DIL 



DIG 



plants, with alternate leaves and flowers 

 in spikes at the ends of the stem and 

 branches. D. purpurea, purple fox glove, 

 is biennial ; the stem is from three to 

 six feet high, upright, leafy, round, pu- 

 bescent ; leaves alternate, acute, veiny, 

 and wrinkled underneath ; flowers in a 

 long spike, nodding, imbricate, all di- 

 rected the same way; peduncles one- 

 flowered, pubescent, thickest at top ; ca- 

 lyx also pubescent; corolla purple, the 

 bellying part sprinkled on the inside with 

 spots like little eyes ; filaments a little 

 broader at top, crooked at bottom ; an- 

 thers large, cloven almost to the base, 

 yellowish, and frequently spotted ; stig- 

 ma bifid ; nectary a gland, surrounding 

 the base of the germ ; seeds dark brown, 

 truncate at both ends. It is a native of 

 Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Britain, 

 in sandy and gravelly soils ; near London 

 it grows plentifully. It flowers from June 

 fo August. 



DIGITATED, among botanists, an ap- 

 pellation given to compound leaves, each 

 of which is composed of a number of 

 simple foliola, placed regularly on a com- 

 mon petiole ; though, strictly speaking, 

 there must be more than four foliola to 

 make a digitated leaf. 



DIGNITARY, in the canon law, a per- 

 son who holds a dignity, that is, a bene- 

 fice, which gives him some pre-eminence 

 over mere priests and canons. Such is a 

 bishop, dean, archdeacon, prebendary, 

 &c. 



DIGNITY, as applied to the titles of 

 noblemen, signifies honour and autho- 

 rity. As the omission of a name of digni- 

 ty may be pleaded in abatement of a 

 writ, so may it be, where a peer or no- 

 bleman, who has more than one name 

 f dignity, is not named by that which is 

 most noble. 



DIGYNIA, the name of an order or se- 

 condary division in each of the first thir- 

 teen classes, except the ninth, in Linnae- 

 us's method; consisting of plants, which, 

 to the classic character, whatever it is, 

 add the circumstance of having two styles 

 r female organs. 



DILAPIDATION, is where an incum- 

 bent of a church living suffers the par- 

 sonage-house or out-houses to fall down, 

 or be in decay, for want of necessary re- 

 reparations ; or it is the pulling down or 

 destroying any of the houses or build- 

 ing belonging to a spiritual living, or 

 destroying of the woods, trees, &c. ap- 

 pertaining to the same ; for it is said to 

 extend to committing or suffering any wil- 



ful waste, in or upon the inheritance of 

 the church. 



DILATATION. See EXPANSION 



D1LATRIS, in botany, a genus of the 

 Triandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Ensatx. Irides, Jus- 

 sieu. Essential character : calyx none ; 

 corolla six-petalled, hirsute; filaments 

 one less than the other ; stigma simple. 

 There are three species, all natives of the 

 Cape. 



DILEMMA, in logic, an argument con- 

 sisting of two or more propositions, which 

 divides the whole into all its parts, or 

 members, by a disjunctive proposition, 

 and then infers something concerning 

 each part, which is finally refered to con- 

 cerning the whole. 



DILL. See ANETHUM. 



DILLENIA, in botany, so named in 

 honour of J. J. Dillenius, professor of bo- 

 tany at Oxford, a genus of the Polyan- 

 dria Polygynia class and order. Natural 

 order of Coadunatx. Magnoliae, Jussieu. 

 Essential character: calyx five-leaved; 

 petals five-cleft ; capsule many-seeded ; 

 connate, filled with pulp. There are se- 

 ven species. These are very handsome 

 trees, natives of the East Indies; the 

 leaves are large, and of a leathery sub- 

 stance ; the flowers are axillary or termi- 

 nating, and frequently very large. 



DIMENSION, in geometry, is either 

 length, breadth, or thickness ; hence a 

 line hath one dimension, viz. length ; a 

 superficies, two, viz. length and breadth ; 

 and a body, or solid, has three, to wit, 

 length, breadth, and thickness. 



DIMINUTION, in rhetoric, the exag- 

 gerating of what you have to say by an 

 expression that seems to diminish it. 



DIMINUTIVE, in grammar, a word 

 formed for some other, to soften or di- 

 minish the force of it, or to signify a thing 

 is little in its kind. Thus cellule is a di- 

 minutive cell, globule of globe, hillock 

 ofhill. 



DIMORCARPUS, in botany, a genus 

 of the Octandria Monogynia class and 

 order. Calyx five-cleft ; corolla five pe- 

 talled; berries two, one-seeded, large. 

 One species, found in China. 



DIMORPH A, in botany, a genus of the 

 Diadelphia Decandria class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Papilionaceae, or Legumino- 

 sx. Essential character : petals one large 

 convolute, in place of the keel ; standard 

 and wings none. There are three spe- 

 cies, natives of the woods and banks of 

 rivers of Guiana. 



DIOCESE, the circuit of every bishop's 

 jurisdiction. For this realm hath two 



