DACI ER D ACT YLOLOG Y. 



531 



rius Flaccus, a translation of Marcus Antoninus, of 

 Epictetus, of Aristotle's Art of Poetry, with annota- 

 tions, of the Lives of Plutarch, of the CEdipus and 

 Electra of Sophocles, of the works of Hippocrates, 

 and of several dialogues of Plato. 



DACIER, ANNA LEFEVRE ; wife of the preced- 

 ing; born at Saumur, in 1651. After the death of 

 her learned father, who had instructed her, and cul- 

 tivated her talents, she went to Paris, where she dis- 

 played her learning by an edition of Callimachus 

 (1675), which she inscribed to Huet, the under tutor 

 of the dauphin. The duke of Montausier, in conse- 

 quence, intrusted her with the care of several edi- 

 tions of the classics (in usum delphini). She first 

 edited Florus (q. v.), with a commentary. Her 

 learned works were not interrupted by her marriage. 

 Her feeble translation of Homer attracted a good 

 deal of attention, and led to a dispute between her 

 and Lamotte, in which it appeared that madame 

 Dacier understood much less of logic, than Lamotte 

 of the Greek language. In her Considerations sur 

 les Causes de la Corruption du Godt, she defended 

 Homer with the acuteness of a profound commenta- 

 tor, and Lamotte replied with a great deal of wit and 

 elegance ; on which account it was said, Lamotte 

 wrote like an ingenious woman, madame Dacier like 

 a learned man. Lamotte introduced her to the 

 notice of queen Christina, who persuaded her to em- 

 brace the Catholic religion. In her Homere defendu, 

 she showed little mercy to Hardouin, who had writ- 

 ten a satirical eulogy of this poet. On this occasion, 

 she was said to have uttered more invectives against 

 the reviler of Homer, than the poet himself had 

 placed in the mouths of all his heroes. She trans- 

 lated Terence, and three pieces of Plautus, in the 

 prologue of which she treats of the origin, the culti- 

 vation, and changes of dramatic poetry with acute- 

 ness. Her translation of the Plutus and the Clouds 

 of Aristophanes, deserves indulgence, as the first 

 translation of the Greek comic poet. Her translation 

 of Anacreon and Sappho, with a defence of the latter, 

 met with success. She also wrote annotations on the 

 Bible, but did not publish them. Her life was en- 

 tirely devoted to literature, and her domestic duties. 

 She died in 1720. Equally estimable for her charac- 

 ter and her talents, she gained as many admirers by 

 her virtue, constancy, and equanimity, as by her 

 works. She was member of several academies. 



DACTYLE. See Rhythm. 



DACTYLIOTHECA {Greek}; a collection of en- 

 graved gems. The art of engraving gems was no- 

 where carried to greater perfection than hi Greece, 

 where they were worn, not only in rings (from which 

 the name of laxTu^ms , ring), but in seals, and were 

 much used for other ornamental purposes. The Ro- 

 mans were far beliind the Greeks in this art ; but 

 they were the first who made collections of precious 

 stones. Scanrus, the son-in-law of ISylla, introduced 

 the custom (Pliny, Hist. Nat., 37, 5). Pompey the 

 Great transferred the collection of Mithridates to 

 Rome, and placed it in the capital. A much larger 

 collection was exhibited by Caesar in the temple of 

 Venus Genitrix, and, afterwards, under Augustus, by 

 M. Marcellus, in the temple of Apollo Palatinus. In 

 modern times, the princes of Italy vied with each 

 other iri collecting these treasures of art. The fa- 

 mily of Gonzaga established the first dactyliotAeca, 

 and was followed by the family of Este at Modena, 

 that of Farnese, and by Lorenzo de' Medici in Flo- 

 rence. The gems collected by him are marked with 

 Lor., or Lor. de' M., or with M. alone. His collec- 

 tion was divided and scattered, but the Medici esta- 

 blished a new one, the foundation of the present D. 

 Florentina, the most important existing, as it contains 

 about 4000 gems. In Rome, collections of 110 great 



value were made under Julius II. and Leo X. Ma- 

 ria Piccolomini, a Roman prelate, had the best in 

 that city ; and Lucio Odescalchi, afterwards duke of 

 Bragiani, inherited that of Christina, queen of Sweden. 

 Rome afterwards received the collections of the Va- 

 tican (formed more at random than on any connected 

 plan), of the Barberini, and of. the Strozzi (containing 

 some masterpieces of the art now in St Petersburg). 

 The D. Ludovisia, belonging to the prin.ce of Pioin- 

 bino, and that of the cardinal Borgia at Velletri, 

 famous for its Egyptian gems and scarabcei, are still 

 celebrated. Naples has beautiful gems in the cabi- 

 net at Portici and at Capo di Monte. The prince 

 Piscari formed a collection at Catanea, in Sicily, 

 consisting entirely of gems found in Sicily. In 

 France, the first collection was begun by Francis I., 

 but was dispersed in the civil war. In the reign of 

 Louis XIV., Louvois laid the foundation of the pre- 

 sent fine collection of antiques in the royal library. 

 The collection of the duke of Orleans, which he in- 

 herited from the Palatinate, was celebrated. Besides 

 these, there were several private collections of value. 

 The most celebrated in England are those of the 

 dukes* of Devonshire, Bedford, and Mariborough, 

 and the earls of Carlisle and Desborough. Germany 

 has also collections. In the palace of Sans Souci, at 

 Potsdam, near Berlin, several are united, among 

 which is that of Muzel Stosch, rendered famous by 

 the description of Winckelmann. Vienna lias a sepa- 

 rate cabinet of gems. The collection of Dresden is 

 good. The city library of Leipsic possesses some 

 good gems. The collection at Cassel is extensive, 

 but not very valuable. Munich has some beautiful 

 pieces. There are also many private collections. In 

 the Netherlands, the cabinet of the king is valuable. 

 In the royal palace at Copenhagen, there are some 

 vases inlaid with gems ; and Petersburg, has, besides 

 the imperial collection, the foundation of which was 

 that of the engraver Natter, the rich collection of 

 count Poniatowski. To jnultiply elegant and ingeni- 

 ous or remarkable designs on gems, engravings, or 

 casts are taken. Thus not only single designs, but 

 all those of the same class, or those of a whole cabinet, 

 are represented by engravings. The impressions oi 

 various classes of gems have been collected. Bellori 

 collected the portraits of philosophers and others ; 

 Chifflet, abraxas stones (see Abraxas and Gnosis) ; 

 Gori, gems engraved with stars ; Ficoroni, gems with 

 inscriptions ; Stosch, gems bearing the names of the 

 artists. Representations of whole collections have 

 been given ; as, by Gori, of those contained in the 

 Museum Florentinum ; by Wicar and Mongez, ot 

 those in the gallery of Florence ; by Mariette, of tFie 

 former French collections ; by Leblond and Lachaux. 

 of that of the duke of Orleans ; by Eckhel, of that ot 

 Vienna. We might also mention the copies of the 

 Museum d 'Odescalchi, of the cabinets of Gravelle, 

 Stosch, Bossi, and the duke of Marlborough. But. 

 although some of these impressions are very beautiful, 

 the preference ought to be given to the casts. The 

 collections of such casts are also called dactyliothcca ; 

 for instance, the dactyliotheca of Lippert, consisting of 

 3000 pieces. Tassie, in London, has executed the 

 largest collection of casts yet known, amounting to 

 15,000. These are important aids in the study of the 

 branch of antiquities with wliich they are connected. 



DACTYLIOMANCY, from SaxTwX/oj, a ring, and 

 fiaviiia, divination) ; the pretended art of divining by 

 means of rings. 



DACTYLOLOGY or DACTYLONOMY (fron? 

 SaxTi/Xoj, the finger), is the art of numbering with the 

 fingers ; or, in a wider sense, of expressing one's 

 thoughts in general with the fingers. It is usually 

 taught in institutions for the education of the deaf 

 and dumb. 



