Valentine, Basil : This German adept in hermetic philosophy is commonly supposed to have been born at Mayence towards the close of the fourteenth century. As a young man he espoused holy orders, and it is recorded that he entered the Abbey of St. Peter, at Erfurt, and eventually became its Prior ; but otherwise very little is known concerning him, and even the date of his death is uncertain. He appears to have been a very modest person, for according to Olaus Borrichius, the author of De Ortu et Progressu Chemiae, Valentine imprisoned all the manuscripts of his scientific writings inside one of the pillars of the Abbey Church; and there they might have remained for an indefinite period, but a thunderstorm chanced ultimately to dislodge them from their curious hiding-place. It is possible, of course, that this incarceration was not altogether due to modesty on the writer's part, and arose rather from his dreading a visitation from the Inquisition in the event of their discovering his alchemistic proclivities but be that as it may, Vatentine's works certainly mark him as a very shrewd man and a capable scientist. In contradistinction to most analogous medieval literature, his treatises are not all couched in Latin, some of them being in high Dutch and others in the author's native German; and prominent among those in the latter tongue is The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, first published at Leipsic in 1624. Herein Valentine exalts antimony as an excellent medicine, while the volume likewise embodies a lengthy metrical treatise on the philosopher's stone, the writer contending that whoso would discover and use this must do charitable deeds, mortify the flesh, and pray without ceasing.

As regards the alchemist's further writings, it behoves to mention his Apocalypsis Chymica, De Microcosmo degue Magno Mundi Mysterio et Medecina Hominis and Practica una cum duodecim Clavibus et Appendice. All these were originally published in Germany at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and divers passages in them demonstrate that the author understood the distillation of brandy, and was acquainted with the method of obtaining chlorohydric acid from salt-water ; while moreover, reverting to his faith in antimony, he has been credited with having been the first to extract this from sulphuret.

Vampire : (Russian Vampir, South Russian upuir, probably from the root pi, to drink, with the prefix va, or av.) A dead person who returns in spirit form from the grave for the purpose of destroying and sucking the blood of living persons, or a living sorcerer who takes a special form for the same purpose. The conception of the vampire is rifest among Slavonic peoples, and especially in the Balkan countries, and in Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia, and in these territories from 1730-35 there was a well-marked epidemic of vampirism, but it is by no means confined to them. In White Russia and the Ukraine it is believed that vampires are generally wizards or sorcerers, but in Bulgaria and Serbia it is thought that any corpse over which a cat or a dog jumps or over which a bird has flown is liable to become a vampire. In Greece (q.v.) a vampire is known as a broncolaia or bourkabakos, which has been identified with the Slavonic name for werewolf" (q.v.), vlkodlak, or vukodlak. The vampire, too, is often supposed to steal the heart of his victim and to roast it over a slow fire, thus causing interminable amorous longings.

Marks of Vampirism.-Vampirism is epidemic in character. Where one instance is discovered it is almost invariably followed by several others. This is accounted for by the circumstance that it is believed that the victim of a vampire pines and dies and becomes in turn a vampire himself after death, and so duly infects others. On the disinterment of a suspected vampire various well-known signs are looked for by experienced persons. Thus, if several holes about the breadth of a man's finger, are observed in the soil above the grave the vampire character of its occupant may be suspected. On unearthing the corpse it is usually found with wide-open eyes, ruddy and life-like complexion and lips and a general appearance of freshness, and showing no signs of corruption. It may also be found that the hair and nails have grown as in life. On the throat two small livid marks may be looked for, The coffin is also very often full of blood, the body has a swollen and gorged appearance, and the shroud is frequently half-devoured. The blood contained in the veins of the corpse is found on examination to be in a fluid condition as in life, and the limbs are pliant and flexible and have none of the rigidity of death.

Examples of Vampirism.-Many well-authenticated examples of vampirism exist. Charles Ferdinand de Schertz in his work Magia Posthuma printed at Olmutz in 1706 relates several stories of apparitions of this sort, and particularises the mischief done by them. One, among others, is of a herdsman of the village of Blow near the town of Kadam in Bohemia, who appeared for a considerable length of time, and visited several persons, who all died within eight days. At last, the inhabitants of Blow dug up the herdsman's body, and fixed it in the ground with a stake driven through it. The man, even in this condition, laughed at the people that were employed about him, and told them they were very obliging to furnish him with a stick with which to defend himself from the dogs. The same night he extricated himself from the stake, frightened several persons by appearing to them, and occasioned the death of many more than he had hitherto done. He was then delivered into the hands of the hangman, who put him into a cart, in order to burn him without the town. As they went along, the carcass shrieked in the most hideous manner, and threw about its arms and legs, as if it had been alive; and upon being again run through with a stake, it gave a loud cry, and a great quantity of fresh, florid blood issued from the wound. At last, the body was burned to ashes, and this execution put a final stop to the spectres appearing and infecting the village.

Calmet in his Dissertation on Vampires appended to his Dissertation upon Apparitions (English translation, 1759), gives several well authenticated instances of vampirism as follows

"It is now about fifteen years since a soldier, who was quartered in the house of a Haidamack peasant, upon the frontiers of Hungary, saw, as he was at the table with his landlord, a stranger come in and sit down by them. The master of the house and the rest of the company were strangely terrified, but the soldier knew not what to make of it. The next day the peasant died, and, upon the soldier's enquiring into the meaning of it, he was told that it was his landlord's father, who had been dead and buried above ten years, that came and sat down at table, and gave his son notice of his death.

"The soldier soon propagated the story through his regiment, and by this means it reached the general officers, who commissioned the count de Cabreras, a captain in Alandetti's regiment of foot, to make an exact enquiry into the fact. The count, attended by several officers, a surgeon, and a notary, came to the house, and took the deposition of all the family, who unanimously swore that the spectre was the landlord's father, and that all the soldier had said was strictly true. The same was also attested by all the inhabitants of the village.

"In consequence of this the body of the spectre was dug up, and found to be in the same state as if it has been but just dead, the blood like that of a living person. The count de Cabreras ordered its head to be cut off, and the corpse to be buried again. He then proceeded to take depositions against other spectres of the same sort, and particularly against a man who had been dead above thirty years, and had made his appearance three several times in his own house at meal-time. At his first visit he had fastened upon the neck of his own brother, and sucked his blood; at his second, he had treated one of his children in the same manner; and the third time, he fastened upon a servant of the family, and all three died upon the spot.

"Upon this evidence, the count gave orders that he should be dug up, and being found, like the first, with his blood in a fluid state, as if he had been alive, a great nail was drove through his temples, and he was buried again. The count ordered a third to be burnt, who had been dead above sixteen years, and was found guilty of murdering two of his own children by sucking their blood. The commissioner then made his report to the general officers, who sent a deputation to the emperor's court for further directions; and the emperor dispatched an order for a court, consisting of officers, lawyers, physicians, chirurgeons, and some divines, to go and enquire into the cause of these extraordinary events, upon the spot.

"The gentleman who acquainted me with all these particulars, had them from the count de Cabreras himself, at Fribourg in Brisgau, in the year 1730."

Other instances alluded to by Calmet are as follows:-

"In the part of Hungary, known in Latin by the name of Oppida Heidonum, on the other side of the Tibiscus, vulgarly called the Teyss; that is, between that part of this river which waters the happy country of Tockay, and the frontiers of Transylvania, the people named Heydukes have a notion that there are dead persons, called by them vampires, which suck the blood of the living, so as to make them fall away visibly to skin and bones, while the carcasses themselves, like leeches, are filled with blood to such a degree that it comes out at all the apertures of their body. This notion has lately been confirmed by several facts, which I think we cannot doubt the truth of, considering the witnesses who attest them. Some of the most considerable of these facts I shall now relate.

"About five years ago, an Heyduke, named Arnold Paul, an inhabitant of Medreiga, was killed by a cart full of hay that fell upon him. About thirty days after his death, four persons died suddenly, with all the symptoms usually attending those who are killed by vampires. It was then remembered that this Arnold Paul had frequently told a story of his having been tormented by a Turkish vampire, in the neighbourhood of Cassova, upon the borders of Turkish Servia (for the notion is that those who have been passive vampires in their life-time become active ones after death; or, in other words, that those who have had their blood sucked become suckers in their turn) but that he had been cured by eating some of the earth upon the vampire's grave, and by rubbing himself with his blood. This precaution, however, did not hinder him from being guilty himself after his death; for, upon digging up his corpse forty days after his burial, he was found to have all the marks of an arch-vampire. His body was fresh and ruddy, his hair, beard, and nails were grown, and his veins were full of fluid blood, which ran from all parts of his body upon the shroud that he was buried in. The hadnagy, or bailiff of the village, who was present at the digging up of the corpse, and was very expert in the whole business of vampirism, ordered a sharp stake to be drove quite through the body of the deceased, and to let it pass through his heart, which was attended with a hideous cry from the carcass, as if it had been alive. This ceremony being performed, they cut off the head, and burnt the body to ashes. After this, they proceeded in the same manner with the four other persons that died of vampirism, lest they also should be troublesome. But all these executions could not hinder this dreadful prodigy from appearing again last year, at the distance of five years from its first breaking out. In the space of three months, seventeen persons of different ages and sexes died of vampirism. some without any previous illness, and others after languishing two or three days. Among others, it was said, that a girl, named Stanoska, daughter of the Heyduke Jotuitzo, went to bed in perfect health, but awoke in the middle of the night, trembling, and crying nut that the son of the Heyduke Millo, who died about nine weeks before, had almost strangled her while she was asleep. From that time she fell into a languishing state, and died at three days' end. Her evidence against Millo's son was looked upon as a proof of his being a vampire, and, upon digging up his body, he was found to be such.

"At a consultation of the principal inhabitants of the place, attended by physicians and chirurgeons, it was considered how it was possible that the plague of vampirism should break out afresh, after the precautions that had been taken some years before : and, at last, it was found out that the original offender, Arnold Paul, had not only destroyed the four persons mentioned above, but had killed several beasts, which the late vampires, and particularly the son of Millo, had fed upon. Upon this foundation a resolution was taken to dig up all the persons that had died within a certain time. Out of forty were found seventeen, with all the evident tokens of vampirism; and they had all stakes drove through their hearts, their heads cut off, their bodies burnt, and their ashes thrown into the river.

"All these several enquiries and executions were carried on with all the forms of law, and attested by several officers who were in garrison in that country. by the chirurgeon-majors of the regiments, and by the principal inhabitants of the place. The original papers were all sent, in January last, to the Imperial council of war at Vienna, which had issued out a commission to several officers, to enquire into the truth of the fact."

Methods of Extirpation -The commonest methods of the extirpation of vampires are-(a) beheading the suspected corpse; (b) taking out the heart; (c) impaling the corpse with a white-thorn stake (in Russia an aspen), and (d) burning it. Sometimes more than one or all of these precautions is taken. Instances are on record where the graves of as many as thirty or forty persons have been disturbed during the course of an epidemic of vampirism and their occupants impaled or beheaded. Persons who dread the visits or attacks of a vampire sleep with a wreath made of garlic round the neck, as that esculent is supposed to be especially obnoxious to the vampire. When impaled the vampire is usually said to emit a dreadful cry, but it has been pointed out that the gas from the intestines may be forced through the throat by the entry of the stake into the body, and that this may account for the sound. The method of discovering a vampire's grave in Serbia is to place a virgin boy upon a coal-black stallion which has never served a mare and marking the spot where he will not pass. An officer quartered in Wallachia wrote to Calmet as follows, giving him an instance of this method

"At the time when we were quartered at Temeswar in Wallachia, there died of this disorder two dragoons of the company in which I was cornet, and several more who had it would have died also, if the corporal of the company had not put a stop to it, by applying a remedy commonly made use of in that country. It is of a very singular kind, and, though infallibly to be depended on, I have never met with it in any Dispensatory.

"They pick out a boy, whom they judge to be too young to have lost his maidenhead, and mount him bare upon a coal-black stone-horse, which has never leaped a mare. This virgin-pair is led about the church-yard, and across all the graves, and wherever the animal stops. and refuses to go on, in spite of all the whipping they can give him, they conclude they have discovered a vampire. Upon opening the grave, they find a carcass as fleshy and fair as if the person were only in a slumber. The next step is to cut off his head with a spade, and there issues from the wound such a quantity of fresh and florid blood, that one would swear they had cut the throat of a man in full health and vigour. They then fill up the pit, and it may be depended on that the disorder will cease, and that all who were ill of it will gradually get strength, like people that recover slowly after a long illness. Accordingly this happened to our troopers, who were attacked with the distemper. I was at that time commanding officer of the troop, the captain and lieutenant being absent, and was extremely angry at the corporal for having made this experiment without me. It was with great difficulty that I prevailed with myself not to reward him with a good cudgel, a thing of which the officers of the emperor's service are usually very liberal. I would not, for the world, have been absent upon this occasion, but there was now no remedy."

A Bulgarian belief is that a wizard or sorcerer may entrap a vampire by placing in a bottle some food for which the vampire has a partiality, and on his entry in the shape of fluff or straw, sealing up the flask and throwing it into the fire.

Scientific Theories of Vampirism.-The English custom of piercing suicide's bodies with a stake would appear to be a survival of the belief in vampirism. Such demons are also to be seen in the Polynesian tii, the Malayan hantu penyardin, a dog-headed water-demon, and the kephn of the Karens, which under the form of a wizard's head and stomach devours human souls. Tylor considers vampire's to be ' causes conceived in spiritual form to account for specific facts of wasting disease." Afanasief regards them as thunder-gods and spirits of the storm who during winter slumber in their cloud-coffins to rise again in spring and draw moisture from the clouds. But this theory will scarcely recommend itself to anyone with even a slight knowledge of mythological science. Calmet's difficulty in believing in vampire's was that he could not understand how a spirit could leave its grave and return thence with ponderable matter in the form of blood, leaving no traces showing that the surface of the earth above the grave had been stirred. But this view might be combated by the theory of the precipitation of matter.

Literature. - De Schertz, Magia Posthuma, Olmutz, 1706; Calmet, A Dissertation on Apparitions (Eng. trans.), 1759; Ennemoser, History of Magic; Herenberg, Philosophicae et Christianoe Cogitationes de Vampires, 1733 ; Mercure Galant, 1693 and 1694; Ranfft, De Masticatione Mortuorum In Tumulis, Leipsic, 1728 ; Rehrius, De Masticatione Mortuorum, 1679 ; Herz, Der Werwolf, Stuttgart, 1862 Ralston, Songs of the Russian People, 1872, Russian Folk Tales, 1873 ; Mannhardt, Ueber Vampirismus, in Vol. IV. of Zeitschrift fur Deutsche Mythologie.

Van Calear, Elise : (See Holland.)

Van Herwerden, T. D. : (See Holland.)

Vana Vasin : (See India.)

Vanderdeken : (See Flying Dutchman.)

Vanga : The unenrolled members of the Ndembo Secret Society of the Lower Congo.

Varley, Cromwell : A distinguished electrician and fellow of the Royal Society, who on several occasions turned his knowledge of electricity to account in devising tests for spiritualistic mediums. In March, 1874 he applied such a test to Miss Florence Cook, during a materialisation seance, The experiment, in common with many of these earlier tests, has since been proved inadequate. (See Spiritualism.)

Vassago : The spirit of the crystal, who is invoked by the crystal-gazer for the purposes of his art.

Vaudoux : (See West Indian Islands.)

Vaughan, Diana : Authoress of Memories of an ex-Palladist in which she states that she was a member of a Satanist association of Masonic origin in Charleston, U.S.A., presided over at one period by Albert Pike (q.v.). Her pretentions, which will scarcely bear a strict investigation. are that she was the chosen bride of Asmodeus and was on terms of intimacy with Lucifer, the deity worshipped by the Palladist confraternity.

Vaulderie : A connection with the Satanic powers, so called from Robinet de Vaulse, a hermit, one of the first persons accused of the crime. In 1453 the Prior of St. Germainen-Laye, Guillaume de l'Allive, a doctor of theology, was accused of Vaulderie, and sentenced to perpetual imprisonment. Six years later there was burned at Lille a hermit named Alphonse, who preached heterodox doctrines. Such were the preludes of a persecution which, in the following year, the Vicar of the Inquisition. administrator of the Diocese of Arras, seconded by the Count d'Etampes, Governor of Artois, directed at first against loose women, but afterwards against citizens, magistrates, knights, and especially the wealthy. The procedures against the accused had almost always for their basis some accusation of sorcery. Most of the unhappy creatures confessed to have attended the "Witch's Sabbath," and the strange revelations wrung from them by torture, will give some idea of the ceremonies which according to the popular tradition, were enacted in the lurid festivals presided over by Satan. Here are some extracts from the judgment pronounced at Arras in 1460 upon five women, a painter, and a poet, nick-named ' an abbe of little sense," and aged about seventy, and several others, who all perished in the flames kindled by a barbarous ignorance and fed by a cruel superstition.

"And the said Inquisition did say and declare, that those hereinunder named had been guilty of Vaulderei in manner following, that is to say :- "That when they wished to go to the said Vaulderie', they, with an ointment given to them by the devil, anointed a small wooden rod and their palms and their hands; then they put the wand between their legs, and soon they flew wherever they wished to go, over fair cities, woods and streams; and the devil carried them to the place where they should hold their assembly, and in this place they found others, and tables placed, loaded with wines and viands; and there they found a demon in the form of a goat, a dog, an ape, or sometimes a man; and they made their oblation and homage to the said demon, and adored him, and yielded up to him their souls, and all, or at least some portion, of their bodies; then, with burning candles in their hands, they kissed the rear of the goat-devil (Here the Inquisitor becomes untranslatable). And this homage done, they trod and trampled upon the Cross, and befouled it with their spittle, in contempt of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Trinity, then turned their backs towards heaven and the firmament in contempt of God. And after they had all eaten and drunk well, they had carnal intercourse all together, and even the devil assumed the guise of man and woman, and had intercourse with both sexes. And many other crimes, most filthy and detestable, they committed, as much against God as against nature, which the said Inquisitor did not dare to name, that innocent ears might not be told of such villainous enormites.'

The eagerness displayed by the Inquisitor and his acolytes so excited the public indignation, that at the close of the year 1460 the judges did not dare any longer to condemn to death the unfortunate wretches accused, it is said only for the purpose of depriving them of their property. As in the case of all great wrongs, a reaction set in-a re-action in favour of the right; and thirty years later, when the county of Artois had been re-united to the Crown, the Parliament of Paris declared, on the 20th of May, 1491, these trials "abusive, void, and falsely made," and condemned the heirs of the duke of Burgundy and the principal judges to an amend of 500 Parisian livres, to be distributed as a reparation among the heirs of the victims.

Veechia Religlone, La : (See Italy.)

Vedanta Yoga : The higher branch of Hindu yoga practice.

Vehm-Gerichte : A secret tribunal which during the Middle Ages exercised a peculiar jurisdiction in Germany and especially in Westphalia. Its origin is quite uncertain. The sessions were often held in secret, and the uninitiated were forbidden to attend them on pain of death. The most absurd stories have been circulated concerning them,-that they met in underground chambers and so forth. These have been discounted by modern research. Far from dabbling in the occult, these courts frequently punished persons convicted of witchcraft and sorcery.

Veleda : A prophetess among the ancient Germans, of whom Tacitus says: " She exercises a great authority, for women have been held here from the most ancient times to be prophetic, and, by excessive superstition, as divine. The fame of Veleda stood on the very highest elevation, for she foretold to the Germans a prosperous issue, but to the legions their destruction! Veleda dwelt upon a high tower, whence messengers were dispatched bearing her oracular counsels to those who sought them; but she herself was rarely seen, and none was allowed to approach her. Cercaus is said to have secretly begged her to let the Romans have better success in war. The Romans, as well as those of her own race, set great store on her prophecies, and sent her valuable gifts. In the reign of the Emperor Vespasian she was honoured as a goddess."

Veltis : An evil spirit who assaulted St. Margaret but was overcome by her. On being asked by St. Margaret who be was and whence he came, he replied: "My name is Veltis, and I am one of those whom Solomon by virtue of his spells, confined in a copper cauldron at Babylon; but when the Babylonians, in the hope of finding treasure dug up the cauldron and opened it, we all made our escape. Since that time our efforts have been directed to the destruction of righteous persons ; and I have long been striving to turn thee from the course thou hast em-braced."

Verdelet : A demon of the second order, master of ceremonies at the infernal court. He is charged with the transport of witches to the Sabbath. He takes the names of Master Persil, Sante-Buisson, and other names of a pleasant sound, 50 as to entice women into his snares.

Veritas Society : (See Holland.)

Verite La (Journal) : (See France.)

Vervain : A sacred herb with which the altars of Jupiter were sprinkled. Water containing vervain was also sprinkled in houses to cast out evil spirits. Among the druids particularly it was employed in connection with many forms of superstition. They gathered it at day-break, before the sun had risen. Later sorcerers followed the same usage, and the demonologists believe that in order to evoke demons it is necessary to be crowned with vervain.

Vestments, Magical : (See Magic.)

Vidya : in Theosophy is the knowledge by which man on the Path can discern the true from the false and so direct his efforts aright by means of the mental faculties which he has learnt to use. It is the antithesis of Avidya. (See Path, Avidya, and Theosophy.)

Viedma : Russian name for a witch. (See Slavs.)

Vila, The : Vila were nymphs who frequented the forests that clothe the bases of the Eastern Alps. They have been seen traversing glades, mounted on stags; or driving from peak to peak on chariots of cloud. Serbian ballads tell how Marko the great hero of ancient Serbia, was joined in bond of ' brotherhood" with a Vita, who showed to him the secrets of the future. At that period Serbia was a mighty nation, extending from the Alps to the Black Sea, from the Danube to the Adriatic-before her freedom was lost at the battle of Varna.

Vile : (See Slavs.)

Villorjaci : (See Slavs.)

Villanova, Arnold de : Arnold de Villanova was a physician by profession, and is reported to have been something of a theologian besides a skilled alchemist. His natal place has never been determined, but Catalonia, Milan and Montpellier have all been suggested ; while as to the precise date of his advent, this too is uncertain yet appears to have been about the middle of the thirteenth century. Arnold studied medicine for many years at the Sorbonne in Paris, which in medieval times was the principal European nursery of physicians; and thereafter he travelled for a long time in Italy, while subsequently he penetrated to Spain. Here, however, he heard that a friend of his was in the hands of the dreaded Inquisition and, fearing that he likewise might be trepanned by that body, he withdrew speedily to Italy. For a considerable period he lived at Naples, enjoying there the friendly patronage of the Neapolitan sovereign, and spending his time less in the actual practice of his profession than in the compilation of various scientific treatises ; while at a later date he was appointed physician in ordinary to Pope Clement V., so presumably the rest of his life was spent mainly at Rome, or possibly at Avignon. Meanwhile his interest in alchemy had become widely known, and indeed many people declared that his skill herein was derived from communications with the arch-fiend himself, and that the physician accordingly deserved nothing less than burning at the stake ; while he also elicited particular enmity from the clergy by sneering openly at the monastic regime, and by declaring boldly that works of charity are more acceptable to God than the repetition of paternosters. Thanks to Papal favour, nevertheless, Arnold went unscathed by his enemies; but soon after his death, which occurred about the year 1310. the Inquisition decided that they had dealt too leniently with the deceased, and in consequence they signified their hatred of him, by ordering certain of his writings to be burned publicly at Tarragona.

Arnold was acquainted with the preparation of oil of turpentine and oil of rosemary, while the marcasite frequently mentioned by him is supposed to be identical with bismuth. His most important treatises are his Thesaurus Thesaurorum, Rosarium Philosophorum, Speculam Alchemiae and Perfectum Magisterum ; while two others of some moment are his Testamentum and Scientia Scientioe. A collected edition of his works was issued in 1520, while several writings from his pen are embodied in the Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa of Mangetus, published in 1702.

Villars, l'Abbe de Montfaucon de : French Mystic (1635-1673.) This Churchman, author and mystic was what the French style "un meridional" being a native of southern Franch. He was born in 1635 at Toulouse, not very far from the seaport town of Bordeaux; and at an early age he espoused holy orders, while in 1667 he left the south and came to Paris, eager to win fame as a preacher. Nor did this ambition of his go wholly ungratified, his eloquence in the pulpit winning him numerous admirers; but he soon grew more interested in literature than in clerical affairs, and in 1670 he published his first and most important book, Comte du Gabalis. Ostensibly a novel, this volume is largely a veiled satire on the writings of La Calprenede, at this time very popular both in France and in England; but the satirical element in Villars' paper is supplemented by a curious blend of history, philosophy and mysticism; and, as much of the last-named is of a nature distinctly hostile to the dogmas of Rome, the author soon found himself in ill odour with his brother clerics. Probably it was for this reason that he renounced the pulpit, yet his literary activities were not vitiated by persecutions; and in 1671 he issued De' la Delicetesse, a speculative treatise, couched in the form of dialogues, in which the author takes the part of one, a priest who had lately been writing in opposition to Port Royal doctrines. Like its predecessor this new book made a considerable stir, and Villars began to write voluminously, at the same time plunging deeply into the study of various kinds of mysticism; but his activities were suddenly terminated in an unexpected fashion, for in 1673 he was murdered on the public high-Toad not far from Lyons, whither he was journeying from Paris. Presumably he had incurred the hatred of some one but the question is shrouded in mystery; and, be the solution what it may, no attempt appears to have been made to frustrate the posthumous publication of divers works from Villars' pen. Within the first decade succeeding his death three such works appeared, L’ Amour sans Faiblesse, Anne de Bretague et Ailmanzaris, and Critique de la Berenice de Racine et de Corneille, the last-named subsequently winning the enconiums of a shrewd judge, Mme. de Sevigne ; while so late as 1715 a further production by Villars was issued, a sequel to the Comte du Gabalis, bearing the significant title of Nouveaux Entretiens sur les Sciences secretes. This volume elicited ready and wide interest among thinkers in the eighteenth century, and it may be briefly defined as a treatise opposing the philosophical theories of Descartes, or rather, opposing the popular misapprehension and abuse of these.

Vintras, Eugene : A Norman peasant of great devoutness, who in the year 1839 was fixed upon by the Saviours of Louis XVII. (q.v.), as a fitting successor to their prophet Martin who had just died. They addressed a letter to the pretended Louis XVII. and arranged that it should fall into the hands of Vintras. It abounded in good promises for the reign to come and in mystical expressions calculated to inflame the brain of a person of weak and excitable character such as Vintras was. In a letter Vintras himself describes as follows the manner in which this communication reached him :-

"Towards nine o'clock I was occupied in writing, when there was a knock at the door of the room in which I sat, and supposing that it was a workman who came on business, I said rather brusquely, 'Come in.' Much to my astonishment, in place of the expected workman, I saw an old man in rags. I asked merely what he wanted. He answered with much tranquillity, ' Don't disturb yourself, Pierre Michel.' Now, these names are never used in addressing me, for I am known everywhere as Eugene, and even in signing documents I do not make use of my first names. I was conscious of a certain emotion at the old man's answer, and this increased when he said: 'I am utterly tired, and wherever I appear they treat me with disdain, or as a thief.' The words alarmed me considerably, though they were spoken in a saddened and even a woeful tone. I arose and placed a ten bus piece in his hand, saying, I do not take you for that, my good man,' and while speaking I made him understand that I wished to see him Out. He received it in silence but turned his back with a pained air. No sooner had he set foot on the last step than I shut the door and locked it. I did not hear him go down, so I called a workman and told him to come up to my room. Under some business pretext, I was wishing him to search with me all the possible places which might conceal my old man, whom I had not seen go out. The workman came accordingly. I left the room in his company, again locking my door. I hunted through all the nooks and corners, but saw nothing.

"I was about to enter the factory when I heard on a sudden the bell ringing for mass, and felt glad that, notwithstanding the disturbance, I could assist at the sacred ceremony. I ran back to my room to obtain a prayer book and, on the table where I had been writing, I found a letter addressed- to Mme. de Generes in London; it was written and signed by M. Paul de Montfleury of Caen, and embodied a refutation of heresy, together with a profession of orthodox faith. The address notwithstanding, this letter was intended to place before the Duke of Normandy the most important truths of our holy Catholic, Apostolic and Roman religion. On the document was laid the ten sous piece which I had given to the old man."

Vintras immediately concluded that the bringer of the letter was a messenger from heaven, and became devoted to the cause of Louis XVII. He became a Visionary. He had bloody sweats, he saw hearts painted with his own blood appear on hosts, accompanied by inscriptions in his own spelling. Many believed him a prophet and followed him, among them several priests, who alleged that they partook of his occult vision. Doctors analysed the fluid which flowed from the hosts and certified it to be human blood. His enemies referred these miracles to the Devil. Vintras followers regarded him as a new Christ. But one of them, Gozzoli, published scandalous accounts of his doings, alleging that horrible obscenities and sacrilegious masses took place in their private chapel at Tilly-sur-seules. The unspeakable abominations alluded to are contained in a pamphlet entitled Le Prophete Vintras (1851). The sect was formally condemned by the Pope, and Vintras constituted himself sovereign Pontiff. He was arrested on a charge of exploiting his cult for money, was tried at Caen, and sentenced to five years imprisonment. When freed in 1845 he went to England. and in London resumed the head-ship of his cult which seems to have flourished for some time afterwards.

Virgil, the Enchanter : (See Italy.)

Visions : (From Latin visus, p.p. of videre, to see.) The appearance to mortals of supernatural persons, or scenes. Of great frequency in early and medieval times, and among savage or semi-civilised races, visions seem to have decreased proportionately with the advance of learning and enlightenment. Thus among the Greeks and Romans of the classic period they were comparatively rare, though visions of demons or gods were occasionally seen. On the other hand, among Oriental races the seeing of visions was a common occurrence, and these took more varied shapes. In medieval Europe, again, visions were almost commonplaces, and directions were given by the Church to enable men to distinguish visions of divine origin from those false delusions which were the work of the Evil One. Visions may be roughly divided into two classes-those which are spontaneous, and those which are induced. But, indeed, the great majority belong to the latter class. Ennemoser enumerates the causes of such appearances thus : (1) Sensitive organism and delicate constitution; (2) Religious education and ascetic life (fasting, penance, etc.) ; (3) Narcotics-opium, wine, incense, narcotic salves (witch-salves) ; (4) Delirium, monomania; (5) Fear and expectation, preparatory words, songs, and prayers. Among the visions induced by prayer and fasting, and the severe self-discipline of the religious ascetic, must be included many historical or traditional instances - the visions of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Anthony, St. Bernard Ignatius, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Hildegarde, Joan of Arc. It may be noted that the convent has ever been the special haunt of religious visions, probably for the reasons above mentioned. But the most potent means for the inductions of visionary appearances are those made use of by the Orientals. Narcotics of all kinds - opium, haschish, and so on-are indulged in, and physical means used for this express purpose. Thus the Brahmins will gaze for hours at a time at the sun or moon, will remain for months in practically the some position, or will practise all manner of mortification of the body, so that they may fall at length into the visionary sleep (a species of catalepsy.) The narcotic salves with which they anoint themselves are said to be similar to the witch-salves used in the Middle Ages, which induced in the witch the hallucination that she was flying through the air on a goat or a broomstick. Opium also is said to produce a sensation of flying, as well as visions of celestial delight. Alcoholic intoxication induces visions of insects and small animals, as does also nitrogen. The vapours rising from the ground in some places, or those to be found in certain caverns, are said to exercise an effect similar to that of narcotics. The Indians of North America practise similar external methods of inducing visions - solitude, fasting, and the use of salves or ointments. The savages of Africa have dances which, by producing severe dizziness, help them towards the desired visionary ecstasy. The northern savages attain the same end by the use of drums and noisy music. Spontaneous visions, though less common, are yet sufficiently numerous to merit attention here. The difficulty is, of course, to know just how far " fear and expectation" may have operated to induce the vision. In many cases, as in that of Swedenborg, the visions may have commenced as " visions of the night," hardly to be distinguished from dreams, and so from vision of an" internal" nature to clearly externalised apparitions. Swedenborg himself declares that when seeing visions of the latter class he used his senses exactly as when awake, dwelling with the spirits as a spirit, but able to return to his body when he pleased. An interesting case of spontaneous vision is that of Benvenuto Cellini (q.v.). Visions are by no means confined to the sense of sight. Taste, hearing, smelling, touch, may all be experienced in a vision. Joan of Arc, for instance, heard voices encouraging her to be the deliverer of her country. Examples may be drawn from the Bible, as the case of the child Samuel in the Temple, and instances could be multiplied from all ages and all times. The visions of Pordage and the" Philadelphia Society, or, as they called themselves later, the Angelic Brethren "-in 1651 are noteworthy in this respect because they include the taste of " brimstone, salt, and soot." In the presence of the " Angelic Brethren pictures were drawn on the window-panes by invisible hands, and were seen to move about.

Physiological explanations of visions have from time to time been offered. Plato says " The eye is the organ of a fire which does not burn but gives a mild light. The rays proceeding from the eye meet those of the outward light. With the departure of the outward light the inner also becomes less active; all inward movements become calmer and less disturbed ; and should any more prominent influences have remained they become in various points where they congregate, so many pictures of the fancy."

Democritus held that visions and dreams are passing shapes, ideal forms proceeding from other beings. Of death-bed visions Plutarch says: " It is not probable that in death the soul gains new powers which it was not before possessed of when the heart was confined within the chains of the body; but it is much more probable that these powers were always in being, though dimmed and clogged by the body; and the soul is only then able to practise them when the corporeal bonds are loosened, and the drooping limbs and stagnating juices no longer oppress it." The spiritualistic theory of visions can hardly be called a physiological one, save in so far as spirit is regarded as refined matter. An old theory of visionary ecstasy on these lines was that the soul left the body and proceeded to celestial spheres, where it remained in contemplation of divine scenes and persons. Very similar to this is the doctrine of Swedenborg, whose spirit, he believed, could commune with discarnate spirits-the souls of the dead-as one of themselves. To this may be directly traced the doctrines of modern spiritualism, which thus regards visions as actual spirits or spirit scenes, visible to the ecstatic or entranced subject whose spirit was projected to discarnate planes. The question whether or no visions are contagious has been much disputed. It has been said that such appearances may be transferred from one person to another by the laying on of hands. In the case of the Scottish seers such a transference may take place even by accidental contact with the seer. The vision of the second person is, however, less distinct than that of the original seer. The same idea prevailed with regard to the visions of magnetised patients. In so far as these may be identified with the collective hallucinations of the hypnotic state, there is no definite scientific evidence to prove their existence.

Visions have by no means been confined to the ignorant or the superstitious. Many men of genius have been subject to visionary appearance. While Raphael was trying to paint the Madonna she appeared to him in a vision. The famous composition known as the " Devil's Sonata" was dictated to Tartini by the Evil One himself. Goethe also had visions. Blake's portraits of the Patriarchs were done from visionary beings which appeared to him in the night. And such instances might easily be multiplied.

Vitality : according to theosophists, comes from the sun. When a physical atom is transfused with vitality, it draws to itself six other atoms and thus makes an etheric element. The sum of their vitality is then divided among each of the atoms and in this state the element enters the physical body by means of one of the sense organs or chaksams of the etheric double-that situated opposite the spleen. Here the element is divided into its component parts and these are conveyed to the various parts of the physical body. It is on vitality that the latter depends, not only for life but for its well-being in life. A person sufficiently supplied with it enjoys good health and one insufficiently supplied is afflicted with poor health. In the case of a healthy person. however, more vitality is drawn in than is necessary for the vital purposes and the superfluous vitality acts beneficially on his neighbours, whether human or animal, while it can also be directed in certain definite channels to the healing of diseases and so forth. With unhealthy persons, the case is, of course, reversed, and they devitalise the more healthy, with whom they come in contact.

Vjestica : a Slav name for a witch : (See Slavs.)

Vukub-Came : (See Hell.)