DES 



DES 



scension, an arch of the'equinoctial, inter- 

 cepted between the next equinoctial 

 point and the horizon, passing through 

 the centre of the object, at its setting, in 

 an oblique sphere. 



DESCENSIONAL difference, that be- 

 tween the right and oblique clescen- 

 sion of any heavenly body. See DESCEN- 

 SION. 



DESCENT, in general, is the tenden- 

 cy of a body from a higher to a lower 

 place : thus all bodies, unless otherwise 

 determined by a force superior to their 

 gravity, descend towards the centre of 

 the earth : the planets too may be said 

 to descend from their aphelion to the 

 perihelion of their orbits, as the moon 

 does from the apogee to the perigee. 

 Heavy bodies,meeting with no resistance, 

 descend with an uniformly accelerated 

 motion, for the laws of which see MECHA- 

 NICS. 



DESCENT, or hereditary succession, is 

 the title which a man on the death of 

 his ancestor acquires his estate by right 

 of representation, as his heir at law : and 

 an estate so descending to the heir is in 

 law called the inheritance. 



Descent is of three kinds; by common 

 law, by custom, or by statute. By com- 

 mon law, as where one hath land of in- 

 heritance in fee-simple,and dieth without 

 disposing thereof in his life-time, and the 

 land goes to the eldest son and heir of 

 course, being cast upon him by the law. 



Descent of fee-simple by custom is some- 

 times to all the sons, or to all the brothers 

 (where one brother dieth with out issue,) 

 as in gavel-kind; sometimes to the young- 

 est son, as in borough English; and some- 

 times to the eldest daughter, or the 

 youngest, according to the customs of 

 particular places. Descent by statute is 

 of fee-tail, as directed by the statute of 

 Westminster, 2. de donis. 



DESCENT, in genealogy, the order of 



succession of descendents in a line or 



* family ; or their distance from a common 



progenitor. Thus we say, one descent, 



two descents, &c. 



DESCENT, in heraldry, is used to ex- 

 press the coming down of any thing from 

 above ; as a lion en descent, is a lion with 

 his head towards the base points, and his 

 heels towards one of the corners of the 

 chief, as if he were leaping down from 

 some high place. 



DESCENT, in fortification, are the holes, 

 vaults, and hollow places, made by un- 

 dermining the ground. 



The descent into the moat or ditch is 

 a deep passage made through the espla- 



nade and covert way, in form of a trencb* 

 whereof the upper part is covered with 

 madriers and clays, to secure the besieg- 

 ers from the enemy'sfire. Inwet ditches 

 this trench is on a level with the surface 

 of the water, but in dry ones it is sunk as 

 deep as the bottom of the ditch. 



DESCRIPTION, is such a strong and 

 beautiful representation of a thing, as 

 gives the reader a distinct view and sa- 

 tisfactory notion of it. 



DESCRIPTION. In deeds and grants 

 there must be a certain description of the 

 lands granted, the places where they lie, 

 and the persons to whom granted, &c. to 

 make them good. But wills are more fa- 

 voured than grants as to those descrip- 

 tions ; and a wrong description of the 

 person will not make a devise void, if 

 there be otherwise a sufficient certainty 

 what person was intended by the testa- 

 tor. Where a first description of land, 

 &c. is false, though the second be true, 

 a deed will be void : contra, if the first 

 be true, and the second false. 



DESCRIPTION, applied to botany, the 

 natural character of the whole plant, in- 

 cluding all the external parts. In this 

 respect the description of the species is 

 distinguished from the specific difference, 

 which regards the essential or striking 

 characters only. A perfect or complete 

 description is not confined to the princi- 

 pal parts of plants, as the root, stem, 

 leaves, and fructification ; but includes, 

 likewise, whatever is conspicuous in their 

 external appearance: as the foot-stalks of 

 the leaves and flower; the ,stipulae, or 

 scales ; thebractese, or floral eaves ; the 

 glands, or vessels of secretion ; the wea- 

 pons of offence and defence 5 the buds ; 

 the complication, or folding of the leaves 

 within the buds ; and the habit or gene- 

 ral appearance of the whole plant The 

 order to be observed in the description is 

 that of nature, proceeding from the root 

 to the stem ; next the branches ; then the 

 foot-stalks, leaves, flower-stalks, and 

 flowers. 



DESERTER, in a military sense, a sol- 

 dier, who, by running away from his regi- 

 ment or company, abandons the service. 

 A deserter is, by the articles of war, pu- 

 nishable by death, and, after conviction, 

 is hanged at the head of the regiment he 

 formerly belonged to, with his crime writ 

 on his breast, and suffered to hang till 

 the army leave that camp, for a terror to 

 others. 



DESHACHE, in heraldry, is where a 

 beast has its limbs separated from its bo- 

 dy, so that they still remain on the escut- 



