VICTORIA FALLS. 123 VICTORY. Africa, G 6). The river, here nearly a mile wide, suddenly pluiif;es into a cleft or ehasni 400 feet deep and only 100 to ;!00 feet wide, nmniiif; transversely across the river-bed. A dense cloud of vapor rises far above the falls, and as it con- denses it darkens to the appearance of smoke, whence the native name. The name Victoria was given to the falls by Livingstone, who dis- covered them in 1855. VICTORIA INSTITUTE, The. A society founded in London in 1870 with the oI)ject of bringing together men of .scientific attainment.'S as well as those interested in the investigation of philosophy and science in the inqnirj- how far these may be found to harmonize with the great truths taught in the Holy Scripture; also by the discussion of these truths to test the faith of the members in 'one eternal God.' The results of such discussions are printed in the Traiinae/ions of the Institute. The membership is about 1000, one-third of whom are residents of British colo- nies and foreign countries. VICTORIA LAND. See South Victoria Land. VICTORIA NYANZA, ne-an'za, or Uke- EEWE. The largest lake in Africa, and, next to Lake Superior, the largest sheet of fresh water in the world. It lies between British and Ger- man East Africa, about 400 miles from the In- dian Ocean, and 175 miles northeast of Lake Tanganyika, extending from latitude 0° 25' N. to .3° S. (Map: Africa, H 5). Its length from north to south is over 200 miles, its average breadth 150 miles, and its estimated area about 20,000 square miles. The lake occupies a broad depression, probably due to a series of faults in the ancient crystalline rocks of the East African jdateau. Its surface lies at an elevation of 3775 feet. The shores, especially on the south and east, are very irregular, with numerous head- lands and deep bays, and the lake contains sev- eral large and numerous smaller islands with an aggregate area of about 2300 square miles. The largest islands are Ukerewe, in the southeast, and Sesse, in the northwest. The islands are gen- erally densely wooded, and some of them contain a number of villages, while others, even some of considerable size, are uninhabited. The western shore of the lake is high, steep, and reeky in the south, becoming lower and densely forested north- ward. The southern shore is low and marshy, while the country bordering the lake on the east is mostly an open steppe region. The water is clear and fresh. There are many fish in the lake and it abounds in mollusks. Crocodiles are nu- merous, and on the uninhabited islands there are many hippopotamuses. None of the streams entering the lake are of great size. The largest is the Kagera, which may be regarded as the extreme upper course of the Nile, as that river, known here as the Somerset Nile, forms the out- let of the lake. The Victoria Nyanza is now navi- gated by two steamers, one of which was launched in moo and the other in 1896; but the main vol- ume of trade is still carried in native boats. The lake was discovered by Speke in 1S5S, circum- navigated by Stanley in 1875, and subsequently explored at various times by him and others, but only a portion of the coasts has been accurately surveyed. Voi>. XX.— 9. VICTORIA UNIVERSITY. An English university fiiunded in 1880 by the union of Owens College, .Manchester, University College, Liver- pool, and Yorkshire College, Leeds. Its govern- ment is vested in a council and a board of stud- ies. I'art of tlu! Fellows are chosen by a con- vocation, consisting of teachers and graduates of the university, jiart by the Crown. There is, un- like London University, a regular course of study, and the university is, through its colleges, a teaching as well as an examining institution. In this it resembles Oxford and Cambridge, but (lill'ers from them in that its colleges are situated in three dillerent cities. Like the latter, it has as chancellor a distinguished nobleman, and the ollice of vice-chancellor is held in turn by the l)rincipals of the colleges as the real head of the institution. Each college is supported by its own funds, and is independent, as in the case of the older universities. The number of students ill lilOO was about 3000. VICTORI'NUS, Gaius Marius. A Latin grannnarian and rhetorician of the fourth cen- tury. He was an African by birth, went to Kome about a.d. 300 to teacii rhetoric, Saint Jerome being among his pupils, and in his old age became a Christian. His translations from the Greek of Plotinus and other Neo'Platonists wei'e the indirect means of Augustine's introduc- tion to that philosophical system. His commen- taries on the Pauline Epistles and polemics against the Arians and Manichoeans are edited in Migne's I'atroloyia Latina (vol. viii.) ; but his greater fame is as a grammarian, a commentary on Cicero's De Inventione (in Halm, Rhetores Latini, 18G3), an Ars Qrammatica, dealing al- most entirely with prosody (edited with other grammatical fragments in Keil, Grammatici Latini, vol. vi., 1874), and a treatise De Defiiii- iionibiis (edited by Stangl, 1888) being the chief of his works. VICTORS, Jan (also called Fictoor, Vic- TOORS, and Victor) (1620-C.82). A Dutch genre and biblical painter, pupil and follower of Rem- brandt. He w-as a native of Amsterdam. The works of his later period, when he attempted to free himself from the infiuence of his master, nave little merit. Paintings by him at Amster- dam are : "The Market Place," "The Village Dentist," "Joseph Interpreting Dreams;" at Brunswick, "The Taking of Samson;" at Copen- hagen, "The Death of David;" at Dresden, "The Finding of Moses;" at Prague, "The Stirrup Cup;" and at Saint Petersburg, "The Fortitude of Scipio." VICTOR VITEN'SIS (c.430-c.49O) . A Latin historian, of whose life little is known. As early as 455 he was a cleric in the Cartha- ginian Church, and in 483 he was" employed by Eugenius, metropolitan of Carth.age, to help the clerg' made destitute by the persecution of the Arian Vandals, The Historia Persecutionis Vandalicw scu Africanw sub Oenserico et Hun- iierica. Vandalorum Regibus (edited in Migne's Pairolo(/ia Lativa. vol. Iviii., and by Petschenig in the Vienna Corpus, vol. vii., 1881) is valuable for the information it gives of orthodox and heretic churches in Africa and of the survival of pagan superstitions. VICTORY, The. Lord Nelson's flagship in the battle of Trafalgar, October 21, 1805.
