[1] For the pronunciation of these see the footnote at the beginning
of the article BOHEMIA.
CZENSTOCHOWA, or CHENSTOKHOV, a town of Russian Poland, in the
government of Piotrkow, on the left bank of the Warta (Warthe), 143 m.
S.W. of Warsaw, on the railway between that city and Cracow. Pop. (1900)
53,650. Here is a celebrated monastery crowning the steep eminence
called Yaznagora or Klarenberg. It was founded by King Vladislaus of the
house of Jagiello and was at one time fabulously wealthy. In 1430 it was
attacked and plundered by the Hussites; in 1655, and again in 1705, it
bravely resisted the Swedes; but in 1772 it was forced to capitulate to
the Russians, and in 1793 to the Prussians. The fortifications, which
had been built from 1500 onwards, were razed in 1813. This monastery,
which is occupied by monks of the order of Paul the Hermit, contains
over the altar in its church a painted image of the Virgin,
traditionally believed to have been painted by St Luke, and visited
annually by throngs (400,000) of pilgrims from all over Russia, eastern
Prussia and other neighbouring regions. The inhabitants of the town
manufacture cotton, cloth and paper, and do a lively business in
rosaries, images, scapularies and so forth.
CZERNOWITZ (Rum. _Cernautzi_), the capital of the Austrian duchy of
Bukovina, 420 m. E. of Vienna and 164 m. S.E. of Lemberg by rail. Pop.
(1900) 69,619. It is picturesquely situated on a height above the right
bank of the river Pruth, which is crossed here by two bridges, of which
one is a railway bridge. Czernowitz is a clean, pleasant town of recent
date, and is the seat of the Greek Orthodox archbishop or metropolitan
of Bukovina. The principal buildings include the Greek Orthodox
cathedral, finished in 1864 after the model of the church of St Isaac at
St Petersburg; the Armenian church, in a mixed Gothic and Renaissance
style, consecrated in 1875; a handsome new Jesuit church, and a new
synagogue in Moorish style, built in 1877. The most conspicuous building
of the town is the Episcopal palace, in Byzantine style, built in
1864-1875, which is adorned with a high tower and possesses a
magnificent reception hall. In one of the public squares stands the
Austrian monument, executed by Pekary and erected in 1875 to commemorate
the centenary of Austria's possession of Bukovina. It consists of a
marble statue of Austria erected on a pedestal of green Carpathian
sandstone. The Francis Joseph University, also opened in 1875, had 50
lecturers and over 500 students in 1901. The language of instruction is
German, and it possesses three faculties: theology, law and philosophy.
The industry is not very developed and consists chiefly in corn-milling
and brewing. An active trade is carried on in agricultural produce,
wood, wool, cattle and spirits. Czernowitz has a mixed population, which
consists of Germans, Ruthenians, Rumanians, Poles, Jews, Armenians and
Gypsies. The town presents, therefore, a cosmopolitan and on market days
a very varied appearance, when side by side with people turned out in
the latest fashions from Paris or Vienna, we meet peasants of various
nationalities, attired in their national costume, intermingled with very
scantily-clad Gypsies.
On the opposite bank of the Pruth, at a very little distance to the N.,
is situated the town of Sadagora (pop. 4512, mostly Jews), where a
famous cattle fair takes place every year.
Czernowitz was at the time of the Austrian occupation (1775) an
unimportant village. It was created a town in 1786, and at the beginning
of the 19th century it numbered only 5000 inhabitants.
CZERNY, KARL (1791-1857), Austrian pianist and composer, was born at
Vienna on the 21st of February 1791. His father, who was a teacher of
the piano, trained him for that instrument from an early age with such
success that he performed in public at the age of nine, and commenced
his own career as a teacher at fourteen. He was brought under the notice
of Beethoven, and was his pupil in the sense in which the great master
had pupils. It is perhaps his greatest claim to distinction as a
performer that he was selected to be the first to play Beethoven's
celebrated Emperor concerto in public. He soon became the most popular
teacher of his instrument in a capital which abounded in pianists of the
first rank. Among his pupils he numbered Liszt, Theodor Dohler
(1814-1843) and many others who afterwards became famous. As a composer
he was prolific to an astonishing degree, considering the other demands
on his time. His works, which included every class of composition,
numbered 849 at the time of his death. Comparatively few of them possess
high merit, and none is the production of genius. He had considerable
skill in devising variations for the piano of the display type, and in
this and other ways helped to develop the executive power which in the
modern school of pianoforte playing seems to have reached the limits of
the possible. His various books of exercises, elementary and advanced,
of which the best known are the _Etudes de la velocite_, have probably
had a wider circulation than any other works of their class. To the
theory of music he contributed a translation of Reicha's _Traite de
composition_, and a work entitled _Umriss der ganzen Musikgeschichte_.
Czerny died on the 15th of July 1857 at Vienna. Having no family, he
left his fortune, which was considerable, to the Vienna Conservatorium
and various benevolent institutions.
D The fourth letter in the English alphabet occupies the same position
in the Latin, Greek and Phoenician alphabets, which represent the
preceding stages in its history. The Phoenician name _Daleth_ is
represented by the Greek _Delta_. In form D has varied throughout its
career comparatively little. In the earliest Phoenician it is [symbol]
with slight variations; in most Greek dialects [symbol] which has been
adopted as the Greek literary form, but in others as e.g. the earliest
Attic [symbol] or [symbol]. The form with the rounded back, which has
passed from Latin into the languages of western Europe, was borrowed
from the Greeks of S.W. Italy, but is widely spread also amongst the
peoples of the Peloponnese and of northern Greece. It arises from a form
like [symbol] when the sides which meet to the right are written or
engraved at one stroke. From a very early period one side of the
triangle was often prolonged, thus producing a form [symbol] which is
characteristic of Aramaic from 800 B.C. In Greek this was avoided
because of the likelihood of its confusion with [symbol], the oldest
form of the symbol for _r_, but in the alphabets of Italy--which were
borrowed from Etruscan--this confusion actually takes place. Etruscan
had no sound corresponding to the symbol D (in inscriptions written from
right to left, [symbol]), and hence used it as a by-form for [symbol],
the symbol for _r_. The Oscans and Umbrians took it over in this value,
but having the sound d they used for it the symbol for _r_ ([symbol] in
Umbrian, [symbol] in Oscan).
The sound which D represents is the voiced dental corresponding to the
unvoiced _t_. The English _d_, however, is not a true dental, but is
really pronounced by placing the tongue against the sockets of the
teeth, not the teeth themselves. It thus differs from the _d_ of French
and German, and in phonetic terminology is called an alveolar. In the
languages of India where both true dentals and alveolars are found, the
English _d_ is represented by the alveolar symbol (transliterated _d_).
Etymologically in genuine English words d represents in most cases _dh_
of the original Indo-European language, but in some cases an original
_t_. In many languages _d_ develops an aspirate after it, and this _dh_
becomes then a voiced spirant (eth), the initial sound of _there_ and
_that_. This has occurred widely in Semitic, and is found also in
languages like modern Greek, where [delta], except after [nu], is always
spirant, [Greek: den] (= _not_) being pronounced like English _then_. As
the mouth position for _l_ differs from that for _d_ only by the breath
being allowed to escape past one or both sides of the tongue, confusion
has arisen in many languages between _d_ and _l_, the best-known being
cases like the Latin _lacrima_ as compared with the Greek [Greek:
dak-ry]. The English _tear_ and the forms of other languages show that
_d_ and not _l_ is the more original sound. Between vowels in the
ancient Umbrian _d_ passed into a sound which was transliterated in the
Latin alphabet by _rs_; this was probably a sibilant _r_, like the
Bohemian _r_. In many languages it is unvoiced at the end of words, thus
becoming almost or altogether identical with _t_. As an abbreviation it
is used in Latin for the _praenomen_ Decimus, and under the empire for
the title _Divus_ of certain deceased emperors. As a Roman numeral (=
500) it is only the half of the old symbol [symbol] (= 1000); this was
itself the old form of the Greek [phi], which was useless in Latin as
that language had no sound identical with the Greek [phi]. (P. Gi.)
DACCA, a city of British India, giving its name to a district and
division of Eastern Bengal and Assam. It was made the capital of that
province on its creation in October 1905. The city is 254 m. N.E. by E.
of Calcutta, on an old channel of the Ganges. Railway station, 10 m.
from the terminus of the river steamers at Narayanganj. The area is
about 8 sq. m. The population in 1901 was 90,542. The ruins of the
English factory, St Thomas's church, and the houses of the European
residents lie along the river banks. Of the old fort erected by Islam
Khan, who in 1608 was appointed nawab of Bengal, and removed his
capital from Rajmahal to Dacca, no vestige remains; but the jail is
built on a portion of its site. The principal Mahommedan public
buildings, erected by subsequent governors and now in ruins, are the
Katra and the Lal-bagh palace--the former built by Sultan Mahommed Shuja
in 1645, in front of the _chauk_ or market place. Its extensive front
faced the river, and had a lofty central gateway, flanked by smaller
entrances, and by two octagonal towers rising to some height above the
body of the building. The Lal-bagh palace was commenced by Azam Shah,
the third son of the emperor Aurangzeb. It originally stood close to the
Buriganga river; but the channel has shifted its course, and there is
now an intervening space covered with trees between it and the river.
The walls on the western side, and the terrace and battlement towards
the river, are of a considerable height, and present a commanding aspect
from the water. These outworks, with a few gateways, the audience hall
and the baths, were the only parts of the building that survived in
1840. Since then their dilapidation has rapidly advanced; but even in
ruin they show the extensive and magnificent scale on which this
princely residence was originally designed. It appears never to have
been completed; and when Jean Baptiste Tavernier visited Dacca (c.
1666), the nawab was residing in a temporary wooden building in its
court. The English factory was built about that year. The central part
of the old factory continued to be used as a court-house till the 19th
century, but owing to its ruinous state it was pulled down in 1829 or
1830; in 1840 the only portion that remained was the outward wall. The
French and Dutch factories were taken possession of by the English in
the years 1778 and 1781 respectively. In the mutiny of 1857 two
companies of the 73rd Native Infantry which were stationed in the town
joined in the revolt, but were overpowered by a small European force and
dispersed. The city still shows some signs of its former magnificence.
The famous manufacture of fine muslins is almost extinct, but the
carving of shells, carried on from ancient times, is an important
industry in the city. There are a Government college, a collegiate
school and an unaided Hindu college. There is a large settlement of
mixed Portuguese descent, known as Feringhis. Many of the public
buildings, including the college, suffered severely from the earthquake
of the 12th of June 1897; and great damage was done by tornadoes in
April of 1888 and 1902.
The district of Dacca comprises an area of 2782 sq. m. In 1901 the
population was 2,649,522, showing an increase of 11% in the decade. The
district consists of a vast level plain, divided into two sections by
the Dhaleswari river. The northern part, again intersected by the
Lakshmia river, contains the city of Dacca, and as a rule lies well
above flood-level.
Dacca is watered by a network of rivers and streams, ten of which are
navigable throughout the year by native cargo boats of four tons
burthen. Among them are the Meghna, the Ganges or Padma, the Lakshmia, a
branch of the Brahmaputra, the Jamuna, or main stream of the
Brahmaputra, the Mendi-Khali, a large branch of the Meghna, the
Dhaleswari, an offshoot of the Jamuna, the Ghazi-khali and the
Buriganga. The soil is composed of red ferruginous _kankar_, with a
stratum of clay in the more elevated parts, covered by a thin layer of
vegetable mould, or by recent alluvial deposits. The scenery along the
Lakshmia is very beautiful, the banks being high and wooded. About 20 m.
north of Dacca city, small ridges are met with in the Madhupur jungle,
stretching into Mymensingh district. These hills, however, are mere
mounds of from 20 to 40 ft. high, composed of red soil containing a
considerable quantity of iron ore; and the whole tract is for the most
part unproductive. Towards the city the red soil is intersected by
creeks and morasses, whose margins yield crops of rice, mustard and
_til_ seed; while to the east of the town, a broad, alluvial,
well-cultivated plain reaches as far as the junction of the Dhaleswari
and Lakshmia rivers. The country lying to the south of the Dhaleswari is
the most fertile part of the district. It consists entirely of rich
alluvial soil, annually inundated to a depth varying from 2 to 14 ft. of
water. The villages are built on artificial mounds of earth, so as to
raise them above the flood-level.
The wild animals found in the district comprise a few tigers, leopards
and wild elephants, deer, wild pig, porcupines, jackals, foxes, hares,
otters, &c. The green monkey is very common; porpoises abound in the
large rivers. The manufactures consist of weaving, embroidery, gold and
silver work, shell-carving and pottery. The weaving industry and the
manufacture of fine Dacca muslins have greatly fallen off, owing to the
competition of European piece goods. Forty different kinds of cloth were
formerly manufactured in this district, the bulk of which during many
years was made from English twist, country thread being used only for
the finest muslins. It is said that, in the time of the emperor
Jahangir, a piece of muslin, 15 ft. by 3, could be manufactured,
weighing only 900 grains, its value being L40. In 1840 the finest cloth
that could be made of the above dimensions weighed about 1600 grains,
and was worth L10. Since then the manufacture has still further decayed,
and the finer kinds are not now made at all except to order. The
district is traversed by a line of the Eastern Bengal railway, but most
of the traffic is still conducted by water. It is a centre of the jute
trade.
The division of Dacca occupies the delta of the Brahmaputra, where it
joins the main stream of the Ganges. It consists of the four districts
of Dacca, Mymensingh, Faridpur and Backergunge. Its area is 15,837 sq.
m. Its population in 1901 was 10,793,988.
DACE, DARE, or DART (_Leuciscus vulgaris_, or _L. dobula_), a
fresh-water fish belonging to the family _Cyprinidae_. It is an
inhabitant of the rivers and streams of Europe north of the Alps, but it
is most abundant in those of France and Germany. It prefers clear
streams flowing over a gravelly bottom, and deep, still water, keeping
close to the bottom in winter but disporting itself near the surface in
the sunshine of summer. It is preyed upon by the larger predaceous
fishes of fresh waters, and owing to its silvery appearance is a
favourite bait in pike-fishing. The dace is a lively, active fish, of
gregarious habits, and exceedingly prolific, depositing its eggs in May
and June at the roots of aquatic plants or in the gravelly beds of the
streams it frequents. Its flesh is wholesome, but is not held in much
estimation. In appearance it closely resembles the roach, usually
attaining a length of 8 or 9 in., with the head and back of a dusky blue
colour and the sides of a shining silvery aspect, with numerous dark
lines running along the course of the scales. The ventral and anal fins
are white, tinged with pale red; and the dorsal, pectoral and caudal
tipped with black. The dace feeds on worms, insects, insect-larvae, and
also on vegetable matter. It is abundant in many of the streams of the
south of England, but is unknown in Scotland and Ireland. In America the
name of dace is also applied to members of other genera of the family;
the "horned dace" (_Semnotilus atromaculatus_) is a well-known variety.
DACH, SIMON (1605-1659), German lyrical poet, was born at Memel in East
Prussia on the 29th of July 1605. Although brought up in humble
circumstances, he received a careful education in the classical schools
of Konigsberg, Wittenberg and Magdeburg, and entered the university of
Konigsberg in 1626 as a student of theology and philosophy. After taking
his degree, he was appointed in 1633 _Kollaborator_ (teacher) and in
1636 co-rector of the Domschule (cathedral school) in that city. In 1639
he received the chair of poetry at the university of Konigsberg, which
he occupied until his death on the 15th of April 1659. In Konigsberg he
entered into close relations with Heinrich Albert (1604-1651), Robert
Roberthin (1600-1648) and Sibylla Schwarz (1621-1638), and with them
formed the so-called _Konigsberger Dictergruppe_. He sang the praises of
the house of the electors of Brandenburg in a collection of poems
entitled _Kurbrandenburgische Rose, Adler, Lowe und Scepter_ (1661), and
also produced many occasional poems, several of which became popular;
the most famous of them is _Anke von Tharaw oss, de my gefollt_
(rendered by Herder into modern German as _Annchen von Tharau_),
composed in 1637 in honour of the marriage of a friend. Among his
hymns, many of which are of great beauty, are the following: _Ich bin
ja, Herr, in deiner Macht_, _Ich bin bei Gott in Gnaden durch Christi
Blut und Tod_, and _O, wie selig seid ihr boch, ihr Frommen_.
Editions of Dach's poems have been published by W. Muller (1823), by
H. Osterley (for the Stuttgart _Literarischer Verein_, 1876); also
selections by the same editor (1876), and in Kurschner's _Deutsche
Nationalliteratur_ (1883). See especially the introductions to
Osterley's editions; also H. Stiehler, _Simon Dach, sein Leben und
seine ausgewahlte Dichtungen_ (1896).
DACIA, in ancient geography, the land of the Daci, a large district of
central Europe, bounded on the N. by the Carpathians, on the S. by the
Danube, on the W. by the Pathissus (Theiss), on the E. by the Tyras
(Dniester), thus corresponding in the main to the modern Rumania and
Transylvania. Towards the west it may originally have extended as far as
the Danube where it runs from north to south at Waitzen (Vacz), while on
the other hand Ptolemy puts its eastern boundary as far back as the
Hierasus (Sereth). The inhabitants of this district were a Thracian
stock, originally called [Greek: Daoi], a name which after the 4th
century B.C. gave place to [Greek: Dakoi]. Of the other Thracian tribes
the Getae (q.v.) were most akin to them in language and manners; by the
Greeks the Dacians were usually called Getae, by the Romans Daci.
[Greek: Daos] and [Greek: Geta] (Davus, Geta) were common as names of
slaves in Attic comedy and in the adaptations of Plautus and Terence.
The Dacians had attained a considerable degree of civilization when they
first became known to the Romans. They believed in the immortality of
the soul, and regarded death as merely a change of country ([Greek:
metoikizesthai]). Their chief priest held a prominent position as the
representative of the deity upon earth; he was the king's chief adviser
and his decisions were accepted as final. They were divided into two
classes--an aristocracy and a proletariate. The first alone had the
right to cover their heads and wore a felt hat (hence _tarabostesei_ =
[Greek: pilophoroi], _pileati_); they formed a privileged class, and
were the predecessors of the Rumanian boyars. The second class, who
comprised the rank and file of the army, the peasants and artisans, wore
their hair long ([Greek: kometai], _capillati_). They dwelt in wooden
huts surrounded by palisades, but in later times, aided by Roman
architects, built walled strongholds and conical stone towers. Their
chief occupations were agriculture and cattle breeding; horses were
mainly used as draught animals. They also worked the gold and silver
mines of Transylvania, and carried on a considerable outside trade, as
is shown by the number of foreign coins found in the country.
A kingdom of Dacia was in existence at least as early as the beginning
of the 2nd century B.C. under a king Oroles. Conflicts with the
Bastarnae and the Romans (112-109, 74), against whom they had assisted
the Scordisci and Dardani, had greatly weakened the resources of the
Dacians. Under Burbista (Boerebista), a contemporary of Caesar, who
thoroughly reorganized the army and raised the moral standard of the
people, the limits of the kingdom were extended; the Bastarnae and Boii
were conquered, and even Greek towns (Olbia, Apollonia) on the Euxine
fell into his hands. Indeed the Dacians appeared so formidable that
Caesar contemplated an expedition against them, which was prevented by
his death. About the same time Burbista was murdered, and the kingdom
was divided into four (or five) parts under separate rulers. One of
these was Cotiso, whose daughter Augustus is said to have desired to
marry and to whom he betrothed his own five-year-old daughter Julia. He
is well known from the line in Horace ("Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen,"
_Odes_, iii. 8. 18), which, as the ode was written on the 1st of March
29, probably refers to the campaign of Marcus Crassus (30-28), not to
that of Cornelius Lentulus, who was not consul till 18. The Dacians are
often mentioned under Augustus, according to whom they were compelled to
recognize the Roman supremacy. But they were by no means subdued, and in
later times seized every opportunity of crossing the frozen Danube and
ravaging the province of Moesia. From A.D. 85 to 89 the Dacians were
engaged in two wars with the Romans, under Duras or Diurpaneus, and the
great Decebalus, who ruled from 86-87 to 107. After two severe
reverses, the Romans, under Tettius Julianus, gained a signal advantage,
but were obliged to make peace owing to the defeat of Domitian by the
Marcomanni. Decebalus restored the arms he had taken and some of the
prisoners and received the crown from Domitian's hands, an apparent
acknowledgment of Roman suzerainty. But the Dacians were really left
independent, as is shown by the fact that Domitian agreed to purchase
immunity from further Dacian inroads by the payment of an annual
tribute.
To put an end to this disgraceful arrangement, Trajan resolved to crush
the Dacians once and for all. The result of his first campaign (101-102)
was the occupation of the Dacian capital Sarmizegethusa (Varhely) and
the surrounding country; of the second (105-107), the suicide of
Decebalus, the conquest of the whole kingdom and its conversion into a
Roman province. The history of the war is given in Dio Cassius, but the
best commentary upon it is the famous column of Trajan. According to
Marquardt, the boundaries of the province were the Tibiscus (Temes) on
the W., the Carpathians on the N., the Tyras on the E., and the Danube
on the S., but Brandis (in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_) maintains
that it did not extend farther eastwards than the river Olt (Aluta)--the
country beyond belonging to lower Moesia--and not so far as the Theiss
westwards, being thus limited to Transylvania and Little Walachia. It
was under a governor of praetorian rank, and the legio xiii. _gemina_
with numerous auxiliaries had their fixed quarters in the province. To
make up for the ravages caused by the recent wars colonists were
imported to cultivate the land and work the mines, and the old
inhabitants gradually returned. Forts were built as a protection against
the incursions of the surrounding barbarians, and three great military
roads were constructed to unite the chief towns, while a fourth, named
after Trajan, traversed the Carpathians and entered Transylvania by the
Roteturm pass. The two chief towns were Sarmizegethusa (afterwards Ulpia
Trajana) and Apulum (Karlsburg). With the religion the Dacians also
adopted the language of the conquerors, and modern Rumanian is full of
Latin words easily recognizable.
In 129, under Hadrian, Dacia was divided into Dacia _Superior_ and
_Inferior_, the former comprising Transylvania, the latter Little
Walachia, with procurators, probably both under the same praetorian
legate (according to Brandis, the procurator of Dacia _inferior_ was
independent, but see A. Domaszewski in _Rheinisches Museum_, xlviii.,
1893). Marcus Aurelius redivided it into three (_tres Daciae_):
Porolissensis, from the chief town Porolissum (near Mojrad), Apulensis
from Apulum and Maluensis (site unknown). The _tres Daciae_ formed a
commune in so far that they had a common capital, Sarmizegethusa, and a
common diet, which discussed provincial affairs, formulated complaints
and adjusted the incidence of taxation; but in other respects they were
practically independent provinces, each under an ordinary procurator,
subordinate to a governor of consular rank.
The Roman hold on the country was, however, still precarious. Indeed it
is said that Hadrian, conscious of the difficulty of retaining it, had
contemplated its abandonment and was only deterred by consideration for
the safety of the numerous Roman settlers. Under Gallienus (256), the
Goths crossed the Carpathians and drove the Romans from Dacia, with the
exception of a few fortified places between the Temes and the Danube. No
details of the event are recorded, and the chief argument in support of
the statement in Ruf(i)us Festus that "under the Emperor Gallienus Dacia
was lost" is the sudden cessation of Roman inscriptions and coins in the
country after 256. Aurelian (270-275) withdrew the troops altogether and
settled the Roman colonists on the south of the Danube, in Moesia, where
he created the province Dacia Aureliani. This was subsequently divided
into Dacia Ripensis on the Danube, with capital Ratiaria (Arcar in
Bosnia), and Dacia Mediterranea, with capital Sardica (Sofia, the
capital of Bulgaria), the latter again being subdivided into Dardania
and Dacia Mediterranea.
See J. D. F. Neigebaur, _Dacien aus den Uberresten des klassischen
Alterthums_. (Kronstadt, 1851); C. Gooss, _Studien zur Geographie und
Geschichte des trajanischen Daciens_ (Hermannstadt, 1874); E. R.
Rosler, _Dacier und Romanen_ (Vienna, 1866), and _Romanische Studien_
(Leipzig, 1871); J. Jung, _Romer und Romanen in den Donaulandern_
(Innsbruck, 1877), _Die romanischen Landschaften des romischen
Reiches_ (1881), and _Fasten der Provinz Dacien_ (1894); W. Tomaschek,
"Die alten Thraker," in _Sitzungsberichte der k. Akad. der
Wissenschaften_, cxxviii. (Vienna, 1893); J. Marquardt, _Romische
Staatsverwaltung_, i. (1881), p. 308; T. Mommsen in _Corpus
Inscriptionum Latinarum_, iii. 160, and _Provinces of Roman Empire_
(Eng. trans., 1886); C. G. Brandis in Pauly-Wissowa's
_Realencyclopadie_, iv. pt. 2 (1901); W. Miller, _The Balkans_ in "The
Story of the Nations," vol. 44; on the boundaries of the Roman
province of Dacia, see T. Hodgkin and F. Haverfield in _English
Historical Review_, ii. 100, 734. (See also VLACHS.)
DACIER, ANDRE (1651-1722), French classical scholar, was born at Castres
in upper Languedoc, on the 6th of April 1651. His father, a Protestant
advocate, sent him first to the academy of Puy Laurens, and afterwards
to Saumur to study under Tanneguy Lefevre. On the death of Lefevre in
1672, Dacier removed to Paris, and was appointed one of the editors of
the Delphin series of the classics. In 1683 he married Anne Lefevre, the
daughter of his old tutor (see below). In 1695 he was elected member of
the Academy of Inscriptions, and also of the French Academy; not long
after, as payment for his share in the "medallic" history of the king's
reign, he was appointed keeper of the library of the Louvre. He died two
years after his wife, on the 18th of September 1722. The most important
of his works were his editions of Pompeius Festus and Verrius Flaccus,
and his translations of Horace (with notes), Aristotle's _Poetics_, the
_Electra_ and _Oedipus Coloneus_ of Sophocles, Epictetus, Hippocrates
and Plutarch's _Lives_.
His wife, ANNE LEFEVRE (1654-1720), French scholar and translator from
the classics, was born at Saumur, probably in March 1654. On her
father's death in 1672 she removed to Paris, carrying with her part of
an edition of Callimachus, which she afterwards published. This was so
well received that she was engaged as one of the editors of the Delphin
series of classical authors, in which she edited Florus, Dictys
Cretensis, Aurelius Victor and Eutropius. In 1681 appeared her prose
version of Anacreon and Sappho, and in the next few years she published
prose versions of Terence and some of the plays of Plautus and
Aristophanes. In 1684 she and her husband retired to Castres, with the
object of devoting themselves to theological studies. In 1685 the result
was announced in the conversion to Roman Catholicism of both M. and Mme
Dacier, who were rewarded with a pension by the king. In 1699 appeared
the prose translation of the _Iliad_ (followed nine years later by a
similar translation of the _Odyssey_), which gained for her the position
she occupies in French literature. The appearance of this version, which
made Homer known for the first time to many French men of letters, and
among others to A. Houdart de la Motte, gave rise to a famous literary
controversy. In 1714 la Motte published a poetical version of the
_Iliad_, abridged and altered to suit his own taste, together with a
_Discours sur Homere_, stating the reasons why Homer failed to satisfy
his critical taste. Mme Dacier replied in the same year in her work,
_Des causes de la corruption du gout_. La Motte carried on the
discussion with light gaiety and badinage, and had the happiness of
seeing his views supported by the abbe Jean Terrasson, who in 1715
produced two volumes entitled _Dissertation critique sur l'Iliade_, in
which he maintained that science and philosophy, and especially the
science and philosophy of Descartes, had so developed the human mind
that the poets of the 18th century were immeasurably superior to those
of ancient Greece. In the same year Pere C. Buffier published _Homere en
arbitrage_, in which he concluded that both parties were really agreed
on the essential point--that Homer was one of the greatest geniuses the
world had seen, and that, as a whole, no other poem could be preferred
to his; and, soon after (on the 5th of April 1716), in the house of M.
de Valincourt, Mme Dacier and la Motte met at supper, and drank together
to the health of Homer. Nothing of importance marks the rest of Mme
Dacier's life. She died at the Louvre, on the 17th of August 1720.
See C. A. Sainte-Beuve, _Causeries du lundi_, vol ix.; J. F. Bodin,
_Recherches historiques sur la ville de Saumur_ (1812-1814); P. J.
Burette, _Eloge de Mme Dacier_ (1721); _Memoires de Mme de Stael_
(1755); E. Egger, _L'Hellenisme en France_, ii. (1869); _Memoires de
Saint-Simon_, iii.; R. Rigault, _Histoire de la querelle des anciens
et des modernes_ (1856).
DACITE (from Dacia, mod. Transylvania), in petrology, volcanic rocks
which may be considered a quartz-bearing variety of andesite. Like the
latter they consist for the most part of plagioclase felspar with
biotite, hornblende, augite or enstatite, and have generally a
porphyritic structure, but they contain also quartz as rounded, corroded
phenocrysts, or as an element of the ground-mass. Their felspar ranges
from oligoclase to andesite and labradorite, and is often very zonal;
sanidine occurs also in some dacites, and when abundant gives rise to
rocks which form transitions to the rhyolites. The biotite is brown; the
hornblende brown or greenish brown; the augite usually green. The
ground-mass of these rocks is often micro-crystalline, with a web of
minute felspars mixed with interstitial grains of quartz; but in many
dacites it is largely vitreous, while in others it is felsitic or
cryptocrystalline. In the hand specimen many of the hornblende and
biotite dacites are grey or pale brown and yellow rocks with white
felspars, and black crystals of biotite and hornblende. Other dacites,
especially augite- and enstatite-dacites, are darker coloured. The rocks
of this group occur in Hungary, Almeria (Spain), Argyllshire and other
parts of Scotland, New Zealand, the Andes, Martinique, Nevada and other
districts of western North America, Greece, &c. They are mostly
associated with andesites and trachytes, and form lava flows, dikes, and
in some cases massive intrusions in the centres of old volcanoes. Among
continental petrographers the older dacites (Carboniferous, &c.) are
often known as "porphyrites." (J. S. F.)
DACOIT, a term used in India for a robber belonging to an armed gang.
The word is derived from the Hindustani _dakait_, and being current in
Bengal got into the Indian penal code. By law, to constitute _dacoity_,
there must be five or more in the gang committing the crime. In the time
of the Thugs (q.v.) a special police department was created in India to
deal with thuggy and dacoity (_thagi_ and _dakaiti_), which exists down
to the present day. In Burma also the word dacoit came to be applied in
a special sense to the armed gangs, which maintained a state of guerilla
warfare for several years after the defeat of the king and his army.
(See BURMESE WARS.)
DA COSTA, ISAAK (1798-1860), Dutch poet and theologian, was born at
Amsterdam on the 14th of January 1798. His father was a Jew of
Portuguese descent, and claimed kindred with the celebrated Uriel
D'Acosta. An early acquaintance with Bilderdijk had a strong influence
over the boy both in poetry and in theology. He studied at Amsterdam,
and afterwards at Leiden, where he took his doctor's degree in law in
1818, and in literature in 1821. In 1814 he wrote _De Verlossing van
Nederland_, a patriotic poem, which placed him in line with the
contemporary national romantic poets in Germany and in France. His
_Poezy_ (2 vols., 1821-1822) revealed his emancipation from the
Bilderdijk tradition, and the oriental colouring of his poems, his hymn
to Lamartine, and his translation of part of Byron's _Cain_, establish
his claim to be considered as the earliest of the Dutch romantic poets.
In 1822 he became a convert to Christianity, and immediately afterwards
asserted himself as a champion of orthodoxy and an assailant of
latitudinarianism in his _Bezwaren tegen den Geest der Eeuw_ (1823). He
took a lively interest in missions to the Jews, and towards the close of
his life was a director of the seminary established in Amsterdam in
connexion with the mission of the Free Church of Scotland. He died at
Amsterdam on the 28th of April 1860. Da Costa ranked first among the
poets of Holland after the death of Bilderdijk. His principal poetical
works were: _Alphonsus I._ (1818), a tragedy; _Poezy_ (Leiden, 1821);
_God metons_ (1826); _Festliedern_ (1828); _Vijf-en-twintig jaren_
(1840); _Hagar_ (1852); _De Slag bij Nieupoort_ (1857). He also
translated _The Persians_ (1816) and the _Prometheus_ (1818) of
Aeschylus, and edited the poetical works of Bilderdijk in sixteen
volumes, the last volume being an account of the poet. He was the author
of a number of theological works, chiefly in connexion with the
criticism of the gospels.
His complete poetical works were edited by J. P. Hasebroek (3 vols.,
Haarlem, 1861-1862). See G. Groen van Prinsterer, _Brieven van, Mr I.
da Costa, 1830-1849_ (1872), and J. ten Brink, _Geschiedenis der
Noord-Nederlandsche Letteren in de XIX^e Eeuw_ (vol. i., 1888), which
contains a complete bibliography of his works.
DACTYL (from Gr. [Greek: daktylos], a finger), in prosody, a long
syllable followed by two short (see VERSE).
DAEDALUS, a mythical Greek architect and sculptor, who figures largely
in the early legends of Crete and of Athens. He was said to have built
the labyrinth for Minos, to have made a wooden cow for Pasiphae and to
have fashioned a bronze man who repelled the Argonauts. Falling under
the displeasure of Minos, he fashioned wings for himself and his son
Icarus, and escaped to Sicily. These legends seem primarily to belong to
Crete; and the Athenian element in them which connected Daedalus with
the royal house of Erechtheus is a later fabrication. To Daedalus the
Greeks of the historic age were in the habit of attributing buildings,
and statues the origin of which was lost in the past, and which had no
inscription belonging to them. In a later verse in the _Iliad_ (date,
7th or 6th century), Daedalus is mentioned as the maker of a
dancing-place for Ariadne in Crete; and such a dancing-place has been
discovered by A. J. Evans, in the Minoan palace of Cnossus. Diodorus
Siculus says that he executed various works in Sicily for King Cocalus.
In many cities of Greece there were rude wooden statues, said to be by
him. Later critics, judging from their own notions of the natural course
of development in art, ascribed to Daedalus such improvements as
separating the legs of statues and opening their eyes. In fact the name
Daedalus is a mere symbol, standing for a particular phase of early
Greek art, when wood was the chief material, and other substances were
let into it for variety.
This Daedalus must not be confused with Daedalus of Sicyon, a great
sculptor of the early part of the 4th century B.C., none of whose works
is extant. (P. G.)
DAFFODIL, the common name of a group of plants of the genus _Narcissus_,
and natural order Amaryllidaceae. (See generally under NARCISSUS.) The
common daffodil, _N. Pseudo-narcissus_, is common in woods and thickets
in most parts of the N. of Europe, but is rare in Scotland. Its leaves
are five or six in number, are about a foot in length and an inch in
breadth, and have a blunt keel and flat edges. The stem is about 18 in.
long, and the spathe single-flowered. The flowers are large, yellow,
scented and a little drooping, with a corolla deeply cleft into six
lobes, and a central bell-shaped nectary, which is crisped at the
margin. They appear early in the year, or, as Shakespeare says, "come
before the swallow dares, and take the winds of March with beauty." The
stamens are shorter than the cup, the anthers oblong and converging; the
ovary is globose, and has three furrows; the seeds are roundish and
black. Many new varieties of the flower have recently been cultivated in
gardens. The bulbs are large and orbicular, and have a blackish coat;
they, as well as the flowers, are reputed to be emetic in properties.
The Peruvian daffodil and the sea daffodil are species of the genus
_Ismene_. (For derivation see ASPHODEL.)
DAFYDD AB GWILYM (c. 1340-c. 1400), son of Gwilym Gam and Ardudful
Fychan, greatest of the medieval Welsh poets, was born at Bro Gynin,
Cardiganshire, about the year 1340. Educated by a scholarly uncle,
Llewelyn ab Gwilym Fychan of Emlyn, he became steward to his kinsman,
Ivor Hael of Maesaleg, Monmouthshire, who also appointed him instructor
to his daughter. The latter arrangement leading to an attachment between
tutor and pupil, the girl was banished to a convent in Anglesey, whither
the poet followed her, taking service in an adjacent monastery, but on
returning to Maesaleg he was permitted to retain his stewardship. He was
elected chief bard of Glamorgan and became household bard to Ivor Hael.
At Rhosyr in North Wales he met Morfudd Lawgam, to whom he addressed 147
amatory odes. In consequence of attempting to elope with this lady,
Dafydd ab Gwilym, being unable to pay the fine demanded by her husband,
was imprisoned. Liberated by the goodwill of his friends, he went back
to Maesaleg, and after the death of his patron, retired to his
birthplace, Bro Gynin. Tradition states that he was a man of noble
appearance, and his poems bear evidence of high mental culture. He was
acquainted with the works of Homer, Virgil, Ovid and Horace, and was
also a student of Italian literature. Especially remarkable as a poet of
nature in an age when more warlike themes were chosen by his
contemporaries, his poems entitled "The Lark," "The Wind" and "The Mist"
are amongst his finest efforts. He has been called the Petrarch, the
Ovid, and (by George Borrow) the Horace of Wales. His poems were almost
all written in the _cywydd_ form: a short ode not divided into stanzas,
each line having the same number of syllables. The poet died about the
year 1400, and according to tradition was buried in the graveyard of the
monastery of Strata Florida, in Cardiganshire.
See also under CELT; _Celtic Literature_, iv. Welsh.
DAGGER, a hand weapon with a short blade. The derivation is obscure (cf.
Fr. _dague_ and Ger. _Degen_), but the word is related to _dag_, a long
pointed jag such as would be made in deeply nicking the edge of a
garment. The war knife in various forms and under many names has of
course been in use in all ages and amongst all races. But the dagger as
generally understood was not a short sword, but a special stabbing
weapon which could be used along with the sword. The distinction is
often difficult to establish in a given case owing to the variations in
the length of the weapon. The principal medieval dagger was the
_misericorde_, which from the end of the 12th century was used, in all
countries in which chivalry flourished, to penetrate the joints of the
armour of an unhorsed adversary (hence Ger. _Panzerbrecher_,
armour-breaker). It was so called either because the threat of it caused
the vanquished to surrender "at mercy," or from its use in giving what
was called the _coup de grace_. From about 1330 till the end of the
succeeding century, in many knightly effigies it is often represented as
attached on the right side by a cord or a chain to the sword-belt. This
weapon and its sheath were often elaborately adorned. It was customary
to secure it from accidental loss by a guard-chain fastened to the
breast-armour. Occasionally the misericorde was fixed to the body-armour
by a staple; or, more rarely, it was connected with a _gypciere_ or
pouch. The misericorde may be called a poniard. The distinction between
the dagger and the poniard is arbitrary, and in ordinary language the
latter is taken as being the shorter and as having less resemblance to a
short sword or cutlass. A weapon, with a longer blade than the
misericorde, was habitually worn by civilians, including judges, during
the middle ages; such weapons bore the name of _anlace_ (from _annulus_,
as it was fastened by a ring), _basilarde_ or _langue de boeuf_, the
last from the broad ox-tongue shape of the blade. This had often a small
knife fixed on the scabbard, like a Highland officer's dirk of the
present day. By nobles and knights the dagger or poniard was worn when
they had exchanged their armour for the costume of peace. It is recorded
besides that when they appeared at a tournament and on some other
occasions, ladies at that time wore daggers depending, with their
gypcieres, from their girdles. Thus, writing of the year 1348, Knighton
speaks of certain ladies who were present at jousts as "habentes
cultellos, quos _daggerios_ vulgariter dicunt, in powchiis desuper
impositis." A longer and heavier dagger with a broad blade (Italian) is
called _cinquedea_. The Scottish "dirk" was a long dagger, and survives
in name in the dirk worn by midshipmen of the royal navy, and in fact in
that worn by officers of Highland regiments. In the 15th and 16th
centuries the infantry soldiers (Swiss or _landsknecht_) carried a heavy
poniard or dagger. This and the earlier Spanish dagger with a thumb-ring
were distinctively the weapons of professional soldiers. The rise of
duelling produced another type, called the _main gauche_, which was a
parrying weapon and often had a toothed edge on which the adversary's
sword was caught and broken. One form of this dagger had a blade which
expanded into a triple fork on pressing a spring; this served the same
purpose. The satellites of the _Vehmgericht_ had a similar weapon, in
order, it is suggested, that their acts should be done in the name of
the Trinity. The smaller poniards are generally called "stilettos." Much
ingenuity and skill have been lavished on the adornment of daggers, and
in rendering the blades more capable of inflicting severe wounds.
Daggers also were sometimes made to poison as well as to wound. Of
oriental daggers may be mentioned the Malay "crease" or "kris," which
has a long waxed blade; the Gurkha "kukri," a short curved knife,
broadest and heaviest towards the point; and the Hindu "khuttar," which
has a flat triangular-shaped blade, and a hilt of H-shape, the cross-bar
forming the grip and the sides the guard.
DAGHESTAN, a province of Russia, Transcaucasia, occupying the triangular
space between the Andi ridge, the south-east division of the main
Caucasus range, and the Caspian Sea. It has the province of Terek on the
N.W., the government of Tiflis on the S.W., and that of Baku on the S.E.
With the exception of a narrow strip along the sea-coast and a small
district in the N., it is entirely mountainous. Area, 11,332 sq. m. The
snow-clad Andi ridge, belonging to the system of transverse upheavals
which cross the Caucasus, branches off the latter at Borbalo Peak
(10,175 ft.), and reaches its highest altitudes in Tebulos-mta (14,775
ft.) and Diklos-mta (13,740 ft.). It is encircled on the N. by a lower
outer ridge, the Karadagh, through which the rivers cut their way. This
ridge is thickly clothed with forests, chiefly beech. The Boz-dagh and
another ridge run between the four Koisu rivers, the head-streams of the
Sulak, which flows into the Caspian. The next most important stream, out
of the great number which course down the flanks of the Caucasus and
terminate in the Caspian, is the Samur. The most notable feature of the
province is, however, according to O. W. H. Abich (_Sur la structure et
la geologie du Daghestan_, 1862), the successive folds of Jurassic
limestones and slates, all nearly parallel to the Caucasus, which form
lofty, narrow plateaus. Many of the peaks upon them rise higher than
12,000 ft., and the passes lie at altitudes of 11,000 ft. in the
interior and 9000 ft. towards the Caspian. Towards the Caspian,
especially between Petrovsk and the river Sulak, the Cretaceous system
is well represented, and upon its rocks rest marls, shales, and
sandstones of the Eocene period. The country is altogether difficult of
access, and only one military route leads up from the river Terek, while
every one of the eleven passes known across the Caucasus is a mere
bridle-path. The climate is severe on the plateaus, hot towards the
Caspian, and dry everywhere. The average temperatures are--year 51 deg.,
January 26 deg., July 73 deg. at Temir-khan-shura (42 deg. 49' N.; alt.
1510 ft.). The annual rainfall varies from 17 to 21 in. The population,
estimated at 605,100 in 1906, numbered 587,326 in 1897, of whom only
5000 were Russians. They consist chiefly of mountaineers known as
Lesghians (i.e. 158,550 Avars, 121,375 Darghis, 94,506 Kurins), a race
closely akin to the Circassians, intermingled towards the Caspian Sea
with Tatars and Georgians. There are also sprinklings of Jews and
Persians. The highlands of Daghestan were for many years the stronghold
of the Circassians in their struggle against Russia, especially under
the leadership of Shamyl, whose last stand was made on the steep
mountain fastness of Gunib, 74 m. S. of Temir-khan-shura, in 1859. The
difficulty of communication between the valleys has resulted in the
growth of a great number of dialects. Avarian is a sort of inter-tribal
tongue, while Lakh or Kazi-kumukh, Kurin, Darghi-kaitakh, Andi, and
Tabasaran are some of the more important dialects, each subdivided into
sub-dialects. The mountaineers breed some cattle and sheep, and
cultivate small fields on the mountain-sides. In the littoral districts
excellent crops of cereals, cotton, fruit, wine and tobacco are obtained
with the aid of irrigation. Silkworms are bred. The mountaineers excel
also in a variety of petty trades. Sulphur, salt and copper are the most
important of the minerals. A railway line to connect the North Caucasian
line (Rostov to Petrovsk) with the Transcaucasian line (Batum to Baku)
has been built along the Caspian shore from Petrovsk, through the "gate"
or pass of Derbent, to Baku. The province is divided into nine
districts--Temir-khan-shura, Avar, Andi, Gunib, Dargo, Kazi-kumukh,
Kaitago-Tabasaran, Kurin, and Samur. The only towns are Temir-khan-shura
(pop. 9208 in 1897), the capital of the government, Derbent (14,821) and
Petrovsk (9806), the last two both on the Caspian.
See G. Radde, "Aus den Daghestanischen Hochalpen," in _Petermanns
Mitteilungen_, Erganzungsheft, No. 85, 1887, and, with E. Konig, "Der
Nordfuss des Daghestan," in _Petermanns Mitteil._, Erganzungsheft, No.
117, 1895. (P. A. K.; J. T. Be.)
DAGO, a name given somewhat contemptuously to Spanish, Portuguese and
Italian sailors, as "Dutchman" is similarly applied to Germans and
Scandinavians as well as to natives of Holland. In America the word is
generally confined to the poorer class of Italian immigrants. In the
South Wales mining districts the casual labourers, who are only engaged
when work is plentiful, are so called. The word is apparently a
corruption of the common Spanish and Portuguese Christian name "Diego."
DAGOBERT I. (d. 639), king of the Franks, was the son of Clotaire II. In
623 his father established him as king of the region east of the
Ardennes, and in 626 revived for him the ancient kingdom of Austrasia,
_minus_ Aquitaine and Provence. As Dagobert was yet but a child, he was
placed under the authority of the mayor of the palace, Pippin, and
Arnulf, bishop of Metz. At the death of Clotaire II. in 629, Dagobert
wished to re-establish unity in the Frankish realm, and in 629 and 630
made expeditions into Neustria and Burgundy, where he succeeded in
securing the recognition of his authority. In Aquitaine he gave his
brother Charibert the administration of the counties of Toulouse,
Cahors, Agen, Perigueux, and Saintes; but at Charibert's death in 632
Dagobert became sole ruler of the whole of the Frankish territories
south of the Loire. Under him the Merovingian monarchy attained its
culminating point. He restored to the royal domain the lands that had
been usurped by the great nobles and by the church; he maintained at
Paris a luxurious, though, from the example he himself set, a disorderly
court; he was a patron of the arts, and delighted in the exquisite
craftsmanship of his treasurer, the goldsmith St Eloi. His authority was
recognized through the length and breadth of the realm. The duke of the
Basques came to his court to swear fidelity, and at his _villa_ at
Clichy the chief of the Bretons of Domnone promised obedience. He
intervened in the affairs of the Visigoths of Spain and the Lombards of
Italy, and was heard with deference. Indeed, as a sovereign, Dagobert
was reckoned superior to the other barbarian kings. He entered into
relations with the eastern empire, and swore a "perpetual peace" with
the emperor Heraclius; and it is probable that the two sovereigns took
common measures against the Slav and Bulgarian tribes, which ravaged in
turn the Byzantine state and the German territories subject to the
Franks. Dagobert protected the church and placed illustrious prelates at
the head of the bishoprics--Eloi (Eligius) at Noyon, Ouen (Audoenus) at
Rouen, and Didier (Desiderius) at Cahors. His reign is also marked by
the creation of numerous monasteries and by renewed missionary activity
in Flanders and among the Basques. He died on the 19th of January 639,
and was buried at St Denis. After his death the Frankish monarchy was
again divided. In 634 he had been obliged to give the Austrasians a
special king in the person of his eldest son Sigebert, and at the birth
of a second son, Clovis, in 635, the Neustrians had immediately claimed
him as king. Thus the unification of the realm, which Dagobert had
re-established with so much pains, was annulled.
See the _Chronicon_ of Fredegarius; "_Gesta Dagoberti I. regis
Francorum_" in _Mon. Germ. hist. Script. rer. Meroving._ vol. ii.
edited by B. Krusch; J. H. Albers, _Konig Dagobert in Gesch., Legende,
und Sage_ (2nd ed., Kaiserslautern, 1884); E. Vacandard, _Vie de Saint
Ouen, eveque de Rouen_ (Paris, 1901); and H. E. Bonnell, _Die Anfange
des karoling. Hauses_ (Berlin, 1866). (C. Pf.)
DAGON, a god of the Philistines who had temples at Ashdod (1 Sam. v. 1),
and Gaza (Judg. xvi. 21, 23); the former was destroyed by Jonathan, the
brother of Judas the Maccabee (1 Macc. x. 84; 148 B.C.). But Dagon was
more than a mere local deity; there was a place called Beth-Dagon in
Judah (Josh. xv. 41), another on the borders of Asher (_ib._ xix. 27),
and a third underlies the modern Bet Dejan, south-east of Nablus. Dagon
was in all probability an old Canaanite deity; it appears in the name of
the Canaanite Dagantakala as early as the 15th century, and is possibly
to be identified with the Babylonian god Dagan. Little is known of his
cult (Judg. xvi. 23 seq.), although as the male counterpart of Ashtoreth
(see ASTARTE) his worship would scarcely differ from that of the Baalim
(see BAAL). The name Dagon seems to come from _dag_ "fish," and that his
idol was half-man half-fish is possible from the ichthyomorphic
representations found upon coins of Ascalon and Arvad, and from the fact
that Berossus speaks of an Assyrian merman-god.
The true meaning of the name is doubtful. In 1 Sam. v. 4, Thenius and
Wellhausen, followed by Robertson Smith and others, read "only his
fish-part (_dago_) was left to him"; against this, see the comm. of H.
P. Smith and Budde. The identification of Dagon with the Babylonian
Dagan is doubted by G. F. Moore (_Encyc. Bib._, col. 985), and that of
the latter with Odacon and Ea-Oannes is questionable. Philo Byblius
(Muller, _Fr. Hist. Graec._ iii. 567 seq.) makes Dagon the inventor of
corn and the plough, whence he was called [Greek: Zeus Harotrios].
This points to a natural though possibly late etymology from the
Hebrew and Phoenician _dagan_ "corn." It is not improbable that, at
least in later times, Dagon had in place of, or in addition to, his
old character, that of the god who presided over agriculture; for in
the last days of paganism, as we learn from Marcus Diaconus in the
_Life of Porphyry of Gaza_ (S 19), the great god of Gaza, now known as
Marna (our Lord), was regarded as the god of rains and invoked against
famine. That Marna was lineally descended from Dagon is probable in
every way, and it is therefore interesting to note that he gave
oracles, that he had a circular temple, where he was sometimes
worshipped by human sacrifices, that there were wells in the sacred
circuit, and that there was also a place of adoration to him situated,
as was usual, outside the town. Certain "marmora" in the temple, which
might not be approached, especially by women, may perhaps be connected
with the threshold which the priests of Dagon would not touch with
their feet (1 Sam. v. 5, Zeph. i. 9). See further, the comm. on the
Old Testament passages, Moore (_loc. cit._), and Lagrange, _Relig.
semit._ p. 131 seq.
DAGUERRE, LOUIS JACQUES MANDE (1789-1851), French, painter and
physicist, inventor of the daguerreotype, was born at Cormeilles, in the
department of Seine-et-Oise, and died on the 12th of July 1851 at
Petit-Brie-sur-Marne, near Paris. He was at first occupied as an inland
revenue officer, but soon took to scene-painting for the opera. He
assisted Pierre Prevost (1764-1823) in the execution of panoramic views
of Rome, Naples, London, Jerusalem, and Athens, and subsequently (July
11, 1822), in conjunction with Bouton, he opened at Paris the Diorama
([Greek: dis], double; [Greek: horama], view), an exhibition of
pictorial views, the effect of which was heightened by changes in the
light thrown upon them. An establishment similar to that at Paris was
opened by Daguerre in Regent's Park, London. On the 3rd of March 1839
the Diorama, together with the work on which Daguerre was then engaged,
was destroyed by fire. This reverse of fortune was soon, however, more
than compensated for by the distinction he achieved as the inventor of
the daguerreotype photographic process. J. Nicephore Niepce, who since
1814 had been seeking a means of obtaining permanent pictures by the
action of sunlight, learned in 1826 that Daguerre was similarly
occupied. In 1829 he communicated to Daguerre particulars of his method
of fixing the images produced in the camera lucida by making use of
metallic plates coated with a composition of asphalt and oil of
lavender; this, where acted on by the light, remained undissolved when
the plate was plunged into a mixture of petroleum and oil of lavender,
and the development of the image was effected by the action of acids and
other chemical reagents on the exposed surface of the plate. The two
investigators laboured together in the production of their "heliographic
pictures" from 1829 until the death of Niepce in 1833. Daguerre,
continuing his experiments, discovered eventually the process connected
with his name. This, as he described it, consists of five
operations:--the polishing of the silver plate; the coating of the plate
with iodide of silver by submitting it for about 20 minutes to the
action of iodine vapour; the projection of the image of the object upon
the golden-coloured iodized surface, the development of the latent image
by means of the vapour of mercury; and, lastly, the fixing of the
picture by immersing the plate in a solution of sodium "hyposulphite"
(sodium thiosulphate). On the 9th of January 1839, at a meeting of the
Academy of Sciences, Arago dwelt on the importance of the discovery of
the daguerreotype; and, in consequence of the representations made by
him and Gay Lussac to the French government, Daguerre was on the 15th of
June appointed an officer of the Legion of Honour. On the same day a
bill was presented to the chambers, according to the provisions of which
Daguerre and the heir of Niepce were to receive annuities of 6000 and
4000 francs respectively, on the condition that their process should be
made known to the Academy. The bill having been approved at the meetings
of the two chambers on the 9th of July and on the 2nd of August,
Daguerre's process, together with his system of transparent and opaque
painting, was published by the government, and soon became generally
known (see PHOTOGRAPHY).
Daguerre's _Historique et description des procedes du daguerreotype et
du diorama_ (Paris, 1839) passed through several editions, and was
translated into English. Besides this he wrote an octavo work,
entitled _Nouveau moyen de preparer la couche sensible des plaques
destinees a recevoir les images photographiques_ (Paris, 1844).