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# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damjanich, János

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​DAMJANICH, JÁNOS (1804–1849), Hungarian soldier, was born at Stása in the Banat. He entered the army as an officer in the 61st regiment of foot, and on the outbreak of the Hungarian war of independence was promoted to be a major in the third Honvéd regiment at Szeged. Although an orthodox Serb, he was from the first a devoted adherent of the Magyar liberals. He won his colonelcy by his ability and valour at the battles of Alibunár and Lagerdorf in 1848. At the beginning of 1849 he was appointed commander of the 3rd army corps in the middle Theiss, and quickly gained the reputation of being the bravest man in the Magyar army, winning engagement after engagement by sheer dash and daring. At the beginning of March 1849 he annihilated a brigade at Szolnók, perhaps his greatest exploit. He was elected deputy for Szolnók to the Hungarian diet, but declined the honour. Damjanich played a leading part in the general advance upon the Hungarian capital under Görgei. He was present at the engagements of Hort and Hatvan, converted the doubtful fight of Tápió-Bicsk into a victory, and fought with irresistible élan at the bloody battle of Isaszeg. At the ensuing review at Gödöllö, Kossuth expressed the sentiments of the whole nation when he doffed his hat as Damjanich’s battalions passed by. Always a fiery democrat, Damjanich uncompromisingly supported the extremist views of Kossuth, and was appointed commander of one of the three divisions which, under Görgei, entered Vācz in April 1849. His fame reached its culmination when, on the 19th of April, he won the battle of Nagysarló, which led to the relief of the hardly-pressed fortress of Komárom. At this juncture Damjanich broke his leg, an accident which prevented him from taking part in field operations at the most critical period of the war, when the Magyars had to abandon the capital for the second time. He recovered sufficiently, however, to accept the post of commandant of the fortress of Arad. After the Vilagós catastrophe, Damjanich, on being summoned to surrender, declared he would give up the fortress to a single company of Cossacks, but would defend it to the last drop of his blood against the whole Austrian army. He accordingly surrendered to the Russian general Demitrius Buturlin (1790–1849), by whom he was handed over to the Austrians, who shot him in the market-place of Arad a few days later.
See Ödön Hamvay, Life of János Damjanich (Hung.), (Budapest, 1904). (R. N. B.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damme

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​DAMME, a decayed city of Belgium, 5 m. N.E. of Bruges, once among the most important commercial ports of Europe. It is situated on the canal from Bruges to Sluys (Ecluse), but in the middle ages a navigable channel or river called the Zwyn gave ships access to it from the North Sea. The great naval battle of Sluys, in which Edward III. destroyed the French fleet and secured the command of the channel, was fought in the year 1340 at the mouth of the Zwyn. About 1395 this channel began to show signs of silting up, and during the next hundred years the process proved rapid. In 1490 a treaty was signed at Damme between the people of Bruges and the archduke Maximilian, and very soon after this event the channel became completely closed up, and the foreign merchant gilds or “nations” left the place for Antwerp. This signified the death of the port and was indirectly fatal to Bruges as well. The marriage of Charles the Bold and Margaret of York, sister of Edward IV., was celebrated at Damme on the 2nd of July 1468. It will give some idea of the importance of the town to mention that it had its own maritime law, known as Droit maritime de Damme. The new ship canal from Zeebrugge will not revive the ancient port, as it follows a different route, leaving Damme and Ecluse quite untouched. Damme, although long neglected, preserves some remains of its former prosperity, thanks to its remoteness from the area of international strife in the Low Countries. The tower of Notre Dame, dating from 1180, is a landmark across the dunes, and the church behind it, although a shell, merits inspection. Out of a portion of the ancient markets a hôtel-de-ville of modest dimensions has been constructed, and in the hospital of St Jean are a few pictures. Camille Lemonnier has given in one of his Causeries a striking picture of this faded scene of former greatness, now a solitude in which the few residents seem spectres rather than living figures.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damon

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​DAMON, of Syracuse, a Pythagorean, celebrated for his disinterested affection for Phintias (not, as commonly given, Pythias), a member of the same sect. Condemned to death by Dionysius the Elder (or Younger) of Syracuse, Phintias begged to be set at liberty for a short time that he might arrange his affairs. Damon pledged his life for the return of his friend; and Phintias faithfully returned before the appointed day of execution. The tyrant, to express his admiration of their fidelity, released both the friends and begged to be admitted to their friendship (Diod. Sic. x. 4; Cicero, De Off. iii. 10). Hyginus (Fab. 257, who is followed by Schiller in his ballad, Die Bürgschaft) tells a similar story, in which the two friends are named Moerus and Selinuntius.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damocles

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​DAMOCLES, one of the courtiers of the elder Dionysius of Syracuse. When he spoke in extravagant terms of the happiness of his sovereign, Dionysius is said to have invited him to a sumptuous banquet, at which he found himself seated under ​a naked sword suspended by a single hair (Cicero, Tusc. v. 21; Horace, Odes, iii. 1, 17; Persius iii. 40).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damoh

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​DAMOH, a town and district of British India, in the Jubbulpore division of the Central Provinces. The town has a railway station, 48 m. E. of Saugor. Pop. (1901) 13,355. It has a considerable cattle-market, and a number of small industries, such as weaving, dyeing and pottery-making.
The District of Damoh has an area of 2816 sq. m. Except on the south and east, where the offshoots from the surrounding hills and patches of jungle break up the country, the district consists of open plains of varying degrees of fertility, interspersed with low ranges and isolated heights. The richest tracts lie in the centre. The gentle declivity of the surface and the porous character of the prevailing sandstone formation render the drainage excellent. All the streams flow from south to north. The Sunar and the Bairma, the two principal rivers, traverse the entire length of the district. Little use has been made of any of the rivers for irrigation, though in many places they offer great facilities for the purpose. Damoh was first formed into a separate district in 1861. In 1901 the population was 285,326, showing a decrease of 12% in one decade due to famine. Damoh suffered severely from the famine of 1896–1897. Fortunately the famine of 1900 was little felt. A branch of the Indian Midland railway was opened throughout from Saugor to Katni in January 1899.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damophon

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​DAMOPHON, a Greek sculptor of Messene, who executed many statues for the people of Messene, Megalopolis, Aegium and other cities of Peloponnesus. Considerable fragments, including three colossal heads from a group by him representing Demeter, Persephone, Artemis and the giant Anytus, have been discovered on the site of Lycosura in Arcadia, where was a temple of the goddess called “The Mistress.” They are preserved in part in the museum at Athens and partly on the spot. Hence there has arisen a great controversy as to the date of the artist, who has been assigned to various periods, from the 4th century B.C. to the 2nd A.D. A good account of the whole matter will be found in Frazer’s Pausanias, iv. 372-379. Frazer wisely inclines to an early date; it is in fact difficult to find any period, when the cities mentioned were in a position to found temples, later than the time of Alexander.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damiron, Jean Philibert

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​DAMIRON, JEAN PHILIBERT (1794–1862), French philosopher, was born at Belleville. At nineteen he entered the normal school, where he studied under Burnouf, Villemain, and Cousin. After teaching for several years in provincial towns, he came to Paris, where he lectured on philosophy in various institutions, and finally became professor in the normal school, and titular professor at the Sorbonne. In 1824 he took part with P. F. Dubois and Th. S. Jouffroy in the establishment of the Globe; and he was also a member of the committee of the society which took for its motto Aide-toi, le ciel t’aidera. In 1833 he was appointed chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and in 1836 member of the Academy of Moral Sciences. Damiron died at Paris on the 11th of January 1862.
The chief works of Damiron, of which the best are his accounts of French philosophers, are the following:—An edition of the Nouveaux mélanges philosophiques de Jouffroy (1842), with a notice of the author, in which Damiron softened and omitted several expressions used by Jouffroy, which were opposed to the system of education adopted by the Sorbonne, an article which gave rise to a bitter controversy, and to a book by Pierre Leroux, De la mutilation des manuscrits de M. Jouffroy (1843); Essai sur l’histoire de la philosophie en France au XIX $^e$ siècle (1828, 3rd ed. ​1834); Essai sur l’histoire de la philosophie en France au XVII. siècle (1846); Mémoires à servir pour l’histoire de la philosophie en France au XVIII. siècle (1858–1864); Cours de la philosophie; De la Providence (1849, 1850).
See A. Franck, Moralistes et philosophes (1872).
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dammartin

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​DAMMARTIN, a small town of France, in the department of Seine et Marne, 22 m. N.E. of Paris. It is well situated on a hill forming part of the plateau of la Goële, and is known as Dammartin-en-Goële to distinguish it from Dammartin-sous-Tigeaux, a small commune in the same department. Dammartin is historically important as the seat of a countship of which the holders played a considerable part in French history. The earliest recorded count of Dammartin was a certain Hugh, who made himself master of the town in the 10th century; but his dynasty was replaced by another family in the 11th century. Reynald I. (Renaud), count of Dammartin (d. 1227), who was one of the coalition crushed by King Philip Augustus at the battle of Bouvines (1214), left two co-heiresses, of whom the elder, Maud (Matilda or Mahaut), married Philip Hurepel, son of Philip Augustus, and the second, Alix, married Jean de Trie, in whose line the countship was reunited after the death of Philip Hurepel’s son Alberic. The countship passed, through heiresses, to the houses of Fayel and Nanteuil, and in the 15th century was acquired by Antoine de Chabannes (d. 1488), one of the favourites of King Charles VII., by his marriage with Marguerite, heiress of Reynald V. of Nanteuil-Aci and Marie of Dammartin. This Antoine de Chabannes, count of Dammartin in right of his wife, fought under the standard of Joan of Arc, became a leader of the Écorcheurs, took part in the war of the public weal against Louis XI., and then fought for him against the Burgundians. The collegiate church at Dammartin was founded by him in 1480, and his tomb and effigy are in the chancel. His son, Jean de Chabannes, left three heiresses, of whom the second left a daughter who brought the countship to Philippe de Boulainvilliers, by whose heirs it was sold in 1554 to the dukes of Montmorency. In 1632 the countship was confiscated by Louis XIII. and bestowed on the princes of Condé.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Dammar

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​DAMMAR, or Dammer (Hind, damar = resin, pitch), a resin, or rather series of resins, obtained from various coniferous trees of the genus Dammara (Agathis). East Indian dammar or cat’s eye resin is the produce of Dammara orientalis, which grows in Java, Sumatra, Borneo and other eastern islands and sometimes attains a height of 80–100 ft. It oozes in large quantities from the tree in a soft viscous state, with a highly aromatic odour, which, however, it loses as it hardens by exposure. The resin is much esteemed in oriental communities for incense-burning. Dammar is imported into England by way of Singapore; and as found in British markets it is a hard, transparent, brittle, straw-coloured resin, destitute of odour. It is readily soluble in ether, benzol and chloroform, and with oil of turpentine it forms a fine transparent varnish which dries clear, smooth and hard. The allied kauri gum, or dammar of New Zealand (Australian dammar), is produced by Dammara australis, or kauri-pine, the wood of which is used for wood paving. Much of the New Zealand resin is found fossil in circumstances analogous to the conditions under which the fossil copal of Zanzibar is obtained. Dammar is besides a generic Indian name for various other resins, which, however, are little known in western commerce. Of these the principal are black dammar (the Hindustani kala-damar), yielded by Canarium strictum, and white dammar, Indian copal, or piney varnish (sufed-damar), the produce of Vateria indica. Sal dammar (damar) is obtained from Shorea robusta; Hopea micrantha is the source of rock dammar (the Malay dammer-batu); and other species yield resins which are similarly named and differ little in physical properties.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Damp

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​DAMP, a common Teutonic word, meaning vapour or mist (cf. Ger. Dampf, steam), and hence moisture. In its primitive sense the word persists in the vocabulary of coal-miners. Their “firedamp” (formerly fulminating damp) is marsh gas, which, when mixed with air and exploded, produced “choke damp,” “after damp,” or “suffocating damp” (carbon dioxide). “Black damp” consists of accumulations of irrespirable gases, mostly nitrogen, which cause the lights to burn dimly, and the term “white damp” is sometimes applied to carbon monoxide. As a verb, the word means to stifle or check; hence damped vibrations or oscillations are those which have been reduced or stopped, instead of being allowed to die out naturally; the “dampers” of the piano are small pieces of felt-covered wood which fall upon the strings and stop their vibrations as the keys are allowed to rise; and the “damper” of a chimney or flue, by restricting the draught, lessens the rate of combustion.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Declination

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​DECLINATION (from Lat. declinare, to decline), in magnetism the angle between true north and magnetic north, i.e. the variation between the true meridian and the magnetic meridian. In 1596 at London the angle of declination was 11° E. of N., in 1652 magnetic north was true north, in 1815 the magnetic needle pointed 241/2° W. of N., in 1891 18° W., in 1896 17° 56′ W. and in 1906 17° 45′. The angle is gradually diminishing and the declination will in time again be 0°, when it will slowly increase in an easterly direction, the north magnetic pole oscillating slowly around the North Pole. Regular daily changes of declination also occur. Magnetic storms cause irregular variations sometimes of one or two degrees. (See Magnetism, Terrestrial.)
In astronomy the declination is the angular distance, as seen from the earth, of a heavenly body from the celestial equator, thus corresponding with terrestrial latitude.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Decolourizing

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​DECOLOURIZING, in practical chemistry and chemical technology, the removal of coloured impurities from a substance. The agent most frequently used is charcoal, preferably prepared from blood, which when shaken with a coloured solution frequently precipitates the coloured substances leaving the solution clear. Thus the red colour of wines may be removed by filtering the wine through charcoal; the removal of the dark-coloured ​impurities which arise in the manufacture of sugar may be similarly effected. Other “decolourizers” are sulphurous acid, permanganates and manganates, all of which have received application in the sugar industry.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Decree

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​DECREE (from the past participle, decretus, of Lat. decernere), in earlier form Decreet, an authoritative decision having the force of law; the judgment of a court of justice. In Roman law, a decree (decretum) was the decision of the emperor, as the supreme judicial officer, settling a case which had been referred to him. In ecclesiastical law the term was given to a decision of an ecclesiastical council settling a doubtful point of doctrine or discipline (cf. also Decretals). In English law decree was more particularly the judgment of a court of equity, but since the Judicature Acts the expression “judgment” (q.v.) is employed in reference to the decisions of all the divisions of the supreme court. A “decree nisi” is the conditional order for a dissolution of marriage made by the divorce court, and it is made “absolute” after six months (which period may, however, be shortened) in the absence of sufficient cause shown to the contrary. (See Divorce.) Decreet arbitral is a Scottish phrase for the award of an arbitrator.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Decurio

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​DECURIO, a Roman official title, used in three connexions. (1) A member of the senatorial order in the Italian towns under the administration of Rome, and later in provincial towns organized on the Italian model (see Curia 4). The number of decuriones varied in different towns, but was usually 100. The qualifications for the office were fixed in each town by a special law for that community (lex municipalis). Cicero (in Verr. 2. 49, 120) alludes to an age limit (originally thirty years, until lowered by Augustus to twenty-five), to a property qualification (cf. Pliny, Ep. i. 19. 2), and to certain conditions of rank. The method of appointment varied in different towns and at different periods. In the early municipal constitution ex-magistrates passed automatically into the senate of their town; but at a later date this order was reversed, and membership of the senate became a qualification for the magistracy. Cicero (l.c.) speaks of the senate in the Sicilian towns as appointed by a vote of the township. But in most towns it was the duty of the chief magistrate to draw up a list (album) of the senators every five years. The decuriones held office for life. They were convened by the magistrate, who presided as in the Roman senate. Their powers were extensive. In all matters the magistrates were obliged to act according to their direction, and in some towns they heard cases of appeal against judicial sentences passed by the magistrate. By the time of the municipal law of Julius Caesar (45 B.C.) special privileges were conferred on the decuriones, including the right to appeal to Rome for trial in criminal cases. Under the principate their status underwent a marked decline. The office was no longer coveted, and documents of the 3rd and 4th centuries show that means were devised to compel members of the towns to undertake it. By the time of the jurists it had become hereditary and compulsory. This change was largely due to the heavy financial burdens which the Roman government laid on the municipal senates. (2) The president of a decuria, a subdivision of the curia (q.v.). (3) An officer in the Roman cavalry, commanding a troop of ten men (decuria).
Bibliography.—C. G. Bruns, Fontes juris Romani, c. 3, No. 18, c. 4, Nos. 27, 29, 30 (leges municipales); J. C. Orelli, Inscr. Latinae, No. 3721 (Album of Canusium); Godefroy, Paratitl. ad cod. Theodosianam, xii. 1 (vol. iv. pp. 352 et seq., ed. Ritter); J. Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. pp. 183 et seq. (Leipzig, 1881); P. Willems, Droit public romain, pp. 535 et seq. (Paris, 1884); Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie, IV. ii. pp. 2319 foll. (Stuttgart, 1901); W. Liebenam, Städteverwaltung im römischen Kaiserreiche (Leipzig, 1900). (A. M. Cl.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Declarator

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​DECLARATOR, in Scots law, a form of action by which some right of property, or of servitude, or of status, or some inferior right or interest, is sought to be judicially declared.
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Decorated Period

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​DECORATED PERIOD, in architecture, the term given by Richman to the second pointed or Gothic style, 1307–1377. It is characterized by its window tracery, geometrical at first and flowing in the later period, owing to the omission of the circles in the tracery of windows, which led to the juxtaposition of the foliations and their pronounced curves of contre-flexure. This flowing or flamboyant tracery was introduced in the first quarter of the century and lasted about fifty years. The arches are generally equilateral, and the mouldings bolder than in the Early English, with less depth in the hollows and with the fillet largely used. The ball flower and a four-leaved flower take the place of the dog-tooth, and the foliage in the capitals is less conventional than in Early English and more flowing, and the diaper patterns in walls are more varied. The principal examples are those of the east end of Lincoln and Carlisle cathedral; the west fronts of York and Lichfield; the crossing of Ely cathedral, including the lantern and three west bays of choir and the Lady Chapel; and Melrose Abbey.  (R. P. S.)
# 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Decoy

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​DECOY, a contrivance for the capture or enticing of duck and other wild fowl within range of a gun, hence any trap or enticement into a place or situation of danger. Decoys are usually made on the following plan: long tunnels leading from the sea, channel or estuary into a pool or pond are covered with an arched net, which gradually narrows in width; the ducks are enticed into this by a tame trained bird, also known as a “decoy” or “decoy-duck.” In America the “decoy” is an artificial bird, placed in the water as if it were feeding, which attracts the wild fowl within range of the concealed sportsman. The word “decoy” has, etymologically, a complicated history. It appears in English first in the 17th century in these senses as “coy” and “coy-duck,” from the Dutch kooi, a word which is ultimately connected with Latin cavea, hollow place, “cage.” The de-, with which the word begins, is either a corruption of “duck-coy,” the Dutch article de, or a corruption of the Dutch eende-kooi, eende, duck. The New English Dictionary points out that the word “decoy” is found in the particular sense of a sharper or swindler as a slang term slightly earlier than “coy” or “decoy” in the ordinary sense, and, as the name of a game of cards, as early as 1550, apparently with no connexion in meaning. It is suggested that “coy” may have been adapted to this word.