I then viewed the same places with the 
same instrument. 
'* The appearance of what I have called 
llie actual fire, or eruption of a volcano, 
exactly Tesembled a small piece of burning 
charcoal when it is covered by a very thin 
coat of white ashes, which frequently ad- 
here to it wlien it has been some time ig- 
nited ; and it has a degree of brightness 
about as strong as that with which such a 
coal would be seen to glow in faint day- 
light. All the adjacent parts of the volcanic 
mountain seemed to be faintly illuminated 
by the eruption, and were gradually more 
obscure as they lay at a greater distance 
from the crater. This eruption resembled 
much that which I saw on the 4th of May, 
in the year 1783, but differed considerably 
in magnitude and brightness ; for the vol- 
cano of tlie year 1783, though much brighter 
than that which is now burning, was not 
nearly so large in the dimensions of its erup- 
tion ; the former seen in the telescope re- 
sembled a star of the fourth magnitude as 
it appears to the naked eye; this, on the 
contrary, shows a visible disc of luminous 
matter very different from the sparkling 
brightness of star light.” 
VOLK.AMERIA, in botany, so named 
in memory of John George Volkamer, pliy- 
sician at Nuremburg, a genus of the Didy- 
namia Angiospermia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Personal®. Viticcs, Jussien. 
Essential character : calyx five cleft; corolla 
segments directed the same way; drupe 
two-seeded ; nuts two-celled. There are 
eight species. 
VOLITION. See Will. 
VOLUNTARY, in music, is an extem- 
pore performance upon, or a composition 
written for the organ, and serving to relieve 
and emballish divine service. 
VOLVOX, in natural history, a genus of 
the Vermes Infusoria class and order. 
Worm invisible to the naked eye, simple, 
pellucid, spherical. There are nine species. 
V. sphmrula is, as its name denotes, sphe- 
rical, willi similar rounded molecules. It is 
seen in stagnant waters. Body composed 
ol about sixty pellucid homogeneous trans- 
parent or greenish-yellow points, moves 
slowly about a quarter of a circle from 
right to left, and then back again from left 
to right. 
VOLUTA, in natural history, a ge.nus 
of the Vermes Testacea class and order. 
Animal a limax; .shell one-celled spiral; 
aperture without a beak, and somewhat 
effuse ; pillar twisted, or plaited, generally 
without lips or perforation. There are 
nearly two hundred species in sections. 
A. aperture intire ; B. siibcylindrical emar- 
ginate; C. oboval effiise emarginate ; D. 
fusiform ; E. ventricose ; spire papillary at 
the tip. In the first section is V. auris 
mid® ; shell contracted, oval, oblong, wdth 
nigged spire; pillar two-tootlied. It inlia- 
bits India, in marshy woods and swamps, 
and very much resembles an helix ; about 
four inches long ; shell brown, solid, wrin- 
kled or striate ; spire large, with from six to 
nine whorls, each terminated by a granu- 
lated band, the outer ones cancellate ; aper- 
ture long, wider beneath. In section D 
we may notice V. episcopalis ; shell emar- 
ginate, smooth; margins of the whorls in- 
tire; lip denticulate ; pillar with four plaits. 
It inhabits India. The inhabitant, or fish, is 
said to be of a poisonous nature, if eaten, 
and to wound those who touch it with a 
kind of pointed trunk. The natives of the 
island of Tanna fix the shells in handles, 
and use them as hatchets. 
VOLUTE, in architecture, a kind qf spi- 
ral scroll, used in the Ionic and Composite 
capita), whereof it makes the principal 
characteristic and ornament. 
VOR'JTCELLA, in natural history, a 
genus of Vermes Infusoria class and order. 
Body contractile, naked, and furnished with 
ciliate rotatory organs. There are about fifty 
or sixty species in sections. A. Seated on a 
pedicle, or stem. B. Furnished with a tail. 
C. Without a tail. anastatica is com- 
pound, bell-shaped, with an oblique mouth 
and scaly rigid stem. It inhabits fresh wa- 
ters, forming clusters branched out in various 
directions ; ovaries seated on the stems in the 
form of bulbs, which detach themselves 
from the stems, and fix themselves to other 
substances, producing a new cluster. V. 
nasuta is cylindrical, with a projecting 
point in the middle of the cup. It is found 
in stagnant water, invisible to the naked 
eye, pellucid, changing its form perpetu- 
ally, quick in motion, and having a rota- 
tM-y organ surrounding the middle of the 
body. 
VOSSIUS (Gerard John), in bio- 
graphy, one of the most learned and labo- 
rious writers of the seventeenth century, 
was ot a considerable family in the Nether- 
lands ; and was born in 1577, near Heidel- 
berg, at a place where his father, John 
Vossius, was minister. He first learned 
Latin, Greek, and Philosophy, at Uort, 
where his father had settled, and died. In 
1595, he went to Leyden, where he further 
