in length, and are half an inch in diame

ter.

V. harpyia, or the crested vnlture, is ra ther larger than a turkey, and is distinguished by a crest of four feathers on its head. Its strength is extraordinary, and with a single stroke of its bill it is reported to be able to cleave down the scull of a man. It is found in Mexico and Brasil.

V. aura, or the carrion vulture, is of the same size as the last, is common both in North and South America, and feeds on carcasses and on snakes. Its odour is particularly rank. It is far from being ferocious and dangerous, may be easily reared tame, and is considered in the West Indies as highly useful in destroying reptiles, vermin, and carrion, insomuch that the killing of them is prohibited by law. They roost together at nights in considerable numbers, in the manner of rooks.

V. sagittarius, or the secretary vulture, is distinguished by the extraordinary length of its legs, and, when standing upright, is a yard high. It is found in Africa, aad in the Philippine Islands. It principally lives on lizards and rats, and various species of vermin. It strikes with its feet forwards, and never the contrary. It takes up tortoises in its claws, and dashes them with great force on the ground, and will repeat this process till these animals are completely killed. For the king vulture, see Aves,

Plate XIV. fig. 5.

UVULARIA, in botany, a genus of the Hexandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Sarmentaceæ. Lilia, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla six petalled, erect; nectary hollow at the base of each petal; filaments very short. There are six species.

W.

W, alphabet, and is composed, as its

or w, is the twenty-first letter of our nerally lie under basalt, and above clay.

name implies, of two v's. It was not in use among the Hebrews, Greeks, or Romans, but chiefly peculiar to the northern nations, the Teutones, Saxons, Britons, &c. But

still it is not used by the French, Italians, Spaniards, or Portuguese, except in proper names, and other terms borrowed from languages in which it is originally used, and even then it is sounded like the single v. This letter is of an ambiguous nature, being a consonant at the beginning of words, and a vowel at the end. It may stand before all the vowels except u, as water, wedge, winter, wonder: it may also follow the vowels, a, e, o, and unites with them into a kind of double vowel, or dipthong, as in saw, few, cow, &c.

It is found in veins, and generally forms the basis of amygdaloid. It frequently contains imbedded crystals of mica and basaltic hornblende, but does not, like basalt, include augite or olivine. It is found in many parts of Germany, and in Sweden. Werner considers it as intermediate between basalt and clay. When basalt contains mica, it is passing to wacce. Near Joachimstal there is an immense rent filled with wacce, in which whole trees are found imbedded.

WACHENDORFIA, in botany, a genus of the Triandria Monogynia class and order. Natural order of Ensatæ. Irides, Jussieu. Essential character: corolla six-petalled, unequal, inferior; capsule three-celled, superior. There are five species all natives of the Cape of Good Hope.

WADD, or WADDING, is a stopple of paper, hay, straw, or the like, forced into a gun upon the powder to keep it close in the chamber; or to put up close to the shot to keep it from rolling out.

WACCE, in mineralogy, a species of the clay genus, of a greenish grey colour, of various degrees of intensity; it occurs sometimes massive, sometimes vesicular, and the vesiculæ are either filled when the compound is denominated amygdaloid, or empWAFERS are made thus: take very fine ty. It is not very heavy, and it is the cha- flour, mix it with glair of eggs, singlass, racteristic of it that it falls to pieces in the and a little yeast; mingle the materials; beat open air. It belongs to the floetz trap for- them well together, spread the batter, bemation; where it occurs in beds which geing made thin with gum water, on even tin

plates, and dry them in a stove; then cut them out for use. You may make them of what colour you please, by tinging the paste with brazil or vermilion for red; in digo or verditer, &c. for blue; saffron, tur. meric, or gamboge, &c. for yellow.

WAFT, in naval language, a signal displayed from the stern of a ship for some particular purpose, by hoisting the ensign, furled up together into a long roll, to the head of its staff, or to the mizen-peek. It is particularly used to summon the ship's boats off from the shore.

descent from the quarter-deck and forecastle, she is said to be galley-built; but when with six or seven steps she is called frigate-built.

WAISTERS, in naval affairs, people sta tioned in the waist in working the ship. As their business requires only strength without art or judgment, they are commonly selected from the strongest landsmen ̧ and ordinary seamen,

WAIVER, signifies the passing by of a thing, or a refusal to accept it: sometimes it is applied to an estate, or something conveyed to a man, and sometimes to plea, &c. and a waiver on disagreement as to goods and chattels, in case of a gift, will be effectual.

WAGER of law is a particular mode of proceeding, whereby, in an action of debt, brought upon a simple contract between the parties, without any deed or record, the WAKE of a ship, is the smooth water defendant may discharge himself by swearastern when she is under sail. This shows ing in court, in the presence of compurga the way she has gone in the sea, whereby tors, that he owes the plaintiff nothing, in the mariners judge what way she makes. manner and form as he has declared, and For if the wake be right a-stern, they conhis compurgators swear, that they believe clude she makes her way forwards; but if what he says is true. And this waging his the wake be to leeward a point or two, law is sometimes called making his law. It then they conclude she falls to the leeward being at length considered, that this waging of her course, When one ship, giving of law offered too great a temptation to per- chase to another, is got as far into the wind jury, by degrees new remedies were de as she, and sails directly after her, they say, vised, and new forms of action introduced, she has got into her wake. A ship is said wherein no defendant is at liberty. to wage to stay to the weather of her wake, when, his law, as in assumpsit and trover. Also in her staying, she is so quick, that she does when a new statute inflicts a penalty, and not fall to leeward upon a tack, but that gives an action of debt to recover it, it is when she is tacked, her wake is to the leeusual to add, in which no wager of law shall ward; and it is a sign she feels her helm be allowed. very well, and is quick of steerage.

WAGERS. In general a wager may be considered as legal, if it be not an incitement to a breach of the peace, or to immorality, or if it do not affect the feelings or interest of a third person, or expose him to ridicule; or if it be not against sound policy. See INSURANCE, Wager, POLICY.

WAIFS are goods which are stolen and waved by a felon in his flight from those who pursue him, which are forfeited; and though waif is generally spoken of goods stolen, yet if a man be pursued with hne and cry as a felon, and he flee and leave his own goods, these will be forfeited as goods stolen; but they are properly fogitive's goods, and not forfeited till it be found before the coroner, or otherwise of record, that he fled for the felony. See EsTRAYS.

WAIST, in ship-building, that part of a ship which is contained between the quarterdeck and forecastle, being usually a hollow space, with an ascent of several steps to either of those places. When the waist of a merchant-ship is only one or two steps of

WALE, or WALES, in a ship, those outermost timbers in a ship's side, on which the sailors set their feet in climbing up. They are reckoned from the water, and are called her first, second, and third wale, or bend.

WALE knot, a round knot or knob made with three strands of a rope, so that it cannot slip, by which the tacks, top-sail sheets, and stoppers are made fast, as also some other ropes.

WALE reared, on board a ship, a name the seamen give to a ship, which, after she comes to her bearing, is built straight up. This way of building, though it does not look well, nor is, as the seamen term it, ship-shapen; yet it has this advantage, that a ship is thereby more roomy within board, and becomes thereby a wholesome ship at sea, especially if her bearing be well laid out.

WALES. By statute 27 Henry VIII. c. 26, and other subsequent statutes, the dominion of Wales shall be incorporated with, and part of the realm of England;

Fig.1.Struthio cumclus: Black ostrich Fig.2.Tantalus melanocephalus: Black headed ibis. Fig.3 Trochilus amethystinus: amethystine Humming-bird. Fig.4.Ipupa magna: Grand hoopoe. Fig 5.Vultur papa: King vulture.