DUTCH LIQUID 



2742 



DVINA 



Dutch Liquid OR ETHYLENE BI- 

 CHLORIDE (C,H 4 C1 2 ), Thin oily 

 liquid with a sweetish taste and 

 pleasant smell. Discovered in 1795 

 by four Dutch chemists, it is pre- 

 pared by passing ethylene into a 

 warm mixture of manganese di- 

 oxide, salt, water, and sulphuric 

 acid until the black colour of the 

 manganese has disappeared, and 

 then distilling off the ethylene di- 

 chloride. It can be made from coal- 

 gas, is obtained as a by-product in 

 the manufacture of chloral, and is 

 used as an anaesthetic. 



Dutch Metal. Alloy of copper 

 and zinc, and therefore technically 

 a brass. The proportion of the 

 copper may range from 77*75 to 

 84 '5 p.c. The colour varies from a 

 pleasing pale yellow to a dark 

 yellow, according to the propor- 

 tions used. It is a very ductile 

 metal and much used in the pre- 

 paration of Dutch gold leaf, which 

 is made by rolling down small cast 

 bars to ribbon, beating under a 

 steam hammer to a certain thin- 

 ness, annealing, pickling in dilute 

 sulphuric acid, boiling in solution 

 of argol, washing and drying, and 

 then beating with hand hammers, 

 as in the manufacture of gold leaf 

 proper. Dutch leaf is largely used 

 for gilding purposes, being much 

 cheaper than gold ; while its colour 

 may be preserved for a long time 

 by painting with transparent 

 lacquer. The colour is sometimes 

 changed to red, violet, or green, 

 or other shade by adding to the 

 lacquer a small quantity of pure 

 aniline dye. See Alloy ; Brass. 



Dutch New Guinea. Posses- 

 sion of Holland, included in the 

 Dutch East Indies. See New Guinea. 



putt, MICHAEL (1824-73). Ben- 

 gali poet and dramatist, properly 

 Madhu Sudan Datta. Born at 

 Sagandari village, Jessore district, 

 Bengal, he was sent to the Hindu 

 College, Calcutta, at the age of 

 13. Six years later, objecting to a 

 marriage that was being arranged 

 for him, he ran away, forsook his 

 caste, and became a Christian. He 

 then completed his education with 

 four years at the Bishop's College. 

 His first book, The Captive Ladie 

 (1849), in English verse, though 

 containing much that was remark- 

 able in one writing in a foreign 

 tongue, was less notable than his 

 subsequent poetry written in Ben- 

 gali. > His Sermista (1858) and 

 Ratnavali (1859) are the first ex- 

 amples of classical and regular 

 drama in Bengali. Of both of 

 these he made English translations. 



His other poems include two great 

 epics in blank verse, Tillottama 

 (1860) and Meghanad badh Kavya 

 (1861), the latter being described by 

 a compatriot critic (R. C. Dutt) as 



the greatest literary production of 

 its century. His name has become 

 a household word among the people 

 of Bengal, and he is by common con- 

 sent regarded as the chief master in 

 modern Bengali literature. He 

 travelled in Europe, 1 862-67, and 

 died June 29, 1873. See The 

 Literature of Bengal, R. C. Dutt, 

 2nd ed. 1895. 



Dutt, ROMESH CHUNDER (1848- 

 1909). Indian statesman and 

 author. Born in Calcutta, Aug. 

 13, 1848, and educated at the 

 Presidency College, Calcutta, and 

 University College, London, he was 

 called to the bar at the Middle 

 Temple, 1871. A member of the 

 Indian Civil Service, 1871-97, he 

 held office as a divisional com- 

 missioner, 1894 and 1895; and was 

 a fellow of Calcutta university. He 

 became revenue minister, ] 904-7, 

 and prime minister. 1909, of 

 Baroda. Made a C.I.E. in 1892 for 

 his administrative and literary 

 work, he was author of a History 

 of Civilization in Ancient India, 

 1889-90; condensations in English 

 verse of the Mahabharata (1899) 

 and Ramayana (1900) ; books on 

 the economic history of India ; and 

 a number of historical and social 

 novels in Bengali. He died Nov. 

 30, 1909. See Life and Work, J. 

 N. Gupta, 1911. 



Duval, CLAUDE (1643-70). High- 

 wayman, born at Domfront, in 

 Normandy. He came to England 

 at the Restoration in the train of 

 the duke of Richmond, took to the 

 road, and became notorious for his 

 daring robberies and for his 

 gallantry. He was captured while 

 drunk in a London tavern and 

 executed at Tyburn. He was 

 buried in Covent Garden Church. 

 Duval is the subject of a well- 

 known picture by W. P. Frith. 



Duveen , SIR JOSEPH JOEL ( 1 843- 

 1908). Anglo-Dutch art dealer.Born 

 in Holland of Dutch parentage, he 

 started as an antique dealer in Hull 

 in 1865. In 1877, with his brother 

 Henry, he founded in New York 

 the art-dealing firm bearing their 

 name. Opening in London in 

 1879, the firm quickly became 

 noted for its discrimination and 

 ability, among its famous purchases 

 being the Kahn collection of old 

 masters for nearly 2,000,000. 

 Duveen presented the Turner wing 

 to the Tate Gallery (opened 1910), 

 and many works of art to the 

 national collections, and was 

 knighted in 1908. He died at 

 Hyeres, Nov. 9, 1908. 



Duveyrier, HENRI (1840-92). 

 French explorer and geographer. 

 Born in Paris, Feb. 28, 1840, he 

 travelled in the desert hinterland 

 of Algeria and Tunis, reaching as 

 far S. as El-Golea and Ghadames 



(1859-61). This exploration work 

 secured his appointment, in 1867, 

 as secretary of the Societe de 

 Geographic. In 1874 he resumed 

 his exploration of French N. Africa. 

 His published works include Ex- 

 ploration du Sahara : les Touareg 

 du Nord, 1864 ; La Tunisie, 1881 ; 

 Le Transsaharien, 1889-90; Sa- 

 hara algerien et tunisien, 1905. 

 He died April 25, 1892. 



Dux (Lat., leader). Word some- 

 times used, especially in Scotland, 

 for the head boy of a school. 



Dux. Town of C/echo-Slovakia, 

 in Bohemia. It stands at the S. 

 base of the Erzgebirge, 18m. N.W. 

 of Leitmeritz. Sugar, earthenware, 

 glass, and porcelain are manufac- 

 tured, and there are large coalmines 

 in the neighbourhood. Its castle 

 has a fine collection of armour, 

 pictures, and books. Pop. 12,100. 



Duxite. Safety explosive. It is 

 typical of a class in which gelignite 

 has been modified by the addition 

 of salts which contain a considerable 

 quantity of water of crystallisation 

 and produce water on disintegra- 

 tion, thus lowering the tempera- 

 ture of the explosion flame. Duxite 

 consists of nitroglycerine 32 p.c., 

 gelatinised with nitrocellulose, 1 

 p.c., sodium nitrate, 28 p.c., wood 

 meal, 10 p.c., and ammonium oxa- 

 late, 29 p.c. The latter compound 

 is the salt employed to reduce the 

 flame temperature, and the explo- 

 sive passes the severe Rotherham 

 test for safety explosives for use 

 in coal mines with a charge of 

 12 ozs. See Gelignite. 



D.V. Abbrev. for Deo volente, 

 God willing. 



Dvina, NORTHERN. River of N.E. 

 Russia, in the govt. of Vologda. It 

 is formed by the union of the Suk- 

 hona and Yug. Flowing N.W. by 

 Archangel, chiefly through level, 

 marshy districts, it discharges itself 

 into the White Sea by five mouths. It 

 is navigable in summer throughoiit 

 its entire length of 360 m., but the 

 shoals at the mouth are a nuisance 

 to traffic. Fish abound, especially 

 a peculiar kind of cod (navaga). 



Dvina, WESTERN, OR DUNA. 

 River of W. Russia. It rises in the 

 lakes and marshes of the Valdai 

 plateau in the govt. of Tver. 

 Running S.W. and then N.W., it 

 falls into the Gulf of Riga, 9 m. 

 below Riga. As it forms a con- 

 nexion with the Baltic and Black 

 Seas through the Beresina canal, 

 it is used for timber transport, 

 partly floated and partly by boat. 

 Dvina, BATTLES OP THE. Fought 

 between Russians and Germans, 

 1915-16. The first battle took 

 place Aug.-Sept., 1915. The Ger- 

 man armies arrayed against the 

 Dvina, one beyond the Vindava W. 

 of Riga, under Lauenstein, and a 



