622 



DEER DEFILE. 



longer and greyish : this is succeeded, in the fol 

 lowing June, by a coat of a reddish colour, whirl, 

 changes, in August, to a darkish blue, which again 

 gradually assumes a gray tint. The skin i- 

 toughest in the red, thickest in the blue, am 

 thinnest in the grey state. They shed their horns ii 

 February. 



Black-tailed Deer. This species is peculiar to the 

 country west of the Missouri, and in the neighbour 

 hood of the Rocky mountains. The first information 

 <>t this fine animal was given by Lewis and Clarke, and 

 it wus afterwards fully described by Mr Say. Its 

 ears are of great length, equalling that of the head ; 

 its tail is terminated by a black tuft, whence its com- 

 mon name. From the form of its hoofs, which re- 

 semble those of the goat, it is enabled to live among 

 the rocky cliffs of the mountains. It does not run 

 like the common deer, but bounds along, raising all 

 its feet from the ground at the same time. 



Long-tailed Deer. We owe the description of this 

 animal to Mr Douglas, who states that it is not found 

 on the east side of the Rocky mountains, except in 

 their immediate vicinity, but is the most common deer 

 in the districts about the Columbia river. Its gait is 

 two ambling steps and a bound exceeding twice 

 the length of the steps. In running, the tail 

 is erect, wagging from side to side, and, from its 

 unusual length (thirteen to seventeen inches), is the 

 most remarkable characteristic about the animal. It 

 goes in herds, from November to April and May, 

 when the female secretes herself to bring forth. 

 The young are spotted with white, until the middle 

 of the first winter, when they change to the same 

 colour as the most aged. This deer, however, ap- 

 proaches very near to the common species in all its 

 characters, and may, eventually, prove to be only a 

 variety. 



Mexican Deer. Of this species very little is 

 known, except that it inhabits Mexico and the ad- 

 joining countries. It may possibly be only a variety 

 of the common deer, as the differences exist princi- 

 pally in the disposition of the antlers, which is an 

 extremely fallacious guide in the discrimination of 

 the different species of deer. The arrangement of 

 the teeth of the deer is, incisors J, canine * J or 

 J J, molars \ \ = total, 32 or 34. 

 DEER, NEW and OLD, two parishes inBuchan, Aber- 

 deenshire, which, up to the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth centiu7, formed only one parish. Old Deer is 

 ten miles in length, five miles and a half in breadth, 

 and, though of an uneven surface, is everywhere well 

 adapted for cultivation or plantations, abounding in 

 quarries of limestone and granite, with some rock 

 crystal. Game is plentiful, and the streams yield 

 great quantities of salmon and trout. The female 

 portion of the population is chiefly employed in spin- 

 ning linen yarn and knitting, and there are extensive 

 spinning machines and bleaching grounds in the pa- 

 rish. The church is a commodious structure rebuilt 

 in 1789. Many Druidical remains and cairns are to 

 be seen within the parish. Its villages are Stewart- 

 field, Fetterangus, and Deer, the latter a thriving 

 place, situated twenty-six miles north of Aberdeen. 

 The parish of Nero Deer is fourteen miles in length, 

 seven broad, and its surface so even that it exhibits 

 one continued corn field for several miles in extent, 

 but the western portion consists of a comparatively 

 barren tract, where peat and limestone are got in 

 abundance. About two miles north from the 

 parish church, are the ruins of Fedderatt Castle, once 

 a strong fortress, from which the partisans of James 

 II., who took refuge here after the battle of Kiily- 

 crankie, were expelled by the victorious troops of 

 king William. Several cairns and Druidical tem- 

 ples are also to be met with here. Population of the 



parish of Old Deer in 1831, 4110; of New Deer, 

 3525. 



DE FACTO (Latin ; in fact.) ; a tenn used in con- 

 tradistinction to dc jure (by right). In some cases, 

 the distinction is clear enough, but very often not. 

 Napoleon's government was called, by the English, 

 de facto, and that of the Bourbons de jure. Cliarles 

 XIV. was called, by many, the ruler of Sweden de 

 facto, yet he was chosen king by the nation ; and 

 who can be more properly a ruler de jure than a 

 king chosen by the nation ? This consideration has 

 led some politicians to assert that there is no govern- 

 ment de j'ure, but only governments de facto, which 

 may be better or worse. On the other hand, it is 

 asserted that there is but one kind of government dc 

 jure; that is, such as receives its sanction ami 

 authority from the people who constitute the state. 



DEFAMATION. See Slander. 



DEFENDER OF THE FAITH (Fidei Defensor) ; 

 a title belonging to the king of England, as Catlm- 

 licits to the king of -Spain, C'/instianissimus to the 

 king of France, Apostolicus to ti.o king of Hungary, 

 &c. Leo X. bestowed the title of Defender of the 

 Faith on Henry VIII., on account of his memorable 

 book against Luther; and the bull conferring it 

 bears date quinto idus Octob., 1521. Clement VII. 

 confirmed the title. Chamberlayne says that tin: 

 title was only renewed by Leo X. ; as Apostolicus, 

 for instance, was renewed in the case of Maria 

 Theresa, being, in fact, a very old title. See Apos- 

 tolicus. 



DEFFAND, MARIE DU ; a French lady, distin- 

 guished alike for her talents and her intercourse with 

 the literati of the last century. She was born in 1696, 

 of a noble family, and received an education 

 suitable to her rank. Her acquirements were very 

 considerable, but no care seems to have been taken 

 to regulate her temper and disposition, which were 

 marked by a degree of selfishness which was con- 

 spicuous throughout her life. In 1718, she was 

 married to J. B. J. duDeffand, marquis de la Lande, 

 and colonel of a regiment of dragoons. Dur- 

 ing the latter part or her long life, she became 

 the centre of a literary coterie, which included 

 some of the greatest geniuses of the age. Among 

 the females remarkable for their wit and talents 

 in the eighteenth century, madame du Deffand claims 

 a distinguished place, though she left no monu- 

 ment of her abilities except her epistolary corre- 

 spondence, which has been liighly praised by her 

 friend D'Alembert, as affording a model of 

 style in that species of composition. She died in 

 1780, having reached the age of eighty-four, during 

 the last thirty years of which she had been afflicted 

 with blindness. In 1810 was published Correspond- 

 ance inedite de Madame du Dejfand avec d'Alembertj 

 Montetquieu, le President Henault, la Duchesse du 

 Maine ; Mesdames de C/ioiseul, de Stael ; le Marquis 

 fArgens, le Chevalier d'Aydie, &c., 3 vols. 8vo. 

 Her letters to the celebrated Horace Walpole have 

 'ikewise been printed. 



DEFILE; a narrow way, admitting only a few 

 persons abreast. The term is often erroneously con- 

 ined to mountain passes. As they delay the march 

 of troops, and expose them to the fire of the enemy, 

 they must be avoided if possible, particularly by ar- 

 tillery and wagons. A defile is defended in different 

 ways. When it is formed by heights (particularly it 

 they are covered with wood), it is advisable to oc- 

 :upy the entrance, and station the troops en masse 

 lehiml : when this is not the case, the best way will 

 )e to render the passage as impracticable as possible, 

 and to make a stand behind the outlet of the defile, 

 so that the enemies advancing from it may be checked 

 by an effectual fire, and prevented from developing 



