DAY 
complication of pulleys/; the former of which 
is called the fish-hook, and the latter the fish- 
tackle. The davit, therefore, according to 
the sea-phrase, is employed to lish the an- 
chor; which being previously catted, the 
fish-hook is fastened upon its dukes ; and the 
efforts of the tackle being transmitted to the 
hook by means of the dsh-pendant, it draws 
up that part of the anchor sufficiently high 
upon the bow to fasten it, which is done by 
the shank-painter. There is also a davit of a 
smaller kind occasionally fixed in the long- 
boat, and employed to weigh the anchor. 
DAY, according to the most natural and 
obvious sense of the word, signifies that space 
of time during which it continues to be light ; 
in contradistinction to night, being that par- 
tition of time wherein it is dark; but the 
space of time in which it is light, being some- 
what vague and indeterminate, the time be- 
tween the rising and setting of the sun is 
usually looked on as the day, and the time 
which lapses from its setting to its rising again 
the night. 
The word day is often taken in a larger 
sense, so as to include the night also ; or to 
denote the time of a whole apparent revolu- 
tion of the sun round the earth, in whic h sense 
it is called by some a natural day, and by 
others an artificial one: but to avoid confu- 
sion it is usual. to call it in the former sense 
simple the day, and in the latter a nychthe- 
meron, by which term that acceptation of it is 
aptly denoted, as it implies both day and night. 
The nychthemeron is divided into 24 parts, 
called hours : which are of two sorts ; equal, 
and unequal or temporary. 
Different nations begin their day at a dif- 
ferent hour: thus the Egyptians began their 
day at midnight, from whom Hipparchus in- 
troduced that way of reckoning into astro- 
nomy ; and Copernipus and others have fol- 
lowed him: but the greater part of astrono- 
mers reckon the day begun at noon, and so 
count 24 hours, till the noon of the next 
day ; and not twice twelve, according to the 
vulgar computation. The method of begin- 
ning the day at midnight prevails also in 
Creat Britain, France, Spain, and most parts 
of Europe. The Babylonians began their 
day at sun-rising, reckoning the hour imme- 
diately before its rising again the 24th hour 
of the day, whence the hours reckoned in 
this way are called the Baby Ionic. In seve- 
ral parts of Germany, they begin their day 
at sun-setting, and reckon on till it sets next 
day, calling that the 24th hour: these are 
generally termed Italian hours. The Jews 
also began their nychthemeron at sun-setting; 
but then they divided it into twice twelve 
Fours, as we do; reckoning twelve for the 
day, be it long or short, and twelve for the 
night; so that their hours continually vary- 
ing with the day and night, the hours of the 
dav were longer than that of the night for 
one half-year, and the contrary the other ; 
whence their hours are called temporary : 
those at the time of the equinoxes became 
equal, because then those of the day and 
might are so. The Romans also reckoned 
their hours after this manner, as do the Turks 
a t this day. This kind of hours are called 
planetary, because the seven planets weie 
antiently looked upon as presiding over tire 
affairs of the world, and taking it by turns 
each of these hours, according to the iollow- 
jng order: Saturn first, then Jupiter, Mars, 
DEA 
the Sun, Venus, Mercury, and last of all the 
Moon; hence they denominated each day of 
the week from that planet whose turn it was 
to preside the first hour of tire nychthemeron. 
Thus assigning the first hour oi Saturday to 
Saturn, the second will fall to Jupiter, the 
third to Mars, and so the 22d of the same 
nychthemeron will fall to Saturn again ; and 
therefore the 23d to Jupiter, and the last to 
Mars : so that on the first hour of the next 
day it will fail to the Sun to preside ; and by 
the like manner of reckoning, the first hour 
of the next will fall to the moon; of the next, 
to Mars; of the next, to Mercury; of the 
next, to Venus: hence the days ol the week 
came to be distinguished by the Latin names 
of dies Saturni, Solis, Luna, Martis, Mer- 
curii, Jovis, and Veneris; and among us, by 
the names of Saturday, Sunday, Monday, &c. 
Day, in a legal sense, relates to the day oi 
appearance of parties, or the continuance of 
suits, where a day is given. In real actions 
there are common days, and special days 
given by the judges in an assise, &c. 
Days in bank, are days set down by sta- 
tute or order of the court, when wr is shall be 
returned, or when the party shall appear on 
the writ served. They say also, if a person 
is dismissed without day, he is finally dis- 
charged. 
Days of grace, are those granted by the 
court at the prayer of the defendant or plain- 
tiff, in whose delay it is. 
Days of grace-, in commerce, are a custo- 
mary number of days allowed for the pay- 
ment of a bill of exchange, &c. after the same 
becomes due. Three days of grace are al- 
lowed in England; ten in France and Dant- 
zic; eight at Naples; six at Venice, Am- 
sterdam, Rotterdam, and Antwerp; four at 
Frankfort; live at Leipsic; twelve at Ham- 
burgh; six in Portugal; fourteen in Spain; 
thirty in Genoa, &c. 
Day-light, in our law, the time after 
sun-rising and before sun-setting, being ac- 
counted part of the day, when the hundred is 
liable for any robberies committed within 
that time. 
DEACON, 3i*xo»o£, one of the three sa- 
cred orders of the Christian church. In its 
restrained ‘sense, it is taken for the third or- 
der of the clergy. 
In the Romish church it is the deacon’s of- 
fice to incense the officiating priest or pre- 
late ; to lay the corporal on the altar ; to re- 
ceive the paten or cup from the sub-deacon, 
and present them to the person officiating ; 
to incense the choir; to receive the pax from 
the officiating prelate, and carry it to the sub- 
deacon; and at the pontifical mass, when the 
bishop gives the blessing, to put the mitre on 
his head, and to take off the archbishop’s 
pall, and lay it on the altar. In England, the 
form of ordaining deacons declares that it is 
their office to assist the priest in the distribu- 
tion of the Holy communion ; in which, agree- 
ably to the practice of the antient church, 
they are confined to the administering of the 
wine to the communicants. A deacon with 
us is not capable of any ecclesiastical promo- 
tion ; yet he may be a chaplain to a family, 
eurate'to a benehced clergyman, or lecturer 
to a parish-church. He may be ordained at 
23 years of age, anno current e; but it is ex- 
pressly provided, that the bishop shall not 
ordain the same person a priest and deacon 
in the same day. 
DEA 4Rl 
DEACONESS, a female deacon, an order 
of women who had their distinct offices and. 
services in the primitive church. 
DEACON RY, diaconia, is also the name 
of the chapels and oratories in Rome, under 
the direction of the several cardinal deacons 
iii their respective quarters. Antiently they 
were seven in number ; as the deaconry oi 
St. Maria in the broad-way; the deaconry of 
St. Eustachio near the Pantheon, &e. an- 
swering to tiie seven regions of the city. 
They had hospitals annexed to them for the 
distribution of alms, and an administrator for 
temporal concerns, called the father of the 
deaconry, who was sometimes a priest and 
sometimes a layman. At present, there are 
14 of these deaconries, or hospitals, under the 
direction of as many cardinals. 
DEAD-men’s-eyes, in the sea-language, 
a kind of 'blocks with many holes in them., 
but no sheevers, by which the shrowds are 
fastened to the chains: the crow-feet reeve 
also through these holes; and, in some ships, 
the main-stays are set tawt in them; but 
then they have only one hole, through which 
the lanyards are passed several times. See 
Plate Miscel. rig. 32. 
Dead-reckon in g, in navigation, the cal- 
culation made of a ship’s place by means ot 
the compass and log ; the first serving to 
point out the course she sails on, and the 
other the distance run. From these two 
things given, the skilful mariner, making pro- 
per allowances for the variation ot the com- 
pass, lee-way, currents, &c. is enabled, with- 
out any observations of the sun or stars, to 
ascertain the ship’s place tolerably well. 
Dead-rising, among sailors, that part of 
a ship which lies aft, between the keel and 
the iloor-timbers, next adjoining to the stern- 
post, under the bread-room, in a ship ot war. 
Dead-ropes, on board a ship, such ropes 
as do not run in any block. 
Dead-water, at sea, the eddy-water just 
astern of a ship, so called because it does not 
pass away so swift as the water running by 
her sides does. They say that a ship makes 
much dead w T ater when she has a great eddy 
following her stern. 
DEADLY feud, in law, a profession of 
an irreconcilable hatred, till a person is re- 
venged even by the death of his adversary. 
This enmity was allowed in the old Saxon 
laws; for where any person was killed, if a 
pecuniary satisfaction was not made to the 
kindred of the slain, it was lawful for them to 
revenge themselves by arms on the murderer. 
DEADS, among miners, denotes the earth 
or other fossil substances which inclose the 
ore on every side. Hence, breaking up the 
deads is the removing these substances for 
the convenience of carrying on their work. 
DEAF, dumb, and blind : a man born 
deaf, dumb, and blind, is considered by the 
law as an idiot; he being supposed incapable 
of understanding, as not having those sense's 
which furnish the mind with ideas. Black. 
308. 
DEAFFORESTED, a term found in law- 
books, signifying that a place is discharged 
from being a forest, or freed from the forest-* 
laws. 
DEAFNESS, the state of a person v?!iq 
either wants the sense of hearing or has it. 
greatly impaired. ^ 
The causes of deafness are a cutting off the 
external ear, or an obstruction of the 
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