[1] A similar contrivance was suggested and (if the writer mistakes
not) actually tried as a means of propelling steamships.
DRAGON'S BLOOD, a red-coloured resin obtained from several species of
plants. _Calamus draco_ (Willd.), one of the rotang or rattan palms,
which produces much of the dragon's blood of commerce, is a native of
Further India and the Eastern Archipelago. The fruit is round, pointed,
scaly, and the size of a large cherry, and when ripe is coated with the
resinous exudation known as dragon's blood. The finest dragon's blood,
called _jernang_ or _djernang_ in the East Indies, is obtained by
beating or shaking the gathered fruits, sifting out impurities, and
melting by exposure to the heat of the sun or by placing in boiling
water; the resin thus purified is then usually moulded into sticks or
quills, and after being wrapped in reeds or palm-leaves, is ready for
market. An impurer and inferior kind, sold in lumps of considerable
size, is extracted from the fruits by boiling. Dragon's blood is dark
red-brown, nearly opaque and brittle, contains small shell-like flakes,
and gives when ground a fine red powder; it is soluble in alcohol,
ether, and fixed and volatile oils. If heated it gives off benzoic acid.
In Europe it was once valued as a medicine on account of its astringent
properties, and is now used for colouring varnishes and lacquers; in
China, where it is mostly consumed, it is employed to give a red facing
to writing paper. The drop dragon's blood of commerce, called _cinnabar_
by Pliny (_N.H._ xxxiii. 39), and _sangre de dragon_ by Barbosa was
formerly and is still one of the products of Socotra, and is obtained
from _Dracaena cinnabari_. The dragon's blood of the Canary Islands is a
resin procured from the surface of the leaves and from cracks in the
trunk of _Dracaena draco_. The hardened juice of a euphorbiaceous tree,
_Croton draco_, a resin resembling kino, is the _sangre del drago_ or
dragon's blood of the Mexicans, used by them as a vulnerary and
astringent.
DRAGOON (Fr. _dragon_, Ger. _Dragoner_), originally a mounted soldier
trained to fight on foot only (see CAVALRY). This mounted infantryman of
the late 16th and 17th centuries, like his comrades of the infantry who
were styled "pike" and "shot," took his name from his weapon, a species
of carbine or short musket called the "dragon." Dragoons were organized
not in squadrons but in companies, like the foot, and their officers and
non-commissioned officers bore infantry titles. The invariable tendency
of the old-fashioned dragoon, who was always at a disadvantage when
engaged against true cavalry, was to improve his horsemanship and
armament to the cavalry standard. Thus "dragoon" came to mean medium
cavalry, and this significance the word has retained since the early
wars of Frederick the Great, save for a few local and temporary returns
to the original meaning. The phrases "to dragoon" and "dragonnade" bear
witness to the mounted infantry period, this arm being the most
efficient and economical form of cavalry for police work and guerrilla
warfare. The "Dragonnades," properly so called, were the operations of
the troops (chiefly mounted) engaged in enforcing Louis XIV.'s decrees
against Protestants after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. In the
British service the dragoons (1st Royals, 2nd Scots Greys, 6th
Inniskillings) are heavy cavalry, the Dragoon Guards (seven regiments)
are medium, as are the dragoons of other countries. The light cavalry of
the British army in the 18th and early 19th century was for the most
part called light dragoons.
DRAGUIGNAN, the chief town of the department of the Var in S.E. France;
51 m. N.E. of Toulon, and 28-1/2 m. N.W. of Frejus by rail; situated at
a height of 679 ft. above the level of the sea, at the southern foot of
the wooded heights of Malmont, and on the left bank of the Nartuby
river; pop. (1906) 7766. It possesses no notable buildings, save a
modern parish church, a prefecture, also modern, and a building wherein
are housed the town library and a picture gallery, with some fair works
of art. In modern times the ramparts have been demolished, and new wide
streets pierced through the town.
DRAINAGE OF LAND. The verb "to drain," with its substantives "drain" and
"drainage," represents the O. Eng. _dreahnian_, from the same root
found in "dry," and signifies generally the act of drawing off moisture
or liquid from somewhere, and so drinking dry, and (figuratively)
exhausting; the substantive "drain" being thus used not only in the
direct sense of a channel for carrying off liquid, but also figuratively
for a very small amount such as would be left as dregs. The term
"drainage" is applied generally to all operations involving the drawing
off of water or other liquid, but more particularly to those connected
with the treatment of the soil in agriculture, or with the removal of
water and refuse from streets and houses. For the last, see SEWERAGE;
the following article being devoted to the agricultural aspects of this
subject. See also the articles RECLAMATION OF LAND, CANAL, IRRIGATION,
RIVER ENGINEERING, WATER SUPPLY and (law) WATER RIGHTS.
Agricultural or field drainage consists in the freeing of the soil from
stagnant and superfluous water by means of surface or underground
channels. It may be distinguished from the draining of land on a large
scale which is exemplified in the reclamation of the English Fens (see
FENS). Surface drainage is usually effected by ploughing the land into
convex ridges off which the water runs into intervening furrows and is
conveyed into ditches. For several reasons this method is ineffective,
and, where possible, is now superseded by underground drainage by means
of pipe-tiles. Land is not in a satisfactory condition with respect to
drainage unless the rain that falls upon it can sink down to the minimum
depth required for the healthy development of the roots of crops and
thence find vent either through a naturally porous subsoil or by
artificial channels.
A few of the evils inseparable from the presence of overmuch water in
the soil may be enumerated. Wet land, if in grass, produces only the
coarser grasses, and many subaquatic plants and mosses, which are of
little or no value for pasturage; its herbage is late in spring, and
fails early in autumn; the animals grazed upon it are unduly liable to
disease, and sheep, especially, to foot-rot and liver-rot. In the case
of arable land the crops are poor and moisture-loving weeds flourish.
Tillage operations on such land are easily interrupted by rain, and the
period always much limited in which they can be prosecuted at all; the
compactness and toughness of the soil renders each operation more
arduous, and its repetition more necessary than in the case of dry land.
The surface must necessarily be thrown into ridges, and the furrows and
cross-cuts cleared out after each process of tillage, and upon this
surface-drainage as much labour is expended in twenty years as would
suffice to make under-drains enough to lay it permanently dry. With all
these precautions the best seed time is often missed, and this usually
proves the prelude to a scanty crop, or to a late and disastrous
harvest. The cultivation of the turnip and other root crops, which
require the soil to be wrought to a deep and free tilth, either becomes
altogether impracticable and must be abandoned for the safe but costly
bare fallow, or is carried out with great labour and hazard; and the
crop, when grown, can neither be removed from the ground, nor consumed
upon it by sheep without damage by "poaching."
The roots of plants require both air and warmth. A deep stratum through
which water can percolate, but in which it can never stagnate, is
therefore necessary. A waterlogged soil is impenetrable by air, and
owing to the continuous process of evaporation and radiation, its
temperature is much below that of drained soil. The surface of the water
in the supersaturated soil is known as the "water-table" and is
exemplified in water standing in a well. Water will rise in clay by
capillarity to a height of 50 in., in sand to 22 in. Above the
"water-table" the water is held by capillarity, and the percentage of
water held decreases as we approach the surface where there may be
perfect dryness. Draining reduces the "surface tension" of the capillary
water by removal of the excess, but the "water-table" may be many feet
below. Drains ordinarily remove only excess of capillary water, an
excess of percolating water in wet weather.
In setting about the draining of a field, or farm, or estate, the first
point is to secure a proper outfall. The lines of the receiving drains
must next be determined, and then the direction of the parallel drains.
The former must occupy the lowest part of the natural hollows, and the
latter must run in the line of the greatest slope of the ground. In the
case of flat land, where a fall is obtained chiefly by increasing the
depth of the drains at their lower ends, these lines may be disposed in
any direction that is found convenient; but in undulating ground a
single field may require several distinct sets of drains lying at
different angles, so as to suit its several slopes. When a field is
ridged in the line of the greatest ascent of the ground, there is an
obvious convenience in adopting the furrows as the site of the drains;
but wherever this is not the case the drains must be laid off to suit
the contour of the ground, irrespective of the furrows altogether. When
parts of a field are flat, and other parts have a considerable
acclivity, it is expedient to cut a receiving drain near to the bottom
of the slopes, and to give the flat ground an independent set of drains.
In laying off receiving drains it is essential to give hedgerows and
trees a good offing, lest the conduit be obstructed by the roots.
When a main drain is so placed that parallel ones empty into it from
both sides, care should be taken that the inlets of the latter are not
made exactly opposite to each other. Much of the success of draining
depends on the skilful planning of these main drains, and in making them
large enough to discharge the greatest flow of water to which they may
be exposed. Very long main drains are to be avoided. Numerous outlets
are also objectionable, from their liability to obstruction. An outlet
to an area of from 10 to 15 acres is a good arrangement. These outlets
should be faced with mason work, and guarded with iron gratings.
The distance and depth apart of the parallel drains is determined
chiefly by reference to the texture of the soil. In an impervious clay
the flow of the water is much impeded and the water-table can be
controlled only by frequent lines of pipes. On such land it is customary
to lay them about 3 ft. from the surface and from 15 to 21 ft. apart. In
lighter soils the depth, and proportionately the distance apart, is
increased, but the drains are rarely more than 4 ft. 6 in. below the
surface, though they may be 75 or 100 apart. A fall of at least 1 in 200
is desirable.
There are various forms of under-drainage, some of them alluded to in
the historical section below, but by far the commonest is by means of
cylindrical or oval pipes of burnt clay about 1 ft. in length, sometimes
supplemented by collars, though nowadays the use of these is being
abandoned. Pipes vary in bore from 2 in. for the parallel to 6 in. for
the main drains.
In constructing a drain, it is of importance that the bottom be cut out
just wide enough to admit the pipes and no more. Pipes, when accurately
fitted in, are much less liable to derangement than when laid in the
bottom of a trench several times their width, into which a mass of loose
earth must necessarily be returned. This is easily effected in the case
of soils tolerably free from stones by the use of draining spades and
the tile-hook which are represented in the accompanying cut. The
tile-hook is an implement by means of which the pipes may be lowered
from the edge of the trench and laid at the bottom. An implement,
sometimes propelled by steam, known as the draining plough, can be used
for opening the trenches. Draining can be carried on at all seasons, but
is usually best done in autumn or summer. A thoroughly trustworthy and
experienced workman should be selected to lay the pipes, with
instructions to set no pipes until he is satisfied that the depth of the
drains and level of the bottoms are correct. The expense of
tile-drainage may vary from about L2:10s. per acre on loose soils to L10
an acre on the most tenacious soils, the rate of wages and the cost of
the pipes, the depth of the trenches and the ease with which they can be
dug, all influencing the cost of the process.
Drainage is not a modern discovery. The Romans were careful to keep
their arable lands dry by means of open trenches or covered drains
filled with stones or twigs. It is at least several centuries since
covered channels of various kinds were used by British husbandmen for
drying their land. Walter Blith (see AGRICULTURE) about the middle of
the 17th century wrote of the improvement which might be effected in
barren land by freeing it from the excess of stagnant water on or near
the surface by means of channels filled with faggots or stones, but his
principles, never generally adopted, were ultimately forgotten. In the
latter half of the 18th century, Joseph Elkington, a Warwickshire
farmer, discovered a plan of laying dry sloping ground that is drowned
by the outbursting of springs. When the higher-lying portion of such
land is porous, rain falling upon it sinks down until it is arrested by
clay or other impervious matter, which causes it again to issue at the
surface and wet the lower-lying ground. Elkington showed that by cutting
a deep drain through the clay, aided when necessary by wells or auger
holes, the subjacent bed of sand or gravel in which a body of water is
pent up by the clay, as in a vessel, might be tapped and the water
conveyed harmlessly in the covered drain to the nearest ditch or stream.
In the circumstances to which it is applicable, and in the hands of
skilful drainers, Elkington's plan, known as "sink-hole drainage," by
bringing into play the natural drainage furnished by porous strata, is
often eminently successful.
[Illustration: Draining Implements.]
During the subsequent thirty or forty years most of the draining that
took place was on this system, and an immense capital was expended in
such works with varying results. Things continued in this position until
about 1823, when James Smith of Deanston, having discovered anew those
principles of draining so long before indicated by Blith, proceeded to
exemplify them in his own practice, and to expound them to the public in
a way that speedily effected a complete revolution in the art of
draining, and marked an era in agricultural progress. Instead of
persisting in fruitless attempts to dry extensive areas by a few
dexterous cuts, he insisted on the necessity of providing every field
that needed draining at all with a complete system of parallel
underground channels, running in the line of the greatest slope of the
ground, and so near to each other that the whole rain falling at any
time upon the surface should sink down and be carried off by the drains.
A main receiving drain was to be carried along the lowest part of the
ground, with sub-drains in every subordinate hollow that the ground
presented. The distances between drains he showed must be regulated by
the greater or less retentiveness of the ground operated upon, and gave
10 to 40 ft. as the limits of their distance apart. The depth which he
prescribed for his parallel drains was 30 in., and these were to be
filled with 12 in. of stones small enough to pass through a 3-in.
ring--in short a new edition of Blith's drain. Josiah Parkes, engineer
to the Royal Agricultural Society, advocated a greater distance apart
for the drains, and, in order that the subterranean water might be
reached, a depth of at least 4 ft.
The cultivated lands of Britain being disposed in ridges which usually
lie in the line of greatest ascent, it became customary to form the
drains in each furrow, or in each alternate, or third or fourth one, as
the case might require, or views of economy dictate and hence the system
soon came to be popularly called "furrow draining." From the number and
arrangement of the drains, the terms "frequent" and "parallel" were also
applied to it. Smith himself more appropriately named it, from its
effects, "thorough draining." The sound principles thus promulgated by
him were speedily adopted and extensively carried into practice. The
great labour and cost incurred in procuring stones in adequate
quantities, and the difficulty of carting them in wet seasons, soon led
to the substitution of "tiles," and soles of burnt earthenware. The
limited supply and high price of these tiles for a time impeded the
progress of the new system of draining; but the invention of tile-making
machines removed this impediment, and gave a stimulus to this
fundamental agricultural improvement. The substitution of cylindrical
pipes for the original horse-shoe tiles has still further lowered the
cost and increased the efficiency and permanency of drainage works.
The system introduced by Smith of Deanston has now been virtually
adopted by all drainers. Variations in matters of detail (having respect
chiefly to the depth and distance apart of the parallel drains) have
indeed been introduced; but the distinctive features of his system are
recognized and acted upon.
A great stimulus was given to the improvement of land by the passing
in England of a series of acts of parliament, which removed certain
obstacles that effectually hindered tenants with limited interests
from investing capital in works of drainage and kindred amelioration.
The Public Money Drainage Acts 1846-1856 authorized the advance of
public money to landowners to enable them to make improvements in
their lands, not only by draining, but by irrigation, the making of
permanent roads, clearing, erecting buildings, planting for shelter,
&c. The rapid absorption of the funds provided by these acts led to
further legislative measures by which private capital was rendered
available for the improvement of land. A series of special improvement
acts were passed, authorizing companies to execute or advance money
for executing improvements in land. Finally, the Land Improvement Act
1864, amended and extended by the act of 1899, gave facilities for
borrowing money by charging the cost of draining, &c., as a
rent-charge upon the inheritance of the land. The instalments must be
repaid with interest in equal amounts extending over a fixed term of
years by the tenant for life during his lifetime, the tenant being
bound to maintain the improvements.
See C. G. Elliott, _Engineering for Land Drainage_ (New York, 1903);
F. H. King, _Irrigation and Drainage_ (New York, 1899); G. S.
Mitchell, _Handbook of Land Drainage_ (London, 1898), with a good
bibliography.
DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS (c. 1545-1595), English admiral, was born near
Tavistock, Devonshire, about 1545 according to most early authorities,
but possibly as early as 1539 (see Corbett, vol. i., Appendix A). His
father, a yeoman and a zealous Protestant, was obliged to take refuge in
Kent during the persecutions in the reign of Queen Mary. He obtained a
naval chaplaincy from Queen Elizabeth, and is said to have been
afterwards vicar of Upnor Church (evidently a misprint or slip of the
pen for Upchurch) on the Medway. Young Drake was educated at the expense
and under the care of Sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman; and, after
passing an apprenticeship on a coasting vessel, at the age of eighteen
he had risen to be purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At twenty he made
a voyage to Guinea; and at twenty-two he was made captain of the
"Judith." In that capacity he was in the harbour of San Juan de Ulloa,
in the Gulf of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly in the actions
under Sir John Hawkins, and returned with him to England, having
acquired great reputation, though with the loss of all the money which
he had embarked in the expedition. In 1570 he obtained a regular
privateering commission from Queen Elizabeth, the powers of which he
immediately exercised in a cruise in the Spanish Main. Having next
projected an attack against the Spaniards in the West Indies to
indemnify himself for his former losses, he set sail in 1572, with two
small ships named the "Pasha" and the "Swan." He was afterwards joined
by another vessel; and with this small squadron he took and plundered
the Spanish town of Nombre de Dios. With his men he penetrated across
the isthmus of Panama, and committed great havoc among the Spanish
shipping. From the top of a tree which he climbed while on the isthmus
he obtained his first view of the Pacific, and resolved "to sail an
English ship in these seas." In these expeditions he was much assisted
by the Maroons, descendants of escaped negro slaves, who were then
engaged in a desultory warfare with the Spaniards. Having embarked his
men and filled his ships with plunder, he bore away for England, and
arrived at Plymouth on the 9th of August 1573.
His success and honourable demeanour in this expedition gained him high
reputation; and the use which he made of his riches served to raise him
still higher in popular esteem. Having fitted out three frigates at his
own expense, he sailed with them to Ireland, and rendered effective
service as a volunteer, under Walter, earl of Essex, the father of the
famous but unfortunate earl. After his patron's death he returned to
England, where he was introduced to Queen Elizabeth (whether by Sir
Christopher Hatton is doubtful), and obtained a favourable reception. In
this way he acquired the means of undertaking the expedition which has
immortalized his name. The first proposal he made was to undertake a
voyage into the South Seas through the Straits of Magellan, which no
Englishman had hitherto ever attempted. This project having been well
received at court, the queen furnished him with means; and his own fame
quickly drew together a sufficient force. The fleet with which he sailed
on this enterprise consisted of only five small vessels, and their
united crews mustered only 166 men. Starting on the 13th of December
1577, his course lay by the west coast of Morocco and the Cape Verde
Islands. He reached the coast of Brazil on the 6th of April, and entered
the Rio de la Plata, where he parted company with two of his ships; but
having met them again, and taken out their provisions, he turned them
adrift. On the 19th of June he entered the port of St Julian's, where he
remained two months, partly to lay in provisions, and partly delayed by
the trial and execution of Thomas Doughty, who had plotted against him.
On the 21st of August he entered the Straits of Magellan. The passage of
the straits took sixteen days, but then a storm carried the ships to the
west; on the 7th of October, having made back for the mouth of the
strait, Drake's ship and the two vessels under his vice-admiral Captain
Wynter were separated, and the latter, missing the rendezvous arranged,
returned to England. Drake went on, and came to Mocha Island, off the
coast of Chile, on the 25th of November. He thence continued his voyage
along the coast of Chile and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing
Spanish ships, and attacking them on shore, till his men were satiated
with plunder; and then coasted along the shores of America, as far as 48
deg. N. lat., in an unsuccessful endeavour to discover a passage into
the Atlantic. Having landed, however, he named the country New Albion,
and took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Having
careened his ship, he sailed thence on the 26th of July 1579 for the
Moluccas. On the 4th of November he got sight of those islands, and,
arriving at Ternate, was extremely well received by the sultan. On the
10th of December he made the Celebes, where his ship unfortunately
struck upon a rock, but was taken off without much damage. On the 11th
of March he arrived at Java, whence he intended to have directed his
course to Malacca; but he found himself obliged to alter his purpose,
and to think of returning home. On the 26th of March 1580 he again set
sail; and on the 15th of June he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having
then on board only fifty-seven men and three casks of water. He passed
the line on the 12th of July, and on the 16th reached the coast of
Guinea, where he watered. On the 11th of September he made the Island of
Terceira, and on the 26th of September(?) he entered the harbour of
Plymouth. This voyage round the world, the first accomplished by an
Englishman, was thus performed in two years and about ten months. The
queen hesitated for some time whether to recognize his achievements or
not, on the ground that such recognition might lead to complications
with Spain, but she finally decided in his favour. Accordingly, soon
after his arrival she paid a visit to Deptford, went on board his ship,
and there, after partaking of a banquet, conferred upon him the honour
of knighthood, at the same time declaring her entire approbation of all
that he had done. She likewise gave directions for the preservation of
his ship, the "Golden Hind," that it might remain a monument of his own
and his country's glory. After the lapse of a century it decayed and had
to be broken up. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was
presented by Charles II. to the university of Oxford. In 1581 Drake
became mayor of Plymouth; and in 1585 he married a second time, his
first wife having died in 1583. In 1585, hostilities having commenced
with Spain, he again went to sea, sailing with a fleet to the West
Indies, and taking the cities of Santiago (in the Cape Verde Islands),
San Domingo, Cartagena and St Augustine. In 1587 he went to Lisbon with
a fleet of thirty sail; and having received intelligence of a great
fleet being assembled in the bay of Cadiz, and destined to form part of
the Armada, he with great courage entered the port on the 19th of April,
and there burnt upwards of 10,000 tons of shipping--a feat which he
afterwards jocosely called "singeing the king of Spain's beard." In
1588, when the Spanish Armada was approaching England, Sir Francis Drake
was appointed vice-admiral under Lord Howard, and made prize of a very
large galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed the
projector of the invasion, and who struck at once on learning his
adversary's name.
It deserves to be noticed that Drake's name is mentioned in the singular
diplomatic communication from the king of Spain which preceded the
Armada:--
"Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas;
Quae Dracus eripuit nunc restituantur oportet;
Quas pater evertit jubeo te condere cellas:
Religio Papae fac restituatur ad unguem."