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Hfonfr Bouldnc allures us from his ottn Experience, DECOURS, ■ V ■ tr u o *,
,hat the Infufions of Vegetable Purgatives aft better, DECRESSANT,/ - ln HeraWr y- See Decrement,
and produce better Effefls, than their DecoBions; DECOT, a Place made fit for Catching of wild
w hich be attributes to this, that the pureft and moil Fowl : Hence, a Decoy-Duck is one that flies abroad,
active Principles of thofe Bodies are diflipated and eva- and lights into Company of wild ones, and being be-
uorated by Heat. Memoires de I'Academie Royale des come acquainted
porated ■Sciences..
iy Heat. Memoires de VAcademie Royale des come acquainted with them, by her Allurement draws
An. 1 7 10. them into the Decoy-Vlacc, where they become a Prey.
DECOLLATION, Beheading, a Term feldom ufed, DECREE, a Refolve made by a Superior Power,
j, ut i n the Phrafc, the Decollation of St. John "Bap- for the Regulating of an Inferior.
till, Iig nif y in o a Painting, wherein is rcprefented the The Commerce between Soul and Body, Fa. Malle-
Eaptift's Head, llruck off from his Trunk ; Or, the branch obferves, has no other Vinculum, or Connexion,
Tcad held in Honour of that Martyr. But the Efficacy of the divine Decrees. Second Cau-
A French Embalfador at Confaniinofle, fhewing fes only execute the Decrees of Providence. The
the Grand Seignior a Decollation of St. John, ad- DoQrine of the Calvinifts infers, that God enters into
niirahly reprefented, except that the Painter had not Sin by a pofitive Decree ; in that if Crimes were not
obferved, that when a Man is beheaded, the Skin ordain'd by an antecedent Decree, God could not fore-
ihrir.ks back a little ; The Emperor immediately fpied fee the Events.
the Fault in that exquifite Performance ; and to con- ThcDecreespf Councils, are the Laws made by th
•vince the Embalfador thereof, fent Orders for a Man to regulate the Doftrine and Policy of the Church.
to be immediately beheaded, and bis Head to be Canon.
brought for a Proof. Catherinot T'raite ie la 'Peiu- Decree was originally ufed by the Lawyers for any
tiire. Thing ordain'd by the Prince, upon Cognizance of
DECOMPOSITION, in Chymlftry and Pharmacy, the Caufe : But the Canonifts now reltrain the Word
the fame Thing with Analyfis, or Refolution, viz. Decree to the Ordinances of Popes; as the Name Ctl-
the Reduction of a Body into the Principles, or com- non is to what is ordain'd by Councils,
jior.ent Parts it confifts of. See Analysis, and Re- The Decrees in Chancery, are the Determinations, or
solution. , Sentences of the Lord Chancellor, upon full Hearing, and
'Decomfofltion, is fometimes taken for any Sort Weighing the Merits of the Caufe. See Chancery.
f ^"'^J^SS^I™ "L^ir ! n ? ro P„ rie T' DECREMENT, or DEGRESS ANT, in Heraldry,
See
however, Decompofition is a Procefs of an Artift. order to a Separation of the Heterogeneities, or Im- purities from any Matter.
Tradition, founded on repeated Experiments, is a much furer Way of arriving at the Knowledge of the Properties of a Plant, than any chymical Ana- lyfis, or Decompofition of its Principles. See Medi- cine.
DECORATION, in Architecture, an Ornament in a Church, or other public Place : Or, what adorns, and enriches a Building, Triumphal Arch, &c. either without Side, or within. See Ornament.
The Orders of Architecture contribute a great deal to the decoration 5 but then the feveral Parts of thofe Orders muft have their juft Proportions, Cha- racters, and Ornaments 5 Otherwife the fmeft Order will bring Confufion, rather thanRichnefs. See Order. decorations in Churches, are Paintings, Vafes, Feftcons, &c. occasionally applied to the Walls ; and with fo much Conduct and Difcretion, as not to take off any Thing from the Form of the Architecture : As is much practifed in Italy, at the folemn Pearls.
Decoration is particularly applied to the Scenes of Theatres. Sec Scene.
In Opera's, and other Theatrical Performances, the ^Decorations muft be frequently changed, to the Subject. The Ancients had two Kinds of 25, orations tor their Theatres : The firft, call'd Verfa- tilis, having three Sides, or Faces which were turned fucceffively to the Spectators : The other, call'd DuEli- lis, fhewing a new Decoration by drawing, or Aid- ing another before it. This latter Sort of Decoration is (till ufed, and apparently with^ much greater Sue-
by the French Heralds ufually call'd Decours, or, em Decours, is the Wane, or Decreafe of the Moon, when fhe is receding from the Full towards the New.
In this State fhe is call'd in Blazon, a Moon-De- crejfant, or, en Decours - 7 Since to call it a Crefcent, would be improper, as that Term denotes an Increafe. The Moon looking to the left Side of the Efcutcheon, is always fuppofed to be Aecrejfa-nt : When me faces the right, fhe is Crefcent, or in the Increment.
DECREPITATION, in Chymiftry, a Drying, and Calcining of Salt over the Fire, continued till fuch. Time as it ceafes to crackle. See Salt.
The Term is alfo applied to - the Noife, or Crack- ling of the Salt during the Operation. The Defigii of this Operation is to free the Salt of its fupcr- fluous Moifture. But the Salt is hereby rendred fo- porous, and apt to imbate Moifture, that unlefs it be kept very clofe, it foon moiftens again.
DECRETAL, a Refcript, or Letter of a Pope; whereby fome Point, or Queftion in the Ecclefiaftical Law is folved, or determined.
The Decretals, Litterce Decretales, compofe tho fecond Part of the Canon-Law. See Canon Law.
Decretals, are Infiituta proprie <Pap<e, TrtfceftA vero Regum. They were firft compiled into a Body hj 7 fm^ Regmo, Orchard, Anjelm, and luo .- Afterwards by Gratian, who lived in the Pontificate of MltgefldUsIU.5 which latter, as being generally approv'd, is call'd, T'fod firft ColleBion of the Decretals. Twelve Years after, a fe- cond Cclleftion was made by Gilbertus, and Alantis, un- der the Name of Vol at er anus 5 which, betide the 'Decre- tals of the former, contain'd thofe of Cele (line the Illd.
The third Collection was begun by James Ma\or y cefs than among the Ancients, who were oblig d to Arch-Deacon of Comp oft ell 'a, and collected out of the draw a Curtain whenever they made a Change in the R cg jft ers f Innocent the Hid. It was call'd, Romano, pecoratjon ; whereas on our Stage the Change is made Comfilatio ; But, containing many Things not generally
receiv'd, that Pope was perfuaded to employ fome: Perfon, to make a Collection by his Authority. Ac-
Moment, and almoil without being perceiv'd, Bee Theatre;
DECORTICATION, the Peeling, or Unhufking of Roots, Seeds, Fruits, Branches, £5tr. or the Freeing, of them from their Barks, Rinds, Hulls, or Shells. See Bark.
cordingly, 'Petrus JZeneventanus, a Notary, or, as others fay, P. Raimond, a Dominican, was appointed for that Work 5 Which is the only Collection autho- rized by the holy See to be read in the Schools.
DECORUM, DECOR, Decency, is particularly 'Boniface the VUIth, in 1297, made a new Collection,
ufed in Architecture, for the Suitablenefs of a Building and the feveral Parts, and Ornaments thereof, to the Station, and Occafion. Vitruvius is very fevere in this Point ; and gives exprefs Rules for the Appro- priating, or Suiting the feveral Orders to their natural Characters. So, e.g. as a Corinthian Column Jhould not be fet at the Entrance ofaPrifon, or Gate-Houfe 5
under the Name of Sexttis, containing 5 Books. Cle- ment the Hid made a third, under the Title of Cle- mentines ; And John the .XXIIth, under that of Ex- travagantes. See Clementines, and Extrava- gantes.
All the Decretals attributed to the Popes befor* Siricius, in 318, are evidently fuppofititious. All the.
Nor a Tz/fcan, in the Portico of a Church 5 As fome World allow them an Impofture $ and even fuch as,
have done among us, in breach of Decorum. Even in are moft favourable to the Court of Rome, are oblig 'd
the Difpofition of the Offices of our ordinary Houfes, to abandon them : Tho' they have been one great
We find grievous Offences againft Decorum : The Kit- means of Eftablifhing the Grandeur of Rome, and
chin being often where the Parlour fliould be 5 and ruining the ancient Difcipline, particularly as to
that in the firft and beft Story, which fliould have Ecclefiaftical Judgments, and the Rights of Bifhops.
been damned to the loweft and worft. They are fuppofed by fome, the fpurious Off-fpring
DECOUPLE, in Heraldry, the fame as Uncoupled, of IJidore, Arch-Biftiop of Seville, by Reafon the Col-
j- e. parted, or fever'd ; Thus, a Chevron Decouple, lection thereof bears the Name of Ifidore Teccator,
is a Chevron wanting fo much towards the Point, that or Mercator. They were firft publifh'd by Riculph
the two Ends Hand at a Diftance from each other, or Btfhop of Mentz t in the IXth Century. are parted, or uncoupled, D* Dfif
