Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/841

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
729
*

DABNEY. 729 DACHSHUND. in that State. From 1853 to 1883 he was pro- fessor of Clmrcli liistory in the Union Seminary, Virginia, but resigned temporarily during Llie Civil War, when he first served as chaplain of the Eighteenth Virginia Regiment and later be- came major and chief of stall' to General Tliomas J. Jackson. In 1870 he was Jlodcrator of the Presbyterian General Assembly of the South, and in 1883 was appointed professor of moral phi- losopliy in the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to numerous contributions to periodi- cal literature, he published the following: Life of Qeii. T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson (1807); Sacred Rhetoric (Richmond, 1807; 3d ed. 1881); De- fense of Virginia and the South ( 1868) ; Sen.iual- istic Philosophy of the Nineteenth Century Em- amined (1873; 2d ed. 1888); Theology Dog- matic and Polemic (1870; 3d ed., 1885). DABOI'A (East Indian). The formerly ac- cepted generic name, which has passed into Eng- lish, of the verj' deadl}- Russell's viper (Daboia Unssclli). See Viper, and Colored Phite of Venomous Serpents, with article Snake. DABRO'WSKI, da-brov'ske, Jan Henryk. See DosiuRowSKi. , DA CAPO, da kil'po (It., from the begin- ning) . A term in music, frequently placed at the end of a jjhrase or movement, indicating that the performer must return to the beginning of the movement, or to some other part of it usually marked with the sign :5!:,and finish where the word fine is placed. Scarlatti is generally cred- ited with being the first to introduce the use of the du capo in his oper.a of Teodora (1693), though it appears that a da capo occurs in Tena- glia's opera Clearco, as early as 1661. See Aria. The words are generally abbreviated D. C, sometimes D. C. al fine. DACCA, drdc'k.a, or DHAKA. The capital of the division and the district of the same name in Bengal, British India (Jlap: India, F 4). It is situated on the left bank of the Burhi Ganga, which connects the Brahmaputra w^ith the Ganges, about 150 miles northeast of Calcutta. The surrounding country is low and overflown during the rainy season. Many of the old teni' pies and other public buildings are in ruins and ' give to the city an appearance of decay. Since 1870, however, it has recovered some of its an- cient prosperity, and there are now a number of modern public buildings and educational in- stitutions, including a college, modern water- works owned by the municipality, and gas. Prior to the nineteenth century Dacca was a flourishing city of great commercial importance, famous for its muslins, which in the phraseology of the East were characterized as 'flowing water,' 'woven air,' and 'evening dew.' In those days Dacca was filled with magnificent temples and palaces, and its population was estimated at 200,000. The change in the river system of that part of India proved very detrimental to the commerce of the city by depriving it of its facilities for inland navigation, while the inva- sion of British manufnetures almost completely ruined the native textile industry. With the construction of the Daeca-Jlnimansingh Railway line the trade of Dacca has revived and there is again a demand fey the native textile products. Besides textiles Dacca also produces fine silver and gold plate, filigree work, and steel orna- ments. There is a considerable trade in ele- phants. During the seventeenth century Dacca was the capital of Bengal. Population, in ISDl, 82,321; in 1901, 90,700. DACE, DARE, or DART (OF. dars, dace, dart. JL. dardus; ultimately connected with I'jUgl. dart, OlIG. tart, javelin). A fresh-water fish (Leuciscus Icuciscus) of the family Cyprini- die, belonging to the same genus as the chub (q.v.), and common in the streams of western Europe. The body is robust and covered with rather large scales; the mouth is rather large. The upper parts are dusky blue, becoming paler on the sides and passing into white on the belly; the cheek and gill-covers silvery white. The dace is gregarious and swims in siioals. They furnish the angler fair sport both with fly and bait, but the flesh is not highly esteemed. The genus includes many other species both in Europe and the United States. In the United States the name is applied to species of various genera of the family, especially Semnotilus, of which the best known is the 'horned' dace, or creek-chub (Semnotilus atromaciilattis) , which commonly frequents brooks from the Hudson Val- ley to that of the Missouri. It grows to a length of ten inches, is bluish above and creamy below, has a vague dusky band on the side, and its dorsal fin always bears a conspicuous black spot at the base in front, bordered with red in the males. It is one of the favorite objects of boys' fishing, and it is a good fish for the aqua- riimi. Several other species of Semnotilus occur east of the Rocky Mountains and are called 'chubs,' 'fall-fishes,' etc. See Plate of Dace and MiNNOW.S. DACE'LO ( transposed from Lat. alcedo, also alcyon, Gk. dXiojiii', alkyon. kingfisher, halcyon). Abook name for a genus (Daeclo) of Australasian kingfishers, representative of a subfamily (Dace- loninje) of kingfishers (q.v.), characterized by their large size, harsh voices, and their adapta- tions to a forest life and a diet of reptiles and insects. The best known is the laughing king- fisher (Dacelo gigas) , also called laughing jack- ass and king-hunter, which is the largest of kingfishers, and widely distributed throughout Australia. "It is an uncouth-looking bird," says Wheelwright, "nearly the size of a crow, of a rich chestnut brown and dirty white color; the wings slightly checkered with light blue after the manner of the British jay; the tail-feathers long, rather pointed and barred with brown. It has the foot of a kingfisher; a very formidable, long, pointed beak, and a large mouth ; it has also a kind of crest, which it erects when angry or frightened; and this gives it a very ferocious appearance. It is a common bird in all the forests of Australia throughout the year; breeds in a hole in a tree, and the eggs are white. . . . Its principal food appears to be small reptiles, grubs, and caterpillars. . . . The laughing jackass is the bushman's clock, and, being by no means shy, of a companionable nature, a con- stant attendant about the bush-tent, and a de- stroyer of snakes, is regarded, like the robin at home, as a sacred bird in the Australian forests." See illustration of Kingfishers. DACHSHUND, diiKs'lioont. A breed of small, long-hod led dogs, formerly employed in central Europe in hunting badgers, but now kept wholly as pets. See Hound.