USK

Uskub, or SKOPLIE, a town of Turkey, on the Vardar, 130 miles NW. of Salonica by rail. It is the seat of a Greek archbishop. Uskub was once the residence of the Servian kings, and its pop. (29,000) is still largely Servian.

Usk, a beautiful river of South Wales and but a slight and irregular rainfall, and except in a Monmouthshire, rising at Talsarn, one of the few favoured valleys agriculture is almost an imposBlack Mountains, and winding 57 miles south-sibility. Portions of the Colorado basin are nevereast, past Brecknock, Crickhowell, Abergavenny, theless, especially in the rainy season, well adapted Usk, Caerleon, and Newport, to the Bristol Channel. for grazing. Even in the valleys along the western The town of Usk, 12 miles SW. of Monmouth, has base of the mountains the success of irrigation a ruined castle, and with Monmouth and Newport varies in different years. The streams during the returns one member. Pop. 1417. spring and summer are fed by the melting of the snow on the mountain summits. If the snow chances to fall early in the winter it becomes compact and the melting is retarded. A fall of snow late in the season lies loosely on the mountain sides, and the water reaches the valleys before the crops are ready to receive its full benefit. Much of the soil in the west is extremely fertile, but, as it lacks the necessary element of moisture on account of the insufficient altitude of the surrounding mountains, large areas of land seem destined to remain unproductive desert wastes. Great Salt Lake (q.v.), with its extraordinary percentage of saline matter in solution, is but the remnant of a vast body of fresh water which once covered western Utah.

Usnea. See LICHENS.
Ussuri. See AMUR.
Ustilagineæ. See SMUT.

Ust Urt, the desert plateau between the Caspian

and the Sea of Aral.

Usury now means iniquitous or illegal interest, but formerly meant interest of any kind on money lent. The Mosaic law forbade a Jew to take usury from a fellow-countryman. Greek and Roman moralists mainly disapproved of any usury; the church fathers, the popes, the canon law absolutely forbade it; hence the Jews had a kind of monopoly of usury at the Reformation. Luther condemned interest, while Calvin allowed it. A long series of laws were passed on the understand ing that usury was wrong, but admitting many exceptions; the usury laws thus doing much harm and multiplying legal fictions. The moral question is still debated, and moralists such as Ruskin wax fierce against the taking of interest. But it may broadly be said that modern civilisation fully recognises the admissibility of fair interest. See INTEREST, PAWNBROKING.

Utah, a territory of the American Union, ranking tenth in area and fortieth in population among the forty-nine states and terri- Copyright 1892 in U.S. tories, is situated in the Rocky by J. B. Lippincott Mountain region. It is nearly Company. rectangular in shape, extending from north to south 350 miles, and from east to west 280 miles, with an area of 84,970 sq. m. Idaho and Wyoming form the northern boundary; Colorado, the eastern ; Arizona, the southern; and Nevada, the western.

Utah lies in a great plateau region, having an average elevation of 5000 feet above the level of the sea. The Wahsatch Mountains, which extend nearly north and south throughout its entire length, and the Uintah Mountains, which are an eastern spur of and at right angles to the former range, divide the territory into two portions differing widely in topography and climate. The division lying to the north and west of these ranges belongs to the great interior basin of the continent, from which no water escapes except by evaporation. The eastern and southern sections form a part of the basin of the Colorado River, and are noted for their lofty and broken plateaus and deep cañons. The greatest elevation is attained in the Uintah range-nearly 14,000 feet. Mounts Nebo and Baldy, the highest points of the Wahsatch range, are about 12,000 feet high. In the basin region there are some lower and parallel ranges having a general north and south trend. The prevailing westerly winds are robbed of their moisture by the lofty peak of the Wahsatch range and the streams which flow from the mountains find their way toward the west, ultimately discharging their waters into Great Salt Lake, or into some of the smaller saline lakes or sinks of the desert. In the valleys lying among the lateral spurs along the western side of the Wahsatch range irrigation is not difficult. On the east, however, the towering plateaus which overhang stupendous cañons have

the United States from Mexico in 1848. The Utah formed a part of the territory acquired by early growth and development of this region was in a great measure due to Brigham Young (see MORMONS). In 1850 a territorial government was organised, but Utah then included parts of Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado. It was reduced to its by the Mormons, and as they in various ways present area in 1868. As polygamy was practised exhibited antagonism to the federal government, they became obnoxious to the Gentile' settlers. After various efforts at legislation their supremacy was finally overthrown, the Mormon Church corporation dissolved, and its property confiscated and set aside as a permanent school fund. The Mormons have renounced plural marriages, and show a tendency to abandon their former exclusiveness by affiliating themselves to the leading political parties.

The mineral resources of Utah are important. The annual product of copper, lead, silver, and gold is valued at more than $11,000,000. There is also a considerable output of coal. More than $4,500,000 are invested in manufacturing and industrial establishments, which are varied in character. Besides Salt Lake City, the important towns are Ogden, Provo, and Logan. Pop. (1870) 86,786; (1880) 143,963; (1890) 207,905.

See H. H. Bancroft's History of Utah (1888), and A. Lambourne's Scenic Utah (folio, New York, 1891).

Uterus. See WOMB.

Utica, an ancient city of North Africa 20 miles NW. of Carthage, originally founded as a Phœni

Its ruins include an

cian colony in 1101 B.C.
amphitheatre, an aqueduct, and the remains of
quays; for a bay then carried the sea (now nearly
10 miles distant) to the site. During the third
Punic war Utica submitted to Rome, and became
the capital of the province of Africa. Afterwards
it was the see of a bishop, till its destruction by the
Arabs. Here the younger Cato (q. v.) killed himself.

Utica, a city of New York, 232 miles by rail NNW. of New York City. Regularly and substantially built, it rises in a gentle slope from the south bank of the Mohawk River, and is traversed by the Erie Canal. It contains a fine United States building, a city hall, state lunatic asylum, several hospitals, and a large and handsome Masonic Home and School (begun in 1891), is a noted market for cheese, and manufactures boots and shoes, cottons and woollens, organs and pianos, machinery, starch, &c. Pop. (1880) 33,914; (1890) 44,007.

Utilitarianism, the ethical theory which finds the basis of moral distinctions in the utility of