V E R 
1770, in the low lands, near the great Ox bow, or bend of the 
Connecticut river. It has a strong sulphureous smell; and 
the surface, when not agitated, is covered with a thick yellow 
scum. It throws up continually a whitish sand; and is said 
to disappear in one place, and spring up in another, at in¬ 
tervals of two or three years. 
There are 36 species of quadrupeds, of which the most 
remarkable are the bear, black-cat, wild-cat, catamount, 
deer; fox, red, grey, cross, and black ; hare, martin, ermine, 
mole, mouse, porcupine, rabbit, racoon, skunk; squirrel, 
grey, black, red, striped, and flying; weasel, wolf, and 
wood chuck. In the rivers, ponds and lakes, are the 
beaver, mink, musk-rat, and otter. Among the early settlers 
of this state, these animals were so valuable for their 
flesh or fur, that they were constantly pursued, and in many 
parts several of them have entirely disappeared. The right 
of hunting, fishing, and fowling, is common to all, and at all 
seasons. The deer, which cannot be pursued during the two 
last months of the year, is the only animal that finds pro¬ 
tection. 
A great variety of fishes are found in the lakes. The pike 
or pickerel grows to so great a size, that some have measured 
six feet in length, and weighed forty pounds. The largest 
trout, perch, and sucker, weigh from two to three pounds. A 
fish of a delicate quality, called the lake bass, weighing from 
ten to thirty pounds, is found in great plenty in Lake Wil¬ 
loughby, and other waters. 
The people of Vermont being chiefly devoted to agricul¬ 
ture, are of robust habits, and of simple manners. Early 
marriages are common here, as in other parts of America, 
which greatly conduces to pure morals. 
There are two colleges in Vermont, one at Burlington, and 
the other at Middlebury. 
The legislative power is vested in a house of representa¬ 
tives. Every town has the right to send one representative. 
The executive power is vested in a governor, lieutenant-go¬ 
vernor, and 12 counsellors. All these officers, together with 
the representatives, are chosen annually on the first Tuesday 
in September. The legislature meets on the second Thursday 
in October. Judges and other officers are appointed for one 
year. The revenue of the state arises from taxes on persons, 
lands, and cattle, assessed in proportion to their value. The 
militia, consisting of all the able-bodied males from 16 to 45 
years of age, with certain exceptions, amounts to 20,000. 
VERNA'CULAR, adj. [yernaculus, Latin.] Native; of 
one’s own country.—The histories of all our former wars 
are transmitted to us in our vernacular idiom. I do not 
find in any of our chronicles, that Edward the Third ever 
reconnoitred the enemy, though he often discovered the 
posture of the French, and as otten vanquished them. Ad¬ 
dison. 
VERNA'CULOUS, adj. [yernaculus, Lat,] Vernacular. 
Obsolete. —Beside their vernaculous and mother tongues. 
Sir T. Brown. —Scoffing; aLatinism. Not in use. —Men, 
subject to the petulancy of every vernaculous orator. B. 
Jonson. 
VERNA1SON, a village in the east of France, containing 
900 inhabitants. 
VERNAL, a small island in the Pacific ocean, near the 
coast of Mexico. Lat. 16. 35. N. long. 95. 50. W. 
VE'RNAL, adj. [yernus , Latin.] Belonging to the 
spring. 
With the year 
Seasons return; but not to me returns, 
Or sight of vernal bloom, or summer’s rose. Milton. 
VE'RNANT, adj. \yernans, Lat.] Flourishing as in 
the spring. 
Else had the spring 
Perpetual smil’d on earth, with vernant flow’rs, 
Equal in days and nights. Milton. 
VERNANTE, a small town in the north-west of Italy, 
in the Piedmontese province of Tenda, with 2700 inhabi¬ 
tants. It stands on the great road from Nice to Turin, about 
11 miles south of Coni. 
Vol. XXIV. No. 1642. 
V E R 361 
VERNANTES, a small town in the west of France, de¬ 
partment of the Maine and Loire, with 1800 inhabitants. 
To VE'RNATE, v. n. [verno, Lat.] To be vernant; 
to become young again. Cockeram. 
VERNAZZO, a small town in the north-west of Italy, in 
the duchy of Genoa; 5 miles south-west of Spezzio. 
VERNET, a small town in the south of France, depart¬ 
ment of the Eastern Pyrenees, with 1000 inhabitants; 4 miles 
south of Prades. 
VERNEY (Guichard-Joseph du), an eminent anatomist, 
was the son of a physician at Feurs in Forez, and born in 
1648. From Avignon, where he studied medicine for five 
years, he removed to Paris in 1667, and there acquired high 
reputation, not only as an anatomical demonstrator, but as an 
eloquent lecturer. His work, entitled “ Traite de l’Organe 
de l’Ouie, contenant le Structure, les Usages, et les Maladies 
detouteslesPartiesderOreille,” was published in 1683, and 
translated into various languages. In his anatomical researches 
he was indefatigable and he made many discoveries, the honour 
of which has been claimed by others. Having absented himself 
for a long time from the meetings of the Academy, of which he 
was early a member, he returned to it again, in his 80th year, 
on the republication of his History of Animals, and entered 
into its business with his former vivacity. In advanced age 
he undertook a work on insects and reptiles; and though he 
was afflicted with a pulmonary complaint, he exposed him¬ 
self to the injurious effects of the damp and night air, in 
order to observe the actions of snails, with a view to the per¬ 
fection of the work in which he was engaged. Although 
his health could not but be impaired by this practice, his 
life was prolonged to his 82d year, as he died in September 
1730. He bequeathed his valuable anatomical preparations 
to the Academy, leaving a character held in high estimation 
by contemporary anatomists and physiologists, and by all 
who had enjoyed the benefit of his instruction in their 
youth. After his death, Senac published from his MSS. 
“Traite des Maladies des Os,” in 2 vols. 12mo.; and all 
his memoirs and posthumous papers were collected in his 
“CEuvres Anatomiques,” 2 vols. 4to. Paris, 1761, pub¬ 
lished by Bertin, to whom his MS. remains were entrusted 
by Senac. Haller. 
VERNEUIL, an inland town in the north of France, de¬ 
partment of the Eure, situated on the small river Arve. It is 
still surrounded with a wall, and contains 5300 inhabitants; 
18 miles west ofDreux, and 21 south of Evreux. 
VERNHAM’S DEAN, a parish of England, in South- 
amptonshire; 8 miles west-by-north of Andover. Popula¬ 
tion 453. 
VERNIER, is a graduated index which subdivides the 
smallest divisions on any straight or circular scale, in the 
reading of which greater accuracy is required, than can be 
obtained by simple estimation of a fractional part, as indi¬ 
cated by a pointer, or fiducial edge. The vernier was first 
invented by Pierre Vernier of Franche Comte, and made 
known to the world at Bruxelles (or Brussels) in the year 
1631, through the medium of a pamphlet, entitled “ La 
Construction, l’Usage, et les Proprieties du Quadrant nouveau 
de Mathematique," &c. It soon gained the preference over 
the scale of Nonius, which was a circular diagonal scale, and 
which by some writers is yet confounded with a Vernier’s 
index, though there is no greater resemblance between the 
two, than exists between the dial of a clock and the hand 
that points to it. The vernier is applicable to any straight 
or circular line, provided the divisions be equal; but the 
contrivance of Nonius was in the graduated line or scale 
itself, and required the aid of a fiducial edge as an index. 
VERNI'LITY, s. [verna , Latin.] Servile carriage; the 
submissive fawning behaviour of a slave. Bailey. 
VERNON, a small town in the north of France, depart¬ 
ment of the Eure, pleasantly situated on the left bank of the 
Seine. It has an old castle, two churches, an hospital, and 
above 4000 inhabitants; 28 miles south-by-east of Rouen, 
and 55 west-by-north of Paris.—2. A post township of the 
United States, in Tolland county, Connecticut; 6 miles west- 
south-west of Tolland.—3. A post township of the United 
3 X States 
