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VORTEX 266 voss a contributor to Kisfaludy's "Aurora," and was for several years editor of a journal called "The Repository of Sci- ence." VORTEX, ordinarily, a whirlpool. When any portion of a fluid is set rotat- ing round an axis a vortex is produced. Familiar examples are seen in eddies, whirlpools, waterspouts, whirlwinds, and on a larger scale in cyclones and storms generally. VORTICELLA, or BELL-ANIMAL- CULE, a genus of stalked infusoria, hav- ing a fixed stem capable of being coiled into a spiral form, and vibratile organs called cilia fringing the bell-shaped disk or head, which are constantly in rapid motion and attract particles of food. The species are very numerous in fresh water, and are generally microscopic. VORTIGERN, a British prince who flourished in the 5th century. According to Gildas, Bede, Ethelwerd, and the "Old English Chronicle," he invited Hengist and Horsa to assist him against his enemies the Picts and Scots. Nennius^ on the other hand, represents the Ger- man chiefs as exiles who went to the island unasked. Whichever form of the story be true, it seems certain that after a short time the newcomers, re-enforced by fresh bands of their countrymen, turned against Vortigern and wrested from him the Kentish territory. Nennius is the first to bring "the beautiful daughter of Hengist" on the scene. He does not, however, name her. T?iis is first done by Geoffrey of Monmouth (12th century), who in the main follows and expands the version of Nennius. Geof- frey calls her Rowena, or, according to some MSS., Ronwen and Ronwenna; and he is the first to tell the familiar legend of the lady making a low curtsy to Vortigern and saying, as she of- fered him a cup of wine, "Lauerd King, wacht heil," and how the "devil" made him so enamored of the lovely pagan that he married her that same night. There is something like unanimity in the chroniclers regarding Vortigern's char- acter. He was at once tyrannical and lascivious; and monkish indignation (as expressed in the legend of St. Germanus) affirms that he was finally destroyed by fire from heaven. It is to be presumed that Vortigern came to a violent end in conflict with the heathen adventurers who had established themselves in his dominions. VOS, BERT JOHN, a Dutch-American educator; born in Katwykaan Zee, Hol- land, Oct. 27, 1867; was educated in his native land, and graduated at the Uni- versity of Michigan in 1888. He studied at Johns Hopkins University in 1888- 1891 and at the University of Leipsic in 1891-1892; was instructor of German at the University of Chicago in 1892-1893; associate instructor of the same at Johns Hopkins University in 1893-1898, and associate professor from 1898-1908. In the latter year he became professor of German at Indiana University. He was the author of "Materials for German Conversation" (1900) ; "Monographs on Middle High German Style and Rhyme Technic"; etc. He also translated from the German "Religion of the Ancient Teutons" (1901). VOSGES, a department in the E. of France; bounded N. by Meurthe-et«  Moselle and Meuse, W. by Haute-Marne^ S. by Haute-Saone, and E. by Elsass; area 2,303 square miles; pop. about 430,000. The surface is covered in the E. by the wooded summits of the Vosges Mountains, and in the W. consists of fer- tile undulating plains. It is watered by the Moselle, with its affluents the Mose- lotte, Vologne, Madon, and Meurthe; the Meuse with the MouzoD and the Vaire; and the Saone with its affluent the Coney. The industries include silk and wool spinning and weaving, embroidery and lace-making, bleaching and dyeing, and the manufacture of glass, pottery, paper, beet sugar, beer, leather, and machinery. The capital of the department is Epinal. The Vosges was the scene of the earliest fighting in France during the World War. See World War. VOSGES MOUNTAINS, a range of hills in the E. of France, bounding the valley of the Rhine on the W. and paral- lel with the Schwarzwald in Baden. They are connected in the N. with the Hardt in Rhenish Bavaria, in the S. W. with the Faucilles, the Cote-d'Or, and the C^vennes, and in the S. they unite with off'sets from the Jura. The sum- mits are usually rounded, hence called ballons, and are covered with a rich green turf, on which for six months of the year large herds of cattle graze. Their sides are clothed with forests of fir, oak, and beech. Their highest sum- mits range from 3,000 to over 4,000 feet, culminating in Ballon de Gebweiler, 4,700 feet above the sea. In those mountains was carried on severe and almost per- sistent fighting during the World War. VOSS, GERHARD JOHANN (fos), usually styled Vossius, a Dutch philolo- gist; bom near Heidelberg, in 1577. In certain departments of archasophilology he made valuable original researches; and he was the first to indicate the his- torical evolution of the Latin language. Among his writings are: "Essays on Rhetoric; or. The Institutes of Oratory,"