D I S 



752 



D I S 



Discount 



II 

 Dinnal. 



for the century preceding the unfortunate war of the 

 present age. In France, on the other hand, interest 

 has been all along much higher than with us. Though 

 the rate ©f discount on bills does not exceed 6 per cent, 

 we believe that for a permanent loan, it is not uncom- 

 mon, in that country, to obtain 8, 10, or 12 per cent, 

 with security which is generally accounted unexcep- 

 tionable. 



In several branches of trade in this country, it is 

 common for the seller to tempt the buyer with the of- 

 fer of a large discount; 15, 20, and even 25 per cent, 

 being frequently allowed in this manner. Such a prac- 

 tice ought not to be encouraged, the allowance being a 

 mere delusion. It needs no proof to shew, that what- 

 ever is deducted in this way must be previously added 

 to the charge of the goods, and that the same result 

 would be attained by stating, in a single line, the low- 

 est ready money price. This custom has farther the 

 bad practical effect of awakening the suspicion of fo- 

 reign merchants, who, hearing that in certain lines 

 large discounts are allowed, may be inclined to consi- 

 der the practice in the light of a collusion between their 

 correspondent and the manufacturer of whom he makes 

 his purchases. As trade improves in the mode of its 

 management, the habit of discount, at least of large dis- 

 counts, may be expected to give way. The buyer co- 

 ming with money in his hand, will go the shortest way 

 to work, and the seller will find it his best policy to say 

 at once the least price which he can afford to take. 



Bankers and other persons discounting bills, take 

 payment of the interest at once, without waiting for the 

 lapse of the specified term of days or months. Whe- 

 ther this be strictly in the spirit of the law, we do not 

 pretend to determine. Its practical result is to afford 

 the banker, in the case of discounts frequently repeat- 

 ed, an interest of 5\ or 5\ per cent, for his money du- 

 ring the year. This, however, is no grievance, as the 

 applicants are aware of it, and as, in the season of war, 

 it is generally a favour to discount bills on those terms. 

 In peace, there is seldom room for complaint, as inte- 

 rest frequently falls below the legal limit, 4 per cent, 

 being the ordinary allowance in times when govern- 

 ment has not occasion to make heavy demands on the 

 money market. (%) 



DISDIAPASON, in Music, (XV) or Bis-diapason, 

 is a concordant interval or concord, whose ratio is \, 

 = 122rS- r -£4f-f-106m, the double octave, 2VIII, or 

 Fifteenth Major, which see. 



DISDIAPASON, Biapente (XIX), this concord is 

 2VIII + V, and has a ratio |, = 1582Z + 31f-J-137m. 

 See Nineteenth Major. 



DISDIAPASON,i)wtowott(18th),is2VIII-f-4th, 

 and this concord has a ratio T V, =1478x+29f+ 128m. 

 See Eighteenth Minor. 



DISDIAPASON, Bilone (XVII), this concord is 

 2VIII + III, and has a ratio f, = 142 IS +28^ 123 m, 

 See Seventeenth Major. 



DISDIAPASON, Semiditone (1 7th), is 2VIII + 3d, 

 and this concord has aratio ^ s T , = 13852- r .27f-fl20m. 

 See Seventeenth Minor. 



DISKO Bay. See Greenland. 

 DISMAL Swamp, Great, is the name of an im- 

 mense bay on the confines of Virginia and Carolina, 

 extending about SO miles from North to South, and ha- 

 ving a medium breadth of about 10 miles. Reeds, about 

 12 feet high, interspersed with Bamboo briars, cover 

 the north east margin of the swamp, while the south- 

 ern margin exhibits a large track of green waving 

 reeds, which has received the name of the Green Sea. 

 An evergreen shrub, called the gall bush, with a berry 



that gives a black dye, is found here in abundance. Dismal 

 Near the middle of the swamp, both cypress and cedar . II . 

 trees grow in abundance ; but they are easily blown P' s P ersi0n - 

 down by a moderate wind. No living animal is found in "~ v '~ 

 the neighbourhood, the noxious vapours being prejudi- 

 cial to animal life, and engendering agues and other 

 disorders. Five navigable rivers have their origin in 

 this swamp, namely the south branch of Elizabeth ri- 

 ver, and the south branch of Nansemond river, both of 

 which flow into Virginia, and the North River, North 

 West River, and Perquimons, which run into North 

 Carolina. The sources of these rivers are concealed in 

 the swamp, and must therefore be supplied from some 

 subterraneous springs, or by the water that runs into 

 the swamp from the high lands. The last of these sup- 

 positions is the most probable, as the swamp is a mere 

 quagmire, which shakes under the feet of those who 

 walk upon it, every mark of the foot being instantly 

 filled with water. On the western margin of the Dis- 

 mal is a pine swamp above a mile broad, the greatest 

 part of it being covered with water about two feet deep. 

 The bottom being firm, the pines grow to a very great 

 height, and are not easily overthrown by the wind. 

 Notwithstanding these disadvantages, some parts of the 

 Dismal exhibit scenery by no means unpleasing. Frag- 

 ments of trees are found buried and preserved under 

 the vegetable earth, at different degrees of depth, as in 

 the plains which rise in the form of a terrace near the 

 bed of the river Connecticut. When dug out of the 

 ground, they are soft, but they grow hard by exposure 

 to the air. The Duke de Rochefoucault remarks, that 

 the Dismal Swamp has less solidity than any which he 

 has seen ; but that the earth which is dug out of it 

 hardens in the air, and forms an excellent dike. 



In the middle of Dismal Swamp is a lake about se- 

 ven miles long, called Drummond's Pond, which dis- 

 charges its waters to the south, into Pasquotank river, 

 which runs into Albemarle Sound, and on the north 

 into Elizabeth and Nansemond river, which flow into 

 James' river. 



In 1 777, a canal was forming through Dismal Swamp. 

 It was to pass about a mile East of Drummond's Pond, 

 and was to unite the south branch of Elizabeth river, 

 or rather of Deep-Creek, which falls into it, with Al- 

 bemarle Sound, by means of the river Pasquotank. 

 The canal company was incorporated by the legisla- 

 ture of North Carolina and Virginia. The length of 

 line is 28 miles, and the soil through which it lay was 

 very easily wrought. In 1796, five miles had been 

 dug on the Virginia side, and as many on the side of 

 North Carolina, so that only 18 remained to be cut, 

 which they expected to accomplish in three years. 



The principal object of this canal is to shorten and 

 facilitate the communication between North Carolina 

 and Norfolk. It will thus open an inland navigation 

 from the head of Chesapeak Bay, including all the ri- 

 vers in Virginia, to George town in South Carolina ; 

 and when the canal from Elk River to Christiana Creek 

 is opened, the communication will extend to Philadel- 

 phia, and to the ports connected with Delaware river. 

 The Swamp principally belongs to two companies ; the 

 Virginia Company, which possesses 100,000 acres; and 

 the North Carolina Company, which possesses 40,000. 

 See Morse's American Gazetteer, and Rochefoucault de 

 Liancourt's Travels through the United States of North 

 America, in 1795, 1796, and 1797, vol. ii. (rv) 



DISNIA. See Dissima. 



DISPASIS, a genus of plants of the class Gynan- 

 dria, and order Diandria. See Botany, p. 313. 



DISPERSION of Light. See Achromatic Te- 



