or, a var- 

 nifh more fimple, and equally good, may be made by pow- 

 dering two ounces of fandarac, maftich and olibanum, of 

 each an ounce and a half; or three ounces of maftich, and 

 Venice turpentine half an ounce ; and diffolving them in 

 half a pound of oil of turpentine, and proceeding as before. 

 Handmaid to the Arts, vol. ii. p. 227, &c. 



Y AV.VKH for Paper-hangings. See PAfER-Haiigings. 



Varnish /or Printers' Ink See PRiNTiNG-/«i. 



Varnish, White, is ufually made of gum fandarac and 

 gum maftich, diffolved in fpirits, left to fettle two days, 

 then ftrained through a linen cloth, and, after ftanding fome 

 time, the clear poured off, and bottled for ufe. 



The more curious artifts dilTolve the two gums fepa- 

 rately ; and having made a feparate varnifh of each, mix 

 them occafionally, as their work requires a ftiffer or a 

 fofter varnifh. 



But for the ie/l white varnifh more gums are required ; 

 viz. Venice turpentine, gum copal, elemi, benzoin, anime, 

 and white refin. 



Befides thefe, there.are harjandfo/l varnifhes, or grounds, 

 ufed by the etchers and engravers. See Etching. 



Varnish is alfo ufed for a kind of gloffy coat, with 

 which potter's-ware, Delf-ware, Cliina-ware, &c. are co- 

 vered, to give them a fmoothnefs and luftre. Some pre- 

 paration of lead is the varnifh ordinarily ufed for the firft ; 

 and earths for the fecond. See Glazing and Pottery. 



The true varnifh ufed by the Chinefe and Japanefe, to 

 give that inimitable luftre to their porcelain, is one of the 

 grand fecrets in that manufafture ; and is one of the great 

 things wanting, to make Delf and French ware vie with the 

 Chinefe. Several have defcribed the preparation of it, 

 particularly Kircher : but none ever fucceeded in the trial. 

 See Porcelain and Varnish, fupra. 



Varnish is alfo a term applied to the colours which 

 antique medals acquire in the earth. 



The value of a medal is heightened by a beauty, which 

 nature alone was able to give, and art has never yet attained 

 to counterfeit : we mean the colour or varnifh with which 

 certain foils tinge the medal ; fome with a blue, almoft as 

 beautiful as that of a turcois ; others with an inimitable 

 vermilion colour ; and others with a gloffy fhining brown, 

 infinitely beyond any of our figures in bronze. 



The moft ufual varnifli, however, is a fine green, which 

 hangs to the moft delicate ftrokes without effacing them ; 

 much more accurately than the fineft enamel does on metals. 

 Brafs alone is fufceptible of it ; for as to filver, the green 



ruft; that gathers on it, always fpoils it ; and it muft be 

 fcoured off with vinegar, or lemon juice. 



There is alfo ufaljfe, or modern varnifh ; which the falfi- 

 fiers of medals give to their counterfeits, to give them the 

 air of antiquity : it is difcovered by its being fofter than 

 the natural varnifh, which is as hard as the metal itfelf. 



Some lay their fpurious medals under ground, where they 

 contraft the degree of varnifh, that they impofe on the lefs 

 knowing : others ufe fal ammoniac, mixed with vinegar ; 

 others the acid fpirit of nitre, Sec. 



V ARODOV AtOrVnuoTiOP A,m jfncient Geography, z-pro- 

 vince in the environs of Macedonia, according to Eutropius. 

 Ortehus makes it a country of Thrace, writing it Rodopa. 



VAROE, in Geography. See V^iroe. 



VAROLI, Costanzo, in Biography, was born at Bo- 

 logna in 1542, and became a profelTor of phyfic and furi- 

 gery in his native city. In 1572 he was invited by pope 

 Gregory XIII. to fettle at Rome as his firft phyfician, 

 and profeffor in the college of Sapienza. He was advan- 

 cing in reputation by his anatomical difcoveries, as well as i;. 

 his praftice of medicine and furgery, when a premature 

 death cut him off in 1575, in the 33d year of his ag,f. He 

 was particularly diftinguifhed in the anatomy of the brain, 

 which he defcribed in his work " De Nervis Opticis non- 

 nuUifque aliis praeter communem Opinionem in Humane 

 Capite obfcrvatis Epiftola ad Hieronymum Mercurialem," 

 Patav. 1570. Among the parts of the brain which he dif- 

 covered, or more accurately defcribed, was that known by 

 his name, the " Pons Varoli," formed by the union of the 

 crura cerebri and cerebelli, and the place whence feveral 

 nerves originate. After his death was publifhed " De Re- 

 folutione Corporis Humani," a work which is a com- 

 pendium of anatomy, chiefly according to the ancients, but 

 with feveral new obfervations by himfelf. Haller. Eloy. 



Varoli Pons, in Anatomy. See Pons. 



VARORE, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 Baramaul ; 14 miles N.N.W. of Darempoury. 



VAROTARI, Dario, in Biography. See Paduanino. 



VARPA, in Geography, an ifland near the N.E. coall 

 of Sumatra, about 30 miles in circumference. S. lat. 0° 36'. 

 E. long. 103° 25'. 



VARRO, Marcus Terentius, in Biography, the mot! 

 learned of the ancient Romans, received from Pompey the 

 Great, in the piratical war, a naval crown, and joined this 

 chief in the civil war againft Casfar ; but afterwards fub- 

 mitting to the latter, he was employed by him in making a 

 coUeftion of books for the public library which he propofed 

 to eftablifh at Rome. The death of Csefar prevented the 

 accomplifhment of this defign ; and Varro, being involved 

 in the profcription by the triumvirates, efcaped with bis 

 life, but with the lofs of his library. After the reftoration 

 of tranquillity, he retired for the profecution of his ftudies, 

 and compofed books till his 88th year. His life was pro- 

 longed to the age of 90, arid he died about the year 

 B- C. 27. He is highly extolled for his various talents 

 and literary performances by ancient writers, and parti- 

 cularly by Cicero in his " Academics." Aulus Gellius 

 cites a paffage from Varro, in which he declares of himfelf, 

 that to the 78th year of his life he had compofed 490 

 books, and he continued to write to his 90th year. The 

 fubjefts on which he wrote, as we learn from Fabricius, 

 were grammar, eloquence, poetry, the drama, hiftory, anti- 

 quities, philofophy, politics, agriculture, nautical affairs, 

 architecture, and religion. He was alfo the firft Latin 

 author of that fpecies of fatire called the Menippean, from 

 Menippus, a Greek, its inventor, which was written in 

 profe, with a mixture of verfe in different meafures. (See 



Menipeas.) 



