DOGE 391 DOGMATICS from what it was to the ancients, July 1 ; and the dog days are now counted from July 3 to August 11, that is, 20 days be- fore and 20 days after the heliacal rising. DOGE (doj), the title borne by the chief magistrate in the former Italian republics of Venice and Genoa. The dogate, or office and dignity of doge, was elective; the doge of Genoa being elected for two years, and at Venice for life. The office was originated in the latter city in the year 697. When the seven tribunes, by whom state affairs had been previously administered, were found un- equal to their posts, the Venetians re- solved to replace them by a single chief magistrate, who should hold office for life. The doge was chief of the council, first minister, and personal representa- tive of the republic ; but, though invested with almost regal authority, he was not a sovereign. He could convoke assem- blies, declare war, or conclude treaties, command the armies of the state, ap- point the military tribunes and the judges, correct citizens, hear appeals, de- cide disputes between the clergy, award ecclesiastical punishments, invest bish- ops, and install them in their churches. Notwithstanding these vast powers, a perusal of the history of Venice will prove, that though the Venetians allowed four centuries to elapse before they fixed the bounds or controlled the exercise of the power of their chief magistrate — after that time the doge was merely the representative of an authority which was actually reserved to the republic. In fact he was a state pageant who lent the weight of his name to the acts of the senate. Dispatches were directed to him by ambassadors, but he could not open them, except in presence of the council- lors; and although money was struck in his name it did not bear his stamp or arms. He could not go beyond Venice without permission of the council. He could not divest himself of his dignity at will; and at his death three inquisitors and five correctors examined into his conduct with the most searching rigor. The office, after an existence of 1,100 years, yielded, with but slight resistance, to the power of the republic of France. DOGFISH, the name given to any species of the genus Scylium, the type of the family ScyllUdse. Dogfish are like small sharks. They are, moreover, ovip- arous. Of the known species, which are about 11, the small-spotted dogfish, the large-spotted dogfish, and the black- mouthed dogfish are the best known. The egg cases are curious bodies, like purses.^ They are popularly known as mermaid's purses, sea purses, etc. DOGGER BANK, an extensive sand bank of the Gorman Ocean, celebrated for its codfishery. It begins about 36 miles E. of Flamborough Head and ex- tends E. N. E. to within 60 miles of Jut- land, in some places attaining a breadth of about 60 miles, though it terminates merely in a point. Where shallowest the water over it is nine fathoms. Here on the night of Oct. 21 1904, the Russian Baltic fleet under Admiral Rozhdestven- ski, en route for Japan, mistook Hull fishing boats for hostile ships and sank a trawler, causing the death of two men. DOG LICHEN, the popular name of a plant, Peltidea canina, common on damp ground, stones, and trunks of trees. It was formerly supposed to be a specific for hydrophobia. It is also known as ash-colored ground liverwort. DOGMA, in the Septuagint and New Testament, signified a decree or precept; by classical Greek writers it is used in the sense of a philosophical tenet. It? general meaning is a principle or maxim laid down in the form of a positive as- sertion, and hence "the Dogmatic Meth- od" is the method pursued in such a science as mathematics, which start? from axioms and postulates, and deduces everything from these by means of proofs. But where the fundamental principles are either unknown or much contested, the dogmatist is one who as- sumes certain principles without proof as the- foundation of his system. The word dogma is especially used to signify the whole (or any one) of the doctrinal forms in which the religious experience of the Christian Church has from time to time authoritatively expressed itself, as distinguished from the opinions held by Church-teachers individually. DOGMATIC, in ecclesiastical history, one belonging to one of the three orders of theologians before the Reformation. These orders were thus classed: (1) The Dogmatics, so called because they based their systems or dogmas on the authority of Scripture, and the judg- ment of the fathers. (2) The Mystics, who, in disparagement of Scripture, framed their opinions according to the dictates of spiritual intuition. (3) the Scholastics, who paid an almost sacred deference to the Aristotelian philosophy. The word was also applied to one of a sect of physicians founded by Hippo- crates who based their rules of practice on general principles or conclusions de- duced from theoretical influences. They were opposed to the Empirics and Meth- odists. DOGMATICS, a systematic arrange- ment of the aiiiicles of Christian faith
