DIR 



BIS 



to five yards in almost uninterrupted suc- 

 cession, sinking, however, at length, un- 

 der fatigue from such wonderful exer- 

 tions. Its food could not be ascertained 

 by the General, who offered it a great 

 variety, no article of _which it appeared 

 a| all disposed to touch, and the day after 

 its seizure it died, overwhelmed, proba- 

 bly, by its extreme efforts to escape from 

 its pursuers. It is sometimes found dor- 

 mant, and in this state, probably, passes 

 the winter in the rigorous climate of Ca- 

 nada. A specimen of it in this state was 

 brought to the General, after having been 

 found by a labourer, whose spade struck 

 against a substance, about the size of a 

 cricket ball, which, on examination, was 

 found to inclose a jerboa, completely 

 rolled up, and in a state of torpor. The 

 ball was found about a foot and a half un- 

 der the surface of the ground, was per- 

 fectly smooth internally, and about an 

 inch in thickness. This case, which was 

 composed of clay, was somewhat muti- 

 lated by the accidental blow of the work- 

 man, but was deposited by the General, 

 with its contents, in his room, in a small 

 box supplied with some cotton, in hopes 

 that, as the warm season advanced, the 

 animal would revive from its suspended 

 vitality. This hope, however, was not 

 gratified. As the jerboa is not seen in 

 Canada from October till May, it may be 

 concluded that it passes the winter in this 

 curious envelope. See Mammalia, Plate 

 IX. fig. 6. 



DIRCA, in botany, a genus of the Oc- 

 tandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Vepreculse. Thymelese, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : calyx none ; 

 corolla tubulous, with an obscure border; 

 stamina longer than the tube ; berry one- 

 seeded. There is only one species, viz. 

 1). palustris, marsh-leather wood, a native 

 of North America. 



DIRECTION, in mechanics, signifies 

 the line or path of a body's motion, along 

 which it endeavours to proceed, accord- 

 ing to the force impressed upon it- 



DIRECTOR, in commercial polity, a 

 person who has the management of the 

 affairs of a trading company : thus we 

 say, the directors of the India company, 

 South-sea company, &c. 



DIRECTOR, in surgery, a grooved probe, 

 to direct the edge of the knife orscissars, 

 in opening sinuses, or fistulst, that by this 

 means the subjacent vessels, nerves, and 

 tendons, may remain unhurt. 



DIRGE, in music, a solemn and mourn- 

 ful composition performed at funeral pro- 

 cessions. The dirge was in very general 



use with the ancients, and was numerous- 

 ly filled both by voices and instruments. 



D1R1GENT, or directrix y a term in ge- 

 ometry, signifying the line of motion, 

 along which the describent line or sur- 

 face is carried in the genesis of any plane 

 or solid figure. 



D1S, an inseparable particle prefixed to 

 divers words, the effect whereof is either 

 to give them a signification contrary to 

 what the simple words have, as disoblige, 

 disobey, &c. or to signify a separation, 

 detachment, &c. as disposing, distributing, 

 &c. 



DISA, in botany, a genus of the Gynan-- 

 dria Diandria class and order. Natural 

 order of Orchideae. Essential character: 

 spathe one valved ; petals three, two 

 parted, gibbous at the base. There are 

 four species. These are all natives of 

 the Cape. 



DISABILITY, an incapacity in a man 

 to inherit or take a benefit which other- 

 wise he might have done, which may hap- 

 pen four ways ; by the act of the ances- 

 tor, by the act of the party, by the act of 

 law, and by the act of God. 1. Disability 

 by the act of the ancestor ; as, if a man 

 be attainted of treason or felony : by this 

 attainder his blood is corrupt, and himself 

 and his children disabled to inherit. 2. 

 Disability by the act of the party himself; 

 as, if one make a feoff'ment to another who 

 then is sole, upon condition that he shall 

 enfeoft'a third before marriage, and before 

 the feoff'ment made, the feoffee takes a 

 wife; he hath by that disabled himself to 

 perform the condition according to the 

 trust reposed in him, and therefore the 

 feoffer may enter and oust him. 3. Disa- 

 bility by act of law, is when a man by 

 the sole act of the law is disabled, as an 

 alien born, 8cc. 4. Disability by the act 

 of God, is where a person is of iron-sane 

 memory, and in cases of idiocy, &c. But 

 it is a maxim in our law, that a man of full 

 age shall never be received to disable his 

 own person. 



D1SANDRA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Heptandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Pediculares, Jussieu.' 

 Essential character : calyx seven-leaved ; 

 corolla seven-parted, flat; capsule two- 

 celled. There are two species, viz. D. 

 prostrata, trailing disandria, and D. afri- 

 cana ; the former a native of Madeira, the 

 latter of Africa. 



DISC, in astronomy, the body and face 

 of the sun and moon, such as it appears 

 to us on the earth ; or the body or face 

 of the earth, such as it appears lo a specta- 

 tor in the moop, Sec. The disc in eclipses 



