VIRGO 233 VIRUS and through the United States minister to Spain, General Daniel E. Sickles, de- manded the release of the "Virginius" and her crew. Spain was at that time a republic under President Castelar, and while his government was asking for time to ob- tain information and was making prom- ises, the authorities in Cuba deter- mined to take matters into their own hands. On Nov. 7, 1873, the captain of the "Virginius," Joseph Fry, and 36 of the crew, were shot. The next day 12 of the most prominent passengers were also shot. The Captain-General of Cuba, General De Rodas, directly sanctioned these murders. When the news of this action became known in the United States the excitement was intense. Meetings were held, and the bloody work was de- nounced. President Grant authorized the putting of the navy on a war foot- ing, diplomatic relations were on the point of severance and war was immi- nent. Meanwhile President Castelar made the excuse that his orders to stay proceedings were received too late to pre- vent the crime. Several times it seemed that hostilities could not be avoided. Once, General Sickles sent for a ship to take him from Spain. At last, however, on Nov. 29, a protocol was signed between Secretary Fish and Admiral Polo, by which Spain agreed to surrender the survivors of the crew and passengers of the "Virginius," together with the ship, and to salute the flag of the United States on Dec. 25. If, however, it should be proved in the inter- val that the "Virginius" had no right to fly the United States flag, the salute should be dispensed with, though Spain should disclaim any intention to insult the flag. Three days before the time agreed on, Secretary Fish announced himself as satisfied that the "Virginius" had no right to fly the flag, and the salute was dispensed with. On Jan. 23 Admiral Polo made the disclaimer agreed on. The "Virginius" was delivered to the United States navy at Bahia Honda on Dec. 16, with the American flag flying. She was, however, unseaworthy and, encountering a heavy storm off Cape Fear, sank. The prisoners who sur- vived were surrendered on Dec. 18, at Santiago de Cuba, and landed in safety in New York. VIRGO, in astronomy, the Virgin: (1) One of the 12 ancient zodiacal con- stellations. It is bounded on the N. by Bootes and Coma Berenices; on the S. by Corvus, Crater, and Hydra. Its prin- cipal star. Alpha Virginis, is called Spica Virginis, or simply Spica. It is in the hand of the imaginary virgin which holds ears of corn, typifying the harvest which took place in Greece while the sun passed through this part of the ecliptic. (2) The sixth sign of the zodiac. The sun enters it about Aug. 23, and leaves it about Sept. 23. VIRIATHUS, the shepherd leader of the Lusitanians, or ancient inhabitants of Portugal, in their struggle for inde- pendence against the Romans; was one of the survivors of his countrymen's massacre by Sulpicius Galba (150 B. c). Thenceforward he carried on in Lusi- tania and southern Hispania a success- ful guerrilla warfare against a succes- sion of Roman proconsuls, winning two pitched battles, and in 141 entrapping the army of Quintus Fabius Servilianus in a mountain pass. Unconditional sur- render was followed by alliance and a promise of independence; but within a year Servilius Caepio, the next proconsul, again took the field, and bribing some Lusitanian envoys, procured the assas- sination of Viriathus (139), with whose death the conflict virtually ended. VIRUS (Latin, "a poisonous fluid"), a term used in medicine to designate the mateHes morbi of zymotic diseases. It more specially designates those peculiar poisonous matters which can reproduce themselves under favoring conditions to an endless degree. The poison of the cobra is a specific virus which, when in- troduced into the human system, acts as a most virulent poison; but the poison is not multiplied within the human sub- ject, and one person affected by the poison cannot communicate the disease to another. In like manner, morbid prod- ucts from decaying vegetables under certain conditions of heat and moisture may possibly originate the virus of mala- rial fever; but the virus is not propa- gated within the human organism, or, at all events, never in such a form as to render it capable of producing the same disease in others. By some the virus of the contagious or infectious diseases is supposed to be a contagitmi vivxivi sen animatum, the theory being that the virus consists of living beings or low or- ganisms. Such views have been advo- cated by Kircher, Lancisi, Vallisneri, Reaumur, Linne, Henle, Roberts, and others ; and although the theory of a contagium vivum is not as yet complete, the discussion of it is the most important which has ever engaged the attention of medical men. The most prominent characteristic of each specific virus is that it can reproduce itself within the human organism, and to an unlimited extent, each virus preserving its own specificness. Experience and observa- tion tend to confirm the hypothesis that
