DEG. DEG 
of lord, en ue or gentleman, or any coat of arms, peau cal ieee is in itfelf deftitute of divifions; the 
e dec 
for ever after gmentatidn, and reafe of natural powers, or forces, 
t has been “ainianed that the king may degrade a peer; ae (as far as we can ee) ss aan s sk So 
ut it appears from later authorities, that he cannot be de- accumulations, or diminutions of fuch whereir 
graded but by ss oF parliament. natural fteps or divifions can be difecrnei. Thus the foale 
As to ecclefiaftics, we have an inftance of degradation of heat rifes progreflively ; the fcale of moifture in the air, 
fere condemnation to death, in the eighth century, at which is indicated by the hygrometer, varies uninterrupted- 
flantinople. It isin the perfon of the hae Confer ly from the loweft to the higheft ftate of faturation ; and fo 
tine, whom Conftantine ted. forth. Yet, notwithftanding the clofe continuation of thofe 
He was made to afcend the ambo 5 ; and the ae Nice. progreffions, we have degrees of a circle, degrees of heat, 
tas fent fome of his bifhops to trip him of the pallium, and degrees of moifture, &c. Thefe degrees then only denote 
anathematized him: then they made him go outof the clark {mali accumulations of thofe powers, or certain aliquot parte 
baclowarde. of a given extenfion, which have been agreed upon by vari- 
But we have a much later inftance in our own hi iftory : ous perfons, and have been adopted for the purpofe of un- 
when Cranmer, archbifhop of Canterbury, was degraded, by derftanding each other ; or for exprefling, without circum- 
a of queen Mary, they dreffe - im in a ar locution, certain liad thofe powers, or certain parts of 
only o of canvas, put a mitre on hi » and t a given circular 
petal ftaff in his hand; and in a attire thewed him oe The weight of nen the intenfity of gn the quantity 
oh | ns Which done ee {tripped him again piece by of reCtilineal geometrical exte SH 10th; &c. are, by commor 
fe not 
“At prefent they do not ftand fo much on the ceremony of — called degrees, Thus the waghe of bodies are de- 
degradation, in order to the putting of a prieft todeath; by noted by pounds, ounces, grains, &c.; reCilineal Sees 
reafen of the delays and difficulties that it would occafion. is forte d by miles, feet, inches, and fo on. In ‘geometry 
Pope Boniface pronounced, that fix bifhops were required and in n trigonom etry, the appellation of degrees has ee ap- 
to degrade a prieft ; but the difficulty of affembling fo many plied to angular magnitude ; er is meafured by the por- 
bifhops, rendered the punifament friquertly impracti- tion of the circumference of a circle, whofe centre coincides 
ee with the vertex of the angle, and part hofe circum fers 
With us, a prieft, after having been delivered to his ordi- ence is contained between the fides or legs of the fame angle 
nary, if he cannot purge himfelf of the crime laid at his The magnitude or quantity of angles is reckon de- 
door, has his gown, and other robes, itri ipped over his ears grees; becaufe the curvature of the circle being uniform in 
by the common hangman; by which he is declared divefted all its parts, equal angles at the centre are fubtended by 
d . : 
of his orders. equal arcs, and by fimiiar arcs in peripheries of different 
It is decided, aie that degradation does not efface diameters. This denomination of degrees is alfo applied to 
the piel chara denote the intenfity of heat, the quantity of aerial moifture, 
ation only "feems to differ from depofition ina few and occafionaliy, or lefs frequently, to fome other na- 
hon neue eremonies; which cuftom has added thereta. tural powers. 
Accordingly in the bufinefs of a archbifhop o The circumference of a circle, whatever the fize of it may 
Rheims, fentenced in the council of Orleans, in gg1, it w be, is. fuppofed to be divided into 360 equal parts, called 
deliberated, what form they fhould follow i in the depo ition ; degrees 3 hence, inltead of faying that a certain angle com- 
whether that of the canons, that is, imple depofition ; or prehends the tenth part of the circumference of a circle, we 
that of cuitom, viz. degradation. And it was declared, call it an angle of 36 degrees ; 36 being exaftly the tenth 
that he fhould fourendes the ring, paftoral ftaff, and pallium; part of 360. Alfo an angle, which comprehends the 360th 
off, 
but that his rebes fhould net be torn ay of the circumference of a circle, is called an angie of 
In effeét, ses canons prefcribe no more than a mere read- one degree, and fo of the reft. But as che angle might 
ing of the fen It is the reft, therefore, added there- aries with any of the degrees, i each degree was 
to by cee VIZ. e Gposnae off the e ornaments, and the fuppofed to be divided into €o equal parts, called sp ie 
aie - pontifical vetlments, that properly conftitutes alfo each minute was fuppofed to be Gea a: o 60 equal 
degradat parts, called /econds ; each fecond into 60 equal parts, called 
Decarap vere in Painting, oo es the oe and thir s, and fo on. en if an angle does not coincide with 
rendering dim and confufed the appearance of diftant ob- sey of the degrees, it may coincide with one of the minutes, 
jects in a Jandfcape, fo that ve fhail appear there, as ae r of the feconds, &c. 3 it may, for inftance, be equal to 11 
would do to an eye placed at that diftance from them. See eae 15 minute, 3 feconds, and 45 thirds. For the 
PERSPECTIVE. fake of brevity, inftead of the words, the number of degrees 
DEGRA DE ED, in Herakiry. A crofs degraded, is a is marked by alittle ° fet over the figure, a little on the right 
crofs marked, or divided into fteps at each end, diminifhing hand fide of it ; the number of m auiutes is e i 
as they afcend towards the middle, or centre; by the French comma in the fame place, the number of feconds with 
ealled perronnée. See Cross. o fuch commas, the third with three, &c. Therefore 
DEGREE, in Algebra, denotes the higheft power of the ae proper or cuttomary mode of writing the abeve-men- 
unknowr quantity in an equation, viz. the equation is faid tioned angle is thus, 11° 15’ 3” 45’". But fince the in- 
to be fimple or of the firft degree, when it ene only the ftruments made for the purpofe of mezfuring angles are not 
unknown quantity inits fimpleft flate; itis faid tobe of the calculated to fhew divifions {maller than nia therefore 
fecond degree, when the fquare of the unknown quantity the prefent more ufual way of expreffing angles, is by writ- 
is the highett power of i quantity contained: in it; when ing degrees, minutes, aaa and decimals ors a ee. as, 
that h:gheft power is the cube of the unknown quantity, the for aan 82° 13° 40".349., 
¢quation is faid to be of the third order, and fo forth. may be naa inquired how the circle came to be 
Es, in General, are parts of a quantity, which is divided into 360 degrees, in preference to any other number 
arbitrarily divided into a certain number of thofe parts. of parts? but in anfwer to this we can only offer a con« 
jecture, 
