W.

WACKE, (Geo.) a siliceous earth, between clay and basalt. WA'PENTAKE, a division of a

county.

WARRANTY, (L.) an undertaking that the article sold answers to the description given of it by the seller to the buyer.

WATCH TOWER, a tower in which a sentinel is placed to watch the approach of an enemy, or to which a signal is attached to warn of danger.

WATER CO'LOURS, in painting, colours which are diluted with gum water, in contradistinction to oil colours.

WA'TER-LOGGED, the state of a ship when unmanageable from having a large quantity of water in her hold.

WATER-SPOUT, a violent burst of water from a cloud.†

WELD, to beat one mass of metal, intensely heated, in contact with another, so that they become firmly united.

WHITE LEAD, a compound of lead, and carbonic acid.

WHITSUNTIDE, the fiftieth day after Easter, and also called the feast of Pentecost.

WRANGLER, a term in the University of Cambridge applied to the student who best passes

the examination in mathematical contests.

WRITER TO THE SIG'NET, a distinction used in Scotland, equivalent to attorney or solicitor in England.

WA'FERS, pieces of dried adhesive paste, made from flour gum water, white of egg, and isinglass, mixed with colouring matter.

WATER, a transparent fluid; it assumes a solid form, as ice, at 32 degrees of the thermometer, and then greatly increases in bulk; it becomes gaseous, as steam, at a heat of 212, but returns to its liquid state at any degree of heat between these two points.

Y.

YARN, flax, wool, or other fibrous substances spun into a loose thread.

YEAR, the period of time occupied by the earth in its revolution round the sun, 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 48 seconds. The lunar year has 354 days.

YEAST, the scum thrown up in the fermentation of malt liquors.

YELLOWS, a disease to which cattle are subject, proceeding from obstruction in the gall ducts.

YE'OMAN, (L) a man of small estate in land who holds it inde

+ WATER SPOUT.-This phenomenon is said to be of the same class as the whirlwind, which raises pillars of sand in the deserts of Africa. The manner in which it has been observed is thus described: Below a thick cloud the sea appears greatly disturbed within a circular area of about 120 yards, the waves tending rapidly towards the centre of the agitated mass; from hence there rises, with a spiral movement towards the cloud, a column of a conical form resembling a trumpet. Vertically above this ascending column, there is formed in the cloud a corresponding cone, in an inverted position, which gradually approaches the ascending column, until they become united. Previously to the rupture of the column, parts seem to be drawn upwards, leaving only a slender tube in connection with the water below. The whole of the vapour is at length absorbed in the air, or it descends into the sea in a heavy shower of rain. The duration

236 WORDS USED IN LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND art.

pendently of any species of vas- of mineral earth; it is found in the sallage.

Z.

ZAF FRE, (Ch.) the residuum of cobalt, after calcination, employed for painting pottery ware of a blue colour.

rivers of Ceylon, and in different species of gems.

ZO'DIAC, an imaginary belt extending about 8 or 10 degrees on each side the ecliptic, within which the greater portion of the planets make their revolutions. This zone is divided into twelve parts of 30 degrees each, which are apportioned to the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, and are

ZEMINDAR', a landholder or chief, who governs a district in India, and collects its revenues. ZENDA-VES'TA,the sacred books of the Parsees, ascribed to Zoroa-named respectively from the constellations which occupy them.

aster.

ZE'NITH, (AS.) the point of the heavens perpendicularly above the spectator: Nadir is the opposite invisible point below him.

ZOLL-VEREIN, a term applied to an agreement entered into by various German states, to exact a uniform rate of duty upon imported goods.

Zo'OLITE, an animal substance petrified.

ZO'OLOGY, the science which

ZEOLITES, a term applied to a class of earthy minerals, on account of their boiling and swelling when heated by the blowpipe. ZE'RO, the point of a thermo-treats of the structure, character, meter from which the numbers and varieties of animals or living are begun. Fahrenheit's zero is creatures. thirty-two degrees below the freezing point of water.

ZINC, in commerce, called spelter; it is a hard metal of a blueish white colour.

ZINCOG'RAPHY, the art of drawing upon and printing from zinc plates.

ZINCO'NIA, the heaviest species

Zoo'PHYTES, a class of animals, of which intestinal worms, sponges, and corallines are specimens; and some which resemble plants, having stems more or less calcareous, and in which many of the animals are congregated together.

of this phenomenon is various: some spouts disappear almost as soon as formed, and others have been known to continue nearly an hour. No ship could escape if it were carried within the vortex; and mariners, to accelerate the fall of the column, discharge their artillery towards it. From the occurrence of these phenomena at seasons when the electrical principle in the air is most active; from the sulphurous smell, the flashes of lightning, the storm of rain, or hail, by which they have been accompanied; and from the destruction they have produced, their formation has been ascribed to electricity. The cloud and the sea or ground may be in opposite electrical states, and therefore there will be a mutual attraction between them, and this will be attended, of course, by all the consequences of a vast discharge of the electric fluid.

FINIS.