*52 
V E 11 
Rad 
inches. 
Parts 
in 
a deg. 
Parts 
in 
vernier. 
Breadth 
of 
vernier. 
Parts 
observed. 
3 
1 
15 
15* 
4' 
0" 
6 
2 
20 
20| 
S 
0 
9 
2 
20 
10* 
1 
so 
12 
2 
24 
12* 
1 
15 
15 
3 
20 
4 
1 
0 
18 
3 
SO 
10* 
0 
40 
21 
4 
SO 
7* 
0 
SO 
24 
4 
36 
9* 
0 
25 
SO 
5 
SO 
7* 
0 
20 
SS 
6 
SO 
54 
0 
20 
42 
8 
30 
0 
15 
48 
9 
40 
4 
0 
10 
60 
10 
36 
Vo 
0 
10 
72 
12 
SO 
9-7- 
0 
10 
S4 
15 i 
40 
2f 
0 
6 
96 
15 | 
60 
4 J 
0 
4 
By altering- the number of divisions, either in 
the degrees or in the vernier, or in both, an an- 
gle can be observed to a different degree of ac- 
curacy. Thus, to a radius of SO inches, if a de- 
gree i r s divided into 12 parts, each being five 
minutes, and the breadth of the vernier is 21 
such parts, or If 0 , and divided into 20 parts, 
then ' ^ x -Q- =-3- = 15": or taking the 
breadth of the vernier 2 |- 0 , and divided into 
111 0 
SO parts ; then — - x — = , or 10" : or 
r 12 SO 360 
h X ik = 600 = 60 "’ Wl ere the breadth 
of the vernier is 4*°. 
VERONICA, a genus of plants of the 
class diandria, and order monogynia; and in 
the natural system arranged under the 40th 
order, personatax The corolla is four-cleft, 
wheel-shaped, with the lowest segment nar- 
rower; capsules superior, two-celled. There 
are 57 species ; 15 are natives of Britain, only 
two of which have been applied to any use: 
3. The officinalis, common male speedwell, 
or fiuelin, growing on heaths and barren 
f rounds. An infusion is recommended by 
Ioffman as a substitute for tea ; but it is 
more astringent and less grateful. The herb 
was formerly esteemed in medicine for va- 
rious disorders, but is now almost totally dis- 
used. Cows, sheep, goats, and horses, eat it ; 
swine refuse it. 2. The beccabunga, or com- 
mon brook-lime. This plant was formerly 
considered as of much use in several diseases, 
and was applied externally to wounds and 
ulcers : but if it has any peculiar efficacy, it 
is to be derived from its antiscorbutic virtue. 
VERSE. See Poetry. 
VERSED sine of an arch, a segment of 
the diameter of a circle, lying between the 
foot of a right sine, and the lower extremity 
©f the arch. 
VERT. See Heraldry. 
VERTEBRAE. See Anatomy. 
VERTEX. See Anatomy. 
VERTICAL "circle, in astronomy, a 
great circle of the sphere passing through the 
zenith and nadir, and cutting the horizon , 
at right angles : it is otherwise called azi- 
muth. 
Vertical plane, in perspective, is a 
plane perpendicular to the geometrical plane, 
passing through the eye, and cutting the per- 
spective plane at right angles. 
VERTIGO. See Medicine, 
V E S 
VERVAIN. See Verbena, 
AESICA, in anatomy, a bladder ; a mem- 
branous or skinny part, in which any humour 
is contained 
VESICATORY, an external medicine, 
serving to raise a blister; whence also it is 
itself, though improperly, called a blister. 
VESPA, wasp, a genus of insects of the 
order hymenoptera. The generic character 
is, mouth with jaws, without proboscis ; upper 
wings pleated ; sting concealed ; eyes lunat- 
ed ; body smooth. 
r l he genus vespa is of great extent, 140 
species ; and is remarkable, like that of apis 
or bee, for the singular dexterity with which 
it constructs its habitation, which in many spe- 
cies is ot considerable size. The common wasp, 
or vespa vulgaris, is known to every one. The 
nest ot this species is a highly curious struc- 
ture, and is prepared beneath the surface of 
some dry bank, or other convenient situation. 
Its shape is that of an upright oval, often mea- 
suring ten or twelve inches at least in dia- 
meter : it consists of several horizontal stages 
or stories of hexagonal cells, the interstices 
oi each story beiug connected at intervals by 
upright pillars ; and the exterior surface of 
the nest consists of a great many layers or 
pieces, disposed over each other in such a 
manner as best to secure the interior cavity 
from the effects of cold and moisture; the 
whole nest, comprizing both walls and cells, 
is composed of a substance very much re- 
sembling the coarser kinds of whitish-brown 
paper, and consists of the fibres of various dry 
vegetable substances, agglutinated by a tena- 
cious fluid discharged from the mouths of the 
insects during their operations. The female 
wasps deposit their eggs in the cells, one in 
each cell appropriated for that purpose ; from 
these are hatched the larvas or maggots, 
which bear a near resemblance to those of 
bees: they are fed by the labouring wasps 
with a coarse kind of honey, and when ar- 
rived at their full size, close up their respec- 
tive cells with a fine tissue of silken filaments, 
and, after a certain period, emerge in their 
complete or perfect form: The male insect, 
like the male bee, is destitute of a sting. 
1 he society or swarm of the common wasp, 
consists of a vast number of neutral or labour- 
ing insects, a much smaller number of males, 
and still fewer females. They do not, like 
bees, prepare and lay up a store of honey for 
winter use ; but the few which survive the 
season of their birth, remain torpid during 
the colder months, Wasps in general are 
both carnivorous and frugivorous. 
The hornet, vespa crabo of Linnaeus, is a 
species of a far more formidable nature than 
the common wasp, and is of considerably 
larger size : its colour is a tawny yellow with 
ferruginous and black bars and variegations. 
r i he nest of this species is generally built in the 
cavity of some decayed tree, or immediately 
beneath its roots ; and not unfrequently in 
timber-yards and other similar situations. It 
is of smaller size than that of the wasp, and of 
a somewhat globular form, with an opening 
beneath; the exterior shell consisting of more 
or few layers of the same strong paper-like 
substance with that prepared by the wasp : 
the cells are also of a similar nature, but 
much fewer in number, and less elegantly 
composed. The hornet, like the wasp, i's 
extremely voracious, and preys on almost 
any kind of lfesh animal substances which it 
V E S 
can obtain, as well as honey, fruit, &c, 
Its sting is greatly to be dreaded, and is often 
productive of very serious consequences. 
A highly elegant wasp’s nest is sometimes 
seen during the summer season, attached or 
hanging by its base to some straw or other 
projecting substance, from the upper part of 
unfrequented buildings or outhouses. It 
does not much exceed the size of an egg, but 
is of a more globular form, and consists of se- 
veral concentric bells, with considerable -in- 
tervals between each, the interior alone being 
entire, and furnished with a small round 
orifice : the rest -reaching only about two- 
thirds from the base of the nest. In the cen- 
tre of the complete or entire bell, is situated 
the congeries of cells, built round a small 
central pillar attached to the base: the cells 
are not very numerous, and their orifices 
look downwards. See Plate Nat. Hist. tiff. 
417. ° 
VESPERTILIO, hat, a genus of mamma- 
lia, of the order primates. The generic 
character is, teeth erect, sharp-pointed, ap- 
proximated ; hands palmated, with a mem- 
brane surrounding the body, and giving the 
animal the power of flight. ' 
'I'he curious formation of these animals 
cannot be contemplated without admiration : 
the bones of the extremities being continued 
into long and thin processes, connected by a 
most delicately formed membrane or skin, 
capable, from its thinness, of being contracted 
at pleasure into innumerable wrinkle's, so as 
to lie in a small space when the animal is at 
rest, and to be stretched to a very wide ex- 
tent for occasional flight. 
Should a speculative philosopher, not 
aware of the anatomical impossibility of suc- 
cess, attempt, by means of light mcahinery, 
to exercise the power of flight, he could not 
hit on a more plausible idea than that of copy- 
ing the structure described. Accordingly, a 
celebrated author has most justly and judicir 
ously represented a sage theorist busied in 
imitating, for this purpose, “ the folding con- 
tinuity of the wing of a bat.” 
The 36 species of this extraordinary genus 
may be divided into the tailed and the tailless 
bats. 
1. Vespertiljo murinus, the common btt, 
is about two inches arid a half, if measured 
from the nose to the tip of the tail; and the 
extent of the wings, when fully expanded, is 
about nine inches. It is of a mouse-colour, 
tinged with reddish ; the wings and ears black : 
these latter are small and rounded. 
2. Vespertilio auritus, long-eared bat.. This 
species, in its general appearance, is nearly 
similar to the former, though rather smaller ; 
and the fur has less of the reddish tinge ; but 
what immediately distinguishes it as a species, 
is the very great size of the ears, which are 
more than an inch long, and of a very con- 
siderable width ; they are slightly rounded at 
the tips, and are furnished internally, as in 
most others of this genus, with a kind of se- 
condary auricle or internal flap, so placed as 
to serve by way of a valve or guard to the 
auditory passage. Linnaeus, even hi the 
twelfth edition of the Systema Naturae, seems 
to entertain a doubt whether this species is 
really distinct from the former, or merely a 
sexual difference. 
This and the former are the two most comr 
mon species in this country ; and are t hose 
which we so often see fluttering about in. the 
