VIT 
the titlie of wine is an article that frequent- 
ly occurs in Kent, Surry, and other coun- 
ties. And the wines of Gloucestershire, 
within a century after the conquest, were 
little inferior to the French in sweetness. 
The beautiful region of Gaul, which had 
not a single vfee in the days of Car-sar, had 
iiunibers so early as the time of Strabo. 
The south of it was particularly stocked 
with them ; and they had even extended 
themselves into the interior parts of the 
country ; but the grapes of the latter did 
not ripen kindly. Fiance was famous for 
its vineyards in the reign of Vespasian, and 
even exported its wines to Italy. The 
whole province of Narbonne was then co- 
vered with vines ; and the wine-merchants 
of the country were remarkable for knav- 
ish dexterity, tinging it with smoke, colour- 
ing it (as was suspected) with herbs and 
noxious dyes, anil even adulterating the 
taste and appearance with aloes. And as 
onrfiist vines would be transplanted froin 
Ganl, so were in all probability those of 
the Allobroges in Francbe-compt^. Tliese 
were peculiarly fitted for cold countries. 
They ripened even in the frosts of the ad- 
vancing winter; and they were of the same 
colour, and seem to have been of the same 
species, as the black ranscadiues of the pre- 
sent day, which have lately been tried in 
ttiis island, and found to be the fittest for 
the climate. These vvere brought into Bri- 
tain a little after the vines had been car- 
ried over all the kingdoms of Gaul, and 
about the middle of the third century, 
when the numerous plantations had gra- 
dually spread over the face of the latter. 
VITJVIANNTA, in botany, so named in 
honour of Abb 6 F. Vitmann, professor at 
Milan, a genus of the Octandria Monpgynia 
class and order. Essential character : calyx 
four-cleft ; corolla foiir-petalled ; nectary 
a scale at tlie base of each filament ; nut 
semi lunar, compressed, one-seeded. There 
is but one species, viz. V. elliptica, a native 
of the East Indies. 
VITRIOL, natural, in mineralogy, a spe- 
cies of fossil salts, divided into three sub- 
.species. t . Iron vitriol. 2. Copper vitriol. 
3. Zinc vitriol. 
The iron vitriol is of an emerald and ver- 
digrease green, sometimes bordering on sky- 
blue ; sometimes on grass green. It occurs 
massive, tuberose, stalactitic, and crystal- 
lized. It occurs usually with iron pyrites, 
by tlie decomposition of which it is formed. 
It is found in many parts of Germany, Ita- 
ly, Sweden, and in many of the English 
VIT 
mines, in Teneriffe, and Greenland. It 19 
employed to dye linen yellow, and wool 
and silk black ; it is also of use in the ma- 
nufacture of ink, of Berlin bine, for the pre- 
cipitation of gold from its solution ; and 
sulphuric acid can be obtained from it by 
distillation, and the residuum, called calco- 
thar of iron, is used as a red paint, and when 
washed, for polishing steel, glass, &c. 
Copper vitriol is of a dark sky-blue co- 
lour, which sometimes approaches to verdi- 
gris green, It occurs massive, disseminated, 
Stalactitic, dentiform, and crystallized. If a 
plate of iron be inserted in a solution of 
copper vitriol, it soon becomes incrusted 
witli metallic copper. With ammonia its 
solution acquires a blue colour. It is found 
in many parts of Germany, Sweden, and Si- 
beria, in the copper mines of Ireland, and 
in Anglesea, in Wales. It is used in cot- 
ton and linen printing, and the oxide is, se- 
parated from it, and used as a pigment. 
Zinc vitriol is of a gieyish colour, and 
found also in Germany and Sweden. 
VITRUVIUS (Marcus Vitruvius 
PoLLio), in biography, a celebrated Ro- 
man architect, of whom however nothing 
is known, but what is to be coiiected 
from his ten books “ De Architectnra,” 
still extant. In die preface to (he sixth 
book, he writes, that he was carefully 
instructed in the whole circle of arts 
and sciences ; a circumstance which he 
speaks of with much gratitude, laying it 
down as certain, that no man can be a com- 
plete architect without some knowledge 
and skill in every other branch of know- 
ledge. And in the preface to the first book 
he inlbnns us, that he was known to Julius 
Ca>sar ; that he w'as afterwards recom- 
mended by Octavia to her brother Augus- 
tus Caesar ; and that he was so favoured, 
and provided. for, by this emperor, as to 
be out of all fear of poverty as long as he 
might live. It is supposed that Vitruvius 
was born either at Rome or Verona ; but it 
is not known which. His books of archi- 
tecture are addressed to Augustus Caesar, 
and not only show consummate skill in that 
particular science, but also a very uncom- 
mon genius and natural abilities. Cardan 
ranks Vitruvius as one of the twelve per- 
sons, whom he supposes to have excelled 
all men in the force of genius and inven- 
tion ; and would not have scrupled to 
have given him the first place, if it could 
be imagined that he had delivered no- 
thing but his own discoveries. Those twelve 
persons were, Euclid, Archimedes, Apollo- 
