DIATONIC 



bll'-MN 



7.7 



which falls upon ships in mid ocean ho* been 

 shown t> yield un appreciable diatom residue. 

 y soil which is overflowed teems with t IK-HI, 

 notably, therefore, that of Kgypt ; hnrl>our mud 

 often contains one-fourth to one half it- volume 

 of diatom shells, while in ninny parts of the world 

 there occur strata of purely diatoimu-eous origin, 

 which me frequently of vast area ami considerable 

 thi-'kness. Tliese are in all state* of preservation 

 .and hardness, from the loose />V/-i//i/7i/ of Siberia 

 and Lapland (which still contains so much un- 

 decom posed organic matter as to l>e mixed with 

 Hour in times of scarcity) to building stone, and 

 even the extremely hard polishing slates of Tripoli. 

 1 Hatomaceous deposits were found in Skye in issii. 

 The diatom iii- may be used for making dynamite, 

 siliceous glazed paint*, steam-pipe casing, .\:c. 

 Diatoms live in enormous abundance at the surface 

 of the sea in cold, temperate, and arctic latitudes, 

 and the mud of the sea-bottom is hence very 

 largely composed of the shells of dead diatoms. 

 which are falling from the surface in a gentle but 

 unceasing rain (see OOZE). Kieselguhr, or infusorial 

 earth, is useful for making Dynamite (q.v.), patent 

 lamp-wicks, for lining safes or ice-stores, antiseptic 

 preparations, filtration, &c. See the Challenger 

 report on the Diatomaceat ( 1885). 



Diatonic (from the Greek) means 'by tones," 

 or ' from tone to tone.' The diatonic species of the 

 ancient Greeks as distinguished from their chro- 

 matic and enharmonic species formed the foun- 

 dation of their whole system of music, and was 

 arranged in tetrachords ( embryo scales ) composed 

 of one semitone and two whole tones. In modern 

 music, the term is applied to ( 1 ) the natural or 

 normal scale, major or minor, which proceeds 

 mainly by whole tones; (2) the different species 

 of intervals (usually reckoned as* fourteen in 

 number) occurring between the various notes of 

 that scale; and (3) music written wholly or for 

 the most part in that scale. 



Diaz, or DIAS, BARTOLOMEU, a Portuguese 

 navigator of noble birth who flourished during 

 the latter half of the 15th century. His residence 

 at the court of King John II. brought him into 

 contact with many scientific men, among others 

 the German cosmographer Behaim (q.v.). Diaz 

 took a great interest in geographical discovery, 

 and in August 1486 the king gave him the com- 

 mand of two vessels with a view to following up 

 the discoveries already made by Portuguese ad- 

 venturers on the west coast of Africa. DiM >"*>" 

 reached the limit which had l>een attained in 

 South Atlantic navigation, and first touched land 

 in 26 S. lat. Driven by a violent storm, he sailed 

 round the southern extremity of Africa (see (API: 

 OF GOOD HOPE) without immediately realising the 

 fact, and discovered Algoa Bay. The discontent of 

 his crew compelled him sorrowfully to return . and 

 arriving in Lisbon, December 1 s7, he was at first 

 greeted with enthusiasm, but soon saw Vasco da 

 Gama preferred before him, and wius compelled to 

 act under the latter in the grand expedition of 

 1497. Vasco da Gama even sent him back to 

 Portugal after they hod reached the Cape Verd 

 Isles. Three years after, he joined the expedition 

 of Cabral, the discoverer of Brazil, but was lost in 

 a storm, 29th May 1500. 



Diaz, PORFIRIO, President of Mexico. See 

 MEXICO. 



Diaz de la Peiia, NARPI-.*.. \u in.>. 

 painter, was born at Bordeaux in 1807, of Spanish 

 parentage, and, left an orphan at the age of ten, 

 was educated by a Protestant clergyman at Bolle- 

 vue, where a snake-bite occasioned ti.e amputa- 

 tion of a leg. At the age of fifteen he was 

 apprenticed to a porcelain-painter, but he was 



ambitious of working in niU, and nln.ut IK3I 

 began to exhibit in tin- Salon. Abandoning hi* 

 unsueccMHfiil cllort* in tin- din* tion of hi.tory and 

 genre, he in time won fame by bin landrapes, 

 which he peopled with nvmpliH, love*, and Mtyrm. 

 ' figures are badly drawn, but a* a coloaricfc 

 Dia/ ranks highly amonv the p.-nnN-r* of the 

 Romantic Hchoo) in France, and to colour he was 

 content frankly to sacrifice form. He wan also 

 an exquisite painter of Mower piece*. He died at 

 Mentone, 18th November 1870. 



Diaz <!<! Castillo, BKKNAL, the hUtorinn of 

 the conquest of Mexico, WOM horn about tin- end 

 of the 16th century, and won me of the handful of 

 heroes who accompanied Cortex to M<-\j.-o in I.M'.i. 

 !! fought thrOOan the whole struggle, ami after- 

 wards accompanied the heroic \.,nii^ Nmdoval on 

 his expedition northward*, ami Cortex him<-|f in 

 his expedition to Honduras to puni*h the defection 

 of his trusted lieutenant, Chri>(o\al de Olid. He 

 died in Mexico about 1500. Hi* Hixturm rmla- 

 tlera tie la conqtiifta de In .\ ' >< n (3 vols. 



Madrid, 1632) is invaluable to the historian a* a 

 sincere narration by an eve-witness and sharer in 

 the event* narrated. With all the ignorance and 

 superstition of it age, it reveals great power* of 

 observation and of vivid and vigorous description ; 

 while the rare romantic interest of the story it*-lf, 

 the heroism of Cortes and his companion-, and 

 their wonderful deeds and often tragic deaths, 

 make the book a real epic. 



Dibdln, CIIAKI.K*. musician and poet, was 

 born at Southampton in 1745. He early attracted 

 notice by his singing, and, still a l*oy, made his 

 literary debut in London, by writing ami compos- 

 ing an "opera called Tin tin-fill' nl's Artijii-f, produced 

 atCovent Garden Theatre in 170'2. He.-ulsequently 

 lived an unsettled life as an actor and commoner 

 of stage-music. In 1788 he commenced giving a 

 series of musical entertainments in the city, which 

 acquired a great celebrity; the first ot the-.- \\;LH 

 entitled The. Whim of the Moment. After several 

 vicissitudes he withdrew from public life in 1803, 

 the government in 1803 having granted him. in con- 

 sideration of his literary merit**, a itension of *2UO. 

 The pension was afterwards withdrawn by the 

 Grenville government in 1>>7, which <x c;i>ioiied 

 Dilxlin to return to public life with unfortunate 

 financial results. He died 4 2;>th July 1814. DiUlin 

 was an admirable writer of sea-songs, of which he 

 composed nearly a hundred. Neptune, and not 

 Apollo, seems to have inspired him. Though his 

 work nowhere reaches the higher regions of \- 

 and even his seamanship has lcen impugned, \-t it 

 is hardly too much to say that he is our lir>t writer 

 of sea-songx, one or two of which ha\e even been 

 taken to the heart by the mariners of Fngland. 

 Hi- \er>>s smack of 'the briny deep, and relied 

 with astonishing felicity the ea*y, childlike v irtl)s 

 and the fearletw courage of the conventional Briti-h 

 tar. It is known that they hcl-ied to man the 

 naw during the great M niggle with France, and 

 a* In- himself says in hi* autobiography, 'they 

 have U-en quoted in mutinies* to the restora- 

 tion of order and discipline.' Among I>i)lin 

 happiest pieces are four Jack and '/'* /A/ir/iw*/, 

 or J'oor Tom as it wai originally called. See his 

 ProfeMtonttl Life (4 vd- I8O3). and for hi* soon 

 the inaccurate edition by G. II. la\idi*on. with 

 Life by George Hogarth t!S4'.>. li-lin wrote 

 nearly s>venty dramatic pieci-*.-- Two of hb son*, 

 CIIAI':I DiiiPiN . I7us 1833) and THOMAS J. 'UN 

 (1771 1S4H wmte *ong and dramas. See 

 , by K. H. Uil-lin (1888). 



Dibdln, THOMAS FKIX;NAI.I.. the bibliographer, 

 was nephew of Charles Pibdin. the writer ft sea- 

 songs, and was born at Calcutta in 1776. He lost 



