Venus (Roman mythology the goddess)
in Roman mythology, the goddess of beauty and love, and more especially of sensual love, her principal seats being the island of Cyprus and Cythera. This goddess is generally supposed to have been of eastern origin, and to have been the same as the Phœnician Astarte. Before her identification with the Greek Aphrodite, the daughter of Zeus and Dione, who, according to some accounts, arose from the foam of the sea, Venus was one of the least important divinities. The Romans regarded her as the progenitress of their nation, which was fabled to have sprung from Æneas, the offspring of her union with the Trojan Anchises. She was married to Vulcan, but was not remarkable for fidelity to her husband, and her amour with Adonis has been celebrated by classic poets and by The rose, myrtle, and Shakespeare. apple were sacred to her; among birds, the dove, swan, and sparrow were her favorites. She is generally represented with her son Cupid upid in a chariot drawn by doves, or, at other times, by swans or sparrows. Among the most famous statues of Venus are the Venus of Cnidus, by Praxiteles (of which the Venus de Medici, found at Tivoli, is supposed to be a copy), the Venus of Capua, and Milo or Milos, found in the . In the best days of always represented as VENUS OF MILO
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Venus' Fly-Trap
a most peculiar plant allied to the sundew. The plant grows only in the sandy coast plains of South Carolina . The flower stem rises from the center of a rosette of root leaves which are the peculiar part of the plant. Each leaf is narrowed to a neck near its end, the portion beyond which is widened into a sensitive, book-shaped extremity, an inch in width, surrounded by a fringe of sticky bristles and covered with a mucilage of the plant's own manufacture. When an insect lights on this surface, the leaf is irritated and the end closes up, book-fashion, like a trap and imprisons the insect. The presumption is that the plant feeds on the insect.
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Vera Cruz (State of Mexico bounded)
a State of Mexico; bounded on the E. by the Gulf of Mexico and on the N., W., and S. by the States of Tabasco, Chiapas, Oajaca, Puebla, Hidalgo, San Luis Potosi, and Tamaulipas. It extends in a strip about 50 miles wide along the coast, and has an area of 27,880 square miles. The coast strip with the exception of the N. part is in places narrow, flat, low, and roll- , ing, with occasional swamps, lagoons and hills. On the Puebla boundary line rises Mount Orizaba, the highest peak in Mexico, and some believe the highest peak in North America. In the lowlands of the S. E. portion there are occasional spurs, including the volcano of Tuxtla, which is nearly 5,000 feet high. Many short rivers flow down from the mountains, of which the navigable Panuco in the N. is the most important. The climate on the coast is warm and in summer unhealthy. The more elevated parts are temperate and healthy. Agriculture is the chief industry of Vera Cruz, the products including tobacco, coffee, sugar, vanilla, etc. Pop. about 1,300,000.
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Veragua
DUKE OF, a title conferred on the lineal descendants of first Christopher Columbus. It was borne by Luis Columbus in 1536. From him it passed to Diego Columbus, the great-grandson of the famous discov- 1578, and the erer. He died childless in male line of Columbus came to an end. A lawsuit for the succession to the title followed, and after 30 years was settled in favor of the descendants of Isabel, sister of Luis Columbus. This line coming to an end in 1733, the title was, after more litigation, settled on the descendants of Francesca, sister of the Diego Columbus who died in 1578. The Duke of Veragua, the 13th in direct descent from Christopher Columbus, was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1837. In 1893, with his wife, he visited the United States on the invitation of the government, and witnessed the opening ceremonies of the Columbian Exposition. He was everywhere received with high honors as representative of the a family.
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Verbeck
GUIDO FRIDOLIN, a Dutch-American missionary; born in Zeist, Holland, Feb. 1, 1830; was graduated at the Auburn Theological Seminary, Auburn, N. Y., in 1859, and in the same year was sent to Japan by the Reformed Church of America. The Japanese government engaged him in 1863 to carry on educational work. He was superintendent of instruction and teachers in the foreign department de at the Imperial University, Tokyo, in 1869- 1873; was engaged in missionary work work in 1873-1879, and was then again employed by the government as a translator and organizer. In 1891 he was made instructor of theology in the Meiji Gakuin. He was the author of "History of Protestant Missions in Japan" (1883) and the translator of "The Code Napoleon"; "Two Thousand Legal Maxims"; etc. He died in Tokyo, Japan, March 9, 1898.
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Verdelet
A demon of the second order, master of ceremonies at the infernal court. He is charged with the transport of witches to the Sabbath. He takes the names of Master Persil, Sante-Buisson, and other names of a pleasant sound, so as to entice women into his snares.
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Verdun
a fortified French town in the department of Meuse; 35 miles W. of Metz. It has 11 forts, cathedral, and manufactures of iron, liquors, sweetmeats, leather, and beer. In 843 a famous treaty was made here between the Emperor Lothaire and his brother Ludwig the German, by which the Frankish empire was divided in three . The fortress has been often besieged; it was in 1870 by the Germans for six weeks, when it capitulated. It was the last place held by Germany, given up only in September , 1873. Verdun played a great part in the World War. It was greatly strengthened , and in 1916 withstood the assault of great German armies for months, and by its successful defense saved France and the war for the Allies . Pop. about 15,000. WORLD WAR. See
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