DRU 



DRY 



the peculiar temporary madness of drun- 

 ken persons mijjflit receive a general ex- 

 planation. Particularly, it seems natural 

 to expect, that they should at first be 

 much disposed to mirth and laughter, 

 with a mixture of small inconsistencies 

 and absurdities; that these last should 

 increase from the vivid trains which force 

 themselves upon the brain, in opposition 

 to the present reality; that they should 

 lose the command and stability of the vo- 

 luntary motions from the prevalence of 

 confused vibrations in the brain, so that 

 those appropriated to voluntary motion 

 cannot descend regularly as usual ; but 

 that they should stagger and see double ; 

 that quarrels and contentions should arise 

 after some time ; and all end at last in a 

 temporary apoplexy. And it is very ob- 

 servable, that the free use of fermented 

 liqours disposes to passionate-ness, to dis- 

 tempers of the head, to melancholy, and 

 to downright madness ; all which things 

 have also great connections with each 

 other. The sickness and head-ache which 

 drunkenness occasions the succeeding 

 morning seem to arise, the first from the 

 immediate impressions made on the 

 nerves of the stomach ; the second from 

 the peculiar sympathy which the parts 

 of the head, external as well as internal, 

 have with the brain, the part principally 

 affected in drunkenness, by deriving their 

 nerves immediately from it See HAHT- 

 Lt Y on Man. 



DRUPA, in botany, a species of seed- 

 vessel, that is succulent, has no valve or 

 external opening like the capsule and 

 pod, and contains within its substance a 

 stone or nut. The cherry, plumb, peach, 

 apricot, and all stone fruit, are of this 

 kind. The stone, or nut, which, in this 

 species of fruit, is surrounded by the 

 soft pulpy flesh, is a kind of woody cup, 

 containing a single kernel or seed. The 

 definition just given will apply to every 

 seed-vessel denominated am pa in the 

 "genera plantarutn." The mond is a 

 drupa, so is the seed-vessel of the elm- 

 tree and the genus rumphia ; though far 

 from being pulpy or succulent, the first 

 and third are of a substance like leather ; 

 the second like parchment. The same may 

 be said of the walnut, pistacia-nut, and 

 some others. Again, the seeds of the 

 elm, flagellaria, and the mango-tree, are 

 not contained in a stone. The seed-ves- 

 sel of burr-reed is dry, shaped like a top, 

 and contains two angular stones. This 

 species of fruit, or more properly seed- 

 vessel, is commonly roundish, and when 

 seated hclow the calyx, or receptacle of 



the flower, is furnished, like the apple, at 

 the end opposite to the foot-stalk, with a 

 small umbilicus or cavity, produced by 

 the swelling of the fruit before the falling 

 off of the flower-cup. 



DRY rot, a disease incident to timber 

 used for building, such as flooring-boards, 

 joists, wainscoting, &c. Dr. Darwin is of 

 opinion, that the dry-rot may be entirely 

 prevented, by soaking the timber first in 

 lime-water, till it has absorbed as much 

 of it as possible, and after it has become 

 dry, immersing it in a weak solution of 

 vitriolic acid in water, which he supposes 

 will not only preserve it from decay for 

 many centuries (if it be kept dry,) but also 

 render it less inflammable ; a circum- 

 stance that merits considerable attention 

 in constructing houses. In the transactions 

 of the Society for the Encouragment of 

 Arts, we meet with the following account 

 of the cause of the dry rot in timber, and 

 the method of preventing it, communicat- 

 ed by Mr. Batson, of Limehouse. He ob- 

 serves, that the dry rot having taken 

 place in one of his parlours, to such a de- 

 gree as to require the pulling down part 

 of the wainscot every third year, and per- 

 ceiving that it arose from a damp, stag- 

 nated air, and from the moisture of the 

 earth, he determined, in the month of 

 June, 1783, to build a narrow closet next 

 the wall through which* the moisture 

 came to the parlour. This expedient had 

 the desired effect. But, though the rot 

 in the parlour was totally stopped, the 

 evil soon appeared in the closet, where 

 fungi of a yellow colour arose in various 

 parts. In the autumn of the year 1786 

 the closet was locked up about ten weeks : 

 on opening it, numerous excrescences 

 were observed about the lower part ; a 

 white mould was spread by a plant re- 

 sembling a vine, or sea-weed ; and the 

 whole of the inside, china, &c. was cover- 

 ed with a fine powder, of the colour of 

 brick-dust. On cleaning out the closet, 

 it was discovered that the disease had af- 

 fected the wood so far as to extend 

 through every shelf, and the brackets 

 that supported them. In the beginning 

 of the year 1780, he determined to strip 

 the whole closet of lining and floor, not to 

 leave a particle of the wood behind, and 

 also to dig, and take away, about two feet 

 of the earth in depth, and leave the walls 

 to dry, so as to destroy the roots or seeds 

 of the evil. \Vhen,. by time, the admis- 

 sion of air, and good brushing, it had be- 

 come properly dry and cleansed, he filled 

 it, of sufficient height for the joists, with 

 anchor-smith's ashes, because no vegeta- 



