skilled in embroidery. After making considerable progress under Van Balen, he became a pupil of Rubens at the age of 16, who was not slow to discover his remarkable genius. In 1621, by advice of Rubens he visited Italy, remaining there five years. In 1632 he came to England on the invitation of the earl of Arundel, where a pension of $1,000 a year was settled on him. He died at London in 1641, leaving property to the amount of $100,000. It was only 20 years from the time when Van Dyke left the studio of Rubens until his death; and in that short period nearly 1,000 pictures of various kinds were executed by him. His best known works are representations of the crucifixion.
Van Dyke, Henry Jackson, D.D., LL.D., American author and preacher, was born at Germantown, Pa., Nov. 10, 1852, and graduated at the Brooklyn Polytechnic Institution, and Princeton College and Theological Seminary. After taking a post-graduate course at Berlin University, he entered the ministry and held the charges successively of the United Congregational church at Newport, R. I., and of the Brick Presbyterian church, New York. The latter charge he resigned in 1899, to accept the Murray chair of English literature at Princeton University. In 1889 he was appointed preacher to Harvard University, and in 1893 delivered the Lyman Beecher lectures on preaching at Yale. He also delivered a memorial ode at the 150th anniversity of Princeton University, of which he is a trustee. He has been a contributor to many of the contemporary magazines, and taken active part in religious work among the colleges. His writings embrace The Poetry of Tennyson, The Reality of Religion, The Story of the Psalms, The Christ-Child in Art, The Gospel for an Age of Doubt, Straight Sermons to Young Men, The Ruling Passion and The School of Life.
Van Hise, Charles Richard, American geologist and author, was born at Fulton, Wis.,on May 29, 1857. He studied at the University of Wisconsin, and in 1879 graduated, after which he became a member of the faculty, acting first as instructor in chemistry and metallurgy, then as professor of metallurgy and petrology, and finally was elected president of the institution. While acting in the latter capacity, he accepted the post of non-resident professor of structural geology in the University of Chicago, and later served as assistant on the Wisconsin State geological survey and subsequently became consulting geologist to the survey. He was also a member of the United States Geological Survey, and took charge, in 1888, of its operations in the Lake Superior district. Two years later he was appointed geologist in charge of the division of the archæan and metamorphic rocks of the United States. He has been made honorary member of a number of foreign scientific societies, as well as member of the National Academy of Sciences, and editor for a time of his own department of the Journal of Geology. His published works embrace Principles of North American Pre-Cambrian Geology, Some Principles Controlling the Deposition of Ores, A Treatise on Metamorphism and Concentration and Control, dealing with the trust problem.
Van Horne, Sir Wm. Cornelius, K. C. M. G., president of the Canadian Pacific Railroad since 1888, was born in Will County, Ill., Feb. 3, 1843, and entered railway service in 1857. After filling various junior posts, he rose to be general superintendent of the Chicago and Alton and subsequently of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad. In 1884 he became general manager of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, and in 1888 was elected to the presidency of the road. He was knighted in 1894.
VANILLA
Vanil′la, the generic as well as the common name of plants which yield the aromatic extract of commerce. The genus is a member of the orchid family, and is native to Mexico and Brazil, and is cultivated in various tropical countries. The aromatic extract is obtained from the long pods, known as vanilla beans, and their seeds.
Van Rensselaer (văn rĕn′se- lẽr), Stephen, known as "the Patroon," an American statesman, was born at New York, Nov. 1, 1765. He was educated at Princeton and Harvard Colleges, and married a daughter of Gen. Philip Schuyler, a distinguished officer of the Revolutionary War. He early gave his attention to politics, and in 1795 was elected to the New York legislature, afterwards becoming lieutenant-governor and canal commissioner. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was in command of the state militia, and led the assault on Queenston; but the refusal of a portion of his troops to cross the Niagara River enabled the British to repel the attack, and Van Rensselaer retired from the service in disgust. At his own cost he employed Professors Eaton and Hitchcock to make geological surveys of a large portion of New York and New England; he also employed Professor Eaton to deliver geological lectures throughout the state. In 1824 he established an institution at Troy for the education of teachers, with free pupils from every county in the state. About this time also he entered the lower house of Con-
