DI8 21 



of parts o:' rocks, or portions of strata, 

 from the situations which they originally 

 occupied. M De Beaumont's theory of 

 dislocations goes to show that those of the 

 same geological age range in lines parallel 

 to one and the same great circle of the 

 sphere. 



DISMEM'BERED. In heraldry, birds, &c. 

 are dismembered that have neither legs 

 nor feet. 



DISO'MTTM. In ancient sculpture, a tomb 

 made for the reception of two bodies. 



DISPART'ING. In gunnery, setting a 

 mark upon the muzzle-ring of a piece of 

 ordnance, so that a sight taken from the 

 top of the brass ring against the touch- 

 hole may be parallel to the axis of the 

 concave cylinder. 



DISPENSA'TION. In ecclesiastical affairs, 

 (1.) A system of principles or rites en- 

 joined (dispensed'} as the Mosaic dispensa- 

 tion, i.e. the Levitical law ; the yospel 

 dispensation, i.e. the scheme of human 

 redemption by Jesus Christ. (2.) The 

 granting of a license, or the license itself, 

 to do what is forbidden by laws or canons, 

 or to omit something therein enjoined, 

 i.e. the dispensing with a law or canon. 

 The pope has power to grant dispen- 

 sations. 



DISI'ER'MOFS, Lat. dispermus, two-seeded. 

 Applied to fruits. 



DISFER'SION, from dispergo,to scatter. 

 In optics, the dispersion of light is the en- 

 largement of a pencil or beam of light, 

 which is produced by its passage from 

 one medium to another. In dioptrics, the 

 point of dispersion is that from which the 

 refracted rays begin to diverge, when 

 their refraction renders them divergent. 



DISPLUVIA'TUM (Lat.) A place in which 

 the rain was carried away by two chan- 

 nels, in ancient buildings. 



DISSECT, or DISSECTED, Lat. dissectus : 

 applied to leaves of plants, which are 

 divided into numerous irregular portions : 

 synonymous with incised or laciniated. 



DISSEI'SIN, ) from dis and seize. In law, 



DISSEI'ZIN, j an unlawful disseizing 

 (dispossessing) a person of his lands, tene- 

 ments, &c. ; a deprivation of actual seizin. 



DISSEN'TER, one who dissents or sepa- 

 rates from the service and worship of an 

 established church. The Dissenters of 

 England maintain that Christ alone is 

 head of the church, and bow to no human 

 authority in matters of religion. Dissent 

 t>egan in Queen Elizabeth's time. 



DISSEPIMENT, Lat. rfissc/NiumfuHi a par- 

 tition : applied by botanists to the parti- 

 tions which divide a capsule into colls. 



Dis'si DENTS. A term applied to those 

 dissenters from the established relision 

 in Poland, who, under the old republic, 

 were allowed the free exercise of their 

 feith. 



DIMIL'IEMT, Lat. diuiliens, bursting 



DIS 



suddenly asunder: applied to capsules 

 &c., of plants. 



DISSIPATION, dispersion ; from dis and 

 (obsolete) sipo, to throw. In optics, the 

 circle of dissipation is that circular space 

 upon the retina which is taken up by one 

 of the extreme pencils of rays issuing 

 from any object: the radius of that circle 

 is called the radius of dissipation. 



DIS'TAXCE. Accessible distances are such 

 as may be measured by any lineal mea- 

 sure. Inaccessible distances are such as can 

 only he measured by means of trigono- 

 metrical rules and formulae. In optics, 

 apparent distance is that at which we 

 judge an object to be placed when seen 

 afar off: it generally differs considerably 

 from the true distance. In perspective, the 

 line of distance is a right line drawn from 

 the eye to the principal point of the plane. 

 The point of distance is that point in the 

 horizontal line which is at the same dis- 

 tance from the principal point as the eye 

 is from the same. The distance of the eye 

 is a line drawn from the eye to the prin- 

 cipal point. In horse-racing, distance is a 

 length of 240 yards from the winning- 

 post: at this point is placed the distance- 

 post. If any horse has not reached the 

 distance-post before the first horse in that 

 heat has reached the winning-post, such 

 horse is said to be distanced and is disqua- 

 lified for running again during that race. 



DIS'TANT, Lat. distans: applied to petals, 

 stems, &c., of plants, when they are di- 

 rected away from each other. 



DISTEM'PER (see TEMPER). 1. A term used 

 in painting to signify the working up of 

 colours with something else besides mere 

 water or oil. Painting with water colours 

 is called limning ; with colours prepared 

 with oil, it is simply painting or painting 

 in oil ; but a piece done with colours pre- 

 pared with any glutinous or unctuous 

 matter as size, white of eggs, &c., is done 



in distemper. 2. A disease of the dog, 



considered to be a catarrhal disorder. 



DIS'THENE, a mineral, thus named by 

 Hauy, from ?/? and trOtvtf, strength, on 

 account of its double electric power: 

 some of its crystals, under the same cir- 

 cumstances, being positively and others 

 negatively electrified by friction. This 

 is the disthen-spath of Mchs. See CYANITE. 



DIS'TICHOUS, Lat. distichus, two-ranked, 

 S/f and o-ne,a row: applied to stems, 

 leaves, &c., of plants, when they spread 

 in two horizontal directions, as the 

 branches of the silver-fir. 



DISTILLA'TION, from dis and stiUa, a 

 drop; a chemical process which consists 

 in the separation of the volatile princi- 

 ples of bodies, by subjecting them to heat 

 in a vessel (alembic or retort), and cor.- 

 densing the volatile part in another ves- 

 sel (a receiver). "When a body is uecom- 



