U R A
C 33 2 3
U R I
'opening of the Mouth to make it heard, and to form a diftinct Voice. See Letter.
Such are a, f, i, o, u ; which are call'd Vocales, Vowels, in contradiftinclion to certain other Letters, which depending on a particular Application of fome part of the Mouth, as the Teeth, Lips, or Pdate, can make no perfect Sound without an opening of the Mouth, that is, without the ad- dition of a Vowel $ and are therefore call'd Confonants. See Consonant.
Tho we ordinarily only reckon five Vowels, yet, befides that each of thefe may be either long or fhort, which oc- cafions a considerable Variety in the Sound : To confider only their Differences refulting from the different Apertures of the Mouth, one might add four or five more Vowels to the Number. — For the e open, and the e clofe, are different enough to make two Vowels, as in Sea, AT\&1)eptb ; fo alfo the o open, and o clofe, in Hoji, and Organ. — Add that the ti pronounced ok, as the Latins did, and as the Italians and Spaniards ftill do, has a very different Sound from the u, as pronounced by the Greeks, and as at this Day by the Englijb and French. — Again, eo, in People, make but one iimplc Sound, tho we write it with two Vowels.
Laftly, the e mute is originally no more than a Surd join'd to a Confonant when that is to be pronounced without a Vowel, as when it is immediately follow'd by other Con- fonants, as in the Word Scamnttm. — This is what the He- brews call Scbeva, efpecially when it begins the Syllable : And this Scbeva is found in ali Languages, tho over-look'd in many of them, particularly the Englijb, Latin, &c. by reafon it has no proper Character to defign it j tho in fome of the Vulgar Tongues, particularly French and High-Dutch, it is exprefs'd by the Vowel e adding its Sound to the reft.
Thus, without regarding the Differences of the fame Sound or Vowel as to length or fhortnefs, one may diftinguifh ten feveral Sounds or Vowels, exprefs'd by the following Characters, a, e, e, i, o, 6, en, oil, u, e, mute. See Al- phabet.
VOX, in Law — Vocem non habere, is a Phrafe ufed by SraBon and Fleta, for an infamous Perfon $ one who is not admitted to be a Witnefs.
UP-LAND, is high Ground, or, as fome call it, Terra firma $ oppofite to luch as is moorifh, marfhy, or low : or it is Paflure-land, which lies fo high as not to be overflow'd With Rivers, or Land-floods.
UPRIGHT, in Architecture, a Reprefentation or Draught of the Front of a Building ; call'd alfo, an Elevation. See Elevation.
Upright, in Heraldry, is ufed in refpect of She 11- Fifh.es, as Crevices, &c. when ftanding upright in a Coat. — Inafmuch as they want Fins, they cannot according to Gullim, be pro- perly laid to be Hauriant 5 that being a Term appropriated to fcaly Fifh.es.
URACHUS, in Anatomy, a membranous Canal in a Fce- tus, proceeding from the Bottom of the urinary Bladder, tl ro 1 the Navel to the 'Placenta, along with the umbilical VefTels, whereof it is efteem'd one. See Umbilical Vcffcls.
The Termination of the Vrdclms in the Placenta, forms a little oval Vefica, or Bladder, which ferves to receive the Urine fecreted in the Kidneys of the Fztus, and that could not make its way thro' thaVretbra, by reafon of the refift- ance of the Spbinbler of the Bladder, which is not to be overcome but by Infpiration.
The Humour found in the Vefica of the Urachus, is ftill in the greater Quantity, the higher colour'd, and the more like Urine 5 as the Foetus is nearer the time of the Birth.
The Urachus is not plainly found anywhere but in Brutes; but there is nodifpute but that it exifts in an Human Fcetus. See Foetus,
M. Drelin court, a celebrated Profeffor of Anatomy at Leiden, and fome others after him, deny the Urachus to be hollow : On which Suppofition it would not be eafy to aflign its Ufe, unlefs to keep the Bladder fufpended to the Navel. But the former Opinion feems the belt warranted. See Urine.
URANIBOURG, a Term often heard among Aftrono- mers, being the Name of a celebrated Obfervatory, in a Caftle on the little Ifland Veena, or Huena, in the Sound $ built by that noble Dane, Tycbo Srabe, and furnifli'd with Inftruments for obferving the Courfe and Motions of the heavenly Bodies. See Observatory.
This famed Obfervatory, finifli'd about the Year 1580, did not fubfift above feventeen Years 5 when Tycbo, who little thought to have erected an Edifice of fo fhort a Dura- tion, and who had even publifh'd the Figure and Pofition of the Heavens which he had chofe for the Moment to lay the firft Stone in, was obliged to abandon his Country.
Soon after this, thofe to whom the Property of the Ifland Huena was given, made it their Bufinefs to demolifh Ura- nibourgh : Part of the Ruins were difpers'd into divers Places, the reft ferved to build Tycbo a handfom Seat upon his antient Eftate, which to this Day bears the Name of
Uranibourgh. — For as to the antient Uranibourg, there is now no Footfteps remaining. 'Twas here Tycbo compofed his Catalogue of the Stars. See Catalogue.
M. Picart, making a Voyage to Uranibourgb, found Tycbd's Meridian-Line drawn thereon, to deviate from the Meridian of the World ; which confirms the Conjecture of fome, That the Pofition of the Meridian-Line may vary. See Meridian. URBICARY "Provinces. See Suburbicary. URDEE, in Heraldry.— A Crofs urdee, feems to be the fame with what we otherwife call clecbee. See Clechee.
UREDO, the Blading or Blighting of Trees or Herbs. See Blast and Blight.
Uredo, is fometimes ufed by Phyficians for an Itching or Burning in the Skin. See Itch.
URENTIA, are fometimes ufed for Medicines of a hot or burning Quality. See Caustic.
URETERS, in Anatomy, two long and fmall Canals, which come from the Bafon of the Kidneys, one on each fide, and terminate in the Bladder $ ferving to convey the Urine, fecreted in the Glands of the Kidneys, into the Bladder. See Kidney, and Bladder.
They lie between the doubling of the Peritoneum 5 and defcending in the form of an S, pierce the Bladder near its Neck, where they run, firft, fome fpace betwixt its Coats, and then o^en into its Cavity.
They are compofed of three Coats. — The firft is from the Peritoneum $ the fecond is made of fmall oblique mufcular Fibres ; and the third, which is very fenfible, has feveral fmall Glands, which feparate a flimy Liquor, to defend it againit the Acrimony of the Urine.
The neighbouring Parts furnifh them with Blood- Vefle Is ; and they have Nerves from the Intercoftals and the Vertebra of the Loins. — Their Caviry is fometimes contracted in three or four places, efpecially towards the Bladder
Such as are fubject to the Gravel, and given to exceffive drinking, have rhem fometimes fo much dilated, that one may put the End of ones little Finger into them. See Stone and Gravel.
Their Obftruction caufes a Suppreflion of the Urine. See Urine.
The Word is form'd from ihcGreek «f«i», meiere, to make Water.
URETHRA, in Anatomy, call'd alfo Meatus Urinarius, a Tube or Canal arifing from the Neck of the Bladder, and continued to the Pudendum ; ferving to difcharge or carry off the Urine out of the Bladder. See Urine.
Some will have it to be only a Production of the Neck of
the Bladder itfelf.- Its length is very different in the two
Sexes. — In Man it terminates in the Extremity of the Glans,
and is ordinarily a Foot long.- In Woman, 'tis but two
Fingers breadth long, and terminates in the Vulva 5 but it is much wider, and more eafily dilated here than in the o- ther Sex.
Mr. Cowper gives us an Inftance of a Woman, wherein the Hymen was fo firm and impervious, that her Husband finding no PafTage thro' it, had open'd himfelf another thro' the Urethra. See Hymen.
The Urethra is compofed of two Membranes, and a little fpongy Subftance like that of the Corpora Cavernofa, except at the End which joins the Neck of the Bladder, where the diftance between the Membranes is fmall, and fill'd up with a thin and red glandulous Subftance, whofe excretory Ducts piercing the inner Membrane, pour into a Pipe a mucilagi- nous Liquor which lines and lubricates its Cavity, and prevents the Salts of the Urine from galling it ; as having a farther Office in the Male Sex, viz. the Emiflion of the Seed. See Penis, and Seed.
URIGO, a burning with a Cauftic or Cautery. Sec Caustic, and Cautery.
URIM and Tbummim, D'ErO DH1N, q- d. Lights and Perfections, the Name of a kind of Ornament belonging to the Habit of the High-Prieft, in vertue whereof he gave oracular Anfwers to the People. SeepRopHECY, &c.
The High-Priefts of the Je-xvs, we are told, confultcd God in the moft important Affairs of their Common-wealth, and received Anfwers by the Urim and Thummim. — What thefe were is difputed among the Criticks: Some take them to be the twelve precious Stones in the Breaft-Plate of the High-Prieft,which flume like a Flame of Fire. See Pector al. Others will have them, the antient Terapbim, or little human Figures carried by the Prieft, hid in the Fold of his Robe or Gown, and by which he anfwer'd the Queftions of the Jews. See Teraphim.
Diodorus Siculus relates, that there was a like Ceremony in ufe among the Egyptians, whofe principal Minifter of Juftice carried an Image of precious Stones about his Neck, which was call'd Truth.
URINAL, in Medicine, a Veflel fit to receive and hold Urines 5 and ufed accordingly, for the conveniency of fick Perfons.
Tis
