SIS 
D I D 
D I D 
DI D 
mers for that phasis or # appearance of the': 
moon, wherein she is bisected, or shews just 
half her disk. In this situation the moon is 
said to be in a quadrate aspect, or to be in 
her quadrature. 
Dichotomy. See Botany. 
DICKSON I A, a genus of the class and 
order cryptogamia Alices. There are two 
species, one of which is supposed to be the 
same with the baromets or Scythian iamb. 
DICTAMNUS, white dittany, or fraxi- 
nella, a genus of the monog vnia order, in the 
decandria class of plants, and in the natural 
method ranking under the 26th order, mul- 
tisiliqiue. The calyx is pentuphyllous ; the 
petals are five and patulous ; the hlaments 
sprinkled with glandulous points; the cap- 
sules live, coalited. There are two species. 
The dalbus, or fraxinella, has thick, pene- 
trating, perennial roots, collected into a head 
at top, sending up evect stalks annually, two 
or three feet high, garnished with pinnated 
alternate leaves, of three or four pair of ob- 
long stiff lobes, terminated by an odd one ; 
and the stalks crowned by long, pyramidal, 
loose spikes of liowers, of white, red, and 
purple colours. They arc very ornamental 
plants, and succeed in any of the common 
borders. 
DICTATOR, in the policy of the antient 
Romans, a magistrate invested with sovereign 
and even arbitrary power. He had power 
of life and death ; also to raise or disband 
troops, make war or peace, and that without 
the consent either of the senate or people, or 
being accountable for his proceedings. He 
was elected by one of the consuls in the 
night-time on the frontiers of the common- 
wealth, and no where else ; and the ordinary 
duration of his office was only lor six months, 
during which time all other magistracies 
ceased, the tribuneship excepted. When- 
ever he appeared in public, he was attended 
In 24 lictors, or double the number allowed 
a' consul. However, notwithstanding all this 
power, he could not go out of Italy, non even 
ride on horseback during a march, without 
leave from the people. I his office was ac- 
counted the safeguard of the commonwealth 
for 400 years together, till Sylla and Csesar, 
by assuming the title of perpetual dictators, 
converted it into tyranny, and rendered the 
very name odious. 
DIDELPHIS, opossum, a genus of qua- 
drupeds of the order of fera. The generic 
character is : front teeth small, rounded ; su- 
perior ten, the two middle ones longer; infe- 
rior eight, the two middle ones broader and 
very short ; canine teeth long ; grinders den- 
ticulated; tongue ciliated with papillae; ab- 
dominal pouch, in most species, containing 
the teats. 
The animals of this highly singular genus 
first became known to naturalists on the dis- 
cover)' of the western continent, and most 
justly excited the admiration of the philoso- 
phic" world, by the strange, and, till then, 
unheard-of, contrivance of nature for the 
protection and preservation of the young ; 
which, instead of being exposed, like other 
animals, during their state of helpless imbe- 
cility, to the casualties incident to that pe- 
riod", were securely concealed in a pouch or 
receptacle situated under the body of the 
parent. 
The opossums were long supposed to he 
peculiar to America; but later discoveries 
have evinced that several species, unknown 
to America, exist in other parts of the globe. 
The following are the most remarkable spe- 
cies : 
1. Didelphis Virginiana, or Virginian opos- 
sum. This, which seems to have been the 
species first discovered in America, is not 
much inferior in size to a cat, but is of a 
thicker form, owing to the length and up- 
right growth of the fur. The general mea- 
sure seems to be about one foot four inciies 
from the nose to the tail, which is commonly 
about a foot or thirteen inches long. It is 
an animal of an inelegant aspect ; having a 
long sharpened face, and very wide mouth, 
armed with very numerous sharp teeth : the 
tail is blackish at its origin, and covered with 
longish hair ; but from that part to the end is 
naked, and covered with a scaly skin, the di- 
visions of which are marked in such a man- 
ner as to give the tail very much the appear- 
ance of a whitish snake: it is strongly pre- 
hensile, or possessed of the power of coiling, 
like those of several monkeys, round any ob- 
ject from which the animal pleases to suspend 
itself. Its general colour is a dingy yellow- 
ish white; the legs blackish; the belly is 
white, and its lower part, in the female, is 
furnished with a large cavity or receptacle, 
which can be opened and closed at pleasure : 
in this are situated the teats ; and in it the 
young, immediately after birth, are either 
placed bv the parent animal, or introduce 
themselves; for this is one of those particu- 
lars in natural history which hitherto seem 
to have eluded investigation : it is, however, 
more than probable that the parent Herself 
places them there; since, even long after 
their residence in it, they are void of hair, 
and resemble foetuses or embryos, strongly 
adhering to the teats. When they have at- 
tained sufficient growth and strength, they 
emerge, after which they occasionally take 
refuge in the same receptacle on the appear- 
ance of any danger, and are carried about 
bv the parent. This is the practice with 
most of the opossum tribe ; but there are two 
species which have no ventral pouch for the 
reception of their young, but a kind of de- 
pression or furrow in its stead. 
When imported into Britain, the opossums 
have never been known to breed ; the late 
Mr. John Hunter having frequently procured 
several for this purpose, but could by no 
means succeed in his endeavours to ascertain 
the particulars of their history in this respect. 
The kangaroo however, which is an example 
of a similar contrivance of nature, has afford- 
ed opportunities of illustrating the subject 
more satisfactorily. 
The Virginian opossum, like all the other 
American species, is a carnivorous animal, 
and preys on poultry, small birds, tkc. in the 
manner of the European polecat: it is also 
frugivorous, eating several kinds of roots, 
fruits, &c. It is of a gentle disposition, and 
may easily be tamed; but, like some other 
species, it has a disagreeable smell : its voice 
is a sort of grunting squeak ; its pace in run- 
ning is not swift, but it is very expert in 
climbing trees, and readily passes, by means 
of its clinging tail, from bough to bough, in 
the manner of a monkey. The female pro- 
duces four or five at a birth, and has the 
power of closing the pouch so strongly as to 
make it extremely difficult to open it by the 
hand ; nor will any torture compel the ani- 
mal to loosen it. This power of strongly | 
closing the pouch is performed by certain i 
bones and muscles which nature has pro- 
vided for that purpose. These were ob- . 
served and described by the celebrated Cow- 
per, in the last century, as also by Dr. Ty-j 
son. The female, when ready to produce j 
her young, is said to make herself a nest of 
dry grass, in some bush, near the root of a 
tree. See Plate Nat. Hist. tig. 165. 
2. Didelphis marsupialis, or Molucca 
opossum. This, which is a larger species! 
than the former, is of a thinner or more slen-j 
der habit than the Virginian opossum, with 
the snout longer, and the mouth wider in pro- 
portion. The count de Button, however, 
considers it as tire same species, and accuses] 
Seba of negligence or ignorance in repre- 
senting it as a native of the East Indies, con-3 
tending that all the animals of this genus arci 
natives of the New World. Subsequent dis- 
coveries, however, have amply justified Se- 
ba’s account of its residence, specimens hav-j 
ingbeen frequently imported from the Indian 
islands, &c. Its colour is a moderately deep 
brown, paler beneath ; the ears are moderate- 
ly large, and somewhat longer in proportion! 
than in the Virginian opossum, or not of so 
rounded a form; the tail nearly similar id 
that of the Virginian ; but the superior size 
and thinner form both of body and limbs, t.o-1 
gather with its much darker colour, suffi- 
ciently distinguish it, even at first sight, from 
the former species. It is reckoned a delicate 
food, and is said to be often seen at the tables 
of the great in India, where it is reared with 
rabbits. 
3. Didelphis brachyura, or short-tailed 
opossum. This is one of the smaller species, 
and is said seldom to exceed the length of 
five inches from nose to tail, and in gene rail 
to be somewhat smaller than this ; and the 
tail scarcely ever exceeds the length of two 
inches. Its colour is a reddish-brown on the 
upper parts, and whitish beneath ; it is desti- 
tute of an abdominal pouch, the young fast- 
ening themselves to the teats. The fur of 1 
this animal is very soft and elegant ; the tail 
is very thick at the base, and gradually ta- 
pers to the end. It is a native of S. America. 
4. Didelphis orientalis, or phalanger. The 
phalanger is of the size of a very large rat, 
measuring about nine inches from nose to 
tail, and the tail measures ten inches. It is a 
native of the Molucca islands, and is sup- 
posed to be unknown in America, though the 
count de Butfon informs us that the speci- 
mens which he examined were transmitted to 
him under the name of rats of Surinam. The 
colour of the phalanger is rufous grey on the 
upper part, and yellowish white beneath, and 
along the top of the head and the back runs 
a blackish line : the tail is hairy for about two 
inches and a half from the base, and the red 
mainder is naked. Its voice is said to re- 
semb'e that of a squirrel, and it often assumes 
the attitude of a squirrel when feeding. The 
muzzle is rather thick; the ears short and co- 
vered with hair: in the upper jaw are eight 
cutting teeth, and two in the lower. 
5. Didelphis philander. The philander is 
about the size of a large rat ; the head is large, 
the snout thick, and the ears rounded and 
upright; the tail is longer than the body, and 
is hairy for some little distance from the base, 
the remainder being naked, and towards the 
end prehensile. The length of the body is 
