throughout Poland. His principal works are—"A History of the Diète Constituante," 1792; and "Insurrectionary Government Gazette," 1794. Dmoschowski was the founder of the Friends of Science Society at Warsaw.—Ch. T.
* DOBELL, Sydney, a living poet of very remarkable genius, was born in 1824 in the vicinity of London. During his boyhood, his father, who carried on the business of a wine-merchant, removed from London to Cheltenham, where Dobell was privately educated. Several stories are related, by ardent friends, of the supernatural precocity of his genius, such as, that he plunged into metaphysics when only seven years of age, and there are ill-natured critics who aver that he has not yet recovered from the effects of that premature discipline. But setting aside these particular myths, it remains, we believe, a well-accredited fact, that the poetical and intellectual qualities of Dobell's mind early developed themselves, and that he was reading, thinking, and musing at an age when most boys are only capable of bird-nesting. At twelve he became a clerk in his father's office, where he remained till 1850-51, when he published "The Roman," a dramatic poem, the success of which was very great, and immediately elevated its author into the first rank of his poetical contemporaries. The most noticeable features about "The Roman," are its passionate eloquence and the enthusiastic sympathy it displays for the patriotic struggles of the Italians. But if the spirit of the verse was intense, the language was too diffuse, and Mr. Dobell was exhorted to concentrate his faculty of expression. In the meantime he had been enriching his experience of nature by travelling in Switzerland, after which he went to London, and subsequently to Edinburgh. In 1854 appeared "Balder," part i., a work which has been warmly praised and loudly condemned. It is one of those perplexing compositions so common in the present day, that are written to expose the falsehood of a particular theory of life, and readers, therefore, like or dislike it, according to their agreement or disagreement with its doctrines. It may be described as a species of protest against the worship of the intellect, and pourtrays, though not very clearly, the havoc made in a noble nature through the insidious and at last monstrously criminal ravages of egotism. Even viewed apart from its "moral," the poem is in many respects a remarkable one; it contains several striking passages, both reflective and descriptive, and individual lines of singular sweetness and subtlety. Some of the scenes towards the close of the volume evince high dramatic power. In 1855, along with his friend and brother poet, Alexander Smith, he published "Sonnets on the War" in which Britain was then engaged with Russia; and, in the following year, a companion volume entitled "England in the time of War," a collection of lyrics, many of which, in point of tenderness, delicacy, and originality of sentiment and music, are not surpassed by any writer. In the opinion of the most discerning critics, this last volume is Mr. Dobell's finest, and indicates the possession of a lyrical faculty as perfect as that of Shelley or Moore.—J. M. R.
DÖBEREINER, Johann Wolfgang, a celebrated German chemist, was born at Hof, Bavaria, in 1780, and died in 1849. At the age of fifteen he began the study of pharmacy, which he prosecuted with much zeal and success. He also applied himself to the study of philosophy, botany, mineralogy, and chemistry, to the latter of which he gave the preference. In 1803 he established a manufactory for chemical products; but this proving more instructive than profitable, he was obliged to abandon it. He afterwards engaged in practical chemistry with special reference to dyeing, alimentary substances, salts, metals, and agriculture. During the five years he was thus employed, he made several discoveries, particularly in reference to the alkaline chlorides, the extraction of soda from Glauber's salt, the preparation of alum and of sal-ammoniac. He also demonstrated the disinfecting property of charcoal. In 1810 he was appointed professor of chemistry in the university of Jena; and stimulated by the interest taken in his labours by Goethe and the grand duke of Weimar, he made numerous discoveries of the highest importance. He was the first to show that anhydrous oxalic acid contains no hydrogen, and to point out the remarkable fact, that when treated with sulphuric acid, it is decomposed into carbonic acid and carbonic oxide. He was the first to analyze organic substances by means of oxide of copper—a method still in use—and he also investigated successfully the chemical phenomena of fermentation. One of his most curious discoveries is that of the singular property possessed by spongy platinum of igniting hydrogen in contact with air or with oxygen—a property which he applied to the construction of a eudiometer, and of an ingenious piece of apparatus for producing an instantaneous light, well known under the name of the Döbereiner lamp.—F. P.
DOBNER, Felix Job, one of the most famous native historians of Bohemia, was born near Prague, May 30, 1719. He became at a very early age a monk of the order of the Piarists, adopting the name of Gelasius St. Catharina, and having passed through his noviciate, began teaching German literature, poetry, and philosophy, at the cloister-schools of Leibnik, Vienna, Nickolsburg, and Schlan. He was nominated in 1765 private tutor to the young count of Mansfeld, son of the prince the of same name, and kept this post till 1775, when the Austrian government appointed him consultor provinciæ for Bohemia. He died May 24, 1790. His principal works are—"Wenceslai Hagek a Liboczan: Annales Bohemorum, e Bohemica editione Latine redditi et notis illustrati," &c.; "Monumenta historica Boëmiæ, nusquam antehac edita;" "Examen criticum, quo ostenditur nomen Czechorum repetendum esse," &c., "The Introduction of Christianity in Bohemia." Dobner has always been regarded as one of the founders of historical criticism in Bohemia.—F. M.
DOBREE, Peter Paul, born 1782; died 1825. Dobree was a native of Guernsey; was educated by Valpy, at Reading; entered Trinity college, Cambridge, in 1800; graduated in 1804. Porson's manuscripts were purchased by Trinity college, and when it was determined to print them, the editorship was intrusted to Dobree. In 1820 he printed Porson's notes on Aristophanes; in 1822 Parson's manuscript transcript of the lexicon of Photius. In 1823 he was appointed regius professor of Greek. In 1825 he died. At the period of his death he was engaged with an edition of Demosthenes. In 1831 his Remains were published by his successor in the chair of Greek at Cambridge.—J. A., D.
DÖBRENTEY, Gabor, a distinguished Hungarian author and poet, was born at Nagyfzöllös in 1786, and educated at the gymnasium of Oldenburg. After having completed his studies at Wittenberg and Leipzig, he returned home, and originated the Transylvanian Museum, a periodical which tended greatly to raise the standard of Hungarian literature. In 1822 he was chosen by the palatine a member of the commission appointed to institute a Hungarian academy. This academy made him its secretary, and afterwards intrusted to his hands the publication of the "Monuments of the Old Hungarian Language." After having held several high positions to the benefit and honour of his country, he died at his estate near Ofen in 1851. Among his poetical writings we mention his "A Havas' Violája" (Alpine violets), which were translated into German and Italian; and his "Huzzárdalok" (Songs for hussars), a selection of which was translated into English by Sir John Bowring. He translated several plays of Shakspeare, Schiller, and Moliere, and adapted them to the Hungarian stage.—K. E.
DOBRIZHOFFER, Martin, a celebrated jesuit missionary, was born at Gratz in 1717, and died at Vienna in 1791. In 1749 he was sent out as a missionary to South America, where he spent eighteen years of zealous labour chiefly among the tribes called Guarinos and Abipones. On the expulsion of the jesuits from the Spanish possessions, he returned to Europe, and took up his residence at Vienna. The Empress Maria Theresa delighted to listen to Dobrizhoffer as he recounted the incidents of his sojourn amongst these savage nations. He was a keen observer, and has left much valuable and interesting information respecting the inhabitants and natural history of that part of South America in which he laboured. Southey has passed a high eulogium on him in the Tale of Paraguay, and an admirable translation, from the pen of Coleridge's daughter, of his principal work, "An account of the Abipones, an equestrian people of Paraguay," appeared at London in 1822.—R. M., A.
DOBROWSKY, Joseph, the eminent founder of Sclavonic philology, was born at Gyermet, near Raab, August 17, 1753, and received a careful German education, which he completed at the university of Prague. In 1772 he became a jesuit at Brünn, but the order was some time after dissolved. He then was appointed rector of the seminary at Hradisch, near Olmütz, but this institution was broken up likewise. He now found a refuge in the house of Count Nostitz, in whose family he had
