220 
V A I 
V A I 
gx& (Juss.) —Generic Character. Calyx: perianth five¬ 
leaved ; leaflets lanceolate, acute, concave, spreading. Co¬ 
rolla: petals five, ovate, concave, spreading, shorter by half 
than the calyx. Stamina: filaments five, filiform, erect, in¬ 
serted between tire petals, length of the calyx. Anthers ob¬ 
long, four-grooved. Pistil: germ inferior. Styles two, fili¬ 
form, from upright spreading, longer than the stamens. Stig¬ 
mas simple, obtuse. Pericarp: capsule ovate, truncate, 
scored with five raised lines, crowned with the permanent 
calyx, one-celled, two-valved. Seeds numerous, minute.— 
Essential Character. Calyx five-leaved. Corolla five-pe- 
talled: Capsules inferior, one-celled, many-seeded. 
Vahlia Capensis.—This plant has the stature of a Silene, 
half a foot or scarcely a foot in height. Stem herbaceous, 
round, without knols, below brachiate and subpubescent. 
Leaves opposite, sessile, subpubescent, narrow-lanceolate. 
Stipules none. Flowers from the upper branches, peduncled, 
two or more, frequently three together, yellow. Petals and 
anthers snow-white.—Native of the Cape of Good Hope, 
in sandy places near Verkeerde valley. 
VAIGATZ, an island, or assemblage of islands, in the 
north of European Russia, in the Frozen Ocean, between 
Nova Zembla and the Continent. 
VAIGATZ, a strait of European Russia, between the go¬ 
vernment of Archangel and the island of Vaigatz, and be¬ 
tween the Frozen Ocean and the gulph of Cara. 
VAIHINGEN, a small town of the west of Germany, in 
Wirtemberg, on the river Enz; 11 miles north-west of Stut- 
gard. — Also another large village of Wirtemberg, near 
Esslingen. 
VAIL, s. [properly veil, from velum, Latin.] A curtain; 
a cover thrown over any thing to be concealed.—While they 
supposed to lie hid in their secret sins, they were scattered 
under a dark vail of forgetfulness. Wisdom .—A part of 
female dress, by which the face and a part of the shape is 
concealed ; money given to servants. It is commonly used 
in the plural. See Vale. 
To VAIL, v. a. To cover. See To Veil. 
To VAIL, v. a. [avaler le bonnet, French. Addison 
writes it veil, ignorantly. Dr. Johnson. —The etymology 
appears in the French phrase a mont et a val, from top to 
bottom, from rnountain to valley. Douce .—The word is 
sometimes written vale.'] To let fall; to suffer to descend. 
The virgin ’gan her beavoir vale. 
And thank’d him first, and thus began her tale. Fairfax. 
To let fall in token of respect. 
Before my princely state let your poor greatness fall. 
And vail your tops to me, the sovereign of you all. Drayton. 
To fall; to let sink in fear, or for any other interest. 
That furious Scot, 
’Gan vail his stomach, and did grace the shame 
Of those that turn’d their backs. Shakspeare. 
To VAIL, v. n. To yield; to give place; to shew re¬ 
spect by yielding. In this sense, the modern writers have 
ignorantly written veil. Dr. Johnson says. 
That any petty hill upon the English side, 
Should dare, not (with a crouch) to vale unto their pride. 
Drayton. 
It is fit that both should vailc to the inevitable danger of 
those mischievous inconveniences. Bp. Hall. 
VA'ILER, s. One who shews respect by yielding. Ob¬ 
solete. —lie is high in his own imagination : when he goes, 
he looks who looks: if he finds not a good store of vailers, 
he comes home stiff. Overbury. 
VA1LA, a small island of Shetland. 
VAILLAC, a small inland town in the south of France, 
department of the Lot. 
VAILLANT (Jean Foi), an eminent antiquary and 
medalist, was born at Beauvais in Picardy, in the year 
1632. The titles of some of his principal works, indepen¬ 
dently of several separate dissertations, tending to illustrate 
medallic science in its connection with history, areasfbl- 
low: “Numismata Imperatorum Romanorum,” 1G74, 4to. 
of which an enlarged edition was published by Baldini at 
Rome in 3 vols. 4to. 1743; “ Seleucidarum Imperium, 
sive Historia Regum Syriae ad fidem Numismatum accommo- 
data,” 1681, 4to.; “ Selecta Numismata Antiqua ex Musaeo 
Petri Seguini,” 1684, 4to. ; “Numismata iErea Imperato¬ 
rum, Augustarum, et Csesarum in Coloniis, Municipiis, et 
Urbibus, &c.” 2 vols. fol. 1688; “ Numismata Imperato¬ 
rum, &c. Grseca,” 1698, 4to.; “ Historia Ptolemaeorum 
iEgypti Regum ad fidem Numism. &c.’’ 1725, 4to.; “ Achce- 
menidarum Imperium, &c.” 1725. He died in 1708. 
VAILLANT (Sebastian), a distinguished French botanist 
in the early part of the 18th century, was bom May 26th, 
1669, at Vigny, near Pontoise, being the eldest son of a 
shopkeeper in that town. 
His chief botanical work was published after his death by 
Boerhaave in 1727, under the title of “ Botanicon Parisiense,” 
making a very handsome folio volume, with thirty-three 
admirable plates, comprehending above 300 figures, of rare 
or obscure species, in which the cryptogamic plants are 
very abundant. The arrangement of the work is alphabeti¬ 
cal, and its language, except the specific definitions, French. 
Certain imperlections of this popular work, justly indicated 
by Haller, arose, as he observes, from Boerhaave’s inability 
to bestow sufficient time on the correction of the unfinished 
manuscripts. Hence may repetitions occur, and some of 
the figures want references. Following authors have generally 
cited the beautiful figures, without adverting to the text; in 
which, notwithstanding, much may be found worthy of 
notice, especially all the practical observations, and original 
descriptions, of Vaillant himself. 
VAfLLY, a small town in the north-east of France, de¬ 
partment of the Aisne; 9 miles north of Soissons, and 12 
south-by-west of Laon. 
VAIN, adj. [vainus, Latin.] Fruitless; ineffectual. 
Let no man speak again 
To alter this; for counsel is but vain. Shakspeare. 
Empty; unreal; shadowy. 
Before the passage horrid Hydra stands, 
Gorgons, Geryon with his triple frame. 
And vain chimera, vomits empty flame. Dry den. 
Meanly proud; proud of petty things: with of before the 
cause of vanity. 
The minstrels play’d on ev’ry side. 
Vain of their art, and for the mastery vy’d. Dry den. 
Shewy ; ostentatious.—Load some vain church with old 
theatric state. Pope. —Idle ; worthless; unimportant. 
Both all things vain, and all who in vain things 
Built their fond hopes of glory, or lasting fame, 
Or happiness. Milton. 
False; not true. 
’Tis holy sport, to be a little vain, 
When the sweet breath of flattery conquers strife. 
Shakspeare. 
In Vain. To no purpose; to no end; ineffectually; 
without effect.—He tempts in vain. Milton. 
VAINGLO'RIOUS, adj. [yanus and gloriosus, Latin.] 
Boasting without performances; proud in disproportion to 
desert. 
Strength to glory aspires 
Vain-glorious, and through infamy seeks fame. Milton. 
VAINGLO'RIOUSLY, adv. With vain-glory; with 
empty pride.—Heretofore in the pursuance of fame and 
foreign dominion, [it] spent itself vaing/oriously abroad. 
Milton. 
VAINGLO'RY, s. [vana gloria, Latin.] Pride above 
merit; empty pride ; pride in little things.—He had nothing 
of vain-glory, but yet kept state and majesty to the height; 
being sensibfe, that majesty maketh the people bow, but vain¬ 
glory boweth to them. Bacon. 
VA'INLY adv. Without effect; to no purpose; in vain. 
Our cannons’ malice vainly shall be spent 
Against th’ invulnerable clouds of heav’n. Shakspeare. 
Proudly ; 
