V V the twenty-second letter of the Eng- practiced with satisfactory results in Brit- Vaal River (väl), a river of South seven to ten days. Free State and Transvaal; 500 miles. See Scrum Therapy. Vaccination (vak-si-na'shun), inoc- Vaccinium (vak-sin'i-um), ulation with vaccine in of the ge nus to which the whor order to procure immunity from smallpox, tleberry belongs. or with modified virus of any disease in Vacuum (vak'u-um), empty space, or order to produce it in a mild form and so space devoid of all matter prevent a serious attack. The practice or body. Whether there is such a thing as of anti-smallpox vaccination was intro- an absolute vacuum in nature is a quesduced by Jenner, and it soon came into tion which has been much controverted. common use instead of inoculation. (See The existence of a vacuum was mainJenner and Inoculation.) The usual tained by the Pythagoreans, Epicureans, method in vaccination is to make a few and Atomists; but it was denied by the scratches across one another, with a clean Peripatetics, who asserted that nature lancet point, upon the upper part of the abhors a vacuum.' The modern theory, arm. The virus is then gently rubbed in, which seems to be warranted by experiand allowed to dry. The patient should ence, is that an absolute vacuum cannot not scratch the place, nor should the scab exist, the subtle medium known as ether be removed; shields are not necessary, being believed to be everywhere present. and should not be used. Vaccination In a less strict sense a vacuum (more or should be regarded as a surgical proce- less perfect) is said to be produced when dure, and should be performed with all the air is more or less completely removed ordinary antiseptic precautions. For from an enclosed space, such as the remerley vaccination was performed from ceiver of an air-pump, a portion of a baroarm to arm,' that is, from one person to metric tube, etc. In the receiver of the another, and in this way it was possible air-pump the vacuum can only be partial, to transmit disease. With the modern as the exhaustion is limited by the remethod of using specially prepared virus maining air not having sufficient elasticity this danger is eliminated. But occasion- to raise the valves. The Torricellian ally the vaccination wound becomes in- vacuum, that is, the space above the merfected in the same way that any other cury in a carefully manipulated barometer wound may become infected. If the tube, is more nearly perfect in this revaccination proves successful a small spect, but even this space is to some exinflamed pustule appears about the third tent filled with the vapor of mercury.day, and increases in size until the Vacuum bottles are those fitted with a tenth day. On the eighth day the consti- vacuum jacket which keeps the contents tutional effects manifest themselves by at a nearly constant temperature.slight pain in the part, headache, shiver- Vacuum brake, a form of brake used on ing, loss of appetite, etc. These subside railroad trains (see Brake).-Vacuum spontaneously in one or two days. After- cleaner, a machine for house cleaning and wards the fluid in the pustule dries up, other purposes, by means of suction which and a scab forms, which disappears about draws the dust through a hose into a bag. the twentieth day, leaving a slight sear in Vacuum-tube. See Geissler's Tubes. the skin. Anti-typhoid vaccination has recently Vade Mecum found favor. It was introduced into the (vā'de mê'kum: Lat. Vado, I go;' mecum. United States army and navy, and later me; i. c., with me). A portable object Vail Valencia for frequent or occasional use; a pocket but rising in Mount Popovagora to 1080 companion; a book or manual for carry- feet. They are well wooded, and contain ing about on the person. It is popu- the sources of the Volga, Dnieper, and larly given to any readily available work Düna. of reference, or a key to any science or Valdepeñas (val-da-pān'yàs), a town profession, as The Electrician's Vade in Spain, New Castile, Mecum, The Lawyer's Vade Mecum, etc. province of Ciudad Real, 110 miles south Vail (val), ALFRED, inventor, born at of Madrid. It is celebrated for a red Morristown, New Jersey, in 1807; wine. Pop. 21,015. in 1837 became associated with S. F. B. Val de Travers (vål dẻ trå-vār), Morse in his electric telegraphy experia valley in the ments. He made several important Swiss Jura, canton of Neufchâtel, inventions in this connection and is drained by the Reuse flowing into the credited with that of the alphabet of lake of Neufchâtel. It is cultivated in dots, spaces and dashes which is the parts, and contains a deposit of asphalt, distinguishing feature of the Morse sys- yielding annually upwards of 2000 tons. tem. He was assistant superintendent See Asphalt. of the first telegraph line in this country, Valdivia (val-de've-ä), a province of invented the finger key, and received the South Chile. It has nearly first message from Washington. He two million acres of forests. Area, 8991 died Jan. 18, 1859. sq. miles; Pop. 187,200. Vail, THEODORE NEWTON, electrician, Valdosta (val-dos'ta), a city, county was born in Carroll Co., Ohio, seat of Lowndes Co., Georin 1845; a cousin of the preceding, and gia, 156 miles s. w. of Savannah, on nephew of Stephen Vail, who built the several railroads. Home of South engines for the Savannah, the first steam- Georgia State Normal College. Has 39 ship to cross the Atlantic. He studied manufacturing plants, making cotton oil, medicine, but was soon engaged in the acids, grist, naval stores, steel and iron railroad mail service and in 1878 entered castings, hats, etc. Pop. (1920) 10,783. Valence (vå-läns), chief town of the department of Drôme, France, on the left bank of the Rhone, 66 miles south of Lyons. It is a poorlybuilt town surrounded by old battle mented walls. It has a citadel, a small ancient cathedral, a public library, a court-house, and a theater. It is a bishop's see, and has manufactories of silk and cotton, and some trade in wine, the telephone business, organizing the first Bell Telephone Co. After 1896 he was engaged in introducing street railways and telephones in Argentina. He built up the national telephone organization, and has secured control of the Western Union Telegraph Co., and since 1907 has been president of the American Telegraph and Telephone Co., and the New York Telephone Co. Valais (vå-la; German, Wallis), a liquors, spirits, silk, fruit, etc. Pop. southern canton of Switzer- 22,950. land, abutting on France and Italy; Valencia (vå-len'shi-à), area, 2026 square miles. It is surrounded on all sides by sections of the Alps, with ridges 13,000 to 15,000 feet high, and magnificent glaciers. The Rhone traverses the whole length of the canton, forming the largest valley in Switzerland. The mountain slopes are covered with forests of pine and hardwood trees, succeeded by productive orchards. Rich pastures support numerous cattle, the chief source of subsistence of the inhabitants; and in the lower valley of the Rhone there is much arable land, the finer fruits are grown, and silk-worms reared. The canton produces a good deal of wine. In the Upper Valais German, in the Lower French is spoken. The canton was admitted into the Confederation in 1553. Sion is the capital. Pop. 114,438. Valdai Hills (vål'di), a a city of Spain, capital of the province of the same name, on the Guadalaviar, 2 miles from the Mediterranean and 190 miles E.S.E. of Madrid. It has much of the Moorish character, with mostly narrow winding streets, lined with good houses. It is an archbishop's see, and has a cathedral (dating from 1262 and greatly injured by modernization), a royal palace, an exchange, a general hospital, an academy of the fine arts, and other institutions. The university, founded in 1500, is one of the leading seats of learning in the kingdom. Outside the walls are the bull-ring, a botanic garden, and the Alameda, a delightful walk bordered with orange, pomegranate, and palm trees. The chief manufactures are silk, linen, hemp, glass, cigars, paper, and soap. Valencia was range of founded by Junius Brutus, 140 B. C. hills in Western Rus- Pop. 233,348. The old province of sia, averaging about 300 feet in height, Valencia is now broken up into the three |