WRE
87 3
WRI
Jiistol; and is the same with the wad-hook ; only the one is moreproper for small arms, and the other for cannon.
Worm, Blind. SeeANGuis.
Worm, Glow. See Lampyris.
Worm, Silk. See Bomba'x, and Silk-Worm .
WORMING OF DOGS, a barbarous practice of cutting asfhall sinew out of the tongue of a dog, which is now becomeobsolete ; as it neither acts as a preventative of madness, nor asdisabling them, if mad, from biting.
WORMS, in geography, a bishopric of Germany , in the circleof the upper Rhine .
Worms, an ancient, large, and famous city of Germany , capitalof the above bishopric, 32 miles S. W. of Francfort. Lon. 8. 29.-E. Lat. 49. 32, N.
Worms, Vermes, in zoology. See Zoology .
Worms , for bait. See Fishing.
Worms , inhorses. See Medicine.
Worms , in the human body. See Medicine.
WORSHIP OF GOD , amounts to the same with religion.See Religion, and Theology.
Worship of many Gods. See Idolatry, Mysteries, My-thology, and Polytheism .
WORSTED , a town of Norfolk, 12 miles N. of Norwich, andU20 N. E. of London . Lon. 1.26. E. Lat. 52. 52. N.
WORT, the infusion of malt, of which beer is made. Theuses of this infusion in common affairs are well known. By Dr.M ‘Bride it has been found to have a strong antiseptic virtue, andto be useful in preventing the scurvy and other diseases to whichsailors are liable ; which was confirmed by Captain Cook in iiisvoyages. See Brewing, and Malt .
WOTTON, Sir PIf.nry, an eminent writer, the son of Tho-mas Wotton, Esq. born in 1568. He studied at New-College ,Oxford , and Queen’s-College, where he made a great progressin logic and philosophy ; wrote a tragedy for the use of that col-lege, called “ Tancredo and afterwards received the degreeof M. A. After this, he travelled into France, Germany , andItaly ; and having spent nine years abroad, he returned and be-came secretary to Robert earl of Essex, with, whom he continuedtill that earl was apprehended for high-treason. He then retiredto Florence, where he became known to the Grand duke of Tus-cany, who sent him privately with letters to James VI . king ofScotland, under the name of Octavia Baldi, to inform that king ofa design against his life. Some months after he went back to Flo-rence ; but king James succeeding to the crown of England, Mr.Wolton returned home, was knighted, and sent ambassador tothe republic of Venice ; and afterwards was employed in manyother embassies to that and other courts. He was made provostof Eton in 1623, which he kept till his death, in 1639. After hisdecease some of his MSS. and printed tracts were published in avolume, intitled “ Reliquiae Woltonianse.”
Wotton Basset, a borough of Wilts , 30 miles N. of Salis-bury, and 89 W. of London . Lon 1. 54. W. Lat. 51. 31. N.
Wotton-under-Edge, a corporate town of Gloucestershire ,12 miles N . E. ot Bristol. Lon. 2, 11. W. Lat. 51. 40. N.
WOUNDS. See Surgery.
Wounds, in farriery. See Farriery .
"WRANGLER, in literature, is a title of honour, bestowedonly on students of the highest logical and rhetorical abilities, inthe university of Cambridge, when they can silence all opposition
in argument.
WRATH, See Anger, Rage,& c.
WREATH, in heraldry, a roll of fine linen or silk (like thatof a Turkish turban), consisting of the colours borne in the esculclieon, placed in an atchievement between the helmet and thecrest, am* immediately supporting the crest.
WRECK , or SHIPWRECK, in law. By the ancient com-mon law. where any ship was lost at sea, and the goods or cargowere thrown upon the land, these goods, so wrecked, were judgedto belong to the king t for it was held, that, by the loss of theship, all property was gone out of the original owner. But thiswas undoubtedly consonant neither to reason nor humanity.'Wherefore it was finit ordained by king Henry I. that if any per-son escaped alive out of the ship, it should be no wreck ; andafterwards king Henry II . declared, that if any ship should be
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distressed, and either man or beast should escape or be foundtherein alive, the goods should remain to the owners, if theyclaimed them within three months. This was again confirmedwith improvements by king Richard I. And the law, as laid downby Bracton in the reign of Henry f If. seems stiit to have improvedin its equity. For then, if not only a dog (for instance) escaped,by which the owner might be discovered, but if any certainmark were set on the goods, by which they might be known again,it was held to be no wreck. And as the laws respecting shipwrecksnow stand, it is now held, that not only if any live thingescape, but if proof can be made of the property ot anv of thegoods or lading which come to shore, they shall not be forfeited aswreck. To constitute a legal wreck, the goods must come toland, [f they continue at sea, the law distinguishes them by thebarbarous and uncouth appellations of Jetsam, or Jet<om,Flotsam, or Flotson, and Ligan, or Lagan. (See thesearticles.) These are also the king’s, if no owner appears to claimthem ; but if any owner appears, he is entitled to recover the pos-session.
WREN, Sir Christopher, was the son of Christopher Wren ,dean cf Windsor, and was born in 1632. He studied at Wadham-College in Oxford ; where he took the degree of A. M. in 1653,and was chosen fellow of All Souls College . In 1657, he wasmade professor of astronomy at Gresham College, London ; whichhe resigned in 1660, on iris being chosen to the Savilian profes-sorship of astronomy in Oxford : he was in 1658 created L. L. D.and in 1663 was elected F. R. S. He was one of the commissio-ners for the reparation of St. Paul’s ; and in 1665 travelled intoFrance , to examine the most beautiful edifices there, when bemade many curious observations. At his return to England, hedrew a noble plan for rebuilding the city of London after the fire,which he presented to parliament; and upon the decease of SirJohn Denham in 1668, was made surveyor-general of the King’sworks ; and from that time had the direction of a great number ofpublic edifices, by which he acquired the highest reputation.He built the magnificent theatre at Oxford, St. Paul’s cathedral ,the churches of St. Stephen Walbrook, and St. Mary-le Bow,the Monument, the modern part of the palace of Hampton-Court ,Chelsea-College, one of the wings of Greenwich-Hospitai, andmany other beautiful edifices. He was president of the RoyalSociety , one of the commissioners of Chelsea-College, and twiceM. P. first for Plymouth in Devonshire, and then for MalcombRegis. He died in 1723, and was interred in the vault under St.Paul’s. This great man also distinguished himself by many cu-rious inventions and discoveries in natural philosophy.
Wren , in ornithology. See Motasilla.
WRESTLING, a kind of combat or engagement between twopersons unarmed, body to body, to prove their strength and dex-terity, and try which can throw his opponent to the ground.Wrestling is an exercise of very great antiquity and fame. It wasin use in the heroic ages, it continued a long time in the highestrepute, and had considerable rewards and honours assigned to it atthe Olympic games.
WREXHAM, an ancient town of North W a es, in Denbigh-shire, 11-j miles S. W. of Chester, and 188 N. W. of London .Lon. 3. 10. W, Lat. 53. 2. N.
WRIGHT, Edward, a celebrated English mathematician,who was educated at Cambridge, and accompanied the Earl ofCumberland in his expedition to the Azores in 1589. In 1599, hepublished an excellent book, intitled “ The Errors of Naviga-tion corrected in which he lays clown the true method of mak-ing a sea .chart, which now goes by the name of Mercator . Healso constructed a “ Table of Meridional Parts,” and “ T ables ofthe Sun’s Declination,” He also published, 3. A Treatise on theSphere ; 4. Another on Dialling; and 5 A work on Navigation,called the Haven Finding Art. He also suggested the first ideaof the New System of Weights and Measures, since adopted bythe French . He died in 1620.
WRINGTON, a town of Somersetshire , 11 miles S. of Brigrtol, and 125 W. of London . Lon. 2.38. W. Lat. 51. 21. N.
WRIT, in law, signifies, in general, the king’s precept inwriting under seal, issuing out of some court, directed to thesheriff or other officer, and commanding something to be done inrelation to a suit or action, or giving commission to have the samedone. And, according to Fitzherbert, a writ is said le beafor-10 N msd