DACTYLOLOGY 



D.u; 



651 



(ion, consist ing of a long and two short syllables, 

 ius in the \vord niHHitifl.i. It was HO called from its 

 n-s, -iiiltliince to the finger, which consists of tin.-,- 

 joints one long mid two sliort. The same IUUIK- is 

 sometimes applied to a trisyllabic measure in Eng- 

 lish verso, consisting of one accented syllable and 

 two unaccented syllables, as in dfat in if (see VKHSK). 

 Dactylic verse consists of dactyls and spondees, 

 and includes l>otli hexameter anil pentameter verse. 



Dactylology, the art of communicating 

 thoughts by the fingers. See DEAF AND DUMH. 



Daddy-long-legs, or CRANE-FLY (Tipula 

 olenicea), a familiar insect in the order Diptera, 

 and a good type of its family Tipulidip. The body, 

 the legs, aiul the antennae are very long. The 

 latter nave an arched curvature, and are longer in 

 the males ; the front of the head projects promi- 

 nently ; the posterior body, which is connected with 



Daddy-long-legs ( Tif/ula oleracea ) : 



a, eggs ; b, larva ; c, puj>a ease as left by the insect sticking out 

 of the earth ; d, perfect insect. 



the thorax by a very thin bridge, is broader in the 

 females. The middle of the body is gray, with 

 brown stripes, the abdomen reddish-brown, the legs 

 brownish-yellow, and in part blackish, the wings 

 brown, varying to red and white. This common 

 European insect is towards an inch in length, is 

 abundant from July to October in meadows and 

 gardens, and is familiar to every one. The female is 

 often seen laying her numerous eggs in damp places 

 on the ground ; the eggs are small, black, and 

 shining; the larvae, known as 'leather-jackets,' 

 live in the ground, and often do damage in vege- 

 table gardens and fields ; the pupae have spines on 

 their abdominal segments, bv which they push 

 their way out of the ground. Of the genus Tipula 

 about ninety European species are known. The 

 largest form ( T. gigantea ) measures over an inch, 

 and is not uncommon in Britain. T. horlulana is 

 very common in gardens. The genus Ctenophora, 

 commoner in wooded districts, is nearly allied. 

 They have stouter bodies, and usually brighter 

 colours. See MIDGE. 



Dado (Ital., 'a die'), in classical Architecture, 

 the term applied to the cubic block which forms 

 the body or a pedestal. It is also applied to the 

 plane face and the series of mouldings which, in 

 the interiors of buildings, form, as it were, a con- 

 tinuous pedestal. The interior dado is formed of 

 wood, and, running round the bottom of the walls 

 of a room, serves to protect the plaster or paper 

 from injury. Dados and waM-linings were much 

 used in Elizabethan and subsequent styles till this 

 century, when, under the classic regime, they were 



dispensed with. The recent revival of the ' Queen 

 Anne ' taste, however, has led to the rein trod uct ion 

 of dado- not only in the form of wooden panel- 

 lings, but also in the painting and papering of the 

 walls. 



l>;r dalus, a figure in Greek Mythology who 

 personified the beginning of the art* of sculpture 

 and architecture. He was of the old Athenian 

 royal race of the Erechtheidae. Having killed his 

 nephew and pupil in envy at his growing skill, he 

 had to flee to Crete, where he made the well- 

 known cow for Queen Pasiphae, and afterwards for 

 King Minos the famous labyrinth to confine the 

 Minotaur. Minos next imprisoned Doxlalus, but 

 he escaped with the help of Pasiphae, and formed 

 wings for himself and his son Icarus, with which to 

 fly across the sea. He himself flew safe across the 

 .Aegean, but unhappily Icarus Hew too near the 

 sun, the heat of which melted the wax that 

 fastened his wings to him, so that he dropped into 

 the sea, and left his name to be borne by that part 

 of the yEgean into which he fell. Daedalus made 

 his way to Sicily. Some accounts made him first 

 alight at Cumae in Italy, where he dedicated his 

 wings to Apollo. Works of art were freely ascribed 

 to Daedalus in Greece, Italy, Libya, and the Mediter- 

 ranean islands. The name Daidala was applied to 

 the earlier painted and gilded wooden statues of 

 the gods. 



Daendels, HERMAN WILLEM, a great Dutch 

 general, was born in 1762 at Hattem, in Gelder- 

 land, took part in the revolutionary disturbances 

 that broke out in Holland in 1787, and was in con- 

 sequence compelled to seek refuge in France. In 

 the campaign of 1793 he rendered important service 

 to Dumounez, and was elevated to the rank of a 

 general of brigade. In 1799 he commanded one 

 of the two divisions of the army of the Batavian 

 republic, and in 1806 took service under the king 

 of Holland. From 1808 to 1811 he was governor- 

 general of the Dutch East Indian possessions, and 

 published a work on them. On the overthrow of 

 Napoleon, the new king of Holland, William I., 

 intrusted Daendels with the organisation of the 

 Dutch colonies on the 

 coast of Africa, and 

 there he died in June 

 1818. 



Daffodil (cor- 

 rupted from Lat. 

 asphodelus), the Eng- 

 lish name of those 

 species of Narcissus 

 which have a large 

 bell-shaped corona. 

 The Common Daffodil 

 ( N. pseudo-narcissus ) 

 is a native of England 

 and of most parts of 

 Europe, growing in 

 woods and nedges, and 

 often cultivated in 

 gardens, where it not 

 unfrequently becomes 

 double. It is natural- 

 ised in many places in 

 Scotland and Ireland, 

 but seems scarce! v in- 

 digenous. From Her- 

 rick's lament to 

 Wordsworth's dancing 



verse we have widely varied recognitions of the 

 familiar golden cups of the daffodil as a source alike 

 of poetic wealth and inspiration. See NARCISSUS. 



Dag, a hand-gun or thick pistol, used in the 

 15th and 16th centuries. It occurs in the Spanish 

 Tragedy ( 1603) ; it sometimes means a dagger. 



Common Daffodil 

 (ftarcittut in#utlo-narcittvt). 



