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VARRO 168 VASCULAR SYSTEM VARRO, MARCUS TERENTIUS, a Roman author; born probably of eques- trian rank in the Sabine town of Reate, in 116 B. C. He studied under L, ^lius Stilo, and at Athens under Antiochus of Ascalon, whose philosophy Cicero makes him expound as an interlocutor in the "Posterior Academics." He saw some service under Pompey, and in the civil war was legate in Spain with Petreius and Afranius. He awaited the result of Pharsalia with Cicero and Cato at Dyr- rachium, and was kindly treated by the conqueror, who appointed him to be librarian for his intended collection. The second triumvirate plunged him into danger, and Antony plundered his splen- did Cacine villa, burned his beloved books, and placed his name in the list of the proscribed. But he was soon exempted, and Augustus even restored his prop- erty, so that he was able to spend his latest years in peace. He survived till 27 B. c. Varro was a man of upright and honorable character, a monument of the old-fashioned Roman virtues, even to their hard and unsympathetic side. His diction shows qualities of the same kind — it is pithy and vigorous, but harsh, abrupt, without flexibility or charm. The total number of his works amounted to about 620 books, belonging to 74 different works. Of the poetical works (satires, pseudo-tragedies and poems) nothing is known but the names. But of the 150 books of the "Satires of Menippus," a medley of pi'ose and verse, imitated from the Cynic satirist Menippus enough fragments (ed. Riese, 1865; Biicheler, 1882) remain to prove the greatness of the loss. Here are in singular medley grotesque personifications of ideas, ridi- cule of the philosophers, mythology, erudition, proverbs, bitter satire at the social corruptions of the day, and praise of the homely virtues of the good old times, the whole spirited and rich in humor, if seldom artistic in form. Varro's prose writings embraced oratory, history both general and literary, juris- prudence, grammar, philosophy, geog- raphy, and husbandry. The most impor- tant of these were his "Human and Di- vine Antiquities," a work of vast learn- ing in 41 books, a mine in which bur- rowed Pliny, Plutarch, Gellius, Festus, Macrobius, as well as the Christian fathers, especially St. Augustine; "The Latin Language," in 25 books, of which only v.-x. are extant (ed. C. O. Miiller, 1833; L. Spengel, re-edited by his son, 1885), on the formation and inflection of words, and on syntax, married by arbi- trary arrangement, and etymologies due to mere empirical word play; "Rustic Affairs, Part III,," almost entire (ed. Keil, Leip. 1884), in dialogue form, on agriculture, cattle, bird and fish breeding. His "Discipline, Part IX.," deserved to live, being an attempt at an encyclo- paedia of the liberal arts; his "Imagina- tion, Part XV,," or "Hebdomades," was a series of 700 illustrated biographies of Greek and Roman celebrities with a met- rical eulogium on each. VARUS, PUBLIUS QUINTILIUS, a Roman general, celebrated in consequence of the great defeat that he suffered at the hands of Arminius, leader of the Germans. In 7 B. c, having received from Augustus the command to introduce the Roman jurisdiction into the German territory just conquered by Drusus, he was carrying out his mission when he was suddenly attacked by an immense host under Arminius, and his whole army was destroyed. Varus put an end to his own life. The exact scene of this battle is disputed. See Arminius. VASARI, GIORGIO (va-sa're), an Italian painter and architect, but most distinguished as the biographer of artists ; born in Arezzo, Tuscany, July 30, 1512. He studied under Luca Signorelli, Mi- chael Angelo, and Andrea del Sarto. As an architect he showed great ability, as exemplified in his designs of the Palazzo degli Uffizi at Florence, and the church of Abbadia at Arezzo. As a painter he was less successful. His principal paint- ings are a "Lord's Supper," in the ca- thedral of Arezzo, several works in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, and in the Vatican in Rome, His "Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects" is of great interest, but it exhibits many errors respecting the earlier masters; and it is also guilty of partiality toward the Tuscan artists. It was first printed in 1550, and an en- larged and improved edition appeared in 1568. It has been translated into English. Vasari died in Florence, June 27, 1574. VASCULAR SYSTEM, that portion of the interior of a plant in which spiral vessels or their modifications exist. In an exogenous stem, the vascular system is confined to the space between the pith and the bark. It chiefly consists of ducts and pitted or woody tissue collected into compact, wedge-shaped, vertical plates, the edges of which rest on the pith and the bark, while the sides are in contact with the medullary rays. It comprises the medullary sheath, which consists of spiral vessels and woody tissue intermixed. In an endogenous stem, the vascular system exists in the form of fibrous bundles, consisting of woody tissue containing spiral or other vessels, the whole imbedded in the cellu- lar system.