V A S 



V A S 



His wife, named Arundhati, is reprefented to have been 

 ' exemplary in regard to holinefs and fandlity, and to have 

 i been tranflated to the flcies with her iapient hufband : (he 

 ' is ftill quoted as proverbial for virtue and conftancy. 

 I Vafilht'ha is a ftar of the fecond magnitude, in N. lat. 60°, 

 I and Arundhati is a fmaller ftar near it. 



In the Agni Purana, a hymn is addrefled to Valirtit'ha ; 

 affording fome clue to the relative antiquity of the poetical 

 I romances bearing the common denomination of Purana ; 

 ' which fee. 



VASIT, or Wasit, in Geography, a town of the Ara- 

 i bian Irak, on the Tigris. This town was built in the be- 

 : ginning of the eighth century, by Al Hejaj, the Arabian 

 ; general. A mint was eftabhfhed, and in 707, money was 

 \ coined there by order of the caliph. In 1401 it was plun- 

 ' dered by Timur Bee ; 96 miles S.E. of Bagdad. N. lat. 

 32^ 18'. E. long. 45° 38'. 



VASKINA, a gulf or bay of Ruffia, on the fouth coaft 

 of the illand of Kalguev. 



V^ASKOVNIA, a town of Rufiia, in the government of 

 PIkov ; 120 miles S.S.E. of Pfkov. 



VASLUI, a town of European Turkey, in Moldavia, 

 on the Birlat ; 32 miles S. of Jafly. N. lat. 46° 40'. E. 

 long. 27° 45'. 



VASOKY, in Hindoo mythological Legend, is a name of 

 a mighty ferpent, more commonly called Sejtja ; which fee. 

 The name of Valoky, however, frequently occurs in the ex- 

 travagant legends of the Eaft. See Kaliya and Kurma- 



VATARA. 



VASON, in Geography, a town and caftle of Hungary ; 

 -^ i miles W.S.W. of Stuhl WeilTenburg. 

 ! VASPINGE, a town of Perfia, in the province of Adir- 

 beitzan, containing about 600 houfes ; 9 miles from Tauris. 

 VASQUEZ, a town of the ifiand of Cuba ; 66 miles 



N.W. of Villa del Principe Alfo, a river of Mexico, 



I which runs into the Spaniih Main, N. lat. 1 1° 30'. 

 I VASSAL, Vassallus, in our indent Cujioms, a perfon 

 f who vowed fideUty and homage to a lord, on account of 

 1 fome land, &c. which he held of him in fee. 

 ! Du-Cange will have the word to come from vajfus, which 

 ' anciently fignified a fervant or domejl'tc of a prince, and 

 I fometimes alio the comites, or ajjejfores, in public trials. 

 : Menage, after Cujas, takes valTal to have been formed of 

 I gejfel, an ancient German word, fignifying companion. Caie- 

 I neuve derives it from the Gaulifh gejfus, a brave man, from 

 I gejfo, or gejf urn, or jisfum, a kind of javelin ufed among them. 

 j Voffius derives vaffal from vas, -vadis, pledge ; whence alfo 

 , he will have it to be, that they are fometimes called 

 1 Jideles. 



The vafTal was alfo called plratus, lord's-man, 2.nd fee-man ; 

 but now the denommation is changed into that of tenant in 

 fee. 



Accordingly the vafial, or feudatory, was only another 

 name for the tenant or holder of the lands ; though, on ac- 

 count of the prejudices we have juftly conceived againft the 

 doftrines that were afterwards grafted on this fyftem, we 

 now ufe the word vafial opprobrioufly, as fynonimous to 

 flave or bondman. The manner of the grant, on the part of 

 the proprietor or lord, who retained the dominion, or ulti- 

 mate property of the feud, or fee, was by words of gratuitous 

 and pure donation, dedi et concejji ; which are ftill the oper- 

 ative words in our modern inieodations, or deeds of tcoff- 

 jnent. This was perfefted by the ceremony of corporal in- 

 veft:iture, or open and notorious delivery of polfeflion, in the 

 prefence of the other vaffals, which perpetuated among them 

 the era of the new acquifition, at a time when the art of 

 writing was very little known ; and, therefore, the evidence 



of property was repofed in the memory of the neighbour- 

 hood : « ho, in cafe of a difputed title, were afterwards called 

 upon to decide the difference, not only according to external 

 proofs, adduced by the parties litigant, but alfo by the in- 

 ternal tellimony of their own private knowledge. 



They fometimes alfo ufed the term -vajfour for van"al ; 

 whence vaniafour. 



If a valfal offended his lord grievoufiy, either in perfon or 

 in honour, he committed the crime of felony ; which car- 

 ried with it a confifcation of his fee. 



Vassal, a Rear, is he who holds of a lord, who himfelf is 

 vafTal of another lord. 



Vassal was anciently ufed for foldier ; by reafon fees, 

 at firft, were given to none but military men. 



VASSALAGE, the ftate of a vafl"al ; or a fervitude 

 and dependency on a fuperior lord. 



Anciently, they diftinguifhed between liege vaffalage, and 

 fimpU vaffalage. 



Liege vaffalage only belonged to the king ; as carrying 

 with it an obligation on the fide of the vafial to ferve his 

 lord in w,-ir, againft; all perfons whatever. See Liege. 



In all Jimple vaffalage, the fealty, or liege vaffalage, was 

 ftill referved to the king. 



Some alfo diftinguifli aaive vaffalage, ctnd paj/!ve : the firft 

 is the right of fealty refiding in the lord ; the fecond, the 

 fervice and duties incumbent on the tenant. 



VASSALBOROUGH, in Geography, a town of the 

 province of Maine, on the Kennebeck ; 204 miles N.E. of 

 Bofton. 



VASSEN, or Waessen, a town of Holland, in the de- 

 partment of Guelderland ; 12 miles S. of Hattem. 



VASSIETTE, a river of America, which runs into 

 lake Michigan, N. lat. 44° 38'. W. long. 85° i8'. 



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



Calvados ; 8 miles E. of Vire Alfo, a town of France, 



and feat of a tribunal, in the department of the Upper 

 Marne. In the year 1562, a bloody perfecution ag:unft the 

 Proteftants began in this town ; 9 miles S. of St. Di/.ier. 

 N. lat. 48^ 30'. E. long. 5° 2'. 



VASTAN, a town of Curdiftan, on lake Van. In 

 1386, it was taken by Timur Bee; 20 miles S.W. of 

 Van. 



VASTANFORS, a town of Sweden, in Weftmanland ; 

 32 miles N.N.W. of Stroemfholm. 



VASTAUNA, in Jncient Geography, a town of Afia, 

 fituated ill the S.E. part of the lake Arfifa, towards the 

 38th degree of latitude. 



VASTO, in Law, a writ that lies againft the tenant for 

 life, or years, for making wafte. 



VASTUS, in Anatomy, the name of two very large 

 mufcles belonging to the thigh. The body of the femur is 

 completely enveloped, except at the linea afpera, by a thick 

 mufcular mafs : this may be diftinguifhed at its origin into 

 three portions, which foon become blended together, fo as 

 not to admit of feparation. The part which covers the 

 outfide of the bone is called vaftus externus ; that which 

 covers the infide, vaftus internus ; and the middle, cruralis, or 

 crurasus. Thefe have ufually been defcribed as three diftinft 

 mufcles ; but fome modern anatomifts have more properly 

 confidered them as one, imder the name of triceps femoris : 

 they form the tri-femoro-rotulien of Dumas. 



The triceps cruris then is a very thick flefhy mafs, of a 

 rounded or convex figure, covering the thigh-bone, and ex- 

 tending from the bates of the trochanters to the patella and 

 tibia. 



The anterior furface is covered, towards the outfide, by 

 the tendon of the gluteus maximus, the tenfor vagins, the 



fafcia 



