DARWIN DATHOL1TK. 



601 



genius of the author being well known, great ex- 

 pectations were formed of this work, which professed 

 to reform and remodel the whole system of medicine. 

 But the doctrines of materialism contained in the 

 first volume were so glaring, that the valuable facts 

 treasured up in the second liave been suffered to pass 

 almost unnoticed, and the work, after passing through 

 two editions, has been suffered to fall into a very un- 

 merited neglect. A complete and trhunpliant re- 

 futation of the sophistry of the first volume was pub- 

 lished at Edinburgh by professor Brown, entitled 

 Observations on the Zoonomia of Dr Darwin. 



In 1801, Dr Darwin published a quarto volume, 

 entitled Phytologia, or the Philosophy of Agriculture 

 and Gardening, and also a small treatise on Female 

 Education, which contains some excellent strictures 

 on the pernicious tendency of modern female board- 

 ing schools. Neither of these works has been much 

 read, although they both contain some valuable and 

 amusing facts. His son, 



DARWIN, CHARLES, deserves to be noticed for 

 discovering, while studying at Edinburgh, a test for 

 distinguishing pus from mucus, for which the gold 

 medal was assigned him by the university. This 

 promising young man died during' his studies, at 

 Edinburgh, in May, 1778. 



DASCHKOFF, CATHARINE ROMANOWNA, princess 

 of. This celebrated lady, descended from the noble 

 family of Woronzoff, and the early friend and confi- 

 dant of the empress Catharine, was born in 1744, 

 :ind became a widow at eighteen years of age. She 

 endeavoured to effect the accession of Catharine to 

 the throne, but, at the same time, was hi fevour of a 

 constitutional limitation of the imperial power. In 

 a military dress, and on horseback, she led a body 

 of troops to the presence of Catharine, who placed 

 herself at their head, and precipitated her husband 

 from the throne. The request of the princess Dasch- 

 kolF to receive the command of the imperial regiment 

 of guards, was refused. She did not long remain 

 about the person of Catharine. Study became her 

 1'jivourite employment. From the Greek and Roman 

 authors she had acquired the high spirit of antiquity. 

 After her return from abroad, in 1782, she was made 

 director of the academy of sciences, and president of 

 the newly established Russian academy. She wrote 

 much in the Russian language ; among other pro- 

 ductions, some comedies. She also actively promot- 

 ed the publication of the dictionary of the Russian aca- 

 demy. Her death took place in 1810, at Moscow. 



DATARIA ; the papal chancery at Rome, from 

 which all bulls are issued. It has its name from the 

 common subscription, Datum apud Sanctum Petrwn, 

 that is in the Vatican. See Curia, Papal. 



DATE (Latin, datum, given) ; that addition to a 

 writing, which specifies the time when it was exe- 

 cuted. Under the Roman emperors, this word was 

 used to signify the day on which the bearers of the 

 imperial despatches to the provinces received them, 

 or that on which they delivered them. It was also 

 used in documents in the time of the French Mero- 

 vingian kings. 



DATE ; the fruit of the date palm, a tree of the 

 natural order palmce, inhabiting the north of Africa, 

 from Morocco to Egypt, Syria, Persia, the Levant, 

 and India, and which is also cultivated in Italy and 

 Spain. Dates form the principal nutriment of the 

 inhabitants of some of the above countries, and are 

 an important article of commerce. This fruit is an 

 oval, soft, fleshy drupe, having a very hard stone, 

 with a longitudinal furrow on one side, and, when 

 fresh, possesses a delicious perfume and taste. Dates 

 are sugary, very nourishing, wholesome, and require 

 no preparation ; but when dried, and a little old, as 

 they usually are when imported into Europe and the 



United States, they are not much esteemed, and are 

 little used in the countries where they grow. The 

 best fruits have firm flesh of a yellow colour. They 

 are varied, however, by culture, in size and shape : 

 some varieties are very large, succulent, and without 

 stones. The inhabitants of Tunis and several other 

 countries, every year, journey in crowds, into Bile- 

 dulgerid, to procure dates. The bunches, weighing 

 from twenty to twenty-five pounds, when of good 

 quality, are sold at from 2s. 6d. to 3s. lOd. each. 

 Cattle and grain are received in exchange. Almost 

 every part of this valuable tree is converted to some 

 use. The wood is very hard, almost incorruptible, 

 and is used for building. The leaves, after being 

 macerated in water, become supple, and are manu- 

 factured into hats, mats, and baskets. The petioles 

 afford fibres from which cordage is made. The nuts, 

 after being burnt, are used by the Chinese, in the 

 composition of India ink. Palm wine is made from 

 the trunk. For this purpose, the leaves are cut off, 

 and a circular incision made a little below the sum- 

 mit of the tree, then a deep vertical fissure, and a 

 vase is placed below to receive the juice, which is 

 protected from evaporation. The date palm is a 

 majestic tree, . rising sixty feet and upwards ; the 

 trunk is straight, simple, scaly, elegantly divided by 

 rings, and crowned at the summit by a tuft of long 

 pendent leaves. The leaves are ten or twelve feet 

 long, composed of alternate narrow folioles, folded 

 longitudinally. The male and female flowers are 

 upon different trees. The fruit is disposed in ten or 

 twelve very long pendent bunches. The date palm is 

 reproduced from the roots, or from shoots, or by plant- 

 ing the axil of the leaves in the earth, which is the 

 most approved mode, as female plants may be select- 

 ed, while a few males, scattered here and there, are 

 sufficient. Care is taken to water them frequently and 

 to protect them from the rays of the sun tilt they take 

 root. Plants raised by this method will bear fruit in 

 five or six years, while for those raised from the seed, 

 fifteen or twenty years are required. When the male 

 plant is in bloom, the pollen is collected aod scat- 

 tered over the female flowers. Each femall pro- 

 duces ten or twelve bunches every year, which, when 

 gathered, are hung up in a dry place until so much 

 of their moisture is evaporated as to allow of their 

 being packed. Dates, in general, are of a yellowish 

 colour ; but some are black, some white, and others 

 brown ; some, also, are sweet, and others bitter. 

 The time of planting is early in thq,ipring. Situa- 

 tions abounding in springs are selected, the trees are 

 placed fifteen or twenty feet apart, and a little 

 trench is dug at the root of each, which is filled 

 with water at pleasure, by means of channels ex- 

 cavated in the sand. The Arabs pretend that they 

 attain the age of 200 or 300 years. This valua- 

 ble tree would undoubtedly succeed in the southern 

 parts of the United States. The wood, though of 

 spongy texture, is employed for the beams' and 

 rafters of houses, and for implements of husbandry, 

 which are said to be very durable. The pith of 

 the young trees is eaten, as well as the young anti 

 tender leaves. A considerable traffic is carried on 

 in these leaves, which, under the name of palms 

 are sent to Italy, to be used in the grand religious 

 ceremonies of Palm Sunday. In Persia, an ardent 

 spirit is distilled from the fruit ; and, hi many 

 places, the stones are ground to make oil, and the 

 paste tliat is left is given as food to cattle and 

 sheep. 



DATHOLITE ; a species in mineralogy found 

 massive and crystallized in the form of oblique 

 rhombic prisms, which are often much modified by 

 secondary planes. It has a shining, resinous lus- 

 tre; is of a white, greenish or yellowish-white 



