DUR 



BUT 



so much alike in their manner of flower- 

 ing, as well as in the structure and co- 

 lour of the flower, that it is doubtful 

 whether they may not be all one species. 



DURATION, an idea which we get by 

 attending to the fleeting and perpetually 

 perishing part of succession ; the idea of 

 succession being acquired by reflecting 

 on that train of ideas which constantly 

 follow one another in our minds, as long 

 as we are awake. The simple modes of 

 duration are any different lengths of it 

 whereof we have distinct ideas, as hours, 

 days, years, time, eternity, &c. Dura- 

 tion, as marked by certain periods and 

 measures, is what we most properly call 

 time. 



DURATION o/oc^'o/i, according to Aris- 

 totle, is co nii ne d to a natural day in tra- 

 gedy ; but the epopoeia, accordingto the 

 same critic, has no fixed time. 



DURATION of an eclipse. See ASTRONO- 

 MY and ECLIPSE. 



DUHATIOK, in botany, the division of 

 vegetables into trees, and perennial and 

 annual herbs, is founded on the different 

 duration of these plants. Trees subsist 

 for several years, both by the root and 

 stem: perennial herbs lose their stems du- 

 ring the winter, and are renewed by the 

 root in the following spring : annuals per- 

 form the changes of vegetation but once, 

 and are perpetuated in the seed. Stri- 

 king as those differences are, Linnaeus 

 thinks the duration of plants so fallaci- 

 ous, that he never employs it as a speci- 

 fic difference. The reason he assigns is 

 very pertinent. The duration of plants, 

 he says, is frequently affected by place 

 or climate, and therefore ought not to be 

 regarded as an invariable circumstance 

 proper for discriminating the species. In 

 the warmer climates, which enjoy a per- 

 petual summer, most of the plants are 

 perennial, and of the tree-kind ; yet ma- 

 ny of them, when removed to our colder 

 European" climates, lose their woody tex- 

 ture, and become herbaceous, and fre- 

 quently annual. Of this the ricinus, or 

 tree palma christi, and marvel of Peru, 

 are familiar instances. 



Indian cress, beet, sweet marjoram, and 

 tree-mallow, which, with us, are annual, 

 become, in very warm regions, perennial 

 and shrubby. 



DURESSE, in law, is where a person 

 is wrongfully imprisoned, or restrained 

 of his liberty, contrary to law ; or is threat- 

 ened to be killed, wounded, or beaten, 

 till he executes a bond, or other writing. 

 Any bond, deed, or other obligation, ob- 

 tained by duresse, will be void in law; 



and in an action brought on the execu- 

 tion of any such deed, the party may 

 plead that it was brought by duresse. A 

 deed must be avoided by special pleading 

 in these cases; for the party cannot plead 

 to it, non est factum, because it is his 

 deed. 



DURIO, in botany, a genus of the Po- 

 lyadelphia Polyandria class and order. 

 Natural order of Putaminex. Capparides, 

 Jussieu. Essential character : calyx five- 

 cleft, pitcher shaped, inferior; corolla 

 five-petalled, small ; style one ; stamina 

 in five bodies ; pome five-celled. There 

 is only one species, viz. D. Zibethinus, a 

 lofty tree with flowers below the leaves, 

 which are alternate. The leaves resem- 

 ble those of the cherry, but not dented at 

 the edges, the flowers are borne in loose 

 heads ; they are large, and of a pale yel- 

 low white. The fruit is very large, the 

 fleshy part of which is of a creamy sub- 

 stance and delicate taste, but of an un- 

 pleasant smell. Native of the East Indies. 



DUROIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Hexandi'ia Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Rubiaceae, Jussieu. Es- 

 sential character : calyx cylindric, trim- 

 cate; corolla six-parted; filaments none; 

 pome hispid. There is but one species, 

 viz. D. eriopila, a tree, with thick unequal 

 branches, hirsute at the end; leaves ter- 

 minating, opposite, approximating; pe- 

 tioles very short ; flowers at the ends of 

 the branches, sessile, many, several of 

 them abortive ; corollas white, fruit larger 

 than a turkey's ejg, spherical, covered 

 very thick with erect brown hairs; um- 

 bilicate, with the hollow calyx ; it is well 

 flavoured, and much esteemed at Suri- 

 nam, where it is a native. 



DUTCHY court, a court of the dutch 

 chamber of Lancaster, held at Westmin- 

 ster, before the chancellor of the same, 

 for matters concerning the lands and- 

 franchises of that dutchy. The proceed-, 

 ings in this court are by English bill, as 

 in chancery. Gwyn says that this court 

 grew out of the grant of king Edw. III. 

 who gave the dutchy to John of Gaunt, 

 and endowed it with royal rights and pri- 

 vileges ; several others of our ancient 

 kings likewise separated this dutchy from 

 the crown, and settled it in the natural 

 persons of themselves and their heirs; 

 though, in succeeding times, it was unit- 

 ed to the crown again. 



DUTY, in general, denotes any thing 

 that one is obliged to perform. 



DUTT, in polity and commerce, signi- 

 fies the impost laid on merchandizes, at 

 importation or exportation, commonly 



