[1] It is true the university was established on the 9th of September
1537, but its influence was of very gradual growth and small at
first.
[2] Collected as _Samling af gamle danske Love_ (5 vols., Copenhagen,
1821-1827).
[3] _Henrik Harpestraengs Laegebog_ (ed. C. Molbech, Copenhagen, 1826).
[4] Ed. C. Molbech (Copenhagen, 1825).
[5] See _Povel Eliesens danske Skrifter_ (Copenhagen, 1855, &c.),
edited by C. E. Secher.
[6] See _Monumenta historiae Danicae_ (ed. H. Rördam, vol. i., 1873).
[7] Ed. Sophus Birket Smith (Copenhagen, 1868), who also edited the
comedies ascribed to Chr. Hansen as _De tre aeldste danske Skuespil_
(1874), and the works of Ranch (1876).
[8] His works were edited by Gustav Storm (Christiania, 1877-1879).
[9] See Fr. W. Horn, _Peder Syv_ (Copenhagen, 1878).
[10] See A. C. L. Heiberg, _Thomas Kingo_ (Odense, 1852).
[11] His collected works were edited by Fr. Barford (Copenhagen, 5th
ed., 1879).
[12] Wessel's _Digte_ (3rd ed., 1895) are edited by J. Levin, with a
biographical introduction.
[13] A biography by his friend, K. L. Rahbek, is prefixed to a
selection of his poetry (6 vols., 1824-1829).
[14] See F. L. Liebenberg, _Schack Staffeldts samlede Digte_ (2 vols.,
Copenhagen, 1843), and _Samlinger til Schack Staffeldts Levnet_ (4
vols., 1846-1851).
[15] Blicher's _Tales_ were edited by P. Hansen (3 vols., Copenhagen,
1871), and his _Poems_ in 1870.
[16] Edited (3 vols., 2nd ed., 1855, Copenhagen) by F. L. Liebenberg.
DENNERY, or D'ENNERY, ADOLPHE (1811-1899), French dramatist and
novelist, whose real surname was PHILIPPE, was born in Paris on the 17th
of June 1811. He obtained his first success in collaboration with
Charles Desnoyer in _Émile, ou le fils d'un pair de France_ (1831), a
drama which was the first of a series of some two hundred pieces written
alone or in collaboration with other dramatists. Among the best of them
may be mentioned _Gaspard Hauser_ (1838) with Anicet Bourgeois; _Les
Bohémiens de Paris_ (1842) with Eugène Grangé; with Mallian,
_Marie-Jeanne, ou la femme du peuple_ (1845), in which Madame Dorval
obtained a great success; _La Case d'Oncle Tom_ (1853); _Les Deux
Orphelines_ (1875), perhaps his best piece, with Eugène Cormon. He wrote
the libretto for Gounod's _Tribut de Zamora_ (1881); with Louis Gallet
and Édouard Blan he composed the book of Massenet's _Cid_ (1885); and,
again in collaboration with Eugène Cormon, the books of Auber's operas,
_Le Premier Jour de bonheur_ (1868) and _Rêve d'amour_ (1869). He
prepared for the stage Balzac's posthumous comedy _Mercadet ou le
faiseur_, presented at the Gymnase theatre in 1851. Reversing the usual
order of procedure, Dennery adapted some of his plays to the form of
novels. He died in Paris in 1899.
DENNEWITZ, a village of Germany, in the Prussian province of
Brandenburg, near Jüterbog, 40 m. S.W. from Berlin. It is memorable as
the scene of a decisive battle on the 6th of September 1813, in which
Marshal Ney, with an army of 58,000 French, Saxons and Poles, was
defeated with great loss by 50,000 Prussians under Generals Bülow
(afterwards Count Bülow of Dennewitz) and Tauentzien. The site of the
battle is marked by an iron obelisk.
DENNIS, JOHN (1657-1734), English critic and dramatist, the son of a
saddler, was born in London in 1657. He was educated at Harrow School
and Caius College, Cambridge, where he took his B.A. degree in 1679. In
the next year he was fined and dismissed from his college for having
wounded a fellow-student with a sword. He was, however, received at
Trinity Hall, where he took his M.A. degree in 1683. After travelling in
France and Italy, he settled in London, where he became acquainted with
Dryden, Wycherley and others; and being made temporarily independent by
inheriting a small fortune, he devoted himself to literature. The duke
of Marlborough procured him a place as one of the queen's waiters in the
customs with a salary of £120 a year. This he afterwards disposed of for
a small sum, retaining, at the suggestion of Lord Halifax, a yearly
charge upon it for a long term of years. Neither the poems nor the plays
of Dennis are of any account, although one of his tragedies, a violent
attack on the French in harmony with popular prejudice, entitled
_Liberty Asserted_, was produced with great success at Lincoln's Inn
Fields in 1704. His sense of his own importance approached mania, and he
is said to have desired the duke of Marlborough to have a special clause
inserted in the treaty of Utrecht to secure him from French vengeance.
Marlborough pointed out that although he had been a still greater enemy
of the French nation, he had no fear for his own security. This tale and
others of a similar nature may well be exaggerations prompted by his
enemies, but the infirmities of character and temper indicated in them
were real. Dennis is best remembered as a critic, and Isaac D'Israeli,
who took a by no means favourable view of Dennis, said that some of his
criticisms attain classical rank. The earlier ones, which have nothing
of the rancour that afterwards gained him the nickname of "Furius," are
the best. They are _Remarks ..._ (1696), on Blackmore's epic of Prince
Arthur; _Letters upon Several Occasions written by and between Mr
Dryden, Mr Wycherley, Mr Moyle, Mr Congreve and Mr Dennis, published by
Mr Dennis_ (1696): two pamphlets in reply to Jeremy Collier's _Short
View; The Advancement and Reformation of_ _Modern Poetry_ (1701),
perhaps his most important work; _The Grounds of Criticism in Poetry_
(1704), in which he argued that the ancients owed their superiority over
the moderns in poetry to their religious attitude; an _Essay upon
Publick Spirit ..._ (1711), in which he inveighs against luxury, and
servile imitation of foreign fashions and customs; and _Essay on the
Genius and Writings of Shakespeare in three Letters_ (1712).
Dennis had been offended by a humorous quotation made from his works by
Addison, and published in 1713 _Remarks upon Cato_. Much of this
criticism was acute and sensible, and it is quoted at considerable
length by Johnson in his _Life of Addison_, but there is no doubt that
Dennis was actuated by personal jealousy of Addison's success. Pope
replied in _The Narrative of Dr Robert Norris, concerning the strange
and deplorable frenzy of John Dennis ..._ (1713). This pamphlet was full
of personal abuse, exposing Dennis's foibles, but offering no defence of
_Cato_. Addison repudiated any connivance in this attack, and indirectly
notified Dennis that when he did answer his objections, it would be
without personalities. Pope had already assailed Dennis in 1711 in the
_Essay on Criticism_, as Appius. Dennis retorted by _Reflections,
Critical and Satirical ..._, a scurrilous production in which he taunted
Pope with his deformity, saying among other things that he was "as
stupid and as venomous as a hunch-backed toad." He also wrote in 1717
_Remarks upon Mr Pope's Translation of Homer ..._ and _A True Character
of Mr Pope_. He accordingly figures in the _Dunciad_, and in a scathing
note in the edition of 1729 (bk. i. 1. 106) Pope quotes his more
outrageous attacks, and adds an insulting epigram attributed to Richard
Savage, but now generally ascribed to Pope. More pamphlets followed, but
Dennis's day was over. He outlived his annuity from the customs, and his
last years were spent in great poverty. Bishop Atterbury sent him money,
and he received a small sum annually from Sir Robert Walpole. A benefit
performance was organized at the Haymarket (December 18, 1733) on his
behalf. Pope wrote for the occasion an ill-natured prologue which Cibber
recited. Dennis died within three weeks of this performance, on the 6th
of January 1734.
His other works include several plays, for one of which, _Appius and
Virginia_ (1709), he invented a new kind of thunder. He wrote a
curious _Essay on the Operas after the Italian Manner_ (1706),
maintaining that opera was the outgrowth of effeminate manners, and
should, as such, be suppressed. His _Works_ were published in 1702,
_Select Works ..._ (2 vols.) in 1718, and _Miscellaneous Tracts_, the
first volume only of which appeared, in 1727. For accounts of Dennis
see Cibber's _Lives of the Poets_, vol. iv.; Isaac D'Israeli's essays
on Pope and Addison in the _Quarrels of Authors_, and "On the
Influence of a Bad Temper in Criticism" in _Calamities of Authors_;
and numerous references in Pope's _Works_.
DENOMINATION (Lat. _denominare_, to give a specific name to), the giving
of a specific name to anything, hence the name or designation of a
person or thing, and more particularly of a class of persons or things;
thus, in arithmetic, it is applied to a unit in a system of weights and
measures, currency or numbers. The most general use of "denomination" is
for a body of persons holding specific opinions and having a common
name, especially with reference to the religious opinions of such a
body. More particularly the word is used of the various "sects" into
which members of a common religious faith may be divided. The term
"denominationalism" is thus given to the principle of emphasizing the
distinctions, rather than the common ground, in the faith held by
different bodies professing one sort of religious belief. This use is
particularly applied to that system of religious education which lays
stress on the principle that children belonging to a particular
religious sect should be publicly taught in the tenets of their belief
by members belonging to it and under the general control of the
ministers of the denomination.
DENON, DOMINIQUE VIVANT, BARON DE (1747-1825), French artist and
archaeologist, was born at Chalon-sur-Saône on the 4th of January 1747.
He was sent to Paris to study law, but he showed a decided preference
for art and literature, and soon gave up his profession. In his
twenty-third year he produced a comedy, _Le Bon Père_, which obtained a
_succès d'estime_, as he had already won a position in society by his
agreeable manners and exceptional conversational powers. He became a
favourite of Louis XV., who entrusted him with the collection and
arrangement of a cabinet of medals and antique gems for Madame de
Pompadour, and subsequently appointed him attaché to the French embassy
at St Petersburg. On the accession of Louis XVI. Denon was transferred
to Sweden; but he returned, after a brief interval, to Paris with the
ambassador M. de Vergennes, who had been appointed foreign minister. In
1775 Denon was sent on a special mission to Switzerland, and took the
opportunity of visiting Voltaire at Ferney. He made a portrait of the
philosopher, which was engraved and published on his return to Paris.
His next diplomatic appointment was to Naples, where he spent seven
years, first as secretary to the embassy and afterwards as _chargé
d'affaires_. He devoted this period to a careful study of the monuments
of ancient art, collecting many specimens and making drawings of others.
He also perfected himself in etching and mezzotinto engraving. The death
of his patron, M. de Vergennes, in 1787, led to his recall, and the rest
of his life was given mainly to artistic pursuits. On his return to
Paris he was admitted a member of the Academy of Painting. After a brief
interval he returned to Italy, living chiefly at Venice. He also visited
Florence and Bologna, and afterwards went to Switzerland. While there he
heard that his property had been confiscated, and his name placed on the
list of the proscribed, and with characteristic courage he resolved at
once to return to Paris. His situation was critical, but he was spared,
thanks to the friendship of the painter David, who obtained for him a
commission to furnish designs for republican costumes. When the
Revolution was over, Denon was one of the band of eminent men who
frequented the house of Madame de Beauharnais. Here he met Bonaparte, to
whose fortunes he wisely attached himself. At Bonaparte's invitation he
joined the expedition to Egypt, and thus found the opportunity of
gathering the materials for his most important literary and artistic
work. He accompanied General Desaix to Upper Egypt, and made numerous
sketches of the monuments of ancient art, sometimes under the very fire
of the enemy. The results were published in his _Voyage dans la basse et
la haute Égypte_ (2 vols, fol., with 141 plates, Paris, 1802), a work
which crowned his reputation both as an archaeologist and as an artist.
In 1804 he was appointed by Napoleon to the important office of
director-general of museums, which he filled until the restoration in
1815, when he had to retire. He was a devoted friend of Napoleon, whom
he accompanied in his expeditions to Austria, Spain and Poland, taking
sketches with his wonted fearlessness on the various battlefields, and
advising the conqueror in his choice of spoils of art from the various
cities pillaged. After his retirement he began an illustrated history of
ancient and modern art, in which he had the co-operation of several
skilful engravers. He died at Paris on the 27th of April 1825, leaving
the work unfinished. It was published posthumously, with an explanatory
text by Amaury Duval, under the title _Monuments des arts du dessin chez
les peuples tant anciens que modernes, recueillis par Vivant Denon_ (4
vols, fol., Paris, 1829). Denon was the author of a novel, _Point de
lendemain_ (1777), of which further editions were printed in 1812, 1876
and 1879.
See J. Renouvier, _Histoire de l'art pendant la Révolution_; A. de la
Fizelière, _L'OEuvre originale de Vivant-Denon_ (2 vols., Paris,
1872-1873); Roger Portallis, _Les Dessinateurs d'illustrations au
XVIII^e siècle_; D. H. Beraldi, _Les Graveurs d'illustrations au
XVIII^e siècle_.
DENOTATION (from Lat. _denotare_, to mark out, specify), in logic, a
technical term used strictly as the correlative of Connotation, to
describe one of the two functions of a concrete term. The concrete term
"connotes" attributes and "denotes" all the individuals which, as
possessing these attributes, constitute the genus or species described
by the term. Thus "cricketer" denotes the individuals who play cricket,
and connotes the qualities or characteristics by which these individuals
are marked. In this sense, in which it was first used by J. S. Mill,
Denotation is equivalent to Extension, and Connotation to Intension. It
is clear that when the given term is qualified by a limiting adjective
the Denotation or Extension diminishes, while the Connotation or
Intension increases; e.g. a generic term like "flower" has a larger
Extension, and a smaller Intension than "rose": "rose" than
"moss-rose." In more general language Denotation is used loosely for
that which is meant or indicated by a word, phrase, sentence or even an
action. Thus a proper name or even an abstract term is said to have
Denotation. (See CONNOTATION.)
DENS, PETER (1690-1775), Belgian Roman Catholic theologian, was born at
Boom near Antwerp. Most of his life was spent in the archiepiscopal
college of Malines, where he was for twelve years reader in theology and
for forty president. His great work was the _Theologia moralis et
dogmatica_, a compendium in catechetical form of Roman Catholic doctrine
and ethics which has been much used as a students' text-book. Dens died
on the 15th of February 1775.
DENSITY (Lat. _densus_, thick), in physics, the mass or quantity of
matter contained in unit volume of any substance: this is the _absolute
density_; the term _relative density_ or _specific gravity_ denotes the
ratio of the mass of a certain volume of a substance to the mass of the
same volume of some standard substance. Since the weights used in
conjunction with a balance are really standard masses, the word "weight"
may be substituted for the word "mass" in the preceding definitions; and
we may symbolically express the relations thus:--If M be the weight of
substance occupying a volume V, then the absolute density [Delta] = M/V;
and if m, m_1 be the weights of the substance and of the standard
substance which occupy the same volume, the relative density or specific
gravity S = m/m_1; or more generally if m_1 be the weight of a
volume v of the substance, and m_1 the weight of a volume v_1 of the
standard, then S = mv_{1}/m_{1}v. In the numerical expression of
absolute densities it is necessary to specify the units of mass and
volume employed; while in the case of relative densities, it is only
necessary to specify the standard substance, since the result is a mere
number. Absolute densities are generally stated in the C.G.S. system,
i.e. as grammes per cubic centimetre. In commerce, however, other
expressions are met with, as, for example, "pounds per cubic foot" (used
for woods, metals, &c.), "pounds per gallon," &c. The standard
substances employed to determine relative densities are: water for
liquids and solids, and hydrogen or atmospheric air for gases; oxygen
(as 16) is sometimes used in this last case. Other standards of
reference may be used in special connexions; for example, the Earth is
the usual unit for expressing the relative density of the other members
of the solar system. Reference should be made to the article GRAVITATION
for an account of the methods employed to determine the "mean density of
the earth."
In expressing the absolute or relative density of any substance, it is
necessary to specify the conditions for which the relation holds: in the
case of gases, the temperature and pressure of the experimental gas (and
of the standard, in the case of relative density); and in the case of
solids and liquids, the temperature. The reason for this is readily
seen; if a mass M of any gas occupies a volume V at a temperature T (on
the absolute scale) and a pressure P, then its absolute density under
these conditions is [Delta] = M/V; if now the temperature and pressure
be changed to T_1 and P_1, the volume V_1 under these conditions is
VPT/P_{1}T_1, and the absolute density is MP_{1}T/VPT_1. It is customary
to reduce gases to the so-called "normal temperature and pressure,"
abbreviated to N.T.P., which is 0°C. and 760 mm.
The relative densities of gases are usually expressed in terms of the
standard gas under the same conditions. The density gives very important
information as to the molecular weight, since by the law of Avogadro it
is seen that the relative density is the ratio of the molecular weights
of the experimental and standard gases. In the case of liquids and
solids, comparison with water at 4°C, the temperature of the maximum
density of water; at 0°C, the zero of the Centigrade scale and the
freezing-point of water; at 15° and 18°, ordinary room-temperatures; and
at 25°, the temperature at which a thermostat may be conveniently
maintained, are common in laboratory practice. The temperature of the
experimental substance may or may not be the temperature of the
standard. In such cases a bracketed fraction is appended to the specific
gravity, of which the numerator and denominator are respectively the
temperatures of the substance and of the standard; thus 1.093 (0°/4°)
means that the ratio of the weight of a definite volume of a substance
at 0° to the weight of the same volume of water 4° is 1.093. It may be
noted that if comparison be made with water at 4°, the relative density
is the same as the absolute density, since the unit of mass in the
C.G.S. system is the weight of a cubic centimetre of water at this
temperature. In British units, especially in connexion with the
statement of relative densities of alcoholic liquors for Inland Revenue
purposes, comparison is made with water at 62°F. (16.6°C); a reason for
this is that the gallon of water is defined by statute as weighing 10
lb. at 62°F., and hence the densities so expressed admit of the ready
conversion of volumes to weights. Thus if d be the relative density,
then 10d represents the weight of a gallon in lb.. The brewer has gone
a step further in simplifying his expressions by multiplying the density
by 1000, and speaking of the difference between the density so expressed
and 1000 as "degrees of gravity" (see BEER).