OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yalta

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​YALTA, a seaport of Russia, in the government of Taurida, on the S. coast of the Crimea, at the foot of the Yaila Mountains, 32 m. S. of Simferopol. Pop. 13,269. It is the Galita or Jalita of the Arab geographers. Its road stead is open, and the annual mean temperature is 56·5° F. The town is a fashionable summer resort.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Yam

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​YAM, a term usually applied to the tubers of various species of Dioscorea. These are plants with thick tubers (generally a development of the base of the stem), from which protrude long, slender, annual climbing stems, bearing alternate
Yam (Dioscorea Batatas). Branch about 1/2 nat. size. Root much reduced.
or opposite, entire or lobed leaves and unisexual flowers in long clusters. The flowers are generally small and individually inconspicuous, though collectively showy. Each consists of a greenish bell-shaped or flat perianth of six pieces, enclosing six or fewer stamens in the male flowers, and surmounting a three-celled, three-winged ovary in the female flowers. The ovary ripens into a membranous capsule, bursting by three valves to liberate numerous flattish or globose seeds. The species are natives of the warmer regions of both hemispheres. According to Professor Church's analysis of the Chinese yam, it contains more nitrogenous matter, but less starch, than potatoes: in 100 parts there are of water 82·6, starch 13·1, albumen 2·4, fat 0·2, woody fibre 0·4 and mineral matter 1·3 parts.
D. saliva and D. alata are the species most widely diffused in tropical and subtropical countries. D. aculeata, grown in India, Cochin China and the South Sea Islands, is one of the best varieties. D. Batatas, the Chinese yam, is hardy in Great Britain, but the great depth to which its enormous tubers descend renders its cultivation unprofitable. It has deeply penetrating, thick, club-shaped, fleshy roots, full of starch, which when cooked acquire a mild taste like that of a potato; they grow 3 ft. or upwards in length, and sometimes ​weigh more than 11/2 ℔. The plant grows freely in deep sandy soil, moderately enriched. The sets, consisting of pieces of the roots, may be planted in March or April, and require no other culture than the staking of the climbing stems. They should not be dug up before November, the chief increase in their size taking place in autumn. They sometimes strike downwards 2 or 3 ft. into the soil, and must be carefully dug out, the upper slender part being reserved for propagation, and the lower fleshy portion eaten after having been allowed a few days to dry. The tubers of D. alata sometimes weigh 100 lb. Most of the yams contain an acrid principle, which is dissipated in cooking.
The only European Dioscorea is that known as D. pyrenaica, a native of the Pyrenees, a remarkable instance of a species growing at a long distance from all its conveners. True yams must not be confounded with the sweet potato, Ipomoea Batatas, as they sometimes are in London markets. The common black bryony (Tamus communis) of hedges in England is closely allied to the yams of the tropics, and has a similar root-stock, which is reputed to be poisonous.
For the history of the yam, and its cultivation and uses in India, see G. Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, iii. (1890).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Virginia (Roman martyr)

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​VIRGINIA, or Verginia, in Roman legendary history, daughter of L. Virginius, a plebeian centurion. Her beauty attracted the notice of the decemvir Appius Claudius, who instructed Marcus Claudius, one of his clients, to claim her as his slave. Marcus accordingly brought her before Appius, and asserted that she was the daughter of one of his female slaves, who had been stolen and passed off by the wife of Virginius as her own child. Virginius presented himself with his daughter before the tribunal of Appius, who, refusing to listen to any argument, declared Virginia to be a slave and the property of Marcus. Virginius thereupon stabbed her to the heart in the presence of Appius and the people. A storm of popular indignation arose and the decemvirs were forced to resign. The people for the second time “seceded” to the Sacred Mount, and refused to return to Rome until the old form of government was re-established.
See Livy iii. 44–58; Dion. Halic. xi. 28–45, whose account differs in some respects from Livy’s; Cicero, De finibus, ii. 20; Val. Max. vi. 1, 2; for a critical examination of the story and its connexion with the downfall of the decemvirs, see Sir G. Cornewall Lewis, Credibility of Early Roman History, ii.; Schwegler, Römische Geschichte, bk. xxx. 4, 5; also E. Pais, Ancient Legends of Roman History (Eng. trans. 1906), p. 185, according to whom the legends of Virginia and Lucretia (two different versions of one and the same story, connecting the history of Roman liberty with the martyrdom of a woman) are nothing but late elaborations of legends connected with the cults of Ardea.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Virginius Rufus, Lucius

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​VIRGINIUS RUFUS, LUCIUS (A.D. 15–97), Roman patriot and soldier, three times consul (A.D. 63, 69, 97), was born near Comum, the birthplace of the two Plinys. When governor of upper Germany under Nero (68), after he had put down the revolt of Julius Vindex in Gaul, he was more than once urged by his troops to assume the supreme power; but he firmly refused, and further declared that he would recognize no one as emperor who had not been chosen by the senate. Galba, on his accession, aware of the feelings of the German troops and uncertain as to the intentions of Virginius, induced him to accompany him to Rome. But Virginius, as always, remained loyal to the head of the state. After the death of Otho, the soldiers again offered the throne to Virginius, but he again refused it. Considering themselves slighted, they drew their swords upon him, and he only saved himself from their hands by making his escape through the back of the tent. But the soldiers never forgave the fancied insult. Under Vitellius, during a military disturbance at Ticinum, one of Virginius’s slaves was arrested and charged with the design of murdering the emperor. Virginius was accused of being implicated in the conspiracy, and his death was loudly demanded by the soldiers. To his credit Vitellius refused to sacrifice so valuable a servant, on whose loyalty he could depend, to the vengeance of a capricious army. Virginius subsequently lived in retirement, chiefly in his villa at Alsium, on the coast of Etruria, till his death in 97, in which year he held the consulship, together with the emperor Nerva. At the public burial with which he was honoured, the historian Tacitus (then consul) delivered the funeral oration. The younger Pliny, his neighbour and ward, has recorded the lines which Virginius had ordered to be engraved upon his tomb:
“Hic situs est Rufus, pulso qui Vindice quondam Imperium asseruit non sibi sed patriae.”
See Tacitus, Hist. i. ii.; Dio Cassius lxiii. 24–27, lxiv. 4, lxviii. 2; Pliny, Epp. ii. 1, vi. 10; Juvenal viii. 221, with Mayor’s note; L. Paul in Rheinisches Museum (1899), liv. pp. 602–30.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Virgo

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​VIRGO (“the Virgin”), in astronomy, the sixth sign of the zodiac (q.v.), denoted by the symbol ♍︎. It is also a constellation mentioned by Eudoxus (4th century B.C.) and Aratus (3rd century B.C.); Ptolemy catalogued 32 stars, Tycho Brahe 33, ​Hevelius 50. The Greeks represented this constellation as a virgin, but different fables are current as to the identity of the maid. She is variously considered to be: Justitia, daughter of Astraeus and Ancora, who lived before man sinned, and taught him his duty, and when the golden age ended she returned to heaven; according to Hesiod the virgin is the daughter of Jupiter and Themis; others make her to be Erigone, daughter of Icarius, or Parthene, daughter of Apollo. The most interesting stars of this constellation are: α Virginis, or Spica, a star of the first magnitude with a very faint companion; and γ Virginis, a binary star, having components of the third magnitude.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Virués, Christóbal de

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​VIRUÉS, CHRISTÓBAL DE (1550?–1615?), Spanish dramatist and poet, was born at Valencia about the middle of the 16th century, joined the army, fought at Lepanto, and retired to his native place with the rank of captain shortly before 1586. The first-fruit of his leisure was El Monserrate (1587), a dull poem on a repulsive subject which had the honour of being praised by Cervantes, and of being reprinted in 1601. Shortly afterwards Virués returned to Italy and issued a recast of his poem entitled El Monserrate segundo (1602). His Obras trágicas y líricas (1609) include five tragedies: La Gran Semíramis, La Cruel Casandra, Atila furioso, La Infelice Marcela and Elisa Dido. The date of his death is unknown, but he is conjectured to have been alive as late as 1614. Virués belongs to the school of dramatists displaced by Lope de Vega, and his methods were out of fashion before his plays were printed; yet he is an interesting figure, chiefly because of the very extravagances which destroy the effect of his best scenes.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Visby

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​VISBY, or Wisby, the capital of the Swedish island and administrative district (län) of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. Pop. (1900) 8376. It is the seat of a bishop, the port of the island, and a favourite watering-place. It is picturesquely situated on the west coast, 150 m. S. by E. of Stockholm by sea. The houses cluster beneath and above a cliff (klint) 100 ft. high, and the town is thoroughly medieval in appearance. The remains from its period of extraordinary prosperity from the 11th to the 14th century are of the highest interest. Its walls date from the end of the 13th century, replacing earlier fortifications, and enclose a space much larger than that now covered by the town. Massive towers rise at close intervals along them, and nearly forty are in good preservation. Between them are traces of bartizans. The cathedral church of St Mary dates from 1190–1225, but has been much altered in later times: it has a great square tower at the west end and two graceful octagonal towers at the east, and contains numerous memorials of the 17th century. There are ten other churches, in part ruined, none of which is used for service. Among those of chief interest St Nicholas', of the early part of the 13th century, formerly belonged to a Dominican monastery. It retains two beautiful rose-windows in the west front. The church of the Holy Ghost (Helgeands-Kyrka) in a late Romanesque style (c. 1250) is a remarkable structure with a nave of two storeys. The Romanesque St Clement's has an ornate south portal, and the churches of St Drotten and St Lars, of the 12th century, are notable for their huge towers. St Catherine's, of the middle of the 13th century, is Gothic, with a pentagonal apse. It belonged to a Franciscan convent, of the buildings of which there are slight ruins. Among ancient remains in the vicinity may be mentioned Galgberget, the place of execution, with tall stone pillars still standing; and the remarkable stone labyrinth of Trojeborg. Modern buildings include the Gotland museum of antiquities, and the high school, with a museum and library. The artificial harbour, somewhat exposed, lies south of the ancient Hanseatic harbour, now filled up and covered with gardens. The town is the terminus of railways to north and south. It is the headquarters of the army division of Gotland troops, and there are some modern forts.
The name Visby is derived from the old Norse ve (sanctuary) and by (town). This was no doubt a place of religious sacrifice in heathen times. At any rate it was a notable trading-place and emporium as early as the Stone Age, and continued to enjoy its importance as such through the Bronze and Iron Ages, as is proved, inter alia, by the large number of Arabic, Anglo-Saxon and other coins which have been found on the island. See Gotland and Sea Laws.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Vischer, Friedrich Theodor

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​VISCHER, FRIEDRICH THEODOR (1807-1887), German writer on the philosophy of art, was born at Ludwigsburg on the 30th of June 1807, and was the son of a clergyman. He was educated at Tübingen, and began life in his father's profession. In 1835 he became Privatdozent in aesthetics and German literature at his old university, was advanced in 1837 to extraordinary professor, and in 1844 to full professor. In consequence, however, of his outspoken inaugural address, he was suspended for two years by the Württemberg government, and in his enforced leisure wrote the first two volumes of his Aesthetik, oder Wissenschaft des Schönen (1846), the fourth and last volume of which did not appear till 1857. Vischer threw himself heartily into the great German political movement of 1848–49, and shared the disappointment of patriotic democrats at its failure. In 1855 he became professor at Zürich. In 1866, his fame being now established, he was invited back to Germany with a professorship at Tübingen combined with a post at the Polytechnikum of Stuttgart. He died at Gmunden on the 14th of September 1887. His writings include literary essays collected under the titles Kritische Gänge and Altes und Neues, poems, an excellent critical study of Goethe's Faust (1875), and a successful novel, Auch Einer (1878; 25th ed., 1904). Vischer was not an original thinker, and his monumental Aesthetik, in spite of industry and learning, has not the higher qualities of success. He attempts the hopeless task of explaining art by the Hegelian dialectic. Starting with the definition of beauty as "the idea in the form of limited appearance," he goes on to develop the various elements of art (the beautiful, sublime and comic), and the various forms of art (plastic art, music and poetry) by means of the Hegelian antitheses—form and content, objective and subjective, inner conflict and reconciliation. The shape of the work also is repellently Hegelian, consisting of short highly technical paragraphs containing the main argument, followed by detailed explanations printed in different type. Still, Vischer had a thorough knowledge of every branch of art except music, and much valuable material is buried in his volumes. In later life Vischer moved considerably away from Hegelianism, and adopted the conceptions of sensuous completeness and cosmic harmony as criteria of beauty; but he never found time to rewrite his great book. His own work as a literary artist is of high quality; vigorous, imaginative and thoughtful without academic technicality.
See O. Keindl, F. T. Vischer, Erinnerungsblätter (1888); J. E. von Günthert, F. T. Vischer, ein Charakterbild (1888); I. Frapan, Vischer-Erinnerungen (1889); T. Ziegler, F. T. Vischer (Vortrag) (1893); J. G. Oswald, F. T. Vischer als Dichter (1896). (H. St.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Viscacha

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​VISCACHA, or Biscacha, a large South American burrowing rodent mammal belonging to the family Chinchillidae and commonly known as Lagostomus trichodactylus, although some writers prefer the name Viscacia. With the cheek-teeth formed of a number of parallel plates in the manner characteristic of the family, the viscacha is distinguished from the other members of that group by having only three hind toes; while it is also the heaviest-built and largest member of the group, with smaller ears than the rest. It has a long tail and shaggy fur; the general colour of the latter being dark grey, with conspicuous black and white markings on the face. Viscachas inhabit the South American pampas between the Uruguay river and the Rio Negro in Patagonia, where they dwell in warrens covering from 100 to 200 sq. ft. and forming mounds penetrated by numerous burrows. The ground around the "viscachera" is cleared from vegetation, the refuse of which is heaped upon the mound. Anything the rodents may meet with on their journeys, such as thistle-stalks or bones, are collected and deposited on the viscachera. Deep down in the burrows dwell the viscachas, from which in frequented districts they seldom emerge till evening, unless to drink after a shower. Their chief food is grass and seeds, but they also consume roots. When alarmed, they rush to their burrows, and if these are disturbed utter a growling sound. A pair of prairie burrowing owls (Speotyto) are almost invariably inhabitants of a viscachera (see Rodentia). (R. L.*)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sanatorium

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​SANATORIUM (a modern Latinism, formed from sanare, to cure, restore to health, sanus, whole, healthy, well; often wrongly spelled sanatarium or sanitarium), an establishment where persons suffering from disease, or convalescents, may be received for medical treatment, rest cures and the like; in recent modern usage particularly used for establishments where patients suffering from phthisis may undergo the open-air treatment (see Therapeutics). The mis-spellings of the word, sanitarium and sanatarium, are due to a confusion of “sanatory,” i.e. giving health, from sanare, and “sanitary,” pertaining to health, from sanitas, health.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sancerre

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​SANCERRE, a town of central France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Cher, 34 m. N.E. of Bourges by rail. Pop. (1906) 2232. Sancerre, which gives its name to the small district of Sancerrois, is situated on an isolated vine-clad hill ​(1000 ft.) about 1 m. from the left bank of the Loire. It has a modern château, in the grounds of which there is a cylindrical keep of the 15th century, the only relic of an ancient stronghold. From 1037 to 1152 the title of count of Sancerre was held by the counts of Champagne; from the latter year till 1640 it had its own counts, who were descended from Theobald IV. of Champagne, but in 1226 came under the suzerainty of the crown. In 1640 it became the property of Henri de Condé, whose descendants possessed it till the Revolution. During the religious wars it was a stronghold of Protestantism, and in 1573 was besieged by the Catholics, who did not succeed in capturing it till after nearly eight months of siege. The town has a subprefecture, a tribunal of first instance and a communal college. Good wine is grown in the vicinity.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sanchez

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​SANCHEZ. Three persons of this name enjoyed considerable literary celebrity: (1) Francisco Sanchez (Sanctius) (1523–1601), successively professor of Greek and of rhetoric at Salamanca, whose Minerva, first printed at that town in 1587, was long the standard work on Latin grammar. (2) Francisco Sanchez, a Portuguese physician of Jewish parentage, born at Tuy (in the diocese of Braga) in 1550, took a degree in medicine at Montpellier in 1574, became professor of philosophy and physic at Toulouse, where he died in 1623; his ingenious treatise (Quod nihil scitur, 1581) marks the high-water of reaction against the dogmatism of his time; he is said to have been distantly related to Montaigne. (3) Tomás Sanchez of Cordova (1551–1610), Jesuit and casuist, whose treatise De matrimonio (Genoa, 1592) is more notorious than celebrated.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sanchuniathon

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​SANCHUNIATHON (Gr. form of Phoenician Sakkun-yathon, “the god Sakkun has given”), an ancient Phoenician sage, who belongs more to legend than to history. He is said to have flourished “even before the Trojan times,” “when Semiramis was queen of the Assyrians.” Philo Herennius of Byblus claimed to have translated his mythological writings from the Phoenician originals. According to Philo, Sanchuniathon derived the sacred lore from the mystic inscriptions on the Ἀμμουνεῖς (probably ḥammānim, “sun pillars,” cf. Is. xxvii. 9, &c.) which stood in the Phoenician temples. That any writings of Sanchuniathon ever existed it is impossible to say. Philo drew his traditions from various sources, adapted them to suit his purpose, and conjured with a venerable name to gain credit for his narrative. Porphyry says that Sanchuniathon (here called a native of Byblus) wrote a history of the Jews, based on information derived from Hierombal (i.e. Jeruba’al), a priest of the god Jevo (i.e. Yahveh, Jehovah), and dedicated it to Abelbal or Abibal, king of Berytus. The story is probably a pure invention; the reference to Berytus shows that it is late.
See Eusebius, Praep. Ev. i. 9 (Müller, Fragm. hist. Graec. iii. pp. 563 foll.).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Sanction

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​SANCTION (Lat. sanctio, from sancire, to decree or ordain), in jurisprudence, the means provided for the enforcement of a law. According to T. E. Holland (Elements of Jurisprudence, ​1906, p. 85), “the real meaning of all law is that, unless acts conform to the course prescribed by it, the state will not only ignore and render no aid to them, but will also, either of its own accord or if called upon, intervene to cancel their effects. This intervention of the state is what is called the ‘ sanction ’ of law.” So Justinian (Inst. ii. 1, 10), “ Legum eas partes quibus poenas constituimus adversus eos qui contra leges fecerint, sanction es vocamus.” In general use, the word signifies approval or confirmation.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/San Vicente

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​SAN VICENTE, the capital of the department of San Vicente, Salvador; 30 m. E. of San Salvador, on the river Acahuapa, a left-hand tributary of the Lempa. Pop. (1905) about 18,000. ​San Vicente is situated in a volcanic region abounding in hot springs and geysers. The volcano of San Vicente, the highest in the department, reaches an altitude of more than 7000 ft. The city is surrounded by indigo and tobacco plantations, and has considerable commerce, a large portion of which is transacted at the All Saints' fair, held annually on the 1st of November. Shoes, hats, cloth, silk, spirits and cigars are manufactured here. San Vicente was founded in 1634 on the site of Tehuacan, an ancient Indian city. For one year (1839–1840) it was the capital of the republic.