virulence 
lence of the cobra's venom. (6) Acrimony of temper ; ex- 
treme bitterness or malignity ; rancor. 
Among all sets of authors there are none who draw upon 
themselves more displeasure than those who deal in po- 
litical matters which indeed is very often too justly in- 
curred, considering that spirit of rancour and virulence 
with which works of this nature generally abound. 
Addition, Freeholder, No. 40. 
The virvlence theologians will display towards those 
who differ from them will depend chietly on the degree 
in which the dogmatic side of their system is developed. 
Lecky, Rationalism, II. 39. 
= Syn. (a) Poisonousness, venom, deadliness. (b) As- 
perit-i/, JIarshnesx. See acrimony. 
virulencyt (vir'o-len-si), n. [< virulence (see 
-cij), ] Same as virulence. 
The virulency of their calumnies. 
B. Jonxmi, Discoveries. 
virulent (vir'o-lent), a. [< F. virulent = Sp. 
Pg. It. virulento,"<. L. nrulentus, full of poison, 
< virus, poison: see virus."] 1. Full of virus: 
extremely poisonous or venomous. 
A contagious disorder, rendered more virulent by un- 
cleanness. Scott. 
Her elfin blood in madness ran, 
Her mouth foamed, and the grass, therewith besprent, 
Withered at dew so sweet and virulent. Seats, Lamia, i. 
2. Due to the action of a virus : as, a virulent in- 
oculation. 3. Very bitter or spiteful; malig- 
nant : as, a virulent invective ; a virulent libel. 
Bp. Fell, . . . in the Latin translation of Wood's " His- 
tory of the University of Oxford," had converted eulogium 
into the most virulent abuse. 
/. D'lsraeli, Quarrels of Authors, p. 294. 
He had a virulent feeling against the respectable shop- 
keeping class, and . . . nothing was likely to be more con- 
genial to him than the gutting of retailers' shops. 
George Eliot, Felix Holt, xlvi. 
Virulent bubo, a suppurating bubo accompanying chan- 
croid. = 8yn. 3. Acrimonious, bitter. See acrimony. 
virulentedt (vir'o-len-ted), a. [< virulent + 
-erf 2 .] Filled with poison. 
For, they say, certain spirits virulented from the inward 
humour, darted on the object, convey a venom where they 
point and fix. Feltham, Resolves, ii. 56. 
virulently (vir'ij-lent-li), adv. In a virulent 
manner; with malignant activity; with bitter 
spite or severity. 
viruliferous (vir-ij-lif'e-rus), a. [< L. rirttl(en- 
tus), virulent, + J'erre = E. bear 1 .] Containing 
a specific virus. 
virus (vi'rus), 11. [= F. virus = Sp. virus = Pg. 
virus, < L. virus, a slime, poison, slimy liquid, 
venom, an offensive odor, a sharp taste, = Gr. 
I6f (for *Fia6f), poison, = Skt. visha, poison, = 
Ir. fi, poison.] 1. The contagium of an infec- 
tious disease ; a poison produced in the body of 
one suffering from a contagious disease, and 
capable of exciting the same disease when in- 
troduced into another person by inoculation. 
Virun differs from venom in the latter being a secre- 
tion natural to certain animals, whilst the former is always 
the result of a morbid process a morbid poison. 
Dunglison, Med. Diet. 
Hence 2. Figuratively, that which causes a 
degraded mental or moral state; moral or in- 
tellectual poison : as. the virus of sensuality. 
\Vhilstthe virus of depravity exists in one part of the 
body politic, no other part can remain healthy. 
H. Spencer, Social Statics, p. 250. 
3. Figuratively, virulence ; extreme acrimony 
or bitterness ; malignity Attenuated virus, vi- 
rus which has been reduced in potency by means of suc- 
cessive inoculations in animals or by culture. Human- 
ized virus, vaccine virus modified by passage through a 
human being. Vaccine virus. Same as vaccine. 
visH, " [ME. also vise, < OF. vis, F. vis, look, 
face, < L. visits, a look, vision: see visage.] Vi- 
sion; sight; appearance. 
Thare-fore we may noghte hafe the vis of His lufe here 
in fulfilling, llampole, Prose Treatises (E. E. T. S.), p. 34. 
VJS 2 t, An old spelling of vise 1 . 
Vis 3 (vis), n. [L., pi. fires, strength, force, en- 
ergy, might, hostile force, violence, = Gr. if 
(orig. *F<f), sinew, force. From this source are 
ult. E. vim, violate, violent, etc.] Force. The 
term has been used in dynamics, but generally without 
definite meanina. embodying vague ideas dating from the 
seventeenth century. The principle of vis viva, the 
principle that, when only positional forces are consid- 
ered, any changes in the vis viva of a system depend only 
on the initial and tinal situations of the particles. Vis 
conservatrix. Same as vis mcdicatrix natvrjr.ifiB 
formatiya, plastic force. Vis inertise. (a) In mech., 
same as inertia, 2. Hence (6) Moral indisposition to 
commit one's self to an energetic line of action; mental 
sluggishness. Vis medicatrix nature, in med., the re- 
medial power of nature ; the natural tendency of a patient 
to get well without medicine. Vis mortua, dead force; 
a striving toward motion. Vis motiva, moving force; 
the power of a moving body to produce mechanical effect. 
Vis nervosa, nervous force; the peculiar power or 
property of nerves of conveying either motor or sensory 
impressions. Vis primitiva, a certain original power 
which constitutes a body, and makes it something more 
than a mere movable place. Vis vitse or vis vitalis, 
6768 
vital force. Vis Viva, in older writers, the mass into 
the square of the velocity, or the measure of the mass 
multiplied by the square of that of the velocity : but re- 
cent writers frequently use the phrase to denote one half 
of the above quantity. The term was invented by Leib- 
nitz. Also called active or living force. 
visage (viz'aj), . [< ME. visage, < OF. (and 
F.) visage = Sp. visaje = Pg. visagem = Olt. ri- 
saggio, < ML. as if *visaticum, < L. visus, a look, 
vision, < videre, pp. visus, see : see vision, and cf . 
vis 1 .'] The face, countenance, or look of a per- 
son or an animal : chiefly applied to human be- 
ings; hence, in general, appearance; aspect. 
Thei lyen alle in the Watre, saf the visage., for the gret 
hete that there is. Mandevttlr., Travels, p. 183. 
Of his visage children were aferd. 
Chaucer, Gen. Prol. to C. T., 1. 628. 
His visage was so marred, more than any man. 
Isa. lii. 14. 
As he draws back from the door, an all-comprehensive 
benignity blazes from his visage. 
Hawthorne, Seven Gables, viii. 
= Syn. Countenance, etc. See/acel. 
visageMviz'aj), v. t. [< ME. visugen; < visage, 
.] 1. To face; confront; brave. 
Al hadde man seyn a thyng with both hise eyen, 
Yit shul we wommen visage it hardily. 
Chaucer, Merchant's Tale, 1. 1029. 
2. To put a (certain) face upon ; make (a thing) 
appear in a (certain) fashion. 
But, Sir, my Lord was with the Kynge, and he vesaged 
so the mater that alle the Kynges howshold was and is 
aferd ryght sore. Paston Letters, I. 150. 
visaged (viz'Sjd), a. [X visage + -erf 2 .] Hav- 
ing a visage or countenance of a kind specified. 
Arcite is gently visag'd. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, v. 3. 
visardt, n. and v. An obsolete form of vizor. 
vis-a-VIS (vez'a-ve'), adv. and a. [F. : vis, face, 
visage (< L. visus, look); A, to; vis, visage, face.] 
In a position facing one another; standing or 
sitting face to face Vis-a-vis harpsichord. See 
harpsichord. 
vis-a-vis (vez'a-ve'), . [< vis-a-vis, adv."] 1. 
One who or that which is opposite to, or face 
to face with, another: used especially of one 
person who faces another in certain dances. 
Miss Blanche was indeed the vis-a-vis of Miss Laura, 
. . . and talked to her when they met during the quad- 
rille evolutions. Thackeray, Pendennis, xxvi. 
2. A light carriage for two or four persons, who 
are seated facing each other; in general, any 
vehicle in which the seats are arranged so that 
the occupants sit face to face ; specifically, 
same as sociable, 1. 3. A kind of couch : same 
as sociable, 3. 
Could the stage be a large vis-u-vis, 
Reserved for the polished and great, 
Where each happy lover might see 
The nymph he adores tfite-a-te'te. 
H. Smith, Rejected Addresses, xi. 
viscacha, vizcacha (vis-, viz-kach'a), n. [Also 
biscacha, bizcaclta, vischaclia, visliaicha, etc.; = 
F. viscaque, < Amer. Sp. viscacha, biscacha, prob. 
of Peruv. origin.] A South American rodent 
mammal, of the family CJiincJiillidee and genus 
Lagostoinus, L. trichodactylus, inhabiting the 
viscerimotor 
visceral (vis'e-ral), a. [= F. risceral; as i-ix- 
cera + -al."] " 1. Of or pertaining to the vis- 
cera; having the character of a viscus; form- 
ing or containing viscera ; interior or intestinal, 
as a part or organ of the body; splanchnic: 
as, visceral anatomy; a visceral cavity; visceral 
disease; the visceral loop of the nerves of a 
mollusk; the visceral as distinguished from the 
reflected or parietal layer of a serous mem- 
brane. 
Love is of all other the inmost and most visceral affec- 
tion; and therefore called by the apostle "liowels of 
Love." Bp. Reynold*, The Passions, xi. 
To begin with, every sensation of the skin and every 
visceral sensation seems to derive from its topographic 
seat a peculiar shade of feeling, which it would not have 
in another place. W. James, Prin. of Psychol., II. 155. 
2. Belonging to or situated on that side of 
the body of a vertebrate which contains the 
viscera of the thorax; abdominal; ventral or 
hemal, as distinguished from dorsal or neural. 
Visceral anatomy. Same as *j>lanchnotorn;i. Vis- 
ceral arches, certain folds or thickenings of the walls 
of the embryo in the region of the neck, extending trans- 
versely, and ultimately uniting in front in the middle line ; 
Head of Embryo Chick at third (O, fourth (/?), fifth (), and 
sixth (/") days of incubation, showing development of I, 3, 3, 4, 5, the 
visceral arches ; C, D, , side views : / ', under view ; //, ///, second 
and third cerebral vesicles; 1, vesicle of cerebral hemisphere; i*. 
vesicle of third ventricle ; V, VII, I'll!, fifth, seventh, and eighth 
cranial nerves ; a, eye ; b, ear ; rf, infundibuium ; e, pineal body ; f, 
protovertebrae ; fr, olfactory organs ; h, notochord ; A, nasal process ; 
/, maxillary process ; x, first visceral cleft or slit. The moutn, in ad- 
vance of I, is best seen in fiff . F, bounded by If, I, and i. 
Viscacha (Lagostomtis trichodactylus). 
pampas, and playing there the same part in the 
fauna that is taken in North America by the 
prairie-dogs and other spermophiles. It is of 
stout form, and about 2 feet long ; the colors are varied, 
especially on the face, giving a harlequin visage. Its bur- 
rows are so numerous as to constitute a danger to travel, 
especially at night, the holes being so deep that a horse 
is almost certain to fall if he steps in one. The skins are 
valued for their fur. Alpine viscacha, Lairidium cu- 
vieri. See Lagidium, and cut under rabbit-squirrel. 
viscachera (vis-ka-cha'ra), n. [Amer. Sp., < 
viscaclia, q. v.] A village or settlement of vis- 
cachas, resembling a prairie-dog town. 
Viscese (vis'e-e), n. pi. [NL. (Bentham and 
Hooker, 1880), < Viscum -4- -esp.~] A tribe of apet- 
alous plants, of the order Loranthacese. It is char- 
acterized by unisexual flowers with a simple perianth, the 
calyx without any conspicuous margin. It includes 13 
genera (or all in the order but two), of which Viscum, the 
mistletoe, is the type ; two of the others, Arceuthobium and 
Phoradendron, include the American mistletoes. 
viscera, . Plural of viscus. 
Viscerad (vis'e-rad), adv. [< viscera + -ad 3 ."] 
Toward the viscera; hemad: ventrad. 
branchial, hyoidean, mandibular, and maxillary arches, 
the last three persistent and modified into hyoidean, 
mandibular, and maxillary parts, the flrst persistent only 
in branchiate vertebrates, where they become the gill- 
arches. Only a small part of the flrst branchial arch per- 
sists in higher vertebrates. In man it is found in the 
greater cornu of the hyoid bone. See thyrohyoid, and 
cuts under cerebral and frontonasal. Visceral aura, 
premonitory symptoms of an epileptic attack, consisting 
in sensations of various kinds referred to the abdominal 
region. Visceral cavity, that cavity of the body which 
contains the viscera; the subvertebral or splanchnic 
cavity ; the body-cavity, formed by the splitting of the 
mesoblast between the somatopleure and the splanchno- 
pleure; the cceloma. Visceral clefts, pharyngeal slits 
(see pharyngeal). See slit, n., 5. Visceral crisis, vio- 
lent spasmodic pain in one of the abdominal organs, oc* 
curring in locomotor ataxia. Visceral hump, visceral 
dome, in mollusks, the heap of viscera which makes a 
prominence of the dorsal region ; the cupola, Visceral 
inversion. Same as transposition of the viscera. See 
transposition. Visceral laminse. See lamina. Vis- 
ceral loop, in mollusks, the loop, twist, or turn of the 
viscera or of their nerves. See cut under Pnlmmiata. 
Visceral nervous system, the subvertebral or sym- 
pathetic system of nerves. Visceral pleura. See 
pleurai. Visceral Skeleton, the skeleton of the vis- 
ceral arches. Visceral slit. Same as visceral cleft. 
Visceral tube, the visceral cavity, especially when 
tubular, or, in an early state of the embryo, when it is 
comparable to the neural tube that contains the spinal 
cord. 
visceralgia(vis-e-rarji-a), n. [< NL. viscera + 
Gr. d/j-of, pain.] Neuralgia of one of the ab- 
dominal viscera, especially the intestine ; en- 
teralgia. 
viscerate (vis'e-rat), v. t. ; pret. and pp. visce- 
rated, ppr. viscerating. [< fixer ra + -ate' 2 . Cf. 
L. visceratio(n-), a public distribution of flesh 
or meat.] To eviscerate or disembowel. 
Viscericardiac(vis"e-ri-kiir'di-ak), a. [(visceri- 
cardium + -<se.] Of or pertaining to the vis- 
cericardium; visceripericardial. 
Viscericardium (vis"e-ri-kiir'di-um), . ; pi. vis- 
cericardia (-a). [NIJ.. < L. viscera, viscera, + 
Gr. Kaptiia, heart.] The visceripericardial sac, 
or peculiar pericardium of a cephalopod. 
viscerimotor (vis'e-ri-mo'tor), a. [< L. viscera, 
viscera, + LL. motor, mover.] Innervating vis- 
cera, as a motor nerve ; conveying motor influ- 
ence to any viscus. as either a cerebrospinal 
or a sympathetic nerve. Also risceromotnr. 
