Part 264

||Vo*lan"te (?), n. [Sp., prop., flying.] A two-wheeled carriage formerly much used in Cuba. The body is in front of the axle; the driver rides on the horse.

Vol*can"ic neck. (Geol.) A column of igneous rock formed by congelation of lava in the conduit of a volcano and later exposed by the removal of surrounding rocks.

Volcanic wind. (Meteorol.) A wind associated with a volcanic outburst and due to the eruption or to convection currents over hot lava.

||Volks"raad` (?), n. [D.] A legislative assembly or parliament of any one of several countries colonized by the Dutch, esp. that of the South African Republic, or the Transvaal, and that of the Orange Free State.

Vol"ley ball. A game played by volleying a large inflated ball with the hands over a net 7 ft. 6 in. high.

Vo"lost (?), n. [Russ. volost'.] In the greater part of Russia, a division for local government consisting of a group of mirs, or village communities; a canton.

Vol"plane` (?), v. i. [F. vol plané act of volplaning; vol flight + plané, p.p.; cf. planer to hover.] (Aëronautics) To glide in a flying machine.

Volt*am"me`ter (?), n. A wattmeter.

Volt ampère. (Elec.) A unit of electric measurement equal to the product of a volt and an ampere. For direct current it is a measure of power and is the same as a watt; for alternating current it is a measure of apparent power.

Vo*lu"me*scope (?), n. [Volume + -scope.] (Physics) An instrument consisting essentially of a glass tube provided with a graduated scale, for exhibiting to the eye the changes of volume of a gas or gaseous mixture resulting from chemical action, etc.

Vol"un*ta*rism (?), n. Any theory which conceives will to be the dominant factor in experience or in the constitution of the world; -- contrasted with intellectualism. Schopenhauer and Fichte are typical exponents of the two types of metaphysical voluntarism, Schopenhauer teaching that the evolution of the universe is the activity of a blind and irrational will, Fichte holding that the intelligent activity of the ego is the fundamental fact of reality.

Vol`un*teer" na"vy. A navy of vessels fitted out and manned by volunteers who sail under the flag of the regular navy and subject to naval discipline. Prussia in 1870, in the Franco-German war, organized such a navy, which was commanded by merchant seamen with temporary commissions, with the claim (in which England acquiesced) that it did not come within the meaning of the term privateer.

Vol`un*teers" of America. A religious and philanthropic organization, similar to the Salvation Army, founded (1896) by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth.

Volunteer State. Tennessee; -- a nickname.

||Voor"trek`er (?), n. [D. (in South Africa).] One who treks before or first; a pioneer. [South Africa]

Vor"tex fil"a*ment. A vortex tube of infinitesimal cross section.

Vor"tex fringe. The region immediately surrounding a disk moving flatwise through air; -- so called because the air has a cyclic motion as in vortex ring.

Vortex line. A line, within a rotating fluid, whose tangent at every point is the instantaneous axis of rotation as that point of the fluid.

Vortex ring. (Physics) A ring-shaped mass of moving fluid which, by virtue of its motion of rotation around an axis disposed in circular form, attains a more or less distinct separation from the surrounding medium and has many of the properties of a solid.

Vortex theory. (Chem. & Physics) The theory, advanced by Thomson (Lord Kelvin) on the basis of investigation by Helmholtz, that the atoms are vortically moving ring-shaped masses (or masses of other forms having a similar internal motion) of a homogeneous, incompressible, frictionless fluid. Various properties of such atoms (vortex atoms) can be mathematically deduced.

Vortex tube. (Physics) An imaginary tube within a rotating fluid, formed by drawing the vortex lines through all points of a closed curve.

||Vox` an*gel"i*ca (?). [L. angelica angelic.] (Music) An organ stop of delicate stringlike quality, having for each finger key a pair of pipes, of which one is tuned slightly sharp to give a wavy effect to their joint tone.

Vul"can pow"der. A dynamite composed of nitroglycerin (30 parts), sodium nitrate (52.5), charcoal (10.5), and sulphur (7), used in mining and blasting.

Wad"die (?), n. & v. See Waddy.

Wad"dy, n.; pl. Waddies (&?;). [Written also waddie, whaddie.] [Native name. Thought by some to be a corrup. of E. wood.] [Australia] 1. An aboriginal war club.

2. A piece of wood; stick; peg; also, a walking stick.

Wad"dy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Waddied (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Waddying.] To attack or beat with a waddy.

Wad"dy*wood` (?), n. An Australian tree (Pittosporum bicolor); also, its wood, used in making waddies.