TURTLE DOVE (Columba turtur, LINN.; La Tourtourelle, BUFF.) 8. Length somewhat more than twelve inches; | gentle and soothing accents; on which aethe bill is brown; eyes yellow, encompassed with a crimson circle; the top of the head is ash-colour, mixed with olive; each side of the neck is marked with a spot of black feathers, tipped with white: the back is ashcolour, each feather margined with reddish brown; wing coverts and scapulars reddish brown, spotted with black; quill feathers dusky, with pale edges; the fore part of the neck and the breast are of a light purplish red; the belly, thighs, and vent, white; the two middle feathers of the tail are brown, the others dusky tipped with white; the two outermost also edged with the same; the legs are red. The note of the turtle dove is singularly tender and plaintive; in addressing his mate the male makes use of a variety of winning attitudes, cooing at the same time in the most count the turtle dove has been represented in all ages as the most perfect emblem of connubial attachment and constancy. The turtle arrives late in the spring, and departs about the latter end of August; it frequents the thickest and most sheltered parts of the woods, where it builds its nests on the highest trees; the female lays two eggs, and has only one brood in this country, but in warmer climates it is supposed to breed several times in the year. Turtles are pretty common in Kent, where they are sometimes seen in flocks of twenty or more, frequenting the pea fields, and are said to do much damage. Their stay with us seldom exceeds more than four or five months, during which time they pair, build their nests, and rear their young, which are strong enough to join them in their retreat.-Bewick. TUSH or TUSK, 8. The long tooth of a fighting animal, the fang, the holding tooth. TUSKED OF TUSKY, a. Furnished with tusks. TWINE, 8. A twisted thread; twist, convolution; embrace; act of convolving itself round. TWINLING, 8. A twin lamb, a lamb of two brought at a birth. The twitch is a very necessary instrument | in a stable, though, when frequently and unnecesarily used, it may have the ill effect of rendering some horses violent and vicious to resist its future application. In many instances blindfolding will do more than the twitch; and some horses may be quieted, when the pain is not excessive, by holding the ear in one hand, and rubbing the point of it with the other. A firm but soothing manner will often engage the attention, and prevent violence; but it is seldom that either threats or punishment render an unruly horse better. Inexperienced persons guard themselves against the hind feet only, but they should be aware that some horses strike as truly and as terribly with their fore feet: it is prudent, therefore, in all operations, to blindfold the animal, and the more so, as by this he becomes particularly intimidated, manner of a twitch. They are only admissible when a person is so situated as to be wholly without assistance.-Blaine. nor will he often strike without an aim.Barnacles are a sort of clams used by smiths, into which they introduce the nose in the TWITTER, . To make a sharp tremulous intermittent noise; to be suddenly moved with any inclination. TYMPANUM, 8. A drum, a part of the ear TYRO, 8. One yet not master of his art. THE VELVET DUCK. VALERIAN, 8. A plant, of which cats are immoderately fond. VAPOUR, 8. Anything exhalable, anything that mingles with the air; wind; fume, steam, diseases caused by diseased nerves; melancholy spleen. VARNISH, 8. A matter laid upon wood, metal, or other bodies, to make them shine. As moisture is at all times destructive to wood, it is essential for the angler to guard all in his power against its influence on his rod; for, admitting that a shower of rain will not spoil it, yet if not protected by varnish, it may soon be deprived of its elasticity, which is the chief requisite of any, and more particularly of a fly-rod. Variety of methods are us d in preparing varnish; the one here mentioned is said to be excellent. Varnish Recipe.-Half a pint of linseed oil, and a little India rubber scraped fine; put them over a slow fire, and stir them well to gether, until the rubber is dissolved, then boil and skim it, apply it warm, and do not use the rod until quite dry. The appearance upon the rod will be like a fine thin bark; it will preserve the rod from being worm-eaten, and from other injuries, and is very durable. Another. Half an ounce of shell, and the same quantity of seedlac powdered fine in a mortar; put into separate phials, with half a pint of good spirits of wine in each, and placed in a sand heat to dissolve; during the process, shake the phials often; when cach is dissolved, mix them together in a larger bottle, with half an ounce of gum benzoin; | become fine; the third coat will remain on VARNISH, v. To cover with something shining, UDDER, 8. The breast or dugs of a cow, or other large animal. VEGETABLE, 8. Anything that has growth without sensation, as plants. VEGETABLE, a. Belonging to a plant; having the nature of plants. VEHICLE, S. That in which anything is carried; that part of a medicine which serves to make the principal ingredient potable; that by means of which anything is conveyed. VEIN, 8. The veins are only a continuation of the extreme capillary arteries reflected tack again towards the heart, and uniting their channels as they approach it. VEINY, a. Full of veins; streaked, variegated. VELOCITY, 8. Speed, swiftness, quick motion. VELVET, 8. Silk, with a short fur or pile upon it. VELVET DUCK, DOUBLE SCOTER, or GREAT BLACK DUCK, (Anas Fusca, LINN.; Le Grand Macreuse, Buff.) s. The velvet duck is larger than a mallard,, weighing about three pounds two ounces, and measuring above twenty inches in length. They spread themselves in small numbers along the shores of Western Europe, as far as France, where they sometimes appear in company with the large flocks of scoters, and are often caught in the fishermen's nets with those birds; but they are seldom met with on the British shores. * * wanting; forehead and cheeks under the eye, dull brownish; behind that a large oval spot of white; whole upper parts and neck dark brownish drab; tips of the plumage lighter; second ones white; wing quills deep brown; belly brownish-white; tail hoary-brown; the throat white, marked with dusky specks; legs and feet yellow. This species much resembles the scoter, only that bird bas no white feathers about it, "The bill broad, with a black knob at the and the colour of the bill is somewhat differDase; the rest of the bill is yellow; the nail ent. In the windpipe of this bird is a singu red; the edges all round black; the plumage lar bony swelling, the size of a small walnut, is black, inclining to brown on the belly; situated about two-thirds of the length from under each eye is a white mark passing back-the larynx; immediately under the larynx is wards in a streak; across the middle of the wing is a band of white; legs red; claws black. The female is more inclining to brown, and the protuberance on the bill is VENATIC, a. Used in hunting. obs. another oblong bony cavity, of nearly an inch in length; at the divarication the parts become bony, but not greatly enlarged. This is peculiar to the male sex.-Montagu. VENATION, S. The act or practice of hunting. obs. VENERY, 8. The sport of hunting; the commerce of the sexes. VENESECTION, S. Bloodletting, the act of opening a vein, phlebotomy. VENT, 8. A small aperture; a hole; a spiracle; the aperture of a bird or fish; act of opening; emission; discharge. VENTER, 8. Any cavity of the body; the abdomen. VENT FEATHERS (Crissum, LINN.), 8. In ornithology, are those that lie from the vent, or anus, to the tail underneath. VENTILATOR, 3. An apparatus to supply close places with fresh air. VENTRICLE, S. The stomach; any small cavity in an animal body, particularly those of the heart. VERDERER, 8. An officer of the forest. In every forest there are usually four verderers, so named from viridis or vert, The verderer is a judicial officer of the forest, chosen by force of the king's writ in full county, VERDIGRIS, 8. The rust of brass. and sworn to maintain the laws of the forest, and to view, receive, and enrol the attachments and presentments of all trespasses within the forest of vert and venison. VERJUICE, S. Acid liquor expressed from crab apples. VERMICULAR, α. Acting like a worm, continued from one part to another. VERMIFUGE, 8. Any medicine that destroys or expels worms. VERMILION, S. The cochineal, the grub of a particular plant; factitious or native cinnabar, sulphur mixed with mercury; any beautiful red colour. VERMIN, S. Any noxious animal. To destroy vermin.-When dogs are afflicted with lice, the most effectual remedy is to rub the whole animal over with train-oil; allow it to remain on half-an-hour, and then wash it off with salt of tartar, or potashes and water. Soft soap made into a thick paste, and rubbed over the body, and allowed to remain on an hour before washing the dog, will effectually destroy them. N. B. The method of giving any bolus, pill, or other medicine to a dog, is to pull out his tongue, then put it down his throat as far as possible, and when the dog draws in his tongue, the medicine will descend into his stomach. Sopping the skin with tobacco water has been recommended; but it has only a momenVERNAL, a. Belonging to the spring. tory effect, and it not unfrequently poisons the dog. Innumerable other means I have tried to drive away fleas, but the only tolerably certain one I have discovered, is to make dogs sleep on fresh yellow deal shavings. These shavings may be made so fine as to be as soft as a feather bed; and, if changed every week or fortnight, they make the most cleanly and wholesome one that a dog can rest on; and the turpentine in them is very obnoxious to the fleas. But, where it is absolutely impracticable to employ deal shavings, it will be found useful to rub or dredge the dog's hide, once or twice a week, with very finely powdered resin if simply rubbed in, add some bran.-Brown-Blaine. Vernal Birds of Passage.-The earlier or | Yellow Willow Wreu later appearance of our spring birds may be Whitethroat found to arise from accidental vicissitudes of Redstart the season in those countries from whence they come; and, viewed in this light, the time of their arrival becomes an interesting phenomena to note down. Generally speaking, they arrive at the following times, on an average of many years :Wryneck Smallest Willow Wren House Swallow Cuckoo Middle of March. April 15. April 20. April 20. April 17. April 10. April 21. April 20. Stone March 27. End of April. Night Plover or Other birds, water wagtails for instance, who only make partial migrations, are more uncertain in their times of appearance.Foster. VERT, 8. Everything that grows and bears a green leaf within the forest. VERTEBRAL, a. Relating to the joints of the spine. VERTEBRÆ, 8. Joints of the back. VERTIGO, 8. A giddiness, a sense of turning in the head. According to White fast trotters are particularly subject to this disease. When a horse has been worked hard and ed high, and especially horses that excel in rotting, we often find, in the course of a few ears, that they appear giddy at times, or when | trotting suddenly stand still; ramble or reel time; when they get up again, and recover intorted; from this state also they recover after a short time. Sometimes after falling down, a short time.-White. they are convulsed, and the eyes are dis VESICATE, . To blister. VESICATORY, 8. A blistering medicine. VETERINARY, a. Belonging to cattle, particularly horses. VIBRISSE (LINN.), 8. In ornithology, are hairs that stand forward like feelers in some birds they are slender, as in flycatchers, &c. and point both upwards and downwards, from both the upper and under sides of the mouth. Vibrissæ pectinate (LINN.), in ornithology; these hairs are very stiff, and spread out on each side like a comb from the upper sides of the mouth of the nightjar-Montagu. VICE, S. The course of action opposite to virtue; a fault, an offence; a kind of small iron press with screws. Vice, in horses, ill temper, savageness. VINGT-UN, S. A game. Vingt-an, or twenty-one, very much resem· | double stakes from all who stand the game, bles quinze; but may be played by two or such other players excepted who may likemore persons, and as the deal is advantage-wise have twenty-one, between whom it is ous, and often continues long with the same thereby a drawn game: when any person has person, it is usual to determine it at the com-vingt-un, and the dealer not, he who has it mencement by the first ace turned up. The cards must all be dealt out in succession, unless a natural vingt-un occurs, and in the mean time the pone, or youngest-hand, should collect those that have been played, and shuffle them ready for the dealer against the period when he shall have distributed the whole pack. The dealer is first to give two cards, by one at a time to each player, including himself, then to ask every person in rotation, beginning with the eldest hand on the left, whether he stands or chooses another card, which, if required, must be given from off the top of the pack, and afterwards another, or more, if desired, till the points of the additional card or cards, added to those dealt, exceed or make twenty-one exactly, or such a number less than twenty-one, as may be judged proper to stand upon; but when the points exceed twenty-one, then the cards of that individual player are to be thrown up directly, and the stake to be paid to the dealer, who is also in turn entitled to draw additional cards, and on taking a vingt-un is to receive VINEGAR, 8. Wine grown sour. wins double stakes of the dealer; in other cases, except a natural vingt-un happens, the dealer pass single stakes to all whose nambers under twenty-one are higher than his own, and receives from those who have lower numbers; but nothing is paid or received by such players as have similar numbers to the dealer; and when the dealer draws more than twenty-one, he is to pay to all who have not thrown up. Twenty-one, made by an ace and a ten, or court card, whenever dealt in the first instance, is styled a natural vingt-un, should be declared immediately, and entitles the possessor to the deal, besides double stakes from all the players, unless there shall be more than one natural vingt-un, in which case the younger hand or hands so having the same, are excused from paying to the eldest who takes the deal of course. N.B. An ace may be reckoned either as eleven or one; every court-card is counted as ten, and the rest of the pack according to their pips.-Hoyle. VIPER, 8. A serpent of that species which brings its young alive; any thing mischievous. In every quarter of the globe but Europe, these bites are fatal, particularly when proper dogs are exposed to the venomous attacks of means are resorted to for obviating the effects. snakes, whose bite is instantly mortal. The These means consist in freely rubbing the viper is the only animal of this kind in Britain bitten part with volatile alkali, or with the capable of inflicting a wound attended with spirit of hartshorn mixed with oil; giving alse serious consequences, and to which dogs be-seven, ten, or twelve drops of the volatile alcome exposed when hunting. In these cases, the bitten part swells enormously, and the animal expresses great distress and suffering: at length he becomes affected with torpor, or in some cases, with convulsions, when death commonly ensues. But it is not often that kali, or otherwise forty drops, to a large dog, of the spirit of hartshorn, in a teaspoonful or two of sweet oil, every hour, until the amendment is evident. * On August the 4th, 1775, we surprised a large viper, which seemed very beavy and |