DIPPER 



1801 



DISCIPLES OF CHRIST 



developed only to satisfy the vanity of govern- 

 ments and that all diplomatic relations might 

 easily be conducted by letters and by telegraph. 



A diplomatic officer abroad concerns himself 

 only with affairs affecting the political welfare 

 of his own government, or the rights of the 

 citizens of his country living or traveling 

 abroad. He is the accredited spokesman for his 

 government, keeps informed on everything in 

 affairs of state it is desirable for his home offi- 

 cials to know, and transmits this information in 

 formal reports, using a cipher code. The prac- 

 tice of diplomacy has varied little in its forms 

 for scores of years. It is marked by great 

 dignity, polite ceremonials and every outward 

 showing of studied cordiality. "Study the art 

 of diplomacy," says Lord; "even in declaring 

 war, men are quite courteous." 



Diplomatic representatives enjoy important 

 privileges and immunities, partly owing to the 

 fact that they are the direct representatives 

 of sovereign powers, partly because the im- 

 portant functions which they perform demand 

 complete independence of action. The more 

 important of these immunities are as follows: 



(1) Exemption of the person of the minister 

 from local jurisdiction, civil and criminal. In 

 other words, he is not liable to arrest for any 

 reason whatever, an exemption shared to a cer- 

 tain extent by his family and suite. 



(2) Inviolability of his residence, papers and 

 effects from any search or seizure. 



(3) Exemption of his personal belongings 

 from taxation. 



(4) Entire freedom of worship for himself and 

 his suite. These privileges result from the prin- 

 ciple known to law as exterritoriality ; that is to 

 say, by a legal fiction the minister is supposed to 

 carry with him the jurisdiction of his home gov- 

 ernment over his person and residence, excluding 

 to this extent the foreign jurisdiction. 



The diplomatic affairs of each nation are 

 under the direction of its Foreign Office, a 

 term meaning the same as Department of State 

 in the United States (see STATE, DEPARTMENT 

 OF). W.B.G. 



Consult Foster's Practice of Diplomacy as Il- 

 lustrated in the Foreign Relations of the United 

 States; Curtis's United States and Foreign Pow- 

 ers; Moore's American Diplomacy. 



DIP 'PER, or WATER OUZEL, oo' z'l, a 

 little thrushlike bird which dips and dives 

 under water. Several species are found in 

 Asia, Northern Europe and in the mountains 

 of Western America from Alaska to Mexico. 

 The bird's waterproof plumage is dark colored, 

 but the breast is white. It is short-winged, and 

 its short, up-tilted tail makes it resemble 

 a wren. The dipper lives along mountain 



streams, and dives into the water for its meals 

 of snails and water insects, which it catches 

 with its straight, compressed, sharp-pointed 

 bill. The bird seems to delight in waterfalls, 

 for it dashes into them in a fearless manner 

 and goes entirely through a cascade to build 

 its nest of moss in a sheltered crevice of rock. 

 DIPPING NEEDLE, a magnetic needle sup- 

 ported horizontally above a dial, so it can 

 move toward and from a vertical position. It 

 is used for measuring the magnetism of the 

 earth at different places. At most places on 

 the earth's surface the magnetic 

 influence of the earth will pre- 

 vent the needle from remaining 

 horizontal, but will cause it to 



DIPPING NEEDLE 



dip in proportion to the power of magnetism 

 exercised. At the magnetic equator alone will 

 the needle retain a horizontal position. It 

 wotild probably assume a vertical position at 

 the north and south magnetic poles. 



DIPTERA, dip'tera, a word derived from 

 the Greek, meaning two-winged, is the name of 

 one of the largest orders of insects. It includes 

 flies, the troublesome gnats, midges and mos- 

 quitoes. See INSECT. 



DIREC'TORY, in French, DIRECTOIRE, 

 the executive body appointed in 1795 to control 

 the political destiny of France. It was com- 

 posed of five members, called Directors, one of 

 whom retired each year to make way for a 

 new member. Already unpopular by reason 

 of its management of internal affairs, it met 

 with further disfavor because of the disastrous 

 results of its military policy, and was over- 

 thrown by Napoleon in 1799. It was succeeded 

 by the Consulate, with Napoleon as First Con- 

 sul. See NAPOLEON I. 



DISCI 'PLES OF CHRIST, a religious body 

 which originated in Western Pennsylvania in 

 the early years of the nineteenth century, with 

 the idea of securing Christian union by the 



