W I I, 
W I L 
W H I 
tliis little whirlwind, by striking my whip 
frequently through it, but without any effect. 
Soon after it quitted the road, and took into 
the woods, growing every moment larger and 
stronger, raising, instead of dust, the old dry 
leaves, with which tire ground was thick-co- 
vered, and making a great noise with them 
j and the branches of trees, bending some tall 
trees lound in a circle swiftly, and very sur- 
prisingly; though the progressive motion of 
the whirl was not so swift, but that a man on 
foot might have kept [race with it ; but the 
circular motion was amazingly rapid. By 
the leaves it was now tilled with, I could 
plainly perceive that the current of air tiiev 
Were driven by, moved upwards in a spiral 
line ; and when I saw the passing whirl con- 
tinue entire after leaving the trunks and bo- 
dies of large trees which it had enveloped, I 
do longer wondered that my whip had no 
■effect on it in its smaller state. 1 accompa- 
nied it about f of a mile, till some limbs of 
dead trees, broken off by the whirl, flying 
about, falling near me, made me more" ap- 
prehensive of danger; and then I stopped, 
looking at the top of it, as it went on, which 
was visible, by means of the leaves contained 
in it, for a very great height above the trees. 
Many of the leaves, as they got loose from 
the upper and widest part, were scattered in 
the wind ; but so great was their height in 
the air, that they appeared no bigger than 
Hies. My son, who by this time was come 
up with me, followed the whirlwind till it 
iytt the woods, and crossed an old tobacco 
field, where, finding neither dust nor leaves to 
[take up, it gradually became invisible below, 
as it went away over that held. The course 
of the general wind then blowing was along 
with us as we travelled; and the progressive 
motion of the whirlwind was in a direction 
nearly opposite, though it did not keep a 
straight line; nor was its progressive motion 
uniform, it making little sallies as it went on 
either side, proceeding sometimes faster and 
'sometimes slower, and seeming sometimes, 
for a few seconds, stationary ; then starting 
forwards pretty fast again. When we re- 
joined the company again, they were admir- 
ing the vast height of the leaves now brought 
by the common wind over our heads. These 
leaves accompanied us as we travelled, some 
falling now and then round about us, and 
some not reaching the ground till we had 
gone near three miles from the place where 
we saw the whirlwind begin. 
WHISPERING-PLACES depend upon 
this principle : [f the vibrations of the tre- 
mulous body are propagated through a long 
tube, they will be continually reverberated 
from the sides of the tube into its axis, and by 
that means prevented from spreading, till 
they get out of it ; whereby they will be ex- 
ceedingly increased, and the sound rendered 
™uch louder than it would otherwise be. See 
Sound. 
Hence it is, that sound is conveyed from 
one side of a whispering-gallery to the oppo- 
site one, without being perceived by those 
who stand in the middle. The form of a 
whispering-gallery is that of a segment of a 
■sphere, or a similar arched figure. 
| Vv ! HS 1 , a well-known game at cards, 
which requires great attention and silence ; 
hence the name. This game is played bv 
four persons, who cut for partners ; the two 
highest and the two lowest are together, and 
VOL. II. ° 'I 
tire partners sit opposite to each other ; the 
person who cuts the lowest card is to deal 
first, giving one at a time to each person, till 
he conies to the last card, which is turned up 
for the trump, and remains on the table till 
each person has played a card. The person 
on the left-hand side of the dealer plays first, 
and whoever wins the trick is to play again, 
thus going on till the cards are played out. 
I he ace, king, queen, and knave, of trumps, 
are called honours ; in case any three of 
these honours have been played between, or 
by either of the two partners, they reckon for 
two points towards the game; and if the four 
honours have been played between or by 
either of the two partners, they reckon for 
four points towards the game, the game con- 
sisting of ten points. The honours are reck- 
oned after the tricks ; all above six tricks 
reckoning also towards the game. 
In Hoyle’s Games may be seen the general 
rules for playing whist, which are too long for 
insertion here. 
WHITING. See Gadus. 
WICKLIFF1STS, or Wic'kliffites, a 
religious sect which sprung up in England in 
the reign of Edward III. and took its name 
from John Wickliff, doctor and professor of 
divinity in the university of Oxford, who 
maintained that the substance of the sacra- 
mental bread and wine remained unaltered 
after consecration ; and opposed the doctrine 
of purgatory, indulgences, auricular confes- 
sion, the invocation of saints, and the worship 
of images. He maintained that children may 
be saved without being baptised ; that priests 
may administer confirmation; that there 
ought to be only two orders in the church, 
that of priests, and that of deacons. He 
made an English version of the Bible, and 
composed two volumes, called Alethia, that 
is. Truth, from which John Husse learned 
most of his doctrines. In short, to this re- 
former we owe the first hint of the reforma-, 
tion which was effected about two hundred 
years after. 
WIDOW, a woman who has lost her hus- 
band by death. In London, and throughout 
the province of York, the widow of a free- 
man, is by custom entitled to her apparel, 
and the furniture of the bed-chamber, called 
the widow’s chamber. 
WIFE. After marriage, all the will of the 
wife, in judgment of law T , is subject to the will 
of the husband, and it is commonly said a feme 
covert has no will. See Husband and Wife. 
WILDERNESS, in gardening, a kind of 
grove of large trees, in a spacious garden, in 
which the walks are commonly made either 
to intersect each other in angles, or have the 
appearance of meanders and labyrinths. 
Wildernesses, says Mr. Miller, should al- 
ways be proportioned to the extent of the 
gardens in which they are made ; for it is 
very ridiculous to see a large wilderness 
planted with tall trees in a small spot of 
ground ; and, on the other hand, nothing can 
be more absurd, than to see little paltry' 
squares, or quarters of wilderness-work, in a 
magnificent large garden. As to the situa- 
tion of wildernesses, they should never be 
placed too near the habitation, nor so as to 
obstruct any distant prospect of the country, 
there being nothing so agreeable as an uncon- 
fined prospect ; but where, from the situa- 
tion Ql the place, the sight is couliued within 
90.5 
the limits of the garden, or there is any thing 
unsightly to be concealed, nothing can so 
agreeably terminate the prospect as a beau- 
tiful scene of the various kinds of trees judi- 
ciously' planted ; and if it is so contrived, that 
the termination is planted circularly, w.th 
the concave towards the sight, it will have a 
much better effect, than if it ends in straight 
lines or angles. The plants should always be 
adapted to the size of the plantation ; for it is 
very absurd for tall trees to be planted in the 
small squares of a little garden ; and in large 
designs small shrubs will have a mean ap- 
pearance. 
As to the walks, those that have the appear- 
ance of meanders, where the eye cannot dis- 
cover more than twenty or thirty yards in 
length, are generally preferable to all others, 
and these should now and then lead into an 
open circular piece of grass ; in the centre of 
which may be placed either an obelisk, statue, 
or fountain ; and, if in the middle of the wil-* 
demess there is contrived a large opening, in 
the centre of which may be erected a dome 
or bauqueting-house, surrounded with a green 
plot of grass, it will be a considerable addition 
to the beauty of the whole. From the sides 
of the walks and openings, the trees should 
rise gradually one above another to the mid- 
dle of the quarters, where should always be 
planted the largest-growing trees, so that the 
heads of all the trees may appear to view, 
while their stems will be hid from the sight. 
Thus those parts which are planted with 
deciduous trees, roses, honey-suckles, spi- 
raeas, and other kinds of low-flowering shrubs, 
may be planted next the walks and openings, 
and at their feet, near the sides of the 
walks, with primroses, violets, daffodils, See. 
not in a straight line, but so as to appear' 
accidental, as in a natural wood. Behind the 
first row of shrubs should be planted syringas, 
hibisrus, mezereons, and other flowering 
shrubs of a middle growth; and these may 
be backed with many other sorts of trees, 
rising gradually to the middle of the quarters. 
The part planted with evergreens may be 
disposed in the following manner, viz. In the 
first line next the great walks, may be placed 
the laurustinus, boxes, spurge-laurel, ju- 
niper, savin, and other dwarf evergreens. 
Behind these may be placed laurels, hollies, 
arbutuses, and other evergreens of a larger 
growth. Next to these may be planted 
alaternuses, phyllireas, yews, cypresses, Vir- 
ginian cedars, and other trees of the same 
growth ; behind these may be planted Nor- 
way and silver firs, the true pine, and other 
sorts of the fir growth ; and in the middle 
should be planted Scotch pines, pinaster, and 
other of the larger-growing evergreens, 
which will afford a most delightful prospect, 
if the different shades of the greens 9 re cu- 
riously intermixed. 
But beside the grand walks and openings, 
there should be some smaller walks through 
the middle of the quarters, where persons 
may retire for privacy; and by the sides of 
those private walks may also be scattered 
some wood flowers and plants, which, if art- 
cully planted, will have a very good effect. 
In the general design for these wilder- 
nesses, there should not be a studied and stiff 
correspondency between the several parts ; 
tor the greater diversity there is in the distri- 
bution of these, the more pleasure thej will 
afford. 
