DEC 
For the Valuation of Dectmarss multiply the given deci- 
mal by the number of parts contained in the propofed inte- 
ger, de iam ti ate higher to the lower if there bea 
remaind have the value required at the left 
of the re rer "Thus, 7852. is equal to 155. 8d. 1.67. 
55 _.78 of a yard=2 feet, 
20 4.08 inches. 
$. 15.700 78 
12 3 
d. 8.400 f 2.34 
4 12 
J. 1.600 cal 
Dr Reimay /eaiee, | in the general, dence: any fcales divided 
decimally ; but a ase certain {cales of money, weights, 
aud ces s, made from tables fo called, to expedite decimal 
armede by fhewing by infpeGtion the decimal fraction of 
» or meafure. e SCALE. 
hich the Romans ufed 
their poft, ane a 
oO 
part of the whole number, and thefe were put to the {word, 
and the others faved. 
This was called dectmare, a word of the ancient Roman 
militia, who, to punifh whole legions, when they had failed in 
their duty, fometimes alfo made every tenth foldier draw lots, 
and ae him to death as an example to the others. 
e Romans had their aac. they had alfo the vi- 
celimatio, and Sey eae when only the twentieth or hun- 
dredth man fuffered b 
This practice has been. ccefionally oe to in modern 
times ; as, particu arly, in France, the punifhment of 
the garrifon of Treves in 1675, who ppt and furren- 
dered that place in oppofition to the remoniftrance of the 
marfhal de Crequi, who commanded there. There was alfo 
a decimation during the time of the ufurper in this king- 
dom in 1655. 
fot MIS folvendis pro poffeffionibus si aelelty in Law, 
t yet extant in the regitter, whic ginft thofe 
chat had farmed the priors aliens lands of a fe for the 
reCtor of the parifh, to recover the tithe of them. Reg, of 
Writs, fol. 179. 
oe DECENNIERS, or Doziners, derived 
ne French paar te jee ten; in the ancient mo- 
numents of our Law, are as.are wont to have the over- 
cenna, ifted of ten 
dozein ; and every perfon bound for himfelf and his neigh- 
bours to ri - peace, was itiled decennier. Brak. li 
ili. tra. 2. 
Thefe cela feem to have had very large authority in the 
Saxontimes; taking cognizance of caufes within their eee 
and redrefling wrongs by way of judgment. Thus Brit 
DEC 
«We will that all thofe that are fourteen years old hail 
make oath, that they will be fufficient and loyal to us; and 
neither be felons, nor aflenting to fe ons; and we will, that all 
and make or fuffer 
urety of their behaviour b 
religious perfons, c cee ene eldeft fons, and w 
dozein now feems to be no more thara leet ; fori in leets 
only this oath is adminiftered by the fteward, and taken by 
fuch as are twelve years old and upwards 
DECIO, Puuuip, in Biography, an eminent lawyer, was 
born at Milan in 1453. At an early age he appears to have 
been devoted to the belles lettres, but the plague which 
broke out forced him from his native place and interrupted 
his ftudies, when he was but 17 years of age. retired 
to Pavia, and, at the defire of his brother, who was aay 
wa extraore 
inary in the civil law, sil eel a ail a contemp oraries, 
in whatever was connected with the duties of his profe ffion. 
His great reputation ened the eg e his on and 
he thought it prudent to remove to ere he had 
ee ana ma rou he was invit ite to Rome, to accept an 
ce pope, s it would have rendered 
es ne ndipentable, ie aad, re t 
profeffor’s chair at From Sienna he went to Pifa, 
po rance, Louis XII. reclaimed Decio as 
abet but Venice refufed to part with him. In 1505, 
oved to Pavia, where, for feven years, he ex la ined 
the canon law to a numerous and very refpeétable audience. 
In a difference between pope Julius II. and the French, 
Decio took part wich the latter, and was excommunicated 3 
and what, perhaps, was a ftill greater trouble to him, his 
houfe at Pavia was pillaged of every thing that was valuable 
by the Swifs troops, who, not contented with this, went 
alfo toa monaftery, the afylum of Decio’s natural daughter, 
and carried away the money that he had affigned for her 
fubfiftence. Decio had now no refuge but France ; here he 
was greeted in every town, and received a full compenfation 
for his various loffes. His le&tures were crowded ; and the 
king created hima memberof the parliament of Grenoble, The 
pope would at this period willingly have been reconciled to 
him, on condition of his refiding at Rome, which he thought 
fit to decline. 
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other changes, all honourable to the a se virtues of 
Decio, he ay pe his courfe at Pifa, at thea 2. He 
was author of many works in his own profeton, which are 
of little note to ae scieal reader. Bi 
DECIPHERING, or senor is the art of dif- 
covering and explaining what has been written in cipher. 
We have given a copious account of this art under the word 
complete f{pecimen of deciphering, in the 35th chapter of 
Gravefande’s ‘* Introductio ad Philofophiam,”’ printed at 
» Leyden in 37 737° No one plan of proceeding, however, 
Cars 
