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VESUVIUS, a celebrated volcano of Italy , six miles E. of■Naples . This mountain has two tops; one of which only goes by•lte name of Vesuvius , the other being now called Somma; butSir Will iatn Hamilton is of opinion, that the latter is what theancients called Vesuvius. The perpendicular height of Vesuvius is only 3700 feet, though the ascent from the foot to the top isthree Italian miles. One side of the mountain is well cultivateda nd fertile, producing great plenty of vines; but the south ami"'est sides are entirely covered with cinders and ashes; while asulphureous smoke constantly issues from the top, sometimes at-tended with the most violent explosions of stones, the emissionof great streams "Of lava, and all the other attendants of a mostformidable volcano. The first of these eruptions recorded inhistory took place in the year 79; at which time the two cities ofPompeii and Herculaneum were entirely buried under the stonesand ashes thrown out. Incredible mischief was also done to the

neighbouring country', and numbers of people lost their lives,among whom was Pliny the elder. It is the opinion of the bestjudges, however, that this eruption was by no means the first thathad ever happened. The very streets of those cities which wereat that time overwhelmed are said to be partly paved with lava.Since that time 30 different eruptions have been recorded, someof which have been extremely violent.

VETCH, in botany. See Vicia, and Husbandry.

VETERINARY ART, [from vectum, of veho, to carry,] aterm formerly applied to the care of animals which carry, or ofBeasts of burden. It now more particularly denotes Farriery ,which see.

VEVAY, a town of Switzerland , in Berne, near the lake ofGeneva, 10 miles E. of Lausanne .

VEXILLARII, in antiquity, signals. See Signal.

VEXILLUM, in botany, the upper petal of a pea-bloom, orbutterfly-shaped flower, which is generally larger than any of theothers.

VEXOE, an island of Denmark, on the N. coast of Lapland .Lon. 11 . 41. E. Lat. 34. 28. N.

VIALES, iii mythology, a name given among the Romansto the gods who had the care and guard of the roads and high-ways. °

VIATICUM, in Roman antiquity, an appellation given to allofficers of any of the magistrates ; as lictors, accensi, scribes,

criers.

VIATKA, the capital of Viatskoe; 624 miles it „r n ilurg, and 440 E. N. E. of Moskow . ES E ‘ of Peters -

VIATSKOE, a government of Russia ; bounded N. by V 0logdskoe, E. by Permskoe, S. by Uphinskoe, and Ka’zanskoe"ind W. by Kostromskoe; 260 miles long, and from 80 to iso’broad.

VLB EX, is sometimes used, by physicians, for a black antiblue spot in the skin occasioned by an afflux or extravasation°f blood.

VIBORG, an ancient city of Denmark , in N. Jutland; twomiles in circuit, six miles N. of Hamburg. Lon. 9. 18. E. Lat.36. 32. N.

Viborg, a sea-port of Russia , on the gulf of Finland, 6Smiles N. W. of Petersburg .

VIBORSROI, a province of Russia , bounded N. and W. by* inland ; S. by the Gulf and Petersburg, and E. by lake Ladoga ,a ud Olonetz .

VIBRATION, in mechanics, a regular, reciprocal motion ofa body, as a pendulum. See Mechanics, and Pendulum .

vibrio, in natural history, a genus of the vermes infusoriacla ss and order. Worm invisible to the naked eye, very simple,[ 0l, nd, elongated. There are twenty species, described byA Uams, and other authors on the microscope.

VIBURNUM, Laurustinus; in botany, a genus of the pen-Jfmdria trigynia class and order. Natural order, Dumos*. Calyxlv e-parted, superior; corolla five-cleft; berry one-seeded. Theree 23 species.

. vr CA POTA, a goddess at Rome , who presided overvictory.

..VICAR, a person appointed as deputy to another, to perform8 functions in his absence, and under his authority.dial ICAR ’ 111 die canon-law, denotes a priest of a parish, the pre-tdhes whereof are improuriated or appropriated ; that is, be-vol. iy.— NOt 2i3 .

long either to a chapter, religious-house, &c. or to a layman whoreceives them, and only allows the vicar the small tithes, or aconvenient salary. See Parson.

VICE, in ethics, is ordinarily defined an elective habit, denot-ing either an excess or defect from the just medium w herein virtueis placed.

Vice, in smithery and other arts conversant in metals, a ma-chine o» instrument serving to hold fast any thing they are at workupon, whether it is to be beat, filed, or rivetted.

Vice is also used in the composition of divers words to denotethe relation of something that comes instead or in the place ofanother; as vice-admiral, vice-chancellor, &c. are officers whotake place in the absence of admirals, &c.

VICENTINO, or VICENZA, a province of Italy , boundedon the N. by tiie Tirolese, E. by Bassano , S. by Paduano, W.by the Veronese, It is 40 miles long, and 30 broad. It is partlyhilly, partly flat; blit very fertile in corn, fruit, and mulberry-trees;200 lb. of silk are made annually ; sheep and black caUle arenumerous.

Vicenza, the capital of Vicentino, 13 miles W. of Padua , 31W. of Venice, and 135 N. of Rome . Lon. II. 43. E. Lat.45. 26. N.

VICHI, a town of France , in the department of AUier, onthe Allier , famous for its mineral-springs. It is 180 miles S. byE. of Paris .

VICHO, a town of Naples , on the coast, almost destroyedby an earthquake, in 1694.

VICHY. See Vichi.

VICIA, in botany, a genus of plants of the class diadelphia,and order decandria ; natural order, Papilionaceae . Stigma beardedtransversely on the lower side. There are 25 species.

VICISSITUDE, the regular succession of one thing afteranother; as the vicissitude of day and night, of the seasons, &c.

VICINAGE. Inlaw, common of vicinage, is where the in-habitants of two townships, which lie contiguous, have usuallyintercommoned with one arither, the beasts of the one strayingmutually into the other’s fields without any molestation fromeither.

VICTORY, in mythology, is represented by Hesiod as thedaughter of Styx and Pallas, and Varro calls her the daughterof heaven and earth. The Romans erected a temple to her,where they prayed for success to their arms.

Victory, Cape, is the N. W. point of the Straits of Magellan ,at the opening into the South Pacific Ocean . Lon. 76. 40. W.Lat. 52. 15. S.

VIENNA, the capital of the circle of Austria, in Germany ,and of the whole Austrian empire. The city is not of very greatextent, but is strongly fortified. The streets, in general, arenarrow, and the houses built high. Some of the public buildingsare magnificent. The chief of them are the imperial palace, thelibrary, and the museum; the palaces of the princes Lichenstein,Eugene, &c. It is seated at the place where the river Vien orWien falls into the Danube , 30 miles W. of Presburgb, 350N. N. E. of Rome, 520pS; E. by E. of Amsterdam , 565 E, ofParis, and 6S0 E. S. E. of London . Lon. 16. 28. E. Lat.48. 13- N.

VIENNE, a department of France , bounded on, the N. andN. E. by that of Indre and Loire , on the E. by that of lndre,on the S. by those of Charente and Upper Vienne, and on theW. by the department of the Two Sevres. It comprehends apart of the province of Poitou , and is about 65 miles long, and38 broad at a medium. Poitiers is the capital .

Vienne, Upper, a department of France , bounded on the N.by those of Vienne and Indre , on the E. and S. E. by the de-partment of Creuse, on the S. W. by (list of Dordogne , and onthe W. by that of Charente . It contains the late province ofLimosin ; and is about 55 miles long from N. to S. and from 25to 43 broad. Limoges is the chief city .

VI ETA, Francis, a mathematician, born at Fontenay in 1540.He was the first who used letters in algebra to designate knownquantities. He also made corrections on the calendar, and im-provements in geometry. He died in 1603. His works werepublished, Paris , 1646, 1 vol. folio.

VIET ARM IS, [Lat.] with force and arms, in law, are wordsused in indictments, declarations,&c.to express the charge of forcible9 Z and