Chapter LXXXIII: Part 2 (44)

=Varnish, Furniture.= A solution of pure white wax, 1 part, in rectified oil of turpentine, 4 parts, frequently passes under this name. See VARNISHES, BODY, CARRIAGE, and COPAL, &c.

=Varnish, Gilder’s.= _Prep._ (Watin.) Pale gum-lac in grains, gamboge, dragon’s blood, and annotta, of each 12-1/2 oz.; saffron, 3-1/4 oz.; dissolve each resin separately in 5 pints of alcohol of 90%, and make two separate tinctures of the dragon’s blood and annotta, with a like quantity of spirit; then mix the solutions in the proper proportions to produce the required shade. Used for gilded articles, &c.

=Varnish, Glass.= A solution of soluble glass. Used to render wood, &c., fire-proof.

=Varnish, Gun-barrel.= _Prep._ From shell-lac, 1-1/2 oz.; dragon’s blood, 3 dr.; rectified spirit, 1 quart. Applied after the barrels are ‘browned.’

=Varnish, Hair.= _Prep._ From hog’s bristles (chopped small), 1 part; drying oil, 10 parts; dissolve by heat. Said to be used to give cotton or linen cloth the appearance of horse-hair.

=Varnish, India-rubber.= VARNISH. See FLEXIBLE (_above_).

=Varnish, Italian.= _Prep._ Boil Scio turpentine until brittle, powder it, and dissolve this in oil of turpentine. Used for prints, &c.

=Varnish, Japan.= Pale amber or copal varnish. Used for japanning tin, papier mâché, &c.

=Varnish, Lac.= _Prep._ 1. Pale seed-lac (or shell-lac), 8 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; dissolve.

2. Substitute lac bleached with chlorine for seed-lac. Both are very tough, hard, and durable, but quite inflexible. Wood naphtha may be substituted for spirit. Used for pictures, metal, wood, or leather, and particularly for toys.

=Varnish, Lac (Aqueous).= _Prep._ From pale shell-lac, 5 oz.; borax, 1 oz.; water, 1 pint; digest at nearly the boiling point until dissolved; then strain. Equal to the more costly spirit varnish for many purposes; it is an excellent vehicle for water colours, inks, &c.; when dry, it is waterproof.

=Varnish, Lac (Coloured).= _Syn._ LACQUER, BRASSWORK VARNISH. _Prep._ 1. Take of turmeric (ground), 1 lb.; rectified spirit, 2 galls.; macerate for a week, strain, with expression, and add to the tincture, gamboge, 1-1/2 oz.; pale shell-lac, 3/4 lb.; gum sandarach, 3-1/2 lbs.; when dissolved, strain, and further add of good turpentine varnish, 1 quart. Gold coloured.

2. Seed-lac, 3 oz.; turmeric, 1 oz.; dragon’s blood, 1/4 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 pint; digest for a week, frequently shaking, then decant the clear portion. Deep gold coloured.

3. Spanish annotta, 3 lbs.; dragon’s blood, 1 lb.; gum sandarach, 3-1/4 lbs.; rectified spirit, 2 galls.; turpentine varnish, 1 quart; as before. Red coloured.

4. Gamboge, 1 oz.; Cape aloes, 3 oz.; pale shell-lac, 1 lb.; rectified spirit, 2 galls.; as before. Pale brass coloured.

5. Seed-lac, dragon’s blood, annotta, and gamboge, of each 1/4 lb.; gum sandarach, 2 oz.; saffron, 1 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 gall. Resembles the last.

_Obs._ Lacquers are used upon polished metals and wood, to impart to them the appearance of gold. Articles in brass, tin plate, and pewter, or which are covered with tinfoil, are more especially so treated. As lacquers are required of different depths and shades of colour, it is best to keep a concentrated solution of each of the colouring ingredients ready, so that it may be added, at any time, to produce any desired tint.

=Varnish, Mahogany.= _Prep._ From gum animé (‘sorts’), 8 lbs.; clarified oil, 3 galls.; litharge and powdered dried sugar of lead, of each 1/4 lb.; proceed as for body varnish, and thin with oil of turpentine, 5 galls., or q. s.

=Varnish, Mastic.= _Syn._ PICTURE VARNISH, TURPENTINE V., TINGRY’S ESSENCE V. _Prep._ 1. Take of pale and picked gum mastic, 5 lbs.; glass (pounded as small as barley, and well Washed and dried), 3 lbs.; finest newly rectified oil of turpentine (lukewarm), 2 galls.; put them into a clean 4-gall. tin bottle or can, bung down securely, and keep rolling it backwards and forwards pretty smartly on a counter, or any other solid place, for at least 4 hours, when, if the gum is all dissolved, the varnish may be decanted, strained through muslin into another bottle, and allowed to settle; if the solution is still incomplete, the agitation must be continued for some time longer, or the gentle warmth applied as well. Very fine.

2. (Second quality.) From mastic, 4 lbs.; oil of turpentine, 2 galls.; dissolve with heat.

_Obs._ Mastic varnish is much used for pictures, &c.; when good, it is tough, hard, brilliant, and colourless. It greatly improves by age, and, when possible, should never be used before it has been made at least a twelve-month. Should it get ‘chilled,’ 1 lb. of well-washed siliceous sand should be made moderately hot and added to each gallon, which must then be well agitated for 5 minutes, and afterwards allowed to settle.

=Varnish, Oak.= _Syn._ WAINSCOT VARNISH, COMMON TURPENTINE V. _Prep._ 1. Clear pale resin, 3-1/2 lbs.; oil of turpentine, 1 gall.; dissolve.

2. To the last add of Canada balsam, 1 pint, Both are cheap and excellent common varnishes for wood or metal.

=Varnish, Oil.= The finer qualities are noticed under AMBER, BODY, CARRIAGE, and COPAL VARNISH; the following produces the ordinary oil varnish of the shops:——Take of good clear resin, 3 lbs.; drying oil, 1/2 gall.; melt, and thin with oil of turpentine, 2 quarts. A good and durable varnish for common work.

=Varnish, Painter’s.= See CARRIAGE, COPAL, MAHOGANY, OAK, OIL, and other varnishes; the selection depending greatly on the colour and quality of the work.

=Varnish, Patent Leather.= This is carefully prepared drying oil. The skins being stretched on a board, and every trace of grease being removed from them by means of a mixture of fullers earth and water, they are ready to receive the varnish, which is then spread upon them, very thinly, by means of a species of scraper. The first coat varnish consists of pale Prussian blue (that containing some alumina), 5 oz.; drying oil, 1 gall.; boiled to the consistence of single size, and, when cold, ground with a little vegetable black; it is stoved and afterwards polished with fine-grained pumice——the second coating resembles the first, excepting in having a little pure Prussian blue mixed with it;——the third coat varnish consists of a similar mixture, but the oil is boiled until it strings well, and a little more pure Prussian blue and vegetable black are added;——the last coat varnish, or finish, is the same as the third, but must contain 1/2 lb. of pure dark-coloured Prussian blue, and 1/4 lb. of pure vegetable black per gall., to which a little oil copal or amber varnish is often added; each coat being duly stoved and pumiced before the next is applied. The heat of the stove or oven is commonly 120° Fahr. for ‘enamelled skins,’ as those of the calf and seal, intended for ‘uppers,’ and 175° to 180° for stout ‘japan leather,’ the exposure in the stove is commonly for 6 to 10 hours. The skins are next oiled and grained. The ‘graining’ of the ‘enamelled skins’ is done by holding the skin in one hand, and with a curved board lined with cork (graining stick), lightly pressed upon the fleshy side, working it up and down until the proper effect is produced.

=Varnish, Picture.= Several varnishes, especially mastic varnish, are called by this name. Pale copal or mastic varnish is generally used for oil paintings, and crystal, white hard spirit, or mastic varnish, for water-coloured drawings on paper.

=Varnish, Printer’s.= Diluted with twice its volume of oil of turpentine, it forms a good common varnish.

=Varnish, Sealing-wax.= Black, red, or any coloured sealing-wax, broken small, with enough rectified spirit (or methylated spirit) to cover it, digested till dissolved. A most useful varnish for wood-work of electrical or chemical apparatus, for tops of corks, &c.

=Varnish, Spirit.= _Prep._ 1. (BROWN HARD.)——_a._ From gum sandarach, 3 lbs.; pale seed-lac or shell-lac, 2 lbs.; rectified spirit (65 o. p.), 2 galls.; dissolve, and add of turpentine varnish, 1 quart; agitate well, strain (quickly) through gauze, and in a month decant the clear portion from the sediment. Very fine.

_b._ From seed-lac and yellow resin, of each 1-1/2 lb.; rectified spirit, 5 quarts; oil of turpentine, 1-1/4 pint; dissolve. Inferior to the last.

2. (WHITE HARD.)——_a._ From gum sandarach (picked), 5 lbs.; camphor, 2 oz.; washed and dried coarsely pounded glass, 3 lbs.; rectified spirit (65 o. p.), 7 quarts; proceed as in making mastic varnish; when strained, add of pure Canada balsam, 1 quart. Very pale, durable, and brilliant.

_b._ From gum sandarach and gum mastic, of each, picked, 4 oz.; coarsely powdered glass, 8 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; dissolve, and add of pure Strasburg turpentine, 3 oz. Very fine.

3. (SOFT BRILLIANT.) From sandarach, 6 oz.; elemi (genuine), 4 oz.; animé, 1 oz.; camphor, 1/2 oz.; rectified spirit, 1 quart; as before.

4. (SCENTED.) To the preceding add some gum benzoin, balsam of Peru, balsam of Tola, oil of lavender, or the essence of musk or ambergris. The first two can only be employed for dark varnishes.

_Obs._ The above varnishes are chiefly applied to articles of the toilette, as work-boxes, card-cases, &c.; but are also suitable to other articles, whether of paper, wood, linen, or metal, that require a brilliant and quick-drying varnish. They dry almost as soon as applied, and are usually hard enough to polish in 24 hours. They are, however, much less durable, and more liable to crack, than oil varnishes.

=Varnish, Stopping-out.= _Syn._ PETIT VERNIS, Fr. From lampblack, made into a paste with turpentine. Used by engravers. See ETCHING.

=Varnish, Tingry’s.= MASTIC VARNISH.

=Varnish, Toy.= Similar to common spirit varnish, but using carefully rectified wood naphtha as the solvent. See VARNISHES, LAC and SPIRIT.

=Varnish, Transfer.= _Syn._ MORDANT VARNISH. _Prep._ From mastic (in tears) and sandarach, of each 4 oz.; rectified spirit, 1-1/2 pint; dissolve, and add of pure Canada balsam, 1/2 pint. Used for transferring and fixing engravings or lithographs on wood, and for gilding, silvering, &c. See VARNISH, CRYSTAL.

=Varnish, Turpentine.= See VARNISHES, MASTIC, and OAK.

=Varnish, Wainscot.= See VARNISH, OAK.

=Varnish, Wax.= _Syn._ MILK OF WAX; EMULSIO CERÆ SPIRITUOSA, L. _Prep._ 1. Take of white wax (pure), 1 lb.; melt it with as gentle a heat as possible, add of warm rectified spirit, sp. gr. ·830 (60 o. p.), 1 pint; mix perfectly, and pour the liquid out upon a cold porphyry slab; next grind it with a muller to a perfectly smooth paste, adding more spirit as required; put the paste into a marble mortar, make an emulsion with water, 3-1/2 pints, gradually added, and strain it through muslin. Used as a varnish for paintings; when dry, a hot iron is passed over it, or heat is otherwise evenly applied, so as to fuse it, and render it transparent, after which, when quite cold, it is polished with a clean linen cloth. The most protective of all varnishes.

2. Wax (pure), 5 oz.; oil of turpentine, 1 quart; dissolve. Used for furniture. See VARNISH, SEALING-WAX.

=Varnish, White.= See VARNISH, SPIRIT, 2, _a_ and _b_.

=VAR′NISHING.= To give the highest degree of lustre to varnish after it is laid on, as well as to remove the marks of the brush, it undergoes the operation of polishing. This is performed by first rubbing it with very finely powdered pumice stone and water, and afterwards with an oiled rag and tripoli, until the required polish is produced. The surface is, last of all, cleaned with soft linen cloths, cleared of all greasiness with powdered starch, and then rubbed bright with the palm of the hand.

In varnishing great care must be taken that the surface is free from grease or smoke; as, unless this be the case, the best oil or turpentine varnish in the world will not dry and harden. Old articles are usually washed with soap and water, by the painters, before being varnished, to prevent any misadventure of the kind alluded to.

=VASELINE.= See COSMOLINE.

=VEAL.= “The grain should be close, firm, and white, and the fat of a pinkish white, not a dead white, and the kidneys well covered with a thick white fat.” (Soyer.)

Veal, like pork, requires to be well dressed, to develop its nutritive qualities. It should also be eaten fresh, as a peculiar principle is generated in it when improperly kept, which acts as a malignant poison. See ROASTING, &c.

=VEG′ETABLE AL′KALI†.= Potassa.

=VEGETABLE JUICES.= See _below_.

=VEGETABLES.= Vegetables are organic beings, which are distinguished from animals by a number of characteristics, but, like them, are composed of certain proximate principles, or compounds, which possess a high degree of scientific interest, and in many cases are invaluable to man. Among the most important of these are——albumen, gluten, gum, lignin, starch, sugar, tannin, wax, the fixed and volatile oils, the resins, and gum-resins, the alkaloids, and innumerable forms of extractive matter. Several of these substances are noticed under their respective names.

The method of propagating plants from their seeds, depending on their simple exposure, at the proper season, to warmth and moisture, under the protection of the soil, is well known; that by propagation from ‘slips’ and ‘cuttings,’ which will doubtless prove interesting to the amateur gardener, are noticed below.

The choice of slips and cuttings should be made from the side shoots of trees and plants, and, when possible, from such as recline towards the grounds, observing, when they are removed by the knife, to leave a little wood of a former year or season’s growth attached to them, as such are found to take root more readily than when they are wholly composed of new wood. The time to take slips or cuttings is as soon as the sap gets into full motion. Before setting them the latter should be cut across, just below an eye or joint, with as smooth a section as possible, observing not to injure the bud. The superfluous leaves may be removed, but a sufficient number should be left on for the purposes of vegetation. The common practice of removing all or nearly all the leaves of cuttings is injudicious. In some cases leaves alone will strike root. When cuttings are set in pots, they should be so placed as to reach to the bottom and touch the sides throughout their whole length, when they will seldom fail to become rooted plants. In the case of tubular-stalked plants it is said to be advantageous to insert both ends into the soil, each of which will take root, and may then be divided, when two plants will be produced instead of one. An equable temperature, a moist atmosphere, a shady situation, and a moderate supply of water, are the principal requisites to induce speedy rooting. Excess of any of these is prejudicial. When the size of the cuttings admit, it is better to place them under a hand- or bell-glass, which will preserve a constant degree of heat, and prevent evaporation from the surface of the leaves, which is the most common cause of their dying, especially in hot, dry weather.

_Qual._ The vegetable kingdom furnishes by far the larger portion of the food of man, and indirectly, perhaps, the whole of it. The great value of culinary vegetables and fruit in a mixed diet need not be insisted on, since it is a fact which is almost universally known and appreciated.

In the choice of culinary vegetables observe, that if they are stiff and break freely and crisply, they are fresh, and fit for food; if, on the contrary, they have a flabby appearance, or are soft or discoloured, they are stale, and should be rejected.

The dose of the generality of vegetable substances that exercise no very marked action on the human frame is about 1/2 to 1 dr. of the powder, night and morning; or 1 oz., or q. s. to impart a moderately strong colour or taste, may be infused or boiled in 1 pint of water, and a wine-glassful or thereabouts taken 2 or 3 times a day.

_Collection and Pres._ The following general directions are given in the London Pharmacopœia for the collection and preservation of vegetable substances——(vegetabilia, Ph. L.):——

“Vegetables are to be collected in dry weather, and when neither wet with rain nor dew; they are to be collected annually, and are not to be kept beyond a year.

“Barks are to be collected at that season in which they can be most easily separated from the wood.” Spring is the season here alluded to; as at this time, after the sap begins to ascend, the bark is, in general, very easily separated.

“Flowers are to be collected recently blown.” The red rose, however, must be gathered before the buds are expanded.

“Fruits and seeds are to be collected when ripe.

“Herbs and leaves are to be gathered after the flowers have expanded, and before the seeds are mature.

“Roots and rhizomes (underground stems), for the most part, are to be dug up after the old leaves and stalks have fallen, and before the new ones appear.” (“Roots, which are required to be preserved fresh, should be buried in dry sand.”——Ph. L. 1836.)

“Seeds are to be collected when they are ripe, and before they drop from the plant.” (“They ought to be preserved in their seed vessels.”——Ph. L. 1836.)

“The different parts of vegetables are to be kept dried for use, except where we shall otherwise direct. Expose those you wish to dry, within a short time after they have been gathered, in shallow wicker baskets, to a gentle heat, in a dark place, and where there is a current of air. Then, the moisture being driven off, gradually increase the heat to 150° Fahr., in order that they may be dried. Finally, preserve the more delicate parts, viz. flowers and leaves, in black glass vessels, well closed, and keep the rest in proper vessels, preventing the access of light and moisture.”

Fruits, culinary vegetables, and vegetable juice, of every class, may be preserved for any length of time by several of the methods described under PUTREFACTION. On the small scale the following method is often adopted:——The substances to be preserved are put into strong glass or stoneware bottles, with necks of a proper size, which are then corked with the greatest care, tied or wired, and lined with a mixture of lime and soft cheese, or with a paste formed of linseed meal and water, spread on rags; or tin cases are employed, and are soldered up instead of being corked. The bottles are then placed in an oven, the temperature of which is cautiously raised to fully 212° Fahr.; or they are enclosed, separately, in canvas bags, and put into a copper of water to which some salt has been added, which is then gradually heated until it boils, and thus kept for 15 or 20 minutes; the whole is next left to cool, when the bottles are taken out and carefully examined before being laid by, lest they should have cracked or the lute have given way.

Herbs and flowers are now generally preserved for distillation by means of common salt. The objection which is raised against the use of fresh aromatic plants is thus obviated, whilst the odours of the distilled products are rendered superior to those obtained from either the recent or dried plant, fruit, or flower, without the great loss, inconvenience, or trouble attending the common methods. Besides, many aromatic and odorous substances almost entirely lose their properties by drying; while most of them yield more oil, and that of a finer quality, in the fresh than in the dried state. The odours of roses, elder flowers, and a variety of others are vastly improved by this treatment, and these flowers may thus be preserved with ease and safety from season to season, or even longer, if required. The process simply consists in intimately mixing the flowers or other vegetables, soon after being gathered, with about 1/4 their weight, or less, of good dry salt, and ramming down the mixture as tightly as possible in strong casks. The casks are then placed in a cold cellar, and covered with boards, on which heavy weights are put, to keep the mass tight and close. See FRUITS, PUTREFACTION, &c.

=Vegetables, Juices of.= 1. (EXPRESSED VEGETABLE JUICE, SIMPLE V. J.; SUCCI EXPRESSI, L.) These are obtained by bruising the fresh leaves, or other vegetable matter, in a marble mortar, or in a mill, and expressing the liquid portion by means of a powerful screw press. After defecation for 12 or 14 hours in a cold situation, the juice is either decanted or filtered from the feculous sediment, and is next heated for some minutes to about 185° Fahr., to coagulate albuminous matter. The clear portion is subsequently separated as before, and the product preserved for use in well-closed and well-filled bottles, in a cool situation. Some plants, as borage, cabbage, &c., require the addition of 1/8 of water before being pressed. The expression of the juice of lemons, oranges, quinces, &c., is facilitated by previously mixing the pulp with clean chopped straw. Buckthorn berries, mulberries, &c., after being crushed between the hands, are commonly left for 3 or 4 days to undergo a slight fermentation before pressing them.

The expression of the juices of the narcotic plants, and of some other vegetables, has lately assumed considerable interest, from these juices being now extensively used in pharmacy for the preparation of extracts and the preserved juices, noticed below. It appears that the juice of young plants just coming into flower yield only 2/3 the amount of extract which may be obtained from the same quantity of juice expressed from the matured plant, or when the flowers are fully blown, and the strength of the product is also inferior; the case appears to be best met by selecting the plants when more than half the flowers are fully blown. The leaves alone should be preferably employed, and should be exclusively of the second year’s growth, when the plants are biennials. (Squire.) The homœopathists commonly employ the whole flowering herb.

The INSPISSATED VEGETABLE JUICES (SUCCUS SPISSATIS) are now included among the extracts.

The principal simple vegetable juices of commerce are——

BUCKTHORN JUICE (SUCCUS RHAMNI——Ph. L.), from the fruit of _Rhamnus catharticus_, or buckthorn berries.

CITRON JUICE (SUCCUS CITRI), chiefly imported from Italy in large casks.

LEMON JUICE (SUCCUS LIMONUM), Ph. L. from lemons that spoil before they can be sold; also imported.

MULBERRY JUICE (SUCCUS MORI——Ph. L.), from the fruit of the mulberry.

ORANGE JUICE (SUCCUS AURANTII), obtained from the same source as that of lemons.

CONCENTRATED ORANGE JUICE (SUCCUS SPISSATIS AURANTII vel AURANTIORUM) and CONCENTRATED LEMON JUICE (SUCCUS SPISSATUS LIMONUM) are prepared by evaporating the fresh juices of oranges and lemons, either alone or mixed with sugar, and are employed as substitutes for the fruit, where the latter cannot be obtained.

2. (ALCOHOLISED VEGETABLE JUICES, PRESERVED V. J.; TINCTURES OF RECENT PLANTS; SUCCI ALCOHOLATI, L.; ALCOOLATURES, Fr.) _Prep._ _a._ The juice, obtained by powerful pressure, in the manner noticed above, is allowed to remain for 24 hours in a cold place, when the clear portion is decanted from the feculous matter which has subsided, and is then agitated with one half its volume of rectified spirit (56 o. p.); after another 24 hours the clear portion is again decanted and, if necessary, filtered through bibulous paper or linen. In this way are now generally prepared the preserved juices of aconite, belladonna, colchicum (corms), hemlock, henbane, foxglove, elaterium, lactuca virosa, taraxacum, &c., sold in this country.

_b._ (P. Cod.) To the fresh leaves, bruised in a marble mortar, is added an equal weight of rectified spirit, and after maceration for 15 days the whole is pressed, and the resulting tincture filtered. In this manner are prepared tinctures of the fresh leaves of aconite (tinctura aconiti cum foliis recentibus), belladonna, foxglove, hemlock, henbane, strong-scented lettuce (_Lactuca virosa_), stramonium, trailing poison oak (_Rhus toxicodendron_), mugwort (_Artemisia vulgaris_), colchicum (corms), squirting cucumber, white poppy, taraxacum, &c., of the Paris Codex.

_Obs._ These tinctures are much more powerful, and more certain in their operation, than those prepared from the dried plants. The commencing dose is from 2 to 5 drops, the effects of which should be carefully watched. The products of the first of the above formulæ keep as well as the ordinary tinctures, and there is less waste of spirit than with the second. That of the P. Cod. is, however, preferred by M. Soubeiran, as affording more uniform products; an opinion which is questionable. Béral orders equal weights of juice and spirit; Mr Squire recommends 1/2 part; Messrs Bentley & Davenport 1/4 part (both by volume), and Mr Gieseke only 1/5 part (by weight), of spirit to 1 part of the expressed juice. The homœopathists generally go with M. Béral. “Our own experience, which has been very considerable, and extends over upwards of 16 years, leads us to prefer the proportions given in formula _a_, which are similar to those of Mr Squire. If less spirit be employed, the product is apt to suffer rapid deterioration when kept in a warm shop or surgery.” (Cooley.)

3. (ETHERIZED VEGETABLE JUICES; SUCCI ÆTHERIZATI,——L.; ETHÉROLATURES, SUCS ÉTHÉRES, Fr.) For these we are indebted to M. Bouchardat. They are prepared as follows: Ether is gradually added to the depurated freshly expressed juice, until, after active agitation, a thin layer of it rises to the surface on the mixture being allowed to repose for a minute or two; the whole is then set aside for 24 hours, when the supernatant ether is expertly removed by means of a pipette or syringe, and the juice is filtered; lastly, the decanted ether is returned to the filtrate, and the etherised juice is at once put into well-stoppered bottles. For use, one of the bottles is reversed, and the dose taken from the lower part, so that the ether remains behind. We find, in practice, that decantation, carefully conducted, may be substituted for filtration; thus not only rendering the process less costly, but ensuring a more uniform product.

The etherised juices are said to retain their active properties for an indefinite period. The method has been successfully applied to the juices of aconite, anemone, black hellebore, and hemlock, and is probably applicable to many others; but, we think, not to the juices of all the narcotic plants, as has been asserted.

=Vegetable Fibres.= The following method for the identification of vegetable fibres is intended to supplement the information previously given on this subject. Its originator, M. Vetillard, applies it for distinguishing the fibres of linen, hemp, cotton, jute, China grass, and New Zealand flax. The following extract descriptive of the process is from the ‘Journal of Applied Chemistry’:——

“If a woven or spun fibre is to be examined it must first be disintegrated into the single fibres, and any colour or finish must be removed as completely as possible. Vertical and longitudinal microscopic sections are next made. These are rendered transparent by glycerin or chloride of calcium, and treated with tincture of iodine, made by simply dissolving iodine in a solution of iodide of potassium. The excess of this tincture is removed, a drop of dilute sulphuric acid added, and the sections examined by the aid of the microscope.

_Linen Fibre._——Bundles of similar fibres, with a fine canal in the centre, long, uniformly thick, and pointed at the ends. Longitudinal section; the fibres are coloured blue, the canal yellow. Cross section: regular polygons, loosely connected, coloured blue; centres yellow.

_Hemp._——Fibres aggravated; each fibre covered with a thin skin; coloured yellow. They are thick and less uniform than the linen fibres. The ends are thick and of the shape of spatulas, and become blue or greenish blue with iodine. Cross section: irregular polygons, firmly connected; rim yellow, the mass blue, the centre colourless.

_Cotton._——Longitudinal section: single fibres, spirally wound on their own axis, with a central canal and broad ends; coloured blue by iodine. The cross sections are rounded in the shape of kidneys, and coloured blue, with yellow spots interspersed.

_China Grass._——Longitudinal section: fibres separated lengthwise, of varying thickness. The interior canal is often filled with a yellow granular substance, which is coloured brown by iodine. The fibre is turned blue by iodine. Cross section: irregular, with re-entrant angles, and little cohesion. The fibres are stouter than all other fibres, and are turned blue by iodine.

_Jute._——Fibres strongly coherent, the ends undulating and difficult to separate. Central canal wide, empty, and gently rounded at the ends; coloured yellow. Cross section: polygons strongly coherent and regular, much like those of hemp, but the central opening is larger; coloured yellow, darker at the rim.

_New Zealand Flax._——Bundles of cells of the leaves, easily separated with a needle into stiff little fibres, provided with a canal of uniform width. The sides are rolled inwards, coloured yellow. The cross section resembles that of jute, but the corners of the polygons are rounded off. They are coloured yellow by iodine tincture.

=VEGETA′TION.= Vegetation (which is here employed in the sense of plants in general) is very unequally distributed over the earth’s surface. Thus, towards the poles plants are found, not only in diminished numbers compared to their occurrence in warmer and more temperate regions, but also of much smaller size or stunted growth. No plants at all are met in the regions of eternal frost and snow, whilst in equatorial climes they attain to the most gigantic proportions, and are possessed of the most exquisite colours and perfumes, and yield the finest fruits. The habitat of a plant will, of course, be that on which it finds the conditions favorable to its existence and growth, in the shape of soil, climate, moisture, geographical position, &c.

=VEGETATION (Metallic).= This name has been fancifully applied to the following:——

LEAD TREE; ARBOR SATURNI. Take of sugar of lead, 1 oz.; distilled water, 1-1/2 pint; acetic acid, a few drops; dissolve, place the liquid in a clear white glass bottle, and suspend a piece of zinc in it, by means of a fine thread.

SILVER TREE; ARBOR DIANÆ. From nitrate of silver, 20 gr.; water, 1 fl. oz.; dissolve in a phial, and add about 1/2 dr. of pure mercury.

TIN TREE; ARBOR JOVIS. From chloride of tin, 3 dr.; nitric acid, 10 to 15 drops; distilled or rain water, 1 pint; dissolve in a white glass bottle, and hang in it, by a thread, a small rod of zinc.

_Obs._ In the above experiments the metals are precipitated in a very beautiful arborescent form. It is curious to observe the laminæ shoot out, as it were, from nothing, assuming forms resembling real vegetation. This phenomenon results from voltaic action being set up between the liquid and the metal.

=VEGETO-AL′KALI.= See ALKALOID.

=VEL′LUM.= A fine kind of parchment prepared from the skins of calves, kids, and lambs. The skins are limed, shaved, washed, and stretched in hoops or other frames, where they are scraped and trimmed with the currier’s fleshing-knife, and next carefully rubbed down with pumice stone; they are, lastly, polished with finely powdered chalk or fresh-slaked lime, and then dried. A green colour is given with a solution of crystallised verdigris, to which a little cream of tartar and nitric acid has been added; and a blue colour, with a solution of indigo. The surface is often finished off with white of egg, and subsequent friction.

The skins of sheep are commonly used for parchment; those of he-goats and wolves for drum-heads; and those of the ass for battledores. The species of vellum used for church services by binders is said to be prepared from pig-skins. See POUNCE.

=VEL′VET COLOURS.= _Syn._ MAP STAINS, PAPER S.; LACCA FLUIDA, L. _Prep._ 1. (BLUE.)——_a._ Dissolve litmus in water, and add 1/3 of spirit of wine.——_b._ Dilute Saxon blue or sulphate of indigo with water. If required for delicate work, neutralise the acid with chalk.——_c._ To an aqueous infusion of litmus add a few drops of vinegar, until it turns of a full blue.

2. (GREEN.)——_a._ Dissolve crystallised verdigris in water.——_b._ Dissolve sap green in water, and add a little alum.——_c._ Add a little salt of tartar to a blue or purple solution of litmus, until it turns green.——_d._ Dissolve equal parts of crystallised verdigris and cream of tartar in water.

3. (PURPLE.)——_a._ Steep litmus in water, and strain the solution.——_b._ Add a little alum to a strained decoction of logwood.——_c._ Add a solution of carmine (red) to a little blue solution of litmus or Saxon blue.

4. (RED.)——_a._ Macerate ground Brazil wood in vinegar, boil a few minutes, strain, and add a little alum and gum.——_b._ Add vinegar to an infusion of litmus until it turns red.——_c._ Boil or infuse powdered cochineal in water containing a little ammonia or sal volatile.——_d._ Dissolve carmine in liquor of ammonia, or in weak carbonate of potash water; the former is superb.

5. (YELLOW.)——_a._ Dissolve gamboge in water, and add a little alum.——_b._ Dissolve gamboge in equal parts of proof spirit and water. Golden coloured.——_c._ Steep French berries in boiling water, strain, and add a little alum.——_d._ Steep turmeric, round zedoary, gamboge, or annotta, in a weak ley of subcarbonate of soda or potash.

_Obs._ The preceding, thickened with a little gum, are used as inks for writing, as colours to tint maps, foils, paper, artificial flowers, &c., and to paint on velvet. Some of them are very beautiful. Those containing litmus are, however, fugitive. It must be observed that those made with strong spirit do not mix well with gum water, unless somewhat diluted with water. Any other transparent colours or stains may be employed for painting on velvet, as well as the above.

=VELVET LEAF.= _Syn._ PAREIRA BRAVA, PAREIRA (Ph. L., E., & D.) L. “The root of _Cissampelos pareira_” (Ph. L.), white pareira or velvet leaf. It is tonic, aperient, and diuretic.——_Dose_, 20 to 60 grains; in chronic and purulent inflammation and extreme irritability of the bladder; in leucorrhœa, dropsy, ulceration of the kidney, &c.

=VENESECTION.= The practice of venesection, bloodletting, or phlebotomy, as it is variously denominated, has within the last thirty or forty years been nearly banished from medical practice. It seems very evident that prior to the above period medical practitioners were in the habit of resorting to venesection to an unwise extent, and in cases which the progress of modern pathology has shown it to be wholly inapplicable.

There are, we believe, some practitioners who, whilst admitting the evils arising from its misapplication and abuse, still advocate its occasional and judicious employment.

Because of the dangers that beset the operation when performed by a tyro, we forbear to give any particulars as to the method of carrying it out. The veins of the arm are those always invariably opened in venesection, although the operation may be performed on many other superficial veins.

=VEN′ISON.= The flesh of several species of deer. That from good land, killed at the proper season, and eaten in a moderately fresh state, is most easily digestible, and, perhaps, the most wholesome, of all the red meats; but when it is ‘high,’ or in a state of incipient putrefaction, it is far from wholesome, and often poisonous.

=VENO BENO (La).= See TEA.

=VENOM.= Drs Brunton and Fayrer, who have devoted many years to the study of the nature and physiological action of snake poisons, state that there appears to be some resemblance in the action of the venom or virus of the cobra, _Naja tripudians_, and of curara, the arrow-poison of the Indians; both poisons causing death by paralysing the respiratory organs.

Dr Armstrong, who has analysed the cobra poison, has not been enabled to isolate from it any crystalline principle. From its reactions he concludes that its chief ingredient is an albuminoid substance.

Dr Armstrong obtained a white precipitate from the poison by treating it with absolute alcohol, and also prepared an alcoholic extract from it.

He gives the following as the composition of the three substances. The albumen is appended for comparison:——

Crude Alcoholic Alcoholic Albumen.
Poison. Precipitate. extract.
Carbon 43·55 45·76 43·04 53·5
Nitrogen 43·30 14·30 12·45 15·7
Hydrogen ... 6·60 7·00 7·1
Sulphur ... 2·50 ... ...
Ash ... Traces.

“But although there is little difference between the composition of the alcoholic precipitate and extract, there is an immense difference between their physiological action, the extract being a virulent poison, the precipitate almost inert. This is notably different from what has been stated by Dr Weir Mitchell respecting the poison of the rattlesnake, viz., that the alcoholic precipitate is active, whilst the extract is inert.”[255]

[Footnote 255: “Royal Society’s Proceedings,” ‘Pharm. Journ.’]

=VENTILA′TION.= The proper ventilation of our habitations, as well as of other buildings in which we pass any considerable portion of our time, is quite as necessary to health as food and clothing. Lavoisier, writing in the middle of the last century, remarks——“It is certain that mankind degenerate when employed in sedentary manufactures, or living in crowded houses, or in the narrow lanes of large cities; whereas they improve in their nature and constitution in most of the country labours which are carried on in the open air.” Yet many persons, by the care which they take to shut out fresh air, and to prevent the escape of that which their own bodies, by pulmonary and surfacial respiration, have contaminated, would seem to hug to themselves the discomfort of breathing over and over again an impure and unrefreshing atmosphere, and to be anxious to finish their career by lingering suicide. The almost universal indifference to the subject, considering its importance, is unaccountable.

The first step towards effecting and maintaining a liberal supply of fresh air is either by means of ventilators or by regularly opening the windows for stated periods daily. During the colder portions of the year, when fires are kept burning, and there is an up-current in the chimney, nothing is so simple and effective as the well-known chimney-valve of Dr Arnott; and, indeed, without this, open fires are powerful instruments of ventilation. In cold weather, where expense is not an object, the apartments may be supplied with air that has been previously warmed by passing through a heated chamber, on the principle recommended by Dr Reid; but care must be taken that, in warming the air, we do not overheat it, nor contaminate it.

A sufficient supply of light, another powerful sanitary agent, is now regarded as nearly as essential as thorough ventilation, and the two are commonly treated of together. According to Palladio, the opening of windows should not exceed a fourth, nor be less than a fifth, of the length of the side of a room, and should be in height two and one sixth times the width. Mr Gwilt, another high authority on this subject, has given as a definite rule, that we should allow 1 square foot of glass to every 100 cubic feet of space in any apartment or inclosure. A great deal must, however, depend on the shape of the apartment; but, in all cases, care should be taken that the windows are placed at the longest side of the room, and not at the narrowest, or the end of it. A southern aspect affords the most light and heat; a northern one the most diffused and least variable light, and is hence usually chosen by artists for their studios.

=VERA′TRINE.= C_{32}H_{52}N_{2}O_{8} _Syn._ VERATRIA, VERATRINA, SABADILLINE; VERATRIA (B. P., Ph. L., & E.), L. An alkaloid discovered by Pelletier and Caventou, in the seeds of _Asagreæ officinalis_ (sabadilla), and in the rhizomes of _Veratrum album_ (white hellebore).

_Prep._ 1. (Ph. E.) Digest sabadilla seeds in boiling water for 24 hours, then squeeze them, dry them thoroughly by a gentle heat, beat them in a mortar, and separate the seeds from the capsules by agitation in a deep and narrow vessel; next grind the seeds in a coffee-mill, and exhaust them by percolation with rectified spirit; concentrate the resulting tincture by distillation, so long as no deposit forms, and pour the residuum, whilst still hot, into 12 times its volume of cold water; then filter through calico, and wash the residuum on the filter as long as the washings yield a precipitate with ammonia; unite the filtered liquid with the washings, add ammonia in excess, collect the precipitate on a filter, wash it slightly with cold water, and dry it first by imbibition with filtering paper, and then in the vapour bath. “The product is not pure, but sufficiently so for medical use. From this coloured substance it may be obtained white, but at considerable loss, by solution in very weak hydrochloric acid, decolorisation with animal charcoal, and reprecipitation with ammonia.”

2. (Ph. L. 1836.) This is the same in principle as the last; a tincture is formed by boiling the seeds in rectified spirit, which is then evaporated to a syrup, dissolved in very dilute sulphuric acid, the veratrine precipitated with, magnesia, redissolved in very dilute acid, treated with animal charcoal, the filtrate again evaporated to a syrup, and precipitated with ammonia; it is, lastly, washed and dried.

3. By means of ether, as noticed under ALKALOID and ACONITINE. This is by far the best method.

4. (B. P.) Cevadilla, 2 lbs.; distilled water, q. s.; rectified spirit, q. s.; solution of ammonia, q. s.; hydrochloric acid, q. s.; purified animal charcoal, 60 gr. Macerate the cevadilla with half its weight of boiling distilled water in a covered vessel for 24 hours. Remove the cevadilla, squeeze it, and dry it thoroughly with a gentle heat. Beat it now in a mortar and separate the seeds from the capsules by brisk agitation in a deep narrow vessel, or by winnowing it gently on a table with a sheet of paper.

Grind the seeds in a coffee mill, and form them into a thick paste with rectified spirit.

Pack this firmly in a percolator, and pass rectified spirit through it till the spirit ceases to be coloured. Concentrate the spirituous solution by distillation, so long as no deposit forms, and pour the residue, while hot, into 12 times its volume of cold distilled water. Filter through calico, and wash the residue on the filter with distilled water, till the fluid ceases to precipitate with ammonia. To the united filtered liquid add the ammonia in slight excess, let the precipitate completely subside, pour off the supernatant fluid, collect the precipitate on a filter, and wash it with distilled water till the fluid passes colourless. Diffuse the moist precipitate through 12 oz. of distilled water, and add gradually, with diligent stirring, sufficient hydrochloric acid to make the fluid feebly but persistently acid.

Then add the animal charcoal, digest at a gentle heat for 20 minutes, filter, and allow the liquid to cool. Add ammonia in slight, excess, and when the precipitate has completely subsided, pour off the supernatant liquid, collect the precipitate on a filter, and wash it with cold distilled water till the washings cease to be affected by nitrate of silver accidental with nitric acid. Lastly, dry the precipitate, first by imbibition, with filtering paper, and then by the application of a gentle heat.

_Prop._ Pure veratrine is perfectly white; but as usually met with, it is a yellowish or greenish-white powder; it is highly acrid; uncrystallisable; scarcely soluble in water, soluble in ether, and freely soluble in hot alcohol; heated to about 125° Fahr., it fuses like wax, and solidifies, upon cooling, to a transparent yellow mass. With the dilute acid it forms salts, which are either amorphous or difficulty crystallisable. The smallest possible portion of its powder causes violent sneezing.

_Tests._ 1. Potassa, ammonia, and their carbonates, give flocculent white precipitates which at first are not crystalline under the microscope, but which, after some minutes, assume the appearance of small scattered clusters of short prismatic crystals; they are insoluble in excess of potassa and its carbonate, and only very slightly so in excess of ammonia.——2. With sulphuric acid it strikes an intense red colour, changing afterwards to crimson, and finally to violet.——3. A dilute acetic solution of veratrine is turned to a superb red by strong sulphuric acid.

Veratrine is distinguished from brucine and the other alkaloids by its fusibility——by the crystalline form of its precipitate with potassa, and——by its reaction with oil of vitriol.

_Uses, &c._ “As an external application, it has been efficaciously employed by Magendie in France, and by Dr Turnbull in this country; but the extravagant eulogies of the latter have not tended to confirm the reputation of this remedy.” (Dr A. T. Thomson.) From 6 to 12 gr., dissolved in 1 fl. oz. of rectified spirit, as a liniment; or 30 gr., mixed with 1 dr. of olive oil, and 1 oz. of lard, as an ointment, have been occasionally found very serviceable in neuralgia, and other like painful affections, and in gouty and rheumatic paralysis. As an internal remedy it possesses no advantage, as it merely acts as a violent and depressing cathartic.——_Dose_, 1/24 to 1/16 gr. In larger doses it acts as a powerful irritant poison. For antidotes, &c., see ALKALOID.

=VERA′TRUM.= See WHITE HELLEBORE.

=VER′DIGRIS.= _Syn._ ÆRUGO, L.; VERT-DE-GRIS, Fr. This is a mixture of several basic acetates of copper which have a green or blue colour. It is obtained in the wine districts of the south of Europe, by the action of refuse grapes, from which the juice has been expressed, on thin sheets of copper. When pure it should dissolve, almost entirely, and without effervescence, in dilute sulphuric acid. It is very poisonous; for antidotes, see COPPER.

An inferior quality of verdigris is now prepared from pommage, or apple marc, in the cider districts of England.

=Verdigris, Distilled.= _Syn._ CRYSTALLISED VERDIGRIS. This name is applied to the normal acetate of copper, which is prepared in the wine districts by dissolving ordinary verdigris, 1 part, in good distilled vinegar, 2 parts; the operation being performed in a copper vessel by the aid of a gentle heat and agitation; the solution is afterwards slowly evaporated until a pedicle begins to form on the surface, when it is transferred into glazed earthen pans (‘oulas’), in each of which are placed 2 or 3 cleft sticks, and it is then left in a warm apartment for 14 or 15 days to crystallise.

A spurious article is often prepared by adding a solution of sulphate of copper, 12-1/2 lbs. to a solution of sugar of lead, 19 lbs., or q. s., and filtering, evaporating, and crystallising the mixture.

There is an acetate of copper and lime which resembles distilled verdigris in colour. It was manufactured pretty extensively in Scotland some years ago, and fetched a high price, till Dr Ure published an analysis of it in the ‘Edin. Phil. Trans.’ It is much inferior for all uses in the arts.

Pure distilled verdigris is entirely soluble in water, and is not precipitated on the addition of sulphuric acid or of ammonia in excess.

=Verdigris, English.= _Prep._ Blue vitriol, 24 lbs.; white vitriol, 16 lbs.; sugar of lead, 12 lbs.; alum, 2 lbs. (all coarsely powdered); mix, and heat them in a pot over the fire until they unite into a mass. Sold by fraudulent dealers for foreign verdigris.

=VER′DITER.= _Syn._ BLUE VERDITER, REFINER’S VERDITER; CENDRES BLEUES, Fr. A blue pigment, obtained by adding chalk, whiting, or milk of lime, to a solution of copper in nitric acid; or, by triturating recently precipitated and still moist carbonate of oxide of copper with hydrate of lime.

_Prep._ A quantity of whiting or milk of lime is put into a tub, and upon this the solution of copper is poured; the mixture is stirred every day for some hours together, until the liquor loses its colour; it is then poured off, and more solution of copper added; this is repeated until the whiting or lime has acquired the proper colour; the whole is then washed with water, drained, spread on chalk stones, and dried in the sun.

_Obs._ The cupreous solution employed in the above process is made by neutralising the nitric solution obtained from the refiners of gold and silver, by heating it along with metallic copper. For the finer qualities of verditer the lime should be of the purest kind, and the cupreous precipitate should be carefully triturated with it, after it is nearly dry, by which a fine velvety appearance is produced. The ‘cendres bleues en pâtes’ of the French differ from the above mainly in a solution of chloride of copper being employed, and in the resulting green precipitate being turned blue by the action of carbonate of potassa. Verditer is made into crayons whilst moist, or dried into a powder, or it is used as a water colour in the moist state.

=Verditer, Green.= _Syn._ BREMEN GREEN. The process for refiner’s verditer frequently miscarries, and a green colour is produced instead of a blue one. It may also be obtained directly by omitting the ‘blueing up’ with carbonate of potassa, mentioned above.

=VER′JUICE.= _Syn._ AGRESTA, OMPHACIUM, L. The expressed juice of unripe grapes. The term is also often extended to the expressed juice of the wild or crab apple. It was formerly used as an astringent and refrigerant in medicine; but it is now principally employed as an ingredient in sauces, ragoûts, &c.

=VERMICEL′LI.= This, like macaroni, is prepared from a stiff paste made of a peculiar fine kind of granular wheat flour, called semoule, which is mixed up with hot water, and, after being well kneaded, is formed into small ribands, cylinders, or tubes, by being placed in a vertical cylinder press, the bottom of which is filled with proper-shaped holes, through which it is driven by an iron plate or ‘follower’ being forced down by a powerful screw. The pieces that protrude are broken off, twisted into any desired shape upon paper, and dried. Those in the form of fillets or ribands are called ‘lazagnes.’ Vermicelli contains a large amount of gluten, and is extremely nutritious, although slightly less digestible than the ordinary wheaten foods. See MACARONI.

=VER′MIFUGES.= _Syn._ ANTHELMINTICS; ANTHELMINTICA, HELMINTHAGOGA, VERMIFUGA, L. Medicines employed to destroy or expel intestinal worms. Some of these, as coarsely powdered tin and iron filings and cowhage, act as mechanical agents, by irritating the worms; others have a specific action upon worms, as male fern, kousso, santonin, &c.; others, again, owe their power to their action as purgatives, as calomel, gamboge, jalap, &c. See WORMS.

=VERMIL′ION.= _Syn._ FACTITIOUS CINNABAR, RED SULPHIDE OF MERCURY, RED SULPHURET OF MERCURY. This article may be prepared both in the moist and dry way; that of commerce is almost entirely obtained by the latter.

_Prep._ 1. By sublimation. Take of pure mercury, 202 parts; pure sulphur, 33 parts; fuse them together by a gentle heat, observing not to allow the mass to take fire; when fused, cover over the vessel, and, when the whole has become cold, powder the mass, and sublime it in a closed vessel, so placed in a furnace that the flame may freely circulate and play upon it to about half its height, the heat being at first gradually applied, and afterwards augmented until the lower part of the subliming vessel becomes red hot; the cold sublimate is broken into pieces, ground along with water to a fine powder, elutriated, passed through a sieve, and dried. _Prod._ Fully 112% of the weight of the mercury employed.

2. In the humid way. (Brunner.) Take of pure quicksilver, 300 parts; pure sublimed sulphur, 114 parts; triturate them together for several hours, until a perfect ‘ethiops’ is formed, add gradually of caustic potassa, 75 parts, (dissolved in) water, 450 parts; continue the trituration for some time longer, then gently heat the mixture in an iron vessel, at first constantly stirring, but afterwards only from time to time, observing to keep the beat at about 113°, or, at all events, under 122° Fahr., and to add fresh water, to compensate for the portion evaporated. When the colour begins to redden, great caution is requisite to preserve the mixture at the lower temperature, and to keep the sulphuret of mercury perfectly pulverulent; as soon as the colour becomes nearly ‘fine,’ the process must be conducted with increased caution, and at a lower heat for some hours, or until a rich colour is produced, when the newly-formed vermilion must be elutriated with water, to separate any particles of metallic mercury, and carefully dried. _Prod._ 332 parts of vermilion, equal in brilliancy to the finest Chinese.

_Obs._ It has been said that the rich tone of Chinese vermilion may be imitated by adding to the materials 1% of sulphuret of antimony, and by digesting the ground sublimate, first in a solution or sulphuret of potassium, and next in diluted hydrochloric acid, after which it must be well edulcorated with water, and dried. Our own belief is, that the finer qualities of vermilion owe their superiority of shade more to the care bestowed on their sublimation, and the extent to which their division is carried, than to anything else.

Vermilion is a beautiful and permanent red pigment, and works and covers well both in oil and water.

=VERMIN.= This term has rather a large application, since, although it is generally understood to be applied to rats, mice, and certain parasitic insects infesting the dwellings and sometimes the bodies of men, it is extended by the farmer, the gardener, and the breeder of game, to those creatures from the depredations of which these three classes suffer pecuniary loss. Hence it embraces not only foxes and polecats, but weasels, stoats, hedgehogs, owls, hawks, kites, carrion crows, magpies, wood-pigeons, hares, rabbits, rooks, moles, and small birds.

Whilst the attempted partial destruction of any of the classes of animals or birds above specified may be regarded as of doubtful value, there can be no question about the practice when it is carried to the verge of extermination.