602 



DAUBENTON DAVENANT. 



colour, aiul translucent. Before tlie blow-pipe, it 

 melts with intumesccJice. It consists, ncconliim 

 to Klaproth, of 36'5 of silex, thirty-five of lime, 

 twenty-four of boracic acid, and four of water ; and 

 hence is sometimes denominated a silicimu borate 

 if lime. It is found in small quantity in the trap 

 rocks of Patterson, New Jersey ; also in Norway, 

 \\lirrr. Ix'sides the other varieties, one is found in 

 botryoidal masses, and therefore called botryolite. 



DAUBENTON, or D'AUBENTON, Loois JEAN 

 MARIE; a naturalist and physician, born at Mont- 

 Imr, in 1716. He became celebrated for his par- 

 ticipation in the Natural History of Quadrupeds 

 by his early friend and companion, Bufibn ; the 

 anatomical part of which was prepared by Dau- 

 iH'iitini \\itli -rcat accuracy, clearness, and sagacity. 

 He refused his assistance in the latter part of the 

 work, i >ii mi Idl at the publication. of an edition of 

 the first part by Buflbn, in which the anatomical 

 l>ortion was omitted. The cabinet of natural his- 

 tory, in Paris, of which he was made keeper, in 

 1745, was, by the united exertions of Daubenton 

 and Buffon, rendered one of tin- most valuable in- 

 stitutions in the capital. In 1744, he was chosen 

 member of the academy of sciences, and enriched 

 its publications by a number of anatomical discove- 

 ries, and also by researches concerning the species 

 of animals and their varieties, the improvement of 

 wool, and the treatment of the diseases of animals. 

 He threw much light upon mineralogy, botany, and 

 agriculture, and proposed a new method for the 

 classification of minerals. He contributed to the de- 

 partment of natural history in the Encyclopedic. He 

 is, besides, the author of numerous works of general 

 utility ; for example, Instruction pour les Bergers, 

 third edition, 1796 (translated into German by A. 

 Wiehmann), Memoir e sur les Indigestions (new edi- 

 tion, 1798), and many others. Unseduced by Buf- 

 fon 's hypotheses, he was a most faithful observer of 

 nature. During the reign of terror, when every one 

 was required to give some evidence of patriotic 

 spirit, he was represented to his section as employed 

 in intMiucing the Spanish flocks into France. He 

 afterwtds continued to apply himself quietly to his 

 studies ; and, though his constitution was naturally 

 weak, the temperance and tranquillity of his life en- 

 abled him to reach the age of eighty-four years. De- 

 cember 31, 1799, he was present, for the first tune, 

 at the sitting of senate, and fell senseless into the 

 arms of his friends, from a stroke of apoplexy. 



DAUN, LEO FOLD JOSEPH MARIA, count, an Austrian 

 general, was born in 1705, and died in 1766. His 

 grandfather and father had served with distinction in 

 the Austrian army. He gained his first laurels in the 

 Turkish war, 1737 to 1739, in which he was major- 

 general, and distinguished himself also in the war 

 of the Austrian succession. His skilful passage of 

 the Rhine, and his marriage with the countess of 

 Fux, a favourite of Maria Theresa, procured for him 

 the post of master-general of the ordnance, and, in 

 1757, that of general field-marshal. In this. capacity, 

 he commanded the Austrian army during the seven 

 years' war. He advanced to Kolin against the king 

 of Prussia, who was at that time besieging Prague 

 (q.v.), and gave him battle, June 18, 1757, compelling 

 the king to raise the siege and evacuate Bohemia. 

 Although he conducted with the greatest prudence 

 and precaution, he was defeated at Leuthen, Torgau, 

 and several other places. Except the battle of Kolin, 

 his most memorable achievement was the surprise at 

 Hochkirchen, on the night of October 14, 1758. 

 Here he would have destroyed the whole Prussian 

 army, had not the prince of Durlach come up too late 

 with his column. At Torgau, Nov. 3, 1760, the 

 victory, which seemed to be within his grasp was 



snatched from Mm in consequence of Ms wounds and 

 tlie resolution of Ziethen. He compelled the Prussian 

 general Fink to surrender, with 11,000 men, Nov. 

 SM, 1759. Daun's plan of delay, and of venturing 

 on decisive steps rarely, and only on great occasions, 

 has been unjustly censured. He could not better 

 resist a general like Frederic the Great, who was not 

 accountable to a superior, and who, surrounded by 

 enemies whom he could oppose successfully only by 

 a rapid succession of victories over the separate 

 armies, was obliged to adopt the boldest expedients. 

 Frederic himselfknew what a dangerous antagonist 

 he had hi Daun. Daun is more open to the charge 

 of not having sufficiently followed up his advantages. 

 Many improvements in the Austrian infantry are 

 ascribed to him. 



DAUPHIN ; the title of the eldest son of the king 

 of France. In 1349, Humbert II., dauphin of Yien- 

 nois, being childless, transferred his estate, called 

 the Daitphiny, to Philip of Valois, on condition that 

 the eldest son of the king of France should, in future, 

 be styled the dauphin, and govern this territory. The, 

 dauphin, however, retains only the title, the estates 

 having been united with the crown lands. On the 

 death of the dauphin, his eldest son inherits this title ; 

 if he has no son, his eldest brother succeeds him. If 

 the king has no son, then the title of dauphin is not 

 bestowed on any one, as was tlie case in the reign of 

 Louis XVIII.; for it is never bestowed upon tlie 

 next prince of tlie blood, and presumptive heir, even 

 if he is the king's brother. The wife of the dauphin 

 is called dauphiness (dauphine). The editions of tlie 

 classics which were made for the use of dauphin are 

 entitled in usum delphini. 



DAUPHINY ; one of the principal provinces of 

 France before the revolution, was divided into Upper 

 and Lower Dauphine. It forms, at present, the de- 

 partments of the Drome, the High Alps, Bnd the IM'N e. 

 Grenoble was the capital. See Dauphin, and De- 

 partment. 



DAVENANT, SIR WILLIAM, an English poet of 

 the seventeenth century, was the son of an innkeeper 

 at Oxford, where he was born, in 1605. After some 

 previous education at a grammar school, he became 

 a student at Lincoln college ; but he soon left the 

 university, and obtained the office of page to the 

 duchess of Richmond, from whose household he re 

 moved into that of Greville, lord Brooke, a nobleman 

 eminent for his literary attainments. He was em- 

 ployed in preparing several masques for the entertain- 

 ment of the court ; and, on the death of Ben Jonson, 

 in 1637, he succeeded to the vacant laurel. On hos- 

 tilities breaking out between Charles I. and the par- 

 liament, Davenant displayed his attachment to the 

 royal cause. Being suspected of a conspiracy against 

 the authority of the parliament, in 1741, he was ar- 

 rested, but, making his escape, went to France. 

 Thence he returned, with military stores sent by the 

 queen, and was made lieutenant-general of ordnance, 

 under the duke of Newcastle a post for which he 

 does not appear to have been qualified by any previ- 

 ous service. At the siege of Gloucester, in 1643, he 

 was knighted by the king; and, on the subsequent 

 decline of the royal cause, he again retired to France, 

 where he became a Roman Catholic. In 1646, he 

 was sent to England, on a mission from the queen ; 

 and, on his return to Paris, he began the composition 

 of liis principal work, a heroic poem, entitled Gondi- 

 bert. An attempt which he afterwards made to lead 

 a French colony to Virginia, had nearly proved fatal 

 to him. The ship, in which he had sailed from Nor- 

 mandy, was captured by a cruiser in the service of 

 the English parliament, and carried into the isle of 

 Wight, where Davenant was imprisoned in Cowes 

 castle. In this forlorn captivity, from which he liad 



