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tion of p:\rticles of matter moving the same way, and round thesame axis. See Astronomy.

VO'RTICELLA, in natural history, a genus of vermes infu-soria class and order. Body contractile, naked, and furnishedwith ciliate rotatory organs. There are about fifty or sixty spe-cies in sections. A. Seated on a pedicle, or stem. B. Furnishedwith a tail. C. Without a tail. V. anastatica is compound, bell-shaped, with an oblique mouth and scaly rigid stem, ft inhabitsfresh waters, forming clusters branched out in various directions;ovaries seated on the stems in the form of bulbs, which detachthemselves from the stems, and fix themselves to other substances,producing a new' cluster.

VOSGFS, a department of France , bounded N. by the de-partments of the Meuse , and Lower Rhine; E. by those of theUpper and Lower Rhine; S. by that of the Upper Saone ;and W. by that of Upper Marne. It is 65 miles long, and 28broad.

Vosges, a range of mountains in France , which constitutedIhe S. W. part of Lorrain, and gives name to the department. Itabounds wilh mines of silver, copper, and lead, and formerlyabounded with wood and wild beasts.

VOiSisIUS, John Gerard , one of the most learned and labo-rious writers of the 17th century, was of a considerable family inthe Netherlands; and was born in 1577, in the Palatinate , nearHeidelberg , at a place where his father, John Vossius, was mi-nister. He became well skilled in polite literature, history, andsacred and profane antiquities, and was made director cf the col-lege of Dort. lie was at length made professor of eloquence andchronology at Leyden, whence he was called in 1633 to Amster-dam , to till the chair of a professor of history. lie died in 1649.He wrote many learned works, of which a complete edition hasbeen printed at Amsterdain, in 9 vols. folio.

VO TE, the suffrage or resolve of each of the members of anassembly, where any affair is to be carried by a majority ; butmore particularly used for the resolves of the members of eitherhouse of parliament. See Parliament .

VOUCHER , in law, is a person called into court, to makegood another’s warranty, who is either to defend the right againstthe demandant, or yield him other lands, to the value, &e. Thisextends to lands or tenements of freehold or inheritance, but notto any thing personal or mixed.

Voucher also signifies a receipt or acqufttance in cases ofaccount.

VOTIVE MEDALS, those on which are expressed the vowsof the people for Ihe emperors or empresses. See Numisma-TOGRAPHY.

VOW , in religion. The use of vows is found in most religions.They make up a considerable part of the Pagan worship, beingmade either in consequence of some deliverance, under somepressing necessity, or lor the success of some enterprize. Amongthe Jews , all vows were to be voluntary, and marie by person'swholly in their own power ; and if such person made a vow inany thing lawful and possible, he was obliged to fulfil it.

Vows, among the Romans, signified sacrifices, offerings, pre-sents, and prayers, made for the Casars, and emperors, particu-larly for the ir prosperity and the continuance of their empire.

VOWEL, in grammar, a letter which affords a completesound of itself, or a letter so simple as only to need a bareopening of the mouth to make it heard, and to form a distinctvoice. The vowels are six in number, viz. A, E, 1, O, U, Y.See Grammar.

UPIJIMSKOE, a government of Russia , of a triangular form,bounded N. and W. by Pernvskoe, ami Viatskaskoe; W. byCaucasus, Saratovskoe, Sitnbirskoe, and Karzanskoe ; S. by theCaspian ; and E. by Tobolskoe. It is 440 miles long from E. toW. on the N.bul on the S. only 64 miles from E. to W. on theW. from N. to S. 520 miles; on the E. it is only 160 miles broad,

UPLAND, a province of Sweden , a kind of peninsula, beingbounded on the N. E. by the Baltic, on the S. by the sea of Su-dermania; and on the W. by Westmania and Gestricia fromwhich it is separated by the Dela. It is 70 miles long, 45 broad,and is very populous, and fertile in corn. It has mines of lead andiron. Stockholm is the capital .

UPRIGHT, in heraldry, is used in respect of shell-fishes, ascrevices, &c. when standing erect in a coat.

UPSAL, or UPSALA, an elegant city of Sweden , capital ofUpland, 135 miles W. S. W. of Abo, and 35 N. N. W. of Stock-holm . Lon. 17.48. E. Lai. 59. 52. N.

UPTON, a town of England, in Worcestershire , 11 miles S.of Worcester, and 100 W. N. W. of London . Lon. 1. 55. W<Lat. 51.59. N.

UPUPA, in ornithology, a genus belonging to the order pica?.Beak arcuated, convex, and something blunt; tongue obtuse,triangular, entire, very short; feet fitted tor-walking. There areeight species ; one of which, the epops, hoopoe, or dung-bird,is frequently seen in Britain . It may be readily distinguishedfrom all others that visit this island by its beautiful crest, which itcan erect or depress at pleasure.

UR, in ancient geography, a town of Mesopotamia , situatedbetween the Tigris and Nisibis ; taken by some for Ur of theChaldees, the residence of Abraham .

URAL, a river of Russia , which rises in Mount Caucasus, andrunning through Uralskoe, and Orenburg, falls into the Caspian by three mouths.

URALIAN COSSACS, a nation of Russian Tartars , who in-habit (he provinces of Uralskoi and Orenburg . They originatefrom the Don Cossacs, anti are very brave and valiant.

URANIA , a genus of the hexandria monogvnia class and orderof plants. There is no calyx; the corolla is two-petaled; nec-tarine two-leaved ; capsule two-celled, many-seeded. There is,one species.

URANIA, one of the nine Muses . She presided over Astro-nomy. She was the mother of Hymen, the god of marriage, andof tire poet Linus.

URANIENBURG, a town and castle of Denmark , on theisle of linen, built for the accommodation and experiments of thecelebrated Tycho Brahe . It js now ruinous. Lon. 12. 58. E.Lat. 55. 54. N.

URANIUM, in chemistry, a metal discovered by Klaproth inthe year 1789. It was then announced as a metal more difficultto be reduced than manganese, externally of a grey colour, andinternally of a clear brown, of considerable lustre, and middlinghardness, that it might be scratched and filed, and that its oxidegives a deep orange colour to porcelain. It has been obtainedtrom three different minerals. The first is in the state of sul-phuret, of a blackish colour, and of a shining fracture, and some-times lamellated. In this state it is sometimes combined with ironand sulphuretted lead. The uranium is in the metallic state. Thesecond ore from which this metal is obtained, is the native oxideof uranium. It is always in the state of yellow powder, on thesurface of the sulphurct. The specific gravity is 3. 24. When itis of a pure yellow colour it is then a pure oxide. The third oreof tlie metal is the native carbonate of uranium. The yellowoxide, when mixed with common enamelling flux, tinges porcelainof a deep orange colour. From the experiments ot Proust, welearn that this metal is capable of forming only two oxides, but nodescription of the protoxide has been published ; and the ore is soscarce that it is not every chemist who can gratify his curiosity byan examination of uranium.

URANOSCOPUS, the Star-Gazer ; in natural history, agenus of fishes of the order Jugulares. Generic character: headlarge, depressed, rough ; mouth with an internal cirrus; gill-mem-brane with six pnpillous-loothcd rays; gill-covers edged with amembranaceous fringe.

L T H BAN EA, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Urbino , 12-milesS. of Urbino . Eon. 12. 58. E. Lat. 43. 34. N.

URBINO, a duchy of Italy , in the territory of the church,hounded on theN. by the Adriatic; S. by Peruginoand Umbria;E. by Ancona ; and W. by Etruria and Romagna . It is about 55miles long, and 45 broad. It has plenty of game and fish ; but theair is not very wholesome, nor is the soil fertile. Urbino is thecapital .

Urbino, a town of Italy in the territory of the Pope, and capitalof the duchy, 18 miles S. of Rimini, 58 E. of Florence, and 120N. E. of Rome .

UREA, a salt obtained from urine, by the following process.Evaporate by a gentle heat a quantity of human urine, voided sixor eight hours after a meal, till it be reduced to the consistence ofa thick syrup. In this state, when put by to cool, it concretes into acrystalline mass. Pour at different times upon this mass four times

its