built in 1852 across the chasm, being 100 feet long and 100 feet above the bottom.

DALMATIA, a kingdom within the Austrian empire, forming a small coast strip along the E. shore of the Adriatic, and on the W. slope of the Julian Alps, which form its frontier toward Turkey, lies between lat. 42° 30′ and 44° 28′ N., and long. 14° 59′ and 19° 9′ E., and is the southernmost province of Austria; area, 4,928 sq. m.; pop. 432,337, mostly of Slavic descent, but there are also numerous Italians, Arnauts, Greeks, and about 500 Jews. The Roman Catholic religion is predominant; the non-united, Greek church numbers about 80,000 adherents; other sects are less numerous. The formation of the frontier mountain chain (rising to a height of 6,000 feet), which has a picturesque and rugged outline, is of limestone, with many mammoth caves, not perfectly explored, and subterranean lakes and rivers; but the surface is dry and bare, the rivers and lakes drying up during the summer, and leaving to the inhabitants nothing to drink but cistern or marsh water. The slope is sudden, the rivers descending in cataracts; the few fertile valleys are narrow. The coast consists of bold promontories with deeply indented bays, before which a series of long and narrow rocky islands stretch in a S. E. direction nearly parallel to the Julian Alps, forming a great number of excellent harbors. The climate is mild along the coast, the average temperature at Ragusa being 59° F., and not severe on the mountains, ice and snow being almost unknown; rains prevail when the bora, a northerly winter storm, blows, but the average annual fall is only 12 inches at Cattaro and Ragusa, and further north somewhat more. In spite of this, the climate is not very healthy, owing to the swamps along the coast range of mountains. Notwithstanding the limited space of fertile land (about 2,500,000 acres), the country might support a far larger population but for the frequent emigrations, and the quarrelsome and indolent habits of the population. Husbandry and the rearing of cattle are neglected, and Dalmatia is less productive than any other dependency of Austria. The value of the products was estimated at about $5,000,000 in 1855, of which timber formed about 1, and olive oil, wine, liquors, fruit, hides, tallow, and wax, the rest. Olive oil is largely consumed at home, and 20,000 barrels are exported annually. About 8,000,000 gallons of good wine are produced, of which are exported and retained for home consumption. Of figs 1,000,000 lbs. are exported, beside great quantities of dates, oranges, almonds, and raisins. The grain crops supply only the local wants for 6 or 8 months, the deficiencies being imported from Turkey and Hungary. The sardine and tunny fisheries employ about 10,000 persons. The shipping comprises only 22,000 tons, chiefly small craft. The manufactures are insignificant, excepting the distillation of spirits and liquors, of which Maraschino is the most celebrated. The total exports are valued at about $2,500,000 the imports at

$2,000,000.-Physically the Dalmatians are a fine race, tall, of regular features and dark complexion, and make excellent soldiers, particularly the Morlaks, who live in the interior. They are also daring sailors, and constituted the strength of the power and ascendency of Venice in the middle ages, the violent storms and the perilous navigation in the Dalmatian archipelago developing their vigor and skill. They love liberty and independence, and have almost always successfully withstood the aggressions of the Turks. Their language is Servian, the same Slavic dialect which is spoken by their neighbors in the Herzegovina. Education is much neglected. There are 5 theological seminaries, 4 gymnasiums, and 251 badly organized and ill-attended public schools. Dalmatia is divided into 4 districts, Zara, Spalato, Ragusa, and Cattaro, and contains, beside the 4 cities of the same names, 15 other cities, and 35 towns. The Turkish portion of the ancient domain of Dalmatia forms the present province of Herzegovina.-The Romans subjected Dalmatia after a struggle of nearly 100 years, under Augustus; and under Diocletian it was one of the most flourishing portions of the empire, he having his residence at Spalato. The Slavic race took possession of it about 620, when the great Germanic migration had scarcely left a trace of the ancient inhabitants. The N. portion of the country was conquered by the Hungarians during the 11th century, and the southern (the Herzegovina) surrendered itself to the protection of Venice, which, however, could not prevent it from being, in the 16th century, conquered by the Turks, who possessed for almost 100 years the whole of Dalmatia. By the treaty of Campo Formio (1797) Austria came into possession of the Venetian portion, united it with the Hungarian portion, and has since ruled Dalmatia with the exception of the period 1805-'18, when it was under the sway of Napoleon, who strove to develop its resources for a navy. Austria has begun in the last decade to increase its commercial prosperity; she has established a naval academy at Spalato, tried to deepen several harbors, and to encourage ship-building. Napoleon conferred the title of duke of Dalmatia upon Soult.

DALMATICA, a kind of cloak with long sleeves, the use of which came originally from Dalmatia. It was this garment which characterized those nations whom the Greeks and Romans designated under the name of barbarians. When the emperors Commodus and Heliogabalus appeared in public wearing it, it was regarded as a dishonor by the Romans, who like the Greeks thought men effeminate who concealed their arms in the folds of their cloak. In later times the dalmatica became the distinguishing garment of deacons, who still wear it when they assist the priest at the altar or at any other ceremony. According to Alcuin, Pope Sylvester was the first who made deacons exchange the colobium or robe with short sleeves for the dalmatica, because he blamed the custom of having the

arms uncovered. Artists usually represent St. Stephen, the first deacon, as clothed with a dalmatica, which is an anachronism. The form of the dalmatica was the same as that of the usual garment of the ancient oriental nations who bordered upon the Mediterranean. As now worn by Catholic ecclesiastics, it has lost its ancient shape. It is made of very stiff materials, like the chasuble, and the loose flowing sleeves are replaced by a short covering for the upper part of the arm, slit underneath, and cut off above the elbow.

DALRYMPLE, the name of a Scottish family which rose into importance about the begin ning of the 15th century. The following are its most eminent members: I. JAMES, viscount of Stair, born in Drummurchie, Ayrshire, in May, 1619, died Nov. 26, 1695. He received his education at the university of Glasgow, and in the 22d year of his age, while holding a captain's commission in the army, was appointed professor of philosophy. Having filled this position for several years with credit, he was admitted in 1648 an advocate at the Scottish bar, and soon rose to eminence in civil practice. He was secretary of the commissions sent in 1649 and 1650 to treat with Charles II., then an exile in Holland; and in 1657, on the recommendation of Gen. Monk, he was appointed by Cromwell one of the "commissioners for the administration of justice," as the judges of the court of session were then called. After the restoration he was appointed by Charles II. one of the new lords of session, but resigned office in 1663, from an unwillingness to take the declaration against the national covenant of 1638, and the solemn league and covenant of 1643, appended to the oath of allegiance. The king refused to receive his resignation, and made him a baronet. In 1671 he became lord president of the court, and availed himself of his position to make some improvements in the system of judicature. In 1681 he refused to take the new test oath, and was obliged to resign office. In the same year he published his "Institutions of the Law of Scotland," a work held in no less esteem in Scotland, as the grand text book of the law, than are Blackstone's Commentaries in England. In 1682 he experienced such persecution from government as rendered it necessary for him to take refuge in Holland, where he prepared for publication his decisions, and published in 1686, at Leyden, a Latin treatise entitled Philosophia Nova Experimentalis. He accompanied the prince of Orange to England, exclaiming: "Though I be now in the 70th year of my age, I am willing to venture that (pointing to his head), my own and my children's fortune, in such an undertaking." He was rewarded for his adherence to William and Mary by a reappointment to the presidency of the court of session, and was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Stair. II. JOHN, earl of Stair, son of the preceding, died in 1707, was an advocate at the Scottish bar, and became secretary of state for Scotland. He was created an earl in 1703.

In

His complicity in the Glencoe massacre has given an unenviable notoriety to his name. fluenced, as his apologists say, by an intemperate and remorseless zeal for the interests of the state, he conceived an intense hatred against the Macdonalds of Glencoe for their tardiness in taking the oath of submission. To him is ascribed the infamy of having united with Breadalbane and Argyle to obtain from William the order for the extirpation of the clan, without informing him of the submission of its chief, Mclan, and of carrying it into effect. After a full inquiry the Scottish parliament pronounced him the original author of the massacre, but failed to impute to him such criminality as would affect his life or his estate. III. JOHN, earl of Stair, son of the preceding, born in Edinburgh, July 20, 1673, died there, May 9, 1747. He entered the army at the age of 19, and served with great distinction under Marlborough. On the accession of George I. he was appointed commander-in-chief of the forces in Scotland, and for several years was ambassador in France, in which capacity he distinguished himself equally by diplomatic skill and magnificence of living. Subsequently he lived many years on his estates, and is known to agriculturists as the first to plant turnips and cabbages in open fields in Scotland. IV. SIR DAVID, better known as Lord Hailes, great-grandson of the 1st Viscount Stair, and an eminent lawyer and antiquary, born in Edinburgh, Oct. 28, 1726, died Nov. 29, 1792. He was educated at Eton, studied the civil law at Utrecht, and in 1748 was admitted an advocate at the Scottish bar. After 18 years of professional life, he was made a judge of the court of session, under the title of Lord Hailes. Ten years later he was appointed a lord of justiciary, a position which he held until his death. As a criminal judge he was distinguished by learning, dignity, and a leaning to the side of mercy. He wrote much on other than professional subjects. His publications, 48 in number, exclusive of articles in reviews and magazines, commence with the year 1751 and extend to 1790. The first was a volume of paraphrases and translations from the Scriptures by various authors; which was followed by the publication, with ample notes and illustrations, of a variety of memorials and original letters, throwing light upon the history of England and Scotland. In 1769 he produced a historical memoir of the provincial councils of the Scottish clergy, and "Canons of the Church of Scotland, drawn up in the Provincial Councils held in Perth, in the years 1242 and 1269;" and in the succeeding year a collection of old Scottish poems from manuscript, with many curious illustrations. In 1773 appeared his "Remarks on the History of Scotland," and in 1776-79 his "Annals of Scotland" from the time of Malcolm Canmore to the accession of the Stuarts, his most popular and one of his most useful works. The same year he published an account of the Christian martyrs of Smyrna and Lyons in the 2d century; which was succeeded,

in continuation of the subject, by the 2 volumes of "Remains of Christian Antiquity." In his "Disquisitions concerning the Antiquity of the Christian Church," he combated many of the hypotheses of Gibbon regarding the origin and progress of Christianity. An Inquiry into the Secondary Causes which Mr. Gibbon has assigned for the Rapid Growth of Christianity," published in 1786, was a more elaborate development of his ideas upon the same subject. His last work was a translation of the address of Q. Septimius Tertullus to Scapula Tertullus, proconsul of Africa, with notes, to illustrate the state of the church in early times. Most of these works were published at his own expense. V. ALEXANDER, brother of the preceding, born at New Hailes, Scotland, July 24, 1737, died in London, June 19, 1808. He entered the East India company's service at the age of 16, and for many years occupied the position of hydrographer to the company. His published works amount to about 60 in number, and include a great variety of subjects, though the greater part are devoted to Indian affairs. He also prepared some valuable charts of the eastern seas. DAL SEGNO (It. from the sign), in music, a direction to the performer to recommence from that part of the piece to which the sign :: is prefixed.

DALTON, JOHN, an English chemist, the author of the atomic theory, and of that of the constitution of mixed gases, born Sept. 5, 1766, at Eaglesfield, near Cockermouth, in Cumber land, died in Manchester, July 27, 1844. With his parents, he belonged to the society of Friends. He received his first instruction at the school of his native village, and in 1781 became usher in a school kept by one of his relatives at Kendal, with which he remained connected until 1793. His favorite studies were mathe. matics and natural philosophy. In 1788 he commenced a series of important meteorological observations, which, in the course of some 5 years, amounted to the number of 2,000. The nature of his studies and his high moral character procured him an introduction to Mr. Gough, the blind philosopher of Kendal, who obtained for him in 1793 the appointment of professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in a college or seminary at Manchester, which was removed to York in 1799. Dalton continued his lessons to pupils of both sexes in private schools for years, occasionally giving lectures on the physical and experimental sciences in neighboring towns and cities. In 1793 he published his first separate work, entitled "Meteorological Essays." This was one of his most favorite pursuits, and he continued to collect and record meteorological observations until the period of his death. In the following year he gave an account of a singular defect in his own vision which rendered him incapable of distinguishing certain colors; green, red, purple, and blue, all appearing alike to him. He attributed this peculiarity to the color of the retina or of the fluids of the eye; but after

his death, no abnormal coloration was discovered on dissection. In relating to a friend the manner in which he first discovered the defect, he stated that on one occasion, when a boy, he went to see a review of troops, and being surprised to hear the other boys admire the red coats of the soldiers and the purple sashes of the officers, he could not understand in what manner the red coats differed from the color of the grass in the fields where the review took place. He asked the boys what difference they could see between the two; and from the general burst of laughter he obtained in reply, he was led to suspect there must be some defect in his own vision, which rendered him unable to perceive the difference. This peculiar defect of vision, which is not very uncommon, has sometimes been called Daltonism in England, since the publication of his paper. The earliest papers of Dalton consist of contributions to an able periodical called the "Gentleman's and Lady's Diary." He afterward published articles in the "Memoirs of the Manchester Society," in "Nicholson's Journal," the "Philosophical Magazine," and the "Transactions of the Royal Society of London." In 1801 his daily occupation as a teacher in a school led him to write and publish an English Grammar." In 1802 he wrote 6 dissertations for the "Memoirs of the Manchester Society," in one of which he unfolded his celebrated theory of the "Constitution of Mixed Gases." His views on this subject were for some time strongly opposed by eminent chemists, but they are now universally received. The leading feature of this theory is that gases which do not form new chemical compounds act on each other as a vacuum, diffusing themselves among each other by their own elasticity. The greater part of the experiments of Dalton were made with a view to ascertain the influence of heat in the production of physical and chemical phenomena; and much of the progress of modern science in this department is due to his researches. Other subjects treated in these papers were the "Force of Vapor of Water and other Fluids at Different Temperatures in the Torricellian Vacuum, and under Atmospheric Pressure," and the "Theory of Evaporation and the Expansion of Gases by Heat." These works display profound reasoning based on accurate observations; and beside establishing the high philosophical reputation of the author, have rendered great service to the progress of pneumatic chemistry, and of modern investigations on the specific gravity of gases. The celebrity of Dalton, however, rests mainly on his atomic chemical theory, which he began to work out in 1803. The first developments of this new theory were deemed obscure and unsatisfactory by English chemists; nor did they generally receive it after he had done his best to make it plain. Dr. Wollaston, however, investigated the subject carefully, and admitted the truth of the system at an early period; and Berzelius gave a masterly analysis of the atomic

theory, and placed it on an elevated basis of authority. Prof. Thomson of Glasgow, and Dr. Henry of Manchester, gave many luminous and popular illustrations of the doctrine in England; and Dalton, before he died, was universally honored in his native land, as well as among men of science in all other civilized countries. The atomic theory is said to be a consequence of the investigations of Richter; a theory which that laborious experimentalist did not perceive, but which, it is affirmed, was obscurely indicated in a paper by Dr. Higgins. It is, nevertheless, acknowledged now that the first development of its general principles, and the important consequences of its application to the explanation of chemical and natural phenomena, are due to Dalton. The atomic theory was fully propounded by Dalton in his "New System of Chemistry," the 1st volume of which appeared in 1807, and the 2d in 1810. These were followed by a 3d in 1827. The elements of the mathematical principles of the science are fully explained in these important volumes. In his papers on subjects connected with meteorology, he has left valuable remarks on evaporation, rain, the aurora borealis, winds, and dew. His observations on the latter contain the principles of Dr. Wells's theory of dew, and of Daniell's hygrometer. In 1822 Dalton visited France, where he was received with much distinction. In the reign of William IV. the English government gave him a pension of £150 a year, which was subsequently increased to £300. In person, Dalton was of middle stature, with a good constitution, though not robustly formed. His early habits as a member of the society of Friends had given him a quiet, grave demeanor. He was never married.

DAM, an obstruction of wood, stone, or earth, raised to keep back a current of water, either for the purpose of giving power by increased head, for holding back supplies of water, for flooding lands, or for rendering the stream above the dam navigable by increased depth. The earliest dam builders were the beavers. With clay and earth bound together with sticks, they construct durable piles across rivers, and cause the marshy lands above to be converted into extensive ponds. Their dams in districts long since deserted by them remain as monuments of their wonderful sagacity. In Maine they have sometimes proved, with the materials accumulated upon them, serious impediments to the running of logs down the streams, and the opening of a way through them has often been a matter of great labor and expense. Some of the dams constructed for manufacturing purposes in New England are among the most remarkable of this class of works. The largest probably in the United States is that completed in Oct. 1849, at South Hadley Falls, 8 m. N. of Springfield, Mass. It is 1,017 feet long, and 28 to 32 feet high, built of timbers a foot square each, which are laid in tiers crossing each other and bolted together, bedded and secured at bottom 4 feet in the rock,

and all having a slope up stream. The spaces are filled in with stone 15 feet from the bottom, and gravel is laid over this and in front. The whole width at base is 90 feet, and the slope from the top to the upper edge of the base is 21.5°. It is covered with 6-inch plank bolted to the timbers, and the ridge is double planked, and where most exposed to ice is further pro-tected with a covering of boiler plate iron. The structure consumed about 4,000,000 feet of timber. The roar of the vast sheet of water falling over the dam is said to be heard sometimes at the distance of 40 miles; and the vibrations are at times distinctly perceived at Springfield, where the windows and doors of some of the houses are rattled in uniform pulsations with those observed at the dam. These have been counted by Prof. Snell of Amherst, and found, when the temperature of the air was 80°, to be 137 per minute. With the temperature at 70°, the vibrations were 130. The subject of the vibrations of dams appears to have been first discussed by Prof. Loomis, in a paper in the "American Journal of Science," vol. xlv., p. 363 (1843). He cites several instances of this phenomenon, which appears to have been sometimes a cause of serious annoyance to persons living in the vicinity of dams thus affected. Its occurrence was found in several cases to be dependent on the water falling in an uninterrupted sheet; and the vibrations ceased when this sheet was divided by a floating log catching upon the top of the dam, or by strips of wood secured at intervals upon the ridge for the same purpose. Prof. Loomis discusses the probable cause of the vibrations, and mode in which they are communicated to distant objects, whether through the air or the rock. The subject was treated by Prof. Snell in a communication presented to the American association for the promotion of science, at the Montreal meeting in 1857; and again by Mr. Charles Stodder of Boston, in a paper read the same year before the natural history society of Boston.-Probably the highest dam ever constructed is that described by Minard in his Cours de construction des ouvrages qui établissent la navigation des rivières et des canaux (Liége, 1851, p. 204). It is in the province of Alicante in Spain, between two steep mountains which closely approach each other. Its height is 1564 feet, its thickness at top 693 feet, and its length 2724 feet. The aqueduct for the outlet of the water is excavated through the mountain on one side, discharging below the dam near its base; and the discharge is regulated by a gate above. The dam was built in 1594, and is used for collecting water in winter to be used for irrigating the vineyards in the neighborhood.-A COFFER DAM is a tight case constructed in any body of water to prevent its encroachment, while excavations are made within it for foundations or other purposes. They are commonly made by rows of piles driven into the bottom, those of each row sometimes close together, and sometimes connected by planking, and the space

between the two rows filled in with clay. When it happens that coffer dams are required upon a bottom of quicksand, their construction becomes a work of great difficulty and expense. This was especially the case in building the dry dock for the navy yard at Brooklyn, N. Y. For more than 60 feet below the superstratum of black mud, where the work was laid out, the bottom consisted of an impalpable sand containing much mica, and this when loosened and saturated with water flowed like a dense liquid body. In this material a pit was to be excavated covering a surface of over 2 acres at top and over one at bottom, reaching 42 feet below the surface of the ground, and 37 below mean high water. Piles of yellow pine 35 to 40 feet long, and 15 inches square, were first driven in close contact, forming 3 rows around the outer end of the proposed excavation, the intervals between the rows being 10 and 12 feet. These were filled in with the sand excavated. The piles were tied together with oak wales and 2inch tie bolts. This barrier was forced inward by a pressure of less than 10 feet head of water, and when the excavation reached 30 feet the water came in under the piles and filled the pit. This was in July, 1846; in September, after the breach had been repaired, the water again burst in, and some of the piles settled down 5 to 6 feet. A new and stronger dam was then the only expedient. Piles 10 to 15 feet longer than the others were driven close together in 2 rows 30 feet apart, outside the old work, and the space between the 2 rows was filled with gravel and coarse stone. A third row was driven within the old work, to the depth of 12 to 15 feet below the proposed level of the foundation, and gravel filled in behind them. Thus constructed, the dam was retained in place during the progress of the excavation only by the closest attention and care. Unsupported within, it could be stayed only in a few places by mooring chains carried to the shore. These cables, made of 2-inch iron, were repeatedly snapped asunder by the pressure. Six of them broke in one night. The foundation was made with piles driven over the area of the pit, and upon these the masonry was laid. As the masonry was carried up it was used to brace against the dam. The pressure upon it moved at one time a mass of more than 250 tons weight. The whole number of piles employed in the dam was 3,504; and the total cost of this part of the structure alone was $206,378.

DAMAGRAM, a province of Central Africa, on the N. W. frontier of Bornoo, extending from lat. 13° 20' to 14° N., and from long. 4° 30' to 10° 50' E. It is a fertile country, but the inhabitants are addicted to robbery and slavestealing. Beside the tropical productions of Soodan, wheat, cotton, indigo, palms, melons, &c., are cultivated. The common domestic animals are found there, as are lions, wild boars and oxen, jackals, hyenas, &c. The capital was formerly a town of the same name, but is now Zindoo, which name is sometimes given to the

province. It is described in Petermann's " Account of the Expedition to Central Africa," 1854, and was visited by Dr. Barth in 1852.

DAMAR, a kind of indurated pitch or turpentine, the spontaneous exudation of various trees in the East Indian islands. It is used in China and Bengal in coating the bottoms of ships and for other similar purposes.

DAMASCENUS, JOANNES, a saint and doctor of the church, born in Damascus about 676, died at the monastery of St. Sabas in Palestine in 780. His father, a Christian, held the office of chief secretary under the Saracen caliphs. On the death of his father, he was made by the caliph Ali governor of Damascus, which office was continued to him after the death of Ali and change of dynasty. The luxury and hazards of such a city were ill suited to his tastes, and after a few years he resigned his office, and became one of the hermits in the "Lama" of St. Sabas in the valley of the Kidron. The old monk who was here assigned as his spiritual instructor laid down for his observance the following 5 rules: 1, entire self-renunciation; 2, dedication of all labors and prayers to God; 3, utter humility, preventing all boast of learning or genius; 4, constant self-mistrust; 5, habitual silence and reserve, both in speaking and writing. He was sent to Damascus to sell baskets, for which he was required to ask an unreasonable price, and so to subject himself to the insults of the market in the city which he had ruled. He did not hesitate, departed on the journey, and persevered until the price was paid. On another occasion, having consoled a brother monk in affliction by repeating a Greek verse, he was excluded from his cell for this exhibition of scholastic vanity, as they chose to consider it, and was only restored after the most humble protestations and the promise to become the scavenger of the monastery. When his monastic virtue had been sufficiently confirmed by repeated tests, he was admitted to the priesthood, and was allowed to write against heretics and in defence of religious customs. His first essay was against the Iconoclasts, whose doctrines were supported by the edicts of Leo the Isaurian, at this time emperor. His most elaborate work was his "Accurate Summary of the Orthodox Faith," a compendium of the doctrine of the church in the 8th century. Supplementary to this treatise he published numerous special essays on controverted points of theology, philosophy, and ethics. In the Monothelite and Monophysite controversies he took an active interest. He wrote a treatise on the "Trisagion," to confute the Eutychians; a work called "Parallels," which lays down rules of practical morals; an abstract of Aristotle's logic and physics; a discussion of the "Eight Principal Vices;" a work on Lent and the proper method of observing it; a biographical sketch of the monk Stephen the Younger; with various other essays. He contributed numerous hymns to the ritual of the Greek church, and his authority as a doctor and a saint is very high: