the earth as Luna (the moon), she beheld the hunter, fatigued with the chase, slumbering in the woods. She descended from her ethereal course, and kissed the lips of the youth, who enjoyed a favor never before granted to mortal or immortal. Notwithstanding her aversion to love, she afforded aid to women who called upon her in travail. She was also the goddess of death. She aims her darts especially at the female sex, and brings the old, who are satisfied with life, to a gentle death, to make way for the vigorous and blooming. When she is angry, she destroys with pestilence and disease, like her brother Apollo. When offended, she revenges without compassion. Thus she slew Orion, the hunter, from jealousy, because Aurora had fallen in love with him; so also the daughters of Niobe, because their mother preferred herself above Latona, &c. In the Trojan war, both Diana and Apollo aided the Trojans; and in the war with the giants and Titans, she proved her valor. The worship of Diana was spread through all Greece. She received many surnames, particularly from the places where her worship was established, and from the functions over which she presided. She was called Lucina, Ilythia, or Juno Pronuba, when invoked by women in child-bed, and Trivia when worshipped in the cross-ways where her statues were generally erected. She was supposed to be the same as the moon and Proserpine or Hecate, and from that circumstance she was called Triformis; and some of her statues represented her with three heads, that of a horse, a dog, and a boar. She was also called Agroteta, Orthia, Taurica, Delia, Cynthia, Aricia, &c. She was supposed to be the same as the Isis of the Egyptians, whose worship was introduced into Greece with that of Osiris, under the name of Apollo. The Artemisia was a festival celebrated in honor of her at Delphi.-At first she was represented with a diadem, afterwards with the crescent upon her head, with bow and arrows, a quiver over her shoulders, and a light hunting dress, together with her hounds. Her most famous temple was at Ephesus (q. v.), and was considered one of the wonders of the world. She was worshipped there as the symbol of fruitful nature, and represented with many breasts, encircled with numerous bands.

DIANA of Poitiers, duchess of Valentinois, born in 1499. She was the mistress of king Henry II of France, and descended from the noble family of Poitiers, in Dauphiny. At an early age, she mar

225

ried the grand-seneschal of Normandy, Louis de Brezé, became a widow at 31, and, some time after, the mistress of the young duke of Orleans. When the duke became dauphin, a violent hostility arose between Diana and the duchess of Etampes, mistress of Francis I, who taunted her rival with her age. Diana satisfied her revenge by banishing the duchess on the accession of Henry II to the throne, in 1547, in whose name she ruled with unlimited power. Till his death, in 1559, she exercised such an absolute empire over the king, by the charms of her wit and grace, that her superstitious contemporaries ascribed her power to magic. Upon his death, she retired to her castle Anet, where she established a charitable institution for the support of 12 widows, and died in 1566. Medals are still to be seen bearing her image, trampling under foot the god of love, with the inscription, Omnium victorem vici (I have conquered the universal conqueror).

DIANA'S TREE (arbor Dianæ, or silver tree) is formed from a solution of silver in nitrous acid, precipitated by quicksilver, and crystallized in prismatic needles, which are grouped together in the form of a tree. To make this beautiful process of crystallization visible to the eye, let a quantity of pure silver be dissolved in nitrous acid; then dilute the saturated solution with 20 or 30 parts of water, and put in an amalgam of 8 parts mercury and I part silver leaf, upon which, after some days, crystals are formed. A little mercury, in fine linen, is suspended in this solution by a silk thread, and the tree may then be withdrawn from the solution, and preserved under a glass bell. Copper filings dropped into a solution of silver in aqua fortis produce the same effect; and such trees are often found in working silver ore, on the removal of the quicksilver. Since the invention of the voltaic pile, scientific men have succeeded in producing the tree of Diana by its influence on the union of metals with acids. If the electric current, for example, is transmitted through nitrate of silver, the needles of silver arrange themselves in the same way on the wire of the pile.

DIAPASON. By the term diapason, the ancient Greeks expressed the interval of the octave. And certain musical instrument-makers have a kind of rule or scale, called the diapason, by which they determine the measures of the pipes, or other parts of their instruments. There is a diapason for trumpets and serpents. Bellfounders have also a diapason, for the

regulation of the size, thickness, weight, &c., of their bells. Diapason is likewise the appellation given to certain stops in an organ. (See Stop.)

DIAPER (French, diapre); so called from Ypres (d'Ypres); linen cloth woven in flowers and other figures; the finest species of figured linen after damask. Hence, as a verb, it signifies to diversify or variegate with flowers, or to imitate diaper.

DIAPHRAGM, in anatomy; a large, robust, muscular membrane or skin, placed transversely in the trunk, and dividing the chest from the belly. In its natural situation, the diaphragm is convex on the upper side towards the breast, and concave on its lower side towards the belly; therefore, when its fibres swell and contract, it must become plain on each side; and consequently the cavity of the breast is enlarged, to give liberty to the lungs to receive air in inspiration; and the stomach and intestines are pressed for the distribution of their contents; hence the use of this muscle is very considerable. It is the principal agent in respiration, particularly in inspiration; for, when it is in action, the cavity of the chest is enlarged, particularly at the sides, where the lungs are chiefly situated; and, as the lungs must always be contiguous to the inside of the chest and upper side of the diaphragm, the air rushes into them, in order to fill up the increased space. In expiration, it is relaxed, and pushed up by the pressure of the abdominal muscles upon the viscera of the abdomen; and, at the same time that they press it upwards, they pull down the ribs, by which the cavity of the chest is diminished, and the air suddenly pushed out of the lungs.

DIATONIC (from the Greek); a term in music, applied by the Greeks to that one of their three genera, which consisted, like the modern system of intervals, of major tones and semitones. The diatonic genus has long since been considered as more natural than either the chromatic or enharmonic. Aristoxenus asserts it to have been the first, and informs us that the other two were formed from the division of its intervals.

DIATONUM INTENSUM, or SHARP DIATONIC; the name given by musical theorists to those famous proportions of the intervals proposed by Ptolemy, in his system of that name; a system which, long after the time of this ancient speculative musician, was received in our counterpoint, and is pronounced by doctor Wallis, doctor Smith, and the most learned writers

on harmonics, to be the best division of the scale.

In

DIAZ; 1. Michael, an Arragonese, companion of Christopher Columbus. 1495, he discovered the gold mines of St. Christopher, in the new world, and contributed much to the founding of New Isabella, afterwards St. Domingo. He died in 1512.-2. Bartholomew; a Portuguese. In 1486, he was commissioned by his government, during the reign of John II, to seek a new way to the East Indies. He advanced boldly to the south, and reached the southern extremity of Africa; but the mutinous spirit of his crew, and the dangerous tempests that raged there, compelled him to return to Lisbon. Diaz called the southern cape of Africa Cabo de todos los tormentos; but his king, John II, gave it the name of the cape of Good Hope, convinced that the expected way to India was now found.

DIB, or Div, signifying island; the final syllable of several Hindoo names, as, Maldives, Laccatives, Serendib (Ceylon).

DIBDIN, Charles, born 1748; an English dramatic manager and poet, composer and actor. At the age of 15, he made his appearance on the stage, and was early distinguished as a composer. He excited uncommon admiration, and soon gained friends and a sufficient support. He invented a new kind of entertainment, consisting of music, songs and public declamations, which he wrote, sung, composed and performed himself, and, by this means, succeeded in amusing the public for 20 years. His patriotic songs were very popular, and his sea songs are still the favorites of the British navy. Their favorable influence on the lower classes obtained him a pension of £200 from government. Improvidence, however, kept him constantly poor. died in 1814. His son, Charles Dibdin, has composed and written many small pieces and occasional songs. His second son, Thomas Dibdin, is likewise a fruitful writer of theatrical and occasional pieces.

He

DIBDIN, Thomas Frognall; a distinguished bibliographer. He is a clergyman, member of the society of antiquities in London, and librarian of earl Spencer, and, in this office, has the care of one of the richest and most valuable private libraries in the world. We have from him many estimable works, bibliographical and bibliomanical, of which we will mention the most important :-Introduction to a Knowledge of rare and valuable Editions of the Greek and Roman Classics (London, 3d edit., 1808, 2 vols.); the Bibliomania, a

bibliographical Romance (London, 2d edit., 1811); Bibliography, a Poem (London, 1812); the Bibliotheca Spenceriana, or a descriptive Catalogue of the Books printed in the 15th Century, and of many valuable first Editions, in the Library of George John Earl Spencer (3 vols., 1814), the only book of its kind in existence; Bibliographical Decameron, or Ten Days' pleasant Discourse upon illuminated Manuscripts, and Subjects connected with early Engraving, Typography and Bibliography (London, 1817, 3 vols.): this is ornamented with a great variety of fine wood cuts and engravings, and is one of the master-pieces of the art of printing. He has described his travels through France and the south of Germany (1818), in the following work: A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany (London, 1821, 3 vols., with numerous engravings and wood cuts). It is executed with similar typographical splendor, but the contents are inferior to the beauty of the exterior. The author has made his collections without choice, and often without taste, and, in all that is not immediately bibliographical, he is a mere copyist; even his bibliographical notices are not always new or fully worthy of credit. His Eles Althorpiana is of more value. It contains a supplement to his Bibliotheca Spenceriana, and a catalogue of the pictures in the Spencer gallery.

DICE; cubical pieces of bone or ivory, marked with dots on each of their six faces, from one to six, according to the number of faces. Sharpers have several ways of falsifying dice: 1. By sticking a hog's bristle in them so as to make them run high or low, as they please; 2. by drilling and loading them with quicksilver, which cheat is found out by holding them gently by two diagonal corners; for, if false, the heavy sides will turn always down; 3. by filing and rounding thein. But all these ways fall far short of the art of the dice-makers, some of whom are so dexterous this way, that sharping gamesters will give any money for their assistance. Dice are very old. The Roman word tessera is derived from the Greek récɑ10ɛs, Ionic for recapes, four; because it is, on every side, square. Numerous passages in the ancient writers, and very many representations in marble or paintings, show how frequent diceplaying was among them. Different from the tessera, which were precisely like our dice, were the tali (which means, originally, the pastern bone of a beast-Greek, derpayaλos). These were almost of a cubic

227

form, and had numbers only on four sides, lengthwise. Three tessera and four tali were often used together; and the game with dice was properly called alea, though alea afterwards came to signify any game at hazard, and aleator, a gambler. Diceplaying, and all games of chance, were prohibited by several laws of the Romans, except in December, yet the laws were not strictly observed.

DICKINSON, John, an eminent political writer, was born in Maryland, in December, 1732, and educated in Delaware, to which province his parents removed soon after his birth. He read law in Philadelphia, and resided three years in the Temple, London. After his return to America, he practised law with success in Phila delphia. He was soon elected to the legislature of Pennsylvania, in which his superior qualifications as a speaker and a man of business gave him considerable influence. The attempts of the mother country upon the liberties of the colonies early awakened his attention. His first elaborate publication against the new policy of the British cabinet was printed at Philadelphia, in 1765, and entitled, The late Regulations respecting the British Colonies on the Continent of America considered. In that year he was deputed, by Pennsylvania, to attend the first congress, held at New York, and prepared the draft of the bold resolutions of that congress. In 1766, he published a spirited address on the same questions, to a committee of correspondence in Barbadoes. He next issued in Philadelphia, in 1767, his celebrated Farmer's Letters to the Inhabitants of the British Colonies-a production which had a great influence in enlightening the American people on the subject of their rights, and preparing them for resistance. They were reprinted in London, with a preface by doctor Franklin, and published in French, at Paris. In 1774, Mr. Dickinson wrote the resolves of the committee of Pennsylvania, and their instructions to their representatives. These instructions formed a profound and extensive essay on the constitutional power of Great Britain over the colonies in America, and in that shape they were published by the committee. While in congress, he wrote the Address to the Inhabitants of Quebec; the first Petition to the King; the Address to the Armies; the second Petition to the King, and the Address to the several States; all among the ablest state-papers of the time. As an orator, he had few superiors in that body. He penned the famous Declaration of the United Colonies

228

of North America (July 6, 1775); but he opposed the declaration of independence, believing that compromise was still practicable, and that his countrymen were not yet ripe for a complete separation from Great Britain. This rendered him for a time so unpopular, that he withdrew from the public councils, and did not recover his seat in congress until about two years afterwards. He then returned, earnest in the cause of independence. His zeal was shown in the ardent address of congress to the several states, of May, 1779, which he wrote and reported. He was afterwards president of the states of Pennsylvania and Delaware, successively; and, in the beginning of 1788, being alarmed by the hesitation of some states to ratify the constitution proposed by the federal convention the year before, he published, for the purpose of promoting its adoption, nine very able letters, under the signature of Fabius. This signature he again used in fourteen letters, published in 1797, the object of which was to produce a favorable feeling in the U. States towards France, whose revolution he believed to be then at an end. Before the period last mentioned, he had withdrawn to private life, at Wilmington, in the state of Delaware, where he died, Feb. 14, 1808. His retirement was spent in literary studies, in charitable offices and the exercise of an elegant hospitality. His conversation and manners were very attractive; his countenance and person, uncommonly fine. His public services were eminent: his writings have been justly described as copious, forcible and correct; sometimes eloquently rhetorical and vehement, and generally rich in historical references and classical quota

tions.

DICKINSON COLLEGE. (See Carlisle.) DICTATOR. We shall state first the opinions commonly entertained respecting the Roman dictator, and afterwards some of the views of Niebuhr respecting this officer, as given in his Roman History. This magistrate, the highest in the Roman republic, was appointed only in extraordinary emergencies, which demanded the fullest power in the executive. The authority of the dictator was, therefore, almost without restrictions in the administration of the state and of the army, and from it there was no appeal. It continued only six months. In fact, the dictators commonly resigned their office as soon as the object was accomplished for which they had been appointed. There are only a few instances of their continuing a longer time; for example, in the cases of Sylla

and of Cæsar. The authority of all civil magistrates, except that of tribunes of the people, immediately ceased on the appointment of a dictator. The consuls, indeed, continued in the discharge of their office; but they were subject to the orders of the dictator, and in his presence had no badges of power. The dictator, on the contrary, both within and without the city, was attended by 24 lictors, with their fasces and axes. He had the power of life and death, and was only restrained in not being permitted to spend the public money arbitrarily, or to leave Italy, or to enter the city on horseback. He might also be compelled to account for his conduct, when he laid down his office. The choice of dictator was not, as in the case of other magistrates, decided by the popular voice, but one of the consuls appointed him, at the command of the senate. The dictator then selected a master of the horse (magister equitum). In the sequel, dictators were also appointed to officiate in certain public solemnities; for example, to summon the comitia for the choice of new consuls, to arrange the festivals, and the like. The remainder of this article contains Niebuhr's views. The name of dictator, says Niebuhr, was of Latin origin. The Latins elected dictators in their several cities, and also over the whole nation. If Rome and Latium were confederate states, on a footing of equality, in the room of that supremacy which lasted but for a brief space after the revolution, they must have possessed the chief command alternately; and this would explain why the Roman dictators were appointed for only six months, and why they came to have twenty-four lictors. These were a symbol that the governments of the two states were united under the same head; the consuls had only twelve lictors between them, which served them in turn. The dictator, at first, therefore, could have had to take cognizance only of foreign affairs; and the continuance of the consuls along with the dictator is accounted for. The object aimed at in the institution of the dictatorship, was incontestably to evade the Valerian laws, and to reestablish unlimited authority over the plebeians; for the appeal to the commonalty granted by the law, was from the sentence of the consuls, and not from that of this new magistrate. Even the members of the legislative bodies, at first, had not the right of appealing against the dictator, to their comitia. This is expressly asserted by Festus; but he adds that they afterwards obtained it. This is confirmed by the ex

ample of M. Fabius, who, when his son was persecuted by the dictator, appealed in his behalf to the populus; to his peers, the patricians in the curia. The later Romans had only an indistinct knowledge of the dictatorship, derived from their earlier history. As applied to the tyranny of Sylla, and the monarchy of Cæsar, the term dictatorship was merely a name, without any ground for such a use in the ancient constitution. This last application of the term enables us to account for the error of Dion Cassius, when, overlooking the freedom of the patricians, he expressly asserts, that in no instance was there a right of appealing from the dictator, and that he might, condemn knights and senators to death without a trial; also for the error of Dionysius, in fancying that he decided on every measure at will, even the determination of peace and war. Such notions, out of which the moderns have drawn their phrase, dictatorial power, are suitable, indeed, to Sylla and Cæsar, but do not apply to the genuine dictatorship. The statement generally contained in the books on Roman antiquities, that the appointment of the dictator, in all cases, rested with one of the consuls, designated by the senate, is incorrect. Such might possibly be the case, if the dictator was restricted to the charge of presiding over the elections; but the disposal of kingly power could never have been intrusted to the discretion of a single elector. The pontifical law-books have preserved the true account, that a citizen whom the senate should nominate, and the people approve of, should govern for six months. The dictator, after his appointment, had to obtain the imperium from the curia. As late as in 444, the bestowal of the imperium was something more than an empty form; but it became such by the Mænian law: thenceforward it was only necessary that the consul should consent to proclaim the person named by the senate. Thus, after that time, in the advanced state of popular freedom, the dictatorship could occur but seldom, except for trivial purposes: if, on such occasions, the appointment was left to the consuls, they would likewise advance pretensions to exercise it in the solitary instances where the office still had any real importance. However, when P. Člaudius misused his privilege in mockery, the remembrance of the ancient procedure was still fresh enough for the senate to annul the scandalous appointment.

DICTIONARY (from the Latin dictio, a saying, expression, word); a book con

229

taining the words, or subjects, which it treats, arranged in alphabetical order. At least, this should be the general principle of the arrangement; thus an etymological dictionary contains the roots of the words in a language in this order. By dictionary is generally understood a vocabulary, a collection of the words in a language, with their definitions; and Johnson's and Webster's definitions of the word apply only to this use of it. But in modern times, when the various branches of science have become so much extended, and the desire of general knowledge is daily increasing, works of very various kinds have been prepared on the principle of alphabetical arrangement, and are termed dictionaries. Among the Greek dictionaries, the Onomastikon, written B. C. 120, by Julius Pollux, is one of the oldest, but more of a dictionary of things, or an encyclopædia, than a verbal dictionary. Hesychius of Alexandria, of whom we know little more than that he lived at the beginning of the third century, was the first Christian who wrote a Greek dictionary, which he called Glossarium. After the revival of learning, Johannes Crestonus (Crastonus, Johannes Placentinus, because he was a native of Placenza) wrote, in 1480, the first Greek and Latin dictionary. M. Terentius Varro, born in the year of Rome 638, wrote the first Latin dictionary. A similar one is that called Papius, prepared by Solomon, abbot of St. Gall, bishop of Constance, who lived about 1409. John Balbus (de Balbis; de Janua; Januensis; died 1298) compiled a Latin dictionary, printed at Mentz in 1460, under the title Catholicon. John Reuchlin was the first German who wrote a Latin dictionary. The first Hebrew dictionary is by Rabbi Menachem Ben Saruck (Ben Jakob), in the ninth century. Rabbi Ben Jechiel (died in 1106) published the first Talmudic dictionary. The first Arabic dictionary, written by a Christian, was published by Peter de Alcala, in 1505, at Grenada, with definitions in the Spanish language; another, by Franciscus Raphelengius (born 1539, died 1597), was printed at Leyden, in 1613. The first Syriac dictionary was written by Andrew Masius, in 1571, at Antwerp; the first Æthiopian and Amharic, by Job Ludolf, in the 16th century, London; the first Japanese, by John Ferdinand; the first German, by the archbishop Rabanus Maurus, of Mentz (died 859); the first German printed dictionary, under the title Theutonista, was prepared by Gerhard von der Schüren, Cologne, 1477; the first Hebrew, Greek and Latin