DAR 



DAT 



^ the Saxons, by the Danes, on 



their frequent invasions, as the arbitrary 

 terms of peace anil departure. It was 

 first imposed as a continual yearly tux 

 upon the whole nation, under King 

 Ethelred. It was levied by William I. 

 and II. but was released by Henry I. and 

 finally abolished by King Stephen. No 

 church, or church-land, paid the danc- 

 gelt, because, as is set forth in the an- 

 cient Saxon law, the people of England 

 placed more confidence in the prayers of 

 the church, than in any military defence 

 they could make. 



DAPHNE, in botany, a genus of the 

 Octandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order Vepreculat. Thymeleae, 

 Jussieu. Essential characterfcalyx none ; 

 corolla four-cleft, corollaceous, wither- 

 ing, including the stamens ; berry one- 

 seeded. There are 28 species : these 

 are shrubs about five feet high. D. Me- 

 zereum. Mezereon is a strong woody 

 plant, putting forth branches on every 

 side, so as to form a regular head. The 

 flowers come out very early in the 

 spring, before the leaves, in clusters all 

 round the shoots of the former year. 

 The leaves are smooth and entire, of a 

 pale green colour, about two inches long 

 and three quarters of an inch broad It 

 is a native of Lapland, Sweden, Denmark, 

 Germany, Switzerland, France, and Great 

 Britain. Another species, viz. Daphne 

 lagetto, yields the lace bark of the West 

 Indies. It is a native of Jamaica. 



DARAPTI, among logicians, one of 

 the modes of syllogisms of the third 

 figure, whose premises are universal 

 affirmatives, and the conclusion is a par- 

 ticular affirmative : thus,' 



DAH- Every body ig divisible ; 



AP- Every body is a substance ; 



TI. Therefore some substance is di- 

 visible 



DAREA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Cryplogamia Filices class and order. 

 Fructification in scattered nearly margi- 

 nal lines: involucre originating laterally 

 from a vein, opening towards the margin. 

 There are nine species. 



DARII, in logic, one of the modes of 

 syllogism of the first figure, wherein the 

 major proposition is an universal affirma- 

 tive, and the minor and conclusion parti- 

 cular affirmatives : thus, 



DA- Every thing that is moved is mov- 

 ed by another ; 



si- Some body is moved : 



I. Therefore some body is moved by 

 another 



DASYPUS, the armadillo, in natural 

 history, a genus of Mammalia of the order 

 Bruta. Generic character : no tusks ; 

 grinders short and cylindrical, and seven 

 or eight in each jaw; body covered with 

 a shelly armour, intersected by circles. 

 These animals chiefly inhabit South A- 

 merica, where they burrow like rabbits 

 in the ground, and live principally upon 

 roots and fruits. They exhibit a singular 

 difference from other quadrupeds, in that 

 testaceous substance which covers them 

 completely, and yet is so admirably 

 adapted to their frame by its minute in- 

 tersections, as by no means to interfere 

 with flexibility or quick movement. 

 When attacked, they roll themselves up 

 into the compactness of a ball ; thus pre- 

 senting to the enemy almost impenetra- 

 ble armour. They repose by day, and at 

 night quit their habitations for food. 

 They are perfectly inoffensive. In a state 

 of confinement they will devour with con- 

 siderable appetite animal food, for which 

 in a state of nature they do not appear to 

 have any relish. They drink most co- 

 piously, and are often found extremely 

 fat. They are regarded as a very great 

 luxury for the table, and are not unfre- 

 quently dug from their burrows to be 

 sold for food : for this purpose, however, 

 they should always be taken young. 

 Their claws are of uncommon size and 

 strength, and enable them to form their 

 subterraneous habitations with extreme 

 facility. Shaw reports, that the female 

 produces three or four times in a year ; 

 and Gmelin states, that she produces eve- 

 ry month. It is ascertained, therefore, 

 that they are highly prolific. It is the 

 practice of naturalists to define the dif- 

 ferent species by the different number of 

 testaceous circled in the body. Gmelin 

 enumerates ten species, and Shaw six. 

 This extraordinary variety among qua- 

 drupeds deserves the particular attention 

 of naturalists, who do not appear to have 

 so clearly defined the several species, or 

 to have collected so many particulars of 

 the manners and habits of the animal in 

 general, as its most singular structure ex- 

 cites a desire to be informed of. 



DATA, among mathematicians, a term 

 for such things or quantities as are given 

 or known, in order to find other things 

 thereby that are unknown. Euclid uses 

 the word data (of which he hath a par- 

 ticular tract) for such spaces, lines, and 

 angles, as are given in magnitude, or \o 

 which we can assign others equal. The 

 data of Euclid is the first in order of the 

 books that have been written by the an- 

 cient mathematicians, to facilitate and. 



