VOL 



V O L 



the contrary, the motion of a man dragged to prifon is not 

 vohuitary. 



The fecond, that the aftion be performed with a perfect 

 intelligence of the end, and circumftances of it ; in which 

 fenfe the aftions of brutes, children, fleeping people, &c. 

 are not properly voluntary. 



Anatomills diftinguilh between the voluntary and natural 

 or involuntary motions in the body. Of the latter kind are 

 thofe of the heart, lungs, pulfe, &c. 



VotUNTARY, in Mu/ic, a piece played by a mufician ex- 

 tempore, according to liis fancy. This is often ufed before 

 he begins to fet himfelf to play any particular compofition, 

 to try the inftrument, and to lead him into the key of the 

 piece he intends to perform. See Research. 



In thefe performances, we have frequently heard great 

 players produce paflages and efFefts in fits of enthufiafm and 

 infpiration, that have never appeared on paper. In thefe 

 happy moments 



" Such founds efcape the daring artift's hand 

 As meditation never could command ; 

 And though the flaves to frigid rules may Hart, 

 Tiiey penetrate and charm the feeling heart." 



In the Philofophical Tranfaftions, N° 483. feft. 2. we 

 have a method of writing down extemporary voluntaries, or 

 other pieces oi muiic, as fail as any matter can play them 

 on the organ, or harpfichord ; and that in a manner ex- 

 preflive of all the varieties thofe inflruments are capable of. 

 This is performed by a cylinder, turning equally upon its 

 axis, under the keys of an organ, and by having points 

 under the heads of the keys. Hence, when they are prefTed 

 down, they will make a fcratch or mark on the cylinder, 

 which may fhew the duration of the note ; and the fituation 

 of this mark on the cylinder will (hew what note was 

 touched. For farther particulars we refer the curious to 

 the Tranfaftion itfelf. 



Voluntary ./^^rn/, Efcape, Homkule, Novation; fee the 

 fubftantives. 



VOLUNTEERS, in the Military Art, perfons who 

 enter of their own accord to ferve in the army. See 



iLlSTING. 



On occafion of danger from invafion, the people have been 

 nvited to form themfelves into volunteer corps for their own 

 proteftion. A plan for this purpofe was propofed by earl 

 Shelburne, then fecretary of ftate, in 1782, when the French 

 threatened an invafion of this country ; but as peace foon 

 took place, the plan was not put in execution. In fimilar 

 circumftances of preparations on the part of the enemy, 

 and menaces of a defcent in 1797, a propofal of the fame 

 kind was made by Mr. Dundas, and accepted in every part 

 of the kingdom with the utmoft alacrity and zeal ; and in a 

 very few months a new army of citizens was enrolled and 

 muttered, in appearance equal to the regular and mihtia 

 forces, and in the difcipline of the parade very httle inferior. 

 Previoufly to this, from the very commencement of the war, 

 volunteer companies had been raifed in different parts of 

 Englandamong the refident inhabitants, particularly in the 

 towns contiguous to the fea-coaft. At the fame time troops 

 of horfe were kvied among the gentlemen and yeomen of 

 the country, upon the fame principle with the volunteer 

 companies. Thefe were called the yeomanry cavalry. Of 

 thefe volunteer corps, both of horfe and foot, fome ferved 

 without any pay from government : others received pay and 

 allowances, under certain regulations. The provifions and 

 regulations, pertaining to volunteers, whilft their corps 

 10 



exitted, were cftablifhed by the 44 Geo. III. c. 54. But it 

 is now needlcfs to enlarge on this fubjeift. 



\ OLUNTII, in Ancient Geography, a people who in- 

 habited the E. coaft of Hibernia, S. of the Daunii. Ptol. 



VOLUNTOWN, in Geography, a town of Connefticut, 

 was fettled in 1696, containing 1016 inhabitants; 20 miles 

 N.E. of Norwich. 



VOLVOX, in the Linnaean fyftem of Natural Hijlory, a 

 genus of the order of Infuforia, in the clafs of Vermes. Its 

 charaAers are, that it is inconfpicuous with a naked eye, 

 very fimple, pellucid, and fphericd. The body of this ani- 

 mal is fmooth, gelatinous, roundifh, without joints, and 

 formed for a whirling or vertiginous motion. Its young are 

 roundifh, and lodged in fmall holes in different parts of the 

 body. Of this genus, Gmelin enumerates ten fpecies : wz. 

 the bulla, piletts, globator, dimiJialus, fpharula, uva, lunula, 

 conjliffor, pilula, znd'-lotulus. See Vermes. See alfo Globe 

 Animalcule and Bek jE. 



VOLUPIA, in Mythology, the goddefs of pleafure, the 

 feigned daughter of Cupid and Pfyche, who' had a temple 

 at Rome, in which was her ftatue ; and a feiUval in honour 

 of her was celebrated annually on the 2 1 ft of December. 



VOLURA, in Gcorraphy, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Po, during the French revolution ; 7 miles 

 W. of Turin. 



VOLUSENUS, Florentius, Florence Wilson, in 

 Biography,^. d\Mngmih<-A poet of the l6thcentury,profecuted 

 his ftudies, firil at Aberdeen, and afterwards at Paris, where 

 he was intrufted with the tuition of cardinal Wolfey's ne- 

 phew. After the uncle's death, he was patronized by two 

 other cardinals, Jean de Lorraine and Jean de Bellay. As 

 he was proceeding with the latter towards Rome, in 1538, 

 he was feized with an indifpofition which detained him at 

 Carpentras. Here he waited on cardinal Sadolet, then 

 bifiiop of the fee ; who was fo delighted with his literary 

 accomphfhments and elegant manners, that he placed him 

 at tlie head of a clafiical feminary in that city. Wilfon af- 

 terwards intended to revifit his native country^, but death 

 overtook him at Vienna, in the year 1546. F. Wilfon was 

 a fcholar whom Buchanan has celebrated as dear to the 

 Mufes. He is known as the author of a claffical dialogue 

 on tranquiUity of mind, entitled " De Animi Tranquilitate 

 Dialogus:" Lugd. apud Gnyphium 1543, 4to, 



VOLUSPA, q. d. the oracle of the prophetefs, \n Mytho- 

 logy, a poem of about four hundred verfes, forming part of 

 the ancient Edda ; which fee. 



The Edda is a collection of various odes, which, as fome 

 have fuggefted, are the fragments only of a much larger 

 work, long loft to the world. It has been generally afcribed, 

 as we have mentioned under the article Edda, to Sasmund 

 Sigfufon, an eminent Icelander, born A.D. 1056 or 1057, 

 who, from his knowledge, writings, and various acquire- 

 ments, has been called by fucceeding authors. Erode, or the 

 learned. His claims, however, have been contefted ; and 

 ftrong reafons have been urged for believing that Sasmund did 

 not compofe, perhaps not even compile, the Edda which is 

 afcribed to him. The principal opponent of Sxmund's claim 

 to the firft Edda is Amas Magnaeus ; whofe recondite in- 

 quiries into the early literature of Iceland have given him 

 much celebrity. See his Life of S^emund Erode, prefixed 

 to the Edda Stmunder, Hafniae, 1787, cited by fir George 

 Steuart Mackenzie, bart. in his " Travels in the liland of 

 Iceland," 18 10. 



VOLUTA, the Volute, in Natural Hiflory, the name of 

 a genus of fhells, for an account of which fee Conchology. 

 Gmelin enumerates 141 fpecies. 



VOLUTE, 



