DrupeLongitudinal Section of PlumS, Seed. E, Endocarp, or shell. M, Mesocarp, or intermediate layer. Ep, Epicarp, or skin.
S, Seed. E, Endocarp, or shell. M, Mesocarp, or intermediate layer. Ep, Epicarp, or skin.
Drupe, in botany, a stone fruit; a fruit in which the outer part of the pericarp becomes fleshy or softens like a berry while the inner hardens like a nut, forming a stone with a kernel, as the plum, cherry, apricot, and peach. The stone enclosing the kernel is called theendocarp, while the pulpy or succulent part is called themesocarp. In some fruits, as those of the almond, the horse-chestnut, and coco-nut,the mesocarp is not succulent, yet, from their possessing the other qualities of the drupe, they receive the name. SeeBerry.
Drury Lane Theatre, one of the principal theatres in London, was established by Thomas Killigrew in the reign of James I. In 1671 it was burned down, and was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren between 1672 and 1674, but again destroyed by fire in 1809. On this occasion it was rebuilt by B. Wyatt, and was reopened on 10th Oct., 1812, with an address composed by Lord Byron. It was in connection with this opening that James and Horace Smith wrote theRejected Addresses. Nearly all the great English actors from Betterton and Garrick have been more or less connected with Drury Lane.—Cf. J. Doran,In and About Drury Lane.
Druses, a curious people of mixed Syrian and Arabian origin, inhabiting the mountains of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon, and also the Hauran (south-west of Damascus). In their faith are combined certain Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan doctrines. They describe themselves as followers of Khalif Hakim Biamr-Allah, whom they regard as an incarnation of deity, the last prophet, and the founder of the true religion. They are nearly all taught to read and write. They maintain a semi-independence, and between 1840 and 1860 they engaged in bloody conflicts with their neighbours the Maronites. Their total number is estimated at 100,000. They are very friendly to the English, and some of them have been converted to Christianity. Cf. E. Sell,The Druses.
Drusus, the name of several distinguished Romans, among whom were:Marcus Livius, orator and politician; became tribune of the people in 122B.C.He opposed the policy of Gaius Gracchus, and became popular by planting colonies.—Marcus Livius, son of the above, was early a strong champion of the senate or aristocratic party, but showed great skill in manipulating the mob. He rose to be tribune of the people, and was assassinated 91B.C.—Nero Claudius, brother of the Emperor Tiberius, born 38B.C.By a series of brilliant campaigns he extended the Roman Empire to the German Ocean and the River Elbe, and was hence calledGermanicus. By his wife Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony, he had a daughter, Livia, and two sons, Germanicus and Claudius, the latter of whom afterwards became emperor. He died in 9B.C.
Dry´ads, wood nymphs, in the Greek mythology; supposed to be the tutelar deities of trees. Each particular tree or wood was the habitation of its own special dryad.
Dryas.SeeMountain Avens.
Dry´burgh Abbey, a monastic ruin in Scotland, consisting of the nave's western gable, the gable of the south transept, and a fragment of choir and north transept of an abbey founded in 1150 on the banks of the Tweed, about 5 milesE.S.E.of Melrose. It is celebrated as the burial-place of Sir Walter Scott and his family.
Dry Cell, originally a cell of the Leclanché type, in which the solution of sal-ammoniac was replaced by a paste containing this substance. The formulæ or recipes from which dry cells are now made up are numerous, although the electrodes, as a rule, remain the same as in the Leclanché cell. The E.M.F. of the cell is about 1.5 volts, and three dry cells are used to light up a small 'flash' lamp. A battery of dry cells forms a convenient and portable means of supplying a small current at voltages up to 100.
Dry´den, John, English poet, was descended from an ancient family, his grandfather being Sir Erasmus Dryden of Canons Ashby, Northamptonshire. Born near Aldwinkle, Northamptonshire, in 1631, he was admitted a King's scholar at Westminster under the celebrated Dr. Busby, whence he went to Trinity College, Cambridge, being elected to a scholarship there. After leaving the university, he went to London, where he acted as secretary to his cousin Sir Gilbert Pickering, a favourite of Cromwell; and on the death of the Protector he wrote hisHeroic Stanzason that event. At the Restoration, however, he hailed the return of Charles II inAstræa Redux, and from that time his devotion to the Stuarts knew no decay. In 1661 he produced his first play,The Duke of Guise; but the first that was performed wasThe Wild Gallant, which appeared in 1663 and was not a success. This was followed byThe Rival Ladies, andThe Indian Queen, a tragedy on Montezuma in heroic verse, written in collaboration with Sir Robert Howard, whose sister, Lady Elizabeth Howard, Dryden married in 1663. He followed upThe Indian QueenwithThe Indian Emperor, which at once raised Dryden to the highest pitch of public estimation, an elevation which he retained till his death. The great fire of London put a stop for some time to theatrical exhibitions. In the interval Dryden published theAnnus Mirabilis, an historical account of the events of the year 1666, one of the most elaborate of his productions. In 1668 he also published his celebratedEssay on Dramatic Poesy—the first attempt to regulate dramatic writing. In 1668The Maiden Queen, a tragi-comedy, was represented. This was followed in 1670 byThe Tempest, an alteration from Shakespeare, in which he was assisted by Sir William Davenant. It was received with general applause, notwithstanding the very questionable taste and propriety of the added characters. Dryden was shortly afterwards appointed to the offices of Historiographer Royal and Poet Laureate, with a salary of £200 a year. He nowbecame professionally a writer for the stage, and produced many pieces, some of which have been strongly censured for their licentiousness and want of good taste. The first of his political and poetical satires,Absalom and Achitophel(Monmouth and Shaftesbury), was produced in 1681, and was followed byThe Medal, a satire against sedition; andMac Flecknoe, a satire on the poet Shadwell. In 1682 he published a poem calledReligio Laici, wherein he maintained the doctrines of the Church of England. On the accession of James in 1685 Dryden became a Roman Catholic, a conversion the sincerity of which has been not unreasonably regarded with suspicion, considering the time at which it occurred. At court the new convert was received with open arms, a considerable addition was made to his pension, and he defended his new religion at the expense of the old one in a poem,The Hind and the Panther. Among his other services to the new king were a savage reply to an attack by Stillingfleet, and panegyrics on Charles and James under the title ofBritannia Rediviva. At the Revolution Dryden was deprived of the offices of Poet Laureate and Historiographer, and of the certain income which these offices secured him. During the remaining ten years of his life he produced some of his best work, including his admirable translations from the classics. He published, in conjunction with Congreve, Creech, and others, a translation of Juvenal, and one of Persius entirely by himself. About a third part of Juvenal was translated by Dryden, who wrote an essay on satire which was prefixed to the whole. His poetic translation of Virgil appeared in 1697, and, soon after, the well-known lyricAlexander's Feast, and hisFables. He died 1st May, 1700, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and was buried in Westminster Abbey. Dryden is unequalled as a satirist among English poets, and the best of his tragedies are unsurpassed by any since written. His poetry as a whole is more remarkable for vigour and energy than beauty, but he did much to improve English verse. He was also an admirable prose writer. Personally he was modest and kindly. The whole of his works, edited by Sir W. Scott, were published in 1818 (18 vols. 8vo); they were republished with additional notes, &c., by Professor Saintsbury (1882-93).—Bibliography: R. Garnett,Age of Dryden; Sir A. W. Ward,History of English Dramatic Literature;Cambridge History of English Literature(vol. viii).
Drying-machine, a machine consisting of any number of steam-heated cylinders up to thirty or even more, each about 22 inches in diameter, and used in bleachworks, dye-houses, and in cloth-finishing departments; used as a separate machine to dry fabrics which contain a certain amount of moisture left in at some previous operation, but often used in conjunction with a starching-mangle or similar apparatus. All the cylinders are in a horizontal plane, and usually in two rows, but such rows may be disposed either in horizontal or vertical frames. Floor-space is economized in the latter arrangement, and two or more groups of two rows per group may be provided for. Each cylinder is provided with some type of safety air-valve, which yields to allow air to enter in proportion as the steam is condensed in the cylinder, and so prevents the latter from collapsing. The condensed steam is withdrawn either by means of siphons or revolving scoops, so that the interior may be as dry as possible. The long length of cloth, either from the squeezing-rollers of the starch-mangle or from a loose or rolled state of cloth from some other machine, is conducted over guide-rollers, then under and over the two rows of steam-heated cylinders, and finally led from the last cylinder to the roller of a plaiting-down apparatus, or otherwise delivered. Both sides of the cloth thus come into direct contact with half the number of cylinders as it is drawn through the machine, and the dried cloth is ultimately delivered by the plaiting-down apparatus in folds ready for the subsequent operations.
Drying-oils, linseed and other oils, which are the bases of many paints and varnishes. When exposed to the air, they absorb oxygen, and are converted into a transparent, tough, dry mass or varnish.
Dry-point, a method of engraving generally regarded as part of etching, but more closely allied to line engraving. Instead of the copper being covered with etching ground and the lines bitten with acid, a pointed instrument is drawn across it, which incises a fine line with a more distinct burr on each side than that raised by a graver. This burr helps to give a characteristic quality to the line, but is rapidly worn away by printings. Dry-point may be used by itself, but is frequently combined with etching proper.
Dry-rot FungusDry-rot Fungus (Merulius lacrymans)
Dry-rot, a well-known disease affecting timber, occasioned by various species of Fungi, the mycelium of which penetrates the timber, destroying it.Merulius lacrymans, which is found chiefly in fir-wood, is the most common and most formidable dry-rot fungus in Britain; whilePolypŏrus destructoris equally destructive in Germany.P. vaporariusmay also cause dry-rot. Damp, unventilated situations are most favourable to the development of dry-rot Fungi.Various methods have been proposed for the prevention of dry-rot; that most in favour is thoroughly saturating the wood with creosote, which makes the wood unfit for vegetation, but proper ventilation is the surest safeguard.
Dual, in grammar, that number which is used, in some languages, to designate two things, whilst another number (the plural) exists to express many. The Greek, Sanskrit, and Gothic among ancient languages, and the Lithuanian and Arabic among modern, possess forms of the verb and noun in which two persons or things are denoted, called thedualnumbers.
Du´alism, the philosophical exposition of the nature of things by the hypothesis of two dissimilar primitive principles not derived from each other. Dualism in religion is chiefly confined to the adoption of a belief in two fundamental beings, a good and an evil one, as is done in some Oriental religions, especially that of Zoroaster. In metaphysics, dualism is the doctrine of those who maintain the existence of matter and form, or mind and matter, as distinct substances, in opposition to idealism, which maintains that we have no knowledge or assurance of the existence of anything but our own ideas or sensations. Dualism may correspond with realism in maintaining that our ideas of things are true transcripts of the originals, or rather of the qualities inherent in them, the spirit acting as a mirror and reflecting their true images; or it may hold that, although produced by outward objects, we have no assurance that in reality these at all correspond to our ideas of them, or even that they produce the same idea in two different minds. Among modern philosophers Professor W. M‘Dougall and Bergson have defended the doctrine of dualism. SeeMonism.—Bibliography: J. Ward,The Realm of Ends; W. James,Essays in Radical Empiricism; H. Bergson,Matter and Memory.
Dubail, Augustin Edmond, French general, born at Belfort 15th April, 1851. He served in the Franco-Prussian War, and was for many years colonel of a Zouave regiment in Algeria. Chief of the Staff of the French army in 1914, he commanded the First Army operating in Alsace-Lorraine, and successfully defended Nancy. Appointed Military Governor of Paris in 1915, he held this post until June, 1918.
Du Barry, Marie Jeanne Bécu, Comtesse, mistress of Louis XV, was born at Vaucouleurs in 1743. She came young to Paris, and was presented to the king in 1769, who had her married for form's sake to the Comte du Barry. She exercised a powerful influence at court, and with some of her confidants completely ruled the king. Important offices and privileges were in her gift, and the courtiers abased themselves before her. After the death of Louis she was dismissed from court and sent to live in a convent near Meaux. She received a pension from Louis XVI. During the reign of terror she was arrested as a Royalist and executed, Nov., 1793.—Cf. N. Williams,Madame du Barry.
Dubit´za, a fortified town of Bosnia, in Yugo-Slavia, on the right bank of the Unna, about 10 miles from its confluence with the Save. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries it was a frequent point of contention between Austria and Turkey. In 1878, with the rest of Bosnia, it passed under Austrian administration. Pop. 3260.—Dubitza, in Croatia, on the opposite bank of the Unna, has 6660 inhabitants.
Dub´lin, the metropolis of Ireland, is situated in County Dublin, on the east coast of the island, at the mouth of the Liffey, the banks of which for more than 2 miles from the sea are lined with quays. The river, which divides the city into two unequal parts, is crossed by numerous bridges. In the old part of the city the streets are irregular, narrow, and filthy; in the more modern and aristocratic quarters there are fine streets, squares, and terraces, but with little pretension to architectural merit. The public buildings, however, are especially numerous and handsome. The main thoroughfare, east to west, is by the magnificent quays along the Liffey. The principal street at right angles to the river is Sackville Street, a splendid street 650 yards long and 40 yards wide, forming a thoroughfare which is continued across the river by O'Connell Bridge, a magnificent structure the same width as Sackville Street. The principal public secular buildings are the castle, the official residence of the viceroy; the Bank of Ireland, formerly the Irish Parliament House; Trinity College; the custom-house, destroyed in 1921; the King's Inns; the post office; rotunda; corn exchange; commercial buildings; the mansion house; and the city hall or corporation buildings. The most important literary and scientific institutions are Trinity College (Dublin University); the National University of Ireland; the Royal College of Science; the Catholic University; the College of Surgeons; the Royal Dublin Society; the Royal Hibernian Academy of Painting, Sculpture, and Architecture; the Royal Irish Academy for Promoting the Study of Science, Literature, and Antiquities; the Archæological Society; and the Royal Zoological Society. Dublin contains two Protestant Episcopal cathedrals—St. Patrick's Cathedral, erected in 1190, and thoroughly restored between 1860 and 1865, through the munificence of Sir Benjamin Lee Guinness; and Christ's Church, built in 1038 and restored between 1870 and 1877, the restoration being carried out at the expense of Henry Roe. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is a very large edifice. The charitable institutions are numerous, and someof them possess splendid buildings. There are several extensive military and constabulary barracks in the city and vicinity. A little north-west of the city, up the Liffey, is the Phœnix Park, with an area of 1759 acres. In it are the Viceregal Lodge, the usual residence of the King's representative; the Chief Secretary's and Under-Secretary's official residences; the Royal Hibernian Military School; and the depot of the Royal Irish Constabulary; as also the gardens of the Royal Zoological Society. The manufactures carried on are of little note: poplins, for which Dublin has been long celebrated, are still in some request, and brewing and distilling are largely carried on. Since 1918 Dublin returns seven members to the House of Commons. The Sinn Fein members, however, elected in 1918, never attended the Imperial Parliament. Serious risings occurred in Dublin at Easter 1916, in 1919, and 1920, and there were also disorders in May 1921. Dublin is an ancient town, but its early history is obscure. It was held by the Danes for more than three centuries from 836. Pop. 399,000 (1919). The county, which is in the province of Leinster, on the east coast of the island, has an area of 218,873 acres, about a third of it under crops of various kinds, chiefly grass and clover. The surface on the whole is flat, but the ground rises at its southern boundary into a range of hills, the highest of which—Kippure—is 2473 feet above the sea. There is about 70 miles of sea-coast, the chief indentation being Dublin Bay. The principal stream is the Liffey, which intersects the county west to east. Important water communications are the Royal and the Grand Canals, both centering in Dublin, and uniting the Liffey with the Shannon. The manufactures are unimportant, but the fisheries are extensive. Since 1918 the county returns four members to the House of Commons. Pop. 172,394; Dublin (county borough), 304,802.—Cf. D. A. Chart,The Story of Dublin.
Dublin, University of, an institution founded in 1591, when a charter, or letters-patent, was granted by Queen Elizabeth for the incorporation of the "College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity", the University and Trinity College being practically the same. The corporation now consists of a provost, seven senior fellows, twenty-six junior fellows, and seventy foundation scholars. The Senate of the university consists of "the chancellor of the university, or in his absence, of the vice-chancellor, and such doctors or masters of the university as shall have and keep their names on the books of Trinity College". The Senate possesses the right of electing the chancellor of the university; it is also the body which grants degrees. The fellows are appointed for life, after an examination. The scholars are chosen from among the undergraduates, after an examination in mathematics and logic, or in Greek, Latin, and logic. The scholarships are tenable for five years, or till the degree ofM.A.is attained. The course of general instruction extends over four years. The academical year is divided into three terms—Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity—and every student must keep at least two terms in each year in order to obtain a degree. The system of instruction is superintended by the fellows, both junior and senior, together with a large staff of professors in the various departments of science and literature. Eighteen of the junior fellows act as tutors, and every student must place himself under one of these on entering the college. TheB.A.degree is given after examination in the usual subjects, and may be a pass or honours degree; theM.A., as at Oxford and Cambridge, is gained by the payment of a fee after a certain time has elapsed. There are also a law school, a medical school, and a school of engineering, and degrees are granted in these subjects, as well as in arts and divinity. The college possesses a library of about 285,000 printed volumes and 1700 manuscripts. It has also a botanic garden and museum. In 1613 James I granted to the university the right of returning two members to Parliament. One was taken away at the Union, but was restored by the Reform Bill of 1832. The number of students in 1920 was 1350.—Cf.Dublin University Calendar.
Dubno, a town of the Ukraine, government of Volhynia. It was a place of some importance before the annexation of Western Poland by Russia. During the European War it was recaptured in the Russian advance in June, 1916. Pop. 14,000.
Dubois(du˙-bwä), Guillaume, a French cardinal, was the son of an apothecary, born in 1656, died 1723. He became tutor to the Duke of Chartres, afterwards Duke of Orleans and Regent, and maintained his influence by pandering to the vices of his pupil. He became Privy Councillor and overseer of the duke's household, and Minister for Foreign Affairs under the regency. The archbishopric of Cambrai having become vacant, Dubois ventured to request it of the regent, although he was not even a priest. The regent was astonished at his boldness; but he obtained the post, having in one morning received all the clerical orders, and, a few days after, the archbishopric. By his consummate address he obtained a cardinal's hat, and in 1721 was appointed Prime Minister. Dubois was an avaricious, lying, licentious creature, yet clever and industrious, and able to make himself very agreeable where it suited his interest.
Dubois(du˙-bwä), Paul, French sculptor, born 1829, died in 1905. He first studied law, butfrom 1856 to 1858 gave himself up to sculpture under Toussaint at Paris, and then went to Italy, where the sculptors of the early Renaissance, Donatello and Luca Della Robbia, had a decided influence upon him. Among his works are aSt. John, aNarcissus, aMadonna and Child,Eve Awakening to Life, a figure ofSongfor the opera-house at Paris, and numerous busts; but his greatest work is the monument of General Lamoricière in the Cathedral of Nantes, with figures ofMilitary Courage,Charity,Faith, andMeditation, which rank among the best products of French plastic art. He is also distinguished as a painter of portraits. He was director of the École des Beaux Arts from 1878 until his death, and received the grand cross of the Legion of Honour.
Du Bois-Reymond(du˙bwä-rā-mōn˙), Emil, German physiologist, and an especial authority on animal electricity, born at Berlin 1818, died in 1896. He studied theology, geology, and afterwards anatomy and physiology, and became professor of physiology in the University of Berlin in 1858. His principal publication isResearches in Animal Electricity.
Dubov´ka, a town of South Russia, government of Saratov, on the Volga; it has an extensive river trade in wool, iron, oil, and grain. Pop. 16,530.
Dubuque(du-būk´), a city of Iowa, United States, on the right bank of the Mississippi. It occupies an important commercial position as a railway centre and entrepôt for the agricultural and mineral products of the northern half of Iowa, and the timber of Wisconsin, and also from the valuable lead-mines in its vicinity. Pop. 39,428.
Ducange(du˙-känzh), Charles Dufresne, Sieur, a French historian and linguist, was born in 1610 near Amiens, died at Paris 1688. He studied in the Jesuits' College at Amiens, afterwards at Orleans and Paris. At this last place he became Parliamentary Advocate in 1631, and in 1645 Royal Treasurer at Amiens, from which place he was driven by a pestilence, in 1668, to Paris. Here he devoted himself entirely to literature, and published his great works, viz. hisGlossaries of the Greek and Latin peculiar to the Middle Ages and the Moderns, hisHistoria Byzantina, theAnnals of Zonaras, theNumismatics of the Middle Ages, and other important works.
Ducas, Michael, Byzantine historian, flourished in the fifteenth century. HisHistoria Byzantina, which contains a reliable account of the siege and sack of Constantinople, was largely used by Gibbon.
Duc´at(Lat.ducātus, a duchy), a coin formerly common in several European states. They were either of silver or gold: value of the former, 3s.to 4s., of the latter about 9s.4d.They were named from being first coined in one of the Italian duchies.
Ducatoon´, formerly a Dutch silver coin worth 3 gulden 3 stivers, or 5s.3d.sterling. There were coins of the same name in Italy. In Tuscany its value was about 5s.5d., in Savoy slightly more, and in Venice about 4s.9d.
Du Chaillu(du˙-shā-yü), Paul Belloni, traveller, born in Paris 1835, died 1903. He spent his youth in the French settlement at the Gaboon, on the west coast of Africa, where his father was a merchant. In 1852 he went to the United States, of which he afterwards became a naturalized citizen. In 1855 he began his first journey through Western Africa, and stayed till 1859 alone among the different tribes, travelling on foot upwards of 8000 miles. He collected several gorillas, never before hunted, and rarely, if ever, before seen by any European. An account of this journey,Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa, was published in 1861. A second expedition was made in 1863, an account of which, under the titleA Journey to Ashango Land, appeared in 1867.The Land of the Midnight Sun, an account of a tour in Northern Europe (1881), had a considerable success. He published a number of books intended for boys, and based on his travels. One of his works isThe Viking Age(1889), on the ancestors of the English-speaking peoples.
Duchesne, orDu Chesne(du˙-shān), André, French historian, born in 1584, died in 1640. His most important works are his collection of French historians—Historiæ Francorum Scriptores;Historiæ Normanorum Scriptores 838-1220;Histoire d'Angleterre, d'Écosse, et d'Irlande;Histoire des Papes.
Ducis(dü-sēs), Jean François, French dramatic writer, born at Versailles 1733, died 1816. Of his original works, the tragedyAbufarwas much admired; but he is now best known for his adaptations of Shakespeare to the Parisian stage.
MallardMallard or Wild-duck
Duck, the name given to web-footed birds constituting the sub-family Anatinæ of the family Anatidæ, which also includes swans and geese. The ducks are very numerous as species, and are met with all over the world. They are often migratory, going northward in summer to their breeding-places. Their food is partly vegetable, partly animal. The common mallard or wild-duck (Anas boschas) is the original of the domestic duck. In its wild state the male is characterized by the deep green of the plumage of the head and neck, by a white collar separating the green from the dark chestnut of the lower part of the neck, and by having the four middle feathers of the tail recurved. The wild-duck is taken in large quantities by decoys and other means. Some tame duckshave nearly the same plumage as the wild ones; others vary greatly, being generally duller or pure white, but all the males have the four recurved tail-feathers. There are several favourite varieties of the domestic duck, those of Normandy and Picardy in France, and the Aylesbury ducks in England, being remarkable for their great size and delicacy of flesh. Other species of the sub-family are: shoveller (Spatula clypeata), garganey (Querquedula circia), pintail or sea-pheasant (Dafila acuta), teal (Nettion crecca), widgeon (Mareca penelope), gadwall (Chaulelasmus streperus), sheldrake (Tadorna cornuta), tree-ducks (species of Dendrocygna). In a wider sense the name 'duck' is applied to species of other sub-families of the Anatidæ as follows: Merganettinæ: blue duck (Hymenolæmus malacorhynchus) of New Zealand. Erismaturinæ: musk duck (Biziura lobata) of Tasmania and Australia. Lake ducks (species of Erismatura). Fuligulinæ: eider duck (Somateria mollissima), q.v.; scoter or black duck (Œdemia nigra); harlequin duck (Cosmonetta histrionica); logger-head or steamer duck (Tachyeres cinereus) of South America: scaup (Fuligula marila); canvas back (F. vallisneria), q.v.; pochard (Nyroca ferina). Plectopterinæ: summer duck (Aix sponsa) of N. America and Cuba; mandarin duck (A. galericulata) of E. Asia; Muscovy or musk duck (Cairina moschata), ranging from Mexico to the Argentine.—Bibliography: Nourse,Turkeys, Ducks, and Geese; Rankin,Natural and Artificial Duck Culture; J. G. Millais,British Diving Ducks.
Ducking-stool, a stool or chair in which common scolds were formerly tied and plunged into water. They were of different forms, but that most commonly in use consisted of an upright post and a transverse movable beam on which the seat was fitted or from which it was suspended by a chain. The ducking-stool is mentioned inDomesday Book(Chester): it was extensively in use throughout the country from the fifteenth till the beginning of the eighteenth century, and in one case—at Leominster—was used as late as 1809.
Duckweed, the popular name of several species of Lemna, nat. ord. Lemnaceæ, plants growing in ditches and shallow water, floating on the surface, and serving as food for ducks and geese. Five species are known in Britain, and others are common in America. They consist of small fronds bearing naked unisexual flowers.
Duckworth, Sir John Thomas, a British admiral, born in 1748, died 1817. He joined the navy when eleven years of age; and was post-captain in 1780. In 1793, on the breaking out of the French war, he was appointed to the command of theOrion, 74, forming part of the Channel fleet under Lord Howe, and distinguished himself in 1794 in the great naval victory on 1st June. In 1798 he aided in the capture of Minorca. From 1800 to 1806 he rendered important services on the West India station, in particular gaining a complete victory over a French squadron, for which he received a pension of £1000 a year and the thanks of both Houses of Parliament. In 1807, having been ordered to Constantinople, he forced the passage of the Dardanelles, but suffered severely from the Turkish batteries in returning. From 1810 to 1814 he commanded the Newfoundland fleet, and in 1817 he was appointed to the chief command at Plymouth. In 1813 he was created a baronet.
Duclos(du˙-klō), Charles Pinot, a French novelist, writer of memoirs, and grammarian, born in 1704 at Dinant, died at Paris 1772. He became secretary of the French Academy, and on the resignation of Voltaire he was appointed to the office of historiographer of France. His writings are lively and satirical. Among the best are:Confessions du Comte de * * *(1741),Considérations sur les Mœurs de ce Siècle,Mémoires secrets sur les Règnes de Louis XIV et XV, andRemarques sur la Grammaire générale de Port-Royal.
Ductil´ity, the property of solid bodies, particularly metals, which renders them capable of being extended by drawing, while their thickness or diameter is diminished, without any actual fracture or separation of their parts. The following is nearly the order of ductility of the metals which possess the property in the highest degree, that of the first mentioned being the greatest: gold, silver, platinum, iron, copper,nickel, palladium, cadmium, zinc, tin, lead. Dr. Wollaston succeeded in obtaining a wire of platinum only1/30000th of an inch in diameter. The ductility of glass at high temperatures seems to be unlimited, while its flexibility increases in proportion to the fineness to which its threads are drawn.
Duddon, an English river which flows 20 miles along the boundaries of Cumberland and Lancashire to the Irish Sea, and is the subject of a series of sonnets by Wordsworth, written in 1820.
Du Deffand, Madame. SeeDeffand.
Duderstadt(dö´dėr-sta˙t), an old German town, province of Hanover, 10 miles east of Göttingen, formerly a member of the Hanseatic League and a place of some importance. Pop. 5380.
Dudevant, Madame. SeeSand, George.
Dud´ley, Sir Edmund, born 1462, executed 1510, noted in English history as an instrument of Henry VII in the arbitrary acts of extortion by the revival of obsolete statutes and other unjust measures practised during the latter years of his reign. On the accession of Henry VIII he was arrested for high treason, and perished on the scaffold with his associate Sir Richard Empson.
Dudley, Lord Guildford, son of John, Duke of Northumberland, was married in 1553 to Lady Jane Grey, whose claim to the throne the duke intended to assert on the death of Edward VI. On the failure of the plot Lord Guildford was condemned to death, but the sentence was not carried into effect till the insurrection of Wyatt induced Mary to order his immediate execution (1554).
Dudley, John, Duke of Northumberland, son of Sir Edmund Dudley, minister of Henry VII, was born in 1502, beheaded 1553. He was left by Henry VIII one of the executors named in his will, as a kind of joint-regent during the minority of Edward VI. Under that prince he manifested the most insatiable ambition, and obtained vast accessions of honours, power, and emoluments. The illness of the king, over whom he had gained complete ascendency, aroused his fears, and he endeavoured to strengthen his interest by marrying his son Lord Guildford Dudley to Lady Jane Grey, descended from the younger sister of Henry VIII, and persuaded Edward to settle the crown on his kinswoman by will, to the exclusion of his two sisters, the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth. The attempt to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne failed, and many of the conspirators were executed.
Dudley, Robert, Earl of Leicester. SeeLeicester.
Dudley, a town and parliamentary borough of England, in an isolated part of Worcestershire enclosed by Staffordshire, 8 miles west by north of Birmingham. It is situated in the midst of the 'black country', and has extensive coal-mines, iron-mines, ironworks, and limestone quarries. It produces nails, chain-cables, anchors, vices, boilers, fire-irons, and has also glassworks, brickworks, and brass-foundries. There are the remains of a castle, said to have been founded in the eighth century by a Saxon prince called Dud, who has given the town its name. Dudley returns one member to Parliament. Pop. of municipal borough, 51,079.
Dudley Limestone, a highly fossiliferous limestone belonging to the Silurian system, occurring near Dudley, and equivalent to the Wenlock limestone. It abounds in beautiful masses of coral, shells, and trilobites.
Duel(Lat.duellum, fromduo, two), a premeditated and prearranged combat between two persons with deadly weapons, for the purpose of deciding some private difference or quarrel. The combat generally takes place in the presence of witnesses called seconds, who make arrangements as to the mode of fighting, place the weapons in the hands of the combatants, and see that the laws they have laid down are carried out. The origin of the practice of duelling is referred to the trial by 'wager of battle' which obtained in early ages. This form of duel arose among the Germanic peoples, and a judicial combat of the kind was authorized by Gundebald, King of the Burgundians, as early asA.D.501. When the judicial combat declined, the modern duel arose, being probably to some extent an independent outcome of the spirit and institutions of chivalry. France was the country in which it arose, the sixteenth century being the time at which it first became common, especially after the challenge of Francis I to Charles V in 1528. Upon every insult or injury which seemed to touch his honour, a gentleman thought himself entitled to draw his sword, and to call on his adversary to give him satisfaction, and it is calculated that 6000 persons fell in duels during ten years of the reign of Henri IV. His minister, Sully, remonstrated against the practice; but the king connived at it, supposing that it tended to maintain a military spirit among his people. In 1602, however, he issued a decree against it, and declared it to be punishable with death. Many subsequent prohibitions were issued, but they were all powerless to stop the practice. During the minority of Louis XIV, more than 4000 nobles are said to have lost their lives in duels. The practice of duelling was introduced into England from France in the reign of James I; but it was never so common as in the latter country. Cromwell was an enemy of the duel, and during the Protectorate there was a cessation of the practice. It cameagain into vogue, however, after the Restoration, thanks chiefly to the French ideas that then inundated the court. As society became more polished duels became more frequent, and they were never more numerous than in the reign of George III. Among the principals in the chief duels of this period were Charles James Fox, Sheridan, Pitt, Canning, Castlereagh, the Duke of York, the Duke of Richmond, and Lord Camelford. The last mentioned was the most notorious duellist of his time, and was himself killed in a duel in 1804. A duel was fought between the Duke of Wellington and Lord Winchelsea in 1829, but the practice was dying out. It lasted longest in the army. By English law fatal duelling is considered murder, no matter how fair the combat may have been, and the seconds are liable to the same penalty as the principals. In 1813 the principal and seconds in a fatal duel were sentenced to death, though afterwards pardoned. An officer in the army having anything to do with a duel renders himself liable to be cashiered. In France duelling still prevails to a certain extent; but the combats are usually very bloodless and ridiculous affairs. In theGermanarmy until 1918 it was common, and was recognized by law. The duels of German students, so often spoken of, seldom cause serious bloodshed.—Bibliography: Millingen,History of Duelling; Steinmetz,Romance of Duelling; G. Letainturier-Fradin,Le duel à travers les âges; C. A. Thimm,Bibliography of Fencing and Duelling; A. Hutton,The Sword and the Centuries.
Duen´na, the chief lady-in-waiting on the Queen of Spain. In a more general sense, an elderly woman holding a middle station between a governess and companion, appointed to take charge of the young daughters of Spanish and Portuguese families.
Dufaure(du˙-fōr), Jules Armand Stanislas, French orator and statesman, born 1798, died 1881. He practised law at Bordeaux; entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1834, and became an influential leader of the Liberal party. Under the Republic he was Minister of the Interior, but was driven from the public service by thecoup d'étatof 1851, and for the next twenty years devoted himself closely to his Bar practice and pamphlet writing. Under the Government of Thiers he acted as Minister of Justice; and in 1876, and again from 1877 to 1879, he was head of the Cabinet.
Duff, Alexander, Scottish missionary, born 1806, died 1878. Educated at St. Andrews University, in 1829 he set out for India as the first Church of Scotland missionary to that country, and reached Calcutta after being twice shipwrecked. He opened a school in which he taught successfully the doctrines of Christianity, as well as general knowledge, but on his secession (along with the other missionaries of the Church) from the Church of Scotland in 1843, he had to give up the school and begin again. In 1849 he visited Scotland, where he remained until 1856. He assisted in founding the University of Calcutta, and, having been obliged to return home for reasons of health, he raised £10,000 to endow a missionary chair in the New College, Edinburgh, becoming himself its first occupant. His chief writings are:The Church of Scotland's India Mission(1835);Vindication of the Church of Scotland's India Mission(1837);India and India Missions(1840);The Jesuits(1845); andThe Indian Mutiny: its Causes and Results(a series of letters published in 1858).
Duff, Sir Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant, writer on political and other subjects, born in Aberdeenshire in 1829, died in 1906. He was educated at Edinburgh Academy, The Grange, Bishop Wearmouth, and Balliol College, Oxford, was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple in 1854, and in 1857 entered the House of Commons as Liberal member for the Elgin Burghs, which constituency he continued to represent until 1881. He was Under-Secretary for India in W. E. Gladstone's ministry from 1868 to 1874, and Under-Secretary for the Colonies from 1880 to 1881, in which latter year he was appointed Governor of Madras. His Indian administration was most successful, and on his retirement in 1886 he was made aG.C.S.I.He was president of the Royal Geographical Society from 1889 to 1893, and of the Royal Historical Society from 1892 to 1899, and was also a trustee of the British Museum. His published works include:Studies in European Politics(1866);A Political Survey(1868);Elgin Speeches(1871);Notes of an Indian Journey(1876);Miscellanies, Political and Literary(1879);Memoir of Sir H. S. Maine(1892);Ernest Renan(1893); andNotes from a Diary(7 vols., 1897-1905).
Duff´erin and Ava, Frederick Temple Hamilton-Blackwood, Marquess of, British statesman and author, son of the fourth Baron Dufferin and a granddaughter of R. B. Sheridan, born at Florence 1826, died in 1902. He began his public services in 1855, when he was attached to Earl Russell's mission to Vienna. Subsequently he was sent as Commissioner to Syria in connection with the massacre of the Christians (1860); was Under-Secretary of State for India (1864-6); Under-Secretary for War (1866); Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (1868-72); Governor-General of Canada (1872-78); Ambassador at St. Petersburg (1879-81); at Constantinople (1882); sent to Cairo to settle the affairs of the country after Arabi Pasha's rebellion (1882-3); Viceroy of India (1884-8); Ambassador to Italy (1889-91); to France (1891-96). Hewas elected president of the Royal Geographical Society in 1878, and Lord Rector of Glasgow University in 1891. Besides being a noted diplomatist, he was also a popular author. In 1847 he publishedNarrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen during the year of the Irish Famine; in 1860,Letters from High Latitudes; also various pamphlets on Irish questions. In 1888 he was made Marquess of Dufferin and Ava.—Cf. Sir A. Lyall,Life of the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava.
Dufrénoy(du˙-frė-nwä) Pierre Armand, French geologist and mineralogist, born in 1792, died in 1857. He became director of the school of mines, and published a great variety of papers on geology and mineralogy. In 1841 he published, in collaboration with Élie de Beaumont, a great geological map of France with three volumes of text, and this was followed by hisTraité de Minéralogie. He introduced a new classification of minerals, based on crystallography.
Dufresny(du˙-frā-nē), Charles Rivière, a French comic poet, born in 1648, died in 1724. He was clever and versatile, and had great skill as a landscape-gardener and an architectural designer. Among his dramatic pieces may be mentionedL'Esprit de Contradiction,Le Mariage Fait et Rompu, andLe Double Veuvage. He also wroteAmusements sérieux et comiques d'un Siamois, which suggested to Montesquieu hisLettres Persanes.
Dug´dale, Sir William, an English antiquary, born in 1605 of a good family in Warwickshire, died 1686. He was made Chester herald in 1644; accompanied Charles I through the civil war; and after the Restoration received knighthood, and was appointed garter king-at-arms. In concert with Roger Dodsworth he produced an important work on English monasteries entitledMonasticon Anglicanum. Among his other works are:Antiquities of Warwickshire;The Baronage or Peerage of England;Origines Judiciales, or Historical Memoirs of the English Law, Courts of Justice, &c.; aHistory of St. Paul's Cathedral; and various minor writings. He also completed and published the second volume of Spelman'sConcilia.