634 DAHLMANST of Bute carried some thence to England to intro- duce them there ; but these were lost, as well as another importation secured by Lady Hol- land in 1804. Those introduced into France, however, throve there, and from these roots were finally successfully transplanted to Eng- land in 1814. They now became favorite plants in many parts of the continent, and they have been cultivated with great care by gar- deners everywhere, on account of the ease with which new and beautiful varieties may be produced. Almost any wished-for combi- nation has been made to result from careful propagation, and the varieties are now almost numberless. The roots were formerly consid- ered valuable tubers ; but their acrid taste ren- dered them unpalatable, and cattle refused to eat them. They grow in bunches, and are long and spindle-shaped. The stem of the flower springs from the middle of the bunch. The name Dahlia was given in honor of Dr. Dahl, a pupil of Linnrcus ; but many botanists of continental Europe call the plant Georgina, in honor of Georgi, professor at St. Petersburg at the close of the 18th century. DAHLMAM, Friedrich Christoph, a German historian, born in Wismar, May 13, 1785, died in Bonn, Dec. 5, 1860. He was educated at Wismar, Copenhagen, and Halle, began to lec- ture at Dresden in 1809, and became professor of history at Kiel in 1812. In 1815 he was ap- pointed secretary of the permanent committee of the Schleswig-Holstein clergy and nobility, and opposed the Danish policy in regard to the duchies. The government in consequence re- fused to admit him to full standing as a pro- fessor, and in 1829 he accepted a professorship at Gottingen. In 1837 he protested against the abrogation of the constitution of Hanover by King Ernest Augustus, and was dismissed from the university with Jakob Grimm, Gervinus, and four other professors, signers of the protest. In 1842 he was appointed professor of history at Bonn, and on the breaking out of the revo- lution of 1848 he was sent to the Germanic diet by the king of Prussia. He was elected to the Frankfort parliament, and was a member of the committee appointed to draft a new German constitution. His influence in the parliament was exerted in favor of a hereditary German empire, under the king of Prussia as emperor. But Frederick William IV. declined the offered crown, March 28, 1849, and in May Dahlmann and his associates withdrew from the parlia- ment. His subsequent activity in the assem- blies at Erfurt and Berlin was less prominent. His most important works are : Vita Ansgarii, published in Pertz's Monumenta Germanics, Uistorica ; Forschungen auf dem Gebiete der deutschen Geschichte (2 vols., Altona, 1822-'3); an edition of the Chronik von Dithmarsen (2 vols., Kiel, 1827) ; QuellenTcunde der deut- schen Ge8chwhte(Gottwgeu, 1830); DiePolitik auf den Grund und das Mass der gegebenen Zustdnde zuruclcgefuhrt (1835); Geschichte Danemarks (3 vols., Hamburg, 1840-'43); Ge- DAHOMEY schichte der englischen Revolution (Leipsic, 1844) ; and Geschichte der franzosischen Re- volution (1845). His biography, by Spingler, was published in 1870. DAHLONEGA (Indian, Tau-lau-ne-ca, yellow money), a town and the capital of Lump- kin co., Georgia, 60 m. N. N. E. of Atlanta ; pop. in 1870, 471, of whom 104 were colored. It is built on a hill in the midst of one of the richest gold-mining regions of the state. A branch of the United States mint was estab- lished here under authority of the act of con- gress of March 3, 1835. From 1838, when the first coinage was executed, to Feb. 28, 1861, when its operations were interrupted by the war, 1,381,784 pieces were struck, valued at $6,121,919. The gold of domestic production deposited during the same period amounted to $5,995,495 95, of which $4,310,459 61 was from Georgia. Coinage was not resumed after the war, and in July, 1871, the property was transferred to the North Georgia agricul- tural college, which held its first commence- ment in July, 1873. A weekly newspaper is published in the town. DAHOMEY, a kingdom of Africa, on the west or Upper Guinea coast, between lat. 6 and 8 45' K, and Ion. 30' and 2 30' E., bounded N. and N. E. by mountain ranges separating it from Yoruba and other territories, E. by Egba, W. by Ashantee, and S. by the gulf of Benin. Its limits are very indefinite, being liable to increase or decrease according to the success of the sovereign in war. Its population is variously estimated from 150,000 to 800,000. The coast, which extends from Cape St. Paul on the west to beyond Badagry, is low and sandy, slopes gradually to the sea, and has a range of islands or sand bars between it and the main ocean. It is indented by two large tide lakes, Denham and Avon, the former at the E., the latter at the W. extremity of the coast line. The island of Badagry lies at the entrance of Lake Denham, between it and the sea. During the greater part of the year, when the S. W. winds prevail, landing on the coast is attended with great difficulties, and can be accomplished only by canoes. There are a number of roadsteads, but W T hydah is the only accessible port. The largest river is the Zogo, which flows S. E. into Lake Denham. The surface of the country is generally a plain, rising gradually as it recedes from the sea un- til it reaches the Kong mountains; but it is broken by several chains of hills which form plateaus, and occasionally by steep mountains rising abruptly. One of the most remarkable of these is Mount Gbowelly, in lat. 8 19' K, Ion. 2 28' E., which on some sides is nearly perpendicular. Around Abomey, the capital, which occupies one of the principal plateaus, in lat. 8 K, Ion. 1 20' E., the country is broken into romantic glens and valleys, shaded by luxuriant trees and musical with running streams and waterfalls. South of Abomey are vast marshes, interspersed with lakes and
