DARK AGES 



1704 



DARTMOUTH 



During his reign Darius undertook several 

 wars, mainly for the purpose of strengthening 

 the boundaries of his empire and of holding 

 in check the barbarous tribes on the frontier. 

 He conquered the Punjab in Northwestern In- 

 dia, but was unsuccessful in a war against the 

 Scythians. In 490 B.C. a great army under 

 Darius was defeated by the Greeks at Mara- 

 thon during the memorable Persian invasion 

 of that year (see MARATHON). In 480 B.C., 

 while he was preparing to send another army to 

 Greece, and when Egypt was in revolt, Darius 

 suddenly died. 



Darius III, the last king of Persia, came to 

 the throne in 336 B.C., at a time when the 

 kingdom was in a state of decline. Philip of 

 Macedon had already begun offensive warfare 

 against the Persians, and the campaign was 

 renewed in 334 B. c. by his son, Alexander the 

 Great. Darius took the field in person against 

 the great conqueror, and was totally defeated 

 at Issus in 333 B.C., and at Arbela two years 

 later. In 330 B.C. he was deposed and killed. 

 See PERSIA, subhead History. 



DARK AGES, the name given to a period 

 in the history of the world, of about 700 years' 

 duration, between A. D. 475 and 1137. It was so 

 called because it was overshadowed by the 

 splendor of the Roman Empire during the 

 period immediately before, and by the wonder- 

 ful culture and learning of the Revival of 

 Learning (see RENAISSANCE) which followed. 

 During the Dark Ages the civilization of the 

 world neither slipped back nor was at a stand- 

 still, as many believe, except in the field of 

 architecture. Just as the dead-looking trees 

 prepare through the winter for a season of 

 fruit and flowers, so were powerful influences 

 working through the Dark Ages for a period 

 of splendor and advancement. See MIDDLE 

 AGES. 



DARMSTADT, dahrm'shtaht, capital of the 

 German grand duchy of Hesse, is situated 

 seventeen miles south of Frankfort and twenty- 

 one miles east of Mainz, about midway be- 

 tween the Main and Rhine rivers. The older 

 portion of the town contains narrow and 

 gloomy streets, but a new part has been added, 

 with wide, clean thoroughfares, fine residences 

 and several beautiful squares. The ducal pal- 

 ace, residence of the Grand Duke of Hesse, is of 

 imposing size and contains a great library and 

 a valuable collection of paintings. Darmstadt 

 is now an important manufacturing town, with 

 large iron foundries, machine shops, many 

 breweries and several chemical factories. The 



old part of the town dates from the seven- 

 teenth century; the modern city was founded 

 by the Grand Duke Louis, who ruled the duchy 

 from 1790 to 1830. In Darmstadt was born the 

 famous chemist, Justus von Liebig. Population, 

 1910, 87,085. 



DARTER, SNAKE BIRD, or WATER TUR- 

 KEY, a beautiful tropical and sub-tropical 

 web-footed bird resembling the cormorant. 

 Species are found from tropical America 

 northward to Western Mexico and South Caro- 

 lina, in Southern Asia and in tropical Wc.-i- 

 ern Africa, as well as in Australia. These 

 birds are nearly three feet long. Their plum- 

 age is glossy, greenish-black, with silvery 



THE DARTER 



markings on the back of neck and wings. The 

 tail is broad and brown-tipped; the bill is 

 olive above and yellow below; the feet are 

 olive with yellow webs. Darters perch on trees 

 by the water side, and after hovering an in- 

 stant over the water dart at their fish prey, 

 follow it under water, spear it with the sharp 

 bill, and, coming above water, toss the fish in 

 the air to catch for eating. Their necks 

 are long and snakelike, and suggested the 

 second name above. Boatmen in Bengal tame 

 the Indian darter. 



DARTMOUTH, dart 'muth, a town of Hali- 

 fax County, Nova Scotia, on Halifax harbor, 

 directly opposite and one mile east of the city 

 of Halifax. It is the terminus of the Halifax 

 & Eastern Railway. Dartmouth is practically 

 a suburb of the capital city, with which it is 

 connected by ferry service. It is attractively 



