vaccinal 
a bright-red coloration of the skin occurring sometimes 
in connection with vaccinia. -Vaccinal fever, vaccinia, 
especially in its severer forms. Vaccinal scar. Same 
as vaccine cicatrix (which see, under vaccine). 
vaccinate (vak'si-nat), v. t.; pret. and pp. rae- 
riitated, ppr. cacciHtitiiig. [< vaccine + -ateV. 
Cf. P. racciner = Sp. vacunar = Pg. vaocinar 
= It. rtii-ciii/ire, vaccinate.] 1. To inoculate 
with the cowpox, by means of vaccine matter or 
lymph taken directly or indirectly from the co w, 
for the purpose of procuring immunity from 
smallpox or of mitigating its attack. 2. In a 
general sense, to inoculate with the modified 
virus of any specific disease, in order to produce 
that disease in a mild form or to prevent its at- 
tack. 
vaccination (vak-si-na'shon), n. [= F. V acti- 
vation = Sp. vacunacion = Pg. vaccinag&o = It. 
vaccinasione; as vaccinate + -ion.~\ In med., in- 
oculation with vaccine, or the virus of cowpox, 
as a preventive of smallpox; in an extended 
sense, inoculation with the virus of any specific 
disease. The utility of vaccination with the virus of 
cowpox was discovered by Edward Jenner, an English sur- 
geon, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, the first 
vaccination upon the human subject having been made in 
1796. It consists in the introduction under the skin, or ap- 
plication to an abraded surface, usually on the upper arm 
or thigh, of a minute quantity of vaccine. This is followed, 
in a typical case, in about two days, by slight redness and 
swelling at the point of inoculation, and on the third or 
fourth day by the appearance of a vesicle filled with clear 
fluid, and umbilicated or depressed in the center. About 
the end of the eighth day a ring of inflammation, called the 
areola, begins to form around the base of the vesicle ; it is 
usually hard, swollen, and painful. On the eleventh or 
twelfth day the inflammation begins to subside; the ves- 
icle turns yellow, and then dries up and forms a crust or 
scab, which usually falls off about the end of the third 
week, leaving a permanent scar. The appearance of the 
areola is sometimes attended with rather severe constitu- 
tional disturbance, such as fever, headache, loss of appe- 
tite, swelling of the glands above the part, and a gen- 
eral feeling of malaise. The appearance of this eruption, 
more or less modified from rubbing of the clothes or from 
scratching, is the only certain evidence that vaccination 
has been successful, or has taken. See also vaccine and 
vaccinia. Auto-vaccination, reinoculation of a person 
with virus taken from himself. This not infrequently oc- 
curs accidentally, the lymph from a ruptured vesicle being 
carried on the finger-nails and introduced at some other 
point. 
vaccinationist (vak-si-na'shon-ist), n. [< vac- 
cination + -isi.] One who favors the practice 
of vaccination. Lancet, 1890, 1. 1084. 
vaccination-scar (vak-si-na'shon-skar), n. 
Same as vaccine cicatrix (which see, under vac- 
cine), 
vaccinator (vak'si-na-tor), n. [= F. vaccina- 
teur = Sp. vacunador = Pg. vaccinador = It. 
vaccinatore; as vaccinate + -or 1 .] 1. One who 
vaccinates. H. Spencer, Study of Sociol., p. 287. 
2. A lancet or a scarificator employed in vac- 
cination. See cut under lancet. 
vaccine (vak'sin), a. and n. [< F. vaccin = Sp. 
vactmo = It. vaccino, vaccine (as a noun, F. vac- 
cine = Sp. vacuna = Pg. vaccina = It. vaccina, < 
NL. vaccina), < L. vaccinus, of a cow, < vacca, a 
cow; prob. akin to Skt. / vaf, cry, howl, low; 
cf. voice. Hence vaccinate, etc.] I. a. 1. Of 
or pertaining to cows ; derived from cows : as, 
the vaccine disease, or cowpox. 2. Of or relat- 
ing to vaccinia or vaccination Vaccine agent, 
in certain of the United States, a State officer whose duty 
it is to procure and distribute a supply of pure vaccine 
matter. Vaccine cicatrix, the scar remaining after a 
successful vaccination. It is usually silvery-white, of an 
irregularly circular outline, slightly depressed below the 
level of the surrounding skin, and foveated, or having nu- 
merous shallow pits on its surface. Vaccine lymph, 
matter, virus. Same as II., i. 
II. n. 1. The virus of cowpox or vaccinia, 
used in the process of vaccination as a preven- 
tive of smallpox. Two varieties of vaccine are in use : 
namely, the bovine, that which is obtained directly from 
the heifer, and the humanized, or that which is obtained 
from vesicles on the human subject. The vaccinia follow- 
ing inoculation with bovine virus is usually attended with 
more pronounced local inflammation and constitutional 
symptoms than is that produced by the humanized lymph. 
Vaccine, as employed for vaccination, is prepared in the 
shape of dried lymph on quills or small flat pieces of 
bone or ivory, of fluid lymph in closed capillary glass 
tubes, and of crusts. Also called vaccine lymph, matter, 
or virus. 
2. In a general sense, the modified virus of any 
specific disease introduced into the body by in- 
oculation, with a view to prevent or mitigate a 
threatened attack of that disease or to confer 
immunity against subsequent attacks. 
Also vaccin. 
vaccine-farm (yak'sin-farm), n. A place where 
vaccine virus is cultivated by the systematic 
inoculation of heifers. 
vaccinella (vak-si-nel'a),M. Spurious vaccinia ; 
an eruption which occasionally follows vaccina- 
tion, but which is not true vaccinal eruption. 
6082 
vaccine-point (vak'Nin-point), H. A thin piece 
of bone or ivory, or a quill, sharpened at one 
end and coated'with dried vaccine lymph. The 
inoculation may be made by abrading the skin with the 
sharp point, thus avoiding the use of a lancet. 
vaccinia (vak-sin'i-a), n. [NL., < L. vaceiims, 
of or pertaining to a cow: see vaccine.] Aspe- 
cific eruptive disease occurring in cattle, es- 
pecially in milch cows. It is characterized by an 
eruption, at first papular, then changing to vesicular, sit- 
uated usually at the junction of the teats with the udder. 
The vesicle is umbilicated, the margin being more ele- 
vated than the center, and contains a clear yellowish fluid. 
The skin surrounding it is somewhat inflamed, reddish 
in color, and indurated. The vesicle increases in size up 
to about the tenth day, when the contents become more 
opaque, and a crust begins to form. This crust increases 
in size for a few days, and then dries up and falls off at 
about the end of the third week. During the height of 
the disease there may be a little fever and loss of appetite, 
and the yield of milk may be somewhat diminished ; but 
in general the constitutional disturbance is slight. It is 
by inoculation with lymph taken from the vesicles in this 
disease as it occurs in the cow or in the human subject 
that immunity against smallpox is conferred upon man. 
See vaccination and vaccine. Also vaccina and cowpox. 
Vacciniaceae (vak-sin-i-a'se-e), n. pi. [NL. 
(Lindley, 1845), < Vaccinium + -acex.'} An 
order of gamopetalous plants, of the cohort 
Ericalcs. It is distinguished from the related order 
Ericaceae by the fact that the inferior ovary forms a 
fleshy fruit. It includes about 848 species, belonging to 
27 genera (classed in two tribes, the Thibaudiese and Euvac- 
ciniese), natives of moist mountain woods in temperate 
and cold regions, also numerous in tropical Asia and 
America, with 3 genera in islands of the Pacific. They 
are erect or prostrate shrubs or trees, often epiphytes, 
sometimes with tuberous or thickened stems, and fre- 
quently climbing over trees. The leaves are alternate or 
scattered, generally evergreen, and the flowers are usually 
in bracted racemes. Four genera occur in the United 
States, of which Vaccinium (the type), Gaylussacia, and 
Oxycoccus are the most important, producing the blueber- 
ries, huckleberries, and cranberries of the market ; the 
other genus, Chiogenes, the snowberry, is transitional to 
the EricacesK, or heath family. See cuts under cranberry, 
huckleberry, and Vaccinium, 
vacciniaceous (vak-sin-i-a'shius), a. Belong- 
ing to or characteristic of the Vacciniaceie. 
vaccinic (yak-sin'ik), a. [< vaccine + -ic.] Of 
or pertaining to vaccine. 
Vacciniese (vak-si-m'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. P. 
de Candolle, 1813), < Vaccininm + -eee."] A 
tribe of plants, of the order Vacciniacex, also 
known as Euvaeciniese, The flowers are usually 
small, their substance delicate, and the filaments dis- 
tinct. It includes 9 or 10 genera, of which Vaccinium is 
the type. 
vaccinifer (vak-sin'i-fer), n. [< NL. vaccina, 
vaccine, + L./erre = E. bear 1 .] 1. The source, 
either a person or an animal, of the vaccine 
virus. 2. An instrument used in vaccination. 
Quain, Med. Diet., p. 1724. 
vacciniola (vak-si-ni'o-la), n. [NL., dim. of 
vaccinia, q. v.] A secondary eruption, resem- 
bling that at the site of inoculation, sometimes 
seen after vaccination. 
vaccinist (vak'si-nist), n. [< vaccine + -4st.~] 
1. One who performs vaccination. 2. One 
who favors the practice of vaccination. 
Vaccinium (vak-sin'i-um), n. [NL. (Linnreus, 
1737), < L. vaccinium, blueberry, whortleberry.] 
A genus of gamopetalous plants, type of the or- 
der. VacciniacesE and of the tribe Ewvaecinieie. ; 
the blueberries. It is distinguished from Gaylussacia, 
the huckleberry genus, by the numerous ovules in each cell 
of the ovary and by sometimes having only eight stamens, 
Squaw-huckleberry (Vaccinium stamintum). 
i, flowering branch ; z, branch with fruit ; 3, a flower. 
and from Oxycoccus, the cranberry genus, by usually hav- 
ing the anthers awned on the back. (See cut 7 under sta- 
men, 4.) It includes about 110 species, inhabiting the 
temperate and frigid regions of the northern hemisphere 
and the mountains of the tropics. They are usually 
branching shrubs, rarely trees, a few epiphytic. The 
leaves are generally small, coriaceous, and evergreen, but 
sometimes membranaceous and deciduous ; the flowers 
vacillation 
small, white, pink, or red, disposed in axillary or termi- 
nal racemes or axillary fascicles, rarely solitary, usually 
with bracts. Many of the species yield edible berries. 
(See whortleberry and blueberry, and compare huckleberry, 
cranberry, hurt-, and hurtberry.) The 3 weH-known cir- 
cumpolar species, V. ilyrtillus, V. ulir/inomm, and V. Vi- 
Ks-Idsea, are the only species in Europe, the most im- 
portant being V. MyrtilluK, the whortleberry. V. ulirfi- 
nosurn, the blueberry or bog-bilberry, a smaller shrub 
with terete branches and usually four-parted flowers, is 
common in northern Britain and in Canada. V. Vilis- 
Idxa, the cowberry or mountain-cranberry, with ever- 
green leaves and prostrate stems, yields an acid red berry, 
edible when cooked, and sometimes substituted for the 
cranberry ; it ranges in America from New England to 
Point Barrow, 71 19' north. There are 10 or more species 
in Alaska, and 22 in the United States proper, classed in 4 
distinct groups, of which the smaller are Vitis-ld&a, with 
ovate or globular corolla, and Batodendron, with open 
bell-shaped flowers, and berries little edible. (See farkle- 
berry and squaw-huckleberry.) The blueberries, common 
species of the eastern United States and northward, 
forming the subgenus Cyanococcus, are replaced in the 
Rocky Mountains and Pacific States by the bilberries, 
species of Vaccinium proper, the typical section, which 
are themselves few and rare westward, but range more 
extensively in Canada. About 12 species occur in the 
northwestern United States, 8 of these and 10 others in 
the Southern States, 4 in the Rocky Mountain region, and 
6 or more in Oregon or Nevada. Most species are low 
bushes ; but V. arboreum, the farkleberry, sometimes 
reaches 25 feet in height, and V. corymbosum, the widely 
distributed blue huckleberry of the later summer market, 
is often 10 feet in height. The American cranberry, Oxy- 
coccus macrocarpus, was formerly, and by some authors is 
still, referred to this genus. 
vaccinization (vak"si-ni-za'shon), n. [< vaccine 
+ -ize + -ation."] A very thorough method of 
vaccination, in which repeated inoculations 
are made until the vaceinal susceptibility is 
completely destroyed. 
vaccinosyphilis (vak*si-no-sif'i-lis), . [< vac- 
cine + syphilis."] Syphilis transmitted by im- 
pure humanized vaccine or by infected instru- 
ments used in vaccination. 
vachet, n. [ME., < OF. (and' F.) vache = Sp. 
vaca = Pg. It. vacca, (. L. vacca, a cow: see vac- 
cine.'] A cow; hence, a beast. 
Therfore, thou vache, leve thyn old wrecchednesse. 
Chaucer, Truth, 1. 22. 
vacher (va-sha'), n. [< F. vacher, OF. vachier, 
vaquier = Pr. vaquier = Sp. vaquero = Pg. va- 
qiieiro = It. vaccaro, < ML. vaccarius, cowherd, 
? L. vacca, a cow: see vache and vaccine, and 
cf. vaccary, vachery.'} Same as vaquero. S. 
De Vere, Americanisms, p. 108. [Bare.] 
vachery (vash'er-i), .; pi. vacheries (-iz). 
[< ME. vaclierye, < OF. (and F.) racherie, < ML. 
vaccaria, a cow-house, fern, of 'vaccarius, per- 
taining to a cow: see vaccary, vacher.'] A pen 
or inclosure for cows ; also, a dairy. [Obsolete 
or provincial.] 
Vacherye, or dayre. Vacaria, Prompt. Parv., p. 507. 
Vaccary, alias Vachary (vaccaria), is a house or ground to 
keep Cows in, a Cow-pasture. ... A word of common use 
in Lancashire. Blount, Glossographia (1670). 
Vachery (the ch with its French sound) is the name of 
several farms in different parts of England. 
Latham. (Imp. Diet.) 
vacillancy (vas'i-lan-si), n. [< vacillan(t) + 
-cy. ] A state of vacill ating or wavering ; vacil- 
lation ; inconstancy ; fluctuation. Dr. JET. More, 
Divine Dialogues. [Rare.] 
vacillant (vas'i-lant), a. [< L. racillan(t-)s, ppr. 
of vacillare,_ vacillate : see vacillate."] Vacillat- 
ing; wavering; fluctuating; unsteady. [Bare.] 
Imp. Diet. 
vacillate (vas'i-lat), v. i. ; pret. and pp. vacil- 
lated, ppr. vacillating. [< L. vacillatus, pp. of 
vacillare (> It. vacillare = Pg. vacillar = Sp. 
vacilar = F. vaciller), sway to and fro, vacil- 
late; a dim. or freq. form, prob. akin to Skt. 
V/OTW&, go tortuously, be crooked, vakra, bent: 
see wag.~] 1. To waver; move one way and 
the other; reel; stagger. 
But whilst it [a spheroid] turns upon an axis which is 
not permanent, ... it is always liable to shift and vacil- 
late from one axis to another. Paley, Nat. Theol., xxii. 
2. To fluctuate in mind or opinion ; waver; be 
irresolute or inconstant. 
A self-tormentor he continued still to be, vacillating be- 
tween hope and fear. Southey, Bunyan, p. 30. 
He could not rest, 
Nor firmly fix the vacillating mind, 
That, ever working, could no centre find. 
Crabbe, Works, V. 10. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Waver, Oscillate, etc. (see fluctuate), 
sway. 2. To hesitate. 
vacillatingly (vas'i-la-ting-li), adv. In a vacil- 
lating manner; unsteadily; fluctuatingly. 
vacillation (vas-i-la'shon), n. [Formerly also 
vacilation; < OF. (and F.) vacillation = Sp. vaci- 
lacion = Pg. vacillacao = It. vacillazione, < L. 
vacillatio(n-), a reeling, wavering, < vacillare, 
pp. vacillatus, sway to and fro: see vacillate.'] 
1. The act of vacillating; a wavering; a mov- 
