D I S 



[77] 



D O D 



occupying two sides of a branch, but not 

 regularly opposite at their insertion, as 

 the fir, yew, &c. ; applied also to branches 

 when they spread into two horizontal 

 directions ; and to flowers, placed in two 

 opposite ranks. 



DISTO'RT. ( distortus from distorqueo, Lat.) 

 To twist from its usual, or natural, 

 shape ; to turn away. 



DISTORTED, (distortus, Lat.) Twisted from 

 its usual or natural form ; turned away. 



DISTORTION. (distortio, Lat.) Unna- 

 tural crookedness ; the turning awry ; 

 the act of twisting from its natural 

 form. 



DIVA'RICATE. (divarico, Lat.) To sepa- 

 rate into two ; to divide into two. 



DIVARICA'TION. (divaricatio, Lat.) Sepa- 

 ration into two. 



DIVE'LLENT. (divellens, Lat.) Separating ; 

 drawing apart, in different directions. 



DIVE'RGE. (divergo, Lat.) To tend from 

 one point in various directions. 



DIVERGENCE. A tending from one point, 

 as a centre, in various directions. 



DIVE'RGENT. (divergent, Fr. divergente, 

 It.) Radiating from a centre in different 

 directions ; tending to various parts from 

 one point. 



DIVE'RGING. In botany, applied to the 

 position of leaves during sleep, signifying 

 that the leaflets approach at their base, 

 and are open at their summits. 



DIVE'RSIFORM. Of forms differing from 

 one another. 



DIVE'RSITY. (diversitas, Lat. diversity Fr. 

 diversita, It.) Dissimilarity ; variety. 



DIVE'RT. (diverto, Lat. divertir, Fr. diver- 

 tire, It.) To turn aside from its course. 



DIVU'LSION. (divulsio, Lat.) A pulling 

 in pieces ; a forcible tearing asunder. 



DIVU'LSIVE. That rends asunder. 



DODE'CAGON. (from dwdsica and ywv/a, 

 Gr. dodecagone, Fr. dodecagono, It.) A 

 regular polygon having twelve equal sides 

 and angles. 



DODECAHE'DRON. (from ^wfo/ca and idpa, 

 Gr.) A geometrical solid, comprehended 

 under twelve equal sides, each whereof is 

 a pentagon. It is one of the regular or 

 plutonic bodies. 



DODECAHE'DRAL. Having twelve equal 

 sides ; relating to a dodecahedron. 



DODECAHE'DRAL CORUNDUM. Called also 

 Spinel ; the Spinelle and Pleonaste of 

 Hau'y. There are two varieties, the Cey- 

 lanite and Spinel Ruby. Colours red, 

 blue, brown, black, green and white. It 

 consists of alumina 74, silica 16, magnesia 

 8, oxide of iron one and a half, and lime 

 0*75 per cent. 



DODECAHE'DRAL GARNET. A species of 

 garnet containing ten subspecies or va- 

 rieties ; these are the Grossullaire, or 

 asparagus-green variety ; the Pyrenaite, 



or greyish black variety ; the Colopho- 

 nite, or red variety in granular concre- 

 tions ; the Precious Garnet, or highly 

 crystallized and transparent red variety ; 

 the Topazolite, or yellow variety; the 

 Melanite, or velvet-black opaque variety ; 

 the Allochroite, or brown, green, and 

 grey massive variety ; the Pyrope, or 

 deep blood-red variety ; the Essonite, or 

 hyacinthine and orange-yellow variety ; 

 the Common Garnet, or brown and green 

 variety in granular concretions and trans- 

 lucent. 



DODECAHE'DRAL MERCURY. Called also 

 native amalgam, the Mercur Argental of 

 Haiiy. A mixture of mercury and silver 

 in the proportions of nearly three-fourths 

 of the former, and rather more than one- 

 fourth of the latter. It is found in quick- 

 silver mines together with cinnabar. It is 

 of the colour of silver, and regularly crys- 

 tallized. 



DODECA'NDRIA. (from dwctica and avi}p, 

 Gr.) The eleventh class of plants in 

 Linnseus's artificial system. The plants 

 in this class have from twelve to nineteen 

 stamens : the common houseleek will 

 illustrate it. 



DODECA'NDRIAN. Belonging to the class 

 Dodecandria ; having from twelve to 

 nineteen stamens. 



DO'DO. A genus of birds belonging to the 

 order of gallinae. The bill is contracted 

 in the middle by two transverse rugae ; 

 each mandible is inflected at the point ; 

 and the face is bare behind the eyes. 

 The dodo is a case in point serving 

 strongly to illustrate the views and 

 opinions of those who argue for the ex- 

 tinction of species, even in the present 

 day. Lyell says, " The most striking 

 example of the loss, even within the last 

 two centuries, of a remarkable species, is 

 that of the dodo, a bird first seen by the 

 Dutch, when they landed on the isle of 

 France, at that time uninhabited, imme- 

 diately after the discovery of the passage 

 to the East Indies by the Cape of Good 

 Hope. It was of a large size, and sin- 

 gular form ; its wings short like those of 

 an ostrich, and wholly incapable of sus- 

 taining its heavy body, even for a short 

 flight. In its general appearance it dif- 

 fered from the ostrich, cassowary, or any 

 known bird. Many naturalists gave fi- 

 gures of the dodo after the commence- 

 ment of the seventeenth century ; and 

 there is a painting of it in the British 

 Museum, which is said to have been 

 taken from a living individual. Beneath 

 the painting is a leg, in a fine state of 

 preservation, which ornithologists are 

 agreed cannot have belonged to any other 

 known bird. In the museum at Oxford, 

 also, there is a foot and a head." " The 



