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VIENNE VIENNE, a W. department of France, formed chiefly from the old province of Poitou, bor- dering on the departments of Maine-et-Loire, Indre-et-Loire, Indre, Haute- Vieime, Charente, and Deux-Sevres; area, 2,691 sq. m. ; pop. in 1872, 320,598. It is level, excepting in the south. The principal rivers are the Vienne, Charente, Gartempe, and Creuse. About one third of the area is arable, one eighth covered with forests, and the remainder waste. The vine is extensively cultivated, but yields only inferior wines. Chestnuts form an important part of the food of the peasantry. Sand of a superior quality for making glass and imitation diamonds is procured from Vienne, and there are excellent quarries of lithographic stone and mill stones, and iron mines. Lace, wool- len goods, iron ware, saddlery, firearms, and cutlery are made. It is divided into the arron- dissements of Ch atelier ault, Civray, Loudun, Montmorillon, and Poitiers. Capital, Poitiers. VIENNE (anc. Vienna), a town of Dauphiny, France, in the department of Isere, on the left bank of the Rhone, at the mouth of the Gere, 49 m. N. W. of Grenoble ; pop. in 1872, 26,017. The cathedral of St. Maurice and St. Peter's are the most interesting churches. The college dates from 1605. The abbey of St. Pe- ter is now a museum for the Eoman antiqui- ties which abound here, including remains of aqueducts and an amphitheatre, and a well preserved temple dedicated to Augustus and Livia. Vienne was the capital of the first and second kingdoms of Burgundy. The 15th gen- eral council was held here in 1311-'12. VIEME, Haute. See HAUTE- VIENNE. VIERSEN, a town of Rhenish Prussia, in the district of Diisseldorf, near the Niers and the Nordkanal, 10 m. S. W. of Crefeld; pop. in 1871, 18,550. It is an important centre of cot- ton, flax, woollen, silk, ribbon, and velvet manufactures, employing 10,000 persons. VIETA, or Viete, Francois, a French mathema- tician, born at Fontenay-le-Comte in 1540, died in Paris in December, 1603. He was master of requests during the reigns of Henry III. and Henry IV. He was once saved from imprisonment and death by the duchess de Kohan. For Henry IV. he deciphered the communications made by the Spaniards with one another, through a cipher composed of more than 500 characters signifying different things at different times. He was the first to combine symbols of operation with symbols of quantity, and thus to render algebra a purely symbolical science. An edition of most of his works was published at Leyden in 1646, edited by Van Schooten. VIE1JSSENS, Raymond, a French physician, born in the district of Kouergue in 1641, died in Montpellier about 1720. His most important title to distinction rests upon his NeurograpJiia Universalis (Lyons, 1685), on the anatomy of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. Among other anatomical structures first de- scribed by him is the " valve of Vieussens," a VIGNY 353 thin layer of white nervous matter forming the roof of the anterior part of the fourth ventricle of the brain, and still known by his name. His last publication was his Traite des liqueurs du corps humain (Toulouse, 1715). VIECXTEMPS, Henri, a Belgian violinist, born in Verviers, Feb. 20, 1820. He is the son of a tuner of instruments, played the vio- lin in public at the age of eight years, was a pupil of De Beriot for several months, studied composition under Reicha, appeared with suc- cess in Paris and Vienna in 1830, and spent several years in professional journeys through Europe, becoming a public favorite, especially at St. Petersburg and Moscow. In 1843, 1855, and 1870 he visited America, on the last occa- sion being associated with Mile. Nilsson in concerts. His playing is distinguished by great energy and breadth, with remarkable elegance and correctness. His compositions combine the qualities of classical and modern music. VIGILICS, pope, born in Rome, died in Syra- cuse in 555. While yet a deacon he was des- ignated by Pope Boniface II. (530-'32) as his successor in the papal see ; but this act was repealed as uncanonical. During the pontifi- cates of Agapetus I. acd Sylverius, Vigilius was apocrisiarius or papal envoy at Constantinople. He sided with the imperial government against Pope Sylverius, and was sent to Rome to pro- cure his imprisonment and exile. This being accomplished, Vigilius was proclaimed pope in .537, but is considered to have been an antipope till 540, when Sylverius died. Among many letters of doubtful authenticity is one said to have been written by Vigilius in 538, at the request of the empress Theodora, to the heads of the Monophysites, in which he approved of their views, and condemned the anti-Mono- physite decisions of Pope Leo I. ; but later (after 540) he refused to favor the Monophy- sites. For the course afterward adopted by this pope in the Monophysite controversy see CONSTANTINOPLE, COUNCILS OF. VIGNOLA, Giacomo Barozzio da, an Italian ar- chitect, born at Vignola, in Modena, in 1507, died in Rome in 1573. He studied painting with the Passarotti at Bologna, but subse- quently turned his attention to architecture, which he studied at Rome. After spending two years in France with Primaticcio, he went to Bologna, where he constructed several fine palaces and public buildings, and finally settled in Rome. He was appointed papal ar- chitect by Julius III. in 1550, and designed the church of the Jesuits in Rome, the Caparola palace, and the two lateral cupolas of St. Pe- ter's, of which he became architect after the death of Michel Angelo. He also furnished the plans for the reconstruction of the palace of the Escurial in Spain. Vignola's works on " The Five Orders of Architecture " and "Practical Perspective" are still among the best authorities on those subjects. VIGNY, Alfred Victor de, count, a French poet, born at Loches, Touraine, March 27, 1799, died