D
D (dē), the fourth letter, is a vocal consonant. It is classed as a dental or hard palate sonant, because made by the point of the tongue against that palate or the front teeth, as in day, fixedness, old. When preceded by a surd in the same syllable, d sounds as t, as in arched, hissed, looked. It is silent in handkerchief, handsome, windrow and the first syllable of Wednesday. The Romans used D as a numeral (500) as well as a letter.
Dacca (dăk' ȧ), a city of Bengal proper, 150 miles northeast of Calcutta, on the north bank of the Buriganga. It occupies an area of eight square miles, and consists of a dull esplanade and one long street meeting at right angles, with a network of narrow, crooked lanes. It, however, has unusual advantages for inland navigation, as its position commands the principal waterways of the delta. About 1610 it became the seat of the Mohammedan government of Bengal, which rank it kept, with a short break, until 1704. In the 18th century it became celebrated for its muslins, and the English, French and Dutch had manufactures here. It has since declined (the population falling off from 200,000 in 1800 to 69,212 in 1872), until the last few years have revived its prosperity. Besides manufactures, Dacca has a college and good schools. The Dacca and Maimansingh state-railroad, opened in 1886, has helped its growth. Population, 85,000. Dacca also is a district in Bengal, watered by the Brahmaputra. Its population is close upon 10,000,000.
Dacia (dā' shĭ-ȧ), an ancient country of Europe, of uncertain limits, lying north of the Danube and south of the Carpathian Mountains. It comprised at least what now is the eastern part of Hungary, Transylvania, Moldavia and Wallachia. It was inhabited by an exceedingly warlike people of German origin, who held the Romans in check from 10 B. C. until 100 A. D. During the reign of Domitian the Romans were even obliged to pay tribute. In 106 A. D. Trajan reduced the country to a Roman province. The Romans held most of this territory until 274 A. D., when Aurelian abandoned it to be overrun in succession by the Goths, Huns, Gepidæ, Avars and Scythians.
Dædalus (dād' a-lus), in Greek fable, an Athenian who personified the beginning of the arts of sculpture and architecture. He killed his nephew and pupil, who envied his growing skill, and had to flee to Crete, where he carved the well-known cow for Queen Pasiphaë and designed the famous labyrinth for King Minos in which to confine the minotaur. He was imprisoned but escaped, forming wings for himself and his son Icarus, with which to fly across the sea. He flew safely across the Ægean, but Icarus flew too near the sun, the heat of which melted the wax that fastened his wings to him, so that he fell and was drowned in that part of the sea which the ancients afterward called Icarian. At Cumæ, in Italy, Dædalus dedicated his wings to Apollo. Many early works of art were ascribed to him. Discoveries in Crete have made it probable that Dasdalus was a real person.
Dagobert (dăg' ō-bêrt), the name of several of the Merovingian kings of France. The best known is Dagobert I, who ruled France from 628 to 638. He was a vigorous monarch, but debauched in his private life,. His court almost equaled in magnificence that at Constantinople. His most noteworthy act was to revise and publish the old national statutes, known as the Salic and the Ripuarian laws.
Dagon (dā' gŏn), the national god of the Philistines, half-man and half-fish. He is mentioned in the Old Testament as having temples at Gaza and at Ashdod, and his worship probably existed in other parts of Palestine. It was at the temple of Dagon in Gaza that the Philistines offered a great sacrifice, when Samson, who had been delivered into their hands, was brought forth and pulled down the temple.
Daguerreotype. See Photography.
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| ADMIRAL DAHLGREN |
Dahlgren (däl' grĕn) John Adolph, an American naval officer, was born at Philadelphia in 1809, and died in 1870. He early entered the navy as midshipman, and soon rose in rank. While employed in the ordnance-department from 1847 to 1857, he made a series of experiments in the construction of heavy shell guns, which resulted in
