University Settlements.—Homes established in the poorer parts of cities, where educated and cultured people may live and try to improve the lives of their neighbors. Lectures, studies, and various other devices are resorted to. The movement started in England in 1867, and appeared in New York in 1887, as a "Neighborhood Guild." University settlements are now found in all the chief cities of the United States.
Utopia.—An imaginary island, with an ideal commonwealth, the inhabitants of which enjoy perfect laws and institutions. It is described in Sir Thomas More's political romance, "De Optimo Reipublicae Statu, deque Nova Insula Utopia," published in Latin in 1516, and translated into English in 1551. His purpose was to describe his idea of social arrangements by which the people's most absolute happiness and improvement might be secured.
Vaccination.—Vaccination, a preventive of smallpox, was discovered by Dr. Edward Jenner of England. It consists of injecting into the blood a virus made from the sores or scabs of cows suffering from cowpox, or the virus may be taken from the sore coming from vaccination itself. Comparatively few people, properly vaccinated, can have the smallpox, and are largely exempt from any disease resembling it, except that which is known as varioloid, which is a mild form of smallpox. It is not known how long vaccination remains a preventive, but probably for seven years, when one should be vaccinated again. The prejudice against vaccination, which was very intense at its discovery, no longer exists except among a few. Practically every physician advocates it, and it is compulsory in some towns and cities. Deaths have occurred from it, but they are very infrequent.
Vacuum.—The perfect vacuum, which it is impossible to produce, is space without air or atmosphere. Vacuums are made by pumping all the air out of a receptacle or chamber. In a vacuum, everything falls at the same rapidity, as there is nothing to buoy it up, a feather descending as rapidly as lead shot.
Vedas.—Sacred writings of the Hindus, hymns, prayers, and liturgies, said to have been compiled by Vyasa about 1200 B. C. They are written in Sanskrit, and divided into four parts.
Voodooism.—A degraded form of religion prevalent among the negroes of Hayti and the Southern States of America. Supposed to be a relic of the religion of equatorial Africa.
Watered Stock.—It is said that the late Commodore Vanderbilt originated what is known as watered stock. Watered stock is capitalizing an industry at a figure in advance of its real value. For example: a railroad has tangible assets of $10,000,000, and an earning capacity sufficient to pay a 6 per cent. dividend on its capitalization; financial giants manipulate the stock and increase it to, say, $20,000,000, watering it to the extent of 100 per cent. In other words, the real value of the stock then is one-half of what it was in the first place. Stock watering has become epidemic, and is the cause of hundreds of thousands of financial failures. The stock waterers, however, as a rule, win, the public being the victims.
Wealth of the Nations.—The estimated wealth of the principal nations of the earth is given in billions: United States, 130; Great Britain and Ireland, 80; France, 65; Germany, 60-1/2; Russia, 40; Austria-Hungary, 25; Italy, 20; Belgium, 9; Spain, 5.4; Netherlands, 5; Portugal, 2.5; Switzerland, 2.4.
Weather Flags