DEV 



DIA 



try, that which has but one, or at least a 

 limited number of answers ; as the follow- 

 ing problem, which has but one only so- 

 lution, viz. To describe an isosceles tri- 

 angle on a given line, whose angles at 

 the base shall be double that at the ver- 

 tex. But the following hath two solu- 

 tions, viz. To find an isosceles triangle, 

 whose area and perimeter are given. 



DETINUE, is a writ which lies where 

 any man comes to goods or chattels, either 

 by delivery or by finding, and refuseth 

 to redeliver them ; and it lies only for the 

 detaining, when the detaining was law- 

 ful. In this writ the plaintiff shall recov- 

 er the thing detained; and therefore it 

 must be so certain, as that it may be spe- 

 cifically known. Therefore it cannot be 

 brought for money, corn, or the like, for 

 that cannot be known from other money 

 or corn, unless it be in a bag or sack, for 

 then it may be distinguishably mark- 

 ed. 



In order therefore to ground an action 

 of detinue, which is only for the detain- 

 ing, these points are necessary : 1. That 

 the defendant came lawfully by the 

 goods, as either by delivery to him, or 

 finding them. 2. That the plaintiff' have 

 a property. 3. That the goods them- 

 selves be of value. And 4. That they be 

 ascertained in point of identity. Upon 

 this, the jury, if they find for the plain- 

 tiff, assess the respective values of the 

 several parcels detained, and also da- 

 mages for the detention, and the judg- 

 ment is conditional, that the plaintiff re- 

 cover the said goods, or (if they cannot 

 be had) their respective values, and also 

 the damages for detaining them. 



DETONATION, in chemistry, an ex- 

 plosion with noise, made by the inflam- 

 mation of a combustible body. Decrepi- 

 tation differs from detonation only as 

 producing a fainter noise, or merely a 

 kind of crackling sound peculiar to cer- 

 tain salts. Fulmination is a more quick 

 and lively detonation, such as takes place 

 with certain preparations of gold, silver, 

 mercury, &c. See DECREPITATION, FCL- 



MIITATION. 



DETRANCHE, in heraldry, a line 

 bendwise, proceeding always from the 

 dexter side, but not from the very angle, 

 diagonally athwart the shield. 



DEVISE, or DEVICE, in heraldry, 

 painting and sculpture, any emblem used 

 to represent a certain family, person, ac- 

 tion, or quality, with a suitable motto, ap- 

 plied in a figurative sense. 



DEVOURING, in heraldry, is when 

 fishes are borne in an escutcheon, in a 



feeding posture, for they swallow all the 

 meat whole. 



DEUTZIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decandria Trigynia class and order. Es- 

 sential character : calyx one-leafed ; cap- 

 sule three-celled ; filaments three-cusp - 

 ed. There is but one species, viz. D. 

 scabra, a tree about the height of a man, 

 and very much branched. It is a native 

 of Japan, where the leaves are used by 

 joiners in smoothing and polishing. 



DEW, a dense moist vapour, falling on 

 the earth in the form of a misling rain, 

 while the sun is below the horizon. See 

 METEOROLOGY ; VAPOURS, ascent of. 



DEW -worm. See LTJMBRICUS. 



DEWLAP, the membranous fleshy 

 substance that hangs down from the 

 throats of neat cattle. 



DEXTANS, in Roman antiquity, ten 

 ounces, or 1 of their as. See As. 



DEXTER, in heraldry, an appellation 

 given to whatever belongs to the right 

 side of a shield, or coat of arms : thus 

 we say, bend dexter, dexter point, &c. 



DEXTROCHERE, or DESTROCHERE, 

 in heraldry, is applied to the right arm 

 painted in a shield, sometimes naked, 

 sometimes' clothed, or adorned with a 

 bracelet ; and sometimes armed, or hold- 

 ing some moveable, or member used in 

 the arms. 



DIABETES, an excessive discharge of 

 urine, which comes away crude, and ex- 

 ceeds the quantity of liquids drank. See 

 MEDICINE. 



DIACAUSTIC cuwe, a species of caus- 

 tic curves formed by refraction. Thus if 

 we imagine an infinite number of rays 

 BA, BM, BD, &c. (Plate Miscell. Fig. 6.) 

 issuing from the same luminous point B, 

 to be refracted to or from the perpendi- 

 cular M C, by the given curve AMD, 

 and so that C E, the sines of the angles 

 of incidence C M E, be always to C G, 

 the sines of the refracted angles C M G, 

 in a given ratio, then the curve H F N, 

 which touches all the refracted rays, is 

 called the diacaustic, or caustic by re- 

 fraction. 



DIACHYLON, a well known plaster, 

 composed of a solution of litharge in olive 

 oil : it is called emplastrum lithargyri. 

 See PHARMACY. 



DIADELPHIA, in botany, two bro- 

 therhoods; the seventeenth class in Lin- 

 naeus's sexual system, consisting of plants 

 whose flowers are hermaphrodite," and 

 have the stamina, or male organs, united 

 below into two sets of cylindrical fila- 

 ments. See PAPILIONACE;E. 

 The orders in this class are founded 



