Urside
bears; a family of the Carnivora, group arctoidea, or, in older classifications, plantigrada. Claws, five on each foot, large, strong and curved, nonretractile; tongue smooth; ears small, erect, and rounded; tail short; nose forming a movable truncated snout; cæcum absent. Though ranged with the Carnivora, many of the ursidæ live entirely or partially on vegetable diet, and their teeth are modified accordingly. They are widely distributed, but are entirely absent from the Australian and Ethiopian regions, and only one species, U. (or Tremarctos) ornatus, from the Andes of Peru and Chile. Wallace reckons 15 species, which have been grouped into as many as five genera (Ursus Thalassarctos, Helarctos, Melursus or Prochilus, and Tremarctos); Mivart makes two genera (Ursus and Melursus); and Professor Flower includes Ailuropus, an annectant form connecting Ursus with Ailurus. The family appears first in the Miocene.
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Ursinus College
a coeducational institution in Collegeville, Pa.; founded in 1869 under the auspices of the German Reformed Church; reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instructors 17, students, 224, number of graduates, 750; president, G. L. Omwake, Ph. D.
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Ursula
er'su-la, an English princess. According to the Christian legend of St. Ursula, she was returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, when, near Cologne, a horde of Huns fell upon her band and put herself and 11,000 attendant virgins to death barbarously. Some accounts reduce the number to as low a figure as eleven. The date is given as 384, also 453. The church of St. Ursula in Cologne was built to commemorate the name. In digging foundations for walls in the early part of the twelfth century the citizens of Cologne came upon an immense collection of bones. Despite the fact that there were skeletons of men and children they were declared to be the bones of St. Ursula and her companions. They were piously cared for and are still preserved in cases placed around the church. They are believed to have miraculous properties of healing. The legend is told also in a series of paintings on the walls of the church. The 21st of October is St. Ursula's day. An attempt is made to identify the St. Ursula of the Catholic church with the goddess Ursel, the Venus of Teutonic mythology. The religious order of Ursuline Sisters, represented in the United States at St. Louis, Alton, and elsewhere, was named for St. Ursula.
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Ursula
ST., the heroine of a very curious legend of the Middle Ages, whose origin may be ascribed to the 12th century, and which runs as follows: Deonatus, King of Britain, had a very beau-
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Uruguay
a river of South America, which rises in Brazil, in the province of Santa Catharina, flows first W., then gradually turns S., and finally enters the estuary of La Plata opposite Buenos Aires; length, about 800 miles.
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Urumiah
OROOMIAH, URor MIAH, a city of Persia, in Azerbaijan; 64 miles S. W. of Tabriz. It is supposed to be the birthplace of Zoroaster. It is a fortified town and has a population of about 25,000.
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Urumiah
a salt lake in Azerbaijan, 3,900 feet above sea-level; with a length of 90 miles, a breadth of 30 miles, and a circumference of not less than 250 miles. It contains 6 large and about 50 smaller islands, and receives 14 streams, of which the largest are the Jagatu, Tatau, Sefichai, and Ajichai. It has no apparent outlet. The depth for 2 miles does not exceed 3 feet, the average depth is under 12 feet, the greatest depth ascertained 45 feet. The water is so largely impregnated with salt that no fish can live in it, and the banks are covered with a thick saline incrustation, from which a salt of beautiful transparency is obtained for commerce.
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Urunas
in astronomy, one of the superior planets between Saturn and Neptune. It was not known to the ancients. When Sir William Herschel, after the construction of his great reflecting telescope, was systematically examining with it all the stars above a certain magnitude, he, on March 13, 1781, found in the constellation Gemini a star which he recognized as having a disk which the others had not. He took it for a comet, and other contemporary astronomers held the same view. Its distance from the sun is about 1,800,000,000 miles, and it travels once around the orbit in about 87 years. It receives only about one three-thousandth part of the light and heat from the sun which fall at least on the earth. It is attended by four satellites-Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, orbits all all lie in the and Oberon. Their same plane, and are at right angles -a cirto the path of the planet itself cumstance not known in the case of any Sidus other planet. Called also Georgium . and Herschel. See SOLAR SYSTEM
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Usedom
a Prussian island in the Baltic; on the coast of Pomerania; area, 150 square miles. The inhabitants are employed in agriculture and fishing; chief towns, Swinemünde and Usedom. Pop. about 35,000.
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Usener
HERMANN KARL, a German classical philologist in Weilburg on the Lahn, Oct. 13, 1834; be- ; born came professor in the University of Bonn. Among his works are: "Philology and the Science of History" (1882); "Ancient Greek Versification" (1887); "Researches in the History of Re Religion" (1889); "Names of Gods: An Attempt to Account for Religious Concepts" (1895); etc. He died Oct. 21, 1905.
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Ushant
an island off the W. coast of France; included in the department of Finisterre; area 20 square miles. Pop. about 2,500. The coasts are escarped and difficult of access; the soil is fertile. The island has two lighthouses and a telegraph station. Off Ushant two celebrated sea fights took place between the English and the French in 1778, and 1.0 Vol. X in 1794. The first was indecisive; in the second Lord Howe gained a great victory.
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Usher
NATHANIEL REILLY, an American naval officer, born in Vincennes, Ind., in 1855. He was graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1875, was promoted ensign and gradually rose to the rank of rear admiral in 1911. During the Spanish- American War he commanded the "Ericsson." His other assignments included service with General Board, Navy Department (1903-1904); Bureau of Navigation (1904-1906); "St. Louis" (1906- 1908); Bureau of Navigation (1908- 1909); "Michigan" (1910-1911); ; president of the Naval Examining and Retiring Board (1911-1912); command of the 4th Division Atlantic Fleet (1912); 2d Division (1912-1913); 3d Division (1913); Norfolk Navy Yard (1913- 1914); and New York Navy Yard 1918). He was retired on account of age in April, 1919.
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