664 DANCOURT DANDOLO motion, as if they were quite dead. Upon the first sounding of music the forementioned symp- toms begin slowly to abate ; the patient begins slowly to move his fingers, hands, feet, and suc- cessively all parts of the body, and as the music increases their motion is accelerated ; and if he was lying upon the ground, up he gets (as in a fury), falls a dancing, sighing, and into a thou- sand mimic gestures. These first and violent motions continue for several hours, commonly for two or three. After little breathing in bed, where he is laid to carry off the sweat, and that he may pick up a little strength, to work he goes again with as much eagerness as he did before, and every day spends almost 12 hours by the clock in repeated dancing ; and, which is truly wonderful, so far is he from being wearied or spent by this vehement exercise, that, as they say, it makes him more sprightly and strong. There are, however, some stops made ; not from any weariness, but because they observe the musical instruments to be out of tune ; upon the discovery of which one could not believe what vehement sighings and anguish at heart they are seized with, and in this case they con- tinue till the instrument is got into tune again, and the dance renewed. This way of dancing commonly holds four days ; it seldom reaches to the sixth." Other observers speak of those affected with tarantismus as howling like dogs, leaping, running wildly about, stripping them- selves of their clothing, expressing a like or dislike for particular colors, "and never better pleased than when soundly drubbed on the breech, heels, feet, or back." The attack was frequently followed by melancholy, the lype- mania of the medical writers, under the in- fluence of which those affected sought solitary and deserted places, graveyards, and the like, and there remained for several days. Music, generally on the guitar, violin, or dulcimer, was the established prescription for the dis- ease. The dancing mania was very likely to recur at the anniversary of the attack. DANCOURT, Florent Carton, a French comedian and dramatist, born at Fontainebleau, Nov. 1, 1661, died in Berry, Dec. 6, 1725. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar at the age of 17. But his legal career was soon broken up by a clandestine marriage with the daughter of a comedian, and he became an actor, making his debut at the Comedie Francaise in 1685 ; and in June of the same year he brought out his first comedy, Le notaire obligeant. This was well received, and another play the fol- lowing year was even more successful, while his Chevalier d la mode (October, 1687) estab- lished his reputation as a writer of comedy. For 33 years he made the theatre successful, and held an unbounded popularity with the public. He finally left the stage in 1718, at the age of 57, and afterward wrote some ver- sifications of the psalms and a sacred tragedy which is not extant. There are several editions of his plays (best, 12 vols., 1760 ; select works, 5 vols., 1810.) The greater number of them are farces, mostly of low life. He is said to have had many assistants in their composition. DANDELION (Fr. dent de lion; leontodon taraxacum, Linn.), a well known plant of the order composite^, with a perennial root, tubular leafless flower stalks, and bitter milky juice. The spreading toothed leaves spring from the rootstock near the ground, and when blanched are used as a salad ; the root also is sometimes roasted, and used as a substitute for coffee, or to adulterate it. Under cultivation the plants are forced to extraordinary size, to vend in the spring for a popular and much esteemed pot herb under the name of greens. The fruit Dandelion (Leontodon taraxacum). is tapering and surrounded by feathery hairs. In medicine, the expressed juice, especially of the root, has been employed for its aperient, detergent, and diuretic properties, and should be used while fresh. The flowers are very conspicuous in the meadows in early spring. The common and generic names, both meaning lion's tooth, were given from a fancied resem- blance of its single florets. DANDOLO. I. Enrico, doge of Venice, mem- ber of a patrician Venetian family which traced its origin to the Roman era, born about 1110, died June 1, 1205. He served the republic in many capacities, and about 1171 was sent to Constantinople to reclaim the Venetian vessels and subjects unlawfully captured and held by the Byzantines. The emperor Manuel Comne- nns denied the request, and according to some chroniclers nearly blinded him by burning his eyes with hot irons, while more trustworthy accounts attribute his impaired sight to a wound. He was appointed doge in 1192, when he was above 80 years of age, but he still re- tained all the fire and vigor of youth. During the fourth crusade, the French barons, under Baldwin of Flanders, applied to Venice for aid. At the instance of the doge the neces-
