thermometer, which is said to have been first used in Germany about the year 1621. The instrument used by Drebbel consisted of a tube of glass containing water, and connected with a bulb containing air, according to the expansion or contraction of which, a nd the consequent rise and fall of the water, the variations of temperature were measured on a scale similar to that of the thermometers now in use. Several other notable inventions are ascribed to Drebbel, particularly the microscope and the telescope; but it is probable the ignorance of the age in which he lived allowed him to borrow extensively the honours of preceding discoverers, and among others those of the inventors of these instruments. He is accredited on good authority, however, with the discovery of the means of producing a bright scarlet dye for woollens and silks, which was afterwards introduced into France, particularly at the Gobelines manufactories, where great advantage was derived from the employment of the process. Drebbel was in great favour with the Austrian court; Rudolph II. gave him a pension, and Ferdinand II. made him tutor to his son. It was well for him, however, that his fame travelled beyond the limits of the emperor's dominions; for, having been cast into prison in Austria, he was indebted for life and liberty to the interference of James I. of England. On an invitation from James he came over to England, and settling in this country continued to prosecute his favourite studies. He presented his royal patron, it is said, with a glass globe which exhibited a variety of terrestrial and celestial phenomena—thunder, rain, and the tides, the sun, and planets in perpetual motion; and he contrived, according to the dubious authority of some contemporaries, a boat which could be rowed under water, and in which the submarine crew could read without artificial light. His reputation did not, however, rest exclusively on his inventions, but was partly based upon alchemy. Drebbel was in fact accredited with a perfect knowledge of that science, and all that it had ever promised was anticipated from his hands. He left two works in Latin and Dutch, respectively entitled "The Nature of the Elements," and the "Quintessence."—J. S., G.
DRELINCOURT, Charles, a celebrated protestant minister, was born at Sedan in 1595. He studied polite literature and theology at his native town, and afterwards went to Saumur to go through a course of philosophy under Professor Duncan. He was ordained to the ministry of the French protestant church in 1618, and for some time officiated in the neighbourhood of Langres. Two years afterwards he was called to be pastor of the church at Charenton, Paris. Drelincourt was a most efficient minister. As a preacher he was popular and instructive, and in his pastoral visits he won the hearts of his people by the tenderness and assiduity with which he administered the consolations of the gospel. It is said also that he managed the affairs of the church with such judgment that he never failed of being consulted on every important occasion. Drelincourt married in 1625 the only daughter of a rich merchant of Paris, by whom he had sixteen children. His first publication was a "Treatise on Preparation for the Lord's Supper." This work, his "Catechism," the "Short View of Controversies," and his "Consolations against the fears of Death," have of all his writings been the most frequently reprinted. The last especially has always been exceedingly popular, and has from time to time appeared in the German, Flemish, Italian, and English languages. His controversial works, which refer chiefly to the points in dispute between the reformed and popish churches are very numerous. We may mention—"The Jubilee;" "The Roman Combat;" "The Jesuit's Owl;" "Disputes with the Bishop of Bellai concerning the honour due to the Holy Virgin;" "Dialogues against the Missionaries;" "The Pretended Nullities of the Reformation," &c. He published, besides, "Charitable Visits," in five volumes, and three volumes of sermons. Bayle informs us that his writings against the Church of Rome had an unparalleled influence in the way of confirming the protestants in their adherence to the reformed faith. He was regarded as the scourge of the papists, but was, nevertheless, like that other eminent minister of the reformed church, M. Claude, much esteemed and even beloved by them. He had an easy access to some of the highest functionaries in the kingdom, and availed himself of his interest with them to assist the afflicted churches. Drelincourt was also a great favourite with the great persons belonging to his own communion—with the Marshals Chatillon, Gascon, Turenne—with the duke de la Force, the duchess of Tremouille, and many others. He died, leaving behind him an unstained memory, on the 3rd of November, 1669.—R. M., A.
DRELINCOURT, Charles, third son of the preceding, was born at Paris in 1633, and died at Leyden in 1697. After studying at Saumur he removed to Montpellier, where he finished his medical curriculum, and took his doctor's degree. He was soon after appointed first physician to the French armies in Flanders under the command of Marshal Turenne, in which responsible situation he displayed abilities of a very high order. In 1668 he was chosen to succeed Van der Linden as professor of medicine at Leyden. He had already been appointed one of the physicians to Louis XIV., but received permission to accept the offer of the Leyden professorship. Two years afterwards he was promoted to the chair of anatomy in the same university. So great was his fame that William and Mary, prince and princess of Orange, chose him for their physician, as did most of the persons of distinction at the court of the Hague. As rector of the university of Leyden he pronounced the congratulatory oration to William and Mary on their accession to the English throne. Drelincourt gave universal satisfaction as a professor, and continued to lecture till the time of his death. He was a very learned and voluminous writer. The best edition of his works, which for some time were much read, is that which appeared at the Hague in 1727. Drelincourt in his orations defended the medical profession from the charges usually brought against it. He was opposed, as was also his countryman, Guy Patin, to the introduction of chemical preparations into medicine, and, like many of the physicians of his time, was distinguished for his knowledge and appreciation of polite letters. Bayle describes him as a pious and benevolent man, an elegant scholar, a skilful anatomist, and an original and inimitable author—R. M., A.
DRENNAN, William, M.D., was born in Belfast, Ireland, in 1754, and died there in 1820. In 1771 he took the degree of A.M. at Glasgow, and that of M.D., in 1778, at Edinburgh. He practised medicine at Belfast and Newry till 1789, when he removed to Dublin. Drennan was, from an early period, convinced of the necessity of catholic emancipation and parliamentary reform, and with this view originated the idea of the political society of United Irishmen, the actual organization of which body was chiefly the work of time. Drennan wrote many of the addresses of the society, and was the author of some political tracts, entitled "Letters of Orellana, an Irish Helot." In 1794 he was prosecuted for libel and acquitted. Drennan separated from the United Irishmen long before the Irish rebellion. In 1807 he changed his residence from Dublin to Belfast. In conjunction with a friend he edited the Belfast Magazine, and was one of the founders of the Belfast Academical Institution. Dr. Drennan was fond of writing verse. His "Wake of William Orr" is, in its way, one of the most striking poems in the language. A few phrases, first used by him, have passed into the language. He first called the potato "the lazy root." He, too, was the first to give Ireland the name, with which we have become familiar in songs and speeches, of the "Emerald isle." To the second edition of his poems (1859) are added some of great beauty by his sons Dr. John S. Drennan of Belfast, and William Drennan of Dublin, barrister-at-law.—J. A., D.
DREUX-BREZE, the name of a noble French family who are said to deduce their origin from John de Dreux, the elder son of Robert III. The best known member of the family is—Henri Everard, Marquis de Dreux and de Breze. He was nominated at the age of sixteen grandmaster of the ceremonies, and discharged the duties of his office in trying circumstances with great firmness, prudence, and tact. He was mixed up with the excitement which took place at the meeting of the states-general in 1789. It was he who, when the commons retained their seats at the opening of the session, reminded the president that the king had commanded them to withdraw; and it was to him that Mirabeau addressed the famous declaration—"The commons are here by the voice of the people, and force alone shall compel them to withdraw." He was ultimately obliged to leave the kingdom. On the return of the Bourbons he was restored to his office, and died in 1829.—J. T.
DREVET, Pierre, an eminent French engraver, born in Dauphiné in 1664; died at Paris in 1739. He was a pupil of Germain Audran, and worked almost exclusively with the graver. His excellence as an engraver of portraits, to which he principally devoted himself, was acknowledged in 1707 by his being nominated a member of the Academy of Arts. He was
