cornfield plant in the south of Europe, and is grown in gardens on account of its brilliant purple flowers.
VERA, AUGUSTO (1813–1885), Italian philosopher, was born at Amelia in the province of Perugia on the 4th of May 1813.
He was educated in Rome and Paris, and, after teaching classics for some years in Geneva, held chairs of philosophy in various colleges in France, and subsequently was professor in Strassburg and in Paris. He left Paris after the coup d’état of 1851 and spent nine years in England. Attaching himself with enthusiasm to Hegel’s system, Vera (who wrote fluently both in French and in English as well as in Italian) became widely influential in spreading a knowledge of the Hegelian doctrine, and became the chief representative of Italian Hegelianism. Without any marked originality, his writings are distinguished by lucidity of exposition and genuine philosophic spirit. In 1860 Vera returned to Italy, where he was made professor of philosophy in the royal academy of Milan. In the following year he was transferred to Naples as professor of philosophy in the university there. His Prolusioni alla Storia della Filosofia
and Lezioni sulla Filosofia della Storia were connected with
his professorial work, which was specially devoted to the history
of philosophy and the philosophy of history. He held this
post till his death, which took place at Naples on the 13th of
July 1885.
Among his numerous works may be mentioned Introduction à la philosophie d’Hégel (1855; 2nd ed., 1865); Problème de la certitude (1845); Le Hégelianisme et la philosophie (1861); Mélanges philosophiques (1862); Essais de philosophie Hégélienne (1864); Strauss, l’ancienne et la nouvelle foi (1873), an attack upon Strauss’s last “confession,” written from the standpoint of an orthodox Hegelian; and a comprehensive work in Italian, Il Problema dell’ Assoluto (Naples, 1872–82). His English works are an Inquiry into Speculative and Experimental Science (London, 1856); Introduction to Speculative Logic and Philosophy (St Louis, 1875), and a translation of Bretschneider’s History of Religion and of the Christian Church. He published also translations into French with commentaries of Hegel’s works: Logique de Hégel (Paris, 1859; 2nd ed., 1874); Philosophie de la nature de Hégel (1863–65); Philosophie de l’esprit de Hégel (1867–69); Philosophie de la religion de Hégel (1876–78, incomplete).
See R. Mariano, Augusto Vera (Naples, 1887) and Strauss e Vera (Rome, 1874); Karl Rosenkranz, Hegel’s Naturphilosophie und deren Bearbeitung durch A. Vera (Berlin, 1868).
VERA CRUZ (officially Vera Cruz Llave), a Gulf Coast state of Mexico, bounded N. by Tamaulipas, W. by San Luis Potosi,
Hidalgo, Puebla and Oaxaca, and S.E. by Chiapas and Tabasco.
Pop. (1900) 981,030. It is about 50 m. wide, extending along
the coast, N.W. to S.E., for a distance of 435 m., with an area
of 29,201 sq. m. It was the seat of an ancient Indian civilization
antedating the Aztecs and is filled with remarkable and
interesting ruins; it is now one of the richest states of the
republic. It consists of a low, sandy coastal zone, much broken
with tidewater streams and lagoons, behind which the land
rises gradually to the base of the sierras and then in rich valleys
and wooded slopes to their summits on the eastern margin of
the great Mexican plateau, from which rise the majestic summits
of Orizaba and Cofre de Perote. The climate is hot, humid
and malarial, except on the higher elevations; the rainfall is
heavy, and the tropical vegetation is so dense that it is practically
impossible to clear it away. At Coatzacoalcos the
annual precipitation ranges from 125 to 140 in., but it steadily
decreases towards the N. On the higher slopes of the sierras
prehistoric terraces are found, evidently constructed to prevent
the washing away of the soil by these heavy rains. More than
forty rivers cross the state from the sierras to the coast, the
following being navigable on their lower courses—Coatzacoalcos,
San Juan, Tonto, Papaloapam, Tuxpam and Casones. Several
of the lagoons on the coast are also navigable, that of Tamiahua
on the northern coast, about 100 m. long, being connected
with the port of Tampico by inland channels. There are
several ports on the coast—Coatzacoalcos, Alvarado, Vera
Cruz, Nautla, Tecolutla and Tuxpam. The products of the
state are chiefly agricultural—cotton, sugar, rum, tobacco,
coffee, cacao, vanilla, maize, beans and fruit. Cattle-raising is
followed in some districts, cattle and hides being among the
exports. Among the forest products are rubber, cabinet woods,
dye-woods, broom-root, chicle, jalap and orchids. Vera Cruz
is one of the largest producers of sugar and rum in Mexico.
There are a number of cotton factories (one of the largest in
Mexico being at Orizaba), chiefly devoted to the making of
coarse cloth for the lower classes. Tobacco factories are also
numerous. Other manufactures include paper, chocolate, soap
and matches. There are four lines of railway converging at
Vera Cruz, two of which cross the state by different routes
to converge again at Mexico city. Another, the Tehuantepec
National railway, crosses in the south, and is connected with
Vera Cruz (city) by the Vera Cruz & Pacific line, which
traverses the state in a south-easterly direction. The capital
is Jalapa, and its principal towns are Vera Cruz, Orizaba, Cordova
and Coatzacoalcos.
VERA CRUZ, a city and seaport of Mexico, in the state of Vera Cruz, on a slight indentation of the coast of the Gulf of
Mexico, in 19° 11′ 50″ N., 96° 20′ W., slightly sheltered by some
small islands and reefs. Pop. (1900) 29,164. Vera Cruz is the
most important port of the republic. It is 263 m. by rail E.
of the city of Mexico, with which it is connected by two lines
of railway. It is built on a flat, sandy, barren beach, only a few
feet above sea-level. The harbour is confined to a comparatively
narrow channel inside a line of reefs and small islands,
which is exposed to the full force of northern storms. New
port works were completed towards the end of the 19th century,
which, by means of breakwaters, afford complete protection.
In 1905 the four railway companies having terminal stations
in Vera Cruz united in the organization of a joint terminal
association, with union station, tracks, warehouses, quays,
cranes, &c.
Vera Cruz dates from 1520, soon after the first landing there of Cortés. This settlement was called Villa Rica de Vera Cruz, but was soon after moved to the harbour of Bernal, in 1525 to a point now called Old Vera Cruz, and in 1599 to its present site. It was pillaged by privateers in 1653 and 1712, and this led to the erection of the celebrated fort of San Juan de Ulúa, or Ulloa, on one of the reefs in front of the city. In 1838 it was captured by the French, in 1847 (March 29) by an American army under General Winfield Scott, who made Vera Cruz a base for his march upon the city of Mexico, and in 1861 by the French.
VERANDAH, or Veranda, a roofed gallery or portico attached to the outside of a dwelling-house or other building,
usually open at the sides or partially covered by lattice-work
or glass or other screens. The roofing is slanting and supported
by pillars; a light rail or balustrade often surrounds it. The
word in English is comparatively modern, having only been
included by Todd in his edition of Johnson’s Dictionary in 1827.
But it was known earlier in India, and the occurrence of the
word in modern Hindustani (varanda) and Malayan (baranda)
has led some etymologists to connect the word with the Persian
barāmadan, to climb. It is, however, certainly of European
origin, and was taken to the East by the early Portuguese
navigators. It is to be found as early as the end of the
15th century and the beginning of the 16th in Spanish and
Portuguese (so Minsheu, “varanda, railes to leane the brest
on”), and apparently is to be referred to Lat. vara, a forked
pole or rod.
VERATRUM. The Greek physicians were acquainted with a poisonous herb which they called white hellebore, and which has been supposed to represent the Veratrum album of modern botanists. Be this as it may, in modern times the name has been applied to a genus of herbaceous plants belonging to the natural order Liliaceae. Veratrum is a tall-growing herb, having a fibrous root-stock, an erect stem, with numerous broad, plicated leaves placed alternately, and terminal, much-branched clusters of greenish or purplish polygamous flowers. Each perfect flower consists of six regular petals, as many stamens, whose anthers open outwardly, and a three-celled superior ovary which ripens into a three-celled, many-seeded capsule. The genus comprises about nine species, natives of the temperate
