Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Keith Edkins and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
are listed at the end of the text.
* * * * *
In the pronunciation guides [=e] signifies "e macron"; [)e] "e breve"; [a:]
"a with diaeresis below"; [.a] "a with dot above"; [n.] "n with dot below";
[:a] "a with diaeresis"; ['e] "e with acute"; [`e] "with grave"; [^e] "with
circumflex"; and so forth.
THE
NEW . GRESHAM
ENCYCLOPEDIA
VOLUME . IV . PART . 1
[Illustration]
_The_ GRESHAM . PUBLISHING
COMPANY . _Limited_
66 CHANDOS STREET . STRAND
LONDON W.C.2.
1922
* * * * *
LIST OF PLATES
* * * * *
VOLUME IV PART 1
DEPOSITION to EBERSWALDE
* * * * *
PLATES
Page
DIAMONDS 18
DOGS 62
* * * * *
CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLUME IV
ADOLPHE ABRAHAMS, O.B.E., B.A., M.D., late Major, R.A.M.C.
GEORGE E. ALLAN, D.Sc., Lecturer in Electricity, University of Glasgow.
C. O. BANNISTER, F.I.C., Assoc. R.S.N., Professor of Metallurgy, University
of Liverpool.
F. F. P. BISACRE, O.B.E., M.A., B.SC., A.M.Inst.C.E.
R. N. RUDMOSE BROWN, D.SC.
A. Y. CATTO, O.B.E., Lieutenant, R.N.
GRENVILLE A. J. COLE, F.R.S., Professor of Geology, Royal College of
Science, Ireland.
W. G. CONSTABLE, M.A., Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge.
ARTHUR O. COOKE, Author of _A Book of Dovecotes_.
J. R. AINSWORTH DAVIS, M.A., F.C.P., former Principal of The Royal
Agricultural College, Cirencester.
JOHN DOUGALL, M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S.E., Gold Medallist of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh.
MONTAGU DRUMMOND, M.A., Director of Research, Scottish Station for Research
in Plant Breeding.
S. L. ETHERTON, B.Sc.
REV. WILLIAM FULTON, D.D., B.Sc., Professor of Systematic Theology,
University of Aberdeen.
R. N. HAYGARTH, B.A., B.Sc., Queens' College, Cambridge.
W. A. HISLOP, M.B., late Captain, R.A.M.C.
D. J. MACKELLOR, B.Sc., Lecturer in Electrical Engineering, Royal Technical
College, Glasgow.
DONALD A. MACKENZIE, Folklorist; Author of _Egyptian Myth and Legend_, &c.
MAGNUS MACLEAN, M.A., D.Sc., M.Inst.E.E., M.Inst.C.E., Editor of _Modern
Electrical Engineering_, &c.
F. A. MUMBY, Editor of _The Great World War_.
D. G. OGILVY, LL.B.
R. F. PATTERSON, M.A., formerly Foundation Scholar of St. John's College,
Cambridge, and Charles Oldham (University) Shakespeare Scholar.
ANGELO S. RAPPOPORT, Ph.D., B. [`e]s L.
JAMES RITCHIE, M.A., M.D., Professor of Bacteriology, University of
Edinburgh.
JOHN J. ROSS, M.A., F.R.A.S.
G. ELLIOT SMITH, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., Professor of Anatomy, University of
London.
C. S. STOCKS, D.S.O., Major, Indian Army; Instructor in Military
Organization, Royal Military College, Sandhurst.
M. M. J. SUTHERLAND, D.Sc., F.I.C.
ALAN C. THOMSON, D.S.O., A.M.Inst.C.E., late Lieutenant-Colonel, R.E.
G. E. TOULMIN, B.A., King's College, Cambridge.
THOMAS WOODHOUSE, Head of the Weaving and Designing Department, Dundee
Technical College and School of Art.
* * * * *
KEY TO PRONUNCIATION
* * * * *
The method of marking pronunciations here employed is either (1) by marking
the syllable on which the accent falls, or (2) by a simple system of
transliteration, to which the following is the Key:--
VOWELS
[=a], as in f_a_te, or in b_a_re.
[:a], as in _a_lms, Fr. _[^a]_me, Ger. B_a_hn = ['a] of Indian names.
[.a], the same sound short or medium, as in Fr. b_a_l, Ger. M_a_nn.
a, as in f_a_t.
[a:], as in f_a_ll.
_a_, obscure, as in rur_a_l, similar to _u_ in b_u_t, [.e] in h_e_r: common
in Indian names.
[=e], as in m_e_ = _i_ in mach_i_ne.
e, as in m_e_t.
[.e], as in h_e_r.
[=i], as in p_i_ne, or as _ei_ in Ger. m_ei_n.
i, as in p_i_n, also used for the short sound corresponding to [=e], as in
French and Italian words.
_eu_, a long sound as in Fr. j_e[^u]_ne = Ger. long _[:o]_, as in
S_[:o]_hne, G_[:o]_the (Goethe).
eu, corresponding sound short or medium, as in Fr. p_eu_ = Ger. _[:o]_
short.
[=o], as in n_o_te, m_oa_n.
o, as in n_o_t, s_o_ft--that is, short or medium.
[:o], as in m_o_ve, tw_o_.
[=u] as in t_u_be.
u, as in t_u_b: similar to [.e] and also to a.
[u:], as in b_u_ll.
[:u], as in Sc. ab_u_ne = Fr. _[^u]_ as in d_[^u]_, Ger. _[:u]_ long as in
gr_[:u]_n, B_[:u]_hne.
[.u], the corresponding short or medium sound, as in Fr. b_u_t, Ger.
M_[:u]_ller.
oi, as in _oi_l.
ou, as in p_ou_nd; or as _au_ in Ger. H_au_s.
CONSONANTS
Of the _consonants_, B, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, NG, P, SH, T, V, Z, always
have their common English sounds, when used to transliterate foreign words.
The letter C is not used by itself in re-writing for pronunciation, S or K
being used instead. The only consonantal symbols, therefore, that require
explanation are the following:--
ch is always as in ri_ch_.
_d_, nearly as _th_ in _th_is = Sp. _d_ in Ma_d_ri_d_, &c.
g is always hard, as in _g_o.
_h_ represents the guttural in Scotch lo_ch_, Ger. na_ch_, also other
similar gutturals.
[n.], Fr. nasal _n_ as in bo_n_.
r represents both English _r_, and _r_ in foreign words, which is generally
much more strongly trilled.
s, always as in _s_o.
th, as _th_ in _th_in.
_th_, as _th_ in _th_is.
w always consonantal, as in _w_e.
x = ks, which are used instead.
y always consonantal, as in _y_ea (Fr. _ligne_ would be re-written
l[=e]ny).
zh, as _s_ in plea_s_ure = Fr. _j_.
* * * * *
THE NEW
GRESHAM ENCYCLOPEDIA
VOLUME IV
DEPOSITION OF A CLERGYMAN, the degradation of a clergyman from office,
divesting him (in churches which do not, like the Church of Rome, hold the
indelible nature of orders) of all clerical character.
D['E]P[^O]T (d[=a]'po or dep'[=o]), a French word in general use as a term
for a place where goods are received and stored; hence, in military
matters, a magazine where arms and ammunition are kept. The term is now
usually applied to a military station situated in the centre of the
recruiting district of a regiment, where recruits for this regiment are
received and where they undergo preliminary training before joining their
unit. In America it is the common term for a railway station.
DEPRIVATION, the removing of a clergyman from his benefice on account of
heresy or misconduct. It entails, of course, loss of all emoluments, but
not the loss of clerical character.
DE PROFUNDIS, in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, one of the seven
penitential psalms, the 130th of the _Psalms_ of David, which in the
_Vulgate_ begins with these words, signifying 'Out of the depths'. It is
sung when the bodies of the dead are committed to the grave.
DEPTFORD (det'ford), a parliamentary and municipal borough, England, in the
counties of Kent and Surrey, on the right bank of the Thames, now forming
part of London. It has some manufactures of pottery, chemicals, and soap.
The old naval dockyard was shut up in 1869, but the royal victualling yard
is still the largest establishment of its kind. Deptford sends one member
to Parliament. Pop. 109,496.
DEPUTIES, CHAMBER OF, the lower of the two legislative chambers in France
and in Italy, elected by popular suffrage, and corresponding in some
respects to the House of Commons in Britain.
DE QUINCEY, Thomas, English author, was the son of a Manchester merchant,
and born at Greenhay, near Manchester, on 15th Aug., 1785, died at
Edinburgh, 8th Dec., 1859. In 1793 his father died, leaving the family a
fortune of L30,000. After attending some time the Bath and Manchester
grammar schools, where he showed precocious ability, especially in
classical studies, he importuned his guardian to send him to Oxford
University, and on being refused he ran away from school, ultimately
arriving in London in an absolutely destitute condition. His sufferings at
this time he has described in his _Confessions of an English Opium Eater_.
At length, in 1803, he matriculated at Oxford, and it was in the second
year of his course here that he began to take opium in order to alleviate
severe neuralgic pains. On leaving college he settled at Grasmere,
Westmoreland, in the vicinity of Wordsworth and Southey, and devoted
himself to literary work. Here or in London he remained till 1828, reading
voraciously, and writing for the _London Magazine_, _Knight's Quarterly
Magazine_, and _Blackwood's Magazine_. From 1828 to 1840 he lived in
Edinburgh, then removed with his family to Lasswade, which continued to be
his head-quarters. His writings, nearly all contributions to magazines, are
distinguished by power of expression, subtle thought, and an encyclopaedic
abundance of curious information. His work belongs to that class of
literature which he himself called "the literature of power", as
distinguished from "the literature of knowledge". He was eccentric in his
habits, incapable of managing money matters, but amiable and
polite.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. H. Japp, _Thomas De Quincey: his Life and
Writings_; H. S. Salt, _De Quincey_; J. Hogg, _De Quincey and His Friends_;
Sir L. Stephen, _Hours in a Library_; Arvede Barine, _Po[`e]tes et
N['e]vros['e]s_.
DERA GHAZI KHAN, a district and town in the Punjab, Hindustan. The former,
which is in Derajat division, has an area of 5606 sq. miles, and a
population of 445,000. The town has a population of 18,466, half Hindus and
half Mohammedans. It has extensive manufactures of silk, cotton, and coarse
cutlery.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, a town in Hindustan, in the North-West Frontier Province,
several miles to the west of the Indus, which is here crossed by
boat-bridges, or boats, connecting the town with the Indus Valley railway.
Dera Ismail Khan is a staple place for cotton goods, has a cantonment, and
carries on a trade with Afghanistan. It is well laid out, has several
schools and a large bazaar. Pop. 35,131.
DERAJAT (-j[:a]t'), a commissionership of Hindustan, in the west of the
Punjab, occupying part of the valley of the Indus. It is well watered and
fertile, and contains numerous towns and villages. Pop. 1,800,000, mostly
Mohammedans.
DERBEND', or DERBENT', a fortified town in Daghestan, Transcaucasia, on the
west shore of the Caspian, an ancient place formerly belonging to Persia.
The manufactures consist of woollen stuffs, copper- and iron-ware, and
rose-water; and there is some trade in saffron, largely grown in the
vicinity. Pop. 32,718.
DERBY, Edward Geoffrey Smith Stanley, fourteenth Earl of, an English
statesman, born at Knowsley Park, Lancashire, 29th March, 1799, died there,
23rd Oct., 1869. In 1820 he was returned to the House of Commons as member
for Stockbridge. At first inclining to the Whig party, he joined Canning's
ministry in 1827, and in 1830 became Chief Secretary for Ireland in Lord
Grey's Government, greatly distinguishing himself by his speeches in favour
of the Reform Bill in 1831-2. The opposition led by O'Connell in the House
of Commons was powerful and violent, but Stanley, while supporting a Bill
for the reform of the Irish Church and the reduction of ecclesiastical
taxation, was successful in totally defeating the agitation for the repeal
of the Union. He warmly advocated the abolition of slavery, and passed the
Act for this purpose in 1833; but in the following year a difference of
opinion with his party as to the diversion of the surplus revenue of the
Irish Church led him to join the Tories. In 1841 he became Colonial
Secretary under Sir Robert Peel, but resigned on Peel's motion for repeal
of the corn laws. In 1851 and 1858 he formed ministries which held office
only for a short period; and again in 1860, when his administration
signalized itself by the reform of the government in India, the conduct of
the Abyssinian War, and the passing of a Bill for electoral reform (1867).
Early in 1868, owing to failing health, he resigned office, recommending
Disraeli as his successor. Lord Derby joined to great ability as a
statesman, and brilliant oratorical powers, a high degree of scholarly
culture and literary ability. Among other works he published a successful
translation of Homer's _Iliad_ in 1864.--Cf. T. E. Kebbel, _English
Statesmen Since the Peace of 1815: Derby_.
DERBY, Edward George Villiers Stanley, seventeenth Earl of, British
politician, born in April, 1865. He served for some years in the Grenadier
Guards, and entered the House of Commons in 1892. In 1895 he became a Lord
of the Treasury, in 1900 Financial Secretary to the War Office, and in 1903
Postmaster-General. He succeeded to the earldom in 1908. Lord Derby became
quite famous as the originator of the _Derby Scheme_, when he was
Director-General of Recruiting in 1915. Under-Secretary for War in 1916, he
succeeded Lloyd George as Secretary when the latter became Premier. In 1918
he was appointed British Ambassador in Paris, but resigned his position in
Sept., 1920, and left Paris in Nov., greatly to the regret of the French
people, to whom he had proved a staunch friend.
DERBY, a municipal, parliamentary, and county borough in England, capital
of Derbyshire, on the Derwent, here crossed by a graceful bridge of three
arches, 115 miles N.N.W. of London. It is pleasantly situated in a wide and
fertile valley open to the south, and is well and regularly built in the
modern quarter. It has some fine public buildings, amongst which are the
churches of All Saints, St. Alkmund, and St. Werburgh, the county hall,
school of arts, and infirmary. There is also a very handsome free library
and museum. The manufactures include silk, cotton, hosiery, lace, articles
in Derbyshire spar, iron castings, and porcelain; and the principal
engineering works of the Midland Railway are here. Derby is one of the
oldest towns in the kingdom, and is supposed to owe its origin to a Roman
station, Derventio. Under the Danes it took the name of Deoraby.
Richardson, the novelist, and Herbert Spencer were natives. It returns two
members to Parliament. Pop. 123,930 (1919).--The county of _Derby_, in the
centre of the kingdom, is about 55 miles long and from 15 to 30 miles
broad; area, 650,369 acres, five-sixths being arable or in permanent
pasture. It exhibits much varied and romantic scenery, the southern and
eastern parts having a fertile soil, while the north-western portion is
bleak, with a rocky and irregular surface. Here is the loftiest range of
the English Midlands, the mountains of the Peak. The Peak itself is 2000
feet high. The principal rivers are the Derwent, the Trent, the Wye, the
Erwash, the Dove, and the Rother. Oats and turnips are important crops, and
dairy-husbandry is carried on to a large extent. Coal is abundant in
various parts of the county, iron-ore is also plentiful, and lead, gypsum,
zinc, fluor-spar, and other minerals are obtained. The manufactures are
very considerable, especially of silk, cotton, and lace, machinery, and
agricultural implements. The county is divided into eight parliamentary
divisions, each with one member. Pop. 683,423.--Cf. J. C. Cox,
_Derbyshire_.
DERBY-DAY, the great annual London holiday, on which is run the horse-race
for the stakes instituted by Lord Derby in 1780. It always takes place on a
Wednesday, being the second day of the grand race-meeting which falls in
the week after Trinity Sunday. The race is run on Epsom Downs, an extensive
Surrey course 15 miles from London. The course is 1-1/2 miles, and the time
usually about 2 minutes, 42 seconds. The entry money of each subscriber is
fifty guineas, and the stakes are run for by three-year-old colts and
fillies entered when yearlings. In the first year of the Derby there were
only thirty-six entries, but they are now very numerous, and the value of
the winner's prize is at least L5000. The race is the most popular of
British sporting events. The Ascot races are patronized by royalty; the
world of fashion is to be found at Goodwood; but Derby-day draws to Epsom a
vast crowd of every class. During the European War the race was suspended,
but a substitute Derby was run at Newmarket from 1915 to 1918. In 1919 the
Derby was again run at Epsom, and was won by Lord Glanely's _Grand Parade_.
In 1920 it was won by Loder's _Spion Kop_, and in 1921 by Joel's
_Humorist_.
DERBY SCHEME, a scheme produced by Lord Derby in 1915 with a view to making
a final effort on behalf of voluntary recruiting. The National Register
(q.v.), taken in August, 1915, of all persons between the ages of fifteen
and sixty-five, had shown that over five million men of military age had
not 'joined up'. As the number of recruits each week fell short of the
number required by Lord Kitchener, Lord Derby, appointed Director of
Recruiting, produced a scheme in which men were divided into 46 groups.
Groups 1 to 23 were for single men, and groups 24 to 46 for married men.
Thus a married man of eighteen was in group 24, whilst a single man of
forty-one was in group 23. The scheme ensured that single men would be
called up first, whilst men who had 'attested' could appeal to a tribunal
and claim temporary or permanent exemption. Two and a half millions offered
themselves in consequence of the Derby Scheme, and two millions were
accepted.
DEREHAM (d[=e]r'am), EAST, a town in England, nearly in the centre of the
county of Norfolk, with manufactures of agricultural implements,
iron-foundries, and a brisk trade. The poet Cowper was buried in the church
there, and George Borrow was born there in 1803. Pop. 5524.
DER'ELICT, a vessel or anything relinquished or abandoned at sea, but most
commonly applied to a ship abandoned by the crew and left floating about.
DERG, LOUGH: (1) a lake, Ireland, county of Donegal, about 3 miles long by
2-1/2 miles broad at the broadest part, and studded with islets, one of
which, called Station Island, is a great resort of Roman Catholic pilgrims;
(2) an expansion of the River Shannon between County Tipperary and Counties
Clare and Galway, about 24 miles long and averaging 2 miles in breadth.
DERHAM, William, English philosopher and divine, born in 1657, died 1735.
He was long rector of Upminster in Essex. In 1696 he published his
_Artificial Clockmaker_. His best-known works are entitled
_Physico-Theology_, _Astro-Theology_, and _Christo-Theology_.
DERMA, or DERMIS, is the true skin lying under the epidermis (cuticle),
which is known in contrast as the scarf-skin.
DERMES'TES, a genus of beetles, one species of which (_D. lardarius_) is
known by the name of bacon-beetle, and is often found in ill-kept ham or
pork shops.
DERMOT MAC MURRAGH, the last Irish King of Leinster, attained the throne in
1140. Having carried off the wife of O'Ruare, Prince of Leitrim, he was
attacked by the latter, and after a contest of some years driven out of
Ireland (1167). He then did homage to the English king, and with the help
of Richard, Earl of Pembroke, recovered his kingdom, but died in the same
year (1170), and was succeeded by Pembroke, who had married his daughter.
DERNBURG, Bernhard, German financier and administrator, born in Darmstadt
in 1865. His father was an editor of the _Berliner Tageblatt_. At the age
of nineteen he came to New York to study banking methods, stayed there for
several years, and on his return to Germany became director of a financial
company. In 1906 he succeeded Prince von Hohenlohe Langenburg as Colonial
Secretary. During his administration the condition of German colonies, and
especially of German East Africa, was greatly improved. From 1914 to 1915
he was a zealous organizer of German propaganda in the United States, but
was subsequently compelled to leave the country.
D['E]ROUL[`E]DE, Paul, French poet, politician, and agitator, born in Paris
in 1846, died there in 1914. Called to the Bar in 1870, he served in the
Franco-Prussian War, and afterwards carried on an active and passionate
agitation for a war of revenge against Germany. He founded the Ligue des
Patriotes, which was suppressed by the Government in 1889, was an ardent
supporter of General Boulanger, and one of the leaders of the reactionary
forces during the Dreyfus case. He sat in the Chamber of Deputies from 1893
to 1895 and from 1898 to 1899. In 1900 he plotted against the Republic, and
sought to bring about a nationalist _coup d'['e]tat_ with a view to
overthrowing the parliamentary constitution. Found guilty, he was sentenced
to ten years' exile, but was allowed to return in 1905, under the law of
amnesty. His works include: _Chants de Soldat_ (1872); _Nouveaux Chants de
Soldat_ (1875); _Chants du paysan_ (1894); _Po['e]sies Militaires_ (1896);
_La Mo[:a]bite_, a religious drama (1880), forbidden by the Censor; and
_L'Helman_, a patriotic play (1877).
DERRICK, a simple kind of crane, chiefly used on board ship, consisting of
a stout pole swung from a mast, and carrying hoisting-tackle at its upper
end. The name is derived from that of a celebrated hangman.
DERRINGER, a small pocket pistol with a short barrel and a large calibre
(usually .41), very effective at short range. It is named after its
inventor, a gun-smith in the United States of America, and would seem to
have been first used in about 1850. It is a single-shot weapon, and so has
largely been superseded by revolvers and automatic pistols.
DER'VISH, or DERVISE (Pers., 'seeking doors' or beggar, and equivalent to
the Ar. _fakir_), a Mohammedan devotee, distinguished by austerity of life
and the observance of strict forms. There are many different orders of
dervishes, the underlying idea of most of them being the revival and
increase of the Moslem faith. Some live in monasteries, others lead an
itinerant life, others devote themselves to menial or arduous occupations.
They are respected by the common people, and the mendicants among them
carry a wooden bowl into which the pious cast alms. One of their forms of
devotion is dancing or whirling about, another is shouting or howling,
uttering the name _Allah_, accompanied by violent motions of the body, till
they work themselves into a frenzy and sometimes fall down foaming at the
mouth. They are credited with miraculous powers, and are consulted for the
interpretation of dreams and the cure of diseases. See
_Mohammedanism._--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. W. Lane, _Modern Egyptians_; J. P.
Brown, _The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism_; S. M. Zwemer, _Arabia,
the Cradle of Islam_.
DER'WENT, the name of four rivers in England, in Derbyshire, Yorkshire,
Durham, and Cumberland respectively, the last draining Derwentwater Lake.
Also a river in Tasmania.
DERWENTWATER, James Radcliffe, third and last Earl of, one of the leaders
in the rebellion of 1715, born in London 28th June, 1689. The standard of
revolt having been raised in Scotland, Lord Derwentwater commenced the
movement in England on 6th Oct., 1715, but was forced, along with the other
Jacobite nobles, to surrender at discretion on 13th of Nov. He was executed
on Tower Hill 24th Feb., 1716, his estates being confiscated, and in 1735
granted to Greenwich Hospital.
DER'WENTWATER, or KESWICK LAKE, a beautiful lake in Cumberland, England, in
the vale of Keswick. It is about 3 miles in length and 1-1/2 miles in
breadth, and stretches from Skiddaw on the north to the hills of
Borrowdale. Near the south-east corner is the celebrated cascade of Lodore.
Its waters are carried to the sea by the Derwent.
DERZHAVIN (der-zh[:a]'vin), Gabriel Romanovitsh, a Russian lyric poet, born
in 1743, died in 1816. He entered the army as a private soldier,
distinguished himself highly, and was eventually transferred to the Civil
Service, in which he obtained the highest offices. In 1803 he retired from
public life and devoted himself entirely to poetry. One of his most
beautiful poems is _Oda Bog_, or _The Address to the Deity_.
DESAGUADERO (des-[.a]-gw[.a]-d[=a]'r[=o]), a river of Bolivia, in a valley
of the same name, issuing from Lake Titicaca, and carrying its waters into
Lake Aullagas. Also a river in the Argentine Confederation flowing into
Lake Bevedero Grande, and separating the provinces of San Juan and Mendoza.
Desaguadero signifies in Spanish 'a channel of outlet'.
DESAIX DE VEYGOUX (d[.e]-s[=a] d[.e] v[=a]-g[:o]), Louis Charles Antoine, a
distinguished French general, born in 1768 at St. Hilaire d'Ayat, in
Auvergne, died 1800. He was of noble family, and entered the army as a
sub-lieutenant. He distinguished himself greatly in 1794 under Pichegru,
and two years later with the army of the Rhine under Moreau. In 1797 he
accompanied Bonaparte to Egypt, and was very successful in reducing Upper
Egypt. After the Treaty of El Arish he followed Bonaparte to Italy, took
command of the corps of reserve, and, arriving on the field of Marengo at a
critical moment, decided the victory by a brilliant charge, 14th June,
1800. He himself fell, mortally wounded by a musket bullet.
DESAULT (d[.e]-s[:o]), Pierre Joseph, one of the most celebrated surgeons
of France, was born in 1744, and died in 1795. After some experience in the
military hospital at B['e]fort, he went to Paris in 1764, studied under
Petit, and two years afterwards became a lecturer on his own account. His
reputation soon increased, and he became principal surgeon in the Hospital
de la Charit['e], and in 1788 was put at the head of the great H[^o]tel
Dieu in Paris. Here he founded a surgical school, in which many of the most
eminent surgeons of Europe were educated. A digest of his surgical works
was published by Bichat in 1798 (_Oeuvres chirurgicales de Desault_).
DES'CANT, in music, an addition of a part or parts to a subject or melody,
a branch of musical composition which preceded the more modern counterpoint
and harmony, coming into existence at the end of the eleventh or beginning
of the twelfth century.
DESCARTES (d[=a]-k[:a]rt), Ren['e], a great French philosopher and
mathematician, with whom the modern or new philosophy is often considered
as commencing. He was born 31st March, 1596, at La Haye, in Touraine, died
11th Feb., 1650. Educated at the Jesuit College of La Fl[`e]che, where he
showed great talent, he entered the military profession and served in
Holland and in Bavaria. In 1621 he left the army, and after a variety of
travels finally settled in Holland, and devoted himself to philosophical
inquiries. Descartes, seeing the errors and inconsistencies in which other
philosophers had involved themselves, determined to build up a system anew
for himself, divesting himself first of all of the beliefs he had acquired
by education or otherwise, and resolving to accept as true only what could
stand the test of reason. Proceeding in this way, he found (_Meditationes
de Prima Philosophia_) that there was one thing that he could not doubt or
divest himself of the belief of, and that was the existence of himself as a
thinking being, and this ultimate certainty he expressed in the celebrated
phrase "_Cogito, ergo sum_" (I think, therefore I am). Here, then, he
believed he had found the test of truth. Starting from this point Descartes
found the same kind of certainty in such propositions as these: that the
thinking being or soul differs from the body (whose existence consists in
space and extension) by its simplicity and immateriality and by the freedom
that pertains to it; that every perception of the soul is not distinct;
that it is so far an imperfect finite being; that this imperfection of its
own leads it to the idea of an absolutely perfect being; and from this last
idea he deduces all further knowledge of truth. Descartes has been rightly
called the father of modern philosophy, for in him the modern spirit came
into existence. In an age of unrest and ferment his work was that of a
great systematizer. He also contributed greatly to the advancement of
mathematics and physics, the method of co-ordinates, which has
revolutionized geometry, and is of fundamental importance in modern
mathematical physics, being due to him. His system of the universe
attracted great attention in his time. One of his fundamental doctrines was
that the universe is full of matter, there being no such thing as empty
space. On this basis he developed the hypothesis of celestial _vortices_,
immense currents of ethereal matter, by which he accounted for the motion
of the planets (_Principia Philosophiae_, 1644). His works effected a great
revolution in the principles and methods of philosophy. In 1647 the French
court granted him a pension of 3000 livres, and two years later, on the
invitation of Christina of Sweden, he went to Stockholm, where he
died.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Sir J. P. Mahaffy, _Descartes_; A. Fouill['e]e,
_Descartes_; E. Boutroux, _L'Imagination et les math['e]matiques selon
Descartes_; N. Smith, _Studies in Cartesian Philosophy_; E. S. Haldane,
_Descartes: his Life and Times_.
DESCENT', in law, is the transmission of the right and title to lands to
the heir, on the decease of the proprietor, by the mere operation of law.
The rule determining to whom an estate belongs, on the decease of the
proprietor, is that of consanguinity, or relationship by blood, though with
some exceptions, as in the case of the portion, or the use of a portion, of
a man's property given by the laws of Britain to his widow. The rules of
descent, designating what relations shall inherit, and their respective
shares, will be determined by the genius and policy of the Government and
institutions. Hence the practice of entailments in the feudal system. And
wherever the Government is founded in family privileges, or very intimately
connected with them, as is the case in all Governments where the
hereditarily aristocratical part of the community has a great
preponderance, the sustaining of families will very probably be a
characteristic feature in the code of laws. Thus, in Britain, all the lands
of the father, unless otherwise directed by will, go to the eldest son. (In
England, however, this privilege may shortly be abolished, or the
succession to real estate assimilated to the succession to personal
estate.) In the United States of America this distinction in favour of the
eldest son has been abolished, and the laws there are founded upon the
principle of equal distribution both of real and personal estate among
heirs of the nearest surviving degree. Kindred in blood are divided into
three general classes, viz. 1, descendants; 2, ancestors; 3, collateral
relatives, that is, those who have descended from the same common ancestor.
The civil law computes the degrees by counting the generations up to the
common ancestor, as father, grandfather, great-grandfather; or mother,
grandmother, great-grandmother; and from him or her down to the collateral
relative, as brother, cousin, &c., making the degree of relationship the
sum of these two series of generations. Every person has two sets of
ancestors, the paternal and maternal, and therefore two sets of collateral
relatives. There is also a distinction of collateral kindred, into those of
the whole blood and those of the half blood.--Cf. Pollock and Maitland,
_History of English Law_.
DESCHANEL, Paul Eug[`e]ne Louis, French statesman and tenth President of
the French Republic, born at Brussels on 13th Feb., 1856, where his father
was in exile for opposition to Napoleon III. Educated at the Coll[`e]ge
Sainte Barbe and the Lyc['e]e Condorcet, Paris, he was private secretary
first to De Marc[`e]re, the Home Secretary, in 1876, and then to the
Premier, Jules Simon, in 1877. Sub-prefect at Dreux, Brest, and Meaux, he
was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in Oct., 1885, for Nogent le Rotrou.
In the Chamber of Deputies he soon displayed his power of eloquence, and
eventually became the leader of the Progressive Republicans and exponent of
the separation of Church and State. His authority, which he owed not only
to his eloquence but also to his great tact and correct and dignified
conduct during debates, gradually increased in the Chamber of Deputies, and
even his political enemies admired his courage and his superiority of
intellect. He was consequently elected Vice-President of the Chamber in
1896 and in 1897, and succeeded Henri Brisson as President of the Chamber
in 1898, retaining his office till 1902, when M. L['e]on Bourgeois became
President of the Chamber. Re-elected President of the Chamber in 1912, and
withdrawing his candidature to the presidency of the Republic in favour of
Poincar['e] in 1913, Deschanel retained his post until 1920, when he was
elected President of the Republic by 734 votes. In the meantime, however,
his health had given way, and on 23rd May, 1920, he fell out of a moving
train, an accident resulting in a prolonged illness. A prompt recovery was
at first expected, but this hope soon proved vain. Unable to attend to the
duties of his office, he resigned on 16th Sept., and was succeeded by
Alexandre Millerand. He was elected to the Acad['e]mie Francaise on 18th
May, 1899, and his works include: _La Question du Tonkin_ (1883), _La
Politique Francaise en Oc['e]anie_ (1884), _Orateurs et Hommes d'['E]tat_
(1888), _Figures des Femmes_ (1889), _Figures Litt['e]raires_ (1889), _La
Question Sociale_ (1898), _Quatre ans de Pr['e]sidence_ (1902), _Politique
Int['e]rieure et ['e]trang[`e]re_ (1906), _Paroles Francaises_ (1911), _La
France Victorieuse_ (1919), and _Gambetta_ (1920).
DESEADA (de-se-[:a]'d[.a]), or D['E]SIRADE, one of the Leeward Islands,
belonging to the French, in the Caribbean Sea, about 10 miles long and
hardly 5 miles broad. The soil is in some places black and good, in others
sandy and unproductive. Pop. about 1500.
DESER'TION. In the military sense this implies the act of an officer or
soldier who, either with the intention of not returning at all or of
returning when by reason of his absence it has become impossible for him to
perform a given duty, absents himself from His Majesty's service. The
essence of the offence is intention, and this must be proved to the
satisfaction of the court martial by which the offender is tried. The
distance travelled is no criterion, and a man arrested while leaving the
barracks in disguise may be tried for attempted desertion. In this
connection it should be noted that an attempt to desert, or an attempt to
procure another person to desert, is also an offence, and is punishable
under Section 12 of the Army Act equally with the completed act. As far
back as the middle of the fifteenth century the crime of desertion by a
soldier was made a felony triable by the ordinary law of the land, and with
certain interludes death remained the maximum penalty for desertion for
some 200 years. The present existing Army Act recognizes two degrees of
desertion, i.e. that committed on active service or when under orders for
active service, and that committed under other circumstances. Under the
former heading the maximum punishment is death; under the latter,
imprisonment or penal servitude, according to the number of times the
offence has been committed. A soldier convicted of desertion forfeits the
whole of his service prior to conviction.
DESERTION, in law, the term applied to the act by which a man abandons his
wife or a wife her husband. Such desertion without due cause is, in
England, ground for a judicial separation. Property a wife may have
acquired since desertion is protected against her husband, and he may be
forced to provide for her maintenance. By Scottish law, where either the
husband or wife has deserted and remained separate without due cause for
four years, divorce may be obtained.
DESHOULI[`E]RES (d[=a]-s[:o]l-y[=a]r), Antoinette du Ligier de Lagarde, a
French woman of much literary reputation in the seventeenth century, born
1638, died 1694. She was the centre of attraction in the best circles of
the period, and was elected a member of several learned societies. She
wrote in the _Mercure Galant_ under the name of Amaryllis, and Boileau has
described her in his tenth _Satire_. Among her works are odes, eclogues,
idyls, and a tragedy (_Genseric_).
DESICCATION, a process of dispelling moisture by the use of air, heat, or
chemical agents such as chloride of calcium, quicklime, oil of vitriol, and
fused carbonate of potash.--_Desiccation cracks_, in geology, are the
fissures caused in clayey beds by the sun's heat, and seen in various rock
strata.
DESIGN, thought, arrangement, or grouping, imagination or invention in
works of art. A design is a composition or invention, pictorial,
architectural, or decorative. It may be simply an imperfect sketch, as a
record of a first thought; or it may be a fully matured work, as a cartoon
in preparation for fresco painting, or a drawing to illustrate a book.
DESMIDIA'CEAE, or DESMIDIE'AE, a family of microscopic, fresh-water Green
Algae, group Conjugatae. They are green gelatinous plants composed of
variously formed cells having a bilateral symmetry, which are either free,
or in linear series, or collected into bundles or into star-like groups,
and embedded in a common gelatinous coat. Desmidiaceae differ from
Diatomaceae in their green colour and absence of silica.
DESMO'DIUM, a large genus of leguminous plants, sub-ord. Papilionaceae,
natives of tropical and sub-tropical countries. _D. gyrans_ is the
telegraph plant, so called from the curious movements performed by the two
small lateral leaflets of each leaf, which, at high temperatures, wave up
and down like the arms of a semaphore.
DES MOINES (d[.e] moin), a city of the United States, capital of the state
of Iowa and of Polk County, on the Des Moines River, about 350 miles west
of Chicago. Among its chief buildings are the new State house, the State
arsenal, university, and opera-houses. There are coal-mines in the
vicinity, and the manufactures and other industries are varied and rapidly
increasing. Pop. 104,052 (1917).
DES MOINES, the largest river in the state of Iowa, rises in the S.W. of
Minnesota, and flows in a south-easterly direction till it falls into the
Mississippi about 4 miles below Keokuk, after a course of 300 miles.
DESMONCUS, a genus of tropical American climbing palms, scrambling by means
of stout hooks which are modified leaflets.
DESMOULINS (d[=a]-m[:o]-lan), Beno[^i]t Camille, born in 1760, was
conspicuous during the first period of the French Revolution. He was
amongst the most notable of the pamphleteers and orators who urged the
multitude forward in the path of revolution. He, along with others,
prepared the plan for the taking of the Bastille (July, 1789), was one of
the founders of the club of Cordeliers, and the promoter of the assembly in
the Champ de Mars. In 1789 he began his career as a journalist by the issue
of a weekly publication (_Les R['e]volutions de France et de Brabant_). In
1793 he gave his vote for the death of the king. Having become closely
connected with Danton and the party of opposition to Robespierre, and
inveighing against the reign of blood and terror, he was arrested on the
order of the latter on 30th March, 1794, tried on the 2nd April, and
executed on the 5th. He met his fate in an agony of despair.--Cf. F. A.
Aulard, _Les Orateurs de la L['e]gislative et de la Convention_.
DESNA, a river in the Ukraine, which rises in the government of, and about
50 miles east of the town of Smolensk, flows through the governments of
Orel and Tshernigov till it joins the Dnieper near Kiev. It is 500 miles in
length and navigable nearly throughout.
DE SOTO, Hernando, a Spanish explorer and discoverer of the Mississippi,
born about 1496, died in 1542. He accompanied expeditions to the New World
under Davila and Pizarro, and played a distinguished part in the conquest
of Peru. In 1536 he led an expedition to Florida, whence after many
difficulties he penetrated to the Mississippi, where he was attacked with
fever and died.--The name De Soto has been given to a county in the N.W. of
Mississippi, and to several places in the United States.
DES'POT (Gr. _despot[=e]s_), originally a master, a lord; at a later period
it became an honorary title which the Greek emperors gave to their sons and
sons-in-law when governors of provinces. At present _despot_ means an
absolute ruler, and in a narrower sense a tyrannous one.
DESSALINES (d[=a]-s[.a]-l[=e]n), Jean Jacques, Emperor of Hayti, born in
Africa about 1760. He was a slave in 1791, when the insurrection of the
blacks occurred in that island, but was set free along with the other
slaves in St. Domingo in 1794. His talents for war, his courage, and
unscrupulous conduct raised him to command in the insurrections of the
coloured people, and after the deportation of Toussaint-L'Ouverture, and
the subsequent evacuation of the island by the French, Dessalines was
appointed Governor-General for life with absolute power; and the year
following (1804) was declared Emperor with the title of Jacques I. But his
rule was savage and oppressive, and both the troops and the people, sick of
his atrocities, entered into a conspiracy against him, and on 17th Oct.,
1806, he was slain by one of his soldiers.
DESSAU (des'ou), a town in Germany, capital of the former Duchy of Anhalt,
in a beautiful valley on the left bank of the Mulde, mostly well built,
with fine squares and many handsome buildings. The manufactures consist of
woollens, woollen yarn, carpets, machinery, and tobacco. The former ducal
palace has a picture-gallery and interesting relics and antiquities. Pop.
56,606.
DE STENDHAL. See _Beyle, Marie-Henri_.
DESTER'RO, now FLORIANOPOLIS, a seaport of Brazil, capital of the state of
Santa-Catharina. The harbour, next to Rio de Janeiro, is the best in
Brazil. Pop. 9000.
DESTRUCTORS, REFUSE, the apparatus or plant used in the cremation of house
and factory refuse. Formerly refuse from large towns and populous areas was
either disposed of for manurial purposes or spread over waste land, where
its presence speedily became a nuisance. The consequent danger to the
public health, coupled with the increasing difficulty and cost of its
disposal, led to attempts being made to deal with it by more sanitary
methods. The first attempts to cremate it in a closed furnace on a large
scale, made in London in 1870, were not successful, primarily owing to the
unscientific design of the furnace. In 1877, however, there was built in
Manchester the forerunner of the modern destructor, to the designs of the
late Mr. Alfred Fryer. This consisted of two simple cells, the primary
feature of the design being 'the charging of the refuse into the back of
the furnace, and drawing out the resulting clinker from the front'. With
certain modifications, this design is in general use at the present time.
The basic principles underlying their scientific design may be summed up in
the following points: (_a_) Charging at regular intervals, the refuse being
dumped into a hopper, and fed into the back of the furnace as a charge,
means being taken to prevent undue escape of gases. The moisture having
evaporated, the material may then be raked forward onto the fire-bars,
where combustion takes place. (_b_) To avoid nuisance, the resulting gases
must be inodorous, which requires a temperature of about 2000degF. This is
obtained by passing the products of combustion over the hottest portion of
the fire, prior to their passage into the main flue. (_c_) Removal of the
fine dust and particles in suspension in the flue gases by means of spiral
chambers at the base of chimney. (_d_) Provision of forced draught. A
well-designed plant should show little, if any, suspended matter in the
gases on emission from the chimney. Formerly no use was made of the heat
generated, but modern installations now invariably have steam-raising plant
incorporated in the design. This power is commonly used to generate
electricity. Some portion may be utilized in crushing and screening the
clinker, which is frequently used in making slab-paving, or ground fine and
used as a substitute for sand in mortar. The following data may be found of
service: (_a_) 60 per cent of the average refuse is combustible. (_b_) The
calorific value may be taken as being one-seventh that of good steam-coal.
(_c_) 100 electrical units may be obtained from each ton of refuse
consumed. (_d_) With forced draught, as much as 100 lb. of refuse has been
burnt per square foot of grate area per hour. (_e_) 250 tons of refuse per
annum per 1000 of population may be estimated for.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: W. H.
Maxwell, _Removal and Disposal of Town Refuse_; Kempe, _Engineer's Year
Book_.
DESTUTT DE TRACY, Antoine Louis Claude, French philosophical writer, born
in 1754 of a family of Scottish extraction, died in 1836. As a philosopher
he belonged to the Sensationalist school, and considered all our knowledge
to be derived originally from sensation. He has been called the logician
and metaphysician of the school of Condillac. Among his chief works are:
_Id['e]ologie_ (1801), _Logique_ (1805), and _Trait['e] de la Volont['e]
_(1815).
DETER'MINANT, a mathematical expression which appears in the solution of a
system of equations of the first degree.
The solution of the equations
a_1x + b_1y = c_1,
a_2x + b_2y = c_2,
is given by
x(a_1b_2 - a_2b_1) = c_1b_2 - c_2b_1,
y(a_1b_2 - a_2b_1) = a_1c_2 - a_2c_1.
Here x and y have the same coefficient a_1b_2 - a_2b_1. This is called a
determinant of the second order, and is written
|a_1, b_1|
|a_2, b_2|.
We may now write
|a_1, b_1| |c_1, b_1|
x| | = | |
|a_2, b_2| |c_2, b_2|.
Similarly with three equations,
a_1x + b_1y + c_1z = d_1,
a_2x + b_2y + c_2z = d_2,
a_3x + b_3y + c_3z = d_3,
we find
x{a_1(b_2c_3 - b_3c_2) + a_2(b_3c_1 - b_1c_3) + a_3(b_1c_2 - b_2c_1)}
= d_1(b_2c_3 - b_3c_2) + d_2(b_3c_1 - b_1c_3) + d_3(b_1c_2 - b_2c_1)
The coefficient of x, and the right-hand member, are here determinants of
the third order, and the result is written
|a_1, b_1, c_1| |d_1, b_1, c_1|
x|a_2, b_2, c_2| = |d_2, b_2, c_2|
|a_3, b_3, c_3| |d_3, b_3, c_3|.
When the coefficient of x is expanded fully, it consists of six terms, half
of them positive and half negative, each term being the product of three
letters, one from each row and one from each column. Thus in every term,
such as the leading term a_1b_2c_3, the three letters a, b, c, and the
three suffixes 1, 2, 3, all occur once and once only. With regard to the
signs, we note that if the letters a, b, c are always kept in this order,
an interchange of two suffixes changes the sign. Thus, e.g. we may start
from + a_1b_2c_3, interchange the suffixes 2 and 3, and thus find -
a_1b_3c_2. Again, if in the latter term - a_1b_3c_2 we interchange the
suffixes 1 and 3, we find + a_3b_1c_2. It is easy to verify that after any
number of interchanges of this kind a particular term will always come up
with the same sign.
Thus the interchange of two rows (and similarly of two columns) changes the
sign of the determinant. It follows that if two rows (or two columns) are
identical, the determinant is zero. It is now easy to define functions of
n^2 letters, arranged in a square array of n rows and n columns, with
similar properties to those observed above in the case of determinants of
the third order. Determinants are very extensively used in higher algebra,
co-ordinate geometry, and other branches of mathematics. See also
_Elimination_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Smith, _Algebra_; T. Muir, _Theory of
Determinants_.
DETERMINANTS, in biology, the name applied by Weismann to hypothetical
particles contained in the nuclei of germ-cells, which determine the
existence and nature of the various parts of the body of the embryo. The
theory of determinants is part of an elaborate attempt to explain the facts
of heredity on a mechanical basis. Although it may serve as a working
hypothesis, it is regarded with disfavour by many experts, and may be
regarded as an elaboration of the 'provisional theory of pangenesis'
advanced by Darwin.