, 
DIR 
‘may be fupported by oe er aol Me the latter is pers 
other- 
y will 
of the former; 0 
pendicularly under the centre of gra 
words, a bod 
wife the former will fall off or, in She 
afe when its live of direGion falls within that 
fand a 
bafe, and not otherwife is ied jee is = rally and ne- 
ceffarily attended to in all movementg either natural or arti- 
ficial; as will be | illu ft pel by the pleas -apolica- 
tions: A 3. 4, 1s an inclined body, ele a block of 
e, and His its cae of gravity. Hi D is 
lar let fall from its centre of gravity, and of c 
the centre Bae fond ity o 
ow, fince the line of direétion H D falls within the bafe 
AC, the body “will remain in that — but if an addi 
tional weight F B be laid upon it, the centre of gravity of 
the whole will be at I, and the line of pare 10 will fall 
without the bafe, in confequence of which the whole com- 
pound body AG will fall ee «© Hence (Mr. ees on 
seusitaen ne aaal the Paracel of people’s rifing haftily in 
oach or boat when it is likely to overfet 5 for by that means 
they nile the cnntre ae gravity fo far as to endanger throw 
ing it quite out of the bafe; and if they do, they overfet the 
— effeftually : whereas, had they clapt down to the a 
tom, they asi have brought the line of direétion, and co 
fequently the centre of gravity, farther hes the bafe, and 
by that means might have faved themfe 
This likewife fhews the impropriety o of building high car- 
— the very high pusetous: that were in fafhion a 
few y 
If attentively confidered, the slicks motion of the body 
of an animal will be eine to oe bet a proper regula- 
tion of che line of dire e line of direGtion 
falls within our feet ; that i ie, ‘within _ bate which is formed 
by our feet, we ftand, an firmly when that line falls in 
the very middle of that ie, ; but we inftantly begin to fall 
the moment in which the line of direction goes beyond that 
bafe. 
fufpeGted experience, inftru ufe 
thods and thofe po a whic either maintain our necef- 
fary pofition, or reftor n loft. When we rile from a 
chair, we bend our oie ae. by which means the line 
of direction falls forward beyond our feet, which obliges us 
ans fo abd whe 
ckward when he carries 
— on one fide when he carries a weight, 
as a pail of water, &c. on the oppofite fide. Inw alking, a 
man firft ana hie hindmott leg and foot nearly ftraight, 
and at the fame time bends the knee of his fore-leg a little ; 
by this means his body is thruft forward, ard the line o 
agar is centre of gravity falls beyond the fore-foot, 
a which . scrouet his fall would enfue, but he prevents it by 
ir 
he thrufts himfelf forward by extending the le 
the ge till the “ ies direQtio 
his fore-foot, when he 
the other foot, and fo forth. 
In the fituation of bodies of all forts this general prin« 
ciple muft be attended to; namely, that the broader the bafe 
eg which is en 
n be advanced beyon 
n pr pane his fall - ae 
to the fide of it, the more 
body be overthrown ; for in this cafe the flighteft change of 
pofition will throw the line of dire€tion quite out of the bafe. 
ence it follows, that a globular body is eafily rolled upon 
L 
DIR 
a plain = furface, and that it is extremely difficult 
to let an egg n one end, or any other pointed body 
ftand upon its 
We thall, ay cbr, that in cafe of bodies placed upon 
inclined planes, a body will flide sah — plane, when its 
line of direGtion falls iin its bafe, b 
body will fail down, or ie when its ine of direétion falla 
without i ie bea asin fig. 
IRE Angle ae that asd cata between 
the ne : oi of two confpiring po 
Direction, Quaniity of, is ufed for the “produd of the 
velocity of the common = — gravity ina fyftem of 
bodies, by the ty of their m 
n the collifion of bodies, the cami) of direétion is the 
fae jesse end after ney se ulfe. — nouilli, Difcours fur 
le Mov Ope iit. p. 32, and 56. 
ics Chamber, § ip tne. See CHAMBER. 
Direction, Number of, 1 
ECT ; 
the original plane 
direGing line. 
There is a plane which is at the — time perpendicular 
ia the original plane, to the plane of the picture, to the 
nifhing plane, and ‘the direct 
vertical plane, and it ts inte 
is called by fome se ee the diteBor 0 the eye. It is 
taken as the height of the eye a ee original plane. 
The point in which i ieee interiees the directing 
line is called the flation 
DIRECTIVE Property “of the Magnet, is the pow 
which the magnet magnetized body, has of signal 
in the magnetic mes ; provided it be left at liberty, or be 
fo fufpended as to be able to move itfelf with os 
~The magnetic aly in London is inclined by abou 
below the horiz i 
which it ae ee the horizon at an an 
from the north point of it towards the weft. See M 
NETISM, ee , and Diprins Needle. 
DIRECTLY, in Geometry 3 we fay, two lines lie direAly 
oo each other, when they are parts of the fame right 
with the directing plane, is called the 
AG 
dade aly ; park is faid to ftrike, or impinge dire€tly 
se another, t ftrike in a right line perpendicular to 
the point of c aN 
A fphere, aly ftrikes dire@ly againft another 
when the line of direGion paffes through both their centres. 
See Percussion. 
D TOR, in Commercial Polity, a perfon who has 
the management of the affairs of a trading company: thus 
we fay the direftors of the inde company, South-{fea coms 
pany, ae si Ban 
of the creditors, to infpe 
and to procure as ae as poffible, mmon methods o 
juftice, the payment of each peters debt. See As- 
SIGNEES. 
Direcrors-General of the five great farms ie the ie 
and aids, &c. in France, are chief ccmmiffioner 
» who 
the direétion of ay a“ each in the aries sppoineed 
by the general farm 
Drrecror, in ae ery, is a grooved inftrument to con- 
du& the furgeon’s knife in feveral operations, which wouid 
otherwife endanger his cutting the fubjacent parts. Di- 
rectors are ufually made of oa or filver; and they vary 
4 in 
