V AL
ttrengthning the Optic Nerves, and reftoring decay'd Sight; but 'the prefeni Praaice acknowledges it not in anyluch
[ 276 ] V A L
'Tis, in good meafure, on the difference of thole two Va- lues, one whereof is, as it were, arbitrary, and the other, in fome fort, natural ; that the difference of Exchanges de- pends : and thofe ftill rifing and falling, as the Rate at which a Species is current, comes nearer or farther off the iuft Price of the Metal whereof it confifts. See Exchange.
In Bills of Exchange, Value is us'd to fignify the Nature of the Thing, (as ready Money, Merchandizes, Bills, Debts, fgc.) which°is given, as it were, in Exchange for the Sum ipecify'd in the "Bill. .
From four different Mannets of expreffing this Value, lome diftinguifh four Kinds of Bills of Exchange : The firft bears Value receiv'd, fimply and purely, which comprehends all Kinds of Value ; the fecond, Value receiv'd in Money, or Merchandize; the third, Value of my fe If ; and the fourth, Value uaderftood.
The firft is dangerous, and the fourth but little uied : ac- cordingly, to have the Value well exprefs'd, and to prevent the illConfequencesof Overfights therein, 'tis well provided by theFrencb Ordonnance of 1S73, that Bills of Exchange fliall contain the Name of the 1'erfon to whom the con- tain'd Sum is to be paid ; the Time of Payment ; the Name of him who has given the Value ; and whether it was receiv'd in Money, Merchandize, or other Effefts. See Bill of Exchange. .
Value, Valor, Valentia, in Law, &c. Wcjl gives
us a nice Difference between Value and 'Price. ' 'I he
' Value, (fays be) of Things in which Offences are commit- ' ted, is ufually compris'd in Indicf ments ; which feems ne- ■ ceffary in Theft, to make a difference from petty Lar- <■ ceny and in Trefpafs, to aggravate the Fault, and in- ' creafe the Fine : But no Price of Things fere Nature ' may be exprefs'd, as of Deers, Hares, iSc. if they be not ' in Parks and Warrens. And where the Number of Things ' taken is to be exprefs'd in the Indiament, as of young ' Doves in a Dove-houfe, there muft be faid 'Pretii, or ad <■ Valeutiam : but of divers dead Things, ad Valentiam, and ' not <Pretii : Of Coin not current, it mail be faid 'Pretii ; ' but of Coin current, neither 'Pretii nor ad Valentiam ; < the Price and Value being certain.
VALVE, Valvula, in Anatomy, a thin Membrane, ap- plied like a Door or Shutter, on divers Cavities and Veflcls of the Body ; to afford a Paffage to fome Humour, or other and prevent its Re-flux towards
Intentions. It fometimes does -Wonders in hyftencal Af- feaions ; efpecially where thofe of the fetid kind are good, and the Spirits are too impetuous in their Motions lo as to occafion Convulfions. It is alfo affifted with Camphire, and fome other things of the like Nature which are very pow- erful in breaking thro' the minuteft Obftruaions, to cure obftinate Agues. .111.
It is efficacious in all nervous Cafes ; and particularly the Epilepfy : which Virtue in it feems to have been firft dil- cover'd by Fabius Columna, who prefcrib'd it for that fur- pofe in Pouder. re-
M. Marchant, in the Memoirs of the Academy ot Sci- ences, has confirm'd this Virtue by many Inllanccs within his Knowledge: And what is very remarkable, is, that in the two Obfervations he enlarges moll upon, the Patients voided great Quantities of Worms. His Cuftom was, al- ways to purge before he adminiiler'd it.
V <VLESIANS,Vales 1 ani, antient Seaanes, fo called from one Valens, a Perfon unknown to Epiphdmus, who makes mention of this Sea, Her. 58. tho he owns we know but very little of 'em ; only this, that they admitted none into their Society but Eunuchs : at leaft, if any were admitted before Caftration, they oblig'd 'em not to eat any Meat till the Operation was peribrm'd.
For, then, being no longer fubjea to the Motions of the Flefh, they allow'd 'em to eat any kind of Meats.
VALET, a French Term, antiently wrote Varies.
In France, Valet is a common Name for all domeftick Servants, employ'd in the lower, and more fervile Offices ; including what we call Grooms, Footmen, Coachmen, Sai-
But the Word is not ufed among us in this Scnle, nor any otherwife than in the Phrafe Valet de Cbambre ; which is a Servant, whofe Office is to drefs and undrefs his Mafter, to look to his Bed-Chamber, wait on him at Table, £•*<-. the fame with what we otherwife call a Gentleman.
In the Hiftory of Lewis XII. by Seifel, we always find Varlet de Cbambre da Roi, Varlet de la Gardrobe, &c. But Varlet, like Knave, and divers other Words, is now dege- nerated into a Word of reproach.
Valet, Valetl, Vadeletl, Vcidlat, and Vallet, Camden ob- ferves, were antiently ufed at our Court for a Gentleman of Jg^^^ ££. Se e' V EssEL, &.
the Privy Chamber.
Seldea, in his titles, relates, that Valets antiently figni- fy 'd young Gentlemen, and Heirs of great Eftate and Qua- lity ; efpecially fuch as were to be knighted. See Valect.
VALETUDINARY, Valetudinanus, a Term fometimes ufed by the Writers of Medicine, for a Perfon of a weak, crazy, fickly Conftitution, frequently out of order, lie.
Dr. Cbeync, by all means, direas rhe weakly, the ftudious, the fedentary, and the valetudinary, to a low, fpare Re- gimen. See Food, Exercise, Diet, e?c.
VALID, a Term applied to A3s, Tranfiaions, Expedi- tions, iSc. which are clothed in all the Formalities requi- fite to their being put in Execution, and to their being ad- mitted in a Court of Juftice.
A Contraa by a Minor is not valid, or is invalid : A Mar- riage is not valid, unlefs perform'd with the Solemnities enjoin'd.
VALLAR, Vallaris, in Antiquity, an Epithet given to a kind of Crown, which the Roman Generals beftow'd on him who in attacking the Enemies Camp firft broke in upon the Enemies Lines. See Crown.
The Word is form'd from Vallum, a Stake with Branches, whereof they made the Pallifade of a Camp, call'd Lorica.
The Corona Vallaris was the fame with what was other- wife call'd Corona Cafflrenfis, from Caftra, a Camp. Aldus Gellius affures us, that it was of Gold, as the Mural and Naval Crowns were : yet, tho they were made of that pre- cious Metal, they were not the moll valued : For 'Pliny, Lib. XXII. cap. 5. gives the Preference to the Corona Obfi- dionalis, which yet was only of Gramen, or Grafs.
VALLEY, VALE, in Geography. See Mountain.
VALORE Montagu, Value of Marriage, a Writ which antiently lay for the Lord, after having proffer'd fuitable Marriage to an Infant who refufed the fame ; to recover the Value of the Marriage. See Maritagium.
VALUE, in Commerce, the Price or Worth of any Thing.
Jntrin/ick Value, is the proper, real, and effeaive Value of any Thing : and is ufed chiefly with regard to Money ; the popular Value whereof, may be rais'd and lower'd at the Pleafure of the Prince ; but its real, or intrinfick Value, depending wholly on its Weight and Finenefs, is not at all affeaed by the Stamp, or lmpreflion thereon. See Mo- ney, ISc.
'Tis generally on the Foot of this intrinfick^ Value, that Species are receiv'd in foreign Countries ; tho in the Places where they are coin'd, and where the Sovereign Powermakes 'em current, they generally pafs for much more. See Par.
The Veins and Lymphaticks have Valves, fituate from Space to Space, which open towards the Heart, but keep clofe on that Side toward the Extremities, i. e. they let the Blood and Lymph rafs towards the Heart, but prevent their returning to the' extreme Parts, whence they came. See Vein, and Blooe.
The Heart has alfo its Valves, placed at the Entrance of the Veffels arifing out of it. Thofe at the Entrance of the Vena Cava and Pulmonary Vein, let the Blood pafs on to the Hearr, and prevent its return : On the contrary, thofe at the Entrance of the Aorta and Pulmonary Artery, let the Blood pafs out of the Heart, and prevent irs flowing back again. See Heart, and Circulation ; lee alfoCi-
In the r fe]umim Inteftintim there are Valves which re- tard the Defcent of the Chyle. See Intestines.
The Colon has a thick Valve, to prevent the Excrements from paffing into the Ileon ; and feveral other Valves, to retard the Defcent of the Excrements. See Colon, and Excrement. . .
The Valves in the Body acquire different Denominations from their different Forms, and other Circumftances ; as Skmoides, Semilunars, Mitrales, lricufpides. Sic. See each under its reffeSive ^m«:/c,Sigmoides, Mitrales,cTc.
Some attribute the Difcovery of the Valves in the Veins to Fra. 'Paolo. Ruyjcb has a particular Treatife on the Valves of the Lymphatic and Lacteal Veffels. See Lac-
TE VAt.vE,rfl/™£*, in Hydraulics, Pneumatics, &c. is a kind of Lid or Cover of a Tube, or Veffel, fo contnv d as to open one way; but which, the more forcibly 'tis prefsd the other way, the clofer it fhuts the Aperture : fo that it either admits the Entrance of a Fluid into the Tube, or Veffel, and prevents its return ; or admits it to efcape, and prevents its re-entrance.
Valves are of great ufe in the Atr-'Pump, and other Wind-Engines ; in which they are ordinarily made ot Pieces of Bladder. See Air Pump ; and Wine-Sbb.
In Hydraulic Engines, as the Emboli of Pumps, they are freouently of Leather ; their Figure round, and are fitted to the Bottoms, 'or other Parts of the Barrels, tfc. to Ihut the Apertures. See Embolus.
Sometimes they are made of two round Pieces of Lea- ther inclofed between two others of Brafs ; having divers Perforations, which are cover'd with another piece of Brafs moveable upwards and downwards, on a kind of Axis, which goes thro' the middle of them all.
