162 V E N V E R is often less than 1 per litre (61 cubic inches); in well- ventilated rooms it ranges from 1 to 20 ; in close school rooms as many as 600 per litre have been found. The elaborate researches of Carnelley, Haldane, and Anderson 1 on the air of dwellings and schools illustrate well the value of this test. One of the uses to which they have put it has been to compare schools known to be well ventilated (by mechanical means) with schools ventilated at hap hazard or not ventilated at all. A large number of trials were made in each case ; in t"he mechanically ventilated schoolrooms the average number of micro-organisms was 17 per litre, and in the others 152. Results of great in terest were obtained by the experiment of stopping the me chanical ventilators for a few hours or days. Tested by the proportion of carbonic acid, the air of course became very bad ; tested by the number of micro-organisms, it remained comparatively pure, the number being, in fact, scarcely greater than when ventilation was going on, and far less than the average in " naturally ventilated " schools. This proves in a striking way the advantage of systematic ventilation. The bad effect of a foul stagnant atmosphere is cumulative. An habitually close room acts as a nursery of micro-organisms, which a casual flushing with fresh air will not remove ; an habitually well- ventilated room is kept in great measure clear of these dangerous inmates, and its atmosphere may be occasionally overtaxed without causing the number of them to be seriously increased, (j. A. E.) VENTNOR, a watering-place in the south-east of the Isle of Wight, is finely situated in the Undercliff district, at the foot of St Boniface Down (784 feet), 12 miles south- south-west of Ryde and 10 south-south-east of Newport, with both of which there is communication by coach as well as by rail. The town is finely and picturesquely built on a succession of terraces sloping towards the sea, and from its sheltered situation, equable temperature, and com paratively dry atmosphere is regarded as one of the best resorts in England for consumptive invalids. About fifty years ago it was only a small fishing hamlet ; now it ex tends along the shore for a distance of about 2 miles, in cluding Bonchurch to the east. It possesses assembly rooms and a literary and scientific institution. An espla nade was constructed in 1848, and a pier (645 feet in length) in 1872, which was greatly improved in 1887. There are extensive recreation grounds. The churches are all modern and without special architectural features. The church of St Boniface at Bonchurch is perhaps the oldest in the island. Among the benevolent and charit able institutions are the royal national hospital for con sumptives (begun in 1869), the seaside home of the London city mission, the St Catherine s home for consumptives, and the convalescent home of the Royal Hants Hospital. An Act for establishing a market was passed in 1844. The town is governed by a board of eighteen members, established in 1858. The population of the urban sanitary district (area 215 acres) was 4841 in 1871 and 5504 in 1881 ; but there is a considerable population outside the district. VENUE (from Lat. vicenetum) denotes in English law the place from which a jury must be brought for the trial of a case. The word occurs early in constitutional docu ments, for it was for a long time one of the essentials of trial by jury that the jury should belong to the neighbour hood in which the cause of action arose or the alleged crime was committed (see JURY). The phrase duodecim legates homines de viceneto or its equivalent is found in the Con stitutions of Clarendon (1164), the Assize of the Forest (1184), and in Glanvill. In civil matters venue became after a time divided into local and transitory, the former where the cause of action could only have arisen in a ^~Phil. Trans., 1887, vol. clxxviii. B, p. 61. particular county, such as trespass to land, the latter where it might have arisen in any county, such as debt. In the latter case the plaintiff might lay the venue where he pleased, subject to the power of the court or a judge to change it. The law on the subject is now only of anti quarian interest (unless, perhaps, in certain actions on penal statutes), for it is enacted by the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1883 (Ord. xxxvi. r. 1), that there shall be no local venue for the trial of any action, except where otherwise provided by statute. The plaintiff may name his place of trial ; where no place of trial is named the place is to be the county of Middlesex. The court or a judge has discretion to alter the place of trial. In criminal practice venue is still of importance, though not as much so as formerly since the large powers of amendment of indictments given by recent legislation. The venue is named in the margin of an indictment in this form, "Middlesex to wit." By 14 and 15 Viet. c. 100 it is un necessary to state any venue in the body of an indictment, and no indictment is to be held bad for want of a proper perfect venue. Numerous Acts provide for, inter alia, the laying of the venue in the case of offences committed partly in one county and partly in another, or on the high seas, or abroad, and of special offences, such as those under the Post Office, Merchant Shipping, Slave Trade, and Foreign Enlistment Acts. The place of trial may be changed by the Queen s Bench Division, chiefly where it is rendered probable that a fair trial could not be had in the county of the venue. In Scotch law venue is not used as a technical term ; but there are statutory provisions for changing the place of trial in both civil and criminal cases. In the United States venue may generally be changed by the courts ; but in some States it is provided by their constitutions that provision for change of venue is to be made by the legislature. In other States the passing of local or special laws for change of venue is forbidden. VENUS. See APHRODITE. VERA, AUGUSTO (1817-1885), the chief representative of Hegelianism in Italian philosophy, was born at Amelia in the province of Perugia on 4th May 1817. He com pleted his education in Paris, and, after teaching classics for some years in Switzerland, was appointed professor of philosophy in connexion with the university of France. Attaching himself to Hegel s system with the enthusiasm of a disciple, Vera (who wrote fluently both in French and English as well as in Italian) became widely influen tial in spreading a knowledge of the Hegelian doctrine. Without any marked originality, his writings are distin guished by the lucidity of their exposition, and by their genuine philosophic spirit. Among his numerous works may be mentioned Introduction a la Philosophic d Hegel (1853, 2d ed. 1864); Probleme de la Certitude (1861); Melanges Philosophiques (1862) ; Essais de Philosophic Hegelienne (1864); Strauss, VAncienne et la Nouvelle Foi (1873), an attack upon Strauss s last " confession," written from the standpoint of an orthodox Hegelian ; and a com prehensive work in Italian, II Problema dell Assoluto, be longing to his later years. His English works are an Inquiry into Speculative and Experimental Science (1856), more recently an Introduction to Speculative Logic and Philosophy, and a translation of Bretschneider s History of Religion and of the Christian Church. Vera also trans lated a number of Hegel s works into French, with intro ductions and commentaries, including the Logic, the Philosophy of Nature, the Philosophy of Spirit, and the Philosophy of Religion. In 1860 Vera returned to Italy, where he was made professor of philosophy in the royal academy of Milan. In the following year he was trans ferred to Naples as professor of philosophy in the university there. His Prolusioni alia Storia della Filosojia and Lezioni sulla Filosofia della Storia connect themselves with
the work of his chair, which was specially devoted to the