Valentinian 
redemption wrought upon earth followed and repeated 
a redemption wrought in the spiritual world. The Val- 
entinians sought support for their system in an allegori- 
cal method of exposition of Scripture, especially of Paul's 
epistles and the prologue of John's gospel. See Gnostic, 
eon, 2, demiurge. 
Valentinianism (val-en-tin'i-an-izm), n. [< 
Valentinian + -ism.'] The system of doctrines 
maintained by the Valentinians. 
valentinite (val'en-tin-it), . [After Basil 
Fall n ti in; an alchemist of the 15th century, 
who discovered the properties of antimony.] 
Native oxid of antimony (Sb 2 O 3 ), occurring in 
orthorhombic crystals and massive, of a white 
to brown or pink color and adamantine luster. 
It has the same composition as senarmontite, 
but differs in crystalline form. Also called an- 
timony-bloom. 
Valentin's corpuscles. Small roundish bod- 
ies found in nerve-tissue ; amyloid bodies. 
valeraldehyde (val-e-ral'de-hid), M. [< vale- 
r(ian) + aldehyde.] "A mobile liquid having 
an irritating odor (CiHg.CHO). It is produced 
by the oxidation of amyl alcohol. Formerly 
called valeral. An isomeric valeraldehyde with 
a fruit-like odor is also known. 
valerate (val'e-rat), . [< F. valerate; as va- 
ler(ian) + -ate^-.] A salt of valerianic acid. 
valerian 1 (va-le'ri-an), n. [Early mod. E. va- 
liryaii ; < ME. valerian, < OF. valerians, F. va- 
leriane = Pr. Sp. Pg. It. valeriana = I), vale- 
riaan = Dan. valeriana, < ML. valeriana, vale- 
rian, prob. < L. Valerianus or Valerius, a per- 
sonal name, < valere, be strong: see valiant.] 
1. A plant of the genus Valeriana. The common, 
officinal, or great wild valerian is V. oficinalis, native 
through Europe and Asiatic Russia, cultivated for its 
medicinal root and somewhat for ornament. It is a herba- 
ceous plant with a perennial rootstock ; the stem is erect, 
from 2 to 4 feet high, and furrowed ; the leaves are opposite 
and pinnate ; and the flowers are small, white or pinkish. 
i, Flowering plant of Valerian ( Valeriana offtcinalis) ; 2, the in- 
florescence ; a. flower with bract; b, section of ovary; c, fruit with 
pappus. 
in terminal corymbs. The root is an officinal drug haying 
the property of a gentle stimulant, with an especial direc- 
tion to the nerves, applied in hysteria, epilepsy, etc. Its 
virtue resides chiefly in a volatile oil the oil of valerian. 
It is of a pungent disagreeable odor, which is attractive 
to cats, and also, it is said, to rats ; it is therefore used as 
a bait. In England in the sixteenth century, valerian, 
under the name of settvatt, was regarded as a panacea ; 
but the species appears to have been V. Pyrenaica, a 
plant there cultivated, and naturalized from Spain. V. 
Phu from western Asia, called garden valerian, is also 
cultivated, and affords a root of weaker property. V. 
Dwicaridis is believed to be the true valerian or phu 
(fav) of the ancient Greeks. There are three species of 
valerian in North America, the most notable being V. edu- 
lis, edible valerian, whose thickened roots, after prolonged 
cooking in the ground, formerly formed a staple food of 
the Digger Indians. 
Herbes coude I telle eek many oon, 
As egremoin, valerian, and lunarie. 
Chaucer, Prol. to Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 247. 
2. The rootstocks of the officinal valerian, or 
some preparation from them. 
Valerian, calmer of hysteric squirms. 
O. W. Holmes, Rip Van Winkle, M. D., i. 
Cats' valerian, the common valerian. Garden vale- 
rian. See def. 1. Greek valerian, primarily Polemo- 
nium cseruleum , the Jacob's-ladder : called by the old her- 
balists Valeriana Oreeca, having been mistaken for the vale- 
rian of the ancient Greeks. The name is extended to the ge- 
nus, including the American P. reptans, sometimes named 
creeping Oreek valerian by translation of the (inapt) spe- 
cific name. It is a much lower plant than the Jacob's- 
ladder, with weak stems, Mowers light-blue, nodding in 
small corymbs, delicate, and pretty. Oil of valerian. 
See def. 1. Red valerian, Centranthus niter, native in 
the Mediterranean region, long cultivated forits handsome 
oblong panicle of red flowers, which have given it the pro- 
vincial name of scarlet lightning. Spur or spurred va- 
lerian, the red valerian : thus named from its spurred 
corolla-tube. See Centranthus. Valerian-pug, Eupithe- 
6688 
da mlerianata, a British geometrid moth whose larva feeds 
on valerian. Wild valerian, the common valerian. 
Valerian 2 (va-le'ri-au), a. [< L. Valerius (see 
def.).] Pertaining to any one of the name of 
Valerius. Valerian law, the law proposed and carried 
by Valerius Pulilicola when consul (r,08 B. c.?), granting to 
every Roman citizen the right of appeal from the summary 
jurisdiction of consuls. 
Valeriana (va-le-ri-a'na), 11. [NL. (Tourne- 
fort, 1700; earlier in L'obel, 1576): see mla- 
rian 1 .] A genus of gamopetalous plants, type 
of the order Valerianese, the source of valerian. 
It is characterized by triandrous flowers with a spurless 
corolla, and fruit crowned with the pappose limb of the 
calyx. It contains about 150 species, chiefly perennial 
herbs with entire, toothed, or dissected leaves, and white 
or pink flowers, usuallyin terminal cymes. They inhabit 
the temperate and arctic regions of both hemispheres, 
and mountains further south, a few occurring in India 
and in Brazil. For the species, see valerian^, also setwall, 
nard, 4, and Celtic and Cretan spitcenard (under spikenard). 
There are 8 species in the United States, mostly western, 
with one, V. scandens, in southern Florida, and another, V. 
pauciflora, peculiar to the middle of the eastern and cen- 
tral region. V. sylvatica occurs from New York, and V. 
edulis from Ohio, northward and westward. See cut under 
valerian^. 
Valerianaceae (va-le"ri-a-na'se-e), n. pi. [NL. 
(Lindley, 1836), <t Valeriana 4- -acese.] Same 
as Valerianeee. 
valerianaceous (va-le"ri-a-na'shius), a. Of, or 
characteristic of, the plant-order Valerianeee. 
valerianate (va-le'ri-an-at), n. [< valerian 1 + 
-ate 1 .] A salt of valeric acid. 
Valerianese (va-le-ri-a'ne-e), n. pi. [NL. (A. 
P. de Candolle (1815), < Valeriana + -ese.~\ An 
order of gamopetalous plants, the valerian 
family. It is distinguished from the threeother orders 
of the cohort Asterales by its free anthers and exalbumi- 
nous seeds. The flowers are either regular or irregular, 
commonly with the stamens fewer than the corolla-lobes. 
The ovary contains a perfect cell with one pendujous 
ovule (unlike the erect ovule of the related Compositet\ 
and differs from all the related orders in the usual addi- 
tion of two empty or rudimentary cells. There are about 
275 species, belonging to 9 genera, of which Valeria>ia 
(the type), Fedia, yardogtachys, Centranthus, and Valeria- 
nella are the most important. They are natives of cold 
north temperate regions of the Old World, more abundant 
in America, especially in the west and the Andes. They are 
annual or perennial herbs, occasionally somewhat shrub- 
by, usually with a peculiar odor, sometimes a source of 
perfumes, as in spikenard and some valerians. They bear 
opposite leaves, often mostly radical, and flowers usually 
sessile in dichotomous cymes, either white, red, or bluish, 
or, in the genus Patrinia, yellow. Although the order is 
closely related to the Composite, the inflorescence is sel- 
dom at all capitate or involucellate. The fruit isanachene 
crowned with the persistent border of the calyx. Many 
of the species are highly esteemed in medicine for tonic, 
anti-spasmodic, or stimulating properties. 
Valerianella (va-le"ri-a-nel'a), n. [NL. (Tovir- 
nefort, 1700), < Valeriana + Him. -ella.~] A ge- 
nus of gamopetalous plants, of the order Va- 
lerianesp, chiefly distinguished from Valeriana 
by its toothed, lobed, awned, or horned, but 
never pappous calyx. There are about 55 spe- 
cies, annual herbs, dichotomously branched, with entire, 
dentate, or pinnatifld leaves, and cymes of white, pale- 
blue, or pink flowers. The genus is chiefly confined to 
the Mediterranean region, extending into central Europe, 
but occurs in North America, and a few species are widely 
naturalized. Several species produce tender foliage, eaten 
as lettuce. V. oKtoria, a species with pale-green leaves 
and small slate-colored flowers, widely diffused in Europe, 
North Africa, and Asia, formerly known as white pot-herb 
and lamb'g-lettuce, and latterly as corn-salad, is now often 
cultivated under glass as an early salad under the name 
of fetticus. (See cut under dichotomy.) Twelve spe- 
cies, formerly classed under the related monotypic genus 
Fedia, are natives of the United States ; four species of 
Oregon are peculiar in their spurred corollas. V. Woodtti- 
ana, with roundish, and V. chenopodtfolia (Fedia Fagopy- 
rum\ with somewhat triangular fruit, extend from the 
south into New York. 
valerianic (va-le-ri-an'ik), a. [< valerian 1 + 
-ic.] Same as valeric. 
valeric (val'e-rik), a. [< F. ralerique; as va- 
ler(ian) + -ic.~] Derived from or related to 
valerian Valeric acid, an acid having three mcta- 
meric forms and the general formula C5HioO2- The com- 
mon acid distilled from valerian-root is optically inactive, 
a mobile liquid with caustic acid taste and the pungent 
smell of old cheese. Its salts have been somewhat used 
in medicine. 
valeryl (val'e-ril), n. [< valer(ian) + -yl.'] The 
hypothetical univalent radical CgHgO. 
Valesian (va-le'shian), . [< LGr. OimM/oiot, < 
Oid/.)?f, L. Valens, their founder.] One of an 
ancient Arabian Christian sect accused of prac- 
tising self-mutilation as a religious rite. 
valet (val'et or val'a), n. [Formerly also val- 
ett; < OF. valet, rallet, < vaslet, later also varlet, 
with intrusive r (> E. varlet, q. v.), F. ralct, a 
man-servant, valet de chambre, F. dial, vdlrl, ;i 
farm-hand, = Pr. raslet, vaylet, vallet = Wall. 
ralet, a bachelor, varlet, servant, < ML. vassa- 
li-tl/is, dim. of vassalis, a vassal: see vassal. 
Doublet of rarlet.] 1. A man-servant who at- 
tends on a man's person. Also called ralet de 
chambrc. Valets, or varlets, were originally the sons of 
Valhalla 
knights, and later sons of the nobility before they attained 
the age of chivalry, who served as pages. 
The King made him (W. de La Pole) his valect. 
Fuller, Worthies, Yorkshire, III. 439. 
On that very morning had . . . [the boots) come for the 
first time under the valet's depurating hand. 
Barham, Ingoldsby Legends, I. 23. 
2. In the manege, a kind of goad or stick armed 
with a point of iron Valet de place (va la'de-plas'), 
in French cities, and hence outside of France also, a man 
who otters his personal services to the public, especially to 
strangers, for hire, as in the capacity of guide, and for do- 
ing errands and commissions. 
I was yawning back to the hotel through the palace- 
nai-deii, a valet-tie-place at my side, when I saw a young 
lady seated under a tree. 
Thackeray, 1 itz-Boodle's Confessions, Dorothea. 
valet (val'et or val'a), v. t. [< valet, n.] To 
attend on as valet ; act the valet to. 
He wore an old full-bottomed wig, the gift of some 
dandy old Brown whom he had valeted in the middle of 
last century. T. Huyhes, Tom Brown at Rugby, i. 2. 
valetudinaria, n. Plural of valetudinarinm. 
valetudinarian (val-e-tu-di-na'ri-an), a. and n. 
[< valetudinary + -an.] I. a. Being in a poor 
state of health; weak; infirm; invalid; deli- 
cate ; seeking to recover health. 
This kind of valetudinarian effeminacy, this habit of 
coddling himself, appears in all parts of his conduct. 
Macaulay, Sir W. Temple. 
My feeble health and valetudinarian stomach. 
Coleridge. 
II. u. A person of a weak, infirm, or sickly 
constitution; one who is seeking to recover 
health; an invalid. 
I would cry out to all the valetudinarians upon earth 
Drink tar-water. 
Dp. Berkeley, To T. Prior on Virtues of Tar-water, i. 11. 
Also valetudinary. 
valetudinarianism (val-f-tu-di-na'ri-an-izm), 
M. [< raletuilinarian + -ism.'] A state of feeble 
health ; infirmity. 
valetudinariness (val-e-tu'di-na-ri-nes), n. 
The state of being valetudinary. 
valetlldinarious (val-e-tu-di-na'ri-us), a. [< 
L. raletudinarius : see valetudinary.] Valetudi- 
nary. 
About the beginning of January he began to be very 
valetudinarious, labouring under pains that seem'd Ischi- 
atick. C. Mather, Mag. Chris., vi. 7. 
valetudinarium (val-e-tu-di-na'ri-um), n. ; pi. 
I'aletudinaria (-a). [L.,neut. ofvaletudinarius: 
see valetudinary.] In Bom. antiq., an infirmary 
or hospital . Services of this class were attached to camps 
and other military centers. In ancient Greece from a very 
early time regularly organized hospitals were connected 
with the cult of ^sculapius. 
The valetuainarium which appears to have existed in a 
Roman camp. Encyc. Brit, XII. 301. 
valetudinary (val-e-tu'di-na-ri), a. and n. [< 
F. valetudinaire = Sp. Pg. It. raletudinario, < 
L. valetndinarivs, sickly, in bad health, as a 
noun, a sick or infirm person, < valetudo (-din-), 
sickness, infirmity, a bad state of health, a par- 
ticular use of valetiido, state of health, < valere, 
be strong: see valid.] Same as valetudinarian. 
I had much discourse with his lordship, whom I found 
to be a person of extraordinary parts, but a valetudinarie. 
Evelyn, Diary, Feb. 9, 1666. 
valetudinoust (val-e-tu'di-nus), a. [< L. vale- 
titdo (-din-), sickness, + -CMS.] Valetudinarian. 
Fuller, Hist. Cambridge Univ., vii. 35. 
valewt, M. An old spelling of value. 
valgUS (val'gus), n. ; pi. ralgi (-ji). [L., bow- 
legged.] 1. A bow-legged man. The term genu 
valgum is incorrectly employed for knock-knee, 
bow-legs being designated by genu varum. 2. 
A form of clubfoot characterized by e version of 
the foot: more fully called talipes valgtix Hal- 
lux yalgus, a deformity of the foot characterized by ad- 
duction or outward displacement of the great toe, which 
often lies across the other toes. It is a frequent cause of 
painful bunion. Talipes valgus. Same as valyus, 2. 
Valhalla (val-hal'a),. [Also Walhallti ; = F. 
Vallialla, Walhalld = Sp. Valhala, < NL. Val- 
linllii, < Icel. vall>6ll (gen. valliallar) (= G. Wal- 
lialla,TVal!<aU, after Icel.), lit. 'hall of the slain,' 
< valr, the slain, slaughter (= Dan. ral, in comp. 
valplads, battle-field, = G. icalil-, wal- (in comp. 
wahl-statt, wal-statt, battle-field) = AS. wsel, 
slaughter, the slain, a corpse, also in comp. weel- 
stow, battle-field), + Jioll (hall-) = E. I/all. Cf. 
Valkyr.'] 1. In Scand. mytli., the Hall of the 
Slain ; the palace of immortality, inhabited by 
the souls of heroes slain in battle, who spent 
much of their time in drinking and feasting. 
Hence 2. A name figuratively applied to any 
edifice or place which is the final resting-place 
of the heroes or great men of a nation or of 
many such, and specifically to the Temple of 
Fame built by Loxiis I. of Bavaria at Donau- 
