DELILAH 



1750 



DELSARTE SYSTEM 



manufactures have become more important. 

 Modern flour mills look down on the sumptu- 

 ous dwellings of caste-encircled natives who 

 regard commerce as degrading. Sugar and 

 cotton mills, with up-to-date machinery, pro- 

 vide employment for many thousands of low- 

 caste inhabitants. The trade in grain and other 

 agricultural products is extensive. 



Educational facilities have been greatly in- 

 creased during recent years, and Delhi, by 

 being created the capital of the vast Indian 

 Empire, has developed a civic pride which bids 

 fair soon to place the city far ahead of all 

 Indian rivals. It is more cosmopolitan than 

 most of the Indian cities; racial and religious 

 prejudices, though they exist, are not as appar- 

 ent to the observer as elsewhere. The political 

 unrest that was formerly characteristic of the 

 city is gradually giving way to a desire for 

 educational and commercial progress, popula- 

 tion in 1911, 232,837. 



DELI' L AH, in Scripture, the treacherous 

 mistress of Samson, the man of marvelous 

 strength. Desiring to know wherein the 

 strength of Samson lay, the lords of the Philis- 

 tines bribed Delilah to discover the secret. 

 Loving and trusting her, Samson told Delilah 

 that his strength came from his long, thick 

 hair; so while he was sleeping Delilah cut off 

 his locks, and he fell into the hands of his 

 enemies. Under the title SAMSON in these 

 volumes is told the story of his revenge for 

 this outrage. 



The name Delilah means drooping, or lan- 

 guishing, one. Delilah is a leading character 

 in Saint-Saens's opera, Samson and Delilah. 



DELIRIUM TREMENS,deZir'iuw tre' mem, 

 or SHAKING DELIRIUM, is an affection of the 

 nerves and brain, caused by long-continued 

 and excessive drinking of alcoholic -liquors. 

 The sufferer has fits of trembling, and his mind 

 becomes so disordered that it is filled with all 

 manner of fantastic imaginings. Frequently 

 he thinks he sees snakes, rats, bats and other 

 loathsome animals, and as a result he suffers 

 greatly from lack of sleep. Unless the prog- 

 ress of the hallucinations is arrested the victim 

 eventual!}' dies in agony of mind and from 

 physical exhaustion. Strychnine, chloral, bro- 

 mides and other powerful drugs are usually 

 administered to the patient, but the treatment 

 should always be directed by a physician. 

 Baths and douches are sometimes found to be 

 of benefit. It is estimated that about seventeen 

 per cent of those attacked by delirium tremens 

 die from its effects. W.A.E. 



DE'LOS, the smallest and the central island 

 of the Cyclades group, in the Aegean Sea, be- 

 longing to Greece. It was held in great ven- 

 eration by the ancient Greeks as a sacred 

 island, the birthplace of the god Apollo. Tradi- 

 tion says it was originally a floating island but 

 was anchored in its present position by Nep- 

 tune, called Poseidon by the Greeks, to afford 

 a refuge for Leto, mother of Apollo and Arte- 

 mis. In 477 B. c. the Greek cities formed a 

 league known as the Confederacy of Delos, 

 for protection against the Persians. The com- 

 mon treasury was kept in the temple of Apollo 

 on the island of Delos, which became the 

 political and educational center of all the 

 Grecian states. The power of the league was 

 later transferred to Athens, leading to the 

 foundation of the Athenian Empire. 



DELPHI, del' jy, an ancient town in Phocis, 

 Greece, called Pytho in the stories of Homer. 

 It was celebrated for its oracle of Apollo (see 

 ORACLES), through which it became the religious 

 center of Greece and the common altar of the 

 Greek race. Delphi lay on the southern slope 

 of Mount Parnassus, in a region of wild and 

 picturesque beauty. From a deep crevice in 

 the rocks issued overpowering vapors, assumed 

 to be the divine breath of Apollo, and over 

 this spot a temple was erected in honor of the 

 god. The priestess, known as the Pythia, who 

 received the messages of the Revealer, sat 

 upon a tripod over the crevice, and as she came 

 under the influence of the stupefying vapors 

 gave utterance to his words. Her mutterings 

 were recorded by priests, who interpreted them 

 in verse. 



Though the answers were sometimes in the 

 form of sensible advice, prophecies regarding 

 the outcome of future events were often inten- 

 tionally obscure or capable of being taken in 

 different ways. Croesus, asking if he should 

 make war on Cyrus, was told that if he did so 

 he would bring ruin to a great empire; in the 

 struggle that he at once brought about it was 

 his own empire that was destroyed. Not only 

 did the Greeks freely consult the oracle, but in 

 times of peril and anxiety the Romans and the 

 monarchs of Asia made their way to Delphi. 



DELSARTE, delsahrt' , SYSTEM, a system 

 of relaxing physical exercises, including train- 

 ing in poise and breath control, devised by 

 Frangois A. Delsarte (see below). He taught 

 that every expression of the face, every gesture 

 and every pose of the body was the outward 

 expression of some inner emotion, and that 

 every gesture, every pose and every expression 



