W O M 



it would, in Italy, be a fervice to mankind, and in the reft 

 of Europe render church mufic infinitely more pleafing and 

 perfeft ; in general, the want of treble voices, at leaft of 

 fuch as have had fufficient time to be polifhed, and rendered 

 fteady, deftroys the effefts of the befl compofitions, in 

 which, if the principal melody be feeble, nothing but the 

 fubordinate parts, meant only as attendants, and to enrich 

 the harmony of the whole, can be heard. 

 Women, Appeals of. See Appeal. 

 Women, Jury of. See Jury of Matrons. 

 Women, Stealing, or Seduaion of, is punifhable by the 

 ftatute 4 & 5 Ph. & Mar. cap. 8. which enafts, that if any 

 perfon above the age of fourteen unlawfully (hall convey 

 or take away any woman child unmarried, ( which is held to 

 extend to baftards as well as to legitimate children,) within 

 the age of fixteen years, from the poffeffion and againft the 

 will of the father, mother, guardians, or governors, he 

 {hall be imprifoned two years, or fined at the difcretion of 

 the juftices : and if he deflowers fuch maid or woman child, 

 or, without the confent of parents, contracts matrimony 

 with her, he fhall be imprifoned five years, or fined at the 

 difcretion of the juftices, and fhe fhall forfeit her lands to 

 her next of kin, during the life of her faid huftiand. But this 

 latter part of the aft is now rendered almoft ufelefs, by 

 proTifions of a very different kind, which make the mar- 

 riage totally void, in the ftatute 26 Geo. II. cap. 33. See 

 Marriage. See alfo Forcible yibduaion. Rape, and 

 Ravishment. 



WOMB, Matrix, or Uterus, in Anatomy, that part of 

 the female of any kind, wherein the foetus is conceived and 

 nourifhed till the time of its delivery. 



The ancient Greeks called the matrix, /Ltnrfii, from ^ir>if, 

 mother : whence diforders of the womb are ftill frequently 

 cailed fts of the mother. They alfo call it uoTw^a, as being 

 the laft of the entrails, by its fituation. Sometimes they 

 alfo call it (pvmi, or natura; and vulva, from volvv, to fold, 

 or envelope, or from valva, doors. See Uterus. 



Womb, Dropfy of the. See Dropsy. 



Womb, Falling down of the. See Procidentia Uteri. 



Womb, Inflammation of the. See Inflammation. 



Womb, Suffocation of the. See Suffocation. 



Womb, Ulcers of the. See Ulcers. 



Womb, in Geography, a town of Sweden, in the province 

 of Skonen ; 12 miles E. of Lund. 



WOMBACH, a town of Germany, in the county of 

 Rieneck ; 3 miles S. of Lohr. 



WOMBAT, in Zoology, an animal of which Mr. E. 

 Home has given an anatomical defcription in the 2d part of 

 the 98th volume of the Philofophical Tranfaftions. It was 

 brought from the iflands in BafTa's ftraits, and lived with him 

 in a domefticated ftate for two years. Whenever it had an 

 opportunity, it burrowed in the ground, and covered itfelf 

 in the earth with furprifing quicknefs. It was quiet in the 

 day, but in conftant motion during the night ; very fenfible 

 of cold ; ate all kinds of vegetables ; was particularly fond 

 of new hay, which it ate ftalk by flalk. It appeared at- 

 tached to thofe to whom it was accuftomed, and who were 

 kind to it. It allowed children to pull and carry it about, 

 and when it bit them it was not in anger or with violence. 

 It appeared to have arrived at its full growth, weighed 

 about, twenty poundi, and was about two feet two inches 

 long. Another animal called the ' Koala,' is a fpecies of 

 the wombat, partaking of its peculiarities. It inhabits the 

 forefts of New HoUand, about fifty or ilxty miles S.W. of 

 Port Jackfon, whither it was brought in Augult 1803, and 

 is called by the natives the ' koala wombat.' It is com- 

 monly about two feet long and one high ; in the girth about 



WON 



a foot and a half: it is covered with fine foft fur, lead- 

 coloured on the back and white on the belly : the ears are 

 fhort, ereft, and pointed ; the eyes generally ruminating, 

 fometimes fiery and menacing : it bears no fmall refemblance 

 to the bear in the fore-part of its body : it has no tail ; and 

 its cuftoniary pofture is fitting. The New Hollanders eat 

 the flefh of this animal ; and are very dextrous in the purfuit 

 of it, climbing with wonderful rapidity the loftieft gum-trees 

 in fearch of it. The koala feeds upon the tender fhoots of 

 thefe trees ; and during the day refts on the tops of them, 

 either feeding at eafe, or fleeping. In the night it defcends, 

 prowls about in fearch of fome particular roots, creeping 

 rather than walking ; and when incenfed or hungry, it utters 

 a long fhrill yell, and afTumes a fierce and menacing look. 

 Thefe animals are found in pairs, and the young is carried 

 by the mother on its fhoulders. It foon forms an attach- 

 ment to the perfon who feeds it. 



The external form of the wombat has been defcribed by 

 M. GeofFroy, in the 2d volume of the " Annates du Mufeum 

 National de France ;" and feveral parts of its internal ftruc- 

 ture have been taken notice of by M. Cuvier, in his " Lemons 

 d'Anatomie Compare." The mechanifm of the bones and 

 mufcles of the hind legs differs in many refpefts from that 

 of all other animals, except the koala. This has been mi- 

 nutely examined and defcribed by Mr. Brodie, at the defire 

 of Mr. Home ; and it appears that there is nothing fimilar 

 to it in the hind legs of the mole, or other burrowing ani. 

 mals. The internal ilruAure of the wombat refembles that 

 of the beaver ; but it is fo different from that of the kan- 

 garoo, and all the other animals of the opofFum tribe, that 

 it forms a very extraordinary peculiarity. The male and 

 female organs of generation have been defcribed ; the former 

 by M. Cuvier, and the latter by Mr. Bell in New South 

 Wales. The male and female organs of the wombat and 

 koala are fimilar to thofe of the opoffum ; and hence it is 

 concluded, that thefe animals form the intermediate link be- 

 tween the opoffum and kangaroo. See Didelphis. 



WOMBINELLORE, in Geography, a town of Hin- 

 dooftan, in Baramaul. It was taken by the Britifh, under 

 general Meadows ; 100 miles S.E. of Seringapatam. N. 

 lat. ii°43'. E. long. 78° 15'. 



WOMBORN, a townfhip of England, in Staffordfhire j 

 3 miles S.W. of Wolverhampton. 



WOMELSDPRF, a town of Pennfylvania ; 15 miles 

 W. of Reading. 



WONDA, a town of Africa, in Manding ; 30 miles 

 N.E. of Kamalia. See Manding. 



WoNDA, a river of Manding, which, at Fonilla, a fmall 

 walled village on its banks, is called Ba Woolima ( red river ) ; 

 and towards its fource it has the name of Ba Qui (white 

 river) ; the middle part of its courfe being called Wonda. 

 WONDER. See Miracle. 



The feven wonders of the world, as they are popularly 

 called, were, the Egyptian pyramids ; the maufoleum ereAed 

 by Artemifia ; the temple of Diana at Ephefus ; the walls 

 and hanging gardens of the city of Babylon ; the cololfus, 

 or brazen image of the fun, at Rhodes ; the ftatue of Ju- 

 piter Olympius ; and the pharos, or watch-tower, of Pto- 

 lemy Philadelphus ; inftead of the latter, fome reckon the 

 royal palace of Cyrus, built by Menon, the ftones of which 

 were cemented with gold. See Pyramid. 

 WONDERFUL Water. See Water. 

 WONDRA, or WoNDREB, in Geography, a river which 

 rifes in Bavaria, and runs into the Egra, near Kbnigfberg, 

 in Bohemia. 



WONDRZEGOW, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 

 Kaurzim ; 10 miles W.S.W. of Kaurzim. 



WONSDORF, 



