DKNVKIl 



I >K I 'MS IT 



raa 



from tin- L-eneral smfiir< of its ba-in 1 foot in 

 iiMM) \. MI-, i In- Rhone 1 foot in 1528 years, the Po 

 1 foot in 7 - -".i years. To the matter mechanically 

 subtended in the water or swept forward on the 

 IK -i Is of rivers we have to add the matter carried 

 in -uluiioii, which in many rivers is very consider- 

 able. Uivers like the Rhine, the Dannlw, tlie 

 Kibe, and tlio Rhone, contain in every 6000 parts 

 by weight one part of dissolved mineral substance. 

 These ii\-M>, therefore, carry seawards their own 

 weight iif dissolved matter in 6000 years. Thus, 

 suhaerial denudation progresses more rapidly than 

 we si KIM Id at first be led to suspect, and those 

 geologists who have made a special study of this 

 i| motion do not hesitate to assert that the action 

 of the subaerial agents of denudation is far more 

 effective than that of the sea, for whereas the action 

 of the latter is confined to a narrow belt of land, 

 that of the former has no such limitation. The 

 whole land surface is exposed to attack, and the 

 loose material carried down to the sea far exceeds 

 in amount the waste of the coast-line by waves 

 anil breakers. See Plavfair's Illustrations of the 

 H iiltinii/in Theory, Lvell's Principles of Geology, 

 Croll's Climate and Time, and the standard text- 

 books of geology. 



Denver, the capital of Colorado, is situated on 

 the South Platte River, 922 miles \V. of St Louis. 

 It lies on a level plain, 5196 feet above the sea, 

 beyond which rise the snow-capped peaks and 

 deep blue shoulders of the Rocky Mountains. 

 Denver was founded on a barren waste, dry and 

 treeless, in 1858, and the close of the civil war 

 saw it a rising frontier town ; in 1870 the popula- 

 tion was -IT,')!) ; in 1880, 35,629 ; in 1890, 106,713 ; 

 and in 1000, 133,859. In forty years the mining- 

 camp had been transformed into the ' Queen 

 City of the Plains,' with stately buildings of brick 

 ami yellow stone, and wide, sliaded streets, pro- 

 vided with the electric light, and with horse, came, 

 and electric tram-cars ; and it has become the 

 meeting-point of a great network of railways, with 

 four direct routes to the east. It has an abundant 

 water-supply, with 50 miles of distributing mains ; 

 many of tlie houses are heated by steam, supplied 

 by a company owning 5 miles of mains ; and through 

 the resident portion streams of water course post 

 the 4 unpavud foot-ways. The clear invigorating 

 air and dry climate of Denver are famous ; the 

 mean annual temperature is 48 F., and the rainfall 

 17 inches. Among the chief buildings are the 

 city-hall, a handsome court-house and post-office, 

 high school (1887), Episcopal" cathedral, and the 

 state capitol (commenced in 1886), 383 feet long 

 by 313 wide ; tlie town has also more than sixty 

 churches, a university, and a number of public 

 schools. Denver is the centre of a great agricul- 

 tural and mining district, and has a large trade in 

 cattle, hides, wool, and tallow. The value of its 

 manufactures in 1890 cottons and woollens, flour, 

 machinery, carriages, &c. was stated at $30,500,000 

 (as against $20,000,000 in 1886). It is chiefly, how- 

 ever, to its position as the centre of a great mining 

 region that Denver owes its marvellous m-ogrr-^ ; 

 the discovery, in 1878, of the fabulous wealth of the 

 Leadville Hills attracted capital and emigration 

 from all parts of the continent. It has a t'nited 

 States assaying mint, and is an important ore 

 market ; the daily receipts of ore in Rome years 

 amounts to near 600 tons, and the product of its 

 great smelting-works is valued at about $25,000,000, 

 while much of the machinery used throughout t In- 

 state is manufactured here. Denver has .sc\ ( -ral 

 suburbs, by which the total population is consider- 

 ably augmented. See also tlie article COLORADO. 



Deoband, a town in the North-west Provinces 

 of India, 15 miles N. of Muzaffarnagar by rail, with 



manufactures of Tine cloth, and a trade in grain, 

 sugar, and oil. More tlian half the inhabitant* are 

 Mohammedans. Pop. 19,500. 



Deodand. A personal chattel which wan the 

 immediate and accidental occasion of the death of 

 a reasonable creature, wan, by the law of England, 

 forfeited to the crown, in order that it might he 

 applied to pious uses, or given to (iod (Deudmt- 

 i/ a m], as the term implies. The law of deodand 

 was abolished by statute in 1846. 



Deodar, a petty native state in the Palanpur 

 Superintendency, Bombay presidency, with an 

 area of 440 sq. m., and about 25,000 inhabitant*. 

 It is a flat, open plain, with sandy soil and a hot 

 climate ; there are no rivers, and the numerous 

 ponds are not employed for irrigation. Clarified 

 butter is the only export. 



Deodar. See CEDAR. 



Deodorisers are chemical substances em- 

 ployed for the purpose of absorbing or destroying 

 the odoriferous principles evolved especially from 

 decomposing animal and vegetable matter. Thus, 

 freshly burned charcoal is a powerful deodoriser 

 because it absorbs sulphurous acid gas, ammonia, 

 and other odorous gases. They belong to the 

 classes of substances known as Antiseptics (q.v.) 

 and Disinfectants (q.v.). 



D'Eon. See EOK DE BEAUMONT. 



Deontology (Gr. deon, 'that which is bind- 

 ing,' and logos, ' a discourse ' ), a term for the science 

 of duty, Ethics (q.v.). 



Deori, a town in Nagpur district, 40 miles S. of 

 Sagar, and 1705 miles above sea-level. Pop. 7414. 



Deoxidation is the term applied to the process 

 of withdrawing the oxygen from a compound, as in 

 the reduction of tlie native peroxide of iron in the 

 smelting-funmces to the condition of metallic iron. 

 On tlie small scale, in experimental inquiries, the 

 process of deoxidation may be carried on before the 

 Blowpipe (q.v.), where the inner or reducing flame 

 is essentially a deoxidising one. 



Department ( Fr. i/t-/irt>-/)icnt), a term used 

 to denote a territorial division in France. Previous 

 to the Revolution, France was divided into pro- 

 vinces ; but in 1790 a decree of the Assembly 

 ordered the alwlition of the old provincial divisions 

 (34 in number), and the redistribution of the land 

 into 83 departments. During the year 8 of the 

 Revolution, these were increased to 98 ; in 1814 the 

 Empire consisted of 130 ; and the war of 1870-71 

 reduced it from 89 to 87, including the sadly dimin- 

 ished department of Haut-Rhin. The departments, 

 each presided over by a prefect, are again sub- 

 divided into arrondissementa. See FitAXCE. 



Dephlogistieated Air. See PHLOGISTON. 



Depilatories (Lat. dcpilo, 'I null out the 

 hair') are chemical agents employed for removing 

 superfluous hair from the skin. They were exten- 

 si\ely u>rd by the ancients, but are now restricted 

 in their employment to the face, and to the removal 

 of the hair from the scalp in the treatment of 

 certain diseases. They should only IK- used under 

 medical advi< -e. 



Deponent, n term in Latin Crammar applied 

 to verbs having a passive form but an active signi- 

 fication. They are so called Uvaiise they, as it 

 were, lay down (Lat. </y/i ) or di-penst- with the 

 signilicat ion proper to their form. Such vt-rlw had 

 all originally a reflexive meaning, like the middle 

 \nic-.- in (Jreek verKs ; thus, rnn-ur, '1 eat.' means 

 radically, 'I feed myself.' lir/mnrnt is also u*ed 

 for a person who makes a Deposition (q.v.). 



Deposit, a term much used in (leolocy, to 

 characterise those rocks which have leen formed 

 from matter that has settled from suspension or 



