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DEN
In every Action, the Cohfroverfy is either as to Fact, __ to Law : The firfl, decided by the Jury ; the fecond, by the Tudge. Now if any Thing turn up in the Caufe fo rare and 'difficult, that the Judge cannot pronounce upon it, a ^Demurrer, or Stop is made, and a Time taken, either for the Court to confidcr, and agree of it among themfelves ; or otherwife for the Judges, to meet in the Exchequer- Chamber, there, after hearing Council on both Sides, to de- tetmi ne what is Law. This Demurrer is exprefs'd in our p ecords by Moratur in Lege. See Moratur in Lege.
j n Common Law, the Defendant fometimes demurreth to the Plaintiff's Count, or Declaration ; And fometimes the plaintiff demnrreth to the Defendant's Plea, by averring, that it is not a fufficient Plea in Law, &c.
In Chancery, the Defendant demurreth to the Plaintiffs gill, averring it to be defective in fuch and fuch a Point ; an d demands the Judgment of the Court thereupon, whe- ther he fhall be compell'd to make any farther, or other infwer thereunto.
DENARIATL'S Terra, in our ancient Law-Books, as much Land as is worth a Penny by the Tear: Sibylla Bar- jiolot tenet imam Acram, & 5 Deuariatos 'terra in eo- dem Tenemento. DuCange.
DENARIUS, in Antiquity, the Roman 'Penny ; a Sil- ver Coin, equivalent to, from fix to feven Pence Half-Pen- ny Sterling. Sec Coin, Money, Penny, iSc.
'XazRomans having for a long Time ufed Brafs Money, which they call As, quafi JEs ; or Libra and Pondo, becaute it was a Pound Weight, began in the Tear of Rome 585 to coin Silver; and coin'd firft the 'Denarius, which was mark'd with the Letter X, becaufe it was worth Ten AJJes, and divi- ded into two Jpuinarii, mark'd with V, which was fubdi- ■vided into two Sejlertia, mark'd with thefe three Let- ters, IIS.
The firft, or Consular Denarius, was worth more than the after, or Imperial. The firft weigh'd a juft Drachm, or an 8th Part of an Ounce, and was worth about 7 Pence halfPenny of our Money. The fecond was only the 7 th Part of an Ounce, and worth 6 Pence, or 6 Pence half Penny.
Mr. Tillemont obferves, that the Denarius was held fuf- ficient to keep a Perfon handfomcly for a Day • and upon the whole feems to intimate, that it was equal to is: French Sous, or 1 r Englijh Pence. But this is to over-rate it. Bu- dges fhews, that the Denarius current in our Saviour's Time, was only worth about 5 Pence halfPenny Sterling. Jefus Chrijl was fold for thirty Denarii, which were after- wards fpent in purchafir.g a Field.
The Imprcffion on the firft Denarius was on one Side a Figure of Janus ; and on the other, the Vcffel that brought him to Iralv. Afterwards, the Reverfe was a Cafior and 'Pollux, and fometimes a Victory, driving a Chariot with two or 4 Horfes ; whence the Denarii were call'd ftigati, or Quadrigati, or Ratiti.
Denarius is alfo ufed in ourLaw-Books for an Eng- lifi Penny. See Penny.
Denarius Ar.gliiS, qui nominatur Sterlingus rotwn- dus, fine Tonfura, ponder abit 52 Grana Frumenti in me- dioSpica; iSS 20 Denarii facicvt Unciam ; iS 12 Uncite facient Libram. Stat. Edu. f . de Menfuris. See Mea- sure, Pound, &c.
Denarius Dei, Earneft Money, call' d alfo Argentum Dei, and by the French Deniers de Dieu, and in fome Parts of our Country, Aries, or Earls. It a quod neuter Meroatorvm ab Mo CoutraSu pojfe difcedere, vel refihre pjtquam Denarius Dei inter P'erfonas contraheutes datus flierit £? receptus. Charta Eduardi I.
DENATES, in Antiquity, Domeftic Gods, call'd alfo Penates. See Penates.
Dionyfius Halicamafffus, Lib. I. fpeaking of the Dn Penates, tells us, that the Hiftorian Tim<etis has wrote, that the Figure, Statue, or Effigy of the Donates, or Pe- nates, was nothing but a crooked Iron, or Copper Rod, and a Trojan Veffel of Potters Ware : And that this was all JEne'as brought from 1"roy. But, for himfelf, he allures us, hehadfeen aTemple at iJoae, near the Forum, where thole Gods were represented fitting, under the Form of two young Men, having each of them a Dart in his Hand : He adds, that the Infcription was DENATES, for that the Ancients, before the Invention of the Letter P, ufed aD in- ftead thereof. But Dionyfius might be miftaken : For the Bottom of the P is frequently fo very fmall on Medals, that there is no fenfihle Difference between a P, and a D 5 which might be the Cafe in the Infcription that Author mentions; For that the ancient Inhabitants of 'Italy had 10 P, is a Miftake fufficiently refuted by many proper Names ftill remaining of the moft early Ages, e.gr. Caps, Capetus, Pious, 'Pallas. Nor were the 'Trojans without the fame, witnefs 'Palinurus, Tar is, Priamus, Sec.
DENCHEE, orDENCHED, or ENDENCHEE, in Heraldry, is applied to the Ordinaries in a Shield, when
they arc edg'd with Teeth, or indented.
They make this Difference between what is denche'd, and what is engrail'd, that in the former, the Points or 1 Teeth, are pretty large, and cut ftraight, like theTcet'h of a Saw; whereas in the latter, thc-Teeth arefmalL and the Inrervals hollow, and a little rounded. See Engrailed. DENDRITES, in natural Hiitory, a Sort of whitiflh or afh-colour'd Stones; whereon are feeh Trees, Shrubs, 'and other ruftic Figures, reprefented in Miniature in blackifh or yellowifh Figures. Sec Figured Stone.
Some rank the. Dendrites in the Clafs of Stone-Plants * But againfl this it is urged ; Firft, That the Branches of Trees, iSc painted in Miniature on the Dendrites, are never confounded together, nor fhoot a-crofs each other, as thofe ofStone-Plants ufually are. Secondly, That the Fire ftrips the Dendrites of all its Figures, without deftroying the Stone, and reducing it to Allies ; which docs not hold of any Stone-Plant. From hence it appears, that the Fi- gures of the Dendrites are external, and the EfFeef of a Colour applied on the Stone not Artificially, but by Nature, Two pohfli'd Marbles being applied on each other with Oil between ; upon parting them again, the Oil running into* certain Tracks, its Imprcffion exhibits divers Figures like thofe on the Dendrites ; the Ramification always begin- ning on the Side the Marbles are begun to be feparaicd of. So that" it appears, theFigures <si <l\iz Dendrites are form'd by fome bituminous Liquor infinuating between the Beds, or Strata of the Stones ; and accordingly, we actually find, that the Dendrites being expofed to the Fire, yields a binuni* nousSmell. This fame Liquor ouzes out of the Stone it felf, filtrating through its Pores, as, in all Probability, it is the Cold, and Preffure of the upper Beds, that brings it forth.
In ibmeDendrites, the figures penetrate quite through, in others they go but to the Middle, and in others not fo deep.
DENDROPHORIA, in Antiquity, a Heathen Ceremo- ny, confifting in the carrying of one or more Trees through a City, in certain Sacrifices, and in Honour of certain Deities* The DendrOfhoria was perform 'd in the Sacrifices of Bacchus, Cybeie, and the God Sylvanus. Arnobiv.s, Lib. V. makes mention of that performed in the Sacrifices of the Mother of the Gods. Ir conlifled in carrying a Pine inpro- ceffion through the City ; which Pine was afterwards plan- ted in Memory of that, where under Atys, the Favourite of theGoddefs, mutilated himfelf The Branches of this Tree they crown'd, in Memory at Cybele's doing the fame; and they cover'd its Trunk with Woo], by reafon theGoddefs cover'd Atys's Breaft with the fame.
The Perfons who perform' d the Office of Carrying the Tree, were call'd Dendrophori.
In the Roman Hiftory we find mention made of a Com- pany, or College of Dendrophori, who attended the Army : And the Criticks have been in'grear Pain to affign their Of- fice. Some hold, that they hew'd, and form'd the Wood for the Tents : Others, that they provided the Wood nccei- fary for the Military Works, Machines of War, 'iSc. Sal- mafius in his Notes on the Life of Caracalla by Spartian; owns this the general Opinion of all the Learned Men of his Time ; but affures with his ufual Modefty, rhar they were all miitaken, and that the Dendrophori of the Army were the fame with thofe of the Sacrifices. The Word is form'd of J^ty/ptc, Tree, and ee?«, I bear. DENEB, inAfironomy, a fix'd Star, call'd alfo Cauda Lucida, or rhe Lion's Tail ; Its Longitude, Latitude, e_vc, fee under Leo.
DENELAGE, or DANELAGE, rhe Law made by tho Danes in England. See Merchenlage.
DENIER, the French Penny ; a fmall Copper Coin, 12 whereof make a Sol, or French Shilling. See Sol, Shil- ling, Penny, Coin, t£c.
The French Denier is about ^thPart of die EngliJbVen- ny. It is fubdivided into two Mailles, and the Maille in- to two Oboles.
Anciently, Denier was a general Name for all Sorts of Monies in France ; as Nummus was for thofe in Rome* Thus, a Piece of Gold Money, was call'd PDenier d'Ort Silver Money, Denier d' 'Argent : After the fame Manner as the Romans faid, Nummus Aureus, and Hummus Ar- genteus. There were two Kinds otDeniers, the one Tour- nois, the other Parifis ; whereof the latter was worth a fourth Part more than the former, and was call'd Mow noye Royale, or Forte Mohnoye, and fometimes Denief- d'Or, and Denier a Valour d'Or.
DENIZEN, in Law, (from the French Donaifin, i.e. Donation) an Alien that isEnffanchifed here in England by the King's Charter, and Donation; and thereby enabled, in many Refpefts, to do as the King's Native Subjects do, namely, to purchafe, and poffe's Lands, to hold anyOffi ce, or Dignity, e?r. Yet is Denizenfiip fhort of Naturaliza^ tion by Parliament. For a Stranger naturalized, may inhe- rit Lands by Defcent ; which a tBenizen saanot. Befidei that, in the Charter, whereby a Pcrfijn is made a Denix-en, G * the r«
