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Mediterranean, with a constant current twenty leagues broad ; asalso, that running from the Euxine through the Bosphorus into theHellespont, and thence into the Archipelago : they, conjecturethat there is an under current whereby as great a quantity of wa-ter is carried out as comes in.
UNDERSTANDING. See Metaphysics, and Logic.
UNDERWALD, or UNDERVVALDEN, a canton of theHelvetic republic , and the sixth in rank. It is bounded on thenorth by Lucern and the Lake of the Four Cantons , oil the eastby the high mountains which separate it from the canton ofUri, onthe south by that of Bern, and on the west by the canton of Lu-cern .
UNDERWRITER. See Insurance.
UNDULATION, in physics, a kind of tremulous motion orvibration observable in a liquid, whereby it alternately rises andfalls, like the waves of the sea.
UNGUENT, in medicine and surgery, a topical remedy orcomposition, chiefly used in the dressing of wounds or blisters.See Pharmacy.
UNGUIS, a Latin term , signifying a nail of the hand orfoot.
Unguis , Pannus, or Pterygium, in medicine and surgery, apreternatural membrane formed upon the coats of the eye, soas to extend itself over the cornea or pupil, and obstruct thesight.
Unguis , in anatomy, is applied to two bones of the nose, beingas thin as scales, and resembling the nail; whence their name.
Unguis , among botanists, the narrow part where the petals areinserted when several go up to make the flower, as the broaderpart towards the end is called bractea.
UNGULA, in geometry, the section of a cylinder cut off by aplane passing obliquely through the plane of the base and part ofthe cylindric surface.
Ungula, in natural history, the claw or hoof of a quadruped.
UNICORN , [fiovoxsKu;,] an animal, famous among the an-cients, but looked on by the moderns as fabulous, denominatedfrom its distinguishing characteristic of having one h'orn only,which is represented as five palms long, and growing in the middleof the forehead.
UNIFORM , denotes a thing to be similar, or consistent ei-ther with another thing, or with itself, in respect of figure, struc-ture, proportion, or the like ; in which sense it stands opposed todifforin.
UNIFORMITY regularity; a similitude or'rescmblance be-tween the parts of a whole. Such is that we meet with in figuresof many sides, and angles respectively equal, and answerable toeach other. A late ingenious author makes beauty to consist inuniformity, joined or combined with variety. Where the unifor-mity is equal in two objects, the beauty, "lie contends, is as tlievariety ; and where the variety is equal, the beauty is as the uni-formity.
Uniformity, is particularly used for one and the same form ofpublic prayers, and administration of sacraments, and other rites,&c. of the church of England , prescribed by the famous stat. 1Eliz. and 13 and 14 Car. II. cap. 4, called the Act of Uniformity.See Liturgy ,
UNIOLA, in botany, a genus of the triandria digynia class andorder; natural order Gramina. Calyx many-valved; spikeletovate, keeled. There are three species.
UNION, a junction, coalition, or assemblage, of tw o or moredifferent things in one.
Union, among painters, expresses a symmetry and agreementbetween the several parts of a painting.
Union, in architecture, may denote a harmony between thecolours in the materials of a building.
Union, in an ecclesiastical sense, denotes a combining or con-solidating of two churches into one.
UNISON, in music. See Interval, ami Music.
UNITARIANS, in ecclesiastical history, a name given tothose who confine the glory and attribute of divinity to ihe Oneonly great ami supreme God, and Father of our Lord JesusChrist , whose divinity they disallow. Dr. Priestley was the headof the sect.
UNITED BRETHREN , \_unitasfralrum, Lat.] in ecclesias-tical history, a sect of Christians , called also Moravians and Herm-
hutters. The church of the United Brethren took its rise in Mo-ravia during the fourteenth century ; but is said by the Brethren tohave derived its origin from the Greek church in the ninth cen-tury, when, by the instrumentality of Methodius and Cyrillus,two Greek monks, the kings of Bulgaria and Moravia being con-verted to the faith, were, together with their subjects, united incommunion with the Greek church. Methodius was the first bi-shop ; and for their use Cyrillus translated the Scriptures into theSclavonian language. 'Though they consider episcopal ordina-tion as necessary to qualify the servants of the church for their re-spective functions, they allow to their bishops no elevation ofrank or pre-eminent authority ; their church having from its firstestablishment been governed by synods, consisting of deputies'from all the congregations; and by other subordinate bodies, whichthey call conferences. A full account of this society of Christians will be found in Cranz’s Ancient and Modern History of theProtestant Churches of the United Brethren, printed in London 1780 ; and in a work Intituled Ail Exposition of the ChristianDoctrine as taught in the Protestant Church of the United Bre-thren, London , 1784.
United Provinces, or United Netherlands , otfierwisccalled the Batavian Republic , consist of the seven provinces ofHolland, Zealand, Friesland, Groningen, Overyssel, Zutphen ,and Utrecht. They are bounded on the west by the German Ocean, on the east by the late territories in the circle of Westpha-lia, now annexed to France , and on the south by the late AustrianFlanders , Brabant, and the duchy of Cleves, now annexed toFrance , and included in the departments of the Scheldt, the Lys,the Two Nethes, Jemappes, the Dyle, the Meuse , the Ourte,and the Roer. 'They compose the greatest part of the ancientBatavia, whose inhabitants were formerly so much renowned fortheir valour. Under the Romans, they were exempt from im-posts and taxes, in consequence of bearing the honourable title ofAllies of the Republic . 'The animals here are much the same asin England ; blit their horses and homed cattle are larger. Storksbuild and hatch on their chimneys; but, being birds of passage,they leave the country about the middle of August, with theirynung, and return in February following. It is said there aresome wild boars and wolves here; and that neither oysters norherrings are to be found upon the coast: but of the fish they havethe several sorts, both in their seas and rivers, that we have in Bri-tain. The Seven United Provinces being in great part surroundedby the sea, lying low, and abounding in marshes, have a dampand unwholesome air. Rains and fogs are frequent; and the gout,scurvy, rheumatism, and agues, very common and difficult
'The effects of human industry here are wonderful in ff" 5
cure.
dikes and dams erected for defending the country against theinundations of the sea, and in ditches, canals, mills, and sluices,for draining the marshes. The quantity of grain produced is netsufficient for home-consumption ; but the pastures in the marshesare so rich, that they can spare a great deal of butter and cheesefor exportation. They have also a good breed of sheep, whosewool is highly valued. There is turf, madder, tobacco, son |Cfruit, and iron ; but all the pit-coal and limber used in this couii'try, and indeed most of the necessaries of life, are imported. Atlie provinces cither lie open, or communicate with tiie NorthSea , by means of the Zuyder, or South Sea; which was form e ‘partly by the Rhine ’s right branch, then increased by tlie Vecbbwhich has now another outlet, overflowing the low swampy groundthrough which it passed ; and partly by the sea, in the thirteen 1 ’century, breaking in, and overflowing a large tract of ground co»tiguous to that before laid under water by tlie Rhine. With rega’to the commerce of this country, their Fast India company had thmonopoly of tlie fine spices for more than a hundred years, andlong the most opulent and powerful of any in the world. Thongtlie country itself produces very few tilings, yet almost all 1’products and commodities of the globe may be found here, near ;as cheap as in the countries where they are made or productA vast variety of manufactures are carried on in the provin ce ^and a great number of hands are employed, and much wealth *quired, by tlie herring, cod, and whale fisheries. ShipbuiB tjJemploys vast numbers of hands. 'Tlie trade of this country, h"ever, upon the whole, lias long been declining ; owing partly ^decline of their ancient parsimony and industry; but ditch,'the improvement of manufactures, trade, and navigation, in ° 1 ’
1 - countri''”