borne, Isle of Wight, Jan. 22, 1901.

VICTORIA CROSS, a naval and military decoration in the shape of a
Maltese cross, instituted by Queen Victoria in 1856 for conspicuous
bravery in the presence of an enemy.

VICTORIA NYANZA, a lake in East Central Africa, on the Equator, is
about the size of Ireland, 300 m. long and 20 m. broad, at an elevation
of 3500 ft. above the sea-level; discovered by Captain Speke in 1858, and
circumnavigated by Stanley in 1875; is regarded as the head-source of the
Nile, the waters of it flowing through Albert Nyanza 80 m. to the N.,
between which two lakes lies the territory of Uganda.

VIDAR, in the Scandinavian mythology the god of wisdom and silence,
whose look penetrates the inmost thoughts of men.

VIENNA (1,364), the capital of the Austrian empire, on a southern
branch of the Danube, in a situation calculated to make it the central
city of the Continent; it is the residence of the emperor and the seat of
the government; has noble buildings, a university, and numerous large
libraries, a large promenade called the Prater, and a varied industry,
and ample means of both external and internal communication; in the SW.
of it is Schoenbrunn, the summer residence of the emperor, amid gardens of
matchless beauty; it has been the scene of the signing of important
treaties, and it was here the Congress met to undo the work of Napoleon
in 1815.

VIENNE (22), an ancient town of France, on the Rhone, 19 m. S. of
Lyons; was the chief town of the Allobroges in Caesar's time, and
possesses relics of its connection with Rome; it manufactures silk and
woollen fabrics, paper and iron goods, and has a trade in grain and wine.

VIGFUSSON, GUDBRAND, Scandinavian scholar, born in Iceland, of good
family; well familiar with the folk-lore of his country from boyhood, and
otherwise educated at home, he entered Copenhagen University in 1850,
occupying himself with the study of his native literature, and of every
document he could lay his hands on, and out of which he hoped to obtain
any light; in 1855 he published a work on the chronology of the sagas,
and this was followed by editions of the sagas themselves; after this he
came to Oxford, where he produced an Icelandic-English Dictionary and
other works in the same interest, and died and was buried there
(1827-1889).

VIGNY, ALFRED, COMTE DE, French poet of the Romanticist school, born
at Loches; entered the army, but left after a few years f