V E L 



V E L 



flagnant fulphureous waters were found "very inconvenient. 

 M. Curius pierced a movintain and made a canal to the Ve- 

 liiius, fo that its waters hed a free paflage to the fea, 

 by a valley, which Cicero compared to the valley of 

 Tempe. The inhabitants of Reatc found here abundance 

 of rofes, whu-nce tl;ey called it Rofea. The Velinus dif- 

 charged itfelf into the Nar near Interamna. — Alfo, one of 

 the feven mountains of Rome. 



VELIOCASSES, Vehcajh of Csfar, Vdlocqffes of 

 Pliny, and VencUocaJJll of Ptolemy, were a people joined by 

 Coefar to the Caleti, and others among the Belga;, feparated 

 by t^ie Seine from the Celtas. But in the divilion of Gaul 

 by Auguftus, the VeliocafTes, as well as the Caleti, are 

 placed in the Lyonnefe, and they are referred to in that pro- 

 vince by Ptolemy and Pliny. Their capital, Rotomagus, 

 became the metropolis of tlie fecond Lyonnefe, when the 

 l,yonnere of Auguftus was divided into two provinces. 



VELISCUM, a place of Africa, in Mauritania Caefa- 

 rienfis, upon the route from Rufucurrum to Celama, be- 

 tween Sufafar and Taranamufa Caftra. Anton. Itin. 



VELITES, in the Roman Army, one of the four kinds 



of foot foldiers that compofed a legion, who were armed 



lightly with fwords, bows and arrows, flings, and javelins. 



For defenfive armour they had only a fraall target, and 



a helmet or head-piece. 



Thefe were commonly young men of mean condition, and 

 took their name a volando, or a velocttate, from their fwift- 

 nefs and expedition : and they were defigned for fkirmifliing 

 with- the enemy before a battle, and purfuing them after a 

 defeat. 



They feem not to have been divided into any diftinft 

 bodies or companies, but to have hovered in loofe order 

 before the army. 



The other claffes of the Roman infantry were the hajlati, 

 prinapes, and tnar'ii. In the day of battle, the haftati were 

 placed in the firft line, the principes in the fecond, and the 

 triarii in the third. The Velites formed fmall flying parties 

 both in front and rear. See Battle. 



VELITIS, in the Natural Hijlory nf the Ancients, the 

 name of a peculiar fort of fand ufed in the manufafture of 

 glafs ; for which purpofe they always chofe fuch as was 

 found waflied clean on the banks of rivers ; and this they 

 therefore called glafs-fand, or •vditis, or hyalith. 



VELITRiE, or Velletri, in Ancient Geography, a 

 town of Italy, in Latium, in the country of the Volfcians. 

 It was at fome diftance from the Appian way, S.E. of 

 Alba, and became confiderable under the Romans. It had 

 an amphitheatre, of which no trace now remains. Two 

 roads led to Velitrx ; one to the W. detached itfelf from 

 the Appian way, the other to the E. communicated with 

 the Latin way. See Veletri. 



■* VELIZ, in Geography, a town of RufTia, in the govern- 

 ment of Polotdc ; 88 miles E. of Pololik. N. lat. 55° 20'. 

 E. long. 31" 4'. 



VELL, in Rural Economy, a term applied in fome dif- 

 trifts to the bag or llomach of the calf, which ia ufed in 

 making runnmg or runnet ; or to the prepared Itomachs 

 of the animals or rennet for curdling the milk in cheefe- 

 making, which are often called -veUs. In fome dairies, in- 

 ftead of makmg the rennet ready fome time previous to its 

 being ufed, a Imall piece, proportioned to the quantity of 

 milk to be coagulated, is cut from the veil the over-night, 

 and put into half a pint of water, or whey, to infufe until 

 the morning. In this cafe, the veils are to be fuppofed 

 to be equ.at in goodnefs ; and it is probable, that the virtue 

 may not be fo fully extrafted as by a longer infufion. 

 It is fuggefted too as not improbable, but that the ftrength 

 Vol. XXXVI. 



of the rennet might be afcertained by means of experiment, 

 by the apphcation of alkaline fait, and by fuch means be 

 rendered more certain in its ufe. See Dairying. 



VELLA, in Botany, an old Latin name, ufed by Galen, 

 and fuppofed to belong to the V/ater-crefs. De Theis traces 

 it from Felar, Velcr, or Beler, Celtic appellations of fome 

 plant or plants of the crefs kind ; and the firft of which Pliny 

 gives as fynonimous with Eryfimum. Linnsus, finding the 

 word unoccupied in modern botany, adopted it for a genus 

 of the fame family and qualities as the ancient Vella. — Linn. 

 Hort. Cliff. 329. Gen. 331. Schreb. 435. Willd. Sp. 

 PI. v. 3. 422. Brown in Ait. Hort. Kew. v. 4. 79. Sm. 

 Fl. Brit. 675. Prodr. Fl. Grsc. Sibth. v. 2. 4. Juff. 

 241. Lamarck lUuftr. t. 555. Giertn. t. 141. — Clafs 

 and order, Tetradynam'ia S'diculofa. Nat. Ord. Sil'tquefe, 

 Linn. Crucifem, Julf. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, cylindrical, ereft, of 

 four linear, obtufe, clofely converging, deciduous leaves. 

 Cor. cruciform, of four obovate fpreading petals, whofe 

 claws are the length of the calyx. Stam. Filaments fix, as 

 long as the calyx, the two oppofite ones rather (horter ; 

 anthers fimple. Pijl- Germen fuperior, ovate ; ftyle greatly 

 dilated, bordered, leafy, ovate ; ftigma obtufe. Perk. 

 Pouch orbicular, tumid, entire, of two cells, crowned with 

 the permanent, ovate, ercft, rigid ftyle, which is a con- 

 tinuation of the membranous partition. Seeds feveral, 

 roundifh ; " their cotyledons folded ;" Brown. 



Obf. V. Pfeudo-cytifus has the four larger filaments 

 deftitute of anthers, and combined together in pairs. 

 Liinnxus. 



Eft". Ch. Pouch tumid, crowned with the leafy ovate 

 ftyle. Cotyledons folded. Calyx clofcd. 



1. V. annua. Annual Crefs-rocket. Linn. Sp. PI. 895. 

 AViUd. n. I. Fl. Brit. n. i. Engl. Bot. t. 1442. (Naf- 

 turtium fylveftrevalentinum ; Cluf. Hift. v. 2. 130. Bauh. 

 Hift. V. 2. 920. Eruca nafturtio cognata tenuifoHa ; 

 Ger. Em. 247, good.) — Leaves pinnatifid. Pouches pen- 

 dulous Native of fandy fields in England, Spain and 



Greece. With us it is a very rare plant, fcarcely ever 

 obferved but on Salifbury Plain, about Stonehenge, where 

 it was firft gathered by Mr. Ifaac Lawfon, in Ray's time, 

 and has occafionally been feen fince, flowering in June. 

 The root is fibrous, fmall and annual. Seed-leaves perma- 

 nent for fome time, inverfely heart-lhaped, fmooth. Herb 

 variable as to luxuriance, ereft ; its Jiem about twelve or 

 fifteen inches high, alternately branched, buftiy, leafy, 

 rough with deflexed briftles. Leaves alternate, doubly 

 pinnatifid, roughifh, with narrow blunt fegments. Spites 

 terminal, many-flowered. Calyx purplifli. Petals entire, 

 fulphur-coloured, with purple veins. Pouch turned down- 

 wards as it ripens, about the fize of a hemp-feed, rough, 

 crowned with the fmooth, fpatulate, enlarged _/?yf, twice 

 its own length. Seeds roundifli, three or four in each 

 cell. 



2. V. Pftado-eytifus. Shrubby Crefs-rocket. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 895. Willd. n. 2. Ait. n. 2. Cavan. Ic. v. i. 32. t. 42. 

 (Cytifi facie Alyflbn fruticans quorundam ; Lob. lev. 2. 

 49. Cytifus adulterii.us, five Alyflbn fruticans ; Ger. Em. 

 1 306. ) — Leaves undivided, obovate, fringed. Pouches ereft. 

 — Native of the neighbourhood of Aranjuez in Spain, flow- 

 ering in May. Sometimes kept for curiofity as a hardy 

 greenhoufe plant, but not remarkable for beauty. The 



jlem is flirubby, branched, roughifli, two feet high. Leaves 

 alternate, rather flefliy, entire, rough, fcarcely an inch 

 long, tapering down into a (hort footjlall, and generally 

 accompanied by two fmajler leaves. Floiuers in long 

 fpikes, yellow, with pale veins. Permanent Jlyle broad, 



4 U nearly 



