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tre of Switzerland, bounded north by Lucerne and Waldstädter lake, east by mountains which separate it from Uri, south by Berne, and west by Lucerne; square miles, 265, with 20,000 Catholic inhabitants; chief towns, Stantz and Sarnen. The government is democratic. The pasturage of cattle is the chief support of the inhabitants, and the exports consist of cattle, hides, cheese, butter and tallow. The surface is mountainous; and two of the summits, Tittles or Titlis (10,296 feet high) and Surenes, are covered with perpetual snow. The canton measures about eight leagues each way, and is divided into two valleys, Upper and Lower, by a forest called Kernwald, which crosses it from north to south. Sarnen is the principal place of the Upper Vale, and Stantz of the Lower and of the whole canton. The two valleys send alternately a deputy to the Swiss diet. Unterwalden is one of the cantons, which, in 1308, concluded the league which gave origin to the Swiss confederacy. It furnishes 382 men to the

The four latter are called academies, but army of the confederacy. Its quota of monare considered as universities.

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ey is 1907 Swiss francs. (See Switzerland.)
UPAS TREE (antiaris toxicaria); a Ja-
vanese tree, celebrated for its poison-
ous qualities, which, however, have been
very much exaggerated. It belongs to
the urticea, the same natural family with
the nettle, mulberry and bread-fruit. It
attains large dimensions, and is often more
than a hundred feet in height, with a
trunk six feet in diameter at the base.
The bark is smooth and whitish; the
wood white; the leaves caducous, alter-
nate, petiolate, oval, coriaceous, and often
crisped. The juice flows abundantly on
incision, is very viscous, bitter, yellowish
if from the trunk, but white if taken from
the younger branches. The emanations
from this tree are dangerous to certain in-
dividuals, while, as in the poison sumach,
others are not in the least affected by
them. From the juice is prepared the
frightful Upas poison. That obtained
from this tree, however, acts in a different
manner, and not so quickly as the Upas-
tieuté. This last is the product of a spe-
cies of strychnos, from the same country,
a vine which ascends to the summits of
the highest trees. The root is woody,
about the size of a man's arm, and ex-
tends many feet horizontally: it is cov-
ered with a thin bark of a reddish-brown
color and bitter taste: this yields, by ebul-
lition, the gum-resin from which the poi-
son is prepared.

UPPER CANADA. (See Canada.)
UPPER HOUSE and LOWER HOUSE;

sometimes used for the house of lords (q. v.) and of commons (q. v.), or, in other countries, for the house of peers and the house of deputies, or the first and second chamber, as in Baden. Its application to the English parliament is more common than to other legislative bodies.

UPSAL (in Swedish, Upsala); a town of Sweden, in Upland, capital of a district of the same name; thirty-five miles north of Stockholm; lon. 17° 39′ E.; lat. 59° 52′ N.; population, 4800. It is situated on the small river Fyris, or Sala, which divides it into two parts, and opens a communication with lake Malar. It contains a large cathedral and two other churches: the cathedral is the largest in the kingdom, and contains the tombs of some Swedish kings, and many other monuments, among which is that of Linnæus. The archbishop of Upsal is the only one in Sweden. The private houses are mostly built of wood, the public buildings of stone or brick. The university of Upsal was founded in 1477. Gustavus Adolphus and Christina did much for it. It can boast of Linnæus, Wallerius, and a number of other distinguished professors. It has twenty-one professors, a library of 56,000 volumes and 1000 manuscripts, among which is the Codex Argenteus. (See Argenteus.) Here is also the manuscript deposited by Gustavus III, with directions that it should not be opened until fifty years after his death, a botanical garden, an astronomical observatory, an anatomical theatre, and cabinets of natural history and mineralogy, with a cabinet containing 11,000 coins. The number of students in 1829 was 1525; in 1815, 1200; 269 of theology, 150 of law, and 123 of medicine. This town was long the residence of the Swedish monarch, who bore the title of king of Upsal till the tenth century; and the kings of Sweden are still crowned here. Upsal is used by the Swedish geographers as the first meridian, from which they compute their longitude. King Frederic founded here, in 1728, the societas literaria et scientia

rum.

URAL MOUNTAINS (from ural, girdle); a chain of mountains running along the frontier of Asia and Europe, nearly 1500 miles, from the Frozen ocean to the Caspian sea, containing the richest veins of metals in Russia. The northern part is called the Verchoturic, or Jugoric mountains. Verchoturi is the name of the height at the source of the Tura (58° N. lat.), where is situated the place of the same name, with 3000 inhabitants, and

many iron works, the emporium of the Siberian trade. South of the great ridge of the Ural, the mountains of Guberlinki extend far into the steppes of the Kirguises. The highest summit of the Ural, the rock of Padwinski, is 6397 feet above the surface of the Caspian sea. Several rivers on the eastern and western declivities of the Ural promote the internal commerce of the government of Perm, which contains 120,000 square miles and 1,143,902 inhabitants. The crown has here nine mines and establishments for the manufacture of iron, fifty-one copper mines, a gold washing, and a mint. There are, besides, eighty-one iron and eighteen copper mines belonging to private individuals. The annual product amounts to 200,000 poods* of copper, 5,500,000 poods of wrought iron, and 8,500,000 poods of cast iron. The salt works of the crown yield annually 1,300,000 poods of salt; the private salt works, 6,136,000 poods. Above 120,000 men are employed in the mines. Tin is not found at all in the Ural; but the mountains afford some lead and silver. The platina obtained is considerable. The whole mineral product of the Ural, including the gold of the gold washings, may be estimated at from forty-five to fifty millions of roubles. Perm has also considerable manufactures. Of late the veins of gold have been worked much more extensively than before Alexander von Humboldt's visit to the Ural, in 1829, added to the knowledge of its stores. The

*One pood is equal to 36 pounds 1 ounce 11 drachms; but among merchants, it is reckoned equal to 36 pounds.

The following account is part of a letter from M. Humboldt to M. Arago (q. v.):-"We spent the malachite mines of Goumeselevski, and of a month in visiting the gold mines of Borisovsk, Tagilsk, and the washings of gold and platinum. We were astonished at the pepitas (water-worn masses) of gold, from two to three pounds, and even from eighteen to twenty pounds, found a few inches below the turf, where they had lain unknown for ages. The position and probable origin of these alluvia, mixed generally with fragments of greenstone, chlorite slate, and serpentine, was one of the principal objects of this journey. The gold annually procured from the washings amounts to 6000 kil. The discoveries beyond fifty-nine and sixty degrees of latitude become very important. We possess the teeth of fossil elephants enveloped in these alluvia of auriferous sand. Their formation, consequent on local irruptions and on levellings, is, perhaps, even posterior to the destruction of the large animals. The amber and the lignites, which we discovered on the eastern side of the Ural, are decidedly more ancient. With the auriferous sand are found grains of cinnabar, native copper, ceylanites, garnets, little white zircons, as brilliant as dia monds, anatase, alvite, &c. It is very remarkable, that in the middle and northern parts of the

gold sands of the Ural were known as early as 1774. They extend over a tract containing 36,000 square wersts, and are found both in the mountains and on the banks of rivers. Fourteen thousand persons, including 4380 crown peasants, are occupied in the washings. The proprietors of private gold washings are obliged to pay ten per cent. to the government. Up to 1817, the gold obtained in the Ural did not amount to more than eighteen poods annually. Now it is above two hundred poods. In 1824, three million gold roubles were coined from two hundred poods of gold, of which more than a fourth part belonged to the emperor. The gold mines on the eastern declivity of this chain are said to be much more productive than those on the western. In April, 1825, several pieces of pure gold were found in the mines of Slatonsk, in the government of Orenburg, the largest of which weighed above sixteen pounds, the middling-sized ones from five to nine pounds. According to the investigations made there, the gold is supposed to have been produced by the agency of water, and not by that of fire. The ancient name of the Ural mountains was Montes Hyperborai, or Montes Riphæi.

URAL RIVER (formerly called Jaik, and anciently Rhymnus) falls, after a course of 2000 wersts, or 1330 miles, through several mouths, into the Caspian sea, at Gurjew; lon. 52° 14′ E.; lat. 47° 15 N. It rises twenty-four miles north of Verchouralsk, in lon. 58° 44′ E., lat. 54° N. It is shallow in some parts, but abounds in fish, particularly the sturgeon, of the spawn of which caviare (q. v.) is made. On the right bank live the Ural Cossacks; on the left the Kirguises. Among the former appeared, in 1772, the adventurer Pugatscheff. (q. v.) In consequence of their participation in his enterprise, they lost their privileges. Catharine restored them, but altered the name of Jaik Cossacks, which they had previously borne, to that of Ural Cossacks. The name of the river was also changed into Ural. These Cossacks furnish 20,000 men to the Russian army in case of war.

Ural, the platinum is found only on the western European side. The rich gold washings of the Demidov family, at Nijnet-tagilsk, are on the Asiatic side, on the two acclivities of Bartiraya, where the alluvium of Vilkni alone has already produced more than 2800 pounds of gold. The platinum is found about a league to the east of the separation of waters (which must not be confounded with the axis of the high summits), on the European side, near the course of the Őulka, at Sukoi Vienin, and at Martian."

URANIA; the muse of astronomy. She is generally represented with a crown of stars, in a garment spotted with stars, and holding in her left hand a celestial globe, or a lyre. Some give her also a telescope and a circle. (See Muses.)-Urania is likewise the name of the heavenly Venus, or of pure, intellectual love, in contradistinction to that which is merely sensual. The ancient Greek poets also call one of the Oceanides, or sea-nymphs, Urania.

URANIUM; the name of one of the metals, from oupavos (the heavens). We shall first describe its ores, which are two in number; viz. pitchblende and uranite.— 1. Pitchblende occurs massive, with a columnar or impalpable composition; fracture conchoidal or uneven; lustre imperfect metallic; color grayish-black, inclining sometimes to iron-black, also to greenish and brownish-black; streak black, a little shining; opaque; brittle; hardness below feldspar; specific gravity 6.46. According to Klaproth, it con

sists of

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Alone, before the blow-pipe, it is infusible, but, with borax, melts into a gray scoria. If reduced to powder, it is slowly soluble in nitric acid. It is found chiefly in veins, accompanied by various ores of silver and lead. Its chief localities are Johanngeorgenstadt and Schneeberg, in Saxony, and Joachimsthal, in Bohemia. In Cornwall, it has been found in the tin mines of Tincroft, near Redruth.—2. Uranite. This beautiful species is found in small, but very perfect crystals, of the form of the right square prism, which is usually so low as to appear tabular. The terminal and lateral edges are often replaced. Cleavage takes place parallel to the sides of the primary form, and with great ease parallel to the terminal planes; lustre pearly or adamantine; color emerald-green, leek-green or siskin-green; streak corresponding to the color; transparent to translucent on the edges; sectile; hardness a little above that of gypsum; specific gravity 3.115. It also occurs massive, having a granular composition. It consists of

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Alone, it becomes yellow before the blowpipe, and loses its transparency. Upon charcoal, it intumesces a little, and melts into a black globule. It occurs in veins of copper, silver, tin and iron. Beautiful varieties have been found in the Gunnis lake mine, in Cornwall. It also occurs in the Saxon and Bohemian mining districts. It is likewise met with at Bodenmais, in Bavaria, and at Limoges, in France.-History of the Metal and its Compounds. The easiest method of procuring the metal from the ore is the following: The pitchblende is reduced to a fine powder, and digested in nitric acid till every thing soluble is taken up. The solution is then rendered as neutral as possible by evaporation, and a current of sulphureted hydrogen gas passed through it as long as any precipitate continues to fall. The liquid is filtered and heated, to drive off all traces of sulphureted hydrogen. It is now precipitated by caustic ammonia; and the precipitate, after being well washed, is digested, while still moist, in a pretty strong solution of carbonate of ammonia. A fine lemon-yellow liquid is obtained, which, being set aside for a few days, deposits an abundance of fine yellow crystals, in right rectangular prisms. These crystals, being exposed to a red heat, give out water, carbonate of ammonia, and oxygen gas, and leave a black oxide of uranium, which is easily reduced to the metallic state by passing a current of dry hydrogen gas over it, placed in a glass tube, and heated by a spirit lamp. The metal presents a liverbrown color, and remains in the state of a powder. No heat that we can raise is sufficient to melt it into a mass of course its malleability and ductility are unknown. It has considerable lustre, and is soft enough to yield to the file. Its specific gravity is 8.10. It undergoes no change in the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere; but when heated to redness, it takes fire, swells, and is converted into green oxide. It is insoluble in sulphuric and muriatic acids, whether concentrated or diluted; but nitric acid dissolves it with facility. Uranium combines with two different proportions of oxygen, and forms two oxides. The protoxide is green, and the peroxide, or acid of uranium, is yellow. The former of these is obtained by exposing metallic uranium to a red heat. Its color, while in grains, is black; but when in powder, it is dark green. It is soluble in sulphuric and muriatic acids. The solutions are green. When dissolved in nitric acid, it is converted into the peroxide. Pro

toxide of uranium is tasteless, and, when anhydrous, it is not altered by exposure to the air. Peroxide of uranium, or uranic acid, is obtained by dissolving the protoxide in nitric acid, and precipitating by caustic ammonia. A beautiful yellow powder is obtained, which is a combination of peroxide of uranium and ammonia. Such is its tendency to combine with other bodies, that it cannot be obtained in a separate state. If we attempt to drive off the ammonia and water, with which it is united, it loses oxygen at the same time, and is converted into protoxide. The same change takes place when we heat pernitrate of uranium. Nothing is known respecting the combinations which this metal is capable of forming with chlorine, bromine and iodine, or with azote, carbon, boron, silicon and phosphorus. A sulphuret of uranium has been formed, which has a black color, and, when rubbed, a metallic lustre. Its capacity for forming alloys with the other metals remains, in consequence of the scarcity of the metal, uninvestigated. The oxides of uranium are used in painting upon porcelain, yielding a fine orange color in the enamelling fire, and a black one in that in which the porcelain itself is baked.

URANUS. (See Herschel.)

URANUS. According to the cosmo-theogony of the Greeks, Gea (Earth) proceeded from chaos (the infinite void of space). The Earth produced Uranus (in remote antiquity, the personification of the sphere of light, the heavenly vault), and by him became the mother of the Titans (q. v.), the youngest of whom was called Kronos (Time). All the further productions of nature proceeded from the einbraces of the Titans and Titanides. This was expressed, in the plastic language of the ancient poets, thus: Time (Kronos) put an end to the productive power of Uranus, and emasculated him with his sickle.Uranus is also the name given by the continental astronomers to the planet which we commonly call Herschel.

URBANISTS. (See Franciscans.)
UREA. (See Urine.)

URI; a Swiss canton, bounded north by Schweitz, east by Glarus and Grisons, south by Tessin, and west by Berne and Unterwalden; square miles, 508; population, 14,000. The inhabitants are Germans by descent and language; of the Catholic religion; the government democratic. The canton is divided into two districts, Uri and Urseren: the chief town is Altorf. The country is extremely rugged, composed of barren and bleak moun

tains and deep valleys.

Here are the elevated summits of St. Gothard (q. v.), which are covered with perpetual snow. The canton is traversed from north to south by the Reuss, and contains a number of lakes and mountain streams. Of the valleys, the two largest are those of the Reuss and of Urseren, each of which admits of a small extent of tillage; but pasturage is the principal source of subsistence; and cattle, cheese, wool, leather and timber the articles of export. Not far from Altorf is the village of Burgelen, the birth-place of William Tell. Uri concluded, in 1308, a league, for ten years, with Schweitz and Unterwalden, which, in 1315, was changed into the perpetual league. The whole canton consists of mountains and valleys, and is surrounded by mountains always covered with snow. On the south is mount St. Gothard, 9944 feet high. Little grain is raised; orchard fruits succeed well. The chief occupation of the people is raising cattle (Uri has 10,000 head of cattle) and making cheese. The road over the St. Gothard yields them much profit; formerly above 15,000 people passed over it annually, from Switzerland to Italy. The road over the Simplon is now generally preferred. Uri furnishes 602 men to the army of the confederacy. Its quota of money is 3012 Swiss francs.

URIC ACID. (See Urine.)

URIM AND THUMMIM (light and perfection); a kind of ornament belonging to the habit of the Jewish high-priest, by means of which he gave oracular answers to the people. What they were, and the mode in which the divine will was communicated to the high-priest by means of them, is disputed among the critics.

URINE is an excrementitious fluid, designed for ejecting from the system substances which, by their accumulation within the body, would prove fatal to health and life. It is secreted by the kidneys, whose sole office it appears to be to separate from the blood the superfluous matters that are not required for nutrition, or which have already formed part of the body, and been removed by absorption. The substances, which, in particular, pass off by this way, are nitrogen and various saline and earthy compounds. In its natural state, it is transparent, of a yellow color, a peculiar smell, and saline taste. Its quantity, and, in some measure, its quality, depend on the seasons and the peculiar constitution of the individual, and are likewise modified by disease. It is observed, that 41

VOL. XII.

perspiration carries off more or less of the fluid which would else have passed off by urine; so that the profusion of the former is attended with the diminution of the latter. The specific gravity of the most concentrated urine is 1.030. It gives a red tint to litmus paper-a circumstance which indicates the presence of a free acid, or of a supersalt. Though at first quite transparent, an insoluble matter is deposited on standing; so that urine voided at night is found to have a light cloud floating in it by the following morning. This substance consists in part of mucus, and partly of superurate of ammonia, which is much more soluble in warm than in cold water. Urine is prone to spontaneous decomposition. When kept for two or three days, it acquires a strong smell; and as the putrefaction proceeds, the disagreeable odor increases, until, at length, it becomes exceedingly offensive. As soon as these changes commence, the urine ceases to have an acid reaction, and the earthy phosphates are deposited. In a short time, a free alkali makes its appearance, and a large quantity of carbonate of ammonia is gradually generated. Similar changes may be produced in recent urine, by continued boiling. In both cases, the phenomena are owing to the decomposition of urea. This principle is procured by evaporating fresh urine to the consistence of a sirup, and then gradually adding to it pure concentrated nitric acid, till the whole becomes a dark-colored crystallized mass, which is to be repeatedly washed with ice-cold water, and then dried by pressure between folds of bibulous paper. To the nitrate of urea thus procured, a pretty strong solution of carbonate of potash or soda is added, until the acid is neutralized; and the solution is afterwards concentrated by evaporation, and set aside, in order that the nitre inay separate in crystals. The residual liquor, on evaporation and resolution in alcohol, deposits transparent and colorless crystals of urea. It leaves a sensation of coldness on the tongue, like nitre, and its smell is faint and peculiar, but not urinous; specific gravity 1.35: it fuses at 248° Fahr., and, at a rather higher temperature, is resolved into carbonate of ammonia and cyanic acid: water dissolves, at 60°, more than its own weight of urea, and boiling water takes up an unlimited quantity. The numerous researches made concerning urine have given the following as its component parts: 1. water; 2. urea; 3. phosphoric acid; 4, 5, 6, 7. phosphates of lime, magnesia, soda and ammonia;

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