V I R 



V 1 R 



terrcd on the Puteolan way. On his death-bed he is faid 

 to have exprefled a wifh that his iEneid, which he regarded 

 as an imperfeft work, might be committed to the flames ; 

 but it was faved either by the interpofition of his friends 

 Tucca and Varus, who prevailed upon him to bequeath 

 it to them, on the condition that they fhould make no altera- 

 tion in it, or by the injunftions of Auguftus to his executors. 

 His modefty, indicated by this wiib, was combined with 

 other fimilar qualities. " He was mild and gentle in his 

 manners, unaifuming in converfation, fmcere and faithful in 

 friendfhip, fo that he was Angularly beloved by Auguftus, 

 Mecsenas, and all the nioft' diftinguifhed perfons of that 

 period." His poetical talents, as well as general charafter, 

 were highly appreciated by his contemporaries, infomuch 

 that whenfoever his verfes were recited in the theatre whilft 

 he was prefent, the audience rofe up and paid him the refpetl 

 which was ufually manifeited to the emperor. His eminent 

 merit has been alfo acknowledged by ancient and modern 

 critics, and though they have differed in opinion as to his 

 peculiar and diilinguifliing excellencies, they have generally 

 agreed, as one of his moft judicious biographers has iaid, " in 

 placing him upon one of the higheft feats in Parnaflus." Of 

 the faculty of invention he feems to have pofleifed a very 

 moderate fhare, infomuch that his Bucohcs, Georgics, and 

 jEneid, abound with traces of imitation, and even of tranfla- 

 tion ; but it is " in the didtion and phrafeology of poetry, in all 

 that conftitutes the artift, that his chief excellence confifts ; 

 and his admirers will not allow that the Virgilian fplendour 

 and majefty of ftyle have ever been equalled." — " In two 

 fpecies of compofition Virgil has afforded models to almoft^ 

 all fucceeding poets, the didaftic and the epic." His 

 fame has been telliiicd by the numerous editions of his works, 

 as well as the commentaries and tranflations which they have 

 produced. Tlie learned profcffor Heyne has given an ac- 

 count of the various MSS. and editions of Virgil in his 

 edition of Leipfic, 1788, which has been confidered by com- 

 petent judges as the moil complete and valuable. For a de- 

 fcription and charafter of the iEneid, fee jEneid. Vita 

 Virgilii Ruaei et Heynii. Gen. Biog. 



Virgil, in Geography, a poft-townfhip of America, in the 

 province of New York, and S.W. corner of Courtlandt 

 county ; 10 miles S. of Homer, and 155 miles W. of 

 Albany. It is ten miles fquare, well watered, and furnifhed 

 with good roads ; the foil is excellent ; the timber is maple, 

 beech, bafs, elm, butter-nut, &c. with fome pine and hem- 

 lock. In 1810, the population was 913 ; the fenatorial 

 eleftors 77 ; and the whole amount of taxable property 

 84,351 dollars. 



VIRGILIA, in Botany, a genus dedicated by Lamarck 

 to the great Latin poet, whole Georgics may well claim 

 for him tliis fort of commemoration, has taken place of the 

 Virgilta of L'Heritier, Sm. Exot. Bot. v. i. 71, called by 

 Lamarck and otliers Galardta. We fhall fubmit to the 

 general determination ; for though L'Heritier thought 

 JM. Gaillard unworthy of diftinftion, he may be fcreened by 

 a hoft of names, which certainly confer lefs honour upon 

 their authors than their owners, however fmall the merits 



of the latter may be Lamarck lUuftr. t. 326. Poiret in 



Lamarck Dift. v. 8. 677. Brown in Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 V. 3. 4. Purfh 309. — Clafs and order, Decandrla Monogyma. 

 Nat. Ord. Papilionace<r, Linn. Leguminof,v, Juff. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of one leaf, bell- 

 (haped, two-lipped ; upper lip in two lefs deeply feparated 

 fegments ; lower in three fpreading ones ; the tube breaking 

 off circularly juft above the bafe. Cor. papilionaceous ; 

 fl-andard oval, afcending, aot jeflesed at the fides, emar- 



ginate : wings oblong, direft, rather Ihorter than the 

 ftandard ; keel of two elliptic-oblong petals, nearly the 

 length of the wings. Stam. Filaments ten, awl-lhaped, dif- 

 tinft, afcending, converging, the length of the keel which 

 enfolds them ; anthers oval, notched. Pt/t. Germen fupe- 

 rior, oblong, compreffed ; ftyle curved, the length of the 

 ftamens ; ftigma obtufe, beardlefs. Perk. Legume ob- 

 long, compreffed, of one cell and two valves. Seeds feveral, 

 orbicular, compreffed. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx two-lipped, with five unequal teeth. 

 Corolla papilionaceous, nearly equal ; ftandard not reflexed 

 at the fides. Stigma beardlefs. Legume compreffed, ob- 

 long, with many feeds. 



1. V. capenjis. Vetch-leaved Virgilia. Poiret in Lam. 

 n. I. Lam. fig. 2. Ait. n. 3. (Podalyria capenfis ; 

 Willd. Sp. PI. V. 2. 501. Sophora capenfis ; Linn. Mant. 

 67. Thunb. Prodr. 79. Andr. Repof. t. 347. S. oro- 

 boides ; Berg. Cap. 142.) — Stamens deciduous; woolly 

 at the bafe. Germen downy. Keel acute. Leaflets lan- 

 ceolate, downy beneath. Legume filky Native of the 



Cape of Good Hope. The late Thomas Cornwall, efq. 

 an affiduous cultivator of exotic plants, is faid by Mr. 

 Alton to have firft introduced this fpecies in 1767. The 

 feeds have often been imported fince the plant, being frequent 

 near Cape Town. It flowers with us in July and Augurt, 

 being (heltered in winter in the greenhoufe. This is a tall 

 fhrub, or fmall tree, having alternate pinnate leaves, with an 

 odd leaflet, hke the whole genus. The leajlets are very 

 numerous, uniform, about an inch long, acute ; fliining, and 

 nearly fmooth, on the upper fide. Flowers in ftalked, axil- 

 lary, downy cluftcrs, fliorter than the leaves, each half the 

 fize of a common Sweet-pea, white, with a pink, lunate 

 fpot on i\\c Jlaiidard. Legume downy, two inches long. 



2. V. aurea. Great-flowered Virgilia. Poir. in Lam, 

 n. 2. Lam. fig. I. Ait. n. i. ( Podalyria aurea ; Willd. 

 Sp. PI. V. 2. 502. Robinia fubdecandra ; L'Herit. Stirp. 

 Nov. 157. t. 7J.) — Stamens permanent. Germen downy. 

 Leaflets elliptical, obtufe, pointlefs. Legume fmooth. — 

 Native of Abyffinia. Sent to Kew in 1777, by M.Thouin. 

 A greenhoufe (hrub, flowering in July. The leajlets are 

 full as numerous as in the foregoing, and longer, more 

 elliptical and obtufe, fmooth on both fides ; paler, and a 

 little glaucous, at the back. Flowers yellow, according to 

 L'Heritier ; Poiret fays white ; the fize of the former, ti 

 axillary clufters as long as the leaves. Legume two or three 

 inches long, quite fmooth. 



3. V. tntruj'a. Small-flowered Virgilia. Br. in Ait. n. 2. 

 — " Stamens permanent. Germen fmooth. Calyx concave 

 externally at the bafe. Leaflets oval, obtufe, with a fmall 

 point." — Native of the Cape of Good Hope, from whence 

 it was fent to Kew garden, by Mr. Maffon, about the year 

 1790. A greenhoufe flirub, flowering moft part of the 

 fummer. Alton. 



4. V . fecundiflora. Unilateral-flowered Virgiha. Cavan. 

 Ic. v. 5. I. t. 401. Poir. in Lam. n. 3. (" Brouffonetia 

 fecundiflora; Ortega Dec. 5. 61. t. 7.") — Germen and 

 legume downy. Calyx tapering at the bafe. Leaflets 

 oval, obtufe, pointlefs. — Native of New Spain. It flowered 

 at Madrid in April. We have a fpecimen from Cavanilles, 

 but the plant has not yet found its way into the Englifli 

 greenhoufes. The Jlem is fhrubby, three feet or more in 

 height, with ftout, round, finely downy branches. Leajlets 

 rather fewer than in any of the reft, coriaceous, veiny, 

 fmooth or very flightly filky, an inch long, feffile, moftly 

 alternate, on a channelled common ftalk. Clujler terminal, 

 denfe, of numerous Jloiuers all turned one way, fcarcely fa 



8 large 



