Viterbo
a town of Italy, province of Rome; 42½ miles N. W. of the city of Rome. It lies to the N. of the Ciminian forest, and is surrounded by fortifications erected by the Lombards. Of its 17 churches, the chief are the cathedral of St. Lorenzo, founded in the 12th century, and the much-venerated church of St. Rosa, containing the mummy of a saint. In the former, an Englishman, Pope Hadrian IV., made the Emperor Friedrich I. hold his stirrup in token of homage. Other interesting buildings are the bishop's palace, the Palazzo Publico, with a museum, and the Palazzo Vescovile, where between 1261 and 1281 six papal elections took place. Viterbo used to be called "the city of beautiful fountains and beautiful maidens." Of the former the finest the Fontana are Grande (1206), and another in the court of the Palazzo Publico. There are some manufactures of leather, paper, playing cards, lucifer matches, soap, etc. In the neighborhood are the Bulicame sulphur springs, and 10 miles to the W. the great g Etruscan cemetery city of Castel d'Asso. Pop. about 25,000.
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Vitet
LUDOVIC (vē-tā'), a French author; born in Paris, Oct. 18, 1802. While a journalist on "L'Univers," he wrote three dramatic poems, "The Day of the Barricades" (1826), "The 'The States of Blois" (1827), and the "Death of "Henri III." (1829), which gave him reputation. In 1845 he became a member of the Academy. Subsequently he held official posts osts till the the revolution of 1848. Of his later works the best known are: "Fragments and Medleys" (1846), artistic, literary and archæological criticisms; "Studies of the History of Art" (1864); 4); "Letters on the Siege of Paris" (1870-1871). He died in Paris, June 5, 1873.
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Vitex
in botany, the typical genus of Viticeæ, calyx short, campanulate, five-toothed; corolla irregular, five-lobed, somewhat labiate; stamens four, didynamous; fruit a globular berry, covered at its base by the calyx, and containing four one-seeded cells. V. agnus-castus is the chaste tree, a native of southern Europe. It has digitate leaves, with five to seven leaflets, fragrant flowers, and matic taste. V. trifolia, the wild pepper, and Burma. The roots yield a sweet, greenish oil. It is believed that an oil can be extracted also from the seeds. The plant is anodyne, diuretic and emmenagogue. V. negundo is a shrub with pretty blue flowers, found in India, Ceylon and Cochin China. Its ashes are largely used as an alkali in dyeing. A pillow stuffed with the leaves is said to relieve headache, and a vapor bath prepared with them is employed in Mysore in fever, catarrh, and rheumatism. The bark and roots of V. leucoxylon, a large deciduous tree from India and Burma, are astringent; its fruit is eaten by the Burmese.
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Vitoria
a town of Spain; capital of the province of Alava; 76 miles N. E. of Burgos. The chief buildings are four parish churches, a palace of deputies, an academy of music, theater and prison. The manufactures comprise paper, cabinet work, carriages, earthenware, etc. Here, on June 21, 1813, Wellington defeated the French under King Joseph and Marshal Jourdain. Pop. about 35,000.
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Vitre
an ancient town of Brittany, in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine; on the Vilaine; 24 miles E. of Rennes. It is partly surrounded with ramparts, and contains the ruined castle of the Tremouilles. Rochers, the residence of Madame de Sévigné, is 3½ miles S. Manufactures of cloth and hats are carried on. Pop. about 10,000.
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Vitruvius
POLLIO, a Roman architect of the age of Augustus; celebrated as the author of the only Latin treatise on architecture which has come down to modern times. Of the details of his life but little is known, and that little is due to incidental allusions in his own work. That he was fairly well acquainted with Greek and Latin literature; that he served as a military engineer in Africa; that he obtained the direct patronage of the reigning emperor (Augustus, according to the consent of modern scholars, but Titus, according to an older opinion advocated by Newton); and that he composed his treatise in his old age to guide the judgment of his patron in matters of architecture are the principal facts that are thus preserved. The "Architecture" was probably completed 14 B. C. Besides the subjects strictly included under the title, it treats of water and aqueducts, sundials and machines. The style is a very bad one; at times perplexingly diffuse, and again as perplexingly curt, with an almost total absence of true literary grace; but the matter is of great value as being largely an epitome of treatises by Greek architectural writers. The authoritative MSS. are the Harleian of the 9th tury and the Gordianus of the 11th. The first edition was by Sulpicius at Rome between 1484 and 1492; and the best of recent editions is by Reber (Stuttgart, 1864).
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Vitus
ST., a reputed martyr under Diocletian, the son of a Sicilian pagan, but converted by his nurse Crescentia and her husband Modestus. All three perished together, in Lucania, or at Rome, the festival falling on June 15. The relics of St. Vitus are preserved at Corbey and at Prague. He is invoked against sudden death, hydrophobia, prolonged sleep, and the complaint commonly called the chorea or dance of St. Vitus; some authorities make him also the patron of comedians and dancers. It is said that in Germany in the 17th century it was a popular belief that good health for a year could be bought by bringing gifts to his image and dancing before it on his festival-a practice especially in vogue at his chapels at Ulm and Ravensburg.
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Vitus' Dance
ST. See CHOREA.
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Vizagapatam
the chief town of the district of the same name, in Madras presidency, British India; on the seacoast; 380 miles N. E. of Madras. It stands at the head of a bay, on a small river, and carries on a large coasting trade. One of the points of the bay, called the Dolphin's Nose, rises 1,500 feet above the sea. A British factory was settled there in the middle of the 17th century. There are special manufactures of cotton cloth, gold and silver embroidery, silver, ivory and horn ornaments. The exports are chiefly piece goods, oil seeds, and sugar. Pop. about 45,000. The district of V Vizagapatam occupies the strip below the Eastern Ghauts S. of Ganjam and the wild hill country behind; area, 18,344 square miles. The hills rise to the height of 5,- 000 feet. The crops are rice, oil seeds, sugar cane and tobacco. Sugar is extensively manufactured under European superintendence. This tract formed one of the northern Circars occupied by the British in 1767, and includes the semiindependent states of the Jeypur agency. i
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