DEB 
DEC 
any other thing, but he never heard their 
noise except in or near paper. As to 
their noise, the same person is in doubt 
whether it is made with their heads, or ra- 
ther snouts, against the paper ; or whether 
it is not made after some such manner as 
grasshoppers and crickets make their noise, 
lie inclines to the former opinion. The rea- 
.son of his doubt is, that he observed the ani- 
mal’s body to shake and give a jerk at every 
beat, but he could scarcely perceive any part 
of its body to touch the paper. But its body 
is so small and near the paper, and its motion 
in ticking so quick, that lie thinks it might 
"be, yet he did not perceive it. The tick-' 
ing, as in the other, he judges to be a- wooing 
act; as having observed another, after much 
■ beating, come and make offers to the beat- 
ing insect ; who, after some offers, Ielt off 
beating, and got upon the back of the other. 
When they were joined he left off again; 
and they continued some hours joined tail to 
tail, like dog and bitch in coition. Whether 
or not this insect changes its shape, and 
becomes another animal, he cannot say ; 
i though he has some cause to suspect that it 
! becomes a sort of fly. It is at first a minute 
| white egg, much smaller than the nits of 
: lice ; though the insect is nearly as big as a 
! louse. In March it is hatched, and creeps 
( about with its shell on. When it first leaves 
! its shell, it is even smaller than its egg ; 
though that is scarce discernible without a 
microscope. In this state it is perfectly 
like the mites in cheese. From the mile- 
state they grow gradually to their mature 
perfect state. When they become' like the 
old ones, they are at first very small, but 
run about much more swiftly than before. 
DE BENE ESSE, in law signification, is 
to accept or allow a thing as well done for 
the present: thus judges frequently take bail, 
and declarations are frequently delivered, de 
bene esse, or conditionally, until special or 
i, common bail be filed. 
DEBENTURE, is a certificate delivered 
( at the custom-house, when the exporter of 
j any goods or merchandize has complied with 
the regulations prescribed by certain acts of 
parliament, in consequence of which he is 
> entitled to a bounty or drawback on the ex- 
portation. Stealing debentures was made 
felony by 2 Geo. II. chap. 25. s. 3. 1 
DEBET ET DETIN ET, are Latin 
I words used in the bringing of writs and ac- 
i tions. And an action shall always be in the 
j debet et detinet, when he who makes a bar- 
[ gain or contract, or lends money to another, 
| or he to whom a bond is made, brings the 
| action against him who is the bounden 
party to the contract or bargain. 
DEBET ET SOLE' T. If a man sues to 
i recover any right by writ, whereof his an- 
j cestor was disseised by the tenant or his an- 
ti cestor, then he uses only the word debet in 
|. his writ ; because solet is improper, as his 
ancestor was disseised, and the custom dis- 
| continued : but if he sues for any thing that is 
now first of all denied, then he uses both 
these words debet et solet ; because his an- 
; cestor before him, and he himself usually, en- 
joyed the thing sued for. 
DEBT, a sum due from one person to 
another, in consequence of work done, goods 
delivered, or money or other value, for 
which reimbursement has not been made. 
T he non-payment in these cases is an injury. 
DEG 
for which the proper remedy is by action of 
debt, to compel the performance of the con- 
tract, and recover the special sum due. 4 
Co. 90. 
Actions of debt are now seldom brought 
but upon special contracts under seal, where- 
in the sum due is clearly and precisely ex- 
pressed : for in case of such an action upon 
simple contract, the plaintiff labours under 
two difficulties ; first, the defendant has here 
the same advantage as in an action of deti- 
nue, that of waging his law, namely, purging 
himself of the debt by oath, if he thinks pro- 
per ; secondly, in an action of debt, the 
plaintiff must recover the whole delpt he 
claims, or nothing at all. For the debt is 
one single cause of action, fixed and deter- 
mined : but in an action upon the case, or 
what is called an indebitatus assumpsit, 
which is not brought to compel a specific 
performance of the contract, but to recover 
damages for its non-performance, these da- 
mages are in their nature indeterminate, 
and will therefore adapt and proportion 
themselves to the truth of the case which 
shall be proved, without being confined to 
the precise demand stated in the declaration. 
3 Black. 154. 
Debt, national. See National Debt. 
DEB 1 OR. The gaoler shall not put, 
keep, or lodge, prisoners for debt, and felons, 
together in one room or chamber, on pain 
of lorleiting his office, and treble damages to 
the party grieved. 22 and 23 C. II. c. 2tk But 
every gaoler ought to keep such prisoner in 
sale and close custody ; safe, that he cannot 
escape ; and close, without conference with 
others, or intelligence of things abroad. 
Dalt. c. 170. 
DECACITORDON, in antiquity, a mu- 
sical instrument w ith ten strings, called by 
the Hebrews hasur ; being almost the same 
as our harp, of a triangular figure, with a 
hollow belly, and sounding from the lower part. 
DECAGON, in geometry, a plane figure 
with len sides and ten angles : it is called a 
regular decagon, when all the sides and 
angles are equal. 
If we suppose the radius of a circle to be 
r, then will or ■ ^ ° ■■ 1 • X r, be 
the ride of a decagon inscribed in that 
ciE’f?. Again, supposing the side of a de- 
cagon to be 1, the area will be 8.69; whence 
as 1 to 8.69, so is the square of a side of any 
given decagon to the area of that decagon. 
DECAL! 1 RON, in antiquity, a coin 
equivalent to 1 0|. Attic oboli. 
DECANDRlA, in the Linnaean system of 
botany, a class of plants, the great charac- 
teristic of which is, that they have herma- 
phrodite flowers, with ten stamina in each. 
DECAPROTf, decemprimi, in Roman 
antiquity, officers for gathering the tributes 
and taxes. The decaproti were also obliged 
to pay for the dead ; or to answer to the em- 
peror tor the quota parts of such as died, 
out of their own estates. 
DECEI T is an offence both by common 
law and by statute. All practices of de- 
frauding, or endeavouring to defraud, another 
of his right, are punishable by line and im- 
prisonment, and sometimes pillory, &c. and 
there is a writ ailed deceptione, that lies 
lor one who receives injury or damage, Ac. 
A writ of deceit lies against attorneys lor loss- 
4g3 
es sustained by their default; also against 
bakers, brewers, and artificers, for not selling 
good commodities, or refusing to perform a 
bargain : in all which cases, they are, by 
statute, liable to penalties in proportion to 
their offence. 
DECEMPEDA, in antiquity, a rule 
or rod divided into ten feet, each of which 
was subdivided into inches, and those into 
digits; used in measuring of laiui. and by 
architects in giving the proper cmnensioiis 
and proport ions to the parts of their buildings. 
DECEMVIRI, in Roman antiquity, ten 
magistrates chosen annually at Rome, to go- 
vern the commonwealth instead of consuls, 
with an absolute power'to draw up and make 
laws for the people. One of the decemviri 
had all the ensigns and honours of the func- 
tion, and the rest had the like in their tui'n, 
during the year of their decemvirate. In 
them was vested all the legislative authority 
ever enjoyed by the kings, or after them by 
the consuls. The decemviri drew up the 
laws of the twelve tables, thence called 
leges decemvirales, which were the whole 
of the Roman law tor a considerable time. 
DECENNARY, was "originally a district 
of ten men with their families, the inhabitants 
whereof living together, were sureties or 
pledges for each others’ good behaviour. 
See Constable. 
DECEPTIONE, a writ that lies properly 
against him who deceitfully does any thing 
in the name of another, for one that receives 
damage or hurt thereby. 
DECIDUOUS, an appellation chiefly 
used in respect to plants : thus, the calyx or 
cup of a flower is said to be deciduous, 
when it falls along with the flower-petals ; 
and, on the contrary, it is called permanent, 
when it remains after they are fallen. Again, 
deciduous leaves are those which fall in au- 
tumn ; in contradistinction to those of the 
evergreens, which remain all the winter. 
DECIES TANTUM, a writ which lies 
against a juror who has taken money for 
giving his verdict ; called so of the effect, 
because it is to recover ten times as much 
as he took. Stat. 98 Edw. III. e. 12 and 13. 
Decies tantum lies against sheriffs taking 
a reward for arraying a panliel. 1 1 IT. VL 
c. 14. See Vin. Abr. 378 and 382. 
DECIMAL Arithmetic, the art of 
computing by decimal fractions. See Arith- 
metic. 
DECK of a ship, is a planked floor from 
stem to stern, upon which the guns lie, and 
where the men walk to and fro. Great ships 
have three decks, first, second, and third, 
beginning to count from the lowermost. 
Hall-deck reaches from the main-mast to 
the stem of the ship. Quarter-deck is that 
aloft the steerage, reaching to the round 
house. Flush-deck is that which lies even 
in a right line fore and aft, from stem to stern. 
A rope-deck is made of cordages, interwoven 
and stretched over a vessel, through which 
it is easy to annoy an enemy who comes to 
board her. They are little used but by 
small vessels, to defend them from privaees. 
See Shipbuilding. 
DECLARAT ION, an exposure in writ- 
ing, of the grief and complaint of the de- 
mandant, or plaintiff, against the defendant 
or tenant, wherein he is supposed to have 
done some wrong. And this ought to be 
plain and certain, because it both impeaches 
