DEC 



DEC 



cond, and third, beginning to count from 

 the lowermost. Half deck reaches from 

 the mainmast to the stem of the ship. 

 Qarter-deck is that aloft the steerage, 

 reaching to rhe round house. See SHIP. 



DECLARATION, is a shewing in writ- 

 ing the grief and complaint of the de- 

 inandant, or plaintiff, against the defend- 

 ant, or tenant, wherein he is supposed to 

 have done some wrong. And this ought 

 to be plain and certain, both because it 

 impeaches the defendant, and also com- 

 pels him to answer thereto. It is also an 

 exposition of the writ, with the addition 

 of time, circumstances, &c. and must be 

 true as well as clear, for the court will 

 not take things in it by implication : and 

 it sets forth the names both of the plain- 

 tiff and defendant, the nature and cause 

 of the action, &c. and the damage re- 

 ceived. Such a declaration in an action 

 real is termed a count, and it is essential, 

 that the count or declaration ought to 

 contain demonstration, declaration, and 

 conclusion ; and in the conclusion the 

 plaintiff ought to aver, and offer to prove 

 his suit, and shew the damages he has 

 sustained by toe wrong done him. De- 

 claration must be certain: containing, 1. 

 Such sufficient certainty, whereby the 

 court may give a peremptory and final 

 judgment upon the matter in contro- 

 veray. 2. The defendant may make a 

 direct answer to the matter contained 

 therein. 3. That the jury, after issue 

 joined, may give a complete verdict there- 

 upon. 4. No blank, or space, to be left 

 therein. 



DECLARATION of toar, a public pro- 

 clamation made by the herald at arms to 

 the members or subjects of a state, de- 

 claring them to be at. war with some fo- 

 reign power, and forbidding all and every 

 one to aid or assist the common enemy at 

 their peril. 



DECLENSION, in grammar, an in- 

 flexion of nouns according to their divers 

 cases, as nominative, genitive, dative, &c. 

 It is a different thing in the modern lan- 

 guages, which have not properly any 

 cases, from what it is in the ancient Greek 

 and Latin. With respect to languages, 

 where the nouns admit of changes, cither 

 in the beginning, the middle, or ending, 

 declension is properly the expression of 

 all those changes in a certain order, and 

 by certain degrees called cases. With 

 regard to languages, where the nouns do 

 not admit of changes in the same number, 

 declension is the expression of the differ- 

 ent states a noun is in, and the different 

 relations it has ; which difference of re- 



lations is marked by particles, and called 

 articles, as a, the, of, to, from, by, &c. See 

 AR.TTCLE : also GRAMMAR. 



DECLINATION, in astronomy, the dis- 

 tance of any celestial object from the 

 equinoctial, either northward or south- 

 ward. It is either true or apparent, ac- 

 cording as the real or apparent place of 

 the object is considered. A great circle 

 is supposed to pass through the two 

 poles, and through the centre of every 

 star. This circle is called a circle of de- 

 clination. The arc of this circle included 

 between the star and the equator mea- 

 sures the declination of the star. The 

 declination of a star then is its^ perpendi- 

 cular distance from the equator. It is 

 north or south, according as the star is 

 situated on the north or south side of the 

 equator. All the stars situated in the 

 same parallel of the equator have, of 

 course, the same declination. The decli- 

 nation then marks the situation of a star 

 north or south from the equator. Pre- 

 cision requires still another circle, from 

 which their distance, east or west, may be 

 marked, in order to give the real place. 

 The circle of declination, which passes 

 through that point of the equator called 

 the vernal equinoctial point, has been, 

 chosen for that purpose. The distance 

 of the circle of declination of a given 

 star from that point, measured on the 

 equator, or the arc of the equator in 

 eluded between the vernal equinox and 

 the circle of declination of the star, is 

 called its right ascension. If we know the 

 declination and the right ascension of a 

 star, we know its precise situation in the 

 heavens. 



The declination of any star may be 

 easily found by observing the following 

 rule : Take the meridian altitude of the 

 star, at any place where the latitude is 

 known ; the complement of this is the 

 zenith distance, and is called north or 

 south, as the star is north or sbuth at the 

 time of observation. Then, 1. When the 

 latitude of the place and zenith distance 

 of the star are of different kinds, namely, 

 one north and the other south, their dif- 

 ference will be the declination, and it is 

 of the same kind with the latitude, when 

 that is the greatest of the two, otherwise 

 it is of the contrary kind. 2. If the lati- 

 tude and the zenith distance are of the 

 same kind, i. e. both norther both south, 

 their sum is the declination ; and it is of 

 the same kind with the latitude. See 

 GLOBES, use of. 



DECLINATION of a wall or plain for 

 dials, is an arch of the horizon, contained 





