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# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cantemir

See also Cantemirești, Constantin Cantemir, Antioh Cantemir, Dimitrie Cantemir, & Antiochus Kantemir on Wikipedia; Demetrius Cantemir and Antiochus Cantemir in the 9th Edition; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.
​CANTEMIR, the name of a celebrated family of Tatar origin, which came from the Crimea in the 17th century and settled in Moldavia.
Constantine Cantemir became a prince of Moldavia, 1685–1693. He was a good and conscientious ruler, who protected the people from the rapacity of the tax-gatherers and introduced peace into his country. He was succeeded on the throne by his son Antioch, who ruled twice, 1696–1700 and 1705–1707.
His youngest brother, Demetrius or Demeter Cantemir (b. October 26, 1673), was made prince of Moldavia in 1710; he ruled only one year, 1710–1711, when he joined Peter the Great in his campaign against the Turks and placed Moldavia under Russian suzerainty. Beaten by the Turks, Cantemir emigrated to Russia, where he and his family finally settled. He died at Kharkov in 1723. He was known as one of the greatest linguists of his time, speaking and writing eleven languages, and being well versed in Oriental scholarship. He was a voluminous and original writer of great sagacity and deep penetration, and his writings range over many subjects. The best known is his History of the Growth and Decay of the Ottoman Empire. He also wrote a history of oriental music, which is no longer extant; the first critical history of Moldo-Walachia; the first geographical, ethnographical and economic description of Moldavia, Descriptio Moldaviae, under the name of Historia Hieroglyphica, to which he furnished a key, and in which the principal persons are represented by animals; also the history of the two ruling houses of Brancovan and Cantacuzino; and a philosophical treatise on the old theme of the disputation between soul and body, written in Greek and Rumanian under the title Divanul Lumii.
The latter’s son, Antioch Cantemir (born in Moldavia, 1700; died in Paris, 1744), became in 1731 Russian minister in Great Britain, and in 1736 minister plenipotentiary in Paris. He brought to London the Latin MS. from whence the English translation of his father’s history of the Turkish empire was made by N. Tindal, London, 1756, to which he added an exhaustive biography and bibliography of the author (pp. 455-460). He was a Russian poet and almost the first author of satires in modern Russian literature.
Bibliography.—Operele Principelui D. Cantemir, ed. Academia Română (1872 foll.); A. Philippide, Introducere in istoria limbei şi literat. romane (Iaşi, 1888), pp. 192-202; O. G. Lecca, Familiile boereşti romane (Bukarest, 1898), pp. 144-148; M. Gaster, Chrestom. româna, i. 322, 359 (in Cyrillic). (M. G.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Canteen

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​CANTEEN (through the Fr. cantine, from Ital. cantina, a cellar), a word chiefly used in a military sense for an official sutler’s shop, where provisions, &c., are sold to soldiers. The word was formerly applied also to portable equipments for carrying liquors and food, or for cooking in the field. Another sense of the word, which has survived to the present day, is that of a soldier’s water-bottle, or of a small wooden or metal can for carying a workman’s liquor, &c.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cantarini, Simone

See also Simone Cantarini on Wikipedia; Simone Cantarini in the 9th Edition; and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.
​CANTARINI, SIMONE (1612–1648), called Simone da Pesaro, painter and etcher, was born at Oropezza near Pesaro in 1612. He was a disciple of Guido Reni and a fellow-student of Domenichino and Albano. The irritability of his temper and his vanity were extreme; and it is said that his death, which took place at Verona in 1648, was occasioned by chagrin at his failure in a portrait of the duke of Mantua. Others relate that he was poisoned by a Mantuan painter whom he had injured. His pictures, though masterly and spirited, are deficient in originality. Some of his works have been mistaken for examples of Guido Reni, to whom, indeed, he is by some considered superior in the extremities of the figures. Among his principal paintings are “St Anthony,” at Cagli; the “Magdalene,” at Pesaro; the “Transfiguration,” in the Brera Gallery, Milan; the “Portrait ​of Guido,” in the Bologna gallery; and “St Romuald,” in the Casa Paolucci. His most celebrated etching is “Jupiter, Neptune and Pluto, honouring the arms of Cardinal Borghese.”
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Cantagallo

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​CANTAGALLO, an inland town of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, about 100 m. by rail N.E. of the port of Rio de Janeiro, with which it is connected by the Cantagallo railway. Pop. (1890) of the municipality, 26,067, of whom less than one-fourth live in the town. Cantagallo is situated in the fertile Parahyba valley and is the commercial centre of a rich coffee-producing district. There are exhausted gold placer mines in its vicinity, but they were not rich enough to cause any considerable development in mining. Coffee production is the principal industry, but sugar-cane is grown to a limited extent, and some attention is given to the raising of cattle and swine. The district is an excellent fruit region.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Electric Eel

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​ELECTRIC EEL (Gymnotus electricus), a member of the family of fishes known as Gymnotidae. In spite of their external similarity the Gymnotidae have nothing to do with the eels (Anguilla). They resemble the latter in the elongation of the body, the large number of vertebrae (240 in Gymnotus), and the absence of pelvic fins; but they differ in all the more important characters of internal structure. They are in fact allied to the carps or Cyprinidae and the cat-fishes or Siluridae. In common with these two families and the Characinidae of Africa and South America, the Gymnotidae possess the peculiar structures called ossicula auditus or Weberian ossicles. These are a chain of small bones belonging to the first four vertebrae, which are much modified, and connecting the air-bladder with the auditory organs. Such an agreement in the structure of so complicated and specialized an apparatus can only be the result of a community of descent of the families possessing it. Accordingly these families are now placed together in a distinct sub-order, the Ostariophysi. The Gymnotidae are strongly modified and degraded Characinidae. In them the dorsal and caudal fins are very rudimentary or absent, and the anal is very long, extending from the anus, which is under the head or throat, to the end of the body.
Gymnotus is the only genus of the family which possesses electric organs. These extend the whole length of the tail, which is four-fifths of the body. They are modifications of the lateral muscles and are supplied with numerous branches of the spinal nerves. They consist of longitudinal columns, each composed of an immense number of “electric plates.” The posterior end of the organ is positive, the anterior negative, and the current passes from the tail to the head. The maximum shock is given when the head and tail of the Gymnotus are in contact with different points in the surface of some other animal. Gymnotus electricus attains a length of 3 ft. and the thickness of a man’s thigh, and frequents the marshes of Brazil and the Guianas, where it is regarded with terror, owing to the formidable electrical apparatus with which it is provided. When this natural battery is discharged in a favourable position, it is sufficiently powerful to stun the largest animal; and according to A. von Humboldt, it has been found necessary to change the line of certain roads passing through the pools frequented by the electric eels. These fish are eaten by the Indians, who, before attempting to capture them, seek to exhaust their electrical power by driving horses into the ponds. By repeated discharges upon these they gradually expend this marvellous force; after which, being defenceless, they become timid, and approach the edge for shelter, when they fall an easy prey to the harpoon. It is only after long rest and abundance of food that the fish is able to resume the use of its subtle weapon. Humboldt’s description of this method of capturing the fish has not, however, been verified by recent travellers.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Digne

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​DIGNE, the chief town of the department of the Basses Alpes, in S.E. France, 14 m. by a branch line from the main railway line between Grenoble and Avignon. Pop. (1906), town, 4628; commune, 7456. The Ville Haute is built on a mountain spur running down to the left bank of the Bléone river, and is composed of a labyrinth of narrow winding streets, above which towers the present cathedral church, dating from the end of the 15th century, but largely reconstructed in modern times, and the former bishop’s palace (now the prison). The fine Boulevard Gassendi separates the Ville Haute from the Ville Basse, which is of modern date. The old cathedral (Notre Dame du Bourg) is a building of the 13th century, but is now disused except for funerals: it stands at the east end of the Ville Basse. The neighbourhood of Digne is rich in orchards, which have long made the town famous in France for its preserved fruits and confections. It is the Dinia of the Romans, and was the capital of the Bodiontii. From the early 6th century at least it has been an episcopal see, which till 1790 was in the ecclesiastical province of Embrun, but since 1802 in that of Aix en Provence. The history of Digne in the middle ages is bound up with that of its bishops, under whom it prospered greatly. But it suffered much during the religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries, when it was sacked several times. A little way off, above the right bank of the Bléone, is Champtercier, the birthplace of the astronomer Gassendi (1592–1655), whose name has been given to the principal thoroughfare of the little town.
See F. Guichard, Souvenirs historiques sur la ville de Digne et ses environs (Digne, 1847). (W. A. B. C.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dike

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​DIKE, or Dyke (Old Eng. dic, a word which appears in various forms in many Teutonic languages, cf. Dutch dijk, German Teich, Danish dige, and in French, derived from Teutonic, digue; it is the same word as “ditch” and is ultimately connected with the root of “dig”), properly a trench dug out of the earth for defensive and other purposes. Water naturally collects in such trenches, and hence the word is applied to natural and artificial channels filled with water, as appears in the proverbial expression “February fill-dyke,” and in the names of many narrow waterways in East Anglia. “Dike” also is naturally used of the bank of earth thrown up out of the ditch, and so of any embankment, dam or causeway, particularly the defensive works in Holland, the Fen district of England, and other low-lying districts which are liable to flooding by the sea or rivers (see Holland and Fens). In Scotland any wall, fence or even hedge, used as a boundary is called a dyke. In geology the term is applied to wall-like masses of rock (sometimes projecting beyond the surrounding surface) which fill up vertical or highly inclined fissures in the strata.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dilemma

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​DILEMMA (Gr. δίλημμα, a double proposition, from δί– and λαμβάνειν), a term used technically in logic, and popularly in common parlance and rhetoric. (1) The latter use has no exact definition, but in general it describes a situation wherein from either of two (or more) possible alternatives an unsatisfactory conclusion results. The alternatives are called the “horns” of the dilemma. Thus a nation which has to choose between bankruptcy and the repudiation of its debts is on the horns of a dilemma. (2) In logic there is considerable divergence of opinion as to the best definition. Whately defined it as “a conditional syllogism with two or more antecedents in the major and a disjunctive minor.” Aulus Gellius gives an example as follows:—“Women are either fair or ugly; if you marry a fair woman, she will attract other men; if an ugly woman she will not please you; therefore marriage is absurd.” From either alternative, an unpleasant result follows. Four kinds of dilemma are admitted:—(a) Simple Constructive: If A, then C; if B, then C, but either B or A; therefore C. (b) Simple Destructive: If A is true, B is true; if A is true, C is true; B and C are not both true; therefore A is not true. (c) Complex Constructive: If A, then B; if C, then D; but either A or C; therefore either B or D. (d) Complex Destructive: If A is true, B is true; if C is true, D is true; but B and D are not both true; hence A and C are not both true. The soundness of the dilemmatic argument in general depends on the alternative possibilities. Unless the alternatives produced exhaust the possibilities of the case, the conclusion is invalid. The logical form of the argument makes it especially valuable in public speaking, before uncritical audiences. It is, in fact, important rather as a rhetorical subtlety than as a serious argument.
Dilemmist is also a term used to translate Vaibhashikas, the name of a Buddhist school of philosophy.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dilatation

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​DILATATION (from Lat. dis-, distributive, and latus, wide), a widening or enlarging; a term used in physiology, &c.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Digoin

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​DIGOIN, a town of east-central France, in the department of Saône-et-Loire, on the right bank of the Loire, 55 m. W.N.W. of Mâcon on the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) 5321. It is situated at the meeting places of the Loire, the Lateral canal of the Loire and the Canal du Centre, which here crosses the Loire by a fine aqueduct. The town carries on considerable manufactures of faience, pottery and porcelain. The port on the Canal du Centre has considerable traffic in timber, sand, iron, coal and stone.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dikka

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​DIKKA, a term in Mahommedan architecture for the tribune raised upon columns, from which the Koran is recited and the prayers intoned by the Imam of the mosque.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dilatory

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​DILATORY (from Lat. dilatus, from differre, to put off or delay), delaying, or slow; in law a “dilatory plea” is one made merely for delaying the suit.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ellery, William

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​ELLERY, WILLIAM (1727–1820), American politician, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was born in Newport, Rhode Island, on the 22nd of December 1727. He graduated from Harvard in 1747, engaged in trade, studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1770. He was a member of the Rhode Island committee of safety in 1775–1776, and was a delegate in Congress in 1776–1781 and again in 1783–1785. Just after his first election to Congress, he was placed on the important marine committee, and he was made a member of the board of admiralty when it was established in 1779. In April 1786 he was elected commissioner of the continental loan office for the state of Rhode Island and from 1790 until his death at Newport, on the 15th of February 1820, he was collector of the customs for the district of Newport.
See Edward T. Channing, “Life of William Ellery,” in vol. 6 of Jared Sparks’s American Biography (Boston and London, 1836).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ellichpur

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​ELLICHPUR, or Illichpur, a town of India in the Amraoti district of Berar. Pop. (1901) 26,082. It is first mentioned authentically in the 13th century as “one of the famous cities of the Deccan.” Though tributary to the Mahommedans after 1294, it remained under Hindu administration till 1318, when it came directly under the Mahommedans. It was afterwards capital of the province of Berar at intervals until the Mogul occupation, when the seat of the provincial governor was moved to Balapur. The town retains many relics of the nawabs of Berar. It has ginning factories and a considerable trade in cotton and forest produce. It is connected by good roads with Amraoti and Chikalda. It was formerly the headquarters of the district of Ellichpur, which had an area of 2605 sq. m. and a population in 1901 of 297,403. This district, however, was merged in that of Amraoti in 1905. The civil station of Paratwada, 2 m. from the town of Ellichpur, contains the principal public buildings.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ellesmere

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​ELLESMERE, a market town in the Oswestry parliamentary division of Shropshire, England, on the main line of the Cambrian railway, 182 m. N.W. from London. Pop. of urban district (1901) 1945. It is prettily situated on the west shore of the mere or small lake from which it takes its name, while in the neighbourhood are other sheets of water, as Blake Mere, Cole Mere, White Mere, Newton Mere and Crose Mere. The church of St Mary is of various styles from Norman onward, but was partly rebuilt in 1848. The site of the castle is occupied by pleasure gardens, commanding an extensive view from high ground. The town hall contains a library and a natural history collection. The college is a large boys’ school. The town is an important agricultural centre. Ellesmere canal, a famous work of Thomas Telford, connects the Severn with the Mersey, crossing the Vale of Llangollen by an immense aqueduct, 336 yds. long and 127 ft. high.
The manor of Ellesmere (Ellesmeles) belonged before the Conquest to Earl Edwin of Mercia, and was granted by William the Conqueror to Roger, earl of Shrewsbury, whose son, Robert de Belesme, forfeited it in 1112 for treason against Henry I. In 1177 Henry II. gave it with his sister in marriage to David, son of Owen, prince of North Wales, after whose death it was retained by King John, who in 1206 granted it to his daughter Joan on her marriage with Llewellyn, prince of North Wales; it was finally surrendered to Henry III. by David, son of Llewellyn, about 1240. Ellesmere owed its early importance to its position on the Welsh borders and to its castle, which was in ruins, however, in 1349. While Ellesmere was in the hands of Joan, lady of Wales, she granted to the borough all the free customs of Breteuil. The town was governed by a bailiff appointed by a jury at one of the court leets of the lord of the manor, until a local board was formed in 1859. In 1221 Henry III. granted Llewellyn, prince of Wales, a market on Thursdays in Ellesmere. The inquisition taken in 1383 after the death of Roger le Straunge (Lord Strange), lord of Ellesmere, shows that he also held two fairs there on the feasts of St Martin and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. By 1597 the market had been discontinued on account of the plague by which many of the inhabitants had died, and the queen granted that Sir Edward Kynaston, Kt., and thirteen others might hold a market every Thursday and a fair on the 3rd of November. Since 1792 both have been discontinued. The commerce of Ellesmere has always been chiefly agricultural.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Elliotson, John

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​ELLIOTSON, JOHN (1791–1868), English physician, was born at Southwark, London, on the 29th of October 1791. He studied medicine first at Edinburgh and then at Cambridge, in both which places he took the degree of M.D., and subsequently in London at St Thomas’s and Guy’s hospitals. In 1831 he was elected professor of the principles and practice of physic in London University, and in 1834 he became physician to University College hospital. He was a student of phrenology and mesmerism, and his interest in the latter eventually brought him into collision with the medical committee of the hospital, a circumstance which led him, in December 1838, to resign the offices held by him there and at the university. But he continued the practice of mesmerism, holding séances in his home and editing a magazine, The Zoist, devoted to the subject, and in 1849 he founded a mesmeric hospital. He died in London on the 29th of July 1868. Elliotson was one of the first teachers in London to appreciate the value of clinical lecturing, and one of the earliest among British physicians to advocate the employment of the stethoscope. He wrote a translation of Blumenbach’s Institutiones Physiologicae (1817); Cases of the Hydrocyanic or Prussic Acid (1820); Lectures on Diseases of the Heart (1830); Principles and Practice of Medicine (1839); Human Physiology (1840); and Surgical Operations in the Mesmeric State without Pain (1843). He was the author of numerous papers in the Transactions of the Medico-Chirurgical Society, of which he was at one time president; and he was also a fellow both of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal Society, and founder and president of the Phrenological Society. W. M. Thackeray’s Pendennis was dedicated to him.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Ellice (Lagoon) Islands

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​ELLICE (LAGOON) ISLANDS, an archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, lying between 5° and 11° S. and about 178° E., nearly midway between Fiji and Gilbert. It is under British protection, being annexed in 1892. It comprises a large number of low coralline islands and atolls, which are disposed in nine clusters extending over a distance of about 400 m. in the direction from N.W. to S.E. Their total area is 14 sq. m. and the population is about 2400. The chief groups, all yielding coco-nuts, pandanus fruit and yams, are Funafuti or Ellice, Nukulailai or Mitchell, Nurakita or Sophia, Nukufetau or De Peyster, Nui or Egg, Nanomana or Hudson, and Niutao or Lynx. Nearly all the natives are Christians, Protestant missions having been long established in several of the islands. Those of Nui speak the language of the Gilbert islanders, and have a tradition that they came some generations ago from that group. All the others are of Samoan speech, and their tradition that they came thirty generations back from Samoa is supported by recent research. They have an ancient spear which they believe was brought from Samoa, and they actually name the valley from which their ancestors started. A missionary visiting the Samoan valley found there a tradition of a party who put to sea never to return, and he also found the wood of which the staff was made growing plentifully in the district. Borings and soundings taken at Funafuti in 1897 indicate almost beyond doubt that the whole of this Polynesian region is an area of comparatively recent subsidence.
See Geographical Journal, passim; and Atoll of Funafuti: Borings into a Coral Reef (Report of Coral Reef Committee of Royal Society, London, 1904).