DOMINIC, SAINT 399 DOMINICAN assistant of the United States Geo- logical Survey in 1903, and in 1905- 1907 was engaged in travel and explora- tion in southwrestern United States and in Mexico. From 1912 to 1917 he was geographer and editorial writer for the American Geographical Society. In 1918 he carried on special investigations on boundary problems for the Department of State. He served at the American Peace Commission in Paris in 1919. He was a member of many geographical so- cieties and was the author of "The Frontiers of Language and Nationality in Europe" (1917). DOMINIC, SAINT, the founder of the order of the Dominicans; born in Cala- horra, in Old Castile, in 1170. He early distinguished himself by his zeal for the reform of canonical life and by his suc- cess as a missionary among the Moham- medans. His attention having been di- rected to the Albigenses in the S. of France, he organized a mission of preachers against heresy in Languedoc. In 1215 he went to Rome to obtain the sanction of Pope Innocent III. to erect the mission into a new order of preaching friars. His request was only partiallly granted, and it was the succeeding Pope, Honorius III., who conferred full privi- leges on the Dominicans. He also ap- pointed Dominic Master of the Sacred Palace or court preacher to the Vatican, an office which is still held by one of the order. Dominic died in Bologna in 1221, and was canonized in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX. St. Dominic is usually con- sidered the founder of the Inquisition, but this claim is denied on the ground that two Cistercian monks were ap- pointed inquisitors in 1198. DOMINICA, the largest and extreme S. British island in the Leeward group of the Lesser Antilles; midway between the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe; area, 291 square miles; pop. about 37,000, mostly negro. The Caribs have become so intermixed with the negroes that the pure Carib, the "Franc Caribs," will soon be non-existent. They are very peaceable and retiring, and live on fish, and vegetables and fruits which they cultivate. Dominica is of volcanic origin, with many hot and sulphurous springs. The temperature is cool and even chilly in the mountains, but sultry on the coast. Rain falls nearly every month, and the annual rainfall is 83 inches. Nearly one-half of the surface consists of wooded mountains and deep ravinee, and at one point the surface at- tains an elevation of 6,234 feet. The rugged, broken, and precipitous character of Dominica is very disadvan- tageous to the settler, and has confined agriculture to a narrow strip along th« coast. The principal product is sugar, but fruit, cocoa, and timber also are ex- ported, and the fi.sheries are valuable. The capital of the island is Roseau, a port on the W. coast, with a population of about 5,000. Dominica is a member of the Leeward Islands colony, and sends representatives to the general legislative council; but it has its own president, treasury, and local legislature. The majority of the inhabitants are Roman Catholics; religious equality now pre- vails. Dominica was discovered by Co- lumbus, on his second voyage, on Sunday (whence its name Dominica — i. e., "the Lord's Day"), Nov. 3, 1493. It was a source of strife to French and English till 1648, when it was formally declared by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle a neu- tral island; but in 1759 it was captured by England, and in 1763 ceded by France, who, however, held it again in 1778-1783, and in 1802-1814, when it was finally re- stored to England. DOMINICAN. (1) One of a religious order called in some places Praedicantes or Preaching Friars, and in France Jaco- bins, from their first convent in Paris being in the Rue St. Jacobin. They took their ordinary name from their founder, Dominic de Guzman (afterward canon- ized under the name of St. Dominic) . The new order was approved of in 1215 by Pope Innocent III., and confirmed in 1216 by a bull of Pope Honorius III., un- der the rule of St. Augustine, a rule to which they have adhered, though they subsequently adopted a white habit re- sembling that of the Carthusians, in place of their original black dress. They were under a vow of absolute poverty. In England they were called Black Friars, and in 1276 the Corporation of London gave them two streets near the Thames, where they erected a large convent, whence that part is still called Black- friars. The Dominicans always took a principal part in the Inquisition. The Dominicans were the chief supporters of the doctrine of the Immaculate Con- ception. (2) One of an order of nuns founded by St. Dominic under the same rules as the friars, but devoted to industry. (3) One of an order of knights founded by St. Dominic, for the purpose of put- ting down heresy by force of arms. Tertiaries of St. Dominic. — To the friars, nuns, and knights mentioned above, St. Dominic added, in 1221, the Tertiaries — persons who, without forsak- ing secular life or even the marriage tie, connected themselves with the order by undertaking certain obligations, such as to dress plainly, to live soberly, to
