DIVISION 382 MVOEcE in thickness. Wires of platinum have been drawn out so fine as to be only the 30,000th part of an inch in diameter. Human hair varies in thickness from the 250th to the 600th part of an inch. The fiber of the coarsest wool is about the 500th part of an inch in diameter, and that of the finest only the 1,500th part. The silk line, as spun by the worm, is about the 5,000th part of an inch thick; but a spider's line is only the 30,000th part of an inch in diam- eter; insomuch that a single pound of this attenuated substance might be suf- ficient to encompass our glob^. A single grain of the sulphate of copper, or blue vitriol, will communicate a fine azure tint to five gallons of water. In this case the sulphate must be attenuated at least 10,000,000 times. Odors are ca- pable of a much wider diffusion. A single grain of musk has been known to perfume a large room for the space of 20 years. DIVISIOIT, in arithmetic, the divid- ing of a number or quantity into any parts assigned; one of the four funda- mental rules, the object of which is to find how often one number is contained in another. The number to be divided is the dividend, the number which di- vides is the divisor, and the result of the division is the quotient. Division is the converse of multiplication. DIVISION", in military matters, a portion of an army consisting of two or more brigades, composed of the various arms of the service, and commanded by a general officer. In the navy, a select number of ships in a fleet or squadron of men-of-war. DIVISION, the mode of determining a question at the end of a debate in a legislative body. In the House of Rep- resentatives at Washington, a division has no traditional formalities, being de- termined by the rules of the body itself. In the Senate, a division is accom- plished by a roll call. In the British House of Commons the Speaker puts the question, and declares whether in his opinion the "ayes" or the "noes" have it. Should his opinion not be ac- quiesced in by the minority, the house is cleared, and the "ayes" directed to go into the right lobby and the "noes" into the left, where they are counted by two tellers appointed for each party. In the_ House of Lords the two sides in a division are called "contents" and "not- contents." DIVISION OF LABOR, in biology, a conception borrowed from economics
d introduced into biology by Milne- Udwards, to describe the difference of function exhibited by the individual niembers of an animal colony, or by the different organs, tissues, and cells of a single organism. The figure of a hy- droid colony, Hydractinia, shows how members, primarily and fundamentally the same in structure, become set apart as nutritive, reproductive, sensitive, and protective. The same division of labor or predominance of special functions in different individuals is beautifully illus trated in the Siphonophora. DIVISION OF LABOR, in economics, a theory based on the principle that in- dustry can be best carried on when each man has a special work to do. Constant practice in doing the same thing leads to a perfection which could not other- wise be attained. DIVORCE, the disruption, by the act of law, of the conjugal tie made by a competent court on due cause shown. In the United States, jurisdiction in di- vorce cases is usually conferred on the law courts by the statutes in the differ- ent States, there being no ecclesiastical courts in the English sense of that term; The causes of divorce enumerated in these statutes are by no means uniform in relation to the various States, though more numerous in the Western States than in the Eastern. In most of the States di- vorce may be granted on either of the following grounds: Adultery, conviction of felony, cruel and inhuman treatment, wilful desertion for periods varying from one to three years, habitual drunkenness, impotency, or neglect to support the wife. In New York alone adultery is the only cause of absolute divorce; but in South Carolina the courts have no power to grant divorce, strictly speaking, the Leg- islature being the only authority for that purpose. In both of these States, as in others, the courts may declare an alleged marriage invalid on grounds which ren- dered the parties or either of them inca- pable of contracting it, such as idiocy, lunacy, former husband or wife living, etc. Separation from bed and board, commonly called limited divorce, is granted on the ground of cruel and in- human treatment; or desertion and re- fusal to support by the huband may be a ground for a decree setting the wife free from the interference and control of her husband, though it may not sunder the marriage tie. A person applying for a divorce will not be allowed to obtain judgment, should it appear that he or she has been guilty of the same offense, or that there is collusion between the persons con- cerned in order to procure a divorce; for the s?me reason the plaintiff is always required to prove the existence of the
