V I N 
855 
V I L 
Pom used but for filing small round work. 
sSee Smithery. 
I Vice is also a machine used by the glaziers 
[to turn or draw lead into Hat rods, with 
grooves on each side to receive the edges of 
the glass. See Glazier’s Vice. 
[ VI CIA, a genus of plants of the class dia- 
jdelphia, and order decandria; and in the na- 
tural system arranged under the 32d order, 
papilionacesc. The stigma is bearded trans- 
versely on the lower side. There are 25 spe- 
cies, seven of which are natives of Britain, 
fl’lie most important are : 
1. The sativa, common vetch, or tare. 
The stalks are round, weak, branched, about 
two feet long. Pinnae five or seven pair, a 
little hairy, notched at the end; stipulae den- 
tated ; flowers light and dark purple, on short 
pedicles, generally two together ; pods erect ; 
seeds black. It is known to be an excellent 
fodder for horses. 
' 2. The cracea, tufted vetch. It has a stem 
branched, three or four feet long. Leaves 
pinnated; pinnae generally 10 or 12 pairs, 
lance-shaped, downy ; stipulate entire ; flowers 
purple, numerous, pendulous, in imbricated 
spikes. It is also reckoned an excellent fod- 
der for cattle. 
3. The faba, or common garden-bean. It 
is a native of Egypt. It is too well known to 
require description. 
VICINAGE. Common of vicinage is, 
where the inhabitants of two townships, which 
lie contiguous, have usually intercommoned 
with one another, the beasts of the one stray- 
ing mutually into the other’s fields without 
'any molestation from either. This, indeed, 
is only a permissive right, intended to excuse 
what in strictness is a trespass in both, and to 
prevent a multiplicity of suits ; and, there- 
fore, either township may inclose and bar out 
the other, though the^y have intercommoned 
time out of mind. Neither has any person of 
one town a right to put his beasts originally 
into the others common ; but if they escape 
and stray there of themselves, the law winks 
at the trespass. 2 Black. 34. See Com- 
mon. 
VIEW, in law, is generally where a real 
action is brought in any of the courts of re- 
Jcord at Westminster, and it shall appear to 
;the court to be proper and necessary that the 
jurors should have a view, they may order 
special writs of distringas, or habeas corpora, 
to issue, commanding the sheriff to have six 
jof the first twelve of the jurors therein named, 
jor of some greater number of them, at the 
' place in question, &c. But as the having a 
jview was not a matter of course, though such 
a practice had prevailed, and had been 
[abused to the purposes of delay, the court 
thought it their duty to take care that their 
ordering a view should not obstruct justice, 
and prevent the cause from being tried ; and 
they resolved not to order one any more, 
without a full examination into the propriety 
and necessity of it. For they were all clear- 
ly of opinion that the act of parliament meant 
j that a view should not be granted, unless the 
! court were satisfied that it was proper and 
I necessary ; and they thought it better that a 
I cause should be tried upon a view had by any 
six, or by fewer than six, or even without any 
| view, than be delayed for any greater length 
| of time. Burr. 25b. 
VILLAIN, or Villein, a man of servile 
■ or base degree. 
V I N 
Of these bondmen or villeins, there were 
two sorts in England : one termed a villain in 
gross, who was immediately bound to the 
person of his lord, and his heirs ; the other, 
villein regardant to a manor, being bound to 
his lord as a member belonging and annexed 
to a manor whereof the lord was owner. 
Both villains regardant, and villains in gross, 
were transferable by deed from one owner to 
another. They could not leave their lord 
without his permission ; but if they ran away 
or were purloi ned from him, might be claim- 
ed and recovered by action like beasts, or 
other chattels,. They held indeed small por- 
tions of land to sustain themselves and fa- 
milies ; but it: was at the mere will of the 
lord, who might dispossess them whenever he 
pleased. A villain cpuld acquire no property 
either in lands or goods ; but if he purchased 
either, the lord might enter upon him, and 
seize them to his own use. 1 Black. 93. 
VILLA II I A, a genus of plants of the class 
and order dioecia pentandria. The calyx 
has five petals ; the perianth, is a three-celled 
berry. It seems to be little known. 
VINCA, in botany, a genus of plants of 
the class pentandria, and order monogynia ; 
and in the natural system arranged under the 
30th order, comforts. The corolla is twist- 
ed ; there are two erect follicles ; the seeds 
are naked. There are five species, only two 
of which are natives of Britain : 1 . The major, 
great periwinkle. 2. The minor, small 
periwinkle. 
VINCULUM, in mathematics, a character 
m form of a line, or stroke, drawn over a 
factor, divisor, or dividend, when compound- 
ed of several letters or quantities, to connect 
them, and shew they are to be multiplied, or 
divided, & c. together by the other term. 
Thus d x « -f- b — c shews that d is to be mul- 
tiplied into a -j- b — c. 
VINE) EMI ATRIX, or Vindemiator, a 
fixed star of the third magnitude in the con- 
stellation Virgo, whose latitude is 16° 12' 34" 
north, and longitude 5° 37’ 40" of Libra, ac- 
cording to Mr. Flamsteed’s catalogue. 
VINE. See Vitjs. 
VINEGAR. See Acid, Chemistry, 
Acetic, and Acetous Acid. 
Vinegar was known many ages before the 
discovery of any other acid, those only ex- 
cepted which exist ready-formed in vegeta- 
bles. It is mentioned by Moses ; and indeed 
seems to have been in common use among 
the Israelites, and other Eastern nations, at a 
very early per iod. It is prepared from wine, 
from beer, ale, and other similar liquids. 
These are apt, as every one knows, to turn 
sour, unless they are kept very well corked. 
Now sour wine or beer is precisely the same ' 
with vinegar. 
Boerhaave describes the following method 
of making vin egar, which is said to be still 
practised in different places: 
Take two large oaken vats or hogsheads, 
and in each of these place a wooden grate or 
hurdle at the distance of a foot from the bot- 
tom. Set tine vessel upright, and on the 
grate place a moderately close layer of green 
twigs or fresh cuttings of the vine, Then fill 
up the vessel with the footstalks of grapes, 
commonly called the rape, to the top of the 
vessel, which must be left quite open. 
Having thus prepared the two vessels, 
pour into them tie wine to be converted into 
vinegar, so as to fill one of them quite up, 
and the other but half-full. Leave them thus 
for 24 hours, and then fill up the half-filled 
vessel with liquor from that which is quite 
full. Four-and-twenty hours afterwards re- 
peat the same operation; and thus go on, 
keeping the vessels alternately full and half- 
full during every 24 hours till the vinegar is 
made. On the second or third day there 
will arise, in the half-filled vessel, a fermen- 
tative motion, accompanied with a sensible 
beat, which will gradually increase from day 
to day. On the contrary, the fermenting 
motion is almost imperceptible in the full 
vessel ; and as the two vessels are alternately 
full and half-full, the fermentation is by that 
means, in some measure, interrupted, and is 
only renewed every other day in each ves- 
sel. 
When this motion appears to have entirely 
ceased, even in the half-filled vessel, it is a 
sign that the fermentation is finished ; and 
therefore the vinegar is then to be put into 
casks close-stopped, and kept in a cool 
place. 
All that is necessary to convert wine or 
beer into vinegar, is the contact of the exter- 
nal air, a temperature of 80°, and the pre- 
sence of some substance to act as a ferment. 
Vinegar is a liquid of a reddish or yellowish 
colour, a pleasant sour taste, and an agree- 
able odour. Its specific gravity varies from 
1.0135 to 1. 02*51, and it differs also in its 
other properties according to the liquid from 
w'hich it has been procured. It is very sub- 
ject to decomposition ; but Scheele discover- 
ed that if it is made to boil for afew moments, 
it may be kept afterwards for a long time 
without alteration. Besides acetic acid and 
water, vinegar contains several other ingre- 
dients, such as mucilage, tartar, a colouring 
matter, and often also two or more vegetable 
acids. When distilled at a temperature not 
exceeding that of boiling water, till about two 
thirds of it have passed over, all these impu ■ 
rities are left behind, and the product is pure 
acid diluted with water. 
The acid thus obtained is a liquid as trans- 
parent and colourless as water, of a strong 
acid taste, and an agreeable colour, somewhat 
different from that of vinegar. In this state 
it is usually called acetous acid, or distilled 
vinegar. See Acetous Acid. 
It may be preserved without alteration in 
close vessels. When exposed to a moderate 
heat, it evaporates completely, and without 
undergoing any change in its properties. 
When exposed to the action of cold, part of 
it congeals. The frozen portion, which con- 
sists almost entirely of water, may be easily 
separated ; and by this method the acid niay 
be obtained in a high degree of concentra- 
tion. The more concentrated the acid is, the 
greater is the cold necessary to produce 
congelation. Mr. Lowitz has ascertained 
that the acid itself, how much soever it may 
be concentrated, crystallizes or congeals at 
the temperature of — 22°. 
When acetat of copper, reduced to powder, 
is put into a retort and distilled, there comes 
over a liquid at first nearly colourless, and 
almost insipid, and afterwards a highly con- 
centrated acid. The distillation is to be con- 
tinued till the bottom of Lie retort is red-hot. 
What remains in it then is only a powder of 
the colour of copper. The acid product. 
