V I R 



In efFfCl, ths mineral or watery particles ire fuppofed to 

 •be emitted by means of the fubterraneous heat, or of the fer- 

 •mentations in the entrails of the earth : and the virgula, being 

 of a light porous wood, gives an eafy palTage to thofe par- 

 ticles, which are alfo very fine and fubtilc ; the effluvia then 

 driven forwards by thofe that follow them, and opprefTed, at 

 the fame time, by the atmofphere incumbent on them, are 

 forced to enter the little interlliccs at the fibres of the wood; 

 and, by that effort, they oblige it to incline or dip down 

 perpendicularly, to b'-come parallel with the little columnb 

 which thofe vapours form in their rife. 



A late writer has recited no lefa than fix hundred experi- 

 ■pients, made with all poffible attention and circumfpeAion, 

 and feveral of which are very curious and extraordinary, in 

 order to afcertain the fafts attributed to the divining rod ; 

 and he has alfo undertaken to unfold their refemblance to the 

 admirable and uniform phenomena of eleftricity and mag- 

 netifm. See M. Thouvenel's Meraoire Phyfique et Medi- 

 cinale Montrant des Reports evidens entre les Phenomenes 

 de la Baguette divinatoire, &c. i2mo. Paris, 1781. 



Mr. Pryce has coliefted feveral obfervations on the nature 

 and ufe of the virgula divinatoria, in his Mineralo,g. Cornub. 

 lib. iii. cap. I. 



VIP>.GULARIA, in Botany, fo called from 'i<irga, in 

 alluiion to its flcnder wand-hke branches, by the authors of 



the Flora Peruviana Poiret in Lamarck Di£l. v. 8. 679. — 



Clafs and order, Didynamia Angiofpermia. Nat. Ord. 

 Pcrfonattc, Linn. Scrophularitc, Juff. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, bell-lhaped, permanent, 

 fomewhat two-lipped, with ten angles, and five fharp fpread- 

 ing teeth ; the two lowermoft a little diftant. Cor. of one 

 petal, bell-fhaped, irregular; tube a little recurved ; mouth 

 ■inflated, gibbous : limb in five roundilh, concave fegments ; 

 the two uppermofl (hortefl, afccnding ; three lowermofl 

 fpreading, the middle one narroweft. Siam. Filaments four, 

 thread-fliaped, compreffcd, hairy at their bafe, inferted into 

 the tube, two of them fliortcr than the reft ; anthers in- 

 chning, arrow-fhaped, of two cells. Pi/?. Germen fupe- 

 rior, obovate ; ftyle awl-fhaped, recurved, as long as the 

 corolla ; ftigma oblong, compreffcd, of two lobes, the 

 uppermofl channelled, half fhcathing the lower. Peru. Cap- 

 fule invefled with the calyx, oval, obtufe with a point, 

 with two furrows, two cloven valves, and two cells, the 

 partition contrary. Seeds numerous, very fmall, inferted 

 into a convex central receptacle, attached to each fide of 

 the partition. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx five-toothcd, wHth ten angles. Corolla 

 fomewhat bell-fhaped, irregular, recurved. Stigma with 

 one lobe fheathing the other. Capfule of two cells, two 

 valves, and a tranlverfe partitior.. Seeds numerous. 



This genus appears to come near Buddlxa. It is faid to 

 confift of only two known fpecies, natives of Peru, of a 

 fhrubby habit, witli numerous llender twigs. Neither of 

 the fpecies has as yet been defcribed. 



VIRGULTUM, in our ancient l.aiu-Boois, is ufed for 

 an holt, or plantation of twigs, or oficrs. 



Sometimes, alfo, for a coppice of young wood. " Et 

 prsetcrea concedo virgultum meum, et totam conununiam 

 dominii mei." Mon. Angl. 



In another place of the fame work, virgullum, or rather 

 •virgulta, may be taken for virgala ; viz. " Dcdit prsediftx 

 ccclcfi^e unam virgultum tern in manerio de Crumptone." 

 Sec Y \KT)-Laiid. 



VIRIBALLUM, m ytruienl Geography, a promontory 

 on the weflern fide of the ifle of Corfica, between the gulf 

 Cafulus and the mouth of the river Cicidius : fuppofed to 

 be Punta di Adiazza. 

 Vol. XXXVII. 



V i R 



VIRICONIUM. See UiutoNiuM. 



VIRIDARIO Eligendo, in J.a-ui, a writ that lies for 

 the choice of a verderor in the foreft. See Veuderou. 



VIRIDE JEris, the fame as aerugo, or vcrdigreafe, 

 which fee. 



VIRIDELLUS, a word ufed by fomc medical writers 

 to exprefs the epilepfy, and, by fome of the chemical ones, 

 at a name fur the common green vitriol. 



VIRIEU, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Ifere ; 6 miles S.S.E. of La Tour du Pin. 



ViRiEU le Grand, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Ain ; 6 miles N. of Belley. 



VIRILE, fomething tiuit belongs, or is peculiar to man, 

 or the male fex. 



Thub, virile member, membrum virile, is frequently ufed 

 for the penis. 



Virile jige, /Etai virilis, is the ftrcngth and vigour of a 

 man's age, iiiz. from thirty to forty-five year;;, which is ai» 

 age in which we are equally removed from the extremes of 

 youth and old age. See Age. 



The civil lawyers only make one age of youth and virility, 

 and yet their different temperalarcs feem to require a diilinc- 

 lion, for which reafon fome compare youth to fummcr, and 

 virihty to autumn. 



At Rome, the youth quitted the prrctexta at fourteen or 

 fifteen ytars of age, and took the virile gown, togii virilh., 

 to fliew, it feems, that they then entered on a ferious age. 



M. Dacier will have it, that children do not take the prae- 

 texta till thirteen years of age, nor quit it for the toga virilis 

 till feventecn. 



VIRILIA, a man's genitals, or privy members, including 

 the penis and teftes. See Generation. 



The cutting off the viriha, according to Brafton, was fe- 

 lony by common law ; and that whether the party were 

 confenting or not. 



" Hcnricus Hall et A. uxor ejuscapti et detenli in pril^ona 

 de Evilchcfter, eo quod reftati fuerunt, quod ipfi abfcide- 

 runt virilia Johannis Monachi, quern idem Hcnricus de- 

 prehendit cum predifta A. uxore ejus." Rot. Clauf. 

 13 Hen. III. 



VIRILIS Tejis Mufculus, in yinatomy, a name given by 

 Vefalius and others, to the mufclc generally known by the 

 name of the cremaller. 



VIRIMGAM, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in 

 Guzerat ; 55 miles AV. of Amedabad. 



VI RITES, a name by which the writers of the middle 

 ages have called the pyrites. 



VIRIVILLE, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Ifere ; 12 miles N.N.W- of St. Mar- 

 ctllin. 



VIRNENBURG, a tc^wn of France, in the department 

 of the Rhine and MofcUc, late capital of a county, to 

 which it gave name ; 20 milei; \V. of Coblentz. N. lat. 

 50° 27'. E. long. 6° 58'. 



VIROLA, in Botany, the vernacular name in Guiana of 

 a fort of baflafd Nutmeg-tree ; Aubl. Guian. 904. t. 345. 

 Juff. 81. (SeeMvRIsTlCA.) AubKt calls it V.fehifcra, 

 and defcribcs it as a tree from thirty to fixty feet high, and 

 above two feet in diameter, with numerous fpreading 

 branches. Leaves alternate, iLilked, oblong, acute, entire, 

 wavy, eight inches long ; downy beneath. Flowers dioe- 

 cious, in compound, denfc, axillary panicles. Anthers but 

 three. Capfule globofe, pointed, coriaceous, of two valves, 

 containing a feed like a nutmeg, enveloped in a many-cleft 

 tunic, hke mace, and yielding a copious oily .icrid fubftance, 



ufed for making candles This tree i« common in Cayenne 



and Guiana. Swartz in his Fl. Ind. Occ. 1 1 29, and 

 I i Willd. 



