DAVIS 279 DAVIT DAVIS, VARINA ANNE JEFFER- SON, "the Daughter of the Confeder- acy"; born in Richmond, Va., June 27, 1864. Her father was Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederate States, and she was born in the Executive Man- sion. Her education was obtained partly in the United States and partly in Ger- many and France, and she wrote "The Veiled Doctor," a novel, and numerous essays and tales. She died at Narragan- sett Pier, R. I., Sept 18, 1898. RICHARD HARDING DAVIS DAVIS, WILLIAM MORRIS, an American geographer and geologist, born in Philadelphia in 1850. He graduated from the Lawrence Scientific School in 1869 and took post-graduate studies in several foreign universities. He was as- sistant in the Argentine National Observ- Atory from 1870 to 1873. In 1878 he be- came instructor of physical geography at Harvard University and was successively assistant professor and professor of this subject. In 1899 he was appointed Sturgis-Hooper professor of geology and continued to occupy this chair until 1912, when he became professor emeritus. He took part in many important geograph- ical expeditions in Africa, Asia, and Aus- tralia. He was an honorary member of many foreign geographical societies. His works include "Physical Geography" (1898); "Geographical Essays" (1909); and numerous scientific essays. He was associate editor of the "American Journal of Science." DAVIS, WILLIAM STEARNS, an American author and university pro- fessor, born at Amherst, Mass., in 1877. He graduated from Harvard in 1900 and took his doctor's degree in 1905. In 1907 he became associate professor of me- diaeval and modern history at Oberlin College, and in 1909 professor of history at the University of Minnesota. His writings include historical works and also some historical romances. Most impor- tant of these are : "A Victor of Salamis" (1907) ; "The Influence of Wealth in Imperial Rome" (1910); "The Friar of Wittenberg" (1912) ; "A History of Me- diaeval and Modern Europe" (1914). DAVISON, HENRY POMEROY, an American financier, born in Troy, Pa., in 1867, and educated privately at South Williamstown, Mass. In 1891 he became teller of the Astor Place National Bank in New York City and rose gradually in the financial world until in 1899 he be- came president of the Liberty National Bank of New York. A year or two later he became Vice-President of the First National Bank. Later he entered the firm of J. P. Morgan & Co. and became an active partner in that concern. In 1917 he was appointed chairman of the war council of the American Red Cross and during the World War he largely directed the huge undertakings of this society. After the close of the war he devoted himself to reconstruction prob- lems in Europe. DAVIS STRAIT, a strait that washes the W. coast of Greenland, and connects Baffin Bay vdth the Atlantic Ocean. At its narrowest point, immediately N. of the Arctic circle, it measures about 200 miles across. In 1888 the identity be- tween Ginnunga Gap, referred to in the Sagas, and the present Davis Strait was demonstrated. DAVIT. 1, A beam projecting from a ship's bow, for the attachment of the tackle whereby the anchor-fluke is lifted without dragging against the side of the vessel. The operation is nautically called fishing the anchor. 2. One of a pair of cranes on the gun- wale of a ship, from which are suspended the quarter or other boats. The boat- tackles are attached to rings in the bow and stern of the boat respectively, and the fall is belayed on deck. When the boat is lowered the hooks of the fall- blocks are cast off simultaneously, or
