DESCENT. 156 DESDEN CON EL DESDEN. don iiiul Uoston, ISSI'.D ; Waslilnim, Laic of lical Pruitcitii (Otii oil., Boston. 1902). Sec DiSTRiui- TIOS; lixEciTOii: JlEiit: IxiiEBlT.NCE; and the titles of the various kinds of estates, as Fee Simple; Tee Tam.. etc. DESCENT CAST. A doctrine of the ancient common law in Enj^laud. whereby the right of entry of a person who had been disseized of lands was barred by the death of the adverse holder and the descent of the lands to the latter's heir. Entry upon lands was furnierly by far the most convenient and e.])edilioiis method of recovering them from a disseizor, but so important in legal effect was the fact of actual possession by liim, however wrongful, that he was invested with an inheritable title, and the passing of this title by descent operated as a limitation upon the right of entry of him who had been disseized. In the technical language of the common law, "a descent cast tolls (i.e. bars) entry." This effect of a descent cast might be avoided by the procedure known as making continual claim, which con- sisted in an annual demand for possession made by the claimant upon the disseizor. If such claim was made within a year and a day of the disseizor's death, the right of entry of the dis- seizee was saved. A descent east had no effect upon the right of a claimant of lands to pursue .his remedies by action, but only upon the sum- mary process of entry. See Entry, Right of; Disseizin; 1.imit.tion. DESCHAMPS. dft'shiiN', Emile de S.int AM.V.M) ( IT'.U-lSTl ). A French poet, born at Bourges. To forward the cause of romanti- cism, he founded with Victor Hugo La Muse Franraise (1824). To this journal ho con- tributed verses and .stories signed "Un .Jeune Woraliste.' Four years afterwards he collected and published Eluilci fram^aiscs ct Hranritrcs (1828), consisting of poems and translations. The preface of this book, an enthusiastic defense of the Romantic School, won the approval of Goethe. His other works consist of tran-^latioiis, plays, poetry, and ess;iys, but his principal claim to distinction seems to lie in the fact that he was one of the first to see and promote the spread of romanticism. His brother Antony (1800-G!)) was interested in the same movement, but his more melancholy temperament found expression ir. elegies and a translation of Dante (1829). DESCHAMPS, EisT.ciiE (called Morel). A Frcncli ] t nf the fourteenth century. He was born at Vertus, studied law at Orlf'ans, and was appointed bailli of Scnlis by the Kmi)eror Charles V. His life was that of a popular trouv^re, His verse, like most of that of his time, is quite arti- ficial, and possesses chiclly an liistr>rical value. One of his liallads is addressed to Chaucer. In addition to ballads and rondeaus, he wrote a Mirnir de mariage in 1.3.000 lines, and Dc I'art dr dieter. DESCHANEE, dft'shA'nCl', Emiix Aioiste Ktiinnk Mahiin I 1S191904). . French critic and author, born in Paris. He becime professor of rhetoric at the Normal School there, and the contributor of numerous critical articles to the Revue des Drux fiiiidrs. His essays on Calholi- ehme rt .■ioiiiiU.tuie (IS.'iO) brouglit him into dif- ficulties with the Oovernmont; he was arrested and finally oldiged to leave I'ranee. Ho took refuge in ItelL'ium. where he met Victor Hugo. On his retnrn to his native country. Desohancl liecame one of the editors of the Journal dcs Ucbats (ISoD). In ISSl he was matle pro- fessor of modern literature in the College ile France, and in the same year was elected a Senator. His numerous works include; Les eour- tisanes (jreeijues (1859) ; Histoire dc la conversa- tion (1857); IJIndes sur .iristoithanc (1807); Lc roniantisme des ctassii/ues '(1882-8(J) ; laciiie (1SS4) ; :ind other critical studies. DESCHANEL, P.vi L Eici>XE Louis (1850 — I. -V French statesman and author, son of the I'leivding, born at Itrusscls. He was secretary to two ministers of France, and entered the ad- ministration as vieeprefect in 1877. As an orator in the Chamber of Deputies, to which liody he was .first elected in 1885. he displayed remarkalde oloniience and abilit.v. He was elected l>resident in 1898. and reelected in 1901. His imblications include: La question du Tonkin (18831; La politique francaise en Oceanic (1884); Les intercts franeais dans I'ucean lia<ifi(jiie (1885); La dt'centralisation (1895); /.(I question sueiale (1890). DES CLOIZEATJX, dft klwii'z6', Alfhed Lous Olivier Lkcu.vnd (1817-97). A French miner- alogist, born at Heauvais (Oise). After scientific study and travel he was appointed a.ssistjint instructor in the Ecole Ccntralc des Arts et Ivlanufacturcs. and subsequently lecturer at the Ecole Xormale. He was elected in 1809 to the .■cademy of Sciences. In 1870 he became pro- fessor of mineralogy at the Jluseum d'Histoire Xaturelle. He made important investigations in regard to the o]>tical propertic- of crystals, par- ticularly with a view to establishing a basis for a crvstallcigraphic system and discovered the tri- clinic potash feldspar known as microclin (K.l SijO,) and the circular polarization of cinnabar. In addition to many contributions to technical periodicals, he published Lcfons de crislall'j- iiraphie (1861) ; a Manuel de mineralogie (v<d. i . 1802; vol. ii., part i.. 1874); and XourcUes rrelierehes sur les proprKtes opliques dcs cristaux ( lS07t. DESCLOT, d^sklo' (DESCLO.S, Des Clot, Escmr, ScLOT), Bebxat. A Catalan historian, who fiourished in the latter half of the thirteenth century. He wrote a Llibre del rey En Pcre ('The Book of King Don Pedro"), the oldest important composition in the Catalonian lan- gtiage. While as an historical narrative it is skillful and reliable, its chief interest is lin- guistic. The original text was first published and edited by Buehon under the title, Clironiques elrangirrs reldlires aiix i x/ii'ditions frani^aises pendant tr lrei:ienie sieele (Paris. 1841). DESCRIPTIVE GEOMETRY. See C.EOM- ITItY ; AloNcK. DESDEMO'NA. The fair and pure-minded yovmg wife of Othello in Shakespeare's tragedy of the latter title, smothered by her jealous husband at the instigation of lago, who leads him to believe that she loves Cassio. This is said to be the first character impersonated by an actress on the Knglish stage. DESD±N CON EL DESDEN, dfisMAn kAn Pi" d;lsM . Ki. (S|).. Disilain uilli Oi-dnin). A play by Abireto. produced about the middle of the seventeenth centurv. It was Iraiislalcd into English by Westland Alarston (1804), from the fJerman version of Schreyvogel, entitled Ponna Diana. The plot fidlows Lope de Vega.
