DAMPEK. 756 DAMKOSCH, is lifted up from the key, immediately checks or stops the vibration of the string. It consists of a second hammer, which, on tlie rising of the key, strikes the string and remains upon it, in- stead of bounding olf as the sounding-hammer does. Damper is also the name given in Aus- .tralia to a simple kind of unleavened bread formed of wheat Hour. It is made while travel- ing in the bush, and baked among the ashes of a tire. DAMPIEB, dam'per, William {1652-1715). An English freebooter and explorer. He early went to sea with a party of buccaneers, crossed the Isthmus of Panama in 1679 and embarked on the Pacific with a considerable force in canoes and similar small craft, and captured several Spanish vessels, in which he cruised along the coast of Spanish America, waging war on Spanish subjects. In 1684 he engaged in an- other buccaneering expedition, in which he coasted along the shores of Chile, Peru, and Mexico, sailing thence to the East Indies, touch- ing at Australia, and returning to England in 1691, where in 1697 he published an interesting account of the expedition, entitled J. Voyage Round Ihe World. He wa.s afterwards (1699) deputed by the Government to conduct a voyage of discovery to the South Seas, during which he explored the -west and north^^■est coasts of Aus- tralia, and the coasts of New Guinea, New Britain, and New Ireland, giving his name to the Dampier Archipelago and the Dampier Strait, In 1703-07 he made his third, and in 1708-11 his fourth trip around the world, the last time as pilot of the privateer Duke, which returned with specie and merchandise to the value of nearly £200,000. Besides his Voya(/e Hound the World, he published: A Discourse of Winds (1699) ; A Vindication of the .Voyage to the South Sea in the Ship Saint George (1707); and Voyages to the Bay of Campeachy (1729). DAMPIER ARCHIPELAGO, dam'per itr'ld- pel'a-go. A group of small islands northwest of and very near Australia, named after the famous navigator and buccaneer Dampier (Map: Australia, B 3). The principal ones are Barrow, Knderby, Rosemary, and Direction. DAMPLERRE, daN'pyar', Auguste Henbi Marie Picot, Marquis de (1756-93). A French general. He was born in Paris and entered the military service at the age of sixteen. After the battle of Valmy (September 20, 1792) Dam- pierre was made general of division, and by his skill and efficiency he contributed largely to the vietorj' of Jemappes ( November 6 ) . He was subsequently placed in command of the centre at Neerwinden (March 18, 1793). where he stood his ground until the retreat of the left wing of the army. After the defection of Dumouriez to the Austrian ranks he assumed supreme com- mand. He was mortally wounded May 8, 1793, while leading the attack on the intrenchments of Clerfayt, near the city of Cond4. DAMPIER STRAIT. (1) A strait separat- ing the island of Waigiu from the Berau Penin- sula of northwest New Guinea (Map; East Indies, H 5). It offers one of the safest chan- nels from the Indian to the Pacific Ocean. (2) A strait separating New Britain from the east coast of New Guinea. DAMPING OFF. A disease of plants in- duced by an excess of moisture in the soil and atmosphere. Young seedlings in hothouses and hotbeds are particularly liable to it. Although the cause is sufiiciently obvious, jjrevention is not always easy; not only because some plants are very sensitive to moisture, but also because the necessity of keeping sashes closed on account of temperature often stands in the way of the venti- lation which would otherwise be desirable, and it is when a moist atmosphere stagnates around them, and the temperature is not very low, that plants are most liable to damp oflf. The excessive moisture of soil and atmosphere gives the proper conditions for the development of the fungus Pythium or Artotrogus debarya- num. which is believed to be the immediate cause of the destruction of the plant. It is a soil fungus that lives on decaying vegetation until the conditions are right for attacking seedlings. If examined, the seedlings will be .seen to show weak, thin spots near the surface of the soil and on account of this weakening the plant falls over and dies. The disease spreads with great rapid- ity in the seed-bed, so that in a few days all the plants may be reduced to a rotten mass. This fungus attacks many kinds of plants in the open ground, among which are mustard, cress, spurrj', maize, clover, lettuce, egg-plant. ])eppers, cucum- bers, melons, and forest-tree seedlings. Drying or freezing does not destroy the fungus or its spores. The best j)recautionarv measures are to avoid infested soil, sow thinly, ventilate freely, shade little, water sparingly, and burn all diseased plants. DAMROSCH, dam'rosh, Frank ( 1859—) . A prominent American musician, son of Leopold Damrosch. He was born in Breslau. At first a clerk in a music store in Denver, he later drilled the chorus in the German opera in New York, which his father conducted. In 1892 he organized the People's Singing Classes in New York. Of these, now numbering about 1500 members, the more advanced form the People's Choral Union. They are most important factors in popularizing music, and their annual concerts are of a high artistic order. Damrosch also became conductor of the Oratorio Society, Sym- phony Society, president of the IMusical Arts Society, and supervisor of music in the public schools of New York City. DAMROSCH, Leopold (1832-85). A Ger- man-American musician, violinist, composer, and conductor, born in Posen, Prussia. His parents chose the profession of medicine for him, and after graduating at the LTniversity of Berlin he returned to Posen to practice; but his passionate love of music, which he had continued to study incidentally, prevailed, and in 1854 he aban- doned medicine for the study of counterpoint and composition under Hubert, Ries, and Dehn. In 1855 he started out as a concert violinist in Magdeburg; became acquainted with Liszt, and under his influence began to write for the Xeue Zeitschrift fur ilusik. He was director in Posen and in Breslau, and in 1871 came to New York as director of the Arion Societ}'. The credit of firmly establishing choral organizations in New York belongs entirely to Damrosch. He founded the Oratorio Society (1873) and the Symphony Society (1877), and organized several large musical festivals. All these played a most im- portant part in the musical life of New York City. But the most brilliant achievement of his life was the successful establishment, in 1884, of
