Diffraction Of Light
Diffraction Of Light, The Bending Of The Rays Of Light, Due To Interference, As Of The Slits Or Ruled Lines In A Diffraction Grating. The Study Of The Diffraction Of Light Has Given Us The Spectrum, And The Study Of Spectra, Through The Spectroscope, Has Added Greatly To The Sum ...
Diffusion
Diffusion, In Physics, Is The Gradual And Spontaneous Molecular Intermingling Of Two Gases Or Two Liquids In Contact Into A Homo Geneous Mixture. It Takes Place Regardless Of Or In Opposition To Gravitation And Is Due To The Mutual Attraction Of Molecules. Diffusion Is Most Commonly Observed Between Gases, And ...
Digby
Digby, Sra Kendal, English Author, Diplo Matist And Naval Commander : B. Gothurst, Buck Inghamshire, 11 July 1603; D. London, 11 June 1665. His Great-grandfather Bore Arms For Henry Vii On Bosworth Field; His Father, Sir Everard (q.v.), Died On The Scaffold As One Of The Leading Catholic Gentry Implicated ...
Digester
Digester, A Closed Boiler In Which A Tem Perature Above The Boiling Point Can Be Obtained, The Hot Water And Steam Disintegrating Or Di Gesting The Substance Treated. The Invention Of The Digester Is Credited To Denis Papin, A French Scientist. He Noted That Anything Boiled In An Open Vessel ...
Digestion
Digestion. The Word Digestion Desig Nates The Physical And Chemical Changes Which Food Substances Must Undergo Before They Can Be Absorbed Into The Blood And Lymph. Only A Few Food Substances Can Become Part Of The Body Without Previous Change. These Are Water, Certain Salts And Grape Sugar. The Most ...
Dighton Rock
Dighton Rock, A Boulder Of *green Stone" (in Fact, Bluish-gray), In Berkley, Bristol County, Mass., Opposite Dighton, The Landing Place For It; On The East Shore Of The Taunton River, About 10 Feet From Low-water Mark, And Covered Two Or Three Feet Deep At Each Flood Tide. It Is Feet ...
Digitalin
Digitalin, The Commercial Name For A Compound Substance Extracted From The Seeds Of The Common Foxglove (digitalis Purpurea), And Containing Digitoxin And The Three Glucosides, Digitonin, Digitalin And Digi Talein; And Probably Others. Some Of These Are Deadly Poisons, But Of Great Medicinal Value, While Others Are Almost Inactive Or ...
Digitalis
Digitalis, Dij-i-tatis, A Name Given To The Leaves Of The Plant Digitalis Purpurea (see Foxglove), Of The Second Year's Growth. This Is A Biennial Herb Which Is Largely Cultivated For Ornament. It Is About Two To Five Feet High, With Large Succulent Leaves And Tubular Urn Shaped Purple Flowers Growing ...
Dilke
Dilke, Charles Wentworth, English Journalist, Antiquary And Critic: B. 8 Dec. 1789; D. Hampshire, 10 Aug. 1864. He Entered The Civil Service As A Youth, Became A Clerk In The Navy Pay Office And Retired On A Pension In 1836. All His Leisure Meanwhile Was Devoted To Litera Ture, And ...
Dilke_2
Dilke, Sin Charles Wentworth, M.p., 2d Baronet, English Statesman And Author: B. London, 4 Sept. 1843; D. There, 26 Jan. 1911. Eldest Son Of The First Baronet Of That Name And Grandson Of The Critic, C. W. Dilke (q.v.). Educated At Trinity Hall, Cambridge, He Was Graduated With Honors And ...
Dill
Dill, Sul Samuel, British Educator: B. 26 Jan. 1844. He Was Educated At Queen's Col Lege, Belfast, And At Lincoln College, Oxford, And In 1869 Became Lecturer At The Latter. He Was Fellow, Dean And Tutor Of Corpus Christi College 1869-77, Headmaster Of The Manchester Grammar School 1877-88. After 1889 ...
Diminutive
Diminutive, In Grammar (lat., Dimin Utivum), A Word Formed By Adding A Suffix Conveying The Idea Of Littleness And Other Con Nected Ideas, As Tenderness, Affection, Contempt, Etc. The Opposite Of Diminutive Is Augmentative. In Latin, Diminutives Almost Always End In Lus, La, Or Him; As Tulliola, Meum Cordulum, Little ...
Dinant
Dinant, De-naii Or De-nant', Belgium, A Town In The Province Of Namur, Picturesquely Situated On The Meuse, 17 Miles South Of The City Of Namur. Notable Buildings Are The Church Of Notre Dame, An Ancient And Richly Decorated Structure, And The City Hall, Once The Palace Of The Princes Of ...
Dingo
Dingo, The Australian Wild Dog (canis Dingo), The Only Species Of Dog Known To Exist In Both The Wild And The Domesticated States And Also The Only Carnivorous Placental Mammal In Australia. It Is Sometimes Considered As Being Of Asiatic Origin, The Theory Being That It Was Brought To Australia ...
Dinosauria
Dinosauria. A Group Of Reptilian Ani Mals Which Flourished During The Mesozoic Era, Or The Age Of Reptiles. They Were In Many Ways The Ruling Or Dominant Forms Of That Time And As Such Filled The Various Roles Of Ter Restrial Animals As Do The Warm-blooded Mam Mals Of To-day. ...
Dinwiddie Court House
Dinwiddie Court-house And White Oak Road, Battle Of. General Grant, Besieging Petersburg, Issued Orders 24 March 1865 For A Movement On The 29th To Destroy The Railroads Leading Into The City From The South To Force Lee To Come Out Of His Entrenchments And Fight On Open Ground, Or So ...
Diocletian
Diocletian, Dro-ideshan (gaius Aure Lius Valerius Diocletianus, Surnamed Jovius), Roman Emperor: B. Dioclea, Dalmatia, 245 A.d.; D. Salona, Dalmatia, 313. He Was Of Humble Origin But Attained Distinction In The Army And Held Important Military Commands Under The Emperors Probus And Aurelian. He Accom Panied Carus To The Persian War ...
Diodati
Diodati, De-o-di'te, Giovanni, Italian Protestant Clergyman: B. Lucca About 1576; D. Geneva, 3 Oct. 1649. He Was For Some Time Professor, First Of Hebrew, Then Of Theology, In Geneva, And In 1618-19 Represented The Gen Evan Clergy At The Synod Of Dort, And Aided In Drawing Up The Belgic Confession ...
Diogenes
Diogenes, Di-oj'e-nez, The Most Famous Of The Cynic Philosophers: B. About 412 Ac., In Sinope, City Of Pontus In Asia; D. Corinth 323 B.c. Having Been Banished From His Native Place With His Father Icesias, A Banker, Who Had Been Accused Of Coining False Money, He Went To Athens And ...
Dionysius Of Halicarnassus
Dionysius Of Halicarnassus, Greek Critic, Historian And Rhetorician : B. About 50 B.c.; D. 7 S.c. He Came To Rome About 29 B.c., And Lived There On Terms Of Intimacy With Many Distinguished Contemporaries Till His Death. His Most Valuable Work Is His 'archmologia,) Writ Ten In Greek, A History ...
Dionysius The Areopagite
Dionysius The Areopagite, Con Verted To Christianity By Saint Paul (acts Xvii, 34), During The Apostle's Visit To Athens. Diony Sius Is Called The Areopagite Because He Was. A Member Of The High Court Of Athens, The Pages, Which Held Its' Sessions Cm Mars Hill. Was Generally Believed By The ...
Dionysius The Elder
Dionysius The Elder, Syracusan Tyrant: B. 431; D. 367 S.c. He First Attracted General Notice During The War Against Carthage. When Agrigentum Fell, He Openly Accused The Generals Concerned, Brought About Their Dis Missal And Had Another Staff Appointed Of Which He Himself Was A Member. In A Short Dme ...
Diphtheria
Diphtheria (gr. Diplitheria, A Skin, Piece Of Leather, Extended In Meaning To' Corn Prise Membrane), A Contagious And (in Its Severe Forms) Malignant Disease, Caused By A Specific Bacillus, And Generally Characterized By The Formation Of A Fibrinous False Membrane In The Throat. Although Previously Observed, It Was First Clearly ...
Dipnoi
Dipnoi, One Of The Primary Subdivisions Of Fishes, Characterized By The Presence Of Mem Brane Or Covering Bones On The Skull, The Ab Sence Of Secondary Bony Jaws (maxillary, Pre Maxillary And Dentary Bones), And The Direct Articulation Of The Lower Jaw With The Skull. The Dipnoi Were Early Predominant ...
Diptych
Diptych, A Tablet Consisting Of Two Leaves, Light Boards, Held Together By A Hinge. In The Time Of The Roman Empire Dip Tychs Were Much Used In Correspondence Be Tween Friends And Were Given By Magistrates Inscribed With Names And Portraits To Friends On The Assumption Of Office. Even When ...
Direct And Indirect Taxes
Direct And Indirect Taxes, The Former Are Those Which In Theory The Bearer Cannot Transfer To Others, By Adding Correspond Ent Charges To Goods Or Service; Distin Guished From Indirect, Those On Goods For Sale, Which Will Be Added To Their Selling Price. Direct Taxes Are Laid According To Some ...
Directors
Directors, The Persons Authorized To Manage And Direct .the Affairs And Business Of A Corporation Or Company. The Directors Are Sometimes Called Managers Or Trustees In Ac Cordance With The Purpose And Nature For Which The Corporation Or Company Was Formed. At The Present Time, Nearly If Not All Corporations ...
Dirigible
Dirigible. Steerable, Drivable; Usually Applied To Lighter Than Air Flying Machines Which May Be Propelled And Guided. Form And If Ability To Rise In The Air Depended Merely Upon A Knowledge Of The Principle That Made It Possible, Dirigible Navi Gation Would Undoubtedly Have Been Accom Plished Many Centuries Ago. ...
Disciples Of Christ
Disciples Of Christ. The Religious Movement, Whose Representatives Have Come To Be Known As Disciples Of Christ, Or Christians, May Be Said To Date Its Origin From The 'dec Laration And Address' Issued By Thomas Camp Bell, September 1809, And Endorsed By His Son, Alexander Campbell, Who Later Became The ...
Disciplina
Disciplina, Arcani. The Name Given By John Dallwus To The Secret Discipline Of The Early Christian Church. The Early Church Had Nothing To Conceal. It Began After The Times Of The Apostles, Probably In The 2d Century And Was Finally Matured In The 4th Century. It Is Sup Posed To ...
Discipline
Discipline, Ecclesiastical. Church Dis Cipline Is The Method And Means Used By The Authorities Of The Church To Preserve The Purity And Morale Of Its Membership. The Old Tes Tament Basis For Discipline Is Almost Entirely Found In The Decalogue And The Book Of Leviti Cus. The Administration Of The ...
Disconto Gesellschaft
Disconto - Gesellschaft, The. The Disconto-gesellschaft ( Di Sconto-gesell Schaft In Berlin) Was Founded In 1851 As A *credit Partnership,* And In 1856 Was Changed Into A Limited Liability Joint-stock Company Under The Name Of *direiction Der Disconto Gesellschaf Li) With A Capital Of 30,000,000 Marks. Its Founder Was David ...
Discourses And Handbook Of
Discourses And Handbook Of Epictetus. When Domitian Banished The Philosophers From Rome, In 94 A.d., One Of The Exiles Was Epictetus, A Former Slave From Phrygia, Now A Professor Of The Stoic Philoso Phy. He Removed His School To Nicopolis, A Town Of Epirus, And There, Among Other Pupils, Received ...
Discrimination
Discrimination, Sensible, Or Dif Ferential Sensibility. A Term Em Ployed In Experimental Psychology To Denote Our Ability To Distinguish Likeness And Difference Among Sense Impressions. Thus, We Are Able To Say That One Tone Is The Same As Another, One Light Is Brighter Or Duller Than Another, One Scent Is ...
Disease
Disease. Disease Is A Lack Or Absence Of Ease; A Condition Of Uneasiness Or Of Pain. Pathologically, It Is A Collection Of Phenomena Occurring Constantly During Life And After Death, According To Savile; Huxley Defined It As Perturbation Of The Normal Activities Of A Liv Ing Body." Foster Conceives Of ...
Disinfectants
Disinfectants, Agents Used For De Stroying Or Rendering Inert The Germs Of In Fectious Diseases. It Has Been Amply Proved That A Large Number Of Diseases Are Of Microbic Origin, And When These Low Forms Of Micro Organisms Are Introduced Into The Bodies Of Sus Ceptible Individuals They Multiply And ...
Disinfection
Disinfection, Popularly, Speaking,. The Process Of Destroying The Micro-organisms Which Produce The Class Of Diseases Known As Infectious Or Contagious Diseases. These Dis Eases Are Communicated In Various Ways. Lep Rosy, Anthrax, Rabies, The Plague And Diseases Of The Genital System Are Communicated By The Direct Contact Of A Healthy ...
Dislocation
Dislocation, The Displacement Of One Bone From Another With Which It Forms A Joint. Thus By Dislocation A Limb Is Said To Be Put Out Of Joint. Dislocations Are The Result Of Either Disease, Accident Or Congenital Malformation. The Displacement May Be Either Partial Or Com Plete And Cases Are ...
Dispensary
Dispensary Is Literally A Place Where Medicine Or Food Is Weighed Out For Distribu Tion; In Our Own Day The Term Is Applied To A Charitable Institution Where Medical And Surgi Cal Aid Are Given Without Charge To Those Who Desire Or Need Them. Such Dispensaries Are Found In Most ...
Dispensation
Dispensation, In Canon Law, Is The Re Laxation Of A Law In A Particular Case: It Is An Act For Which The Lawgiver Is Competent As Re Gards Laws Enacted By Himself Or By His Prede Cessors To Whose Powers He Succeeds. It Dif Fers From Absolution, For It Not ...
Disputations
Disputations, Historic. Public De Bates On Religious Questions Are Of Very Ancient Origin According To The Tradition In The Midrash Which Represents Abraham As Holding A Debate With Nimrod. In 150 A.c. A Debate Was Held In Alexandria Before Ptolemy Philomater On The Comparative Pureness And Completeness Of The Jewish ...
Disraeli
D'israeli, Isaac, English Author: B. Lon Don, 11 May 1766; D. Buckinghamshire, 19 Jan. 1848. His Father, Benjamin D'israeli, Was The Descendant Of A Family Of Spanish Jews Which Had Settled At Venice In The 15th Century To Escape The Persecutions Of The Inquisition. He Was Educated At Enfield And ...
Dissociation
Dissociation (in Psychology). In Certain Pathological Conditions The Normal Nexus Of Relations Which Pervades The Consciousness Of An Individual Undergoes A Profound Altera Tion, And For All That Memory Can Do, A Portion Of The Experience Becomes A Sort Of Enclave, Cut Off From Its Associates By Boundaries Bar Ring ...
Dissociation
Dissociation, In Chemistry, Is The Reso Lution Of A •substance Into Other Substances, Whose Molecules Have A Simpler Constitution; But The Word Is Usually Applied Only To Those Reversible Resolutions In Which The Secondary Products Are Capable Of Recombining To Form The Primitive Substance, When The Conditions That Led To ...
Distemper
Distemper, A Germ Disease Of The Dog Family Commonly Considered As A Form Of In Fluenza. It Affects Not Only The Domestic Dog But Also Foxes, Wolves, Jackals And The Hyena. It Generally Attacks Young Dogs— Dogs Over A Year Old Rarely Take It — And Only Once During Life. ...
Distillation
Distillation Is A Special Application Of The Process Of Evaporation Which Has For Its Object The Separation Of The Component Parts Of A Complex Or Compound Substance. The Vapori Zation Is Done Generally By Heat With, In Some Cases, The Assistance Of A Vacuum, And The Vapors Are Collected And ...
Distilling Industry
Distilling Industry. There Can Be No Question But That Alcohol Is One Of The Most Important Substances Produced By The Art Of Man, For, Outside Of The Extensive Consump Tion Of Alcoholic Liquors As Beverages, It Is More Extensively Applied, And To A Greater Number Of Purposes Than Almost Any ...
Distribution
Distribution. The Distribution Of Wealth Or Prosperity Is To Be Sharply Distin Guished From The Circulation Of Goods. The Latter Refers To The Physical Movement Of Goods From Place To Place And From Hand To Hand. It Is A Part Of The Process Of Exchange. Dis Tribution, However, Refers To ...
Distribution Of Living Mam
Distribution Of Living Mam Mals. Mammals Live In Practically All Parts Of The Earth, Both On Land And In The Sea, Excepting The Icy Deserts Of Interior Greenland And About The South Pole. The Diversity Of Climate And Other Physical Conditions Within This Vast Area, During Both Past And Present ...
District
District, A Term Ordinarily Meaning A Region, A Tract Of Land, A Territory, But In The United States Usually Employed To Designate A Political Subdivision Of A State, County Or City Fixed For Purposes Of Legislative Or Congressional Representation, Either Under A Law Enacted By The Legislature Or By The ...
District Of Columbia
District Of Columbia, The National Capital And Its Adjoining Territory, Owned And Administered Directly By The United States Gov Ernment, To Prevent Its Action Being Hampered By Conflicts With Local Jurisdictions. It Con Sists Of 60 Square Miles Of Land And 10 Of Water On The Eastern Side Of The ...
Disuse
Disuse. It Is Familiar Knowledge That Continued Lack Of Use Of Any Particular Muscles In Our Body By Any One Of Us Tends To Make These Muscles Flabby And Weak; In A Word, These Disused Muscles Tend To Degenerate. This Is Not Only True Of Muscles But Of Many Other ...
Ditchfield
Ditchfield, Peter Hampaon, English Author And Clergyman : B. Westhoughton, Lan Cashire, 20 April 1854. He Was Educated At Oriel College, Oxford, Entered The Anglican Priesthood, And Has Been Rector Of Barkham, Berkshire, From 1886. He Is A Prolific Writer, Especially In The Field Of Ecclesiastical And Gen Eral Antiquities; ...
Diuretics
Diuretics, Drugs Used To Increase The Elimination Of Urine. Such Diuretics May Be Di Rect, In That They Affect The Renal Epithelium, Or Indirect, In That They Increase The Blood Pres Sure Within The Kidney And Thus Increase The Urine Elimination. This Is Largely An Artificial Classification, Since It Would ...
Diver
Diver, A Name Properly Restricted In Or Nithology To Birds Of The Family Colymbide, But Applied With Little Discrimination To Vari Ous Other Water-birds Of Similar Habits. The Compact, Depressed Body, Powerful, Posteriorly Placed Legs With Fully Webbed Feet, The Long Sinuous Neck And Stout Acute Bill Admirably Adapt Them ...
Divination
Divination (lat. Divinatio), The Art Or Act Of Fortelling Future Events, Or Discovering Things Secret Or Obscure, By The Aid Of Superior Beings, Or By Other Than Human Means. The Deri Vation Of The Word Indicates A Belief That Omens Are Sent By Divine Interposition. Natural Divina Tion Was Anciently ...
Divine Comedy
Divine Comedy, The. When Dante Was Nine Years Old He For The First Time Saw Beatrice, The Daughter Of Messer Folco Porti Nari And Madonna Gilla Caponsacchi. She Was His Junior By One Year; And Boccaccio Says That He "received Her Fair Image Into His Heart With Such Affection That ...
Diving
Diving, Plunging Into Water And Remain Ing Submerged For Greater Or Less Periods Of Time, With Or Without Communication With The Atmospheric Air. Diving Without The Aid Of Some Artificial Means To Supply The Diver With Air Under Water Is Now Rarely Practised (unless For Amusement) Except In Sponge, Coral ...
Divisibility
Divisibility, The Capability Of Being Separated Into Parts. A Metaphysical Problem, Long Discussed By Philosophers On Abstract Prin Ciples, Is The Divisibility Of Matter. The Micro Scope Reveals Only To An Infinitely Small Extent The Subdivision Of Substances And Tissues, Or Ganic And Inorganic. Even In The Mechanical Productions Of ...
Division Of Labor
Division Of Labor, In Economics, A Theory Based On The Principle That Industry Can Be Best Carried On When Each Man Has A Special Work To Do. Constant Practice In Doing The Same Thing Leads To A Perfection Which Could Not Otherwise Be Attained. The Classical Illustra Tion Of It ...
Divorce
Divorce, Court Of. See Court. Dix, Beulah Marie, (mrs. George H. Flebbe), American Novelist And Playwright: B. Kingston, Mass., 25 Dec. 1876. She Has Pub Lished 'hugh Gwyeth' (1899) ; 'soldier Rig Dale) (1899) ; 'the Making Of Christopher Fer Ringham> (1901) ; 'the Beau's Comedy) (with C. A. Harper, ...
Divorce
Divorce, The Disruption, By The Act Of Law, Of The Conjugal Tie Made By A Competent Court On Due Cause Shown. In The United States, Jurisdiction In Divorce Cases Is Usually Conferred On The Law Courts By The Statutes In The Different States. The Causes Of Divorce Enumerated In These ...