A NEW CABINET CYCLOPÆDIA, COMPREHENDING A COMPLETE SERIES OF Essays, Treatises, and Systems, ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED; WITH A GENERAL DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND WORDS: THE WHOLE PRESENTING A DISTINCT SURVEY OF Human Genius, Learning, and Industry. ILLUSTRATED WITH ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS; THOSE ON NATURAL HISTORY BEING FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY EDWARDS AND BY JOHN MASON GOOD, ESQ. F.R.S. MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, AND OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY OF PHILADELPHIA; OLINTHUS GREGORY, LL.D. OF THE ROYAL MILITARY ACADEMY, WOOLWICH, AND HONORARY MEMBER OF THE LITERARY AND MR. NEWTON BOSWORTH, OF CAMBRIDGE; ASSISTED BY OTHER GENTLEMEN OF EMINENCE, IN DIFFERENT VOL. IV. D-FLU. LONDON: PRINTED FOR J. WALKER; SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES; BALDWIN, CRADOCK, 1819. PANTOLOGIA. D. D, D The fourth letter of the alphabet, and the third consonant, having a kind of middle sound between t and th; its sound is formed by a stronger impulse of the tongue to the upper part of the mouth than is necessary in the pronunciation of the t. Grammarians generally reckon D among the lingual letters, as supposing the tongue to have the principal share in the pronunciation thereof; though the Abbot de Dangeau makes it a palate letter. The letter D is the fourth in the Hebrew, Chaldee, Samaritan, Syriac, Greek, and Latin alphabets; in the first five of which languages it has the same name, though somewhat differently spoken, e. g. in Hebrew, Samaritan, and Chaldee Daleth, in Syriac Doleth, and in Greek Delta. The form of our D is the same with that of the Latins, as appears from all the ancient medals and inscriptions; and the Latin D is no other than the Greek A, rounded a little, by making it quicker and at two strokes. Some learned Greek scholars pronounce the tau as a delta after the , and pronounce zavTM*, as if it were written da; which may be an acceptable softening in the pronunciation, though it is not a fault to say otherwise. In the Latin tongue the D and the T have a great affinity, and are often changed one for another, as at for ad. And Quintilian laughs at those who scruple to write indifferently, one for the other, set for sed, haut for haud, and others, to be seen in ancient inscriptions. D is also a numeral letter, signifying five hundred; which arises hence, that in the Gothic characters, the D is half the M, which signifies a thousand. Hence the verse, "Litera Dvelut A quingentos significabit." A dash added a-top D, denotes it to stand for five thousand. VOL. IV. DAC Used as an abbreviation, it has various significations: thus D stands for Doctor; as, M. D. for Doctor of Medicine; D. T. Doctor of Theology; D. D. implies Doctor of Divinity, or dono dedit;" D. D. D. is used for dat, dicat, dedicat ;" and D. D. D. D. for dignum Deo donum dedit." 66 D, in music, is the nominal of that note to which Guido applied the monosyllable re. D. C. is often set for Da Capo. DA, DEL, or Dı, in music, signifies for or by; as da camera, for the chamber. To DAB. v. a. (dauber, French.) To strike gently with something soft or moist (Shakspeare). DAB. 8. (from the verb.) 1. A small lump of any thing. 2. A blow with something moist or soft. 3. Something moist or slimy thrown upon one. 4. (In low language.) An artist. 5. In ichthyology. See PLEURO NECTES. DAB-CHICK, a small waterfowl. DABAL, or DABUL, a town on the coast of Malabar, in the East Indies. Its trade consists of pepper and salt. It belongs to the Portuguese. Lat. 17. 32 N. Lon. 72. 50 E. To DA'BBLE. v. a. (dabbelen, Dutch.) To smear; to daub; to wet (Swift). To DA'BBLE. v. n. 1. To play in water; to move in water or mud (Swift). 2. To do any thing in a slight, superficial, or shallow manner; to tamper (Pope). DA'BBLER. 8. (from dabble.) 1. One that plays in water. 2. One that meddles without mastery; a superficial meddler (Swift). DACCA, a town of Asia, in the kingdom of Bengal, in the East Indies. Lat. 23. 50 N. Lon. 85. 30 E. DACE, in ichthyology. See CYPRINUS. B |