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posed by a strong heat in one vessel, and 

 the products collected in another, the pro- 

 cess is called destructive distillation. 



DISTINC'TION, from distingus, to distin- 

 guish: a separation or disagreement in 

 kind or qualities by which one thing is 

 known from another ; divided by logicians 

 into three kinds, real, modal, and rational. 

 The first is that between the modes of 

 two substances; the second is that be- 

 tween several things, one of which may 

 exist without the others, but not vice 

 versa ; the third is that between a thing 

 and its essence, between essences and 

 properties, &c. 



DISTIN'GUO. In the schools, an expe- 

 dient to evade an argument. 



DIS'TOM A, from S<j and O-TOUM, a mouth ; 

 the name given by Retz to a genus of 

 Entozoa of the Parenchymic order. The 

 pecies are numerous. Several inhabit 

 the hepatic vessels of sheep and other 

 ruminant animals. The most celebrated 

 is the liver fluke !D. hepatica}. 



DISTRAC'TILE. In botany, a connective 

 which divides into two unequal portions, 

 one of which supports a cell, and the 

 other not. 



DISTKIBI-'TION, from dis and tribuo, *,o 

 divide. In printing, the taking down of 

 a form, and the placing of the letters in 

 their proper cells in the cases. In logic, 

 the distinguishing of a whole into its 

 several parts. In architecture, the dispos- 

 ing of the several parts of a building ac- 

 cording to some plan. Distributive nouns 

 are words which serve to distribute things 

 *ito several orders, as each, every, either, 

 &c. 



DISTRIN'GAS. In law, a writ command- 

 ing the sheriff or other officer that he 

 distrain for taxes, &c., or for his appear- 

 ance at a certain day. 



DIS'TYLE, Lat. distylus; having two 

 styles. 



DITETRAHE'DRIA, a genus of crystals in 

 the form of tetrahedral prisms with dihe- 

 dral summits. Epithet dctitrahtdral. 



DITHYRAM'BL-S, from 3;feaac? , one of 

 the titles of Bacchus ; a hymn in honour 

 of Bacchus. Hence dithyrambic, a poem 

 in wild enthusiastic strains. 



DI'TONE, from &j and rove;, tone; a 

 musical interval comprising two tones. 

 The ratio is 4 : 5. 



DITRI'OLYPH. In architecture, the span 

 between two triglyphs. 



DITRIHE'DRIA, a genus of crystals with 

 six sided planes (di and trihedria), being 

 formed of two trigonal pyramids joined 

 base to base without an intermediate 

 column. Epithet ditrihedral. 



DICRE'SIS, diou^o-ts . The excretion of 

 unne. Hence diuretic is applied to any 

 rr.taicine which is designed to augment 

 the flow of urine from the kidneys. 



DIUR'NA, a family of Lepidoptera, com- 

 prising the genus Papilio of Linnaeus, now 

 divided into 28 sub-genera. These but- 

 terflies are thus named because they fly 

 during the day. 



DIUR'K^, a family of the Accipitrine 

 order of birds, comprising the genera 

 Vultur and Falco, of Linnaeus. They fly 

 duringtheday, whence thename. Also a 

 family of Lepidopterous insects. 



DICR'NAL, from diurnus, daily; the di- 

 urnal arch is the arch or number of de- 

 grees that the sun or other heavenly 

 body describes between its rising and 

 setting. The diurnal motion of a heavenly 

 body is the number of degrees, &c. which 

 it moves through in 24 hours. 



DIVA/N, an oriental word (Arabic, 

 divan} signifying originally a register of 

 names and accounts, and now used syno- 

 nymously with our board and exchequer; 

 a council assembled ; a court of justice ; 

 a council chamber. It also signifies a kind 

 of sofa. 



DIVERG'ENT, diverging, from divergo, to 

 incline from a point ; tending to various 

 parts from a point ; thus divergent rays 

 are those which, going from a point of the 

 visible object, continually depart from 

 each other in proportion as they are re 

 moved from the object, opposed to conver- 

 gent. A concave lens renders rays diver- 

 gent, and a convex one renders them 

 convergent. In mathematics, series are said 

 to be divergent, when the terms become 

 always greater as the series is continued, 

 and convergent when they continually be- 

 come smaller. In geology, divergent is ap- 

 plied when branches form a right angle 

 with the stem. In botany, when describ- 

 ing the venation of leaves. 



DIVERSION, from diverto, to divert. In 

 military tactics, a movement towards an 

 enemy's weak point to draw off his forces 

 from operations in another quarter. 



DIVIDEND (see DIVISION). (!.} The pro- 

 portion of profits which the members of 

 a society or public company receive at 

 stated periods. (2.) The payment made 

 to creditors out of a bankrupt's estate. 

 (3.) The annual interest payable upon 

 the national debt ; the order by which 

 stockholders receive their interest is 

 called a dividend warrant, and the pro- 

 portions of interest unreceived are termtd 

 unclaimed dividends. In arithmetic,, any 

 number to be divided is called a diii- 

 dend, and the successive dividends in a 

 process of "long division" are called 

 dividuals ; the dividing number is called 

 the divisor. 



DIVINA'TIOX, from divino, to foretel ; 

 the pretended art of foretelling future 

 events. The Jews were fond of divina- 

 tion, magic, and the interpretation of 

 d_reams. The heathen philosophers be- 

 lieved in. divination, and divided it inw 



