1812, at Landport, Portsmouth, died 9th June, 1870. His father, John
Dickens, was then in the employment of the Navy Pay Department, but
subsequently became a newspaper reporter in London. Young Dickens received
a somewhat scanty education, was for a time a mere drudge in a blacking
warehouse, and subsequently a clerk in an attorney's office. Having
perfected himself in shorthand, however, he became a newspaper critic and
reporter, was engaged on _The Mirror of Parliament_, and _The True Sun_,
and in 1835 on _The Morning Chronicle_. For some time previously he had
been contributing humorous pieces to _The Monthly Magazine_; but at length,
in 1835, appeared in _The Morning Chronicle_ the first of that series of
_Sketches by Boz_ which brought Dickens into fame. It was followed in quick
succession by a pamphlet entitled _Sunday under Three Heads, by Timothy
Spark_ (1836); _The Tuggs at Ramsgate_ (1836); _The Village Coquette_, a
comic opera (1836); and a farce called _The Strange Gentleman_ (1836). In
the same year Chapman & Hall engaged the new writer to prepare the
letterpress for a series of comic sketches on sporting subjects by Seymour,
an artist who had already achieved fame, and suggested as a subject the
adventures of an eccentric club. Seymour committed suicide soon after, and
H. K. Browne joined Dickens as illustrator, the result being the immortal
_Pickwick Papers_. The great characteristics of Dickens's genius were now
fully apparent, and his fame rose at once to the highest point it was
possible for a writer of fiction to reach. A new class of characters,
eccentric indeed, but vital representations of the humours and oddities of
life, such as Mr. Pickwick, Sam Weller and his father, Mr. Winkle, and
others, was made familiar to the public. Under the name of _The Posthumous
Papers of the Pickwick Club_ this work was published in 2 vols. 8vo, in
1837. In the same year Dickens was engaged as editor of _Bentley's
Magazine_, to which he contributed _Oliver Twist_, a work which opened up
that vein of philanthropic pathos and indignant satire upon institutions
which became a distinguishing feature of his works. Before the completion
of _Oliver Twist_, _Nicholas Nickleby_ was begun, being issued complete in
1839. As the special object of _Oliver Twist_ was to expose the conduct of
workhouses, that of _Nicholas Nickleby_ was to denounce the management of
cheap boarding-schools. _Master Humphrey's Clock_, issued in weekly
numbers, contained among other matter two other leading tales, _The Old
Curiosity Shop_ and _Barnaby Rudge_, the latter a historical tale, going
back to the times of the Gordon riots. It was published complete between
1840 and 1841. In 1841 Dickens visited America, and on his return he wrote
_American Notes for General Circulation_ (1842). His next novel, _Martin
Chuzzlewit_ (1844), dwelt again on his American experiences. This work also
added a number of typical figures--Mr. Pecksniff, Mark Tapley, Sarah Gamp,
and others--to English literature. The series of _Christmas Tales_, in
which a new element of his genius, the power of handling the weird
machinery of ghostly legend in subordination to his own peculiar humour,
excited a new sensation of wonder and delight. These, enumerated
consecutively, were: _A Christmas Carol_ (1843), _The Chimes_ (1844), _The
Cricket on the Hearth_ (1845), _The Battle of Life_ (1846), _The Haunted
Man_ and _The Ghost's Bargain_ (1847). The extraordinary popularity of
these tales created for a time a new department in literature, that of the
sensational tale for the Christmas season. In 1845 Dickens went to Italy,
and on his return _The Daily News_, started on 1st Jan., 1846, was
entrusted to his editorial management; but, despite his early training,
this was an occupation uncongenial to his mind, and in a few months the
experiment was abandoned. His _Pictures from Italy_ were published the same
year. Next followed his novel of _Dombey and Son_ (1848), and _David
Copperfield_, a work which has a strong autobiographical element in it
(1849-50). In 1850 Dickens became editor of the weekly serial _Household
Words_, in which various original contributions from his own pen appeared.
In 1853 his _Bleak House_ came out. _A Child's History of England_,
commenced in _Household Words_, was published between 1852 and 1854. _Hard
Times_ appeared in _Household Words_, and was published in 1854. _Little
Dorrit_, commenced in 1856, dealt with imprisonment for debt, the contrasts
of character developed by wealth and poverty, and executive imbecility,
idealized in the Circumlocution Office. In 1859, in consequence of a
disagreement with his publishers, _All the Year Round_ superseded
_Household Words_; and in the first number of this periodical, 28th May,
was begun _A Tale of Two Cities_. _Great Expectations_ followed in the same
paper, on 1st Dec., 1860. In _All the Year Round_ also appeared a series of
disconnected sketches called _The Uncommercial Traveller_, published in
1868. _Our Mutual Friend_, completed in 1865, and published in the usual
monthly numbers, with illustrations by Marcus Stone, was the last great
serial work which Dickens lived to finish. It contained some studies of
characters of a breadth and depth unusual with Dickens, and is
distinguished among his works by its elaborate plot. The first number of
his last work, _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, was issued on 1st April, 1870,
and only three numbers had appeared when he died somewhat suddenly, at his
residence, Gad's Hill Place, near Rochester, on 9th June. He had
considerably overtaxed his strength during his later years, more especially
by his successive series of public readings from his own works, one series
being delivered in America between 1867 and 1868. He was buried in
Westminster Abbey. Dickens's work as a novelist is firmly based upon a wide
and keen observation of men. The essence of his art was caricature, and for
comic effect he, therefore, often exaggerated the abuses he attacked. His
characters exhibit little more than one trait or quality, but the single
trait or quality which they embody is truly conceived, and exhibited with
great vitality and humour. His creative power was immense, and his great
humour is admitted by all, even by those who consider his pathos as
overdrawn. In spite, therefore, of all that is grotesque and overstrained
in his work, he has been rightly placed amongst the great
artists.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Forster, _Life of Charles Dickens_; George
Gissing, _Charles Dickens: a Critical Study_; G. K. Chesterton, _Charles
Dickens_; R. H. Shepherd, _The Bibliography of Dickens_; Sir F. T.
Marzials, _Life of Charles Dickens_; E. Pugh, _The Charles Dickens
Originals_; P. H. Fitzgerald, _Memoirs of Charles Dickens_.
DICKSONIA, a genus of Leptosporangiate ferns, section Gradatae, mostly
large tree-ferns, such as _D. antarctica_, a native of Australia and New
Zealand, often grown in greenhouses.
[Illustration: Portion of a Four-year-old Dicotyledonous Woody Stem cut in
Winter
B, Bast. B.K., Bark external to the first periderm layer, corresponding to
the primary cortex. C, Cambium ring. E, Early wood. J, J, J, Junction of
the wood of successive years. L, Late wood. M, Medulla. M.R., Medullary
rays, various views. P, Protoxylem. 1, 2, 3, 4, The four successive annual
rings.]
DICOTYLEDON (d[=i]-kot-i-le'don), a plant whose seeds are readily
recognized by the embryo containing a pair of cotyledons or seed-leaves,
which are always opposite to each other. Dicotyledons are further
characterized by their netted-veined leaves and their 'open' vascular
bundles containing a cambium; the parts of the flower are commonly in fours
or fives. In Bentham and Hooker's system the class is divided into four
subclasses--Thalamiflorae, Calyciflorae, Corolliflorae, and Monochlamydeae.
Engler's system recognizes only two subclasses, viz. Archichlamydeae and
Sympetalae.
DICTAPHONE, an adaptation of the gramophone, in which the principle of that
invention is applied to the requirements of modern business. Letters or
memoranda are spoken into the machine, which 'records' them on waxen
cylinders. The machine is then passed on to a shorthand writer or typist
(or the cylinder may be transferred to a duplicate machine), and the
recorded matter is dictated. The motive power is electricity; the speed of
dictation is capable of adjustment to that of the writer; and by means of
an accessory machine the records can be scraped and re-used.
DICTA'TOR, an extraordinary magistrate of the Roman Republic, first
instituted B.C. 501. The power of naming a dictator, when an emergency
arose requiring a concentration of the powers of the State in a single
superior officer, was vested by a resolution of the Senate in one of the
Consuls. The dictatorship was limited to six months, and the person who
held it could not go out of Italy. This rule was laid aside during the
first Punic War. The dictator was also forbidden to appear in Rome on
horseback without the permission of the people, and he had no control over
the public funds without the permission of the Senate. He had the power of
life and death, and could punish without appeal to the Senate or people.
All the other magistrates were under his orders. Originally the dictator
was a patrician, but in 356 B.C. the plebeian Marcius Rutilus was called
upon to fill the office of dictator. The term is now often applied to
rulers enjoying or exercising extra-constitutional power.--Cf. A. H. J.
Greenidge, _Roman Public Life_.
DICTIONARY (from the Lat., _dictio_, a saying, expression, word), a book
containing the words, or subjects, which it treats, arranged in
alphabetical order. It may be either a vocabulary, or collection of the
words in a language, with their definitions; or a special work on one or
more branches of science or art prepared on the principle of alphabetical
arrangement, such as dictionaries of biography, law, music, medicine,
history, or philosophy. Amongst dictionaries of the English language, the
earliest seem to have been those of Bullokar (1616) and Cockeram (1623).
That of Dr. Johnson, published in 1755, made an epoch in this department of
literature. Previous to this the chief English dictionary was that of
Bailey, a useful work in its way. An enlarged edition of Johnson's
dictionary, by the Rev. H. J. Todd, appeared in 1818; and this, again
enlarged and modified, was issued under the editorship of Dr. R. G. Latham
(1864-72). The best-known American dictionary of the English language is
that by Noah Webster, published in 1828, and since entirely recast.
Richardson's dictionary, published during 1836 and 1837, was valuable
chiefly for its quotations. Ogilvie's _Imperial English Dictionary_, based
on Webster, and first published between 1847 and 1850, has been issued in a
remodelled and greatly enlarged form (4 vols. 1881-2 and subsequently,
Charles Annandale, LL.D., editor). It is one of the encyclopaedic
dictionaries. Cassell's _Encyclopaedic Dictionary_ is another extensive
work (1879-88). The largest completed English dictionary is the _Century
Dictionary_ (New York, 1889-91, 6 vols. quarto). _The Standard Dictionary_
is another American work. A new English dictionary 'on historical
principles', first edited by Sir J. A. H. Murray, LL.D., with the
assistance of many scholars, and now edited by Dr. Henry Bradley, is being
published at the Clarendon Press since 1884. Among foreign dictionaries are
the polyglot dictionary of Calepino (1502), the Latin and Greek _Thesaurus_
of Robert and Henry Stephanus, the Italian _Vocabulario della Crusca_
(1612), &c. The chief etymological dictionary of English words is that by
Professor Skeat (1882). Among French dictionaries (for French people) the
chief is that of Littr['e]; among German, the dictionary begun by the
brothers Grimm.
DICTYOTACEAE, a family of Brown Algae, section Cyclosporeae. _Dictyota
dichotoma_, with a delicate, flattened, repeatedly forked thallus, is not
uncommon in sandy pools on our coasts. The plants are of three kinds, viz.
[male], bearing antheridia; [female], bearing oogonia; and neuter,
producing tetraspores. The oospores give rise to neuter plants, the
tetraspores to [male] or [female] plants. This is one of the best instances
of 'homologous' alternation of generations, i.e. that type in which the
different generations are identical in form, differing only in their
reproductive organs and in the number of chromosomes in their nuclei.
Another genus is Padina.
DIDACTIC POETRY, that kind of poetry which professes to give a kind of
systematized instruction on a definite subject or range of subjects. Thus
the _Georgics_ of Virgil and the _De Rerum Natura_ of Lucretius profess to
give, the one a complete account of agriculture and kindred arts, the other
a philosophical explanation of the world. Other examples of purely didactic
poetry are Horace's _Ars Poetica_, and Pope's _Essay on Criticism_. In a
larger sense of the word most great poems might be called didactic, since
they contain a didactic element in the shape of history or moral teaching,
Dante's _Divina Commedia_, Milton's _Paradise Lost_, or Goethe's _Faust_,
for example. The difference may be said to be this, that in the one case
the materials are limited and controlled by nothing but the creative fancy
of the poet, while in the other they are much more determined by the actual
nature of the subject treated of.
DIDEL'PHIA, one of the three subclasses of the Mammalia (the others being
Monodelphia and Ornithodelphia), comprising only one order, that of
Marsupials or pouched mammals.
DIDEROT (d[=e]d-r[=o]), Denis, a French writer and philosopher, born in
1713, at Langres, in Champagne, died in 1784. He was educated in the school
of the Jesuits, and afterwards at Paris, at the College of Harcourt, but
declined to study law, preferring to earn his living by teaching
mathematics. His first works were the _Essai sur le M['e]rite et la Vertu_
(1745); and the _Pens['e]es Philosophiques_ (1746), a pamphlet against the
Christian religion. His _Lettre sur les Aveugles [`a] l'Usage de Ceux qui
Voyent_ is in the same strain. These heterodox publications cost him an
imprisonment for some time at Vincennes. Diderot now tried writing for the
stage, but his pieces were failures. In 1749 he had begun, along with
D'Alembert and some others, the _Encyclopaedia_. At first it was intended
to be mainly a translation of one already published in English by Chambers.
Diderot and D'Alembert, however, enlarged upon this project, and made the
new _Encyclopaedia_ a magnificently comprehensive and bold account of all
the thought and science of the time. Diderot, besides revising the whole,
undertook at first the mechanical arts, and subsequently made contributions
in history, philosophy, and art criticism. But the profits of all his
labour were small, and it was only the liberality of the Empress Catherine,
who purchased his library for 50,000 livres and made him a yearly allowance
of 1000 livres, that saved Diderot from indigence. In 1773 he visited St.
Petersburg to thank his benefactress and was received with great honour. On
his return to France he lived in retirement, passing the last ten years of
his life in writing and conversations, wherein, as Marmontel said, he was
at his best. Besides his articles in the _Encyclopaedia_ he wrote numerous
works, some of which were published after his death. Among the best known
are _Le Neveu de Rameau_, a kind of philosophical dialogue which Goethe
thought worthy of translation; _Essai sur la Peinture_, and _Paradoxe sur
le Com['e]dien_, suggestive essays on the principles of painting and
acting; two lively tales, _La Religieuse_ and _Jacques le Fataliste_. On
account of his great interest in almost every branch of human knowledge,
Voltaire nicknamed him 'Pantophile Diderot'.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: T. Carlyle,
_Essay on Diderot_; F. Bruneti[`e]re, _['E]tudes Critiques_; R. L. Cru,
_Diderot as a Disciple of English Thought_.
DIDO, or ELISSA, the reputed founder of Carthage. She was the daughter of a
king of Tyre, called by some Belus, by others Metten or Matgenus. After her
father's death, her brother Pygmalion murdered her husband Sicharbas, or as
Virgil calls him Sychaeus, with the view of obtaining his wealth. But Dido,
accompanied by many Tyrians of her party, fled with all the treasure over
sea, and, landing on the coast of Africa, founded Carthage about 860 B.C.
The story is told by Virgil, with many inventions of his own, in the
_Aeneid_ (Books i and ii).
DIDOT (d[=e]-d[=o]), a famous house of printers, booksellers, and
typefounders at Paris. The founder was _Francois Didot_, born in 1689, died
1757. Of his sons _Francois-Ambroise_ (born 1720, died 1804) and
_Pierre-Francois_ (born 1732, died 1795) the first distinguished himself in
the type-founding art as an inventor of new processes and machines, the
second was equally eminent for his bibliographical knowledge, and
contributed much also to the advancement of printing.--_Pierre_ (born 1761,
died 1853) succeeded his father Francois-Ambroise in the printing business.
He made himself famous by his magnificent editions of classic authors in
folio, amongst which his Virgil (1798) and his Racine (1801) may be
particularly mentioned. He did much also for the improvement of types. He
is known also as an author.--_Firmin_ (born 1764, died 1836), the brother
of Pierre, took charge of the type-founding, was the inventor of a new sort
of script, and an improver of the stereotype process.--_Ambroise-Firmin_
(born 1790, died 1876), and _Hyacinthe-Firmin_ (born 1794, died 1880)
occupied a distinguished position amongst the publishers of Paris. The
former left a collection of MSS. which was worth, at the time of his death,
about two million francs. The house has now extended its trade into
everything connected with bookselling, paper-making, and bookbinding.
DIDSBURY, a district of Manchester, on the Midland Railway, 4 miles south
by east of Manchester, a place of residence of many Manchester business
men. There is an important Wesleyan Training College there. Pop. 9234.
[Illustration: Didunculus strigirostris]
DIDUN'CULUS, a genus of birds allied to the pigeons, and comprising only
the one species, _D. strigirostris_, native to some of the Samoan Islands.
This bird is of special interest as being the nearest living ally of the
extinct dodo. It has a length of about 14 inches, with a glossy plumage
verging from a velvety black on the back to greenish black on the head,
breast, and abdomen. The large beak, which is nearly as long as the head,
is greatly arched on the upper half, while the lower is furnished with two
or three tooth-like indentations.
DIDYM'IUM, a rare metallic element, occurring along with _lanthanum_ in the
mineral cerite as discovered by Mosander in 1842. It has been resolved into
two new elements: _Praseodymium_ (Pr, 140.9) and _Neodymium_ (Nd, 144.3).
DIE, a metallic stamp for impressing a design or figure upon coins or other
metallic objects. See _Dies_ and _Die-sinking_.
DIE (d[=e]), an ancient town, France, department of Dr[^o]me, 26 miles
south-east of Valence; with an ancient cathedral and Roman remains. Pop.
4000.
DI['E] (di-[=a]), ST., a town, France, department of Vosges, on the
Meurthe, 25 miles E.N.E. of Epinal. Both iron and copper are worked; there
are marble quarries; and numerous manufactures are carried on. Pop. 19,029.
DIEBITSCH-SABALKANSKI, Hans Karl, a Russian general, born at Grossleippe,
in Silesia, in 1785, died 9th June, 1831. He was educated at the military
school of Berlin, but in 1801 quitted the Prussian service for that of
Russia. He was present at the battles of Austerlitz and Friedland, served
with distinction in the campaign of 1812, took part in the battles of
Dresden and Leipzig, and was made lieutenant-general at the age of
twenty-eight. He had the chief command in the Turkish War of 1828-9,
stormed Varna, and made the famous passage of the Balkans, for which the
surname of Sabalkanski was conferred on him. In 1830 he commanded the army
sent against the revolted Poles, but did not distinguish himself in this
service.--Cf. Bantych-Kamenski, _Biographies of Russian Field-marshals_.
DIEFFENBACH (d[=e]'fen-b[.a]_h_), Johann Friedrich, German surgeon, born at
K[:o]nigsberg in 1792, died in 1847. After having studied at Bonn and
Paris, he settled in Berlin, where his talent as an operator soon attracted
notice. Surgery is particularly indebted to him for new methods of forming
artificial noses, eyelids, and lips, and curing squinting and stammering.
DIEGO GARCIA. See _Chagos_.
DI'ELECTRIC, in electricity, a name applied by Faraday to any medium
through or across which electrostatic induction can take place. See
_Electricity_ (Electrostatics). Faraday first showed that electrostatic
induction was not action at a distance, but took place by means of the
insulating medium separating the two conductors. The medium he named a
_dielectric_, and measured its specific inductive capacity by taking that
of common air as unity.
DIELY'TRA, or DICENTRA, a genus of plants, of the nat. ord. Fumariaceae or
Fumitories. The best known is _D. spectabilis_, a native of Northern China
and Siberia, now common in European and other gardens. It blossoms in April
and May, and its long drooping racemes of purplish-red blossoms present a
very graceful appearance. It grows freely in the open air. It is sometimes
called bleeding heart or virgin's heart from the shape of the blossoms.
DIEMEN (d[=e]'men), Anton van, Dutch administrator, was born in 1593, died
in 1645. Having gone to India, he speedily rose to the highest dignities,
and was at length, in 1636, made Governor-General. He administered the
government with much ability, and contributed much to the establishment of
the Dutch commerce in India. Abel Tasman, whom he sent with a vessel to the
South Seas in 1642, gave the name of _Van Diemen's Land_ to the island now
called Tasmania.
DIEPPE (d[=e]-ep'), a seaport town, France, department of
Seine-Inf['e]rieure, on the English Channel, at the embouchure of the
Arques, 93 miles N.N.W. of Paris. Almost the only public edifices worth
special notice are the two Gothic churches, St. Jacques, begun in the
thirteenth century, and St. R['e]mi, founded in 1522, and the old castle
(1433), now a barracks. To the west of Dieppe proper is the suburb La
Barre; and on the opposite side of the harbour Le Pollet, inhabited chiefly
by sailors and fishermen. The old port is spacious, but a new channel with
its own harbour system has been added, and vessels of 20-foot draft can now
enter. Dieppe is one of the chief watering-places of France, and is much
frequented by visitors in summer and autumn. The great bathing
establishment forms a luxurious retreat for bathers and invalids, and
includes a ballroom. The manufactures include works in ivory, horn, and
bone, lace-making, sugar-refining, and shipbuilding. There is a busy
fishery, and the foreign trade is still considerable. There is constant
steam intercourse between this port and Newhaven. In early times Dieppe was
the chief port of France, but its prosperity diminished after the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). During the European War Dieppe
was an important Allied base. Pop. 23,973.
DIERX, L['E]ON, French poet, born in the Island of R['e]union in 1838.
Educated in Paris, he became one of the foremost of the Parnassians. His
works include: _Aspirations_, _Po[`e]mes et Po['e]sies_, _La rencontre_,
and _Les Amants_. His collected poems (1889-90) were crowned by the
Acad['e]mie. He died in Paris, 11th June, 1912.
DIES AND DIE-SINKING. Die-sinking is the art of preparing dies, a die being
a plate or block, usually of metal, so cut or shaped as to be capable, by
means of stamping or pressure, of transferring a given design to some
article which is to be manufactured in quantity. The pressure may be
applied by any sort of power, from hand to hydraulic.
The steel for the manufacture of steel dies is carefully selected, forged
at a high heat into the rough die, softened by careful annealing, and then
handed over to the engraver. After the engraver has worked out the design
in intaglio, the die is put through the operation of hardening, after
which, being cleaned and polished, it is called a _matrix_. This is not,
however, generally employed in multiplying impressions, but is used for
making a _punch_ or steel impression for relief. For this purpose another
block of steel of the same quality is selected, and, being carefully
annealed or softened, is compressed by proper machinery upon the matrix
till it receives the impression. When this process is complete, the
impression is retouched by the engraver, and hardened and collared like the
matrix. Any number of dies may now be made from this punch by impressing
upon it plugs of soft steel.
There is hardly any article which does not in the course of its manufacture
require the use of a die of some kind. For all sorts of metal-work, seals,
rings, silverware, moulds and shapes of sheet steel or tin, dies are
employed. For this class of work they are usually of steel. For embossing
articles of leather, wood, celluloid, rubber, cloth, or clay, dies of brass
and phosphor-bronze are commonly used, these being easier media to work in
and yet sufficiently strong. The dies for letter headings and company seals
are cut, in reverse to the design required, in steel; those for sealing-wax
seals in steel or brass; the lettering being usually punched in by hand by
separate letter punches, which themselves have been cut in relief on steel.
Designs which are unusually ornate may be engraved by hand. Dies for
embossing designs on leather, catalogue covers, cardboard articles, cards,
and soft materials are usually modelled in brass. The design in reverse is
cut out to a depth corresponding to the relief wanted. These dies are
usually worked up by hand by the engraver. Dies for the reproduction of
rubber stamps for printing on clay are cut in phosphor-bronze or hard brass
in relief and reverse, and with an extreme bevel. The dies or blocks are
then struck deeply into lead, and melted rubber is poured into the moulds
so formed. When set, the rubber is removed and mounted as a hand-stamp
ready to impress the clay in ink. Dies for wallpapers are cut on rollers.
Steel dies for flower-shapes have a cutting edge, so that they can stamp
out and emboss in one action. Of late years machinery has come much into
use for relieving the engraver of some of his labour, but the designs are
generally kept secret. One machine, called the pantograph or engraving
machine, reproduces engravings in all metals and many shapes from patterns.
Many of the stamp-duty steel dies made and issued by the Royal Mint are
reproduced from this machine in reductions from brass
patterns.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Lucas, _Dies and Die-making_; J. V. Woodworth,
_Dies: their Construction and Use_.
DIESEL, Rudolph, German inventor, born in Paris in 1858, died in 1913.
Educated in England and at Munich, he proposed in 1893 to utilize directly
the energy created by the combustion of fuel, a proposal which led to his
invention of the Diesel engine. (See _Internal Combustion Engines_.) In
1913 he was called to England to consult with the Admiralty on the
application of his motor, but was drowned in crossing the Channel. In 1894
he published a monograph entitled _Theory and Construction of a Rational
Heat Motor_.
DIES FASTI ET NEFASTI, a Roman division of days, with reference to judicial
business, into working-days and holidays. A _dies fastus_ was a day on
which courts and assemblies could be held and judgments pronounced; a _dies
nefastus_, a day on which courts could not be held nor judgments
pronounced.
DIES IRAE (d[=i]'es [=i]'r[=e]), one of the great Latin hymns of the
Mediaeval Church, generally used as part of the requiem or mass for the
souls of the dead. It describes, as its name ('the day of wrath') denotes,
the Last Judgment of the world, and seems to have been suggested by the
description in _Zephaniah_, i, 15 and 16. It is supposed to have been
written by Thomas da Celano, a Franciscan friar of the thirteenth century.
It was translated by Crashaw and Dryden in the seventeenth century, and by
Macaulay and others in the nineteenth, but none of these translations
conveys the solemn force of the original.
DIEST (d[=e]st), a town, Belgium, province of Brabant, 32 miles E.N.E. of
Brussels. It has some manufactures, but the chief products of the place are
beer and gin, the former being largely exported. The town was occupied by
the Germans in 1914, and re-entered by the Belgians in 1918. Pop. 8800.
DIESTERWEG, Friedrich Adolf Wilhelm, German educator, born in 1790, died in
1866. In 1820 he became director of the new Teachers' Seminary at M[:o]rs,
and soon gained a reputation as teacher and educator. He was a follower of
Pestalozzi, and aimed at making every subject of instruction a means of
education. In 1827 he founded the _Rheinische Bl[:a]tter f[:u]r Erziehung
und Unterricht_, wherein he advocated his pedagogical views.
DI'ET, a meeting of some body of men held for deliberation or other
purposes; a term especially applied to the legislative or administrative
assemblies of Austria, Germany, and Poland.