To a certain extent they are carnivorous, devouring flesh when pressed by hunger. They also eat fruits and legumes, and do not disdain crus in part upon vegetable food. The species are rather numerous, and have been arranged in several sub-families, the true or typical bears, Ursina, the racoons, Procyonina, the pottos, Cer-taceans and insects. Honey they are particularly coleptina, and the pandas, Ailurina. The true bears, Ursina, have only one very large oblong tubercular grinder in the upper jaw, and their feet are very broad and short. The cylindrical bones of the bears, such as the thigh bone, for instance, approach nearer to those of man than the same bones in any other quadruped. The food of the bears consists of all manner of things. fond of, and the American bears will gnaw for a day together at the trunk of a tree in which honey is lodged, till they make a hole big enough to get in their paws, and then they haul out honey, bees and all. The greater number lay themselves up in caves or hollows for the winter, which they pass in a dormant state, and without food. The genus Ursus contains several species, 1. Polar Bear-Thalaretos maritimus. 2. Iong-lipped Bear-Melursus Lybius. 3. American Black Bear-Ursus Americans. 4. Malayan Bear-Helaretos Malayanus. & Common Brown Bear Ursus arctos. & Grizzly Bear-Damis feros. natives of Europe and America. The brown bear, U. arctos, appears to have been the only species known certainly to Linnæus. It is widely diffused; it inhabits the mountainous districts of Europe from very high latitudes in the north, to the Alps and Pyrenees in the south. Siberia, Kamstchatka, and even Japan, it is said, to the eastward, possess this species, as well as a portion of the northern regions of America. To the Kamtschatkans the brown bear supplies the necessaries and even comforts of life. They clothe themselves from head to foot with the skin, make covers for their faces, and substitutes for glass for their windows with the intestines, while the flesh and fat serve them as food. The Laplanders hold it in great veneration, and call it the dog of God. This animal appears to have been at one time a native of the British isles, though it has long ago disappeared. Its usual size is about four feet in length and 2 feet in height. The black bear, U. Americanus, is rather smaller, and appears to be confined to the continent of America, though now even there increasing civilization has driven it to the mountains and immense inland forests. The skin of the black bear used formerly to be in high estimation, and great numbers were annually imported to England. Their value has very much decreased of late, but they are still used for military purposes in this country, as for caps, pistol holsters, rugs, &c. In 1803, 25,000 skins were imported into England, but the number has diminished so much of late years that in 1851 it appeared only 9,500 had been imported, and of these 8,000 had been re-exported. The grizzly bear, Damis feroz, is a much larger species than the last, specimens having been measured nine feet in length, and weighing 800 lbs. It is an exceedingly powerful animal, and is capable of great rapidity of motion. The Rocky Mountains, and the plains to the eastward of them, are the chief haunts of the grizzly bear, though it is said they are found from 61 north latitude to as far south as Mexico. It feeds sometimes upon fruits and roots, but at others preys upon other animals. The bison is said to be no match for this powerful creature. After killing it, it will drag the carcase to some retired place where it digs a pit for its reception, and returns to feed upon it till the supply is exhausted. Several species of bears, forming the genus Helarctos, are found in Asia, occurring in Syria, India, and the large islands belonging to it. The polar bear, Thalarctos maritimus, is an inhabitant on the other hand of the dreary regions which surround the north pole with eternal frost, and those coasts which are seldom free from ice. It is the most carnivorous of all the bears, preying upon animals of both land and sea, seals, and fishes, birds and their eggs, and feeding upon carrion, such as dead whales, as well as the flesh of animals they themseves have killed. The polar bear is of a more elongate form than any other species, is a large animal measuring from seven to 8 feet in length, and weighing sometimes 1,600 lbs., and is very powerful. The fur is of a silverywhite tinged with yellow, close, short, and even on the head, neck, and upper part of the back; long, fine, and inclined to be woolly on the hinder parts, legs, and belly. The sole of the foot exhibits a beautiful instance of adaptation of means to an end, for it is almost entirely covered with long hair, affording the animal a firm footing on the ice. Remains of bears have been found fossil in great abundance in various parts of Europe. They occur in caves in England, and two species have been described, Ursus spelaus and U. priscus. The racoons, Procyonina, have the three last molars with blunt tubercles on their crowns. The nose is elongated and very mobile, ears small, tail very long and hairy. The feet have five toes, with sharp claws, and though the entire sole of the foot is applied to the ground when the animal is stationary, when walking the heel is raised. They have the peculiar habit of washing their food before eating it. The racoon, Procyon lotor, is a native of America, chiefly met with in the northern parts of the continent, but occasionally in the West Indies also. It is about two feet in length from the nose to the tail, the tail being ten inches more. The head is round, with a narrow tapering nose, rather large round eyes, and elliptical, erect ears. The colour is grayish-brown, with a dusky line running from the top of the head down the middle of the face, and ending below the eyes. The tail is thickly covered with hair, and is ringed with several black bars on a yellowishwhite ground. The racoon is a savage animal in its wild state, and sanguinary, destroying great numbers of birds both wild and domesticated, only eating the head, or drinking the blood which flows from the wounds. It is a good climber, and the form of its claws enables it to adhere so firmly to the branch of a tree, that it requires no slight exertion of strength to disengage it. It is a nocturnal animal in a state of nature, but is | tolerably easily domesticated, and then it appears to lose its nocturnal habits, and becomes active during the day and quiet at night. Its specific name, lotor (washer), is derived from its habit of plunging its dry food into water before eating it. The skin of the racoon is valuable, its fur being used in the manufacture of hats, and forms no inconsiderable article of commerce. The coatimondi, Nasua rufa, bears considerable resemblance to the racoon, except that the neck and body are longer, the fur shorter, the eyes smaller, and above all, by the much greater elongation of its snout. It is a native of Brazil and the central parts of America, preys upon birds and small quadrupeds, but also eats eggs, and earth worms, for obtaining which, by rooting up the earth like the hog, its elongate snout is well adapted. It is about the size of a large cat, of a cinereous brown colour, and the tail ringed with circles of black. The potto is a species of Cercoleptes; for the panda, see AILura. Ursus. The Bear.-See URSIDE. Urtica (uro, to burn). The Nettle. - See URTICACEE. Urticacea. The Nettle family. -A nat. ord. of dicotyledonous plants, composed of many plants which vary much in appearance but which agree in essential characters. They are herbs, shrubs, and trees, a large proportion of them natives of hot climates, and in some instances yielding a milky juice. The leaves are alternate, stipulate, and usually scabrous or hispid, the hairs often furnished with a stinging secretion. The flowers are monœcious or diœcious, scattered or collected Stinging hair of Urtica dioica—the Common Nettle. together into catkins or heads. The species belonging to this family are numerous, upwards of 600 having been described, and the genera amount to between sixty and seventy. Their properties and appearance are various, and they have accord- | native of Australia, grows to a large size. Stems ingly been divided into several sub-orders. The of this arboreal species have been measured from true nettles, Urticeœ, are rough-leaved plants, and the surface is generally covered with peculiar hairs, the bulbs of which are filled with an acrid juice producing a burning sensation when applied to the skin. The species are herbs or shrubs, are widely scattered over the globe, and many of them follow the footsteps of man in his migrations. The genus Urtica is the type of the family, and it is in some of the species of this genus that the structure of the stinging hairs is best exemplified. These hairs are glandular, with secreting cells at the base. They are formed of a single conical cell, dilated at its base, and closed at first at the apex, by a small globular button placed obliquely. This button breaks off on the slightest touch, when the sharp extremity of the hair enters the skin, and pours into the wound the irritating fluid which has been pressed out from the cells at the base. Urtica dioica and urens are the two most common species in this country, and are well known troublesome weeds. In spring the leaves of the former are used as pot-herbs boiled in broth. U. pilutifera, the Roman nettle, is not so common, but its sting is more virulent than the two others. The tree nettle, U. gigantea, a eighteen to twenty-one feet in circumference. Their sting is very severe, causing violent inflammation. The fibres of the nettles are very tenacious, and those of U. tenacissima, a native of Sumatra and Rungpore, are exceedingly strong, and are converted into powerful cordage. A species of linen cloth is manufactured from some of the other nettles, and the beautiful fabric called Chinese grass-cloth is the produce of an Indian plant belonging to this family. See BOEHMERIA. The other sub-orders or families into which the order Urticacea is divided, are CANNABINE.E, the hemp tribe; ULMACEE, the elm tribe; MORE.E, the mulberry tribe; and ARTOCARPEE, the bread fruit tribe. Vaccinaceæ. Ustilaginei.—A family of minute coniomycetous Fungi, related to the Uredinei, and composed of a great many species, known under the names of Bunt, Caries, &c. The genus Ustilaga is the type of the group, and contains a variety of minute parasitic plants which produce the disease called smut upon the ears of corn, such as oats, barley, &c., as well as on the leaves of grasses. A genus of Infusoria. See Uvella. MONAS. V Vaccinium.-See VACCINACEE. Vahea. A genus of plants. See APOCYSACEÆ. The Cranberry family.-Atery. The flowers are much frequented by ants. nat. ord. of dicotyledonous plants, composed of Cranberries are the produce of V. oxycoccus and small shrubs, occurring in temperate climates, macrocarpum. See OXYCOCCUS. The black but especially abounding in North America. whortleberry, V. uliginosum, and the red whortleWithin the tropics they are found growing only berry, V. Vitis-Idea, are two other species which on mountains. They have cylindrical or angular are abundant plants in North America, the north branches, simple, entire, dentate, or crenate leaves, of Europe, and in the northern parts of England somewhat coriaceous and persistent, and flowers and Scotland. Preserved with sugar, the fruit is solitary or grouped in bunches. The berries of sometimes used as a substitute for the cranberry, several contain a quantity of mucilage, sugar, while the leaves of the latter plant are occasionmalic and citric acids, associated with a peculiar ally used to adulterate Uva-Ursi. astringent principle, and are eaten either cooked or raw. From some of them a fermented liquor is obtained. The genus Vaccinium is the type of the family, and is composed of a considerable Valeriana. The Valerian.-A genus of number of species, which are small shrubs, the dicotyledonous plants belonging to the nat. ord. greater part growing in North America, though Valerianacea. The species of this genus are several are found in the north of Europe, and in numerous, upwards of 125 having been described the north of Asia. Two or three are natives They are herbs or under-shrubs, with opposite, likewise of Great Britain. The most common exstipulute leaves, and are natives of temperate species is the bilberry or blaeberry, Vaccinium climates or elevated positions in both the Old and Myrtillus, a small branchy shrub about a foot New World. The flowers are white, red, rosyhigh, with angular branches, oval, sharp, and yellow, or even blue, and disposed in corymbs or dentated leaves, small rosy-white flowers, and panicles. The roots of many are strongly scented. berries, when ripe, of a bluish-black colour, of The best known and most important species is the size of a pea. It grows abundantly in open the common or officinal valerian, V. officinalis, a woods throughout the greater part of Europe. large plant three feet and upwards in height, The berries have a slightly acidulous and astrin- with smooth, erect, furrowed stems, and abundant gent flavour, and are very pleasant to the taste. in moist woods, and by sides of rivers and ditches They are often used in tarts, &c., and a syrup is in Great Britain and other parts of Europe. The made from them which some physicians on the leaves are pinnated, and the flowers are slightly continent recommend as useful in cases of dysen-rose coloured. The root of the valerian is a powerful medicine. VAL It has a strong, nauseous smell, and a bitter penetrating taste. It is chiefly as an antispasmodic that valerian root is used, and it is administered either in the form of powder or tincture. Its properties are due to the existence of a peculiar principle called valerianic acid. The powder is very attractive to cats, and also to rats, and is employed by rat-catchers to decoy rats. Several species are cultivated as ornamental plants in our gardens. V. pyrenaica, for instance, is a handsome plant, with large heartshaped leaves, and fine blue flowers. Vanga.-A genus of birds belonging to the dentirostral tribe of the order Passeres, family Laniida, and sub-family Thamnophiline, or bush shrikes. The species are distinguished by a large beak, very much compressed throughout, its tip strongly hooked, and that of the lower mandible bent downward. They are natives of South America, and are turbulent and peevish in their habits and manners. They attack other species of birds with great fierceness, and feed upon smal living animals which they catch upon the borders of woods, &c. Vanilla. A genus of monocotyledonous plants belonging to the nat. ord. Orchidacea, the name of which is derived from the Spanish word Vallisneria.-A genus of monocotyledonous plants named after Vallisneri, an Italian botanist. See HYDROCHARIDACEÆ. Vampirus. The Vampire Bat.-See CHEIR-" vaynilla," a knife or scissor-case, the fruit OPTERA. Vanadium.-A metal discovered in 1830 in the iron ore of Taberg, in Sweden, and named It has after Vanadis, a Scandinavian deity. since been found in the form of vanadiate of lead at Zimapan in Mexico, at Wanlockhead in Scotland, and in Wicklow, Ireland. Vanadium is a white metal resembling silver, or more strongly molybdenum. It is a good conductor of electricity. Vanellus. The Lapwing.-A genus of birds. See CHARADRIIDE. Vanessa.-A genus of insects belonging to the diurnal Lepidoptera, and family Nymphalidae. The species are numerous, and are found in all parts of the world. In most of them the wings are angulated, the caterpillars have numerous bristly spines, and the pupa is much angulated and suspended by the tail. Many of these butterflies are very beautiful and richly coloured. They generally live near human habitations, and are found in gardens, public walks, open fields, &c.; their flight is rapid but short in continuSeveral of the species are well known ance. Vanessa pavonia. having the appearance of the sheath of a knife. Varanus or Varanus (derived from the Arabic word Ouaran, the native name of the species in Egypt).-A genus of reptiles belonging to the order Saura, and family Monitoride. The species of this genus are large and strong reptiles, acquiring a size only inferior to the crocodiles. They are rather lanky in appearance, have an elongate head, a long and rounded neck, and a lengthened compressed tail, with a The skin double-edged keel above. is covered with enchased, tuberculous scales, and the tongue is protractile and fleshy. The species are aquatic, and have large, oblong, rather oblique nostrils placed in the centre between the apex of the muzzle and the orbits. The toes are elongate, unequal and strong. Several species are described from India, Borneo, and the Philippine Islands; two others, which are natives of Africa, forming now the genus Regenia. Varech or Varec.-A name ap British butterflies; as the Camberwell beauty, | plied generally to sea-weeds on the coast of France. V. Antiopa, the peacock-butterfly, V. Io, the red admiral butterfly, V. Atalanta, &c. The species here represented is V. pavonia. In the Channel Islands it is corrupted into Vraick. Sea-weed is collected by the inhabitants of Jersey and Guernsey twice a-year, in July and March. 571 It is very much used by the farmers as manure, but it forms also with the lower orders their chief fuel, instead of coal or wood. It makes a warm fire. Variolaria.—A genus of acotyledonous plants belonging to the order Lichenes. The name is derived from the resemblance the apothecia have to the pustules of small-pox. The species are ashy-gray or whitish, and form upon trees, rocks, and walls, a spreading uniform, membranaceous crust. Several of these lichens have been found to contain oxalic acid. In a hundred parts of V. fuginea, a species found on old beech trees, twenty-nine parts were oxalic acid, and eighteen lime. At present, this lichen is extensively employed in France for the purpose of obtaining oxalic acid. Vastres=Sudis=Arapaima.-A genus of abdominal malacopterygious fishes belonging to a family adopted by some ichthyologists, and named Clupesocida, from their being as it were placed between the natural families of pikes and herrings. The species of this genus are very interesting from the peculiarities of structure which they exhibit, their body being encased in strong, bony, compressed scales, forming a mosaic work extending over the vertical fins. The head is formed of deeply sculptured bones, with mucous cells, clothed in a thick skin. The mouth is pretty large, and the teeth rasp-shaped, and the air bladder is said to be cellular, like the lung of a fowl. There are about six species found in the rivers of South America, and they are remarkable for the size they attain, exceeding that of almost all other fresh water fishes. Their flesh is excellent as an article of food. V. (Sudis or Arapaima) gigas is found in the Rio Negro, and specimens are often taken which measure fifteen feet in length, and weigh four hundred weight. Sir R. Schomburgk describes the fishing for this species in that river. They are harpooned or taken with a baited hook, and are the objects of considerable fisheries. He tells us they fetch a high price, are excellent when fresh, especially the belly part, which is very fat, and when salted, they are exported in large quantities to Para, where they are preferred to the salted fish from the banks of Newfoundland. The natives use the os hyoides as a rasp for reducing their fruits to a pulp. Vateria.-A genus of dicotyledonous plants belonging to the nat. ord. Dipterocarpaceae. Only two species have been as yet described, both natives of India. V. indica grows all along the Malabar coast and in Canara, and is a large tree sixty feet high. The timber is valuable, and is much employed in ship-building, not being liable to be attacked by the teredo or ship worm. From the bark when wounded, a pellucid, fragrant, acrid, bitter, resinous fluid exudes, which, exposed to the sun, becomes yellow and fragile like glass. In England this resin is known by the name of gum anime, though in India it is usually called copal. The fluid resin makes a good varnish, and is called pundum or liquid copal. The seeds of this tree yield another substance well known in India by the name of piney, or vegetable tallow. This fatty matter is obtained by boiling the seeds, when it floats to the surface, and on cooling down becomes of the consistence of tallow. Velella. — A genus of acalephous animals. See ACALEPHÆ. See Vellosia. The Tree Lily.-A genus of plants. HÆMODORACEÆ. Venerida. A family of conchiferous Mollusca, composed of an immense number of shells, a great portion of which are remarkable for the beauty of their form and the variety of their colours. They differ considerably amongst themselves in the shape of their shells, the characters of their hinge teeth, and the form of the pallial impression. Hence they have been divided into a considerable number of genera, which some conchologists adopt, but others hesitate to accept. The animal has the edges of the mantle undulated, and furnished with a row of tentacular cirrhi, two respiratory syphons, capable of being more or less projected, and a large compressed foot. The shell is generally inequilateral, equivalve, regular, completely closed, and of a very hard texture. It is flattened in most of the species, and suborbicular or elongate parallel to the hinge. The teeth are generally three in each valve, always cardinal, never lateral, but in some of the genera there is a fourth small conical tooth, anterior to the others. The ligament is external. The recent species described amount, according to the latest catalogue of this family published by the British Museum, to 574! They live for the most part in the sand of the sea shore, and are found in the seas of almost all parts of the globe. Some form holes in rocks, or burrow in mud. Few are of any utility to man. The animal of Venus (Tapes) pullastra is eaten on the continental coasts. The Wampum or coinage of the North American Indians, used to be made of the sea worn fragments of Venus mercenaria, being perforated and strung on leather thongs. The principal genera of this large family are the following:-Artemis, with an orbicular, compressed, concentrically striated shell, and the animal having a hatchet-shaped foot. Cytherea, with a thick, ovate, smooth shell, and the hinder tooth striated. Meroe, with an oval, compressed shell, the lunule lanceolate, and the ligament in a deep escutcheon. Trigona, with a trigonal, wedge-shaped shell, a prominent, short ligament, and the hinder tooth torn and divided. Dione, with an oval, smooth, or concentrically ridged shell, a distinct syphonal inflection, and the hinder tooth smooth. Circe, with a somewhat similar but more compressed shell, and no syphonal inflection. All these genera have the anterior small conical tooth in addition to the three diverging ones. Venus, the |