The chief advantage of this frame is that it does not matter in the
least which side lands first on the bottom; it is to the other trawls
what Ball's dredge is to an oyster dredge. The course can also be
altered during shooting or towing the Blake trawl with far greater
ease than is the case with others. An Agassiz trawl very successful in
the North Sea has the following dimensions: length of the connecting
rods and therefore of the mouth 8 ft., height of runners and of mouth
1 ft. 9 in., extreme length of runners 2 ft., length of net 11 ft. 3
in., weight of whole trawl 94 lb., 63 of which are due to the frame.
It is instructive to note how closely our knowledge of bottom-living
forms has been associated with the instruments of capture in use. As
long as small vessels were used in dredging, the belief that life was
limited to the regions accessible to them was widely spread. The first
known denizens of great depths were the foraminifera and few echinoderms
brought up by various sounding apparatus. Next with the dredge and
tangles the number of groups obtained was much greater. As soon as
trawls were adopted fish began to make their appearance. The greatest
gaps in our knowledge still probably occur in the large and swiftly
moving forms, such as fish and cephalopods. As we can hardly hope to
move apparatus swiftly over the bottom in great depths, the way in which
improvement is possible probably is that of increasing the spread of the
nets; and a start in this direction appears to have been made by Dr
Petersen, who has devised a modified otter sieve which catches fish at
all events very well, and has been operated already at considerable
depths.
Of the economy of quite shallow seas, however, we are still largely
ignorant. Much as has been learnt of the bionomics of the sea, it is but
a commencement; and this is of course especially true of deep seas. The
dredge and its kindred have, however, in less than a century enabled
naturalists to compile an immense mass of knowledge of the structure,
development, affinities and distribution of the animals of the sea-bed,
and in the most accessible seas to produce enumerations and
morphological accounts of them of some approach to completeness.
(J. O. B.)
DRELINCOURT, CHARLES (1595-1669), French Protestant divine, was born at
Sedan on the 10th of July 1595. In 1618 he undertook the charge of the
French Protestant church at Langres, but failed to receive the necessary
royal sanction, and early in 1620 he removed to Paris, where he was
nominated minister of the Reformed Church at Charenton. He was the
author of a large number of works in devotional and polemical theology,
several of which had great influence. His _Catechism_ (_Catechisme ou
instruction familiere_, 1652) and his _Christian's Defense against the
Fears of Death_ (_Consolations de l'ame fidele contre les frayeurs de la
mort, 1651_) became well known in England by means of translations,
which were very frequently reprinted. It has been said that Daniel Defoe
wrote his fiction of Mrs Veal (_A True Relation of the Apparition of Mrs
Veal_), who came from the other world to recommend the perusal of
_Drelincourt on Death_, for the express purpose of promoting the sale of
an English translation of the _Consolations_; Defoe's contribution is
added to the fourth edition of the translation (1706). Another popular
work of his was _Les Visites charitables pour toutes sortes de personnes
affligees_ (1669). Drelincourt's controversial works were numerous.
Directed entirely against Roman Catholicism, they did much to strengthen
and consolidate the Protestant party in France. He died on the 3rd of
November 1669.
Several of his sons were distinguished as theologians or physicians.
Laurent (1626-1681) became a pastor, and was the author of _Sonnets
chretiens sur divers sujets_ (1677); Charles (1633-1697) was professor
of physic at the university of Leiden, and physician to the prince of
Orange; Peter (1644-1722) was ordained a priest in the Church of
England, and became dean of Armagh.
DRENTE, a province of Holland, bounded N. and N.E. by Groningen, S.E. by
the Prussian province of Hanover, S. and S.W. by Overysel, and N.W. by
Friesland; area, 1128 sq. m.; pop. (1900) 149,551. The province of
Drente is a sandy plateau forming the kernel of the surrounding
provinces. The soil consists almost entirely of sand and gravel, and is
covered with bleak moorland, patches of wood, and fen. This is only
varied by the strip of fertile clay and grass-land which is found along
the banks of the rivers, and by the areas of high fen in the
south-eastern corner and on the western borders near Assen. The surface
of the province is a gentle slope from the south-west towards the
north-east, where it terminates in the long ridge of hills known as the
Hondsrug (Dog's Back) extending along the eastern border into Groningen.
The watershed of the province runs from east to west across the middle
of the province, along the line of the Orange canal. The southern
streams are all collected at two points on the southern borders, namely,
at Meppel and Koevorden, whence they communicate with the Zwarte Water
and the Vecht respectively by means of the Meppeler Diep and the
Koevorden canal. The Steenwyker Aa, however, enters the Zuider Zee
independently. The northern rivers all flow into Groningen. The piles of
granite rocks somewhat in the shape of cromlechs which are found
scattered about this province, and especially along the western edge of
the Hondsrug, have long been named _Hunebedden_, from a popular
superstition that they were "Huns' beds." Possibly the word originally
meant "beds of the dead," or tombs.
Two industries have for centuries been associated with the barren heaths
and sodden fens so usually found together on the sand-grounds, namely,
the cultivation of buckwheat and peat-digging. The work is conducted on
a regular system of fen colonization, the first operation being directed
towards the drainage of the country. This is effected by means of
drainage canals cut at regular intervals and connected by means of cross
ditches. These draining ditches all have their issue in a main drainage
canal, along which the transport of the peat and peat-litter takes place
and the houses of the colonists are built. The heathlands when
sufficiently drained are prepared for cultivation by being cut into sods
and burnt. This system appears to have been practised already at the end
of the 17th century. After eight years, however, the soil becomes
exhausted, and twenty to thirty years are required for its
refertilization. The cultivation of buckwheat on these grounds has
decreased, and large areas which were formerly thus treated now lie
waste. Potatoes, rye, oats, beans and peas are also largely cultivated.
In connexion with the cultivation of potatoes, factories are established
for making spirits, treacle, potato-meal, and straw-paper. Furthermore,
agriculture is everywhere accompanied on the sand-grounds by the rearing
of sheep and cattle, which assist in fertilizing the soil. Owing to the
meagreness of their food these animals are usually thin and small, but
are quickly restored when placed on richer grounds. The breeding of pigs
is also widely practised on the sand-grounds, as well as forest culture.
Of the fen-colonies in Drente the best known are those of Frederiksoord
and Veenhuizen.
Owing to the general condition of poverty which prevailed after the
French evacuation in the second decade of the 19th century, attention
was turned to the means of industry offered by the unreclaimed
heath-lands in the eastern provinces, and in 1818 the Society of Charity
(_Maatschappij van Weldadigheid_) was formed with Count van den Bosch at
its head. This society began by establishing the free agricultural
colony of Frederiksoord, about 10 m. N. of Meppel, named after Prince
Frederick, son of William I., king of the Netherlands. An industrious
colonist could purchase a small farm on the estate and make himself
independent in two years. In addition to this, various industries were
set on foot for the benefit of those who were not capable of field work,
such as mat and rope making, and jute and cotton weaving. In later times
forest culture was added, and the Gerard Adriaan van Swieten schools of
forestry, agriculture and horticulture were established by Major van
Swieten in memory of his son. A Reformed and a Roman Catholic church are
also attached to the colony. To this colony the Society of Charity later
added the adjoining colonies of Willemsoord and Kolonie VII. in
Overysel, and Wilhelminasoord partly in Friesland. The colony of
Veenhuizen lies about 7 m. N.W. of Assen, and was founded by the same
society in 1823. In 1859, however, the Veenhuizen estates were sold to
the government for the purpose of a penal establishment for drunkards
and beggars.
Owing to its geographical isolation, the development of Drente has
remained behind that of every other province in the Netherlands, and
there are few centres of any importance, either agricultural or
industrial. Hence the character and customs of the people have remained
peculiarly conservative. Assen is the chief town. In the south Meppel
and Koevorden absorb the largest amount of trade. Hoogeveen, situated
between these two, owes its origin to the fen reclamation which was
begun here in 1625 by Baron van Echten. In the following year it was
erected into a barony which lasted till 1795. The original industry has
long since moved onwards to other parts, but the town remains a
prosperous market centre, and has a considerable industrial activity.
Extensive fir woods have been laid out in the neighbourhood. Zuidlaren
is a picturesque village at the northern end of the Hondsrug, with an
important market. The railway from Amsterdam to Groningen traverses
Drente; branch lines connect Meppel with Leeuwarden and Assen with
Delfzyl.
_History._--The early history of Drente is obscure. That it was
inhabited at a remote date is proved by the prehistoric sepulchral
mounds, the _Hunebedden_ already mentioned. In the 5th and 6th centuries
the country was overrun by Saxon tribes, and later on was governed by
counts under the Frankish and German kings. Of these only three are
recorded, Eberhard (943-944), Balderic (1006) and Temmo (1025). In 1046
the emperor Henry III. gave the countship to the bishop and chapter of
Utrecht, who governed it through the burgrave, or chatelain, of
Koevorden, a dignity which became hereditary after 1143 in the family of
Ludolf or Roelof, brother of Heribert of Bierum, bishop of Utrecht
(1138-1150). This family became extinct in the male line about 1232, and
was succeeded by Henry I. of Borculo (1232-1261), who had married the
heiress of Roelof III. of Koevorden. In 1395 Reinald IV. (d. 1410) of
Borculo-Koevorden was deposed by Bishop Frederick of Utrecht, and the
country was henceforth administered by an episcopal official
(_amptman_), who was, however, generally a native. With its popularly
elected assembly of twenty-four Etten (_jurati_) Drente remained
practically independent. This state of things continued till 1522, when
it was conquered by Duke Charles of Gelderland, from whom it was taken
by the emperor Charles V. in 1536, and became part of the Habsburg
dominions.
Drente took part in the revolt of the Netherlands, and being a district
covered by waste heath and moor was, on account of its poverty and
sparse population, not admitted into the union as a separate province,
and it had no voice in the assembly of the states-general. It was
subdued by the Spaniards in 1580, but reconquered by Maurice of Nassau
in 1594. During the years that followed, Drente, though unrepresented in
the states-general, retained its local independence and had its own
stadtholder. William Louis of Nassau-Siegen (d. 1620) held that office,
and it was held later by Maurice, Frederick Henry, William II. and
William III., princes of Orange. At the general assembly of 1651 Drente
put forward its claim to admission as a province, but was not admitted.
After the deaths of William II. (1650) and of William III. (1702) Drente
remained for a term of years without a stadtholder, but in 1722 William
Charles Henry of the house of Nassau-Siegen, who, through the extinction
of the elder line, had become prince of Orange, was elected stadtholder.
His descendants held that office, which was declared hereditary, until
the French conquest in 1795. In the following year Drente at length
obtained the privilege, which it had long sought, of being reckoned as
an eighth province with representation in the states-general. Between
1806 and 1813 Drente, with the rest of the Netherlands, was incorporated
in the French empire, and, with part of Groningen, formed the department
of Ems Occidental. With the accession of William I. as king of the
Netherlands it was restored to its old position as a province of the new
kingdom.
DRESDEN, a city of Germany, capital of the kingdom of Saxony, 71 m.
E.S.E. from Leipzig and 111 m. S. from Berlin by railway. It lies at an
altitude of 402 ft. above the Baltic, in a broad and pleasant valley on
both banks of the Elbe. The prospect of the city with its cupolas,
towers, spires and the copper green roofs of its palaces, as seen from
the distance, is one of striking beauty. On the left bank of the river
are the Altstadt (old town) with four old suburbs and numerous new
suburbs, and the Friedrichstadt (separated from the Altstadt by a long
railway viaduct); on the right, the Neustadt (new town), Antonstadt, and
the modern military suburb Alberstadt. Five fine bridges connect the
Altstadt and Neustadt. The beautiful central bridge--the Alte or
Augustusbrucke--with 16 arches, built in 1727-1731, and 1420 ft. long,
has been demolished (1906) and replaced by a wider structure. Up-stream
are the two modern Albert and Kunigin Carola bridges, and, down-stream,
the Marien and the Eisenbahn (railway) bridges. The streets of the
Alstadt are mostly narrow and somewhat gloomy, those of the Neustadt
more spacious and regular.
On account of its delightful situation and the many objects of interest
it contains, Dresden is often called "German Florence," a name first
applied to it by the poet Herder. The richness of its art treasures, the
educational advantages it offers, and its attractive surroundings render
it a favourite resort of people with private means. There are a large
number of foreign residents, notably Austro-Hungarians and Russians, and
also a considerable colony of English and Americans, the latter
amounting to about 1500. The population of the city on the 1st of
December 1905 was 516,996, of whom 358,776 lived on the left bank
(Altstadt) and 158,220 on the right (Neustadt). The royal house belongs
to the Roman Catholic confession, but the bulk of the inhabitants are
Lutheran Protestants.
Dresden is the residence of the king, the seat of government for the
kingdom of Saxony, and the headquarters of the XII. (Saxon) Army Corps.
Within two decades (1880-1900) the capital almost at a single bound
advanced into the front rank of German commercial and industrial towns;
but while gaining in prosperity it has lost much of its medieval aspect.
Old buildings in the heart of the Altstadt have been swept away, and
their place occupied by modern business houses and new streets. Among
the public squares in the Altstadt must be mentioned the magnificent
Theaterplatz, with a fine equestrian statue of King John, by Schilling;
the Altmarkt, with a monument commemorative of the war of 1870-71; the
Neumarkt, with a bronze statue of King Frederick Augustus II., by E. J.
Hahnel; the Postplatz, adorned by a Gothic fountain, by Semper; and the
Bismarckplatz in the Anglo-American quarter. In the Neustadt are the
market square, with a bronze equestrian statue of Augustus the Strong;
the Kaiser Wilhelmplatz; and the Albertplatz. The continuous Schloss-,
See- and Prager-Strasse, and the Wilsdruffer- and Kunig Johann-Strasse
are the main streets in the Altstadt, and the Hauptstrasse in the
Neustadt.
The most imposing churches include the Roman Catholic Hofkirche, built
(1739-1751) by C. Chiaveri, in rococo style, with a tower 300 ft. high.
It contains a fine organ by Silbermann and pictures by Raphael Mengs and
other artists, the outside being adorned with 59 statues by Mattielli.
On the Neumarkt is the Frauenkirche, with a stone cupola rising to the
height of 311 ft.; close to the Altmarkt, the Kreuzkirche, rebuilt after
destruction by fire in 1897, also with a lofty tower surmounted by a
cupola; and near the Postplatz the Sophienkirche, with twin spires. In
the Neustadt is the Dreikunigskirche (dating from the 18th century) with
a high pinnacled tower. Among more modern churches may be mentioned: in
the Altstadt, the Johanneskirche, with a richly decorated interior; the
Lukaskirche; and the Trinitatiskirche; and in the Neustadt, the Martin
Luther-Kirche and the new garrison church. Apart from the chapels in the
royal palaces, Dresden contains in all 32 churches, viz. 21 Evangelical,
6 Roman Catholic, a Reformed, a Russian, an English (erected by Gilbert
Scott) with a graceful spire, a Scottish (Presbyterian), and an American
(Episcopal) church, the last a handsome building, with a pretty
parsonage attached.
Of secular buildings, the most noteworthy are grouped in the Altstadt
near the river. The royal palace, built in 1530-1535 by Duke George (and
thus called Georgenschloss), was thoroughly restored, and in some
measure rebuilt between 1890 and 1902, in German Renaissance style, and
is now an exceedingly handsome structure. The Georgentor has been
widened, and through it, and beneath the royal apartments, vehicular
traffic from the centre of the town is directed to the Augustusbrucke.
The whole is surmounted by a lofty tower--387 ft.--the highest in
Dresden. The interior is splendidly decorated. In the palace chapel are
pictures by Rembrandt, Nicolas Poussin, Guido Reni and Annibale Caracci.
The adjoining Prinzen-Palais on the Taschenberg, built in 1715, has a
fine chapel, in which are various works of S. Torelli; it has also a
library of 20,000 volumes. The Zwinger, begun in 1711, and built in the
rococo style, forms an enclosure, within which is a statue of King
Frederick Augustus I. It was intended to be the vestibule to a palace,
but now contains a number of collections of great value. Until 1846 it
was open at the north side; but this space has since been occupied by
the museum, a beautiful Renaissance building, the exterior of which is
adorned by statues of Michelangelo, Raphael, Giotto, Dante, Goethe and
other artists and poets by Rietschel and Hahnel, and it contains the
famous picture gallery. The Bruhl palace, built in 1737 by Count Bruhl,
the minister of Augustus II., has been in some measure demolished to
make room for the new Standehaus (diet house), with its main facade
facing the Hofkirche; before the main entrance there is an equestrian
statue (1906) of King Albert. Close by is the Bruhl Terrace, approached
by a fine flight of steps, on which are groups, by Schilling,
representing Morning, Evening, Day and Night. The terrace commands a
view of the Elbe and the distant heights of Loschwitz and the Weisser
Hirsch, but the prospect has of late years become somewhat marred, owing
to the extension of the town up the river and to the two new up-stream
bridges. The Japanese palace in the Neustadt, built in 1715 as a summer
residence for Augustus II., receives its name from certain oriental
figures with which it is decorated; it is sometimes called the Augusteum
and contains the royal library. Among other buildings of note is the
Hoftheatre, a magnificent edifice in the Renaissance style, built after
the designs of Semper, to replace the theatre burnt in 1869, and
completed in 1878. A new town hall of huge dimensions, also in German
Renaissance, with an octagon tower 400 ft. in height, stands on the
former southern ramparts of the inner town, close to the Kreuzkirche. In
the Altstadt the most striking of the newer edifices is the
Kunstakademie, constructed from designs by K. Lipsius in the Italian
Renaissance style, 1890-1894. The Albertinum, formerly the arsenal,
built in 1559-1563, was rebuilt 1884-1889, and fitted up as a museum of
oriental and classical antiquities, and as the depository of the state
archives. On the right bank of the Elbe in Neustadt stand the fine
buildings of the ministries of war, of finance, justice, the interior
and education. The public monuments of Dresden also include the Moritz
Monument, a relief dedicated by the elector Augustus to his brother
Maurice, a statue of Weber the composer by Rietschel, a bronze statue of
Theodor Kurner by Hahnel, the Rietschel monument on the Bruhl Terrace by
Schilling, a bust of Gutzkow, and a statue of Bismarck on the promenade.
In the suburbs which encircle the old town are to be noted the vast
central Hauptbahnhof (1893-1898) occupying the site of the old
Buhmischer railway station, the new premises of the municipal hospital
and the Ausstellungs-Halle (exhibition buildings).
The chief pleasure-ground of Dresden is the Grosser Garten, in which
there are a summer theatre, the Reitschel museum, and a chateau
containing a museum of antiquities. The latter is composed chiefly of
objects removed from the churches in consequence of the Reformation.
Near the chateau is the zoological garden, formed in 1860, and
excellently arranged. A little to the south of Dresden, on the left bank
of the Elbe, is the village Racknitz, in which is Moreau's monument,
erected on the spot where he was mortally wounded in 1813. The mountains
of Saxon Switzerland are seen from this neighbourhood.
_Art._--Dresden owes a large part of its fame to its extensive artistic,
literary and scientific collections. Of these the most valuable is its
splendid picture gallery, founded by Augustus I. and increased by his
successors at great cost. It is in the museum, and contains about 2500
pictures, being especially rich in specimens of the Italian, Dutch and
Flemish schools. The gem of the collection is Raphael's "Madonna di San
Sisto," for which a room is set apart. There is also a special room for
the "Madonna" of the younger Holbein. Other paintings with which the
name of the gallery is generally associated are Correggio's "La Notte"
and "Mary Magdalene"; Titian's "Tribute Money" and "Venus"; "The
Adoration" and "The Marriage in Cana," by Paul Veronese; Andrea del
Sarto's "Abraham's Sacrifice"; Rembrandt's "Portrait of Himself with his
Wife sitting on his Knee"; "The Judgment of Paris" and "The Boar Hunt,"
by Rubens; Van Dyck's "Charles I., his Queen, and their Children."
Of modern painters, this magnificent collection contains masterpieces by
Defregger, Vautier, Makart, Munkacsy, Fritz von Uhde, Bucklin, Hans
Thoma; portraits by Leon Pohle, Delaroche and Sargent; landscapes by
Andreas and Oswald Achenbach and allegorical works by Sascha Schneider.
In separate compartments there are a number of crayon portraits, most of
them by Rosalba Carriera, and views of Dresden by Canaletto and other
artists. Besides the picture gallery the museum includes a magnificent
collection of engravings and drawings. There are upwards of 400,000
specimens, arranged in twelve classes, so as to mark the great epochs in
the history of art. A collection of casts, likewise in the museum, is
designed to display the progress of plastic art from the time of the
Egyptians and Assyrians to modern ages. This collection was begun by
Raphael Mengs, who secured casts of the most valuable antiques in Italy,
some of which no longer exist.
The Japanese palace contains a public library of more than 400,000
volumes, with about 3000 MSS. and 20,000 maps. It is especially rich in
the ancient classics, and in works bearing on literary history and the
history of Germany, Poland and France. There are also a valuable cabinet
of coins and a collection of ancient works of art. A collection of
porcelain in the "Museum Johanneum" (which once contained the picture
gallery) is made up of specimens of Chinese, Japanese, East Indian,
Sevres and Meissen manufacture, carefully arranged in chronological
order. There is in the same building an excellent Historical Museum. In
the Grune Gewulbe (Green Vault) of the Royal Palace, so called from the
character of its original decorations, there is an unequalled collection
of precious stones, pearls and works of art in gold, silver, amber and
ivory. The objects, which are about 3000 in number, are arranged in
eight rooms. They include the regalia of Augustus II. as king of Poland;
the electoral sword of Saxony; a group by Dinglinger, in gold and
enamel, representing the court of the grand mogul Aurungzebe, and
consisting of 132 figures upon a plate of silver 4 ft. 4 in. square; the
largest onyx known, 6-2/3 in. by 2-1/4 in.; a pearl representing the
dwarf of Charles II. of Spain; and a green brilliant weighing 40 carats.
The royal palace also has a gallery of arms consisting of more than 2000
weapons of artistic or historical value. In the Zwinger are the
zoological and mineralogical museums and a collection of instruments
used in mathematical and physical science. Among other collections is
that of the Kurner museum with numerous reminiscences of the
Goethe-Schiller epoch, and of the wars of liberation (1813-15), and
containing valuable manuscripts and relics. Founded by Hofrath Dr Emil
Peschel, it has passed into the possession of the city.
_Education._--Dresden is the seat of a number of well-known scientific
associations. The educational institutions are numerous and of a high
order, including a technical high school (with about 1100 students),
which enjoys the privilege of conferring the degrees of doctor of
engineering, doctor of technical sciences, &c., a veterinary college, a
political-economic institution (Gehestiftung), with library, a school of
architects, a royal and four municipal gymnasia, numerous lower grade
and popular schools, the royal conservatorium for music and drama, and a
celebrated academy of painting. Dresden has several important hospitals,
asylums and other charitable institutions.
_Music and the Theatres._--Besides the two royal theatres, Dresden
possesses several minor theatres and music halls. The pride of place in
the world of music is held by the orchestra attached to the court
theatre. Founded by Augustus II., it has become famous throughout the
world, owing to the masters who have from time to time been associated
with it--such as Paer, Weber, Reissiger and Wagner. Symphony and popular
concerts are held throughout the year in various public halls, and,
during the winter, concerts of church music are frequently given in the
Protestant Kreuz- and Frauen-Kirchen, and on Sundays in the Roman
Catholic church.
_Communications and Industries._--Dresden lies at the centre of an
extensive railway system, which places it in communication with the
chief cities of northern and central Germany as well as with Austria and
the East. Here cross the grand trunk lines Berlin-Vienna,
Chemnitz-Gurlitz-Breslau. It is connected by two lines of railway with
Leipzig and by local lines with neighbouring smaller towns. The
navigation on the Elbe has of recent years largely developed, and, in
addition to trade by river with Bohemia and Magdeburg-Hamburg, there is
a considerable pleasure-boat traffic during the summer months. The
communications within the city are maintained by an excellent system of
electric trams, which bring the more distant suburbs into easy connexion
with the business centre. A considerable business is done on the
exchange, chiefly in local industrial shares, and the financial
institutions number some fifty banks, among them branches of the Reichs
Bank and of the Deutsche Bank. Among the more notable industries may be
mentioned the manufacture of china (see CERAMICS), of gold and silver
ornaments, cigarettes, chocolate, coloured postcards, perfumery,
straw-plaiting, artificial flowers, agricultural machinery, paper,
photographic and other scientific instruments. There are several great
breweries; corn trade is carried on, and an extensive business is done
in books and objects of art.
_Surroundings._--The environs of the city are delightful. To the north
are the vine-clad hills of the Lussnitz commanding views of the valley
of the Elbe from Dresden to Meissen; behind them, on an island in a
lake, is the castle of Moritzburg, the hunting box of the king of
Saxony. On the right bank of the Elbe, 3 m. above the city, lies the
village of Loschwitz, where Schiller, in the summer of 1786, wrote the
greater part of his _Don Carlos_: above it on the fringe of the Dresdner
Heide, the climatic health resort Weisser-Hirsch; farther up the river
towards Pirna the royal summer palace Pillnitz; to the south the
Plauensche Grund, and still farther the Rabenauer Grund.
_History._--Dresden (Old Slav _Drezga_, forest, _Drezgajan_,
forest-dwellers), which is known to have existed in 1206, is of Slavonic
origin, and was originally founded on the right bank of the Elbe, on the
site of the present Neustadt, which is thus actually the _old_ town. It
became the capital of Henry the Illustrious, margrave of Meissen, in
1270, but belonged for some time after his death, first to Wenceslaus of
Bohemia, and next to the margrave of Brandenburg. Early in the 14th
century it was restored to the margrave of Meissen. On the division of
Saxony in 1485 it fell to the Albertine line, which has since held it.
Having been burned almost to the ground in 1491, it was rebuilt; and in
the 16th century the fortifications were begun and gradually extended.
John George II., in the 17th century, formed the Grosser Garten, and
otherwise greatly improved the town; but it was in the first half of the
18th century, under Augustus I. and Augustus II., who were kings of
Poland as well as electors of Saxony, that Dresden assumed something
like its present appearance. The Neustadt, which had been burned down in
the 17th century, was founded anew by Augustus I.; he also founded
Friedrichstadt. The town suffered severely during the Seven Years' War,
being bombarded in 1760. Some damage was also inflicted on it in 1813,
when Napoleon made it the centre of his operations; one of the
buttresses and two arches of the old bridge were then blown up. The
dismantling of the fortifications had been begun by the French in 1810,
and was gradually completed after 1817, the space occupied by them being
appropriated to gardens and promenades. Many buildings were completed or
founded by King Anthony, from whom Antonstadt derives its name. Dresden
again suffered severely during the revolution of 1849, but all traces of
the disturbances which then took place were soon effaced. In 1866 it was
occupied by the Prussians, who did not finally evacuate it until the
spring of the following year. Since that time numerous improvements have
been carried out.
See Lindau, _Geschichte der Haupt- und Residenzstadt Dresden_ (2
vols., Dresden, 1884-1885); Prulss, _Geschichte des Hoftheaters in
Dresden_ (Dresden, 1877); Schumann, _Fuhrer durch die kunigl.
Sammlungen zu Dresden_ (1903); Woerl, _Fuhrer durch Dresden_; Daniel,
_Deutschland_ (1894).
BATTLE OF DRESDEN. The battle of Dresden, the last of the great
victories of Napoleon, was fought on the 26th and 27th of August 1813.
The intervention of Austria in the War of Liberation, and the consequent
advance of the Allies under the Austrian field-marshal Prince
Schwarzenberg from Prague upon Dresden, recalled Napoleon from Silesia,
where he was engaged against the Prussians and Russians under Blucher.
Only by a narrow margin of time, indeed, was he able to bring back
sufficient troops for the first day's battle. He detached a column under
Vandamme to the mountains to interpose between Schwarzenberg and Prague
(see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS); the rest of the army pressed on by forced
marches for Dresden, around which a position for the whole army had been
chosen and fortified, though at the moment this was held by less than
20,000 men under Gouvion St Cyr, who retired thither from the mountains,
leaving a garrison in Kunigstein, and had repeatedly sent reports to the
emperor as to the allied masses gathering to the southward. The battle
of the first day began late in the afternoon, for Schwarzenberg waited
as long as possible for the corps of Klenau, which formed his extreme
left wing on the Freiberg road. At last, about 6 p.m. he decided to wait
no longer, and six heavy columns of attack advanced against the suburbs
defended by St Cyr and now also by the leading troops of the main army.
Three hundred guns covered the assault, and Dresden was set on fire in
places by the cannonade, while the French columns marched unceasingly
over the bridges and through the Altstadt. On the right the Russians
under Wittgenstein advanced from Striesen, the Prussians under Kleist
through the Grosser Garten, whilst Prussians under Prince Augustus and
Austrians under Colloredo moved upon the Moczinski redoubt, which was
the scene of the most desperate fighting, and was repeatedly taken and
retaken. The attack to the westward was carried out by the other
Austrian corps; Klenau, however, was still far distant. In the end, the
French defences remained unshaken. Ney led a counter-attack against the
Allies' left, the Moczinski redoubt was definitely recaptured from
Colloredo, and the Prussians were driven out of the Grosser Garten. The
_coup_ of the Allies had failed, for every hour saw the arrival of fresh
forces on the side of Napoleon, and at length the Austrian leader drew
off his men to the heights again. He was prepared to fight another
battle on the morrow--indeed he could scarcely have avoided it had he
wished to do so, for behind him lay the mountain defiles, towards which
Vandamme was marching with all speed.
[Illustration: Emery Walker sc.]
Napoleon's plan for the 27th was, as usual, simple in its outline. As at
Friedland, a ravine separated a part of the hostile line of battle from
the rest. The villages west of the Plauen ravine and even Lubda were
occupied in the early morning by General Metzko with the leading
division of Klenau's corps from Freiberg, and upon Metzko Napoleon
intended first to throw the weight of his attack, giving to Victor's
infantry and the cavalry of Murat, king of Naples, the task of
overwhelming the isolated Austrians. The centre, aided by the defences
of the Dresden suburbs, could hold its own, as the events of the 26th
had shown, the left, now under Ney, with whom served Kellermann's
cavalry and the Young Guard, was to attack Wittgenstein's Russians on
the Pirna road. Thus, for once, Napoleon decided to attack both flanks
of the enemy. His motives in so doing have been much discussed by the
critics; Vandamme's movements, it may be suggested, contributed to the
French emperor's plan, which if carried out would open the Pirna road.
Still, the left attack may have had a purely tactical object, for in
that quarter was the main body of the Prussians and Russians, and
Napoleon's method was always to concentrate the fury of the attack on
the heaviest masses of the enemy, i.e. the best target for his own
artillery. A very heavy rainstorm during the night seriously affected
the movements of troops on the following day, but all to Napoleon's
advantage, for his more mobile artillery, reinforced by every horse
available in and about Dresden, was still able to move where the Allied
guns sank in mud. Further, if the cavalry had to walk, or at most trot,
through the fields the opposing infantry was almost always unable to
fire their muskets. "You cannot fire; surrender," said Murat to an
Austrian battalion in the battle. "Never," they replied; "you cannot
charge us." On the appearance of Murat's horse artillery, however, they
had to surrender at once. Under such conditions, Metzko, unsupported
either by Klenau or the main army beyond the ravine, was an easy victim.
Victor from Lubda drove in the advanced posts and assaulted the line of
villages Wolfnitz-Tultschen; Metzko had to retire to the higher ground
S.W. of the first line, and Murat, with an overwhelming cavalry force
from Cotta and Burgstadl, outflanked his left, broke up whole
battalions, and finally, with the assistance of the renewed frontal
attack of Victor's infantry, annihilated the division. The Austrian
corps of Gyulai arrived too late to save it. A few formed bodies escaped
across the ravine, but Metzko and three-fourths of his men were killed
or taken prisoners.
Meanwhile Ney on the other flank, with his left on the Pillnitz road and
his right on the Grosser Garten, had opened his attack. The Russians
offered a strenuous resistance, defending Seidnitz, Gross Dubritz and
Reick with their usual steadiness, and Ney was so far advanced that
several generals at the Allied headquarters suggested a counter-attack
of the centre by way of Strehlen, so as to cut off the French left from
Dresden. This plan was adopted, but, owing to various misunderstandings,
failed of execution. Thus the Allied centre remained inactive all day,
cannonaded by the Dresden redoubts. One incident only, but that of great
importance, took place here. The tsar, the king of Prussia,
Schwarzenberg and a very large headquarter staff watched the fighting
from a hill near Racknitz and offered an easy mark to the French guns.
In default of formed bodies to fire at, the latter had for a moment
ceased fire; Napoleon, riding by, half carelessly told them to reopen,
and one of their first shots, directed at 2000 yards range against the
mass of officers on the sky-line, mortally wounded General Moreau, who
was standing by the emperor Alexander. A council of war followed. The
Allied sovereigns were for continuing the fight; Schwarzenberg, however,
knowing the exhaustion of his troops decided to retreat. As at Bautzen,
the French cavalry was unable to make any effective pursuit.
The forces engaged were 96,000 French, Saxons, &c., and 200,000
Austrians, Russians and Prussians. The French losses were about 10,000,
or a little over 10%, those of the Allies 38,000 killed, wounded and
prisoners (the latter 23,000) or 19%. They lost also 15 colours and 26
guns.
DRESS (from the Fr. _dresser_, to set out, arrange, formed from Lat.
_directus_, arranged, _dirigere_, to direct, arrange), a substantive of
which the current meaning is that of clothing or costume in general, or,
specifically, the principal outer garment worn by a woman (see COSTUME).
The verb "to dress" has various applications which can be deduced from
its original meaning. It is thus used not only of the putting on of
clothing, but of the preparing and finishing of leather, the preparation
of food for eating, the application of cleansing and healing substances
or of bandages, &c., to a wound, the drawing up in a correct line of a
body of troops, and, generally, adorning or decking out, as of a ship
with flags. In the language of the theatre the "dresser" is the person
who looks after the actor's wardrobe and assists him in the changing of
his costumes. For the printer's use of "dresser" see TYPOGRAPHY.
DRESSER, in furniture, a form of sideboard. The name is derived from the
Fr. _dressoir_, a piece of furniture used to range or _dresser_ the more
costly appointments of the table. The appliance is the direct descendant
of the credence and the buffet, and is, indeed, a much more legitimate
inheritor of their functions than the modern sideboard, which, as we
know it, is practically an 18th-century invention. It developed into its
present shape about the second quarter of the 17th century, and has
since then changed but little. As a piece of movable furniture it was
made rarely, if at all, after the beginning of the 19th century until
the revival of interest in what is called "farmhouse furniture" at the
very beginning of the 20th century led in the first place to the
construction of many imitation antique dressers from derelict pieces of
old oak, and especially from panels of chests, and in the second to the
making of avowed imitations. The dresser conformed to a model which
varied only in detail and in ornament. Its simple and agreeable form
consisted of a long and rather narrow table or slab, with drawers or
cupboards beneath and a tall upright closed-in back arranged with a
varying number of shallow shelves for the reception of plates; hooks for
mugs were often fixed upon the face of these shelves. Towards the end of
the 17th century small cupboards were often added to the superstructure.
The majority of these dressers were made of oak, but when, early in the
Georgian period mahogany came into general use, they were frequently
inlaid with that wood; holly and box were also used for inlaying, most
frequently in the shape of plain bands or lines. A peculiarly effective
combination of oak and mahogany is found in the dressers, as in other
"farmhouse furniture," made on the borders of Staffordshire and
Shropshire. The excellence of the work of this kind in that district and
in the country lying west of it may perhaps explain the expression
"Welsh dresser," which is now no more than a trade term, not necessarily
suggestive of the place of origin, and applied to all dressers of this
type. They are most frequently found in the houses of small yeomen and
substantial farmers, into which fashion penetrated slowly. The dresser
is now most familiar as necessary plenishing of the kitchen, in which it
is invariably a fixture. In form it is essentially identical with the
movable variety, but it is usually much larger, is made of deal or other
soft wood, and the superstructure has no back.
DREUX, a town of north-western France, capital of an arrondissement in
the department of Eure-et-Loir, 27 m. N.N.W. of Chartres by rail. Pop.
(1906) 8209. It is situated on the Blaise, which at this point divides
into several arms. It is overlooked from the north by an eminence on
which stands a ruined medieval castle; within the enclosure of this
building is a gorgeous chapel, begun in 1816 by the dowager duchess of
Orleans, and completed and adorned at great cost by Louis Philippe. It
contains the tombs of the Orleans family, chief among them that of Louis
Philippe, whose remains were removed from England to Dreux in 1876. The
sculptures on the tombs and the stained glass of the chapel windows are
masterpieces of modern art. The older of the two hotels-de-ville of
Dreux was built in the early 16th century, chiefly by Clement Metezau,
the founder of a famous family of architects, natives of the town. It is
notable both for the graceful carvings of the facade and for the fine
staircase and architectural details of the interior. The church of St
Pierre, which is Gothic in style, contains good stained glass and other
works of art. The town has a statue of the poet Jean de Rotrou, born
there in 1609. Dreux is the seat of a subprefect. Among the public
institutions are tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and a
communal college. The manufacture of boots and shoes, metal-founding and
tanning, are carried on, and there is trade in wheat and other
agricultural products and poultry.
Dreux was the capital of the Gallic tribe of the _Durocasses_. In 1188
it was taken and burnt by the English; and in 1562 Gaspard de Coligny,
and Louis I., prince of Conde, were defeated in its vicinity by Anne de
Montmorency and Francis, duke of Guise. In 1593 Henry IV. captured the
town after a fortnight's siege. It was occupied by the Germans on the
9th of October 1870, was subsequently evacuated, and was again taken, on
the 17th of November, by General Von Tresckow. In the 10th century Dreux
was the chief town of a countship, which Odo, count of Chartres, ceded
to king Robert, and Louis VI. gave to his son Robert, whose grandson
Peter of Dreux, younger brother of Count Robert III., became duke of
Brittany by his marriage with Alix, daughter of Constance of Brittany by
her second husband Guy of Thouars. By the marriage of the countess
Jeanne II. with Louis, viscount of Thouars (d. 1370), the Capetian
countship of Dreux passed into the Thouars family. In 1377 and 1378,
however, two of the three co-heiresses of Jeanne, Perronelle and
Marguerite, sold their shares of the countship to King Charles V.
Charles VI. gave it to Arnaud Amanien d'Albret, but took it back in
order to give it to his brother Louis of Orleans (1407); later he gave
it back to the lords of Albret. Francis of Cleves laid claim to it in
the 16th century as heir of the d'Albrets of Orval, but the parlement of
Paris declared the countship to be crown property. It was given to
Catherine de' Medici (1539), then to Francis, duke of Alencon (1569); it
was pledged to Charles de Bourbon, count of Soissons, and through him
passed to the houses of Orleans, Vendome and Conde.
DREW, the name of a family of American actors. JOHN DREW (1827-1862) was
born in Dublin and made his first New York appearance in 1846. He played
Irish and light comedy parts with success in all the American cities,
and was manager of the Arch Street theatre in Philadelphia. He visited
England in 1855, and Australia in 1859, and died in Philadelphia. His
wife, LOUISE LANE DREW (1820-1897), was the daughter of a London actor,
and in 1827 went to America, appearing as the Duke of York to the elder
Booth's Richard III., and as Albert to Edwin Forrest's William Tell.
After this she starred as a child actress, and then as leading lady. She
had been twice married before she became Mrs Drew in 1850. From 1861 to
1892 she had the management of the Arch Street theatre in Philadelphia.
In 1880 she toured with Joseph Jefferson in his elaborate revival of
_The Rivals_, playing Mrs Malaprop to perfection. She had three
children, John, Sidney and Georgiana, wife of Maurice Barrymore
(1847-1905), and mother of Lionel and Ethel Barrymore, all actors. The
eldest son, JOHN DREW (b. 1853), began his stage career under his
mother's management in Philadelphia as Plumper in _Cool as a Cucumber_,
on the 22nd of March 1873; and after playing with Edwin Booth and
others, became leading man in Augustin Daly's company in 1879. His
association with this company, and with Ada Rehan as the leading lady,
constituted a brilliant period in recent stage history, his Petruchio
being only one, though perhaps the most striking, of a series of famous
impersonations. In 1892 he left Daly's company, and began a career as a
"star."
DREW, SAMUEL (1765-1833), English theologian, was born in the parish of
St Austell, in Cornwall, on the 6th of March 1765. His father was a poor
farm labourer, and could not afford to send him to school long enough
even to learn to read and write. At ten he was apprenticed to a
shoemaker, and at twenty he settled in the town of St Austell, first as
manager for a shoemaker, and in 1787 began business on his own account.
He had already gained a reputation in his narrow circle as a keen
debater and a jovial companion, and it is said that he had several
smuggling adventures. He was first aroused to serious thought in 1785 by
a funeral sermon preached over his elder brother by Adam Clarke. He
joined the Methodists, was soon employed as a class leader and local
preacher, and continued to preach till a few months before his death.
His opportunities of gaining knowledge were very scanty, but he
strenuously set himself to make the most of them. It is stated that an
accidental introduction to Locke's great essay determined the ultimate
direction of his studies. In 1798 the first part of Thomas Paine's _Age
of Reason_ was put into his hands; and in the following year he made his
first appearance as an author by publishing his _Remarks_ on that work.
The book was favourably received, and was republished in 1820. Drew had
begun to meditate a greater attempt before he wrote his _Remarks on
Paine_; and, encouraged by the antiquary John Whitaker, he published his
_Essay on the Immateriality and Immortality of the Soul_ in 1802. This
work made the "Cornish metaphysician," as he was called, widely known,
and for some time it held a high place in the judgment of the religious
world as a conclusive argument on its subject. A fifth edition appeared
in 1831. Drew continued to work at his trade till 1805, when he entered
into an engagement with Dr Thomas Coke, a prominent Wesleyan official,
which enabled him to devote himself entirely to literature. In 1809 he
published his _Essay on the Identity and General Resurrection of the
Human Body_, perhaps the most original of his works, which reached a
second edition in 1822. In 1814 he completed a history of Cornwall begun
by F. Hitchins. In 1819 he removed to Liverpool, being appointed editor
of the _Imperial Magazine_, then newly established, and in 1821 to
London, the business being then transferred to the capital. Here he
filled the post of editor till his death, and had also the supervision
of all works issued from the Caxton Press. He was an unsuccessful
competitor for the Burnett prize offered in 1811 for an essay on the
existence and attributes of God. The work which he then wrote, and which
in his own judgment was his best, was published in 1820, under the title
of _An Attempt to demonstrate from Reason and Revelation the Necessary
Existence, Essential Perfections, and Superintending Providence of an
Eternal Being, who is the Creator, the Supporter, and the Governor of
all Things_ (2 vols. 8 vo). This procured him the degree of M.A. from
the university of Aberdeen. Among Drew's lesser writings are a _Life of
Dr Thomas Coke_ (1817), and a work on the deity of Christ (1813). He
died at Helston in Cornwall on the 29th of March 1833. He was a man of
strong mind, honourable spirit and affectionate disposition, energetic
both in speech and in writing.
A memoir of his life by his eldest son appeared in 1834.
DREWENZ, a river of Germany, a right-bank tributary of the Vistula. It
rises on the plateau of Hohenstein in East Prussia, 5 m. S.W. of the
town of Hohenstein. After passing through the lake of Drewenz (7 m.
long), it flows S.W. through flat marshy country, and forms, from just
below the town of Strassburg to that of Leibitsch, a distance of 30 m.,
the frontier between Prussia and Russian Poland. After a course of 148
m. it enters the Vistula from the right, a little above the fortress of
Thorn. It is navigable only for rafts. Lake Drewenz is connected with
Elbing (and so with the Baltic) by the navigable Elbing-Oberland Canal.
DREXEL, ANTHONY JOSEPH (1826-1893), American banker, was born in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 13th of September 1826. He was the
son of Francis M. Drexel (1792-1863), a native of Austrian Tirol, who
emigrated to America in 1817, and, after some years spent as a
portrait-painter, became a banker and the founder of the house of Drexel
& Company. Anthony, who entered his father's counting-house in 1839,
eventually, with his brothers Francis and Joseph, succeeded to the
control of the business, and organized the banking houses of Drexel,
Morgan & Company, New York, of which his brother Joseph W. (1833-1888)
was long the resident head, and of Drexel, Harjes & Company, Paris. In
1864 he joined his friend George W. Childs in the purchase of the
Philadelphia _Public Ledger_, and with him in 1892 founded the Printers'
Home for union men at Colorado Springs. In 1891 he founded, and endowed
with $2,000,000, the Drexel Institute of Art, Science and Industry in
Philadelphia, the buildings for which he constructed at a cost of
$750,000. This institution provides technical instruction for both night
and day classes and public lecture courses, and has a good museum and a
library of 35,000 volumes. Drexel died at Carlsbad, Germany, on the 30th
of June 1893.
DREYFUS, ALFRED (1859- ), French soldier, of Jewish parentage, the
scandal of whose condemnation for treason and subsequent rehabilitation
convulsed French political life between 1894 and 1899, and only ended in
1906, was born in Mulhausen, Upper Alsace, removing to Paris in 1874.
After going through the usual course of military instruction with
credit, he became a sous-lieutenant in the artillery in 1882, and was
promoted captain in 1889; and, after passing through the _Ecole de
Guerre_ with distinction, he was appointed to the general staff. His
name was, however, unknown to the general public till he was arrested on
the 15th of October 1894 on a charge of selling military secrets to
Germany, condemned, publicly degraded (January 4, 1895), and transported
(March 10) to the Ile du Diable, French Guiana. The story of the
subsequent proceedings in this celebrated case is told in the article
ANTI-SEMITISM, and need not here be repeated. It was not till 1899 that
the unfortunate prisoner was brought back to France for retrial by
court-martial, and even then, so strong was the anti-Semitic and
military prejudice, he was again found guilty "with extenuating
circumstances" at Rennes (September 9), though ten days later he was
"pardoned" by President Loubet. It was not till the Cour de Cassation
ordered a further investigation, and on the 12th of July 1906 decided
that his conviction had been based on a forgery and that Dreyfus was
innocent, that the agitation came to a final conclusion. He was then
restored to his rank in the army and promoted major. But the
anti-Semitic and anti-Dreyfusard spirit in certain French circles could
not easily be quelled even then; and on the occasion of the translation
of the remains of Emile Zola (Dreyfus's determined champion) to the
Pantheon on the 4th of June 1908, Major Dreyfus was shot at and wounded
by a fanatical journalist named Gregori, who was subsequently acquitted
by a Paris jury of the charge of attempted murder, his own plea being
that he had merely intended a "demonstration."
See Dreyfus's own _Five Years of my Life_ (1901), and literature cited
under ANTI-SEMITISM.
DRIBURG, a town and spa of Germany, in Prussian Westphalia, pleasantly
situated on the Aa and the railway Soest-Huxter-Berlin. Pop. 2600. It
has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church and some glass
manufactures. It is celebrated for its saline-ferruginous springs,
discovered in 766, and since 1779 largely frequented in summer. In the
vicinity are the ruins of Iburg, a castle destroyed by Charlemagne in
775, and bestowed by him upon the bishopric of Paderborn.
DRIFFIELD (officially Great Driffield), a market town in the Buckrose
parliamentary division of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, 19-1/2
m. N. by W. from Hull, the junction of several branch lines of the North
Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 5766. It is pleasantly
situated at the foot of the Wolds, and is connected with Hull by a
navigable canal. The church of All Saints is of various dates from
Norman onwards. The town is the centre of a rich agricultural district,
and large markets and fairs are held. There are works for the
manufacture of oil-cake. Driffield is of high antiquity, and numerous
tumuli are seen in the vicinity, while there is an excellent private
antiquarian museum in the town.
DRIFT (from "drive"), a verb or noun used in various connexions with the
sense of propelled motion, especially (but not necessarily) of an
aimless sort, undirected. Thus it is possible to speak of a snow-drift,
an accumulation driven by the wind; of a ship drifting out of its
course; of the drift of a speech, i.e. its general tendency. The word is
also used in some technical senses, more immediately resulting from the
action of driving something in. But the most important technical use of
the word is in geology, as introduced by C. Lyell in 1840 in place of
"Diluvium." The earlier geologists had been in the habit of dividing the
Quaternary deposits into an older Diluvium and a younger Alluvium; the
latter is still employed in England, but the former has dropped out of
use, though it is still retained by some continental writers. The
Alluvium was distinguished from Diluvium by the fact that its mammalian
fossils were representatives of still living forms, but it is a matter
of great difficulty to separate these two divisions in practice. "The
term drift is now applied generally to the Quaternary deposits, which
consist for the most part of gravel, sand, loam or brickearth and clay;
it naturally refers to strata laid down at some distance from the rocks
to whose destruction they are largely due; but, although applied to
river deposits, the word drift is more appropriately used in reference
to the accumulations of the Glacial period.
"The occurrence of stones and boulders far removed from their parent
source early attracted the attention of geologists, but for a long
period the phenomena, now known as of glacial origin, were unexplained,
and the drifts were looked upon as little more than 'extraneous
rubbish,' the product of geological agents, quite distinct from those
which helped to form the more 'solid' rocks that underlie them." (See H.
B. Woodward, _The Geology of England and Wales_, 2nd ed., 1887.) The
conception of an underlying "solid" geological structure covered by a
superficial mantle of "drift" is still retained for certain practical
purposes; thus, the Geological Survey of Great Britain issues many of
the maps in two forms, the "Solid Edition," showing the "solid geology,"
which embraces all igneous rocks and the stratified rocks older than
Pleistocene, and the "Drift Edition," which shows only such older strata
as are unobscured by drift.
In writing and in conversation the geological expression "drift" is now
usually understood to mean Glacial drift, including boulder clay and all
the varieties of sand, gravel and clay deposits formed by the agency of
ice sheets, glaciers and icebergs. But in the "Drift" maps many other
types of deposit are indicated, such, for instance, as the ordinary
modern alluvium of rivers, and the older river terraces (River-drift of
various ages), including gravels, brickearth and loam; old raised sea
beaches and blown-sand (Aeolian-drift); the "Head" of Cornwall and
Devon, an angular detritus consisting of stones with clay or loam;
clay-with-flints, rainwash (landwash), scree and talus; the "Warp," a
marine and estuarine silt and clay of the Humber; and also beds of peat
and diatomite.