V A S 



V A S 



All the flefti, in an animal body, is found to be vafcular, 

 none of it parenchymous, as the ancients imagined. 



Vascular GtanJs. See Gland. 



Vascular, Fci/ciilarius, in Antiqu'tty, was the denomi- 

 nation of a kind of artificers among the ancient Romans ; 

 who made filver and gold veffels without relievos, or figures 

 emboifed on them. 



Hence, according to Salmafius, it is, that Cicero, in his 

 fiJtth oration againft Verrcs, diftinguilhed •aafcularius from 

 calator, engraver. 



In the art called by the Greeks fu^airiim, which was the 

 art of fuperadding ornaments of precious ilones, or rich 

 metals, to vafes of other m.etals ; the vafcularii and caela- 

 tores were different ; the firll being the goldfm;ths who 

 made the vafe ; the fecond, the fculptors who added the 

 ornaments. But in the art called To^iur.y.tt, or the art of 

 cutting bs5-rc!iefs, or ftamping figures on metal, the vaf- 

 cularii were alfo cselators, or engravers ; that is, they who 

 made the i.afe, made alfo the relievos, or figures, with 

 which it was enriched. 



VASCULIFEROUS Plants, in J^ricuhure and Gar- 

 dening, are all fuch the feeds of which are contained in 

 veffels, divided in the cells. There are feveral of thefe in 

 both thefe departments. See Seed. 



VASE, a term of equal import with the Latin t<;j, 

 whence it is formed; and with the Engliih vejfd ; which 

 fee. 



It is applied to the ancient veffels dug from under ground, 

 or otherwife found, and preferved in cabinets, &c. as veffels 

 of facrifice, urns, &c. ; and to other more modern veffels, 

 which are rather of curiofity and (how than ufe ; as thofe of 

 cryftal, porcelain, &c. 



In the curious coUeftion of ornamental works, made by 

 MefTrs. Wedgwood and Bentley, after the antique, there are 

 vafes of various kinds ; lome formed of a compofition of 

 terra cotta, refembling agate, jafper, porphyry, and other 

 variegated ftoues, of the vitrefcent or cryftaDine kind ; 

 others of black porcelain, or artificial bafaltes, highly 

 finifhed, with bas-relief ornaments ; others of the painted 

 Etrufcan kind ; and others again ornamented with encauftic 

 paintings. The art of painting vafes in the manner of the 

 Etrufcans has been loft for ages : however, thefe ingenious 

 manufafturers fet themfelves to revive it ; and, having care- 

 fally examined the original Etrufcan vafes, and having pe- 

 rufed with attention the writings of the late coun» Caylus 

 upon Etrufcan antiquities, they were convinced that the 

 colours of the figures could not be fuccefsfuUy imitated 

 with enamel ; and that their fuccefs mull chiefly depend 

 upon the difcovery of a new kind of enamel colours, to be 

 made upon other principles, and to have effefts efTentially 

 different from thofe that were then in ufe, and are of the 

 natui'e of glafs : the Etrufcan colours being burnt in, 

 fmooth and durable, but without any glaffy luftre. In con- 

 fequence of this obfervation, and by a great variety of expe- 

 riments, they invented a fet of encauftic colours, not only 

 fufScient to imitate the paintings upon the Etrufcan vafes, 

 but to give the beauty of defign the advantages of hght and 

 fhade in various colours ; and to render paintings durable, 

 without the defeft of a varnifhed or glaOy furface. Thefe 

 encauftic colours m.ay be applied with great eafe and cer- 

 tainty ; they change very little' in die fire, are not liable to 

 run out of drawing, are perfeftly durable, and not glaffy, 

 and pofTefs the advantages of enamel, without its effential 

 defefts. Catalogue of Cameos, &c. by Wedgwood and 

 Bentley, 1773. 



Vases, \n Architeaure, are ornaments of fculpture, placed 

 on focles, or pedeftals, reprefenting the veffels of the ancients ; 



4 



particularly thofe ufed in facrifice, as the praefericulum 

 fimpulum, incenfe-pots, flower-pots. Sec. and occafionally 

 enriched with baffo-relievos. 



They are commonly placed there to crown or finifh 

 fagades, or frontifpieces. They are frequently alfo called 

 acroter'ia ; and are ufually infulate. 



In forming and decorating vafes, fancy has great fcope. 

 Many excellent inventions of thefe ornaments are tranfmitted 

 to us from the ancients. A vafe differs from an urn, as it 

 is in general of a more elegant contour, and is lofty ; whereas 

 an urn (hould be low and wide, and always covered. 



Vitruvius mentions a kind of theatrical vafes, made of 

 brafs, or earthen-ware, called echeia, y^yjic-, (fee Echeia 

 and ViTRUVJus) ; which they difpofed in private places, 

 under the fteps and feats of the theatres, to aid and increafe 

 the refledfion and refonance of the aftors' voices, &c. It 

 is faid, there are alfo vafes of this kind in the cathedral 

 church of Milan. 



Vase is particularly ufed in architefture to fignify the 

 body of the Corinthian and Compofite capital ; called alfo 

 the tambour, or drum ; and fometimes the camfana, or icll. 



Vase is alfo fometimes ufed among Florijls, for what they 

 otherwife call the calyx. 



The vafe, or rather calyx of a tulip, is the top or head 

 of a tulip ; the leaves of which form a kind of vafe, or cup. 



Goldfmith^ brafiers, &c. alfo ufe vafe for the middle of 

 a church-candleftick ; which is ufually of a roundifh figure, 

 bordering fomewhat on that of a vafe. 



Vase Ri-uer, in Geography, a river of America, which 

 runs into the Miffillippi, 55 miles above the mouth of the 

 Ohio. 



VASEN. See Wesen. 



VASH, a river of Grand Bucharia, which gives name 

 to the country it waters ; and runs into the Gihon near 

 Termed. — Alfo, a province of Great Bucharia ; which fee. 



VASHAVAN, a town of Hindooftan ; 30 miles S.W. 

 of Dindigul. 



VASHGERD, a town of Grand Bucharia, and prin- 

 cipal town of a diftriiSt watered by the Vafh ; 200 miles 

 S.E. of Samarcand. N. lat. 38- 25'. E. long. 67° 50'. 



VASHON's Island, an iiland near the weft coaft of 

 America, at the bottom of the Admiralty Inlet, and eaftern 

 branch of the gulf of Georgia. N. lat. 47° 10'. E. long. 

 237° 25'. 



VASIL, a town of Ruffia, in the government of Nize- 

 gorod, on the Volga ; 60 miles E. of Niinei Novgorod. 

 N. lat. 56° 16'. E. long. 45° 44'. 



VASILICA. See Basilica. 



VASIL KOV, a fort of Ruffia, in the government of 

 Kiev ; 28 miles S.S.W. of Kiev. 



VASINA, a town of the ifland of Corfica ; 4 miles 

 N. of Baftia. 



VASIR. See Sirvent. 



VASISHT'HA, in Biography, is the name of a cele- 

 brated perfon of Hindoo hillory and mythology : one of 

 a clafs called Rifhi, meaning a fage. Of thefe divine per- 

 fons we have given a lift, and fome remarks, under the articles 

 RiSHi and Kritika ; the latter being the Pleiades of the 

 Hiadoos, who have many very curious tales of their " fhed- 

 ding fweet influences." Vafifht'ha is acharafter frequently 

 mentioned in the romantic hiftories of the Hindoos, as 

 being leforted to for advice by royal and other perfons 

 requiring fpiritual or other confolation. He is, indeed, 

 called the preceptor of the inferior gods. A very cele- 

 brated commentary on the Veda, the Hindoo fcripture, is 

 afcribed to Vafifht'ha. It is in profe, with poetry inter- 

 mixed ; and is quoted as high law authority. (See Veda.) 



His 



