| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 - "Dinard" to "Dodsworth"
Author: Various
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 - "Dinard" to "Dodsworth"" ***
Transcriber's notes:
(1) Numbers following letters (without space) like C2 were originally
printed in subscript. Letter subscripts are preceded by an
underscore, like C_n.
(2) Characters following a carat (^) were printed in superscript.
(3) Side-notes were relocated to function as titles of their respective
paragraphs.
(4) Letters topped by Macron are represented as [=x].
(5) Letters with a dot below are represented as [x.].
(6) The following typographical errors have been corrected:
Article DIPLOMATIC: "Of later date was the Ars dictaminis of
Bernard of Chartres of the 12th century." Omitted a superfluous '('.
Article DIPTERA: "they are simply Cyclorrhapha much modified owing
to parasitism, and in view of the closely similar mode of
reproduction in the tsetse-flies the special designation Pupipara
should be abandoned." 'similar' amended from 'similiar'.
Article DIPTERA: "The famous Tertiary beds at Florissant, Colorado,
have yielded a considerable number of remarkably well-preserved
Tipulidae." 'of' amended from 'or'.
Article DIRECTORS: "They have to carry on the company's business,
to extend and consolidate it, and to do this they must have a free
hand and a large discretion to deal with the exigencies of the
commercial situation." 'commercial' amended from 'commerical'.
Article DIVERS: "But so exhausting is the work, and so severe the
strain on the system, that, after a number of dives in deep water,
the men often become insensible, and blood sometimes bursts from
nose, ears and mouth." 'sometimes' amended from 'sometime'.
Article DIVORCE: "It is interesting to compare these provisions as
to children with the practice at present under English law, which
in this respect reflects so closely the spirit of the law of Rome."
'children' amended from 'childern'.
Article DLUGOSZ, JAN: "The office of administering the cardinal's
estate was a very ungrateful one, for the family resented the
liberal benefactions of their kinsman to the Church and the
university, and accused Dlugosz of exercising undue influence".
'university' amended from 'univesity'.
Article DOCK: "The basins of such ports are always accessible for
vessels of the draught they provide for; but they require most
efficient protection, and, unlike tidal ports, they are not able on
exceptional occasions to admit a vessel of larger draught than the
basins have been formed to accommodate." 'on' amended from 'to'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME VIII, SLICE V
Dinard to Dodsworth
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
DINARD DISSECTION
DINDIGUL DISSENTER
KARL WILHELM DINDORF DISSOCIATION
D'INDY, PAUL-MARIE-VINCENT DISSOLUTION
DINEIR DISTAFF
DINGELSTEDT, FRANZ VON DISTILLATION
DINGHY DISTRACTION
DINGLE DISTRESS
DINGO DISTRIBUTION
DINGWALL DISTRICT
DINKA DISTYLE
DINKELSBÜHL DITHMARSCHEN
DINNER DITHYRAMBIC POETRY
DINOCRATES DITTERSBACH
DINOFLAGELLATA DITTERSDORF, KARL DITTERS VON
DINOTHERIUM DITTO
DINWIDDIE, ROBERT DITTON, HUMPHRY
DIO CASSIUS DIU
DIOCESE DIURETICS
DIO CHRYSOSTOM DIURNAL MOTION
DIOCLETIAN DIVAN
DIOCLETIAN, EDICT OF DIVER
DIODATI, GIOVANNI DIVERS and DIVING APPARATUS
DIODORUS CRONUS DIVES-SUR-MER
DIODORUS SICULUS DIVIDE
DIODOTUS DIVIDEND
DIOGENES DIVIDIVI
DIOGENES APOLLONIATES DIVINATION
DIOGENES LAËRTIUS DIVINING-ROD
DIOGENIANUS DIVISION
DIOGNETUS, EPISTLE TO DIVORCE
DIOMEDES (Greek legend) DIWANIEH
DIOMEDES (Latin grammarian) DIX, DOROTHEA LYNDE
DION DIX, JOHN ADAMS
DIONE DIXON, GEORGE
DIONYSIA DIXON, HENRY HALL
DIONYSIUS (pope) DIXON, RICHARD WATSON
DIONYSIUS (tyrant of Syracuse) DIXON, WILLIAM HEPWORTH
DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITICUS DIXON
DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS DIZFUL
DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS DJAKOVO
DIONYSIUS PERIEGETES DLUGOSZ, JAN
DIONYSIUS TELMAHARENSIS DMITRIEV, IVAN IVANOVICH
DIONYSIUS THRAX DNIEPER
DIONYSUS DNIESTER
DIOPHANTUS DOAB
DIOPSIDE DOANE, GEORGE WASHINGTON
DIOPTASE DOBBS FERRY
DIORITE DOBELL, SYDNEY THOMPSON
DIP DÖBELN
DIPHENYL DOBERAN
DIPHILUS DÖBEREINER, JOHANN WOLFGANG
DIPHTHERIA DOBREE, PETER PAUL
DIPLODOCUS DÖBRENTEI, GABOR
DIPLOMACY DOBRITCH
DIPLOMATIC DOBRIZHOFFER, MARTIN
DIPOENUS and SCYLLIS DOBROWSKY, JOSEPH
DIPPEL, JOHANN KONRAD DOBRUDJA
DIPSOMANIA DOBSINA
DIPTERA DOBSON, HENRY AUSTIN
DIPTERAL DOBSON, WILLIAM
DIPTYCH DOCETAE
DIR DOCHMIAC
DIRCE DOCK
DIRECT MOTION DOCK (botany)
DIRECTORS DOCK (marine and river engineering)
DIRECTORY DOCKET
DIRGE DOCK WARRANT
DIRK DOCKYARDS
DIRSCHAU DOCTOR
DISABILITY DOCTORS' COMMONS
DISCHARGE DOCTRINAIRES
DISCHARGING ARCH DOCUMENT
DISCIPLE DODD, WILLIAM
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST DODDER
DISCLAIMER DODDRIDGE, PHILIP
DISCOUNT DODDS, ALFRED AMÉDÉE
DISCOVERY DODECAHEDRON
DISCUS DODECASTYLE
DISINFECTANTS DÖDERLEIN, JOHANN WILHELM LUDWIG
DISMAL DODGE, THEODORE AYRAULT
DISORDERLY HOUSE DODGSON, CHARLES LUTWIDGE
DISPATCH DODO
DISPENSATION DODONA
DISPERSION DODS, MARCUS
D'ISRAELI, ISAAC DODSLEY, ROBERT
DISS DODSWORTH, ROGER
DINARD, a seaside town of north-western France, in the department of
Ille-et-Vilaine. The town, which is the chief watering-place of
Brittany, is situated on a rocky promontory at the mouth of the Rance
opposite St Malo, which is about 1 m. distant. It is a favourite resort
of English and Americans as well as of the French, its attractions being
the beauty of its situation, the mildness of the climate and the good
bathing. It has two casinos and numerous luxurious hotels and elegant
villas. Together with the adjoining watering-place of St Enogat, Dinard
has a population of 4882 (1906).
DINDIGUL, a town of British India, in the Madura district of Madras, 880
ft. above the sea, 40 m. from Madura by rail. Pop. (1901) 25,182.
Dindigul has risen into importance as the centre of a trade in tobacco
and manufacture of cigars, which are exported to England. There are two
large European cigar factories here. The town has manufactures of silk,
muslin and blankets, and an export trade in hides and cardamoms; and
there is a large native Christian population, with two churches. The
ancient fort, well preserved, stands on a rock rising 350 ft. above the
town; this was formerly a position of great strategic importance,
commanding passes into Madura from Coimbatore, and figured prominently
in the military operations of the Mahrattas in the 17th and 18th
centuries, and of Hyder Ali in 1755 seq., being thrice captured by the
British (1767, 1783, 1790). After the two first captures it was restored
to Hyder Ali under treaty; after the third it was ceded to the East
India Company.
KARL WILHELM DINDORF (1802-1883), German classical scholar, was born at
Leipzig on the 2nd of January 1802. From his earliest years he showed a
strong taste for classical studies, and after completing F. Invernizi's
edition of Aristophanes at an early age, and editing several grammarians
and rhetoricians, was in 1828 appointed extraordinary professor of
literary history in his native city. Disappointed at not obtaining the
ordinary professorship when it became vacant in 1833, he resigned his
post in the same year, and devoted himself entirely to study and
literary work. His attention had at first been chiefly given to
Athenaeus, whom he edited in 1827, and to the Greek dramatists, all of
whom he edited separately and combined in his _Poetae scenici Graeci_
(1830 and later editions). He also wrote a work on the metres of the
Greek dramatic poets, and compiled special lexicons to Aeschylus and
Sophocles. He edited Procopius for Niebuhr's _Corpus_ of the Byzantine
writers, and between 1846 and 1851 brought out at Oxford an important
edition of Demosthenes; he also edited Lucian and Josephus for the Didot
classics. His last important editorial labour was his _Eusebius of
Caesarea_ (1867-1871). Much of his attention was occupied by the
republication of Stephanus's _Thesaurus_ (Paris, 1831-1865), chiefly
executed by him and his brother Ludwig, a work of prodigious labour and
utility. His reputation suffered somewhat through the imposture
practised upon him by the Greek Constantine Simonides, who succeeded in
deceiving him by a fabricated fragment of the Greek historian Uranius.
The book was printed, and a few copies had been circulated, when the
forgery was discovered, just in time to prevent its being given to the
world under the auspices of the university of Oxford. Shortly after the
death of his brother, he lost all his property and his library by rash
speculations. He died on the 1st of August 1883.
His brother LUDWIG (1805-1871) was born at Leipzig on the 3rd of January
1805, and died there on the 6th of September 1871. He never held any
academical position, and led so secluded a life that many doubted his
existence, and declared that he was a mere pseudonym. The important
share which he took in the edition of the _Thesaurus_ is nevertheless
authenticated by his own signature to his contributions. He also
published valuable editions of Polybius, Dio Cassius and other Greek
historians.
D'INDY, PAUL-MARIE-THÉODORE-VINCENT (1851- ), French musical composer,
was born in Paris, on the 27th of March 1851. He studied composition and
the organ at the Paris Conservatoire under César Franck, and obtained
the grand prize offered by the city of Paris in 1885 with _Le Chant de
la Cloche_, a dramatic legend after Schiller. His principal works,
beside the above, are the symphonic trilogy _Wallenstein_, the symphonic
works entitled _Saugefleurie_, _La Forêt enchantée_, _Istar_, _Symphonie
sur un air montagnard français_; overture to _Anthony and Cleopatra_;
_Ste Marie Magdeleine_, a cantata; _Attendez-moi sous l'orme_, a one-act
opera; _Fervaal_, a musical drama in three acts. Vincent d'Indy is
perhaps the most prominent among the disciples of César Franck. Imbued
with very high aims, he was always guided by a lofty ideal, and few
musicians have attained so complete a mastery over the art of
instrumentation. His music, however, lacks simplicity, and can never
become popular in the widest sense. His opera _Fervaal_, which is styled
"action musicale", is constructed upon the system of _Leit-motifs_. Its
legendary subject recalls both _Parsifal_ and _Tristan_, and the music
is also suggestive of Wagnerian influence. D'Indy can scarcely be
considered so typical a representative of modern French music as his
juniors Alfred Bruneau, the composer of _Le Rêve_, _L'Attaque du
moulin_, _Messidor_, or Gustave Charpentier, the author of _Louise_, who
chose subjects of modern life for their operatic works.
DINEIR, a small town in Asia Minor, built amidst the ruins of
Celaenae-Apamea, near the sources of the Maeander (Menderes). It is the
terminus of the Smyrna-Aidin-Dineir railway. Pop. 1400. (See APAMEA.)
DINGELSTEDT, FRANZ VON (1814-1881), German poet and dramatist, was born
at Halsdorf, in Hesse Cassel, on the 30th of June 1814. Having studied
at the university of Marburg, he became in 1836 a master at the Lyceum
in Cassel, from which he was transferred to Fulda in 1838. In 1839 he
produced a novel, _Unter der Erde_, which obtained considerable success,
and in 1841 published the book by which he is best remembered, the
_Lieder eines kosmopolitischen Nachtwächters_. These poems, animated as
they are by a spirit of bitter opposition to everything that savours of
despotism, were an effective contribution to the political poetry of the
day. The popularity of this book determined Dingelstedt to take up a
literary career, and in 1841 he obtained an appointment on the staff of
the _Augsburger allgemeine Zeitung_. In 1843, however, the satirist of
German princes accepted, to the general surprise, the appointment of
private librarian to the king of Württemberg, and in the same year he
married the celebrated Bohemian opera singer, Jenny Lutzer. In 1845 he
published a volume of poems, some of which, treating of modern life,
possessed great literary rather than strictly poetical merit. A
subsequent collection, published in 1852, attracted little attention.
The success of his tragedy _Das Haus der Barneveldt_ (1850) obtained for
him the position of intendant at the court theatre at Munich, where he
soon became the centre of literary society. He incurred, however, the
animosity of the Jesuit clique at the court, and in 1856 was suddenly
dismissed on the most frivolous charges. A similar position was offered
to him at Weimar through the influence of Liszt, and he remained there
until 1867. His administration was most successful, and he especially
distinguished himself by presenting all Shakespeare's historical plays
upon the stage in an unbroken cycle. In 1867 he became director of the
court opera house in Vienna, and in 1872 of the Hofburgtheater, a
position he held until his death on the 15th of May 1881. Among his
other works may be noticed an autobiographical sketch of his Munich
career, entitled _Münchener Bilderbogen_ (1879), _Die Amazone_, an art
novel of considerable merit (1869), translations of several of
Shakespeare's comedies, and several writings dealing with questions of
practical dramaturgy. He was ennobled in 1867 by the king of Bavaria and
in 1876 was created _Freiherr_ by the emperor of Austria.
Dingelstedt's _Sämtliche Werke_ appeared in 12 vols. (1877-1878), but
this edition is far from complete. On his life see, besides the
autobiography mentioned above, J. Rodenberg, _Heimaterinnerungen an F.
Dingelstedt_ (Berlin, 1882), and by the same author, _F. Dingelstedt,
Blätter aus seinem Nachlass_ (2 vols., 1891). Also an essay by A.
Stern in _Zur Literatur der Gegenwart_ (Leipzig, 1880).
DINGHY, or DINGEY (from the Hindu _d[=e]ng[=i]_ a small boat, the
diminutive of _denga_, a sloop or coasting vessel), a boat of greatly
varying size and shape, used on the rivers of India; the term is applied
also, in certain districts, to a larger boat used for coasting purposes.
The name was adopted by the merchantmen trading with India, and is now
generally used to designate the small extra boat kept for general
purposes on a man-of-war or merchant vessel, and also, on the Thames,
for small pleasure boats built for one or two pairs of sculls.
DINGLE, a seaport and market town of county Kerry, Ireland, in the west
parliamentary division, the terminus of the Tralee and Dingle railway.
Pop. (1901) 1786. This may be considered the most westerly town in the
United Kingdom unless Knightstown at Valencia Island be excepted; it
lies on the south side of the northernmost of the great promontories
which protrude into the Atlantic on the south-western coast of Ireland,
on the fine natural harbour of Dingle Bay, in a wild hilly district
abundant in relics of antiquity. The town, which is the centre of a
considerable fishing industry, especially in mackerel, was in the 16th
century of no little importance as a seaport; it had also a noted
manufacture of linen. It was incorporated by Queen Elizabeth, and
returned two members to the Irish parliament until the Union.
DINGO, a name applied apparently by Europeans to the warrigal, or native
Australian dog, the Canis dingo of J. F. Blumenbach. The dingo is a
stoutly-built, rather short-legged, sandy-coloured dog, intermediate in
size between a jackal and a wolf, and measuring about 51 in. in total
length, of which the tail takes up about eleven. In general appearance
it is very like some of the pariah dogs of India and Egypt; and, except
on distributional grounds, there is no reason for regarding it as
specifically distinct from such breeds. Dingos, which are found both
wild and tame, interbreed freely with European dogs introduced into the
country, and it may be that the large amount of black on the back of
many specimens may be the result of crossing of this nature.
The main point of interest connected with the dingo relates to its
origin; that is to say, whether it is a member of the indigenous
Australian fauna (among which it is the only large placental mammal), or
whether it has been introduced into the country by man. There seems to
be no doubt that fossilized remains of the dingo occur intermingled with
those of the extinct Australian mammals, such as giant kangaroos, giant
wombats and the still more gigantic _Diprotodon_. And since remains of
man have apparently not yet been detected in these deposits, it has been
thought by some naturalists that the dingo must be an indigenous
species. This was the opinion of Sir Frederick McCoy, by whom the
deposits in question were regarded as probably of Pliocene age. A
similar view is adopted by D. Ogilvy in a _Catalogue of Australian
Mammals_, published at Sydney in 1892; the writer going however one step
further and expressing the belief that the dingo is the ancestor of all
domesticated dogs. The latter contention cannot for a moment be
sustained; and there are also strong arguments against the indigenous
origin of the dingo. That the animal now occurs in a wild state is no
argument whatever as to its being indigenous, seeing that a domesticated
breed introduced by man into a new country abounding in game would
almost certainly revert to the wild state. The apparent absence of human
remains in the beds yielding dingo teeth and bones (which are almost
certainly not older than the Pleistocene) is of only negative value, and
liable to be upset by new discoveries. Then, again (as has been pointed
out by R. I. Pocock in the first part of the _Kennel Encyclopaedia_,
1907), the absence of any really wild species of the typical group of
the genus _Canis_ between Burma and Siam on the one hand and Australia
on the other is a very strong argument against the dingo being
indigenous, seeing that, whether brought by man or having travelled
thither of its own accord, the dingo must have reached its present
habitat by way of the Austro-Malay archipelago. If it had followed that
route in the course of nature, it is inconceivable that it would not
still be found on some portions of the route. On the supposition that
the dingo was introduced by man, we have now fairly decisive evidence
that the native Australian, in place of being (as formerly supposed) a
member of the negro stock, is a low type of Caucasian allied to the
Veddahs of Ceylon and the Toalas of Celebes. Consequently the Australian
natives must be presumed to have reached the island-continent by way of
Malaya; and if this be admitted, nothing is more likely than that they
should have been accompanied by pariah dogs of the Indian type.
Confirmation of this is afforded by the occurrence in the mountains of
Java of a pariah-like dog which has reverted to an almost completely
wild condition; and likewise by the fact that the old voyagers met with
dogs more or less similar to the dingo in New Guinea, New Zealand and
the Solomon and certain other of the smaller Pacific islands. On the
whole, then, the most probable explanation of the case is that the dingo
is an introduced species closely allied to the Indian pariah dog.
Whether the latter represents a truly wild type now extinct, cannot be
determined. If so, all pariahs should be classed with the Australian
warrigal under the name of _Canis dingo_. If, on the other hand,
pariahs, and consequently the dingo, cannot be separated specifically
from the domesticated dogs of western Europe, then the dingo should be
designated _Canis familiaris dingo_. (R. L.*)
DINGWALL, a royal and police burgh and county town of the shire of Ross
and Cromarty, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 2519. It is situated near the head
of Cromarty Firth where the valley of the Peffery unites with the
alluvial lands at the mouth of the Conon, 18½ m. N.W. of Inverness by
the Highland railway. Its name, derived from the Scandinavian
_Thingvöllr_, "field or meeting-place of the _thing_," or local
assembly, preserves the Norse origin of the town; its Gaelic designation
is Inverpefferon, "the mouth of the Peffery." The 18th-century town
house, and some remains of the ancient mansion of the once powerful
earls of Ross still exist. There is also a public park. An obelisk, 57
ft. high, was erected over the grave of the 1st earl of Cromarty. The
town belongs to the Wick district group of parliamentary burghs. It is a
flourishing distributing centre and has an important corn market and
auction marts. Some shipping is carried on at the harbour at the mouth
of the Peffery, about a mile below the burgh. Branch lines of the
Highland railway run to Strathpeffer and to Strome Ferry and Kyle of
Lochalsh (for Skye). Alexander II. created Dingwall a royal borough in
1226, and its charter was renewed by James IV. On the top of Knockfarrel
(Gaelic, _cnoc_, hill; _faire_, watch, or guard), a hill about 3 m. to
the west, is a large and very complete vitrified fort with ramparts.
DINKA (called by the Arabs _Jange_), a widely spread negro people
dwelling on the right bank of the White Nile to about 12° N., around the
mouth of the Babr-el-Ghazal, along the right bank of that river and on
the banks of the lower Sobat. Like the Shilluk, they were greatly
harried from the north by Nuba-Arabic tribes, but remained comparatively
free owing to the vast extent of their country, estimated to cover
40,000 sq. m., and their energy in defending themselves. They are a tall
race with skins of almost blue black. The men wear practically no
clothes, married women having a short apron, and unmarried girls a
fringe of iron cones round the waist. They tattoo themselves with tribal
marks, and extract the lower incisors; they also pierce the ears and lip
for the attachment of ornaments, and wear a variety of feather, iron,
ivory and brass ornaments. Nearly all shave the head, but some give the
hair a reddish colour by moistening it with animal matter. Polygamy is
general; some headmen have as many as thirty or more wives; but six is
the average number. They are great cattle and sheep breeders; the men
tend their beasts with great devotion, despising agriculture, which is
left to the women; the cattle are called by means of drums. Save under
stress of famine cattle are never killed for food, the people subsisting
largely on durra. The Dinkas reverence the cow, and snakes, which they
call "brothers." Their folklore recognizes a good and evil deity; one of
the two wives of the good deity created man, and the dead go to live
with him in a great park filled with animals of enormous size. The evil
deity created cripples. The Dinka came, in 1899, under the control of
the Sudan government, justice being administered as far as possible in
accord with tribal custom. A compendium of Dinka laws was compiled by
Captain H. D. E. O'Sullivan.
See G. A. Schweinfurth, _The Heart of Africa_ (1874); W. Junker,
_Travels in Africa_, Eng. edit. (London, 1890-1892); _The
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan_, edited by Count Gleichen (London, 1905).
DINKELSBÜHL, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, on the
Wörnitz, 16 m. N. from Nördlingen, on the railway to Dombühl. Pop. 5000.
It is an interesting medieval town, still surrounded by old walls and
towers, and has an Evangelical and two Roman Catholic churches. Notable
is the so-called _Deutsches Haus_, the ancestral home of the counts of
Drechsel-Deufstetten, a fine specimen of the German renaissance style of
wooden architecture. There are a Latin and industrial school, several
benevolent institutions, and a monument to Christoph von Schmid
(1768-1854), a writer of stories for the young. The inhabitants carry on
the manufacture of brushes, gloves, stockings and gingerbread, and deal
largely in cattle.
Fortified by the emperor Henry I., Dinkelsbühl received in 1305 the same
municipal rights as Ulm, and obtained in 1351 the position of a free
imperial city, which it retained till 1802, when it passed to Bavaria.
Its municipal code, the _Dinkelsbuhler Recht_, published in 1536, and
revised in 1738, contained a very extensive collection of public and
private laws.
DINNER, the chief meal of the day, eaten either in the middle of the
day, as was formerly the universal custom, or in the evening. The word
"dine" comes through Fr. from Med. Lat. _disnare_, for _disjejunare_, to
break one's fast (_jejunium_); it is, therefore, the same word as Fr.
_déjeuner_, to breakfast, in modern France, to take the midday meal,
_dîner_ being used for the later repast. The term "dinner-wagon,"
originally a movable table to hold dishes, is now used of a two-tier
sideboard.
DINOCRATES, a great and original Greek architect, of the age of
Alexander the Great. He tried to captivate the ambitious fancy of that
king with a design for carving Mount Athos into a gigantic seated
statue. This plan was not carried out, but Dinocrates designed for
Alexander the plan of the new city of Alexandria, and constructed the
vast funeral pyre of Hephaestion. Alexandria was, like Peiraeus and
Rhodes (see HIPPODAMUS), built on a regular plan; the streets of most
earlier towns being narrow and confused.
DINOFLAGELLATA, so called by O. Bütschli (= the CILIOFLAGELLATA of E.
Claparide and H. Lachmann), a group of Protozoa, characterized as
Mastigophora, provided with two flagella, the one anterior extended in
locomotion, the other coiled round its base, or lying in a transverse
groove. The body is bounded by a firm pellicle, often supplemented by an
armour ("lorica") of cuticular cellulose plates, with usually a marked
longitudinal groove from which the anterior flagellum springs, and an
oblique or spiral transverse groove for the second flagellum. In
_Polykrikos_ (fig. 2, 9) there are eight transverse grooves each with
its flagellum. The armour-plates are often exquisitely sculptured, and
may be produced into spines or perpendicular plates to give greater
surface extension, as we find in other plankton organisms. The cortical
plasma may protrude pseudopodia in the longitudinal groove; it contains
trichocysts in several species, true nematocysts in _Polykrikos_. It
contains chromatophores in many species, coloured by a mixed lipochrome
pigment which appears to be distinct from diatomin. The endoplasm is
ramified between alveoli; it contains a large nucleus (in _Polykrikos_
there are eight nuclei, accompanied by smaller, more numerous bodies
regarded by O. Butschli as micro-nuclei). Besides the other spaces are
definite rounded or oval vacuoles with a permanent pellicular wall
termed by Schutt "pusules"; these open by a duct or ducts into the
longitudinal groove. They enlarge and diminish, and are possibly
excretory like the "contractile vacuoles" of other Protista; though it
has been suggested that by their communication with the medium they
subserve nutrition. Nutrition is of course holozoic or saprophytic in
the colourless forms, holophytic in the coloured; but these divergent
methods are exhibited by different species of the same genus, or even by
individuals of one and the same species under different conditions.
Binary fission has been widely observed, both in the active condition or
after loss of the flagella: it differs from that of true Flagellates in
not being longitudinal, but transverse or oblique (fig, 2, 2). Repeated
fission (brood-formation) within a cyst has also been observed, as in
_Pyrocystis_ and _Ceratium_; and possibly the chains of _Ceratium_ and
other (fig. 2, 5 and 6) genera are due to the non-separation of the
brood-cells. Conjugation of adults has been observed in several species,
the most complete account being that of Zederbauer on _Ceratium
hirundinella_ (marine): either mate puts forth a tube which meets and
opens into that of the other (as in some species of _Chlamydomonas_ and
Desmids); the two cell-bodies fuse in this tube, and encyst to form a
resting zygospore. The Dinoflagellates are relatively large for
Mastigophora, many attaining 50 µ (1/500") in length. The majority are
marine; but some genera (_Ceratium_, _Peridinium_) include fresh-water
species. Many are highly phosphorescent and some by their abundance
colour the water of the sea or pool which they dwell in. Like so many
coloured Protista, they frequently possess a pigmented "eye-spot" in
which may be sunk a spheroidal refractive body ("lens").
[Illustration: After F. Schutt in Engler and Prantl's
_Pflanzenfamilien_, by permission of Wm Engelmann.
FIG. 1.--_Peridinium divergens_ showing longitudinal and transverse
grooves in which lie the respective flagella l.f., t.f.; s.p., large
"sack pusule" discharging through a tube by pore o'; c.p., "collective
pusule discharging at o, and surrounded by a ring of formative" or
"daughter pusules"; n, nucleus.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.
From Delage and Hérouard's _Traité de zoologie concrete_, by permission
of Schleicher Frères.
1. Modified from Schütt, _Ornithoceras_.
2. Diagram of transverse fission of a Dinoflagellate.
3. After Schutt, _Exuviaeella_.
4. After Stein, _Prorocentrum_.
5, 6. _Ceratium_, single and series.
7. _Pouchetia fusus_ (Schutt).
8. _Citharistes_.
9. After Butschli, _Polykrikos_.]
The affinities of the Dinoflagellata are certainly with those
Cryptomonadine Flagellates which possess two unequal flagella; the
zoospores or young of the Cystoflagellates are practically colourless
Dinoflagellates.
1. _Gymnodiniaceae_: body naked, or with a simple cellulose or
gelatinous envelope; both grooves present. _Pyrocystis_ (Murray),
often encysted, spherical or crescentic, becoming free within cyst
wall, and escaping whole or after brood-divisions as a form like
_Gymnodinium_; _Gymnodinium_ (Stein); _Hemidinium_ (Stein);
_Pouchetia_ (Schütt) (fig. 2, 7) with complex eye-spot; to this group
we may refer _Polykrikos_ (Bütschli) (fig. 2, 9), with its metameric
transverse grooves and flagella.
2. _Prorocentraceae_ (Schütt) ( = the Adinida of Bergh); body
surrounded by a firm shell of two valves without a girdle band;
transverse groove absent; transverse flagellum coiled round base of
longitudinal. _Exuviaeella_ (Cienk.) (fig. 2, 3); _Prorocentrum_
(Ehrb.) (fig. 2, 4).
3. _Peridiniaceae_ (Schütt); body with a shell of plates, a girdle
band along the transverse groove, in which the transverse flagellum
lies. Genera, _Peridinium_ (Ehrb.) (fig. 1), fresh-water and marine;
_Ceratium_ (Schrank) (fig. 2, 5, 6), fresh-water and marine;
_Citharistes_ (Stein); _Ornithoceras_ (Claparède and Lachmann) (fig.
2, 1).
LITERATURE.--R. S. Bergh, "Der Organismusder Cilioflagellaten,"
_Morphol. Jahrbuch_, vii. (1881); F. von Stein, _Organismus der
Infusionsthiere_, Abth. 3, 2. Hälfte; _Die Naturgeschichte der
arthrodelen Flagellaten_ (1883); Bütschli, "Mastigophora" (in Bronn's
_Thierreich_, i. Abth. 2), 1881-1887; G. Pouchet, various observations
on Dinoflagellates, _Journal de l'anatomie et de la physiologie_
(1885, 1887, 1891); F. Schütt, "Die Peridineen der Plankton
Expedition" (_Ergebnisse d. Pl. Exed._ i. Th. vol. iv. 1895); and
"Peridiniales" in Engler and Prantl's _Pflanzenfamilien_, vol. i. Abt.
2 b. (1896); Zederbauer, _Berichte d. deutschen botanischen
Gesellschaft_, vol. xx. (1900); Delage and Hérouard, _Traité de
zoologie concrète_, vol. i. _La Cellule et les protozoaires_ (1896).
(M. HA.)
DINOTHERIUM, an extinct mammal, fossil remains of which occur in the
Miocene beds of France, Germany, Greece and Northern India. These
consist chiefly of teeth and the bones of the head. An entire skull,
obtained from the Lower Pliocene beds of Eppelsheim, Hesse-Darmstadt, in
1836, measured 4½ ft. in length and 3 ft. in breadth, and indicates an
animal exceeding the elephant in size. The upper jaw is apparently
destitute of incisor and canine teeth, but possesses five molars on each
side, with a corresponding number in the jaw beneath. The most
remarkable feature, however, consists in the front part of the lower jaw
being bent downwards and bearing two tusk-like incisors also directed
downwards and backwards. _Dinotherium_ is a member of the group
Proboscidea, of the line of descent of the elephants.
DINWIDDIE, ROBERT (1693-1770), English colonial governor of Virginia,
was born near Glasgow, Scotland, in 1693. From the position of customs
clerk in Bermuda, which he held in 1727-1738, he was promoted to be
surveyor-general of the customs "of the southern ports of the continent
of America," as a reward for having exposed the corruption in the West
Indian customs service. In 1743 he was commissioned to examine into the
customs service in the Barbadoes and exposed similar corruption there.
In 1751-1758 he was lieutenant-governor of Virginia, first as the deputy
of Lord Albemarle and then, from July 1756 to January 1758, as deputy
for Lord Loudon. He was energetic in the discharge of his duties, but
aroused much animosity among the colonists by his zeal in looking after
the royal quit-rents, and by exacting heavy fees for the issue of
land-patents. It was his chief concern to prevent the French from
building in the Ohio Valley a chain of forts connecting their
settlements in the north with those on the Gulf of Mexico; and in the
autumn of 1753 he sent George Washington to Fort Le Boeuf, a newly
established French post at what is now Waterford, Pennsylvania, with a
message demanding the withdrawal of the French from English territory.
As the French refused to comply, Dinwiddie secured from the reluctant
Virginia assembly a grant of £10,000 and in the spring of 1754 he sent
Washington with an armed force toward the forks of the Ohio river "to
prevent the intentions of the French in settling those lands." In the
latter part of May Washington encountered a French force at a spot
called Great Meadows, near the Youghiogheny river, in what is now
south-western Pennsylvania, and a skirmish followed which precipitated
the French and Indian War. Dinwiddie was especially active at this time
in urging the co-operation of the colonies against the French in the
Ohio Valley; but none of the other governors, except William Shirley of
Massachusetts, was then much concerned about the western frontier, and
he could accomplish very little. His appeals to the home government,
however, resulted in the sending of General Edward Braddock to Virginia
with two regiments of regular troops; and at Braddock's call Dinwiddie
and the governors of Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland
met at Alexandria, Virginia, in April 1755, and planned the initial
operations of the war. Dinwiddie's administration was marked by a
constant wrangle with the assembly over money matters; and its obstinate
resistance to military appropriations caused him in 1754 and 1755 to
urge the home government to secure an act of parliament compelling the
colonies to raise money for their protection. In January 1758 he left
Virginia and lived in England until his death on the 27th of July 1770
at Clifton, Bristol.
_The Official Records of Robert Dinwiddie, Lieutenant-Governor of
Virginia_ (1751-1758), published in two volumes, at Richmond, Va., in
1883-1884, by the Virginia Historical Society, and edited by R. A.
Brock, are of great value for the political history of the colonies in
this period.
DIO CASSIUS (more correctly CASSIUS DIO), COCCEIANUS (c. A.D. 150-235),
Roman historian, was born at Nicaea in Bithynia. His father was Cassius
Apronianus, governor of Dalmatia and Cilicia under Marcus Aurelius, and
on his mother's side he was the grandson of Dio Chrysostom, who had
assumed the surname of Cocceianus in honour of his patron the emperor
Cocceius Nerva. After his father's death, Dio Cassius left Cilicia for
Rome (180) and became a member of the senate. During the reign of
Commodus, Dio practised as an advocate at the Roman bar, and held the
offices of aedile and quaestor. He was raised to the praetorship by
Pertinax (193), but did not assume office till the reign of Septimius
Severus, with whom he was for a long time on the most intimate footing.
By Macrinus he was entrusted with the administration of Pergamum and
Smyrna; and on his return to Rome he was raised to the consulship about
220. After this he obtained the proconsulship of Africa, and again on
his return was sent as legate successively to Dalmatia and Pannonia. He
was raised a second time to the consulship by Alexander Severus, in 229;
but on the plea of ill health soon afterwards retired to Nicaea, where
he died. Before writing his history of Rome ([Greek: Rhômaika] or
[Greek: Rhômaikê Historia]), Dio Cassius had dedicated to the emperor
Severus an account of various dreams and prodigies which had presaged
his elevation to the throne (perhaps the [Greek: Enodia] attributed to
Dio by Suidas), and had also written a biography of his
fellow-countryman Arrian. The history of Rome, which consisted of
eighty books,--and, after the example of Livy, was divided into
decades,--began with the landing of Aeneas in Italy, and was continued
as far as the reign of Alexander Severus (222-235). Of this great work
we possess books 36-60, containing the history of events from 68
B.C.-A.D. 47; books 36 and 55-60 are imperfect. We also have part of 35
and 36-80 in the epitome of John Xiphilinus, an 11th-century Byzantine
monk. For the earlier period the loss of Dio's work is partly supplied
by the history of Zonaras, who followed him closely. Numerous fragments
are also contained in the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Dio's
work is a most important authority for the history of the last years of
the republic and the early empire. His industry was great and the
various important offices he held afforded him ample opportunities for
historical investigation. His style, though marred by Latinisms, is
clearer than that of his model Thucydides, and his narrative shows the
hand of the practised soldier and politician; the language is correct
and free from affectation. But he displays a superstitious regard for
miracles and prophecies; he has nothing to say against the arbitrary
acts of the emperors, which he seems to take as a matter of course; and
his work, although far more than a mere compilation, is not remarkable
for impartiality, vigour of judgment or critical historical faculty.
The best edition with notes is that of H. S. Reimar (1750-1752), new
ed. by F. G. Sturz (1824-1836); text by I. Melber (1890 foll.), with
account of previous editions, and U. P. Boissevain (1895-1901);
translation by H. B. Foster (Troy, New York, 1905 foll.), with full
bibliography; see also W. Christ, _Geschichte der griechischen
Litteratur_ (1898), p. 675; E. Schwartz in Pauly-Wissowa's
_Realencyclopadie_, iii. pt. 2 (1899); C. Wachsmuth, _Einleitung in
das Studium der alten Geschichte_ (1895).
DIOCESE (formed on Fr. _diocèse_, in place of the Eng. form
_diocess_--current until the 19th century--from Lat. _dioecesis_, med.
Lat. variant _diocesis_, from Gr. [Greek: dioikêsis], "housekeeping,"
"administration," [Greek: dioikein], "to keep house," "to govern"), the
sphere of a bishop's jurisdiction. In this, its sole modern sense, the
word diocese (_dioecesis_) has only been regularly used since the 9th
century, though isolated instances of such use occur so early as the
3rd, what is now known as a diocese having been till then usually called
a _parochia_ (parish). The Greek word [Greek: dioikêsis], from meaning
"administration," came to be applied to the territorial circumscription
in which administration was exercised. It was thus first applied e.g. to
the three districts of Cibyra, Apamea and Synnada, which were added to
Cilicia in Cicero's time (between 56 and 50 B.C.). The word is here
equivalent to "assize-districts" (Tyrrell and Purser's edition of Cicero
_Epist. ad fam._ iii. 8. 4; xiii. 67; cf. Strabo xiii. 628-629). But in
the reorganization of the empire, begun by Diocletian and completed by
Constantine, the word "diocese" acquired a more important meaning, the
empire being divided into twelve dioceses, of which the
largest--Oriens--embraced sixteen provinces, and the
smallest--Britain--four (see ROME: _Ancient History_; and W. T. Arnold,
_Roman Provincial Administration_, pp. 187, 194-196, which gives a list
of the dioceses and their subdivisions). The organization of the
Christian church in the Roman empire following very closely the lines of
the civil administration (see CHURCH HISTORY), the word diocese, in its
ecclesiastical sense, was at first applied to the sphere of
jurisdiction, not of a bishop, but of a metropolitan.[1] Thus Anastasius
Bibliothecarius (d. c. 886), in his life of Pope Dionysius, says that he
assigned churches to the presbyters, and established dioceses
(_parochiae_) and provinces (_dioeceses_). The word, however, survived
in its general sense of "office" or "administration," and it was even
used during the middle ages for "parish" (see Du Cange, _Glossarium_, s.
"Dioecesis" 2).
The practice, under the Roman empire, of making the areas of
ecclesiastical administration very exactly coincide with those of the
civil administration, was continued in the organization of the church
beyond the borders of the empire, and many dioceses to this day preserve
the limits of long vanished political divisions. The process is well
illustrated in the case of English bishoprics. But this practice was
based on convenience, not principle; and the limits of the dioceses,
once fixed, did not usually change with the changing political
boundaries. Thus Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, complains that not only
his metropolitanate (_dioecesis_) but his bishopric (_parochia_) is
divided between two realms under two kings; and this inconvenient
overlapping of jurisdictions remained, in fact, very common in Europe
until the readjustments of national boundaries by the territorial
settlements of the 19th century. In principle, however, the subdivision
of a diocese, in the event of the work becoming too heavy for one
bishop, was very early admitted, e.g. by the first council at Lugo in
Spain (569), which erected Lugo into a metropolitanate, the consequent
division of diocese being confirmed by the king of the second council,
held in 572. Another reason for dividing a diocese, and establishing a
new see, has been recognized by the church as duly existing "if the
sovereign should think fit to endow some principal village or town with
the rank and privileges of a city" (Bingham, lib. xvii. c. 5). But there
are canons for the punishment of such as might induce the sovereign so
to erect any town into a city, solely with the view of becoming bishop
thereof. Nor could any diocese be divided without the consent of the
primate.
In England an act of parliament is necessary for the creation of new
dioceses. In the reign of Henry VIII. six new dioceses were thus created
(under an act of 1539); but from that time onward until the 19th century
they remained practically unchanged. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners
Act 1836, which created two new dioceses (Ripon and Manchester),
remodelled the state of the old dioceses by an entirely new adjustment
of the revenues and patronage of each see, and also extended or
curtailed the parishes and counties in the various jurisdictions.
By the ancient custom of the church the bishop takes his title, not from
his diocese, but from his see, i.e. the place where his cathedral is
established. Thus the old episcopal titles are all derived from cities.
This tradition has been broken, however, by the modern practice of
bishops in the United States and the British colonies, e.g. archbishop
of the West Indies, bishop of Pennsylvania, Wyoming, &c. (see BISHOP).
See Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_, ii. 38, &c.; Joseph Bingham, _Origines
ecclesiasticae_, 9 vols. (1840); Du Cange, _Glossarium_, s.
"Dioecesis"; _New English Dictionary_ (Oxford, 1897), s. "Diocese."
FOOTNOTE:
[1] For exceptions see Hinschius ii. p. 39, note 1.
DIO CHRYSOSTOM (c. A.D. 40-115), Greek sophist and rhetorician, was born
at Piusa (mod. _Brusa_), a town at the foot of Mount Olympus in
Bithynia. He was called Chrysostom ("golden-mouthed") from his
eloquence, and also to distinguish him from his grandson, the historian
Dio Cassius; his surname Cocceianus was derived from his patron, the
emperor Cocceius Nerva. Although he did much to promote the welfare of
his native place, he became so unpopular there that he migrated to Rome,
but, having incurred the suspicion of Domitian, he was banished from
Italy. With nothing in his pocket but Plato's _Phaedo_ and Demosthenes'
_De falsa legatione_, he wandered about in Thrace, Mysia, Scythia and
the land of the Getae. He returned to Rome on the accession of Nerva,
with whom and his successor Trajan he was on intimate terms. During this
period he paid a visit to Prusa, but, disgusted at his reception, he
went back to Rome. The place and date of his death are unknown; it is
certain, however, that he was alive in 112, when the younger Pliny was
governor of Bithynia.
Eighty orations, or rather essays on political, moral and philosophical
subjects, have come down to us under his name; the _Corinthiaca_,
however, is generally regarded as spurious, and is probably the work of
Favorinus of Arelate. Of the extant orations the following are the most
important:--_Borysthenitica_ (xxxvi.), on the advantages of monarchy,
addressed to the inhabitants of Olbia, and containing interesting
information on the history of the Greek colonies on the shores of the
Black Sea; _Olympica_ (xii.), in which Pheidias is represented as
setting forth the principles which he had followed in his statue of
Zeus, one passage being supposed by some to have suggested Lessing's
_Laocoon_; _Rhodiaca_ (xxxi.), an attack on the Rhodians for altering
the names on their statues, and thus converting them into memorials of
famous men of the day (an imitation of Demosthenes' _Leptines_); _De
regno_ (i.-iv.), addressed to Trajan, a eulogy of the monarchical form
of government, under which the emperor is the representative of Zeus
upon earth; _De Aeschylo et Sophocle et Euripide_ (lii.), a comparison
of the treatment of the story of Philoctetes by the three great Greek
tragedians; and _Philoctetes_ (lix.), a summary of the prologue to the
lost play by Euripides. In his later life, Dio, who had originally
attacked the philosophers, himself became a convert to Stoicism. To this
period belong the essays on moral subjects, such as the denunciation of
various cities (Tarsus, Alexandria) for their immorality. Most pleasing
of all is the _Euboica_ (vii.), a description of the simple life of the
herdsmen and huntsmen of Euboea as contrasted with that of the
inhabitants of the towns. _Troica_ (xi.), an attempt to prove to the
inhabitants of Ilium that Homer was a liar and that Troy was never
taken, is a good example of a sophistical rhetorical exercise. Amongst
his lost works were attacks on philosophers and Domitian, and _Getica_
(wrongly attributed to Dio Cassius by Suïdas), an account of the manners
and customs of the Getae, for which he had collected material on the
spot during his banishment. The style of Dio, who took Plato and
Xenophon especially as his models, is pure and refined, and on the whole
free from rhetorical exaggeration. With Plutarch he played an important
part in the revival of Greek literature at the end of the 1st century of
the Christian era.
Editions: J. J. Reiske (Leipzig, 1784); A. Emperius (Brunswick, 1844);
L. Dindorf (Leipzig, 1857), H. von Arnim (Berlin, 1893-1896). The
ancient authorities for his life are Philostratus, _Vit. Soph._ i. 7;
Photius, _Bibliotheca_, cod. 209; Suidas, s.v.; Synesius, [Greek:
Diôn]. On Dio generally see H. von Arnim, _Leben und Werke des Dion
von Prusa_ (Berlin, 1898); C. Martha, _Les Moralistes sous l'empire
romain_ (1865); W. Christ, _Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur_
(1898), § 520; J. E. Sandys, _History of Classical Scholarship_ (2nd
ed., 1906); W. Schmid in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopädie_, v. pt. 1
(1905). The _Euboica_ has been abridged by J. P. Mahaffy in _The Greek
World under Roman Sway_ (1890), and there is a translation of _Select
Essays_ by Gilbert Wakefield (1800).
DIOCLETIAN (GAIUS AURELIUS VALERIUS DIOCLETIANUS) (A.D. 245-313), Roman
emperor 284-305, is said to have been born at Dioclea, near Salona, in
Dalmatia. His original name was Diocles. Of humble origin, he served
with high distinction and held important military commands under the
emperors Probus and Aurelian, and accompanied Carus to the Persian War.
After the death of Numerianus he was chosen emperor by the troops at
Chalcedon, on the 17th of September 284, and slew with his own hands
Arrius Aper, the praefect of the praetorians. He thus fulfilled the
prediction of a druidess of Gaul, that he would mount a throne as soon
as he had slain a wild boar (_aper_). Having been installed at
Nicomedia, he received general acknowledgment after the murder of
Carinus. In consequence of the rising of the Bagaudae in Gaul, and the
threatening attitude of the German peoples on the Rhine, he appointed
Maximian Augustus in 286; and, in view of further dangers and
disturbances in the empire, proclaimed Constantius Chlorus and Galerius
Caesars in 293. Each of the four rulers was placed at a separate
capital--Nicomedia, Mediolanum (Milan), Augusta Trevirorum (Trier),
Sirmium. This amounted to an entirely new organization of the empire, on
a plan commensurate with the work of government which it now had to
carry on. At the age of fifty-nine, exhausted with labour, Diocletian
abdicated his sovereignty on the 1st of May 305, and retired to Salona,
where he died eight years afterwards (others give 316 as the year of his
death). The end of his reign was memorable for the persecution of the
Christians. In defence of this it may be urged that he hoped to
strengthen the empire by reviving the old religion, and that the church
as an independent state over whose inner life at least he possessed no
influence, appeared to be a standing menace to his authority. Under
Diocletian the senate became a political nonentity, the last traces of
republican institutions disappeared, and were replaced by an absolute
monarchy approaching to despotism. He wore the royal diadem, assumed the
title of lord, and introduced a complicated system of ceremonial and
etiquette, borrowed from the East, in order to surround the monarchy and
its representative with mysterious sanctity. But at the same time he
devoted his energies to the improvement of the administration of the
empire; he reformed the standard of coinage, fixed the price of
provisions and other necessaries of daily life, remitted the tax upon
inheritances and manumissions, abolished various monopolies, repressed
corruption and encouraged trade. In addition, he adorned the city with
numerous buildings, such as the thermae, of which extensive remains are
still standing (Aurelius Victor, _De Caesaribus_, 39; Eutropius ix. 13;
Zonaras xii. 31).
See A. Vogel, _Der Kaiser Diocletian_ (Gotha, 1857), a short sketch,
with notes on the authorities; T. Preuss, _Kaiser Diocletian und seine
Zeit_ (Leipzig, 1869); V. Casagrandi, _Diocleziano_ (Faenza, 1876); H.
Schiller, _Gesch. der römischen Kaiserzeit_, ii. (1887); T. Bernhardt,
_Geschichte Roms von Valerian bis zu Diocletians Tod_ (1867); A. J.
Mason, _The Persecution of Diocletian_ (1876); P. Allard, _La
Persécution de Dioclétien_ (1890); V. Schultze in Herzog-Hauck's
_Realencyklopädie für protestantische Theologie_, iv. (1898); Gibbon.
_Decline and Fall_, chaps. 13 and 16; A. W. Hunzinger, _Die
Diocletianische Staatsreform_ (1899); O. Seeck, "Die Schatzungsordnung
Diocletians" in _Zeitschrift für Social- und Wirthschaftsgeschichte_
(1896), a valuable paper with notes containing references to sources;
and O. Seeck, _Geschichte des Untergangs der antiken Welt_, vol. i.
cap. 1. On his military reforms see T. Mommsen in _Hermes_, xxiv., and
on his tariff system, Diocletian, Edict of.
DIOCLETIAN, EDICT OF (_De pretiis rerum venalium_), an imperial edict
promulgated in A.D. 301, fixing a maximum price for provisions and other
articles of commerce, and a maximum rate of wages. Incomplete copies of
it have been discovered at various times in various places, the first
(in Greek and Latin) in 1709, at Stratonicea in Caria, by W. Sherard,
British consul at Smyrna, containing the preamble and the beginning of
the tables down to No. 403. This partial copy was completed by W. Bankes
in 1817. A second fragment (now in the museum at Aix in Provence) was
brought from Egypt in 1809; it supplements the preamble by specifying
the titles of the emperors and Caesars and the number of times they had
held them, whereby the date of publication can be accurately determined.
For other fragments and their localities see _Corpus Inscriptionum
Latinarum_ (iii., 1873, pp. 801 and 1055; and supplement i, 1893, p.
1909); special mention may be made of those of Elatea, Plataea and
Megalopolis. Latin being the official language all over the empire,
there was no official Greek translation (except for Greece proper), as
is shown by the variations in those portions of the text of which more
than one Greek version is extant. Further, all the fragments come from
the provinces which were under the jurisdiction of Diocletian, from
which it is argued that the edict was only published in the eastern
portion of the empire; certainly the phrase _universo orbi_ in the
preamble is against this, but the words may merely be an exaggerated
description of Diocletian's special provinces, and if it had been
published in the western portion as well, it is curious that no traces
have been found of it. The articles mentioned in the edict, which is
chiefly interesting as giving their relative values at the time, include
cereals, wine, oil, meat, vegetables, fruits, skins, leather, furs,
foot-gear, timber, carpets, articles of dress, and the wages range from
the ordinary labourer to the professional advocate. The unit of money
was the denarius, not the silver, but a copper coin introduced by
Diocletian, of which the value has been fixed approximately at 1/5th of
a penny. The punishment for exceeding the prices fixed was death or
deportation. The edict was a well-intended but abortive attempt, in
great measure in the interests of the soldiers, to meet the distress
caused by several bad harvests and commercial speculation. The actual
effect was disastrous: the restrictions thus placed upon commercial
freedom brought about a disturbance of the food supply in non-productive
countries, many traders were ruined, and the edict soon fell into
abeyance.
See Lactantius, _De mortibus persecutorum_, vii., a contemporary who,
as a Christian, writes with natural bias against Diocletian; T.
Mommsen, _Das Edict Diocletians_ (1851); W. M. Leake, _An Edict of
Diocletian_ (1826); W. H. Waddington, _L'Édit de Dioclétien_ (1864),
and E. Lépaulle, _L'Édit de maximum_ (1886), both containing
introductions and ample notes; J. C. Rolfe and F. B. Tarbell in
_Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens_, v.
(1892) (Plataea); W. Loring in _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, xi.
(1890) (Megalopolis); P. Paris in _Bulletin de correspondance
hellénique_, ix. (1885) (Elatea). There is an edition of the whole by
Mommsen, with notes by H. Blümner (1893).
DIODATI, GIOVANNI (1576-1649), Swiss Protestant divine, was born at
Geneva on the 6th of June 1576, of a noble family originally belonging
to Lucca, which had been expatriated on account of its Protestantism. At
the age of twenty-one he was nominated professor of Hebrew at Geneva on
the recommendation of Theodor Beza. In 1606 he became professor of
theology, in 1608 pastor, or parish minister, at Geneva, and in the
following year he succeeded Beza as professor of theology. As a preacher
he was eloquent, bold and fearless. He held a high place among the
reformers of Geneva, by whom he was sent on a mission to France in 1614.
He had previously visited Italy, and made the acquaintance of Paolo
Sarpi, whom he endeavoured unsuccessfully to engage in a reformation
movement. In 1618-1619 he attended the synod of Dort, and took a
prominent part in its deliberations, being one of the six divines
appointed to draw up the account of its proceedings. He was a thorough
Calvinist, and entirely sympathized with the condemnation of the
Arminians. In 1645 he resigned his professorship, and died at Geneva on
the 3rd of October 1649. Diodati is chiefly famous as the author of the
translation of the Bible into Italian (1603, edited with notes, 1607).
He also undertook a translation of the Bible into French, which appeared
with notes in 1644. Among his other works are his _Annotationes in
Biblia_ (1607), of which an English translation (_Pious and Learned
Annotations upon the Holy Bible_) was published in London in 1648, and
various polemical treatises, such as _De fictitio Pontificiorum
Purgatorio_ (1619); _De justa secessione Reformatorum ab Ecclesia
Romana_ (1628); _De Antichristo_, &c. He also published French
translations of Sarpi's _History of the Council of Trent_, and of Edwin
Sandys's _Account of the State of Religion in the West_.
DIODORUS CRONUS (4th century B.C.), Greek philosopher of the Megarian
school. Practically nothing is known of his life. Diogenes Laërtius (ii.
111) tells a story that, while staying at the court of Ptolemy Soter,
Diodorus was asked to solve a dialectical subtlety by Stilpo. Not being
able to answer on the spur of the moment, he was nicknamed [Greek: ho
Kronos] (the God, equivalent to "slowcoach") by Ptolemy. The story goes
that he died of shame at his failure. Strabo, however, says (xiv. 658;
xvii. 838) that he took the name from Apollonius, his master. Like the
rest of the Megarian school he revelled in verbal quibbles, proving that
motion and existence are impossible. His was the famous sophism known as
the [Greek: Kyrieyôn]. The impossible cannot result from the possible; a
past event cannot become other than it is; but if an event, at a given
moment, had been possible, from this possible would result something
impossible; therefore the original event was impossible. This problem
was taken up by Chrysippus, who admitted that he could not solve it.
Apart from these verbal gymnastics, Diodorus did not differ from the
Megarian school. From his great dialectical skill he earned the title
[Greek: ho dialektikos], or [Greek: dialektikôtatos], a title which was
borne by his five daughters, who inherited his ability.
See Cicero, _De Fato_, 6, 7, 9; Aristotle, _Metaphysica_, [theta] 3;
Sext. Empiric., _adv. Math._ x. 85; Ritter and Preller, _Hist. philos.
Gr. et Rom._ chap. v. §§ 234-236 (ed. 1869); and bibliography appended
to article MEGARIAN SCHOOL.
DIODORUS SICULUS, Greek historian, born at Agyrium in Sicily, lived in
the times of Julius Caesar and Augustus. From his own statements we
learn that he travelled in Egypt between 60-57 B.C. and that he spent
several years in Rome. The latest event mentioned by him belongs to the
year 21 B.C. He asserts that he devoted thirty years to the composition
of his history, and that he undertook frequent and dangerous journeys in
prosecution of his historical researches. These assertions, however,
find little credit with recent critics. The history, to which Diodorus
gave the name [Greek: bibliothêkê historikê] (_Bibliotheca historica_,
"Historical Library"), consisted of forty books, and was divided into
three parts. The first treats of the mythic history of the non-Hellenic,
and afterwards of the Hellenic tribes, to the destruction of Troy; the
second section ends with Alexander's death; and the third continues the
history as far as the beginning of Caesar's Gallic War. Of this
extensive work there are still extant only the first five books,
treating of the mythic history of the Egyptians, Assyrians, Ethiopians
and Greeks; and also the 11th to the 20th books inclusive, beginning
with the second Persian War, and ending with the history of the
successors of Alexander, previous to the partition of the Macedonian
empire (302). The rest exists only in fragments preserved in Photius and
the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus. The faults of Diodorus
arise partly from the nature of the undertaking, and the awkward form of
annals into which he has thrown the historical portion of his narrative.
He shows none of the critical faculties of the historian, merely setting
down a number of unconnected details. His narrative contains frequent
repetitions and contradictions, is without colouring, and monotonous;
and his simple diction, which stands intermediate between pure Attic and
the colloquial Greek of his time, enables us to detect in the narrative
the undigested fragments of the materials which he employed. In spite of
its defects, however, the _Bibliotheca_ is of considerable value as to
some extent supplying the loss of the works of older authors, from which
it is compiled. Unfortunately, Diodorus does not always quote his
authorities, but his general sources of information were--in history and
chronology, Castor, Ephorus and Apollodorus; in geography, Agatharchides
and Artemidorus. In special sections he followed special
authorities--e.g. in the history of his native Sicily, Philistus and
Timaeus.
_Editio princeps_, by H. Stephanus (1559); of other editions the best
are: P. Wesseling (1746), not yet superseded; L. Dindorf (1828-1831);
(text) L. Dindorf (1866-1868, revised by F. Vogel, 1888-1893 and C. T.
Fischer, 1905-1906). The standard works on the sources of Diodorus are
C. G. Heyne, _De fontibus et auctoribus historiarum Diodori_, printed
in Dindorf's edition, and C. A. Volquardsen, _Die Quellen der
griechischen und sicilischen Geschichten bei Diodor_ (1868); A. von
Mess, _Rheinisches Museum_ (1906); see also L. O. Bröcker,
_Untersuchungen über Diodor_ (1879), short, but containing much
information; O. Maass, _Kleitarch und Diodor_ (1894- ); G. J.
Schneider, _De Diodori fontibus_, i.-iv. (1880); C. Wachsmuth,
_Einleitung in das Studium der alten Geschichte_ (1895); GREECE;
_Ancient History_, "Authorities."
DIODOTUS, Seleucid satrap of Bactria, who rebelled against Antiochus II.
(about 255) and became the founder of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom
(Trogus, _Prol._ 41; Justin xli. 4, 5, where he is wrongly called
Theodotus; Strabo xi. 515). His power seems to have extended over the
neighbouring provinces. Arsaces, the chieftain of the nomadic (Dahan)
tribe of the Parni, fled before him into Parthia and here became the
founder of the Parthian kingdom (Strabo l.c.). When Seleucus II. in 239
attempted to subjugate the rebels in the east he seems to have united
with him against the Parthians (Justin xli. 4, 9). Soon afterwards he
died and was succeeded by his son Diodotus II., who concluded a peace
with the Parthians (Justin l.c.). Diodotus II. was killed by another
usurper, Euthydemus (Polyb. xi. 34, 2). Of Diodotus I. we possess gold
and silver coins, which imitate the coins of Antiochus II.; on these he
sometimes calls himself Soter, "the saviour." As the power of the
Seleucids was weak and continually attacked by Ptolemy II., the eastern
provinces and their Greek cities were exposed to the invasion of the
nomadic barbarians and threatened with destruction (Polyb. xi. 34, 5);
thus the erection of an independent kingdom may have been a necessity
and indeed an advantage to the Greeks, and this epithet well deserved.
Diodotus Soter appears also on coins struck in his memory by the later
Graeco-Bactrian kings Agathocles and Antimachus. Cf. A. v. Sallet, _Die
Nachfolger Alexanders d. Gr. in Baktrien und Indien_; Percy Gardner,
_Catal. of the Coins of the Greek and Scythian Kings of Bactria and
India_ (Brit. Mus.); see also BACTRIA. (ED. M.)
DIOGENES, "the Cynic," Greek philosopher, was born at Sinope about 412
B.C., and died in 323 at Corinth, according to Diogenes Laërtius, on the
day on which Alexander the Great died at Babylon. His father, Icesias, a
money-changer, was imprisoned or exiled on the charge of adulterating
the coinage. Diogenes was included in the charge, and went to Athens
with one attendant, whom he dismissed, saying, "If Manes can live
without Diogenes, why not Diogenes without Manes?" Attracted by the
ascetic teaching of Antisthenes, he became his pupil, despite the
brutality with which he was received, and rapidly excelled his master
both in reputation and in the austerity of his life. The stories which
are told of him are probably true; in any case, they serve to
illustrate the logical consistency of his character. He inured himself
to the vicissitudes of weather by living in a tub belonging to the
temple of Cybele. The single wooden bowl he possessed he destroyed on
seeing a peasant boy drink from the hollow of his hands. On a voyage to
Aegina he was captured by pirates and sold as a slave in Crete to a
Corinthian named Xeniades. Being asked his trade, he replied that he
knew no trade but that of governing men, and that he wished to be sold
to a man who needed a master. As tutor to the two sons of Xeniades, he
lived in Corinth for the rest of his life, which he devoted entirely to
preaching the doctrines of virtuous self-control. At the Isthmian games
he lectured to large audiences who turned to him from Antisthenes. It
was, probably, at one of these festivals that he craved from Alexander
the single boon that he would not stand between him and the sun, to
which Alexander replied "If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes."
On his death, about which there exist several accounts, the Corinthians
erected to his memory a pillar on which there rested a dog of Parian
marble. His ethical teaching will be found in the article CYNICS (q.v.).
It may suffice to say here that virtue, for him, consisted in the
avoidance of all physical pleasure; that pain and hunger were positively
helpful in the pursuit of goodness; that all the artificial growths of
society appeared to him incompatible with truth and goodness; that
moralization implies a return to nature and simplicity. He has been
credited with going to extremes of impropriety in pursuance of these
ideas; probably, however, his reputation has suffered from the undoubted
immorality of some of his successors. Both in ancient and in modern
times, his personality has appealed strongly to sculptors and to
painters. Ancient busts exist in the museums of the Vatican, the Louvre
and the Capitol. The interview between Diogenes and Alexander is
represented in an ancient marble bas-relief found in the Villa Albani.
Rubens, Jordaens, Steen, Van der Werff, Jeaurat, Salvator Rosa and Karel
Dujardin have painted various episodes in his life.
The chief ancient authority for his life is Diogenes Laërtius vi. 20;
see also Mayor's notes on Juvenal, _Satires_, xiv. 305-314; and
article CYNICS.
DIOGENES APOLLONIATES (c. 460 B.C.), Greek natural philosopher, was a
native of Apollonia in Crete. Although of Dorian stock, he wrote in the
Ionic dialect, like all the _physiologi_ (physical philosophers). There
seems no doubt that he lived some time at Athens, where it is said that
he became so unpopular (probably owing to his supposed atheistical
opinions) that his life was in danger. The views of Diogenes are
transferred in the _Clouds_ (264 ff.) of Aristophanes to Socrates. Like
Anaximenes, he believed air to be the one source of all being, and all
other substances to be derived from it by condensation and rarefaction.
His chief advance upon the doctrines of Anaximenes is that he asserted
air, the primal force, to be possessed of intelligence--"the air which
stirred within him not only prompted, but instructed. The air as the
origin of all things is necessarily an eternal, imperishable substance,
but as soul it is also necessarily endowed with consciousness." In fact,
he belonged to the old Ionian school, whose doctrines he modified by the
theories of his contemporary Anaxagoras, although he avoided his
dualism. His most important work was [Greek: Peri physeôs] (_De
natura_), of which considerable fragments are extant (chiefly in
Simplicius); it is possible that he wrote also Against the Sophists and
_On the Nature of Man_, to which the well-known fragment about the veins
would belong; possibly these discussions were subdivisions of his great
work.
Fragments in F. Mullach, _Fragmenta philosophorum Graecorum_, i.
(1860); F. Panzerbieter, _Diogenes Apolloniates_ (1830), with
philosophical dissertation; J. Burnet, _Early Greek Philosophy_
(1892); H. Ritter and L. Preller, _Historia philosophiae_ (4th ed.,
1869), §§ 59-68; E. Krause, _Diogenes von Apollonia_ (1909). See
IONIAN SCHOOL.
DIOGENES LAËRTIUS (or LAËRTIUS DIOGENES), the biographer of the Greek
philosophers, is supposed by some to have received his surname from the
town of Laërte in Cilicia, and by others from the Roman family of the
Laërtii. Of the circumstances of his life we know nothing. He must have
lived after Sextus Empiricus (c. A.D. 200), whom he mentions, and
before Stephanus of Byzantium (c. A.D. 500), who quotes him. It is
probable that he flourished during the reign of Alexander Severus (A.D.
222-235) and his successors. His own opinions are equally uncertain. By
some he was regarded as a Christian; but it seems more probable that he
was an Epicurean. The work by which he is known professes to give an
account of the lives and sayings of the Greek philosophers. Although it
is at best an uncritical and unphilosophical compilation, its value, as
giving us an insight into the private life of the Greek sages, justly
led Montaigne to exclaim that he wished that instead of one Laërtius
there had been a dozen. He treats his subject in two divisions which he
describes as the Ionian and the Italian schools; the division is quite
unscientific. The biographies of the former begin with Anaximander, and
end with Clitomachus, Theophrastus and Chrysippus; the latter begins
with Pythagoras, and ends with Epicurus. The Socratic school, with its
various branches, is classed with the Ionic; while the Eleatics and
sceptics are treated under the Italic. The whole of the last book is
devoted to Epicurus, and contains three most interesting letters
addressed to Herodotus, Pythocles and Menoeceus. His chief authorities
were Diocles of Magnesia's _Cursory Notice_ ([Greek: Epidromê]) _of
Philosophers_ and Favorinus's _Miscellaneous History_ and _Memoirs_.
From the statements of Burlaeus (Walter Burley, a 14th-century monk) in
his _De vita et moribus philosophorum_ the text of Diogenes seems to
have been much fuller than that which we now possess. In addition to the
_Lives_, Diogenes was the author of a work in verse on famous men, in
various metres.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Editio princeps_ (1533); H. Hübner and C. Jacobitz
with commentary (1828-1833); C. G. Cobet (1850), text only. See F.
Nietzsche, "De Diogenis Laërtii fontibus" in _Rheinisches Museum_,
xxiii., xxiv. (1868-1869); J. Freudenthal, "Zu Quellenkunde Diog.
Laërt.," in _Hellenistische Studien_, iii. (1879); O. Maass, _De
biographis Graecis_ (1880); V. Egger, _De fontibus Diog. Laërt._
(1881). There is an English translation by C. D. Yonge in Bohn's
Classical Library.
DIOGENIANUS, of Heraclea on the Pontus (or in Caria), Greek grammarian,
flourished during the reign of Hadrian. He was the author of an
alphabetical lexicon, chiefly of poetical words, abridged from the great
lexicon ([Greek: Peri glossôn]) of Pamphilus of Alexandria (fl. A.D. 50)
and other similar works. It was also known by the title [Greek:
Periergopenêtes] (for the use of "industrious poor students"). It formed
the basis of the lexicon, or rather glossary, of Hesychius of
Alexandria, which is described in the preface as a new edition of the
work of Diogenianus. We still possess a collection of proverbs under his
name, probably an abridgment of the collection made by himself from his
lexicon (ed. by E. Leutsch and F. W. Schneidewin in _Paroemiographi
Graeci_, i. 1839). Diogenianus was also the author of an Anthology of
epigrams, of treatises on rivers, lakes, fountains and promontories; and
of a list (with map) of all the towns in the world.
DIOGNETUS, EPISTLE TO, one of the early Christian apologies. Diognetus,
of whom nothing is really known, has expressed a desire to know what
Christianity really means--"What is this new race" of men who are
neither pagans nor Jews? "What is this new interest which has entered
into men's lives now and not before?" The anonymous answer begins with a
refutation of the folly of worshipping idols, fashioned by human hands
and needing to be guarded if of precious material. The repulsive smell
of animal sacrifices is enough to show their monstrous absurdity. Next
Judaism is attacked. Jews abstain from idolatry and worship one God, but
they fall into the same error of repulsive sacrifice, and have absurd
superstitions about meats and sabbaths, circumcision and new moons. So
far the task is easy; but the mystery of the Christian religion "think
not to learn from man." A passage of great eloquence follows, showing
that Christians have no obvious peculiarities that mark them off as a
separate race. In spite of blameless lives they are hated. Their home is
in heaven, while they live on earth. "In a word, what the soul is in a
body, this the Christians are in the world.... The soul is enclosed in
the body, and yet itself holdeth the body together: so Christians are
kept in the world as in a prison-house, and yet they themselves hold the
world together." This strange life is inspired in them by the almighty
and invisible God, who sent no angel or subordinate messenger to teach
them, but His own Son by whom He created the universe. No man could have
known God, had He not thus declared Himself. "If thou too wouldst have
this faith, learn first the knowledge of the Father. For God loved men,
for whose sake He made the world.... Knowing Him, thou wilt love Him and
imitate His goodness; and marvel not if a man can imitate God; he can,
if God will." By kindness to the needy, by giving them what God has
given to him, a man can become "a god of them that receive, an imitator
of God." "Then shalt thou on earth behold God's life in heaven; then
shalt thou begin to speak the mysteries of God." A few lines after this
the letter suddenly breaks off.
Even this rapid summary may show that the writer was a man of no
ordinary power, and there is no other early Christian writing outside
the New Testament which appeals so strongly to modern readers. The
letter has been often classed with the writings of the Apostolic
Fathers, and in some ways it seems to mark the transition from the
sub-apostolic age to that of the Apologists. Bishop Lightfoot, who
speaks of the letter as "one of the noblest and most impressive of early
Christian apologies," places it c. A.D. 150, and inclines to identify
Diognetus with the tutor of Marcus Aurelius. Harnack and others would
place it later, perhaps in the 3rd century. There are some striking
parallels in method and language to the Apology of Aristides (q.v.), and
also to the early "Preaching of Peter."
The one manuscript which contained this letter perished by fire at
Strassburg in 1870, but happily it had been accurately collated by Reuss
nine years before. It formed part of a collection of works supposed to
be by Justin Martyr, and to this mistaken attribution its preservation
is no doubt due. Both thought and language mark the author off entirely
from Justin. The end of the letter is lost, but there followed in the
codex the end of a homily,[1] which was attached without a break to the
epistle: this points to the loss in some earlier codex of pages
containing the end of the letter and the beginning of the homily.
The Epistle may be read in J. B. Lightfoot's _Apostolic Fathers_ (ed.
min.), where there is also a translation into English. (J. A. R.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] Chapters xi. and xii., which Lightfoot suggested might be the work
of Pantaenus.
DIOMEDES, in Greek legend, son of Tydeus, one of the bravest of the
heroes of the Trojan War. In the _Iliad_ he is the favourite of Athena,
by whose aid he not only overcomes all mortals who venture to oppose
him, but is even enabled to attack the gods. In the post-Homeric story,
he made his way with Odysseus by an underground passage into the citadel
of Troy and carried off the Palladium, the presence of which within the
walls secured Troy against capture (Virgil, _Aeneid_, ii. 164). On his
return to Argos, finding that his wife had been unfaithful, he removed
to Aetolia, and thence to Daunia (Apulia), where he married the daughter
of King Daunus. He was buried or mysteriously disappeared on one of the
islands in the Adriatic called after him Diomedeae, his sorrowing
companions being changed into birds by the gods out of compassion (Ovid,
_Metam._ xiv. 457 ff.). He was the reputed founder of Argyrippa (Arpi)
and other Italian cities (_Aeneid_, xi. 243 ff.). He was worshipped as a
hero not only in Greece, but on the coast of the Adriatic, as at Thurii
and Metapontum. At Argos, his native place, during the festival of
Athena, his shield was carried through the streets as a relic, together
with the Palladium, and his statue was washed in the river Inachus.
DIOMEDES, Latin grammarian, flourished at the end of the 4th century
A.D. He was the author of an extant _Ars grammatica_ in three books,
dedicated to a certain Athanasius. The third book is the most important,
as containing extracts from Suetonius's _De poëtis_. Diomedes wrote
about the same time as Charisius (q.v.) and used the same sources
independently. The works of both grammarians are valuable, but whereas
much of Charisius has been lost, the Ars of Diomedes has come down to us
complete. In book i. he treats of the eight parts of speech; in ii. of
the elementary ideas of grammar and of style; in iii. of quantity and
metres.
The best edition is in H. Keil's _Grammatici Latini_, i.; see also C.
von Paucker, _Kleinere Studien_, i. (1883), on the Latinity of
Diomedes.
DION, tyrant of Syracuse (408-353 B.C.), the son of Hipparinus, and
brother-in-law of Dionysius the Elder. In his youth he was an admirer
and pupil of Plato, whom Dionysius had invited to Syracuse; and he used
every effort to inculcate the maxims of his master in the mind of the
tyrant. The stern morality of Dion was distasteful to the younger
Dionysius, and the historian Philistus, a faithful supporter of despotic
power, succeeded in procuring his banishment on account of alleged
intrigues with the Carthaginians. The exiled philosopher retired to
Athens, where he was at first permitted to enjoy his revenues in peace;
but the intercession of Plato (who had again visited Syracuse to procure
Dion's recall) only served to exasperate the tyrant, and at length
provoked him to confiscate the property of Dion, and give his wife to
another. This last outrage roused Dion. Assembling a small force at
Zacynthus, he sailed to Sicily (357) and was received with
demonstrations of joy. Dionysius, who was in Italy, returned to Sicily,
but was defeated and obliged to flee. Dion himself was soon after
supplanted by the intrigues of Heracleides, and again banished. The
incompetency of the new leader and the cruelties of Apollocrates, the
son of Dionysius, soon led to his recall. He had, however, scarcely made
himself master of Sicily when the people began to express their
discontent with his tyrannical conduct, and he was assassinated by
Callippus, an Athenian who had accompanied him in his expedition.
See _Lives_ by Plutarch and Cornelius Nepos (cf. Diod. Sic. xvi. 6-20)
and in modern times by T. Lau (1860); see also SYRACUSE and SICILY:
_History_.
DIONE, in the earliest Greek mythology, the wife of Zeus. As such she is
associated with Zeus Naïus (the god of fertilizing moisture) at Dodona
(Strabo vii. p. 329), by whose side she sits, adorned with a bridal veil
and garland and holding a sceptre. As the oracle declined in importance,
her place as the wife of Zeus was taken by Hera. It is probable that in
very early times the cult of Dione existed in Athens, where she had an
altar before the Erechtheum. After her admission to the general
religious system of the Greeks, Dione was variously described. In the
_Iliad_ (v. 370) she is the mother by Zeus of Aphrodite, who is herself
in later times called Dione (the epithet Dionaeus was given to Julius
Caesar as claiming descent from Venus). In Hesiod (_Theog._ 353) she is
one of the daughters of Oceanus; in Pherecydes (ap. schol. _Iliad_,
xviii. 486), one of the nymphs of Dodona, the nurses of Dionysus; in
Euripides (frag. 177), the mother of Dionysus; in Hyginus (fab. 9. 82),
the daughter of Atlas, wife of Tantalus and mother of Pelops and Niobe.
Others make her a Titanid, the daughter of Uranus and Gaea (Apollodorus
i. 1). Speaking generally, Dione may be regarded as the female
embodiment of the attributes of Zeus, to whose name her own is related
as Juno (= Jovino) to Jupiter.
DIONYSIA, festivals in honour of the god Dionysus generally, but in
particular the festivals celebrated in Attica and by the branches of the
Attic-Ionic race in the islands and in Asia Minor. In Attica there were
two festivals annually. (1) The lesser Dionysia, or [Greek: ta kat
agrous], was held in the country places for four days (about the 19th to
the 22nd of December) at the first tasting of the new wine. It was
accompanied by songs, dance, phallic processions and the impromptu
performances of itinerant players, who with others from the city
thronged to take part in the excitement of the rustic sports. A
favourite amusement was the Ascoliasmus, or dancing on one leg upon a
leathern bag ([Greek: askos]), which had been smeared with oil. (2) The
_greater_ Dionysia, or [Greek: ta en astei], was held in the city of
Athens for six days (about the 28th of March to the 2nd of April). This
was a festival of joy at the departure of winter and the promise of
summer, Dionysus being regarded as having delivered the people from the
wants and troubles of winter. The religious act of the festival was the
conveying of the ancient image of the god, which had been brought from
Eleutherae to Athens, from the ancient sanctuary of the Lenaeum to a
small temple near the Acropolis and back again, with a chorus of boys
and a procession carrying masks and singing the dithyrambus. The
festival culminated in the production of tragedies, comedies and satyric
dramas in the great theatre of Dionysus. Other festivals in honour of
Dionysus were the Anthesteria (q.v.); the Lenaea (about the 28th to the
31st of January), or festival of vats, at which, after a great public
banquet, the citizens went through the city in procession to attend the
dramatic representations; the Oschophoria (October-November), a vintage
festival, so called from the branches of vine with grapes carried by
twenty youths from the ephebi, two from each tribe, in a race from the
temple of Dionysus in Athens to the temple of Athena Sciras in Phalerum.
See A. Mommsen, _Feste der Stadt Athen_ (1898); L. Preller,
_Griechische Mythologie_; L. C. Purser in Smith's _Dictionary of
Antiquities_ (3rd ed., 1890); article DIONYSOS in W. H. Roscher's
_Lexikon der Mythologie_; and the exhaustive account with bibliography
by J. Girard in Daremberg and Saglio's _Dictionnaire des antiquités_.
DIONYSIUS, pope from 259 to 268. To Dionysius, who was elected pope in
259 after the persecution of Valerian, fell the task of reorganizing the
Roman church, which had fallen into great disorder. At the protest of
some of the faithful at Alexandria, he demanded from the bishop of
Alexandria, also called Dionysius, explanations touching his doctrine.
He died on the 26th of December 268.
DIONYSIUS (c. 432-367 B.C.), tyrant of Syracuse, began life as a clerk
in a public office, but by courage and diplomacy succeeded in making
himself supreme (see SYRACUSE). He carried on war with Carthage with
varying success; his attempts to drive the Carthaginians entirely out of
the island failed, and at his death they were masters of at least a
third of it. He also carried on an expedition against Rhegium and its
allied cities in Magna Graecia. In one campaign, in which he was joined
by the Lucanians, he devastated the territories of Thurii, Croton and
Locri. After a protracted siege he took Rhegium (386), and sold the
inhabitants as slaves. He joined the Illyrians in an attempt to plunder
the temple of Delphi, pillaged the temple of Caere on the Etruscan
coast, and founded several military colonies on the Adriatic. In the
Peloponnesian War he espoused the side of the Spartans, and assisted
them with mercenaries. He also posed as an author and patron of
literature; his poems, severely criticized by Philoxenus, were hissed at
the Olympic games; but having gained a prize for a tragedy on the
_Ransom of Hector_ at the Lenaea at Athens, he was so elated that he
engaged in a debauch which proved fatal. According to others, he was
poisoned by his physicians at the instigation of his son. His life was
written by Philistus, but the work is not extant. Dionysius was regarded
by the ancients as a type of the worst kind of despot--cruel, suspicious
and vindictive. Like Peisistratus, he was fond of having distinguished
literary men about him, such as the historian Philistus, the poet
Philoxenus, and the philosopher Plato, but treated them in a most
arbitrary manner.
See Diod. Sic. xiii., xiv., xv.; J. Bass, _Dionysius I. von Syrakus_
(Vienna, 1881), with full references to authorities in footnotes;
articles SICILY and SYRACUSE.
His son DIONYSIUS, known as "the Younger," succeeded in 367 B.C. He was
driven from the kingdom by Dion (356) and fled to Locri; but during the
commotions which followed Dion's assassination, he managed to make
himself master of Syracuse. On the arrival of Timoleon he was compelled
to surrender and retire to Corinth (343), where he spent the rest of his
days in poverty (Diodorus Siculus xvi.; Plutarch, _Timoleon_).
See SYRACUSE and TIMOLEON; and, on both the Dionysii, articles by B.
Niese in Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopädie_, v. pt. 1 (1905).
DIONYSIUS AREOPAGITICUS (or "the Areopagite"), named in Acts xvii. 34 as
one of those Athenians who believed when they had heard Paul preach on
Mars Hill. Beyond this mention our only knowledge of him is the
statement of Dionysius, bishop of Corinth (fl. A.D. 171), recorded by
Eusebius (_Church Hist._ iii. 4; iv. 23), that this same Dionysius the
Areopagite was the first "bishop" of Athens. Some hundreds of years
after the Areopagite's death, his name was attached by the
Pseudo-Areopagite to certain theological writings composed by the
latter. These were destined to exert enormous influence upon medieval
thought, and their fame led to the extension of the personal legend of
the real Dionysius. Hilduin, abbot of St Denys (814-840), identified him
with St Denys, martyr and patron-saint of France. In Hilduin's
_Areopagitica_, the Life and Passion of the most holy Dionysius (Migne,
_ Patrol. Lat._ tome 106), the Areopagite is sent to France by Clement
of Rome, and suffers martyrdom upon the hill where the monastery called
St Denys was to rise in his honour. There is no earlier trace of this
identification, and Gregory of Tours (d. 594) says (_Hist. Francorum_,
i. 18) that St Denys came to France in the reign of Decius (A.D. 250),
which falls about midway between the presumptive death of the real
Areopagite and the probable date of the writings to which he owed his
adventitious fame.
Traces of the influence of these writings appear in the works of Eastern
theologians in the early part of the 6th century. They also were cited
at the council held in Constantinople in 533, which is the first certain
dated reference to them. In the West, Gregory the Great (d. 604) refers
to them in his thirty-fourth sermon on the gospels (Migne, _Pat. Lat._
tome 76, col. 1254). They did not, however, become generally known in
the Western church till after the year 827, when the Byzantine emperor
Michael the Stammerer sent a copy to Louis the Pious. It was given over
to the care of the above-mentioned abbot Hilduin. In the next generation
the scholar and philosopher Joannes Scotus Erigena (q.v.) translated the
Dionysian writings into Latin. This appears to have been the only Latin
translation until the 12th century when another was made, followed by
several others.
Thus, the author, date and place of composition of these writings are
unknown. External evidence precludes a date later than the year 500, and
the internal evidence from the writings themselves precludes any date
prior to 4th-century phases of Neo-platonism. The extant writings of the
Pseudo-Areopagite are: (a) [Greek: Peri tês ouranias hierarchias],
_Concerning the Celestial Hierarchy_, in fifteen chapters. (b) [Greek:
Peri tês ekklêsiastikês hierarchias], _Concerning the Ecclesiastical
Hierarchy_, in seven chapters. (c) [Greek: Peri theiôn onomatôn],
_Concerning Divine Names_, in thirteen chapters. (d) [Greek: Peri
mystikês theologias], _Concerning Mystic Theology_, in five chapters.
(e) Ten letters addressed to various worthies of the apostolic period.
Although these writings seem complete, they contain references to others
of the same author. But of the latter nothing is known, and they may
never have existed.
The writings of the Pseudo-Areopagite are of great interest, first as a
striking presentation of the heterogeneous elements that might unite in
the mind of a gifted man in the 5th century, and secondly, because of
their enormous influence upon subsequent Christian theology and art.
Their ingredients--Christian, Greek, Oriental and Jewish--are not
crudely mingled, but are united into an organic system. Perhaps
theological philosophic fantasy has never constructed anything more
remarkable. The system of Dionysius was a proper product of its
time,--lofty, apparently complete, comparable to the _Enneads_ of
Plotinus which formed part of its materials. But its materials abounded
everywhere, and offered themselves temptingly to the hand strong enough
to build with them. There was what had entered into Neo-platonism, both
in its dialectic form as established by Plotinus, and in its
magic-mystic modes devised by Iamblichus (d. c. 333). There was Jewish
angel lore and Eastern mood and fancy; and there was Christianity so
variously understood and heterogeneously constituted among Syro-Judaic
Hellenic communities. Such Christianity held materials for formula and
creed; also principles of liturgic and sacramental doctrine and priestly
function; also a mass of popular beliefs as to intermediate superhuman
beings who seemed nearer to men than any member of the Trinity.
Out of this vast spiritual conglomerate, Pseudo-Dionysius formed his
system. It was not juristic,--not Roman, Pauline or Augustinian. Rather
he borrowed his constructive principles from Hellenism in its last great
creation, Neo-platonism. That had been able to gather and arrange within
itself the various elements of latter-day paganism. The Neo-platonic
categories might be altered in name and import, and yet the scheme
remain a scheme; since the general principle of the transmission of life
from the ultimate Source downward through orders of mediating beings
unto men, might readily be adapted to the Christian God and his
ministering angels. Pseudo-Dionysius had lofty thoughts of the sublime
transcendence of the ultimate divine Source. That source was not remote
or inert; but a veritable Source from which life streamed to all lower
orders of existence,--in part directly, and in part indirectly as power
and guidance through the higher orders to the lower. Life, creation,
every good gift, is from God directly; but his flaming ministers also
intervene to guide and aid the life of man; and the life which through
love floods forth from God has its counterflow whereby it draws its own
creations to itself. God is at once absolutely transcendent and
universally immanent. To live is to be united with God; evil is the
nonexistent, that is, severance from God. Whatever is, is part of the
forth-flowing divine life which ever purifies, enlightens and perfects,
and so draws all back to the Source.
The transcendent Source, as well as the universal immanence, is the
Triune God. Between that and men are ranged the three triads of the
Celestial Hierarchy: Seraphim, Cherubim and Thrones; Dominations,
Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels. Collectively their
general office is to raise mankind to God through purification,
illumination and perfection; and to all may be applied the term angel.
The highest triad, which is nearest God, contemplates the divine
effulgence, and reflects it onward to the second; the third, and more
specifically angelic triad, immediately ministers to men. The sources of
these names are evident: seraphim and cherubim are from the Old
Testament; later Jewish writings gave names to archangels and angels,
who also fill important functions in the New Testament. The other names
are from Paul (Eph. i. 21; Col. i. 16).
Such is the system of Pseudo-Dionysius, as presented mainly in _The
Celestial Hierarchy_. That work is followed by _The Ecclesiastical
Hierarchy_, its counterpart on earth. What the primal triune Godhead is
to the former, Jesus is to the latter. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
likewise is composed of Triads. The first includes the symbolic
sacraments: Baptism, Communion, Consecration of the Holy Chrism. Baptism
signifies purification; Communion signifies enlightening; the Holy
Chrism signifies perfecting. The second triad is made up of the three
orders of Bishops, Presbyters and Deacons, or rather, as the Areopagite
names them: Hierarchs, Light-bearers, Servitors. The third triad
consists of monks, who are in a state of perfection, the initiated
laity, who are in a state of illumination, and the catechumens, in a
state of purification. All worship, in this treatise, is a celebration
of mysteries, and the pagan mysteries are continually suggested by the
terms employed.
The work _Concerning the Divine Names_ is a noble discussion of the
qualities which may be predicated of God, according to the warrant of
the terms applied to him in Scripture. The work _Concerning Mystic
Theology_ explains the function of symbols, and shows that he who would
know God truly must rise above them and above the conceptions of God
drawn from sensible things.
The works of Pseudo-Dionysius began to influence theological thought in
the West from the time of their translation into Latin by Erigena. Their
use may be followed through the writings of scholastic philosophers,
e.g. Peter Lombard, Albertus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas and many others. In
poetry we find their influence in Dante, Spenser, Milton. The fifteenth
chapter of _The Celestial Hierarchy_ constituted the canon of symbolical
angelic lore for the literature and art of the middle ages. Therein the
author explains in what respect theology ascribes to angels the
qualities of fire, why the thrones are said to be _fiery_ ([Greek:
pyrinous]); why the seraphim are _burning_ ([Greek: emprêstas]) as their
name indicates. The fiery form signifies, with Celestial Intelligences,
likeness to God. Dionysius explains the significance of the parts of the
human body when given to celestial beings: feet are ascribed to angels
to denote their unceasing movement on the divine business, and their
feet are winged to denote their celerity. He likewise explains the
symbolism of wands and axes, of brass and precious stones, when joined
to celestial beings; and what wheels and a chariot denote when furnished
to them,--and much more besides.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--There is an enormous literature on Pseudo-Dionysius.
The reader may be first referred to the articles in Smith's
_Dictionary of Christian Biography_ and Hauck's _Realencyklopadie fur
protestantische Theologie_ (Leipzig, 1898). The bibliography in the
latter is very full. Some other references, especially upon the later
influence of these works, are given in H. O. Taylor's _Classical
Heritage of the Middle Ages_ (Macmillan, 1903). The works themselves
are in Migne's _Patrologia Graeca_, tomes 3 and 4, with a Latin
version. Erigena's version is in Migne, _Patrol. Lat._ t. 122. _Vita
Dionysii_ by Hilduin is in Migne, _Pat. Lat._ 106. There is an English
version by Parker (London, 1894 and 1897). (H. O. T.)
DIONYSIUS EXIGUUS, one of the most learned men of the 6th century, and
especially distinguished as a chronologist, was, according to the
statement of his friend Cassiodorus, a Scythian by birth, "_Scytha
natione_." This may mean only that he was a native of the region
bordering on the Black Sea, and does not necessarily imply that he was
not of Greek origin. Such origin is indicated by his name and by his
thorough familiarity with the Greek language. His surname "Exiguus" is
usually translated "the Little," but he probably assumed it out of
humility. He was living at Rome in the first half of the 6th century,
and is usually spoken of as abbot of a Roman monastery. Cassiodorus,
however, calls him simply "monk," while Bede calls him "abbot." But as
it was not unusual to apply the latter term to distinguished monks who
were not heads of their houses, it is uncertain whether Dionysius was
abbot in fact or only by courtesy. He was in high repute as a learned
theologian, was profoundly versed in the Holy Scriptures and in canon
law, and was also an accomplished mathematician and astronomer. We owe
to him a collection of 401 ecclesiastical canons, including the
apostolical canons and the decrees of the councils of Nicaea,
Constantinople, Chalcedon and Sardis, and also a collection of the
decretals of the popes from Siricius (385) to Anastasius II. (498).
These collections, which had great authority in the West (see CANON
LAW), were published by Justel in 1628. Dionysius did good service to
his contemporaries by his translations of many Greek works into Latin;
and by these translations some works, the originals of which have
perished, have been handed down to us. His name, however, is now perhaps
chiefly remembered for his chronological labours. It was Dionysius who
introduced the method of reckoning the Christian era which we now use
(see CHRONOLOGY). His friend Cassiodorus depicts in glowing terms the
character of Dionysius as a saintly ascetic, and praises his wisdom and
simplicity, his accomplishments and his lowly-mindedness, his power of
eloquent speech and his capacity of silence. He died at Rome, some time
before A.D. 550.
His works have been published in Migne, _Patrologia Latina_, tome 67;
see especially A. Tardif, _Histoire des sources du droit canonique_
(Paris, 1887), and D. Pitra, _Analecta novissima, Spicilegii
Solesmensis continuatio_, vol. i. p. 36 (Paris, 1885).
DIONYSIUS HALICARNASSENSIS ("of Halicarnassus"), Greek historian and
teacher of rhetoric, flourished during the reign of Augustus. He went to
Rome after the termination of the civil wars, and spent twenty-two years
in studying the Latin language and literature and preparing materials
for his history. During this period he gave lessons in rhetoric, and
enjoyed the society of many distinguished men. The date of his death is
unknown. His great work, entitled [Greek: Rômaikê archaiologia] (Roman
Antiquities), embraced the history of Rome from the mythical period to
the beginning of the first Punic War. It was divided into twenty
books,--of which the first nine remain entire, the tenth and eleventh
are nearly complete, and the remaining books exist in fragments in the
excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus and an epitome discovered by
Angelo Mai in a Milan MS. The first three books of Appian, and
Plutarch's _Life of Camillus_ also embody much of Dionysius. His chief
object was to reconcile the Greeks to the rule of Rome, by dilating upon
the good qualities of their conquerors. According to him, history is
philosophy teaching by examples, and this idea he has carried out from
the point of view of the Greek rhetorician. But he has carefully
consulted the best authorities, and his work and that of Livy are the
only connected and detailed extant accounts of early Roman history.
Dionysius was also the author of several rhetorical treatises, in which
he shows that he has thoroughly studied the best Attic models:--_The Art
of Rhetoric_ (which is rather a collection of essays on the theory of
rhetoric), incomplete, and certainly not all his work; _The Arrangement
of Words_ ([Greek: Peri syntheseôs onomatôn]), treating of the
combination of words according to the different styles of oratory; _On
Imitation_ ([Greek: Peri mimêseôs]), on the best models in the different
kinds of literature and the way in which they are to be imitated--a
fragmentary work; _Commentaries on the Attic Orators_ ([Greek: Peri tôn
archaiôn rhêtorôn hypomnêmatismoi]), which, however, only deal with
Lysias, Isaeus, Isocrates and (by way of supplement) Dinarchus; _On the
admirable Style of Demosthenes_ ([Greek: Peri tês lektikês Dêmosthenous
deinotêtos]); and _On the Character of Thucydides_ ([Greek: Peri tou
Thoukydidou charakteros]), a detailed but on the whole an unfair
estimate. These two treatises are supplemented by letters to Cn.
Pompeius and Ammaeus (two).
Complete edition by J. J. Reiske (1774-1777); of the _Archaeologia_ by
A. Kiessling and V. Prou (1886) and C. Jacoby (1885-1891); Opuscula by
Usener and Radermacher (1899); Eng. translation by E. Spelman (1758).
A full bibliography of the rhetorical works is given in W. Rhys
Roberts's edition of the Three Literary Letters (1901); the same
author published an edition of the _De compositione verborum_ (1910,
with trans.); see also M. Egger, _Denys d'Halicarnasse_ (1902), a very
useful treatise. On the sources of Dionysius see O. Bocksch, "De
fontibus Dion. Halicarnassensis" in _Leipziger Studien_, xvii. (1895).
Cf. also J. E. Sandys, _Hist. of Class. Schol._ i. (1906).
DIONYSIUS PERIEGETES, author of a [Greek: Periêgêsis tês oikoumenês], a
description of the habitable world in Greek hexameter verse, written in
a terse and elegant style. Nothing certain is known of the date or
nationality of the writer, but there is some reason for believing that
he was an Alexandrian, who wrote in the time of Hadrian (some put him as
late as the end of the 3rd century). The work enjoyed a high degree of
popularity in ancient times as a school-book; it was translated into
Latin by Rufus Festus Avienus, and by the grammarian Priscian. The
commentary of Eustathius is valuable.
The best editions are by G. Bernhardy (1828) and C. Müller (1861) in
their _Geographici Graeci minores_; see also E. H. Bunbury, _Ancient
Geography_ (ii. p. 480), who regards the author as flourishing from
the reign of Nero to that of Trajan, and U. Bernays, _Studien zu Dion.
Perieg._ (1905). There are two old English translations: T. Twine
(1572, black letter), J. Free (1789, blank verse).
DIONYSIUS TELMAHARENSIS ("of Tell-Ma[h.]r[=e]"), patriarch or supreme
head of the Syrian Jacobite Church during the years 818-848, was born at
Tell-Ma[h.]r[=e] near Ra[k.][k.]a (ar-Ra[k.][k.]ah) on the Bal[=i]kh. He
was the author of an important historical work, which has seemingly
perished except for some passages quoted by Barhebraeus and an extract
found by Assemani in Cod. _Vat._ 144 and published by him in the
_Bibliotheca orientalis_ (ii. 72-77). He spent his earlier years as a
monk at the convent of [K.]en-neshr[=e] on the upper Euphrates; and when
this monastery was destroyed by fire in 815, he migrated northwards to
that of Kais[=u]m in the district of Samos[=a]ta. At the death of the
Jacobite patriarch Cyriacus in 817, the church was agitated by a dispute
about the use of the phrase "heavenly bread" in connexion with the
Eucharist. An anti-patriarch had been appointed in the person of Abraham
of [K.]artam[=i]n, who insisted on the use of the phrase in opposition
to the recognized authorities of the church. The council of bishops who
met at Ra[k.][k.]a in the summer of 818 to choose a successor to
Cyriacus had great difficulty in finding a worthy occupant of the
patriarchal chair, but finally agreed on the election of Dionysius,
hitherto known only as an honest monk who devoted himself to historical
studies. Sorely against his will he was brought to Ra[k.][k.]a, ordained
deacon and priest on two successive days, and raised to the supreme
ecclesiastical dignity on the 1st of August. From this time he showed
the utmost zeal in fulfilling the duties of his office, and undertook
many journeys both within and without his province. The ecclesiastical
schism continued unhealed during the thirty years of his patriarchate.
The details of this contest, of his relations with the caliph Ma'm[=u]n,
and of his many travels--including a journey to Egypt, on which he
viewed with admiration the great Egyptian monuments,--are to be found in
the _Ecclesiastical Chronicle_ of Barhebraeus.[1] He died in 848, his
last days having been especially embittered by Mahommedan oppression.
We learn from Michael the Syrian that his _Annals_ consisted of two
parts each divided into eight chapters, and covered a period of 260
years, viz. from the accession of the emperor Maurice (582-583) to the
death of Theophilus (842-843).
In addition to the lost _Annals_, Dionysius was from the time of
Assemani until 1896 credited with the authorship of another important
historical work--a _Chronicle_, which in four parts narrates the history
of the world from the creation to the year A.D. 774-775 and is preserved
entire in _Cod. Vat._ 162. The first part (edited by Tullberg, Upsala,
1850) reaches to the epoch of Constantine the Great, and is in the main
an epitome of the Eusebian Chronicle.[2] The second part reaches to
Theodosius II. and follows closely the _Ecclesiastical History_ of
Socrates; while the third, extending to Justin II., reproduces the
second part of the _History_ of John of Asia or Ephesus, and also
contains the well-known chronicle attributed to Joshua the Stylite. The
fourth part[3] is not like the others a compilation, but the original
work of the author, and reaches to the year 774-775--apparently the date
when he was writing. On the publication of this fourth part by M.
Chabot, it was discovered and clearly proved by Nöldeke (_Vienna
Oriental Journal_, x. 160-170), and Nau (_Bulletin critique_, xvii.
321-327), who independently reached the same conclusion, that Assemani's
opinion was a mistake, and that the chronicle in question was the work
not of Dionysius of Tell-Ma[h.]r[=e] but of an earlier writer, a monk of
the convent of Zu[k.]n[=i]n near [=A]mid (Diarbekr) on the upper Tigris.
Though the author was a man of limited intelligence and destitute of
historical skill, yet the last part of his work at least has
considerable value as a contemporary account of events during the middle
period of the 8th century. (N. M.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Ed. Abbeloos and Lamy, i. 343-386; cf. Wright, _Syriac
Literature_, 196-200, and Chabot's introduction to his translation of
the fourth part of the _Chronicle_ of (pseudo) Dionysius.
[2] See the studies by Siegfried and Gelzer, _Eusebii canonum epitome
ex Dionysii Telmaharensis chronico petita_ (Leipzig, 1884), and von
Gutschmid, _Untersuchungen über die syrische Epitome der Eusebischen
Canones_ (Stuttgart, 1886).
[3] Text and translation by J.-B. Chabot (Paris, 1895).
DIONYSIUS THRAX (so called because his father was a Thracian), the
author of the first Greek grammar, flourished about 100 B.C. He was a
native of Alexandria, where he attended the lectures of Aristarchus, and
afterwards taught rhetoric in Rhodes and Rome. His [Greek: Technê
grammatikê], which we possess (though probably not in its original
form), begins with the definition of grammar and its functions. Dealing
next with accent, punctuation marks, sounds and syllables, it goes on to
the different parts of speech (eight in number) and their inflections.
No rules of syntax are given, and nothing is said about style. The
authorship of Dionysius was doubted by many of the early middle-age
commentators and grammarians, and in modern times its origin has been
attributed to the oecumenical college founded by Constantine the Great,
which continued in existence till 730. But there seems no reason for
doubt; the great grammarians of imperial times (Apollonius Dyscolus and
Herodian) were acquainted with the work in its present form, although,
as was natural considering its popularity, additions and alterations may
have been made later. The [Greek: Technê] was first edited by J. A.
Fabricius from a Hamburg MS. and published in his _Bibliotheca Graeca_,
vi. (ed. Harles). An Armenian translation, belonging to the 4th or 5th
century, containing five additional chapters, was published with the
Greek text and a French version, by M. Cirbied (1830). Dionysius also
contributed much to the criticism and elucidation of Homer, and was the
author of various other works--amongst them an account of Rhodes, and a
collection of [Greek: Meletai] (literary studies), to which the
considerable fragment in the _Stromata_ (v. 8) of Clement of Alexandria
probably belongs.
Editions, with scholia, by I. Bekker in _Anecdota Graeca_, ii. and G.
Uhlig (1884), reviewed exhaustively by P. Egenolff in Bursian's
_Jahresbericht_, vol. xlvi. (1888); Scholia, ed. A. Hilgard (1901);
see also W. Hörschelmann, _De Dionysii Thracis interpretibus
veteribus_ (1874); J. E. Sandys, _Hist. of Classical Scholarship_, i.
(1906).
DIONYSUS (probably = "son of Zeus," from [Greek: Dios] and [Greek:
nysos], a Thracian word for "son"), in Greek mythology, originally a
nature god of fruitfulness and vegetation, especially of the vine;
hence, distinctively, the god of wine. The names Bacchus ([Greek:
Bakchos], in use among the Greeks from the 5th century), Sabazius, and
Bassareus, are also Thracian names of the god. The two first (like
Iacchus, Bromius and Euios) have been connected with the loud "shout"
([Greek: sabazein = bazein = eúazein]) of his worshippers, Bassareus
with [Greek: bassárai], the fox-skin garments of the Thracian
Bacchanals. It has been suggested (J. E. Harrison _Prolegomena to Greek
Religion_) that Sabazius and Bromius = "beer-god," "god of a cereal
intoxicant" (cf. Illyrian _sabaia_ and modern Greek [Greek: brômi],
"oats"), while W. Ridgeway (_Classical Review_, January 1896), comparing
Apollo Smintheus, interprets Bassareus as "he who keeps away the foxes
from the vineyards" (for various interpretations of these and other
cult-titles, see O. Gruppe, _Griechische Mythologie_, ii. pp. 1408,
1532, especially the notes).
In Homer, notwithstanding the frequent mention of the use of wine,
Dionysus is never mentioned as its inventor or introducer, nor does he
appear in Olympus; Hesiod is the first who calls wine the gift of
Dionysus. On the other hand, he is spoken of in the _Iliad_ (vi. 130
foll., a passage belonging to the latest period of epic), as "raging,"
an epithet that indicates that in those comparatively early times the
orgiastic character of his worship was recognized. In fact, Dionysus may
be regarded under two distinct aspects: that of a popular national Greek
god of wine and cheerfulness, and that of a foreign deity, worshipped
with ecstatic and mysterious rites introduced from Thrace. According to
the usual tradition, he was born at Thebes--originally the local centre
of his worship in Greece--and was the son of Zeus, the fertilizing rain
god, and Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, a personification of earth.
Before the child was mature, Zeus appeared to Semele at her request in
his majesty as god of lightning, by which she was killed, but the infant
was saved from the flames by Zeus (or Hermes). The epithet [Greek:
perikionios], originally referring to an ivy-crowned, pillar-shaped
fetish of the god, afterwards gave rise to the legend of a miraculous
growth of ivy "round the pillars" of the royal palace, whereby the
infant Dionysus was preserved from the flames. Zeus took him up,
enclosed him within his own thigh till he came to maturity, and then
brought him to the light, so that he was twice born; it was to celebrate
this double birth that the _dithyrambus_ (also used as an epithet of the
god) was sung (see _Etym. Mag._ s.v.). It has been suggested that this
is an allusion to the _couvade_ of certain barbarous tribes, amongst
whom it is customary, when a child is born, for the husband to take to
his bed and receive medical treatment, as if he shared the pains of
maternity (see COUVADE, and references there). Dionysus was then
conveyed by Hermes to be brought up by the nymphs of Nysa, a purely
imaginary spot, afterwards localized in different parts of the world,
which claimed the honour of having been the birthplace of the god. As
soon as Dionysus was grown up, he started on a journey through the
world, to teach the cultivation of the vine and spread his worship among
men. While so engaged he met with opposition, even in his own country,
as in the case of Pentheus, king of Thebes, who opposed the orgiastic
rites introduced by Dionysus among the women of Thebes, and, having been
discovered watching one of these ceremonies, was mistaken for some
animal of the chase, and slain by his own mother (see A. G. Bather,
_Journ. Hell. Studies_, xiv. 1894). A similar instance is that of
Lycurgus, a Thracian king, from whose attack Dionysus saved himself by
leaping into the sea, where he was kindly received by Thetis. Lycurgus
was blinded by Zeus and soon died, or became frantic and hewed down his
own son, mistaking him for a vine. At Orchomenus, the three daughters of
Minyas refused to join the other women in their nocturnal orgies, and
for this were transformed into birds (see AGRIONIA). These and similar
stories point to the vigorous resistance offered to the introduction of
the mystic rites of Dionysus, in places where an established religion
already existed. On the other hand, when the god was received hospitably
he repaid the kindness by the gift of the vine, as in the case of
Icarius of Attica (see ERIGONE).
The worship of Dionysus was actively conducted in Asia Minor,
particularly in Phrygia and Lydia. Here, as Sabazius, he was associated
with the Phrygian goddess Cybele, and was followed in his expeditions by
a _thiasos_ (retinue) of centaurs, and satyrs, with Pan and Silenus. In
Lydia his triumphant return from India was celebrated by an annual
festival on Mount Tmolus; in Lydia he assumed the long beard and long
robe which were afterwards given him in his character of the "Indian
Bacchus," the conqueror of the East, who, after the campaigns of
Alexander, was reported to have advanced as far as the Ganges. The other
incidents in which he appears in a purely triumphal character are his
transforming into dolphins the Tyrrhene pirates who attacked him, as
told in the Homeric hymn to Dionysus and represented on the monument of
Lysicrates at Athens, and his part in the war of the gods against the
giants. The former story has been connected with the sailors' custom of
hanging vine leaves, ivy and bunches of grapes round the masts of
vessels in honour of vintage festivals. The adventure with the pirates
occurred on his voyage to Naxos, where he found Ariadne abandoned by
Theseus. At Naxos Ariadne (probably a Cretan goddess akin to Aphrodite)
was associated with Dionysus as his wife, by whom he was the father of
Oenopion (wine-drinker), Staphylus (grape), and Euanthes (blooming), and
their marriage was annually celebrated by a festival. Having compelled
all the world to recognize his divinity, he descended to the underworld
to bring up his mother, who was afterwards worshipped with him under the
name of Thyone ("the raging"), he himself being called after her
Thyoneus.
Another phase in the myth of Dionysus originated in observing the decay
of vegetation in winter, to suit which he was supposed to be slain and
to join the deities of the lower world. This phase of his character was
developed by the Orphic poets, he having here the name of Zagreus ("torn
in pieces"), and being no longer the Theban god, but a son of Zeus and
Persephone. The child was brought up secretly, watched over by Curetes;
but the jealous Hera discovered where he was, and sent Titans to the
spot, who, finding him at play, tore him to pieces, and cooked and ate
his limbs, while Hera gave his heart to Zeus. The tearing in pieces is
referred by some to the torture experienced by the grape
(_Naturschmerz_) when crushed for making into wine (cf. Burns's _John
Barleycorn_); but it is better to refer it to the tearing of the flesh
of the victim at sacrifices at which the deity or the sacred animal was
slain, and sacramentally eaten raw (cf. the title [Greek: ômêstês] given
to Dionysus in certain places, probably pointing to human sacrifice.) To
connect this with the myth of the Theban birth of Dionysus, it is said
that Zeus gave the child's heart to Semele, or himself swallowed it and
gave birth to the new Dionysus (called Iacchus from his worshippers' cry
of rejoicing), who was cradled and swung in a winnowing fan ([Greek:
liknos]; see J. E. Harrison, _Journ. Hellenic Studies_, xxiii.), the
swinging being supposed to act as a charm in awakening vegetation from
its winter sleep. The conception of Zagreus, or the winter Dionysus,
appears to have originated in Crete, but it was accepted also in Delphi,
where his grave was shown, and sacrifice was secretly offered at it
annually on the shortest day. The story is in many respects similar to
that of Osiris. According to others, Zagreus was originally a god of the
chase, who became a hunter of men and a god of the underworld, more akin
to Hades than to Dionysus (see also TITANS).
Dionysus further possessed the prophetic gift, and his oracle at Delphi
was as important as that of Apollo. Like Hermes, Dionysus was a god of
the productiveness of nature, and hence Priapus was one of his regular
companions, while not only in the mysteries but in the rural festivals
his symbol, the phallus, was carried about ostentatiously. His symbols
from the animal kingdom were the bull (perhaps a totemistic attribute
and identified with him), the panther, the lion, the tiger, the ass, the
goat, and sometimes also the dolphin and the snake. His personal
attributes are an ivy wreath, the thyrsus (a staff with pine cone at the
end), the laurel, the pine, a drinking cup, and sometimes the horn of a
bull on his forehead. Artistically he was represented mostly either as a
youth of soft, nearly feminine form, or as a bearded and draped man, but
frequently also as an infant, with reference to his birth or to his
bringing up in "Nysa." His earliest images were of wood with the
branches still attached in parts, whence he was called Dionysus
Dendrites, an allusion to his protection of trees generally (according
to Pherecydes in C. W. Müller, _Frag. Hist. Graec._ iv. p. 637, the word
[Greek: nysa] signified "tree"). It is suggested that the cult of
Dionysus absorbed that of an old tree-spirit. He was figured also, like
Hermes, in the form of a pillar or term surmounted by his head. For the
connexion of Dionysus with Greek tragedy see DRAMA.
See Farnell, _Cults of the Greek States_, v. (1910); also O. Rapp,
_Beziehungen des Dionysuskultus zu Thrakien_ (1882); O. Ribbeck,
_Anfange und Entwickelung des Dionysuskultes in Attica_ (1869); A.
Lang, _Myth, Ritual and Religion_, ii. p. 241; L. Dyer, _The Gods in
Greece_ (1891); J. E. Harrison, _Prolegomena to the Study of Greek
Religion_ (1903); J. G. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_, ii (1900), pp.
160, 291, who regards the bull and goat form of Dionysus as
expressions of his proper character as a deity of vegetation; F. A.
Voigt in Roscher's _Lexikon der Mythologie_; L. Preller, _Griechische
Mythologie_ (4th ed. by C. Robert); F. Lenormant (s.v. "Bacchus") in
Daremberg and Saglio's _Dictionnaire des antiquités_; O. Kern in
Pauly-Wissowa's _Realencyclopadie_ (with list of cult titles); W.
Pater, _Greek Studies_ (1895); E. Rohde, _Psyche_, ii., who finds the
origin of the Hellenic belief in the immortality of the soul in the
"enthusiastic" rites of the Thracian Dionysus, which lifted persons
out of themselves, and exalted them to a fancied equality with the
gods; O. Gruppe, _Griechische Mythologie und Religionsgeschichte_, ii.
(1907), who considers Boeotia, not Thrace, to have been the original
home of Dionysus; P. Foucart, "Le Culte de Dionysos en Attique" in
_Mémoires de l'Institut national de France_, xxxvii. (1906), who finds
the prototype of Dionysus in Egypt. _The Great Dionysiak Myth_
(1877-1878) by R. Brown contains a wealth of material, but is weak in
scholarship. For a striking survival of Dionysiac rites in Thrace
(Bizye), see Dawkins, in _J.H.S._ (1906), p. 191.
DIOPHANTUS, of Alexandria, Greek algebraist, probably flourished about
the middle of the 3rd century. Not that this date rests on positive
evidence. But it seems a fair inference from a passage of Michael
Psellus (_Diophantus_, ed. P. Tannery, ii. p. 38) that he was not later
than Anatolius, bishop of Laodicea from A.D. 270, while he is not quoted
by Nicomachus (fl. c. A.D. 100), nor by Theon of Smyrna (c. A.D. 130),
nor does Greek arithmetic as represented by these authors and by
Iamblichus (end of 3rd century) show any trace of his influence, facts
which can only be accounted for by his being later than those
arithmeticians at least who would have been capable of understanding him
fully. On the other hand he is quoted by Theon of Alexandria (who
observed an eclipse at Alexandria in A.D. 365); and his work was the
subject of a commentary by Theon's daughter Hypatia (d. 415). The
_Arithmetica_, the greatest treatise on which the fame of Diophantus
rests, purports to be in thirteen Books, but none of the Greek MSS.
which have survived contain more than six (though one has the same text
in seven Books). They contain, however, a fragment of a separate tract
on _Polygonal Numbers_. The missing books were apparently lost early,
for there is no reason to suppose that the Arabs who translated or
commented on Diophantus ever had access to more of the work than we now
have. The difference in form and content suggests that the _Polygonal
Numbers_ was not part of the larger work. On the other hand the
_Porisms_, to which Diophantus makes three references ("we have it in
the Porisms that ..."), were probably not a separate book but were
embodied in the _Arithmetica_ itself, whether placed all together or, as
Tannery thinks, spread over the work in appropriate places. The
"Porisms" quoted are interesting propositions in the theory of numbers,
one of which was clearly that _the difference between two cubes can be
resolved into the sum of two cubes_. Tannery thinks that the solution of
a complete quadratic promised by Diophantus himself (I. def. 11), and
really assumed later, was one of the Porisms.
Among the great variety of problems solved are problems leading to
determinate equations of the first degree in one, two, three or four
variables, to determinate quadratic equations, and to indeterminate
equations of the first degree in one or more variables, which are,
however, transformed into determinate equations by arbitrarily
assuming a value for one of the required numbers, Diophantus being
always satisfied with a rational, even if fractional, result and not
requiring a solution in integers. But the bulk of the work consists of
problems leading to indeterminate equations of the second degree, and
these universally take the form that one or two (and never more)
linear or quadratic functions of one variable x are to be made
rational square numbers by finding a suitable value for x. A few
problems lead to indeterminate equations of the third and fourth
degrees, an easy indeterminate equation of the sixth degree being
also found. The general type of problem is to find two, three or four
numbers such that different expressions involving them in the first
and second, and sometimes the third, degree are squares, cubes, partly
squares and partly cubes, &c. E.g. _To find three numbers such that
the product of any two added to the sum of those two gives a square_
(III. 15, ed. Tannery); _To find four numbers such that, if we take
the square of their sum ± any one of them singly, all the resulting
numbers are squares_ (III. 22); _To find two numbers such that their
product ± their sum gives a cube_ (IV. 29); _To find three squares
such that their continued product added to any one of them gives a
square_ (V. 21). Book VI. contains problems of finding rational
_right-angled triangles_ such that different functions of their parts
(the sides and the area) are squares. A word is necessary on
Diophantus' notation. He has only one symbol (written somewhat like a
final sigma) for an unknown quantity, which he calls [Greek: arithmos]
(defined as "an undefined number of units"); the symbol may be a
contraction of the initial letters [alpha][rho], as [Delta]^[Upsilon],
[Kappa]^[Upsilon], [Delta]^[Upsilon][Delta], &c., are for the powers
of the unknown ([Greek: dynamis], square; [Greek: kubos], cube;
[Greek: dynamodynamis], fourth power, &c.). The only other algebraical
symbol is [graphic: /|\] for minus; plus being expressed by merely
writing terms one after another. With one symbol for an unknown, it
will easily be understood what scope there is for adroit assumptions,
for the required numbers, of expressions in the one unknown which are
at once seen to satisfy some of the conditions, leaving only one or
two to be satisfied by the particular value of x to be determined.
Often assumptions are made which lead to equations in x which cannot
be solved "rationally," i.e. would give negative, surd or imaginary
values; Diophantus then traces how each element of the equation has
arisen, and formulates the auxiliary problem of determining how the
assumptions must be corrected so as to lead to an equation (in place
of the "impossible" one) which can be solved rationally. Sometimes his
x has to do duty twice, for different unknowns, in one problem. In
general his object is to reduce the final equation to a simple one by
making such an assumption for the side of the square or cube to which
the expression in x is to be equal as will make the necessary number
of coefficients vanish. The book is valuable also for the propositions
in the theory of numbers, other than the "porisms," stated or assumed
in it. Thus Diophantus knew that _no number of the form 8n + 7 can be
the sum of three squares_. He also says that, if 2n + 1 is to be the
sum of two squares, "n must not be odd" (i.e. _no number of the form
4n + 3, or 4n - 1, can be the sum of two squares_), and goes on to
add, practically, the condition stated by Fermat, "and the double of
it [n] increased by one, when divided by the greatest square which
measures it, must not be divisible by a prime number of the form 4n -
1," except for the omission of the words "when divided ... measures
it."
# AUTHORITIES.--The first to publish anything on Diophantus in Europe
was Rafael Bombelli, who embodied in his Algebra (1572) all the
problems of Books I.-IV. and some of Book V. interspersing them with
his own problems. Next Xylander (Wilhelm Holzmann) published a Latin
translation (Basel, 1575), an altogether meritorious work, especially
having regard to the difficulties he had with the text of his MS. The
Greek text was first edited by C. G. Bachet (_Diophanti Alexandrini
arithmeticorum libri sex, et de numeris multangulis liber unus, nunc
primum graece et latine editi atque absolutissimis commentariis
illustrati_ ... Lutetiae Parisiorum ... MDCXXI.). A reprint of 1670 is
only valuable because it contains P. de Fermat's notes; as far as the
Greek text is concerned it is much inferior to the other. There are
two German translations, one by Otto Schulz (1822) and the other by G.
Wertheim (Leipzig, 1890), and an English edition in modern notation
(T. L. Heath, _Diophantos of Alexandria: A Study in the History of
Greek Algebra_ (Cambridge, 1885)). The Greek text has now been
definitively edited (with Latin translation, Scholia, &c.) by P.
Tannery (Teubner, vol. i., 1893; vol. ii., 1895). General accounts of
Diophantus' work are to be found in H. Hankel and M. Cantor's
histories of mathematics, and more elaborate analyses are those of
Nesselmann (_Die Algebra der Griechen_, Berlin, 1842) and G. Loria
(_Le Scienze esatte nell' antica Grecia_, libro v., Modena, 1902, pp.
95-158). (T. L. H.)
DIOPSIDE, an important member of the pyroxene group of rock-forming
minerals. It is a calcium-magnesium metasilicate, CaMg(SiO3)2, and
crystallizes in the monoclinic system. Usually some iron is present
replacing magnesium, and when this predominates there is a passage to
hedenbergite, CaFe(SiO3)2, a closely allied variety of monoclinic
pyroxene. These are distinguished from augite by containing little or no
aluminium. Diopside is colourless, white, pale green to dark green or
nearly black in colour, the depth of the colour depending on the amount
of iron present. The specific gravity and optical constants also vary
with the chemical composition; the sp. gr. of diopside is 3.2,
increasing to 3.6 in hedenbergite, and the angle of optical extinction
in the plane of symmetry varies between 38° and 47° in the two extremes
of the series. Crystals are usually prismatic in habit with a
rectangular cross-section as shown in the figure: the angle between the
prism faces m, parallel to which there are perfect cleavages, is 92°
50´.
[Illustration]
Several varieties, depending on differences in structure and chemical
composition, have been distinguished, viz. coccolite (from [Greek:
kokkos], a grain), a granular variety; salite or sahlite, from Sala in
Sweden; malacolite; diallage; violane, a lamellar variety of a dark
violet-blue colour; chrome-diopside, a bright green variety containing a
small amount of chromium; and many others. Belonging to the same series
with diopside and hedenbergite is a manganese pyroxene, known as
schefierite, which has the composition (Ca, Mg) (Fe, Mn) (Si03)2.
Diopside is the characteristic pyroxene of metamorphic rocks, occurring
especially in crystalline limestones, and often in association with
garnet and epidote. It is also an essential constituent of some
pyroxene-granites, diorites and a few other igneous rocks, but the
characteristic pyroxene of this class of rocks is augite. Fine
transparent crystals of a pale green colour occur, with crystals of
yellowish-red garnet (hessonite) and chlorite, in veins traversing
serpentine in the Ala valley near Turin in Piedmont: a crystal of this
variety ("alalite") is represented in the accompanying figure. These, as
well as the long, transparent, bottle-green crystals from the Zillerthal
in the Tyrol, have occasionally been cut as gem-stones. Good crystals
have been found also at Achmatovsk near Zlatoust in the Urals,
Traversella near Ivrea in Piedmont ("traversellite"), Nordmark in
Sweden, Monroe in New York, Burgess in Lanark county, Ontario, and
several other places: at Nordmark the large, rectangular black crystals
occur with magnetite in the iron mines. (L. J. S.)
DIOPTASE, a rare mineral species consisting of acid copper
orthosilicate, H2CuSiO4, crystallizing in the parallel-faced hemihedral
class of the rhombohedral system. The degree of symmetry is the same as
in the mineral phenacite, there being only an axis of triad symmetry and
a centre of symmetry. The crystals have the form of a hexagonal prism m
terminated by a rhombohedron r, the alternate edges between these being
sometimes replaced by the faces of a rhombohedron s. The faces are
striated parallel to the edges between r, s and m. There are perfect
cleavages parallel to the faces of a rhombohedron which truncate the
polar edges of r: from the cleavage cracks internal reflections are
often to be seen in the crystal, and it was on account of this that the
mineral was named dioptase, by R. J. Haüy in 1797, from [Greek:
diopteuein], "to see into." The crystals vary from transparent to
translucent with a vitreous lustre, and are bright emerald-green in
colour; they thus have a certain resemblance to emerald, hence the early
name emerald-copper (German, _Kupfer-Smaragd_). Hardness 5; sp. gr. 3.3.
The mineral is decomposed by hydrochloric acid with separation of
gelatinous silica. At a red heat it blackens and gives off water. The
fine crystals from Mount Altyn-Tübe on the western slopes of the Altai
Mountains in the Kirghiz Steppes, Asiatic Russia, line cavities in a
compact limestone; they were first sent to Europe in 1785 by Achir
Mahmed, a Bucharian merchant, after whom the mineral has been named
archirite. More recently, in 1890, good crystals of similar habit, but
rather darker in colour, have been found with quartz and malachite near
Komba in the French Congo. As drusy crystalline crusts it has been found
at Copiapo in Chile and in Arizona.
[Illustration]
Dioptase has occasionally been used as a gem-stone, especially in Russia
and Persia; it has a fine colour, but a low degree of hardness and the
transparency is imperfect. (L. J. S.)
DIORITE (from the Gr. [Greek: diorizein] to distinguish, from [Greek:
dia] through, [Greek: oros], a boundary), in petrology, the name given
by Haüy to a family of rocks of granitic texture, composed of
plagioclase felspar and hornblende. As they are richer in the dark
coloured ferromagnesian minerals they are usually grey or dark grey,
and have a higher specific gravity than granite. They also rarely show
visible quartz. But there are diorites of many kinds, as the name
applies rather to a family of rocks than to a single species. Some
contain biotite, others augite or hypersthene; many have a small amount
of quartz. Orthoclase is rarely entirely absent, and when it is fairly
common the rock becomes a tonalite; in this way a transition is
furnished between diorites and granites. It is rare to find the pure
types of "hornblende-diorite," "augite-diorite," &c., but in most cases
the rocks contain two or more ferromagnesian silicates, and such
combinations as "hornblende-biotite-diorite" are commonest in nature.
The felspar of the diorites ranges in composition from oligoclase to
labradorite, and is often remarkably zonal, the external layers being
more alkaline than the internal. Small fluid enclosures and black
grains, probably iron oxides, often occur in it in great numbers.
Weathering produces epidote, calcite, sericite and kaolin. The biotite
is always brown or yellow; the hornblende usually green, but sometimes
brown or yellowish brown in those diorites which have affinities to
lamprophyres. The augite is nearly always green but sometimes has a
reddish tinge; bronzite and hypersthene have their usual green and brown
shades. Apatite, iron oxides and zircon are almost invariably present;
sphene, garnet and orthite are occasionally observed; calcite, chlorite,
muscovite, kaolin, epidote and bastite are secondary. The structure is
not essentially different from that of granite. The ferromagnesian
minerals crystallize comparatively early and have some idiomorphism; the
felspar usually follows and only in part shows good crystalline
outlines. Orthoclase and quartz, if present, are last to separate out,
and fill the spaces between the other minerals; often they
interpenetrate to form micropegmatite. In many diorites the plagioclase
felspar has crystallized before the hornblende, which consequently has
less perfect outlines and forms irregular plates which enclose sharply
formed individuals of felspar. This produces the ophitic structure (very
common also in the dolerites). More rarely biotite and augite exhibit
the same relations to the plagioclase. Orbicular structure also
occasionally appears in these rocks; in fact the orbicular diorite of
Corsica (also called "Napoleonite" or "Corsite") was for a long time the
best-known example of this structure. The rock seems composed of
spheroids, about an inch in diameter, surrounded by a smaller amount of
dark-coloured dioritic matrix. The spheroids have a radiate structure
and often show concentric dark and pale shells. These consist of
hornblende (dark green) and basic plagioclase felspar, labradorite and
bytownite (grey or nearly white). Occasionally diorites have a parallel
banded or foliated structure, but these must not be confounded with the
epidiorites, which are metamorphic rocks and also have a conspicuous
foliation.
Diorites must also be distinguished from hornblendic gabbros, which
contain more basic felspars, rarely quartz and occasionally olivine; but
the boundary lines between diorites and gabbros are admittedly somewhat
vague, e.g. some authors would call rocks gabbro which others would
regard as augite-diorite. The hornblendites differ from the diorites in
containing little felspar, and consist principally of hornblende. Among
varietal designations given to rocks of the diorite family are
"banatite" for an augite-diorite with or without quartz (from the
Schemnitz district), "granodiorite" for a quartz-hornblende-diorite
(essentially the same as tonalite) from California, &c., "adamellite"
for the quartz-mica-diorite or tonalite of Monte Adamello (Alps),
"ornite" for a hornblende-diorite rich in felspar, from Sweden.
(J. S. F.)
DIP (Old Eng. _dyppan_, connected with the common Teutonic root seen in
"deep"), the angle which the magnetic needle makes with the horizon. A
freely suspended magnetic needle will not maintain a horizontal position
except at the magnetic equator. Over the N. magnetic pole the
north-seeking end of the needle points directly downwards and dips at an
intermediate angle at intermediate distances between the magnetic poles
and equator. There are secular progressive variations of dip as well as
of declination and the maxima are independent of each other. In 1576
the dip at London was 71° 50', in 1720 (max.) 74° 42', in 1900 67° 9'.
(For Dip Circle see INCLINOMETER.)
DIPHENYL (phenyl benzene), C6H5·C6H5, a hydrocarbon found in that
fraction of the coal-tar distillate boiling between 240-300° C., from
which it may be obtained by warming with sulphuric acid, separating the
acid layer and strongly cooling the undissolved oil. It may be
artificially prepared by passing benzene vapour through a red-hot tube;
by the action of sodium on brombenzene dissolved in ether; by the action
of stannous chloride on phenyldiazonium chloride; or by the addition of
solid phenyldiazonium sulphate to warm benzene (R. Möhlau, _Berichte,
1893, 26_, 1997) C6H5N2·HSO4 + C6H6 = H2SO4 + N2 + C6H5·C6H5. L.
Gattermann (_Berichte, 1890, 23_, 1226) has also prepared it by the
decomposition of a solution of phenyldiazonium sulphate with alcohol and
copper powder. It crystallizes in plates (from alcohol) melting at
70-71° C. and boiling at 254° C. It is oxidized by chromic acid in
glacial acetic acid solution to benzoic acid, dilute nitric acid and
chromic acid mixture being without effect. It is not reduced by
hydriodic acid and phosphorus, but sodium in the presence of amyl
alcohol reduces it to tetrahydrodiphenyl C12H14.
Many substitution derivatives are known: the monosubstitution
derivatives being capable of existing in three isomeric forms. Of the
disubstitution derivatives the most important are those derived from
diparadiaminodiphenyl or benzidine (q.v.).
_Orthoaminodiphenyl_,
NH2
__ |__
/ \__/ \ ,
\__/ \__/
is prepared by the action of bromine and caustic soda on
orthophenylbenzamide (R. Hirsch, _Berichte, 1892, 25_, 1974); when its
vapour is passed over heated lime, carbazol (q.v.) is formed.
_Diorthodiaminodiphenyl_,
NH2 NH2
__| |__
/ \__/ \ ,
\__/ \__/
is obtained by the reduction of the corresponding nitro compound
(obtained by the action of ethyl nitrite at 0° C. on
metadinitrobenzidine hydrochloride). Its tetrazo compound on reduction
gives a hydrazine which, on warming with hydrochloric acid at 150° C.,
decomposes into ammonium chloride and _phenazone_,
N = N
__| |__
/ \___/ \
\__/ \__/
(C12H8N2). One of the most important derivatives of diphenyl, from the
theoretical point of view, is _diphenic acid_ or diorthodiphenyl
carboxylic acid, which can be obtained from
diparadiaminodiphenyldiorthocarboxylic acid,
__ __
H2N / \__/ \ NH2 ,
\__/ \__/
| |
HOOC COOH
or from phenanthrene (q.v.), the constitution of which it determines.
See BENZIDINE for diparadiaminodiphenyl.
DIPHILUS, of Sinope, poet of the new Attic comedy and contemporary of
Menander (342-291 B.C.). Most of his plays were written and acted at
Athens, but he led a wandering life, and died at Smyrna. He was on
intimate terms with the famous courtesan Gnathaena (Athenaeus xiii. pp.
579, 583). He is said to have written 100 comedies, the titles of fifty
of which are preserved. He sometimes acted himself. To judge from the
imitations of Plautus. (_Casina_ from the [Greek: Klêroumenoi],
_Asinaria_ from the [Greek: Onagos], _Rudens_ from some other play), he
was very skilful in the construction of his plots. Terence also tells us
that he introduced into the _Adelphi_ (ii. 1) a scene from the [Greek:
Synapothnêskontes], which had been omitted by Plautus in his adaptation
(_Commorientes_) of the same play. The style of Diphilus was simple and
natural, and his language on the whole good Attic; he paid great
attention to versification, and was supposed to have invented a peculiar
kind of metre. The ancients were undecided whether to class him among
the writers of the New or Middle comedy. In his fondness for
mythological subjects (_Hercules_, _Theseus_) and his introduction on
the stage (by a bold anachronism) of the poets Archilochus and Hipponax
as rivals of Sappho, he approximates to the spirit of the latter.
Fragments in H. Koch, _Comicorum Atticorum fragmenta_, ii.; see J.
Denis, _La Comédie grecque_ (1886), ii. p. 414; R. W. Bond in
_Classical Review_ (Feb. 1910, with trans. of _Emporos_ fragm.).
DIPHTHERIA (from [Greek: diphthera], a skin or membrane), the term
applied to an acute infectious disease, which is accompanied by a
membranous exudation on a mucous surface, generally on the tonsils and
back of the throat or pharynx.
In general the symptoms at the commencement of an attack of diphtheria
are comparatively slight, being those commonly accompanying a cold, viz.
chilliness and depression. Sometimes more severe phenomena usher in the
attack, such as vomiting and diarrhoea. A slight feeling of uneasiness
in the throat is experienced along with some stiffness of the back of
the neck. When looked at the throat appears reddened and somewhat
swollen, particularly in the neighbourhood of the tonsils, the soft
palate and upper part of pharynx, while along with this there is
tenderness and swelling of the glands at the angles of the jaws. The
affection of the throat spreads rapidly, and soon the characteristic
exudation appears on the inflamed surface in the form of greyish-white
specks or patches, increasing in extent and thickness until a
yellowish-looking false membrane is formed. This deposit is firmly
adherent to the mucous membrane beneath or incorporated with it, and if
removed leaves a raw, bleeding, ulcerated surface, upon which it is
reproduced in a short period. The appearance of the exudation has been
compared to wet parchment or washed leather, and it is more or less
dense in texture. It may cover the whole of the back of the throat, the
cavity of the mouth, and the posterior nares, and spread downwards into
the air-passages on the one hand and into the alimentary canal on the
other, while any wound on the surface of the body is liable to become
covered with it. This membrane is apt to be detached spontaneously, and
as it loosens it becomes decomposed, giving a most offensive and
characteristic odour to the breath. There is pain and difficulty in
swallowing, but unless the disease has affected the larynx no affection
of the breathing. The voice acquires a snuffling character. When the
disease invades the posterior nares an acrid, fetid discharge, and
sometimes also copious bleeding, takes place from the nostrils. Along
with these local phenomena there is evidence of constitutional
disturbance of the most severe character. There may be no great amount
of fever, but there is marked depression and loss of strength. The pulse
becomes small and frequent, the countenance pale, the swelling of the
glands of the neck increases, which, along with the presence of albumen
in the urine, testifies to a condition of blood poisoning. Unless
favourable symptoms emerge death takes place within three or four days
or sooner, either from the rapid extension of the false membrane into
the air-passage, giving rise to asphyxia, or from a condition of general
collapse, which is sometimes remarkably sudden. In cases of recovery the
change for the better is marked by an arrest in the extension of the
false membrane, the detachment and expectoration of that already formed,
and the healing of the ulcerated mucous membrane beneath. Along with
this there is a general improvement in the symptoms, the power of
swallowing returns, and the strength gradually increases, while the
glandular enlargement of the neck diminishes, and the albumen disappears
from the urine. Recovery, however, is generally slow, and it is many
weeks before full convalescence is established. Even, however, where
diphtheria ends thus favourably, the peculiar sequelae already mentioned
are apt to follow, generally within a period of two or three weeks after
all the local evidence of the disease has disappeared. These secondary
affections may occur after mild as well as after severe attacks, and
they are principally in the form of paralysis affecting the soft palate
and pharynx, causing difficulty in swallowing with regurgitation of food
through the nose, and giving a peculiar nasal character to the voice.
There are, however, other forms of paralysis occurring after diphtheria,
especially that affecting the muscles of the eye, which produces a loss
of the power of accommodation and consequent impairment of vision. There
may be, besides, paralysis of both legs, and occasionally also of one
side of the body (hemiplegia). These symptoms, however, after continuing
for a variable length of time, almost always ultimately disappear.
Under the name of the _Malum Egyptiacum_, Aretaeus in the 2nd century
gives a minute description of a disease which in all its essential
characteristics corresponds to diphtheria. In the 16th, 17th and 18th
centuries epidemics of diphtheria appear to have frequently prevailed
in many parts of Europe, particularly in Holland, Spain, Italy, France,
as well as in England, and were described by physicians belonging to
those countries under various titles; but it is probable that other
diseases of a similar nature were included in their descriptions, and no
accurate account of this affection had been published till M. Bretonneau
of Tours in 1821 laid his celebrated treatise on the subject before the
French Academy of Medicine. By him the term _La Diphthérite_ was first
given to the disease.
Great attention has been paid to diphtheria in recent years, with some
striking results. Its cause and nature have been definitely ascertained,
the conditions which influence its prevalence have been elucidated, and
a specific "cure" has been found. In the last respect it occupies a
unique position at the present time. In the case of several other
zymotic diseases much has been done by way of prevention, little or
nothing for treatment; in the case of diphtheria prevention has failed,
but treatment has been revolutionized by the introduction of antitoxin,
which constitutes the most important contribution to practical medicine
as yet made by bacteriology.
Causation.
The exciting cause of diphtheria is a micro-organism, identified by
Klebs and Loffler in 1883 (see PARASITIC DISEASES). It has been shown by
experiment that the symptoms of diphtheria, including the after-effects,
are produced by a toxin derived from the micro-organisms which lodge in
the air-passages and multiply in a susceptible subject. The natural
history of the organism outside the body is not well understood, but
there is some reason to believe that it lives in a dormant condition in
suitable soils. Recent research does not favour the theory that it is
derived from defective drains or "sewer gas," but these things, like
damp and want of sunlight, probably promote its spread, by lowering the
health of persons exposed to them, and particularly by causing an
unhealthy condition of the throat, rendering it susceptible to the
contagion. Defective drainage, or want of drainage, may also act, by
polluting the ground, and so providing a favourable soil for the germ,
though it is to be noted that "the steady increase in the diphtheria
mortality has coincided, in point of time, with steady improvement in
regard of such sanitary circumstances as water supply, sewerage, and
drainage" (Thorne Thorne). Cats and cows are susceptible to the
diphtheritic bacillus, and fowls, turkeys and other birds have been
known to suffer from a disease like diphtheria, but other domestic
animals appear to be more or less resistant or immune. In human beings
the mere presence of the germ is not sufficient to cause disease; there
must also be susceptibility, but it is not known in what that consists.
Individuals exhibit all degrees of resistance up to complete immunity.
Children are far more susceptible than adults, but even children may
have the Klebs-Loffler bacillus in their throats without showing any
symptoms of illness. Altogether there are many obscure points about this
micro-organism, which is apt to assume a puzzling variety of forms.
Nevertheless its identification has greatly facilitated the diagnosis of
the disease, which was previously a very difficult matter, often
determined in an arbitrary fashion on no particular principles.
Diphtheria, as at present understood, may be defined as sore throat in
which the bacillus is found; if it cannot be found, the illness is
regarded as something else, unless the clinical symptoms are quite
unmistakable. One result of this is a large transference of registered
mortality from other throat affections, and particularly from croup, to
diphtheria. Croup, which never had a well-defined application, and is
not recognized by the College of Physicians as a synonym for diphtheria,
appears to be dying out from the medical vocabulary in Great Britain. In
France the distinction has never been recognized.
Prevalence.
Diphtheria is endemic in all European and American countries, and is
apparently increasing, but the incidence varies greatly. It is far more
prevalent on the continent than in England, and still more so in the
United States and Canada. The following table, compiled from figures
collected by Dr Newsholme, shows how London compares with some foreign
cities. The figures give the mean death-rate from diphtheria and croup
for the term of years during which records have been kept. The period
varies in different cases, and therefore the comparison is only a rough
one.
_Mean Death-Rates from Diphtheria and Croup per Million living._
New York 1610 | Munich 990
Chicago 1400 | Milan 990
Buenos Aires 1360 | Florence 830
Trieste 1300 | Vienna 770
Dresden 1290 | Stockholm 720
Berlin 1190 | St Petersburg 650
Boston 1160 | Moscow 640
Marseilles 1130 | Paris 630
Christiania 1090 | Hamburg 490
Budapest 1880 | London 386
There is comparatively little diphtheria in India and Japan, but in
Egypt, the Cape and Australasia it prevails very extensively among the
urban populations. The mortality varies greatly from year to year in all
countries and cities. In Berlin, for instance, it has oscillated between
a maximum of 2420 in 1883 and a minimum of 340 in 1896; in New York
between 2760 in 1877 and 680 in 1868; in Christiania between 3290 in
1887 and 170 in 1871. In some American cities still higher maxima have
been recorded. In other words, diphtheria, though always endemic,
exhibits at times a great increase of activity, and becomes epidemic or
even pandemic. The following table for 1859-99 shows fairly well the
periodical rise and fall in England and Wales. Diphtheria and croup are
given both separately and together, showing the increasing transference
from one to the other of late years. Diphtheria was first entered
separately in the year 1859.
_Deaths from Diphtheria and Croup per Million living in
England and Wales._
+---------------+-------------+----------+-------------+
| Years. | Diphtheria. | Croup. | Diphtheria |
| | | | and Croup. |
+---------------+-------------+----------+-------------+
| 1859 | 517 | 286 | 803 |
| 1860 | 261 | 220 | 481 |
| 1861-70 | 185 | 246 | 431 |
| 1871-80 | 121 | 168 | 289 |
| 1881-90 | 163 | 144 | 307 |
| 1891-95 | 254 | 70 | 324 |
| 1896-97 | 269 | 43 | 312 |
| 1898 | 244 | 27 | 271 |
| 1899 | 293 | 32 | 325 |
+---------------+-------------+----------+-------------+
The combined figures for diphtheria and croup in later years
are:--(1900) 316; (1901) 296; (1902) 255; (1903) 195; (1904) 184;
(1905) 174; (1906) 190; (1907) 175; (1908) 166.
Several facts are roughly indicated by the table. It begins with an
extremely severe epidemic, which has not been approached since. Then
follows a fall extending over twenty years. On the whole this diminution
was progressive, though not in reality so steady as the decennial
grouping makes it appear, being interrupted by smaller oscillations in
single years and groups of years. Still the main fact holds good. After
1880 an opposite movement began, likewise interrupted by minor
oscillations, but on the whole progressive, and culminating in the year
1893 with a death-rate of 389, the highest recorded since 1865. After
1896 a marked fall again took place. This is partly accounted for by the
use of antitoxin, which only began on a considerable scale in 1895, and
did not become general until a year or two later at least. Its effects
were only then fully felt. The registrar-general's returns record
mortality, not prevalence--that is to say, the number of deaths, not of
cases.
On the whole, we get clear evidence of an epidemic rise and fall, which
may serve to dispose of some erroneous conceptions. The belief, held
until recently, that diphtheria is steadily increasing in Great Britain
was obviously premature; it did rise over a series of years, but has now
ebbed again. Moreover, the general prevalence during the last thirty
years has been notably less than in the previous twelve years. Yet it is
during years since 1870 that compulsory education has been in existence
and main drainage chiefly carried out. It follows that neither school
attendance nor sewer gas exercises such an important influence over the
epidemicity of diphtheria as some other conditions. What are those
conditions? Dr Newsholme has advanced the theory, based on an elaborate
examination of statistics in various countries, that the activity of
diphtheria is connected with the rainfall, and he lays down the
following general induction from the facts: "Diphtheria only becomes
epidemic in years in which the rainfall is deficient, and the epidemics
are on the largest scale when three or more years of deficient rainfall
follow each other." He points out that the comparative rarity of
diphtheria in tropical climates, which are characterized by excessive
rainfall, and its greater prevalence in continental than in insular
countries, confirm his theory. His observations seem quite contrary to
the view laid down by various authorities, and hitherto accepted, that
wet weather favours diphtheria. The two, however, are not
irreconcilable. The key to the problem--and possibly to many other
epidemiological problems--may perhaps be found in the movements of the
subsoil water. It has been suggested by different observers, and
particularly by Mr M. A. Adams, who has for some years made a study of
the subsoil water at Maidstone, that there is a definite connexion
between it and diphtheria. In England the underground water normally
reaches its lowest level at the end of the summer; then it gradually
rises, fed by percolation from the winter rains, reaching a maximum
level about the end of March, after which it gradually sinks. This
maximum level Mr Adams calls the annual spring cleaning of the soil, and
his observations go to show that when the normal movement is arrested or
disturbed, diphtheria becomes active. Now that is what happens in
periods of drought. The underground water does not rise to its usual
level, and there is no spring cleaning. The hypothesis, then, is this:
The diphtheria bacillus lives in the soil, but is "drowned out" in wet
periods by the subsoil water. In droughty ones it lives and flourishes
in the warm, dry soil; then when rain comes, it is driven out with the
ground air into the houses. This process will continue for some time, so
that epidemic outbreaks may well seem to be associated with wet. But
they begin in drought, and are stopped by long-continued periods of
copious rainfall. This is quite in keeping with the observed fact that
diphtheria is a seasonal disease, always most prevalent in the last
quarter of the year. The summer develops the poison in the soil, the
autumnal rains bring it out. The fact that the same cause does not
produce the same effect in tropical countries may perhaps be explained
by the extreme violence of the alternations, which are too great to suit
this particular micro-organism, or possibly the regularity of the
rainfall prevents its development.
The foregoing hypothesis is supported by a good deal of evidence, and
notably by the concurrence of the great epidemic or pandemic prevalence
in Great Britain, culminating in 1859, with a prolonged period of
exceptionally deficient rainfall. Again, the highest death-rate
registered since 1865 was in 1893, a year of similarly exceptional
drought. But it is no more than an hypothesis, and the fate of former
theories is a warning against drawing conclusions from statistics and
records extending over too short a period of time. The warning is
particularly necessary in connexion with meteorological conditions,
which are apt to upset all calculations. As it happens, a period of
deficient rainfall even greater than that of 1854-1858 has recently been
experienced. It began in 1893 and culminated in the extraordinary season
of 1899. The dry years were 1893, 1895, 1896, 1898 and 1899, and the
deficiency of rainfall was not made good by any considerable excess in
1894 and 1897. It surpassed all records at Greenwich; streams and wells
ran dry all over the country, and the flow of the Thames and Lea was
reduced to the lowest point ever recorded. There should be, according to
the theory, at least a very large increase in the prevalence of
diphtheria. To a certain extent it has held good. There was a marked
rise in 1893-1896 over the preceding period, though not so large as
might have been expected, but it was followed by a decided fall in
1897-1898. The experience of 1898 contradicts, that of 1899 supports,
the theory. Further light is therefore required; but perhaps the failure
of the recent drought to produce results at all comparable with the
epidemic of the 'fifties may be due to variations in the resistance of
the disease, which differs widely in different years. It may also be due
in part to improved sanitation, to the notification of infectious
diseases, the use of isolation hospitals, which have greatly developed
in quite recent years, and, lastly, to the beneficial effects of
antitoxin. If these be the real explanations, then scientific and
administrative work has not been thrown away after all in combating this
very painful and fatal enemy of the young.
Dissemination.
The conditions governing the general prevalence of diphtheria, and its
epidemic rise and fall, which have just been discussed, do not touch the
question of actual dissemination. The contagion is spread by means which
are in constant operation, whether the general amount of disease is
great or small. Water, so important in some epidemic diseases, is
believed not to be one of them, though a negative proof based on absence
of evidence cannot be accepted as conclusive. On the other hand, milk is
undoubtedly a means of dissemination. Several outbreaks of an almost
explosive character, besides minor extensions of disease from one place
to another, have been traced to this cause. Milk may be contaminated in
various ways--at the dairy, for instance, or on the way to
customers,--but several cases, investigated by the officers of the Local
Government Board and others, have been thought to point to infection
from cows suffering from a diphtheritic affection of the udder. The part
played by aërial convection is undetermined, but there is no reason to
suppose that the infecting material is conveyed any distance by wind or
air currents. Instances which seem to point to the contrary may be
explained in other ways, and particularly by the fact, now fully
demonstrated, that persons suffering from minor sore throats, not
recognized as diphtheria, may carry the disease about and introduce it
into other localities. Human intercourse is the most important means of
dissemination, the contagion passing from person to person either by
actual contact, as in kissing, or by the use of the same utensils and
articles, or by mere proximity. In the last case the germs must be
supposed to be air-borne for short distances, and to enter with the
breath. Rooms appear liable to become infected by the presence of
diphtheritic cases, and so spread the disease among other persons using
them. At a small outbreak which occurred at Darenth Asylum in 1898 the
infection clung obstinately to a particular ward, in spite of the prompt
removal of all cases, and fresh ones continued to occur until it had
been thoroughly disinfected, after which there were no more. The part
played by human intercourse in fostering the spread of the disease
suggests that it would naturally be more prevalent in urban communities,
where people congregate together more, than in rural ones. This is at
variance with the conclusion laid down by some authorities, that in this
country diphtheria used to affect chiefly the sparsely populated
districts, and though tending to become more urban, is still rather a
rural disease. That view is based upon an analysis of the distribution
by counties in England and Wales from 1855 to 1880, and it has been
generally accepted and repeated until it has become a sort of axiom. Of
course the facts of distribution are facts, but the general inference
drawn from them, that diphtheria peculiarly affects the country and is
changing its _habitat_, may be erroneous. Dr Newsholme, by taking a
wider basis of experience, has arrived at the opposite conclusion, and
finds that diphtheria does not, in fact, flourish more in
sparsely-peopled districts. "When a sufficiently long series of years is
taken," he says, "it appears clear that there is more diphtheria in
urban than in rural communities." The rate for London has always been in
excess of that for the whole of England and Wales. Its distribution at
any given time is determined by a number of circumstances, and by their
incidental co-operation, not by any property or predilection for town or
country inherent in the disease. There are the epidemic conditions of
soil and rainfall, previously discussed, which vary widely in different
localities at different times; there is the steady influence of regular
intercourse, and the accidental element of special distribution by
various means. These things may combine to alter the incidence. In
short, accident plays too great a part to permit any general conclusion
to be drawn from distribution, except from a very wide basis of
experience. The variations are very great and sometimes very sudden. For
instance, the county of London for some years headed the list, having a
far higher death-rate than any other. In 1898 it dropped to the fifth
place, and was surpassed by Rutland, a purely rural county, which had
the lowest mortality of all in the previous year and very nearly the
lowest for the previous ten years. Again, South Wales, which had had a
low mortality for some years, suddenly came into prominence as a
diphtheria district, and in 1898 had the highest death-rate in the
country. Staffordshire and Bedfordshire show a similar rise, the one an
urban, the other a rural, county. All the northern counties, both rural
and urban,--namely, Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Westmorland,
Lancashire, Yorkshire, Cheshire and Lincolnshire,--had a very high rate
in 1861-1870, and a low one in 1896-1898. It is obviously unsafe to draw
general conclusions from distribution data on a small scale. Diphtheria
appears to creep about very slowly, as a rule, from place to place, and
from one part of a large town to another; it forsakes one district and
appears in another; occasionally it attacks a fresh locality with great
energy, presumably because the local conditions are exceptionally
favourable, which may be due to the soil or, possibly, to the
susceptibility of the inhabitants, who are, so to speak, virgin ground.
But through it all personal infection is the chief means of spread.
The acceptance of this doctrine has directed great attention to the
practical question of school influence. There is no doubt whatever that
it plays a very considerable part in spreading diphtheria. The incidence
of the disease is chiefly on children, and nothing so often and
regularly brings large numbers together in close contact under the same
roof as school attendance. Nothing, in fact, furnishes such constant and
extensive opportunities for personal infection. Many outbreaks have
definitely been traced to schools. In London the subject has been very
fully investigated by Sir Shirley Murphy, the medical officer of health
to the London County Council, and by Dr W. R. Smith, formerly medical
officer of health to the London School Board. Sir Shirley Murphy has
shown that a special incidence on children of school age began to
manifest itself after the adoption of compulsory education, and that the
summer holidays are marked by a distinct diminution of cases, which is
succeeded by an increase on the return to school. Dr W. R. Smith's
observations are directed rather to minimizing the effect of school
influence, and to showing that it is less important than other factors;
which is doubtless true, as has been already remarked. It appears that
the heaviest incidence falls upon infants under school age, and that
liability diminishes progressively after school age is reached. But this
by no means disposes of the importance of school influence, as the
younger children at home may be infected by older ones, who have picked
up the contagion at school, but, being less susceptible, are less
severely affected and exhibit no worse symptoms than a sore throat. From
a practical point of view the problem is a difficult one to deal with,
as it is virtually impossible to ensure the exclusion of all infection,
on account of the deceptively mild forms it may assume; but considering
how very often outbreaks of diphtheria necessitate the closing of
schools, it would probably be to the advantage of the authorities to
discourage, rather than to compel, the attendance of children with sore
throats. A fact of some interest revealed by statistics is that in the
earliest years of life the incidence of diphtheria is greater upon male
than upon female children, but from three years onwards the position is
reversed, and with every succeeding year the relative female liability
becomes greater. This is probably due to the habit of kissing maintained
among females, but more and more abandoned by boys from babyhood
onwards.
All these considerations suggest the importance of segregating the sick
in isolation hospitals. Of late years this preventive measure has been
carried out with increasing efficiency, owing to the better provision of
such hospitals and the greater willingness of the public to make use of
them; and probably the improvement so effected has had some share in
keeping down the prevalence of the disease to comparatively moderate
proportions. Unfortunately, the complete segregation of infected persons
is hardly possible, because of the mild symptoms, and even absence of
symptoms, exhibited by some individuals. A further difficulty arises
with reference to the discharge of patients. It has been proved that
the bacillus may persist almost indefinitely in the air-passages in
certain cases, and in a considerable proportion it does persist for
several weeks after convalescence. On returning home such cases may, and
often do, infect others.
Treatment.
Since the antitoxin treatment was introduced in 1894 it has overshadowed
all other methods. We owe this drug originally to the Berlin school of
bacteriologists, and particularly to Dr Behring. The idea of making use
of serum arose about 1890, out of researches made in connexion with
Mechnikov's theory of phagocytosis, by which is meant the action of the
phagocytes or white corpuscles of the blood in destroying the bacteria
of disease. It was shown by the German bacteriologists that the serum or
liquid part of the blood plays an equally or more important part in
resisting disease, and the idea of combating the toxins produced by
pathogenic bacteria with resistant serum injected into the blood
presented itself to several workers. The idea was followed up and worked
out independently in France and Germany, so successfully that by the
year 1894 the serum treatment had been tried on a considerable scale
with most encouraging results. Some of these were published in Germany
in the earlier part of that year, and at the International Hygienic
Congress, held in Budapest a little later, Dr Roux, of the Institut
Pasteur, whose experience was somewhat more extensive than that of his
German colleagues, read a paper giving the result of several hundred
cases treated in Paris. When all allowance for errors had been made,
they showed a remarkable and even astonishing reduction of mortality,
fully confirming the conclusions drawn from the German experiments. This
consensus of independent opinion proved a great stimulus to further
trial, and before long one _clinique_ after another told the same tale.
The evidence was so favourable that Professor Virchow--the last man to
be carried away by a novelty--declared it "the imperative duty of
medical men to use the new remedy" (_The Times_, 19th October 1894).
Since then an enormous mass of facts has accumulated from all quarters
of the globe, all testifying to the value of antitoxin in the treatment
of diphtheria. The experience of the hospitals of the London
Metropolitan Asylums Board for five years before and after antitoxin may
be given as a particularly instructive illustration; but the subsequent
reduction in the rate of mortality (12 in 1900, 11.3 in 1901, 10.8 in
1902, 9.3 in 1903, and an average of 9 in 1904-1908) added further
confirmation.
_Annual Case Mortality in Metropolitan Asylums Board's
Hospitals._
Before Antitoxin. | After Antitoxin.
Mortality | Mortality
Year. per cent. | Year. per cent.
|
1890 33.55 | 1895 22.85
1891 30.61 | 1896 21.20
1892 29.51 | 1897 17.79
1893 30.42 | 1898 15.37
1894 29.29 | 1899 13.95
The number of cases dealt with in these five antitoxin years was 32,835,
or an average of 6567 a year, and the broad result is a reduction of
mortality by more than one-half. It is a fair inference that the
treatment saves the lives of about 1000 children every year in London
alone. This refers to all cases. Those which occur in the hospitals as a
sequel to scarlet fever, and consequently come under treatment from the
commencement, show very much more striking results. The case mortality,
which was 46.8% in 1892 and 58.8% in 1893, has been reduced to 3.6%
since the introduction of antitoxin. But the evidence is not from
statistics alone. The beneficial effect of the treatment is equally
attested by clinical observation. Dr Roux's original account has been
confirmed by a cloud of witnesses year after year. "One may say," he
wrote, "that the appearance of most of the patients is totally different
from what it used to be. The pale and leaden faces are scarcely seen in
the wards; the expression of the children is brighter and more lively."
Adult patients have described the relief afforded by inoculation; it
acts like a charm, and lifts the deadly feeling of oppression off like a
cloud in the course of a few hours. Finally, the counteracting effect of
antitoxin in preventing the disintegrating action of the diphtheritic
toxin on the nervous tissues has been demonstrated pathologically. There
are some who still affect scepticism as to the value of this drug. They
cannot be acquainted with the evidence, for if the efficacy of antitoxin
in the treatment of diphtheria has not been proved, then neither can the
efficacy of any treatment for anything be said to be proved.
Prophylactic properties are also claimed for the serum; but protection
is necessarily more difficult to demonstrate than cure, and though there
is some evidence to support the claim, it has not been fully made out.
AUTHORITIES.--Adams, _Public Health_, vol. vii.; Thorne Thorne,
_Milroy Lectures_ (1891); Newsholme, _Epidemic Diphtheria_; W. R.
Smith, _Harben Lectures_ (1899); Murphy, _Report to London County
Council_ (1894); Sims Woodhead, _Report to Metropolitan Asylums Board_
(1901).
DIPLODOCUS, a gigantic extinct land reptile discovered in rocks of Upper
Jurassic age in western North America, the best-known example of a
Sauropodous Dinosaur. The first scattered remains of a skeleton were
found in 1877 by Prof. S.W. Williston near Cañon City, Colorado; and the
tail and hind-limb of this specimen were described in the following year
by Prof. O.C. Marsh. He noticed that in the part of the tail which
dragged on the ground, each chevron bone below the vertebral column
consisted of a pair of bars; and as so peculiar an arrangement for the
protection of the artery and vein beneath the tail had not previously
been observed in any animal, he proposed the name _Diplodocus_ ("double
beam" or "double bar") for the new reptile, adding the specific name
_longus_ in allusion to the elongated shape of the tail vertebrae. In
1884 Prof. Marsh described the head, vertebrae and pelvis of the same
skeleton, which is now in the National Museum, Washington. In 1897 the
next important specimen, a tail associated with other fragments,
apparently of _Diplodocus longus_, was obtained by the American Museum
of Natural History, New York, from Como Bluffs, Wyoming. In 1899-1900
large parts of two skeletons of another species, in a remarkable state
of preservation, were disinterred by Messrs J. L. Wortman, O. A.
Peterson and J. B. Hatcher in Sheep Creek, Albany county, Wyo., and
these are now exhibited with minor discoveries in the Carnegie Museum,
Pittsburg. There are also other specimens in New York, Chicago and the
University of Wyoming. In 1901 Mr J. B. Hatcher studied the new species
at Pittsburg, named it _Diplodocus carnegii_, and published the first
restored sketch of a complete skeleton. Shortly afterwards plaster casts
of the finest specimens were prepared under the direction of Mr J. B.
Hatcher and Dr W. J. Holland, and these were skilfully combined to form
the cast of a completely reconstructed skeleton, which was presented to
the British Museum by Andrew Carnegie in 1905. This reconstruction is
based primarily on a well-preserved chain of vertebrae, extending from
the second cervical to the twelfth caudal, associated with the ribs,
pelvis and several limb-bones. The tail is completed from two other
specimens in the Carnegie Museum, having caudals 13 to 36 and 37 to 73
respectively in apparently unbroken series. Prof. Marsh's specimen in
Washington supplied the greater part of the skull; and the fore-foot is
copied from a specimen in New York.
[Illustration: Reconstructed Skeleton of _Diplodocus carnegii_, Hatcher,
about one-hundredth natural size. A and B, Caudal Vertebrae Nos. 36 and
70 of the same are about one-quarter natural size.]
The cast of the reconstructed skeleton of _Diplodocus carnegii_ measures
84 ft. in length and 12 ft. 9 in. in maximum height at the hind-limbs.
It displays the elongated neck and tail and the relatively small head so
characteristic of the Sauropodous Dinosaurs. The skull is inclined to
the axis of the neck, denoting a browsing animal; while the feeble blunt
teeth and flat expanded snout suggest feeding among succulent
water-weeds. The large narial opening at the highest point of the head
probably indicates an aquatic mode of life, and there seems to have been
a soft valve to close the nostrils when under water. The diminutive
brain-cavity, scarcely large enough to contain a walnut, is noteworthy.
There are 104 vertebrae, namely, 15 in the neck, 11 in the back, 5 in
the sacrum and 73 in the tail. The presacral vertebrae are of remarkably
light construction, the plates and struts of bone being arranged to give
the greatest strength with the least weight. The end of the tail is a
flexible lash, which would probably be used as a weapon, like the tail
of some existing lizards. The feet, notwithstanding the weight they had
to support, are as unsymmetrical as those of a crocodile, with claws
only on the three inner toes. There is no external armour.
See O. C. Marsh, _Amer. Journ. Sci._ ser. 3, vol. xvi. (1878), p. 414,
pl. viii., and loc. cit. vol. xxvii. (1884), p. 161, pls. iii., iv.;
H. F. Osborn, Mem. _Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist._ vol. i. pt. v. (1899); J.
B. Hatcher, _Mem. Carnegie Mus._ vol. i. No. 1 (1901), and vol. ii.
No. 1 (1903); W. J. Holland, _Mem. Carnegie Mus._ vol. ii. No. 6
(1906). (A. S. Wo.)
DIPLOMACY (Fr. _diplomatie_), the art of conducting international
negotiations. The word, borrowed from the French, has the same
derivation as Diplomatic (q.v.), and, according to the _New English
Dictionary_, was first used in England so late as 1796 by Burke. Yet
there is no other word in the English language that could supply its
exact sense. The need for such a term was indeed not felt; for what we
know as diplomacy was long regarded, partly as falling under the _Jus
gentium_ or international law, partly as a kind of activity morally
somewhat suspect and incapable of being brought under any system.
Moreover, though in a certain sense it is as old as history, diplomacy
as a uniform system, based upon generally recognized rules and directed
by a diplomatic hierarchy having a fixed international status, is of
quite modern growth even in Europe. It was finally established only at
the congresses of Vienna (1815) and Aix-la-Chapelle (1818), while its
effective extension to the great monarchies of the East, beyond the
bounds of European civilization, was comparatively an affair of
yesterday. So late as 1876 it was possible for the writer on this
subject in the 9th edition of the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ to say that
"it would be an historical absurdity to suppose diplomatic relations
connecting together China, Burma and Japan, as they connect the great
European powers."
_Principles._--Though diplomacy has been usually treated under the head
of international law, it would perhaps be more consonant with the facts
to place international law under diplomacy. The principles and rules
governing the intercourse of states, defined by a long succession of
international lawyers, have no sanction save the consensus of the
powers, established and maintained by diplomacy (see BALANCE OF POWER);
in so far as they have become, by international agreement, more than
mere pious opinions of theorists, they are working rules established for
mutual convenience, which it is the function of diplomacy to safeguard
or to use for its own ends. In any case they by no means cover the whole
field of diplomatic activity; and, were they swept away, the art of
diplomacy, developed through long ages of experience, would survive.
This experience may perhaps be called the science, as distinct from the
art, of diplomacy. It covers not only the province of international law,
but the vast field of recorded experience which we know as history, of
which indeed international law is but a part; for, as Bielfeld in his
_Institutions politiques_ (La Haye, 1760, t. I. ch. ii. § 13) points
out, "public law is founded on facts. To know it we must know history,
which is the soul of this science as of politics in general." The broad
outlook on human affairs implied in "historical sense" is more necessary
to the diplomatist under modern conditions than in the 18th century,
when international policy was still wholly under the control of princes
and their immediate advisers. Diplomacy was then a game of wits played
in a narrow circle. Its objects too were narrower; for states were
practically regarded as the property of their sovereigns, which it was
the main function of their "agents" to enlarge or to protect, while
scarcely less important than the preservation or rearrangement of
territorial boundaries was that of precedence and etiquette generally,
over which an incredible amount of time was wasted. The _haute
diplomatie_ thus resolved itself into a process of exalted haggling,
conducted with an utter disregard of the ordinary standards of morality,
but with the most exquisite politeness and in accordance with ever more
and more elaborate rules. Much of the outcome of these dead debates has
become stereotyped in the conventions of the diplomatic service; but the
character of diplomacy itself has undergone a great change. This change
is threefold: firstly, as the result of the greater sense of the
community of interests among nations, which was one of the outcomes of
the French Revolution; secondly, owing to the rise of democracy, with
its expression in parliamentary assemblies and in the press; thirdly,
through the alteration in the position of the diplomatic agent, due to
modern means of communication.
The first of these changes may be dated to the circular of Count Kaunitz
of the 17th of July 1791, in which, in face of the Revolution, he
impressed upon the powers the duty of making common cause for the
purpose of preserving "public peace, the tranquillity of states, the
inviolability of possessions, and the faith of treaties." The duty of
watching over the common interests of Europe, or of the world, was thus
for the first time officially recognized as a function of diplomacy,
since common action could only be taken as the result of diplomatic
negotiations. It would be easy to exaggerate the effective results of
this idea, even when it had crystallized in the Grand Alliance of 1814
and been proclaimed to the world in the Holy Alliance of the 26th of
September 1815 and the declaration of Aix-la-Chapelle. The cynical
picture given by La Bruyère of the diplomatist of the 18th century still
remained largely true: "His talk is only of peace, of alliances, of the
public tranquillity, and of the public interests; in reality he is
thinking only of his own, that is to say, of those of his master or of
his republic."[1] The proceedings of the congress of Vienna proved how
little the common good weighed unless reinforced by particular
interests; but the conception of "Europe" as a political entity none the
less survived. The congresses, notably the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle
(q.v.) in 1818, were in a certain sense European parliaments, and their
ostensible object was the furtherance of common interests. Had the
imperial dreamer Alexander I. of Russia had his way, they would have
been permanently established on the broad basis of the Holy Alliance,
and would have included, not the great powers only, but representatives
of every state (see ALEXANDER I. and EUROPE: _History_). Whatever the
effective value of that "Concert of Europe" which was the outcome of the
period of the congresses, it certainly produced a great effect on the
spirit and the practice of diplomacy. In the congresses and conferences
diplomacy assumes international functions both legislative and
administrative. The diplomat is responsible, not only to his own
government, but to "Europe." Thus Castlereagh was accused of
subordinating the interests of Great Britain to those of Europe; and the
same charge was brought, perhaps with greater justice, against
Metternich in respect of Austria. Canning's principle of "Every nation
for itself and God for us all!" prevailed, it is true, over that of
Alexander's "Confederation of Europe"; yet, as one outcome of the
congresses, every diplomatic agent, though he represents the interests
of his own state, has behind him the whole body of the treaties which
constitute the public law of the world, of which he is in some sort the
interpreter and the guardian.
Parallel with this development runs the second process making for
change: the increasing responsibility of diplomacy to public opinion. To
discuss all the momentous issues involved in this is impossible; but the
subject is too important to be altogether passed over, since it is one
of the main problems of modern international intercourse, and concerns
every one who by his vote may influence the policy of the state to which
he belongs. The question, broadly speaking, is: how far has the public
discussion of international affairs affected the legitimate functions of
diplomacy for better or for worse? To the diplomatist of the old school
the answer seems clear. For him diplomacy was too delicate and too
personal an art to survive the glare and confusion of publicity.
Metternich, the last representative of the old _haute diplomatie_, lived
to moralize over the ruin caused by the first manifestations of the "new
diplomacy," the outcome of the rise of the power of public opinion. He
had early, from his own point of view, unfavourably contrasted the
"limited" constitutional monarchies of the west with the "free"
autocracies of the east of Europe, free because they were under no
obligation to give a public account of their actions. He himself was a
master of the old diplomatic art, of intrigue, of veiling his purpose
under a cloud of magniloquence, above all, of the art of personal
fascination. But public opinion was for him only a dangerous force to be
kept under control; and, even had he realized the necessity for
appealing to it, he had none of the qualities that would have made the
appeal successful. In direct antagonism to him was George Canning, who
may be called the great prototype of the "new diplomacy," and to
Metternich was a "malevolent meteor hurled by divine providence upon
Europe." Canning saw clearly the immense force that would be added to
his diplomatic action if he had behind him the force of public opinion.
In answer to Metternich's complaint of the tone of speeches in
parliament and of the popular support given in England to revolutionary
movements, he wrote, "Our influence, if it is to be maintained abroad,
must be secure in its sources of strength at home: and the sources of
that strength are in the sympathy between the people and the government;
in the union of the public sentiment with the public counsels; in the
reciprocal confidence of the House of Commons and the crown."[2]
It would be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that Canning was wholly
right and Metternich wholly wrong. The conditions of the Habsburg
monarchy were not those of Great Britain,[3] and even if it had been
possible to speak of a public opinion in the Austrian empire at all, it
certainly possessed no such organ as the British parliament. But the
argument may be carried yet further. In the abstract the success of the
policy of a minister in a democratic state must ultimately rest upon the
support of public opinion; yet the necessity for this support has in the
conduct of foreign affairs its peculiar dangers. In the difficult game
of diplomacy a certain reticence is always necessary. Secret sources of
information would be dried up were they to be lightly revealed; a plain
exposition of policy would often give an undue advantage to the other
party to a negotiation. Thus, even in Great Britain, the diplomatic
correspondence laid before parliament is carefully edited, and all
governments are jealous of granting access to their modern archives. Yet
a representative assembly is apt to be resentful of such reservations.
Its members know little or nothing of the conditions under which foreign
affairs are conducted, and they are not unnaturally irritated by
explanations which seem to lack candour or completeness. Canning himself
had experience of this in the affair of the capture of the Danish fleet
at Copenhagen; and Castlereagh's diplomacy was hampered by the bitter
attacks of an opposition which accused him, with little justice, of
pursuing a policy which he dared not reveal in its full scope to
parliament. Moreover, the appeal to public opinion may be used as a
diplomatic weapon for ends no less "selfish" than any aimed at by the
old diplomacy. Bismarck, whose statesmanship was at least as cynical as
that of Metternich, was a master of the art of taking the world into his
confidence--when it suited him to do so; and the "reptile press," hired
to give a seemingly independent support to his policy, was one of his
most potent weapons. So far the only necessary consequence of the growth
of the power of public opinion on the art of diplomacy has been to
extend the sphere of its application; it is but one more factor to be
dealt with; and experience has proved that it is subject to the wiles of
a skilful diplomatist no less than were the princes and statesmen with
whom the old diplomacy was solely concerned.
The third factor making for change--the revolution in the means of
communication which has brought all the world into closer touch--remains
to be discussed. It is obvious that before the invention of the
telegraph, the diplomatic agent was in a far more responsible position
than he is now, when he can, in most cases, receive immediate
instructions from his government on difficult questions as they arise.
When communication was still slow there was often no time to await
instructions, or the instructions when they arrived were not seldom
already out of date and had to be set aside on the minister's own
responsibility. It would, however, be easy to exaggerate the importance
of this change as affecting the character and status of diplomatic
agents. It is true that the tendency has been for ministers of foreign
affairs to hold the threads of diplomacy in their own hands to a far
greater extent than was formerly the case; but they must still depend
for information and advice on the "man on the spot," and the success of
their policy largely depends upon his qualities of discretion and
judgment. The growth of democracy, moreover, has given to the ambassador
a new and peculiar importance; for he represents not only the sovereign
to the sovereign, but the nation to the nation; and, as a succession of
notable American ambassadors to Great Britain has proved, he may by his
personal qualities do a large amount to remove the prejudices and
ignorances which stand as a barrier between the nations. It marks an
immense advance in the comity of international intercourse when the
representatives of friendly powers are no longer regarded as "spies
rather than ambassadors," to be "quickly heard and dismissed," as
Philippe de Commines would have them, but as agreeable guests to be
parted from with regret.
As to the qualifications for an ambassador, it is clearly impossible to
lay down a general rule, for the same qualities are obviously not
required in Washington as in Vienna, nor in Paris as in Pekin. Yet the
effort to depict the ideal ambassador bulks largely in the works of the
earlier theorists, and the demands they make are sufficiently alarming.
Ottaviano Maggi, himself a diplomatist of the brilliant age of the
Renaissance, has left us in his _De legato_ (Hanoviae, 1596) his idea of
what an ambassador should be. He must not only be a good Christian but a
learned theologian; he must be a philosopher, well versed in Aristotle
and Plato, and able at a moment's notice to solve in correct dialectical
form the most abstruse problems; he must be well read in the classics,
and an expert in mathematics, architecture, music, physics and civil and
canon law. He must not only know how to write and speak Latin with
classical refinement, but he must be a master of Greek, Spanish, French,
German and Turkish. He must have a sound knowledge of history, geography
and the science of war; but at the same time is not to neglect the
poets, and never to be without his Homer. Add to this that he must be
well born, rich and of a handsome presence, and we have a portrait of a
diplomatist whose original can hardly have existed even in that age of
brilliant versatility. The Dutchman Frederikus de Marselaer, in his
[Greek: kêrukeion] _sive legationum insigne_ (Antwerp, 1618), is
scarcely less exacting than the Venetian. His ideal ambassador is a
nobleman of fine presence and in the prime of life, famous, rich,
munificent, abstemious, not violent, nor quarrelsome, nor morose, no
flatterer, learned, eloquent, witty without being talkative, a good
linguist, widely read, prudent and cautious, but brave and--as he adds
somewhat superfluously--many-sided.
With these theoretical perfections one or two instances of the
qualifications demanded by the exigencies of practical politics may be
cited by way of illuminating contrast. At the court of the empress
Elizabeth of Russia good looks were a surer means of diplomatic success
than all the talents and virtues, and the princess of Zerbst (mother of
the empress Catherine II.) wrote to Frederick of Prussia advising him to
replace his elderly ambassador by a handsome young man with a good
complexion; and the essential qualification for an ambassador to
Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Denmark and Russia used to be that he
should be able to drink the native diplomatists, seasoned from babyhood
to strong liquors, under the table.
_History._--In its widest sense the history of diplomacy is that of the
intercourse between nations, in so far as this has not been a mere brute
struggle for the mastery;[4] in a narrower sense, with which the present
article is alone concerned, it is that of the methods and spirit of
diplomatic intercourse and of the character and status of diplomatic
agents. Earlier writers on the office and functions of ambassadors, such
as Gentilis or Archbishop Germonius, conscientiously trace their origin
to God himself, who created the angels to be his legates; and they
fortify their arguments by copious examples drawn from ancient history,
sacred and profane. But, whatever the influence upon it of earlier
practice, modern diplomacy really dates from the rise of permanent
missions, and the consequent development of the diplomatic hierarchy as
an international institution. Of this the first beginnings are traceable
to the 15th century and to Italy. There had, of course, during the
middle ages been embassies and negotiations; but the embassies had been
no more than temporary missions directed to a particular end and
conducted by ecclesiastics or nobles of a dignity appropriate to each
occasion; there were neither permanent diplomatic agents nor a
professional diplomatic class. To the evolution of such a class the
Italy of the Renaissance, the nursing-ground of modern statecraft, gave
the first impetus. This was but natural; for Italy, with its numerous
independent states, between which there existed a lively intercourse and
a yet livelier rivalry, anticipated in miniature the modern states'
system of Europe. In feudal Europe there had been little room for
diplomacy; but in northern and central Italy feudalism had never taken
root, and in the struggles of the peninsula diplomacy had early played a
part as great as, or greater than, war. Where all were struggling for
the mastery, the existence of each depended upon alliances and
counter-alliances, of which the object was the maintenance of the
balance of power. In this school there was trained a notable succession
of men of affairs. Thus, in the 13th and 14th centuries Florence counted
among her envoys Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio, and later on could boast
of agents such as Capponi, Vettori, Guicciardini and Machiavelli. Papal
Rome, too, as was to be expected, had always been a fruitful
nursing-mother of diplomatists; and some authorities have traced the
beginnings of modern diplomacy to a conscious imitation of her legatine
system.[5]
It is, however, in Venice, that the origins of modern diplomacy are to
be sought.[6] So early as the 13th century the republic, with a view to
safeguarding the public interests, began to lay down a series of rules
for the conduct of its ambassadors. Thus, in 1236, envoys to the court
of Rome are forbidden to procure a benefice for anyone without leave of
the doge and little council; in 1268 ambassadors are commanded to
surrender on their return any gifts they may have received, and by
another decree they are compelled to take an oath to conduct affairs to
the honour and advantage of the republic. About the same time it was
decided that diplomatic agents were to hand in, on their return, a
written account of their mission; in 1288 this was somewhat expanded by
a law decreeing that ambassadors were to deposit, within fifteen days of
their return, a written account of the replies made to them during their
mission, together with anything they might have seen or heard to the
honour or in the interests of the republic. These provisions, which were
several times renewed, notably in 1296, 1425 and 1533, are the origin of
the famous reports of the Venetian ambassadors to the senate, which are
at once a monument to the political genius of Venetian statesmen and a
mine of invaluable historical material.[7]
These are but a few examples of a long series of regulations, many
others also dating to the 13th century, by which the Venetian government
sought to systematize its diplomatic service. That permanent diplomatic
agencies were not established by it earlier than was the case is
probably due to the distrust of its agents by which most of this
legislation of the republic is inspired. In the 13th century two or
three months was considered over-long a period for an ambassador to
reside at a foreign court; in the 15th century the period of residence
was extended to two years, and in the 16th century to three. This latter
rule continued till the end of the republic; the embassy had become
permanent, but the ambassador was changed every three years.
The origin of the change from temporary to permanent missions has been
the subject of much debate and controversy. The theory that it was due,
in the first instance, to the evolution of the Venetian consulates
(_bajulats_) in the Levant into permanent diplomatic posts, and that the
idea was thence transferred to the West, is disproved by the fact that
Venice had established other permanent embassies before the baylo (q.v.)
at Constantinople was transformed into a diplomatic agent of the first
rank. Nor is the first known instance of the appointment of a permanent
ambassador Venetian. The earliest record[8] is contained in the
announcement by Francesco Sforza, duke of Milan, in 1455, of his
intention to maintain a permanent embassy at Genoa[9]; and in 1460 the
duke of Savoy sent Eusebio Margaria, archdeacon of Vercelli, as his
permanent representative to the Curia.[10] Though, however, the early
records of such appointments are rare, the practice was probably common
among the Italian states. Its extension to countries outside Italy was a
somewhat later development. In 1494 Milan is already represented in
France by a permanent ambassador. In 1495 Zacharia Contarini, Venetian
ambassador to the emperor Maximilian, is described by Sanuto (_Diarii_,
i. 294) as _stato ambasciatore_; and from the time of Charles V.
onwards the succession of ambassadors of the republic at the imperial
court is fairly traceable. In 1496 "as the way to the British Isles is
very long and very dangerous," two merchants resident in London, Pietro
Contarini and Luca Valaressa, were appointed by the republic
_subambasciatores_; and in June of the same year Andrea Trevisano
arrived in London as permanent ambassador at the court of Henry VII.[11]
Florence, too, from 1498 onwards, was represented at the courts of
Charles V. and of France by permanent ambassadors.
During the same period the practice had been growing up among the other
European powers. Spain led the way in 1487 by the appointment of Dr
Roderigo Gondesalvi de Puebla as ambassador in England. As he was still
there in 1500, the Spanish embassy in London may be regarded as the
oldest still surviving post of the new permanent diplomacy. Other states
followed suit, but only fitfully; it was not till late in the 16th
century that permanent embassies were regarded as the norm. The
precarious relations between the European powers during the 16th
century, indeed, naturally retarded the development of the system. Thus
it was not till after good relations had been established with France by
the treaty of London that, in 1519, Sir Thomas Boleyn and Dr West were
sent to Paris as resident English ambassadors, and, after the renewed
breach between the two countries, no others were appointed till the
reign of Elizabeth. Nine years before, Sir Robert Wingfield, whose
simplicity earned him the nickname of "Summer-shall-be-green," had been
sent as ambassador to the court of Charles V., where he remained from
1510 to 1517; and in 1520 the mutual appointment of resident ambassadors
was made a condition of the treaty between Henry VIII. and Charles V. In
1517 Thomas Spinelly, who had for some years represented England at the
court of the Netherlands, was appointed "resident ambassador to the
court of Spain," where he remained till his death on the 22nd of August
1522. These are the most important early instances of the new system.
Alone of the great powers, the emperor remained permanently
unrepresented at foreign courts. In theory this was the result of his
unique dignity, which made him superior to all other potentates;
actually it was because, as emperor, he could not speak for the
practically independent princes nominally his vassals. It served all
practical purposes if he were represented abroad by his agents as king
of Spain or archduke of Austria.
All the evidence now available goes to prove that the establishment of
permanent diplomatic agencies was not an unconscious and accidental
development of previous conditions, but deliberately adopted as an
obvious convenience. But, while all the powers were agreed as to the
convenience of maintaining such agencies abroad, all were equally agreed
in viewing the representatives accredited to them by foreign states with
extreme suspicion. This attitude was abundantly justified by the
peculiar ethics of the new diplomacy. The old "orators" of the
Summer-shall-be-green type could not long hold their own against the new
men who had studied in the school of Italian statecraft, for whom the
end justified the means. Machiavelli had gathered in _The Prince_ and
_The Discourses on Livy_ the principles which underlay the practice of
his day in Italy; Francis I., the first monarch to establish a
completely organized diplomatic machinery, did most to give these
principles a European extension. By the close of the 16th century
diplomacy had become frankly "Machiavellian," and the ordinary rules of
morality were held not to apply to the intercourse between nations. This
was admitted in theory as well as in practice. Germonius, after a
vigorous denunciation of lying in general, argues that it is permissible
for the safety or convenience (_commodo_) of princes, since _salus
populi suprema lex_, and _quod non permittit naturalis ratio, admittit
civilis_; and he adduces in support of this principle the answer given
by Ulysses to Neoptolemus, in the _Ajax_ of Sophocles, and the examples
of Abraham, Jacob and David. Paschalius, while affirming that an
ambassador must study to speak the truth, adds that he is not such a
"rustic boor" as to say that an "official lie" (_officiosum mendacium_)
is never to be employed, or to deny that an ambassador should be, on
occasion, _splendide mendax_.[12] The situation is summed up in the
famous definition of Sir Henry Wotton, which, though excused by himself
as a jest, was held to be an indiscreet revelation of the truth: "An
ambassador is an honest man sent to lie abroad for the good of his
country."[13] The most successful liar, in fact, was esteemed the most
successful diplomatist. "A prime article of the catechism of
ambassadors," says Bayle in his _Dictionnaire critique_ (1699),
"whatever their religion, is to invent falsehoods and to go about making
society believe them." So universally was this principle adopted that,
in the end, no diplomatist even expected to be believed; and the best
way to deceive was--as Bismarck cynically avowed--to tell the truth.
But, in addition to being a liar _ex officio_, the ambassador was also
"an honourable spy." "The principal functions of an envoy," says
Francois de Callières, himself an ex-ambassador of Louis XIV., "are two;
the first is to look after the affairs of his own prince; the second is
to discover the affairs of the other." A clever minister, he maintains,
will know how to keep himself informed of all that goes on in the mind
of the sovereign, in the councils of ministers or in the country; and
for this end "good cheer and the warming effect of wine" are excellent
allies.[14] This being so, it is hardly to be wondered at that foreign
ambassadors were commonly regarded as perhaps necessary, but certainly
very unwelcome, guests. The views of Philippe de Commines have already
been quoted above, and they were shared by a long series of theoretical
writers as well as by men of affairs. Gentilis is all but alone in his
protest against the view that all ambassadors were _exploratores magis
quam oratores_, and to be treated as such. So early as 1481 the
government of Venice had decreed the penalty of banishment and a heavy
fine for any one who should talk of affairs of state with a foreign
envoy, and though the more civilized princes did not follow the example
of the sultan, who by way of precaution locked the ambassador of
Ferdinand II., Jerome Laski, into "a dark and stinking place without
windows," they took the most minute precautions to prevent the
ambassadors of friendly powers from penetrating into their secrets.
Charles V. thought it safest to keep them as far away as possible from
his court. So did Francis I.; and, when affairs were critical, he made
his frequent changes of residence and his hunting expeditions the excuse
for escaping from their presence. Henry VII. forbade his subjects to
hold any intercourse with them, and, later on, set spies upon them and
examined their correspondence--a practice by no means confined to
England. If the system of permanent embassies survived, it is clear that
this was mainly due to the belief of the sovereigns that they gained
more by maintaining "honourable spies" at foreign courts than they lost
by the presence of those of foreign courts at their own. It was purely a
question of the balance of advantage. Neither among statesmen nor among
theorists was there any premonition of the great part to be played by
the permanent diplomatic body in the development and maintenance of the
concert of Europe. To Paschalius the permanent embassies were "a
miserable outgrowth of a miserable age."[15] Grotius himself condemned
them as not only harmful, but useless, the proof of the latter being
that they were unknown to antiquity.[16]
_Development of the Diplomatic Hierarchy._--The history of the
diplomatic body[17] is, like that of other bodies, that of the
progressive differentiation of functions. The middle ages knew no
classification of diplomatic agents; the person sent on mission is
described indifferently as _legatus_, _orator_, _nuntius_, _ablegatus_,
_commissarius_, _procurator_, _mandatarius_, _agens_ or _ambaxator_
(_ambassator_, &c.). In Gundissalvus, _De legato_ (1485), the oldest
printed work on the subject, the word _ambasiator_, first found in a
Venetian decree of 1268, is applied to any diplomat. Florence was the
first to make distinction; the _orator_ was appointed by the council of
the republic; the _mandatorio_, with inferior powers, by the Council of
Ten. In 1500 Machiavelli, who held only the latter rank, wrote from
France urging the Signoria to send _ambasiadori_. This was, however,
rather a question of powers than of dignity. But the causes which
ultimately led to the elaborate differentiation of diplomatic ranks were
rather questions of dignity than of functions.[18] The breakdown of
feudalism, with the consequent rise of a series of sovereign states or
of states claiming to be sovereign, of very various size and importance,
led to a certain confusion in the ceremonial relation between them,
which had been unknown to the comparatively clearly defined system of
the middle ages. The smaller states were eager to assert the dignity of
their actual or practical independence; the greater powers were equally
bent on "keeping them in their place." If the emperor, as has been
stated above, was too exalted to send ambassadors, certain of the lesser
states were soon esteemed too humble to be represented at the courts of
the great powers save by agents of an inferior rank. By the second half
of the 16th century, then, there are two classes of diplomatists,
ambassadors and residents or agents, the latter being accounted
ambassadors of the second class.[19] At first the difference of rank was
determined by the status of the sovereign by whom or to whom the
diplomatic agent was accredited; but early in the 16th century it became
fairly common for powers of the first rank to send agents of the second
class to represent them at courts of an equal status. The reasons were
various, and not unamusing. First and foremost came the question of
expense. The ambassador, as representing the person of his sovereign,
was bound by the sentiment of the age to display an exaggerated
magnificence. His journeys were like royal progresses, his state entries
surrounded with every circumstance of pomp, and it was held to be his
duty to advertise the munificence of his prince by boundless largesses.
Had this munificence been as unlimited in fact as in theory, all might
have been well, but, in that age of vaulting ambitions, depleted
exchequers were the rule rather than the exception in Europe; the
records are full of pitiful appeals from ambassadors for arrears of pay,
and appointment to an embassy often meant ruin, even to a man of
substance. To give but one example, Sir Richard Morison, Edward VI.'s
ambassador in Germany, had to borrow money to pay his debts before he
could leave Augsburg (_Cal. State Pap. Edw. VI._, No. 467), and later on
he writes from Hamburg (April 9, 1552) that he could buy nothing,
because everyone believed that he had packed up in readiness to flit
secretly, for "How must they buy things, where men know their stuff is
ready trussed up, and they fleeting every day?" (ib. No. 544). But the
dignity of ambassador carried another drawback besides expense; his
function of "honourable spy" was seriously hampered by the trammels of
his position. He was unable to move freely in society, but lived a
ceremonial existence in the midst of a crowd of retainers, through whom
alone it was proper for him to communicate with the world outside. It
followed that, though the office of ambassador was more dignified, that
of agent was more generally useful.
Yet a third cause, possibly the most immediately potent, encouraged the
growth of the lesser diplomatic ranks: the question of precedence among
powers theoretically equal. Modern diplomacy has settled a difficulty
which caused at one time much heart-burning and even bloodshed by a
simple appeal to the alphabet. Great Britain feels no humiliation in
signing after France, if the reason be that her name begins with G; had
she not been Great, she would sign before. The vexed question of the
precedence of ambassadors, too, has been settled by the rule, already
referred to above, as to seniority of appointment. But while the
question remained unsettled it was obviously best to evade it; and this
was most easily done by sending an agent of inferior rank to a court
where the precedence claimed for an ambassador would have been refused.
Thus set in motion, the process of differentiation continues until the
system is stereotyped in the 19th century. It is unnecessary to trace
this evolution here in any detail. It is mainly a question of names, and
diplomatic titles are no exception to the general rule by which all
titles tend to become cheapened and therefore, from time to time, need
to be reinforced by fresh verbal devices. The method was the familiar
one of applying terms that had once implied a particular quality in a
fashion that implied actually nothing. The ambassador extraordinary had
originally been one sent on an extraordinary mission; for the time and
purpose of this mission his authority superseded that of the resident
ambassador. But by the middle of the 17th century the custom had grown
up of calling all ambassadors "extraordinary," in order to place them on
an equality with the others. The same process was extended to
diplomatists of the second rank; and envoys (_envoyé_ for _ablegatus_)
were always "extraordinary," and as such claimed and received precedence
over mere "residents," who in their day had asserted the same claim
against the agents--all three terms having at one time been synonymous.
Similarly a "minister plenipotentiary" had originally meant an agent
armed with full powers (_plein-pouvoir_); but, by a like process, the
combination came to mean as little as "envoy extraordinary"--though a
plenipotentiary _tout simple_ is still an agent, of no ceremonially
defined dignity, despatched with full powers to treat and conclude.
Finally, the evolution of the title of a diplomatist of the second rank
is crowned by the high-sounding combination, now almost exclusively
used, of "envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary." The
ultimate fate of the simple title "resident" was the same as that of
"agent." Both had been freely sold by needy sovereigns to all and sundry
who were prepared to pay for what gave them a certain social status. The
"agent" fell thus into utter discredit, and those "residents" who were
still actual diplomatic agents became "ministers resident" to
distinguish them from the common herd.
The classification of diplomatic agents was for the first time
definitively included in the general body of international law by the
_Règlement_ of the 19th of March 1815 at Vienna[20]; and the whole
question was finally settled at the congress of Aix-la-Chapelle
(November 21, 1818) when, the proposal to establish precedence by the
status of the accrediting powers having wisely been rejected, diplomatic
agents were divided into four classes: (1) Ambassadors, legates,
nuncios; (2) Envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, and
other ministers accredited direct to the sovereign; (3) Ministers
resident; (4) Chargés d'affaires. With a few exceptions (e.g. Turkey),
this settlement was accepted by all states, including the United States
of America.
_Rights and Privileges of Diplomatic Agents._--These are partly founded
upon immemorial custom, partly the result of negotiations embodied in
international law. The most important, as it is the most ancient, is the
right of personal _inviolability_ extended to the diplomatic agent and
the members of his suite. This inviolability is maintained after a
rupture between the two governments concerned, and even after the
outbreak of war. The habit of the Ottoman government of imprisoning in
the Seven Towers the ambassador of a power with which it quarrelled was
but an exception which proved the rule. The second important right is
that of exterritoriality (q.v.), a convenient fiction by which the house
and equipages of the diplomatic agent are regarded as the territory of
the power by whom he is accredited. This involves the further principle
that the agent is in no way subject to the receiving government. He is
exempt from taxation and from the payment at least of certain local
rates. He also enjoys immunity (1) from civil jurisdiction, e.g. he
cannot be sued, nor can his goods be seized, for debt; (2) from criminal
jurisdiction, e.g. he cannot be arrested and tried for a criminal
offence. For a crime of violence, however, or for plotting against the
state, he can be placed under the necessary restraint and expelled the
country.[21] These immunities extend to all the members of an envoy's
suite. The difficulties that might be supposed to arise from such
exemptions have not in practice been found very serious; for though, in
the case of crimes committed by servants of agents of the first or
second class the procedure is not clearly defined, each case would
easily be made the subject of arrangement. In certain cases, e.g.
embassies in Turkey, the exterritoriality of ambassadors implies a
fairly extensive criminal jurisdiction; in other cases the dismissal of
the servant would deprive him of his diplomatic immunity and bring him
under the law of the land. The right of granting asylum claimed by
diplomatic agents in virtue of that of exterritoriality, at one time
much abused, is now strictly limited. A political or criminal offender
may seek asylum in a foreign embassy; but if, after a request has been
formally made for his surrender, the ambassador refuses to deliver him
up, the authorities may take the measures necessary to effect his
arrest, and even force an entrance into the embassy for the purpose. The
"right of chapel" (_droit de chapelle_, or _droit de culte_), enjoyed by
envoys in reference to their exterritoriality, i.e. the right of free
exercise of religious worship within their house, formerly of great
importance, has been rendered superfluous by the spread of religious
toleration. (See L. Oppenheim, _Internat. Law_ (London, 1905), i. p. 441,
&c.; A.W. Haffter, _Das europäische Völkerrecht_ (Berlin, 1888), p. 435,
&c.)
_The Personnel of the "Corps diplomatique."_--The establishment of
diplomacy as a regular branch of the civil service is of modern growth,
and even now by no means universal. From old time states naturally chose
as their agents those who would best serve their interests in the matter
in hand. In the middle ages diplomacy was practically a monopoly of the
clergy, who as a class alone possessed the necessary qualifications: and
in later times, when learning had spread to the laity as well, there
were still potent reasons why the clergy should continue to be employed
as diplomatic agents. Of these reasons the most practical was that of
expense; for the wealth of the church formed an inexhaustible reserve
which was used without scruple for secular purposes. Francis I. of
France, who by the Concordat with Rome had in his hands the patronage of
all the sees and abbeys in France, used this partly to reward his
clerical ministers, partly as a great secret service fund for bribing
the ambassadors of other powers, partly for the payment of those
high-placed spies at foreign courts maintained by the elaborately
organized system known as the _Secret du Roi_.[22] None the less, in
the 16th century, laymen as diplomats are already well in evidence. They
are usually lawyers, rarely soldiers, occasionally even simple
merchants. Not uncommonly they were foreigners, like the Italian Thomas
Spinelly mentioned above, drawn from that cosmopolitan class of
diplomats who were ready to serve any master. Though nobles were often
employed as ambassadors by all the powers, Venice alone made nobility a
condition of diplomatic service. They were professional in the sense
that, for the most part, diplomacy was the main occupation of their
lives; there was, however, no graded diplomatic service in which, as at
present, it was possible to rise on a fixed system from the position of
simple _attaché_ to that of minister and ambassador. The "attaché to the
embassy" existed[23]; but he was not, as is now the case, a young
diplomat learning his profession, but an experienced man of affairs,
often a foreigner employed by the ambassador as adviser, secret service
agent and general go-between, and he was without diplomatic status.[24]
The 18th century saw the rise of the diplomatic service in the modern
sense. The elaboration of court ceremonial, for which Versailles had set
the fashion, made it desirable that diplomatic agents should be
courtiers, and young men of rank about the court began to be attached to
missions for the express purpose of teaching them the art of diplomacy.
Thus arose that aristocratic diplomatic class, distinguished by the
exquisite refinement of its manners, which survived from the 18th
century into the 19th. Modern democracy has tended to break with this
tradition, but it still widely prevails. Even in Great Britain, where
the rest of the public services have been thrown open to all classes, a
certain social position is still demanded for candidates for the
diplomatic service and the foreign office, and in addition to passing a
competitive examination, they must be nominated by someone of recognized
station prepared to vouch for their social qualifications. In America,
where no regular diplomatic service exists, all diplomatic agents are
nominated by the president.
The existence of an official diplomatic service, however, by no means
excludes the appointment of outsiders to diplomatic posts. It is, in
fact, one of the main grievances of the regular diplomatic body that the
great rewards of their profession, the embassies, are so often assigned
to politicians or others who have not passed through the drudgery of the
service. But though this practice has, doubtless, sometimes been abused,
it is impossible to criticize the wisdom of its occasional application.
A word may be added as to the part played by women in diplomacy. So far
as their unofficial influence upon it is concerned, it would be
impossible to exaggerate its importance; it would suffice to mention
three names taken at random from the annals of the 19th century, Madame
de Staël, Baroness von Krüdener, and Princess Lieven. Gentz comments on
the "feminine intrigues" that darkened the counsels of the congresses of
Vienna and Aix-la-Chapelle, and from which the powers so happily escaped
in the bachelor seclusion of Troppau. Nor is it to be supposed that
statesmen will ever renounce a diplomatic weapon so easy of disguise and
so potent for use. A brilliant _salon_ presided over by a woman of charm
may be a most valuable centre of a political propaganda; and ladies are
still widely employed in the secret diplomacy of the powers. Their
employment as regularly accredited diplomatic agents, however, though
not unknown, has been extremely rare. An interesting instance is the
appointment of Catherine of Aragon, when princess of Wales, as
representative of her father, Ferdinand the Catholic, at the court of
Henry VII. (G. A. Bergenroth, _Calendar of State Papers ... England and
Spain--in the Archives at Simancas, &c._, i. pp. xxxiii, cxix).
LITERATURE.--Besides general works on international law (q.v.) which
necessarily deal with the subject of diplomacy, a vast mass of
treatises on diplomatic agents exists. The earliest printed work is
the _Tractatus de legato_ (Rome, 1485) of Gundissalvus (Gonsalvo de
Villadiego), professor of law at Salamanca, auditor for Spain at the
Roman court of the Rota, and bishop of Oviedo; but the first really
systematic writer on the subject was Albericus Gentilis, _De
legationibus libri iii_. (London, 1583, 1585, Hanover, 1596, 1607,
1612). For a full bibliography of works on ambassadors see Baron
Diedrich H. L. von Ompteda, _Litteratur des gesammten sowohl
natürlichen als positiven Völkerrechts_ (Regensburg, 1785), p. 534,
&c., which was completed and continued by the Prussian minister Karl
Albert von Kamptz, in _Neue Literatur des Völkerrechts seit dem Jahre
1784_ (Berlin, 1817), p. 231. A list of writers, with critical and
biographical remarks, is also given in Ernest Nys's "Les Commencements
de la diplomatie et le droit d'ambassade jusqu'à Grotius," in the
_Revue de droit international_, vol. xvi. p. 167. Other useful modern
works on the history of diplomacy are: E. C. Grenville-Murray,
_Embassies and Foreign Courts, a History of Diplomacy_ (2nd ed.,
1856); J. Zeller, _La Diplomatie française vers le milieu du XVI^e
siècle_ (Paris, 1881); A. O. Meyer, _Die englische Diplomatie in
Deutschland zur Zeit Eduards VI. und Mariens_ (Breslau, 1900); and,
above all, Otto Krauske, _Die Entwickelung der ständgien Diplomatie
vom fünfzehnten Jahrhundert bis zu den Beschlüssen von 1815 und 1818_,
in Gustav Schmoller's _Staats- und socialwissenschaftliche
Forschungen_, vol. v. (Leipzig, 1885). To these may be added, as
admirably illustrating in detail the early developments of modern
diplomacy, Logan Pearsall Smith's _Life and Letters of Sir Henry
Wotton_ (Oxford, 1907). Of works on modern diplomacy the most
important are the _Guide diplomatique_ of Baron Charles de Martens,
new edition revised by F. H. Geffcken, 2 vols. (Leipzig, 1866), and P.
Pradier-Fodéré, _Cours de droit diplomatique_, 2 vols. (Paris, 1881).
(W. A. P.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] La Bruyère, _Caractères_, ii. 77 (ed. P. Jouast, Paris, 1881).
[2] To Wellesley, in Stapleton's _Canning_, i. 374.
[3] For the motives of Metternich's foreign policy see
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY: _History_ (iii. 332-333).
[4] e.g. _A History of Diplomacy in the International Development of
Europe_, by D. J. Hill (London and New York, 1905).
[5] For this see Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_, i. p. 498.
[6] The Venetians, however, in their turn, doubtless learned their
diplomacy originally from the Byzantines, with whom their trade
expansion in the Levant early brought them into close contact. For
Byzantine diplomacy see ROMAN EMPIRE, LATER: _Diplomacy_.
[7] See Eugenio Albèri, _Le Relazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al
senato_, 15 vols. (Florence, 1839-1863).
[8] The _apocrisiarii_ ([Greek: apokrisiarioi]) or _responsales_
should perhaps be mentioned, though they certainly did not set the
precedent for the modern permanent missions. They were resident
agents, practically legates, of the popes at the court of
Constantinople. They were established by Pope Leo I., and continued
until the Iconoclastic controversy broke the intimate ties between
East and West. See Luxardo, _Das vordekretalische Gesandtschaftsrecht
der Päpste_ (Innsbruck, 1878); also Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_, i.
501.
[9] N. Bianchi, _Le Materie politiche relative all' estero degli
archivi di stato piemontese_ (Bologna, Modena, 1875), p. 29.
[10] Ib. Note 2, _teneamus et deputemus ibidem continue mansurum._
[11] The first ambassador of Venice to visit England was Zuanne da
Lezze, who came in 1319 to demand compensation for the plundering of
Venetian ships by English pirates.
[12] Germonius, _De legatis principum et populorum libri tres_ (Rome,
1627), chap. vi. p. 164; Paschalius, _Legatus_ (Rouen, 1598), p. 302.
Étienne Dolet, who had been secretary to Cardinal Jean du Bellay, and
was burned for atheism in 1546, in his _De officio legati_ (1541)
advises ambassadors to surround themselves with taciturn servants, to
employ vigilant spies, and to set afoot all manner of fictions,
especially when negotiating with the court of Rome or with the
Italian princes.
[13] See Pearsall Smith, _Sir Henry Wotton_, pp. 49, 126 et seq.
[14] François de Callières, _De la manière de négocier avec les
souverains_ (Brussels, 1716). See also A. Sorel, _Recueil des
instructions données aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France_ (Paris,
1884), e.g. vol. _Autriche_, pp. 77, 88, 102, 112.
[15] "Nova res est, quod sciam, et infelicis hujus aetatis infelix
partus.... Hinc oriri securitatem universorum, hinc stabiliri pacem
gentium. Quae utinam tam vere dicerentur, quam speciose. Ego quidem,
ne quid dissimulem, ab istis seorsum sentio. Nimirum, effoeta
virtutis, foecunda fraudis haec saecula video peperisse spissata haec
imperia, sive summas potestates, unde, ut e vomitariis, hae legationes
undatim se fundunt." Paschalius, _Legatus_ (1598), p. 447. So too
Félix de la Mothe Le Vayer (1547-1625), in his _Legatus_ (Paris,
1579), says "Legatos tunc primum aut non multum post institutos fuisse
cum Pandora malorum omnium semina in hunc mundum ... demisit."
[16] _De jure belli et pacis_ (Amsterdam, 1621), ii. c. 18, § 3, n. 2.
[17] The term _corps diplomatique_ originated about the middle of the
18th century. "The Chancellor Furst," says Ranke (xxx. 47, note),
"does not use it as yet in his report (1754) but he knows it," and it
would appear that it had just been invented at Vienna. "Corps
diplomatique, nom qu'une dame donna un jour à ce corps nombreux de
ministres étrangers à Vienne."
[18] So too Pradier-Fodéré, vol. i. p. 262.
[19] Thus Charles V. would not allow the representatives of the duke
of Mantua, Ferrara, &c., to style themselves "ambassadors," on the
ground that this title could be borne only by the agents of kings and
of the republic of Venice, and not by those of states whose
sovereignty was impaired by any feudal relation to a superior power.
(See Krauske p. 155.)
[20] See Pradier-Fodéré, i. 265.
[21] Gentilis, who had been consulted by the government in the case
of the Spanish ambassador, Don Bernardino de Mendoza, expelled for
intriguing against Queen Elizabeth, lays this down definitely. An
ambassador, he says, need not be received, and he may be expelled. In
actual practice a diplomatic agent who has made himself objectionable
is withdrawn by his government on the representations of that to
which he is accredited, and it is customary, before an ambassador is
despatched, to find out whether he is a _persona grata_ to the power
to which he is accredited.
[22] See Zeller.
[23] A. O. Meyer, p. 22.
[24] See the amusing account of the methods of these agents in
Morysine to Cecil (January 23, 1551-1552), _Cal. State Pap. Edw.
VI._, No. 530.
DIPLOMATIC, the science of diplomas, founded on the critical study of
the "diplomatic" sources of history: diplomas, charters, acts, treaties,
contracts, judicial records, rolls, chartularies, registers, &c. The
employment of the word "diploma," as a general term to designate an
historical document, is of comparatively recent date. The Roman diploma,
so called because it was formed of two sheets of metal which were shut
together (Gr. [Greek: diploun], to double) like the leaves of a book,
was the passport or licence to travel by the public post; also, the
certificate of discharge, conferring privileges of citizenship and
marriage on soldiers who had served their time; and, later, any imperial
grant of privileges. The word was adopted, rather pedantically, by the
humanists of the Renaissance and applied by them to important deeds and
to acts of sovereign authority, to privileges granted by kings and by
great personages; and by degrees the term became extended and embraced
generally the documents of the middle ages.
_History of the Study._--The term "diplomatic," the French
_diplomatique_, is a modern adaptation of the Latin phrase _res
diplomatica_ employed in early works upon the subject, and more
especially in the first great text-book, the _De re diplomatica_, issued
in 1681 by the learned Benedictine, Dom Jean Mabillon, of the abbey of
St Germain-des-Prés. Mabillon's treatise was called forth by an earlier
work of Daniel van Papenbroeck, the editor of the _Acta Sanctorum_ of
the Bollandists, who, with no great knowledge or experience of archives,
undertook to criticize the historical value of ancient records and
monastic documents, and raised wholesale suspicions as to their
authenticity in his _Propylaeum antiquarium circa veri ac falsi
discrimen in vetustis membranis_, which he printed in 1675. This was a
rash challenge to the Benedictines, and especially to the congregation
of St Maur, or confraternity of the Benedictine abbeys of France, whose
combined efforts produced great literary works which still remain as
monuments of profound learning. Mabillon was at that time engaged in
collecting material for a great history of his order. He worked silently
for six years before producing the work above referred to. His
refutation of Papenbroeck's criticisms was complete, and his rival
himself accepted Mabillon's system of the study of diplomatic as the
true one. The _De re diplomatica_ established the science on a secure
basis; and it has been the foundation of all subsequent works on the
subject, although the immediate result of its publication was a flood of
controversial writings between the Jesuits and the Benedictines, which,
however, did not affect its stability.
In Spain, the Benedictine Perez published, in 1688, a series of
dissertations following the line of Mabillon's work. In England, Madox's
_Formulare Anglicanum_, with a dissertation concerning ancient charters
and instruments, appeared in 1702, and in 1705 Hickes followed with his
_Linguarum septentrionalium thesaurus_, both accepting the principles
laid down by the learned Benedictine. In Italy, Maffei appeared with
his _Istoria diplomatica_ in 1727, and Muratori, in 1740, introduced
dissertations on diplomatic into his great work, the _Antiquitates
Italicae_. In Germany, the first diplomatic work of importance was that
by Bessel, entitled _Chronicon Gotwicense_ and issued in 1732; and this
was followed closely by similar works of Baring, Eckhard and Heumann.
France, however, had been the cradle of the science, and that country
continued to be the home of its development. Mabillon had not taken
cognizance of documents later than the 13th century. Arising out of a
discussion relative to the origin of the abbey of St Victor en Caux and
the authenticity of its archives, a more comprehensive work than
Mabillon's was compiled by the two Benedictines, Dom Toustain and Dom
Tassin, viz. the _Nouveau Traité de diplomatique_, in six volumes,
1750-1765, which embraced more than diplomatic proper and extended to
all branches of Latin palaeography. With great industry the compilers
gathered together a mass of details; but their arrangement is faulty,
and the text is broken up into such a multitude of divisions and
subdivisions that it is tediously minute. However, its more extended
scope has given the _Nouveau Traité_ an advantage over Mabillon's work,
and modern compilations have drawn largely upon it.
As a result of the Revolution, the archives of the middle ages lost in
France their juridical and legal value; but this rather tended to
enhance their historical importance. The taste for historical literature
revived. The Académie des Inscriptions fostered it. In 1821 the École
des Chartes was founded; and, after a few years of incipient inactivity,
it received a further impetus, in 1829, by the issue of a royal
ordinance re-establishing it. Thenceforth it has been an active centre
for the teaching and for the encouragement of the study of diplomatic
throughout the country, and has produced results which other nations may
envy. Next to France, Germany and Austria are distinguished as countries
where activity has been displayed in the systematic study of diplomatic
archives, more or less with the support of the state. In Italy, too,
diplomatic science has not been neglected. In England, after a long
period of regrettable indifference to the study of the national and
municipal archives of the country, some effort has been made in recent
years to remove the reproach. The publications of the Public Record
Office and of the department of MSS. in the British Museum are more
numerous and are issued more regularly than in former times; and an
awakened interest is manifested by the foundation in the universities of
a few lectureships in diplomatic and palaeography, and by the attention
which those subjects receive in such an institution as the London School
of Economics, and in the publications of private literary societies. But
such efforts can never show the systematic results which are to be
attained by a special institution of the character of the French École
des Chartes.
_Extent of the Science._--The field covered by the study of diplomatic
is so extensive and the different kinds of documents which it takes into
its purview are so numerous and various, that it is impossible to do
more than give a few general indications of their nature. No nation can
have advanced far on the path of civilization before discovering the
necessity for documentary evidence both in public and in private life.
The laws, the constitutions, the decrees of government, on the one hand,
and private contracts between man and man, on the other, must be
embodied in formal documents, in order to ensure permanent record. In
the case of a nation advancing independently from a primitive to a later
stage of civilization we should have to trace the origin of its
documentary records and examine their development from a rudimentary
condition. But in an inquiry into the history of the documents of the
middle ages in Europe we do not begin with primitive forms. Those ages
inherited the documentary system which had been created and developed by
the Romans; and, imperfect and limited in number as are the earliest
surviving charters and diplomas of European medieval history, they
present themselves to us fully developed and cast in the mould and
employing the methods and formulae of the earlier tradition. Based on
this foundation the chanceries of the several countries of Europe, as
they came into existence and were organized, reduced to method and rule
on one general system the various documents which the exigencies of
public and of private life from time to time called into existence, each
individual chancery at the same time following its own line of practice
in detail, and evolving and confirming particular formulas which have
become characteristic of it.
_Classification of Documents._--If we classify these documents under the
two main heads of public and private deeds, we shall have to place in
the former category the legislative, administrative, judicial,
diplomatic documents emanating from public authority in public form:
laws, constitutions, ordinances, privileges, grants and concessions,
proclamations, decrees, judicial records, pleas, treaties; in a word,
every kind of deed necessary for the orderly government of a civilized
state. In early times many of these were comprised under the general
term of "letters," _litterae_, and to the large number of them which
were issued in open form and addressed to the community the specific
title of "letters patent," _litterae patentes_, was given. In
contradistinction those public documents which were issued in closed
form under seal were known as "close letters," _litterae clausae_.
Such public documents belong to the state archives of their several
countries, and are the monuments of administrative and political and
domestic history of a nation from one generation to another. In no
country has so perfect a series been preserved as in our own. Into the
Public Record Office in London have been brought together all the
collections of state archives which were formerly stored in different
official repositories of the kingdom. Beginning with the great survey of
Domesday, long series of enrolments of state documents, in many
instances extending from the times of the Angevin kings to our own day
in almost unbroken sequence, besides thousands of separate deeds of all
descriptions, are therein preserved (see RECORD).
Under the category of private documents must be included, not only the
deeds of individuals, but also those of corporate bodies representing
private interests and standing in the position of individual units in
relation to the state, such as municipal bodies and monastic
foundations. The largest class of documents of this character is
composed of those numerous conveyances of real property and other title
deeds of many descriptions and dating from early periods which are
commonly described by the generic name of "charters," and which are to
be found in thousands, not only in such public repositories as the
Public Record Office and the British Museum, but also in the archives of
municipal and other corporate bodies throughout the country and in the
muniment-rooms of old families. There are also the records of the
manorial courts preserved in countless court-rolls and registers; also
the scattered muniments of the dissolved monasteries represented by the
many collections of charters and the valuable chartularies, or registers
of charters, which have fortunately survived and exist both in public
and in private keeping.
It will be noticed that in this enumeration of public and private
documents in England reference is made to rolls. The practice of
entering records on rolls has been in favour in England from a very
early date subsequent to the Norman Conquest; and while in other
countries the comprehensive term of "charters" (literally "papers": Gr.
[Greek: chartês]) is employed as a general description of documents of
the middle ages, in England the fuller phrase "charters and rolls" is
required. The master of the rolls, the _Magister Rotulorum_, is the
official keeper of the public records.
From the great body of records, both public and private, many fall
easily and naturally into the class in which the text takes a simpler
narrative form; such as judicial records, laws, decrees, proclamations,
registers, &c., which tell their own story in formulae and phraseology
early developed and requiring little change. These we may leave on one
side. For fuller description we select those deeds which, conferring
grants and favours and privileges, conform more nearly to the idea of
the Roman diploma and have received the special attention of the
chanceries in the development and arrangement of their formulae and in
their methods of execution.
Structure of medieval diplomas.
All such medieval deeds are composed of certain recognized members or
sections, some essential, others special and peculiar to the most
elaborate and solemn documents. A deed of the more elaborate character
is made up of two principal divisions: 1. the TEXT, in which is set
out the object of the deed, the statement of the considerations and
circumstances which have led to it, and the declaration of the will
and intention of the person executing the deed, together with such
protecting clauses as the particular circumstances of the case may
require; 2. the PROTOCOL (originally, the first sheet of a papyrus
roll; Gr. [Greek: prôtos], first, and [Greek: kollan], to glue),
consisting of the introductory and of the concluding formulae:
superscription, address, salutation, &c., at the beginning, and date,
formulae of execution, &c., at the end, of the deed. The latter
portion of the protocol is sometimes styled the eschatocol (Gr.
[Greek: eschatos], last, and [Greek: kollan], to glue). While the text
followed certain formulae which had become fixed by common usage, the
protocol was always special and varied with the practices of the
several chanceries, changing in a sovereign chancery with each
successive reign.
The Invocation.
The Superscription.
The Address.
The Salutation.
The different sections of a full deed, taking them in order under the
heads of Initial Protocol, Text and Final Protocol or Eschatocol, are
as follows:--The initial protocol consists of the Invocation, the
Superscription, the Address and the Salutation. 1. The INVOCATION,
lending a character of sanctity to the proceedings, might be either
verbal or symbolic. The verbal invocation consisted usually of some
pious ejaculation, such as _In nomine Dei, In nomine domini nostri
Jesu Christi_; from the 8th century, _In nomine Sanctae et individuae
Trinitatis_; and later, _In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus
Sancti_. The symbolic form was usually the _chrismon_, or monogram
composed of the Greek initials [Chi][Rho] of the name of Christ. In
the course of the 10th and 11th centuries this symbol came to be so
scrawled that it had probably lost all meaning with the scribes. From
the 9th century the letter C (initial of _Christus_) came gradually
into use, and in German imperial diplomas it superseded the
_chrismon_. Stenographic signs of the system known as Tironian notes
were also sometimes added to this symbol down to the end of the 10th
century, expressing such a phrase as _Ante omnia Christus_, or
_Christus_, or _Amen_. From the Merovingian period, too, a cross was
often used. The symbol gradually died out after the 12th century for
general use, surviving only in notarial instruments and wills. 2. The
SUPERSCRIPTION (_superscriptio, intitulatio_) expressed the name and
titles of the grantor or person issuing the deed. 3. The ADDRESS. As
diplomas were originally in epistolary form the address was then a
necessity. While in Merovingian deeds the old pattern was adhered to,
in the Carolingian period the address was sometimes omitted. From the
8th century it was not considered necessary, and a distinction arose
in the case of royal acts, those having the address being styled
letters, and those omitting it, charters. The general form of address
ran in phrase as _Omnibus_ (or _Universis_) _Christi fidelibus
presentes litteras inspecturis_. 4. The SALUTATION was expressed in
such words as _Salutem_; _Salutem et dilectionem_; _Salutem et
apostolicam benedictionem_, but it was not essential.
The Preamble.
The Notification.
The Exposition.
The Disposition.
The Final Clauses.
Then follows the text in five sections: the Preamble, the
Notification, the Exposition, the Disposition and the Final Clauses.
5. The PREAMBLE (_prologus_, _arenga_): an ornamental introduction
generally composed of pious or moral sentiments, a _prefatio ad
captandam benevolentiam_ which _facit ad ornamentum_, degenerating
into tiresome platitudes. It became stereotyped at an early age: in
the 10th and 11th centuries it was a most ornate performance; in the
12th century it was cut short; in the 13th century it died out. 6. The
NOTIFICATION (_notificatio_, _promulgatio_) was the publication of the
purport of the deed introduced by such a phrase as _notum sit_, &c. 7.
The EXPOSITION set out the motives influencing the issue of the deed.
8. The DISPOSITION described the object of the deed and the will and
intention of the grantor. 9. The FINAL CLAUSES ensured the fulfilment
of the terms of the deed; guarded against infringement, by comminatory
anathemas and imprecations, not infrequently of a vehement
description, or by penalties; guaranteed the validity of the deed;
enumerated the formalities of subscription and execution; reserved
rights, &c.
The Date.
The Appreciation.
The Authentication.
Next comes the final protocol or eschatocol comprising: the Date, the
Appreciation, the Authentication. It was particularly in this portion
of the deed that the varying practices of the several chanceries led
to minute and intricate distinctions at different periods. 10. The
DATE. By the Roman law every act must be dated by the day and the year
of execution. Yet in the middle ages, from the 9th to the 12th
century, a large proportion of deeds bears no date. In the most
ancient charters the date clause was frequently separated from the
body of the deed and placed in an isolated position at the foot of the
sheet. From the 12th century it commonly followed the text
immediately. Certain classes of documents, such as decrees of
councils, notarial deeds, &c., began with the date. The usual formula
was _data, datum, actum, factum, scriptum_. In the Carolingian period
a distinction grew up between _datum_ and _actum_, the former applying
to the time, the latter to the place, of date. In the papal chancery
from an early period down to the 12th century the use of a double date
prevailed, the first following the text and being inserted by the
scribe when the deed was written (_scriptum_), the second being added
at the foot of the deed on its execution (_actum_), by the chancellor
or other high functionary. From the Roman custom of dating by the
consular year arose the medieval practice of dating by the regnal year
of emperor, king or pope. Special dates were sometimes employed, such
as the year of some great historical event, battle, siege, pestilence,
&c. 11. The APPRECIATION. The _feliciter_ of the Romans became the
medieval _feliciter in Domino_, or _In Dei nomine feliciter_, or the
more simple _Deo gratias_ or the still more simple _Amen_, for the
auspicious closing of a deed. In Merovingian and Carolingian diplomas
it follows the date; in other cases it closes the text. In the greater
papal bulls it appears in the form of a triple _Amen_. _Benevalete_
was also employed as the appreciation in early deeds; but in
Merovingian diplomas and in papal bulls this valedictory salutation
becomes a mark of authentication, as will be noticed below. 12. The
AUTHENTICATION was a solemn proceeding which was discharged by more
than one act. The most important was the subscription or subscriptions
of the person or persons from whom the deed emanated. The laws of the
late Roman empire required the subscriptions and the impressions of
the signet seals of the parties and of the witnesses to the deed. The
subscription (_subscriptio_) comprised the name, signature and
description of the person signing. The impression of the signet (not
the signature) was the _signum_, sometimes _signaculum_, rarely
_sigillum_. The practice of subscribing with the autograph signature
obtained in the early middle ages, as appears from early documents
such as those of Ravenna. But from the 7th century it began to
decline, and by the 12th century it had practically ceased. In Roman
deeds an illiterate person affixed his mark, or _signum manuale_,
which was attested. The cross being an easy form for a mark, it was
very commonly used and naturally became connected with the Christian
symbol. Hence, in course of time, it came to be attached very
generally to subscriptions, autograph or otherwise. Great personages
who were illiterate required something more elaborate than a common
mark. Hence arose the use of the monogram, the _caracter nominis_,
composed of the letters of the name. The emperor Justin, who could not
write, made use of a monogram, as did also Theodoric, king of the
Ostrogoths. Those Merovingian kings, likewise, who were illiterate,
had their individual monograms; and at length Charlemagne adopted the
monogram as his regular form of signature. From his reign down to that
of Philip the Fair the monogram was the recognized sign manual of the
sovereigns of France (see AUTOGRAPHS). It was employed by the German
emperors down to the reign of Maximilian I. The royal use of the
monogram was naturally imitated by great officers and ecclesiastics.
But another form of sign manual also arose out of the subscription.
The closing word (usually _subscripsi_), written or abbreviated as
_sub._, or _ss._ or _s._, was often finished off with flourishes and
interlacings, sometimes accompanied with Tironian notes, the whole
taking the shape of a domed structure to which the French have given
the name of _ruche_ or bee-hive. Thus in the early middle ages we have
deeds authenticated by the subscription, usually autograph, giving the
name and titles of the person executing, and stating the part taken by
him in the deed, and closing with the _subscripsi_, often in shape of
the ruche and constituting the _signum manuale_. If not autograph, the
subscription might be impersonal in such form as _signum_ (or _signum
manus_) + N. In the Carolingian period, while phrases were constantly
used in the body of the deed implying that it was executed by
autograph subscription, it did not necessarily follow that such
subscription was actually written in person. The ruche was also
adopted by chancellors, notaries and scribes as their official mark.
While autograph subscriptions continued to be employed, chiefly by
ecclesiastics, down to the beginning of the 12th century, the monogram
was perpetuated from the 10th century by the notaries. Their marks,
simple at first, became so elaborate from the end of the 13th century
that they found it necessary to add their names in ordinary writing,
or also to employ a less complicated design. This was the commencement
of the modern practice of writing the signature which first came into
vogue in the 14th century.
The Benevalete.
The Rota.
To lend further weight and authority to the subscription, certain
symbols and forms were added at different periods. Imitating, the
corroborative _Legi_ of the Byzantine quaestor and the _Legimus_ of
the Eastern emperors, the Frankish chancery in the West made use of
the same form, notably in the reign of Charles the Bald, in some of
whose diplomas the _Legimus_ appears written in larger letters in red.
The valedictory _Benevalete_, employed in early deeds as a form of
appreciation (see above), appears in Merovingian and in early
Carolingian royal diplomas, and also in papal bulls, as an
authenticating addition to the subscription. In the diplomas it was
written in cursive letters in two lines, _Bene valete_, just to the
right of the incision cut in the sheet to hold fast the seal, which
sometimes even covered part of the word. In the most ancient papal
bulls it was written by the pope himself at the foot of the deed. in
two lines, generally in larger capital or uncial characters, placed
between two crosses. From the beginning of the 11th century it became
the fashion to link the letters; and, dating from the time of Leo IX.,
A.D. 1048-1054, the _Benevalete_ was inscribed in form of a monogram.
During Leo's pontificate it was also accompanied with a flourish
called the _Komma_, which was only an exaggeration of the mark of
punctuation (_periodus_) which from the 9th to the 11th century closed
the subscription and generally resembled the modern semicolon. Leo's
successors abandoned the _Komma_, but the monogrammatic _Benevalete_
continued, invariable in form, but from time to time varying in size.
In Leo IX.'s pontificate also was introduced the _Rota_. This sign,
when it had received its final shape in the 11th century, was in form
of a wheel, composed of two concentric circles, in the space between
which was written the motto or device of the pope (_signum papae_),
usually a short sentence from one of the Psalms or some other portion
of Scripture; preceded by a small cross, which the pontiff himself
sometimes inscribed. The central space within the wheel was divided
(by cross lines) into four quarters, the two upper ones being occupied
by the names of the apostles St Peter and St Paul, and the two lower
ones by the name of the pope. The _Rota_ was placed on the left of the
subscription, the monogrammatic _Benevalete_ on the right. The two
signs were likewise adopted by certain ecclesiastical chanceries and
by feudal lords, particularly in the 12th century. From the same
period also the Spanish and Portuguese monarchs adopted the _Rota_,
the _signo rodado_, which is so conspicuous in the royal charters of
the Peninsula.
Sealing.
Besides the subscription, an early auxiliary method of authentication
was by the impression of the seal which, as noticed above, was
required by the Roman law. But the general use of the signet gradually
failed, and by the 7th century it had ceased. Still it survived in the
royal chanceries, and the sovereigns both of the Merovingian and of
the Carolingian lines had their seals; and, in the 8th century, the
mayors of the palace likewise. It is interesting to find instances of
the use of antique intaglios for the purpose by some of them. In
England too there is proof that the Mercian kings Offa and Coenwulf
used seals, in imitation of the Frankish monarchs. In the 7th century,
and still more so in the 8th and 9th centuries, the royal seals were
of exaggerated size: the precursors of the great seals of the later
sovereigns of western Europe. The waxen seals of the early diplomas
were in all cases _en placard_: that is, they were attached to the
face of the document and not suspended from it, being held in position
by a cross-cut incision in the material, through which the wax was
pressed and then flattened at the back. On the cessation of autograph
signatures in subscriptions, the general use of seals revived,
beginning in the 10th century and becoming the ordinary method of
authentication from the 12th to the 15th century inclusive. Even when
signatures had once again become universal, the seal continued to hold
its place; and thus sealing is, to the present day, required for the
legal execution of a deed. The attachment _en placard_ was
discontinued, as a general practice, in the middle of the 11th
century; and seals thenceforward were, for the most part, suspended,
leathern thongs being used at first, and afterwards silken and hempen
cords or parchment labels. In documents of minor importance it was
sometimes the custom to impress the seal or seals on one or more
strips of the parchment of the deed itself, cut, but not entirely
detached, from the lower margin, and left to hang loose. Besides waxen
impressions of seals, impressions in metal, bearing a device on both
faces, after the fashion of a coin, and suspended, were employed from
an early period. The most widely known instances are the _bullae_
attached to papal documents, generally of lead. The earliest surviving
papal _bulla_ is one of Pope Zacharias, A.D. 746, but earlier examples
are known from drawings. The papal _bulla_ was a disk of metal stamped
on both sides. From the time of Boniface V. to Leo IV., A.D. 617-855,
the name of the pontiff, in the genitive case, was impressed on the
obverse, and his title as pope on the reverse, e.g. _Bonifati/ papae_.
After that period, for some time, the name was inscribed in a circle
round a central ornament. Other variations followed; but at length in
the pontificate of Paschal II., A.D. 1099, the _bulla_ took the form
which it afterwards retained: on the obverse, the heads of the
apostles St Peter and St Paul; on the reverse, the pope's name, title
and number in succession. In the period of time between his election
and consecration, the pope made use of the half-bull, that is, the
obverse only was impressed. It should be mentioned that, in order to
conform to modern conditions and for convenience of despatch through
the post, Leo XII., in 1878, substituted for the leaden _bulla_ a red
ink stamp bearing the heads of the two apostles with the name of the
pope inscribed as a legend.
The Carolingian monarchs also used metal _bullae_. None of
Charlemagne's have survived, but there are still extant leaden
examples of Charles the Bald. The use of lead was not persisted in
either in the chancery of France or in that of Germany. Golden
_bullae_ were employed on special occasions by both popes and temporal
monarchs; for example, they were attached to the confirmations of the
elections of the emperors in the 12th and 13th centuries; the bull of
Leo X. conferring the title of Defender of the Faith on Henry VIII. in
1524, and the deed of alliance between Henry and Francis I. in 1527,
had golden _bullae_; and other examples could be cited. But lead has
always been the common metal to be thus employed. In the southern
countries of Europe, where the warmth of the climate renders wax an
undesirable material, leaden _bullae_ have been in ordinary use, not
only in Italy but also in the Peninsula, in southern France, and in
the Latin East (see SEALS).
Formularies.
The necessity of conforming to exact phraseology in diplomas and of
observing regularity in expressing formulas naturally led to the
compilation of formularies. From the early middle ages the art of
composition, not only of charters but also of general correspondence,
was commonly taught in the monasteries. The teacher was the
_dictator_, his method of teaching was described by the verb
_dictare_, and his teaching was _dictamen_ or the _ars dictaminis_.
For the use of these monastic schools, formularies and manuals
comprising formulas and models for the composition of the various acts
and documents soon became indispensable. At a later stage such
formularies developed into the models and treatises for epistolary
style which have had their imitations even in modern times. The
widespread use of the formularies had the advantage of imposing a
certain degree of uniformity on the phrasing of documents of the
western nations of Europe. Those compilations which are of an earlier
period than the 11th century have been systematically examined and are
published; those of more recent date still remain to be thoroughly
edited. The early formularies are of the simpler kind, being
collections of formulas without dissertation. The _Formulae Marculfi_,
compiled by the monk Marculf about the year 650, was the most
important work of this nature of the Merovingian period and became the
official formulary of the time; and it continued in use in a revised
edition in the early Carolingian chancery. Of the same period there
are extant formularies compiled at various centres, such as Angers,
Tours, Bourges, Sens, Reichenau, St Gall, Salzburg, Passau,
Regensburg, Cordova, &c. (see Giry, _Manuel de diplomatique_, pp.
482-488). The _Liber diurnus Romanorum Pontificum_ was compiled in the
7th and 8th centuries, and was employed in the papal chancery to the
end of the 11th century. Of the more developed treatises and manuals
of epistolary rhetoric which succeeded, and which originated in Italy,
the earliest example was the _Breviarium de dictamine_ of the monk
Alberic of Monte Cassino, compiled about the year 1075. Another
well-known work, the _Rationes dictandi_, is also attributed to the
same author. Of later date was the _Ars dictaminis_ of Bernard of
Chartres of the 12th century. Among special works on formularies are:
E. de Rozière, _Recueil général des formules usitées dans l'empire des
Francs_ (3 vols., Paris, 1861-1871); K. Zeumer, _Formulae Merovingici
et Karolini aevi_ (Hanover, 1886); and L. Rockinger, _Briefsteller und
Formelbücher des 11 bis. 14 Jahrhunderts_ (Munich, 1863-1864).
_Organization._--The formalities observed by the different chanceries of
medieval Europe, which are to be learned from a study of the documents
issued by them, are so varied and often so minute, that it is impossible
to give a full account of them within the limits of the present article.
We can only state some of the results of the investigations of students
of diplomatic.
Papal Chancery.
The chancery which stands first and foremost is the papal chancery. On
account of its antiquity and of its steady development, it has served as
a model for the other chanceries of Europe. Organized in remote times,
it adopted for the structure of its letters a number of formulas and
rules which developed and became more and more fixed and precise from
century to century. The Apostolic court being organized from the first
on the model of the Roman imperial court, the early pontiffs would
naturally have collected their archives, as the emperors had done, into
_scrinia_. Pope Julius I., A.D. 337-353, reorganized the papal archives
under an official _schola notariorum_, at the head of which was a
_primicerius notariorum_. Pope Damasus, A.D. 366-384, built a record
office at the Lateran, _archivium sanctae Romanae ecclesiae_, where the
archives were kept and registers of them compiled. The collection and
orderly arrangement of the archives provided material for the
establishment of regular diplomatic usages, and the science of formulae
naturally followed.
For the study of papal documents four periods have been defined, each
successive period being distinguished from its predecessor by some
particular development of forms and procedure. The first period is
reckoned from the earliest times to the accession of Leo IX., A.D. 1048.
For almost the whole of the first eight centuries no original papal
documents have survived. But copies are found in canonical works and
registers, many of them false, and others probably not transcribed in
full or in the original words; but still of use, as showing the growth
of formulas. The earliest original document is a fragment of a letter of
Adrian I., A.D. 788. From that date there is a series, but the documents
are rare to the beginning of the 11th century, all down to that period
being written on papyrus. The latest existing papyrus document in
France is one of Sergius IV., A.D. 1011; in Germany, one of Benedict
VIII., A.D. 1022. The earliest document on vellum is one of John XVIII.,
A.D. 1005. The nomenclature of papal documents even at an early period
is rather wide. In their earliest form they are Letters, called in the
documents themselves, _litterae_, _epistola_, _pagina_, _scriptum_,
sometimes _decretum_. A classification, generally accepted, divides them
into: 1. Letters or Epistles: the ordinary acts of correspondence with
persons of all ranks and orders; including constitutions (a later term)
or decisions in matters of faith and discipline, and encyclicals giving
directions to bishops of the whole church or of individual countries. 2.
Decrees, being letters promulgated by the popes of their own motion. 3.
Decretals, decisions on points of ecclesiastical administration or
discipline. 4. Rescripts (called in the originals _preceptum_,
_auctoritas_, _privilegium_), granting requests to petitioners. But
writers differ in their terms, and such subdivisions must be more or
less arbitrary. The comprehensive term "bull" (the name of the leaden
papal seal, _bulla_, being transferred to the document) did not come
into use until the 13th century.
Copies of papal deeds were collected into registers or _bullaria_. Lists
showing the chronological sequence of documents are catalogues of acts.
When into such lists indications from narrative sources are introduced
they become _regesta_ (_res gestae_): a term not to be confused with
"register."
Clearness and conciseness have been recognized as attributes of early
papal letters; but even in those of the 4th century certain rhythmical
periods have been detected in their composition which became more marked
under Leo the Great, A.D. 440-461, and which developed into the _cursus_
or prose rhythm of the pontifical chancery of the 11th and 12th
centuries.
In the most ancient deeds the pope styles himself _Episcopus_, sometimes
_Episcopus Catholicae Ecclesiae_, or _Episcopus Romanae Ecclesiae_,
rarely _Papa_. Gregory I, A.D. 590, was the first to adopt the form
_Episcopus, servus servorum Dei_, which became general in the 9th
century, and thenceforth was invariable.
The second period of papal documents extends from Leo IX. to the
accession of Innocent III., A.D. 1048-1198. At the beginning of the
period formulae tended to take more definite shape and to become fixed.
In the superscription of bulls a distinction arose: those which
conferred lasting privileges employing the words _in perpetuum_ to close
this clause; those whose benefaction was of a transitory character using
the form of salutation, _salutem et apostolicam benedictionem_. But it
was under Urban II., A.D. 1088-1099, that the principal formulae became
stereotyped. Then the distinction between documents of lasting, and
those of transitory, value became more exactly defined; the former class
being known as greater bulls, _bullae majores_ (also called
_privilegia_), the latter lesser bulls, _bullae minores_. The leading
characteristics of the greater bulls were these: The first line
containing the superscription and closing with the words _in perpetuum_
(or, sometimes, _ad perpetuam_, or _aeternam_, _rei memoriam_) was
written in tall and slender ornamental letters, close packed; the final
clauses of the text develop with tendency to fixity; the pope's
subscription is accompanied with the _rota_ on the left and the
_benevalete_ monogram on the right; and certain elaborate forms of
dating are punctiliously observed. The introduction of subscriptions of
cardinals as witnesses had gradually become a practice. Under Victor
II., A.D. 1055-1057, the practice became more confirmed, and after the
time of Innocent II., A.D. 1130-1145, the subscriptions of the three
orders were arranged according to rank, those of the cardinal bishops
being placed in the centre under the papal subscription, those of the
priests under the _rota_ on the left, and those of the deacons under the
_benevalete_ on the right. In the lesser bulls simpler forms were
employed; there was no introductory line of stilted letters; the
salutation, _salutem et apostolicam benedictionem_, closed the
superscription; the final clauses were shortened; there was neither
papal subscription, nor _rota_, nor _benevalete_; the date was simple.
From the time of Adrian I., A.D. 772-795, the system of double dating
was followed in the larger bulls. The first date was written by the
scribe of the document, _scriptum per manum N._ with the month (rarely
the day of the month) and year of the indiction. The second, the actual
date of the execution of the deed, was entered (ostensibly) by some high
official, _data_, or _datum, per manum N._, and contained the day of the
month (according to the Roman calendar), the year of indiction, the year
of pontificate (in some early deeds, also the year of the empire and the
post-consulate year), and the year of the Incarnation, which, however,
was gradually introduced and only became more common in the course of
the 11th century. For example, a common form of a full date would run
thus: _Datum Laterani, per manum N., sanctae Romanae ecclesiae diaconi
cardinalis, xiiii. kl. Maii, indictione V., anno dominicae Incarnationis
mxcvii., pontificatus autem domini papae Urbani secundi Xº_. The simpler
form of the date of a lesser bull might be: _Datum Laterani, iii. non.
Jan., pontificatus nostri anno iiii_.
By degrees the use of the lesser bulls almost entirely superseded that
of the greater bulls, which became exceptional in the 13th century and
almost ceased after the migration to Avignon in 1309. In modern times
the greater bulls occasionally reappear for very solemn acts, as _bullae
consistoriales_, executed in the consistory.
The third period of papal documents extends from Innocent III. to
Eugenius IV., A.D. 1198-1431. The pontificate of Innocent III. was a
most important epoch in the history of the development of the papal
chancery. Formulas became more exactly fixed, definitions more precise,
the observation of rules and precedents more constant. The staff of the
chancery was reorganized. The existing series of registers of papal
documents was then commenced. The growing use of lesser bulls for the
business of the papal court led to a further development in the 13th
century. They were now divided into two classes: _Tituli_ and
_Mandamenta_. The former conferred favours, promulgated precepts,
judgments, decisions, &c. The latter comprised ordinances, commissions,
&c., and were executive documents. There are certain features which
distinguish the two classes. In the _tituli_, the initial letter of the
pope's name is ornamented with openwork and the other letters are
stilted. In the _mandamenta_, the initial is filled in solid and the
other letters are of the same size as the rest of the text. In the
_tituli_, enlarged letters mark the beginnings of the text and of
certain clauses; but not in the _mandamenta_. In the former the mark of
abbreviation is a looped sign; in the latter it is a horizontal stroke.
In the former the old practice of leaving a gap between the letters s
and t, and c and t, whenever they occur together in a word (e.g. _is
te_, _sanc tus_), and linking them by a coupling stroke above the line
is continued; in the latter it disappears. The leaden bulla attached to
a _titulus_ (as a permanent deed) is suspended by cords of red and
yellow silks; while that of a _mandamentum_ (a temporary deed) hangs
from a hempen cord.
In the fourth period, extending from 1431 to the present time, the
_tituli_ and _mandamenta_ have continued to be the ordinary documents in
use; but certain other kinds have also arisen. Briefs (_brevia_), or
apostolic letters, concerning the personal affairs of the pope or the
administration of the temporal dominion, or conceding indulgences, came
into general use in the 13th century in the pontificate of Eugenius IV.
They are written in the italic hand on thin white vellum; and the name
of the pope with his style as _papa_ is written at the head of the
sheet, e.g. _Eugenius papa iiii_. They are closed and sealed with Seal
of the Fisherman, _sub anulo Piscatoris_. Briefs have almost superseded
the _mandamenta_. The documents known as Signatures of the court of Rome
or Latin letters, and used principally for the expedition of
indulgences, were first introduced in the 15th century. They were drawn
in the form of a petition to the pope, which he granted by the words
_fiat ut petatur_ written across the top. They were not sealed; and only
the pontifical year appears in the date. Lastly, the documents to which
the name of _Motu proprio_ is given are also without seal and are used
in the administration of the papal court, the formula _placet et ita
motu proprio mandamus_ being signed by the pope.
The character of the handwriting employed by the papal chancery is
discussed in the article PALAEOGRAPHY. Here it will be enough to state
that the early style was derived from the Lombardic hand, and that it
continued in use down to the beginning of the 12th century; but that,
from the 10th century, owing to the general adoption of the Caroline
minuscule writing, it began to fall and gradually became so unfamiliar
to the uninitiated, that, while it still continued in use for papal
bulls, it was found necessary to accompany them with copies written in
the more intelligible Caroline script. The intricate, fanciful
character, known as the _Litera sancti Petri_, was invented in the time
of Clement VIII., A.D. 1592-1605, was fully developed under Alexander
VIII., 1689-1691, and was only abolished at the end of the year 1878 by
Leo XIII.
Merovingian chancery.
Of the chancery of the Merovingian line of kings as many as ninety
authentic diplomas are known, and, of these, thirty-seven are originals,
the earliest being of the year 625. The most ancient examples were
written on papyrus, vellum superseding that material towards the end of
the 7th century. All these diplomas are technically letters, having the
superscription and address and, at the foot, close to the seal, the
valedictory _benevalete_. They commence with a monogrammatic invocation,
which, together with the superscription and address written in fanciful
elongated letters, occupies the first line. The superscription always
runs in the form, _N. rex Francorum_. The most complete kinds of
diplomas were authenticated by the king's subscription, that of the
_referendarius_ (the official charged with the custody of the royal
seal), the impression of the seal, and exceptionally by subscriptions of
prelates and great personages. The royal subscription was usually
autograph; but, if the sovereign were too young or too illiterate to
write, a monogram was traced by the scribe. The referendary, if he
countersigned the royal subscription, added the word _optulit_ to his
own signature; if he subscribed independently, he wrote _recognovit et
subscripsit_, the end of the last word being usually lost in flourishes
forming a _ruche_. The date gave the place, day, month and year of the
reign. The Merovingian royal diplomas are of two classes: (1) Precepts,
conferring gifts, favours, immunities and confirmations, entitled in the
documents themselves as _praeceptum_, _praeceptio_, _auctoritas_; some
drawn up in full form, with preamble and ample final clauses; others
less precise and formal. (2) Judgments (_judicia_), which required no
preamble or final clauses as they were records of the sovereign's
judicial decisions; they were subscribed by the referendary and were
sealed with the royal seal. Other classes of documents were the _cartae
de mundeburde_, taking persons under the royal protection, and
_indiculi_ or letters transmitting orders or notifying decisions; but no
examples have survived.
Carolingian chancery.
The diplomas of the early Carolingians differed, as was natural, but
little from those of their predecessors. As mayors of the palace,
Charles Martel and Pippin took the style of _vir inluster_. On becoming
king, Pippin retained it; _Pippinus, vir inluster, rex Francorum_, and
it continued to be part of the royal title till Charlemagne became
emperor. The royal subscription was in form of a sign-manual or mark,
but Charlemagne elaborated this into a monogram of the letters of his
name built up on a cross. In 775 the royal title of Charlemagne became
_Carolus, gratia Dei rex Francorum et Langobardorum, ac patricius
Romanorum_, the last words being assumed on his visit to Rome in 774. On
becoming emperor in 800, he was styled _Imperator, Romanum gubernans
imperium, rex Francorum et Langobardorum_. It is to be noticed that
thenceforth his name was spelt with initial K (as it was on the
monogram), having previously been written with C in the deeds. Most of
his diplomas were authenticated by the subscription of the chancellor
and impression of the seal. A novelty in the form of dating was also
introduced, two words, _datum_ (for time) and _actum_ (for place), being
now employed. The character of the writing of the diplomas, founded on
the Roman cursive hand, which had become very intricate under the
Merovingians, improved under their successors, yet the reform which was
introduced into the literary script hardly affected the cursive writing
of diplomatic until the latter part of Charlemagne's reign. The archaic
style was particularly maintained in judgments, which were issued by the
private chancery of the palace, a department more conservative in its
methods than the imperial chancery. It was in the reign of Louis
Debonair, A.D. 814-840, that the Carolingian diploma took its final
shape. A variation now appears in the monogram, that monarch's
sign-manual being built up, not on a cross as previously, but on the
letter H., the initial of his name Hludovicus, and serving as the
pattern for successive monarchs of the name of Louis.
In the Carolingian chancery the staff was exclusively ecclesiastical; at
its head was the chancellor, whose title is traced back to the
_cancellarius_, or petty officer under the Roman empire, stationed at
the bar or lattice (_cancelli_) of the basilica or other law court and
serving as usher. As keeper of the royal archives his subscription was
indispensable for royal acts. The diplomas were drawn up by the
notaries, an important body, upon whom devolved the duty of maintaining
the formulae and traditions of the office. It has been observed that in
the 9th century the documents were drawn carefully, but that in the 10th
century there was a great degeneration in this respect. Under the early
Capetian kings there was great confusion and want of uniformity in their
diplomas; and it was not until the reign of Louis VI., A.D. 1108, that
the formulae were again reduced to rules.
Imperial German chancery.
The acts of the imperial chancery of Germany followed the patterns of
the Carolingian diplomas, with little variation down to the reign of
Frederick Barbarossa, A.D. 1152-1190. The sovereign's style was _N.
divina favente clementia rex_; after coronation at Rome he became
_imperator augustus_. At the end of the 10th century, Otto III.
developed the latter title into _Romanorum imperator augustus_. Under
Henry III., and regularly from the time of Henry V., A.D. 1106-1125, the
title before coronation has been _Romanorum rex_. The royal monogram did
not necessarily contain all the letters of the name; but, on the other
hand, from the year 976, it became more complicated and combined the
imperial title with the name. For example, the monogram of Henry II.
combines the words _Henricus Romanorum imperator augustus_. The
flourished _ruches_ also, as in the Frankish chanceries, were in vogue.
Eventually they were used by certain of the chancellors as a sign-manual
and took fanciful shapes, such as a building with a cupola, or even a
diptych. They disappear early in the 12th century, the period when in
other respects the chancery of the Holy Roman Empire largely adopted a
more simple style in its diplomas. Lists of witnesses, in support of the
royal and official subscriptions, were sometimes added in the course of
the 11th century, and they appear regularly in documents a hundred years
later.
Diplomatic in England.
For the study of diplomatic in England, material exists in two distinct
series of documents, those of the Anglo-Saxon period, and those
subsequent to the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Saxon kings appear to have
borrowed, partially, the style of their diplomas from the chanceries of
their Frankish neighbours, introducing at the same time modifications
which give those documents a particular character marking their
nationality. In some of the earlier examples we find that the lines of
the foreign style are followed more or less closely; but very soon a
simpler model was adopted which, while it varied in formulas from reign
to reign, lasted in general construction down to the time of the Norman
Conquest. The royal charters were usually drawn up in Latin, sometimes
in Anglo-Saxon, and began with a preamble or exordium (in some instances
preceded by an invocation headed with the chrismon or with a cross), in
the early times of a simple character, but, later, drawn out not
infrequently to great length in involved and bombastic periods. Then
immediately followed the disposing or granting clause, often accompanied
with a few words explaining the motive, such as, for the good of the
soul of the grantor; and the text was closed with final clauses of
varying extent, protecting the deed against infringement, &c. In early
examples the dating clause gave the day and month (often according to
the Roman calendar) and the year of the indiction; but the year of the
Incarnation was also immediately adopted; and, later, the regnal year
also. The position of this clause in the charter was subject to
variation. The subscriptions of the king and of the personages
witnessing the deed, each preceded by a cross, but all written by the
hand of the scribe, usually closed the charter. A peculiarity was the
introduction, in many instances, either in the body of the charter, or
in a separate paragraph at the end, of the boundaries of the land
granted, written in the native tongue. The sovereigns of the several
kingdoms of the Heptarchy, as well as those of the United Kingdom,
usually styled themselves _rex_. But from the time of Æthelstan, A.D.
825-840, they also assumed fantastic titles in the text of their
charters, such as: _rex et primicerius_, _rex et rector_, _gubernator et
rector_, _monarchus_, and particularly the Greek _basileus_, and
_basileus industrius_. At the same time the name of Albion was also
frequently used for Britain.
A large number of documents of the Anglo-Saxon period, dating from the
7th century, has survived, both original and copies entered in
chartularies. Of distinct documents there are nearly two hundred; but a
large proportion of these must be set aside as copies (both contemporary
and later) or as spurious deeds.
Although there is evidence, as above stated, of the use of seals by
certain of the Mercian kings, the method of authentication of diplomas
by seal impression was practically unknown to the Anglo-Saxon
sovereigns, save only to Edward the Confessor, who, copying the custom
which obtained upon the continent, adopted the use of a great seal.
With the Norman Conquest the old tradition of the Anglo-Saxons
disappeared. The Conqueror brought with him the practice of the Roman
chancery, which naturally followed the Capetian model; and his diplomas
of English origin differed only from those of Normandy by the addition
of his new style, _rex Anglorum_, in the superscription. But even from
the first there was a tendency to simplicity in the new English
chancery, not improbably suggested by the brief formalities of
Anglo-Saxon charters, and, side by side with the more formal royal
diplomas, others of shorter form and less ceremony were issued, which by
the reign of Henry II. quite superseded the more solemn documents. These
simpler charters began with the royal superscription, the address, and
the salutation, e.g. _Willelmus, Dei gratia rex Anglorum, N. episcopo et
omnibus baronibus et fidelibus suis Francis et Anglis salutem_. Then
followed the notification and the grant, e.g. _Sciatis me concessisse_,
&c., generally without final clauses, or, if any, brief clauses of
protection and warranty; and, at the end, the list of witnesses and the
date. The regnal year was usually cited; but the year of the Incarnation
was also sometimes given. The great seal was appended. To some of the
Conqueror's charters his subscription and those of his queen and sons
are attached, written by the scribe, but accompanied with crosses which
may or may not be autograph. By the reign of John the simpler form of
royal charters had taken final shape, and from this time the acts of the
kings of England have been classified under three heads: viz. (1)
Charters, generally of the pattern described above; (2) Letters patent,
in which the address is general, _Universis presentes litteras
inspecturis_, &c.; the corroborative clause describes the character of
the document, _In cujus rei testimonium has literas nostras fieri
fecimus patentes_; the king himself is his own witness, _Teste me ipso_;
and the great seal is appended; (3) Close letters, administrative
documents conveying orders, the king witnessing, _Teste me ipso_.
The style of the English kings down to John was, with few exceptions,
_Rex Anglorum_; thenceforward, _Rex Angliae_. Henry II. added the feudal
titles, _dux Normannorum et Aquitanorum et comes Andegavorum_, which
Henry III. curtailed to _dux Aquitaniae_. John added the title _dominus
Hiberniae_; Edward III., on claiming the crown of France, styled himself
rex _Angliae et Franciae_, the same title being borne by successive
kings down to the year 1801; and Henry VIII., in 1521, assumed the title
of _fidei defensor_. The formula _Dei gratia_ does not consistently
accompany the royal title until the reign of Henry II., who adopted it
in 1173 (see L. Delisle, _Mémoire sur la chronologie des chartes de
Henri II._, in the _Bibl. de l'École des Chartes_, lxvii. 361-401).
Private deeds.
The forms adopted in the royal chanceries were naturally imitated in the
composition of private deeds which in all countries form the mass of
material for historical and diplomatic research. The student of English
diplomatic will soon remark how readily the private charters, especially
conveyances of real property, fall into classes, and how stereotyped the
phraseology and formulae of each class become, only modified from time
to time by particular acts of legislation. The brevity of the early
conveyances is maintained through successive generations, with only
moderate growth as time progresses through the 12th, 13th and 14th
centuries. The different kinds of deeds which the requirements of
society have from time to time called into existence must be learned by
the student from the text-books. But a particular form of document which
was especially in favour in England should be mentioned. This was the
chirograph (Gr. [Greek: cheir], a hand, [Greek: graphein], to write),
which is found even in the Anglo-Saxon period, and which got its name
from the word _chirographum_, _cirographum_ or _cyrographum_ being
written in large letters at the head of the deed. At first the word was
written, presumably, at the head of each of the two authentic copies
which the two parties to a transaction would require. Then it became the
habit to use the word thus written as a tally, the two copies of the
deed being written on one sheet, head to head, with the word between
them, which was then cut through longitudinally in a straight, or more
commonly waved or indented (_in modum dentium_) line, each of the two
copies thus having half of the word at the head. Any other word, or a
series of letters, might thus be employed; and more than two copies of a
deed could thus be made to tally. The chirograph was the precursor of
the modern indenture, the commonest form of English deeds, though no
longer a tally. In other countries, the notarial instrument has
performed the functions which the chirograph and indenture have
discharged for us.
AUTHORITIES.--General treatises, handbooks,, &c., are J. Mabillon, _De
re diplomatica_ (1709); Tassin and Toustain, _Nouveau Traité de
diplomatique_ (1750-1765); T. Madox, _Formulare Anglicanum_ (1702); G.
Hickes, _Linguarum septentrionalium thesaurus_ (1703-1705); F. S.
Maffei, _Istoria diplomatica_ (1727); G. Marini, _I Papiri
diplomatici_ (1805); G. Bessel, _Chronicon Gotwicense (De diplomatibus
imperatorum ac regum Germaniae)_ (1732); A. Fumagalli, _Delle
istituzioni diplomatiche_ (1802); M. F. Kopp, _Palaeographia critica_
(1817-1829); K. T. G. Schönemann, _Versuch eines vollstandigen Systems
der Diplomatik_ (1818); T. Sickel, _Lehre von den Urkunden der ersten
Karolinger_ (1867); J. Ficker, _Beiträge zur Urkundenlehre_
(1877-1878); A. Gloria, _Compendio delle lezioni di paleografia e
diplomatica_ (1870); C. Paoli, _Programma scolastico di paleografia
Latina e di diplomatica_ (1888-1890); H. Bresslau, _Handbuch der
Urkundenlehre für Deutschland und Italien_ (1889); A. Giry, _Manuel de
diplomatique_ (1894); F. Leist, _Urkundenlehre_ (1893); E. M.
Thompson, _Handbook of Greek and Latin Palaeography_, cap. xix.
(1906); J. M. Kemble, _Codex diplomaticus aevi Saxonici_ (1839-1848);
W. G. Birch, _Cartularium Saxonicum_ (1885-1893); J. Muñoz y Rivero,
_Manuel de paleografia diplomatica Española_ (1890); M. Russi,
_Paleografia e diplomatica de' documenti delle provincie Napolitane_
(1883). Facsimiles are given in J. B. Silvestrestre _Paléographie
universelle_ (English edition, 1850); and in the _Facsimiles_, &c.,
published by the Palaeographical Society (1873-1894) and the New
Palaeographical Society (1903, &c.); and also in the following
works:--A. Champollion-Figeac, _Chartes et manuscrits sur papyrus_
(1840); J. A. Letronne, _Diplómes et chartes de l'époque
mérovingienne_ (1845-1866); J. Tardif, _Archives de l'Empire:
Facsimilé de chartes et diplômes mérovingiens et carlovingiens_
(1866); G. H. Pettz, _Schrifttafeln zum Gebrauch bei diplomatischen
Vorlesungen_ (1844-1869); H. von Sybel and T. Sickel, _Kaiserurkunden
in Abbildungen_ (1880-1891); J. von Pflugk-Harttung, _Specimina
selecta chartarum Pontificum Romanorum_ (1885-1887); _Specimina
palaeographica regestorum Romanorum pontificum_ (1888); _Recueil de
fac-similés à l'usage de l'École des Chartes_ (not published) (1880,
&c.); J. Muñoz y Rivero, _Chrestomathia palaeographica: scripturae
Hispanae veteris specimina_ (1890); E. A. Bond, _Facsimiles of Ancient
Charters in the British Museum_ (1873-1878): W. B. Sanders,
_Facsimiles of Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts_ (charters) (1878-1884); G. F.
Warner and H. J. Ellis, _Facsimiles of Royal and other Charters in the
British Museum_ (1903). (E. M. T.)
DIPOENUS and SCYLLIS, early Greek sculptors, who worked together, and
are said to have been pupils of Daedalus. Pliny assigns to them the date
580 B.C., and says that they worked at Sicyon, which city from their
time onwards became one of the great schools of sculpture. They also
made statues for Cleonae and Argos. They worked in wood, ebony and
ivory, and apparently also in marble. It is curious that no inscription
bearing their names has come to light.
DIPPEL, JOHANN KONRAD (1673-1734), German theologian and alchemist, son
of a Lutheran pastor, was born at the castle of Frankenstein, near
Darmstadt, on the 10th of August 1673. He studied theology at Giessen.
After a short visit to Wittenberg he went to Strassburg, where he
lectured on alchemy and chiromancy, and occasionally preached. He gained
considerable popularity, but was obliged after a time to quit the city,
owing to his irregular manner of living. He had up to this time espoused
the cause of the orthodox as against the pietists; but in his two first
works, published under the name "Christianus Democritus," _Orthodoxia
Orthodoxorum_ (1697) and _Papismus vapulans Protestantium_ (1698), he
assailed the fundamental positions of the Lutheran theology. He held
that religion consisted not in dogma but exclusively in love and
self-sacrifice. To avoid persecution he was compelled to wander from
place to place in Germany, Holland, Denmark and Sweden. He took the
degree of doctor of medicine at Leiden in 1711. He discovered Prussian
blue, and by the destructive distillation of bones prepared the
evil-smelling product known as Dippel's animal oil. He died near
Berleburg on the 25th of April 1734.
An enlarged edition of Dippel's collected works was published at
Berleburg in 1743. See the biographies by J. C. G. Ackermann (Leipzig,
1781), H. V. Hoffmann (Darmstadt, 1783), K. Henning (1881) and W.
Bender (Bonn, 1882); also a memoir by K. Bucher in the _Historisches
Taschenbuch_ for 1858.
DIPSOMANIA (from [Gr. dipsa], thirst, and [Greek: mania], madness), a
term formerly applied to the attacks of delirium (q.v.) caused by
alcoholic poisoning. It is now sometimes loosely used as equivalent to
the condition of incurable inebriates, but strictly should be confined
to the pathological and insatiable desire for alcohol, sometimes
occurring in paroxysms.
DIPTERA ([Greek: dis], double, [Greek: ptera], wings), a term (first
employed in its modern sense by Linnaeus, _Fauna Suecica_, 1st ed.,
1746, p. 306) used in zoological classification for one of the Orders
into which the _Hexapoda_, or Insecta, are divided. The relation of the
Diptera (two-winged flies, or flies proper) to the other Orders is dealt
with under Hexapoda (q.v.).
The chief characteristic of the Diptera is expressed in the name of the
Order, since, with the exception of certain aberrant and apterous forms,
flies possess but a single pair of membranous wings, which are attached
to the meso-thorax. Wing-covers and hind-wings are alike absent, and the
latter are represented by a pair of little knobbed organs, the halteres
or balancers, which have a controlling and directing function in flight.
The other structural characters of the Order may be briefly summarized
as:--mouth-parts adapted for piercing and sucking, or for suction alone,
and consisting of a proboscis formed of the labium, and enclosing
modifications of the other usual parts of the mouth, some of which,
however, may be wanting; a thorax fused into a single mass; and legs
with five-jointed tarsi. The wings, which are not capable of being
folded, are usually transparent, but occasionally pigmented and adorned
with coloured spots, blotches or bands; the wing-membrane, though
sometimes clothed with minute hairs, seldom bears scales; the
wing-veins, which are of great importance in the classification of
Diptera, are usually few in number and chiefly longitudinal, there being
a marked paucity of cross-veins. In a large number of Diptera an
incision in the posterior margin of the wing, near the base, marks off a
small lobe, the posterior lobe or alula, while connected with this but
situated on the thorax itself there is a pair of membranous scales, or
squamae, which when present serve to conceal the halteres. The antennae
of Diptera, which are also extremely important in classification, are
thread-like in the more primitive families, such as the _Tipulidae_
(daddy-long-legs), where they consist of a considerable number of
joints, all of which except the first two, and sometimes also the last
two, are similar in shape; in the more specialized families, such as the
_Tabanidae_ (horse-flies), _Syrphidae_ (hover-flies) or _Muscidae_
(house-flies, blue-bottles and their allies), the number of antennal
joints is greatly reduced by coalescence, so that the antennae appear to
consist of only three joints. In these forms, however, the third joint
is really a complex, which in many families bears in addition a jointed
bristle (arista) or style, representing the terminal joints of the
primitive antenna. Although in the case of the majority of Diptera the
body is more or less clothed with hair, the hairy covering is usually so
short that to the unaided eye the insects appear almost bare; some
forms, however, such as the bee-flies (_Bombylius_) and certain
robber-flies (_Asilidae_) are conspicuously hairy. Bristles are usually
present on the legs, and in the case of many families on the body also;
those on the head and thorax are of great importance in classification.
Between 40,000 and 50,000 species of Diptera are at present known, but
these are only a fraction of those actually in existence. The species
recognized as British number some 2700, but to this total additions are
constantly being made. As a rule flies are of small or moderate size,
and many, such as certain blood-sucking midges of the genus
_Ceratopogon_, are even minute; as extremes of size may be mentioned a
common British midge, _Ceratopogon varius_, the female of which measures
only 1¼ millimetre, and the gigantic _Mydaidae_ of Central and South
America as well as certain Australian robber-flies, which have a body 1¾
in. long, with a wing-expanse of 3¼ in. In bodily form Diptera present
two main types, either, as in the case of the more primitive and
generalized families, they are gnat- or midge-like in shape, with
slender bodies and long, delicate legs, or else they exhibit a more or
less distinct resemblance to the common house-fly, having compact and
stoutly built bodies and legs of moderate length. Diptera in general are
not remarkable for brilliancy of coloration; as a rule they are dull and
inconspicuous in hue, the prevailing body-tints being browns and greys;
occasionally, however, more especially in species (_Syrphidae_) that
mimic Hymenoptera, the body is conspicuously banded with yellow; a few
are metallic, such as the species of _Formosia_, found in the islands of
the East Indian Archipelago, which are among the most brilliant of all
insects. The sexes in Diptera are usually alike, though in a number of
families with short antennae the males are distinguished by the fact
that their eyes meet together (or nearly so) on the forehead.
Metamorphosis in Diptera is complete; the larvae are utterly different
from the perfect insects in appearance, and, although varying greatly in
outward form, are usually footless grubs; those of the _Muscidae_ are
generally known as maggots. The pupa either shows the appendages of the
perfect insect, though these are encased in a sheath and adherent to the
body, or else it is entirely concealed within the hardened and
contracted larval integument, which forms a barrel-shaped protecting
capsule or puparium.
Diptera are divided into some sixty families, the exact classification
of which has not yet been finally settled. The majority of authors,
however, follow Brauer in dividing the order into two sections,
Orthorrhapha and Cyclorrhapha, according to the manner in which the
pupa-case splits to admit of the escape of the perfect insect. The
general characteristics of the pupae in these two sections have already
been described.
In the Orthorrhapha, in the pupae of which the appendages of the perfect
insect are usually visible, the pupa-case generally splits in a straight
line down the back near the cephalic end; in front of this longitudinal
cleft there may be a small transverse one, the two together forming a
T-shaped fissure. In the Cyclorrhapha on the other hand, in which the
actual pupa is concealed within the hardened larval skin, the imago
escapes through a circular orifice formed by pushing off or through the
head end of the puparium. The Diptera Orthorrhapha include the more
primitive and less specialized families such as the _Tipulidae_
(daddy-long-legs), _Culicidae_ (gnats or mosquitoes), _Chironomidae_
(midges), _Mycetophilidae_ (fungus-midges), _Tabanidae_ (horse-flies),
_Asilidae_ (robber-flies), &c. The Diptera Cyclorrhapha on the other
hand consist of the most highly specialized families, such as the
_Syrphidae_ (hover-flies), _Oestridae_ (bot and warble flies), and
_Muscidae_ (_sensu latiore_--the house-fly and its allies, including
tsetse-flies, flesh-flies, _Tachininae_, or flies the larvae of which
are internal parasites of caterpillars, &c). It is customary to divide
the Orthorrhapha into the two divisions Nematocera and Brachycera, in
the former of which the antennae are elongate and in a more or less
primitive condition, as described above, while in the latter these
organs are short, and, as already explained, apparently composed of only
three joints.
Within the divisions named--Orthorrhapha Nematocera, Orthorrhapha
Brachycera and Cyclorrhapha--the constituent families are usually
grouped into a series of "superfamilies," distinguished by features of
structure or habit. Certain extremely aberrant Diptera, which, in
consequence of the adoption of a parasitic mode of life, have undergone
great structural modification, are further remarkable for their peculiar
mode of reproduction, on account of which the families composing the
group are often termed Pupipara. In these forms the pregnant female,
instead of laying eggs, as Diptera usually do, or even producing a
number of minute living larvae, gives birth at one time but to a single
larva, which is retained within the oviduct of the mother until adult,
and assumes the pupal state immediately on extrusion. The Pupipara are
also termed Eproboscidea (although they actually possess a
well-developed and functional proboscis), and by some dipterists the
Eproboscidea are regarded as a suborder and contrasted as such with the
rest of the Diptera, which are styled the suborder Proboscidea. By other
writers Proboscidea and Eproboscidea are treated as primary divisions of
the Cyclorrhapha. In reality, however, the families designated
Eproboscidea (_Hippoboscidae_, _Braulidae_, _Nycteribiidae_ and
_Streblidae_), are not entitled to be considered as constituting either
a suborder, or even a main division of the Cyclorrhapha; they are simply
Cyclorrhapha much modified owing to parasitism, and in view of the
closely similar mode of reproduction in the tsetse-flies the special
designation Pupipara should be abandoned. Before leaving the subject of
classification it may be noted in passing that in 1906 Professor
Lameere, of Brussels, proposed a scheme for the classification of
Diptera which as regards both the limits of the families and their
grouping into higher categories differs considerably from that in
current use.
Little light on the relationship and evolution of the various families
of Diptera is afforded by fossil forms, since as a rule the latter are
readily referable to existing families. With the exception of a few
species from the Solenhofen lithographic Oolite, fossil Diptera belong
to the Tertiary Period, during which the members of this order attained
a high degree of development. In amber, as proved by the deposits on the
shores of the Baltic, the proverbial "fly" is more numerous than any
other creatures, and with very few exceptions representatives of all the
existing families have been found. The famous Tertiary beds at
Florissant, Colorado, have yielded a considerable number of remarkably
well-preserved _Tipulidae_ (in which family are included the most
primitive of existing Diptera), as also species belonging to other
families, such as _Mycetophilidae_ and even _Oestridae_.
Diptera as an order are probably more widely distributed over the
earth's surface than are the representatives of any similar division of
the animal kingdom. Flies seem capable of adapting themselves to
extremes of cold equally as well as to those of heat, and species
belonging to the order are almost invariably included in the collections
brought back by members of Arctic expeditions. Others are met with in
the most isolated localities; thus the Rev. A. E. Eaton discovered on
the desolate shores of Kerguelen's Island apterous and semi-apterous
Diptera (_Tipulidae_ and _Ephydridae_) of a degraded type adapted to the
climatic peculiarities of the locality. Many bird parasites belonging to
the _Hippoboscidae_ have naturally been carried about the world by their
hosts, while other species, such as the house-fly, blow-fly and
drone-fly, have in like manner been disseminated by human agency. Most
families and a large proportion of genera are represented throughout the
world, but in some cases (e.g. _Glossina_--see TSETSE-FLY) the
distribution of a genus is limited to a continent. As a rule the general
_facies_ as well as dimensions are remarkably uniform throughout a
family, so that tropical species often differ little in appearance from
those inhabiting temperate regions. Many instances of exaggerated and
apparently unnatural structure nevertheless occur, as in the case of the
genera _Pangonia_, _Nemestrina_, _Achias_, _Diopsis_ and the family
_Celyphidae_, and, as might be expected, it is chiefly in tropical
species that these peculiarities are found. To a geographical
distribution of the widest extent, Diptera add a range of habits of the
most diversified nature; they are both animal and vegetable feeders, an
enormous number of species acting, especially in the larval state, as
scavengers in consuming putrescent or decomposing matter of both kinds.
The phytophagous species are attached to various parts of plants, dead
or alive; and the carnivorous in like manner feed on dead or living
flesh, or its products, many larvae being parasitic on living animals of
various classes (in Australia the larva of a species of _Muscidae_ is
even a parasite of frogs), especially the caterpillars of Lepidoptera,
which are destroyed in great numbers by _Tachininae_. The recent
discovery of a bloodsucking maggot, which is found in native huts
throughout the greater part of tropical and subtropical Africa, and
attacks the inmates when asleep, is of great interest.
It may confidently be asserted that, of insects which directly or
indirectly affect the welfare of man, Diptera form the vast majority,
and it is a moot point whether the good effected by many species in the
rapid clearing away of animal and vegetable impurities, and in keeping
other insect enemies in check, counterbalances the evil and annoyance
wrought by a large section of the Order. The part played by certain
blood-sucking Diptera in the dissemination of disease is now well known
(see MOSQUITO and TSETSE-FLY), and under the term _myiasis_ medical
literature includes a lengthy recital of instances of the presence of
Dipterous larvae in various parts of the living human body, and the
injuries caused thereby. That Diptera of the type of the common
house-fly are often in large measure responsible for the spread of such
diseases as cholera and enteric fever is undeniable, and as regards
blood-sucking forms, in addition to those to which reference has already
been made, it is sufficient to mention the vast army of pests
constituted by the midges, sand-flies, horse-flies, &c., from the
attacks of which domestic animals suffer equally with man, in addition
to being frequently infested with the larvae of the bot and warble flies
(_Gastrophilus_, _Oestrus_ and _Hypoderma_). Lastly, as regards the
phytophagous forms, there can be no doubt that the destruction of
grass-lands by "leather-jackets" (the larvae of crane-flies, or
daddy-long-legs,--_Tipula oleracea_ and _T. paludosa_), of divers fruits
by _Ceratitis capitata_ and species of _Dacus_, and of wheat and other
crops by the Hessian-fly (_Mayetiola destructor_) and species of
_Oscinis_, _Chlorops_, &c., is of very serious consequence.
With many writers it is customary to treat the fleas as a sub-order of
Diptera, under the title Aphaniptera or Siphonaptera. Since, however,
although undoubtedly allied to the Diptera, they must have diverged from
the ancestral stem at an early period, before the existing forms of
Diptera became so extremely specialized, it seems better to regard the
fleas as constituting an independent order (see FLEA). (E. E. A.)
DIPTERAL (Gr. for "double-winged"), the architectural term applied to
those temples which have a double range of columns in the peristyle, as
in the temple of Diana at Ephesus.
DIPTYCH (Gr. [Greek: diptychos], two-folding), (1) A tablet made with a
hinge to open and shut, used in the Roman empire for letters (especially
love-letters), and official tokens of the commencement of a consul's,
praetor's or aedile's term of office. The latter variety of diptych was
inscribed with the magistrate's name and bore his portrait, and was
issued to his friends and the public generally. They were made of
boxwood or maple. More costly examples were in cedar, ivory (q.v.),
silver or sometimes gold. They were often sent as New Year gifts.
(2)In the primitive church when the worshippers brought their own
offerings of bread and wine, from which were taken the Communion
elements, the names of the contributors were recorded on diptychs and
read aloud. To these names were early added those of deceased members of
the community whom it was desired to commemorate. This custom rapidly
developed into a kind of commemoration of saints and benefactors, living
and dead; especially, in each church, were the names of those who had
been its bishops recorded. The custom was maintained until the lists
became so long that it was impossible to read them through, and the
observance in this form had to be abandoned. The insertion of a name on
the diptych, thereby securing the prayers of the church, was a privilege
from which a person could be excluded on account of suspicion of heresy
or by the intrigues of enemies. His name could, if written, be expunged
under similar circumstances. The names thus written were read from the
ambo, in which the diptych was kept. The reading of these names during
the canon of the mass gave rise to the term _canonization_. By various
councils it was ordained that the name of the pope should always be
inserted in the diptych list.
The addition of _dates_ resulted from the custom of recording baptisms
and deaths; and thus the diptych developed into a calendar and formed
the germ of the elaborate system of festologies, martyrologies and
calendars which developed in the church.
The diptych went by various names in the early church--mystical tablets,
anniversary books, ecclesiastical matriculation registers or books of
the living. According to the names inscribed, bishops, the dead or the
living, a diptych might be a _diptycha episcoporum_, _diptycha
mortuorum_ or _diptycha vivorum_.
In course of time the list of the names swelled to such proportions that
the space afforded by the diptych was insufficient. A third fold was
consequently provided, and the tablet became a _triptych_ (though the
name _diptych_ was retained as a general term for the object). Further
room was afforded by the insertion of leaves of parchment or wood
between the folds. The custom of reading names from the diptychs died
out about the 8th century. The diptychs, however, were retained as altar
ornaments. From the original consular documents onwards, the outsides of
the folds had always been richly ornamented, and when they ceased to be
of immediate practical use they became merely decorative. Instead of the
list of names the inside was ornamented like the outer, and in the
middle ages the best painters of the day would often paint them. When
folded, the portraits of the donor and his wife might be shown; when
open there would be three paintings, one on each fold, of a religious
character. (R. A. S. M.)
DIR, an independent state in the North-West Frontier Province of India,
lying to the north-east of Swat. Its importance chiefly arises from the
fact that it commands the greater part of the route between Chitral and
the Peshawar frontier. The quarrels and intrigues between the khan of
Dir and Umra Khan of Jandol were among the chief events that led up to
the Chitral Campaign of 1895. During that expedition the khan made an
agreement with the British Government to keep the road to Chitral open
in return for a subsidy. Including the Bashkars, an aboriginal tribe
allied to the Torwals and Garhuis, who inhabit Panjkora Kohistan, the
population is estimated at about 100,000.
DIRCE, in Greek legend, daughter of Helios the sun-god, the second wife
of Lycus, king of Thebes. She sorely persecuted Antiope, his first wife,
who escaped to Mount Cithaeron, where her twin sons Amphion and Zethus
were being brought up by a herdsman who was ignorant of their parentage.
Having recognized their mother, the sons avenged her by tying Dirce to
the horns of a wild bull, which dragged her about till she died. Her
body was cast into a spring near Thebes, which was ever afterwards
called by her name. Her punishment is the subject of the famous group
called "The Farnese Bull," by Apollonius and Tauriscus of Tralles, in
the Naples museum (see GREEK ART, Plate I. fig. 51).
DIRECT MOTION, in astronomy, the apparent motion of a body of the solar
system on the celestial sphere in the direction from west to east; so
called because this is the usual direction of revolution and rotation of
the heavenly bodies.
DIRECTORS, in company law, the agents by whom a trading or public
company acts, the company itself being a legal abstraction and unable to
do anything. As joint-stock companies have multiplied and their
enterprise has extended, the position of directors has become one of
increasing influence and importance. It is they who control the colossal
funds now invested in trading companies, and who direct their policy
(for shareholders are seldom more than dividend-drawers). Upon their
uprightness, vigilance and sound judgment depends the welfare of the
greatest part of the trade of the country concerned. It is not to be
wondered at that in view of this influence and independence of action
the law courts have held directors to a strict standard of duty, and
that the parliament of the United Kingdom has singled out directors from
other agents for special legislation in the Directors Liability Act
1890, the Larceny Act 1861, the Companies Act 1867 and the Winding-up
Act 1890.
The first directors of a company are generally appointed by the articles
of association. Their consent to act must now, under the Companies Act
1908, be filed with the registrar of joint-stock companies. Directors
other than the first are elected at the annual general meeting, a
certain proportion of the acting directors--usually one-third--retiring
under the articles by rotation each year, and their places being filled
up by election. A share qualification is nearly always required, on the
well-recognized principle that a substantial stake in the undertaking is
the best guarantee of fidelity to the company's interests. A director
once appointed cannot be removed during his term of office by the
shareholders, unless there is a special provision for that purpose in
the articles of association; but a company may dismiss a director if the
articles--as is usually the case--authorize dismissal. The authority and
powers of directors are prima facie those necessary for carrying on the
ordinary business of the company, but it is usual to define the more
important of such powers in the articles of association. For instance,
it is commonly prescribed how and when the directors may make calls, to
what amount they may borrow, how they may invest the funds of the
company, in what circumstances they may forfeit shares, or veto
transfers, in what manner they shall conduct their proceedings, and what
shall constitute a quorum of the board. Whenever, indeed, specific
directions are desirable they may properly be given by the articles. But
superadded to and supplementing these specific powers there is usually
inserted in the articles a general power of management in terms similar
to those of clause 55 of the model regulations for a company, known as
Table A (clause 71 of the revised Table). The powers, whether general or
specific, thus confided to directors are in the nature of a trust, and
the directors must exercise them with a single eye to the benefit of the
company. For instance, in allotting shares they must consult the
interests of the company, not favour their friends. So in forfeiting
shares they must not use the power collusively for the purpose of
relieving the shareholder from liability. To do so is an abuse of the
power and a fraud on the other shareholders.
It would give a very erroneous idea of the position and functions of
directors to speak of them--as is sometimes done--as trustees. They are
only trustees in the sense that every agent is. They are "commercial men
managing a trading concern for the benefit of themselves and the other
shareholders." They have to carry on the company's business, to extend
and consolidate it, and to do this they must have a free hand and a
large discretion to deal with the exigencies of the commercial
situation. This large discretion the law allows them so long as they
keep within the limits set by the company's memorandum and articles.
They are not to be held liable for mere errors of judgment, still less
for being defrauded. That would make their position intolerable. All
that the law requires of them is that they should be faithful to their
duties as agents--"diligent and honest," to use the words of Sir George
Jessel, formerly master of the rolls. Thus in the matter of diligence it
is a director's duty to attend as far as possible all meetings of the
board; at the same time non-attendance, unless gross, will not amount to
negligence such as to render a director liable for irregularities
committed by his co-directors in his absence. A director again must not
sign cheques without informing himself of the purpose for which they are
given. A director, on the same principle, must not delegate his duties
to others unless expressly authorized to do so, as where the company's
articles empower the directors to appoint a committee. Directors may, it
is true, employ skilled persons, such as engineers, valuers or
accountants, to assist them, but they must still exercise their judgment
as business men on the materials before them. Then in the matter of
honesty, a director must not accept a present in cash or shares or in
any other form whatever from the company's vendor, because such a
present is neither more nor less than a bribe to betray the interests of
the company, nor must he make any profit in the matter of his agency
without the knowledge and consent of his principal, the company. He must
not, in other words, put himself in a position in which his duty to the
company and his own interest conflict or even may conflict. This rule
often comes into play in the case of contracts between a company and a
director. There is nothing in itself invalid in such a contract, but the
onus is on the director if he would keep such a contract to show that
the company assented to his making a profit out of the contract, and for
that purpose he must show that he made full and fair disclosure to the
company of the nature and extent of his interest under the contract. It
is for this reason that when a company's vendor is also a director he
does not join the board until his co-directors have exercised an
independent judgment on the propriety of the purchase.
A director must also bear in mind--what is a fundamental principle of
company management--that the funds of the company are entrusted to the
directors for the objects of the company as defined by the company's
memorandum of association and authorized by the general law, and that
they must not be diverted from those objects or applied to purposes
which are outside the objects of the company, _ultra vires_, as it is
commonly called, or outside the powers of management given by the
shareholders to the directors. This does not abridge the large
discretion allowed to directors in carrying on the business of the
company. The funds embarked in a trading company are intended to be
employed for the acquisition of gain, and risk, greater or less
according to circumstances, is necessarily incidental to such
employment; but it is quite another matter when directors pay dividends
out of capital, or return capital to the shareholders, or spend money of
the company in "rigging" the market, or in buying the company's shares
or paying commission for underwriting the shares of the company except
where such commission is authorized under acts of 1900 and 1907,
incorporated in the Companies Act 1908. Directors who in these or any
other ways misapply the funds of the company are guilty of what is
technically known as "misfeasance" or breach of trust, and all who join
in the misapplication are jointly and severally liable to replace the
sums so misapplied. The remedy of the company for misfeasance, if the
company is a going concern, is by action against the delinquent
directors; but where a company is being wound up, the legislature has,
under the Winding-up Act 1890, provided a summary mode of proceeding, by
which the official receiver or liquidator, or any creditor or
contributory of the company, may take out what is known as a misfeasance
summons, to compel the delinquent director or officer to repay the
misapplied moneys or make compensation. The departmental committee of
the Board of Trade in its report (July 1906) recommended that the court
should be given a discretionary power, analogous to that it already
possesses in the case of trustees under the Judicial Trustees Act 1896,
s. 3, to relieve a director (or a promoter) in certain cases from
liability. This recommendation has been given effect to by s. 279 of the
Companies Act 1908, which provides that, "If in any proceeding against a
director of a company for negligence or breach of trust it appears to a
court that the director is or may be liable in respect of the negligence
or breach of trust, but has acted honestly and reasonably and ought
fairly to be excused for the negligence or breach of trust, the court
may relieve him either wholly or partly from his liability on such terms
as the court may think proper."
Directors who circulate a prospectus containing statements which they
know to be false, with intent to induce any person to become a
shareholder, may be prosecuted under § 84 of the Larceny Act 1861. They
are also liable criminally for falsification of the company's books, and
for this or any other criminal offence the court in winding up may, on
the application of the liquidator, direct a prosecution. As to the
liability of directors for statements or omissions in a prospectus see
COMPANY.
In managing the affairs of the company directors must meet together and
act as a body, for the company is entitled to their collective wisdom in
council assembled. Board meetings are held at such intervals as the
directors think expedient. Notice of the meeting must be given to all
directors who are within reach, but the notice need not specify the
particular business to be transacted. The articles usually fix, or give
the directors power to fix, what number shall constitute a quorum for a
board meeting. They also empower the directors to elect a chairman of
the board. The directors exercise their powers by a resolution of the
board which is recorded in the directors' minute-book.
The court will not as a rule interfere with the discretion of directors
honestly exercised in the management of the affairs of the company. The
directors have prima facie the confidence of the shareholders, and it is
not for the court to say that such confidence is misplaced. If the
stockholders are dissatisfied with the management the remedy is in their
own hands--they can call a meeting and elect a new board.
A company's articles usually provide for the payment of a certain sum to
each director for his services during the year. When this is the case it
is an authority to the directors to pay themselves the amount of such
remuneration. The remuneration, unless otherwise expressly provided,
covers all expenses incidental to the directors' duties. A director, for
instance, cannot claim to be paid in addition to his fixed remuneration
his travelling expenses for attending board meetings.
When a company winds up, the directors' powers of management come to an
end. Their agency is superseded in favour of that of the liquidator.
(E. MA.)
DIRECTORY, a term meaning literally that which guides or directs, and so
applied to a book or set of rules giving directions for public worship.
The _directorium_ or _ordo_ of the Roman Church contains regulations as
to the Mass and office to be used on each day throughout the year, and
the word is found in the _Directory for the Publick Worship of God_
drawn up in 1644 at the Westminster Assembly. The term now usually
signifies a book containing the names, addresses and occupations, &c. of
the inhabitants of a town or district, or of a similar list of the users
of a telephone supply, or of the members of a particular profession or
trade. The name _Directoire_ or Directory was given to the body which
held the executive power in France from October 1795 until November 1799
(see FRENCH REVOLUTION).
DIRGE, a song or hymn of mourning, particularly one sung at funerals or
at a Service in commemoration of the dead. It is derived from the first
word of the antiphon _"Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam
meam"_ (Guide, O Lord, my God, my way in Thy sight), of the opening
psalm in the office for the dead in the Roman Church. The antiphon is
adapted from verse 8 of Psalm v.
DIRK, a dagger, particularly the heavy dagger carried by the Highlanders
of Scotland. The dirk as worn in full Highland costume is an elaborately
ornamented weapon, with cairngorms or other stones set in the head of
the handle, which has no guard. Inserted in the sheath there may be two
small knives. The dirk, in the shape of a straight blade, with a small
guard, some 18 in. long, is worn by midshipmen in the British navy. The
origin of the word is doubtful. The earlier forms were _dork_ and
_durk_, and the spelling _dirk_, adopted by Johnson, represents the
pronunciation of the second form. The name seems to have been early
applied to the daggers of the Highlanders, but the Gaelic word is
_biodag_, and the Irish _duirc_, often stated to be the origin, is only
an adaptation of the English word. It may be a corruption of the German
_Dolch_, a dagger. The suggestion that it is an application of the
Christian name "Dirk," the short form of "Dieterich," is not borne out,
according to the _New English Dictionary_, by any use of this name for a
dagger, and is further disproved by the earlier English spelling.
DIRSCHAU, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Prussia, province of West
Prussia, on the left bank of the Vistula, 20 m. S. from Danzig and at
the junction of the important lines of railway Berlin-Königsberg and
Danzig-Bromberg. Pop. (1905) 14,185. It has a Roman Catholic and a
Protestant church and several schools. The river is here crossed by two
fine iron bridges. The older structure dating from the year 1857,
originally used for the railway, is now given up to road traffic, and
the railway carried by a new bridge completed in 1891. Dirschau has
railway workshops and manufactories of sugar, agricultural implements
and cement. During the war with Poland, Gustavus Adolphus made it his
headquarters for many months after its capture in 1626.
DISABILITY, a term meaning, in general, want of ability, and used in law
to denote an incapacity in certain persons or classes of persons for the
full enjoyment of duties or privileges, which, but for their
disqualification, would be open to them; hence, legal disqualification.
Thus, married women, persons under age, insane persons, convicted felons
are under disability to do certain legal acts. This disability may be
absolute, wholly disabling the person so long as it continues, or
partial, ceasing on discontinuation of the disabling state, as
attainment of full age.
DISCHARGE (adapted from the O. Fr. _descharge_, modern _décharge_, from
a med. Lat. _discargare_, to unload, _dis-_ and _carricare_, to load,
cf. "charge"), a word meaning relief from a load or burden, hence
applied to the unloading of a ship, the firing of a weapon, the passage
of electricity from an electrified body, the issue from a wound, &c.
From the sense of relief from an obligation, "discharge" is also applied
to the release of a soldier or sailor from military or naval service, or
of the crew of a merchant vessel, or to the dismissal from an office or
situation. In law, it is used of a document or other evidence that can
be accepted as proof of the release from an obligation, as of a receipt,
on payment of money due. Similarly it is applied to the release in
accordance with law of a person in custody on a criminal charge, and to
the legal release of a bankrupt from further liability for debts
provable in the bankruptcy except those incurred by fraud or debts to
the crown. It is also applied to the reversal of an order of a court. In
the case of divorce, where the rule _nisi_ is not made absolute, the
rule is said to be discharged.
DISCHARGING ARCH, in architecture, an arch built over a lintel or
architrave to take off the superincumbent weight. The earliest example
is found in the Great Pyramid, over the lintels of the entrance passage
to the tomb: it consisted of two stones only, resting one against the
other. The same object was attained in the Lion Gate and the tomb of
Agamemnon, both in Mycenae, and in other examples in Greece, where the
stones laid in horizontal courses, one projecting over the other, left a
triangular hollow space above the lintel of the door, which was
subsequently filled in by vertical sculptured stone panels. The Romans
frequently employed the discharging arch, and inside the portico of the
Pantheon the architraves have such arches over them. In the Golden
Gateway of the palace of Diocletian at Spalato the discharging arches,
semicircular in form, were adopted as architectural features and
decorated with mouldings. The same is found in the synagogues in
Palestine of the 2nd century; and later, in Byzantine architecture,
these moulded archivolts above an architrave constitute one of the
characteristics of the style. In the early Christian churches in Rome,
where a colonnade divided off the nave and aisles, discharging arches
are turned in the frieze just above the architraves.
DISCIPLE, properly a pupil, scholar (Lat. _discipulus_, from _discere_,
to learn, and root seen in _pupillus_), but chiefly used of the personal
followers of Jesus Christ, including the inner circle of the Apostles
(q.v.).
DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, or CHRISTIANS, an American Protestant denomination,
founded by Thomas Campbell, his son Alexander Campbell (q.v.) and Barton
Warren Stone (1772-1844). Stone had been a Presbyterian minister
prominent in the Kentucky revival of 1801, but had been turned against
sectarianism and ecclesiastical authority because the synod had
condemned Richard McNemar, one of his colleagues in the revival, for
preaching (as Stone himself had done) counter to the Westminster
Confession, on faith and the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion. He
had organized the Springfield Presbytery, but in 1804 with his five
fellow ministers signed "The Last Will and Testament of the Springfield
Presbytery," giving up that name and calling themselves "Christians."
Like Stone, Alexander Campbell had adopted (in 1812) immersion, and,
like him, his two great desires were for Christian unity and the
restoration of the ancient order of things. But the Campbellite
doctrines differed widely from the hyper-Calvinism of the Baptists whom
they had joined in 1813, especially on the points on which Stone had
quarrelled with the Presbyterians; and after various local breaks in
1825-1830, when there were large additions to the Restorationists from
the Baptist ranks, especially under the apostolic fervour and
simplicity of the preaching of Walter Scott (1796-1861), in 1832 the
Reformers were practically all ruled out of the Baptist communion. The
Campbells gradually lost sight of Christian unity, owing to the
unfortunate experience with the Baptists and to the tone taken by those
clergymen who had met them in debates; and for the sake of Christian
union it was peculiarly fortunate that in January 1832 at Lexington,
Kentucky, the followers of the Campbells and those of Stone (who had
stressed union more than primitive Christianity) united. Campbell
objected to the name "Christians" as sectarianized by Stone, but
"Disciples" never drove out of use the name "Christians."
During the Civil War the denomination escaped an actual scission by
following the neutral views of Campbell, who opposed slavery, war and
abolition. In 1849 the American Christian Missionary Society was formed;
it was immediately attacked as a "human innovation," unwarranted by the
New Testament, by literalists led in later years by Benjamin Franklin
(secretary of the missionary society in 1857), who opposed all church
music also. Isaac Errett (1820-1888) was the most prominent leader of
the progressive party, which was considered corrupt and worldly by the
literalists, many of whom, in spite of his efforts, broke off from the
main body, especially in Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas and
Texas.
The main body appointed in 1890 a standing committee on Christian union;
their aim in this respect is not for absorption, as was clearly shown by
their answer in 1887 to overtures from the Protestant Episcopal Church
regarding Christian unity. The credal position of the Disciples is
simple: great stress is put upon the phrase "the Christ, the Son of the
living God," and upon the recognition by Jesus of this confession as the
foundation of His church; as to baptism, agreement with Baptists is only
as to the mode, immersion; this is considered "the primitive confession
of Christ and a gracious token of salvation," and as being "for the
remission of sins"; the Disciples generally deny the authority over
Christians of the Old Covenant, and Alexander Campbell in particular
held this view so forcibly that he was accused by Baptists of "throwing
away the Old Testament." The Lord's Supper is celebrated every Sunday,
the bread being broken by the communicants. The Disciples are not
Unitarian in fact or tendency, but they urge the use of simple New
Testament phraseology as to the Godhead. Their church government is
congregational.
The growth of the denomination has been greatest in the states along
the Ohio river, whence they have spread throughout the Union. In 1908
there were 6673 ministers and 1,285,123 communicants in the United
States. There are churches in Canada, in Great Britain and in
Australia. Bethany College, at Bethany, West Virginia, was chartered
in 1840, and Alexander Campbell, who had founded it as Buffalo
Seminary, was its president until his death in 1866; other colleges
founded by the sect are: Kentucky University, Lexington, Ky.; Hiram
College, Hiram, Ohio (1850, until 1867 known as Western Reserve
Eclectic Institute); Butler College, Indianapolis, Indiana (1855);
Christian University, Canton, Missouri (1851; coeducational); Eureka
College, in Woodford county, Illinois (1855; coeducational); Union
Christian College, Merom, Ind. (1859); Texas Christian University,
Waco, Texas (1873, founded as Add Ran College at Thorpe's Springs,
removing to Waco in 1895); Drake University, Des Moines, Iowa (1881);
Milligan College, Milligan, Tennessee (1882); Defiance College,
Defiance, O. (1885); Cotner University, Lincoln, Nebraska (1889); Elon
College, Elon, North Carolina (1890); American University, Harriman,
Tenn. (1893); the Virginia Christian College, Lynchburg, Virginia
(1903), and for negroes, the Southern Christian Institute, Edwards,
Mississippi (1877), and the Christian Bible College, Newcastle, Henry
County, Ky. Theological seminaries are the Berkeley Bible Seminary,
Berkeley, California (1896); the Disciples' Divinity House, Chicago,
Ill. (1894); and the Eugene Divinity School, Eugene, Oregon (1895).
"Bible chairs" were established in state universities and elsewhere by
the Disciples,--at the University of Michigan (1893), at the
University of Virginia (1899), at the University of Calcutta (1900)
and at the University of Kansas (1901). The denomination has
publishing houses in Cincinnati, St Louis, Louisville and Nashville.
See Errett Gates's _History of the Disciples of Christ_ (New York,
1905), in "The Story of the Churches" series, and his _Early Relation
and Separation of Baptists and Disciples_ (Chicago, 1904), a
University of Chicago doctoral thesis; and B. B. Tyler's _History of
the Disciples of Christ_ in vol. xii. of "The American Church History
Series" (New York, 1894).
DISCLAIMER, a renunciation, denial or refusal; a disavowal of claims. In
law the term is used more particularly in the following senses:--(1) In
the law of landlord and tenant, the direct repudiation of that relation
by some act on the part of the tenant. A disclaimer may be verbal or
written, but in such case it must be something more than a mere
renunciation of the tenant's title, or it may be an act which is wholly
inconsistent with the existence of such relation, as the setting up by
the tenant of a distinct title either in himself or some third party.
(2) In the law of bankruptcy, where any part of the property of a
bankrupt consists of land of any tenure burdened with onerous covenants,
of stocks or shares in companies, of unprofitable contracts, or of any
property that is unsaleable, or not readily saleable, by reason of its
binding the possessor to the performance of any onerous act, the
trustee, notwithstanding that he has endeavoured to sell or has taken
possession of the property, or exercised any act of ownership in
relation to it, may, subject to certain provisions, by writing signed by
him, at any time within twelve months after the first appointment of a
trustee, "disclaim" the property (see BANKRUPTCY). (3) In the law of
trusts, disclaimer is the refusal or renunciation of the office or
duties of a trustee. It is an undisputed rule that no one is compellable
to undertake a trust, so that as soon as a person knows he has been
appointed a trustee under some instrument, he should determine whether
he will accept the office or not. Disclaimer of trust should be by deed,
as admitting of no ambiguity, but it may be by conveyance to other
accepting trustees, or orally, or by written declaration, or even by
conduct. (4) In the law of patents, disclaimer is the renunciation, by
amendment of specifications, of the portion of an inventor's claim to
protection.
DISCOUNT. (1) A money-market term for the price paid in order to obtain
immediate realization of a bill not yet due. If a bill for £100 due six
months hence is discounted at the rate of 3% per annum, its holder will
obtain £98, 10s. in cash for it. (2) A Stock-Exchange term applied to a
security, not fully paid, which has fallen below its issue price, and so
is said to stand at so much discount. See PREMIUM.
DISCOVERY, in law, the revealing or disclosing of any matter. The
English common law courts were originally unable to compel a litigant
before a trial to disclose the facts and documents on which he relied.
In equity, however, a different rule prevailed, there being an absolute
right to discovery of all material facts on which a case was founded.
Now the practice is regulated by the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1883,
Order 31. Discovery is of two kinds, namely, by interrogatories and by
affidavit of documents, provision being also made for the production and
inspection of documents. Where a party to a suit can make an affidavit
stating that in his belief certain specified documents are or have been
in the possession of some other party, the court may make an order that
such party state on affidavit whether he has or ever had any of those
documents in his possession, or if he has parted with them or what has
become of them. A further application may then be made by notice to the
party who has admitted possession of the documents for production and
inspection. Copies also may be taken of the more important documents.
There is also discovery of facts obtained by means of interrogatories,
i.e. written questions addressed on behalf of one party, before trial,
to the other party, who is bound to answer them in writing upon oath. In
order to prevent needless expense the party seeking discovery must first
secure the cost of it by paying into court a sum of money, generally not
less than five pounds. See also EVIDENCE.
DISCUS (Gr. [Greek: diskos], disk), a circular plate of stone, later of
metal, which was used by the ancient Greeks for throwing to a distance
as a gymnastic exercise. Judging from specimens found by excavators, the
ancient discus was about 8 or 9 in. in diameter and weighed from 4 to 5
lb., although one of bronze, preserved in the British Museum, weighs
over 8 lb. Sometimes a kind of quoit, spherical in form, was used,
through a hole in which a thong was passed to assist the athlete in
throwing it. The sport of throwing the discus was common in the time of
Homer, who mentions it repeatedly. It formed a part of the _pentathlon_,
or quintuple games, in the ancient Olympic Games. Statius, in _Thebais_,
646-721, fully describes the use of the discus. In the British Museum
there is a restored copy of a statue by Myron (see GREEK ART, Plate IV.
fig. 68) of a discus-thrower (_discobolus_) in the act of hurling the
missile; but the investigations of N. E. Norman Gardiner show that a
wrong attitude has been adopted by the restorer.
Throwing the discus was introduced as an event in modern athletics at
the revived Olympic Games, first held at Athens in 1896, and since that
time it has become a recognized event in the athletic championship
meetings of several European nations, as well as in the United States,
where it has become very popular. According to the American rules the
discus must be of a smooth, hard-wood body without finger-holes,
weighted in the centre with lead disks and capped with polished brass
disks, with a steel ring on the outside. Its weight must be 4½ lb., its
outside diameter 8 in. and its thickness at the centre 2 in. It must be
thrown from a 7-ft. circle, which may not be overstepped in throwing,
and the throw is measured from the spot where the discus first strikes
the ground to the point in the circumference of the circle on a line
between the centre and the point of striking.
DISINFECTANTS, substances employed to neutralize the action of
pathogenic organisms, and prevent the spread of contagious or infectious
disease. The efficiency of any disinfectant is due to its power of
destroying, or of rendering inert, specific poisons or disease germs.
Therefore antiseptic substances generally are to this extent
disinfectants. So also the deodorizers, which act by oxidizing or
otherwise changing the chemical constitution of volatile substances
disseminated in the air, or which prevent noxious exhalations from
organic substances, are in virtue of these properties effective
disinfectants in certain diseases. A knowledge of the value of
disinfectants, and the use of some of the most valuable agents, can be
traced to very remote times; and much of the Levitical law of cleansing,
as well as the origin of numerous heathen ceremonial practices, are
clearly based on a perception of the value of disinfection. The means of
disinfection, and the substances employed, are very numerous, as are the
classes and conditions of disease and contagion they are designed to
meet. Nature, in the oxidizing influence of freely circulating
atmospheric air, in the purifying effect of water, and in the powerful
deodorizing properties of common earth, has provided the most potent
ever-present and acting disinfecting media. Of the artificial
disinfectants employed or available three classes may be
recognized:--1st, volatile or vaporizable substances, which attack
impurities in the air; 2nd, chemical agents, for acting on the diseased
body or on the infectious discharges therefrom; and 3rd, the physical
agencies of heat and cold. In some of these cases the destruction of the
contagium is effected by the formation of new chemical compounds, by
oxidation, deoxidation or other reaction, and in others the conditions
favourable to life are removed or life is destroyed by high temperature.
Among the first class, aerial or gaseous disinfectants, formic aldehyde
has of late years taken foremost place. The vapour is a powerful
disinfectant and deodorant, and for the surface disinfection of rooms,
fulfils all requirements when used in sufficient amount. It acts more
rapidly than equal quantities of sulphurous acid, and it does not affect
colours. It is non-poisonous, though irritating to the eyes and throat.
With the exception of iron and steel it does not attack metals. It can
be obtained in paraform tabloids, and with a specially constructed
spirit lamp disinfection can be carried out by any one. Twenty tabloids
must be employed for every 1000 cubic ft. of space. Disinfection by
sulphurous acid fumes is of great antiquity, and is still in very
general use; for the purpose of destroying vermin it is more powerful
than formic aldehyde. Camphor and some volatile oils have also been
employed as air disinfectants, but their virtues lie chiefly in masking,
not destroying, noxious effluvia. In the 2nd class--non-gaseous
disinfecting compounds--all the numerous antiseptic substances may be
reckoned; but the substances principally employed in practice are
oxidizing agents, as potassium manganates and permanganates, "Condy's
fluid," and solutions of the so-called "chlorides of lime," soda and
potash, with the chlorides of aluminium and zinc, soluble sulphates and
sulphites, solutions of sulphurous acid, and the tar products--carbolic,
cresylic and salicylic acids. Of the physical agents heat and cold, the
latter, though a powerful natural disinfectant, is not practically
available by artificial means; heat is a power chiefly relied on for
purifying and disinfecting clothes, bedding and textile substances
generally. Different degrees of temperature are required for the
destruction of the virus of various diseases; but as clothing, &c., can
be exposed to a heat of about 250° Fahr. without injury, provision is
made for submitting articles to nearly that temperature. For the
thorough disinfection of a sick-room the employment of all three classes
of disinfectants, for purifying the air, for destroying the virus at its
point of origin, and for cleansing clothing, &c., may be required.
DISMAL, an adjective meaning dreary, gloomy, and so a name given to
stretches of swampy land on the east coast of the United States, as the
Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina. The derivation has been
much discussed. In the early examples of the use the word is a
substantive, especially in the expression "in the dismal," i.e. in the
dismal time or days. Later it became adjectival, especially in
combination with "days." It has been connected with "decimal," med.
Latin _decimalis_, belonging to a tithe or tenth, and thus the "dismal
days" are the unpleasant days connected with the extortion and
oppression of exacting payment of tithes. According to the _New English
Dictionary_, quoting Professor W. W. Skeat, "dismal" is derived, through
an Anglo-Fr. _dis mal_, from the Lat. _dies mali_, evil or unpropitious
days. This Anglo-French expression, explained as _les mal jours_, is
found in a MS. of Rauf de Linham's _Art de Kalender_, 1256. These days
of evil omen were known as _Dies Aegyptiaci_ (Du Cange, _Glossarium_,
s.v.) or Egyptian days, either as having been instituted by Egyptian
astrologers or with reference to the "ten plagues"; so Chaucer, "I trowe
hit was in the dismal, That were the ten woundes of Egipte" (_Book of
the Duchesse_, 1206). There were two such days in each month.
See Skeat, Trans. _Philol. Soc._ (1888), p. 2, and note on the line in
the "Book of the Duchesse," _The Complete Works of Geoffrey Chaucer_,
vol. i. (1894).
DISORDERLY HOUSE, in law, a house in which the conduct of its inmates is
such as to become a public nuisance, or a house where persons congregate
to the probable disturbance of the public peace or other commission of
crime. In England, by the Disorderly Houses Act 1751, the term includes
common bawdy houses or brothels,[1] common gaming houses, common betting
houses and disorderly places of entertainment. The keeping of such is a
misdemeanour punishable by fine or imprisonment, and in the case of a
brothel also punishable on summary conviction by the Criminal Law
Amendment Act 1885; the letting out for gain for indiscriminate
prostitution of a room or rooms in a house will make it as much a
brothel in law as if the whole house were let out for the purpose.
Where, however, a woman occupies a house or room which is frequented by
men for the purpose of committing fornication with her, she cannot be
convicted of keeping a disorderly house. See also PROSTITUTION.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The etymology of this word has been confused by the early
adoption into English usage of the O. Fr. _bordel_. The two words are
in origin quite distinct. Brothel is an O. Eng. word for a person,
not a place. It meant an abandoned vagabond, one who had gone to ruin
(_abréothan_). _Bordel_, on the contrary, is a place, literally a
small hut or shelter, especially for fornication, Med. Lat.
_bordellum_, diminutive of the Late Lat. _borda_, board. The words
were early confused, and brothel-house, bordel-house, bordel or
brothel, are all used for a disorderly house, while bordel was
similarly misused, and, like brothel in its proper meaning, was
applied to a disorderly person.
DISPATCH, or DESPATCH, to send off immediately, or by express;
particularly in the case of the sending of official messages, or of the
immediate sending of troops to their destination, or the like. The word
is thus used as a substantive of written official reports of events,
battles and the like, sent by ambassadors, generals, &c., by means of a
special messenger, or of express correspondence generally. From the
primary meaning of the prompt sending of a message, &c., the word is
used of the quick disposal of business, or of the disposal of a person
by violence; hence the word means to execute or murder. The etymology of
the word has been obscured by the connexion with the Fr. _dépêcher_, and
_dépêche_, which are in meaning the equivalents of the Eng. verb and
substantive. The Fr. word is made up of the prefix _de-_, Lat. _dis-_,
and the root which appears in _empêcher_, to embarrass, and means
literally to disentangle. The Lat. origin of _dépêcher_ and _empêcher_
is a Low Lat. _pedicare_, _pedica_, a fetter. The Fr. word came into
Eng. as _depeach_, which was in use from the 15th century until
"despatch" was introduced. This word is certainly direct from the Ital.
_dispacciare_, or Span, _despachar_, which must be derived from the Lat.
root appearing in _pactus_, fixed, fastened, from _pangere_. The _New
English Dictionary_ finds the earliest instance of "dispatch" in a
letter to Henry VIII. from Bishop Tunstall, commissioner to Spain in
1516-1517.
DISPENSATION, a term with two main applications, (1) to the action of
administering, arranging or dealing out, and (2) to the action of
allowing certain things, rules, &c., to be done away with, relaxed. Of
these two meanings the first is to be derived from the classical Latin
use of _dispensare_, literally, to weigh out, hence to distribute,
especially of the orderly arrangement of a household by a steward; thus
_dispensatio_ was, in theology, the word chosen to translate the Greek
[Greek: oikonomia], economy, i.e. divine or religious systems, as in the
Jewish, Mosaic, Christian dispensations. Dispensation in law is,
strictly speaking, the suspension by competent authority of general
rules of law in particular cases. Its object is to modify the hardships
often arising from the rigorous application of general laws to
particular cases, and its essence is to preserve the law by suspending
its operation, i.e. making it non-existent, in such cases. It follows,
then, that dispensation, in its strict sense, is anticipative, i.e. it
does not absolve from the consequences of a legal obligation already
contracted, but avoids a breach of the law by suspending the obligation
to conform to it, e.g. a dispensation or licence to marry within the
prohibited degrees, or to hold benefices in plurality. The term is,
however, frequently used of the power claimed and exercised by the
supreme legislative authority of altering or abrogating in particular
cases conditions established under the existing law and of releasing
individuals from obligations incurred under it, e.g. dispensations
granted by the pope _ex plenitudine potestatis_ from the obligation of
celibacy, from religious and other vows, from _matrimonium ratum_, _non
consummatum_, &c.
1. _Ecclesiastical Law._--In the theory of the canon law the dispensing
power is the corollary of the legislative, the authority that makes
laws, and no other, having power to suspend them. It follows that the
law of nature (_jus naturae_) and _a fortiori_ the law of God (_jus
divinum_) are not subject to dispensation of any earthly authority, and
that it is only the disciplinary laws made by the Church that the Church
is empowered to suspend or to abrogate. Thus, not even the pope could
grant a dispensation for a marriage between persons related in the
direct line of ascent or descent, e.g. father and daughter, or between
brother and sister, while dispensations are granted for marriages within
other prohibited degrees, e.g. uncle and niece.
The dispensing power, like the legislative authority, was formerly
invested in general councils and even in provincial synods; but in the
West, with the gradual centralization of authority at Rome, it became
ultimately vested in the pope as the supreme lawgiver of the Church.
Subject, however, to the supreme jurisdiction of the pope, the power of
dispensation continued to reside in the other organs of the Church in
exact proportion to their legislative capacities, i.e. in provincial
synods in respect of regional rules laid down by them, and in bishops in
respect of rules laid down by them for their dioceses. According to Du
Cange, the earliest record of the use of the word _dispensatio_ in this
connexion is in the letter of Pope Gelasius I. of the 11th of March 494,
to the bishops of Lucania (in Jaffé, _Reg. Pont. Rom._, ed. 2, tom. i.
no. 636): necessaria rerum Dispensatione constringimur, ... sic canonum
paternorum decreta librare, ... ut quae praesentium necessitas temporum
restaurandis Ecclesiis relaxanda deposcit, adhibita consideratione
diligenti, quantum fieri potest temperemus.[1] Dispensations from the
observance of traditional rules were, however, during the early
centuries exceedingly rare, and there are more instances of the popes
repudiating than of their exercising the power to grant them. Thus
Celestine I. (d. 432) wrote: "The rules govern us, not we the rules: we
are subject to the canons, since we are the servants of the precepts of
the canons" (_Epist. 3 ad Episcopos Illyrici_); and Pope Zozimus wrote
even more strongly: "This see possesses no authority to make any
concession or change; for with us abides antiquity firmly rooted
(_inconvulsis radicibus_), reverence for which the decrees of the
Fathers enjoined." As time went on, however, and the Church expanded,
this rigidly conservative attitude proved impossible to maintain, and
the principle of "tempering" the law when forced to do so "by the
exigencies of affairs or of the times" (_rerum vel temporum angustia_),
as laid down by Gelasius, was adopted into the canon law itself. The
principle was, of course, singularly open to abuse. In theory it was
laid down from the first that dispensations were only to be granted in
cases of urgent necessity and in the highest interests of the Church; in
practice, from the 11th century onwards, the power of dispensation was
used by the popes as one of the most potent instruments for extending
their influence. Dispensations to hold benefices in plurality formed,
with provisions and the papal claim to the right of direct appointment,
a powerful means for extending the patronage of the Holy See and
therefore its hold over the clergy, and from the 13th century onwards
this abuse assumed vast proportions (Hinschius iii. p. 250). Even more
scandalous was the almost unrestrained traffic in licences and
dispensations at Rome, which grew up, at least as early as the 14th
century, owing to the fees charged for such dispensations having come to
be regarded by the Curia as a regular source of revenue (Woker, _Das
kirchliche Finanzwesen der Päpste_, Nördlingen, 1878, pp. 75, 160). Loud
complaints of these abuses were raised in the reforming councils of
Constance and Basel in the 15th century, but nothing was done
effectually to check them.
The actual practice of the Roman Catholic Church is based upon the
decisions of the council of Trent, which left the medieval theory intact
while endeavouring to guard against its abuses. The proposal put forward
by the Gallican and Spanish bishops to subordinate the papal power of
dispensation to the consent of the Church in general council was
rejected, and even the canons of the council of Trent itself, in so far
as they affected reformation of morals or ecclesiastical discipline,
were decreed "saving the authority of the Holy See" (_Sess._ xxv. cap.
21, de ref.). At the same time it was laid down in respect of all
dispensations, whether papal or other, that they were to be granted only
for just and urgent causes, or in view of some decided benefit to the
Church (urgens justaque causa et major quandoque utilitas), and in all
cases _gratis_. The payment of money for a dispensation was _ipso facto_
to make the dispensation void (_Sess._ xxv. cap. 18, de ref.).
Though verbal dispensations are valid, papal dispensations are given in
writing. Before the constitution _Sapienti_ of Pius X. (1908) all
dispensations in _foro externo_, especially in matrimonial causes, were
dealt with by the Dataria Apostolica, those _in foro interno_ by the
Penitentiary, which latter also possessed _in foro externo_ the right to
grant dispensations in matrimonial causes to poor people. Since 1908 the
Dataria only deals with dispensations in matters concerning benefices,
dispensations in matrimonial matters having been transferred to the new
Congregation on the discipline of the sacraments (see CURIA ROMANA).
The regular form of dispensation is the _forma commissaria_ (_Trid.
Sess._ xxii. cap. 5, de ref.), i.e. a mandate to the bishop to grant the
dispensation, after due inquiry, in the pope's name. In exceptional
cases, e.g. sovereigns or bishops, the dispensation is sent direct to
the petitioner (_forma gratiosa_). Dispensations are nominally
gratuitous; but the officials are entitled to fees for drawing them up,
and there are customary "compositions" (_compositiones_) which are
destined for charitable objects in Rome. These fees were and are
regulated according to the capacity of the petitioners to pay, the
result being that the abuses which the council of Trent had sought to
abolish continued to flourish. In the 17th century a specially
privileged class of bankers (_banquiers expéditionnaires_) existed at
Rome whose sole business was obtaining dispensations on commission, and
one of these, named Pelletier, published at Paris in 1677, under the
royal _imprimatur_, a regular tariff of the sums for which in any given
case a dispensation might be obtained. That the "urgent and just cause"
was, in the circumstances, a very minor consideration was to be
expected, and the enlightened pope Benedict XIV., himself a canon lawyer
of eminence, complained "Dispensationem non raro concedi in Dataria,
sine causa, nempe ob eleemosynam quae praestatur" (Inst. 87, No. 26). It
may be added that the worst abuses of this system have long since
disappeared. The bishops have their own correspondents at Rome, and one
of the duties of the diplomatic representatives of foreign states at the
Curia is to see that their nationals receive their dispensations without
overcharge.
Bishops are by right (_jure ordinario_) competent to dispense in all
cases expressly reserved to them by the canon law, e.g. in the matter of
publication of banns of marriage. They possess besides special powers
delegated to them by the pope and renewed every five years (_facultates
quinquennales_), or by virtue of faculties granted to them personally
(_facultates extraordinariae_), e.g. to dispense from rules of
abstinence, from simple vows, and with some exceptions from the
prohibition of marriage within prohibited degrees.
_Church of England._--By 25 Henry VIII. cap. 21. sec 2 (1534), it was
enacted that neither the king, his successors, nor any of his subjects
should henceforth sue for licences, dispensations, &c., to the see of
Rome, and that the power to issue such licences, dispensations, &c.,
"for causes not being contrary or repugnant to the Holy Scriptures and
laws of God," should be vested in the archbishop of Canterbury for the
time being, who at his own discretion was to issue such dispensations,
&c., under his seal, to the king and his subjects. The power of
dispensation thus vested in the archbishops partly fell obsolete, partly
has been curtailed by subsequent statutes, e.g. the Pluralities Act of
1838. It is now confined to granting dispensations for holding two
benefices at once, to issuing licences for non-residence, and in
matrimonial cases to the issuing of special licences. The dispensing
power of bishops in the Church of England survives only in the right to
grant marriage licences, i.e. dispensations from the obligation to
publish the banns. Though, however, these licences and dispensations are
given under the archiepiscopal and episcopal seals, they are actually
issued by the commissaries of faculties and vicars-general
(chancellors), independently, in virtue of the powers conferred on them
by their patents. This has led, since the passing of the Divorce Acts
and the Marriage with a Deceased Wife's Sister Act, to a curiously
anomalous position, licences for the remarriage of divorced persons
having been issued under the bishop's seal, while the bishop himself
publicly protested that such marriages were contrary to "the law of
God," but that he himself had no power to prevent his chancellor
licensing them.
See Hinschius, _Kirchenrecht_ (Berlin, 1883), iii. 250, &c.; article
"Dispensation" by Hinschius in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_
(Leipzig, 1898); article "Dispensation" in Wetzer and Welte's
_Kirchenlexikon_ (2nd ed. Freiburg im Breisgau, 1882-1901); F.
Lichtenberger, _Encyclopédie des sciences religieuses_ (Paris, 1878),
s.v. "Dispense"; Phillimore, _Eccl. Law_.
2. _Constitutional Law._--The power of dispensation from the operation
of the ordinary law in particular cases is, of course, everywhere
inherent in the supreme legislative authority, however rarely it may be
exercised. Divorce (in Ireland) by act of parliament may be taken as an
example which still actually occurs. On the other hand, the dispensing
power once vested in the crown in England is now merely of historical
interest, though of great importance in the constitutional struggles of
the past. This power possessed by the crown of dispensing with the
statute law is said to have been copied from the dispensations or non
obstante clauses granted by the popes in matters of canon law; the
parallel between them is certainly very striking, and there can be no
doubt that the principles of the canon law influenced the decisions of
the courts in the matter. It was, for instance, very generally laid down
that the king could by dispensation make it lawful to do what was _malum
prohibitum_ but not to do what was _malum in se_, a principle of the
canon law, but one difficult to reconcile with English legal principles,
since no act is legally _malum_ unless forbidden by law. This was
pointed out by Chief Justice Vaughan in the celebrated judgment in the
case of _Thomas_ v. _Sorrell_, when he rejected the distinction between
_mala in se_ and _mala prohibita_ as confusing, and attempted to define
the dispensing power of the crown by limiting it to cases of individual
breaches of penal statutes where no third party loses a right of action,
and where the breach is not continuous, at the same time denying the
power of the crown to dispense with any general penal law. This
judgment, as Sir William Anson points out, only showed the extreme
difficulty of limiting the power ascribed to the crown, a standing
grievance from the time that parliament had risen to be a constituent
part of the state. So long as the legal principle by which the law was
"the king's law" survived there was in fact no theoretical basis for
such limitation, and the matter resolved itself into one of the great
constitutional questions between crown and parliament which issued in
the Revolution of 1688. The supreme crisis came owing to the use made by
James II. of the dispensing power. His action in dispensing with the
Test Act, in order to enable Roman Catholics to hold office under the
crown, was supported by the courts in the test case of _Godden_ v.
_Hales_, but it made the Revolution inevitable. By the Bill of Rights
the exercise of the dispensing power was forbidden, except as might be
permitted by statute. At the same time the legality of its exercise in
the past was admitted by the clause maintaining the validity of
dispensations granted in a certain form before the 23rd of October 1689.
See Anson, _Law and Custom of the Constitution_, part i. "Parliament,"
3rd ed. pp. 311-319; F. W. Maitland, _Const. Hist. of England_
(Cambridge, 1908), pp. 302, &c.; Stubbs, _Const. Hist._ ss. 290, 291.
(W. A. P.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] In this quotation the word _dispensatio_ still has its meaning of
"economy": "we are bound by the necessary economy of things."
Possibly its use by the pope in this connexion may have led to the
technical meaning of the word _dispensatio_ in the medieval canon
law.
DISPERSION (from Lat. _dispergere_, to scatter), the act or process of
separation and distribution. Apart from the technical use of the term,
especially in optics (see below), the expression particularly applied to
the settlements of Jews in foreign countries outside Palestine. These
were either voluntary, for purposes of trade and commerce, or the
results of conquest, such as the captivities of Assyria and Babylonia.
The word _diaspora_ (Gr. [Greek: diaspora]) is also used of these
scattered communities, but is usually confined to the dispersion among
the Hellenic and Roman peoples, or to the body of Christian Jews outside
Palestine (see JEWS).
DISPERSION, in OPTICS. When a beam of light which is not homogeneous in
character, i.e. which does not consist of simple vibrations of a
definite wave-length, undergoes refraction at the surface of any
transparent medium, the different colours corresponding to the different
wave-lengths become separated or _dispersed_. Thus, if a ray of white
light AO (fig. 1) enters obliquely into the surface of a block of glass
at O, it gives rise to the divergent system of rays ORV, varying
continuously in colour from red to violet, the red ray OR being least
refracted and the violet ray OV most so. The order of the successive
colours in all colourless transparent media is red, orange, yellow,
green, blue, indigo and violet. Dispersion is therefore due to the fact
that rays of different colours possess different refrangibilities.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The simplest way of showing dispersion is to refract a narrow beam of
sunlight through a prism of glass or prismatic vessel containing water
or other clear liquid. As the light is twice refracted, the dispersion
is increased, and the rays, after transmission through the prism, form a
divergent system, which may be allowed to fall on a sheet of white
paper, forming the well-known solar spectrum. This method was employed
by Sir Isaac Newton, whose experiments constitute the earliest
systematic investigation of the phenomenon. Let O (fig. 2) represent a
small hole in the shutter of a darkened room, and OS a narrow beam of
sunlight which is allowed to fall on a white screen so as to form an
image of the sun at S. If now the prism P be interposed as in the
figure, the whole beam is not only refracted upward, but also spread out
into the spectrum RV, the horizontal breadth of the band of colours
being the same as that of the original image S. In an experiment similar
to that here represented, Newton made a small hole in the screen and
another small hole in a second screen placed behind the first. By
slightly turning the prism P, the position of the spectrum on the first
screen could be shifted sufficiently to cause light of any desired
colour to pass through. Some of this light also passed through the
second hole, and thus he obtained a narrow beam of practically
homogeneous light in a fixed direction (the line joining the apertures
in the two screens). Operating on this beam with a second prism, he
found that the homogeneous light was not dispersed, and also that it was
more refracted the nearer the point from which it was taken approached
to the violet end of the spectrum RV. This confirmed his previous
conclusion that the rays increase in refrangibility from red to violet.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Newton also made use of the method of crossed prisms, which has been
found of great use in studying dispersion. The prism P (fig. 3) refracts
upwards, while the prism Q, which has its refracting edge perpendicular
to that of P, refracts towards the right. The combined effect of the two
is to produce a spectrum sloping up from left to right. The spectrum
will be straight if the two prisms are similar in dispersive property,
but if one of them is constructed of a material which possesses any
peculiarity in this respect it will be revealed by the curvature of the
spectrum.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Method of Crossed Prisms.]
The coloured borders seen in the images produced by simple lenses are
due to dispersion. The explanation of the colours of the rainbow, which
are also due to dispersion, was given by Newton, although it was known
previously to be due to refraction in the drops of rain (see RAINBOW).
According to the wave-theory of light, refraction (q.v.) is due to a
change of velocity when light passes from one medium to another. The
phenomenon of dispersion shows that in dispersive media the velocity is
different for lights of different wave-lengths. In free space, light of
all wave-lengths is propagated with the same velocity, as is shown by
the fact that stars, when occulted by the moon or planets, preserve
their white colour up to the last moment of disappearance, which would
not be the case if one colour reached the eye later than another. The
absence of colour changes in variable stars or in the appearance of new
stars is further evidence of the same fact. All material media, however,
are more or less dispersive. In air and other gases, at ordinary
pressures, the dispersion is very small, because the refractivity is
small. The dispersive powers of gases are, however, generally comparable
with those of liquids and solids.
_Dispersive Power._--In order to find the amount of dispersion caused
by any given prism, the deviations produced by it on two rays of any
definite pure colours may be measured. The angle of difference between
these deviations is called the dispersion for those rays. For this
purpose the C and F lines in the spark-spectrum of hydrogen, situated
in the red and blue respectively, are usually employed. If [delta]F
and [delta]C are the angular deviations of these rays, then [delta]F -
[delta]C is called the mean dispersion of the prism. If the refracting
angle of the prism is small, then the ratio of the dispersion to the
mean deviation of the two rays is the dispersive power of the material
of the prism. Instead of the mean deviation, ½ ([delta]F + [delta]C),
it is more usual to take the deviation of some intermediate ray. The
exact position of the selected ray does not matter much, but the
yellow D line of sodium is the most convenient. If we denote its
deviation by [delta]D, then we may put
_Dispersive power_ = ([delta]F - [delta]C)/[delta]D (1).
This quantity may readily be expressed in terms of the refractive
indices for the three colours, for if A is the angle of the prism
(supposedly small)
[delta]C = ([mu]C - 1)A,
[delta]D = ([mu]D - 1)A,
[delta]F = ([mu]F - 1)A,
where [mu]C,[mu]D,[mu]F are the respective indices of refraction. This
gives at once
_Dispersive power_ = ([mu]F - [mu]C)/([mu]D - 1) (2).
The second of these two expressions is generally given as the
definition of dispersive power. It is more useful than (1), as the
refractive indices may be measured with a prism of any convenient
angle.
By studying the dispersion of colours in water, turpentine and crown
glass Newton was led to suppose that dispersion is proportional to
refraction. He concluded that there could be no refraction without
dispersion, and hence that achromatism was impossible of attainment
(see ABERRATION). This conclusion was proved to be erroneous when
Chester M. Hall in 1733 constructed achromatic lenses. Glasses can now
be made differing considerably both in refractivity and dispersive
power.
_Irrationality of Dispersion._--If we compare the spectrum produced by
refraction in a glass prism with that of a diffraction grating, we
find not only that the order of colours is reversed, but also that the
same colours do not occupy corresponding lengths on the two spectra,
the blue and violet being much more extended in the refraction
spectrum. The refraction spectra for different media also differ
amongst themselves. This shows that the connexion between the
refrangibility of light and its wave-length does not obey any simple
law, but depends on the nature of the refracting medium. This property
is referred to as the "irrationality of dispersion." In a diffraction
spectrum the diffraction is proportional to the wave-length, and the
spectrum is said to be "normal." If the increase of the angle of
refraction were proportional to the diminution of wave-length for a
prism of any material, the resulting spectrum would also be normal.
This, however, is not the case with ordinary refracting media, the
refrangibility generally increasing more and more rapidly as the
wave-length diminishes.
The irrationality of dispersion is well illustrated by C.
Christiansen's experiments on the dispersive properties of white
powders. If the powder of a transparent substance is immersed in a
liquid of the same refractive index, the mixture becomes transparent
and a measurement of the refractive index of the liquid gives the
refractivity of the powder. Christiansen found, in an investigation of
this kind, that the refractivity of the liquid could only be got to
match that of the powder for mono-chromatic light, and that, if white
light were used, brilliant colour effects were obtained, which varied
in a remarkable manner when small changes occurred in the refractive
index of the liquid. These effects are due to the difference in
dispersive power of the powder and the liquid. If the refractive index
is, for instance, the same for both in the case of green light, and a
source of white light is viewed through the mixture, the green
component will be completely transmitted, while the other colours are
more or less scattered by multiple reflections and refractions at the
surfaces of the powdered substance. Very striking colour changes are
observed, according to R. W. Wood, when white light is transmitted
through a paste made of powdered quartz and a mixture of carbon
bisulphide with benzol having the same refractive index as the quartz
for yellow light. In this case small temperature changes alter the
refractivity of the liquid without appreciably affecting the quartz.
R. W. Wood has studied the iridescent colours seen when a precipitate
of potassium silicofluoride is produced by adding silicofluoric acid
to a solution of potassium chloride, and found that they are due to
the same cause, the refractive index of the minute crystals
precipitated being about the same as that of the solution, which
latter can be varied by dilution.
_Anomalous Dispersion._--In some media the usual order of the colours
is changed. This curious phenomenon was noticed by W. H. Fox Talbot
about 1840, but does not seem to have become generally known. In 1860
F. P. Leroux discovered that iodine vapour refracted the red rays more
than the violet, the intermediate colours not being transmitted; and
in 1870 Christiansen found that an alcoholic solution of fuchsine
refracted the violet less than the red, the order of the successive
colours being violet, red, orange, yellow; the green being absorbed
and a dark interval occurring between the violet and red. A. Kundt
found that similar effects occur with a large number of substances, in
particular with all those which possess the property of "surface
colour," i.e., which strongly reflect light of a definite colour, as
do many of the aniline dyes. Such bodies show strong absorption bands
in those colours which they reflect, while of the transmitted light
that which is of a slightly greater wave-length than the absorbed
light has an abnormally great refrangibility, and that of a slightly
shorter wave-length an abnormally small refrangibility. The name given
to this phenomenon,--"anomalous dispersion"--is an unfortunate one, as
it has been found to obey a regular law.
In studying the dispersion of the aniline dyes, a prism with a very
small refracting angle is made of two glass plates slightly inclined
to each other and enclosing a very thin wedge of the dye, which is
either melted between the plates, or is in the form of a solution
retained in position by surface-tension. Only very thin layers are
sufficiently transparent to show the dispersion near or within an
absorption band, and a large refracting angle is not required, the
dispersion usually being very considerable. Another method, which has
been used by R. W. Wood and C. E. Magnusson, is to introduce a thin
film of the dye into one of the optical paths of a Michelson
interferometer, and to determine the consequent displacement of the
fringes. E. Mach and J. Arbes have used a method depending on total
reflection (Drude's _Theory of Optics_, p. 394).
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Anomalous Dispersion of Sodium Vapour.]
A very remarkable example of anomalous dispersion, which was first
observed by A. Kundt, is that exhibited by the vapour of sodium. It
has not been found practicable to make a prism of this vapour in the
ordinary way by enclosing it in a glass vessel of the required shape,
as sodium vapour attacks glass, quickly rendering it opaque. A. E.
Becquerel, however, investigated the character of the dispersion by
using prism-shaped flames strongly coloured with sodium. But the best
way of exhibiting the effect is by making use of a remarkable property
of sodium vapour discovered by R. W. Wood and employed for this
purpose in a very ingenious manner. He found that when sodium is
heated in a hard glass tube, the vapour which is formed is
extraordinarily cohesive, only slowly spreading out in a cloud with
well-defined borders, which can be rendered visible by placing the
tube in front of a sodium flame, against which the cloud appears
black. If a long glass tube with plane ends, and containing some
pellets of sodium is heated in the middle by a row of burners, the
cool ends remain practically vacuous and do not become obscured. The
sodium vapour in the middle is very dense on the heated side, the
density diminishing rapidly towards the upper part of the tube, so
that, although not prismatic in form, it refracts like a prism owing
to the variation in density. Thus if a horizontal slit is illuminated
by an arc lamp, and the light-rendered parallel by a collimating
lens--is transmitted through the sodium tube and focused on the
vertical slit of a spectroscope, the effect of the sodium vapour is to
produce its refraction spectrum vertically on the slit. The image of
this seen through the glass prism of the spectroscope will appear as
in fig. 4. The whole of the light, with the exception of a small part
in the neighbourhood of the D lines, is practically undeviated, so
that it illuminates only a very short piece of the slit and is spread
out into the ordinary spectrum. But the light of slightly greater
wave-length than the D lines, being refracted strongly downward by the
sodium vapour, illuminates the bottom of the slit; while that of
slightly shorter wave-length is refracted upward and illuminates the
top of the slit. Fig. 4 represents the inverted image seen in the
telescope. The light corresponding to the D lines and the space
between them is absorbed, as evidenced by the dark interval. If the
sodium is only gently heated, so as to produce a comparatively
rarefied vapour, and a grating spectroscope employed, the spectrum
obtained is like that shown in fig. 5, which was the effect noticed by
Becquerel with the sodium flame. Here the light corresponding to the
space between the D lines is transmitted, being strongly refracted
upward near D1, and downward near D2.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
The theory of anomalous dispersion has been applied in a very
interesting way by W. H. Julius to explain the "flash spectrum" seen
during a solar eclipse at the moment at which totality occurs. The
conditions of this phenomenon have been imitated in the laboratory by
Wood, and the corresponding effect obtained.
_Theories of Dispersion._--The first attempt at a mathematical theory
of dispersion was made by A. Cauchy and published in 1835. This was
based on the assumption that the medium in which the light is
propagated is discontinuous and molecular in character, the molecules
being subject to a mutual attraction. Thus, if one molecule is
disturbed from its mean position, it communicates the disturbance to
its neighbours, and so a wave is propagated. The formula arrived at by
Cauchy was
B C
n = A + --------- + --------- + ....
[lambda]2 [lambda]4
n being the refractive index, [lambda] the wave-length, and A, B, C,
&c., constants depending on the material, which diminish so rapidly
that only the first three as here written need be taken into account.
If suitable values are chosen for these constants, the formula can be
made to represent the dispersion of ordinary transparent media within
the visible spectrum very well, but when extended to the infra-red
region it often departs considerably from the truth, and it fails
altogether in cases of anomalous dispersion. There are also grave
theoretical objections to Cauchy's formula.
The modern theory of dispersion, the foundation of which was laid by
W. Sellmeier, is based upon the assumption that an interaction takes
place between ether and matter. Sellmeier adopted the elastic-solid
theory of the ether, and imagined the molecules to be attached to the
ether surrounding them, but free to vibrate about their mean positions
within a limited range. Thus the ether within the dispersive medium is
loaded with molecules which are forced to perform oscillations of the
same period as that of the transmitted wave. It can be shown
mathematically that the velocity of propagation will be greatly
increased if the frequency of the light-wave is slightly greater, and
greatly diminished if it is slightly less than the natural frequency
of the molecules; also that these effects become less and less marked
as the difference in the two frequencies increases. This is exactly in
accordance with the observed facts in the case of substances showing
anomalous dispersion. Sellmeier's theory did not take account of
absorption, and cannot be applied to calculate the dispersion within a
broad absorption band. H. von Helmholtz, working on a similar
hypothesis, but with a frictional term introduced into his equations,
obtained formulae which are applicable to cases of absorption. A
modified form of Helmholtz's equation, due to E. Ketteler and known as
the Ketteler-Helmholtz formula, has been much used in calculating
dispersion, and expresses the facts with remarkable accuracy. P. Drude
has obtained a similar formula based on the electromagnetic theory,
thus placing the theory of dispersion on a much more satisfactory
basis. The fundamental assumption is that the medium contains
positively and negatively charged ions or electrons which are acted on
by the periodic electric forces which occur in wave propagation on
Maxwell's theory. The equations finally arrived at are
____
\ D[lambda]²([lambda]² - [lambda]_m²)
n²(1 - [kappa]²) = 1 + > --------------------------------------,
/___ ([lambda² - [lambda]_m²) + g²[lmabda]²
____
\ Dg[lambda]³
2n²[kappa]² = > ---------------------------------------,
/___ ([lambda]² - [lambda]_m²) + g²[lmabda]²
where [lambda] is the wave-length in free ether of light whose
refractive index is n, and [lambda]_m the wave-length of light of the
same period as the electron, [kappa] is a coefficient of absorption,
and D and g are constants. The sign of summation [Sigma] is used in
cases where there are several absorption bands, and consequently
several similar terms on the right-hand side, each with a different
value of [lambda]_m. This would occur if there were several kinds of
ions, each with its own natural period.
In a region where there is no absorption, we have [kappa] = 0 and
therefore g = 0, and we have only one equation, namely,
____
\ D[lambda]²
n² = 1 + > ------------------------,
/___ ([lambda]² - [lambda]_m²)
which is identical with Sellmeier's result. As [lambda]{m}, is a
wave-length corresponding to an absorption band, this formula can be
used to find values of [lambda]{m} which satisfy the observed values
of n within the region of transparency, and so to determine where the
absorption bands are situated. In this way the existence of bands in
the infrared part of the spectrum has been predicted in the case of
quartz and detected by experiments on the selective reflection of the
material.
_References._--For the theory of dispersion see P. Drude, _Theory of
Optics_ (Eng. trans.); R. W. Wood, _Physical Optics_; and A. Schuster,
_Theory of Optics_. For descriptive accounts, see Wood's _Physical
Optics_, T. Preston's _Theory of Light_, E. Edser's _Light_. The last
work contains an elementary treatment of Sellmeier's theory.
(J. R. C.)
D'ISRAELI (or DISRAELI), ISAAC (1766-1848), English man of letters,
father of the earl of Beaconsfield (q.v.), was born at Enfield in May
1766. He belonged to a Jewish family which, having been driven by the
Inquisition from Spain, towards the end of the 15th century, settled as
merchants at Venice, and assumed the name which has become famous; it
was generally spelt D'Israeli until the middle of the 19th century. In
1748 his father, Benjamin D'Israeli, then only about eighteen years of
age, removed to England, where, before passing the prime of life, he
amassed a competent fortune, and retired from business. He belonged to
the London congregation of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, of which his son
also remained a nominal member until after Benjamin D'Israeli died at
the end of 1816.
The strongly marked characteristics which determined Isaac D'Israeli's
career were displayed to a singular degree even in his boyhood. He spent
his time over books and in long day-dreams, and evinced the strongest
distaste for business and all the more bustling pursuits of life. These
idiosyncrasies met with no sympathy from either of his parents, whose
ambitious plans for his future career they threatened to disappoint.
When he was about fourteen, in the hope of changing the bent of his
mind, his father sent him to live with his agent at Amsterdam, where he
worked under a tutor for four or five years. Here he studied Bayle and
Voltaire, and became an ardent disciple of Rousseau. Here also he wrote
a long poem against commerce, which he produced as an exposition of his
opinions when, on his return to England, his father announced his
intention of placing him in a commercial house at Bordeaux. Against such
a destiny D'Israeli's mind strongly revolted; and he carried his poem,
with a letter earnestly appealing for advice and assistance, to Samuel
Johnson; but when he called again a week after to receive an answer, the
packet was returned unopened--the great Doctor was on his death-bed. He
also addressed a letter to Dr Vicesimus Knox, master of Tonbridge
Grammar School, begging to be received into his family, that he might
enjoy the benefit of his learning and experience. How this application
was answered we do not know. The evident firmness of his resolve,
however, was not without effect. His parents gave up their purpose for a
time. He was sent to travel in France, and allowed to occupy himself as
he wished; and he had the happiness of spending some months in Paris, in
the society of literary men, and devoted to the literary pursuits in
which he delighted.
In the beginning of 1788 he returned home, and in the next year he
attacked Peter Pindar (John Wolcot) in _The Gentleman's Magazine_ in a
poem in the manner of Pope, "On the Abuse of Satire." The authorship of
the poem was much debated, and it was attributed by some to William
Hayley, upon whom it was actually avenged, with characteristic
savageness, by its victim. It is greatly to Wolcot's credit that, on
learning his mistake, he sought the acquaintance of his young opponent,
whose friend he remained to the end of his life. Through the success of
this satire D'Israeli made the acquaintance of Henry James Pye, who
helped to persuade his father that it would be a mistake to force him
into a business career, and introduced him into literary circles.
D'Israeli dedicated his first book, _A Defence of Poetry_, to Pye in
1790. Henceforth his life was passed in the way he best liked--in quiet
and almost uninterrupted study. In 1802 he married Maria Basevi, by whom
he had five children, of whom Benjamin (afterwards Lord Beaconsfield and
Prime Minister of England) was the second. He was able to maintain his
strenuous habits of study till he reached the advanced age of
seventy-two, when he was forced, by paralysis of the optic nerve, to
give up work almost entirely. He lived ten years longer, and died at his
seat at Bradenham House, Buckinghamshire, on the 19th of January 1848.
Isaac D'Israeli is most celebrated as the author of the _Curiosities of
Literature_ (1791, subsequent volumes in 1793, 1817, 1823 and 1834). It
is a miscellany of literary and historical anecdotes, of original
critical remarks, and of interesting and curious information of all
kinds, animated by genuine literary feeling, taste and enthusiasm. With
the _Curiosities of Literature_ may be classed D'Israeli's
_Miscellanies, or Literary Recreations_ (1796), the _Calamities of
Authors_ (1812-1813), and the _Quarrels of Authors_ (1814). Towards the
close of his life D'Israeli projected a continuous history of English
literature, three volumes of which appeared in 1841 under the title of
the _Amenities of Literature_. But of all his works the most delightful
is his _Essay on the Literary Character_ (1795), which, like most of his
writings, abounds in illustrative anecdotes. In the famous "Pope
controversy" he supported Byron and Campbell against Bowles and Hazlitt
by a defence of Pope in the form of a criticism of Joseph Spence's
_Anecdotes_ contributed to the _Quarterly Review_ (July 1820). In 1797
D'Israeli published three novels; one of these, _Mejnoun and Leila, the
Arabian Petrarch and Laura_, was said to be the first oriental romance
in English. His last novel, _Despotism, or the Fall of the Jesuits_,
appeared in 1811, but none of his romances was popular. He also
published a slight sketch of Jewish history, and especially of the
growth of the Talmud, entitled the _Genius of Judaism_ (1833).
He was the author of two historical works--a brief defence of the
literary merit and personal and political character of James I. (1816),
and a learned _Commentary on the Life and Reign of King Charles I._
(1828-1831). This was recognized by the University of Oxford, which
conferred upon the author the honorary degree of D.C.L. As an historian
D'Israeli is distinguished by two characteristics. In the first place,
he had small interest in politics, and no sympathy with the passionate
fervour, or adequate appreciation of the importance, of political
struggles. And, secondly, with a laborious zeal then less common than
now among historians, he sought to bring to light fresh historical
material by patient search for letters, diaries and other manuscripts of
value which had escaped the notice of previous students. Indeed, the
honour has been claimed for him of being one of the founders of the
modern school of historical research.
Of the amiable personal character and the placid life of Isaac
D'Israeli a charming picture is to be found in the brief memoir
prefixed to the 1849 edition of _Curiosities of Literature_, by his
son Lord Beaconsfield.
DISS, a market town in the southern parliamentary division of Norfolk,
England; near the river Waveney (the boundary with Suffolk), 95 m. N.E.
by N. from London by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. of urban district
(1901) 3745. The town lies pleasantly upon a hill rising above a mere,
which drains to the Waveney, having its banks laid out as public
gardens. The church of St Mary exhibits Decorated and Perpendicular
stone and flint work. There is a corn exchange and the agricultural
trade is considerable; brushes and matting are manufactured. The poet
and satirist, John Skelton (d. 1529), was rector here in the later part
of his life, and is doubtfully considered a native.
DISSECTION (from Lat. _dissecare_, to cut apart), the separation into
parts by cutting, particularly the cutting of an animal or plant into
parts for the purpose of examination or display of its structure.
DISSENTER (Lat. _dis-sentire_, to disagree), one who dissents or
disagrees in matters of opinion, belief, &c. The term "dissenter" is,
however, practically restricted to the special sense of a member of a
religious body in England which has, for one reason or another,
separated from the Established Church. Strictly, the term includes the
English Roman Catholics, who in the original draft of the Relief Act of
1791 were styled "Protesting Catholic Dissenters." It is in practice,
however, restricted to the "Protestant Dissenters" referred to in sec.
ii. of the Toleration Act of 1688. The term is not applied to those
bodies who dissent from the Established Church of Scotland; and in
speaking of members of religious bodies which have seceded from
established churches abroad it is usual to employ the term "dissidents"
(Lat. _dissidere_, to dissent). In this connotation the terms
"dissenter" and "dissenting," which had acquired a somewhat contemptuous
flavour, have tended since the middle of the 19th century to be replaced
by "nonconformist," a term which did not originally imply secession, but
only refusal to conform in certain particulars (e.g. the wearing of the
surplice) with the authorized usages of the Established Church. Still
more recently the term "nonconformist" has in its turn, as the political
attack on the principle of a state establishment of religion developed,
tended to give place to the style of "Free Churches" and "Free
Churchman." All three terms are now in use, "nonconformist" being the
most usual, as it is the most colourless. (See CONGREGATIONALISM, &c.)
DISSOCIATION, a separation or dispersal, the opposite of association. In
chemistry the term is given to chemical reactions in which a substance
decomposes into two or more substances, and particularly to cases in
which associated molecules break down into simpler molecules. Thus the
reactions NH4Cl <=> NH3 + HCl, and PCl5 <=> PCl3 + Cl2 are instances of the
first type; N2O4 <=> 2NO2, of the second (see CHEMICAL ACTION).
Electrolytic or ionic dissociation is the separation of a substance in
solution into ions (see ELECTROLYSIS; SOLUTION).
DISSOLUTION (from Lat. _dissolvere_, to break up into parts), the act of
dissolving or reducing to constituent parts, especially of the bringing
to an end an association such as a partnership or building society, and
particularly of the termination of an assembly. A dissolution of
parliament in England is thus the end of its existence, brought about by
the efflux of time in accordance with the Septennial Act 1716, or by an
exercise of the royal prerogative. This is done either in person, or by
commission, if parliament is sitting; if prorogued, then by
proclamation. The word is used as a synonym for end or death.
DISTAFF, in the early forms of spinning, the "rock" or short stick round
one end of which the flax, cotton or wool is loosely wound, and from
which it is spun off by the spindle. The word is derived from the Old
English _distaef_, the first part of which is connected with _dizen_,
in modern English seen in "bedizen," to deck out or embellish,
originally "to equip the distaff with flax, &c.," cf. the German
dialectal word _Diesse_, flax. The last part of the word is "staff."
"Distaff" from early times has been used to symbolize woman's work (cf.
the use of "spinster" for an unmarried woman); thus the "distaff" or
"spindle" side of a family refers to the female branch, as opposed to
the "spear" or male branch. The 7th of January, the day after Epiphany,
was formerly known as St Distaff's day, as women then began work again
after the Christmas holiday.
DISTILLATION (from the Lat. _distillare_, more correctly _destillare_,
to drop or trickle down), an operation consisting in the conversion of a
substance or mixture of substances into vapours which are afterwards
condensed to the liquid form; it has for its object the separation or
purification of substances by taking advantage of differences in
volatility. The apparatus consists of three parts:--the "retort" or
"still," in which the substance is heated; the "condenser," in which the
vapours are condensed; and the "receiver," in which the condensed
vapours are collected. Generally the components of a mixture will be
vaporized in the order of their boiling-points; consequently if the
condensates or "fractions" corresponding to definite ranges of
temperature be separately collected, it is obvious that a more or less
partial separation of the components will be effected. If the substance
operated upon be practically pure to start with, or the product of
distillation be nearly of constant composition, the operation is termed
"purification by distillation" or "rectification"; the latter term is
particularly used in the spirit industry. If a complex mixture be
operated upon, and a separation effected by collecting the distillates
in several portions, the operation is termed "fractional distillation."
Since many substances decompose either at, or below, their
boiling-points under ordinary atmospheric pressure, it is necessary to
lower the boiling-point by reducing the pressure if it be desired to
distil them. This variation is termed "distillation under reduced
pressure or in a vacuum." The vaporization of a substance below its
normal boiling-point can also be effected by blowing in steam or some
other vapour; this operation is termed "distillation with steam." "Dry
distillation" is the term used when solid substances which do not
liquefy on heating are operated upon; "sublimation" is the term used
when a solid distils without the intervention of a liquid phase.
Distillation appears to have been practised at very remote times. The
Alexandrians prepared oil of turpentine by distilling pine-resin;
Zosimus of Panopolis, a voluminous writer of the 5th century A.D.,
speaks of the distillation of a "divine water" or "panacea" (probably
from the complex mixture of calcium polysulphides, thiosulphate, &c.,
and free sulphur, which is obtained by boiling sulphur with lime and
water) and advises "the efficient luting of the apparatus, for otherwise
the valuable properties would be lost." The Arabians greatly improved
the earlier apparatus, naming one form the alembic (q.v.); they
discovered many ethereal oils by distilling plants and plant juices,
alcohol by the distillation of wine, and also distilled water. The
alchemists gave great attention to the method, as is shown by the many
discoveries made. Nitric, hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, all more or
less impure, were better studied; and many ethereal oils were
discovered. Prior to about the 18th century three forms of distillation
were practised: (1) _destillatio per ascensum_, in which the retort was
heated from the bottom, and the vapours escaped from the top; (2)
_destillatio per latus_, in which the vapours escaped from the side; (3)
_destillatio per descensum_, in which the retort was heated at the top,
and the vapours led off by a pipe passing through the bottom. According
to K. B. Hoffmann the earliest mention of destillatio per descensum
occurs in the writings of Aetius, a Greek physician who flourished at
about the end of the 5th century.
In modern times the laboratory practice of distillation was greatly
facilitated by the introduction of the condenser named after Justus von
Liebig; A. Kolbe and E. Frankland introduced the "reflux condenser,"
i.e. a condenser so placed that the condensed vapours return to the
distilling flask, a device permitting the continued boiling of a
substance with little loss; W. Dittmar and R. Anschütz, independently
of one another, introduced "distillation under reduced pressure"; and
"fractional distillation" was greatly aided by the columns of Wurtz
(1855), E. Linnemann (1871), and of J. A. Le Bel and A. Henninger
(1874). In chemical technology enormous strides have been made, as is
apparent from the coal-gas, coal-tar, mineral oil, spirits and mineral
acids industries.
The subject is here treated under the following subdivisions: (1)
ordinary distillation, (2) distillation under reduced pressure, (3)
fractional distillation, (4) distillation with steam, (5) theory of
distillation, (6) dry distillation, (7) distillation in chemical
technology and (8) commercial distillation of water.
1. _Ordinary Distillation._--The apparatus generally used is shown in
fig. 1. The substance is heated in a retort a, which consists of a
large bulb drawn out at the top to form a long neck; it may also be
provided with a tubulure, or opening, which permits the charging of
the retort, and also the insertion of a thermometer b. The retort may
be replaced by a distilling flask, which is a round-bottomed flask
(generally with a lengthened neck) provided with an inclined side
tube. The neck of the retort, or side tube of the flask, is connected
to the condenser c by an ordinary or rubber cork, according to the
nature of the substance distilled; ordinary corks soaked in paraffin
wax are very effective when ordinary or rubber corks cannot be used.
Sometimes an "adapter" is used; this is simply a tapering tube, the
side tube being corked into the wider end, and the condenser on to the
narrower end. The thermometer is placed so that the bulb is near the
neck of the retort or the side tube of the distilling flask. It
generally happens that much of the mercury column is outside the flask
and consequently at a lower temperature than the bulb, hence a
correction of the observed temperature is necessary. If N be the
length of the unheated mercury column in degrees, t the temperature of
this column (generally determined by a small thermometer placed with
its bulb at the middle of the column), and T the temperature recorded
by the thermometer, then the corrected temperature of the vapour is T
+ 0.000143 (T - t) N (T. E. Thorpe, _Journ. Chem. Soc._, 1880, p.
159).
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The mode of heating varies with the substance to be distilled. For
highly volatile liquids, e.g. ether, ligroin, &c., immersion of the
flask in warm water suffices; for less volatile liquids a directly
heated water or sand bath is used; for other liquids the flask is
heated through wire gauze or asbestos board, or directly by a Bunsen.
The condensing apparatus must also be conditioned by the volatility.
With difficulty volatile substances, e.g. nitrobenzene, air cooling of
the retort neck or of a straight tube connected with the distilling
flask will suffice; or wet blotting-paper placed on the tube and the
receiver immersed in water may be used. For less volatile liquids the
Liebig condenser is most frequently used. In its original form, this
consists of a long tube surrounded by an outer tube so arranged that
cold water circulates in the annular space between the two. The
vapours pass through the inner tube, and the cold water enters at the
end farthest from the distilling flask. For more efficient
condensation--and also for shortening the apparatus--the central tube
may be flattened, bent into a succession of V's, or twisted into a
spiral form, the object in each case being to increase the condensing
surface. Of other common types of condenser, we may notice the
"spiral" or "worm" type, which consists of a glass, copper or tin worm
enclosed in a vessel in which water circulates; and the ball
condenser, which consists of two concentric spheres, the vapour
passing through the inner sphere and water circulating in the space
between this and the outer (in another form the vapour circulates in a
shell, on the outside and inside of which water circulates). A very
effective type is shown in fig. 2. The condensing water enters at the
top and is conducted to the bottom of the inner tube, which it fills
and then flows over the outside of the outer tube; it collects in the
bottom funnel and is then led off. The vapours pass between the inner
and outer tubes.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Practically any vessel may serve as a receiver--test tube, flask,
beaker, &c. If noxious vapours come over, it is necessary to have an
air-tight connexion between the condenser and receiver, and to provide
the latter with an outlet tube leading to an absorption column or
other contrivance in which the vapours are taken up. If the substances
operated upon decompose when heated in air, as, for example, the zinc
alkyls which inflame, the air within the apparatus is replaced by some
inert gas, e.g. nitrogen, carbon dioxide, &c., which is led in at the
distilling flask before the process is started, and a slow current
maintained during the operation.
2. _Distillation under Reduced Pressure._--This method is adopted for
substances which decompose at their boiling-points under ordinary
pressure, and, generally, when it is desirable to work at a lower
temperature. The apparatus differs very slightly from that employed in
ordinary distillation. The "receiver" must be connected on the one
side to the condenser, and on the other to the exhaust pump. A safety
vessel and a manometer are generally interposed between the pump and
receiver. For the purpose of collecting the distillates in fractions,
many forms of receivers have been devised. Brühl's is one of the
simplest. It consists of a number of tubes mounted vertically on a
horizontal circular disk which rotates about a vertical axis in a
cylindrical vessel. This vessel has two tubulures: through one the end
of the condenser projects so as to be over one of the receiving tubes;
the other leads to the pump. By rotating the disk the tubes may be
successively brought under the end of the condenser. Boiling under
reduced pressure has one very serious drawback, viz. the liquid boils
irregularly or "bumps." W. Dittmar showed that this may be avoided by
leading a fine, steady stream of dry gas-air, carbon dioxide,
hydrogen, &c., according to the substance operated upon--through the
liquid by means of a fine capillary tube, the lower end of which
reaches to nearly the bottom of the flask. "Bumping" is common in open
boiling when the liquid is free from air bubbles and the interior of
the vessel is very smooth. It may be diminished by introducing
clippings of platinum foil, pieces of porcelain, glass beads or
garnets into the liquid. "Frothing" is another objectionable feature
with many liquids. When cold, froth can be immediately dissipated by
adding a few drops of ether. In boiling liquids its formation may be
prevented by adding paraffin wax; the wax melts and forms a ring on
the surface of the liquid, which boils tranquilly in the centre.
[Illustration: Wurtz. Linnemann. Le Bel-Henninger. Glynsky. Young.
Kreusler.
FIG. 3.]
3. _Fractional Distillation._--By fractional distillation is meant the
separation of a mixture having components which boil at neighbouring
temperatures. The distilling flask has an elongated neck so that the
less volatile vapours are condensed and return to the flask, while the
more volatile component passes over. The success of the operation
depends upon two factors: (1) that the heating be careful, slow and
steady, and (2) that the column attached to the flask be efficient to
sort out, as it were, the most volatile vapour. Three types of columns
are employed: (1) the elongation is simply a straight or bulb tube;
(2) the column, properly termed a "dephlegmator," is so constructed
that the vapours have to traverse a column of previously condensed
vapour; (3) the column is encircled by a jacket through which a liquid
circulates at the same temperature as the boiling-point of the most
volatile component. To the first type belongs the simple straight
tube, and the Wurtz tube (see fig. 3), which is simply a series of
bulbs blown on a tube. These forms are not of much value. Several
forms of the second type are in use. In the Linnemann column the
condensed vapours temporarily collect on platinum gauzes (a) placed at
the constrictions of a bulbed tube. In the Le Bel-Henninger form a
series of bulbs are connected consecutively by means of syphon tubes
(b) and having platinum gauzes (a) at the constrictions, so that when
a certain amount of liquid collects in any one bulb it syphons over
into the next lower bulb. The Glynsky form is simpler, having only one
syphon tube; at the constrictions it is usual to have a glass bead.
The "rod-and-disk" form of Sidney Young is a series of disks mounted
on a central spindle and surrounded by a slightly wider tube. The
"pear-shaped" form of the same author consists of a series of
pear-shaped bulbs, the narrow end of one adjoining the wider end of
the next lower one. In this class may also be placed the Hempel tube,
which is simply a straight tube filled with glass beads. Of the third
type is the Warren column consisting of a spiral kept at a constant
temperature by a liquid bath. Improved forms were devised by F. D.
Brown. Kreusler's form is easily made and manipulated. A tube closed
at the bottom is traversed by an open narrower tube, and the
arrangement is fitted in the neck of the distilling flask. Water is
led in by the inner tube, and leaves by a side tube fused on the wider
tube. Many comparisons of the effectiveness of dephlegmating columns
have been made (see Sidney Young, _Fractional Distillation_, 1903).
The pear-shaped form is the most effective, second in order is the Le
Bel-Henninger, which, in turn, is better than the Glynsky. The main
objection to the Hempel is the retention of liquid in the beads, and
the consequent inapplicability to the distillation of small
quantities.
4. _Distillation with Steam._--In this process a current of steam,
which is generated in a separate boiler and superheated, if necessary,
by circulation through a heated copper worm, is led into the
distilling vessel, and the mixed vapours condensed as in the ordinary
processes. This method is particularly successful in the case of
substances which cannot be distilled at their ordinary boiling-points
(it will be seen in the following section that distilling with steam
implies a lowering of boiling-point), and which can be readily
separated from water. Instances of its application are found in the
separation of ortho- and para-nitrophenol, the o-compound distilling
and the p- remaining behind; in the separation of aniline from the
mixture obtained by reducing nitrobenzene; of the naphthols from the
melts produced by fusing the naphthalene monosulphonic acids with
potash; and of quinoline from the reaction between aniline,
nitrobenzene, glycerin, and sulphuric acid (the product being first
steam distilled to remove any aniline, nitrobenzene, or glycerin, then
treated with alkali, and again steam distilled when quinoline comes
over). With substances prone to discolorization, as, for example,
certain amino compounds, the operation may be conducted in an
atmosphere of carbon dioxide, or the water may be saturated with
sulphuretted hydrogen. Liquids other than water may be used: thus
alcohol separates [alpha]-pipecoline and ether nitropropylene.
5. _Theory of Distillation._--The general observation that under a
constant pressure a pure substance boils at a constant temperature
leads to the conclusion that the distillate which comes over while the
thermometer records only a small variation is of practically constant
composition. On this fact depends "rectification or purification by
distillation." A liquid boils when its vapour pressure equals the
superincumbent pressure (see VAPORIZATION); consequently any process
which diminishes the external pressure must also lower the
boiling-point. In this we have the theory of "distillation under
reduced pressure." The theory of fractional distillation, or the
behaviour of liquid mixtures when heated to their boiling-points, is
more complex. For simplicity we confine ourselves to mixtures of two
components, in which experience shows that three cases are to be
recognized according as the components are (1) completely immiscible,
(2) partially miscible, (3) miscible in all proportions.
When the components are completely immiscible, the vapour pressure of
the one is not influenced by the presence of the other. The mixture
consequently distils at the temperature at which the sum of the
partial pressures equals that of the atmosphere. Both components come
over in a constant proportion until one disappears; it is then
necessary to raise the temperature in order to distil the residue. The
composition of the distillate is determinate (by Avogadro's law) if
the molecular weights and vapour pressure of the components at the
temperature of distillation be known. If M1, M2, and P1, P2 be the
molecular weights and vapour pressures of the components A and B, then
the ratio of A to B in the distillate is M1P1/M2P2. Although, as is
generally the case, one liquid (say A) is more volatile than the other
(say B), i.e. P1 greater than P2, if the molecular weight of A be much
less than that of B, then it is obvious that the ratio M1P1/M2P2 need
not be very great, and hence the less volatile liquid B would come
over in fair amount. These conditions pertain in cases where
distillation with steam is successfully practised, the relatively high
volatility of water being counterbalanced by the relatively high
molecular weight of the other component; for example, in the case of
nitrobenzene and water the ratio is 1 to 5. In general, when the
substance to be distilled has a vapour pressure of only 10 mm. at 100°
C., distillation with steam can be adopted, if the product can be
subsequently separated from the water.
When distilling a mixture of partially miscible components a
distillate of constant composition is obtained so long as two layers
are present, i.e. A dissolved in B and B dissolved in A, since both of
these solutions emit vapours of the same composition (this follows
since the same vapour must be in equilibrium with both solutions, for
if it were not so a cyclic system contradicting the second law of
thermodynamics would be realizable). The composition of the vapour,
however, would not be the same as that of either layer. As the
distillation proceeded one layer would diminish more rapidly than the
other until only the latter would remain; this would then distil as a
completely miscible mixture.
The distillation of completely miscible mixtures is the most common
practically and the most complex theoretically. A coordination of the
results obtained on the distillation of mixtures of this nature with
the introduction of certain theoretical considerations led to the
formation of three groups distinguished by the relative solubilities
of the vapours in the liquid components.
(i.) If the vapour of A be readily soluble in the liquid B, and the
vapour of B readily soluble in the liquid A, there will exist a
mixture of A and B which will have a lower vapour pressure than any
other mixture. The vapour pressure composition curve will be convex to
the axis of compositions, the maximum vapour pressures corresponding
to pure A and pure B, and the minimum to some mixture of A and B. On
distilling such a mixture under constant pressure, a mixture of the
two components (of variable composition) will come over until there
remains in the distilling flask the mixture of minimum vapour
pressure. This will then distil at a constant temperature. Thus nitric
acid, boiling-point 68°, forms a mixture with water, boiling point
100°, which boils at a constant temperature of 126°, and contains 68%
of acid. Hydrochloric acid forms a similar mixture which boils at 110°
and contains 20.2% of acid. Another mixture of this type is formic
acid and water.
(ii.) If the vapours be sparingly soluble in the liquids there will
exist a mixture having a greater vapour pressure than that of any
other mixture. The vapour pressure-composition curve will now be
concave to the axis of composition, the minima corresponding to the
pure components. On distilling such a mixture, a mixture of constant
composition will distil first, leaving in the distilling flask one or
other of the components according to the composition of the mixture.
An example is propyl alcohol and water. At one time it was thought
that these mixtures of constant boiling-point (an extended list is
given in Young's _Fractional Distillation_) were definite compounds.
The above theory, coupled with such facts as the variation of the
composition of the constant boiling-point fraction with the pressure
under which the mixture is distilled, the proportionality of the
density of all mixtures to their composition, &c., shows this to be
erroneous.
(iii.) If the vapour of A be readily soluble in liquid B, and the
vapour of B sparingly soluble in liquid A, and if the vapour pressure
of A be greater than that of B, then the vapour pressures of mixtures
of A and B will continually diminish as one passes from 100% A to 100%
B. The vapour tension may approximate to a linear function of the
composition, and the curve will then be practically a straight line.
On distilling such a mixture pure A will come over first, followed by
mixtures in which the quantity of B continually increases;
consequently by a sufficient number of distillations A and B can be
completely separated. Examples are water and methyl or ethyl alcohol.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
Van't Hoff (_Theoretical and Physical Chemistry_, vol. i. p. 51)
illustrates the five cases on one diagram. In fig. 4 let AB be the
axis of composition, AP be the vapour pressure of pure A, BQ the
vapour pressure of pure B. For immiscible liquids the vapour pressure
curve is the horizontal line ab, described so that aP = QB and bQ =
AP. For partially miscible liquids the curve is Pa1b1Q. The horizontal
line a1b1 corresponds to the two layers of liquid, and the inclined
lines Pa1Qb1 to solutions of B in A and of A in B. The curves Pa4Q,
having a minimum at a4, Pa3Q, having a maximum at a3, and Pa5Q, with
neither a maximum nor minimum, correspond to the types i., ii., iii.
of completely miscible mixtures.
6. _Dry Distillation._--In this process the substance operated upon is
invariably a solid, the vapours being condensed and collected as in
the other methods. When the substance operated upon is of uncertain
composition, as, for example, coal, wood, coal-tar, &c., the term
destructive distillation is employed. A more general designation is
"pyrogenic processes," which also includes such operations as leading
vapours through red-hot tubes and condensing the products. We may also
consider here cases of sublimation wherein a solid vaporizes and the
vapour condenses without the occurrence of the liquid phase.
Dry distillation is extremely wasteful even when definite substances
or mixtures, such as calcium acetate which yields acetone, are dealt
with, valueless by-products being obtained and the condensate usually
requiring much purification. Prior to 1830, little was known of the
process other than that organic compounds generally yielded tarry and
solid matters, but the discoveries of Liebig and Dumas (of acetone
from acetates), of Mitscherlich (of benzene from benzoates) and of
Persoz (of methane from acetates and lime) brought the operation into
common laboratory practice. For efficiency the operation must be
conducted with small quantities; caking may be prevented by mixing the
substance with sand or powdered pumice, or, better, with iron filings,
which also renders the decomposition more regular by increasing the
conductivity of the mass. The most favourable retort is a shallow iron
pan heated in a sand bath, and provided with a screwed-down lid
bearing the delivery tube. Sidney Young has suggested conducting the
operation in a current of carbon dioxide which sweeps out the vapours
as they are evolved, and also heating in a vapour bath, e.g. of
sulphur.
One of the earliest red-hot tube syntheses of importance was the
formation of naphthalene from a mixture of alcohol and ether vapours.
Such condensations were especially studied by M. P. E. Berthelot, and
shown to be very fruitful in forming hydrocarbons. Sometimes reagents
are placed in the combustion tube, for example lead oxide (litharge),
which takes up bromine and sulphur. In its simplest form the apparatus
consists of a straight tube, made of glass, porcelain or iron
according to the temperature required and the nature of the reacting
substances, heated in an ordinary combustion furnace, the mixture
entering at one end and the vapours being condensed at the other.
Apparatus can also be constructed in which the unchanged vapours are
continually circulated through the tube. Operating in a current of
carbon dioxide facilitates the process by preventing overheating.
7. _Distillation in Chemical Technology._--In laboratory practice use
is made of a fairly constant type of apparatus, only trifling
modifications being generally necessary to adapt the apparatus for any
distillation or fractionation; in technology, on the other hand, many
questions have to be considered which generally demand the adoption of
special constructions for the economic distillation of different
substances. The modes of distillation enumerated above all occur in
manufacturing practice. Distillation in a vacuum is practised in two
forms:--if the pump draws off steam as well as air it is termed a
"wet" air-pump; if it only draws off air, it is a "dry" air-pump. In
the glycerin industry the lyes obtained by saponifying the fats are
first evaporated with "wet vacuum" and finally distilled with closed
and live steam and a "dry vacuum." Two forms of steam distillation may
be distinguished:--in one the still is simply heated by a steam coil
wound inside or outside the still--this is termed heating by dry
steam; in the other steam is injected into the mass within the
still--this is the distillation with live steam of laboratory
practice. The details of the plant--the material and fittings of the
still, the manner of heating, the form of the condensing plant,
receivers, &c.--have to be determined for each substance to be
distilled in order to work with the maximum economy.
For the distillation of liquids the retort is usually a cylindrical
pot placed vertically; cast iron is generally employed, in which case
the bottom is frequently incurved and thicker than the sides in order
to take up the additional wear and tear. Sometimes linings of
enamelled iron or other material are employed, which when worn can be
replaced at a far lower cost than that of a new still. Glass stills
heated by a sand bath are sometimes employed in the final distillation
of sulphuric acid; platinum, and an alloy of platinum and iridium with
a lining of gold rolled on (a discovery due to Heraeus), are used for
the same purpose. Cast iron stills are provided with a hemispherical
head or dome, generally attached to the body of the still by bolts,
and of sufficient size to allow for any frothing. It is invariably
provided with an opening to carry off the vapours produced. In its
more complete form a still has in addition the following
fittings:--The dome is provided with openings to admit (1) the axis of
the stirring gear (in some stills the stirring gear rotates on a
horizontal axis which traverses the side and not the head of the
still), (2) the inlet and outlet tubes of a closed steam coil, (3) a
tube reaching to nearly the bottom of the still to carry live steam,
(4) a tube to carry a thermometer, (5) one or more manholes for
charging purposes, (6) sight-holes through which the operation can be
watched, and (7) a safety valve. The body of the still is provided
with one or more openings at different heights to serve for the
discharge of the residue in the still, and sometimes with a glass
gauge to record the quantity of matter in the still. For dry
distillations the retorts are generally horizontal cylinders, the
bottom or lower surface being sometimes flattened. Iron and fireclay
are the materials commonly employed; wrought iron is used in the
manufacture of wood-spirit, fireclay for coal-gas (see GAS:
_Manufacture_), phosphorus, zinc, &c. The vertical type, however, is
employed in the manufacture of acetone and of iodine.
Several modes of heating are adopted. In some cases, especially in dry
distillations, the furnace flames play directly on the retorts, in
others, such as in the case of nitric acid, the whole still comes
under the action of the furnace gases to prevent condensation on the
upper part of the still, while in others the furnace gases do not play
directly on the base or upper portion of the still but are conducted
around it by a system of flues (see COAL-TAR). Steam heating, dry or
live, is employed alone and also as an auxiliary to direct firing.
The condensing plant varies with the volatility of the distillate. Air
cooling is adopted whenever possible. For example, in the less modern
methods for manufacturing nitric acid the vapours were conducted
directly into double-necked bottles (_bombonnes_) immersed in water. A
more efficient arrangement consists of a stack of vertical pipes
standing up from a main or collecting trough and connected at the top
in consecutive pairs by a cross tube. By an arrangement of diaphragms
in the lower trough the vapours are circulated through the system. As
an auxiliary to air cooling the stack may be cooled by a slow stream
of water trickling down the outside of the pipes, or, in certain
cases, cold water may be injected into the condenser in the form of a
spray, where it meets the ascending vapours. Horizontal air-cooling
arrangements are also employed. A common type of condenser consists of
a copper worm placed in a water bath; but more generally straight
tubes of copper or cast iron which cross and recross a rectangular
tank are employed, since this form is more readily repaired and
cleansed. Wood-spirit, petroleum and coal-tar distillates are
condensed in plant of the latter type. In cases where the condenser is
likely to become plugged there is a pipe by means of which live steam
can be injected into the condenser. The supply of water to the
condenser is regulated according to the volatility of the condensate.
When the vapours readily condense to a solid form the condensing plant
may take the form of large chambers; such conditions prevail in the
manufacture of arsenic, sulphur and lampblack: in the latter case
(which, however, is not properly one of distillation) the chamber is
hung with sheets on which the pigment collects. Large chambers are
also used in the condensation of mercury.
Dephlegmation of the vapours arising from such mixtures as coal-tar
fractions, petroleum and the "wash" of the spirit industry, is very
important, and many types of apparatus are employed in order to effect
a separation of the vapours. The earliest form, invented by C. B.
Mansfield to facilitate the fractionation of paraffin and coal-tar
distillates, consisted in having a pipe leading from the inclined
delivery tube of the still to the still again, so that any vapour
which condensed in the delivery tube was returned to the still. Of
really effective columns Coupier's was one of the earliest. The
vapours rising from the still traverse a tall vertical column, and are
then conveyed through a series of bulbs placed in a bath kept at the
boiling-point of the most volatile constituent. The more volatile
vapours pass over to the condensing plant, while the less volatile
ones condense in the bulbs and are returned to the column at varying
heights by means of connecting tubes. The French column is similar in
action. The Coffey still is one of the most effective and is employed
in the spirit, ammonia, coal-tar and other industries. It consists of
a vertical column divided into a number of sections by horizontal
plates, which are perforated so that the ascending vapours have to
traverse a layer of liquid. Above this "separator" is a reflux
condenser, termed the "cooler," maintained at the correct temperature
so that only the more volatile component passes to the receiver. The
success of the operation chiefly depends upon the proper management of
the cooler.
8. _Commercial Distillation of Water._--Distilled water, i.e. water
free from salts and to some extent of the dissolved gases which are
always present in natural waters, is of indispensable value in many
operations both of scientific and industrial chemistry. The apparatus
and process for distilling ordinary water are very simple. The body of
the still is made of copper, with a head and worm, or condensing
apparatus, either of copper or tin. The still is usually fed
continuously by the heated water from the condenser. The first portion
of the distillate brings over the gases dissolved in the water,
ammonia and other volatile impurities, and is consequently rejected;
scarcely two-fifths of the entire quantity of water can be safely used
as pure distilled water.
Apparatus for the economic production of a potable water from
sea-water is of vital importance in the equipment of ships. The simple
distillation of sea-water, and the production thereby of a certain
proportion of chemically fresh water, is a very simple problem; but it
is found that water which is merely evaporated and recondensed has a
very disagreeable flat taste, and it is only after long exposure to
pure atmospheric air, with continued agitation, or repeated pouring
from one vessel to another, that it becomes sufficiently aerated to
lose its unpleasant taste and smell and become drinkable. The water,
moreover, till it is saturated with gases, readily absorbs noxious
vapours to which it may be exposed. For the successful preparation of
potable water from sea-water, the following conditions are
essential:--1st, aeration of the distilled product so that it may be
immediately available for drinking purposes; 2nd, economy of coal to
obtain the maximum of water with the minimum expenditure of fuel; and
3rd, simplicity of working parts, to secure the apparatus from
breaking down, and enable unskilled attendants to work it with safety.
The problem is a comparatively old one, for we find that R. Fitzgerald
patented a process in 1683 having for its purpose the "sweetening of
sea-water." A history of early attempts is given in S. Hales's
_Philosophical Experiments_, published in 1739. Among the earlier of
the modern forms of apparatus which came into practical adoption are
the inventions of Dr Normandy and of Chaplin of Glasgow, the apparatus
of Rocher of Nantes, and that patented by Gallé and Mazeline of Havre.
Normandy's apparatus, although economical and producing water of good
quality, is very complex in its structure, consisting of very numerous
working parts, with elaborate arrangements of pipes, cocks and other
fittings. It is consequently expensive and requires careful attention
for its working. It was extensively adopted in the British navy, the
Cunard line and many other important emigrant and mercantile lines.
Chaplin's apparatus, which was invented and patented later, has also
since 1865 been sanctioned for use on emigrant, troop and passenger
vessels. The apparatus possesses the great merit of simplicity and
compactness, in consequence of which it is comparatively cheap and not
liable to derangement. It was adopted by many important British and
continental shipping companies, among others by the Peninsular &
Oriental, the Inman, the North German Lloyd and the Hamburg American
companies.
The modern distilling plant consists of two main parts termed the
evaporator and condenser; in addition there must be a boiler
(sometimes steam is run off the main boilers, but this practice has
several disadvantages), pumps for circulating cold water in the
condenser and for supplying salt water to the evaporator, and a filter
through which the aerated water passes. The evaporator consists of a
cylindrical vessel having in its lower half a horizontal copper coil
connected to the steam supply. The cylindrical vessel is filled to a
certain level with salt water and the steam turned on. The water
vaporizes and is led from the dome of the evaporator to the head of
the condenser. The water level is maintained in the evaporator until
it contains a certain amount of salt. It is then run off, and replaced
by fresh sea-water. The condenser consists of a vertical cylinder
having manifolds at the head and foot and through which a number of
tubes pass. In some types, e.g. the Weir, the condensing water
circulates upwards through the tubes; in others, e.g. the Quiggins,
the water circulates around the tubes. Various forms of the tubes have
been adopted. In the Pape-Henneberg condenser, which has been adopted
in the German navy, they are oval in section and tend to become
circular under the pressure of the steam; this alteration in shape
makes the tubes self-scaling. In the Quiggins condenser, which has
been widely adopted, e.g. in the "Lusitania," the steam traverses
vertical copper coils tinned inside and outside; the coils are
crescent-shaped, a form which gives a greater condensing surface and
makes the coils self-scaling. The aeration of the water is effected by
blowing air into the steam before it is condensed; as an auxiliary,
the storage tanks have a false bottom perforated by fine holes so that
if air be injected below it, the water is efficiently aerated by the
air which traverses it in fine streams. After condensation the water
is filtered through charcoal. The filter is either a separate piece of
plant, or, as in the Quiggins form, it may be placed below the coils
in the same outer vessel. In this plant the aeration is conducted by
blowing in air at the base of the condenser. After filtration the
water is pumped to the storage tanks. Many types of distilling plant
are in use in addition to those mentioned above, for example the
Rayner, Kirkaldy, Merlees, Normand; the United States navy has adopted
a form designed by the Bureau of Engineering.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The general practice of laboratory distillation is
discussed in all treatises on practical organic chemistry; reference
may be made to Lassar-Cohn, _Manual of Organic Chemistry_ (1896), and
_Arbeitsmethoden für organisch-chemische Laboratorien_ (1901); Hans
Meyer, _Analyse und Konstitutionermittlung organischer Verbindungen_
(1909). The theory of distillation finds a place in all treatises on
physical chemistry. Of especial importance is Sidney Young,
_Fractional Distillation_ (1903). The history of distillation is to be
studied in E. Gildemeister and F. Hoffmann, _Die ätherischen Öle_
(Berlin, 1899; Eng. tr. by E. Kremers, Milwaukee Press, 1900). The
technology of distillation is best studied in relation to the several
industries in which it is employed; reference should be made to the
articles COAL-TAR, GAS, PETROLEUM, SPIRITS, NITRIC ACID, &c.
(C. E.*)
DISTRACTION (from Lat. _distrahere_, to pull asunder), a drawing away or
apart; a word now used generally of a state of mind, to mean a diversion
of attention, or a violent emotion amounting almost to madness.
DISTRESS (from the O. Fr. _destrece_, _destresse_, from the past
participle of the Lat. _distringere_, to pull apart, used in Late Lat.
in the sense of to punish, hence to distrain), pressure, especially of
sorrow, pain or ill-fortune. As a legal term, the action of distraining
or distraint, the right which a landlord has of seizing the personal
chattels of his tenant for non-payment of rent. Cattle _damage feasant_
(doing damage or trespassing upon a neighbour's land) may also be
_distrained_, i.e. may be detained until satisfaction be rendered for
injury they have done. The cattle or other animals thus distrained are a
mere pledge in the hands of the injured person, who has only power to
retain them until the owner appear to make satisfaction for the mischief
they have done. "Distress damage feasant" is also applicable to
inanimate things on the land if doing damage thereto or to its produce;
things in actual use, however, are exempt. Such distress must be made
during the actual trespass, and by whoever is aggrieved by the damage.
Distress for rent was also at one time regarded as a mere pledge or
security; but the remedy, having been found to be speedy and
efficacious, was rendered more perfect by enactments allowing the thing
taken to be sold. Blackstone notes that the law of distresses in this
respect "has been greatly altered within a few years last past." The
legislature, in fact, converted an ancient right of personal redress
into a powerful remedy for the exclusive benefit of a single class of
creditors, viz. landlords. Now that the relation of landlord and tenant
in England has come to be regarded as purely a matter of contract, the
language of the law-books seems to be singularly inappropriate. The
defaulting tenant is a "wrong-doer," the landlord is the "injured
party,"; any attempt to defeat the landlord's remedy by carrying off
distrainable goods is denounced as "fraudulent and knavish." The
operation of the law has, as we shall point out, been mitigated in some
important respects, but it still remains an almost unique specimen of
one-sided legislation.
At common law distress was said to be incident to _rent service_, and by
particular reservation to rent charges; but by 4 Geo. II. c. 28 it was
extended to _rent seck_, _rents of assize_ and chief rents (see RENT).
It is therefore a general remedy for rent certain in arrear. All
personal chattels are distrainable with the following exceptions:--(1)
things in which there can be no property, as animals _ferae naturae_;
(2) ledgers, daybooks, title-deeds, &c.; (3) things delivered to a
person following a public trade, as a horse sent to be shod, &c.; (4)
things already in the custody of the law; (5) things which cannot be
restored in as good a plight as when distrained, that is, perishable
articles; (6) fixtures; (7) beasts of the plough and instruments of
husbandry while there is other sufficient distress to be found; (8)
instruments of a man's trade or profession in actual use at the time the
distress is made. If not in actual use they are only privileged in case
there is other sufficient distress upon the premises. These exceptions,
it will be seen, imply that the thing distrained is to be held as a
pledge merely--not to be sold. They also imply that in general any
chattels found on the land in question are to be available for the
benefit of the landlord, whether they belong to the tenant or not. This
principle worked with peculiar harshness in the case of lodgers, whose
goods might be seized and sold for the payment of the rent due by their
landlord to his superior landlord. By the Lodgers' Goods Protection Act
1871, however, where a lodger's goods have been seized by the superior
landlord the lodger may serve him with a notice stating that the
intermediate landlord has no interest in the property seized, but that
it is the property or in the lawful possession of the lodger, and
setting forth the amount of the rent due by the lodger to his immediate
landlord. On payment or tender of such rent the landlord cannot proceed
with the distress against the goods in question. By the Law of Distress
Amendment Act 1908 this protection was extended to under tenants liable
to pay rent by equal quarterly instalments, as well as to any person
whatsoever who is not a tenant of the premises or any part thereof nor
has any beneficial interest therein. The act, however, excludes certain
goods, particularly goods belonging to the husband or wife of the tenant
whose rent is in arrear, goods comprised in any bill of sale, hire
purchase agreement or settlement made by the tenant, goods in the
possession or disposition of a tenant by the consent and permission of
the true owner under such circumstances as to make the tenant reputed
owner, goods of the partner of an immediate tenant, and goods (not being
goods of a lodger) upon premises where any trade or business is carried
on in which both the immediate tenant and the under tenant have an
interest. The act does not apply where an under tenancy has been created
in breach of a covenant or agreement between the landlord and his
immediate tenant. The Law of Distress Amendment Act 1888 also absolutely
exempted from distress the tools and implements of trade and wearing
apparel and bedding of a tenant and his family to the value of five
pounds, and the Law of Distress Amendment Act 1895 gave power to a court
of summary jurisdiction to direct that such goods, when distrained upon,
should be restored if not sold, or, if sold, to order their value to be
paid by the persons who levied the distress or directed it to be levied.
Originally the landlord could only seize things actually on the
premises, so that the remedy might be defeated by the things being taken
away. But by an act of 1710, and by the Distress for Rent Act 1737, he
may follow things fraudulently or clandestinely removed off the premises
within thirty days after their removal, unless they have been in the
meantime bona fide sold for a valuable consideration. The sixth
exception mentioned above was held to extend to sheaves of corn; but by
an act of 1690 corn, when reaped, as well as hay, was made subject to
distress. That act was modified by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1851,
under which growing crops seized by the sheriff and sold under an
execution are liable to distress for rent which becomes due after the
seizure and sale, if there is no other sufficient distress on the
premises.
Excessive or disproportionate distress exposes the distrainer to an
action, and any irregularity formerly made the proceedings void _ab
initio_, so that the remedy was attended with considerable risk. The
Distress for Rent Act 1737, before alluded to, in the interests of
landlords, protected distresses for _rent_ from the consequences of
irregularity. In all cases of distress for rent, if the owner do not
within five days (by the Law of Distress Amendment Act 1888, fifteen
days, if the tenant make a request in writing to the person levying the
distress and also give security for any additional cost that may be
occasioned by such extension of time) replevy the same with sufficient
security, the thing distrained may be sold towards satisfaction of the
rent and charges, and the surplus, if any, must be returned to the
owner. To "replevy" is when the person distrained upon applies to the
proper authority (the registrar of the county court) to have the thing
returned to his own possession, on giving security to try the right of
taking it in an action of replevin.
Duties and penalties imposed by act of parliament (e.g. payment of rates
and taxes) are sometimes enforced by distress.
DISTRIBUTION (Lat, _distribuere_, to deal out), a term used in various
connexions with the general meaning of spreading out. In law, the word
is used for the division of the personal estate of an intestate among
the next-of-kin (see INTESTACY). The important scientific question as to
the distribution of plants and animals on the earth is treated under
PLANTS: _Distribution_, and ZOOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION. In economics the
word is used generally for the transference of commodities from person
to person or from place to place, or the dividing up of large quantities
of commodities into smaller quantities; and in a more technical sense,
for the division of the product of industry amongst the various members
or classes of the community. The theory of economic distribution, i.e.
the causes which determine rent, wages, profits and interest, forms an
important subject-matter in all text-books. Among recent works, see E.
Cannan's _History of Theories of Production and Distribution, 1776-1848_
(1893), J. R. Common's _Distribution of Wealth_ (1893), and H. J.
Davenport's _Value and Distribution_ (Chicago, 1908).
DISTRICT, a word denoting in its more general sense, a tract or extent
of a country, town, &c., marked off for administrative or other
purposes, or having some special and distinguishing characteristics. The
medieval Latin _districtus_ (from _distringere_, to distrain) is defined
by Du Cange as _Territorium feudi, seu tractus, in quo Dominus vassallos
et tenentes suos distringere potest_; and as _justitiae exercendae in eo
tractu facultas_. It was also used of the territory over which the
feudal lord exercised his jurisdiction generally. It may be noted that
_distringere_ had a wider significance than "to distrain" in the English
legal sense (see DISTRESS). It is defined by Du Cange as _compellere ad
aliquid faciendum per mulctam, poenam, vel capto pignore_. In English
usage, apart from its general application in such forms as postal
district, registration district and the like, "district" has specific
usages for ecclesiastical and local government purposes. It is thus
applied to a division of a parish under the Church Building Acts,
originally called a "perpetual curacy," and the church serving such a
division is properly a "district chapel." Under the Local Government Act
of 1894 counties are divided for the purposes of the act into urban and
rural districts. In British India the word is used to represent the
_zillah_, an administrative subdivision of a province or presidency. In
the United States of America the word has many administrative, judicial
and other applications. In South Carolina it was used instead of
"county" for the chief division of the state other than in the coast
region. In the Virginias, Tennessee, Georgia, Kentucky and Maryland it
answers to "township" or precinct, elsewhere the principal subdivision
of a county. It is used for an electoral "division," each state being
divided into Congressional and senatorial districts; and also for a
political subdivision ranking between an unorganized and an organized
Territory--e.g., the District of Columbia and Alaska.
DISTYLE (from Gr. [Greek: di-], two, and [Greek: stylos], column), the
architectural term given to a portico which has two columns between
antae, known as _distyle-in-antis_ (see TEMPLE).
DITHMARSCHEN, or DITMARSH (in the oldest form of the name
_Thiatmaresgaho_, Dietmar's Gau), a territory between the Eider, the Elbe
and the North Sea, forming the western part of the old duchy of Holstein,
and now included in the Prussian province of Schleswig-Holstein. It
contains about 550 sq. m. with 90,000 inhabitants. The territory consists
to the extent of one half of good pasture land, which is preserved from
inroads of the sea by banks and dams, the other half being mostly waste.
It was originally colonized mainly from Friesland and Saxony. The district
was subjugated and Christianized by Charlemagne in 804, and ranked as a
separate _Gau_, included perhaps in the countship of Stade, or _Comitalus
utriusque ripae_. From the same century, according to one opinion, or from
the year 1182, when the countship was incorporated with their see,
according to another, the archbishops of Bremen claimed supremacy over the
land; but the inhabitants, who had developed and consolidated a systematic
organism for self-government, made obstinate resistance, and rather
attached themselves to the bishop of Schleswig. Ditmarsken, to use the
Scandinavian form of the name, continued part of the Danish dominions till
the disastrous battle of Bornhöved in 1227, when its former independence
was regained. The claims of the archbishop of Bremen were now so far
recognized that he exercised the royal rights of _Heerbann_ and
_Blutbann_,[1] enjoyed the consequent emoluments, and was represented
first by a single _advocatus_, or _Vogt_, and afterwards by one for each
of the five Döffts, or marks, into which the land was divided after the
establishment of Meldorf. The community was governed by a _Landrath_ of
forty-eight elective consuls, or twelve from each of the four marks; and
even in the 14th century the power of the episcopal _advocati_ was so
slight that a chronicler quoted by Conrad von Maurer says, _De Ditmarschen
leven sunder Heren und Hovedt unde dohn wadt se willen_, "the Ditmarschen
live without lord and head, and do what they will." In 1319 and in 1404
they succeeded in defeating the invasions of the Holstein nobles; and
though in 1474 the land was nominally incorporated with the duchy by the
emperor Frederick III., the attempt of the Danish king Hans and the duke
of Gottorp to enforce the decree in 1500 resulted only in their complete
rout in the marshes of the Dussend-Düwels-Warf. During the early part of
the century which began with such prestige for Ditmarsh, it was the scene
of violent internal conflict in regard to the religious questions of the
time; and, thus weakened, it was obliged in 1559 to submit to partition
among its three conquerors--King Frederick II. of Denmark and Dukes John
and Adolphus. A new division took place on Duke John's death in 1581, by
which Frederick obtained South Ditmarsh, with its chief town of Meldorf,
and Adolphus obtained North Ditmarsh, with its chief town of Heide; and
this arrangement continued till 1773, when all the Gottorp possessions
were incorporated with the Danish crown.
See Dahlmann's edition of Neocorus, _Chronik von Dithmarschen_ (Kiel,
1827), and _Geschichte Dänemarks_ (1840-1844); Michelsen,
_Urkundenbuch zur Geschichte des Landes Dithmarschen_ (1834),
_Sammlung altdithmarscher Rechtsquellen_ (1842), and _Dithmarschen im
Verhältniss zum bremischen Erzstift_; Kolster, _Geschichte
Dithmarschens, nach F. R. Dahlmanns Vorlesungen_ (1873).
FOOTNOTE:
[1] That is, the right of claiming military service, and the right of
bringing capital offenders to justice.
DITHYRAMBIC POETRY, the description of poetry in which the character of
the dithyramb is preserved. It remains quite uncertain what the
derivation or even the primitive meaning of the Greek word [Greek:
dithyrambos] is, although many conjectures have been attempted. It was,
however, connected from earliest times with the choral worship of
Dionysus. A dithyramb is defined by Grote as a round choric dance and
song in honour of the wine-god. The earliest dithyrambic poetry was
probably improvised by priests of Bacchus at solemn feasts, and
expressed, in disordered numbers, the excitement and frenzy felt by the
worshippers. This element of unrestrained and intoxicated vehemence is
prominent in all poetry of this class. The dithyramb was traditionally
first practised in Naxos; it spread to other islands, to Boeotia and
finally to Athens. Arion is said to have introduced it at Corinth, and
to have allied it to the worship of Pan. It was thus "merged," as
Professor G. G. Murray says, "into the Satyr-choir of wild
mountain-goats" out of which sprang the earliest form of tragedy. But
when tragic drama had so far developed as to be quite independent, the
dithyramb did not, on that account, disappear. It flourished in Athens
until after the age of Aristotle. So far as we can distinguish the form
of the ancient Greek dithyramb, it must have been a kind of irregular
wild poetry, not divided into strophes or constructed with any evolution
of the theme, but imitative of the enthusiasm created by the use of
wine, by what passed as the Dionysiac delirium. It was accompanied on
some occasions by flutes, on others by the lyre, but we do not know
enough to conjecture the reasons of the choice of instrument. Pindar, in
whose hands the ode took such magnificent completeness, is said to have
been trained in the elements of dithyrambic poetry by a certain Lasus of
Hermione. Ion, having carried off the prize in a dithyrambic contest,
distributed to every Athenian citizen a cup of Chian wine. In the
opinion of antiquity, pure dithyrambic poetry reached its climax in a
lost poem. _The Cyclops_, by Philoxenus of Cythera, a poet of the 4th
century B.C. After this time, the composition of dithyrambs, although
not abandoned, rapidly declined in merit. It was essentially a Greek
form, and was little cultivated, and always without success, by the
Latins. The dithyramb had a spectacular character, combining verse with
music. In modern literature, although the adjective "dithyrambic" is
often used to describe an enthusiastic movement in lyric language, and
particularly in the ode, pure dithyrambs have been extremely rare. There
are, however, some very notable examples. The _Baccho in Toscana_ of
Francesco Redi (1626-1698), which was translated from the Italian, with
admirable skill, by Leigh Hunt, is a piece of genuine dithyrambic
poetry. _Alexander's Feast_ (1698), by Dryden, is the best example in
English. But perhaps more remarkable, and more genuinely dithyrambic
than either, are the astonishing improvisations of Karl Mikael Bellman
(1740-1795), whose Bacchic songs were collected in 1791 and form one of
the most remarkable bodies of lyrical poetry in the literature of
Sweden. (E. G.)
DITTERSBACH, a town of Germany, in the Prussian province of Silesia, 3
m. by rail S.E. from Waldenburg and 50 m. S. W. from Breslau. It has
coal-mines, bleach-fields and match factories. Population (1905) 9371.
DITTERSDORF, KARL DITTERS VON (1739-1799), Austrian composer and
violinist, was born in Vienna on the 2nd of November 1739, his father's
name being Ditters. Having shown as a child marked talent for the
violin, he was allowed to play in the orchestras of St Stephen's and the
_Schottenkirche_, where he attracted the attention of a notable patron
of music, Prince Joseph Frederick of Hildburghausen (1702-1787), who is
also remembered as a soldier for his disastrous leading of the forces of
the Empire at Rossbach. The prince gave the boy, now eleven years old, a
place in his private orchestra--the first of the kind established in
Vienna,--and also saw to it that he received an excellent general
education. The Seven Years' War proved disastrous to both music and
morals; and young Ditters, who had fallen into evil ways, fled from
Hildburghausen, whither he had gone with the prince, to avoid the
payment of his gambling debts. His patron generously forgave and
recalled him, but soon afterwards gave up his orchestra at Vienna.
Ditters now obtained a place in the Vienna opera; but he was not
satisfied, and in 1761 eagerly accepted an invitation to accompany
Gluck, whose acquaintance, as well as that of Haydn, he had made while
in the service of the prince, on a professional journey to Italy. His
success as a violinist on this occasion was equal to that of Gluck as
composer; and on his return to Vienna he was recognized as the superior
of Antonio Lolli, who as virtuoso had hitherto held the palm. In 1764 he
was again associated with Gluck in the musical part of the ceremonies at
Frankfort, attending the coronation of the archduke Joseph as King of
the Romans. His next appointment was that of conductor of the orchestra
of the bishop of Grosswardein, a Hungarian magnate, at Pressburg. He set
up a private stage in the episcopal palace, and wrote for it his first
"opera buffa," _Amore in musica_. His first oratorio, _Isacco figura del
Redentore_, was also written during this time; but the scandal of
performances of light opera by the bishop's company, even on fast days
and during Advent, outweighed this pious effort; the empress Maria
Theresa sharply called the worldly prelate to order; and he, in a huff,
dismissed his orchestra (1769). After a short interlude, Ditters was
again in the service of an ecclesiastical patron, count von Schafgotsch,
prince bishop of Breslau, at his estate of Johannesberg in Silesia. Here
he displayed so much skill as a sportsman, that the bishop procured for
him the office of forester (_Forstmeister_) of the principality of
Neisse. He had already, by the same influence, been made knight of the
Golden Spur (1770). At Johannesberg Ditters also produced a comic opera,
_Il Viaggiatore americano_, and an oratorio, _Davide_. The title rôle of
the latter was taken by a pretty Italian singer, Signora Nicolini, whom
Ditters married. In 1773 he was ennobled as Karl von Dittersdorf, and at
the same time was appointed administrator (_Amtshauptmann_) of
Freyenwaldau, an office which he performed by deputy. In the same year
his oratorio _Ester_ was produced in Vienna. During the War of Bavarian
Succession the prince bishop's orchestra was dissolved, and Dittersdorf
employed himself in his office at Freyenwaldau; but after the peace of
Tetschen (1779) he again became conductor of the reconstituted
orchestra. From this time forward his output was enormous. In 1780 ten
months sufficed for the production of his _Giobbe_ (Job) and four
operas, three of which were successful; and besides these he wrote a
large number of "characterized symphonies," founded on the
_Metamorphoses_ of Ovid. He was now at the height of his fame, and spent
the fortune which it brought him in much luxury. But after a time his
patron fell on evil days, the famous orchestra had to be reduced, and
when the bishop died in 1795 his successor dismissed the composer with a
small money gift. Poor and broken in health, he accepted the asylum
offered to him by Ignaz Freiherr von Stillfried, on his estate near
Neuhaus in Bohemia, where he spent what strength was left him in a
feverish effort to make money by the composition of operas, symphonies
and pianoforte pieces. He died on the 1st of October 1799, praying
"God's reward" for whoever should save his family from starvation. On
his death-bed he dictated to his son his _Lebensbeschreibung_
(autobiography).
Dittersdorf's chief talent was for comic opera and instrumental music in
the sonata forms. In both of these branches his work still shows signs
of life, and it is of great historical interest, since he was not only
an excellent musician and a friend of Haydn but also a thoroughly
popular writer, with a lively enough musical wit and sense of effect to
embody in an amusing and fairly artistic form exactly what the best
popular intelligence of the times saw in the new artistic developments
of Haydn. Thus, while in the amiable monotony and diffuseness of
Boccherini we may trace Haydn as a force tending to disintegrate the
polyphonic suite-forms of instrumental music, in Dittersdorf on the
other hand we see the popular conception of the modern sonata and
dramatic style. Yet, with all his popularity, the reality of his
progressive outlook may be gauged from the fact that, though he was at
least as famous a violinist as Boccherini was a violoncellist, there is
in his string quartets no trace of that tendency to sacrifice the
ensemble to an exhibition of his own playing which in Boccherini's
chamber music puts the violoncello into the same position as the first
violin in the chamber music of Spohr. In Dittersdorf's quartets (at
least six of which are worthy of their survival at the present day) the
first violin leads indeed, but not more than is inevitable in such
unsophisticated music where the normal place for melody is at the top.
The appearance of greater vitality in the texture of Boccherini's
quintets is produced merely by the fact that, his special instrument
being the violoncello, his displays of brilliance inevitably occur in
the inner parts. Six of Dittersdorf's symphonies on the _Metamorphoses_
of Ovid were republished in 1899, the centenary of his death. In them we
have an amusing and sometimes charming illustration of the way in which
at transitional periods music, as at the present day, is ready to make
crutches of literature. The end of the representation of the conversion
of the Lycian peasants into frogs is prophetically and ridiculously
Wagnerian in its ingenious expansion of rhythm and eminently expert
orchestration. Every external feature of Dittersdorf's style seems
admirably apt for success in German comic opera on a small scale; and an
occasional experimental performance at the present day of his _Doktor
und Apotheker_ is not less his due than the survival of his best
quartets.
See his _Lebensbeschreibung_, published at Leipzig, 1801 (English
translation by A. D. Coleridge, 1896); an article in the _Rivista
musicale_, vi. 727; and the article "Dittersdorf" in Grove's
_Dictionary of Music and Musicians_.
DITTO (from the Lat. _dictum_, something said, Ital. _detto_,
aforesaid), that which has been said before, the same thing. The word is
frequently abbreviated into "do." In accounts, "ditto" is indicated by
two dots or a dash under the word or figure that would otherwise be
repeated. A "suit of dittos," a trade or slang phrase, is a suit in
which coat, trousers and waistcoat are all of the same material.
DITTON, HUMPHRY (1675-1715), English mathematician, was born at
Salisbury on the 29th of May 1675. He studied theology, and was for some
years a dissenting minister at Tonbridge, but on the death of his father
he devoted himself to the congenial study of mathematics. Through the
influence of Sir Isaac Newton he was elected mathematical master in
Christ's hospital. He was author of the following memoirs and
treatises:--"Of the Tangents of Curves, &c.," _Phil. Trans._ vol.
xxiii.; "A Treatise on Spherical Catoptrics," published in the _Phil.
Trans._ vol. xxiv., from which it was copied and reprinted in the _Acta
Eruditorum_ (1707), and also in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences
at Paris; _General Laws of Nature and Motion_ (1705), a work which is
commended by Wolfius as illustrating and rendering easy the writings of
Galileo and Huygens, and the _Principia_ of Newton; _An Institution of
Fluxions, containing the First Principles, Operations, and Applications
of that admirable Method, as invented by Sir Isaac Newton_ (1706). In
1709 he published the _Synopsis Algebraica_ of John Alexander, with many
additions and corrections. In his _Treatise on Perspective_ (1712) he
explained the mathematical principles of that art; and anticipated the
method afterwards elaborated by Brook Taylor. In 1714 Ditton published
his _Discourse on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ;_ and _The New Law of
Fluids, or a Discourse concerning the Ascent of Liquids in exact
Geometrical Figures, between two nearly contiguous Surfaces_. To this
was annexed a tract ("Matter not a Cogitative Substance") to demonstrate
the impossibility of thinking or perception being the result of any
combination of the parts of matter and motion. There was also added an
advertisement from him and William Whiston concerning a method for
discovering the longitude, which it seems they had published about half
a year before. Although the method had been approved by Sir Isaac Newton
before being presented to the Board of Longitude, and successfully
practised in finding the longitude between Paris and Vienna, the board
determined against it. This disappointment, aggravated as it was by
certain lines written by Dean Swift, affected Ditton's health to such a
degree that he died in the following year, on the 15th of October 1715.
DIU, an island and town of India, belonging to Portugal, and situated at
the southern extremity of the peninsula of Kathiawar. Area of district,
20 sq. m. Pop. (1900) 14,614. The anchorage is fairly protected from the
sea, but the depth of water is only 3 to 4 fathoms. The channel between
the island on Diu and the mainland is navigable only by fishing boats
and small craft. The town is well fortified on the old system, being
surrounded by a wall with towers at regular intervals. Many of the
inhabitants are the well-known Banyan merchants of the east coast of
Africa and Arabia. Native spirits are distilled from the palm, salt is
made and fish caught. The trade of the town, however, is decayed. There
are remains of several fine ancient buildings. The cathedral or Sé
Matriz, dating from 1601, was formerly a Jesuit college. The mint, the
arsenal and several convents (now ruined or converted to other uses) are
also noteworthy. The Portuguese, under treaty with Bahadur Shah of
Gujarat, built a fort here in 1535, but soon quarrelled with the natives
and were besieged in 1538 and 1545. The second siege is one of the most
famous in Indo-Portuguese history, and is the subject of an epic by
Jeronymo Corte Real (q.v.).
See R. S. Whiteway, _Rise of the Portuguese Power in India_ (1898).
DIURETICS (from Gr. [Greek: diá], through, and [Greek: ourein], pass
urine), the name given to remedies which, under certain conditions,
stimulate an increased flow of urine. Their mode of action is various.
Some are absorbed into the blood, carried to the secretory organs (the
kidneys), and stimulate them directly, causing an increased flow of
blood; others act as stimulants through the nervous system. A second
class act in congested conditions of the kidneys by diminishing the
congestion. Another class, such as the saline diuretics, are effectual
by virtue of their osmotic action. A fourth class are diuretic by
increasing the blood pressure within the vessels in general, and the
Malpighian tufts in particular,--some, as digitalis, by increasing the
strength of the heart's contractions, and others, as water, by
increasing the amount of fluid circulating in the vessels. Some
remedies, as mercury, although not diuretic themselves, when prescribed
along with those which have this action, increase their effect. The same
remedy may act in more than one way, e.g. alcohol, besides stimulating
the secretory organs directly, is a stimulant to the circulation, and
thus increases the pressure within the vessels. Diuretics are prescribed
when the quantity of urine is much diminished, or when, although the
quantity may be normal, it is wished to relieve some other organ or set
of organs of part of their ordinary work, or to aid in carrying off some
morbid product circulating in the blood, or to hasten the removal of
inflammatory serous exudations, or of dropsical collections of fluid.
Caffeine, which is far the best true diuretic, acts in nearly every way
mentioned above. Together with digitalis it is the most efficient remedy
for cardiac dropsy. A famous diuretic pill, known as Guy's pill,
consists of a grain each of mercurial pill, digitalis leaves and squill,
made up with extract of henbane. Digitalis, producing its diuretic
effect by its combined action on heart, vessels and kidneys, is much
used in the oedema of mitral disease, but must be avoided in chronic
Bright's disease, as it increases the tension of the pulse, already
often dangerously high. Turpentine and cantharides are not now
recommended as diuretics, as they are too irritating to the kidneys.
DIURNAL MOTION, the relative motion of the earth and the heavens, which
results from the rotation of our globe on its axis in a direction from
west toward east. The actual motion consists in this rotation. But the
term is commonly applied to the resultant apparent revolution of the
heavens from east to west, the axis of which passes through the
celestial poles, and is coincident in direction with the axis of the
earth.
DIVAN (Arabic _d[=i]w[=a]n_), a Persian word, derived probably from
Aramaic, meaning a "counting-house, office, bureau, tribunal"; thence,
on one side, the "account-books and registers" of such an office, and,
on another, the "room where the office or tribunal sits"; thence, again,
from "account-book, register," a "book containing the poems of an
author," arranged in a definite order (alphabetical according to the
rhyme-words), perhaps because of the saying, "Poetry is the register
(_d[=i]w[=a]n_) of the Arabs," and from "bureau, tribunal," "a long
seat, formed of a mattress laid against the side of the room, upon the
floor or upon a raised structure or frame, with cushions to lean
against" (Lane, _Lexicon_, 930 f.). All these meanings existed and
exist, especially "bureau, tribunal," "book of poems" and "seat"[1]; but
the order of derivation may have been slightly different. The word first
appears under the caliphate of Omar (A.D. 634-644). Great wealth, gained
from the Moslem conquests, was pouring into Medina, and a system of
business management and administration became necessary. This was copied
from the Persians and given the Persian name, "divan." Later, as the
state became more complicated, the term was extended over all the
government bureaus. The divan of the Sublime Porte was for long the
council of the empire, presided over by the grand vizier.
See Von Kremer, _Culturgeschichte des Orients_, i. 64, 198.
(D. B. MA.)
FOOTNOTE:
[1] The divan in this sense has been known in Europe certainly since
about the middle of the 18th century. It was fashionable, roughly
speaking, from 1820 to 1850, wherever the romantic movement in
literature penetrated. All the boudoirs of that generation were
garnished with divans; they even spread to coffee-houses, which were
sometimes known as "divans" or "Turkish divans"; and a "cigar divan"
remains a familiar expression.
DIVER, a name that when applied to a bird is commonly used in a sense
even more vague than that of loom, several of the sea ducks or
_Fuligulinae_ and mergansers being frequently so called, to say nothing
of certain of the auks or _Alcidae_ and grebes; but in English
ornithological works the term diver is generally restricted to the
Family known as _Colymbidae_, a very well-marked group of aquatic birds,
possessing great, though not exceptional, powers of submergence, and
consisting of a single genus _Colymbus_ which is composed of three, or
at most four, species, all confined to the northern hemisphere. This
Family belongs to the _Cecomorphae_ of T. H. Huxley, and is usually
supposed to occupy a place between the _Alcidae_ and _Podicipedidae_;
but to which of these groups it is most closely related is undecided.
Professor Brandt in 1837 (_Beitr. Naturgesch. Vögel_, pp. 124-132)
pointed out the osteological differences of the grebes and the divers,
urging the affinity of the latter to the auks; while, thirty years
later, Professor Alph. Milne-Edwards (_Ois. foss. France_, i. pp.
279-283) inclined to the opposite view, chiefly relying on the
similarity of a peculiar formation of the tibia in the grebes and
divers,[1] which indeed is very remarkable, and, in the latter group,
attracted the attention of Willughby more than 230 years ago. On the
other hand Professor Brandt, and Rudolph Wagner shortly after (Naumann's
_Vögel Deutschlands_, ix. p. 683, xii. p. 395), had already shown that
the structure of the knee-joint in the grebes and divers differs in that
the former have a distinct and singularly formed _patella_ (which is
undeveloped in the latter) in addition to the prolonged, pyramidally
formed, procnemial process--which last may, from its exaggeration, be
regarded as a character almost peculiar to these two groups.[2] The
evidence furnished by oology and the newly-hatched young seems to favour
Brandt's views. The abortion of the _rectrices_ in the gerbes, while
these feathers are fairly developed in the divers, is another point that
helps to separate the two Families.
The commonest species of _Colymbus_ is _C. septentrionalis_, known as
the red-throated diver from an elongated patch of dark bay which
distinguishes the throat of the adult in summer dress. Immature birds
want the bay patch, and have the back so much more spotted that they are
commonly known as "speckled divers." Next in size is the black-throated
diver, _C. arcticus_, having a light grey head and a gular patch of
purplish-black, above which is a semicollar of white striped vertically
with black. Still bigger is the great northern diver, _C. glacialis_ or
_torquatus_, with a glossy black head and neck, two semicollars of white
and black vertical stripes, and nearly the whole of the black back and
upper surface of the wings beautifully marked with white spots, varying
in size and arranged in belts.[3] Closely resembling this bird, so as to
be most easily distinguished from it by its yellow bill, is _C. adamsi_.
The divers live chiefly on fish, and are of eminently marine habit,
though invariably resorting for the purpose of breeding to freshwater
lakes, where they lay two dark brown eggs on the very brink; but they
are not unfrequently found far from the sea, being either driven inland
by stress of weather, or exhausted in their migrations. Like most birds
of their build, they chiefly trust to swimming, whether submerged or on
the surface, as a means of progress, but once on the wing their flight
is strong and they can mount to a great height. In winter their range is
too extensive and varied to be here defined, though it is believed never
to pass, and in few directions to approach, the northern tropic; but the
geographical distribution of the several forms in summer requires
mention. While _C. septentrionalis_ inhabits the north temperate zone of
both hemispheres, _C. arcticus_ breeds in suitable places from the
Hebrides to Scandinavia, and across the Russian empire, it would seem,
to Japan, reappearing in the north-west of North America,[4] though its
eastern limit on that continent cannot be definitely laid down; but it
is not found in Greenland, Iceland, Shetland or Orkney. _C. glacialis_,
on the contrary, breeds throughout the north-eastern part of Canada, in
Greenland and in Iceland. It has been said to do so in Scotland as well
as in Norway, but the assertion seems to lack positive proof, and it may
be doubted whether, with the exception of Iceland, it is indigenous to
the Old World,[5] since the form observed in North-eastern Asia is
evidently that which has been called _C. adamsi_, and is also found in
North-western America; but it may be remarked that one example of this
form has been taken in England (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1859, p. 206) and
at least one in Norway (_Nyt Mag. for Naturvidenskaberne_, 1877, p.
134). (A. N.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The remains of _Colymboides minutus_, from the Miocene of Langy,
described by this naturalist in the work just cited, seem to show it
to have been a generalized form. Unfortunately its tibia is unknown.
[2] A. H. Garrod, in his tentative and chiefly myological arrangement
of Birds (_Proc Zool. Society_, 1874, p. 117), placed the
_Colymbidae_ and _Podicipedidae_ in one order (_Anseriformes_) and
the _Alcidae_ in another (_Charadriiformes_); but the artificial
nature of this assignment may be realized by the fact of his
considering the other families of the former order to be _Anatidae_
and _Spheniscidae_.
[3] The osteology and myology of this species are described by Dr
Coues (_Mem. Boston Soc. Nat. History_, i. pp. 131-172, pl. 5).
[4] Lawrence's _C. pacificus_ seems hardly to deserve specific
recognition.
[5] In this connexion should be mentioned the remarkable occurrence
in Europe of two birds of this species which had been previously
wounded by a weapon presumably of transatlantic origin. One had "an
arrow headed with copper sticking through its neck," and was shot on
the Irish coast, as recorded by J. Vaughan Thompson (_Nat. Hist.
Ireland_, iii. p. 201); the other, says Herr H. C. Müller (_Vid.
Medd. nat. Forening_, 1862, p. 35), was found dead in Kalbaksfjord in
the Faeroes with an iron-tipped bone dart fast under its wing.
DIVERS and DIVING APPARATUS. To "dive" (Old Eng. _dúfan_, _d['y]fan_;
cf. "dip") is to plunge under water, and in the ordinary procedure of
swimmers is distinguished from simple plunging in that it involves
remaining under the water for an interval of more or less duration
before coming to the surface. In the article SWIMMING the sport of
diving in this sense is considered. Here we are only concerned with
diving as the function of a "diver," whose business it is to go under
water (in modern times, assisted by specially devised apparatus) in
order to work.
_Unassisted or Natural Diving._--The earliest reference to the practice
of the art of diving for a purpose of utility occurs in the _Iliad_, 16,
745-750, where Patroclus compares the fall of Hector's charioteer to the
action of a diver diving for oysters. Thus it would seem that the art
was known about 1000 years before the Christian era. Thucydides is the
first to mention the employment of divers for mechanical work under
water. He relates that divers were employed during the siege of Syracuse
to saw down the barriers which had been constructed below the surface of
the water with the object of obstructing and damaging any Grecian war
vessels which might attempt to enter the harbour. At the siege of Tyre,
divers were ordered by Alexander the Great to impede or destroy the
submarine defences of the besieged as they were erected. The purpose of
these obstructions was analogous to that of the submarine mine of
to-day.
The employment of divers for the salvage of sunken property is first
mentioned by Livy, who records that in the reign of Perseus considerable
treasure was recovered from the sea. By a law of the Rhodians, their
divers were allowed a proportion of the value recovered, varying with
the risk incurred, or the depth from which the treasure was salved. For
instance, if the diver raised it from a depth of eight cubits (12 ft.)
he received one-third for himself; if from sixteen cubits (24 ft.) one
half; but upon goods lost near the shore, and recovered from a depth of
two cubits (36 in.), his share was only one tenth.
These are examples of unassisted diving as practised by the Ancients.
Their primitive method, however, is still in vogue in some parts of the
world--notably in the Ceylon pearl fisheries and in the Mediterranean
sponge fisheries, and it may, therefore, be as well to mention the
system adopted by the natural, or naked, diver of to-day.
The volume and power of respiration of the lungs vary in different
individuals, some persons being able to hold their breath longer than
others, so that it naturally follows that one man may be able to stay
longer under water than another. The longest time that a natural diver
has been known to remain beneath the surface is about two minutes. Some
pearl and sponge divers rub their bodies with oil, and put wool,
saturated with oil, in their ears. Others hold in their mouth a piece of
sponge soaked in oil, which they renew every time they descend. It is
doubtful, however, whether these expedients are beneficial. The men who
dive in this primitive fashion take with them a flat stone with a hole
in the centre; to this is attached a rope, which is secured to the
diving boat and serves to guide them to particular spots below. When the
diver reaches the sea bottom he tears off as much sponge within reach as
possible, or picks up pearl shells, as the case may be, and then pulls
the rope to indicate to the man in the boat that he wishes to be hauled
up. But so exhausting is the work, and so severe the strain on the
system, that, after a number of dives in deep water, the men often
become insensible, and blood sometimes bursts from nose, ears and mouth.
_Early Diving Appliances._--The earliest mention of any appliance for
assisting divers is by Aristotle, who says that divers are sometimes
provided with instruments for respiration through which they can draw
air from above the water and which thus enable them to remain a long
time under the sea (_De Part. Anim._ 2, 16), and also that divers
breathe by letting down a metallic vessel which does not get filled with
water but retains the air within it (_Problem._ 32, 5). It is also
recorded that Alexander the Great made a descent into the sea in a
machine called a _colimpha_, which had the power of keeping a man dry,
and at the same time of admitting light. Pliny also speaks of divers
engaged in the strategy of ancient warfare, who drew air through a tube,
one end of which they carried in their mouths, whilst the other end was
made to float on the surface of the water. Roger Bacon in 1240, too, is
supposed to have invented a contrivance for enabling men to work under
water; and in Vegetius's _De Re Militari_ (editions of 1511 and 1532,
the latter in the British Museum) is an engraving representing a diver
wearing a tight-fitting helmet to which is attached a long leathern pipe
leading to the surface, where its open end is kept afloat by means of a
bladder. This method of obtaining air during subaqueous operations was
probably suggested by the action of the elephant when swimming; the
animal instinctively elevates its trunk so that the end is above the
surface of the water, and thus is enabled to take in fresh air at every
inspiration.
A certain Repton invented "water armour" in the year 1617, but when
tried it was found to be useless. G. A. Borelli in the year 1679
invented an apparatus which enabled persons to go to a certain depth
under water, and he is credited with being the first to introduce means
of forcing air down to the diver. For this purpose he used a large pair
of bellows. John Lethbridge, a Devonshire man, in the year 1715
contrived "a watertight leather case for enclosing the person." This
leather case held about half a hogshead of air, and was so adapted as to
give free play to arms and legs, so that the wearer could walk on the
sea bottom, examine a sunken vessel and salve her cargo, returning to
the surface when his supply of air was getting exhausted. It is said
that Lethbridge made a considerable fortune by his invention. The next
contrivance worthy of mention, and most nearly resembling the modern
diving-dress, was an apparatus invented by Kleingert, of Breslau, in
1798. This consisted of an egg-ended metallic cylinder enveloping the
head and the body to the hips. The diver was encased first of all in a
leather jacket having tight-fitting arms, and in leather drawers with
tight-fitting legs. To these the cylinder was fastened in such a way as
to render the whole equipment airtight. The air supply was drawn through
a pipe which was connected with the mouth of the diver by an ivory
mouthpiece, the surface end being held above water after the manner
mentioned in Vegetius, viz. by means of a floating bladder attached to
it. The foul air escaped through another pipe held in a similar manner
above the surface of the water, inhalation being performed by the mouth
and exhalation by the nose, the act of inhalation causing the chest to
expand and so to expel the vitiated air through the escape pipe. The
diver was weighted when going under water, and when he wished to ascend
he released one of his weights, and attached it to a rope which he held,
and it was afterwards hauled up.
_Modern Apparatus._--This, or equally cumbersome apparatus, was the
only diving gear in use up till 1819, in which year Augustus Siebe (the
founder of the firm of Siebe, Gorman & Co.), invented his "open" dress,
worked in conjunction with an air force pump. This dress consisted of a
metal helmet and shoulder-plate attached to a watertight jacket, under
which, fitting more closely to the body, were worn trousers, or rather a
combination suit reaching to the armpits. The helmet was fitted with an
air inlet valve, to which one end of a flexible tube was attached, the
other end being connected at the surface with a pump which supplied the
diver with a constant stream of fresh air. The air, which kept the water
well down, forced its way between the jacket and the under-garment, and
escaped to the surface on exactly the same principle as that of the
diving bell; hence the term "open" as applied to this dress.
Although most excellent work was accomplished with this dress--work
which could not be attempted before its introduction--it was still far
from perfect. It was absolutely necessary for the diver to maintain an
upright, or but very slightly stooping, position whilst under water; if
he stumbled and fell, the water filled his dress, and, unless quickly
brought to the surface, he was in danger of being drowned. To overcome
this and other defects, Siebe carried out a large number of experiments
extending over several years, which culminated, in the year 1830, in the
introduction of his "close" dress in combination with a helmet fitted
with air inlet and regulating outlet valves.
Though, of course, vast improvements have been introduced since Siebe's
death, in 1872, the fact remains that his principle is in universal use
to this day. The submarine work which it has been instrumental in
accomplishing is incalculable. But some idea of the importance of the
invention may be gathered from the fact that diving apparatus on Siebe's
principle is universally used to-day in harbour, dock, pier and
breakwater construction, in the pearl and sponge fisheries, in
recovering sunken ships, cargo and treasure, and that every ship in the
British navy and in most foreign navies carries one set or more of
diving apparatus.
A modern set of diving apparatus consists essentially of six parts:--(1)
an air pump, (2) a helmet with breastplate, (3) a diving dress, (4) a
pair of heavily weighted boots, (5) a pair of back and chest weights,
(6) a flexible non-collapsible air tube.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Pump out of chest.
Two-cylinder, Double-action Air Pump for Two Divers.
A, Air-distributing arrangement, for one diver or two divers.
B, Water jacket.
C, Suction and discharge valves.
D, Cylinders.
E, Pressure gauges.
F, Nozzles to which divers' air pipes are attached.]
_Air Pumps._--The type of air pump varies with the depth of water to
which the diver has to descend; it will be readily understood that the
greater the depth the greater the quantity of air required by the
diver. The pattern most generally in favour amongst divers of all
classes is a three-cylinder single-acting pump, which is suitable for
almost every description of work which the diver may be called upon to
perform, either in deep or shallow water. Another most useful type is
a two-cylinder double-acting pump (figs. 1 and 2), which is designed
to supply two divers working simultaneously in moderate depths of
water, or one diver only in deep water. An air-distributing
arrangement is fitted, whereby, when it is desired to send two men
down together, each cylinder supplies air independently of the other;
and when it is required to send one diver into deep water, the two
cylinders are connected and the full volume of air from both is
delivered to the one man. The same duty is also performed by a
four-cylinder single-acting pump. Smaller pumps, having one
double-acting or two single-acting cylinders, are also used for
shallow water work.
In most cases these air pumps are worked by manual power; this method
of working is rendered necessary by the fact that the machines are
usually placed in small boats from which the divers work and on which
other motive power is not available. In cases, however, where steam or
electric power is available the pumps are sometimes worked by their
means--more particularly on harbour and dock works. In such instances
the air is not delivered direct from the pump to the diver, but is
delivered into an intermediate steel receiver to which the diver's air
pipe is connected, the object being to ensure a reserve supply of air
in case of a breakdown of the pump. Some of these combinations of
pumps and motors are so arranged that, in the event of an accident to
the motor, the pump can be thrown out of gear with it, and be
immediately worked by hand power. Each pump is fitted with a gauge (or
gauges), indicating not only the pressure of air which the pump is
supplying, but also the depth of water at which the diver is working.
The cylinders are water-jacketed to ensure the air delivered to the
diver being cool, the water being drawn in and circulated round the
cylinders by means of a small metal pump worked from an eccentric on
the main crank-shaft. Filters are sometimes attached to the suction
and delivery sides of the pumps to ensure the inlet of air being free
from dirt, and the discharge of air free from dirt and oil.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Pump in chest, ready for work.]
_Helmet._--The helmet and breastplate (fig. 3) are made from highly
planished tinned copper, with gun-metal valves and other fittings. The
helmet is provided with a non-return air inlet valve to which the
diver's air pipe is connected; the air when it lifts the inlet valve
passes through three conduits--one having its outlet over the front
glass, the others their outlets over the side glasses. In this way the
diver gets the air fresh as it enters the helmet, and at the same time
it prevents condensation of his breath on the glasses and keeps them
clear. There is a regulating air outlet valve by which the diver
adjusts his supply of air according to his requirements in different
depths of water; the valve is usually made to be adjusted by hand, but
sometimes it is so constructed as to be operated by the diver knocking
his head against it, the spindle being extended through to the inside
of the helmet and fitted at its inner extremity with a button or disk.
By unscrewing the valve, the diver allows air to escape, and thus the
dress is deflated; by screwing it up the air is retained and the dress
inflated. Thus the diver can control his specific gravity and rise or
sink at will. In case by any chance the diver should inflate the dress
inadvertently, and wish to get rid of the superfluous air quickly, he
can do so by opening an emergency cock, which is fitted on the helmet.
Plate glasses in gun-metal frames are also fitted to the helmet, two,
one on each side, being permanently fixed, while one in front is made
either to screw in and out, or to work on a hinged joint like a ship's
scuttle; the side glasses are usually protected by metal cross-bars,
as is also sometimes the front glass. Some divers prefer unprotected
glasses at the side of the helmet, instead of protected oval ones.
The breastplate is fitted on its outer edge with metal screws and
bands. The disposition of the screws corresponds with that of the
holes in the india-rubber collar of the diving dress described below.
There are other methods of making a watertight joint between the
diver's breastplate and the diving dress, but, as these are only
mechanical differences, it will suffice to describe the Siebe-Gorman
apparatus, as exclusively adopted by the British government. Whatever
the shape or design of the helmet or dress, Siebe's principle is the
one in universal use to-day.
The metal tabs are for carrying the diver's lead weights, which are
fitted with suitable clips; the hooks--one on each side of the
helmet--are for keeping the ropes attached to the back weight in
position. The helmet and breastplate are fitted at their lower and
upper parts respectively with gun-metal segmental neck rings, which
make it possible to connect these two main parts together by
one-eighth of a turn, a catch at the back of the helmet preventing any
chance of unscrewing. The small eyes at the top of the helmet are for
securing the diver's air pipe and life line in position and preventing
them from swaying.
[Illustration:
Front view of Helmet.
A, Helmet.
B, Breastplate.
F, Emergency cock.
G, Glasses in frames.
H, Metal screws and bands.
I, Metal tabs.
J, Hooks for keeping weight ropes in position.
L, Eyes to which air pipe and life line are secured.
Side sectional view of Helmet.
K, Segmental neck rings.
D, Air conduits.
M, Telephone receiver.
N, Transmitter.
O, Contact piece to ring bell.
Back view of Helmet.
Plan of Helmet.
C, Air inlet valve.
E, Regulating outlet valve.
G, Glasses in frames.
L, Eyes to which air pipe and life line are secured.
P, Connexion for telephone cable.
FIG. 3.]
The _Diving Dress_ is a combination suit which envelops the whole body
from feet to neck. It is made of two layers of tanned twill with pure
rubber between, and is fitted at the neck with a vulcanized
india-rubber collar, or band, with holes punched in it corresponding
to the screws in the breastplate. This collar, when clamped tightly
between the bands and the breastplate by means of the nuts, ensures a
watertight joint. The sleeves of the dress are fitted with vulcanized
india-rubber cuffs, which, fitting tightly round the diver's wrists,
prevent the ingress of water at these parts also.
_Boots._--These are generally made with leather uppers, beechwood
inner soles and leaden outer soles, the latter being secured to the
others by copper rivets. Heavy leather straps with brass buckles
secure the boot to the foot. Each boot weighs about 16 lb. Sometimes
the main part of the boot-golosh, toe and heel, are in one brass
casting, with leather upper part, heavy straps and brass buckles.
_Lead Weights._--These weigh 40 lb. each, and the diver wears one on
his back, another on his chest. These weights and the heavy boots
ensure the diver's equilibrium when under water.
_Belt and Knife and Small Tools._--Every diver wears a heavy
waist-belt in which he carries a strong knife in metal case, and
sometimes other small tools.
_Air Pipe._--The diver's air pipe is of a flexible, non-collapsible
description, being made of alternate layers of strong canvas and
vulcanized india-rubber, with steel or hard drawn metal wire embedded.
At the ends are fitted gun-metal couplings, for connecting the pipe
with the diver's pump and helmet.
_Signal Line._--The diver's signal line (sometimes called life line)
consists of a length of reverse laid Manila rope. In cases where the
telephone apparatus is not used, the diver gives his signals by means
of a series of pulls on the signal line in accordance with a
prearranged code.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Diver's Telephone Communication with the
Surface.
Q, Battery, with switch and bell in case.
R, Attendant's receiver and transmitter.]
_Telephonic Apparatus._--Without doubt one of the most useful adjuncts
to the modern diving apparatus is the loud-sounding telephone (fig.
4), introduced by Siebe, Gorman & Co., which enables the diver to
communicate viva voce with his attendant, and vice versa. In the
British navy the type of submarine telephonic apparatus used is the
Graham-Davis system. This is made on two plans, (1) a single set of
instruments, for communication between one diver and his attendant
direct, (2) an intercommunication set which is used where two divers
are employed. With this type the attendant can speak to No. 1 or No. 2
diver separately, or with both at the same time, and vice versa; and
No. 1 can be put in communication with No. 2 whilst they are under
water, the attendant at the surface being able to hear what the men
are saying. The advantages of such a system are obvious. It is more
particularly useful where two divers are working one either side of a
ship, or where the divers may be engaged upon the same piece of work,
but out of sight of one another, or out of touch. It would prove its
utility in a marked degree in cases where a diver got into
difficulties; a second diver sent down to his assistance could receive
and give verbal directions and thus greatly expedite the work of
rescue.
The telephone instruments in the helmet consist of one or more
loud-sounding receivers placed either in the crown of the helmet, or
one on each side in close proximity to the diver's ears. A transmitter
of a special watertight pattern is placed between the front glass and
one of the side glasses, and a contact piece, which, when the diver
presses his chin against it, rings a bell at the surface, is fitted
immediately below the front glass. A buzzer is sometimes fixed in the
helmet to call the diver's attention when the attendant wishes to
speak, but as a rule the voice is transmitted so loudly that this
device is unnecessary. A connexion, through which the insulated wires
connecting the instruments pass, terminates in contact pieces, and the
telephone cable, embedded in the diver's signal line, is connected
with it. The other end of the signal line is connected to a battery
box at the surface. This box contains, besides the cells, a receiver
and transmitter for the attendant, an electric bell, a terminal box,
and a special switch, by means of which various communications between
diver, or divers, and attendant are made. If, as is sometimes the
case, the diver happens to be somewhat deaf, he can, whilst he is
taking a message, stop the vibration of the outlet valve and the noise
made by the escaping air, by merely pressing his finger on a spindle
which passes through the disk of the valve, and thus momentarily
ensure absolute silence.
_Speaking Tube._--The rubber speaking tube which was the forerunner of
the telephonic apparatus is now practically obsolete, though it is
still used in isolated cases.
_Submarine Electric Lamps._--Various forms of submarine lamps are
used, from a powerful arc light to a self-contained hand lamp, the
former giving about 2000 or 3000 candle-power, and requiring a
steam-driven dynamo to supply the necessary current, the latter (fig.
5) giving a light of about 10 candle-power and having its own
batteries, so that the diver carries both the light and its source in
his hand. These submarine lamps are all constructed on the same
principle, having the incandescent lamps, or carbons as the case may
be, enclosed in a strong glass globe, the mechanism and connexions
being fitted in a metal case above the globe, which is flanged and
secured watertightly to the case.
_Self-contained Diving Dress._--The object of the self-contained diving
dress is to make the diver independent of air supply from the surface.
The dress, helmet, boots and weights are of the ordinary pattern
already described, but instead of obtaining his air supply by means of
pumps and pipes, the diver is equipped with a knapsack consisting of a
steel cylinder containing oxygen compressed to a pressure of 120
atmospheres (= about 1800 lb.) to the square inch, and chambers
containing caustic soda or caustic potash. The helmet is connected to
the chambers by tubes, and the oxygen cylinder is similarly connected
to the chambers. The breath exhaled by the diver passes through a
valve into the caustic soda, which absorbs the carbonic acid, and it
is then again inhaled through another valve. This process of
regeneration goes on automatically, the requisite amount of oxygen
being restored to the breathed air in its passage through the
chambers. This type of apparatus has been used for shallow water work,
but the great majority of divers prefer the apparatus using pumps as
the source of the air supply.
An emergency dress, using this self-contained system for breathing,
has been designed by Messrs Fleuss and Davis, of the firm of Siebe,
Gorman & Co., primarily as a life-saving apparatus, for enabling men
to escape from disabled submarine boats.
The helmet diver is indispensable in connexion with harbour and dock
construction, bridge-building, pearl and sponge fishing, wreck raising
and the recovery of sunken cargo and treasure. Every ship in the
British navy carries one set or more of diving apparatus, for use in
ease of emergency, for clearing fouled propellers, cleaning valves or
ship's hull below the water line, repairing hulls if necessary, and
recovering lost anchors, chains, torpedoes, &c.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Submarine Electric Lamp, with and without
Reflector.
A, Metal case containing electrical fittings.
B, Glass globe and incandescent lamp.
C, Stand, which also protects the globe.
D, Ring for suspending lamp.
E, Reflector.]
_Greatest Depths attained._--The greatest depth at which useful work has
been performed by a diver is 182 ft. From this depth a Spanish diver,
Angel Erostarbe, recovered £9000 in silver bars from the wreck of the
steamer "Skyro," sunk off Cape Finisterre; Alexander Lambert succeeded
in salving £70,000 from the Spanish mail steamer "Alphonso XII," sunk in
162 ft. of water off Las Palmas, Grand Canary; W. Ridyard recovered
£50,000 in silver dollars from the "Hamilton Mitchell," sunk off
Leuconna Reef, China, in 150 ft. There are individual cases where much
larger sums have been recovered, but those mentioned are particularly
notable by reason of the great depth involved and stand out as the
greatest depths at which good work has been done. The sponge fishers of
the Mediterranean work at a maximum depth of about 150 ft., and the
pearl divers of Australia at 120 ft. But submarine operations on the
great majority of the harbour and dock works of the world are conducted
at a depth of from 30 to 60 ft.
The weighted tools employed by divers differ very little from those used
by the workmen on _terra firma_. Pneumatic tools, worked by compressed
air conveyed from the surface through flexible tubes, are great aids,
particularly in rock removal work. With the rock drill the diver bores a
number of holes to a given depth, inserts in these the charges of
dynamite or other explosive used, attaches one end of a wire to a
detonator which is inserted in the charge, and then comes to the
surface. The boat from which he works is then moved away from the scene
of operations, paying out the wire attached to the detonators, and when
at a safe distance the free end of the wire is connected to a magneto
exploding machine, which is then set in motion.
A complete set of diving apparatus costs from £75 to £200, varying with
the depth of water for which it is required.
The pay of a diver depends upon the nature of the work upon which he is
engaged, and also upon the depth of the water. On harbour and dock work
the average wage is 2s. to 2s. 6d. per hour; on wreck work from 3s. to
5s. an hour, according to depth; on treasure and cargo recovery so much
per day, with a percentage on the value recovered, generally about 5%.
The pearl fishers of Australia get so much per ton of shell, and the
sponge fishers are also paid by results.
A problem which has been exercising the minds of those engaged in
submarine work is the greatest depth at which it is possible to work,
for, as is well known, many a fine vessel with valuable cargo and
treasure is lying out of reach of the diver owing to the pressure which
he would have to sustain were he to attempt to reach her. Mr Leonard
Hill, and Drs Greenwood and J. J. R. Macleod conducted experiments in
conjunction with Messrs Siebe, Gorman & Co., with a view to solving this
problem, and their efforts have been attended with some considerable
success. Dr J. S. Haldane has also carried out practical experiments for
the British Admiralty, and under his supervision two naval officers have
succeeded in reaching the unprecedented depth of 210 ft., at which depth
the pressure is about 90 lb. to the square inch.
_Diving Bells._--Every one is familiar with the experiment of placing an
inverted tumbler in a bowl of water, and seeing the water excluded from
the tumbler by the air inside it. Perhaps it was to some such experiment
as this that the conception of the diving bell was due. As is well
known, the pressure of water increases with the depth, and for all
practical purposes this pressure can be taken at 4¼ lb. to every 10 ft.
The following table shows the pressure at different depths below the
surface of the water:--
Depth. Pressure.
20 ft. 8½ lb to the sq. in.
40 " 17¼ " "
80 " 34¾ " "
120 " 52½ " "
160 " 69¾ " "
200 " 87 " "
If a diving bell be sunk to a depth of, say, 33 ft., the air inside it
will be compressed to about half its original volume, and the bell
itself will be about half filled with water. But if a supply of air be
maintained at a pressure equal to the depth of water at which the bell
is submerged, not only will the water be kept down to the cutting edge,
but the bell will be ventilated and it will be possible for its
occupants to work for hours at a stretch.
Tradition gives Roger Bacon, in 1250, the credit for being the
originator of the diving bell, but actual records are lost in antiquity.
Of the records preserved to us, probably one of the most trustworthy is
an account given in Kaspar Schott's work, _Technica curiosa_, published
in the year 1664, which quoted from one John Taisnier, who was in the
service of Charles V. This account describes an experiment which took
place at Toledo, Spain, in the year 1538, before the emperor and some
thousands of spectators, when two Greeks descended into the water in a
large "kettle," suspended by ropes, with its mouth downwards. The
"kettle" was equipoised by lead fixed round its mouth. The men came up
dry, and a lighted candle, which they had taken down with them, was
still burning.
Francis Bacon, in the _Novum Organum_, lib. ii., makes the following
reference to a machine, or reservoir, of air to which labourers upon
wrecks might resort whenever they required to take breath:--
"A hollow vessel, made of metal, was let down equally to the surface
of the water, and thus carried with it to the bottom of the sea the
whole of the air which it contained. It stood upon three feet--like a
tripod--which were in length something less than the height of a man,
so that the diver, when he was no longer able to contain his breath,
could put his head into the vessel, and having filled his lungs again,
return to his work."
But it was to Dr Edmund Halley, secretary of the Royal Society, that
undoubtedly the honour is due of having invented the first really
practical diving bell. This is described in the _Philosophical
Transactions_, 1717, in a paper on "The Art of Living Under Water by
means of furnishing air at the bottom of the sea in any ordinary depth."
Halley's bell was constructed of wood, and was covered with lead, which
gave it the necessary sinking weight, and was so distributed as to
ensure that it kept a perpendicular position when in the water. It was
in the form of a truncated cone, 3 ft. in diameter at the top, 5 ft. at
the bottom and 8 ft. high. In the roof a lens was introduced for
admitting light, and also a tap to let out the vitiated air. Fresh air
was supplied to the bell by means of two lead-lined barrels, each
having a bung-hole in the top and bottom. To the hole in the top was
fixed a leathern tube, weighted in such a manner that it always fell
below the level of the bottom of the barrel so that no air could escape.
When, however, the tube was turned up by the attendant in the bell, the
pressure of the water rising through the hole in the bottom of the
barrel, forced the air through the tube at the top and into the diving
bell. These barrels were raised and lowered alternately, with such
success that Halley says that he, with four others, remained at the
bottom of the sea, at a depth of 9 to 10 fathoms, for an hour and a half
at a time without inconvenience of any sort.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Ordinary Diving Bell.]
This type of bell was used by John Smeaton in repairing the foundations
of Hexham Bridge in 1778, but instead of weighted barrels, he introduced
a force pump for supplying the necessary air. To Smeaton too we are
indebted for the first diving bell plant in the form with which we are
familiar to-day, that celebrated engineer having designed a square bell
of iron, for use on the Ramsgate harbour works, in 1788. This bell,
which measured 4½ ft. in length, 3 ft. in width and 4½ ft. in height,
and weighed 2½ tons, was made sufficiently heavy to sink by its own
weight. It afforded room enough for two men to work, and was supplied
with air by a force pump worked from a boat at the surface.
Though the diving bell has been largely superseded by the modern diving
apparatus, it is still used on certain classes of work the magnitude of
which justifies the expense entailed, for it is not only a question of
the cost of the bell, but of the powerful steam-driven crane which is
needed to lower and raise it, and also of the gantry on which the crane
travels. Sometimes a barge or other vessel is used for working the bell.
At the present day, two types of diving bell are employed--the ordinary
bell, and the air-lock bell, which, however, is not so largely used.
On the new national harbour works at Dover, four large diving bells of
the ordinary type (fig. 6) were employed. These bells, in each of
which from four to six men descended at a time, consisted of steel
chambers, open at the bottom, measuring 17 ft. long by 10½ ft. wide by
7 ft. high, and each weighed 35 tons. The ballast, which at once gives
the necessary sinking weight to the bell and maintains its
equilibrium, consisted of slabs of cast iron bolted to the walls of
the bell, inside. Each bell was fitted with loud-sounding telephonic
apparatus, by means of which the occupants could communicate either
with the men attending the crane or the men looking after the air
compressors at the surface. Electric lamps, supplied with current by a
dynamo in the compressor room, gave the necessary light inside the
bell. Seats and foot rails were provided for the men, and there were
racks and hooks for the various tools. Suspended from the roof was an
iron skip into which the men threw the excavated material, which was
emptied out when the bell was brought to the surface. Air was supplied
to the bells by means of steam-driven compressors worked in a house
erected on the gantry. The air was delivered into a steel air
receiver, and thence it passed through a flexible tube connected to a
gun-metal inlet valve in the roof of the diving bell; the pressure of
air was regulated according to the depth at which the bell happened to
be working. The maximum depth on the Dover works was between 60 and 70
ft., = about 25-30 lb. to the square inch. A bell was lowered by
means of powerful steam-driven cranes, travelling on a gantry, to
within a few feet of the water, and the men entered it from a boat.
The bell then continued its descent to the bottom, where the men, with
pick and shovel, levelled the sea bed ready to receive the large
concrete blocks, weighing from 30 to 42 tons apiece. Having completed
one section, the bell was moved along to another. The concrete blocks
were then lowered and placed in position by helmet divers. The bell
divers, clad in thick woollen suits and watertight thigh boots, worked
in shifts of about three hours each, and were paid at the rate of from
1s. to 15d. per hour.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Air-lock Diving Bell.
A, Working chamber.
B, Air-lock.
C, Pulleys and wire ropes for lowering and raising bell.
D, Iron ladder.
E, Tackles suspended from roof for raising and lowering objects.
F, Air supply pipe.]
The cost of an ordinary diving bell, including air compressor,
telephonic apparatus and electric light, is from £600 to £1500,
according to size.
The _Air-lock Diving Bell_ (fig. 7) comprises an iron or steel working
chamber similar to the ordinary diving bell, but with the addition of
a shaft attached to its roof. At the upper end of the shaft is an
airtight door, and about 8 ft. below this is another similar door.
When the bell divers wish to enter the bell, they pass through the
first door and close it after them, and then open a cock or valve and
gradually let into the space between the two doors compressed air from
the working chamber in order to equalize the pressure; they then open
the second door and pass down into the working chamber, closing the
door after them. When returning to the surface they reverse the
operation. It can readily be imagined that, owing to its unwieldy
character, the employment of the air-lock bell is resorted to only in
those cases where the nature of the sea bed necessitates its remaining
on a given spot for some considerable time, as for instance in the
excavation of hard rock to a given depth.
An air-lock bell supplied to the British Admiralty, for use in
connexion with the laying of moorings at Gibraltar, has a working
chamber measuring 15 ft. long by 10½ ft. wide, by 7½ ft. high, and a
shaft 37½ ft. high by 3 ft. in diameter. It is built of steel plates,
with cast-iron ballast, and its total weight is about 46 tons. The
bell is electrically lighted, and is fitted with telephonic apparatus
communicating with the air-compressor room and lifting-winch room. It
is worked through a well in the centre of a specially constructed
steel barge 85 ft. long by 40 ft. beam, having a draught of 7 ft. 6
in. The wire ropes, for lowering and raising the bell, work over
pulleys which are carried on a superstructure erected over the well.
Two sets of air compressors are fitted on the barge--one set for
supplying air to the bell, the other set for working a pneumatic rock
drill inside the bell. The greatest depth at which this particular
bell will work is 40 ft. The cost of the whole plant, including barge,
was about £14,000.
The diving dress has, however, to a great extent supplanted the diving
bell. This is due not only to the heavier cost of the latter, but more
particularly to the greater mobility of the helmet diver. Bell divers
are naturally limited to the area which their bell for the time being
covers, whereas helmet divers can be distributed over different parts
of a contract and work entirely independently of one another. The use
of the diving bell is, therefore, practically limited to the work of
levelling the sea bed, and the removal of rock.
See also the article CAISSON DISEASE as regards the physiological
effects of compressed air. (R. H. D.*)
DIVES-SUR-MER, a small port and seaside resort of north-western France on
the coast of the department of Calvados, on the Dives, 15 m. N.E. of
Caen by road. Pop. (1906) 3286. Dives is celebrated as the harbour
whence William the Conqueror sailed to England in 1066. In the porch of
its church (14th and 15th centuries) a tablet records the names of some
of his companions. The town has a picturesque inn, adapted from a
building dating partly from the 16th century, and market buildings
dating from the 14th to the 16th centuries. The coast in the vicinity of
Dives is fringed with small watering-places, those of Cabourg (to the
west) and of Beuzeval and Houlgate (to the east) being practically
united with it. There are large metallurgical works with electric motive
power close to the town.
DIVIDE, a word used technically as a noun in America and the British
colonies for any high ridge between two valleys, forming a
water-parting; a dividing range. For special senses of the verb "to
divide" (Lat. _di-videre_, the latter part of the word coming from a
root seen in Lat. _vidua_, Eng. "widow"), meaning generally to split up
in two or more parts, see DIVISION. In a parliamentary sense, to divide
(involving a separation into two sides, Aye and No) is to take the sense
of the House by voting on the subject before it.
DIVIDEND (Lat. _dividendum_, a thing to be divided), the net profit
periodically divisible among the proprietors of a joint-stock company in
proportion to their respective holdings of its capital. Dividend is not
interest, although the word dividend is frequently applied to payments
of interest; and a failure to pay dividends to shareholders does not,
like a failure to pay interest on borrowed money, lay a company open to
being declared bankrupt. In bankruptcy a dividend is the proportionate
share of the proceeds of the debtor's estate received by a creditor. In
England, the Companies Act 1862 provided that no dividend should be
payable except out of the profits arising from the business of the
company, but, in the case of companies incorporated by special act of
parliament for the construction of railways and other public works which
cannot be completed for a considerable time, it is sometimes provided
that interest may during construction be paid to the subscribers for
shares out of capital. Dividends (excluding occasional distributions in
the form of shares) are ordinarily payable in cash. Most companies
divide their capital into at least two classes, called "preference"
shares and "ordinary" shares, of which the former are entitled out of
the profits of the company to a preferential dividend at a fixed rate,
and the latter to whatever remains after payment of the preferential
dividend and any fixed charges. Before, however, a dividend is paid, a
part of the profits is often carried to a "reserve fund." The dividend
on preference shares is either "cumulative" or contingent on the profits
of each separate year or half year. When cumulative, if the profits of
any one year are insufficient to pay it in full, the deficiency has to
be made good out of subsequent profits. A cumulative preferential
dividend is sometimes said to be "guaranteed," and preferential
dividends payable by all English companies registered under the
Companies Acts 1862 to 1908 are cumulative unless stipulated to be
otherwise. Certain public companies are forbidden by parliament to pay
dividends in excess of a prescribed maximum rate, but this restriction
has been happily modified in some instances, notably in the case of gas
companies, by the institution of a sliding scale, under which a gas
company may so regulate the price of gas to be charged to consumers that
any reduction of an authorized standard price entitles the company to
make a proportionate increase of the authorized dividend, and any
increase above the standard price involves a proportionate decrease of
dividend. Dividends are usually declared yearly or half-yearly; and
before any dividend can be paid it is, as a rule, necessary for the
directors to submit to the shareholders, at a general meeting called for
the purpose, the accounts of the company, with a report by the directors
on its position and their recommendation as to the rate of the proposed
dividend. The articles of association of a company usually provide that
the shareholders may accept the director's recommendation as to dividend
or may declare a lower one, but may not declare a higher one than the
directors recommend. Directors frequently have power to pay on account
of the dividend for the year, without consulting the shareholders, an
"interim dividend," which on ordinary shares is generally at a much
lower rate than the final or regular dividend. An exceptionally high
dividend is often distributed in the shape of a dividend at the usual
rate supplemented by an additional dividend or "bonus." Payment of
dividends is made by means of cheques sent by post, called "dividend
warrants." All dividends are subject to income-tax, and by most
companies dividends are paid "less income-tax," in which case the tax is
deducted from the amount of dividend payable to each proprietor. When
paid without such deduction a dividend is said to be "free of
income-tax." In the latter case, however, the company has to make
provision for payment of the tax before declaring the dividend, and the
amount of its divisible profits and the rate of dividend which it is
able to declare are consequently to that extent reduced. In respect of
consols and certain other securities, holders of amounts of less than
£1000 may instruct the Bank of England or Bank of Ireland to receive and
invest their dividends. With few exceptions, the prices of securities
dealt in on the London Stock Exchange include any accruing dividend not
paid up to the date of purchase. At a certain day, after the dividend is
declared, the stock or share is dealt in on the Stock Exchange, as _ex
dividend_ (or "x. d."), which means that the current dividend is paid
not to the buyer but to the previous holder, and the price of the stock
is lower to that extent. The expression "cum dividend" is used to
signify that the price of the security dealt in includes a dividend
which, in the absence of any stipulation, might be supposed to belong to
the seller of the security. On the New York Stock Exchange the
invariable practice is to sell stock with the "dividend on" until the
company's books are closed, after which it is usually sold "ex
dividend." (S. D. H.)
DIVIDIVI, the native and commercial name for the astringent pods of
_Caesalpinia coriaria_, a leguminous shrub of the suborder
_Caesalpinieae_, which grows in low marshy tracts in the West Indies and
the north of South America. The plant is between 20 and 30 ft. in
height, and bears white flowers. The pods are flattened, and curl up in
drying; they are about ¾ in. broad, from 2 to 3 in. long and of a rich
brown colour. Dividivi was first brought to Europe from Caracas in 1768.
It contains about 30% of ellagitannic acid, whence its value in leather
manufacture.
DIVINATION, the process of obtaining knowledge of secret or future
things by means of oracles, omens or astrology. The root of the word,
_deus_ (god) or _divus_, indicates the supposed source of the
soothsayer's information, just as the equivalent Greek term, [Greek:
mantikê], indicates the spiritual source of the utterances of the seer,
[Greek: mantis]. In classical times the view was, in fact, general, as
may be seen by Cicero's _De divinatione_, that not only oracles but also
omens were signs sent by the gods; even the astrologer held that he
gained his information, in the last resort, from the same source. On the
side of the Stoics it was argued that if divination was a real art,
there must be gods who gave it to mankind; against this it was argued
that signs of future events may be given without any god.
Divination is practised in all grades of culture; its votaries range
from the Australian black to the American medium. There is no general
agreement as to the source of the information; commonly it is held that
it comes from the gods directly or indirectly. In the Bornean cult of
the hawk it seems that the divine bird itself was regarded as having a
foreknowledge of the future. Later it is regarded as no more than a
messenger. Among the Australian blacks, divination is largely employed
to discover the cause of death, where it is assumed to be due to magic;
in some cases the spirit of the dead man is held to give the
information, in others the living magician is the source of the
knowledge. We find moreover a semi-scientific conception of the basis of
divination; the whole of nature is linked together; just as the
variations in the height of a column of mercury serve to foretell the
weather, so the flight of birds or behaviour of cattle may help to
prognosticate its changes; for the uncultured it is merely a step to the
assumption that animals know things which are hidden from man.
Haruspication, or the inspection of entrails, was justified on similar
grounds, and in the case of omens from birds or animals, no less than in
astrology, it was held that the facts from which inferences were drawn
were themselves in part the causes of the events which they foretold,
thus fortifying the belief in the possibility of divination.
From a psychological point of view divinatory methods may be classified
under two main heads: (A) autoscopic, which depend simply on some change
in the consciousness of the soothsayer; (B) heteroscopic, in which he
looks outside himself for guidance and perhaps infers rather than
divines in the proper sense.
(A) Autoscopic methods depend on (i.) sensory or (ii.) motor
automatisms, or (iii.) mental impressions, for their results. (i.)
Crystal-gazing (q.v.) is a world-wide method of divining, which is
analogous to dreams, save that the vision is voluntarily initiated,
though little, if at all, under the control of the scryer. Corresponding
to crystal-gazing we have _shell-hearing_ and similar methods, which
are, however, less common; in these the information is gained by hearing
a voice. (ii.) The divining rod (q.v.) is the best-known example of this
class; divination depending on automatic movements of this sort is found
at all stages of culture; in Australia it is used to detect the magician
who has caused the death of a native; in medieval and modern times
water-divining or _dowsing_ has been largely and successfully used.
Similar in principle is _coscinomancy_, or divining by a sieve held
suspended, which gives indications by turning; and the equally common
divination by a suspended ring, both of which are found from Europe in
the west to China and Japan in the east. The ordeal by the Bible and key
is equally popular; the book is suspended by a key tied in with its
wards between the leaves and supported on two persons' fingers, and the
whole turns round when the name of the guilty person is mentioned.
Confined to higher cultures on the other hand, for obvious reasons, is
divination by automatic writing, which is practised in China more
especially. The sand divination so widely spread in Africa seems to be
of a different nature. _Trance speaking_, on the other hand, may be
found in any stage of culture and there is no doubt that in many cases
the procedure of the magician or shaman induces a state of
auto-hypnotism; at a higher stage these utterances are termed oracles
and are believed to be the result of inspiration (q.v.). (iii.) Another
method of divination is by the aid of mental impressions; observation
seems to show that by some process of this sort, akin to clairvoyance
(q.v.), fortunes are told successfully by means of palmistry or by
laying the cards; for the same "lie" of the cards may be diversely
interpreted to meet different cases. In other cases the impression is
involuntary or less consciously sought, as in dreams (q.v.), which,
however, are sometimes induced, for purposes of divination, by the
process known as incubation or temple sleep. Dreams are sometimes
regarded as visits to or from gods or the souls of the dead, sometimes
as signs to be interpreted symbolically by means of dream-books, which
are found not only in Europe but in less cultured countries like Siam.
(B) In heteroscopic divination the process is rather one of inference
from external facts. The methods are very various. (i.) The casting of
lots, _sortilege_, was common in classical antiquity; the Homeric heroes
prayed to the gods when they cast lots in Agamemnon's leather cap, and
Mopsus divined with sacred lots when the Argonauts embarked. Similarly
dice are thrown for purposes of sortilege; the _astragali_ or
knucklebones, used in children's games at the present day, were
implements of divination in the first instance. In Polynesia the
coco-nut is spun like a teetotum to discover a thief. Somewhat different
are the omens drawn from books; in ancient times the poets were often
consulted, more especially Virgil, whence the name _sortes virgilianae_,
just as the Bible is used for drawing texts in our own day, especially
in Germany. (ii.) In _haruspication_, or the inspection of entrails, in
_scapulomancy_ or divination by the speal-bone or shoulder-blade, in
divination by footprints in ashes, found in Australia, Peru and
Scotland, the voluntary element is prominent, for the diviner must take
active steps to secure the conditions necessary to divination. (iii.) In
the case of _augury_ and _omens_, on the other hand, that is not
necessary. The behaviour and cries of birds, and _angang_ or meeting
with ominous animals, &c., may be voluntarily observed, and
opportunities for observation made; but this is not necessary for
success. (iv.) In _astrology_ we have a method which still finds
believers among people of good education. The stars are held, not only
to prognosticate the future but also to influence it; the child born
when Mars is in the ascendant will be war-like; Venus has to do with
love; the sign of the Lion presides over places where wild beasts are
found. (v.) In other cases the tie that binds the subject of divination
with the omen-giving object is sympathy. The name of the life-index is
given to a tree, animal or other object believed to be so closely united
by sympathetic ties to a human being that the fate of the latter is
reflected in the condition of the former. The Polynesians set up sticks
to see if the warriors they stood for were to fall in battle; on
Hallowe'en in our own country the behaviour of nuts and other objects
thrown into the fire is held to prognosticate the lot of the person to
whom they have been assigned. Where, as in the last two cases, the
sympathetic bond is less strong, we find symbolical interpretation
playing an important part.
Sympathy and symbolism, association of ideas and analogy, together with
a certain amount of observation, are the explanation of the great mass
of heteroscopic divinatory formulae. But where autoscopic phenomena play
the chief part the question of the origin of divination is less simple.
The investigations of the Society for Psychical Research show that
premonitions, though rare in our own day, are not absolutely unknown.
Pseudo-premonitions, due to hallucinatory memory, are not unknown; there
is also some ground for holding that crystal-gazers are able to perceive
incidents which are happening at a distance from them. Divination of
this sort, therefore, may be due to observation and experiment of a rude
sort, rather than to the unchecked play of fancy which resulted in
heteroscopic divination.
See also the articles AUGURS, ORACLE, ASTROLOGY, OMEN, &c.
AUTHORITIES.--Bouché Leclercq, _Histoire de la divination dans
l'antiquité_; Tylor, _Primitive Culture_, passim; Maury, "La Magie et
l'astrologie," _Journ. Anth. Inst._ i. 163, v. 436; _Folklore_, iii.
193; Ellis, _Tshi-speaking Peoples_, p. 202; _Dictionnaire
encyclopédique des sciences médicales_, xxx. 24-96; _Journ. of
Philology_, xiii. 273, xiv. 113; Deubner, _De incubatione_; Lenormant,
_La Divination, et la science de présages chez les Chaldéens_; Skeat,
_Malay Magic_; J. Johnson, _Yoruba Heathenism_ (1899). (N. W. T.)
DIVINING-ROD. As indicated in the article MAGIC, _Rhabdomancy_, or the
art of using a divining-rod for discovering something hidden, is
apparently of immemorial antiquity, and the Roman _virgula divina_, as
used in taking auguries by means of casting bits of stick, is described
by Cicero and Tacitus (see also DIVINATION); but the special form of
_virgula furcata_, or forked twig of hazel or willow (see also HAZEL),
described by G. Agricola (_De re metallica_, 1546), and in Sebastian
Munster's _Cosmography_ in the early part of the 16th century, used
specially for discovering metallic lodes or water beneath the earth,
must be distinguished from the general superstition. The "dowsing" or
divining-rod, in this sense, has a modern interest, dating from its use
by prospectors for minerals in the German (Harz Mountains) mining
districts; the French chemist M.E. Chevreul[1] assigns its first mention
to Basil Valentine, the alchemist of the late 15th century. On account
of its supposed magical powers, it may be taken perhaps as an historical
analogue to such fairy wands as the _caduceus_ of Mercury, the golden
arrow of Herodotus's "Abaris the Hyperborean," or the medieval witch's
broomstick. But the existence of the modern water-finder or dowser makes
the divining-rod a matter of more than mythological or superstitious
interest. The _Schlagruthe_ (striking-rod), or forked twig of the German
miners, was brought to England by those engaged in the Cornish mines by
the merchant venturers of Queen Elizabeth's day. Professor W. F.
Barrett, F.R.S., the chief modern investigator of this subject, regards
its employment, dating as it does from the revival of learning, as based
on the medieval doctrine of "sympathy," the drooping of trees and
character of the vegetation being considered to give indications of
mineral lodes beneath the earth's surface, by means of a sort of
attraction; and such critical works as Robert Boyle's (1663), or the
_Mineralogia Cornubiensis_ of Pryce (1778), admitted its value in
discovering metals. But as mining declined in Cornwall, the use of the
dowser for searching for lodes almost disappeared, and was transferred
to water-finding. The divining-rod has, however, also been used for
searching for any buried objects. In the south of France, in the 17th
century, it was employed in tracking criminals and heretics. Its abuse
led to a decree of the Inquisition in 1701, forbidding its employment
for purposes of justice.
In modern times the professional dowser is a "water-finder," and there
has been a good deal of investigation into the possibility of a
scientific explanation of his claims to be able to locate underground
water, where it is not known to exist, by the use of a forked hazel-twig
which, twisting in his hands, leads him by its directing-power to the
place where a boring should be made. Whether justified or not, a
widespread faith exists, based no doubt on frequent success, in the
dowser's power; and Professor Barrett (_The Times_, January 21, 1905)
states that "making a liberal allowance for failures of which I have not
heard, I have no hesitation in saying that where fissure water exists
and the discovery of underground water sufficient for a domestic supply
is a matter of the utmost difficulty, the chances of success with a good
dowser far exceed mere lucky hits, or the success obtained by the most
skilful observer, even with full knowledge of the local geology." Is
this due to any special faculty in the dowser, or has the twig itself
anything to do with it? Held in balanced equilibrium, the forked twig,
in the dowser's hands, moves with a sudden and often violent motion, and
the appearance of actual life in the twig itself, though regarded as
mere stage-play by some, is popularly associated with the cause of the
water-finder's success. The theory that there is any direct connexion
("sympathy" or electrical influence) between the divining-rod and the
water or metal, is however repudiated by modern science. Professor
Barrett, who with Professor Janet and others is satisfied that the rod
twists without any intention or voluntary deception on the part of the
dowser, ascribes the phenomenon to "motor-automatism" on the part of the
dowser (see AUTOMATISM), a reflex action excited by some stimulus upon
his mind, which may be either a subconscious suggestion or an actual
impression (obscure in its nature) from an external object or an
external mind; both sorts of stimulus are possible, so that the dowser
himself may make false inferences (and fail) by supposing that the
stimulus is an external object (like water). The divining-rod being thus
"an indicator of any sub-conscious suggestion or impression," its
indications, no doubt, may be fallacious; but Professor Barrett, basing
his conclusions upon observed successes and their greater proportion to
failures than anything that chance could produce, advances the
hypothesis that some persons (like the professional dowsers) possess "a
genuine super-normal perceptive faculty," and that the mind of a good
dowser, possessing the idiosyncrasy of motor-automatism, becomes a blank
or _tabula rasa_, so that "the faintest impression made by the object
searched for creates an involuntary or automatic motion of the
indicator, whatever it may be." Like the "homing instinct" of certain
birds and animals, the dowser's power lies beneath the level of any
conscious perception; and the function of the forked twig is to act as
an index of some material or other mental disturbance within him, which
otherwise he could not interpret.
It should be added that dowsers do not always use any rod. Some again
use a willow rod, or withy, others a hazel-twig (the traditional
material), others a beech or holly twig, or one from any other tree;
others even a piece of wire or watch-spring. The best dowsers are said
to have been generally more or less illiterate men, usually engaged in
some humble vocation.
Sir W. H. Preece (_The Times_, January 16, 1905), repudiating as an
electrician the theory that any electric force is involved, has recorded
his opinion that water-finding by a dowser is due to "mechanical
vibration, set up by the friction of moving water, acting upon the
sensitive ventral diaphragm of certain exceptionally delicately framed
persons." Another theory is that water-finders are "exceptionally
sensitive to hygrometric influences." In any case, modern science
approaches the problem as one concerning which the facts have to be
accepted, and explained by some natural, though obscure, cause.
See for further details Professor Barrett's longer discussion in parts
32 (1897) and 38 (1900) of the _Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research_.
FOOTNOTE:
[1] _La Baguette divinatoire_ (Paris, 1845).
DIVISION (from Lat. _dividere_, to break up into parts, separate), a
general term for the action of breaking up a whole into parts. Thus, in
political economy, the phrase "division of labour" implies the
assignment to particular workmen of the various portions of a whole
piece of work; in mathematics division is the process of finding how
many times one number or quantity, the "divisor," is contained in
another, the "dividend" (see ARITHMETIC and ALGEBRA); in the musical
terminology of the 17th and 18th centuries, the term was used for rapid
passages consisting of a few slow notes amplified into a florid passage,
i.e. into a larger number of quick ones. The word is used also in
concrete senses for the parts into which a thing is divided, e.g. a
division of an army, an administrative or electoral division; similarly,
a "division" is taken in a legislative body when votes are recorded for
and against a proposed measure.
In logic, division is a technical term for the process by which a
_genus_ is broken up into its _species_. Thus the genus "animal" may be
divided, according to the habitat of the various kinds, into animals
which live on land, those which live in water, those which live in the
air. Each of these may be subdivided according to whether their
constituent members do or do not possess certain other qualities. The
basis of each of these divisions is called the _fundamentum divisionis_.
It is clear that there can be no division in respect of those qualities
which make the genus what it is. The various species are all alike in
the possession of the generic attributes, but differ in other respects;
they are "variations on the same theme" (Joseph, _Introduction to
Logic_, 1906); each one has the generic, and also certain peculiar,
qualities (_differentiae_), which latter distinguish them from other
species of the same genus. The process of division is thus the obverse
of classification (q.v.); it proceeds from genus to species, whereas
classification begins with the particulars and rises through species to
genus. In the exact sciences, and indeed in all argument both practical
and theoretical, accurate division is of great importance. It is
governed by the following rules. (1) _Division must be exhaustive_; all
the members of the genus must find a place in one or other of the
species; a captain who selects for his team skilful batsmen and bowlers
only is guilty of an incomplete division of the whole function of a
cricket team by omitting to provide himself with good fielders.
Rectilinear figures cannot be divided into triangles and quadrilaterals
because there are rectilinear figures which have more than four sides.
On the other hand, triangles can be divided into equilateral, isosceles
and scalene, since no other kind of triangle can exist. (2) Division
_must be exclusive_, that is, each species must be complete in itself
and not contain members of another species. No member of a genus must be
included in more than one of the species. (3) In every division _there
must be but one principle (fundamentum divisionis)_. The members of a
genus may differ from one another in many respects, e.g. books may be
divided according to external form into quarto, octavo, &c., or
according to binding into calf, cloth, paper-backed and so on. They
cannot, however, be divided logically into quarto, paper-backed, novels
and remainders. When more than one principle is used in a division it is
called "cross division." (4) _Division must proceed gradually_ ("Divisio
non facit saltum"), i.e. the genus must be resolved into the next
highest ("proximate") species. To go straight from a _summum genus_ to
very small species is of no scientific value.
It is to be observed that logical division is concerned exclusively with
universals or concepts; division is of genus and species, not of
particulars. Two other kinds of division are recognized:--_metaphysical
division_, the separation in thought of the various qualities possessed
by an individual thing (a piece of lead has weight, colour, &c), and
_physical division_ or _partition_, the breaking up of an object into
its parts (a watch is thought of as being composed of case, dial, works,
&c.). Logical division is closely allied with logical definition (q.v.).
DIVORCE (Lat. _divortium_, derived from dis-, apart, and vertere, to
turn), the dissolution, in whole or in part, of the tie of marriage. It
includes both the complete abrogation of the marriage relation known as
a divorce _a vinculo matrimonii_, which carries with it a power on the
part of both parties to the marriage to remarry other persons or each
other, and also that incomplete severance not involving powers to
remarry, which was formerly known as divorce a _mensa et thoro_, and has
in England been termed "judicial separation." Less strictly, divorce is
commonly understood to include judicial declarations of nullity of
marriage, which, while practically terminating the marriage relation,
proceed in law on the basis of the marriage never having been legally
established.
The conditions under which, in different communities, divorce has at
different times been permitted, vary with the aspects in which the
relation of marriage (q.v.) has been regarded. When marriage has been
deemed to be the acquisition by the husband of property in the wife, or
when it has been regarded as a mere agreement between persons capable
both to form and to dissolve that contract, we find that marriage has
been dissoluble at the will of the husband, or by agreement of the
husband and wife. Yet even in these cases the interest of the whole
community in the purity of marriage relations, in the pecuniary bearings
of this particular contract, and the condition of children, has led to
the imposition of restrictions on, and the attachment of conditions to,
the termination of the obligations consequent on a marriage legally
contracted. But the main restrictions on liberty of divorce have arisen
from the conception of marriage entertained by religions, and especially
by one religion. Christianity has had no greater practical effect on the
life of mankind than in its belief that marriage is no mere civil
contract, but a vow in the sight of God binding the parties by
obligations of conscience above and beyond those of civil law.
Translating this conception into practice, Christianity not only
profoundly modified the legal conditions of divorce as formulated in the
Roman civil law, but in its own canon law defined its own rule of
divorce, going so far as in the Western (at least in its unreformed
condition), though not the Eastern, branch of Christendom to forbid all
complete divorces, that is to say, all dissolutions of marriage carrying
with them the right to remarry.
HISTORY
_The Roman Law of Divorce before Justinian._--The history of divorce,
therefore, practically begins with the law of Rome. It took its earliest
colour from that conception of the _patria potestas_, or the power of
the head of the family over its members, which enters so deeply into the
jurisprudence of ancient Rome. The wife was transferred at marriage to
the authority of her husband, _in manus_, and consequently became so far
subject to him that he could, at his will, renounce his rule over her,
and terminate his companionship, subject at least to an adjustment of
the pecuniary rights which were disturbed by such action. So clearly was
the power of the husband derived from that of the father, that for a
long period a father, in the exercise of his _potestas_, could take his
daughter from her husband against the wishes of both. It may be presumed
that this power, anomalous as it appears, was not unexercised, as we
find that a constitution of Antoninus Pius prohibited a father from
disturbing a harmonious union, and Marcus Aurelius afterwards limited
this prohibition by allowing the interference of a father for strong and
just cause--_magna et justa causa interveniente_. Except in so far as it
was restrained by special legislation, the authority of a husband in the
matter of divorce was absolute. As early indeed, however, as the time of
Romulus, it is said that the state asserted its interest in the
permanence of marriage by forbidding the repudiation of wives unless
they were guilty of adultery or of drinking wine, on pain of forfeiture
of the whole of an offender's property, one-half of which went to the
wife, the other to Ceres. But the law of the XII. Tables, in turn,
allowed freedom of divorce. It would appear, however, that the sense of
the community was so far shocked by the inhumanity of treating a wife as
mere property, or the risk of regarding marriage as a mere terminable
contract, that, without crystallizing into positive enactment, it
operated to prevent the exercise of so harsh and dangerous a power. It
is said that for 500 years no husband took advantage of his power, and
it was then only by an order of a censor, however obtained, that Spurius
Carvilius Ruga repudiated his wife for barrenness. We may, however, be
permitted to doubt the genuineness of this censorial order, or at least
to conjecture the influence under which the censor was induced to
intervene, when we find that in another instance, that of L. Antonius, a
censor punished an unjust divorce by expulsion from the senate, and that
the exercise of their power by husbands increased to a great and
alarming extent. Probably few of the admirers of the greatest of Roman
orators have not regretted his summary and wholly informal repudiation
of Terentia. At last the _lex Julia de adulteriis_, while recognizing a
power of divorce both in the husband and in the wife, imposed on it, in
the public interest, serious restrictions and consequences. It required
a written bill of divorce (_libellus repudii_) to be given in the
presence of seven witnesses, who must be Roman citizens of age, and the
divorce must be publicly registered. The act was, however, purely an act
of the party performing it, and no idea of judicial interference or
contract seems to have been entertained. It was not necessary for either
husband or wife giving the bill to acquaint the other with it before its
execution, though it was considered proper to deliver the bill, when
made, to the other party. In this way a wife could divorce a lunatic
husband, or the _paterfamilias_ of a lunatic wife could divorce her from
her husband. But the _lex Julia_ was also the first of a series of
enactments by which pecuniary consequences were imposed on divorce both
by husbands and wives, whether the intention was to restrain divorce by
penalties of this nature, or to readjust pecuniary relations settled on
the basis of marriage and disturbed by its rupture. It was provided that
if the wife was guilty of adultery, her husband in divorcing her could
retain one-sixth of her _dos_, but if she had committed a less serious
offence, one-eighth. If the husband was guilty of adultery, he had to
make immediate restitution of her dowry, or if it consisted of land, the
annual proceeds for three years; if he was guilty of a less serious
offence, he had six months within which to restore the _dos_. If both
parties were in fault, no penalty fell on either. The _lex Julia_ was
followed by a series of acts of legislation extending and modifying its
provisions. The legislation of Constantine, A.D. 331, specified certain
causes for which alone a divorce could take place without the imposition
of pecuniary penalties. There were three causes for which a wife could
divorce her husband with impunity: (1) murder, (2) preparation of
poisons, (3) violation of tombs; but if she divorced him for any other
cause, such as drunkenness, or gambling or immoral society, she
forfeited her dowry and incurred the further penalty of deportation.
There were also three causes for which a husband could divorce his wife
without incurring any penalty: (1) adultery, (2) preparation of poisons,
(3) acting as a procuress. If he divorced her for any other cause, he
forfeited all interest in her dowry; and if he married again, the first
wife could take the dowry of the second.
In A.D. 421 the emperors Honorius and Theodosius enacted a law of
divorce which introduced limitations on the power of remarriage as an
additional penalty in certain cases. As regards a wife: (1) if she
divorced her husband for grave reasons or crime, she retained her dowry
and could remarry after five years; (2) if she divorced him for criminal
conduct or moderate faults, she forfeited her dowry, became incapable of
remarriage, and liable to deportation, nor could the emperor's
prerogative of pardon be exerted in her favour. As regards a husband: if
he divorced his wife (1) for serious crime, he retained the dowry and
could remarry immediately; (2) for criminal conduct, he did not retain
the dowry, but could remarry; (3) for mere dislike, he forfeited the
property brought into the marriage and could not remarry.
In A.D. 449 the law of divorce was rendered simpler and certainly more
facile by Theodosius and Valentinian. It was provided that a wife could
divorce her husband without incurring any penalty if he was convicted of
any one of twelve offences: (1) treason, (2) adultery, (3) homicide, (4)
poisoning, (5) forgery, (6) violating tombs, (7) stealing from a church,
(8) robbery, (9) cattle-stealing, (10) attempting his wife's life, (11)
beating his wife, (12) introducing immoral women to his house. If the
wife divorced her husband for any other cause, she forfeited her dowry,
and could not marry again for five years. A husband could divorce his
wife without incurring a penalty for any of these reasons except the
last, and also for the following reasons: (1) going to dine with men
other than her relations without the knowledge or against the wish of
her husband; (2) going from home at night against his wish without
reasonable cause; (3) frequenting the circus, theatre or amphitheatre
after being forbidden by her husband. If a husband divorced his wife for
any other reason, he forfeited all interest in his wife's dowry, and
also any property he brought into the marriage.
The above sketch of the legislation prior to the time of Justinian,
while it indicates a desire to place the husband and wife on something
like terms of equality as regards divorce, indicates also, by its
forbidding remarriage and by its pecuniary provisions in certain cases,
a sense in the community of the importance in the public interest of
restraining the violation of the contract of marriage. But to the Roman
marriage was primarily a contract, and therefore side by side with this
legislation there always existed a power of divorce by mutual consent.
We must now turn to those principles of the Christian religion which, in
combination with the legislation above described, produced the law
formulated by Justinian.
_The Christian View of Divorce._--The Christian law of divorce as
enunciated by its Founder was expressed in a few words, but these,
unfortunately, by no means of agreed interpretation. To appreciate them
it is necessary to consider the enactment of the Mosaic law, which also
was expressed in few words, but of a meaning involved in much doubt. The
phrase in Deut. xxiv. 1-4, which is translated in the Authorized Version
"some uncleanness," but in the Revised Version, "some unseemly thing,"
and which is the only cause stated to justify the giving of a "bill of
divorcement," was limited by the school of Shanmai to moral delinquency,
but was extended by the rival school of Hillel to causes of trifling
importance or even to motives of caprice. The wider interpretation would
seem to be supported by the words of Christ (Matt. v. 31), who, in
indicating His own doctrine in contradistinction to the law of Moses,
said, "Whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of
fornication ([Greek: porneias]), causeth her to commit adultery; and
whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." The
meaning of these words of Christ Himself has been involved in
controversy, which perhaps was nowhere carried on with greater acuteness
or under more critical conditions than within the walls of the British
parliament during the passage of the Divorce Act of 1857. That they
justify divorce of a complete kind for moral delinquency of some nature
is supported by the opinion probably of every competent scholar. But
scholars of eminence have sought to restrict the meaning of the [Greek:
logos porneias] to antenuptial incontinence concealed from the husband,
and to exclude adultery. The effect of this view commends itself to the
adherents of the Church of Rome, because it places the right to
separation between husband and wife, not on a cause supervening after a
marriage, which that Church seeks to regard as absolutely indissoluble,
but on invalidity in the contract of marriage itself, and which may
therefore render the marriage liable to be declared void without
impugning its indissoluble character when rightly contracted. The
narrower view of the meaning of [Greek: porneias] has been maintained
by, among others, Dr Döllinger (_First Ages of the Church_, ii. 226);
but those who will consider the arguments of Professor Conington in
reply to Dr Döllinger (_Contemp. Review_, May 1869) will probably assign
the palm to the English scholar. A more general view points in the same
direction. It is quite true that under the Mosaic law antenuptial
incontinence was, as was also adultery, punishable with death. But when
we consider the effect of adultery not only as a moral fault, but as
violating the solemn contract of marriage and vitiating its objects, it
is inconceivable that Christ, in employing a term of general import,
intended to limit it to one kind, and that the less serious, of
incontinence.
_Effect of Christianity on the Law of Rome._--The modification in the
civil law of Rome effected by Justinian under the joint influence of the
previous law of Rome and that of Christianity was remarkable. Gibbon has
summed up the change effected in the law of Rome with characteristic
accuracy: "The Christian princes were the first who specified the just
causes of a private divorce; their institutions from Constantine to
Justinian appear to fluctuate between the customs of the empire and the
wishes of the Church; and the author of the Novels too frequently
reforms the jurisprudence of the Code and Pandects." Divorce by mutual
consent, hitherto, as we have seen, absolutely free, was prohibited
(Nov. 117) except in three cases: (1) when the husband was impotent; (2)
when either husband or wife desired to enter a monastery; and (3) when
either of them was in captivity for a certain length of time. It is
obvious that the two first of these exceptions might well commend
themselves to the mind of the Church, the former as being rather a
matter of nullity of marriage than of divorce, the latter as admitting
the paramount claims of the Church on its adherents, and not
inconsistent with the spirit of the words of St Paul himself, who
clearly contemplated a separation between husband and wife as allowable
in case either of them did not hold the Christian faith (1 Cor. vii.
12). At a later period Justinian placed a further restriction or even
prohibition on divorce by consent by enacting that spouses dissolving a
marriage by mutual consent should forfeit all their property, and be
confined for life in a monastery, which was to receive one-third of the
forfeited property, the remaining two-thirds going to the children of
the marriage. The cause stated for this remarkable alteration of the
law, and the abandonment of the conception of marriage as a civil
contract _ut non Dei judicium contemnatur_ (Nov. 134), indicates the
influence of the Christian idea of marriage. That influence, however,
did not long continue in its full force. The prohibitions of Justinian
on divorce by consent were repealed by Justin (Nov. 140), his successor.
"He yielded," says Gibbon, "to the prayers of his unhappy subjects, and
restored the liberty of divorce by mutual consent; the civilians were
unanimous, the theologians were divided, and the ambiguous word which
contains the precept of Christ is flexible to any interpretation that
the wisdom of a legislature can demand." It was difficult, the enactment
stated, "to reconcile those who once came to hate each other, and who,
if compelled to live together, frequently attempted each other's lives."
Justinian further re-enacted, with some modifications, the power of
divorce by a husband or wife against the will of the other. Divorce by a
wife was allowed in five cases (Nov. 117): (1) the husband being party
or privy to conspiracy against the state; (2) attempting his wife's
life, or failing to disclose to her plots against it; (3) attempting to
induce his wife to commit adultery; (4) accusing his wife falsely of
adultery; (5) taking a woman to live in the house with his wife, or,
after warning, frequenting a house in the same town with any woman other
than his wife. If a wife divorced her husband for one of these reasons,
she recovered her dowry and any property brought into the marriage by
her husband for life with reversion to her children, or if there were no
children, absolutely. But if she divorced him for any other reason, the
provisions of the enactment of Theodosius and Valentinian were to apply.
A husband was allowed to divorce his wife for any one of seven reasons:
(1) failure to disclose to her husband plots against the state; (2)
adultery; (3) attempting or failing to disclose plots against her
husband's life; (4) frequenting dinners or balls with other men against
her husband's wishes; (5) remaining from home against the wishes of her
husband except with her parents; (6) going to the circus, theatre or
amphitheatre without the knowledge or contrary to the prohibition of her
husband; (7) procuring abortion. If the husband divorced his wife for
any one of these reasons he retained the dowry absolutely, or if there
were children, with reversion to them. If he divorced her for any other
reason, the enactments of Theodosius and Valentinian applied. In any
case of a divorce, if the father or mother of either spouse had advanced
the dowry and it would be forfeited by an unreasonable divorce, the
consent of the father or mother was necessary to render the divorce
valid.
_Effect of Divorce on Children in the Law of Rome._--The custody of the
children of divorced parents was dealt with by the Roman law in a
liberal manner. A constitution of Diocletian and Maximian left it to the
judge to determine in his discretion to which of the parents the
children should go. Justinian enacted that divorce should not impair the
rights of children either as to inheritance or maintenance. If a wife
divorced her husband for good cause, and she remained unmarried, the
children were to be in her custody, but to be maintained by the father;
but if the mother was in fault, the father obtained the custody. If he
was unable, from want of means, to support them, but she was able to do
so, she was obliged to take them and support them. It is interesting to
compare these provisions as to children with the practice at present
under English law, which in this respect reflects so closely the spirit
of the law of Rome.
_The Canon Law of Divorce._--The canon law of Rome was based on two main
principles: (1) That there could be no divorce a _vinculo matrimonii_,
but only _a mensa et thoro_. The rule was stated in the most absolute
terms: _"Quamdiu vivit vir licet adulter sit, licet sodomita, licet
flagitiis omnibus coopertus, et ab uxore propter haec scelera
derelictus, maritus ejus reputatur, cui alterum vivum accipere non
licet"_ (Caus. 32, Quaest. 7, c. 7). (2) That no divorce could be had at
the will of the parties, but only by the sentence of a competent, that
is to say, an ecclesiastical, court. In this negation of a right to
divorce a _vinculo matrimonii_ lies the broad difference between the
doctrines of the Eastern and Western Churches of Christendom. The Greek
Church, understanding the words of Christ in the broader sense above
mentioned, has always allowed complete divorce with a right to remarry
for the cause of adultery. And it is said that the form at least of an
anathema of the council of Trent was modified out of respect to
difference on the part of the Greek Church (see Pothier 5. 6. 21). The
papal canon law allowed a divorce a _mensa et thoro_ for six causes: (1)
adultery or unnatural offences; (2) impotency; (3) cruelty; (4)
infidelity; (5) entering into religion; (6) consanguinity. The Church,
however, always assumed to itself the right to grant licences for an
absolute divorce; and further, by claiming the power to declare
marriages null and void, though professedly this could be done only in
cases where the original contract could be said to be void, it was, and
is to this day, undoubtedly extended in practice to cases in which it is
impossible to suppose the original contract really void, but in which a
complete divorce is on other grounds desirable.
DIVORCE IN ENGLAND
In England the law of divorce, originally based on the canon law of
Rome, underwent some, though little, permanent change at the
Reformation, but was profoundly modified by the exercise of the power of
the state through legislation. From the canon law was derived the
principle that divorce could legally take place only by sentence of the
court, and never at the will of the parties. Complete divorce has never
been governed by any other principle than this; and in so far as an
incomplete divorce has become practicable at the will of the parties, it
has been by the intervention of civil tribunals and contrary to the law
of the ecclesiastical courts. Those courts adopted as ground for divorce
_a mensa et thoro_ the main grounds allowed by Roman canon law, adultery
and cruelty (Ayliffe, 22; Co. Lit. 102; 1 Salk. 162; Godolphin Abridg.
495). The causes of heresy and of entering into religion, if ever they
were recognized in England, ceased to exist at the Reformation.
The principles upon which the English ecclesiastical courts proceeded in
divorce _a mensa et thoro_ are those which are still in force, and which
(with some modification by statutory enactment) have been administered
by judicial tribunals down to the present day. The courts by which the
ecclesiastical law, and therefore the law of divorce, was administered
were, until 1857, the courts of the various dioceses, including that of
the archbishop of Canterbury, known as the Court of Arches, and that of
the archbishop of York, known as the Consistory Court of York; but by
statute a suitor was prevented from taking proceedings in any court
except that determined by the residence of the person against whom
proceedings were taken (23 Hen. VIII. c. 9). From these courts an appeal
lay to delegates appointed in each case by the crown, until the
establishment of the judicial committee of the privy council in 1836,
when the appeal was given to the crown as advised by that body.
The proof of adultery (to which Isidore in his _Book of Etymologies_
gives the fanciful derivation of "_ad alterius thorum_") was not by the
canon law as received in England restricted by the operation of
arbitrary rules. It was never, for example, required, as by the law of
Mahomet, that the act should have been actually seen by competent
witnesses, nor even that the case should be based on any particular kind
of proof. It was recognized that the nature of the offence almost
inevitably precluded direct evidence. One rule, however, appears to have
commended itself to the framers of the canon law as too general in its
application not to be regarded as a principle. The mere confession of
the parties was not regarded as a safe ground of conviction; and this
rule was formulated by a decretal epistle of Pope Celestine III., and,
following it, by the 105th of the Canons of 1604. This rule has now been
abrogated; and no doubt it is wiser not to fetter the discretion of the
tribunal charged with the responsibility of deciding particular cases,
but experience of divorce proceedings tends to confirm the belief that
this rule of the canon law was founded on an accurate appreciation of
human nature.
Although, therefore, with the above exception, no strict rules of the
evidence necessary to establish adultery have ever been established in
the English courts, experience has indicated, and in former days judges
of the ecclesiastical courts often expressed, the lines upon which such
proof may be expected to proceed. It is necessary and sufficient, in
general, to prove two things--first the guilty affection towards each
other of the persons accused, and, secondly, an opportunity or
opportunities of which, if so minded, their passion may have been
gratified. It is obvious that any strong proof on either of these points
renders strict proof on the other less needful; but when proof on both
is afforded, the common sense of a tribunal, acting with a knowledge of
human nature, may be trusted to draw the inevitable conclusion.
The definition of cruelty accepted by the ecclesiastical courts as that
of the canon law is the same as that which prevails at the present time;
and the view of the law taken by the House of Lords in _Russell_ v.
_Russell_ (1897 App. Cas. 395) was expressly based on the view of
cruelty taken by the authorities of the ecclesiastical law. The best
definition by older English writers is probably to be found in Clarke's
_Praxis_ (p. 144): "Si maritus fuerit erga uxorem crudelis et ferax ac
mortem comminatus et machinatus fuerit, vel eam inhumaniter verbis et
verberibus tractaverit, et aliquando venenum loco potus paraverit vel
aliquod simile commiserit, propter quod sine periculo vitae cum marito
cohabitare aut obsequia conjugalia impendere non audeat ... consimili
etiam causa competit viro contra mulierem." Lord Stowell, probably the
greatest master of the civil and canon law who ever sat in an English
court of justice, has in one of his most famous judgments (_Evans_ v.
_Evans_, 1790, 1 Hagg. _Consist._ 35) echoed the above language in words
often quoted, which have constituted the standard exposition of the law
to the present day. "In the older cases," he said, "of this sort which I
have had the opportunity of looking into, I have observed that the
danger of life, limb or health is usually insisted as the ground upon
which the court has proceeded to a separation. This doctrine has been
repeatedly applied by the court in the cases which have been cited. The
court has never been driven off this ground. It has always been jealous
of the inconvenience of departing from it, and I have heard no one case
cited in which the court has granted a divorce without proof given of a
reasonable apprehension of bodily hurt. I say an apprehension, because
assuredly the court is not to wait till the hurt is actually done; but
the apprehension must be reasonable: it must not be an apprehension
arising from an exquisite and diseased sensibility of mind. Petty
vexations applied to such a constitution of mind may certainly in time
wear out the animal machine, but still they are not cases of legal
relief; people must relieve themselves as well as they can by prudent
resistance, by calling in the succours of religion and the consolation
of friends; but the aid of courts is not to be resorted to in such cases
with any effect." The risk of personal danger in cohabitation
constituted, therefore, the foundation of legal cruelty. But this does
not exclude such conduct as a course of persistent ill-treatment, though
not amounting to personal violence, especially if such ill-treatment has
in fact caused injury to health. But the person complaining must not be
the author of his or her own wrong. If, accordingly, one of the spouses
by his or her conduct is really the cause of the conduct complained of,
recourse to the court would be had in vain, the true remedy lying in a
reformation of the real cause of the disagreement.
In addition to a denial of the charge or charges, the canon law allowed
three grounds of answer: (1) _Compensatio criminis_, a setoff of equal
guilt or recrimination. This principle is no doubt derived from the
Roman law and it had the effect of refusing to one guilty spouse the
remedy of divorce against the other although equally guilty. It was
always accepted in England, although not in other countries, such as
France and Scotland, which also followed the canon or civil law. In
strictness, recrimination applied to a similar offence having been
committed by the party charging that offence. But a decision (1888) of
the English courts shows that a wife who had committed adultery could
not bring a suit against her husband for cruelty (_Otway_ v. _Otway_ 13
P. D. 141). (2) _Condonation._ If the complaining spouse has, in fact,
forgiven the offence complained of, that constitutes a conditional bar
to any proceedings. The main and usual evidence of such forgiveness is
constituted by a renewal of marital intercourse, and it is
difficult-perhaps impossible-to imagine any case in which such
intercourse would not be held to establish condonation. But condonation
may be proved by other acts, or by words, having regard to the
circumstances of each case. Condonation is, however, always presumed to
be conditional on future good behaviour, and misconduct even of a
different kind revives the former offence. (3) _Connivance_ constitutes
a complete answer to any charge. Nor need the husband be the active
agent of the misconduct of the wife. Indifference or neglect imputable
to a corrupt intention are sufficient. It will be seen presently that
modern statute law has gone further in this direction. It is to be added
that the connivance need not be of the very act complained of, but may
be of an act of a similar kind. A learned judge, recalling the classical
anecdote of Maecenas and Galba, said, "A husband is not permitted to say
_non omnibus dormio_." The ecclesiastical courts also considered
themselves bound to refuse relief if there was shown to be _collusion_
between the parties. In its primary and most general sense collusion was
understood to be an agreement between the parties for the purpose of
deceiving the court by false or fictitious evidence; for example, an
agreement to commit, or appear to commit, an act of adultery. Collusion,
however, is not limited to the imposing of other than genuine evidence
on the court. It extends to an agreement to withhold any material
evidence; and indeed is carried further, and held to extend to any
agreement which may have the effect of concealing the real and complete
truth from the court (see _Churchward_ v. _Churchward_, 1894, p. 161).
This doctrine was of considerable importance even in the days when only
divorces _a mensa et thoro_ were granted, because at that time the
parties were not permitted to separate by consent. At the present day it
has become, with regard to divorce a _vinculo matrimonii_, a rule of
greater and of more far-reaching importance.
The canon law as accepted in England, while allowing divorces of the
nature and for the causes above mentioned, actively interfered to
prevent separation between husband and wife in any other manner. A suit
known as a suit for restitution of conjugal rights could be brought to
compel cohabitation; and on evidence of the desertion of either spouse,
the court ordered a return to the matrimonial home, though it carried no
further its authority as to the matrimonial relations within the home.
To this suit an agreement between the parties constituted no answer. But
an answer was afforded by any conduct which would have supported a
decree of divorce _a mensa et thoro_. It is a question whether, indeed,
the ecclesiastical courts would not have gone further, and refused a
decree of restitution of conjugal rights on grounds which might appear
adequate to justify such refusal, though not sufficient on which to
ground a decree of divorce. The view of the court of appeal and the
House of Lords has given some colour to this opinion, and certainly the
court of appeal has held, although perhaps somewhat hastily, that the
effect of a modern statute has been to allow the court to refuse
restitution of conjugal rights for causes falling short of what would
constitute ground for divorce (_Russell_ v. _Russell_, 1895, p. 315).
The ecclesiastical courts provided for the pecuniary rights of the wife
by granting to her alimony during the progress of the suit, and a proper
allowance after its termination in cases in which she was successful.
Such payments were dependent on the pecuniary means, or _faculties_, as
they were termed, of the husband, and were subject to subsequent
increase or diminution in proper cases. But the ecclesiastical courts
did not deal with the custody of the children of the marriage, it being
probably considered that that matter could be determined by the common
law rights of the father, or by the intervention of the court of
chancery.
The canon law fixed no period of limitation, either in respect of a suit
for divorce or for restitution of conjugal rights; but, as regards at
least suits for divorce, any substantial delay might lead to the
imputation of acquiescence or even condonation. To that extent, at
least, the maxim _vigilantibus non dormientibus jura subveniunt_
applied.
It is remarkable that desertion by either party to a marriage, except as
giving rise to a suit for restitution, was not treated as an offence by
canon law in England. It formed no ground for a suit for divorce, and
constituted no answer to such a suit by way of recrimination. It might
indeed deprive a husband of his remedy if it amounted to connivance, or
perhaps even if it amounted only to culpable neglect.
The canon law, as administered in England, has kept clear the logical
distinction which exists between dissolving a marriage and declaring it
null and void. The result has been that, in England at least, the two
proceedings have never been allowed to pass into one another, and a
complete divorce has not been granted on pretence of a cause really one
for declaring the marriage void _ab initio_. But for certain causes the
courts were prepared to declare a marriage null and void on the suit of
either party. There is, indeed, a distinction to be drawn between a
marriage void or only voidable, though in both cases it became the
subject of a similar declaration. It was void in the cases of incapacity
of the parties to contract it, arising from want of proper age, or
consanguinity, or from a previous marriage, or from absence of consent,
a state of things which would arise if the marriage were compelled by
force or induced by fraud as to the nature of the contract entered into
or the personality of the parties. It is to be remarked that, in England
at least, the idea of fraud as connected with the solemnization of
marriage has been kept within these narrow limits. Fraud of a different
kind, such as deception as to the property or position of the husband or
wife, or antecedent impurity of the wife, even if resulting in a
concealed pregnancy, has not in England (though the last-mentioned cause
has in other countries) been held a ground for the vitiation of a
marriage contract. A marriage was voidable, and could be declared void,
on the ground of physical incapacity of either spouse, the absence of
intercourse between the parties after a sufficient period of opportunity
being almost, if not quite, conclusive on this subject.
With regard to one cause of nullity the legislation interfered from
consideration, it is said, of a case of special hardship. Before the
Marriage Act of 1835 marriages within the prohibited degrees of
consanguinity and affinity were only voidable by a decree of the court,
and remained valid unless challenged during the lifetime of both the
parties. But this act, while providing that no previous marriage between
persons within the prohibited degrees should be annulled by a decree of
the ecclesiastical court pronounced in a suit depending at the time of
the passing of the act, went on to render all such marriages thereafter
contracted in England "absolutely null and void to all intents and
purposes whatever."
Another suit was allowed by the ecclesiastical courts which should be
mentioned, although its bearing on divorce is indirect. This was the
suit for _jactitation of marriage_, which in the case of any person
falsely asserting his or her marriage to another, allowed such person to
be put to perpetual silence by an order of the court. This suit, which
has been of rare occurrence (though there was an instance, _Thompson_ v.
_Rourke_, in 1892), does not appear to have been used for the purpose of
determining the validity of a marriage. The legislature, has, however,
in the Legitimacy Declaration Act of 1858, provided a ready means by
which the validity of marriages and the legitimacy of children can be
determined, and the procedure provided has repeatedly been utilised.
It should be added, as a matter closely akin to the proceedings in the
ecclesiastical courts, that the common law took cognizance of one phase
of matrimonial relations by allowing an action by the husband against a
paramour, known as an action for criminal conversation. In such an
action a husband could recover damages estimated according to the loss
he was supposed to have sustained by the seduction and loss of his wife,
the punishment of the seducer not being altogether excluded from
consideration. Although this action was not unfrequently (and indeed,
for the purposes of a divorce, necessarily) brought, it was one which
naturally was regarded with disfavour.
_Effect of the Reformation._--Great as was the indirect effect of the
Reformation upon the law of divorce in England, the direct effect was
small. It might, indeed, have been supposed that the disappearance of
the sacramental idea of marriage entertained by the Roman Church would
have ushered in the greater freedom of divorce which had been associated
with marriage regarded as a civil contract. And to some extent this was
the case. It was for some time supposed that the sentences of divorce
pronounced by the ecclesiastical courts acquired the effect of allowing
remarriage, and such divorces were in some cases granted. In _Lord
Northampton's_ case in the reign of Edward VI. the delegates pronounced
in favour of a second marriage after a divorce _a mensa et thoro_. It
was, however, finally decided in _Foljambe's_ case, in the 44th year of
Elizabeth, that a marriage validly contracted could not be dissolved for
any cause. But the growing sense of the right to a complete divorce for
adequate cause, when no longer any religious law to the contrary could
be validly asserted, in time compelled the discovery of a remedy. The
commission appointed by Henry VIII. and Edward VI. to reform the
ecclesiastical law drew up the elaborate report known as the
_Reformatio Legum_, and in this they recommended that divorces _a mensa
et thoro_ should be abolished, and in their place complete divorce
allowed for the causes of adultery, desertion and cruelty. These
proposals, however, never became law. In 1669 a private act of
parliament was granted in the case of Lord de Roos, and this was
followed by another in the case of the duke of Norfolk in 1692. Such
acts were, however, rare until the accession of the House of Hanover,
only five acts passing before that period. Afterwards their number
considerably increased. Between 1715 and 1775 there were sixty such
acts, in the next twenty-five years there were seventy-four, and between
1800 and 1850 there were ninety. In 1829 alone there were seven, and in
1830 nine.
The jurisdiction thus assumed by parliament to grant absolute divorces
was exercised with great care. The case was fully investigated before a
committee of the House of Lords, and not only was the substance of
justice so secured, but the House of Lords further required that
application to parliament should be preceded by a successful suit in the
ecclesiastical courts resulting in a decree of divorce _a mensa et
thoro_, and in the case of a husband being the applicant, a successful
action at common law and the recovery of damages against the paramour.
In this way, and also, if needful, on its own initiative, the House of
Lords provided that there should be no connivance or collusion. Care was
also taken that a proper allowance was secured to the wife in cases in
which she was not the offending party. This procedure is still pursued
in the case of Irish divorces.
It is obvious, however, that the necessity for costly proceedings before
the Houses of Parliament imposed great hardship on the mass of the
population, and there can be little doubt that this hardship was deeply
felt. Repeated proposals were made to parliament with a view to reform
of the law, and more than one commission reported on the subject. It is
said that the final impetus was given by an address to a prisoner by Mr
Justice Maule. The prisoner's wife had deserted him with her paramour,
and he married again during her lifetime. He was indicted for bigamy,
and convicted, and Mr Justice Maule sentenced him in the following
words:--"Prisoner at the bar: You have been convicted of the offence of
bigamy, that is to say, of marrying a woman while you had a wife still
alive, though it is true she has deserted you and is living in adultery
with another man. You have, therefore, committed a crime against the
laws of your country, and you have also acted under a very serious
misapprehension of the course which you ought to have pursued. You
should have gone to the ecclesiastical court and there obtained against
your wife a decree _a mensa et thoro_. You should then have brought an
action in the courts of common law and recovered, as no doubt you would
have recovered, damages against your wife's paramour. Armed with these
decrees, you should have approached the legislature and obtained an act
of parliament which would have rendered you free and legally competent
to marry the person whom you have taken on yourself to marry with no
such sanction. It is quite true that these proceedings would have cost
you many hundreds of pounds, whereas you probably have not as many
pence. But the law knows no distinction between rich and poor. The
sentence of the court upon you, therefore, is that you be imprisoned for
one day, which period has already been exceeded, as you have been in
custody since the commencement of the assizes." The grave irony of the
learned judge was felt to represent truly a state of things well-nigh
intolerable, and a reform in the law of divorce was felt to be
inevitable. The hour and the man came in 1857, the man in the person of
Sir Richard Bethell (afterwards Lord Westbury), then attorney-general.
_The Act of 1857._--Probably few measures have been conceived with such
consummate skill and knowledge, and few conducted through parliament
with such dexterity and determination. The leading opponent of the
measure was Mr Gladstone, backed by the zeal of the High Church party
and inspired by his own matchless subtlety and resource. But the contest
proved to be unequal, and after debates in which every line, almost
every word, of the measure was hotly contested, especially in the House
of Commons, the measure emerged substantially as it had been
introduced. Not the least part of the merit and success of the act of
1857 is due to the skill which, while effecting a great social change,
did so with the smallest possible amount of innovation. The act (which
came into operation on the 1st of January 1858) embodied two main
principles: 1. The constitution of a lay court for the administration of
all matters connected with divorce. 2. The transfer to that court, with
as little change as possible, of the powers exercised in matrimonial
matters by (a) the House of Lords, (b) the ecclesiastical courts, (c)
the courts of common law.
_The Constitution of the Court._--The new court, termed "The Court for
Divorce and Matrimonial Causes," was constituted by the lord chancellor,
the chiefs and the senior puisne judges of the three courts of common
law, and the judge of the court of probate (which was also established
in 1857), but the functions of the court were practically entrusted to
the judge of the court of probate, termed the "Judge Ordinary," who thus
in matters of probate and divorce became the representative of the
former ecclesiastical jurisdiction. The judge ordinary was empowered
either to sit alone or with one or more of the other judges to
constitute a full court. The parties to a suit obtained the right of
trial by jury of all disputed questions of fact; and the rules of
evidence of the common law courts were made to apply. An appeal to the
full court was given in all matters, which the judge ordinary was
enabled to hear sitting alone.
1. To this court were transferred all the powers of the ecclesiastical
courts with regard to suits for divorce _a mensa et thoro_, to which the
name was given of suits for "judicial separation," nullity, restitution
of conjugal rights, and jactitation of marriage, and in all such
proceedings it was expressly enacted (sec. 22) that the court should act
on principles and rules as nearly as possible conformable to the
principles and rules of the ecclesiastical courts. Judicial separation
could be obtained by either husband or wife for adultery, or cruelty, or
desertion continued for two or more years.
2. There were also transferred to the court powers equivalent to those
exercised by the legislature in granting absolute divorce. The husband
could obtain a divorce for adultery, the wife could obtain a divorce for
adultery coupled with cruelty or desertion for two or more years, and
also for incestuous or bigamous adultery, or rape, or unnatural
offences. The same conditions as had been required by the legislature
were insisted on. A petition for dissolution (sec. 30) was to be
dismissed in case of connivance, condonation or collusion; and further,
the court had power, though it was not compelled, to dismiss such
petition if the petitioner had been guilty of adultery, or if there had
been unreasonable delay in presenting or prosecuting the petition, or if
the petitioner had been guilty of cruelty or desertion without
reasonable excuse, or of wilful neglect or misconduct conducing to the
adultery. The exercise of these discretionary powers of the court, just
and valuable as they undoubtedly are, has been attended with some
difficulty. But the view of the legislature has on the whole been
understood to be that the adultery of a petitioner should not constitute
a bar to his or her proceeding, if it has been caused by the misconduct
of the respondent, and that cruelty should not constitute such a bar
unless it has caused or contributed to the misconduct of the respondent.
But the court, while regarding its powers as those of a judicial and not
an arbitrary discretion, has declined to fetter itself by any fixed rule
of interpretation or practice.
It is to be observed that this act assigned a new force to desertion.
The ecclesiastical law regarded it only as suggestive of connivance or
culpable neglect. But the act of 1857 made it (1) a ground of judicial
separation if continued for two years, (2) a ground in part of
dissolution of marriage if continued for the same period, (3) a bar, in
the discretion of the court, to a petition for dissolution, though it
was not made in a similar way any bar to a suit for judicial separation.
It is also to be observed that the act was confined to causes of divorce
recognized by the ecclesiastical law as administered in England. It did
not either extend the causes of a suit for nullity by adding such
grounds as antenuptial incontinence, even if accompanied with
pregnancy, nor did it borrow from the civil law of Rome either lunacy or
crime as grounds for divorce.
Much comment has been made on the different grounds on which divorce is
allowed to a husband and to a wife,--it being necessary to prove
infidelity in both cases, but a wife being compelled to show either an
aggravation of that offence or an addition to it. Opinions probably will
always differ whether the two sexes should be placed on an equality in
this respect, abstract justice being invoked, and the idea of marriage
as a mere contract pointing in one direction, and social considerations
in the other. But the reason of the legislature for making the
distinction is clear. It is that the wife is entitled to an absolute
divorce only if her reconciliation with her husband is neither to be
expected nor desired. This was no doubt the view taken by the House of
Lords. In 1801 a Mrs Addison claimed an absolute divorce on the ground
of her husband's incest with her sister. The matter was long debated,
but Lord Thurlow, who appeared in the House of Lords for the last time
in order to support the bill, turned the scale by arguing that it was
improper that the wife should under such circumstances return to her
husband (see Campbell, _Lives of the Chancellors_, vii. 145). "Why do
you," he said, "grant to the husband a divorce for the adultery of the
wife? Because he ought not to forgive her, and separation is inevitable.
Where the wife cannot forgive, and separation is inevitable by reason of
the crime of the husband, the wife is entitled to the like remedy."
The act (sec. 32) provided, in case of dissolution, for maintenance of
the wife by the husband on principles similar to those recognized by the
ecclesiastical courts, and (sec. 45) for the settlement of the property
of a guilty wife on her husband or children; but this enactment was
imperfect, as provision was made only for a settlement and not for
payment of an allowance, and none was made for altering settlements made
in view or in consequence of a marriage. The act (sec. 35) provides also
in all divorce proceedings, and also in those of nullity, for provision
for the custody, maintenance and education of children by the court:
provisions of great value, which were unfortunately for some time
limited by an erroneous view of the court that the age of the children
to which such provisions applied should be considered limited to
sixteen. The act of 1857 also transferred to the new court the powers
exercised by the common law courts in the action for criminal
conversation. It was made obligatory to join an alleged adulterer in the
suit, and damages (sec. 33) might be claimed against him, and he might
be ordered to pay the cost of the proceedings (sec. 34), the extent
depending upon the circumstances of each case.[1]
The act of 1857 in one respect went beyond a transfer of the powers
exercised by the ecclesiastical courts or the legislature. It provided
(sec. 21) that a wife deserted by her husband might apply to a
magistrate in petty sessions and obtain an order which had the effect of
protecting her earnings and property, and during the currency of such
order of protection a wife was to be in the same position as if she had
obtained an order for judicial separation. The effect of this section
appears to have been small; but the Summary Jurisdiction (Married Women)
Act 1895 has afforded a cheap and speedy remedy to all classes.
The framers of the act of 1857 were careful to avoid offending the
scruples of clergymen who disapproved of the complete dissolution of
marriage by a lay court. It was provided (secs. 57 and 58) that no
clergyman should be compelled to solemnize the marriage of any person
whose former marriage had been dissolved on the ground of his or her
adultery, but should permit any other clergyman to solemnize the
marriage in any church or chapel in which the parties were entitled to
be married. It is to be feared that this concession, ample as it
appears, has not allayed conscientious objections, which are perhaps
from their nature insuperable. The act made no provision as to the name
to be borne by a wife after a divorce; and this omission led to
litigation in the case of a peer's wife, in _Cowley_ v. _Cowley_, in
which Lady Cowley was allowed to retain her status.
_Modifications of the Act of 1857._--Subsequent legislation has made
good many of the defects of the act of 1857. In 1859 power was given to
the court, after a decree of dissolution or of nullity of marriage, to
inquire into the existence of ante- and post-nuptial settlements, and to
make orders with respect to the property settled either for the benefit
of children of the marriage or their parents; and a subsequent act (41 &
42 Vict. c. 19, s. 3) removed a doubt which was entertained whether
these powers could be exercised if there were no children of the
marriage. In 1860 a very important change was made, having for its
object a practical mode of preventing divorces in cases of connivance
and collusion or of misconduct of the petitioner. It was provided that a
claim of dissolution (a provision afterwards extended to decrees of
nullity) should in the first instance be a decree nisi, which should not
be made absolute until the expiration of a period then fixed at not less
than three, but by subsequent legislation enlarged to not less than six,
months. During the interval which elapsed between the decree nisi and
such decree being made absolute, power was given to any person to
intervene in the suit and show cause why the decree should not be made
absolute, by reason of the same having been obtained by collusion, or by
reason of material facts not brought before the court; and it was also
provided that, at any time before the decree was made absolute, the
queen's proctor, if led to suspect that the parties were acting in
collusion for the purpose of obtaining a divorce contrary to the justice
of the case, might under the direction of the attorney-general intervene
and allege such case of collusion. This enactment (extended in the year
1873 to suits for nullity) was ill drawn and unskilfully conceived. The
power given to any person whomsoever to intervene is no doubt too wide,
and practically has had little or no useful effect as employed by
friends or enemies of parties to a suit. The limitation in terms of the
express power of the queen's proctor to intervene in cases of collusion
was undoubtedly too narrow. But the queen's proctor, or the official by
whom that officer was afterwards represented, has in practice availed
himself of the general authority given to any person to show cause why a
decree _nisi_ should not be made absolute, and has thus been enabled to
render such important service to the administration of justice that it
is difficult to imagine the due execution of the law of divorce by a
court without such assistance. By the Matrimonial Causes Act 1866 power
was given to the court to order an allowance to be paid by a guilty
husband to a wife on a dissolution of marriage. This act also can hardly
be considered to have been drawn with sufficient care, inasmuch as while
it provides that if the husband's means diminish, the allowance may be
diminished or suspended, it makes no corresponding provision for
increase of the allowance if the husband's means increase; nor,
apparently, does it permit of an allowance in addition to, but only in
substitution for, a settlement. The act makes no provision for allowance
to a guilty wife, and it certainly is a serious defect that the power to
grant an allowance does not extend to cases of nullity. In 1868 an
appeal to the House of Lords was given in cases of decree for
dissolution or nullity of marriage.
The great changes effected by the Judicature Acts included the court for
divorce and matrimonial causes. Under their operation a division of the
high court of justice was constituted, under the designation of the
probate division and admiralty division, to which was assigned that
class of legal administration governed mainly by the principles and
practice of the canon and civil law. The division consists of a
president, and a justice of the high court, with registrars
representing each branch of the jurisdiction. Appeals lie to the court
of appeal, and thence to the House of Lords.
In 1884 the legislature interfered to prevent imprisonment being the
result of disobedience to an order for restitution of conjugal rights.
That mode of enforcing the order of the court was abolished, and the
matter was left to a proper adjustment of the pecuniary relations of the
husband and wife; and a respondent disobeying such an order was held to
be guilty of desertion without reasonable cause, such desertion having
further given to it a similar effect to that assigned to desertion for
two years or upwards. The effect of this provision has been that the
suit for restitution of conjugal rights is most frequently brought for
the purpose of shortening the time within which a wife can obtain a
decree for dissolution of marriage.
Proceedings in the divorce court have shown the improvement in the law
of evidence which has been effected with regard to other legal
proceedings. The act of 1857 made an inroad on the former law, which
prohibited evidence being given by parties interested in the
proceedings, by allowing a petitioner (sec. 43) to be called and
examined by order of the court, absolving such petitioner, however, from
the necessity of answering any question tending to show that he or she
had been guilty of adultery. In the next year power was given to the
court to dismiss any person, with whom a party to the suit was alleged
to have committed adultery, from the suit if there should not appear to
be sufficient evidence against him or her, the object being to allow
such person to give evidence; and in 1859 it was provided that, on a
petition by a wife for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty or desertion
with adultery, the husband and wife could be competent and compellable
witnesses as to the cruelty or desertion. A few years later, however, in
1869, the subject was finally dealt with by repealing all previous rules
which limited the powers to give evidence on questions of adultery with
the safeguard that no witness in any proceeding can be asked or bound to
answer any question tending to show that he or she has been guilty of
adultery, unless in the same proceeding such witness shall have given
evidence in disproof of his or her alleged adultery. It has been held
that the principles of these enactments apply to interrogatories as well
as to evidence given in court.
It is a most remarkable omission in the act of 1857, especially when we
remember the high legal authority from whom it proceeded, that the act
nowhere defines the class of persons with regard to whom the
jurisdiction of the court should be exercised. This omission has given
rise to a misapprehension of the law which, though now set at rest,
prevailed for a considerable period, and has undoubtedly led to the
granting of divorce in several cases in which it could not legally be
given. It was supposed that the court could grant a dissolution of
marriage to all persons who had anything more than a casual and fleeting
residence within the jurisdiction of the court; and this view, although
its correctness was doubted by Lord Penzance, the judge of the divorce
court, was upheld by a majority of the judges of the court of appeal in
the case of _Niboyet_ v. _Niboyet_ (4 P. D. 1). It was supposed that
such residence gave what was termed a matrimonial domicile. But this
view was undoubtedly erroneous as regards dissolution of marriage,
although probably correct as regards judicial separation, and the true
view is no doubt that indicated with great learning and ability by Lord
Watson in a judgment given by him in the privy council in the case of
_Le Mesurier_ v. _Le Mesurier_ (1895, App. Cas. 517), that the only true
test of jurisdiction for a decree of divorce altering the status of the
parties to a marriage is to be found in the domicile of the
spouses--that is to say, of the husband, as the domicile of a wife
follows that of her husband--at the time of the divorce. Domicile means
a person's permanent home, the place at which he resides with no
intention of making his home elsewhere, and, if he leaves it, with the
intention of returning to it.
It is now also clearly recognized as the law of England that the English
courts will not recognize a divorce purporting to be made by a foreign
tribunal with regard to persons domiciled in England. For a considerable
time doubt appears to have clouded the law on this subject. In a famous
case known as _Lolley's_ case, decided in 1812, the judges of England
(the point arose in connexion with a criminal charge) unanimously held
"that no sentence or act of any foreign country or any state could
dissolve an English marriage _a vinculo matrimonii_ for grounds on which
it was not liable to be dissolved _a vinculo matrimonii_ in England."
This case has been frequently understood as deciding that a marriage
celebrated in England cannot be dissolved elsewhere, and on this point
the courts of Scotland differ from the view supposed to be taken by the
English judges. But the matter has been fully explained in one of the
most masterly of Lord Hannen's judgments (_Harvey_ v. _Fairnie_, 5. P.
D. 154), afterwards upheld by the House of Lords in 1882 (8 App. Cas.
43); and it is now clear that while the parties are domiciled in this
country no decree of any foreign court dissolving their marriage will be
recognized here, unless it proceed on the grounds on which a divorce may
be obtained in this country, and even the exception just mentioned
appears to rest rather on reasoning and principle than on the authority
of any decided case. This principle received the highest sanction in the
prosecution of Earl Russell for bigamy before the House of Lords (1901),
in which it was held that, where a divorce had been refused him in
England, an American divorce would not relieve a man from the guilt of
marrying again.
_Summary Proceedings for Separation._--The legislature has sought to
extend the relief afforded by the courts in matrimonial causes by a
procedure fairly to be considered within the reach of all classes. In
1895 an act was passed which re-enacted in an improved form the
provisions of an act of 1878 of similar effect. By the act of 1895 power
was given to a married woman whose husband (1) has been guilty of an
aggravated assault upon her within the Offences against the Person Act
1861, or (2) convicted on indictment of an assault on her and sentenced
to pay a fine of more than £5 or to imprisonment for more than two
months, or (3) shall have deserted her, or (4) been guilty of persistent
cruelty to her or wilful neglect to maintain her or her infant children,
and by such cruelty or neglect shall have caused her to leave and live
apart from him, to apply to a court of summary jurisdiction and to
obtain an order containing all or any of the following provisions:--(1)
that the applicant be not forced to cohabit with her husband, (2) that
the applicant have the custody of any children under sixteen years of
age, (3) that the husband pay to her an allowance not exceeding £2 a
week. The act provides that no married woman guilty of adultery should
be granted relief, but with the very important proviso, altering as it
does the rule of the common law, that the husband has not conduced or
connived at, or by wilful neglect or misconduct conduced to, such
adultery. The provisions of this act[2] have been largely put in force,
and no doubt to the great advantage of the poorer classes of the
community. It will be observed that the act is unilateral, and affords
no relief to a husband against a wife; and the complaint is often heard
that no misconduct of the wife, except adultery, relieves the husband
from the necessity of maintaining her and allowing her to share his
home, unless he can obtain access to the high court.[3]
_Separation Deeds._--Although nothing in the development of the law of
divorce has tended to give to married persons the right absolutely to
dissolve their marriage by consent, and, on the contrary, any such
agreement would be held to be strong evidence of collusion, the view of
the Church expressed in the ecclesiastical law has been entirely
departed from as regards agreements for separation. Such agreements were
embodied in deeds, and usually contained mutual covenants not to sue in
the ecclesiastical courts for restitution of conjugal rights. The
ecclesiastical courts, however, wholly disregarded such agreements, and
considered them as affording no answer to a suit for restitution of
conjugal rights. For a considerable period the court of chancery refused
to enforce the covenant in such deeds by restraining the parties from
proceeding to the ecclesiastical courts. But at last a memorable
judgment of Lord Westbury (1861) asserted the right (_Hunt_ v. _Hunt_, 4
De G. F. & J. 221; see also _Marshall_ v. _Marshall_, 5 P. D. 19) of the
court of chancery to maintain the claim of good faith in this as in
other cases, and restrained a petitioner from suing in the
ecclesiastical court contrary to his covenant. Thereafter these deeds
became common, and no doubt often afford a solution of matrimonial
difficulties of very great value. When the courts of the country became
united under the Judicature Acts, it became practicable to set up in the
divorce division a separation deed in answer to a suit for restitution
of conjugal rights without the necessity of recourse to any other
tribunal.
_Statistics._--The statistics of divorce in England have for some
years been regularly published in the volumes of judicial statistics
published annually by the Home Office.
The number of petitions for divorce (including in the term both
divorce _a mensa et thoro_ and divorce _a vinculo_) for the years from
1858 to 1905 inclusive are as follows:--
1858 326 | 1874 469 | 1890 644
1859 291 | 1875 451 | 1891 632
1860 272 | 1876 536 | 1892 629
1861 236 | 1877 551 | 1893 645
1862 248 | 1878 632 | 1894 652
1863 298 | 1879 555 | 1895 683
1864 297 | 1880 615 | 1896 772
1865 284 | 1881 589 | 1897 781
1866 279 | 1882 481 | 1898 750
1867 294 | 1883 561 | 1899 727
1868 303 | 1884 647 | 1900 698
1869 351 | 1885 541 | 1901 848
1870 351 | 1886 708 | 1902 987
1871 384 | 1887 662 | 1903 914
1872 374 | 1888 680 | 1904 822
1873 416 | 1889 654 | 1905 844
It is probably impossible to account for the variations which the
above table discloses. It was no doubt natural that the year
immediately succeeding the passing of the act which originated
facilities for divorces _a vinculo_ should exhibit a larger number of
divorces than its successors for a considerable period. But there does
not appear to be any adequate cause for the comparative increase which
seems to have prevailed in the decade between 1878 and 1888, unless it
be found in the increase of marriages which culminated in 1873 and
1883, falling after each of those years. The number of marriages again
rose high in 1891 and 1892, and this may account for the increased
number of divorces in 1896 and the following years. But it may
certainly be said with confidence that as compared with the growth of
population the number of divorces in England has shown no alarming
increase.
The total number of petitions in matrimonial causes presented by
husbands exceed those presented by wives, but in no marked degree.
This excess would seem to be due to the fact that the larger number of
petitions for dissolution presented by husbands, owing no doubt to the
difference in the law affecting the two sexes, is not entirely
counterbalanced by the much larger number of petitions for judicial
separation presented by wives. The following figures for various years
may be taken as typical:--
+------------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| | 1895 | 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1905 |
+------------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Petitions for Dissolution-- | | | | | | |
| Presented by husbands | 353 | 393 | 414 | 401 | 383 | 429 |
| Presented by wives | 220 | 280 | 269 | 243 | 262 | 323 |
| Petitions for Judicial Separation--| | | | | | |
| Presented by husbands | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Presented by wives | 106 | 96 | 96 | 102 | 78 | 87 |
| Totals-- | | | | | | |
| Presented by husbands | 357 | 396 | 416 | 405 | 387 | 434 |
| Presented by wives | 326 | 376 | 365 | 345 | 340 | 410 |
+------------------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+
Speaking generally, it may be said that about 70% of the petitions
presented are successful and result in decrees. This percentage has a
tendency, however, to rise.
Attempts have been made to ascertain the classes which supply the
petitioners for divorce, but this cannot be done with such certainty
as to warrant any but the most general conclusions. It may, however,
safely be said that while all classes, professions and occupations are
represented, it is certainly not those highest in the scale that are
the largest contributors. The principles of the act of 1857 have
beyond question been justified by the relief required by and afforded
to the general community.
OTHER EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
We may now turn to the law of divorce as administered in the other
countries of the modern world. On the main question whether marriage is
to be considered indissoluble they will be found to range themselves on
one side or the other according to the influence upon them of the Church
of Rome and its canon law.
In _Scotland_ it has long been the law that marriage can be dissolved at
the instance of either party by judicial sentence on the grounds of
adultery or of desertion, termed non-adherence, and the spouses could in
such case remarry, except with the paramour,--at all events if the
paramour was named in the decree (and the name is sometimes omitted for
that reason). A divorce _a mensa et thoro_ could also be granted for
cruelty. By the Court of Session Act 1830, the jurisdiction in divorce
was transferred from a body of commissaries to the court of session.
By the law of _Holland_ complete divorce could be granted by judicial
sentence on the grounds of adultery or of wilful and malicious
desertion, to which were added unnatural offences and imprisonment for
life, and such divorce gave the power of remarriage, except with the
person with whom adultery was proved to have been committed, but there
would seem to be a doubt whether this power extended to the guilty party
(Voet, _De divortiis_, lit. 24, tit. 2). Divorce _a mensa et thoro_
could be granted on the grounds allowed by the canon law.
The Code of _Prussia_ of 1794 contained elaborate provisions which gave
great facility of divorce. A complete divorce could be obtained by
judicial sentence for the following causes:--(1) Adultery or unnatural
offences; and adultery by a husband formed no bar to his obtaining a
divorce against his wife for adultery; and even an illicit intimacy,
from which a presumption of adultery might arise, was held sufficient
for a divorce. (2) Wilful desertion. (3) Obstinate refusal of the rights
of marriage, which was considered as equivalent to desertion. (4)
Incapacity to perform the duties of marriage, even if arising subsequent
to the marriage; and the same effect was assigned to other incurable
bodily defects that excited disgust and horror. (5) Lunacy, if after a
year there was no reasonable hope of recovery. (6) An attempt on the
life of one spouse by the other, or gross and unlawful attack on the
honour or personal liberty. (7) Incompatibility of temper and
quarrelsome disposition, if rising to the height of endangering life or
health. (8) Opprobrious crime for which either spouse has suffered
imprisonment, or a knowingly false accusation of such crime by one
spouse of the other. (9) If either spouse by unlawful transactions
endangers the life, honour, office or trade of the other, or commences
an ignominious employment. (10) Change of religion. In addition to these
causes, marriages, when there were no children, could be dissolved by
mutual consent if there be no reason to suspect levity, precipitation or
compulsion; and a judge had also power to dissolve a marriage in cases
in which a strongly rooted dislike appeared to him to exist. In all
cases of divorce, but sometimes subject to the necessity of obtaining a
licence, remarriage was permissible (see Burge, _Commentaries on
Colonial and Foreign Law_, vol. i. 649).
Before 1876 only a divorce _a vinculo_ could be obtained in some of the
German states, especially if the petitioner were a Roman Catholic. The
only relief afforded was a "perpetual separation." By the Personal
Status Act 1875 perpetual separation orders were abolished and divorce
decrees allowed in cases where the petitioners would, under the former
law, have been entitled to a perpetual separation order. However, two
Drafting Commissions under the act declined to alter the new rule, but
under pressure from the Roman Catholic party the Reichstag passed a law
introducing a modified separation order, termed "dissolution of the
conjugal community" (_Aufhebung der ehelichen Gemeinschaft_). This order
can be converted into a dissolution of the marriage at the option of
either party. Under the Civil Code of 1900 a petitioner can obtain a
divorce or judicial separation on "absolute" or "relative" grounds. In
the former case if the facts are established the petitioner is entitled
to the relief prayed for; in the latter case, it is left to judicial
discretion. The absolute grounds are adultery, bigamy, sodomy, an
attempt against the petitioner's life or wilful desertion. The relative
grounds are (a) such grave breach of marital duty or dishonourable or
immoral conduct as would disturb the marital relation to such an extent
that the marriage could not reasonably be expected to continue; (b)
insanity, continued for more than three years during the marriage, and
of so severe a nature that intellectual community between the parties
has ceased and is not likely to be re-established. A divorced wife, if
not exclusively the guilty party, may retain her husband's name; but if
exclusively guilty, her former husband may compel her to resume her
maiden name.
By the law of _Denmark_, according to the Code of King Christian the
Fifth, complete divorce could be obtained for incest; for leprosy,
whether contracted before or after marriage; for transportation for
crime or flight from justice, after three years, though not for crime
itself; and for exile not arising from crime, after seven years.
In _Sweden_ complete divorce is granted by judicial sentence for
adultery, and in _Russia_ for that cause and also for incompatibility of
temper (Ayliffe, Par. 49). On the other hand, in _Spain_ marriage is
indissoluble, and the ecclesiastical courts have retained their
exclusive cognizance of matrimonial causes. In _Italy_ certain articles
of the Civil Code deal with separation, voluntary and judicial, but
divorce is not allowed in any form.
In _France_ the law of divorce has had a chequered history. Before the
Revolution the Roman canon law prevailed, marriage was considered
indissoluble, and only divorce _a mensa et thoro_, known as _la
séparation d'habitation_, was permitted; though it would appear that in
the earliest age of the monarchy divorce _a vinculo matrimonii_ was
allowed. _La séparation d'habitation_ was granted at the instance of a
wife for cruelty by her husband or false accusation of a capital crime,
or for habitual treatment with contempt before the inmates of the house;
but a wife could not obtain a separation for adultery by her husband,
although he had his remedy in case of adultery by his wife. In every
case the sentence of a judicial tribunal, which took precautions against
collusion, was necessary. But the Revolution may be said to have swept
away marriage among the institutions which it overwhelmed, and by the
law of the 20th of September 1792 so great facility was given for
divorce _a vinculo matrimonii_ as practically to terminate the
obligations of marriage. A reaction came with the Code Napoléon, yet
even under that system of law divorce remained comparatively easy.
Mutual consent, expressed in the manner and continued for a period
specified by the law, was cause for a divorce (the principle of the
Roman law being adopted on this point), but such consent could not take
place unless the husband was twenty-five years of age and the wife
twenty-one, unless they had been married for two years, nor after twenty
years of marriage, nor after the wife had completed her forty-fifth
year; and further, the approval of the parents of both parties was
required. In case of divorce by consent, the law required that a proper
agreement should be made for the maintenance of the wife and the custody
of the children. A husband could obtain a divorce _a vinculo matrimonii_
for adultery, but the wife had no such power unless the husband had
brought his mistress to the home. Both husband and wife could claim
divorce on the ground of outrage, or grievous bodily injury, or
condemnation for an infamous crime. If the divorce was for adultery, the
erring party could not marry the partner of his or her guilt. A divorce
_a mensa et thoro_ could be obtained on the same grounds as a divorce _a
vinculo_, but not by mutual consent; and if the divorce _a mensa et
thoro_ continued in force for three years, the defendant party could
claim a divorce _a vinculo_. On the restoration of royalty in 1816
divorce _a vinculo_ was abolished, and pending suits for divorce _a
vinculo_ were converted into suits for separation only.
Divorce in France, after the repeal of the provisions respecting it in
the Code Napoléon in 1816, was re-enacted by a law of the 27th of July
1884, the provisions of which were simplified by laws of 1886 and 1907.
But a wide departure was made by these laws from the terms of the Code
Napoléon. Divorce by consent disappeared, and the following became the
causes for which divorce was allowed: (1) Adultery by either party to
the marriage at the suit of the other, without, in the case of adultery
by the husband, the aggravation of introduction of the concubine into
the home required by the Code; (2) violence (_excès_) or cruelty
(_sévices_); (3) _injures graves_; and (4) _peine afflictive et
infamante_. _Excès_ is defined by Locié as "a generic expression
comprising all acts tending to compromise the safety of the person,
without distinction as to their object or motive, premeditation as well
as furious anger, attempts upon life as well as serious woundings."
_Sévices_ are acts of ill-treatment less grave in character, which,
while not endangering life, render existence in common intolerable
(Kelly's _French Law of Marriage_, p. 122). _Injures graves_, as to
which the courts have considered themselves entitled to exercise a wide
discretion, have been defined as acts, writings or words which reflect
upon the honour or the reputation of the party against whom they are
directed. The courts have held that retraction at the trial does not
relieve the party from the consequences of an _injure grave_, and that
publicity is an aggravating but not a necessary element. A letter from
one spouse to the other may constitute an _injure_ and the courts have
further held themselves at liberty to consider letters written after
divorce proceedings have been commenced. _Injures graves_ have also been
considered to include material injuries, and among these have been
classed habitual and groundless refusal of matrimonial rights,
communication of disease and refusal to consent to a religious ceremony
of marriage. Habitual but not occasional drunkenness has also been held
to fall within the definition of an _injure grave_. _Peine afflictive et
infamante_ signifies a legal punishment involving corporal confinement
and moral degradation.[4]
In addition to its recognition of full divorce, the French law
recognizes separation of two kinds, one _séparation de biens_ and the
other _séparation de corps_. The effect of _séparation de biens_ is
merely to put an end to the community of goods between the spouses. It
necessarily follows, but may be decreed independently of _séparation de
corps_. The grounds of _séparation de corps_ are the same as those for a
divorce; and if a _séparation de corps_ has existed for three years, it
may be turned into a divorce upon the application of either party to the
court.
Until 1893 a wife _séparée de corps_ obtained only the capacity
attaching to a concomitant _séparation de biens_; that is to say, she
recovered the enjoyment and management of her separate property, but
could not deal with real property, nor take legal proceedings, without
the sanction of her husband or of the court. But by a law of the 6th of
February 1893 a wife _séparée de corps_ obtains "the full exercise of
her civil capacity, so that she shall not need to resort to the
authority of her husband or of the court." In case of reconciliation,
the wife returns to the limited capacity of a wife _séparée de biens_,
and after the prescribed notification of such change of status it
becomes binding on third persons.
The provisions of French law with regard to the custody of the children
of a dissolved marriage, and with regard to property, do not differ
materially from those prescribed by the English acts. The custody of
children is given to the party who has obtained the divorce, unless the
court, on the application of the family, or the _ministère public_,
consider it better, in the interests of the children, that custody
should be given to the other party or a third person; but in every case
the right of both father and mother to supervise the maintenance and
education of the children, and their liability to contribute to their
support, are continued.
The law in France as to property on a divorce has been accurately stated
as follows:--
"Divorce in France effects a dissolution of the matrimonial régime of
property as well as of the marriage itself. The decree appoints a
notary, who is charged with the settlement of the pecuniary interests
of the parties. By a stereotyped form of procedure the appointment is
made invariably for the purpose of liquidating _la communauté ayant
existé entre les époux_, irrespective of whether the régime really was
that of community or another. In the case of aliens, therefore,
married under the rule of separate property, it is necessary carefully
to set this out in the notarial deed of liquidation, in order to
defeat the presumption which might be raised by the wording of the
decree that a community really did exist. The party against whom the
divorce has been pronounced loses the benefit of all settlements made
upon him or her by the other party, either by the marriage contract or
since the marriage. On the other hand, the party in whose favour the
divorce has been pronounced preserves the benefit of all settlements
made in his or her favour by the unsuccessful party. If no such
settlements were made, or if those made appear inadequate to ensure
the subsistence of the successful party, the court may grant him or
her permanent alimony out of the property of the other party, not to
exceed one-third of the income, and revocable in case it ceases to be
necessary" (Kelly, p. 130).
On a divorce both parties are at liberty to remarry. The husband could
remarry at once; but the wife (art. 296 of the Code) was only allowed to
remarry after an interval of ten months. By the act of 1907, this
article was abolished, and the wife allowed to remarry as soon as the
judgment or decree granting the divorce has been entered, providing 300
days have elapsed since the first judgment was pronounced. A divorced
husband may remarry his divorced wife, but if he does so, he cannot be
again divorced, except on the ground of a sentence to a _peine
afflictive et infamante_ passed on one of them since their remarriage.
There is, however, this limitation on the power of remarriage of
divorced persons, that the party to the marriage against whom the decree
has been pronounced is not allowed to marry the person with whom his or
her guilt has been established. Such person, however, has no such rights
as are recognized in him or her according to English law, and cannot
take any part in the proceedings. But his or her name is referred to in
the proceedings only by an initial; and French law goes even further in
the avoidance of publicity, inasmuch as the publication of divorce
proceedings in the press is forbidden, under heavy penalties.
By a law of the 6th of February 1893 French jurisprudence, more complete
at least, and perhaps wiser, than English, dealt with a matter
previously in controversy, and decided that after a divorce the wife
shall resume her maiden name, and may not continue to use the name of
her divorced husband; nor may the husband, for business or other
purposes, continue to use the name of his wife.
By the law of 1886 the special procedure in divorce previously in force
under the Code and under the law of 1884 was abolished, and it was
provided that matrimonial causes should be tried according to the
ordinary rules of procedure. The action therefore, when brought, follows
the methods of procedure common to other civil proceedings. But there
still remain certain necessary preliminaries to an action of divorce. A
petition must be presented by a petitioner in person to the president of
the court sitting in chambers, with the object of a reconciliation being
effected. This is known as the _première comparation_. If the petitioner
still determines to proceed, there follows the _seconde comparation_, on
which occasion both parties appear before the president. If the
president fails to effect a reconciliation, he makes an order permitting
the petitioner to proceed, and deals with the matters necessary to be
dealt with _pendente lite_, such matters being (1) separate residence,
(2) alimony, (3) possession of personal effects, (4) custody of
children. As regards residence, the wife is compelled to adhere during
the proceedings to the residence assigned to her, but no similar
restriction is placed on the husband. Alimony _pendente lite_ is in the
discretion of the court, having regard to the means of the parties, and
includes a proper provision for costs. As regards the custody of
children, the Code and the law of 1884 gave it to the husband, unless
the court otherwise orders, but the law of 1886 leaves the matter wholly
in the discretion of the court.
There are certain technical rules of evidence on the trial of a divorce
action. It is a general principle of the French law of evidence that
documentary evidence is the best evidence, and oral testimony only
secondary. In divorce cases adultery _flagrante delicto_ can be proved
by the official certificate of the commissary of police. Letters between
the husband and wife are admissible in evidence. As to letters between
the parties and third persons, the law, which has been doubtful, now
appears to be that the wife may produce only such letters from third
parties to her husband as have come into her possession accidentally,
and without any ruse or artifice on her part; but the husband may put in
evidence any letters written to or by his wife which he has obtained by
any, short of criminal, means. If the documents put in evidence are not
sufficient to satisfy the court, there follows an investigation by means
of witnesses, termed an _enquête_. A schedule of allegations is drawn
up, and a judge, termed a _juge-commissaire_, is specially appointed to
conduct the inquiry. Relatives and servants, though not competent
witnesses in ordinary civil actions, are so in divorce proceedings.
Cross petitions may be entered; the substantiation of a cross petition,
however, does not have the effect, in some cases given to it by English
law, of barring a divorce, but a divorce may be, and often is, granted
in favour of and against both parties _pour torts réciproques_. When a
case comes on for trial, it is in the power of the court to order an
adjournment for a period not exceeding six months, which is termed a
_temps d'épreuve_, in order to afford an opportunity for reconciliation.
It is said, however, that this power is seldom exercised. An appeal may
be brought against a decree of divorce within two months; and a decree
made on appeal is subject to revision by the court of cassation within
two months. Both references to the court of appeal and the court of
cassation operate as a stay of execution. A decree must, by the law of
1886, be transcribed on the register of marriages within two months from
its date, and failing this transcription, the decree is void. The
transcription must be made at the place of celebration of the marriage,
or, if the parties are married abroad, at the place where the parties
were last domiciled in France. If the parties, after having married
abroad, return to France, it has been provided, by a circular of the
_Procureur de la République_ in 1887, that the transcription may be made
at the place of their actual domicile at the time of action brought, a
rule which has been held to apply to the divorce of aliens in France.
The effect of transcription does not relate back to the date of the
decree.
Opinions may differ as to the relative merits of the English and
French law relating to divorce. But it cannot be denied that the
French law presents a singularly complete and well-considered system,
and one which, obviously with the English system in view, has
endeavoured to graft on it provisions supplementing its omissions, and
modifying certain of its terms in accordance with the light afforded
by experience and the changed feelings of the modern world. The effect
of the laws of 1884 and 1886 in France has been great. The act of 1907
dealing with divorce, coupled with that of the 21st of July of the
same year dealing with marriage, may also be said to mark an epoch in
the laws relating to women. During the five years from 1884 to 1888
the courts granted divorces in 21,064 cases, rejecting applications
for divorce in 1524. In addition, there were 12,242 applications for
judicial separation, of which 10,739 were granted. A distinguished
French writer, the author of a work of singular completeness and
accuracy on the judicial system of Great Britain has compared these
figures with the corresponding result of the English act of 1857. His
conclusion is expressed in these words: "On voit qu'en cinq années nos
tribunaux out prononcé trois fois plus de divorces que la haute cour
d'Angleterre n'en a prononcé en trente ans. Je n'insiste pas sur les
conclusions morales à tirer de ce rapprochement" (Comte de
Franqueville, _Le Système judiciaire de la Grande-Bretagne_, ii. p.
171). It is, however, practically impossible to compare the number of
divorces in France and in England with exact justice, because, as will
have been seen above, the causes of divorce in France materially
exceed those recognized by English law; and the absence in France of
any official performing the functions assigned to the king's proctor
in England cannot but have great influence on the number of
applications for divorce, as well as on their results. (ST H.)
UNITED STATES
According to American practice, divorce is the termination by proper
legal authority, sometimes legislatively but usually judicially, of a
marriage which up to the time of the decree was legal and binding. It is
to be distinguished from a decree of nullity of marriage, which is
simply a legal determination that no legal marriage has ever existed
between the two parties. It is also to be distinguished from a decree of
separation, which permits or commands the parties to live apart, but
does not completely and for all purposes sever the marriage tie. The
matrimonial law of England, as at the time of the declaration of
independence, forms part of the common law of the United States. But as
no ecclesiastical courts have ever existed there, the law must be
considered to have been inoperative. There is no Federal jurisdiction in
divorce, and it is a question for the law of each separate state; and
though it is competent to Congress to authorize divorces in the
Territories, still it appears that this subject like others is usually
left to the territorial legislature. In the different states, and in
England, divorces were at first granted by the legislatures, whether
directly or by granting special authority to the tribunals to deal with
particular cases. This practice fell into general disrepute, and by the
constitution of some states such divorces are expressly prohibited.
Upon the subject of divorce in the United States, and, to some extent,
in foreign countries, a careful investigation was made by the American
Bureau of Labour, and its report covered the years 1867 to 1886; a
further report for the period 1887 to 1906 has also been published by
the Federal Census Bureau. The number of divorces was in 1886 over
25,000, and in 1906 was over 72,000, about double the number reported
for that year from all the rest of the Christian world. As divorce
presupposes a legal marriage, the amount of divorce, or the
divorce-rate, is best stated as the ratio between the number of divorces
decreed during a year and the number of subsisting marriages or married
couples. The usual basis is 100,000 married couples. In 1898-1902 the
divorce-rate was 200 divorces (400 people) to 100,000 married couples.
This is equivalent to more than one divorce annually to each 1400
people. The several states differ in divorce-rate, from South Carolina,
with no provision for legal divorce, to Montana and Washington, where
the rate is two and a half times the average for the country. In general
the rate is about the same in the North as in the South, but greater in
the Central states than in the East, and in the Western than in the
Central states; but to this rule the New England states, Louisiana, New
Mexico and Arizona are exceptions. The New England states have a higher
rate than their geographical position would lead one to expect, and the
other three, owing doubtless, in part at least, to the influence of the
Roman Catholic Church, have a lower rate than the states about them. The
several state groups had in 1900 the following divorce-rates per
100,000: South Atlantic, 196; North Atlantic, 200; South Central, 558;
North Central, 510; Western, 712. The divorce-rate in the United States
increased rapidly and steadily in forty years from 27 in 1867 to 86 in
1906. But distinct tendencies are traceable in different regions. In the
North Atlantic group the rate rose by 58%, in the North Central by 158%,
in the Western by 223%, in the South Atlantic by 437%, and in the South
Central by 685%. The great increase in the South was mainly due to the
spread of divorce among the emancipated negroes. Each state determines
for itself the causes for which divorce may be granted, and no general
statement is therefore possible.
The ground pleaded for a divorce is seldom an index to the motives which
caused the suit to be brought. This is determined by the character of
the law rather than by the state of mind of the parties; and so far as
the individuals are concerned, the ground alleged is thus a cloak rather
than a clue or revelation. Still those causes which have been enacted
into law by the various state legislatures do indicate the pleas which
have been endorsed by the social judgment of the respective communities.
In the United States exclusive of Alaska and the recent insular
accessions there are forty-nine different jurisdictions in the matter of
divorce. Six out of every seven allow divorce for desertion, adultery or
cruelty; and of the 945,625 divorces reported with their causes during
the twenty years 1887-1906 nearly 78% were granted for some one of these
three causes, viz. 39% for desertion, 22% for adultery, and 16% for
cruelty. Probably nearly 9% more were for some combination of these
causes. Three other grounds for divorce are admitted as legal in many or
most American states, viz. imprisonment in 39, habitual drunkenness in
38, and neglect to provide in 22. About 98% of American divorces are
granted on some one or more of these six grounds. In general the
legislation on the subject of the causes allowed for divorce is most
restrictive in the states on the Atlantic coast, from New York to South
Carolina inclusive, and is least so in the Western states. The slight
expense of obtaining a divorce in many of the states, and the lack of
publicity which is given to the suit, are also important reasons for the
great number of decrees issued. The importance of the former
consideration is reflected in the fact that the divorce-rate for the
United States as a whole shows clearly, in its fluctuations, the
influences of good and bad times. When times are good and the income of
the working and industrial classes likely to be assured, the
divorce-rate rises. In periods of industrial depression it falls,
fluctuating thus in the same way and probably for the same reason that
the marriage-rate in industrial communities fluctuates. In two-thirds of
the divorce suits the wife is the plaintiff, and the proportion slightly
increased in the forty years. In the Northern states the percentage
issued to wives (1887-1906) was 71, while in the Southern states it was
only 56. But where both parties desire a decree, and each has a legal
ground to urge, a jury will usually listen more favourably to a woman's
suit.
Divorce is probably especially frequent among the native population of
the United States, and among these probably more common in the city than
in the country. This statement cannot be established absolutely, since
statistics afford no means of distinguishing the native from the
foreign-born applicants. It is, however, the most obvious reason for
explaining the fact that, while in Europe the city divorce-rate is from
three to five times as great as that of the surrounding country, the
difference in the United States between the two regions is very much
less. In other words, the great number of foreigners in American cities
probably tends to obscure by a low divorce-rate the high rate of the
native population. Divorce is certainly more common in the New England
states than in any others on the Atlantic coast north of Florida, and it
is not unlikely that wherever the New England families have gone divorce
is more frequent than elsewhere. For example, it is much more common in
the northern counties of Ohio settled largely from New England than in
the southern counties settled largely from the Middle Atlantic states.
There are two statements frequently made regarding divorce in the United
States which do not find warrant in the statistics on the subject. The
first is, that the real motive for divorce with one or both parties is
the desire for marriage to a third person. The second is, that a very
large proportion of divorces are granted to persons who move from one
jurisdiction to another in order to avail themselves of lax divorce
laws. On the first point the American statistics are practically silent,
since, in issuing a marriage licence to parties one or both of whom have
been previously divorced, no record is generally made of the fact. In
Connecticut, however, for a number of years this information was
required; and, if the statements were trustworthy, the number of persons
remarrying each year was about one-third the total number of persons
divorcing, which is probably a rate not widely different from that of
widows and widowers of the same age. Foreign figures for Switzerland,
Holland and Berlin indicate that in those regions the proportion of the
divorced who remarry speedily is about the same as that of widows and
widowers. What statistical evidence there is on the subject therefore
tends to discredit this popular opinion. The evidence on the second
point is more conclusive, and has gone far towards decreasing the demand
for a constitutional amendment allowing a federal marriage and divorce
law. About four-fifths of all the divorces granted in the United States
were issued to parties who were married in the state in which the decree
of divorce was later made; and when from the remaining one-fifth are
deducted those in which the parties migrated for other reasons than a
desire to obtain an easy divorce, the remainder would constitute a very
small, almost a negligible, fraction of the total number.
It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to say how far the frequency of
divorce in the United States has been or is a social injury; how far it
has weakened or undermined the ideal of marriage as a lifelong union
between man and woman. In this respect the question is very like that of
illegitimacy; and as the most careful students of the latter subject
agree that almost no trustworthy inference regarding the moral condition
of a community can be derived from the proportion of illegitimate
children born, so one may say regarding the prevalence of divorce that
from this fact almost no inferences are warranted regarding the moral or
social condition of the population. It is by no means impossible, for
example, that the spread of divorce among the negro population in the
South marks a step in advance from the condition of largely unregulated
and illegal unions characteristic of the race immediately after the war.
The prevalence of divorce in the United States among the native
population, in urban communities, among the New England element, in the
middle classes of society, and among those of the Protestant faith,
indicates how closely this social phenomenon is interlaced with much
that is characteristic and valuable in American civilization. In this
respect, too, the United States perhaps represent the outcome of a
tendency which has been at work in Europe at least since the
Reformation. Certainly the divorce-rate is increasing in nearly every
civilized country. Decrees of nullity of marriage and decrees of
separation not absolutely terminating the marriage relation are
relatively far less prevalent than they were in the medieval and early
modern period, and many persons who under former conditions would have
obtained relief from unsatisfactory unions through one or the other of
these avenues now resort to divorce. The increasing proportion of the
community who have an income sufficient to pay the requisite legal fees
is also a factor of great importance. The belief in the family as an
institution ordained of God, decreed to continue "till death us do
part," and in its relations typifying and perpetuating many holy
religious ideas, probably became weakened in the United States during
the 19th century, along with a weakening of other religious conceptions;
and it is yet to be determined whether a substitute for these ideas can
be developed under the guidance of the motive of social utility or
individual desire. In this respect the United States is, as Mr Gladstone
once wrote, a _tribus praerogativa_, but one who knows anything of the
family and home life of America will not readily despond of the outcome.
The great source of American statistical information is the
governmental report of over 1000 pages, _A Report on Marriage and
Divorce in the United States 1867 to 1886, including an Appendix
relating to Marriage and Divorce in Certain Countries of Europe_, by
Carroll D. Wright, Commissioner of Labour; together with the further
report for 1887 to 1906. The statistics contained in the former volume
have been analysed and interpreted in W. F. Willcox's _The Divorce
Problem: A Study in Statistics_ (Columbia University, New York, 1891,
1897). Further interpretations are contained in an article in the
_Political Science Quarterly_ for March 1893, entitled "A Study in
Vital Statistics." The best legal treatise is probably Bishop on
_Marriage, Divorce, and Judicial Separation_. See also J. P.
Lichtenberger, _Divorce: A Study in Social Causation_ (New York,
1909). (W. F. W.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] In _Constantinidi_ v. _Constantinidi and Lance_ (1903), in which
both parties were guilty of misconduct, it was held by Sir Francis
Jeune (Lord St Helier) that where a wife has by her misconduct broken
up the home (the husband's misconduct not having conduced to the
wife's adultery) the court would exercise its discretion in favour of
the husband petitioner, and, further, the wife being a rich woman, it
was justifiable to give her husband a portion of her income, in order
to preserve to him the position he would have occupied as her
husband, the broad principle being that a guilty respondent should
not be allowed to profit by divorce. But further litigation
concerning this case occurred as to the variation of the marriage
settlements in favour of the husband, and the decision of the court
of appeal in July 1905 considerably modified the decision of Sir
Francis Jeune.--Ed. _E. B._
[2] It is to be noted that by a decision of the court of appeal in
_Harriman_ v. _Harriman_ in 1909, where a wife has been deserted by
her husband and has obtained a separation order within two years from
the time when the desertion commenced, she loses her right to plead
desertion under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1857, and is therefore not
entitled to a divorce after two years' desertion, upon proof of
adultery. See also _Dodd_ v. _Dodd_, 1906, 22 T. L. R. 484.
[3] In 1909 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the law
of divorce, with special reference to the position of the poorer
classes.
[4] It is interesting to observe how, according to the latest
decisions of the House of Lords, cruelty, according to English law,
includes some but not others of the forms of injury for which, under
the term of _injures graves_, the French law affords a remedy. It may
well be doubted whether the view taken by the minority of the peers
in _Russell_ v. _Russell_, which would have included in the
definition of cruelty all, or nearly all, of that which the French
law deems either _sévices_ or _injures graves_, would not have better
satisfied both the principles of English jurisprudence and the
feelings of modern life.
DIWANIEH, a small town in Turkish Asia, about 40 m. below Hillah, on
both banks of the Euphrates (31° 58' 47" N., 44° 58' 18" E.), which is
here spanned by a floating bridge. Formerly a military post for the
control of the Affech territory, and a telegraph station, it was in 1893
made the capital of the sanjak, instead of Hillah, on account of its
more strategical position. This transfer of the seat of government
represented a step in the development of Turkish control over the
central regions of Irak.
DIX, DOROTHEA LYNDE (1802-1887), American philanthropist, was born at
Hampden, Maine, on the 4th of April 1802. Her parents were poor and
shiftless, and at an early age she was taken into the home in Boston of
her grandmother, Dorothea Lynde, wife of Dr Elijah Dix. Here she was
reared in a distinctly Puritanical atmosphere. About 1821 she opened a
school in Boston, which was patronized by the well-to-do families; and
soon afterwards she also began teaching poor and neglected children at
home. But her health broke down, and from 1824 to 1830 she was chiefly
occupied with the writing of books of devotion and stories for children.
Her _Conversations on Common Things_ (1824) had reached its sixtieth
edition by 1869. In 1831 she established in Boston a model school for
girls, and conducted this successfully until 1836, when her health
again failed. In 1841 she became interested in the condition of gaols
and almshouses, and spent two years in visiting every such institution
in Massachusetts, investigating especially the treatment of the pauper
insane. Her memorial to the state legislature dealing with the abuses
she discovered resulted in more adequate provision being made for the
care and treatment of the insane, and she then extended her work into
many other states. By 1847 she had travelled from Nova Scotia to the
Gulf of Mexico, and had visited 18 state penitentiaries, 300 county
gaols and houses of correction, and over 500 almshouses. Her labours
resulted in the establishment of insane asylums in twenty states and in
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and in the founding of many additional
gaols and almshouses conducted on a reformed plan. In 1853 she secured
more adequate equipment for the life-saving service on Sable Island,
then rightly called "the graveyard of ships." In 1854 she secured the
passage by Congress of a bill granting to the states 12,250,000 acres of
public lands, to be utilized for the benefit of the insane, deaf, dumb
and blind; but the measure was vetoed by President Pierce. After this
disappointment she went to England for rest, but at once became
interested in the condition of the insane in Scotland, and her report to
the home secretary opened the way for sweeping reforms. She extended her
work into the Channel Islands, and then to France, Italy, Austria,
Greece, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Belgium and a
part of Germany. Her influence over Arinori Mori, the Japanese _chargé
d'affaires_ at Washington, led eventually to the establishment of two
asylums for the insane in Japan. At the outbreak of the Civil War she
offered her services to the Federal government and was appointed
superintendent of women nurses. In this capacity she served throughout
the war, without a day's furlough; and her labours on behalf of
defectives were continued after the war. After a lingering illness of
six years she died at Trenton, New Jersey, on the 17th of July 1887.
See Francis Tiffany, _Life of Dorothea Lynde Dix_ (Boston, 1892).
DIX, JOHN ADAMS (1798-1879), American soldier and political leader, was
born at Boscawen, New Hampshire, on the 24th of July 1798. He studied at
Phillips Exeter Academy in 1810-1811 and at the College of Montreal in
1811-1812, and as a boy took part in the War of 1812, becoming a second
lieutenant in March 1814. In July 1828, having attained the rank of
captain, he resigned from the army, and for two years practised law at
Cooperstown, New York. In 1830-1833 he was adjutant-general of New York.
He soon became prominent as one of the leaders of the Democratic party
in the state, and for many years was a member of the so-called "Albany
Regency," a group of Democrats who between about 1820 and 1850 exercised
a virtual control over their party in New York, dictating nominations
and appointments and distributing patronage. From 1833 to 1839 he was
secretary of state and superintendent of schools in New York, and in
this capacity made valuable reports concerning the public schools of the
state, and a report (1836) which led to the publication of the _Natural
History of the State of New York_ (1842-1866). In 1842 he was a member
of the New York assembly. In 1841-1843 he was editor of _The Northern
Light_, a literary and scientific journal published in Albany. From 1845
to 1849 he was a United States senator from New York; and as chairman of
the committee on commerce was author of the warehouse bill passed by
Congress in 1846 to relieve merchants from immediate payment of duties
on imported goods. In 1848 he was nominated for governor of New York by
the Free Soil party, but was defeated by Hamilton Fish. His acceptance
of the nomination, however, earned him the enmity of the southern
Democrats, who prevented his appointment by Pierce as secretary of state
and as minister to France in 1853. In this year Dix was for a few weeks
assistant U.S. treasurer in New York city. In May 1860 he became
postmaster of New York city, and from January until March 1861 he was
secretary of the treasury of the United States, in which capacity he
issued (January 29, 1861) to a revenue officer at New Orleans a famous
order containing the words, "if any one attempts to haul down the
American flag, shoot him on the spot." He rendered important services
in hurrying forward troops in 1861, was appointed major-general of
volunteers in June 1861, and during the Civil War commanded successively
the department of Maryland (July 1861-May 1862), Fortress Monroe (May
1862-July 1863), and the department of the East (July 1863-July 1865).
He was minister to France from 1866 to 1869, and in 1872 was elected by
the Republicans governor of New York, but was defeated two years later.
He had great energy and administrative ability, was for a time president
of the Chicago & Rock Island and of the Mississippi & Missouri railways,
first president of the Union Pacific in 1863-1868, and for a short time
in 1872 president of the Erie. He died in New York city on the 21st of
April 1879. Among his publications are _A Winter in Madeira and a Summer
in Spain and Florence_ (1850), and _Speeches and Occasional Addresses_
(1864). He wrote excellent English versions of the _Dies irae_ and the
_Stabat mater_.
His son, MORGAN DIX (1827-1908), graduated at Columbia in 1848 and at
the General Theological Seminary in 1852, and was ordained deacon (1852)
and priest (1853) in the Protestant Episcopalian church. In 1855-1859 he
was assistant minister, and in 1859-1862 assistant rector, of Trinity
Church, New York city, of which he was rector from 1862 until his death.
He published sermons and lectures; _A History of the Parish of Trinity
Church, New York City_ (4 vols., 1898-1905); and a biography of his
father. _Memoirs of John Adams Dix_ (2 vols., New York, 1883).
DIXON, GEORGE (1755?-1800), English navigator. He served under Captain
Cook in his third expedition, during which he had an opportunity of
learning the commercial capabilities of the north-west coast of North
America. After his return from Cook's expedition he became a captain in
the royal navy. In the autumn of 1785 he sailed in the "Queen
Charlotte," in the service of the King George's Sound Company of London,
to explore the shores of the present British Columbia, with the special
object of developing the fur trade. His chief discoveries were those of
Queen Charlotte's Islands and Sound (the latter only partial), Port
Mulgrave, Norfolk Bay, and Dixon's Entrance and Archipelago. After
visiting China, where he disposed of his cargo, he returned to England
(1788), and published (1799) _A Voyage round the World, but more
particularly to the North-West Coast of America_, the bulk of which
consists of descriptive letters by William Beresford, his supercargo.
His own contribution to the work included valuable charts and
appendices. He is usually, though not with absolute certainty,
identified with the George Dixon who was author of _The Navigator's
Assistant_ (1791) and teacher of navigation at Gosport.
DIXON, HENRY HALL (1822-1870), English sporting writer over the _nom de
plume_ "The Druid," was born at Warwick Bridge, Cumberland, on the 16th
of May 1822, and was educated at Rugby and at Trinity College,
Cambridge, where he graduated in 1846. He took up the profession of the
law, but, though called to the bar in 1853, soon returned to sporting
journalism, in which he had already made a name for himself, and began
to write regularly for the _Sporting Magazine_, in the pages of which
appeared three of his novels, _Post and Paddock_ (1856), _Silk and
Scarlet_ (1859), and _Scott and Sebright_ (1862). He also published a
legal compendium entitled _The Law of the Farm_ (1858), which ran
through several editions. His other more important works were _Field and
Fern_ (1865), giving an account of the herds and flocks of Scotland, and
_Saddle and Sirloin_ (1870), treating in the same manner those of
England. He died at Kensington on the 16th of March 1870.
See Hon. Francis Lawley, _Life and Times of "The Druid"_ (London,
1895).
DIXON, RICHARD WATSON (1833-1900), English poet and divine, son of Dr
James Dixon, a Wesleyan minister, was born on the 5th of May 1833. He
was educated at King Edward's school, Birmingham, and on proceeding to
Pembroke College, Oxford, became one of the famous "Birmingham group"
there who shared with William Morris and Burne-Jones in the
Pre-Raphaelite movement. He took only a second class in moderations in
1854, and a third in _Literae Humaniores_ in 1856; but in 1858 he won
the Arnold prize for an historical essay, and in 1863 the English Sacred
Poem prize. He was ordained in 1858, was second master of Carlisle high
school, 1863-1868, and successively vicar of Hayton, Cumberland, and
Warkworth, Northumberland. He became minor canon and honorary librarian
of Carlisle in 1868, and honorary canon in 1874, he was proctor in
convocation (1890-1894), and received the honorary degree of D.D. from
Oxford in 1899. He died at Warkworth on the 23rd of January 1900. Canon
Dixon's first two volumes of verse, _Christ's Company_ and _Historical
Odes_, were published in 1861 and 1863 respectively; but it was not
until 1883 that he attracted conspicuous notice with _Mano_, an
historical poem in _terza rima_, which was enthusiastically praised by
Mr Swinburne. This success he followed up by three privately printed
volumes. _Odes and Eclogues_ (1884), _Lyrical Poems_ (1886), and _The
Story of Eudocia_ (1888). Dixon's poems were during the last fifteen
years of his life recognized as scholarly and refined exercises, touched
with both dignity and a certain severe beauty, but he never attained any
general popularity as a poet, the appeal of his poetry being directly to
the scholar. A great student of history, his studies in that direction
colour much of his poetry. The romantic atmosphere is remarkably
preserved in _Mano_, a successful metrical exercise in the difficult
_terza rima_. His typical poems have charm and melody, without
introducing any new note or variety of rhythm. He is contemplative,
sober and finished in literary workmanship, a typical example of the
Oxford school. Pleasant as his poetry is, however, he will probably be
longest remembered by the work to which he gave the best years of his
life, his _History of the Church of England from the Abolition of the
Roman Jurisdiction_ (1878-1902). At the time of his death he had
completed six volumes, two of which were published posthumously. This
fine work, covering the period from 1529 to 1570, is built upon
elaborate research, and presents a trustworthy and unprejudiced survey
of its subject.
Dixon's _Selected Poems_ were published in 1909 with a memoir of the
author by Robert Bridges.
DIXON, WILLIAM HEPWORTH (1821-1879), English author and traveller, was
born at Great Ancoats, Manchester, on the 30th of June 1821, a member of
an old Lancashire family. Beginning life as a clerk at Manchester, he
decided, in 1846, to take up literature as a career. After gaining some
journalistic experience at Cheltenham he settled in London, on the
recommendation of Douglas Jerrold, and contributed to the _Athenaeum_
and _Daily News_. His series of papers--"The Literature of the Lower
Orders"--in the last-named journal, and a further series, "London
Prisons," were widely noticed. In 1849 appeared his _John Howard and the
Prison World of Europe_, which proved a great popular success. These
were followed by a _Life of William Penn_ (1851), in which he replied to
Macaulay's attack on Penn; _Life of Blake_ (1852); and _Personal History
of Lord Bacon_ (1861), supplemented by _The Story of Lord Bacon's Life_
(1862). From 1853 to 1869 he was editor of the _Athenaeum_. In 1863 he
visited the East, and on his return helped to found the Palestine
Exploration Fund, and published (1865) _The Holy Land_. In 1866 he
travelled through the United States, publishing, in 1867, _New America_,
and, the following year, _Spiritual Wives_, two supplementary volumes.
In the autumn of 1867 he journeyed through the Baltic Provinces,
publishing an account of his trip in _Free Russia_ (1870). In 1871 he
was in Switzerland, and in 1872 in Spain, where he wrote the greater
part of his _History of Two Queens_. In 1874 he revisited the United
States, giving the impressions of his tour in _The White Conquest_
(1875). His other works, besides some fiction, were _British Cyprus_
(1879) and _Royal Windsor_. He died on the 26th of December 1879. His
daughter, Ella N. Hepworth Dixon, became known as a journalist and
novelist.
DIXON, a city and the county seat of Lee county, Illinois, U.S.A., on
the Rock river, in the N.W. part of the state. Pop. (1890) 5161; (1900)
7917 (879 foreign-born); (1910) 7216. It is served by the Chicago &
North-Western and the Illinois Central railways, and is connected with
Sterling by an electric line; freight is shipped over the Hennepin
Canal. The city has two parks of 159 and 6 acres respectively, and
there is a Chautauqua Park, where an annual Chautauqua Assembly is held.
Dixon is the seat of the Northern Illinois normal school (incorporated
in 1884), and of the Rock River military academy. The river furnishes
water power for the street railways, electric lighting and a number of
manufacturing establishments. Among the manufactures are condensed milk,
boxes, wire screens and wire cloth, lawn mowers, gas engines, cement,
agricultural implements, shoes and wagons. The place was laid out in
1835 by John Dixon (1784-1876), the first white settler of Lee county. A
bronze tablet in the Howells Building, at the intersection of First and
Peoria Streets, marks the site of his cabin, and in the city cemetery a
granite shaft has been erected to his memory. Dixon was chartered as a
city in 1859.
DIZFUL, or DIZ-PUL ("fort-bridge"), a town of Persia, in the province of
Arabistan, 36 m. N.W. of Shushter, in 32° 25' N., 48° 28' E. Pop. about
25,000. It has post and telegraph offices. It is situated on the left
bank of the Dizful river, a tributary of the Karun, crossed by a fine
bridge of twenty-two arches, 430 yds. in length, constructed on ancient
foundations. Dizful is the chief place of a small district of the same
name and the residence of the governor of Arabistan during the winter
months. The district has twelve villages and a population of about
35,000 (5000 Arabs of the Ali i Keth[=i]r tribe), and pays a yearly
tribute of about £6000. The city was formerly known as Andamish, and in
its vicinity are many remains of ancient canals and buildings which
afford conclusive proof of former importance. 16 m. S.W. are the ruins
of Susa, and east of them and half-way between Dizful and Shushter stood
the old city of Junday Shapur.
DJAKOVO (sometimes written _Djakovar_, Hungarian _Diakovár_), a city of
Croatia-Slavonia, Hungary; in the county of Virovitica, 100 m. E. by S.
of Agram. Pop. (1900) 6824. Djakovo is a Roman Catholic episcopal see,
whose occupant bears the title "Bishop of Bosnia, Slavonia and Sirmium."
During the life of Bishop Strossmayer (1815-1905) it was one of the
chief centres of religious and political activity among the Croats. The
cathedral, a vast basilica built of brick and white stone, with a
central dome and two lofty spires above the north entrance, was founded
in 1866 and consecrated in 1882. Its style is Romanesque, chosen by
Strossmayer as symbolical of the position of his country midway between
east and west. The interior is magnificently decorated with mosaics,
mural paintings and statuary, chiefly the work of local artists. Other
noteworthy buildings are the nunnery, ecclesiastical seminary and
episcopal palace. Djakovo has a thriving trade in agricultural produce.
Many Roman remains have been discovered in the neighbourhood, but the
earliest mention of the city is in 1244, when Béla IV. of Hungary
confirmed the title-deeds of its owners, the bishops of Bosnia.
For a full description of the cathedral, in Serbo-Croatian and French,
see the finely illustrated folio _Stolna Crkva u Djakovu_, published
by the South Slavonic Academy (Agram, 1900).
DLUGOSZ, JAN [JOHANNES LONGINUS] (1415-1480), Polish statesman and
historian, was the son of Jan Dlugosz, burgrave of Bozeznica. Born in
1415, he graduated at the university of Cracow and in 1431 entered the
service of Bishop Zbygniew Olesnicki (1389-1455), the statesman and
diplomatist. He speedily won the favour of his master, who induced him
to take orders and made him his secretary. His preferment was rapid. In
1436 we find him one of the canons of Cracow and the administrator of
Olesnicki's vast estates. In 1440, on returning from Hungary, whither
his master had escorted King Wladislaus II., Dlugosz saved the life of
Olesnicki from robbers. The prelate now employed Dlugosz on the most
delicate and important political missions. Dlugosz brought Olesnicki the
red hat from Rome in 1449, and shortly afterwards was despatched to
Hungary to mediate between Hunyadi and the Bohemian condottiere Giszkra,
a difficult mission which he most successfully accomplished. Both these
embassies were undertaken contrary to the wishes of King Casimir IV.,
who was altogether opposed to Olesnicki's ecclesiastical policy. But
though he thus sacrificed his own prospects to the cardinal's good
pleasure, Dlugosz was far too sagacious to approve of the provocative
attitude of Olesnicki, and frequently and fearlessly remonstrated with
him on his conduct. In his account, however, of the quarrel between
Casimir and Olesnicki concerning the question of priority between the
cardinal and the primate of Poland he warmly embraced the cause of the
former, and even pronounced Casimir worthy of dethronement. Such
outbursts against Casimir IV. are not infrequent in Dlugosz's _Historia
Polonica_, and his strong personal bias must certainly be taken into
consideration in any critical estimate of that famous work. Yet as a
high-minded patriot Dlugosz had no sympathy whatever with Olesnicki's
opposition to Casimir's Prussian policy, and steadily supported the king
during the whole course of the war with the Teutonic knights. When
Olesnicki died in 1455 he left Dlugosz his principal executor. The
office of administering the cardinal's estate was a very ungrateful one,
for the family resented the liberal benefactions of their kinsman to the
Church and the university, and accused Dlugosz of exercising undue
influence, from which charge he triumphantly vindicated himself. It was
in the year of his patron's death that he began to write his _Historia
Polonica_. This great book, the first and still one of the best
historical works on Poland in the modern sense of the word, was only
undertaken after mature consideration and an exhaustive study of all the
original sources then available, some of which are now lost. The
principal archives of Poland and Hungary were ransacked for the purpose,
and in his account of his own times Dlugosz's intimate acquaintance with
the leading scholars and statesmen of his day stood him in good stead.
The style is modelled on that of Livy, of whom Dlugosz was a warm
admirer. As a proof of the thoroughness and conscientiousness of Dlugosz
it may be mentioned that he learned the Cyrillic alphabet and took up
the study of Ruthenian, "in order that this our history may be as plain
and perfect as possible." The first of the numerous imprints of the
_Historia Polonica_ appeared in 1614, the first complete edition in
1711.
Dlugosz's literary labours did not interfere with his political
activity. In 1467 the generous and discerning Casimir IV. entrusted
Dlugosz with the education of his sons, the eldest of whom, Wladislaus,
at the urgent request of the king, he accompanied to Prague when in 1471
the young prince was elected king of Bohemia. Dlugosz refused the
archbishopric of Prague because of his strong dislike of the land of the
Hussites; but seven years later he accepted the archbishopric of
Lemberg. His last years were devoted to his history, which he completed
in 1479. He died on the 19th of May 1480, at Piatek.
See Aleksander Semkowicz, _Critical Considerations of the Polish Works
of Dlugosz_ (Pol.; Cracow, 1874); Michael Bobrzynski and Stanislaw
Smolka, _Life of Dlugosz and his Position in Literature_ (Pol.;
Cracow, 1893). (R. N. B.)
DMITRIEV, IVAN IVANOVICH (1760-1837), Russian statesman and poet, was
born at his father's estate in the government of Simbirsk. In
consequence of the revolt of Pugachev the family had to flee to St
Petersburg, and there Ivan was entered at the school of the Semenov
Guards, and afterwards obtained a post in the military service. On the
accession of Paul to the imperial throne he quitted the army with the
title of colonel; and his appointment as procurator for the senate was
soon after renounced for the position of privy councillor. During the
four years from 1810 to 1814 he served as minister of justice under the
emperor Alexander; but at the close of this period he retired into
private life, and though he lived more than twenty years, he never again
took office, but occupied himself with his literary labours and the
collection of books and works of art. In the matter of language he sided
with Karamsin, and did good service by his own pen against the Old
Slavonic party. His poems include songs, odes, satires, tales, epistles,
&c., as well as the fables--partly original and partly translated from
Fontaine, Florian and Arnault--on which his fame chiefly rests. Several
of his lyrics have become thoroughly popular from the readiness with
which they can be sung; and a short dramatico-epic poem on Yermak, the
Cossack conqueror of Siberia, is well known.
His writings occupy three volumes in the first five editions; in the
6th (St Petersburg, 1823) there are only two. His memoirs, to which he
devoted the last years of his life, were published at Moscow in 1866.
DNIEPER, one of the most important rivers of Europe (the _Borysthenes_
of the Greeks, _Danapris_ of the Romans, _Uzi_ or _Uzu_ of the Turks,
Eksi of the Tatars, _Elice_ of Visconti's map (1381), _Lerene_ of
Contarini (1437), _Luosen_ of Baptista of Genoa (1514), and _Lussem_ in
the same century). It belongs entirely to Russia, and rises in the
government of Smolensk, in a swampy district (alt. 930 ft.) at the foot
of the Valdai Hills, not far from the sources of the Volga and the
Dvina, in 55° 52' N. and 33° 41' E. Its length is about 1410 m. and it
drains an area of 202,140 sq. m. In the first part of its course, which
may be said to end at Dorogobuzh, it flows through an undulating country
of Carboniferous formation; in the second it passes west to Orsha, south
through the fertile plain of Chernigov and Kiev, and then south-east
across the rocky steppe of the Ukraine to Ekaterinoslav. About 45 m. S.
of this town it has to force its way across the same granitic offshoot
of the Carpathian mountains which interrupts the course of the Dniester
and the Bug, and for a distance of about 25 m. rapid succeeds rapid. The
fall of the river in that distance is 155 ft. The Dnieper, having got
clear of the rocks, continues south-west through the grassy plains of
Kherson and Taurida, and enters the Black Sea, or rather a _liman_ or
bay of the Black Sea, by a considerable estuary in 46° 30' N. and 32°
20' E. On this ramifying _liman_, into which the Bug also pours its
waters, stand Nikolaiev and the fortified town of Ochakov. Navigation
extends as far up as Dorogobuzh, where the depth is about 12 ft., and
rafts are floated down from the higher reaches. The banks are generally
high, more particularly the left bank. About the town of Smolensk the
breadth is 455 ft., at the confluence of the Pripet 1400, and in some
parts of the Ekaterinoslav district more than 1¼ m. In the course above
the rapids the channel varies very greatly in nature and depth, and it
is not infrequently interrupted by shallows. The rapids, or _porogs_,
form a serious obstacle to navigation; it is only for a few weeks when
the river is in flood that they are passable, and even then the venture
is not without risk and can only be undertaken with the assistance of
special pilots. It is from these falls that the Cossacks of the Ukraine
came to be known as Zaporogian Cossacks. As early as 1732 an attempt was
made to improve the channel. A canal, which ultimately proved too small
for use, was constructed at Nenasitets in 1780 at private expense;
blastings were carried out in 1798 and 1799 at various parts; in 1805 a
canal was formed at Kaindatski, and the channel straightened at Sursk;
by 1807 a new canal was completed at Nenasitets; in 1833 a passage was
cleared through the Staro-kaindatski porog; and in the period 1843 to
1853 numerous ameliorations were effected. The result has been not only
to diminish greatly the dangers of the natural channel, but also to
furnish a series of artificial canals by which vessels can make their
way when the river is low. Of the tributaries of the Dnieper the
following are navigable,--the Berezina and the Pripet from the right,
and the Sozh and the Desna from the left. By means of the Dnieper-Bug
(King's) canal, and the Berezina and Oginski canals, this river has a
sort of water connexion with the Baltic Sea. In the estuary the
fisheries give employment to large numbers of people. At Kiev the river
is free from ice on an average of 234 days in the year, at Ekaterinoslav
270 and at Kherson 277. (P. A. K.; J. T. BE.)
DNIESTER (_Tyras_ and _Danaster_ or _Danastris_ of classical authors,
_Nistrul_ of the Rumanians, and _Turla_ of the Turks), a river of
south-eastern Europe belonging to the basin of the Black Sea. It rises
on the northern slope of the Carpathian mountains in Austrian Galicia,
and belongs for the first 350 m. of its course to Austrian, for the
remaining 515 m. to Russian, territory. It drains an area of 29,670 sq.
m., of which 16,500 sq. m. belong to Russia. It is excessively
meandering, and the current in most parts even during low water is
decidedly rapid as compared with Russian rivers generally, the mean rate
being calculated at 1-7/11 m. per hour. The average width of the channel
is from 500 to 750 ft., but in some places it attains as much as 1400
ft.; the depth is various and changeable. The principal interruption in
the navigable portion of the river, besides a sprinkling of rocks in the
bed and the somewhat extensive shallows, is occasioned by a granitic
spur from the Carpathians, which gives rise to the Yampol Rapids. For
ordinary river craft the passage of these rapids is rendered possible,
but not free from danger, by a natural channel on the left side, and by
a larger and deeper artificial channel on the right; for steamboats they
form an insuperable barrier. The river falls into the sea by several
arms, passing through a shallow _liman_ or lagoon, a few miles S.W. of
Odessa. There are two periodical floods,--the earlier and larger caused
by the breaking up of the ice, and occurring in the latter part of
February or in March; and the later due to the melting of the snows in
the Carpathians, and taking place about June. The spring flood raises
the level of the water 20 ft., and towards the mouth of the river
submerges the gardens and vineyards of the adjacent country. In some
years the general state of the water is so low that navigation is
possible only for three or four weeks, while in other years it is so
high that navigation continues without interruption; but in recent years
considerable improvements have been effected at government expense. In
consequence the traffic has increased, the Dniester tapping regions of
great productiveness, especially in cereals and timber, namely, Galicia,
Podolia and Bessarabia. Steamboat traffic was introduced in the lower
reaches in 1840. The fisheries of the lower course and of the estuary
are of considerable importance; and these, together with those of the
lakes which are formed by the inundations, furnish a valuable addition
to the diet of the people in the shape of carp, pike, tench, salmon,
sturgeon and eels. Its tributaries are numerous, but not of individual
importance, except perhaps the Sereth in Galicia.
(P. A. K.; J. T. BE.)
DOAB, DUAB or DOOAB, a name, like the Greek Mesopotamia, applied in
India, according to its derivation (_do_, two, and _ab_, river), to the
stretch of country lying between any two rivers, as the Bari Doab
between the Sutlej and the Ravi, the Rechna Doab between the Ravi and
the Chenab, the Jech Doab between the Chenab and Jhelum, and the Sind
Sagar Doab between the Jhelum and the Indus, but frequently employed,
without any distinctive adjunct, as the proper name for the region
between the Ganges and its great tributary the Jumna. In like manner the
designation of Doab canal is given to the artificial channel which
breaks off from the Jumna near Fyzabad, and flows almost parallel with
the river till it reunites with it at Delhi.
DOANE, GEORGE WASHINGTON (1799-1859), American churchman, Protestant
Episcopal bishop of New Jersey, was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on the
27th of May 1799. He graduated at Union College, Schenectady, New York,
in 1818, studied theology and, in 1821, was ordained deacon and in 1823
priest by Bishop Hobart, whom he assisted in Trinity church, New York.
With George Upfold (1796-1872), bishop of Indiana from 1849 to 1872,
Doane founded St Luke's in New York City. In 1824-1828 he was professor
of belles-lettres in Washington (now Trinity) College, Hartford,
Connecticut, and at this time he was one of the editors of the
_Episcopal Watchman_. He was assistant in 1828-1830 and rector in
1830-1832 of Christ church, Boston, and was bishop of New Jersey from
October 1832 to his death at Burlington, New Jersey, on the 27th of
April 1859. The diocese of New Jersey was an unpromising field, but he
took up his work there with characteristic vigour, especially in the
foundation of St Mary's Hall (1837, for girls) and Burlington College
(1846) as demonstrations of his theory of education under church
control. His business management of these schools got him heavily into
debt, and in the autumn of 1852 a charge of lax administration came
before a court of bishops, who dismissed it. The schools showed him an
able and wise disciplinarian, and his patriotic orations and sermons
prove him a speaker of great power. He belonged to the High Church party
and was a brilliant controversialist. He published _Songs by the Way_
(1824), a volume of poems; and his hymns beginning "Softly now the light
of day" and "Thou art the Way" are well known.
See _Life and Writings of George Washington Doane_ (4 vols., New York,
1860-1861), edited by his son, William Croswell Doane (b. 1832), first
bishop of Albany.
DOBBS FERRY, a village of Westchester county, New York, on the E. bank
of the Hudson river 2 m. N. of Yonkers. Pop. (1890) 2083; (1900) 2888;
(1910 U. S. census) 3455. Dobbs Ferry is served by the Hudson River
division of the New York Central railway. There are many fine country
places, two private schools--the Mackenzie school for boys and the
Misses Masters' school for girls--and the children's village (with about
thirty cottages) of the New York juvenile asylum. The name of the
village was derived from a Swede, Jeremiah Dobbs, whose family probably
moved hither from Delaware, and who at the beginning of the last quarter
of the 18th century had a skiff ferry, which was kept up by his family
for a century afterwards. Because Dobbs Ferry had been a part of
Philipse Manor all lands in it were declared forfeit at the time of the
War of American Independence (see YONKERS), and new titles were derived
from the commissioners of forfeitures. The position of the village
opposite the northernmost end of the Palisades gave it importance during
the war. The region was repeatedly raided by camp followers of each
army; earthworks and a fort, commanding the Hudson ferry and the ferry
to Paramus, New Jersey, were built; the British army made Dobbs Ferry a
rendezvous, after the battle of White Plains, in November 1776, and the
continental division under General Benjamin Lincoln was here at the end
of January 1777. The American army under Washington encamped near Dobbs
Ferry on the 4th of July 1781, and started thence for Yorktown in the
following month. In the Van Brugh Livingston house on the 6th of May
1783, Washington and Governor George Clinton met General Sir Guy
Carleton, afterwards Lord Dorchester, to negotiate for the evacuation by
the British troops of the posts they still held in the United States. In
1873 the village was incorporated as Greenburgh, from the township of
the same name which in 1788 had been set apart from the manor of
Phillipsburgh; but the name Dobbs Ferry was soon resumed.
DOBELL, SYDNEY THOMPSON (1824-1874), English poet and critic, was born
on the 5th of April 1824 at Cranbrook, Kent. His father was a wine
merchant, his mother a daughter of Samuel Thompson (1766-1837), a London
political reformer. The family moved to Cheltenham when Dobell was
twelve years old. He was educated privately, and never attended either
school or university. He refers to this in some lines on Cheltenham
College in imitation of Chaucer, written in his eighteenth year. After a
five years' engagement he married, in 1844, Emily Fordham, a lady of
good family. An acquaintance with Mr (subsequently Sir James) Stansfeld
and with the Birmingham preacher-politician, George Dawson (1821-1876),
which afterwards led to the foundation of the Society of the Friends of
Italy, fed the young enthusiast's ardour for the liberalism of the day.
Meanwhile, Dobell wrote a number of minor poems, instinct with a
passionate desire for political reform. _The Roman_ appeared in 1850,
under the _nom de plume_ of "Sydney Yendys." Next year he travelled
through Switzerland with his wife; and after his return he formed
friendships with Robert Browning, Philip Bailey, George MacDonald,
Emanuel Deutsch, Lord Houghton, Ruskin, Holman Hunt, Mazzini, Tennyson
and Carlyle. His second long poem, _Balder_, appeared in 1854. The three
following years were spent in Scotland. Perhaps his closest friend at
this time was Alexander Smith, in company with whom he published, in
1855, a number of sonnets on the Crimean War, which were followed by a
volume on _England in Time of War_. Although by no means a rich man he
was always ready to help needy men of letters, and it was through his
exertions that David Gray's poems were published. In 1869 a horse, which
he was riding, fell and rolled over with him. His health, which had for
several years necessitated his wintering abroad, was seriously affected
by this accident, and he was from this time more or less of an invalid,
until his death on the 22nd of August 1874.
As a poet Dobell belongs to the "spasmodic school," as it was named by
Professor Aytoun, who parodied its style in _Firmilian_. The epithet,
however, was first applied by Carlyle to Byron. The school includes
George Gilfillan, Philip James Bailey, John Stanyan Bigg (1826-1865),
Dobell, Alexander Smith, and, according to some critics, Gerald Massey.
It was characterized by an under-current of discontent with the mystery
of existence, by vain effort, unrewarded struggle, sceptical unrest, and
an uneasy straining after the unattainable. It thus faithfully
reflected a certain phase of 19th century thought. The productions of
the school are marked by an excess of metaphor and a general
extravagance of language. On the other hand, they exhibit freshness and
originality often lacking in more conventional writings. Dobell's poem,
_The Roman_, dedicated to the interests of political liberty in Italy,
is marked by pathos, energy and passionate love of freedom, but it is
overlaid with monologue, which is carried to a dreary excess in
_Balder_, relieved though the latter is by fine descriptive passages,
and by some touching songs. Dobell's suggestive, but too ornate prose
writings were collected and edited with an introductory note by
Professor J. Nichol (_Thoughts on Art, Philosophy and Religion_) in
1876. In his religious views Dobell was a Christian of the Broad Church
type; and socially he was one of the most amiable and true-hearted of
men. His early interest in the cause of oppressed nationalities, shown
in his friendship with Kossuth, Emanuel Deutsch and others, never
lessened, although his views of home politics underwent some change from
the radical opinions of his youth. In Gloucestershire Dobell was well
known as an advocate of social reform, and he was a pioneer in the
application of the co-operative system to private enterprise.
The standard edition of his poems (1875) by Professor Nichol includes
a memoir.
DÖBELN, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Saxony, on the (Freiberg)
Mulde, two arms of which embrace the town as an island, 35 m. S.E. from
Leipzig by rail, and at the junction of lines to Dresden, Chemnitz,
Riesa and Oschatz. Pop. (1905) including the garrison, 18,907. It has
two Evangelical churches, of which the Nikolai-kirche, dating in its
present form from 1485, is a handsome edifice; a medieval town hall, a
former Benedictine nunnery and a monument to Luther. There are an
agricultural and a commercial school. The industries include
wool-spinning, iron-founding, carriage, agricultural implement, and
metal-printing and stamping works.
DOBERAN, or DOBBERAN, a town of Germany, in the grand-duchy of
Mecklenburg-Schwerin, about 2 m. from the shores of the Baltic and 7 W.
of Rostock by rail. Pop. 5000. Besides the ruins of a Cistercian abbey
founded by Pribislaus, prince of Mecklenburg, in 1173, and secularized
in 1552, it possesses an Evangelical Gothic church of the 14th century,
one of the finest in north Germany, a grand-ducal palace, a theatre, an
exchange and a concert hall. Owing to its delightful situation amid
beech forests and to its chalybeate waters, Doberan has become a
favourite summer resort. Numerous villa residences have been erected and
promenades and groves laid out. In 1793 Duke Frederick Francis caused
the first seaside watering-place in Germany to be established on the
neighbouring coast, 4 m. distant, at the spot where the Heiligen-Damm, a
great bank of rocks about 1000 ft. broad and 15 ft. high, stretches out
into the sea and forms an excellent bathing ground. Though no longer so
popular as in the early part of the 19th century, it is still
frequented, and is connected with Doberan by a tramway.
DÖBEREINER, JOHANN WOLFGANG (1780-1849), German chemist, was born near
Hof in Bavaria on the 15th of December 1780. After studying pharmacy at
Münchberg, he started a chemical manufactory in 1803, and in 1810 was
appointed professor of chemistry, pharmacy and technology at Jena, where
he died on the 24th of March 1849. The Royal Society's _Catalogue_
enumerates 171 papers by him on various chemical topics, but his name is
best known for his experiments on platinum in a minute state of division
and on the oxidation products of alcohol. In 1822 he showed that when a
mass of platinum black, supplied with alcohol by a wick is enclosed in a
jar to which the air has limited access, acetic acid and water are
produced; this experiment formed the basis of the Schützenbach Quick
Vinegar Process. A year later he noticed that spongy platinum in
presence of oxygen can bring about the ignition of hydrogen, and
utilized this fact to construct his "hydrogen lamp," the prototype of
numerous devices for the self-ignition of coal-gas burners. He studied
the formation of aldehyde from alcohol by various methods, also
obtaining its crystalline compound with ammonia, and he was the
discoverer of furfurol. An early observation of the diffusion of gases
was recorded by him in 1823 when he noticed the escape of hydrogen from
a cracked jar, attributing it to the capillary action of fissures. His
works included treatises on pneumatic chemistry (1821-1825) and the
chemistry of fermentation (1822).
A correspondence which he carried on with Goethe and Charles August,
grand-duke of Saxe-Weimar, was collected and published at Weimar by
Schade in 1856.
DOBREE, PETER PAUL (1782-1825), English classical scholar and critic,
was born in Guernsey. He was educated at Reading school under Richard
Valpy and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he was elected fellow. He
was appointed regius professor of Greek in 1823, and died in Cambridge
on the 24th of September 1825. He was an intimate friend of Porson, whom
he took as his model in textual criticism, although he showed less
caution in conjectural emendation. After Porson's death (1808) Dobree
was commissioned with Monk and Blomfield to edit his literary remains,
which had been bequeathed to Trinity College. Illness and a subsequent
journey to Spain delayed the work until 1820, when Dobree brought out
the _Plutus_ of Aristophanes (with his own and Porson's notes) and all
Porson's _Aristophanica_. Two years later he published the _Lexicon_ of
Photius from Porson's transcript of the Gale MS. in Trinity College
library, to which he appended a _Lexicon rhetoricum_ from the margin of
a Cambridge MS. of Harpocration. James Scholefield, his successor in the
Greek professorship, brought out selections from his notes
(_Adversaria_, 1831-1833) on Greek and Latin authors (especially the
orators), and a reprint of the _Lexicon rhetoricum_, together with notes
on inscriptions (1834-1835). The latest edition of the _Adversaria_ is
by William Wagner (in Bohn's _Collegiate Series_, 1883).
An appreciative estimate of Dobree as a scholar will be found in J.
Bake's _Scholica hypomnemata_, ii. (1839) and in the _Philological
Museum_, i. (1832) by J. C. Hare.
DÖBRENTEI, GABOR [GABRIEL] (1786-1851), Hungarian philologist and
antiquary, was born at Nagyszöllös in 1786. He completed his studies at
the universities of Wittenberg and Leipzig, and was afterwards engaged
as a tutor in Transylvania. At this period he originated and edited the
_Erdélyi Muzeum_, which, notwithstanding its important influence on the
development of the Magyar language and literature, soon failed for want
of support. In 1820 Döbrentei settled at Pest, and there he spent the
rest of his life. He held various official posts, but continued
zealously to pursue the studies for which he had early shown a strong
preference. His great work is the _Ancient Monuments of the Magyar
Language_ (_Régi Magyar Nyelvemlékek_), the editing of which was
entrusted to him by the Hungarian Academy. The first volume was
published in 1838 and the fifth was in course of preparation at the time
of his death. Döbrentei was one of the twenty-two scholars appointed in
1825 to plan and organize, under the presidency of Count Teleki, the
Hungarian Academy. In addition to his great work he wrote many valuable
papers on historical and philological subjects, and many biographical
notices of eminent Hungarians. These appeared in the Hungarian
translation of Brockhaus's _Conversations-Lexikon_. He translated into
Hungarian _Macbeth_ and other plays of Shakespeare, Sterne's letters
from Yorick to Eliza (1828), several of Schiller's tragedies, and
Molière's _Avare_, and wrote several original poems. Döbrentei does not
appear to have taken any part in the revolutionary movement of 1848. He
died at his country house, near Pest, on the 28th of March 1851.
DOBRITCH, or HAJIOLUPAZARJIK, the principal town in the Bulgarian
Dobrudja. Pop. (1901) 13,436. The town is noted for its _panaïr_ or
great fair, chiefly for horses and cattle, held annually in the summer,
which formerly attracted a large concourse from all parts of eastern
Europe, but has declined in importance.
DOBRIZHOFFER, MARTIN (1717-1791), Austrian Roman Catholic missionary,
was born at Gratz, in Styria. He joined the Society of Jesus in 1736,
and in 1749 proceeded to Paraguay, where for eighteen years he worked
devotedly first among the Guaranis, and then among the Abipones.
Returning to Europe on the expulsion of the Jesuits from South America,
he settled at Vienna, obtained the friendship of Maria Theresa, survived
the extinction of his order, composed the history of his mission, and
died on the 17th of July 1791. The lively if rather garrulous book on
which his title to remembrance rests, appeared at Vienna in 1784, in the
author's own Latin, and in a German translation by Professor Krail of
the university of Pest. Of its contents some idea may be obtained from
its extended title:--_Historia de Abiponibus, Equestri Bellicosaque
Paraguariae Natione, locupletata Copiosis Barbararum Gentium, Urbium,
Fluminum, Ferarum, Amphibiorum, Insectorum, Serpentium praecipuorum,
Piscium, Avium, Arborum, Plantarum aliarumque ejusdem Provinciae
Proprietatum Observationibus_. In 1822 there appeared in London an
anonymous translation sometimes ascribed to Southey, but really the work
of Sara Coleridge, who had undertaken the task to defray the college
expenses of one of her brothers. A delicate compliment was paid to the
translator by Southey in the third canto of his _Tale of Paraguay_, the
story of which was derived from the pages of Dobrizhoffer's narrative:--
"And if he could in Merlin's glass have seen
By whom his tomes to speak our tongue were taught,
The old man would have felt as pleased, I ween,
As when he won the ear of that great Empress Queen."
DOBROWSKY, JOSEPH (1753-1829), Hungarian philologist, was born of
Bohemian parentage at Gjermet, near Raab, in Hungary. He received his
first education in the German school at Bischofteinitz, made his first
acquaintance with Bohemian at the Deutschbrod gymnasium, studied for
some time under the Jesuits at Klattau, and then proceeded to the
university of Prague. In 1772 he was admitted among the Jesuits at
Brünn; but on the dissolution of the order in 1773 he returned to Prague
to study theology. After holding for some time the office of tutor in
the family of Count Nostitz, he obtained an appointment first as
vice-rector, and then as rector, in the general seminary at Hradisch;
but in 1790 he lost his post through the abolition of the seminaries
throughout Austria, and returned as a guest to the house of the count.
In 1792 he was commissioned by the Bohemian Academy of Sciences to visit
Stockholm, Abo, Petersburg and Moscow in search of the manuscripts which
had been scattered by the Thirty Years' War; and on his return he
accompanied Count Nostitz to Switzerland and Italy. His reason began to
give way in 1795, and in 1801 he had to be confined in a lunatic asylum;
but by 1803 he had completely recovered. The rest of his life was mainly
spent either in Prague or at the country seats of his friends Counts
Nostitz and Czernin; but his death took place at Brünn, whither he had
gone in 1828 to make investigations in the library. While his fame rests
chiefly on his labours in Slavonic philology his botanical studies are
not without value in the history of the science.
The following is a list of his more important works, _Fragmentum
Pragense evangelii S. Marci, vulgo autographi_ (1778); a periodical
for Bohemian and Moravian Literature (1780-1787); _Scriptores rerum
Bohemicarum_ (2 vols., 1783); _Geschichte der böhm. Sprache und ältern
Literatur_ (1792); _Die Bildsamkeit der slaw. Sprache_ (1799); a
_Deutsch-böhm. Wörterbuch_ compiled in collaboration with
Leschka-Puchmayer and Hanka (1802-1821); _Entwurf eines
Pflanzensystems nach Zahlen und Verhältnissen_ (1802); _Glagolitica_
(1807); _Lehrgebäude der böhm. Sprache_ (1809); _Institutiones linguae
slavicae dialecti veteris_ (1822); _Entwurf zu einem allgemeinen
Etymologikon der slaw. Sprachen_ (1813); _Slowanka zur Kenntniss der
slaw. Literatur_ (1814); and a critical edition of Jordanes, _De rebus
Geticis_, for Pertz's _Monumenta Germaniae historica_. See Palacky,
_J. Dobrowskys Leben und gelehrtes Wirken_ (1833).
DOBRUDJA (Bulgarian _Dobritch_, Rumanian _Dobrogea_), also written
DOBRUDSCHA, and DOBRUJA, a region of south-eastern Europe, bounded on
the north and west by the Danube, on the east by the Black Sea, and on
the south by Bulgaria. Pop. (1900) 267,808; area, 6000 sq. m. The
strategic importance of this territory was recognized by the Romans, who
defended it on the south by "Trajan's Wall," a double rampart, drawn
from Constantza, on the Black Sea, to the Danube. In later times it was
utilized by Russians and Turks, as in the wars of 1828, 1854 and 1878,
when it was finally wrested from Turkey. By the treaty of Berlin, in
1878, the Russians rewarded their Rumanian allies with this land of
mountains, fens and barren steppes, peopled by Turks, Bulgarians,
Tatars, Jews and other aliens; while, to add to the indignation of
Rumania, they annexed instead the fertile country of Bessarabia, largely
inhabited by Rumans. After 1880, however, the steady decrease of aliens,
and the development of the Black Sea ports, rendered the Dobrudja a
source of prosperity to Rumania.
DOBSINA (Ger. _Dobschau_), a town of Hungary, 165 m. N.E. of Budapest by
rail. Pop. (1900) 5109. It is situated in the county of Gömör, at the
foot of the Radzim (3200 ft. high) in the central Carpathians, and lies
to the south of the beautiful Straczena valley, watered by the river
Göllnitz, and enclosed on all sides by mountains. In the vicinity are
mines of iron, cobalt, copper and mercury, some of them being very
ancient. But the most remarkable feature is a large cavern some 3¾ m.
N.W., in which is an icefield nearly 2 acres in extent, containing
formations which are at once most curious and strikingly beautiful. This
cavern, which lies in the above-mentioned Straczena valley, was
discovered in 1870. The place was founded in the first half of the 14th
century by German miners.
DOBSON, HENRY AUSTIN (1840- ), English poet and man of letters, was
born at Plymouth on the 18th of January 1840, being the eldest son of
George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, and on his grandmother's side
of French descent. When he was about eight years old the family moved to
Holyhead, and his first school was at Beaumaris, in the Isle of
Anglesea. He was afterwards educated at Coventry, and the Gymnase,
Strassburg, whence he returned at the age of sixteen with the intention
of becoming a civil engineer. He had a taste for art, and in his earlier
years at the office continued to study it at South Kensington, at his
leisure, but without definite ambition. In December 1856 he entered the
Board of Trade, gradually rising to a principalship in the harbour
department, from which he withdrew in the autumn of 1901. He married in
1868 Frances Mary, daughter of Nathaniel Beardmore of Broxbourne, Herts,
and settled at Ealing. His official career was industrious though
uneventful, but as poet and biographer he stands among the most
distinguished of his time. The student of Mr Austin Dobson's work will
be struck at once by the fact that it contains nothing immature: there
are no _juvenilia_ to criticize or excuse. It was about 1864 that Mr
Dobson first turned his attention to composition in prose and verse, and
some of his earliest known pieces remain among his best. It was not
until 1868 that the appearance of _St Paul's_, a magazine edited by
Anthony Trollope, afforded Mr Dobson an opportunity and an audience; and
during the next six years he contributed to its pages some of his
favourite poems, including "Tu Quoque," "A Gentleman of the Old School,"
"A Dialogue from Plato," and "Une Marquise." Many of his poems in their
original form were illustrated--some, indeed, actually written to
support illustrations. By the autumn of 1873 Mr Dobson had produced
sufficient verse for a volume, and put forth his _Vignettes in Rhyme_,
which quickly passed through three editions. During the period of their
appearance in the magazine the poems had received unusual attention,
George Eliot, among others, extending generous encouragement to the
anonymous author. The little book at once introduced him to a larger
public. The period was an interesting one for a first appearance, since
the air was full of metrical experiment. Swinburne's bold and
dithyrambic excursions into classical metre had given the clue for an
enlargement of the borders of English prosody; and, since it was
hopeless to follow him in his own line without necessary loss of vigour,
the poets of the day were looking about for fresh forms and variations.
It was early in 1876 that a small body of English poets lit upon the
French forms of Theodore de Banville, Marot and Villon, and determined
to introduce them into English verse. Mr Austin Dobson, who had already
made successful use of the triolet, was at the head of this movement,
and in May 1876 he published in _The Prodigals_ the first original
ballade written in English. This he followed by English versions of the
rondel, rondeau and villanelle. An article in the _Cornhill Magazine_ by
Mr Edmund Gosse, "A Plea for Certain Exotic Forms of Verse," appearing
in July 1877, simultaneously with Mr Dobson's second volume, _Proverbs
in Porcelain_, drew the general eye to the possibilities and
achievements of the movement. The experiment was extremely fortunate in
its introduction. Mr Dobson is above all things natural, spontaneous and
unaffected in poetic method; and in his hands a sheaf of metrical forms,
essentially artificial and laborious, was made to assume the colour and
bright profusion of a natural product. An air of pensive charm, of
delicate sensibility, pervades the whole of these fresh revivals; and it
is perhaps this personal touch of humanity which has given something
like stability to one side of a movement otherwise transitory in
influence. The fashion has faded, but the flowers of Mr Dobson's French
garden remain bright and scented.
In 1883 Mr Dobson published _Old-World Idylls_, a volume which contains
some of his most characteristic work. By this time his taste was
gradually settling upon the period with which it has since become almost
exclusively associated; and the spirit of the 18th century is revived in
"The Ballad of Beau Brocade" and in "The Story of Rosina," as nowhere
else in modern English poetry. In "Beau Brocade," indeed, the pictorial
quality of his work, the dainty economy of eloquent touches, is at its
very best: every couplet has its picture, and every picture is true and
vivacious. The touch has often been likened to that of Randolph
Caldecott, with which it has much in common; but Mr Dobson's humour is
not so "rollicking," his portraiture not so broad, as that of the
illustrator of "John Gilpin." The appeal is rather to the intellect, and
the touches of subdued pathos in the "Gentleman" and "Gentlewoman of the
Old School" are addressed directly to the heart. We are in the 18th
century, but see it through the glasses of to-day; and the soft
intercepting sense of change which hangs like a haze between ourselves
and the subject is altogether due to the poet's sympathy and
sensibility. _At the Sign of the Lyre_ (1885) was the next of Mr
Dobson's separate volumes of verse, although he has added to the body of
his work in a volume of _Collected Poems_ (1897). _At the Sign of the
Lyre_ contains examples of all his various moods. The admirably fresh
and breezy "Ladies of St James's" has precisely the qualities we have
traced in his other 18th-century poems; there are ballades and rondeaus,
with all the earlier charm; and in "A Revolutionary Relic," as in "The
Child Musician" of the _Old-World Idylls_, the poet reaches a depth of
true pathos which he does not often attempt, but in which, when he seeks
it, he never fails. At the pole opposite to these are the light
occasional verses, not untouched by the influence of Praed, but also
quite individual, buoyant and happy. But the chief novelty in _At the
Sign of the Lyre_ was the series of "Fables of Literature and Art,"
founded in manner upon Gay, and exquisitely finished in scholarship,
taste and criticism. It is in these perhaps, more than in any other of
his poems, that we see how with much felicity Mr Dobson interpenetrates
the literature of fancy with the literature of judgment. After 1885 Mr
Dobson was engaged principally upon critical and biographical prose, by
which he has added very greatly to the general knowledge of his
favourite 18th century. His biographies of _Fielding_ (1883), _Bewick_
(1884), _Steele_ (1886), _Goldsmith_ (1888), _Walpole_ (1890) and
_Hogarth_ (1879-1898) are studies marked alike by assiduous research,
sympathetic presentation and sound criticism. It is particularly
noticeable that Mr Dobson in his prose has always added something, and
often a great deal, to our positive knowledge of the subject in
question, his work as a critic never being solely aesthetic. In _Four
Frenchwomen_ (1890), in the three series of _Eighteenth-Century
Vignettes_ (1892-1894-1896), and in _The Paladin of Philanthropy_
(1899), which contain unquestionably his most delicate prose work, the
accurate detail of each study is relieved by a charm of expression which
could only be attained by a poet. In 1901 he collected his hitherto
unpublished poems in a volume entitled _Carmina Votiva_. Possessing an
exquisite talent of defined range, Mr Austin Dobson may be said in his
own words to have "held his pen in trust for Art" with a service sincere
and distinguished.
DOBSON, WILLIAM (1610-1646), English portrait and historical painter,
was born in London. His father was master of the alienation office, but
by improvidence had fallen into reduced circumstances. The son was
accordingly bound an apprentice to a stationer and picture dealer in
Holborn Bridge; and while in his employment he began to copy the
pictures of Titian and Van Dyck. He also took portraits from life under
the advice and instruction of Francis Cleyn, a German artist of
considerable repute. Van Dyck, happening to pass a shop in Snow Hill
where one of Dobson's pictures was exposed, sought out the artist, and
presented him to Charles I., who took Dobson under his protection, and
not only sat to him several times for his own portrait, but caused the
prince of Wales, Prince Rupert and many others to do the same. The king
had a high opinion of his artistic ability, styled him the English
Tintoretto, and appointed him serjeant-painter on the death of Van Dyck.
After the fall of Charles, Dobson was reduced to great poverty, and fell
into dissolute habits. He died at the early age of thirty-six. Excellent
examples of Dobson's portraits are to be seen at Blenheim, Chatsworth
and several other country seats throughout England. The head in the
"Decollation of St John the Baptist" at Wilton is said to be a portrait
of Prince Rupert.
DOCETAE, a name applied to those thinkers in the early Christian Church
who held that Christ, during his life, had not a real or natural, but
only an apparent ([Greek: dokein], to appear) or phantom body. Other
explanations of the [Greek: dokêsis] or appearance have, however, been
suggested, and, in the absence of any statement by those who first used
the word of the grounds on which they did so, it is impossible to
determine between them with certainty. The name Docetae is first used by
Theodoret (_Ep._ 82) as a general description, and by Clement of
Alexandria as the designation of a distinct sect,[1] of which he says
that Julius Cassianus was the founder. Docetism, however, undoubtedly
existed before the time of Cassianus. The origin of the heresy is to be
sought in the Greek, Alexandrine and Oriental philosophizing about the
imperfection or rather the essential impurity of matter. Traces of a
Jewish Docetism are to be found in Philo; and in the Christian form it
is generally supposed to be combated in the writings of John,[2] and
more formally in the epistles of Ignatius.[3] It differed much in its
complexion according to the points of view adopted by the different
authors. Among the Gnostics and Manichaeans it existed in its most
developed type, and in a milder form it is to be found even in the
writings of the orthodox teachers. The more thoroughgoing Docetae
assumed the position that Christ was born without any participation of
matter; and that all the acts and sufferings of his human life,
including the crucifixion, were only apparent. They denied accordingly,
the resurrection and the ascent into heaven. To this class belonged
Dositheus, Saturninus, Cerdo, Marcion and their followers, the Ophites,
Manichaeans and others. Marcion, for example, regarded the body of
Christ merely as an "umbra," a "phantasma." His denial (due to his
abhorrence of the world) that Jesus was born or subjected to human
development, is in striking contrast to the value which he sets on
Christ's death on the cross. The other, or milder school of Docetae,
attributed to Christ an ethereal and heavenly instead of a truly human
body. Amongst these were Valentinus, Bardesanes, Basilides, Tatian and
their followers. They varied considerably in their estimation of the
share which this body had in the real actions and sufferings of Christ.
Clement and Origen, at the head of the Alexandrian school, took a
somewhat subtle view of the Incarnation, and Docetism pervades their
controversies with the Monarchians. Hilary especially illustrates the
prevalence of naive Docetic views as regards the details of the
Incarnation. Docetic tendencies have also been developed in later
periods of ecclesiastical history, as for example by the Priscillianists
and the Bogomils, and also since the Reformation by Jacob Boehme, Menno
Simons and a small fraction of the Anabaptists. Docetism springs from
the same roots as Gnosticism, and the Gnostics generally held Docetic
views (see GNOSTICISM).
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Not a distinct sect, but a continuous type of Christology.
Hippolytus, however (_Philosophumena_, viii. 8-11), speaks of a
definite party who called themselves Docetae.
[2] 1 _Ep._ iv. 2, ii. 22, v. 6, 20; 2 _Ep._ 7, cf. Jerome (_Dial.
adv. Lucifer_. § 23 "Apostolis adhuc in saeculo superstitibus, adhuc
apud Judaeam Christi sanguine recenti, phantasma Domini corpus
asserebatur").
[3] _Ad Trall._ 9 f., _Ad Smyrn._ 2, 4, _Ad Ephes._ 7. Cf. Polycarp,
_Ad Phil._ 7.
DOCHMIAC (from Gr. [Greek: dochmê], a hand's breadth), a form of verse,
consisting of _dochmii_ or pentasyllabic feet (usually o _ _ o -).
DOCK, a word applied to (1) a plant (see below), (2) an artificial basin
for ships (see below), (3) the fleshy solid part of an animal's tail,
and (4) the railed-in enclosure in which a prisoner is placed in court
at his trial. Dock (1) in O.E. is _docce_, represented by Ger.
_Dockea-blatter_, O.Fr. _docque_, Gael. _dogha_; Skeat compares Gr.
[Greek: daukos], a kind of parsnip. Dock (2) appears in Dutch (_dok_)
and English in the 16th century; thence it was adopted into other
languages. It has been connected with Med. Lat. _doga_, cap, Gr. [Greek:
dochê], receptacle, from [Greek: dechesthai], to receive. Dock (3),
especially used of a horse or dog, appears in English in the 14th
century; a parallel is found in Icel. _docke_, stumpy tail, and Ger.
_Docke_, bundle, skein, is also connected with it. This word has given
the verb "to dock," to cut short, curtail, especially used of the
shortening of an animal's tail by severing one or more of the vertebrae.
The English Kennel Club (Rules, 1905, revised 1907) disqualifies from
prize-winning dogs whose tails have been docked; several breeds are,
however, excepted, e.g. varieties of terriers and spaniels, poodles,
&c., and such foreign dogs as may from time to time be determined by the
club. The prisoners' dock (4) is apparently to be referred to Flem.
_dok_, pen or hutch. It was probably first used in thieves' slang;
according to the _New English Dictionary_ it was known after 1610 in
"bail-dock," a room at the corner of the Old Bailey left open at the
top, "in which during the trials are put some of the malefactors"
(_Scots. Mag._, 1753).
DOCK, in botany, the name applied to the plants constituting the section
_Lapathum_ of the genus _Rumex_, natural order Polygonaceae. They are
biennial or perennial herbs with a stout root-stock, and glabrous
linear-lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate leaves with a rounded, obtuse or
hollowed base and a more or less wavy or crisped margin. The flowers are
arranged in more or less crowded whorls, the whole forming a denser or
looser panicle; they are generally perfect, with six sepals, six stamens
and a three-sided ovary bearing three styles with much-divided stigmas.
The fruit is a triangular nut enveloped in the three enlarged leathery
inner sepals, one or all of which bear a tubercle. In the common or
broad-leaved dock, _Rumex obtusifolius_, the flower-stem is erect,
branching, and 18 in. to 3 ft. high, with large radical leaves,
heart-shaped at the base, and more or less blunt; the other leaves are
more pointed, and have shorter stalks. The whorls are many-flowered,
close to the stem and mostly leafless. The root is many-headed, black
externally and yellow within. The flowers appear from June to August. In
autumn the whole plant may become of a bright red colour. It is a
troublesome weed, common by roadsides and in fields, pastures and waste
places throughout Europe. The great water dock, _R. hydrolapathum_,
believed to be the _herba britannica_ of Pliny (_Nat. Hist._ xxv. 6), is
a tall-growing species; its root is used as an antiscorbutic. Other
British species are _R. crispus_; _R. conglomeratus_, the root of which
has been employed in dyeing; _R. sanguineus_ (bloody dock, or
bloodwort); _R. palustris_; _R. pulcher_ (fiddle dock), with
fiddle-shaped leaves; _R. maritimus_; _R. aquaticus_; _R. pratensis_.
The naturalized species, _R. alpinus_, or "monk's rhubarb," was early
cultivated in Great Britain, and was accounted an excellent remedy for
ague, but, like many other such drugs, is now discarded.
DOCK, in marine and river engineering. Vessels require to lie afloat
alongside quays provided with suitable appliances in sheltered sites in
order to discharge and take in cargoes conveniently and expeditiously;
and a basin constructed for this purpose, surrounded by quay walls, is
known as a dock. The term is specially applied to basins adjoining tidal
rivers, or close to the sea-coast, in which the water is maintained at a
fairly uniform level by gates, which are closed when the tide begins to
fall, as exemplified by the Liverpool and Havre docks (figs. 1 and 2).
Sometimes, however, at ports situated on tidal rivers near their tidal
limit, as at Glasgow (fig. 3), Hamburg and Rouen, and at some ports near
the sea-coast, such as Southampton (fig. 4) and New York, the tidal
range is sufficiently moderate for dock gates to be dispensed with, and
for open basins and river quays to serve for the accommodation of
vessels. For ports established on the sea-coast of tideless seas, such
as the Mediterranean, on account of the rivers being barred by deltas at
their outlets, like the Rhone and the Tiber, and thus rendered
inaccessible, open basins, provided with quays and protected by
breakwaters, furnish the necessary commercial requirements for sea-going
vessels, as for example at Marseilles (fig. 5), Genoa, Naples and
Trieste. These open basins, however, are precisely the same as closed
docks, except for the absence of dock gates, and the accommodation for
shipping at the quays round basins in river ports is so frequently
supplemented by river quays, that closed docks, open basins and river
quays are all naturally included in the general consideration of dock
works.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Liverpool Docks, North End]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Havre Docks and Outer Harbour.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Glasgow Docks.]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Southampton Docks and River Quays.]
Sites for Docks.
Low-lying land adjoining a tidal river or estuary frequently provides
suitable sites for docks; for the position, being more or less inland,
is sheltered; the low level reduces the excavation required for forming
the docks, and enables the excavated materials to be utilized in raising
the ground at the sides for quays, and the river furnishes a sheltered
approach channel. Notable instances of these are the docks of the ports
of London, Liverpool, South Wales, Southampton, Hull, Belfast, St
Nazaire, Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg. Sometimes docks are partially
formed on foreshores reclaimed from estuaries, as at Hull, Grimsby,
Cardiff, Liverpool, Leith and Havre; whilst at Bristol, a curved portion
of the river Avon was appropriated for a dock, and a straight cut made
for the river. By carrying docks across sharp bends of tidal rivers,
upper and lower entrances can be provided, thereby conveniently
separating the inland and sea-going traffic; and of this the London,
Surrey Commercial, West India, and Victoria and Albert docks are
examples on the Thames and Chatham dockyard on the Medway. Occasionally,
when a small tidal river has a shallow entrance, or an estuary exhibits
signs of silting up, docks alongside, formed on foreshores adjoining the
sea-coast, are provided with a sheltered entrance direct from the sea,
as exemplified by the Sunderland docks adjacent to the mouth of the
river Wear, and the Havre docks at the outlet of the Seine estuary (fig.
2). Some old ports, originally established on sandy coasts where a
creek, maintained by the influx and efflux of the tide from low-lying
spaces near the shore, afforded some shelter and an outlet to the sea
across the beach, have had their access improved by parallel jetties and
dredging; and docks have been readily formed in the low-lying land only
separated by sand dunes from the sea, as at Calais, Dunkirk (fig. 6) and
Ostend (see HARBOUR). In sheltered places on the sea-coast, docks have
sometimes been constructed on low-lying land bordering the shore, with
direct access to the sea, as at Barrow and Hartlepool; whilst at
Mediterranean ports open basins have been formed in the sea, by
establishing quays along the foreshore, from which wide, solid jetties,
lined with quay walls, are carried into the sea at intervals at right
angles to the shore, being sheltered by an outlying breakwater parallel
to the coast, and reached at each end through the openings left between
the projecting jetties and the breakwater, as at Marseilles (fig. 5) and
Trieste, and at the extensions at Genoa (see HARBOUR) and Naples. Where,
however, the basins are formed within the partial protection of a bay,
as in the old ports of Genoa and Naples, the requisite additional
shelter has been provided by converging breakwaters across the opening
of the bay; and an entrance to the port is left between the breakwaters.
The two deep arms of the sea at New York, known as the Hudson and East
rivers, are so protected by Staten Island and Long Island that it has
been only necessary to form open basins by projecting wide jetties or
quays into them from the west and east shores of Manhattan Island, and
from the New Jersey and Brooklyn shores, at intervals, to provide
adequate accommodation for Atlantic liners and the sea-going trade of
New York.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Port of Marseilles. Basins and Extensions.]
Approach channels.
The accessibility of a port depends upon the depth of its approach
channel, which also determines the depth of the docks or basins to which
it leads; for it is useless to give a depth to a dock much in excess of
the depth down to which there is a prospect of carrying the channel by
which it is reached. The great augmentation, however, in the power and
capacity for work of modern dredgers, and especially of suction dredgers
in sand (see DREDGE), together with the increasing draught of vessels,
has resulted in a considerable increase being made in the available
depth of rivers and channels leading to docks, and has necessitated the
making of due allowance for the possibility of a reasonable improvement
in determining the depth to be given to a new dock. On the other hand,
there is a limit to the deepening of an approach channel, depending upon
its length, the local conditions as regards silting, and the resources
and prospects of trade of the port, for every addition to the depth
generally involves a corresponding increase in the cost of maintenance.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Dunkirk Docks and Jetty Channel.]
At tidal ports the available depth for vessels should be reckoned from
high water of the lowest neap tides, as the standard which is certain to
be reached at high tide; and the period during which docks can be
entered at each tide depends upon the nature of the approach channel,
the extent of the tidal range and the manner in which the entrance to
the docks is effected. Thus where the tidal range is very large, as in
the Severn estuary, the approach channels to some of the South Wales
ports are nearly dry at low water of spring tides, and it would be
impossible to make these ports accessible near low tide; whereas at high
water, even of neap tides, vessels of large draught can enter their
docks. At Liverpool, with a rise of 31 ft. at equinoctial spring tides,
owing to the deep channel between Liverpool and Birkenhead and into the
outer estuary of the Mersey in Liverpool Bay, maintained by the
powerful tidal scour resulting from the filling and emptying of the
large inner estuary, access to the river by the largest vessels has been
rendered possible, at any state of the tide, by dredging a channel
through the Mersey bar; but the docks cannot be entered till the water
has risen above half-tide level, and the gates are closed directly after
high water. A large floating landing-stage, however, about half a mile
in length, in front of the centre of the docks, connected with the shore
by several hinged bridges and rising and falling with the tide, enables
Atlantic liners to come alongside and take on board or disembark their
passengers at any time.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--Tilbury Docks.]
Comparatively small tidal rivers offer the best opportunity of a
considerable improvement in the approach channel to a port; for they can
be converted into artificially deep channels by dredging, and their
necessary maintenance is somewhat aided by the increased influx and
efflux of tidal water due to the lowering of the low-water line by the
outflow of the ebb tide being facilitated by the deepening. Thus
systematic, continuous dredging in the Tyne and the Clyde has raised the
Tyne ports and Glasgow into first-class ports. In large tidal rivers and
estuaries, docks should be placed alongside a concave bank which the
deep navigable channel hugs, as effected at Hull and Antwerp, or close
to a permanently deep channel in an estuary, such as chosen for Garston
and the entrance to the Manchester ship canal at Eastham in the inner
Mersey estuary, and for Grimsby and the authorized Illingham dock in the
Humber estuary; for a channel carried across an estuary to deep water
requires constant dredging to maintain its depth. Occasionally,
extensive draining works and dredging have to be executed to form an
adequately deep channel through a shifting estuary and shallow river to
a port, as for instance on the Weser to Bremerhaven and Bremen, on the
Seine to Honfleur and Rouen, on the Tees to Middlesborough and Stockton,
on the Ribble to Preston, on the Maas to Rotterdam and on the Nervion to
Bilbao (see RIVER ENGINEERING). Southampton possesses the very rare
combination of advantages of a well-sheltered and fairly deep estuary, a
rise of only 12 ft. at spring tides, and a position at the head of
Southampton Water at the confluence of two rivers (fig. 4), so that,
with a moderate amount of dredging and the construction of quays along
the lower ends of the river with a depth of 35 ft. in front of them at
low water, it is possible for vessels of the largest draught to come
alongside or leave the quays at any state of the tide. This circumstance
has enabled Southampton to attract some of the Atlantic steamers
formerly running to Liverpool.
Ports on tideless seas have to be placed where deep water approaches the
shore, and where there is an absence of littoral drift. The basins of
such ports are always accessible for vessels of the draught they provide
for; but they require most efficient protection, and, unlike tidal
ports, they are not able on exceptional occasions to admit a vessel of
larger draught than the basins have been formed to accommodate.
Occasionally, an old port whose approach channel has become inadequate
for modern vessels, or from which the sea has receded, has been provided
with deep access from the sea by a ship canal, as exemplified by
Amsterdam and Bruges; whilst Manchester has become a seaport by similar
works (see MANCHESTER SHIP CANAL). In such cases, however, perfectly
sheltered open basins are formed inland at the head of the ship canal,
in the most convenient available site; and the size of vessels that can
use the port depends wholly on the dimensions and facility of access of
the ship canal.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Barry Docks.]
Design of Docks.
Docks require to be so designed that they may provide the maximum
length of quays in proportion to the water area consistent with easy
access for vessels to the quays; but often the space available does
not admit of the adoption of the best forms, and the design has to be
made as suitable as practicable under the existing conditions. On this
account, and owing to the small size of vessels in former times, the
docks of old ports present a great variety in size and arrangement,
being for the most part narrow and small, forming a sort of string of
docks communicating with one another, and provided with locks or
entrances at suitable points for their common use, as noticeable in
the older London and Liverpool docks. Though narrow timber jetties
were introduced in some of the wider London docks for increasing the
length of quays by placing vessels alongside them, no definite
arrangement of docks was adopted in carrying out the large Victoria
and Albert docks between 1850 and 1880; whilst the Victoria dock was
made wide with solid quays, provided with warehouses, projecting from
the northern quay wall, thereby affording a large accommodation for
vessels lying end on to the north quay, the Albert dock subsequently
constructed was given about half the width of the earlier dock, but
made much longer, so that vessels lie alongside the north and south
quays in a long line. This change of form, however, was probably
dictated by the advantage of stretching across the remainder of the
wide bend, in order to obtain a second entrance in a lower reach of
the river. The Tilbury docks, the latest and lowest docks on the
Thames, were constructed on the most approved modern system,
consisting of a series of branch docks separated by wide,
well-equipped solid quays, and opening straight into a main dock or
basin communicating with the entrance lock, in which vessels can turn
on entering or leaving the docks (fig. 7). The most recently
constructed Liverpool docks, also, at the northern end have been given
this form; and the older docks adjoining them to the south have been
transformed by reconstruction into a similar series of branch docks
opening into a dock alongside the river wall, leading to a half-tide
basin or river entrances (fig. 1). The Manchester and Salford docks
were laid out on a precisely similar system, which was also adopted
for the most recent docks at Dunkirk (fig. 6) and Prince's dock at
Glasgow (fig. 3), and at some of the principal Rhine ports; whilst the
Alexandra dock at Hull resembles it in principle. The basins in
tideless seas have naturally been long formed in accordance with this
system (fig. 5). The Barry docks furnish an example of the special
arrangements for a coal-shipping port, with numerous coal-tips served
by sidings (fig. 8).
Tidal and half-tide basins.
Tidal basins, as they are termed, are generally interposed in the
docks of London between the entrance locks and the docks, with the
object of facilitating the passage of vessels out of and into the
docks before and after high water, by lowering the water in the basin
as soon as the tide has risen sufficiently, and opening the lock gates
directly a level has been formed with the tide in the river. Then the
vessels which have collected in the basin, when level with the dock,
are readily passed successively into the river. The incoming vessels
are next brought into the basin, and the gates are closed; and the
water in the basin having been raised to the level in the dock, the
gates shutting off the basin from the dock when the water was lowered
are opened, and the vessels are admitted to the dock. In this manner,
by means of an inner pair of gates, the basin can be used as a large
lock without unduly altering the water-level in the dock, and saves
the delay of locking most of the vessels out and in, the lock being
only used for the smaller vessels leaving early or coming in late on
the tide. Similar tidal basins have also been provided at Cardiff,
Penarth, Barry (fig. 8), Sunderland, Antwerp and other docks.
The large half-tide docks introduced at the most modern Liverpool
docks (fig. 1) serve a similar purpose as tidal basins; but being much
larger, and approached by entrances instead of locks, the exit and
entrance of vessels are effected by lowering their water-level on a
rising tide, and opening the gates, which are then closed at high
water to prevent the lowering of the water-level in the dock, and to
avoid closing the gates against a strong issuing current.
The tidal basins outside the locks at Tilbury and Barry are quite open
to the tide, and have been carried down to 24 ft. and 16 ft.
respectively below low water of spring tides, in order to afford
vessels a deep sheltered approach to the lock in each case, available
at or near low water (figs. 7 and 8). Such basins, however, open to a
considerable tidal range where the water is densely charged with silt,
are exposed to a large deposit in the fairly still water, and their
depth has to be constantly maintained by sluicing or dredging.
River quays.
Where the range of tide is moderate, or on large inland rivers, docks
or basins are usefully supplemented by river quays, which though
subject to changes in the water-level, and exposed to currents in the
river, are very convenient for access, and are sometimes very
advantageously employed in regulating a river and keeping up its banks
when deepened by dredging. Generally 10 to 12 ft. is the limit of the
tidal range convenient for the adoption of open basins and river
quays; but the banks of the Tyne have been utilized for quays, jetties
and coal-staiths, with a somewhat larger maximum tidal range; and a
long line of quays stretching along the right bank of the Scheldt in
front of Antwerp, constructed so as to regulate this reach of the
river, accommodates a large sea-going traffic, with a rise at spring
tides of 15 ft.
Excavations for docks.
When a dock has to be formed on land, the excavation is effected by
men with barrows and powerful steam navvies, loading into wagons drawn
in trains by locomotives to the place of deposit, usually to raise the
land at the sides for forming quays. Directly the underground
water-level is reached, the water has to be removed from the
excavations by pumps raising the inflowing water from sumps, lined
with timber, sunk down below the lowest foundations at suitable
positions, so that the lower portions of the dock walls and sills of
the lock or entrance may be built out of water. A cofferdam has to be
constructed extending out from the bank of the river or approach
channel in front of the site of the proposed entrance or lock, so that
the excavations for the entrance to the dock may be pushed forwards,
and the lock or entrance built under its protection. Sometimes the
lowest portion of the excavation for the dock can be accomplished
economically by dredging, after the dock walls and lock have been
completed and the water admitted.
Where a dock is partially or wholly constructed on reclaimed land, the
reclamation bank for enclosing the site and excluding the tide has to
be undertaken first by tipping an embankment from each end with
wagons, protected and consolidated along its outer toe by rubble stone
or chalk. When the ends of the embankments are approaching one
another, it is essential to connect them by a long low bank of
selected materials brought up gradually in successive layers, and
retaining the water in the enclosure to the level of this bank, so
that the influx and efflux of the tide, filling and emptying the
reclaimed area, may take place over a long length, and in smaller
volume as the low bank is raised. In this way a reduction is effected
of the tidal current in and out, which in the case of a large
enclosure and a considerable tidal range, would create such a scour in
the narrowing gap between two high embankments as to wash away their
ends and prevent the closing of the gap. Occasionally the final
closure is effected by lowering timber panels in grooves between a
series of piles driven down at intervals across the gap. On the
closing of the reclamation bank the water is pumped out; and the
excavation is carried on in the ordinary manner. It is very important
that such an embankment should be carried well above the level of the
highest tide which might be raised by a high wind; and in exposed
sites, the outer slope of the bank should be protected by pitching
from the action of waves, for any overtopping or erosion of the bank
might result in a large breach through it, and the flooding of the
works inside.
Foundations for dock walls.
Docks are generally surrounded by walls retaining the quays, alongside
which vessels lie for discharging and taking in cargoes. In order to
ascertain the nature of the strata upon which these walls have to be
founded, borings are taken at the outset to the requisite depth at
intervals near the line of the walls, but inside the dock area if the
piercing of quicksand is anticipated, as in excavating for the
foundations, these holes might give rise to the outflow, under
pressure, of underlying quicksand into the foundations. As docks are
generally formed near rivers or estuaries, these strata are commonly
alluvial; but being situated at some depth below the surface, they are
usually fairly hard. When they consist of gravel, clay or firm sand,
the walls can be founded on the natural bottom excavated a few feet
below the bottom of the dock, their weight being somewhat distributed
by making them rest on a broad bed of concrete filling up the
excavation at the bottom. When, however, fine sand or silt charged
with water, or quicksand is met with at the required depth, the
necessary pumping and excavation for the foundations might occasion
the influx of sand or silt with the water into the excavations,
leading to settlement and slips; or the soft stratum might be too
thick to remove. The wall may then be founded on bearing piles driven
down to a solid stratum, and having their tops joined together by
walings and planking, or by a layer of concrete, upon which the wall
is built. Or the soft stratum can be enclosed with a double row of
sheet piling along the front and back of the line of wall, by which it
sometimes becomes sufficiently confined and consolidated to sustain
the weight of the wall on a broad foundation of concrete; or it can be
excavated without any danger of sand or silt running in from outside;
whilst the sheet piling at the back relieves the wall to some extent
from the pressure of the earth behind it, and in front retains the
wall from sliding forwards. Firmer foundations have been obtained by
sinking brick, concrete or masonry wells through soft ground to a
solid stratum, upon which the dock wall is built. Clusters of small
concrete cylinders, in sets of three in front, and a line of double
cylinders at the back, were used for the foundations of the walls of
Prince's dock at Glasgow. Wells of rubble masonry were sunk in the
silty foreshore of the Seine estuary for the walls of the Bellot docks
at Havre; and they served as piers, connected by arches, for the
foundations of a continuous dock wall above, being carried down to a
considerable depth through alluvium at the St Nazaire, Bordeaux and
Rochefort docks. These well foundations, derived from the old Indian
system, are built up upon a curb, sometimes furnished with a cutting
edge underneath, and gradually sunk by excavating inside; and
eventually the central hollow is filled up solid with concrete or
masonry.
Dock walls.
The walls round a dock serve as retaining walls to keep up the quays;
and though they have the support of the water in front of them when
the docks are in use, they have to sustain the full pressure of the
filling at the back on the completion of the dock before the water is
admitted. They have, accordingly, to be increased in thickness
downwards to support the pressure increasing with the depth. This
pressure, with perfectly dry material, would be represented by the
weight of half the prism of filling between the natural slope of the
material behind and the back of the wall; but the pressure is often
increased by the accumulation of water at the back, which, with fine
silty backing, is liable to exert a sort of fluid pressure against the
wall proportionate to the density of the mixture of silt and water.
The increase of thickness towards the base used formerly to be
effected by a batter on the face, as well as by steps out at the back;
but the vertical form now given to the sides of large vessels
necessitates a corresponding fairly vertical face for the wall, to
prevent the upper part of the vessel being kept unduly away from the
quay. Examples of the most modern types of dock walls are given in
figs. 9 to 12.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.--Havre Bellot Dock Wall.]
The height of a dock wall depends upon the depth of water always
available for vessels, at tideless sea-ports and at ports removed from
tidal influences, such as Manchester, Bruges and the ports on the
Rhine; this depth should not be less than 28 to 30 ft. for large
sea-going vessels, together with a margin of 5 to 8 ft. above the
normal water-level for the quays, and the foundations below. At tidal
ports, however, an addition has to be made equal to the difference in
height between the high-water levels of spring and neap tides; so that
at ports with a large tidal range, such as the South Wales ports on
the Severn estuary and Liverpool, specially high dock walls are
necessary. Under normal conditions, a dock wall should be given a
width at a height half-way between dock-bottom and quay-level, equal
to one-third of its height above dock-bottom, and a width of half this
height at dock-bottom.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--Liverpool Dock Wall.]
Dock walls are constructed of masonry, brickwork or concrete, or of
concrete with a facing of masonry or brickwork. Masonry is adopted
where large stone quarries are readily accessible, in the form of
rubble masonry with dressed stone on the face, as for instance at the
Hull and Barry docks, and forms a very durable wall; but strong
overhead staging carrying powerful gantries is necessary for laying
large blocks. Brickwork has been often used where bricks are the
ordinary building material of the district or can be made on the
works, and requires only ordinary scaffolding; and harder or pressed
bricks are employed for the facework. Concrete is very commonly
resorted to now where sand and stones are readily procured; and where
clean, sharp sand and gravel are found in thick layers in the
excavations for a dock, as in the alluvial strata bordering the
Thames, dock walls can be constructed cheaply and economically with
concrete deposited within timber framing, dispensing with regular
scaffolding and skilled labour. Such walls require to be given a
facing of stronger concrete, or of blue bricks, as at Tilbury, to
guard against abrasion by vessels, chains and ropes; and dock walls
are commonly provided at the top with granite or other hard stone
coping where the wear is greatest. The foundations for dock walls are
excavated in a trench below dock-bottom, only lined with timbering
where the faces of the trench cannot stand for a short time without
support, and with sheet piling through very unstable silt or sand; and
the trench is conveniently filled up solid with concrete, carried out
in short lengths in untrustworthy ground. To reduce the amount of
filling behind the wall, the excavation at the back above dock-bottom,
preparatory for the trench, is given as steep a slope as practicable,
supported sometimes towards the base by timbering and struts; but
occasionally the wall is built within a timbered trench carried down
to the required depth, before the excavation for the dock in front of
it has been executed, as effected at Tilbury. The filling at the back
is thus reduced to a minimum, and the lower portion of the excavation
can be accomplished by dredging, if expedient, after the admission of
the water, the dock wall in this way being exposed to the least
possible pressure behind.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Tilbury Basin Wall.]
The walls of open basins are often constructed out of water precisely
like dock walls, as in the case of the basins forming the Manchester,
Bruges and Glasgow docks; and basin walls open to the tide, as at
Glasgow and in the tidal basin outside Tilbury docks (fig. 7), differ
only from dock walls in being exposed to variations in the pressure at
the back resulting from the lowering of the water-level in front,
which is, indeed, shared to some extent by the walls round closed
docks where the difference in the high-water levels of springs and
neaps is considerable. The walls, however, round basins in tideless
seas, such as Marseilles, occasionally those inside harbours, and
especially quay walls along rivers and round open basins alongside
rivers, have to be constructed under water.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--Barry Dock Wall.]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Marseilles Quay Wall.]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Antwerp Quay Wall, founded by compressed
air.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Caracciolo Jetty Quay Wall, Genoa.]
Open basin and river quay walls founded under water.
At Marseilles, the simple expedient was long ago adopted of
constructing the quay walls lining the basins formed in the sea, by
depositing tiers of large concrete blocks on a rubble foundation, one
on top of the other, till they reached sea-level, and then building a
solid masonry quay wall out of water on the top up to quay-level,
faced with ashlar (fig. 13), the wall being backed by rubble for some
distance behind up to the water-level. The same system was employed
for the quay walls at Trieste, and at Genoa and other Italian ports. A
quay wall inside Marmagao harbour, on the west coast of India, was
erected on a foundation layer of rubble by the sloping-block system,
to provide against unequal settlement on the soft bottom (see
BREAKWATER). The quay walls alongside the river Liffey, and round the
adjacent basins below Dublin, were erected under water by building
rubble-concrete blocks of 360 tons on staging carried out into the
water, from which they were lifted one by one by a powerful floating
derrick, which conveyed the block to the site, and deposited it on a
levelled bottom at low tide in a depth of 28 ft., raising the wall a
little above low water. After a row of these blocks had been laid, and
connected together by filling the grooves formed at the sides and the
interstices between the blocks with concrete, a continuous masonry
wall faced with ashlar was built on the top out of water. A quay wall
was built up to a little above low water on a similar principle at
Cork, with three smaller blocks as a foundation, in lengths of 8 ft.
Cylindrical well foundations have been extensively used for the
foundations of the quay walls along the Clyde, formerly made of brick,
but subsequently of concrete, sunk through a considerable variety of
alluvial strata, but mostly sand and gravel fully charged with water.
Compressed air in bottomless caissons has been increasingly employed
in recent years for carrying down the subaqueous foundations of river
quay walls, through alluvial deposits, to a solid stratum. About 1880,
a long line of river quays was commenced in front of Antwerp,
extending in the central portion a considerable distance out into the
Scheldt, with the object of regulating the width of the river
simultaneously with the provision of deep quays for sea-going vessels;
and the quay wall was erected, out of water, on the flat tops of a
series of wrought-iron caissons, 82 ft. long and 29½ ft. wide,
constructed on shore, floated out one by one to their site in the
river between two barges, and gradually lowered as the wall was built
up inside a plate-iron enclosure round the roof of the caisson, which
was eventually sunk by aid of compressed air through the bed of the
river to a compact stratum (fig. 14). The weight of the wall
counteracted the tendency of the caisson and the enclosure above it to
float; and the caisson, furnished with seven circular wrought-iron
shafts, provided with air-locks at the top for the admission of men
and materials and for the removal of the excavations, was gradually
carried down by excavating inside the working chamber at the bottom,
6¼ ft. high, till a good foundation was reached. The working chamber
was then filled with concrete through some of the shafts, the
plate-iron sides of the upper enclosure were removed to be used for
another length of wall, the shafts were drawn out and the hollows left
by them filled with concrete, the apertures between adjacent lengths
were closed at each face with wooden panels and filled with concrete,
and a continuous quay wall was completed above. The most recent quay
walls constructed in the old harbour at Genoa were founded under
water on a rubble mound in a similar manner by the aid of compressed
air (fig. 15). Quay walls also on the Clyde have been founded on
caissons, consisting of a bottomless steel structure, surmounted by a
brick superstructure having hollows filled with concrete, in lengths
of 80 ft. and 27 ft., and widths of 18 ft. and 21 ft. respectively,
carried down by means of compressed air from 54 to 70 ft. below
quay-level, on the top of which a continuous wall of concrete, faced
with brickwork, and having a granite coping, was built up from near
low-water level (fig. 16). In many cases where soft strata extend to
considerable depths, river quays and basin walls have been constructed
by building a light quay wall upon a series of bearing and raking
piles driven into, and if possible through, the soft alluvium. Thus
the walls along the Seine, and round the basins at Rouen, were built
upon bearing piles carried down through the alluvial bed of the river
to the chalk. The lower portion of the quay wall was constructed of
concrete faced with brickwork within water-tight timber caissons,
resting upon the piles at a depth of 9¾ ft. below low water; and upon
this a rubble wall faced with bricks was erected from low water to
quay-level, backed by rubble stone laid on a timber flooring supported
by piles, together with chalk, to form a quay right back to the top of
the slope of the bank of the deepened river (fig. 17). The quay walls
of the open basins bordering the Hudson river at New York have had, in
certain parts, to be founded on bearing piles combined with raking
piles, driven into a thick bed of soft silt where no firm stratum
could be reached, and where, therefore, the weight could only be borne
by the adherence of the long piles in the silt. Before driving the
piles, however, the silt round the upper part of the piles and under
the quay wall was consolidated by depositing small stones in a trench
dredged to a depth of 30 ft. below low water; the piles were driven
through these stones, and were further kept in place by a long toe of
rubble stone in front and a backing of rubble stone behind carried
nearly up to quay-level, behind which a light filling of ashes and
earth was raised to quay-level. The slight quay wall resting upon the
front rows of bearing piles was carried up under water by 70-ton
concrete blocks deposited by means of a floating derrick; and the
upper part of the wall was built of concrete faced with ashlar masonry
(fig. 18). The basin and quay walls at Bremen, Bremerhaven and Hamburg
were built on a series of bearing and raking piles driven down to a
firm stratum, the wall being begun a few feet below low water. At
Southampton, ferro-concrete piles were employed in constructing the
deep quays; and a wharfing of timber pilework has been frequently used
for river quays.
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--Glasgow River Quay Wall.]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--Rouen Quay Wall.]
Where the increase of trade is moderate and the conditions of the
traffic permit, and also at coal-shipping ports, economy in
construction is obtained by giving sloping sides to a portion of a
dock in place of dock walls, the slope being pitched where necessary
with stone; and the length of the slope projecting into a dock is
sometimes reduced by substituting sheet piling for the slope at the
toe up to a certain height. By this arrangement jetties can be carried
out across the slope as required, enabling vessels to lie against
their ends; and coal-tips are very conveniently extended out across
the slope at suitable intervals (fig. 8).
Failures of dock walls.
As dock walls, especially before the admission of water into the dock,
constitute high retaining walls, not infrequently founded upon soft or
slippery strata, and backed up with the excavated materials from
alluvial beds, into which water is liable to percolate, they are
naturally exposed under unfavourable conditions to the danger of
failure. A dock wall erected on unsatisfactory foundations is liable,
where the bottom is soft, to settle down at its toe, owing to the
pressure at the back, and to fall forwards into the dock, as occurred
at Belfast; or where the silty bottom slips forward under the weight
of the backing, the wall may follow the slip at the bottom and settle
down at the back, falling to some extent backwards, as exemplified by
the failure of the Empress basin wall at Southampton. The most common
form, however, of failure is the sliding forwards of a dock wall, with
little or no subsidence, on a silty or slippery stratum under the
pressure imposed by the backing. Thus the Kidderpur dock walls furnish
an instance of sliding forwards on muddy silt, and part of the South
West India dock walls on two underlying, detached, slippery seams of
London clay.
To avoid these failures with untrustworthy foundations, great care has
to be exercised in selecting the best hard material available,
unaffected by water, for the backing, which should be brought up in
thin, horizontal layers carefully consolidated; and where there is a
possibility of water accumulating at the back, pipes should be
introduced at intervals near the bottom right through the wall in
building it, and rubble stone deposited close to the back of the wall,
so as to carry off any water from behind, these pipes being stopped up
just before the water is let into the dock. These precautions,
moreover, are assisted by reducing the amount of backing to a minimum
in the construction of the wall, best effected by building the wall
inside a timbered trench. The liability to slide forwards can be
obviated by carrying down the foundations of the wall sufficiently
below dock-bottom to provide an efficient buttress of earth in front
of the wall, and also by making the base of the wall slope down
towards the back, thereby forcing the wall in sliding forwards to
mount the slope, or to push forward a larger mass of earth; whilst a
row of sheet piling in front of the foundations offers a very
effectual impediment to a forward movement, and, in combination with
bearing piles, prevents settlement at the toe in soft ground. In very
treacherous foundations it may be advisable to defer the completion of
the backing till after the admission of the water; but the additional
stability given to a retaining wall or reservoir dam by an ample
batter in front, is precluded in dock walls by the modern requirements
of vessels.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--New York Quay Wall, Hudson river.]
Maintenance of depth.
Silt accumulates in docks where the lowering of the water-level by
locking, the drawing down of half-tide basins, and the raising of the
water at spring tides, involve the admission of considerable volumes
of tidal water heavily charged with silt, which is deposited in still
water and has to be periodically removed by dredging. To avoid this,
the water is sometimes replenished from some clear inland source, an
arrangement adopted at some of the South Wales ports opening into the
muddy Severn estuary, and at the Alexandra dock, Hull, to exclude the
silty waters of the Humber. At the Kidderpur docks on the Húgli, the
water from the river for replenishing the docks is conducted by a
circuitous canal, in which it deposits its burden of silt before it is
pumped into the docks.
Equipment on quays.
In order to deal expeditiously with the cargoes and goods brought into
and despatched from docks, numerous sidings communicating with the
railways of the district are arranged along the quays, which are also
provided with steam, hydraulic or electric travelling cranes at
intervals alongside the docks, basins or river, for discharging or
loading vessels, and with sheds and warehouses for the storage of
merchandise, &c., the arrangements depending largely upon the special
trade of the port. Though different sources of power are sometimes made
use of at different parts of the same port, as for example at Hamburg,
where the numerous cranes are worked by steam, hydraulic power or most
recently by electricity, and a few by gas engines, it is generally most
convenient to work the various installations by one form of power from a
central station. Water-pressure has been very commonly used as the
motive power at docks, being generated by a steam-engine and stored up
by one or more accumulators, from which the water is transmitted under
pressure through strong cast-iron pipes to the hydraulic engines which
actuate the cranes, lifts, coal-tips, capstans, swing-bridges and gate
machinery throughout the docks (see POWER TRANSMISSION: _Hydraulic_).
The intermittent working of the machinery in docks results in a
considerable variation in the power needed at different times; but
economical working is secured by arranging that when the accumulators
are full, steam is automatically shut off from the pumping engines, but
is supplied again as soon as water is drawn off. Electricity affords
another means for the economical transmission of power to a distance
suited for intermittent working; as far back as 1902 it was being
adopted at Hamburg as the source of power for the machinery of the
extensive additional basins then recently opened for traffic.
Coal-tips.
At ports where the principal trade is the export of coal from
neighbouring collieries, special provision has to be made for its rapid
shipment. Coal-tips, accordingly, are erected at the sides of the dock
in these ports, with sidings on the quays at the back for receiving the
trains of coal trucks, from which two lines of way diverge to each
coal-tip, one serving for the conveyance of the full wagons one by one
to the tip, after passing over a weigh-bridge, and the other for the
return of the empty wagons to the siding where the empty train is made
up for returning to the colliery (fig. 8). Each full wagon is either run
at a low level upon a cradle at the tip, then raised on the cradle
within a wrought-iron lattice tower to a suitable height, and lastly,
tipped up at the back for discharging the coal; or it is brought along a
high-level road on to a cradle raised to this level on the tower, and
tipped up at this or some slightly modified level. The coal is
discharged down an adjustable iron shoot, gradually narrowed so as to
check the fall; and on first discharging into the hold of a vessel, an
anti-breakage box is suspended below the mouth of the shoot. When full,
this is lowered to the bottom of the hold and emptied, thereby gradually
forming a cone of coal upon which the coal can be discharged directly
from the shoot without danger of breakage. Other contrivances are also
adopted with the same object.
Dock extensions.
In designing dock works, it is expedient to make provision, as far as
possible, for future extensions as the trade of the port increases.
Generally this can be effected alongside tidal rivers and estuaries by
utilizing sites lower down the river, as carried out on the Thames for
the port of London, or reclaiming unoccupied foreshores of an estuary,
as adopted for extensions of the ports of Liverpool, Hull and Havre.
At ports on the sea-coast of tideless seas, it is only necessary to
extend the outlying breakwater parallel to the shore line, and form
additional basins under its shelter, as at Marseilles (fig. 5) and
Genoa (see HARBOUR). Quays also along rivers furnish very valuable
opportunities of readily extending the accommodation of ports. Ports,
however, established inland like Manchester, though extremely
serviceable in converting an inland city into a seaport, are at the
disadvantage of having to acquire very valuable land for any
extensions that may be required; but, nevertheless, some compensation
is afforded by the complete shelter in which the extensions can be
carried out, when compared with Liverpool, where the additions to the
docks can only be effected by troublesome reclamation works along the
foreshore to the north, in increasingly exposed situations.
_Dock Entrances and Locks._--The size of vessels which a port can admit
depends upon the depth and width of the entrance to the docks; for,
though the access of vessels is also governed by the depth of the
approach channel, this channel is often capable of being further
deepened to some extent by dredging; whereas the entrance, formed of
solid masonry or concrete, cannot be adapted, except by troublesome and
costly works sometimes amounting to reconstruction, to the increasing
dimensions of vessels. Accordingly, in designing new dock works with
entrances and locks, it is essential to look forward to the possible
future requirements of vessels. The necessity for such forethought is
illustrated by the rapid increase which has taken place in the size of
the largest ocean liners. Thus the "City of Rome," launched in 1881, is
560 ft. long, and 52¼ ft. beam, and has a maximum recorded draught of
27½ ft.; the "Campania" and "Lucania," in 1893, measure 600 ft. by 65
ft.; the "Oceanic," in 1899, 685½ ft. by 68¼ ft., with a maximum
draught of 31-1/3 ft.; the "Baltic," in 1903, 709 ft. by 75 ft., with a
maximum draught of 31¾ ft.; and the "Lusitania" and "Mauretania,"
launched in 1906, 787½ ft. by 88 ft.
Dimensions of entrances and locks.
The width and depth of access to docks are of more importance than the
length of locks; for docks which are reached through entrances with a
single pair of gates have to admit vessels towards high water when the
water-level in the dock is the same as in the approach channel, or
through a half-tide basin drawn down to the level of the water outside,
and are therefore accessible to vessels of any length, provided the
width of the entrance and depth over the sill are adequate; whilst at
docks which are entered through locks, vessels which are longer than the
available length of the lock can get in at high water when both pairs of
gates of the lock are open. Open basins are generally given an ample
width of entrance, and river quays also are always accessible to the
longest and broadest vessels; but in a tidal river the available depth
has to be reckoned from the lowest low water of spring tides, instead of
from the lowest high water of neap tides, if the vessels in the open
basins and alongside the river quays have to be always afloat.
Many years ago the Canada lock at Liverpool, the outer North lock at
Birkenhead, the Ramsden lock and entrance at Barrow-in-Furness, and the
Eure entrance at Havre, were given a width of 100 ft. Probably this was
done with the view of admitting paddle steamers, since subsequent
entrances at Liverpool were given widths of 80 and 65 ft.; whereas none
of the locks in the port of London has been made wider than 80 ft.,
which has been the standard maximum width since the completion of the
Victoria dock in 1866. The widest locks at Cardiff are 80 ft., and the
entrance to the Barry docks is the same; but the lock of the Alexandra
dock, Hull, opened in 1885, was made 85 ft. wide. At Liverpool, where
the access to the docks is mainly through entrances, on account of the
small width between the river and the high ground rising at the back,
and where ample provision has to be made for the largest Atlantic
liners, though the entrances to the Langton dock, completed in 1881,
leading to the latest docks at the northern end were made 65 ft. wide,
with their sills 3 ft. below low water of spring tides and 20½ ft. below
high water of the lowest neap tides, the two new entrances to the
deepened Brunswick dock near the southern end, giving access to the
adjacent reconstructed docks, completed in 1906, were made 80 and 100
ft. wide, with sills 28 ft. below high water of the lowest neap tides.
Moreover, the three new entrances to the new Sandon half-tide dock,
completed in 1906, communicating with the reconstructed line of docks to
the south of the Canada basin, and with the latest northern extensions
of the Liverpool docks, were made 40 ft. wide with a depth over the sill
of 24½ ft., and 80 and 100 ft. wide on each end of the central entrance,
with sills 29 ft. below high water of the lowest neap tides, each
entrance being provided with two pairs of gates, in case of any accident
occurring to one pair, according to the regular custom at Liverpool.
Powers were also obtained in 1906 for the construction of a half-tide
dock and two branch docks to the north of the Hornby dock, which are to
be reached from the river by two entrances designed to be 130 ft. wide,
with sills 38½ ft. below high water of the lowest neap tides, so as to
meet fully the assumed future increase in the beam and draught of the
largest vessels; whilst the authorized extension of the river wall
northwards will enable additional docks to be constructed in
communication with these entrances when required.
Though, with the exception of Southampton and Dover, other British ports
do not aim, like Liverpool, at accommodating the largest Atlantic liners
at all times, the depths of the sills at the principal ports have been
increased in the most recent extensions. Thus at the port of London the
sills of the first lock of the Albert dock were 26½ ft. below high water
of neap tides, and of the second lock adjoining, 32½ ft. deep; whilst
the sills of the lock of the Tilbury docks are 40½ ft. below high water
of neap tides. Moreover, in spite of the great range of tide at the
South Wales ports on the Severn estuary, the available depth at high
water of neap tides of 25 ft. at the Roath lock, Cardiff, was increased
in the lock of the new dock to 31½ ft.; the depth at the entrance to
the Barry docks, opened in 1889, was 29½ ft., but at the lock opened in
1896 was made 41-1/3 ft.; whilst a depth of 34 ft. has been proposed for
the new lock of the Alexandra dock extension at Newport, nearly 10 ft.
deeper than the existing lock sills there. Similar improvements in depth
have also been made or designed at other ports to provide for the
increasing draught of vessels.
The length of locks has also been increased, from 550 ft. at the Albert
dock, to 700 ft. at Tilbury in the port of London, from 300 ft. to 550
ft. at Hull, and from 350 ft. to 660 ft. at Cardiff. The lock at the
Barry docks is 647 ft. long, though only 65 ft. wide. A lock constructed
in connexion with the improvement works at Havre, carried out in
1896-1907, was given an available length of 805 ft. and a width of 98½
ft., with a depth over the sills of 34¾ ft. at high water of neap tides.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Barry Docks, Entrance.]
Entrances to docks.
Entrances with a single pair of gates, closing against a raised sill
at the bottom and meeting in the centre, have to be made long enough
to provide a recess in each side wall at the back to receive the gates
when they are opened, and to form a buttress in front on each side to
bear the thrust of the gates when closed against a head of water
inside. A masonry floor is laid on the bottom in continuation of the
sill, serving as an apron against erosion by water leaking between or
under the gates, and by the current through the sluiceways in the
gates, when opened for scouring the entrance channel or to assist in
lowering the water in a half-tide dock for opening the gates (fig.
19). A sluiceway in each side wall, closed by a vertical sluice-gate,
generally provided in duplicate in case of accidents and worked by a
machine actuated by hydraulic pressure, enables the half-tide basin to
be brought down to the level of the approach channel outside with a
rising tide, so that vessels may be brought into or passed out of the
basin towards high water. The advantages of these entrances are, that
they occupy comparatively little room where the space is limited, and
are much less costly than locks; whilst in conjunction with a
half-tide basin they serve the same purpose as a lock with a rising
tide. Vessels also pass more readily through the short entrances than
through locks; and as entrances are only used towards high water,
their sills need not be placed so low as the outer sills of locks to
accommodate vessels of large draught. On the other hand, they are
accessible for a more limited period at each tide than locks; and they
do not allow of the exclusion of silt-bearing tidal water, and
therefore necessitate a greater amount of dredging in the docks, and
especially in half-tide basins, for maintenance. Entrances, however,
at large ports are frequently supplemented by the addition of a lock
at some convenient site, rendering the ports accessible for the
smaller class of vessels for some time before and after high water, as
for instance at Liverpool, Barry, Havre and St Nazaire. A small basin
with an entrance at each end--an arrangement often adopted--is in
reality, for all practical purposes, a lock with a very large
lock-chamber. An entrance or passage with gates has also to be
provided at the inner end of a large half-tide basin like the basins
adopted at Liverpool, to shut off the half-tide basin from the docks
to which it gives access, and maintain their water-level when the
water is drawn down in the basin to admit vessels before high tide.
Reverse gates pointing outwards are sometimes added in passages to
docks and at entrances, to render the water-level in one set of docks
independent of adjacent docks, to exclude silty tidal water and very
high tides, and also to protect the gates of outer entrances in
exposed situations from swell, which might force them open slightly
and lead to a damaging shock on their closing again.
Locks at docks.
Locks differ from entrances in having a pair of gates with
arrangements similar to an entrance at each end, separated from one
another by a lock-chamber, which should be large enough to receive the
longest and broadest vessel coming regularly to the port. These dock
locks are similar in principle to locks on canals and canalized
rivers, but are on a much larger scale. The lock-chamber has its water
raised or lowered in proportion to the difference in level between the
water-level in the dock and the water in the entrance channel, by
passing water, when the gates are closed at both ends, from the dock
into the lock-chamber or from the lock-chamber into the entrance
channel, through large sluiceways in the side walls, controlled, as at
entrances, by vertical sluice-gates. In this way the vessel is raised
or lowered in the chamber, till, when a level has been reached, the
intervening pair of gates is opened and the vessel is passed into the
dock or out to the channel. Generally the upper and lower sills of a
lock are at the same level, a foot or two higher than dock-bottom; and
the depth at which they are laid is governed by the same
considerations as the sill of an entrance. Vessels longer than the
available length between the two pairs of gates can be admitted close
to high water, when the water in the dock and outside is at the same
level, and both pairs of gates can be opened. When the range of tide
at a port is large, and the depth in the approach channel is
sufficient to allow vessels to come up or go out some time before and
after high water, and also where the water in the dock is kept up to a
high level from an inland source to exclude very silty tidal water, it
is expedient to reduce the cost of construction by limiting the depth
of the excavations for the dock, and consequently also the height of
the dock walls, to what is necessary to provide a sufficient depth of
water below high water of the lowest neap tides, or below the
water-level to which the water in the dock is always maintained, for
the vessels of largest draught frequenting the port, or those which
may be reasonably expected in the near future. The upper sill of the
lock is then determined by the level of dock-bottom; but the lower
sill is taken down approximately to the depth of the bottom of the
approach channel, or to the depth to which it can be carried by
dredging, so as to enable the lock to admit or let out at any time all
vessels which can navigate the approach channel. Thus, for instance,
the outer and intermediate sills of the lock at the Barry docks are 9
ft. lower then the upper sill.
The foundations for the sill and side walls at each end of a lock, and
also for the side walls and invert commonly enclosing the lock-chamber
at the sides and bottom, are generally constructed simultaneously with
the dock works, under shelter of a cofferdam across the entrance
channel, and in the excavations kept dry by means of pumps. The
foundations under the sills and adjacent side walls are carried down
to a lower level than the rest, and if possible to a water-tight
stratum, to prevent infiltration of water under them owing to the
water-pressure on the upper side of the gates; or sometimes one or two
rows of sheet piling have been driven across the lock under the sills
to an impermeable stratum, to stop any flow. The foundations for the
sills consist usually of concrete deposited in a trench extended out
under the adjoining side walls. The sill, projecting generally about 2
ft. above the adjacent gate floor over which the gates turn, is built
of granite; and the same material is also used for the hollow quoins
in which the heelpost, or pivot, of the dock gates turns, and which,
together with the sills, are exposed to considerable wear. The side
walls of the lock-chamber are very similar in construction to the dock
walls; but they are strengthened against the loss of water-pressure in
front of them when the water is lowered in the chamber by an inverted
arch of masonry, brickwork or concrete, termed an "invert," laid
across the bottom of the chamber along its whole length, against which
the toe of each side wall abuts and effectually prevents any forward
movement. The side walls also, alongside the gates at each end, abut
against a thick level gate floor and apron, and, moreover, are
considerably widened to provide space for the sluiceways and gate
machinery.
The new Florida lock (fig. 20), forming the main entrance through the
new approach harbour and tidal harbour to the Eure dock and other
docks of the port of Havre, is the largest lock hitherto constructed.
It has an available length of chamber between the gates of 805 ft., a
width of 98½ ft., and depths over the sills of 15¾ ft. at the lowest
low water of spring tides, 23½ ft. at low water of neap tides, 35 ft.
at high water of neap tides, and 40½ ft. at high water of spring
tides. Owing to the alluvial stratum at the site of the lock close to
the Seine estuary, of which it doubtless at one time formed part, the
foundations for the sill and side walls or heads at each end of the
lock were executed by aid of compressed air. The foundations for these
heads were carried down to an impermeable stratum by means of two
bottomless caissons, filled eventually with concrete, 213½ ft. long
across the lock and 105 ft. wide in the line of the lock at the upper
end, and 206¾ ft. long and 116½ ft. wide at the lower end, to a depth
of 18 ft. below the sill at the upper end, and 41 ft. at the lower
end, owing to the dip down seawards and southward of the water-tight
stratum. These caissons were provided for their sinkage with temporary
dams of masonry closing the opening of the lock at the extremities of
each caisson, enabling the gates to be subsequently erected under
their shelter. The junctions between the foundations of the heads and
the adjacent foundations were effected by small movable caissons
carried down in recesses provided in the buried caissons. The
connexions with the adjacent quay walls were accomplished by two
supplementary side caissons at the end of each head; and the north
side wall of the lock was founded by means of seven bottomless
caissons sunk by aid of compressed air, on account of the proximity of
the tidal harbour on that side. The south side wall was founded for a
length of about 200 ft. at its western end in an excavated trench kept
dry by pumping; but the greater portion was founded in a dredged
trench in which bearing piles were driven under water, on which the
masonry was built in successive layers, about 3¼ ft. thick, in a
movable caisson 93½ ft. long and 37¾ ft. wide; whilst a bottomless
caisson, left in the work, was employed for founding about 100 ft. of
wall at the eastern end. The bed of concrete also, 10 ft. thick,
forming the floor of the chamber, was carried out for 82 ft. at the
western end in the open air, and the remainder in the same movable
caisson as used for the south wall. Two sluiceways on each side
running the whole length of the lock, differing 6½ ft. in level,
communicate with the lock-chamber through openings in the side walls,
67¼ ft. apart, and provide for the filling and emptying of the
chamber.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--Florida Lock, Havre Docks, Sections and
Plan.]
[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Wooden Dock Gate.]
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Iron Segmental Dock Gate.]
[Illustration: FIG. 23.--Straight Iron Dock Gate.]
Dock gates.
The gates closing the entrances and locks at docks are made of wood or
of iron. In iron gates, the heelpost, or a vertical closing strip
attached to the outer side of the gate close to the heelpost, the
meeting-post at the end of each gate closing against each other when
the gates are shut, and the sill piece fitting against the sill are
generally made of wood. Wooden gates consist of a series of horizontal
framed beams, made thicker and put closer together towards the bottom
to resist the water-pressure increasing with the depth, fastened to
the heelpost and meeting-post at the two ends and to intermediate
uprights, and supporting water-tight planking on the inner face (fig.
21). Iron gates have generally an outer as well as an inner skin of
iron plates braced vertically and horizontally by plate-iron ribs, the
horizontal ribs being placed nearer together and the plates made
thicker towards the bottom (figs. 22 and 23). Greenheart is the wood
used for gates exposed to salt water, as it resists the attack of the
teredo in temperate climates. As cellular iron gates are made
water-tight, and have to be ballasted with enough water to prevent
their flotation, or are provided with air chambers below and are left
open to the rising tide on the outer side above, the gates are light
in the water and are easily moved; whereas greenheart gates with their
fastenings are considerably heavier than water, so that a considerable
weight has to be moved when the water is somewhat low in the dock and
the gates therefore only partially immersed. On the other hand, wooden
gates are less liable than iron gates to be seriously damaged if run
into by a vessel.
Dock gates are sometimes made straight, closing against a straight
sill (figs. 20 and 23); and occasionally they are made segmental with
the inner faces forming a continuous circular arc and closing against
a sill corresponding to the outer curves of the gates (fig. 22), or by
means of a projecting sill piece against a straight sill (fig. 21).
More frequently the gates, curved on both faces, meet at an angle
forming a Gothic arch in plan, and close by aid of a projecting piece
against a straight sill, which in the Barry entrance gates is modified
by making the outer faces nearly straight (fig. 19), giving an unusual
width to the centre of the gates. The pressures produced by a head of
water against these gates when closed depends not only on the form of
the gates, but also upon the projection given to the angle of the sill
in proportion to the width of the lock, which is known as the rise,
and is generally placed at a distance along the centre line of the
lock, from a line joining the centres of the heel-posts, of about
one-fourth the width. With straight gates, the stresses consist, first
of a transverse stress due to the water-pressure against the gate,
which increases with the head of water and length of the gate; and
secondly, of a compressive stress along the gate, resulting from the
pressure of the other gate against its meeting-post, which is equal to
half the water-pressure on the gate multiplied by the tangent of half
the angle between the closed gates, varying inversely with the rise.
Though an increase in the rise reduces this stress, it increases the
length of the gate and the transverse stress, and also the length of
the lock. By curving the gates suitably, the transverse stress is
reduced and the longitudinal compressive stress is augmented, till at
last, when the gates form a horizontal segmental arch, the stresses
become wholly compressive and uniform in each horizontal section,
increasing with the depth; and the total stress is equal to the
pressure on a unit of surface multiplied by the radius of curvature.
Though the water-pressure is most uniformly and economically borne by
cylindrical gates, they are longer, and encroach more upon the lines
of quay with their curved recesses than straighter gates; and,
consequently, Gothic-arched gates are often preferred. Straight gates
afford the greatest simplicity in construction.
[Illustration: FIG. 24.--Sliding Caisson.]
[Illustration: FIG. 25. - Ship Caisson.]
Gates in wide entrances or locks are generally supported towards their
outer end by a roller running along a castiron roller-path on the gate
floor (figs. 19, 21 and 22), as well as by the heelpost, fitted over a
steel pivot at the bottom, and tied back against the hollow quoins at
the top by anchor straps and bolts, on which the gate turns. In some
cases, by placing the water ballast in iron gates close to the
heelpost, a roller has been dispensed with, even, for instance, at the
wide entrance at Havre (fig. 23). The gates are opened and closed,
either by an opening and a closing chain for each gate, fastened on
either side and worked from opposite side walls by hydraulic power, or
by a single hydraulic piston or bar hinged to the inner side of each
gate (figs. 19 and 20). The latter system has the advantages of being
simpler and occupying less space in the side walls, of avoiding the
slight loss of available depth over the sill due to the two closing
chains crossing on the sill when the gates are open, and especially of
keeping the gates closed against a swell in exposed sites.
Caissons for docks.
A sliding or rolling caisson is occasionally placed across each end of
a lock in place of a pair of dock gates, being Caissons drawn back
into a recess at the side for opening docks. the lock. As a caisson
chamber has to be covered for over to provide a continuous quay or
roadway on the top, a lowering platform is supplied to enable the
caisson to pass under the small girders spanning the top of the
chamber, or the caisson is sunk down sufficiently (fig. 24). The
caisson is furnished with an air chamber to give it flotation, which
is adjusted by ballast according to the depth of water. The advantages
of a caisson, as compared with a pair of gates, are that the gate
recesses, gate floor, hollow quoins and arrangements for working in
the side walls are dispensed with, so that the lock can be made
shorter, and the work at each head is rendered less complicated. The
caisson itself also serves as a very strong movable bridge, and
therefore is often preferred at dockyards to dock gates. By
improvements in the hauling machinery, a caisson can open or close a
lock as quickly as dock gates; the caissons at Zeebrugge lock, at the
entrance to the Bruges ship canal, are drawn across the lock or into
their chamber by electricity in two minutes. A caisson is specially
useful in cases where there may be a head of water on either side, as
then it takes the place of two pairs of gates pointing in opposite
directions, or for closing an entrance against a current. A caisson,
however, requires a much larger amount of material than a pair of dock
gates, and a considerable width on one side for its chamber, so that
under ordinary conditions gates are generally used at docks.
A ship caisson, so called from its presenting some resemblance in
section to the hull of a vessel, occupies too much time in being
towed, floated into position, and sunk into grooves at the bottom and
sides of an entrance for closing it, and then refloated and towed away
for opening the entrance again, to be used at entrances and locks to
docks (fig. 25). Being, however, simple in construction, taking up
little space, and requiring no chamber or machinery for moving it,
this form of caisson is generally used for closing the entrance to a
graving dock, where it remains for several days in place during the
execution of repairs to a vessel in the dock. A ship caisson only
requires the admission of sufficient water to sink it when in position
across the entrance to a graving dock; and this water has to be pumped
out before it can be floated, and removed to some vacant position in
the neighbouring dock till it is again required. Like a sliding or
rolling caisson, it provides a bridge for crossing over the entrance
of the graving dock when in position.
_Graving Docks._ - Provision has to be made at ports for the repairs of
vessels frequenting them. The simplest arrangement is a timber gridiron,
on which a vessel settles with a falling tide, and can then be inspected
and slightly cleaned and repaired till the tide floats it again.
Inclined slipways are sometimes provided, up which a vessel resting in a
cradle on wheels can be drawn out of the water; and they are also used
for shipbuilding, the vessel when ready for launching being allowed to
slide down them into the water. Graving or dry docks, however, opening
out of a dock, are the usual means provided for enabling the cleaning
and repairs of vessels to be carried out.
[Illustration: FIG. 26. Plan of Southampton Graving Dock.]
[Illustration: FIG. 27. Cross Section of Southampton Graving Dock.]
A graving dock consists of an enclosure, surrounded by side walls
stepped on the face, and paved at the bottom with a thick floor
sloping slightly down from the centre to drains along the sides, long
enough to receive the longest vessel likely to come to the port. Its
entrance, at the end adjoining the dock, is just wide enough to admit
the vessel of greatest beam, and deep enough over the sill to receive
the vessel of greatest draught, when light, at the lowest water-level
of the dock (figs. 26 and 27). Graving docks are constructed of
masonry, brickwork or concrete, or formerly in America of timber; they
should be founded on a solid impervious stratum, or, where that is
impracticable, they should be built upon bearing piles and enclosed
within sheet piling, to prevent settlement and the infiltration of
water under pressure below the dock. Keel blocks are laid along the
centre line of the dock, for the keel of the vessel to rest on when
the water is pumped out; and the vessel is further supported on each
side by timber shores supported on the steps or "altars" of the side
walls, which are lined with granite or other hard stone, or blue
bricks, or, when constructed of concrete, with a facing of stronger
concrete, to enable these altars to withstand the wear and shocks to
which they are subjected. Steps and slides are provided at convenient
places at the sides to give access for men and materials to the bottom
of the dock; and culverts and drains lead the water to pumps for
removing the water from the dock when the entrance has been closed,
and to keep it dry whilst a vessel is under repair. Culverts in the
side walls of the entrance enable water to be admitted for filling the
dock to let the vessel out. Graving docks are generally closed by ship
caissons; but where they open direct on to a tidal river, and there is
some exposure, gates are adopted, or sometimes sliding caissons.
The dimensions of graving docks vary considerably with the nature of
the trade and the date of construction; and sometimes an intermediate
entrance is provided to accommodate two smaller vessels. The sizes of
some of the largest graving docks are as follows: Liverpool, Canada
dock, 925½ ft. long, 94 ft. width of entrance, and 29 ft. depth at the
ordinary water-level in the dock; Southampton, 851¾ ft. by 90 ft., and
29½ ft. depth at high-water neaps (figs. 26 and 27); Tilbury, 875 ft.
by 70 ft. by 31½ ft.; and Glasgow, 880 ft. by 80 ft. by 26½ ft.
_Floating Dry Docks._--Where there is no site available for a graving
dock, or the ground is very treacherous, floating dry docks, built
originally of wood, but more recently of iron or steel, have
occasionally been resorted to. The first Bermuda dock towed across the
Atlantic in 1869, and the new dock launched in 1902, 545 ft. by 100
ft., are notable examples. Water is admitted into the pontoon at the
bottom to sink the dock sufficiently to admit a vessel at its open
end; and then the water is pumped out of compartments in the pontoon
till the vessel is raised out of water. It is only necessary to find a
sheltered site, with a sufficient depth of water, for conducting the
operations. (L. F. V.-H.)
DOCKET (perhaps from "dock," to curtail or cut short, with the
diminutive suffix _et_, but the origin of the word is obscure; it has
come into use since the 15th century), in law, a brief summary or digest
of a case, or a memorandum of legal decisions; also the alphabetical
list of cases down for trial, or of suits pending. Such cases are said
to be "on the docket." In commercial use, a docket is a warrant from the
custom-house, stating that the duty on goods entered has been paid, or
the label fastened to goods, showing their destination, value, contents,
&c., and, generally, any indorsement on the back of a document, briefly
setting out its contents.
DOCK WARRANT, in law, a document by which the owner of a marine or river
dock certifies that the holder is entitled to goods imported and
warehoused in the docks. In the Factors Act 1889 it is included in the
phrase "document of title" and is defined as any document or writing,
being evidence of the title of any person therein named ... to the
property in any goods or merchandise lying in any warehouse or wharf and
signed or certified by the person having the custody of the goods. It
passes by indorsement and delivery and transfers the absolute right to
the goods described in it. A dock warrant is liable to a stamp duty of
threepence, which may be denoted by an adhesive stamp, to be cancelled
by the person by whom the instrument is executed or issued.
DOCKYARDS. In the fullest meaning of the word, a "dock-yard" (or "navy
yard" in America) is a government establishment where warships of every
kind are built and repaired, and supplied with the men and stores
required to maintain them in a state of efficiency for war. Thus a
dockyard in this extended sense would include slips for building ships,
workshops for manufacturing their machinery, dry docks for repairing
them, stores of arms, ammunition, coal, provisions, &c., with basins in
which they may lie while being supplied with such things, and an
establishment for providing the _personnel_ necessary for manning them.
But in practice few, if any, existing dockyards are of so complete a
nature; many of them, for instance, do not undertake the building of
ships at all, while others are little more than harbours where a ship
may replenish her stores of coal, water and provisions and carry out
minor repairs. Private firms are relied upon for the construction of
many ships down to an advanced stage, the government dockyards
completing and equipping them for commission.
_Great Britain._--Previous to the reign of Henry VIII., the kings of
England had neither naval arsenals nor dockyards, nor any regular
establishment of civil or naval officers to provide ships of war, or to
man them. There are, however, strong evidences of the existence of
dockyards, or of something answering thereto, at very early dates, at
Rye, Shoreham and Winchelsea. In November 1243 the sheriff of Sussex was
ordered to enlarge the house at Rye in which the king's galleys were
kept, so that it might contain seven galleys. In 1238 the keepers of
some of the king's galleys were directed to cause those vessels to be
breamed, and a house to be built at Winchelsea for their safe custody.
In 1254 the bailiffs of Winchelsea and Rye were ordered to repair the
buildings in which the king's galleys were kept at Rye. At Portsmouth
and at Southampton there seem to have been at all times depôts for both
ships and stores, though there was no regular dockyard at Portsmouth
till the middle of the 16th century. It would appear, from a curious
poem in Hakluyt's _Collection_ called "The Policie of Keeping the Sea,"
that Littlehampton, unfit as it now is, was the port at which Henry
VIII. built
"his great _Dromions_
Which passed other great shippes of the commons."
The "dromion," "dromon," or "dromedary" was a large warship, the
prototype of which was furnished by the Saracens. Roger de Hoveden,
Richard of Devizes and Peter de Longtoft celebrate the struggle which
Richard I., in the "Trench the Mer," on his way to Palestine, had with a
huge dromon,--"a marvellous ship! a ship than which, except Noah's ship,
none greater was ever read of." This vessel had three masts, was very
high out of the water, and is said to have had 1500 men on board. It
required the united force of the king's galleys, and an obstinate fight,
to capture the dromon.
The foundation of a regular British navy, by the establishment of
dockyards, and the formation of a board, consisting of certain
commissioners for the management of its affairs, was first laid by Henry
VIII., and the first dockyard erected during his reign was that of
Woolwich. Those of Portsmouth, Deptford, Chatham and Sheerness followed
in succession. Plymouth was founded by William III. Pembroke was
established in 1814, a small yard having previously existed at Milford.
The most important additions yet made at any one period to the dockyard
and harbour works required to meet the necessities of the British fleet
were those sanctioned by the Naval Works Acts of 1895 and subsequent
years, the total estimated cost, as stated in the act of 1899, being
over 23½ millions sterling. The works proposed under these acts were
classified under three heads, viz. (a) the enclosure and defence of
harbours against torpedo attacks; (b) adapting naval ports to the
present needs of the fleet; (c) naval barracks and hospitals. Under the
first heading were included the defensive harbours at Portland, Dover
and Gibraltar. Under heading (b) were included the deepening of harbours
and approaches, the dockyard extensions at Gibraltar, Keyham
(Devonport), Simons Bay, and Hong-Kong, with sundry other items. Under
heading (c) were included the naval barracks at Chatham, Portsmouth and
Keyham; the naval hospitals at Chatham, Haslar and Haulbowline; the
colleges at Keyham and Dartmouth; and other items.
Great Britain possesses dockyards at Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham,
Malta and Gibraltar, each in charge of an admiral-superintendent, and at
Sheerness and Pembroke in charge of a captain-superintendent, together
with establishments at Ascension, Bermuda, Simons Town (Cape of Good
Hope), Queenstown (Haulbowline); Hong-Kong, Portland, Sydney and
Weihaiwei. The Indian Government has dockyards at Bombay and Calcutta.
The medical establishments include Ascension, Bermuda, Cape of Good
Hope, Chatham, Dartmouth, Deal, Gibraltar, Haslar, Haulbowline,
Hong-Kong, Malta, Osborne, Plymouth, Portland, Portsmouth, Sheerness,
Sydney, Yarmouth, Yokohama and Weihaiwei.
The arrangements for the administrative control of the dockyards have
varied with those adopted for the regulation of the navy as a whole.
(See ADMIRALTY ADMINISTRATION; and NAVY: _History_.) At the present
time, whether at home or abroad, they lie within the province of the
controller of the navy (the third lord of the board of admiralty); and
the director of dockyards, whose office, replacing that of surveyor of
dockyards was created in December 1885, is responsible to the
controller for the building of ships, boats, &c., in dockyards, and for
the maintenance and repair of ships and boats, and of all steam
machinery in ships, boats, dockyards and factories. The director of
naval construction, who is also deputy-controller, is responsible, not
only for the design of ships, but for their construction, in the sense
that he approves great numbers of working drawings of structural parts
prepared at the dockyards. But the director of dockyards is the
admiralty official under whose instructions the work goes on, involving
the employment and supervision of an army of artisans and labourers.
Instructions, therefore, emanate from the admiralty, but the details lie
with the dockyard officials, and in practice there is a considerable
decentralization of duties.
The chief function of a dockyard is the building and maintaining of
ships in efficiency. The constructive work is carried out under the care
of the chief constructor of the yard, in accordance with plans sent down
from the admiralty. The calculations for displacement, involving the
draught of water forward and aft, have already been made, and, in order
to ensure accuracy in the carrying out of the design, an admirable
system has been devised for weighing everything that is built into the
new ships or that goes on board; and it is astonishing how very closely
the actual displacement approximates to that which was intended,
particularly when the tendency of weights to increase, in perfecting a
ship for commission, is considered.
The ship having been built to her launching weight, the duty of putting
her into the water devolves upon the chief constructor of the yard, and
failures in this matter are so extremely rare that it may almost be said
they do not occur. As soon as the ship is water-borne the responsibility
falls upon the king's harbour master, who has charge of her afloat and
of moving her into the fitting basins. When the ship has been brought
alongside the wharf, the responsibility of the chief constructor of the
yard is resumed, and the ship is carried forward to completion by the
affixing of armour plating (if that has not been done before launching),
the mounting of guns, the instalment of engines, boilers, and electrical
and hydraulic gear, and the fitting of cabins for officers, mess places
for men, and storerooms, and a vast volume of other work unnecessary to
be specified. In regard to the complicated details of guns and
torpedoes, the captains of the gunnery and torpedo schools have a
function of supervision. The captain of the fleet reserve also closely
watches the work, because, when the heads of all departments have
reported the ship to be ready, she has to be inspected by the
commander-in-chief at the port, and then passed into the fleet reserve
as ready for sea, and there the captain of the fleet reserve is
responsible for her efficiency. Other important officers of a dockyard
are the chief engineer; the superintendent civil engineer, who has
charge of the work involved in keeping all buildings, docks, basins,
caissons, roads, &c., in repair; the naval store officer, who has charge
of most of the stores in the dockyard; and the cashier of the yard,
whose name sufficiently expresses his duties.
The system of conducting business at the dockyards is analogous to that
which prevails at the admiralty. There is personal communication between
the officers responsible for the work, and facilities are afforded for
coming to rapid decisions upon matters that are in hand, and the
operations are conducted with an ease which contributes much to
efficiency. In 1844 the custom was introduced of all the principal
officers of the dockyard meeting at the superintendent's office at 9.30
A.M. every day, to hear the orders from the admiralty and discuss the
work of the day. But this system of "readings" was abolished at the
beginning of 1906, the naval establishments inquiry committee
considering that the assembling of the officials was unnecessary since
the communications after reception are copied and sent to the
departments concerned.
The police force necessary in a dockyard is in some cases supplied from
the London metropolitan police, and is under the orders of the
superintendent of the yard for duties connected with it, and under the
commissioner of police for the discipline and disposition of the force.
The charges are, of course, paid by the admiralty, and the system
answers well.
_United States._--The shore stations under control of the Navy
Department (see also ADMIRALTY ADMINISTRATION), and collectively known
as naval stations, are under different names according to their nature.
Of those called _Navy Yards_, and intended for the general purpose of
sources of supply and for repairs of ships, there are within the United
States eight in number. Two of them are on the Pacific coast, situated
on Puget Sound, at Bremerton, Washington; and at Mare Island, near San
Francisco. The other six are on the Atlantic coast, and are situated at
Portsmouth, N.H.; Boston, Mass.; Brooklyn, N.Y.; Philadelphia, Pa.;
Washington, D.C.; and Norfolk, Va. There are also naval stations at Port
Royal and Charleston, S.C.; Key West and Pensacola, Fla.; New Orleans,
La.; Guantanamo, Cuba; Culebra and San Juan, Porto Rico; Honolulu, H.I.;
Cavite, P.I.; Tutuila, Samoa; and Island of Guam, in the Ladrones
Islands. The floating dock Dewey, having a lifting capacity of 18,500
gross tons with a free-board of 2 ft., was stationed in the Philippine
Islands in 1906.
Besides these, there are important naval stations established for
special purposes, which in some cases are also available for ports of
supply and for repairs. These are: the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis,
Md., for the instruction of naval cadets; the training stations at
Newport, R.I., and Yerba Buena Island, Cal., for the instruction of
apprentices; the proving ground at Indian Head, Md., on the Potomac
river, where all government-built ordnance is tested; the War College at
Newport, R.I., for the instruction of officers; the torpedo station at
Newport, for the instruction of officers and men in torpedoes,
electricity and submarine diving; the naval observatory at Washington;
and the marine post at Sitka, Alaska. Coaling depôts have been
established at Honolulu, Pago Pago, Samoan Islands, and at Manila, P.I.
Naval hospitals are located at the Portsmouth, Boston, New York,
Philadelphia, Washington, Norfolk and Mare Island yards; at Las Animas,
Colo.; at Newport, R.I.; Cañacao, P.I.; Sitka, Alaska; and Yokohama,
Japan.
The commandant of a navy yard and station, who is usually a
rear-admiral, is its commander-in-chief. His official assistants are
called heads of departments. The captain of the yard, who is next in
succession to command, has general charge of the water front and the
ships moored there, and of the police of the navy yard; it is his duty
to keep the commandant informed as to the nature and efficiency of all
work in progress. The equipment officer has charge of anchors, chains,
rigging, sails and the electric generating plant. The other heads of
departments are the ordnance officer, the naval constructor, the
engineering officer, the general storekeeper, the paymaster of the yard,
the surgeon and the civil engineer. The clerks and draughtsmen employed
by these officers are appointed under civil service rules, and their
employment is continuous so long as funds are available. The foremen are
selected by competitive examination, and their number is fixed. In the
employment of mechanics and labourers, veterans are given preference,
after which follow persons previously employed who have displayed
especial efficiency and good conduct. The rates of wages are determined
semi-annually by a board of officers, who ascertain the wages paid by
private establishments in the vicinity of the navy yard. Eight hours
constitute the legal work day. When emergencies necessitate longer hours
the workmen are paid at the ordinary rate plus 50%.
The nature and extent of work to be performed upon naval vessels is
determined by the secretary of the navy; the commandant then issues the
necessary orders. The material required is obtained by a system of
requisitions, which provide for the purchase from the lowest bidder
after open competition. Heads of departments initiate the purchase of
materials which are peculiar to their own work; ordinary commercial
articles, however, are usually carried in a special stock called the
"Naval Supply Fund," which may be drawn upon by any head of department.
All materials are inspected, both as to quantity and quality, by a board
of inspectors consisting of three officers.
_France._--The French coast is divided into five naval
arrondissements, which have their headquarters at the five naval ports
of which Cherbourg, Brest and Toulon are the most important, Lorient
and Rochefort being of lesser degree. All are building and fitting-out
yards. Corsica, which has naval stations at Ajaccio, Porto Vecchio,
Bonifacio and other places, is a dependency of the arsenal at Toulon.
On the African coast there are docking facilities in Algeria. Bizerta,
the Tunisian port, has been made a naval base by the deepening and
fortifying of the canal which is the approach to the inner lake. There
are arsenals also at Saïgon and Hai-phong, and an establishment at
Diego Suarez.
The subsidiary establishments in France are the gun foundry at Ruelle;
the steel and iron works at Guérigny, where anchors, chains and
armour-plate are made; and the works at Indret, on an island in the
lower Loire, where machinery is constructed. There are many private
shipbuilding establishments in the country, the most important being
the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée at La Seyne, on the lesser
roadstead at Toulon where many French and foreign warships of the
largest classes have been built. The same company has a building yard
at Havre. Other establishments are the Ateliers et Chantiers de la
Loire, at Saint Nazaire; the Normand Yard, at Havre; and the Chantiers
de la Gironde, near Bordeaux.
Each of the arrondissements above mentioned is divided into
sous-arrondissements, having their centres in the great commercial
ports, but this arrangement is purely for the embodiment of the men of
the Inscription Maritime, and has nothing to do with the dockyards as
naval arsenals. In each arrondissement the vice-admiral, who is naval
prefect, is the immediate representative of the minister of marine,
and has full direction and command of the arsenal, which is his
headquarters. He is thus commander-in-chief, as also
governor-designate for time of war, but his authority does not extend
to ships belonging to organized squadrons or divisions. The naval
prefect is assisted by a rear-admiral as chief of the staff (except at
Lorient and Rochefort, where the office is filled by a captain), and a
certain number of officers, the special functions of the chief of the
staff having relation principally to the efficiency and _personnel_ of
the fleet, while the "major-general," who is usually a rear-admiral,
is concerned chiefly with the _matériel_. There are also directors of
stores, of naval construction, of the medical service and of the
submarine defences (which are concerned with torpedoes, mines and
torpedo-boats), as well as of naval ordnance and works. The prefect
directs the operations of the arsenal, and is responsible for its
efficiency and for that of the ships which are there in reserve. In
regard to the constitution and maintenance of the naval forces, the
administration of the arsenals is divided into three principal
departments, the first concerned with naval construction, the second
with ordnance, including gun-mountings and small-arms, and the third
with the so-called submarine defences, dealing with all torpedo
_matériel_.
_Germany._--With the expansion of the German navy considerable
additions have been made to the two principal dockyards. These are
Wilhelmshaven, the naval headquarters on the North Sea, and Kiel, the
headquarters on the Baltic, Danzig being an establishment of lesser
importance, and Kiao-chau an undeveloped base in the Shantung
peninsula, China. The chief official at each home dockyard is the
superintendent (_Oberwerftdirektor_), who is a rear-admiral or senior
captain directly responsible to the naval secretary of state. Under
the superintendent's orders are the chief of the Ausrüstung
department, or captain of the fleet reserve, the directors of
ordnance, torpedoes, navigation, naval construction, engineering and
harbour works, with some other officers. The chiefs of the
constructive and engineering departments are responsible for the
building of ships and machinery, and for the maintenance of the hulls
and machinery of existing vessels; while the works department has
charge of all work on the quays, docks, &c., in the dockyard and port.
A great advance has been made in increasing the efficiency and
capabilities of the imperial dockyards by introducing a system of
continuous work in the building of new ships and effecting alterations
in others, and German material is exclusively used. The Schichau Works
at Elbing and Danzig, the Vulkan Yard at Bredow, near Stettin, the
Weser Company at Bremen, and the establishment of Blohm and Voss at
Hamburg, are important establishments which have built many vessels
for the German navy, as well as for foreign states.
_Italy._--The principal Italian state dockyards are Spezia, Naples and
Venice, the first named being by far the most important. It covers an
area, including the water spaces, of 629 acres, and there are five dry
docks, three being 433 ft. long and 105 ft. wide, and two 361 ft. long
and 98 ft. 6 in. wide. The dockyard is very completely equipped with
machinery of the best British, German and Italian makes, and it has
built several of the finest Italian ships. The number of hands
employed in the yard averages 4000. There are two building slips, and
for smaller vessels there are two in the neighbouring establishment of
San Bartolommeo (which is the headquarters for submarine mining), and
one at San Vito, where is a Government gun factory. Castellammare di
Stabia is subsidiary to Naples. A large dry dock has been built at
Taranto. There is a small naval establishment at Maddalena Island on
the Strait of Bonifacio. The Italian Government has no gun or torpedo
factories, nearly all the ordnance coming from the Armstrong factory
at Pozzuoli near Naples, and the torpedoes from the Schwarzkopf
factory at Venice, while armour-plates are produced at the important
works at Terni. Machinery is supplied by the firms of Ansaldo, Odero,
Orlando, Guppy & Hawthorn and Pattison. The three establishments
first named have important shipbuilding yards, and have constructed
vessels for the Italian and foreign navies. The Orlando Yard at
Leghorn is Government property, but is leased by the firm, and
possesses five building slips.
_Austria-Hungary._--The naval arsenal is on the well-protected harbour
of Pola, in Istria, which is the headquarters of the national navy,
and includes establishments of all kinds for the maintenance of the
fleet. There are large building and docking facilities, and a number
of warships have been built there. There is a construction yard also
at Trieste. A new coaling and torpedo station is at Teodo, large
magazines and stores are at Vallelunga, and the mining establishment
is at Ficella. The shipbuilding branch of the navy is under the
direction of a chief constructor (_Oberster-Ingenieur_), assisted by
seven constructors, of whom two are of the first class. The
engineering and ordnance branches are similarly organized.
_Spain._--The Spanish dockyards are of considerable antiquity, but of
diminishing importance. There is an establishment at Ferrol, another
at Cartagena, and a third at Cadiz. They are well equipped in all
necessary respects, but are not provided with continuous work. A
recent arrangement is the specialization of the yards, Ferrol being
designed for larger, and Carthagena for smaller, building work. The
ordnance establishment is at Carraca.
_Russia._--In Russia the naval ports are of two classes. The most
important are Kronstadt, St Petersburg and Nikolayev. Of lesser
importance are Reval, Sveaborg, Sevastopol, Batum, Baku and
Vladivostok. The administration of the larger ports, except St
Petersburg, which is under special regulations, is in the hands of
vice-admirals, who are commanders-in-chief, while the smaller ports
are under the direction of rear-admirals. All are directly under the
minister of marine, except that the Black Sea ports and Astrabad, on
the Caspian, are subordinate to the commander-in-chief at Nikolayev.
Sevastopol has grown in importance, and become mainly a naval harbour,
the commercial harbour being removed to Theodosia. The Russian
government has also proposed to remodel the harbour works at St
Petersburg and Kronstadt. The Emperor Alexander III. Port at Libau, on
the Baltic, is in a region less liable to be icebound in the winter.
There are no strictly private yards for the building of large vessels
in Russia, except that of the Black Sea Company at Nikolayev. Messrs
Creighton build torpedo-boats at Åbo in Finland, and the admiralty has
steel works at Ijora, where some torpedo-boats have been built. Other
ordnance and steel works are at Obukhov and Putilov.
_Japan._--The principal Japanese dockyard, which was established by
the Shogunate in 1866, is Yokosuka. French naval constructors and
engineers were employed, and several wooden ships were built. The
Japanese took the administration into their own hands in 1875, and
built a number of vessels of small displacement in the yard. The limit
of size was about 5000 tons, but the establishment has been enlarged
so that vessels of the first class may be built there. There is a
first-class modern dry dock which will take the largest battleship.
Shipbuilding would be undertaken to a larger extent but for the fact
that nearly all material has to come from abroad. Down to 1905 all the
important vessels of the Japanese navy were built in Great Britain,
France, Germany and the United States, but at the end of that year a
first-class cruiser of 13,500 tons (the "Tsukuba") was launched from
the important yard at Kure. There are other yards at Sassebo and
Maisuru.
DOCTOR (Lat. for "teacher"), the title conferred by the highest
university degree. Originally there were only two degrees, those of
bachelor and master, and the title doctor was given to certain masters
as a merely honorary appellation. The process by which it became
established as a degree superior to that of master cannot be clearly
traced. At Bologna it seems to have been conferred in the faculty of law
as early as the 12th century. Paris conferred the degree in the faculty
of divinity, according to Antony Wood, some time after 1150. In England
it was introduced in the 13th century; and both in England and on the
continent it was long confined to the faculties of law and divinity.
Though the word is so commonly used as synonymous with "physician," it
was not until the 14th century that the doctor's degree began to be
conferred in medicine. The tendency since has been to extend it to all
faculties; thus in Germany, in the faculty of arts, it has replaced the
old title of _magister_. The doctorate of music was first conferred at
Oxford and Cambridge.
_Doctors of the Church_ are certain saints whose doctrinal writings have
obtained, by the universal consent of the Church or by papal decree, a
special authority. In the case of the great schoolmen a characteristic
qualification was added to the title doctor, e.g. "angelicus" (Aquinas),
"mellifluus" (Bernard). The doctors of the Church are: for the East, SS.
Athanasius, Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom; for
the West, SS. Hilary, Ambrose, Jerome, Augustine, Gregory the Great,
Anselm, Bernard, Bonaventura and Thomas Aquinas. To these St Alphonso
dei Liguori was added by Pope Pius IX.
DOCTORS' COMMONS, the name formerly applied to a society of
ecclesiastical lawyers in London, forming a distinct profession for the
practice of the civil and canon laws. Some members of the profession
purchased in 1567 a site near St Paul's, on which at their own expense
they erected houses (destroyed in the great fire, but rebuilt in 1672)
for the residence of the judges and advocates, and proper buildings for
holding the ecclesiastical and admiralty courts. In 1768 a royal charter
was obtained by virtue of which the then members of the society and
their successors were incorporated under the name and title of "The
College of Doctors of Law exercent in the Ecclesiastical and Admiralty
Courts." The college consisted of a president (the dean of Arches for
the time being) and of those doctors of law who, having regularly taken
that degree in either of the universities of Oxford or Cambridge, and
having been admitted advocates in pursuance of the rescript of the
archbishop of Canterbury, were elected fellows in the manner prescribed
by the charter. There were also attached to the college thirty-four
proctors, whose duties were analogous to those of solicitors. The judges
of the archiepiscopal courts were always selected from this college. By
the Court of Probate Act 1857 the college was empowered to sell its real
and personal estate and to surrender its charter, and it was enacted
that on such surrender the college should be dissolved and the property
thereof belong to the then existing members as tenants in common for
their own use and benefit. The college was accordingly dissolved, and
the various ecclesiastical courts which sat at Doctors' Commons (the
Court of Arches, the Prerogative Court, the Faculty Court and the Court
of Delegates) are now open to the whole bar.
DOCTRINAIRES, the name given to the leaders of the moderate and
constitutional Royalists in France after the second restoration of Louis
XVIII. in 1815. The name, as has often been the case with party
designations, was at first given in derision, and by an enemy. In 1816
the _Nain jaune réfugié_, a French paper published at Brussels by
Bonapartist and Liberal exiles, began to speak of M. Royer-Collard as
the "doctrinaire" and also as _le père Royer-Collard de la doctrine
chrétienne_. The _pères de la doctrine chrétienne_, popularly known as
the "doctrinaires," were a French religious order founded in 1592 by
César de Bus. The choice of a nickname for M. Royer-Collard does credit
to the journalistic insight of the contributors to the _Nain jaune
réfugié_, for he was emphatically a man who made it his business to
preach a doctrine and an orthodoxy. The popularity of the name and its
rapid extension to M. Royer-Collard's colleagues is the sufficient proof
that it was well chosen and had more than a personal application. These
colleagues came, it is true, from various quarters. The duc de Richelieu
and M. de Serre had been Royalist _émigrés_ during the revolutionary and
imperial epoch. MM. Royer-Collard himself, Lainé, and Maine de Biran had
sat in the revolutionary Assemblies. MM. Pasquier, Beugnot, de Barante,
Cuvier, Mounier, Guizot and Decazes had been imperial officials. But
they were closely united by political principle, and also by a certain
similarity of method. Some of them, notably Guizot and Maine de Biran,
were theorists and commentators on the principles of government. M. de
Barante was an eminent man of letters. All were noted for the doctrinal
coherence of their principles and the dialectical rigidity of their
arguments. The object of the party as defined by M. (afterwards the duc)
Decazes was to "nationalize the monarchy and to royalize France." The
means by which they hoped to attain this end were a loyal application of
the charter granted by Louis XVIII., and the steady co-operation of the
king with the moderate Royalists to defeat the extreme party known as
the Ultras, who aimed at the complete undoing of the political and
social work of the Revolution. The Doctrinaires were ready to allow the
king a large discretion in the choice of his ministers and the direction
of national policy. They refused to allow that ministers should be
removed in obedience to a hostile vote in the chamber. Their ideal in
fact was a combination of a king who frankly accepted the results of
the Revolution, and who governed in a liberal spirit, with the advice of
a chamber elected by a very limited constituency, in which men of
property and education formed, if not the whole, at least the very great
majority of the voters. Their views were set forth by Guizot in 1816 in
his treatise _Du gouvernement représentatif et de l'état actuel de la
France._ The chief organs of the party in the press were the
_Indépendent_, renamed the _Constitutionnel_ in 1817, and the _Journal
des débats_. The supporters of the Doctrinaires in the country were
chiefly ex-officials of the empire,--who believed in the necessity for
monarchical government but had a lively memory of Napoleon's tyranny and
a no less lively hatred of the _ancien régime_--merchants, manufacturers
and members of the liberal professions, particularly the lawyers. The
history of the Doctrinaires as a separate political party began in 1816
and ended in 1830. In 1816 they obtained the co-operation of Louis
XVIII., who had been frightened by the violence of the Ultras in the
_Chambre introuvable_ of 1815. In 1830 they were destroyed by Charles X.
when he took the Ultra prince de Polignac as his minister and entered on
the conflict with Liberalism in France which ended in his overthrow.
During the revolution of 1830 the Doctrinaires became absorbed in the
Orleanists, from whom they had never been separated on any ground of
principle (see FRANCE: _History_).
The word "doctrinaire" has become naturalized in English terminology, as
applied, in a slightly contemptuous sense, to a theorist, as
distinguished from a practical man of affairs.
See Duvergier de Hauranne, _Histoire du gouvernement parlementaire en
France_ (Paris, 1857-1871), vol. iii.
DOCUMENT, strictly, in law, that which can serve as evidence or proof,
and is written or printed, or has an inscription or any significance
that can be "read"; thus a picture, authenticated photograph, seal or
the like would furnish "documentary evidence." More generally the word
is used for written or printed papers that provide information or
evidence on a subject. The Latin _documentum_, from which the word is
derived, meant, in classical times, a lesson, example or proof
(_docere_, to teach), and only in medieval Latin came to be applied to
an _instrumentum_, or record in writing. The classical Latin use is
found in English; thus Jeremy Taylor (Works, ed. 1835, i. 815) speaks of
punishment being a "single and sudden document if instantly inflicted"
(see DIPLOMATIC; and EVIDENCE).
DODD, WILLIAM (1729-1777), English divine, was born at Bourne in
Lincolnshire in May 1729. He was admitted a sizar of Clare Hall,
Cambridge, in 1745, and took the degree of B.A. in 1750, being fifteenth
wrangler. On leaving the university he married a young woman of a more
than questionable reputation, whose extravagant habits helped to ruin
him. In 1751 he was ordained deacon, and in 1753 priest, and he soon
became a popular and celebrated preacher. His first preferment was the
lectureship of West-Ham and Bow. In 1754 he was also chosen lecturer of
St Olave's, Hart Street; and in 1757 he took the degree of M.A. at
Cambridge, subsequently becoming LL.D. He was a strenuous supporter of
the Magdalen hospital, founded in 1758, and soon afterwards became
preacher at the chapel of that charity. In 1763 he obtained a prebend at
Brecon, and in the same year he was appointed one of the king's
chaplains,--soon after which the education of Philip Stanhope,
afterwards earl of Chesterfield, was committed to his care. In 1768 he
had a fashionable congregation and was held in high esteem, but
indiscreet ambition led to his ruin. On the living of St George's,
Hanover Square, becoming vacant in 1774, Mrs Dodd wrote an anonymous
letter to the wife of the lord chancellor, offering three thousand
guineas if, by her assistance, Dodd were promoted to the benefice. This
letter having been traced, a complaint was immediately made to the king,
and Dodd was dismissed from his office as chaplain. After residing for
some time at Geneva and Paris, he returned to England in 1776. He still
continued to exercise his clerical functions, but his extravagant habits
soon involved him in difficulties. To meet his creditors he forged a
bond on his former pupil Lord Chesterfield for £4200, and actually
received the money. He was detected, committed to prison, tried at the
Old Bailey, found guilty, and sentenced to death; and, in spite of
numerous applications for mercy, he was executed at Tyburn on the 27th
of June 1777. Samuel Johnson was very zealous in pleading for a pardon,
and a petition from the city of London received 23,000 signatures. Dr
Dodd was a voluminous writer and possessed considerable abilities, with
but little judgment and much vanity. He wrote one or two comedies, and
his _Beauties of Shakespeare_, published in 1752, was long a well-known
work; while his _Thoughts in Prison_, a poem in blank verse, written
between his conviction and execution, naturally attracted much
attention. He published a large number of sermons and other theological
works, including a _Commentary on the Bible_ (1765-1770). A list of his
fifty-five writings and an account of the writer is included in the
_Thoughts in Prison_.
See also P. Fitzgerald, _A Famous Forgery_ (1865).
DODDER (Frisian _dodd_, a bunch; Dutch _dot_, ravelled thread), the
popular name of the annual, leafless, twining, parasitic plants forming
the genus _Cuscuta_, formerly regarded as representing a distinct
natural order Cuscutaceae, but now generally ranked as a tribe of the
natural order Convolvulaceae. The genus contains nearly 100 species and
is widely distributed in the temperate and warmer parts of the earth.
The slender thread-like stem is white, yellow, or red in colour, bears
no leaves, and attaches itself by suckers to the stem or leaves of some
other plant round which it twines and from which it derives its
nourishment. It bears clusters of small flowers with a four- or
five-toothed calyx, a cup-shaped corolla with four or five stamens
inserted on its tube, and sometimes a ring of scales below the stamens;
the two-celled ovary becomes when ripe a capsule splitting by a ring
just above the base. The seeds are angular and contain a thread-like
spirally coiled embryo which bears no cotyledons. On coming in contact
with the living stem of some other plant the seedling dodder throws out
a sucker, by which it attaches itself and begins to absorb the sap of
its foster-parent; it then soon ceases to have any connexion with the
ground. As it grows, it throws out fresh suckers, establishing itself
firmly on the host-plant (fig. 2). After making a few turns round one
stem the dodder finds its way to another, and thus it continues twining
and branching till it resembles "fine, closely-tangled, wet catgut." The
injury done to flax, clover, hop and bean crops by species of dodder is
often very great. _C. europaea_, the greater dodder (fig. 1) is found
parasitic on nettles, thistles, vetches and the hop; _C. Epilinum_, on
flax; _C. Epithymum_, on furze, ling and thyme. _C. Trifolii_, the
Clover Dodder, is perhaps a subspecies of the last mentioned.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Cuscuta europaea_, Dodder.
1. Flower removed from 2, Calyx.
3. Ovary cut across.
4. Fruit enveloped by a persistent corolla.
5. Seed.
6. Embryo.
1-6 enlarged.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--_Cuscuta glomerata_. Section through union
between parasite and host.
c, stem of host.
d, stem of _Cuscuta_.
h, haustoria.
(After Dodel-Port.)]
DODDRIDGE, PHILIP (1702-1751), English Nonconformist divine, was born in
London on the 26th of June 1702. His father, Daniel Doddridge, was a
London merchant, and his mother the orphan daughter of the Rev. John
Bauman, a Lutheran clergyman who had fled from Prague to escape
religious persecution, and had held for some time the mastership of the
grammar school at Kingston-upon-Thames. Before he could read, his mother
taught him the history of the Old and New Testament by the assistance of
some blue Dutch chimney-tiles. He afterwards went to a private school in
London, and in 1712 to the grammar school at Kingston-upon-Thames. About
1715 he was removed to a private school at St Albans, where he was much
influenced by the Presbyterian minister, Samuel Clarke. He declined
offers which would have led him into the Anglican ministry or the bar,
and in 1719 entered the very liberal academy for dissenters at Kibworth
in Leicestershire, taught at that time by the Rev. John Jennings, whom
Doddridge succeeded in the ministry at that place in 1723, declining
overtures from Coventry, Pershore and London (Haberdashers' Hall). In
1729, at a general meeting of Nonconformist ministers, he was chosen to
conduct the academy established in that year at Market Harborough. In
the same year he received an invitation from the independent
congregation at Northampton, which he accepted. Here he continued his
multifarious labours; but the church seems to have decreased, and his
many engagements and bulky correspondence interfered seriously with his
pulpit work, and with the discipline of his academy, where he had some
200 students to whom he lectured on philosophy and theology in the
mathematical or Spinozistic style. In 1751 his health, which had never
been good, broke down, and he sailed for Lisbon on the 30th of September
of that year; but the change was unavailing, and he died there on the
26th of October. His popularity as a preacher is said to have been
chiefly due to his "high susceptibility, joined with physical advantages
and perfect sincerity." His sermons were mostly practical in character,
and his great aim was to cultivate in his hearers a spiritual and
devotional frame of mind. He laboured for the attainment of a united
Nonconformist body, which should retain the cultured element without
alienating the uneducated. His principal works are, _The Rise and
Progress of Religion in the Soul_ (1745), which best illustrates his
religious genius, and has been widely translated; _The Family Expositor_
(6 vols., 1739-1756), _Life of Colonel Gardiner_ (1747); and a _Course
of Lectures on Pneumatology, Ethics and Divinity_ (1763). He also
published several courses of sermons on particular topics, and is the
author of many well-known and justly admired hymns, e.g. "O God of
Bethel, by whose hand." In 1736 both the universities at Aberdeen gave
him the degree of D.D.
See _Memoirs_, by Rev. Job Orton (1766); _Letters to and from Dr
Doddridge_, by Rev. Thomas Stedman (1790); and _Correspondence and
Diary_, in 5 vols., by his grandson, John Doddridge Humphreys (1829).
The best life is Stanford's _Philip Doddridge_ (1880). Doddridge's
academy is now represented by New College, Hampstead, in the library
of which there is a large collection of his manuscripts.
DODDS, ALFRED AMÉDÉE (1842- ), French general, was born at St Louis,
Senegal, on the 6th of February 1842; his father's family was of
Anglo-French origin. He was educated at Carcassonne and at St Cyr, and
in 1864 joined the marine infantry as a sub-lieutenant. He was promoted
captain for his services during the disturbances in Réunion in 1868-69,
in the course of which he was wounded. He served as a company commander
in the Franco-German War, was taken prisoner at Sedan but escaped, and
took part in the campaigns of the Loire and of the East. In 1872 he was
sent to West Africa, and, except when on active service in Cochin China
(1878) and Tong-King (1883), he remained on duty in Senegal for the next
twenty years, taking a prominent part in the operations which brought
the countries of the Upper Senegal and Upper Niger under French rule. He
led the expeditions against the Boal and Kayor (1889), the Serreres
(1890) and the Futa (1891), and from 1888 to 1891 was colonel commanding
the troops in Senegal. At the close of 1891 he returned to France to
command the eighth marine infantry at Toulon. In April 1892 Dodds was
selected to command the expeditionary force in Dahomey; he occupied
Abomey, the hostile capital, in November, and in a second campaign
(1894) he completed the subjugation of the country. He was then
appointed inspector-general of the marine infantry, and after a tour of
the French colonies was given the command of the XX. (Colonial) Army
Corps, subsequently becoming inspector-general of colonial troops and a
member of the _Conseil supérieur de guerre_.
DODECAHEDRON (Gr. [Greek: dôdeka], twelve, and [Greek: hedra], a face or
base), in geometry, a solid enclosed by twelve plane faces. The
"ordinary dodecahedron" is one of the Platonic solids (see POLYHEDRON).
The Greeks discovered that if a line be divided in extreme and mean
proportion, then the whole line and the greater segment are the lengths
of the edge of a cube and dodecahedron inscriptible in the same sphere.
The "small stellated dodecahedron," the "great dodecahedron" and the
"great stellated dodecahedron" are Kepler-Poinsot solids; and the
"truncated" and "snub dodecahedra" are Archimedean solids (see
POLYHEDRON). In crystallography, the regular or ordinary dodecahedron is
an impossible form since the faces cut the axes in irrational ratios;
the "pentagonal dodecahedron" of crystallographers has irregular
pentagons for faces, while the geometrical solid, on the other hand, has
regular ones. The "rhombic dodecahedron," one of the geometrical
semiregular solids, is an important crystal form. Many other dodecahedra
exist as crystal forms, for which see CRYSTALLOGRAPHY.
DODECASTYLE (Gr. [Greek: dôdeka], twelve, and [Greek: stylos], column),
the architectural term given to a temple where the portico has twelve
columns in front, as in the portico added to the temple of Demeter at
Eleusis, designed by Philo, the architect of the arsenal at the
Peiraeus.
DÖDERLEIN, JOHANN CHRISTOPH WILHELM LUDWIG (1791-1863), German
philologist, was born at Jena on the 19th of December 1791. His father,
Johann Christoph Döderlein, professor of theology at Jena, was
celebrated for his varied learning, for his eloquence as a preacher, and
for the important influence he exerted in guiding the transition
movement from strict orthodoxy to a freer theology. Ludwig Döderlein,
after receiving his preliminary education at Windsheim and Schulpforta
(Pforta), studied at Munich, Heidelberg, Erlangen and Berlin. He devoted
his chief attention to philology under the instruction of such men as F.
Thiersch, G. F. Creuzer, J. H. Voss, F. A. Wolf, August Böckh and P. K.
Buttmann. In 1815, soon after completing his studies at Berlin, he
accepted the appointment of ordinary professor of philology in the
academy of Bern. In 1819 he was transferred to Erlangen, where he became
second professor of philology in the university and rector of the
gymnasium. In 1827 he became first professor of philology and rhetoric
and director of the philological seminary. He died on the 9th of
November 1863. Döderlein's most elaborate work as a philologist was
marred by over-subtlety, and lacked method and clearness. He is best
known by his _Lateinische Synonymen und Etymologien_ (1826-1838), and
his _Homerisches Glossarium_ (1850-1858). To the same class belong his
_Lateinische Wortbildung_ (1838), _Handbuch der lateinischen Synonymik_
(1839), and the _Handbuch der lateinischen Etymologie_ (1841), besides
various works of a more elementary kind intended for the use of schools
and gymnasia. Most of the works named have been translated into English.
To critical philology Döderlein contributed valuable editions of Tacitus
(_Opera_, 1847; _Germania_, with a German translation) and Horace
(_Epistolae_, with a German translation, 1856-1858; _Satirae_, 1860).
His _Reden und Aufsätze_ (Erlangen, 1843-1847) and _Offentliche Reden_
(1860) consist chiefly of academic addresses dealing with various
subjects in paedagogy and philology.
DODGE, THEODORE AYRAULT (1842-1909), American soldier and military
writer, was born at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on the 28th of May 1842.
He received a military education in Germany and subsequently studied at
Heidelberg and London University, returning to the United States in
1861. At the outbreak of the Civil War he at once enlisted in the
federal army, and he soon rose to commissioned rank. He served in the
Army of the Potomac until Gettysburg, where he lost a leg. Incapacitated
for further active service, he continued to be employed in
administrative posts to the end of the war, and for several years
thereafter he served at army headquarters, becoming captain in 1866 and
brevet lieutenant-colonel in 1867. He retired in 1870. His works include
_The Campaign of Chancellorsville_ (1881), _A Bird's Eye View of our
Civil War_ (1882, later edition 1897), a complete, accurate and
remarkably concise account of the whole war, _Patroclus and Penelope, a
Chat in the Saddle_ (1883), _Great Captains_ (1886), a series of
lectures, _Riders of Many Lands_ (1893), and a series of large
illustrated volumes entitled _A History of the Art of War_, being lives
of "Great Captains," including _Alexander_ (2 vols., 1888), _Hannibal_
(2 vols., 1889), _Caesar_ (2 vols., 1892), _Gustavus Adolphus_ (2 vols.,
1896) and _Napoleon_ (4 vols., 1904-1907). He died in France, at
Versailles, on the 26th of October 1909.
DODGSON, CHARLES LUTWIDGE ["LEWIS CARROLL"] (1832-1898), English
mathematician and author, son of the Rev. Charles Dodgson, vicar of
Daresbury, Cheshire, was born in that village on the 27th of January
1832. The literary life of "Lewis Carroll" became familiar to a wide
circle of readers, but the private life of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson was
retired and practically uneventful. After four years' schooling at
Rugby, Dodgson matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, in May 1850; and
from 1852 till 1870 held a studentship there. He took a first class in
the final mathematical school in 1854, and the following year was
appointed mathematical lecturer at Christ Church, a post he continued to
fill till 1881. In 1861 he was ordained deacon, but he never took
priest's orders, possibly because of a stammer which prevented reading
aloud. His earliest publications, beginning with _A Syllabus of Plane
Algebraical Geometry_ (1860) and _The Formulae of Plane Trigonometry_
(1861), were exclusively mathematical; but late in the year 1865 he
published, under the pseudonym of "Lewis Carroll," _Alice's Adventures
in Wonderland_, a work that was the outcome of his keen sympathy with
the imagination of children and their sense of fun. Its success was
immediate, and the name of "Lewis Carroll" has ever since been a
household word. A dramatic version of the "Alice" books by Mr Savile
Clarke was produced at Christmas, 1886, and has since enjoyed many
revivals. Mr Dodgson was always very fond of children, and it was an
open secret that the original of "Alice" was a daughter of Dean Liddell.
_Alice_ was followed (in the "Lewis Carroll" series) by
_Phantasmagoria_, in 1869; _Through the Looking-Glass_, in 1871; _The
Hunting of the Snark_ (1876); _Rhyme and Reason_ (1883); _A Tangled
Tale_ (1885); and _Sylvie and Bruno_ (in two parts, 1889 and 1893). He
wrote skits on Oxford subjects from time to time. _The Dynamics of a
Particle_ was written on the occasion of the contest between Gladstone
and Mr Gathorne Hardy (afterwards earl of Cranbrook); and _The New
Belfry_ in ridicule of the erection put up at Christ Church for the
bells that were removed from the Cathedral tower. While "Lewis Carroll"
was delighting children of all ages, C. L. Dodgson periodically
published mathematical works--_An Elementary Treatise on Determinants_
(1867); _Euclid, Book V., proved Algebraically_ (1874); _Euclid and his
Modern Rivals_ (1879), the work on which his reputation as a
mathematician largely rests; and _Curiosa Mathematica_ (1888).
Throughout this dual existence Mr Dodgson pertinaciously refused to
acquiesce in being publicly identified with "Lewis Carroll." Though the
fact of his authorship of the "Alice" books was well known, he
invariably stated, when occasion called for such a pronouncement, that
"Mr Dodgson neither claimed nor acknowledged any connexion with the
books not published under his name." He died at Guildford, on the 14th
of January 1898. His memory is appropriately kept green by a cot in the
Children's Hospital, Great Ormond Street, London, which was endowed
perpetually by a public subscription.
See S. D. Collingwood, _Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll_ (1898).
DODO (from the Portuguese _Dóudo_, a simpleton), a large bird formerly
inhabiting the island of Mauritius, but now extinct--the _Didus ineptus_
of Linnaeus. When, in 1507, the Portuguese discovered the island which
we now know as Mauritius they named it _Ilha do Cerné_, from a notion
that it must be the island of that name mentioned by Pliny; but most
authors have insisted that it was known to the seamen of that nation as
_Ilha do Cisne_--perhaps but a corruption of Cerne, and brought about by
their finding it stocked with large fowls, which, though not aquatic,
they likened to swans, the most familiar to them of bulky birds. In 1598
the Dutch, under Van Neck, took possession of the island and renamed it
Mauritius. A narrative of this voyage was published, in 1601, if not
earlier, and has been often reprinted. Here we have birds spoken of as
big as swans or bigger, with large heads, no wings, and a tail
consisting of a few curly feathers. The Dutch called them _Walgvögels_
(the word is variously spelled), i.e. nauseous birds, either because no
cooking made them palatable, or because this island-paradise afforded an
abundance of fare so much superior. De Bry gives two admirably quaint
prints of the doings of the Hollanders, and in one of them the
_Walgvögel_ appears, being the earliest published representation of its
unwieldy form, with a footnote stating that the voyagers brought an
example alive to Holland. Among the company there was a draughtsman, and
from a sketch of his, Clusius, a few years after, gave a figure of the
bird, which he vaguely called "_Gallinaceus Gallus peregrinus_," but
described rather fully. Meanwhile two other Dutch fleets had visited
Mauritius. One of them had rather an accomplished artist on board, and
his drawings fortunately still exist (see article BIRD). Of the other a
journal kept by one of the skippers was subsequently published. This in
the main corroborates what has been before said of the birds, but adds
the curious fact that they were now called by some _Dodaarsen_ and by
others _Dronten_.[1]
Henceforth Dutch narrators, though several times mentioning the bird,
fail to supply any important fact in its history. Their navigators,
however, were not idle, and found work for their naturalists and
painters. Clusius says that in 1605 he saw at Pauw's House in Leyden a
dodo's foot,[2] which he minutely describes. In a copy of Clusius's work
in the high school of Utrecht is pasted an original drawing by Van de
Venne superscribed "Vera effigies huius avis _Walghvögel_ (quae & a
nautis _Dodaers_ propter foedam posterioris partis crassitiem
nuncupatur), qualis viua Amsterodamum perlata est ex insula Mauritii.
Anno M.DC.XXVI." Now a good many paintings of the dodo drawn from life
by Roelandt Savery (1576-1639) exist; and the paintings by him at Berlin
and Vienna--dated 1626 and 1628--as well as the picture by Goiemare,
belonging to the duke of Northumberland, dated 1627, may be with greater
plausibility than ever considered portraits of a captive bird. It is
even probable that this was not the first example painted in Europe. In
the private library of the emperor Francis I. of Austria was a series of
pictures of various animals, supposed to be by the Dutch artist
Hoefnagel, who was born about 1545. One of these represents a dodo, and,
if there be no mistake in Von Frauenfeld's ascription, it must almost
certainly have been painted before 1626, while there is reason to think
that the original may have been kept in the _vivarium_ of the emperor
Rudolf II., and that the portion of a dodo's head, which was found in
the museum at Prague about 1850, belonged to this example. The other
pictures by Roelandt Savery, like those in the possession of the
Zoological Society of London and others, are undated, but were probably
all painted about the same time--1626-1628. The large picture in the
British Museum, once belonging to Sir Hans Sloane, by an unknown artist,
but supposed to be by Roelandt Savery, is also undated; while the still
larger one at Oxford (considered to be by the younger Savery) bears a
much later date, 1651. Undated also is a picture in Holland said to be
by Pieter Holsteyn.
In 1628 we have the evidence of the first English observer of the
bird--one Emanuel Altham, who mentions it in two letters written on the
same day from Mauritius to his brother at home (_Proc. Zool. Soc._ 1874,
pp. 447-449). In one he says: "You shall receue ... a strange fowle:
which I had at the Iland Mauritius called by ye portingalls a Do Do:
which for the rareness thereof I hope wilbe welcome to you." The passage
in the other letter is to the same effect, with the addition of the
words "if it liue." In the same fleet with Altham sailed Sir Thomas
Herbert, whose _Travels_ ran through several editions. It is plain that
he could not have reached Mauritius till 1629, though 1627 has been
usually assigned as the date of his visit. The fullest account he gives
of the bird is in his edition of 1638: "The Dodo comes first to a
description: here, and in _Dygarrois_[3] (and no where else, that ever I
could see or heare of) is generated the Dodo (a Portuguize name it is,
and has reference to her simpleness,) a Bird which for shape and
rareness might be call'd a Phoenix (wer't in Arabia:)" &c. Herbert was
weak as an etymologist, but his positive statement, corroborated as it
is by Altham, cannot be set aside, and hence we do not hesitate to
assign a Portuguese derivation for the word.[4] Herbert also gave a
figure of the bird.
Proceeding chronologically we next come upon a curious bit of evidence.
This is contained in a MS. diary kept between 1626 and 1640, by Thomas
Crossfield of Queen's College, Oxford, where, under the year 1634,
mention is casually made of one Mr Gosling "who bestowed the Dodar (a
blacke Indian bird) vpon ye Anatomy school." Nothing more is known of
it. About 1638, Sir Hamon Lestrange tells us, as he walked London
streets he saw the picture of a strange fowl hung out on a cloth canvas,
and going in to see it found a great bird kept in a chamber "somewhat
bigger than the largest Turky cock, and so legged and footed, but
shorter and thicker." The keeper called it a dodo and showed the
visitors how his captive would swallow "large peble stones ... as bigge
as nutmegs."
In 1651 Morisot published an account of a voyage made by François
Cauche, who professed to have passed fifteen days in Mauritius, or
"l'isle de Saincte Apollonie," as he called it, in 1638. According to De
Flacourt the narrative is not very trustworthy, and indeed certain
statements are obviously inaccurate. Cauche says he saw there birds
bigger than swans, which he describes so as to leave no doubt of his
meaning dodos; but perhaps the most important facts (if they be facts)
that he relates are that they had a cry like a gosling ("il a un cry
comme l'oison"), and that they laid a single white egg ("gros comme un
pain d'un sol") on a mass of grass in the forests. He calls them
"oiseaux de Nazaret," perhaps, as a marginal note informs us, from an
island of that name which was then supposed to lie more to the
northward, but is now known to have no existence.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Skeleton of a Dodo, _Didus ineptus_, Museum of
Zoology, Cambridge, and cast of a Head in Oxford.]
In the catalogue of Tradescant's _Collection of Rarities, preserved at
South Lambeth_, published in 1656, we have entered among the "Whole
Birds," a "Dodar from the island _Mauritius_; it is not able to flie
being so big." This specimen may well have been the skin of the bird
seen by Lestrange some eighteen years before, but anyhow we are able to
trace the specimen through Willughby, Edward Llwyd and Thomas Hyde, till
it passed in or before 1684 to the Ashmolean collection at Oxford. In
1755 it was ordered to be destroyed, but, in accordance with the
original orders of Ashmole, its head and right foot were preserved, and
still ornament the museum of that university. In the second edition of a
_Catalogue of many Natural Rarities_, &c., "to be seen at the place
formerly called the Music House, near the West End of St Paul's Church,"
collected by one Hubert _alias_ Forbes, and published in 1665, mention
is made of a "legge of a Dodo, a great heavy bird that cannot fly; it is
a Bird of the Mauricius Island." This is supposed to have subsequently
passed into the possession of the Royal Society. At all events such a
specimen is included in Grew's list of their treasures which was
published in 1681. This was afterwards transferred to the British
Museum. It is a left foot, without the integuments, but it differs
sufficiently in size from the Oxford specimen to forbid its having been
part of the same individual. In 1666 Olearius brought out the
_Gottorffische Kunst Kammer_, wherein he describes the head of a
_Walghvögel_ which some sixty years later was removed to the museum at
Copenhagen, and is now preserved there, having been the means of first
leading zoologists, under the guidance of Prof. J. Th. Reinhardt, to
recognize the true affinities of the bird.
We have passed over all but the principal narratives of voyagers or
other notices of the bird. A compendious bibliography, up to the year
1848, will be found in Strickland's classical work,[5] and the list was
continued by Von Frauenfeld[6] for twenty years later. The last
evidence we have of the dodo's existence is furnished by a journal kept
by Benj. Harry, and now in the British Museum (_MSS. Addit. 3668._ II.
D). This shows its survival till 1681, but the writer's sole remark upon
it is that its "fflesh is very hard." The successive occupation of the
island by different masters seems to have destroyed every tradition
relating to the bird, and doubts began to arise whether such a creature
had ever existed. Dr Henry Duncan, Scottish minister and journalist, in
1828, showed how ill-founded these doubts were, and some ten years later
William John Broderip with much diligence collected all the available
evidence into an admirable essay, which in its turn was succeeded by
Strickland's monograph just mentioned. But in the meanwhile little was
done towards obtaining any material advance in our knowledge, Prof.
Reinhardt's determination of its affinity to the pigeons (_Columbae_)
excepted; and it was hardly until George Clark's discovery in 1865 of a
large number of dodos' remains in the mud of a pool (the Mare aux
Songes) that zoologists generally were prepared to accept that affinity
without question. The examination of bone after bone by Sir R. Owen
(_Trans. Zool. Soc._ vi. p. 49) confirmed the judgment of the Danish
naturalist.
In 1889 Th. Sauzier, acting for the government of Mauritius, sent a
great number of bones from the same swamp to Sir Edward Newton.[7] From
these the first correctly restored and properly mounted skeleton was
prepared and sent to Paris, to be forwarded to the museum of Mauritius.
Good specimens are in the British Museum, at Paris and at Cambridge,
England.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--The Solitaire of Rodriguez (_Pezophaps
solitarius_). From Leguat's figure.]
The huge blackish bill of the dodo terminated in a large, horny hook;
the cheeks were partly bare, the stout, short legs yellow. The plumage
was dark ash-coloured, with whitish breast and tail, yellowish white
wings (incapable of flight). The short tail formed a curly tuft.
The dodo is said to have inhabited forests and to have laid one large
white egg on a mass of grass. Besides man, hogs and other imported
animals seem to have exterminated it. But the dodo is not the only
member of its family that has vanished. The little island which has
successively borne the name of Mascaregnas, England's Forest, Bourbon
and Réunion, and lies to the southward of Mauritius, had also an allied
bird, now dead and gone. Of this not a relic has been handled by any
naturalist. The latest description of it, by Du Bois in 1674, is very
meagre, while Bontekoe (1646) gave a figure, apparently intended to
represent it. It was originally called the "solitaire," but this name
was also applied to _Pezophaps solitarius_ of Rodriguez by the Huguenot
exile Leguat, who described and figured it about 1691.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Skeleton of a male Solitaire, _Pezophaps
solitarius_, Museum of Zoology, Cambridge.]
The solitaire, Didus solitarius of Gmelin, referred by Strickland to a
district genus Pezophaps, is supposed to have lingered in the island of
Rodriguez until about 1761. Leguat[8] has given a delightful description
of its quaint habits. The male stood about 2 ft. 9 in. high; its colour
was brownish grey, that of its mate more inclined to brown, with a
whitish breast. The wings were rudimentary, the tail very small, almost
hidden, and the thigh feathers were thick and curled "like shells." A
round mass of bone, "as big as a musket ball," was developed on the
wings of the males, and they used it as a weapon of offence while they
whirled themselves about twenty or thirty times in four or five minutes,
making a noise with their pinions like a rattle. The mien was fierce and
the walk stately, the birds living singly or in pairs. The nest was a
heap of palm leaves a foot high, and contained a single large egg which
was incubated by both parents. The food consisted of seeds and leaves,
and the birds aided digestion by swallowing large stones; these were
used by the Dutch sailors to sharpen their knives with. One of these
stones, nearly an inch and a half in length, of extremely hard volcanic
rock, is in the Cambridge museum. The fighting knobs mentioned above,
are very interesting, large exostoses on one of the wrist-bones of
either wing; they were undoubtedly covered with a thick, callous skin.
Thousands of bones of this curious flightless pigeon were collected
through Sir E. Newton's[9] exertions, and by H. H. Sclater on behalf of
the Royal Society of London. The results are several almost complete
skeletons of both sexes, composed however out of the enormous mass of
the dissociated bones. (A. N.; H. F. G.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The etymology of these names has been much discussed. That of the
latter, which has generally been adopted by German and French
authorities, seems to defy investigation, but the former has been
shown by Prof. Schlegel (_Versl. en Mededeel. K. Akad. Wetensch._ ii.
pp. 255 et seq.) to be the homely name of the dabchick or little
grebe (_Podiceps minor_), of which the Dutchmen were reminded by the
round stern and tail diminished to a tuft that characterized the
dodo. The same learned authority suggests that dodo is a corruption
of _Dodaars_, but, as will presently be seen, we herein think him
mistaken.
[2] What has become of the specimen (which may have been a relic of
the bird brought home by Van Neck's squadron) is not known. Broderip
and Dr Gray have suggested its identity with that now in the British
Museum, but on what grounds is not apparent.
[3] i.e. Rodriguez; an error.
[4] Hence we venture to dispute Prof. Schlegel's supposed origin of
"Dodo." The Portuguese must have been the prior nomenclators, and if,
as is most likely, some of their nation, or men acquainted with their
language, were employed to pilot the Hollanders, we see at once how
the first Dutch name _Walghvögel_ would give way. The meaning of
_Doudo_ not being plain to the Dutch, they would, as is the habit of
sailors, convert it into something they did understand. Then
_Dodaers_ would easily suggest itself.
[5] _The Dodo and its Kindred_, by H. E. Strickland and A. G.
Melville (London, 1848, 4to).
[6] _Neu aufgefundene Abbildung des Dronte_, by Georg Ritter von
Frauenfeld (Wien, 1868, fol.).
[7] E. Newton and H. Gadow, _Trans. Zool. Soc._ xiii. (1893) pp.
281-302, pls.
[8] _Voyage et aventures de François Leguat_, &c. (2 vols., London,
1708). An English translation, edited with many additional
illustrations by Captain Oliver, has been published by the Hakluyt
Society (2 vols., 1891).
[9] E. Newton and J. W. Clark, _Phil. Trans._ clix. (1869), pp.
327-362; clxviii. (1879), pp. 448-451.
DODONA, in Epirus, the seat of the most ancient and venerable of all
Hellenic sanctuaries. Its ruins are at Dramisos, near Tsacharovista. In
later times the Greeks of the south looked on the inhabitants of Epirus
as barbarians; nevertheless for Dodona they always preserved a certain
reverence, and the temple there was the object of frequent missions from
them. This temple was dedicated to Zeus, and connected with the temple
was an oracle which enjoyed more reputation in Greece than any other
save that at Delphi, and which would seem to date from earlier times
than the worship of Zeus; for the normal method of gathering the
responses of the oracle was by listening to the rustling of an old oak
tree, which was supposed to be the seat of the deity. We seem here to
have a remnant of the very ancient and widely diffused tree-worship.
Sometimes, however, auguries were taken in other manners, being drawn
from the moaning of doves in the branches, the murmur of a fountain
which rose close by, or the resounding of the wind in the brazen
caldrons which formed a circle all round the temple. Croesus proposed to
the oracle his well-known question; Lysander sought to obtain from it a
sanction for his ambitious views; the Athenians frequently appealed to
its authority during the Peloponnesian War. But the most frequent
votaries were the neighbouring tribes of the Acarnanians and Aetolians,
together with the Boeotians, who claimed a special connexion with the
district.
Dodona is not unfrequently mentioned by ancient writers. It is spoken of
in the _Iliad_ as the stormy abode of Selli who sleep on the ground and
wash not their feet, and in the _Odyssey_ an imaginary visit of Odysseus
to the oracle is referred to. A Hesiodic fragment gives a complete
description of the Dodonaea or Hellopia, which is called a district full
of corn-fields, of herds and flocks and of shepherds, where is built on
an extremity ([Greek: ep eschatiê]) Dodona, where Zeus dwells in the
stem of an oak ([Greek: phêgos]). The priestesses were called doves
([Greek: peleiai]) and Herodotus tells a story which he learned at
Egyptian Thebes, that the oracle of Dodona was founded by an Egyptian
priestess who was carried away by the Phoenicians, but says that the
local legend substitutes for this priestess a black dove, a substitution
in which he tries to find a rational meaning. From inscriptions and
later writers we learn that in historical times there was worshipped,
together with Zeus, a consort named Dione (see further ZEUS; ORACLE;
DIONE).
The ruins, consisting of a theatre, the walls of a town, and some other
buildings, had been conjectured to be those of Dodona by Wordsworth in
1832, but the conjecture was changed into ascertained fact by the
excavations of Constantin Carapanos. In 1875 he made some preliminary
investigations; soon after, an extensive discovery of antiquities was
made by peasants, digging without authority; and after this M. Carapanos
made a systematic excavation of the whole site to a considerable depth.
The topographical and architectural results are disappointing, and show
either that the site always retained its primitive simplicity, or else
that whatever buildings once existed have been very completely
destroyed.
To the south of the hill, on which are the walls of the town, and to the
east of the theatre, is a plateau about 200 yds. long and 50 yds. wide.
Towards the eastern end of this terrace are the scanty remains of a
building which can hardly be anything but the temple of Zeus; it appears
to have consisted of pronaos, naos or cella, and opisthodomus, and some
of the lower drums of the internal columns of the cella were still
resting on their foundations. No trace of any external colonnade was
found. The temple was about 130 ft. by 80 ft. It had been converted into
a Christian church, and hardly anything of its architecture seems to
have survived. In it and around it were found the most interesting
products of excavation--statuettes and decorative bronzes, many of them
bearing dedications to Zeus Naïus and Dione, and inscriptions, including
many small tablets of lead which contained the questions put to the
oracle. Farther to the west, on the same terrace, were two rectangular
buildings, which M. Carapanos conjectures to have been connected with
the oracle, but which show no distinguishing features.
Below the terrace was a precinct, surrounded by walls and flanked with
porticoes and other buildings; it is over 100 yds. in length and
breadth, and of irregular shape. One of the buildings on the
south-western side contained a pedestal or altar, and is identified by
M. Carapanos as a temple of Aphrodite, on the insufficient evidence of a
single dedicated object; it does not seem to have any of the
characteristics of a temple. In front of the porticoes are rows of
pedestals, which once bore statues and other dedications. At the
southern corner of the precinct is a kind of gate or propylaeum, flanked
with two towers, between which are placed two coarse limestone drums. If
these are _in situ_ and belong to the original gateway, it must have
been of a very rough character; it does not seem probable that they
carried, as M. Carapanos suggests, the statuette and bronze bowl by
which divinations were carried on.
The chief interest of the excavation centres in the smaller antiquities
discovered, which have now been transferred from M. Carapanos's
collection to the National Museum in Athens. Among the dedications, the
most interesting historically are a set of weapons dedicated by King
Pyrrhus from the spoils of the Romans, including characteristic
specimens of the pilum. The leaden tablets of the oracle contain no
certain example of a response, though there are many questions, varying
from matters of public policy or private enterprise to inquiries after
stolen goods.
The temple of Dodona was destroyed by the Aetolians in 219 B.C., but the
oracle survived to the times of Pausanias and even of the emperor
Julian.
See C. Wordsworth, _Greece_ (1839), p. 247; Constantin Carapanos,
_Dodone et ses ruines_ (Paris, 1878). For the oracle inscriptions, see
E. S. Roberts in _Journal of Hellenic Studies_, vol. i. p. 228. (E.
GR.)
DODS, MARCUS (1834-1909), Scottish divine and biblical scholar, was born
at Belford, Northumberland, the youngest son of Rev. Marcus Dods,
minister of the Scottish church of that town. He was trained at
Edinburgh Academy and Edinburgh University, graduating in 1854. Having
studied theology for five years he was licensed in 1858, and in 1864
became minister of Renfield Free Church, Glasgow, where he worked for
twenty-five years. In 1889 he was appointed professor of New Testament
Exegesis in the New College, Edinburgh, of which he became principal on
the death of Dr Rainy in 1907. He died in Edinburgh on the 26th of April
1909. Throughout his life, both ministerial and professorial, he devoted
much time to the publication of theological books. Several of his
writings, especially a sermon on Inspiration delivered in 1878, incurred
the charge of unorthodoxy, and shortly before his election to the
Edinburgh professorship he was summoned before the General Assembly, but
the charge was dropped by a large majority, and in 1891 he received the
honorary degree of D.D. from Edinburgh University. He edited Lange's
_Life of Christ_ in English (Edinburgh, 1864, 6 vols.), Augustine's
works (1872-1876), and, with Dr Alexander Whyte, Clark's "Handbooks for
Bible Classes" series. In the Expositor's Bible series he edited Genesis
and 1 Corinthians, and he was also a contributor to the 9th edition of
the _Encyclopaedia Britannica_ and Hastings' _Dictionary of the Bible_.
Among other important works are: _The Epistle to the Seven Churches_
(1865); _Israel's Iron Age_ (1874); _Mohammed, Buddha and Christ_
(1877); _Handbook on Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi_ (1879); _The Gospel
according to St John_ (1897), in the Expositor's Greek Testament; _The
Bible, its Origin and Nature_ (1904), the Bross Lectures, in which he
gave an able sketch of the use of Old Testament criticism, and finally
set forth his Theory of Inspiration. Apart from his great services to
Biblical scholarship he takes high rank among those who have sought to
bring the results of technical criticism within the reach of the
ordinary reader.
DODSLEY, ROBERT (1703-1764), English bookseller and miscellaneous
writer, was born in 1703 near Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where his
father was master of the free school. He is said to have been
apprenticed to a stocking-weaver in Mansfield, from whom he ran away,
taking service as a footman. In 1729 Dodsley published his first work,
_Servitude; a Poem ... written by a Footman_, with a preface and
postscript ascribed to Daniel Defoe; and a collection of short poems, _A
Muse in Livery, or the Footman's Miscellany_, was published by
subscription in 1732, Dodsley's patrons comprising many persons of high
rank. This was followed by a satirical farce called _The Toyshop_
(Covent Garden, 1735), in which the toyman indulges in moral
observations on his wares, a hint which was probably taken from Thomas
Randolph's _Conceited Pedlar_. The profits accruing from the sale of his
works enabled Dodsley to establish himself with the help of his
friends--Pope lent him £100--as a bookseller at the "Tully's Head" in
Pall Mall in 1735. His enterprise soon made him one of the foremost
publishers of the day. One of his first publications was Dr Johnson's
_London_, for which he gave ten guineas in 1738. He published many of
Johnson's works, and he suggested and helped to finance the _English
Dictionary_. Pope also made over to Dodsley his interest in his letters.
In 1738 the publication of Paul Whitehead's _Manners_, voted scandalous
by the Lords, led to a short imprisonment. Dodsley published for Edward
Young and Mark Akenside, and in 1751 brought out Thomas Gray's _Elegy_.
He also founded several literary periodicals: _The Museum_ (1746-1767, 3
vols.); _The Preceptor containing a general course of education_ (1748,
2 vols.), with an introduction by Dr Johnson; _The World_ (1753-1756, 4
vols.); and _The Annual Register_, founded in 1758 with Edmund Burke as
editor. To these various works, Horace Walpole, Akenside, Soame Jenyns,
Lord Lyttelton, Lord Chesterfield, Burke and others were contributors.
Dodsley is, however, best known as the editor of two collections:
_Select Collection of Old Plays_ (12 vols., 1744; 2nd edition with notes
by Isaac Reed, 12 vols., 1780; 4th edition, by W. C. Hazlitt, 1874-1876,
15 vols.); and _A collection of Poems by Several Hands_ (1748, 3 vols.),
which passed through many editions. In 1737 his _King and the Miller of
Mansfield_, a "dramatic tale" of King Henry II., was produced at Drury
Lane, and received with much applause; the sequel, _Sir John Cockle at
Court_, a farce, appeared in 1738. In 1745 he published a collection of
his dramatic works, and some poems which had been issued separately, in
one volume under the modest title of _Trifles_. This was followed by
_The Triumph of Peace, a Masque occasioned by the Treaty of
Aix-la-Chapelle_ (1749); a fragment, entitled _Agriculture_, of a long
tedious poem in blank verse on _Public Virtue_ (1753); _The Blind Beggar
of Bethnal Green_ (acted at Drury Lane 1739, printed 1741); and an ode,
_Melpomene_ (1757). His tragedy of _Cleone_ (1758) had a long run at
Covent Garden, 2000 copies being sold on the day of publication, and it
passed through four editions within the year. Lord Chesterfield is,
however, almost certainly the author of the series of mock chronicles of
which _The Chronicle of the Kings of England_ by "Nathan ben Saddi"
(1740) is the first, although they were included in the _Trifles_ and
"ben Saddi" was received as Dodsley's pseudonym. _The Economy of Human
Life_ (1750), a collection of moral precepts frequently reprinted, is
also by Lord Chesterfield. In 1759 Dodsley retired, leaving the conduct
of the business to his brother James (1724-1797), with whom he had been
many years in partnership. He published two more works, _The Select
Fables of Aesop translated by R. D._ (1764) and the _Works of William
Shenstone_ (3 vols., 1764-1769). He died at Durham while on a visit to
his friend the Rev. Joseph Spence, on the 23rd of September 1764.
See also _Shadows of the Old Booksellers_, by Charles Knight (1865),
pp. 189-216; "At Tully's Head" in _Eighteenth Century Vignettes_, 2nd
series, by Austin Dobson (1894); E. Solly in _The Bibliographer_, v.
(1884) pp. 57-61. Dodsley's poems are reprinted with a memoir in A.
Chalmers's _Works of English Poets_, vol. xv. (1810).
DODSWORTH, ROGER (1585-1654), English antiquary, was born near
Oswaldkirk, Yorkshire. He devoted himself early to antiquarian research,
in which he was greatly assisted by the fact that his father, Matthew
Dodsworth, was registrar of York cathedral, and could give him access to
the records preserved there. He married the widow of Laurence Rawsthorne
of Hutton Grange, where he subsequently resided till his death in August
1654. At various times in his life he was enabled to study the records
in the library of Sir Robert Cotton, in Skipton Castle, and in the Tower
of London. He collected a vast store of materials for a history of
Yorkshire, a _Monasticon Anglicanum_, and an English baronage. The
second of these was published with considerable additions by Sir William
Dugdale (2 vols., 1655 and 1661). The MSS. were left to Thomas, third
Lord Fairfax, who by his will bequeathed them (160 volumes in all) to
the Bodleian Library at Oxford. Portions have been printed by the
Yorkshire Archaeological Society (_Dodsworth's Yorkshire Notes_, 1884)
and the Chetham Society (copies of Lancashire postmortem inquisitions,
1875-1876).
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 5 - "Dinard" to "Dodsworth"" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.