Vascular System
that portion of the interior of a plant in which spiral vessels or their modifications exist. In an exogenous stem, the vascular system is confined to the space between the pith and the bark. It chiefly consists of ducts and pitted or woody tissue collected into compact, wedge-shaped, vertical plates, the edges of which rest on the pith and the bark, while the sides are in contact with the medullary rays. It comprises the medullary sheath, which consists of spiral vessels and woody tissue intermixed. In an endogenous stem, the vascular system exists in the form of fibrous bundles, consisting of woody tissue containing spiral or other vessels, the whole imbedded in the cellular system. In comparative anatomy, the circulatory system. A term applied to the whole series of vessels arteries, veins, lymphatics, and lacteals-directly or indirectly connected with the circulation CHELSEA VASE of the blood. The vessels of which it is composed are of two leading types-those which carry blood, and those carrying lymph or chyle. The first constitute the sanguiferous system, and include the heart, the arteries, the capillaries, and the veins. The second or absorbent system includes the smaller and larger lymphatic and lacteal vessels, with the lymphatic and mesenteric glands.
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Vase
a vessel of various forms and materials applied to the purpose of domestic life, sacrificial uses, etc. They were often used merely for ornament, or were at least primarily ornamental in character and design. The antique vases found in great numbers in ancient tombs and catacombs in Etruria, southern Italy, Greece, Sicily, etc., and used to contain the ashes of the dead, were for the most part made of baked clay, painted and glazed, though by the Egyptians, Greeks and Ottomans other materials, such as pre precious stones, gold, silver, bronze, ivory, and glass were used. One form of vase seems to have been peculiar in Etruria-viz., black or red vessels, with figures in relief upon them. A favorite kind of vase, introduced into Rome by Pompey, was called Murrhine. Another kind was the cameo vase, made of two layers of glass, the outer of which was opaque, and was cut down so as to leave figures standing out upon the lower layer as a ground. To this class belongs the celebrated Portland Vase in the British Museum. The glass vases of Venice became famous in the beginning of the 16th century, and in the same and following centuries many vases of the highest artistic performance were produced in Italy, France, and Germany. The porcelain vases of China and Japan are also characterized by great elegance of form and beauty of ornamentation.
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Vasey, George
va'si, George (1822-1893), an American botanist. He was a native of Scarborough, England, but he was brought to this country by his parents when an infant. He began life for himself as a practicing physician at Elgin, Illinois. Being interested in botany he was privileged to accompany the Powell expedition of 1868 to Colorado. In 1873 he became botanist of the department of agriculture at Washington. His specialty was grasses. Several government monographs covering the new species found in the western part of the United States gave him rank as the highest world authority on grasses. See Gray
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Vassar
MATTHEW, an American philanthropist; born in Norfolk co., England, April 29, 1792. He emigrated to the United States, where he accumulated a large fortune. In 1861 he gave $428,000 to found VASSAR COLLEGE, (q. v.). He died while reading an address to the trustees of the college, June 23, 1868. By his will he left over $400,000 additional to the institution.
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Vatican Council
the First Council of the Vatican, or the Nineteenth General Council, which assembled on Dec. 8, 1869. At the opening sitting 719 prelates were present, and the number rose in the following year to 764. The work done consisted of two constitutions -one, "Of the Catholic Faith," treating of the primary truths of natural religion, revelation, faith, and the connection between faith and reason; the other, "Of the Church of Christ," treating of the primacy of the Roman See, and defining the papal claims to authority over all Christians. The first constitution was unanimously accepted in a session of 667 prelates, es, and confirmed by the Pope (Pius IX.) on April 20, 1870. The second constitution led to a long discussion; on May 13 the scheme, with the added clauses on Papal Infallibility, was laid before the Council, and on July 18 the bull Pastor Æternus, containing the constitution and the definition of Papal Infallibility, was read; 525 prelates voted in favor of it, two voted against it, while several absented themselves from the public session. The degree was then confirmed by the Pope. On the same day Napoleon III. declared war against Prussia; on Sept. 20 the Italian royalists took possession of Rome, and on Oct. 20 the Pope prorogued the Council, which has never reassembled.
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Vaud
vo, a canton of Switzerland. Lausanne is its capital. See Switzerland ; Agassiz
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Vaudoux
(See West Indian Islands .)
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Vaughan (BERNARD an English Roman)
BERNARD, an English Roman Catholic clergyman, born in 1847, a brother of Cardinal Vaughan. He was educated at Stonyhurst, and became a member of the Society of Jesus. As such, he took an active and conspicuous part in the religious and civic life of Manchester for eighteen years. In 1901 he moved to London, where he became well known as a worker among the poor, as well as a preacher. After traveling in the United States and Canada, where he lectured with great success, he also lectured at various times in Japan, China, Italy and France. Besides very numerous articles and pamphlets dealing with religious and social topics, many of his sermons have been published. He also wrote "The Sins of Society" ociety" (1906); "Socialism" (1910); "Socialism from the Christian Standpoint" (1913); "What of To-day?" (1914); "The Menace of the Empty Cradle" (1917); "The Workers' Right to Live" (1918); etc.
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Vaughan (HENRY a Welsh poet styled)
HENRY, a Welsh poet, styled "the Silurist" from his having been born among the Silures of South Wales; born in Newton, Brecknockshire, in 1622. He entered Jesus College, Oxford, in 1638, and shared the loyalty of his family, though apparently he did not actually bear arms in the cause. In 1650 he printed at London his "Sparks from the Flint-stone," a collection of pious meditations after the model of Herbert (second part printed with it in 1655), and followed it up in 1652 with "The Mount of Olives," a little book of devotions in prose, and the "Flores Solitudinis," also in prose. Not till the year 1678 was another collection of his verse published, and this time again by a zealous Oxford friend ("J. W.") without his concurrence. This was the "Thalia Rediviva: the pastimes and diversions of a Country Muse," a collection of elegies, translations, etc., of all periods of his life, closing with a few religious pieces ("Pious Thoughts and Ejaculations"), and a pastoral elegy on the death of his brother Thomas. He died April 23, 1695. Vaughan's poetry is very unequal-his vein seems to have been a very hard, flinty soil, from which the right Promethean fire could be struck but now and then.
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