DELTA 



1751 



DELUGE 



of the features had a characteristic effect on 

 the emotions and on character. He was there- 

 fore a teacher of emotional expression. 



His first step was to subject the joints and 

 muscles of the body to a relaxing process, to 

 secure perfect freedom of movement and to 

 make the human organism pliable and re- 

 sponsive. His exercises are simple, and include 

 special movements for the fingers, hand, head, 

 trunk, foot, leg, lower jaw, eyelids, etc. The 

 Delsartian movements develop grace and free- 

 dom of gesture, but they are not a system of 

 gymnastics, nor are they adequate for the 

 complete training of the physical organism. 



Frangois Alexandre Delsarte (1811-1871) was 

 born at Solesmes, France. During a boyhood 

 which was full of poverty and suffering, he 

 developed a remarkable talent for music. 

 Through the influence of a well-known musi- 

 cian, who discovered him writing down in the 

 sand the music that was being played in the 

 garden of the Tuileries, he was admitted to 

 the Conservatory of Paris at the age of four- 

 teen. Five years later he became a singer in 

 light opera, but in 1834 was forced to leave the 

 stage because of the failure of his voice. 

 Thereafter he devoted himself to perfecting his 

 system of expression, which he never put into 

 writing, but which has been handed down by 

 his followers. Among his pupils were the fa- 

 mous French actress Rachel, and the great 

 pulpit orator, Pere Hyacinthe. Delsarte was 

 the composer of a number of songs and vocal 

 exercises, and a mass which he wrote was 

 performed in churches. 



DELTA, a triangular-shaped tract of land 

 at the mouth of a river, so called from its 

 resemblance to the fourth letter of the Greek 

 alphabet (A), corresponding to the English D. 

 The name was first applied to the silt or sand 

 deposits built up into a fan-shaped plain at the 

 mouth of the Nile. Since that time the same 

 name has been given to alluvial deposits fre- 

 quently found at the mouths of large streams 

 flowing into lakes or gulfs, where the effects of 

 tides and currents are comparatively slight. 

 The main stream usually divides into two or 

 more branches, each of which may be divided 

 again and again. The size of the delta bears 

 a close relation to the strength of the current 

 in the body of water, as a swiftly-flowing cur- 

 rent carries off the shore line deposits, forming 

 sand bars or coast islands, while slow or slug- 

 gish currents build deltas of considerable size. 



The delta of the Mississippi has an area of 

 about 12,500 square miles, many thousands of 



acres being productive land, and it is ad- 

 vancing into the Gulf of Mexico at the rate 

 of one mile in sixteen years. The Nile delta, 

 which has an area of 10,000 square miles, is 

 very fertile. Other noted deltas include those 

 of the Hoang-ho, Ganges and Po. As large 



A CHARACTERISTIC DELTA 

 The upper figure represents the Greek delta. 



rivers often change their channels near their 

 mouths, delta lands are unsafe for dwelling 

 places because of the danger of floods, but 

 owing to their high fertility they can be used 

 for agricultural purposes if of sufficient eleva- 

 tion to be drained. See RIVER; EROSION; also 

 illustration of the delta of the Mississippi 

 River, in article bearing that title. 



DELUGE, del'uje, from Latin words mean- 

 ing to wash away, is the name given to the 

 great Flood described in the Old Testament. 

 According to the Bible narrative, thousands 

 of years before Christ the waters covered 

 "all the high hills that were under the whole 

 heaven" and destroyed all living things except 

 those that had been permitted to seek refuge in 

 the Ark built by Noah. 



The familiar story, told in chapters VI, VII 

 and VIII of Genesis, is one of the most vivid 

 and fascinating of all Bible tales. According to 

 the account, the Deluge was sent to punish the 

 wickedness of men among whom only Noah 

 and his family were deemed worthy of being 

 saved.. With them in the Ark were one male 

 and one female of each living species. For 

 forty days and nights the flood rose, "the 

 fountains of the great deep were broken up, 

 and the windows of heaven were opened." 



After 150 days the waters began to subside, 



