DES 
neceflary ane i dled aes have received pay, or fome al- 
owance i accoutrements, or oo fa 
‘fac mul allo ie decidedly proved by fome overt act ; f{ 
abfconding, going o 
however trivial, required the par 
known intention to quit the fervice piel irs ~But if a 
foldier be abfent for many days, or weeks, through ilinefs ; 
‘or if he be intoxicated, or confined for debt, fo that he could 
empt him ion; though in cafe 
of inebriety he would receive the punifhment incurred by 
that trefpa a 
_ Officers who defert are, in almofl every fervice, executed : 
fuch, cael is undoubtedly very proper, on account of the 
jill effets infeparable from the bad example of fuperiors. 
“The Britifh 7 and navy however can fe bisa an 
exemption from this crime ; which uld wifh were equally 
unknown among the fubordinate ranks, wherein i iti is, indeed, 
too commonly practifed. 
Our military code infli&ts “ death, or fuch other punith- 
ment as may be adjudged by a a general court-martial,’’? on 
deferters ; whereby a proper difcretionary power is left for 
_the exercife of pak in —— 
cumiftance 
im 
us we certainly fhou'ld make a wide diftin@tion between 
ldier, who, in confequence of bribery, or of difcontent, 
either went over to the rg hk or sae rg to do.fo, or 
an 
ous practice of receivin tn fever. 
diferent regiments, or thips, affuredly cannot find any honeft 
Such j is the deteftation in which dclerere are held in every 
part of the world, that we invariably find them haley to 
‘death. Even the uncivilized nations of America and Africa 
embody, 
aly coon tle to the military code ; what 
‘rank, or fituation in Lee life, to all the penalties incurre 
by eae to, or difobedience of, martia 
wever : pedien the moft Arid r eaiseoaam may be 
time of actual war, yet in times of profound peace, a little 
relaxation a ape rigor would not, one fhould hope, fays 
judge -Blackftone, be produétive of much inconvenience. 
ee this principle, though -by our ftanding laws (flat. 
18 Hen. VI. c. 19. 2 and .c. 2.), ftill_re- 
maining in force, though not attended to, defertion in time 
made felo ony, without benefit of clergy, and the = 
fence 18 eastie by a jury and before juftices at the commo 
; 3 yet by our militia laws, a much lighte Soa lene 18 
the R 
aé& makes no fuch diftinétion; for defertion, &c. is punifh- 
able ae death pai hs a cele oe think pronee 
See 7 vt Mart 
the manner “of _Punihing Geen among the an- 
au. fee TransF FUG 
DES. 
DE'SERTINES, in Geography, a inal town of France, 
in the a sore of Mgyenne ; 15 miles north-weft of the 
town of Mayenne. 
DESESPOIR, or Despatr, Cape, a cape of America, 
on the northern fide of Chaleur bay, about three leagues 
weft-fouth-weft of Bonaventure ifland. Here is a large 
cod-ffhery. 
DESHABILLE, compounded of the privative da and 
hela to drefs one’s felf, a French term, naturalized of 
late. It ea ga a night-gown, and other, fee 
faries, made ufe of in dreffing or undr effing. 
DESHA oe Fr. from de and Sachen. to cufy in Heral- 
dry, is when a beat has its limbs feparated from the body, 
fo as they ftill remain on the efcutcheon, with only a {mall 
feparation from their natural places. 
DESICCATION, in Chemificy is the e& of reducing 
any fubftance to — drynefs, and is an operation the ac- 
curacy of whic very gr reat importance, as the eftima- 
tion of weizhts cc uantities is materially affeted by it. 
Some of the heats ufually employed by chemilts for defic- 
— may be here mentioned. 
1. Very gentle heat. Such as, at example, that of an in- 
habited chamber, or the ie fub 
ftances are decompofe 
fome of the more powerful igen ting compounds expiode. 
es range of this heat may be taken at about mene 60° 
0 70°, 
2. Solar or moderate artificial heat.—The hea t of the 
fan’ $ rays, when not concentrated by wae fan ‘feldom 
exceeds 120°, and is often reforted to by 8. 
temperature, ‘which would be denominated wei le ane 
heat, may be at about 100° to and ts em- 
ployed for igi i many ve stake as one anes 
tions. ae ther fermentation nor putrefaction go on at this 
temperate 
3. It is fen neceffary to fix fome maximum of deficca- 
tion between 120° and 212° to fulfill particular a del 
fuch % for example, ‘to avoid the coagulation of album 
or to avoid the evaporation of any portion of the fu bitance 
itfelf ack is to be dried. Thus, for example, peor of 
eae a parts with a portion of its a as well as its wa- 
ter, at a heat, above 180°, and the fuccinate are partially 
decompile! from the like caufe. 
the point of deficcation fhould. be fteadily kept up, which 
may often be sions! effected by a flow-burning lamp, 
| a a appara 
heat of boilie ng water, or the mene ‘heat, as 
it is delle termed.—This temperature is, on the whole, 
that which is er frequently ufed by chemitts, eee con- 
veniently applied, and if properly caieoed is very fteady: and 
uniform, The heat of boiling water itfelf is 212°, but any 
fubftance contained in a veffel only immerfed in boiling wa- 
ter, or its vapour, falls fhort of this temperature a few de- 
owever, by faturating the water with falt, its 
is fo much raifed, that it is able to impart a 
f{ubftance with which it may be united ; but this is not cor- 
ret, for all the falts that have any affinity with this fluid 
a being d 
hi 
will 
ighe er ee “Ia general it pane "from half an hour to an 
3P2 hour 
