DARMSTADT. 794 DARTER. a municipal hospital and the Alice and provincial hospitals. Darmstadt is a manufacturing town of grow- ing importance. The chief articles of industry are machinery, carpets, hats, tobacco, chemicals, scientific instruments, playing-cards, and beer. Darmstadt is an important railway centre. An electric street railway accommodates internal traffic. The famous chemist Justus von Liebig was a native of the town, and the composer Flotow died here. To the' east of the to^^l is the Palace of Rosenhohe. with the grand-ducal mausoleum, containing the tombs of the Grand Duke Louis IV. and his wife. Princess Alice of England. Population, in 1890. 50.000; in 1900, U4,000. Darmstadt appears as Darmundstadt in the eleventh century. It acquired municipal rights in 1330, and became in 1567 the capital of Hesse- Darmstadt. It was burned by the French in 1688 and 1693, but attained great prosperity toward the end of the eighteenth century. DAR'NEL (Fr. dial. darneUe : probably from OF. dame, stupid. Dan. daare, fool : so called from its supposed stupefying power). Lolitim temulentuni. A grass of the same genus with the vahiable rye-grass (q.v.), an annual, com- mon in grain-fields in England and in many parts of Continental Europe, and introduced in some parts of the United States. This grass has from ancient times been reputed to have a narcotic, poisonous seed, to which many bad effects were ascribed. Lindley, in his Jledical and (Economi- cal Botany, published in 1849, ascribes narcotic and acrid qualities to darnel-seed, and speaks of fatal consequences as produced by it when mixed with flour, saying that it "is the only authentic instance of unwholesome qualities in the order of the grasses." Recent investigations have shown the presence of a fungus in the grain of this grass and to it the poisonous qualities are attributed. The fungus seems to be almost al- ways present in the seed of this species and rare in the other species of the genus. DAR'NELL, Hexky Faulkner (1S31— ). An English Protestant Episcopal clergyman, born in London. For some time he was principal of Hellmuth Ladies' College at London. Ontario, and of DufTerin College in the same city. After- wards he became rector of the Episcopal church at Avon, ?f. Y. His publications include: Philip Bazlehrook (1887): The Craze of Christian Enqlehart (1890); and fiongs of the Season (1895). DARNETAL, dar'n.i'tal'. The capital of a canton in the Department of Seine- Inferieure. France, at the confluence of the Aubette and Eobec, 214 miles east of Rouen. Its noteworthy buildings are a Gothic church, a fine early six- teenth-century belfry, and the town hall. The town commands a good view of Rouen. It has important manufactures of woolens. Popula- tion, in 1901. GS-26. DARNING-NEEDLE. A dragon-fly or dam- sel-fly : supposed by ignorant folk to be attempt- ing to pierce and 'sew up' one's ears or do other mischief as it darts about one's head ; hence the term is frequently extended to 'devil's darning- needle.' See Dk.cox-Flt. DARN'LET, Hkxry Stewart, or Stuart, Lord (lo45-07). The second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. The second but eldest surviving son of the Earl of Lennox by Lady Margaret Douglas, niece of Henry VIU.. be was born De- cember 7, 1545, at Temple Kewsam, Yorkshire, where he received a private education. He was handsome, and of accomplished manners, but des- titute of moral and intellectual power. He mar- ried ilary on .July 29, 1565, but soon di.sgusted her by intemperance, profligacy, and insolence. As an accessory to the assassination of Rizzio. he intensified ilary's hatred by holding her while the deed was committed in her presence. While re- covering from an illness, he met his death in an isolated house which was blown up by the Earl of Bothwell, Februaiy 9, 1507. See Maey Stuart. D'ARREST, diir-rest', Hei.xrich Ludwio (1822-75). A German astronomer. He was born in Berlin, and studied astronomy there under Encke. He was subsequently connected with the observatories of Berlin and Leipzig, and became in 1852 professor in the Leipzig University. In 1857 he became professor of astronomy in Copen- hagen, where he died. His important publications include: Sideriim yebulosoriini Observatione.i Bacnienses (1867), and numerous astronomical papers in scientific journals. His original ob- servations include discoveries of several comets, and of the planet Freia (1862). DARTER (so called from the quick motion). One of a group of small fresh-water fishes of the perch family, peculiar to the United States. None is more than 10 inches in length, and the least is only IVj inches long-^-the smallest spiny rayed fish known. All are powerful swim- mers, and have been spoken of by Forbes as con- centrated rather than dwarfed fishes. "They have developed." he says, "an activity and hardi- hood, a vigor of life, and a glow of high color almost unknown among brook-fishes elsewhere." They have been the subject of special study by Dr. D. S. Jordan, who tells us that most of them prefer clear running water, where they lie on the bottom concealed under stones, darting, when frightened or hungry, with great velocity for a short distance, then stopping as suddenly. All are carnivorous, and fet"d chiefly on the larvje of flies. These beautiful and very interesting little fishes exist in great variety throughout the central and southern United States, and are uni- versally known to country boys as 'Johnny darters,' a name particularly given to a typical species (Boleosoma nigrum). A few others of the larger ones have received other names locally, as the sand-darter (Ammocrypta pellucida), in- dicating the preference of its genus for sandy bottoms. (See Plate of Darters and Sunfish. ) Excellent popular accounts will be found in The American yaturalist for 1870 and 1880: and a full history of the group in Jordan and Ever- mann's Fishes of North America, pages 1016 to 1105 (Washington, 1896). DARTER, or Snake-Bird. A name given to certain steganopode birds, nearly allied to cormo- rants, but having a bill longer than the head, perfectly straight, slender, and sharp-pointed; and also remarkable for the great length of the neck, which has obtained for them the name 'snake-birds.' They generally live in pairs near bodies of fre.sh water. If alarmed while sitting on a branch over a stream or by the edge of a lake, they drop off quietly into the water, sink
