DUISBURG 



1876 



DULCIMER 



dugong lives on sea plants which it finds in 

 the mouths of large 1 rivers. The female pro- 

 duces only one offspring at a time, and its 



THE DUGONG 



curious habit of carrying the young under its 

 fin, as a woman might carry a child under her 

 arm, is said to have given rise to the legends 

 concerning those beings, half-human, half-fish, 

 called mermaids. The dugong is related to the 

 manatee, or sea cow. It is hunted and speared 

 for its oil and also for its flesh, which is re- 

 garded as a delicacy by the Malays. See MER- 

 MAID; MANATEE. 



DUISBURG, dus'boorK, a flourishing manu- 

 facturing town in Germany, fifteen miles north 

 of Diisseldorf. It is connected by canal with 

 the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers and is the center 

 of the coal export trade of Westphalia. There 

 are large iron foundries, steel and chemical 

 works, breweries, sugar refineries and machine 

 works. Duisburg is an ancient city, the Cas- 

 tium Deutonis of the Romans, and early be- 

 came a prominent member of the Hanseatic 

 League (which see). It possesses a beautiful 

 church, dating from the fourteenth century, in 

 which is the tomb of Mercator, the famous 

 geographer. The municipality operates and 

 owns all public utilities and from the water 

 supply alone receives a profit of about $55,000 

 annually. Population, 1910, 229,480. 



DUKE, one of the most exalted titles of 

 European nobility. The word is derived from 

 the Roman, dux, meaning a leader, and in 

 ancient times the honor was purely military. 

 Duces, or dukes, were placed in command of 

 the troops in conquered territories, but were 

 given no legislative power. Sometimes the 

 military dukes made their power permanent 

 and became the recognized rulers. The dukes 

 of Normandy and Lombardy from military 

 rulers became kings, while retaining the old 

 title. The first English duke was the Black 

 Prince, son of Edward III, the title of Duke of 

 Cornwall being specially created for him. 



Modem dukes have no powers above those of 

 peers of lower order. In France the title carries 

 no social or political distinction, but is merely 

 used as an evidence of illustrious descent. The 

 princes of the smaller states of the German 

 Empire still retain the title of duke. A British 

 duke is addressed as "Your Grace," or in writ- 

 ing, "The Most Noble, the Duke of - 

 The eldest son is called Lord, with the rank of 

 Marquis. Younger sons and all daughters of 

 dukes are given the titles of Lord and Lady 

 by courtesy. The wife of a duke is a Ditrhr**. 



Archduke. The title arrhtlukc is used only 

 by members of the royal house of Austria. 

 In the tenth century, Bruno, Duke of Lorraine, 

 assumed the title, but it was not recognized as 

 belonging solely to the Hapsburg family until 

 about 1470. 



DUKHOBORS, dookubawrz', an interesting 

 religious sect whose name of '"spirit-wrestlers" 

 has reference to their determined denial of the 

 divinity of the Holy Spirit. The sect was 

 founded in Russia in the early eighteenth cen- 

 tury, and it grew rapidly, in spite of persecu- 

 tion; but governmental tyranny compelled the 

 Dukhobors about the middle of the nineteenth 

 century to emigrate, and many of them came 

 to Canada. There they proved to be exem- 

 plary inhabitants, as their religious beliefs at 

 no time interfere with their duty as citizens, 

 despite the fact that theoretically they are 

 opposed to government because the children 

 of God, as they consider all people to be, can 

 do no wrong and hence need no rulers. Mar- 

 riages are contracted without ceremonies, but 

 are looked upon as sacred. 



DULCIMER, dul'simer, a very ancient musi- 

 cal instrument which is quite a curiosity to- 

 day, and of much interest because it was the 

 forerunner of the piano. It was a flat box, 

 of the form shown in the illustration, with a 





A DULCIMER 



sounding board over which metal wires were 

 strung. On one side were pegs which held the 

 wires in place, and by tightening them the 

 instrument was tuned ; it was played by striking 

 the wires with two cork-headed mallets. The 

 Crusaders brought it into Europe from the 

 East, and after 1550 it was known by its present 

 name. 



