DE SANCTIS. 151 DESBARRES. his release he took refuge in Malta, and thence went to Turin, where liis original and eloquent lectures on the Pirina commrrfiii omnmanded universal admiration, and led to his heing called, in 1S51), to the I'olytechnic Institute at Zurich as professor of ;?sthetics and Italian literature. In ISUO he was made Jlinister of Public Instruc- tion at Naples, and held the same ollice, for the i.ingdoni of Italy three times — in ISUl-liii, under Cavour and Kicasoli: in IS78, under Cairoli; and again in 18711-80, under the administration of Cairoli-Uepretis. As a member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, after I8()l, lie was a parti- san of the iloderate Liberals. On his first retire- ment from public o!Iiee, in 18(i2, he resumed his profession of teaching at Naples, where lie also founded ami edited the journal L'llulia. In 1871 he was appointed professor at the University of Naples. t)e Sanctis exercised considerable influence on contemporaneous Italian literature as a critic, but even more iis a teacher, giving a new im- petus to literary criticism in Italy. His writ- ings are few, but of the highest order. Fore- most among them is to be mentioned his Storia dclla lettcrutura italiana (3d cd. 1879). Be- sides this, he published: Haggi critici (1868; 4tll ed. I8S1); Saggio critico sul Pelrarca (1SG9) ; yiuni saggi critici (1872). After his death were published: Studio su Giacoino Lco- jxirdi (ISS.t) : La Ictteratura italiana nel secolo .XrX. (1807»: Scritti rarii inediti (1898). DE SANCTIS, LuiGi (1808-69). An Italian theologian. A distinguished prelate in Rome, he was converted by the study of the Bible, and in 1847 fled to !Malta, where he became a Protest- ant. From 18-52 he worked as a preacher of the Waldensian congregation in Turin ; became, in 1S54. the head of the 'Chiesa Libera.' a radical oirshoot of the Waldensians, which body he. how- ever, joined again in 1864. accepting a professor- ship at their seminary in Florence, where he also established the Protestant periodical Eco della erHa. DESARGTJES, de-zarg'. G£b.rd (1593-1662). A Fnncli iiiatlicinatician. He was born in Lyons, and is ch icily known as one of the founders of modem geometry. Poncelet called him "the Jlonge of his century." Desargues and Pascal intro- duced the method of perspective, and treated the tonic sections (qv.) as projections of a circle. Two important theorems are attributed to De- sargiies. one of which forms the basis of his re- markable theory of homological figures. To Desargues is further due the theory of involu- tion and of transversals, the conception that a straight line is a curve closed at infinity, and the definition of parallels as lines intersecting at infinity. The works of Desargues have mostly been lost, but the titles of the chief ones are known. They are as follows: Mcthodc itniver- sclle de mettre en perspective les objcts donnfa rccUemcnt ou en devis, avec Icurs proportions, mesitrcs, cloignemcnt, sans rinplo;/er inirun point qui soil hors du champ de I'ouvrage (1630); liroiiillon project d'une atteinle avx cvinements <ics reconlrrs d'un cone avec tin plan (1639); BrouHlon project . . . pour In coupe des pirrres (1640). For his biography, consult PuudrM. ill Dcsargiies's (Euvres (Paris, 1864). DESART, de-ziirt'. William Ulick O'Connor ClFFK. fourth F.ail of (184.5-9H). An English novelist, lie was bom in London, and was edu- cated at Eton and at Bonn. After serving as page of honor to (jueen Victoria, he became lieutenant in the tJrenadicr (iuards (1862) and then captain (1865). Aluch of his later life was passed in Canada. He died ^Septemlier 15, 1898. He was the author of many novels, among which are: Only a Wumati's Love (1868) ; Chil- dren of Xature, a story of modern London, which caused a sensation (1877); Kclverdtile (1878); The Honorable Ella (1879): Mervyne O'Connor and Other Tales (1880) ; jMrd and Lady Picca- dilly (1887) ; Love and I'ride on an Iceberg, and Other Tales (1887) ; and The Raid of the Detri- mental (1S97). DESAUGIERS, da'zd'zhya', :Marc Antoine 5I.DEL1XE (1772-1827). A French writer of songs and vaudevilles. He was born at Frejus, and was a son of the composer Marc An- toine Desaugiers (1742-93). He was educated for the ministry at the Coll&ge Mazarin. Paris, but discontinued his studies in order to visit Santo Domingo. His attitude here during the negro insurrection imperiled his life, and he was compelled to seek refuge on an American steamer Ijound for Baltimore. In that city he devoted himself for several years to pianoforte instruction. Upon his return to France he acquired a considerable reputation as a writer of songs and vaudevilles, and subsequently be- came director of tlie Vaudeville Theatre of Paris, which position he retained until 1827. Several of his songs are still popular. Among them are La treille de la sinccrite and Paris a cinq heures du matin. The complete works of this amiable and charming writer, who is held by some to surpass even Beranger. were published in Paris in 1827, under the title. Chansons et poMes diversrs. One of his most humorous pro- ductions is the one-act vaudeville entitled Milord Go, oil le dix-huit Bruniaire (1804). DESAULT, de-zft', Piebre Joseph (1744-95). A brilliant French anatomist and surgeon. He became professor of anatomy in Paris in 1776, at the age of twenty-two; was admitted to mem- bership in the corporation of surgeons in the same year, and subsequently held various posi- tions of honor. In 1782 he was appointed sur- geon-major to the De la Charite Hospital, and came to be regarded as one of the ablest sur- geons of his time. He next went to the Hotel Dieu, and after Jloreau's death the surgical de- partment of the hospital was intrusted to him. There he instituted a clinical school of surgery — the first of its type — attracting pupils from all over Europe. He introduced system and pre- cision into surgery, and made many valuable improvements in the instruments used in that ])rofession. His pupil, the celebrated Bichat (q.v.), published his ffiiirres chirurgienles (1798- 1803). Consult Labrune, Etude sur la vie et les travaux de Desault (Besan<;on, 1867). DESBARRES, dil'biir', or DES BARRES, Joseph FiiKDiaiicK Wal.sii (17221S24i. An English military engineer and hydrographer. He graduated at the Royal Military Academy of Woolwich, and was sent to America, where he was engaged in the French an<l Indian War as lieutenant of artillery. He was in the expedition against Louisburg, and in the siege of Quebec was aide to Wolfe, who fell into his arms when he received his death wound. For some years afterwards Desbarrcs was charged with impor-
