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a l matter or bo<lj. it lias been a matter of mud) dispute amongPhilosophers, whether there be in nature a perfect vacuum, or5 Pace void of all matter; but if bodies consist of material solidat °ms, it is evident that there must be vacuities, or motion wouldbe impossible. We can even produce something very near a va-Cu ltm in the receiver of an air-pump, and in the Torricellian tube,® n d it is doubtful whether the particle* of the densest bodies*t'own be in perfect contact. See Metaphysics, Physics, and1 neumatics.

„ VADE MECUM, or VENI MECUM, a Latin plirase, usedln English to express a thing that is very handy and familiar, and"’"ich people usually cany about with them; chiefly applied tos ottie favourite book.

VADIUM VLVUM, [Lat. living pledge,] is when a man bor-lows a sum (suppose 200/.-) of another ; and grants him an estate,as of 20/. per annum, to hold till the rents and profits shall repay‘he sum so borrowed. This is an estate conditioned to be void assoon as such sum is raised.

.. VADSTEIN, a town of Sweden, in West Gothland , 32 miles” • of Nordkioping. Lon. 15. 55. E. Lat. 58. 12. N.

VAENA, a town of Spain, in Andalusia , at the source of theEasti-o, 23 miles S. E. of Cordova. Lon. 3. 50. W. Lat. 58. 12. N.

. VAGINA, properly signifies a sheath or scabbard, and is used'n architecture for the part of a terminus, because resembling a®' le ath, out of which the statue seems to issue.

VAGINALIS, the Sheath-bill; ill natural history, a genusbirds of the order grallte. Bill strong, thick, compressed ; up-per mandible covered above with a moveable horny sheath ; nos-trils placed before the sheath ; face naked and papillous; wings"nth an obtuse excrescence under the flexure; claws grooved.

V. Alba, the White Sheath-bill, (he only species known, is ,a native of New Zealand and the South Sea islands. It is in* en glh about sixteen inches.

vagrants, are all persons threatening to'run away and•cave their wives and children to the parish. All persons unlaw-fully returning to the parish or place whence they have been le-gally removed by order of two justices, without bringing a certifi-cate from the parish or place whereto they belong. All personswho have not wherewith to maintain themselves, live idle, and re-fuse to work for the usual wages given to other labourers in thelike work, m the parishes or places where they are Ail oersnmgoing from door to door, or placing themselves in the streetshighways, or passages, to beg or gather alms in the parishes orplaces where they dwell. All these shall be deemed idle and dis- 1orderly persons, and one justice may commit such offenders (beino- Ithereof convicted before him, by bis own view, confession, or oathof one witness,) to the house of correction, to hard labour, not ex-ceeding one month. And any person may apprehend and carrybefore a justice, any such persons going from door to door, orplacing themselves in the streets, highways, or passages, to begalms in the parishes or places where they dwell; and if they shallresist, or escape from the person apprehending them, (hey shall bePunished as rogues and vagabonds. And the said justice, by war-rant under Ills hand and seal, may order any overseer, where such?ft'ender shall be apprehended, to pay five shillings (o any person’0 such parish or place so apprehending them, for every offender®° apprehended; to be allowed in his accounts, on producing theRice’s order and the person’s receipt to whom it was paid. 17George II . c. 5. The same statute also enacts, that such justiceshall order the person so apprehended to be publicly whipped by‘he constable, petit-constable, or some other person to be ap-pointed by such constable or petit-constable of the place where®. Uc *> offender was apprehended, or shall order him in be sent to‘•'e house of correction; and by 27 George HI . c. 11, the com-,?° n gaol, until the next sessions, or for any less time as such jus-llCe shall think proper. To defray the expences of apprehending,convey',,,^ and maintaining, rogues, vagabonds, and incorrigible*°g»es, and all other expences necessary, the justices jn sessions1a >’ cause such sums as shall be necessary Uf -be raised, in theai P e maimer as the general county-rate, 17 George HI. c. 5.

’■AIILIA, in botany, a genus of the pentandria digynia classn,u natural order Succulents . Calyx five-leaved; co-

-p, hve-petaled; capsule inferior, one-celled, many-seeded,of p re on '>’ one species, viz. V. Capensis, a native of the CapeTjood Hope, in sandy places.

'Ol.xv._no.2U.

YA1E, or VA1RE, in heraldry, a kind of fur, formerly usedfor lining the garments of great men, and knights of renown. Itis represented in engraving by the figures of little bells reversed,ranged in line. See Heraldry.

VALAIS , or VALL.AIS, a valley in Swisserland, which ex-tends from the source of the river Rhone to the lake of Geneva.It is surrounded on all skies by very high mountains, most of1 which are covered with snow and ice that never thaw. However,the soil is fertile in corn, wine, and good fruit. This country, onNov. 19, 1810, was annexed to France under the name of theDepartment of the Simplon.

VALANTIA, Cross-wort; in botany, a genus of plants inthe order moncecia, and class polygamia ; natural order Asperi-foliae. Calyx none; corolla four-parted ; stamens four; stylebifid ; seed one : male, calyx none ; corolla three or four parted ;stamens three or four;' pistil obsolete. There are nine species.

VALDAI, or VALDAIA, a town of Russia , in Novogorod-skoe, 72 miles S. E. of Novogorod.

VALENCE, a city of Fiance in the department of the Drome ,and province of Dauphine, 30 miles N. by E. of Viviers, and 335S. by E. of Paris . Lon. 4. 52. E. Lat. 44. 56. N.

Valence, a town of France , in the department of Lot antiGaronne, on the Garonne , 12 miles S. E. of Agen, and 22 E. ofNerac.

VALENCIA, a province of SpJn, which has the title of akingdom, and is bounded on the E. and S. by the MediterraneanSea, on the N. by Catalonia and Arragon, and on the W. byNew Castile and Murcia . Itis about 165 miles long, and 63 broad.

Valencia, a city of Spain , and capital of the above province.Lon. 0. 10. W. Lat. 39. 23. N.

Valencia, a town of Portugal , in Entre-Duero-e-Minho, 16miles W. of Oporto, and 30 N. W. of Rraganza.

VALENCIENNES, a city of France , in the department ofthe North, and province of Flainault, 20 miles W. S. W. of Mons,

17 N. E. of Cambray, and 120 N. E. by N. of Paris . Lon. 3.37. E. Lat. 50. 21. N.

VALENTIA, an island of the Atlantic, on the S. W. coast ofIreland . Lon. 10. 11. W. Lat. 51. 52. N.

VALENTINE, the founder of the heretical sect of Valen-tiuians, was born in Egypt , and educated in Alexandria; but be-ing disappointed of a bishopric, he set up his heresy, which re-sembles that of the Gnostics . He died in A. D. 160.

Valentine, in geography, a town of France , in the departmentof Upper Garonne, and province of Languedoc , 2 miies S. \V.of St. Gaudens. Lon. 0. 57. E, Lat. 43. 1. N.

VALENTINIA, in bot.ir.y, a genus of the ocfandria mono-gynia class and order. Calyx five parted, coloured, spreading;corolla none; capsule berried, four seeded, pulpy. There is butone species, viz. V. ilicifolia, a native of Hispaniola , on the mostbarren rocks towards the ocean ; also in Cuba , about the Pla-vannah.

VALENTINIANS, in church-history, a sect of Christian he-retics, who sprung up in the second century, and were so calledfrom their leader Valentinus . The Valenlinians were only abranch of the Gnostics, who realized or personified the Platonic ideas concerning the Deity , whom they called Pleroma, or Pleni-tude.

VALENZA, a strong town of Italy, in the duchy of Milan ,capital of the Lomelin ; seated on a mountain, near the river Po ;

12 miles Er of Casal, and 15 S. W. of Milan .

VALENZO, Do Mjnho, a fortified town of Portugal , inEntre-Duero-e-Minho, seated on the Minlio. Lon. 8. 11. W.

Lat. 42. 2. N.

VALERIAN, or VALERIANA, in botany, a genus of plantsbelonging to the class triandria, and order monogynia: natural orderAggregate. Calyx none; corolla one-petaled, gibbous on one sideof the base, superior; seed one. There are thirty-one species.

VALERIUS MAXIMUS, a Latin historian , sprung from thefamilies of the Valerii and Fabii , whereby lie united the names ofValerius and Maximus. He studied polite literature, and after-wards followed Sextus Pompey to the wars. At. his return hecomposed an account of the actions and remarkable sayings of theRomans and other great men ; and dedicated that work to the em-peror Tiberius . Many of the learned think that this is the samethat is now extant, and bears the name ot Valerius Maximus ;

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