DOMREMY-LA-PUCELLE, don-ea-me la-pii-sEl (original, Domremy; La Pucelle, that is, The Maid, has been added in honor of Joan of Arc), a small village in the department of the Vosges, in France, not far from Vau couleurs, on the river Meuse. It is noted for being the birthplace of Joan of Arc (1410). The village contains a bronze statue of the heroine, and another monument to her and the cottage in which she was born still stands. A chapel on a neighboring hill marks the spot where she is said to have learned of her great mission. There is here also a museum. Dom remy was exempted from taxation till the Revolution, in honor of the warrior-maiden, and in her honor also an annual pageant is held.
DON (Lat. dominos), a Spanish title of honor, originally given only to the highest nobility, afterward to all the nobles and finally used indiscriminately as a title uf courtesy. It corresponds with the Portuguese Dom. Dur ing the Spanish occupation it was introduced and became naturalized in some parts of Italy, particularly in Naples.
Don is also a cant term applied in the uni versities• of Oxford and Cambridge to a resi dential fellow or other college dignitary; and in the colleges of the United States to a pro fessor or instructor.
DON, a river in the county of Aberdeen, Scotland. Its source is several small streams flowing from a bog about 1,900 feet above the sea. It flows east (parallel with the Dee) into the North Sea, a mile northeast of Old Aberdeen. It is about 82 miles in length. Its salmon fisheries are of considerable value.
DON (ancient TANAIS), a river of Russia which issues from Lake Ivan-Ozero, in the government of Tula, and flows southeast and southwest about 1,300 miles into the Sea of Azof, near the town of Azof, by three mouths, only one of which is navigable. Its ordinary
breadth is from 500 to 1,850 feet, but it has a breadth of 18 miles during the spring floods, although droughts reduce it so much that it is very difficult in summer, even for light draught vessels, to negotiate the sandbanks and shallows. Generally speaking, the right bank is high and the left flat and low. The delta of the Don is an expanse of sandy flats, about 28 by 22 miles at the coast-line. Near its head is the important river-port of Rostov, and Taganrog also shares in the Don traffic. The Don has the most busy trade of all the rivers of South Russia, being navigable for 800 miles. The navigation is generally stopped by ice for about three months of the year; nevertheless, by means of its lower course, in connection with the Volga, the south provinces of Russia receive much Siberian produce and also manu factured goods from the interior of the empire. It has valuable fisheries. It is connected with the Volga by a canal. Its largest tributary is the Donetz or Little Don.
DON, or DUN, a river of the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, which rises near Cheshire, flows east and southeast and joins the Ouse after a course of about 55 miles. By artificial cuttings and canals it has been ren dered navigable for vessels to Sheffield, a dis tance of about 40 miles. From Snaith to Goole the channel is artificial and is known as the Dutch River.