DEP 



DEP 



quosa class and order. Natural order of 

 Siliquosx. Cruciferx, Jussieu. Essen- 

 tial character : silique bursting elastical- 

 ly with the valves rolled back ; stigma 

 emarginate ; calyx converging length- 

 wise. There are four species, of which 

 D. enneaphylla, nine-leaved tooth-wort, is 

 about a foot and a half in height ; leaves 

 biternate : leaflets lanceolate, serrate, 

 acuminate, and smooth ; flowers from 

 three peduncles forming a panicle or ra- 

 ceme, erect, fasciled ; calyx pale-green 

 or yellowish ; petals reddish-yellow, or 

 yellowish-red ; there is a gland on each 

 side, between the longer stamens and 

 the calyx, and one surrounding the base 

 of each shorter stamen ; in each cell are 

 four seeds. It is a native of Hungary, 

 Austria, Idria, Friuli, Silesia, in the 

 woods. It flowers in April and May. 



DENTELLA, in botany, a genus of 

 the Pentandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Natural order of Contortae. Ru- 

 biacex, Jussieu. Essential character: 

 ' corolla tubular five-cleft, with three 

 toothed segments ; calyx five-parted ; 

 stigmas two ; capsule globular, inferior, 

 two-celled, many seeded. There is but 

 one species, viz. D. repens, a native of 

 New Caledonia. 



DENTIFRICE, a remedy for the 

 teeth. Various are the compositions 

 sold for the purpose of keeping the teeth 

 in good preservation ; they are mostly 

 composed of earthy substances, finely 

 powdered, and mixed with alum. Acids, 

 though very effectual for cleansing the 

 teeth, are decidedly mischievous. Char- 

 coal is at present in high reputation as a 

 dentifrice ; but the sepia or cuttle fish, 

 sold by the chemists, and finely powder- 

 ed, and which are picked up on the sands 

 on the southern coast, are much valued 

 for this purpose. 



DENTITION, the breeding or cutting 

 the teeth in children. See INFANCY, dis- 

 eases of. 



DEOBSTRUENTS, in pharmacy, such 

 medicines as open obstructions. 



DEODAND, in our customs, implies a 

 thing devoted or consecrated to God, for 

 the pacification of his wrath, in case of 

 any misfortune, as a person's coming to a 

 violent end, without the fault of any rea- 

 sonable creature ; as if a horse should 

 strike his keeper, and so kill him. In 

 this case, the horse is to be deodand ; 

 that is, he is to be sold, and the price dis- 

 tributed to the poor, as an expiation of 

 that dreadful event. 



DEPARTURE, in navigation, is the 

 easting or westing of a ship in respect of 

 the meridian it departed or sailed from : 



or it is the difference of longitude, either 

 east or west, between the present meri- 

 dian the ship is under, and that where th 

 last reckoning or observation was made. 

 This departure, any where but under the 

 equator, must be accounted according to 

 the number of miles in a degree proper 

 to the parallel the ship is under. 



DEPHLOGISTICATED, a term, ap- 

 plied, by Dr. Priestley, to what is no\v 

 called oxygen gas, when he first dis- 

 covered it. It was called by Scheele, 

 who discovered it at the same time, vital 

 air. 



DEPOSITION. Proof in the high 

 court of chancery is by the depositions 

 of witnesses; and the copies of such, re* 

 gularly taken and published, are read as 

 evidence at the hearing. For the purpose 

 of examiningjwitnesses in or near London, 

 there is an examiner's office appointed; 

 but for such as live in the country, a com- 

 mission to examine witnesses is usually 

 granted to four commissioners, two nam- 

 ed on each side, or any three or two of 

 them, to take the depositions there. And 

 if the witnesses reside beyond sea, a com- 

 mission may be had to examine them 

 there, upon their own oaths ; and if fo- 

 reigners, upon the oaths of two skilful 

 interpreters. The commissioners are 

 sworn to take the examinations truly* 

 and without partiality, and not to divulge 

 them till published in the court of chan- 

 cery, and their clerks are also sworn to 

 secrecy. The witnesses are compellable 

 by process of subpoena, as in the courts of 

 common law, to appear and submit to ex- 

 amination. And when their depositions 

 are taken, they are transmitted to the 

 court with the same care that the answer 

 of a defendant is sent. 



DEPOT, in military affairs, any par* 

 ticular place in which military stores are 

 deposited for the use of the army. In a 

 more extensive sense, it means several 

 magazines collected together for that pur- 

 pose. It also signifies an appropriated 

 fort, or place for the reception of recruits, 

 or detached parties,belonging to different 

 regiments. 



DEPRESSION of the pole. When a 

 person sails or travels towards the equa- 

 tor, he is said to depress the pole,because 

 as many degrees as he approaches nearer 

 the equator, so many degrees will the 

 pole be nearer the horizon. This pheno- 

 menon arises from the spherical figure of 

 the earth. When a star is under the 

 horizon, it is termed the depression of 

 that star under the horizon. The altitude 

 or depression of any star is an arch of the 

 vertical, intercepted between the horizon 



