It is interesting to note that when the work is approached | and it is only by doing this that we can prevent the increase of very near the eye, but convergence is not used, as in the case of watchmakers, who habitually use a strong convex glass in one eye, there is no special tendency to myopia.

Some of the more common symptoms of myopia are:(1) Distant objects are seen indistinctly. (2) Near objects are seen distinctly, and the near point is much nearer than in the normal eye. (3) Acuteness of vision is often lowered, and especially is this the case in high myopia. (4) Eye-strain is often present, due to overuse of the muscles of convergence, and this may lead to (5) an external or divergent squint. (6) Floating black specks are often complained of, these are generally muscae volitantes, but often, especially in high myopia, may be actual opacities floating in the vitreous. (7) Myopes often stoop and become "round shouldered " from their habit of poring over their work.

A small amount of myopia, if it is stationary, is in no sense a serious defect of the eye, the possessors of it are often quite unconscious of any deficiency in vision, and in fact brag that they have better vision than their fellows. The reason of this is that they learn in early life to recognize indistinct distant objects by the aid of other senses in a way that the ordinary individual can hardly understand, and in later life they can postpone the wearing of glasses for near work for many years, and sometimes until extreme old age. Unfortunately myopia is, as a rule, nol stationary; it almost always tends to increase, and if this increase leads to very high myopia such serious changes may occur in the eyes as to lower the visual acuity enormously and sometimes lead to total loss of vision.

The treatment of myopia is general and local. General Treatment.-The most important part of this is the preventive treatment (prophylaxis), especially in its application to children. All children who have one or both parents myopic are specially "marked down" for this defect, for they have probably inherited an anatomical predisposition. Bearing in mind that excessive convergence is the most potent cause of myopia, the most rigid attention should be paid to the ophthalmic hygiene of the schoolroom. This room should be large, lofty and well ventilated, and have good-sized high windows on one wall, preferably on the north side. Each scholar should have an adjustable seat and desk so arranged that his head is upright and the work not too near his eyes. These desks should be arranged in rows so placed that the pupils sit with the light on their left. Schoolbooks must be clearly printed and the type should not be too small. The school work that needs close application of the eyes should be continued only for a short period at a time, the period alternating with other work which does not require the use of the eyes, such as mental arithmetic, black-board demonstrations, recitation, or play. Schoolmasters should teach more-that is, they should explain and impart knowledge by demonstrations and simple lectures, and reduce as much as possible the time spent in "home preparations," which is usually work done by bad light and when the student is physically and mentally tired. Even in the nursery the greatest care should be taken. The little ones should be supplied with large toys, a large box of plain wooden bricks being the best form; picture books should be discouraged, and close work that entails undue convergence, such as sewing, threading beads, &c., ought to be forbidden. | The nursery governess can teach the alphabet, small words and even simple arithmetic with the bricks. No child with a tendency to myopia, or with a myopic family history should be allowed to learn to write or draw until at least seven years old. The child's bed should not be allowed to face the window, preferably it should be back to the light. Students, or those engaged in literary or other work which entails close application for many hours a day, should be advised to regulate their work, if they are free to do so, by working for shorter periods and taking longer intervals of rest, they should be specially careful not to approach their work too near to the eyes and they should always work in a good light.

Local Treatment. This consists in correcting the error with a concave glass. The testing must be done when the eye is under atropine in all those under 25, and under homatropine between the ages of 25 and 35 or 40. Over 40 no cycloplegic is required. Except when playing rough games the glasses must be worn always. The wearing of glasses for near work produces at first considerable rebellion in children, because they can see near work so much better without a glass. The object of enforcing this treatment is to make the muscle of accommodation do its proper work, and not only do we do this, but we also do away with the excess of convergence over accommodation, and lastly, make excessive convergence impossible, because, with the glasses on, the near work has to be held at some considerable distance from the eyes. In other words, we have practically made the eyes normal,

myopia. Adults who have never worn their correction (especially if the myopia is high) must have a weaker glass for near work. Each case must be treated on its own merits. So-called malignant myopia, which is high myopia with serious changes in the eye, must be treated in a special manner and with the greatest care.

Astigmatism. The principal seat of astigmatism is the cornea, the curvature of one meridian being greater than that of the other. In regular astigmatism, which is the only form that can as a rule be treated by glasses, the meridians of greatest and least curvature are at right angles to each other, and the intermediate meridians pass by regular gradations from one to the other. Rays of light passing through such an astigmatic surface do not focus at one point, but form many points, with the result that the image is more or less indistinct according to the amount of the error. In uncorrected astigmatism a clock-face viewed at a distance of 4 or 5 yds. will appear to have certain figures distinct, and others (at right angles) indistinct; for instance, figures XI and V may appear quite black, while figures II and VIII are grey and indistinct. If one of the principal meridians be emmetropic the astigmatism is simple; if both be hyperopic, or if both be myopic, it is compound; and if one meridian be hyperopic and the other myopic, it is styled mixed astigmatism. Generally the vertical meridian or one near it is the most convex, and this is called direct astigmatism (astigmatism "according to the rule"). When the horizontal meridian or one near it is the most convex, the term inverse astigmatism is used (astigmatism "against the rule "). When the meridians are oblique, that is, about 45°, it is called oblique astigmatism. Low degrees of astigmatism (of the cornea) are corrected by the ciliary muscle, producing an astigmatism of the crystalline lens, the opposite of that of the cornea, and so neutralizing the defect. and no suspicion is entertained of anything wrong until some This work is done unconsciously, vision is generally quite good symptom of eye-strain shows itself (see Eye-strain, below), and the detection of it is one of the most important duties of the oculist. The only certain method of detecting and consequently correcting a low error of astigmatism, in all below the age of 50, is by paralysing the ciliary muscle with atropine or homatropine and thus preventing it from correcting the defect, and revealing the true refraction of the eye. Astigmatism is corrected by cylindrical glasses combined with spherical convex or concave glasses if hyperopia or myopia co-exist, and the correction must be worn always in the form of rigid pince-nez or spectacles.

Presbyopia (Old Sight).-A normal-sighted child at the age of ten has his near point of accommodation 7 cms. from the eye, and as age advances this near point recedes gradually. At the fine print cannot be read nearer to the eye than 22 cms. Between age of 40 it has receded to 22 cms., in other words at this age the ages of 45 and 50 the person who has apparently enjoyed good sight up till then, both for distance and near, finds that by artificial light he cannot read the newspaper unless he holds it some distance from the eyes, and he has to give up consulting "Bradshaw " because he cannot distinguish between 3's and 8's. Another symptom often complained of is the "running together of letters," so that the book has to be closed and the eyes rested before work can be resumed. This loss of accommodation power is due to the gradual hardening of the crystalline lens from age, and convex glasses have to take its place, in order to make reading possible and comfortable. In hyperopia the presbyopic period is earlier, and in nyopia it is later than normal (see above).

It is unwise for the presbyope to select the glasses for himself, as astigmatism or anisometropia may be present and must, of course, be corrected; the eyes should be properly tested, and this testing should be repeated every two or three years, as, not only does the old sight increase, but changes in the static refraction of the eyes are probably taking place. When an error of refraction exists with the presbyopia, glasses for distance, as well as reading, have to be worn, and to avoid the trouble See also § Astigmatism, above,

of constantly changing, the two should be combined as bi-focal glasses. The upper portion of the bi-tocal corrects the distant, and the lower the near vision, and in the best form the division between the two is invisible. When properly fitted these bi-focals prove the greatest boon to the presbyope. Anisometropia (Odd Sight) is a condition in which the refraction of the two eyes is different. There are three varieties. (1) Binocular vision exists. As a rule a very small difference is present, and the difference is generally in the astigmatism; consequently eye-strain is very commonly manifested, and the correction by suitable glasses is imperative. (2) The eyes are used alternately. For instance, one eye may be hyperopic or emmetropic, and the other myopic, in such a case the former will be used for distant and the latter for near vision, and although binocular or stereoscopic vision is lost, glasses may never be required and any attempt at a correction of the defect may be useless. However, if eye-strain is present, the attempt should be made. (3) One of the eyes is permanently excluded. When the difference between the eyes is great the most defective eye is little used and tends to become amblyopic (partially blind), if it is not so already. This condition is very common in squint, and the treatment in such cases consists in providing the defective eye with its correcting glass, completely covering up the good eye and practising for certain periods every day, and thus forcing the defective eye to work. This eye may never take its share in binocular vision, but it may become very useful, especially if disease or damage should affect the good eye; and the improvement of the vision of the eye materially assists the treatment of the squint. When one eye is irremediably lost, the other should be very carefully tested, and if any error exists it ought to be corrected and the glass worn always.

Aphakia is the absence of the crystalline lens through dislocation, or removal by operation, or injury. A strong convex glass has to be worn in front of such an eye in order to obtain clear vision even for distance, and a still stronger one for near vision; after cataract operation astigmatism is generally present and the convex glass must be combined with a cylinder: these glasses are best worn in the form of bi-focals (see Presbyopia, above).

|

disappear when the error is corrected; if not, it must be corrected
by prisms or decentring.
(E. C.*)

VISITATION (Lat. from visitare, frequentative form of visere, to look at, go to see, visit, videre, to see), an act of visiting, or going to see, a formal visit. The use of the word for an act of divine retributive justice, or generally of an occurrence of grave import, such as a plague or famine, is due mainly to Biblical phraseology, as in "the day of visitation " (Isa. x. 3). For the duty of bishops of the Roman Church to visit periodically the tombs of the apostles Peter and Paul at Rome, the Visitatio Liminium Apostolorum, see BISHOP. The specific application of the term is to a formal periodical visit paid by a superior authority to an institution or to a district for the purpose of investigation, examination or the like. There are three classes of such visitations: ecclesiastical, charitable and heraldic. Ecclesiastical visitations, originally the periodical journeys of personal inspection to ascertain the temporal and spiritual condition of each parish, form part of the functions of an archbishop, a bishop and an archdeacon. All charitable corporations are at law subject to visitation; the functions of the "visitors" have been largely taken over by the Board of Charity Commissioners. Colleges at a university are regarded in law as charitable institutions, and each college has a "visitor" whose duty it is to represent the founder and see that his wishes are carried out. Heraldic visitations were perambulations made by a king-at-arms or other high heraldic officer with a commission under the Great Seal to examine into pedigrees and claims to bear arms. The results of these visitations were entered in "Visitation Books," which are in the nature of official records; their admissibility as evidence, though claimed, is judicially questioned as containing merely experts' statements from the families to whom they refer (D'Arcy de Knayth Peerage Case, 1901). These heraldic visitations ceased about 1686.

In addition to these specific meanings may be mentioned the festival of the "Visitation of Mary," in commemoration of the visit of the Virgin to Elizabeth, mother of St John the Baptist, celebrated in the Roman, Greek and other churches on the 2nd of July, and the office of the English Church, the "Visitation of the Sick," ordered for the spiritual comfort and benefit of sick persons.

For the international law relating to the right of belligerent vessels to" visit and search" neutral vessels in time of war, see SEARCH, RIGHT OF.

VISITING CARDS. The use of cards of personal identification for social purposes is generally supposed to have had its origin at the court of Louis XIV. of France, that centre of the etiquette of the 17th century. But there appears to be little doubt that, in a rougher and ruder form, this mark of intercourse

Eye-Strain.-Eye-strain is a symptom, or group of symptoms, produced by the correction, or attempt at correction, by the ciliary muscle of an error of refraction, or a want of balance between the external muscles of the eye (heterophoria). Where gross errors exist either in the refraction or in the muscular equilibrium, the correction cannot be made, and consequently no attempt is made to correct the defect, and eye-strain is not produced. The smaller the error the more likely is the eye-dates from much earlier times, and that the Chinese, and possibly strain to be present, and also, unfortunately, the more likely is it to be overlooked. It is important to recognize what may be the different manifestations of eye-strain. They may be grouped under three headings: (1) manifestations on the eye and lids, such as conjunctivitis, blepharitis, iritis, cyclitis, glaucoma and cataract. (2) Peripheral irritation: (a) with pain: headaches and megrim; (b) without pain: epileptic attacks and choreiform movements of the facial muscles: vertigo, nausea, vomiting. (3) Nerve waste: nerve exhaustion, neurasthenia, brain-fag. This last form of eye-strain is as common as it is subtle. It is subtle because the sufferer never suspects the eyes to be at fault; all his waking hours he is unconsciously correcting a low degree of astigmatism, or anisometropia, or heterophoria, which means a constant nerve waste; and when he begins near work he starts with a big deficit, and further strain results.

Insomnia is a prominent symptom of eye-strain; this leads to depression, which in its turn may lead to the alcoholic or morphia habit. There is no form of functional nerve disorder that may not be caused by, or aggravated by, eye-strain.

The treatment of eye-strain consists in correcting all errors of refraction (and in the case of astigmatism and anisometropia, even the smallest) and in wearing the correction always. A small amount of heterophoria will generally, in a short time,

other Oriental nations also, had in bygone ages employed such mediums of communication on calling at the houses of absent friends. When and where visiting cards first came into vogue in Europe is a matter of some uncertainty. It is probable, however, that they were first used in Germany-and as early as the 16th century. A German visiting card recently discovered in Venice bears this inscription: Johannes Westerholl Westphalus scribebat, Patavii, 4 Martii 15 x 60. Concerning this, Professor Dr Kirmis (Daheim, September 30th, 1905) remarks that the German students in Padua were wont, on quitting the university, to pay farewell calls at the houses of the professors, and, in the event of not finding them within, to leave their names on paper billets; and he adds that the custom must, until that time, have been unknown in Italy, for this card of the student Westerholt was sent by Professor Giacomo Contarini on the 15th of January 1572 to Venice as a curiosity. Under the reign of Louis XIV., however, the fashion appears to have become firmly established in France. Small strips of paper were at first employed for the purpose of the communication; but gradually they attained a more elaborate finish and execution. Ladies especially seem to have been the pioneers in this direction, and to have embellished their cards with hand drawings, sometimes taking the form of "hearts" and other amorous tokens of affection. Under Louis XV., the reign of exquisite extravagance

146

VISOKO-VITEBSK

Shifting banks form a serious impediment to navigation, and and refined taste, visiting cards were furnished with deli- | channel was formed for it, so as to restore the proper head of water these and floods (principally in spring and midsummer) necessitate cate engravings, frequently masterpieces of that art, showing to the Vistula. some fanciful landscape, or a view of the town or place where on an average, from about the 20th of December to the 10th of the person resided. A further stage in the development of this careful works of regulation. The river is ice-bound at Warsaw, March. The navigation of the Vistula is considerable up to Cracow, custom was the autograph signature at the foot of the card beneath the engraved view. England followed the lead of and the river forms a very important highway of commerce in Cracow up to the Austro-German frontier, where the Przemsa France, and visiting cards became a universal fashion in Europe Poland (q.v.) and Prussia. For small craft it is navigable above enters it. This river and the Pilica, Bzura, Brahe, Schwarzwasser and towards the close of the 18th century. But though in almost Ferse are the chief left-bank tributaries; on the right the Vistula receives the Skawa, Raba, Dunajec, Wisloka and San before reachevery European country there are variations in the size and ing Poland, the Wieprz and Bug in Poland, and the Drewenz in shape of the card and the way of describing the quality of the Prussia. The Brahe and the Bromberg Canal give access from the person whom it represents, the modern tendency is everywhere Vistula to the Netze and so to the Oder. The river is rich in fish. in favour of simplicity and the avoidance of ostentation. Its total length is about 650 m., and its drainage area approaches 74,000 sq. m.

A valuable collection of visiting cards is that of the Gabinetto della Stampe in Rome and the Museo Civico in Venice.

VISOKO (or VISOKI), a town of Bosnia, on the river Bosna, 15 m. N.W. of Serajevo by rail. Pop. (1895), about 5000. Visoko has a brisk trade in leather, carpets and tobacco.

Between the 13th and 16th centuries Visoko was only second to Jajce as a stronghold of the Bosnian rulers. There were fortified palaces at Sutječka, and Bobovac, among the mountains on the north. Bobovac, which had withstood many previous assaults, was betrayed to the Turks in 1463; at Sutječka there is a Franciscan monastery, founded in 1391, often razed by the Turks, and finally rebuilt in 1821. Just below Visoko lay the town of Podvisoko, called Sotto Visochi by the Ragusans, which was the chief mart of the country from 1348 to 1430.

VISOR (also spelled viser, vizor, vizard or visard), a term now used generally of the various forms of movable face-guards in the helmet of medieval and later times. It meant properly a mask for the face, and is an adaptation of the O.Fr. visiere, mod. visière, as is seen by the M.E. forms viser, visere. It is thus to be referred to the Fr. vis, face, Lat. visus, from videre, to see. In this sense the word "visor" is modern, the movable guard for the upper part of the face being known as "" "aventail or "ventail," and that for the lower part a "beaver" (see HELMET). VISTULA (Ger. Weichsel, Polish Wisla), one of the chief rivers of Europe, rising in Austria and flowing first through Russian and then through Prussian territory. Its source is in Austrian Silesia on the northern slopes of the West Beskiden range of the Carpathian mountains.

an

See H. Keller, Memel-, Pregel- und Weichselstrom, ihre Stromge biele, &c., vols. iii. and iv. (Berlin, 1900).

VITALIANUS, bishop of Rome from 657 to 672, succeeded Eugenius I. and was followed by Adeodatus. In the monothelite controversy then raging he acted with cautious reserve,' refraining at least from express condemnation of the Typus of Constans II. The chief episode in his uneventful pontificate was the visit of Constans to Rome; the pope received him "almost with religious honours," a deference which he requited by stripping all the brazen ornaments of the city-even to the tiles of the Pantheon-and sending them to Constantinople. Archbishop Theodore was sent to Canterbury by Vitalian.

VITEBSK, a government of western Russia, with the government of Pskov on the N., Smolensk on the E., Mogilev, Minsk and Vilna on the S., and Courland and Livonia on the W., having an area of 16,978 sq. m. Except on its south-eastern and northern borders, where there are low hills, deeply eroded by the rivers, its surface is mostly flat, or slightly undulating, and more than a million acres are occupied by immense marshes, while there are as many as 2500 small lakes. It is mainly built up of Devonian red sandstones and red clays, but the whole is covered with Glacial and post-Glacial formations, in Carboniferous formations-both the Lower, characterized by layers of coal, and the Upper-crop out in the east. The which remains of extinct mammals and stone implements are found in large quantities. There are numerous burial-mounds containing bones and iron implements and ornaments. The soil is for the most part unproductive. The W. Dvina rises flows through it, or along its southern boundary, for 530 m. not far from the north-eastern angle of the government, and The it is navigable; and, through a tributary, the Ulyanka, it is From its confluence with the Kasplya, i.e. for more than 450 m., connected with the Dnieper by the Berezina Canal. Mezha and Kasplya, tributaries of the W. Dvina, are navigable in spring. The climate is relatively mild, the average yearly The population was estimated at 1,740,700 in temperature at the city of Vitebsk being 40° F. (January 16°-4; July 64°3). 1906. The government is divided into eleven districts, the chief towns of which are Vitebsk, Drisa, Dvinsk, formerly Dunaburg, Gorodok, Lepel, Lyutsyn, Nevel, Polotsk, Ryezhitsa, Sebezh and Velizh.

The stream runs through a mountain valley, in a N.N.W. direction to Schwarzwasser, where it leaves the mountains, turns E. and N.E, and forms part of the Austro-German frontier. Returning within Austrian territory (Galicia), it passes Cracow, and thereafter forms a long stretch of the frontier with Russia (Poland), bending gradually towards the north, until at Zawichost it runs due N. and enters Poland. Here it at first bisects the high-lying plateau of southern Poland, but leaves this near Jozefow, and flows as far as the junction with the Pilica in a broad valley between wooded bluffs. Crossing the plain of central and northern Poland, it passes Warsaw, and at the junction of the Bug sweeps W. and N.W. to pass Plock and Wloclawek (see further POLAND for its course within this territory). It enters Prussia 10 m. above Thorn, turns N.E. on receiving the Brahe, passes Graudenz and turns towards the north. From this point it throws off numerous branches and sweeps from side to side of a broad valley, having steep banks on the side upon which it impinges, and on the other being bordered by extensive flat lands. Nearing the Baltic Sea it forms a delta, dividing into two main arms, the left or western of which bears the name of Vistula, and flows directly to Danzig Bay, while the right is called the Nogat, and flows into the Frisches Haff. The enclosed deltaic tract is very fertile. Parts of it are known as Werder (cf. the English "islands or "holms" in the Fens and other low-lying tracts of the east). In the lower part of the delta the Haff Canal leads from the main river to the Frisches Haff; there are also various natural channels in that direction, but the main river passes on towards the N.W., having a tendency to run parallel to the coast, and reaching Danzig Bay with a direct course only through an artificial cut constructed in 1888-96. The river broke a new channel into the bay, at a point between this cut and the old mouth at Neufahrwasser, on the night of the 1st-2nd of February 1840. The important seaport of Danzig, however, is on the old channel, and this channel is used by shipping, which enters Vitebsk (Dbesk, Vitbesk and Vitepesk) is mentioned for it by a canal at Neufahrwasser. The Nogat, formerly inconsiderable, had become so much deepened and broadened by natural means in the carly part of the 19th century that it carried more water than the Vistula itself (ie. the other main deltaic branch). the first time in 1021, when it belonged to the Polotsk princiIn 1845-57 the outflow of the Nogat was stopped and an artificial | pality. Eighty years later it became the chief town of a separate

The church of St

VITEBSK, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, on both banks of the W. Dvina, and on the Pop. (1885) 54,676; (1897) 65,871. It is an old town, with railway from Smolensk to Riga, 85 m. N.W. from the former. decaying mansions of the nobility, and dirty Jewish quarters, founded in 1664 and 1777 respectively. half of its inhabitants being Jews. There are two cathedrals, Elias, a fine example of the Old Russian style of architecture, are insignificant, and the poorer classes support themselves by founded in 1643, was burned down in 1904. The manufactures carry on an active business with Riga in corn, flax, hemp, gardening, boat-building and the flax trade, while the merchants tobacco, sugar and timber.

is the handsome early Renaissance pilgrimage church of the Madonno della Quercia; the façade is adorned with three lunettes by Andrea della Robbia. The fine wooden roof of the interior is by Antonio da Sangallo the younger (1519-25). The adjoining monastery has a pleasing cloistered court. A mile and a quarter farther is the town of Bagnaia, with the Villa Lante, still belonging to the family of that name, with fine fountains and beautiful trees, ascribed to Vignola. The inhabitants of Viterbo are chiefly dependent on agriculture; hemp is a specialty of the district, and tobacco and various grains are largely grown, as well as the olive and the vine. There are in the vicinity numerous mineral springs; the warm sulphur spring of Bollicame, about 2 m. off, is alluded to by Dante (Inf. xiv. 79).

of Alava. Its oldest part, the Campillo or Villa-Suso, occupies the top of the hill; some of the walls and towers by which it was formerly defended still remain. Below it is Vitoria Antigua, with narrow tortuous lanes; on the still lower level ground the modern town, with wide streets, an arcaded market-place and shady promenades. The cathedral of Santa Maria in the Campillo dates from 1181, but has been considerably spoiled by late additions: the church of San Miguel also dates from the 12th century; it has an exceptionally beautiful altar, carved in wood by J. Velazquez and G. Hernandez, in the 16th century. The town hall and the palace of the provincial assembly contain some fine paintings and interesting relics connected with the history of Alava. Vitoria, from its favourable position on the main lines from Madrid to France and to the port of San Sebastian, is an important centre of trade in wine, wool, horses, mules and hardware; other industries are paper-making, carriagebuilding, cabinet-making, tanning and the manufacture of earthenware. There is a branch railway from Vitoria to Villarreal. The city is lighted by electricity; its trade and population have largely increased since 1875.

Vitoria was founded in 581 by Leovigild, king of the Visigoths; but its importance dates from the 10th century. In 1181 Sancho the Wise of Navarre granted it a charter and fortified it.

Battle of Vitoria.-For the operations which preceded the battle of Vitoria see PENINSULAR WAR. On June 21st, 1813, the French army in Spain (about 65,000 men with 150 guns), under King Joseph Bonaparte, held an extended position in the basin of Vitoria, south (with the exception of the extreme right) of the river Zadorra. The left rested on the heights of Puebla, north of the Puebla Pass, and Puebla de Arganzon, through which ran the Miranda-Vitoria-Bayonne road, Joseph's line of communication with France. Thence the line stretched to the

Viterbo is by some identified with Surrina nova, which is only mentioned in inscriptions, while some place it at the sulphur springs, called the Bollicame, to the west of Viterbo on the line of the Via Cassia, where Roman remains exist. This might well be the site of the Roman town. Here the Via Cassia was joined by the Via Ciminia, passing east of the Lacus Ciminius, while a road branched off to Ferentum. See E. Bormann in Corp. Inscr. Lat. xi. (Berlin, 1888), p. 454; H. Nissen, Italische Landeskunde (Berlin, 1902), ii. 343. The forgeries of the Dominican Annio da Viterbo (d. 1502) were directed to prove that Viterbo was the site of the Fanum Voltumnae (see, however, MONTEFIASCONE). There are no archaeological remains in Viterbo itself, except a few courses of masonry under the bridge which connects the cathedral with the city, near the cathedral, possibly the pier of an older bridge. But the site is not unreasonably considered to be ancient, and the name to be derived from Vetus urbs; tombs, too, have been found in the neighbourhood, and it is not an unlikely assumption that here, as elsewhere, the medieval town occupies the Etruscan site. It was fortified by the Lom-ridge of Margarita, the troops so far being under General Gazan, bard king Desiderius (the decree ascribed to him, now in the municipal palace, has long been recognized as a forgery of Annio). It is the centre of the territory of the " patrimony of Peter," which the countess Matilda of Tuscany gave to the papal see in the 12th century; in the 13th century it became a favourite papal residence. Popes Urban IV. (1261), Gregory X. (1271), John XXI. (1276), Nicholas III. (1277) and Martin IV. (1281) were elected here, and it was at Viterbo that Alexander IV. (1261), Clement IV. (1268), Adrian V. (1276) and John XXI. (1277) died. (T. As.)

VITET, LUDOVIC (1802-1873), French dramatist and politician, was born in Paris on the 18th of October 1802. He was educated at the Ecole Normale. His politics were liberal, and he was a member of the society " Aide-toi, le ciel t'aidera." On the triumph of liberal principles in 1830 Guizot created an office especially for Vitet, who became inspector-general of historical monuments. In 1834 he entered the Chamber of Deputies, and two years later was made a member of the Council of State. He was consistent in his monarchist principles, and abstained from taking any part in politics during the second empire. The disasters of 1870-71 reawakened Vitet's interest in public affairs, and he published in the Revue des deux mondes his optimistic "Lettres sur le siège de Paris." He died in 1873. Vitet was the author of some valuable works on the history of art, and his Monographie de l'Église Notre Dame de Noyon (1845) especially did much to awaken popular interest in architecture. In the early days of the Romantic movement he wrote some vivid dramatic sketches of the time of the League. They are: Les Barricades, scènes historiques (1826), Les Etats de Blois, scènes (1827), and La Mort de Henri III. (1829), all three being published together in 1844 with the title of La Ligue. The best of these is the Etats de Blois, in which the murder of the duke of Guise is described in the most convincing manner.

VITORIA, an episcopal city of northern Spain, and capital of the province of Alava; on the Miranda de Ebro-Alsasua section of the Northern railways, among the southern outliers of the Cantabrian mountains, and on the left bank of the river Zadorra, a left-hand tributary of the Ebro. Pop. (1900) 30,701. The city is built on a hill 1750 ft. high, and overlooks the plain

with a second supporting line under D'Erlon between Arinez and Hermandad and a reserve behind Arinez. The right under Reille guarded the Bilbao-Vitoria road, occupying heights on the north bank of the Zadorra, and also the villages and bridges of Abechuco and Gamarra Mayor, as well as a ridge near Ariaga on the south bank.

There were no troops between Hermandad and Ariaga, except a mass of cavalry near Ali. The Zadorra, fordable in certain spots only, was spanned by bridges at Puebla de Arganzon, Nanclares, Villodas, Tres Puentes, Mendoza, Abechuco and Gamarra Mayor, which French guns commanded; but, for some reason, none of these had been destroyed. The faults of the French position and their occupation of it were its extension; that it was in prolongation of and (on the right especially) very close to their line of retreat, so that if the right were driven back this line could be at once seized; that the centre was not strongly held; and that all bridges were left intact.

The Allies (nearly 80,000, with 90 guns), under Wellington, had moved from the river Bayas at daylight to attack Joseph, in four columns, the right being under Hill (20,000, including Morillos's Spaniards), the right centre and left centre under Wellington (30,000) and the left under Graham (20,000, including Longa's Spaniards). As the columns marched across the intersected country between the Bayas and Zadorra, extending from near Puebla de Arganzon to the Bilbao-Vitoria road, they kept touch with each other; and as they neared the Zadorra the battle opened all along the line soon after roa.m. Wellington's instructions to Graham were to undertake no manœuvre which would separate his column from those on the right; but. with this proviso, to seize the Vitoria-Bayonne road if the enemy appeared decidedly in retreat. Hill after a sharp contest gained the Puebla heights, too weakly held; and pushing through the pass carried the village of Subijana de Álava. The right centre column having reached Villodas, was waiting for Hill to gain further ground, when the bridge at Tres Puentes was observed to be unguarded, probably because it was commanded from the south bank; and, the French attention being now turned towards their flanks, it was surprised and rushed by Wellington with the