WAT 



Kigh, with lineal- leaves. The flowers are of a crimfoa, oi- 

 role-coloured, hue, not verging towards a fcarlet, or tawny- 

 red. They vary in fize, as may be feen by the two figures 

 in the Eotanical Magazine. The throat is correftly cyhn- 

 drical ; tube generally fhorter than the fpatha, not long;er. 

 We are obliged to content ourfelves with the above fpecific 

 charafters, founded on the proportion of thefe parts, for 

 want of better. Mr. Ker and Mr. Dryander have done 

 much towards the corredl difcrimination of genera and fpe- 

 cies in this favourite tribe, but the fubjeft is far from 

 being exhaufted. 



10. W. rofeo-alba. Long-tubed Watfonia. Ker in 

 Curt. Mag. t. 537. Ait. Epit. 376. (Gladiolus rofeo- 

 albus ; Jacq. Hort. Schoenbr, v. i. 7. t. 13. Vahl Enum. 

 T. 2. 93.) 



/S. Variegated with red. Ker in Curt. Mag. t. 1 193. 



Ait. Epit. 376 Tube about twice the length of the 



throat, limb, or fpatha, making nearly a right angle with 

 the throat. Leaves fword-lhaped, with a midrib. — Native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. The tube is one and a half or 

 two inches long, ere£l ; throat fuddenly deflexed, cylindri- 

 cal, rather (lender, an inch long ; fegments of the limb lan- 

 ceolate, acute, the length of the throat. Anthers \iw\.\\x^ 

 projefting out of the mouth of the flower, violet-coloured. 

 Stigmas in linear fegments. The corolla is either cream-co- 

 loured, with rofe-coloured tints about the mouth and throat, 

 or flefh-coloured blotched with fcarlet, or all over crimfon. 

 The flowert are more numerous and crowded than in W. 

 Meriana and its allies. We cannot doubt the diftinftnefs 

 of this fpecies. 



11. W. aletroiJes. Aletris-flowered Watfonia. Ker in 

 Ann. of Bot. n. 7. Ait. n. 10. Curt. Mag. t. 533. (Gla- 

 diolus tubulofus ; Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 229. Antholyza tubu- 

 lofa; Andr. Repof. t. 174. A. Merianella ; Curt. Mag. 

 t. 441, excluding the reference to Miller.) — Throat de- 

 flexed, four times as long as the fegments of the limb — 

 Found at the Cape of Good Hope by Mr. MafTon, who 

 fent bulbs to Kew garden in 1774. This elegant fpecies 

 bears numerous drooping^^ow^rj, of a rich crimfon, fome- 

 times fpeckled with a darker tint, or with white, and re- 

 markable for their fmall flightly-fpreading limb, fo fliort in 

 proportion to the long tubular deflexed throat, that they re- 

 femble the flowers of an Aletris or Aloe. The leaves are 

 fword-fhaped, narrow, with a central rib not very ftrongly 

 marked, and feveral fmall lateral ones. 



12. W . flriaifltra. Straight- flowered Watfonia. Ker 

 in Curt. Mag. t. 1406. Ait. Epit. 376. — Tube thread- 

 fhaped, twice the length of the fpatha ; throat ereft, very 

 (hort, (lightly dilated ; fegments of the limb elliptical, 

 obtufe, half the length of the tube. Leaves fword-fhaped, 

 with a prominent midrib. — Native of the Cape of Good 

 Hope, from whence it was imported by the honourable 

 W. Herbert. The flem is about twelve or eighteen inches 

 high, with feveral (hortifli taper-pointed leaves at the bottom, 

 and bears about two handfome crimfon fleivers, refembling 

 fonie of the larger IxU, in the fhape, fize, and pofture of 

 the limb, with a very long ftraight (lender tube. Stigmas 

 divided, as in true Watfonia, the only charafter in which 

 this plant anfwers to the genus. On the contrary, Gla- 

 diolus Watfonius, Jacq. Ic. Rar. t. 233. Willd. Sp. PI. 

 v. I. 214. Ait. v. I. 96. Curt. Mag. t. 450 and 569, (fee 

 Gladiolus,) has every charafter and appearance of a Wat- 

 fonia, even a regular i?o'a;(;r, except the narrow deeply cloven 

 Jligmas. We are obbged, therefore, to confefs, that thefe ge- 

 nera do not at prefent reft on any natural dillinftion, how- 

 ever different fome of their fpecies may be from each 

 ether. 



Voi-.XXXVnL 



W A T 



WAT-TAUPAUMENE, or St. Peter, in Geography, 

 a nver of North America, which runs into the Miffifiippi. 

 N. lat. 44° 42'. W. long. 93° 38'. 



WATTEAU, Anthony, in Biography, one of the moft 

 agreeable painters of the French fchool, was born at Valen- 

 ciennes in 1 684. His parents were in indigent circumftances, 

 and he was placed with an obfcure artill in his native city, to 

 cultivate a talent which manifeftcd itfelf early. When he was 

 about 1 6 years old, having already furpaffed his preceptor, 

 he conneded himfelf with a fcene-painter on his way to Paris, 

 and for fome time alTifted his alTociate in decorating the 

 opera-houfo in that city. When this engagement was com- 

 pleted Watteau found it difficult to refcue himfelf from the 

 obfcurity and embarrafTment into which he fell, when happily 

 he became acquainted with Claude Gillot, a painter of gro- 

 tefque and fabulous fubj-cts, who was pleafed with his 

 works and difpofition. Gillot afl'orded him an afylum in Ids 

 own houfe, and then inftrufted him in all he knew of the art, 

 and found an apt and agreeable fcholar in his protegee. With 

 the help he thus received from Gillot, and his own admiratipn 

 and attentive ftudy of the Luxembourg gallery, he formed a 

 tafl:e for colouring, which if not as grand,_is at leaft as agree- 

 able, as ever was employed by any one. 



He attempted to prepare himfelf for hiftorical painting, 

 and ftudied at the academy with that view ; he even was 10 

 fuccefsful as to obtain the firft prize there for an hiftorical 

 pidture ; but happily he difcovered a charafter of fubje A quite 

 original and exaftly fuited to his tafte, for which he wifely 

 deferted hiftory, and which has fince formed plenty of afpir- 

 ants, but has never been fo fuccefsfuUy praftifed. The 

 theatre, the opera, fetes champetres, mafquerades, panto- 

 mimes, puppet-fhows, afforded him his (igures ; the garden* 

 of the Luxembourg and of the Thuilleries, of Verfailles and 

 St. Cloud, furnifhed the fcenes. In thefe nature prevails 

 only in the colouring, and that is exquifite, rich, delicate, 

 clear, and full ; bright without gaudinefs, and deep without 

 blacknefs ; laid on with a freedom, fulnefs, and delicacy of 

 touch, which no one ever furpafled ; but the airs of his 

 figures are generally afFefted to the higheft degree ; people 

 of rank and fafhion, aping the enjoyments of rural life : and 

 when he attempted to paint domeftic or rural fcenes, he 

 carried the fame tafte into his praftice. The true charac- 

 ter of Watteau's piftures is French gentility, gay, cheerful, 

 debonnaire, of which felf-fatisfaftion is the fureft bafis. 

 " In his halts and marches of cavalry, the carelefs ftrut 

 of his foldiers retains the air of a nation that afpires to be 

 agreeable as well as viftorious." Watteau vifited England 

 in the reign of George I., but did not enjoy his health here, 

 and returned to France in about a year, where he died in 1721, 

 at the early age of 37. 



WATTEN, in Geography, a town in Scotland, in the 



county of Caithnefs ; 7 miles N.W. of Wick Alfo, a 



town of France, in the department of the North, on the 

 Aa ; 4 miles N. of St. Omer. 



WATTENSCHIED,a town ofGermany, in the county 

 of Mark ; 5 miles S. W. of Bockum. 



WATTE R, a river which rifes in the county of Wal- 

 deck, and runs into the Erpe, near Volckmarfen. 



WATTERPUTTEN, a town of Hlndooftan, in Con- 

 can ; 5 miles S. of Geriah. 



WATTINAD, a town of Hlndooftan, in the Camatic ; 

 20 miles S.S.E. of Taryore. 



WATTLE, in Agriculture and Rural Economy, a kind of 



hurdle formed by means of fplit wood, or fmail rods, and 



ufed for making folds for iheep. The term alfo fignifiea a 



flefhy excrefcence growing from under the top of the throat* 



B b of 



