VEGA CARPIO. 37 VEGETABLES. Peregrino contains also four autos (religious dramas) and a list of more tlian 200 plays that he had already eomposcd. With the ,lerusal6n conquislada (published KiOil) he un<lertook to surpass Tasso; hut the epie of the Italian is in every way superior to Lope's poem. After some works of minor impcu'tanco, such as the HolUuquios publislied under the name of Gabriel Padecopeo, there eame his beautiful re- ligious pastoral, Panlorcs dc Helen. After the death of his second wife (1012) he took holy orders in 11114. His piety appears to have been sincere even if his life was not blameless, and he gave renewed expression to his religious feelings in the Triunfo dc la fe en el Japon (1618). Ho essayed the prose tale in four stories, Las fortunas de Dianii, El desdiehtido por la honra, La prudente venyansa, and (lu::m(in el liravn. The Triunfos divinos is a collection of religious lyrics, and the Corona tragica (1G27) is a re- ligious epic intended as a defense of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots. As a poetical cata- logue and eulogy of more than 300 Spanish poets, he composed his Laurel de Apolo, which can hardl3' be considered as a model of just criticism. The Dorotea (1632) is a prose ro- mance in dramatic form, in which the author un- doubtedly embodied many personal experiences; on this account its biographical value has been somewhat stressed. It was a favorite work with Lope himself. Under the pseudonym of "the lieenciado Tome Burguillos" he produced in 1634 certain Riinas and the mock-heroic poem Gato- maquia. This is both witty and interesting. Lope was a ])oet of great vci'satility. He es- sayed nearly every kind of writing, but it is on the stage that his genius showed itself in many ways unexcelled. While his dramatic work is im- paired by many imperfections, his faults are atoned for by Ids exuberant invention, by the skill with which he develops character, and by the unfailing spiritedness of his dialogue. His fertility is unparalleled. He is supposed to have written between 1500 and 1800 plays {comedias) , in addition to several hundred autos (re- ligious pieces) and entreniexes (interludes). Of these there are e.xtant about 400 comedias and about 40 autos. In the comic and the tragic vein. Lope treated all manner of subjects — historical, legendary, picaresque, re- ligious, and those that have to do with every-day life. It was he who gave the greatest develop- ment to the stock comic character called the (iraeioso : and he first gave dramatic em])hasis to the pundo-nor, or point of honor, as an all- pervading principle of Spanish cultured life. Of his many pieces the following may be given spe- cial mention: El castigo sin venganza; Porfiar liiista morir; La estrella de Secilla. which is one of the best of all: El mejor alcalde cl Reg; El acero dc Madrid; La esclava de sii galdn ; El perro del horfelano; La boba para las otros g disereta para si; Los eautivos de Argcl; Si no ricran las mujeres; El principe perfeto; Los Tcllos de Meneses; and La fuente Ovejuna. For printed editions of Lope's w'orks, consult the Coleecion de las obras sucltns de Lope de Tega (21 vols., Madrid, 1876-70) : the plays and other works contained in vols, xxiv., xxxv., xxxvii., xli.. and xlii. of the Biblioteca de autores csponofe9(ib..l8onetseq.) ; Comedias iucdifasiih., 1873) ; La Dorotea, aceidn en prosa (ib., 1886) ; and especially the definitive edition of )iis Obras, publieadus por la. Real Acudernia Kspanola, which, begun at Madrid, 1800, has prefixed to its first volume the Xueva biografia of C. A. de la liarrera, and, carried on under the editorsliip of M. Mcnendez y Pidayo, who prepares the Observa- clones prcliminares, has already reached the twelfth volume. Consult also V. Fox ( Lord Hol- land), Some Account of the Life and Writings of Lope Felix de Vega Carpio (London, 1806, and again 1817); Fitzmaurice-Kelly, A History of Spanish Literature (New York, "1808) ; Farinelli, (Irillparzer und Lope de Vega (Berlin, 1894) ; Porer, Die Lope de Vega Litteratur in Dcutsch- land (ib., 1877) : Forster, Some Frencli and Spanish Men of Letters (London, 1891) ; Grill- parzer, Studien iiber das spanische Theater, in his Werke, vol. viii. (Stuttgart, 1871); G. H. Lewes, The Spanish Drama; Lope de Vega and Caldcron (London, 1840) ; Ludwig, Lope de Vegas Dramen aus dem karolingischen Sagen- kreise (Berlin, 1898) ; Wurzbach, Lope de Vega (Leipzig, 1898) ; and Menendez y Pelayo, Esfiidios de critica literaria, serie ii. (Madrid, 1895). VEGETABLE COLOKS. A term used to de- note natural vegetable dyes as distinguished from mineral colors and those prepared by chemical processes such as the coal-tar colors. They include heart woods, barks, roots, dried leaves and berries, lichens, etc., and though not as much employed as before the introduction of artificial coloring substances, they still are ex- tensively used in dyeing. The niore important colors will be found described under their own heads. These include: Red, brazilwood, sandal- wood, madder, safflower, archil, and kermes ; yellow, old fustic and young fustic, quercit- ron, Persian berries, arnatto, and turmeric; blue, indigo, woad, logwood, and litmus; green, chlo- rophyll and tokao or Chinese green; brown, cat- echu and kino. These dyestutl's must be ex- tracted, and for that purpose the dyewoods are cut or ground into small chips or powder and then either cured or fermented or the dye ex- tracted by heating with water or boiling, while in some eases the coloring matter is subsequently concentrated. All of these processes are apt to involve in addition chemical treatment of one kind or other. For the use of vegetable colors in dyeing, reference should be made to that article, and especially to the table containing a li.st of the natural d5'estuffs with the artificial coloring matters that have in many eases displaced them. VEGETABLE IVORY. See Ivory, Vegeta- ble. VEGETABLE KINGDOM. See Botany and cross-references from (liat title. VEGETABLE MARROW. A variety of squash liigiily esteemed as a summer esculent vegetabK'. VEGETABLE OYSTER oB Oyster Plakt. See Salsify. VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY. See Poy.si- OLOGY OF PLA.VT.S. VEGETABLES (Lat. vegetabiUs, enlivening, animating, from regeiare, to quicken, animate, from vegetus, lively, from vegere, to move, be active; connected with vigerc. to flourish). Since the different kinds of vegetables and their culture are treated in separate articles on the individual
