darning-needle 
The dragon-fly ; the devil's darning-needle. See 
draaon-fly. [U. S.] 
darning-stitch (dar'ning-stich), n. Astitch used 
in darning, imitating more or less closely the 
texture of the fabric darned. It is used both in 
mending and in decorative work. 
Darnis (diir'nis), . [NL.] 1. A genus of ho- 
mopterous hemipterous insects, of the family 
Membracidai, or referred to the family Cercopi- 
dte.2. A genus of butterflies, of the family 
Eryciniflce. 
darnixt, Same as dorniek. 
daroo-tree (da-ro'tre), n. The Ficus Sycomo- 
rus, or Egyptian sycamore. 
darra (dar'a), . Same as durra. 
darraignt, darraint, r. t. Same as deraignl. 
darrein (dar'an), a. [< OF. darrain, derrain, 
dererain, F. dial. (Rouchi) darrain = Pr. derei- 
ran, last, < ML. as if "deretramis (cf. F. dernier, < 
ML. as if *deretranari>is), < L. de, from, + retro, 
back: see retro- and dernier.'] In old law, last: 
as, darrein continuance; darrein presentment. 
The great charter of John likewise retains the three 
recognitions of Novel disseisin, Mort d'ancester, and 
Darrein presentment, to be heard in the quarterly coun- 
ty courts by the justices and four chosen knights. 
Stnbbs, Const. Hist., 1 164. 
darriba (dar'i-ba), n. A modern dry measure 
of Egypt, equal to about 16 Winchester bushels. 
darsist (dar'sis), n. [NL., < Gr. dapatf, excori- 
ation, < iipeiv, skill, flay, = AS. teran, E. tear 1 , 
q. v. Cf. derma, etc.] The removal of the skin 
from the subjacent tissues ; an abrasion of the 
skin. 
dart 1 (dart), w. [< ME. dart, < OF. dart, also 
dard, dar, F. dard = Pr. dart = Sp. Pg. It. 
dardo = Wall, darde = Hung, darda, < ML. 
dardus, dartns, a dart; of Teut. origin: AS. 
daroth, darath, dareth = OHG. tart, a dart, 
javelin, = Icel. darradhr, a dart, javelin, peg 
(also in simpler form darr, pi. dorr, neut., 
mod. dor, m., a dart), = Sw. dart, a dagger.] 1. 
A pointed missile weapon thrown or thrust 
by the hand; a small and light spear or jave- 
lin, sometimes hurled by the aid of a strap or 
thong. 
And he [Joab] took three darts in his hand, and thrust 
them through the heart of Absalom. 2 Sam. xviii. 14. 
Death ! ere thou hast slain another, 
Learn'd, and fair, and good as she, 
Time shall throw a dart at thee. 
B. Jonson, Epitaph on the Countess of Pembroke. 
2. A kind of eel-spear. [Eng.] 
The dart is made of a cross-piece with barbed spikes 
set in like the teeth of a rake. 
Day, Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland, II. 246. 
3f. A spear set up as a prize for victory in 
running or other athletic contests. 
The dart is set up of virginitee, 
Cacche whoso may, who renneth best, let se. 
Chaucer, Pro], to Wife of Bath's Tale, 1. 75. 
4. Anything like a dart in shape, use, or ef- 
fect. Specifically (a) The missile or arrow of a blow- 
gun when made with a point. (6) In entnm., the sting of 
an aculeate hymenopterous insect; in a more restricted 
sense, the spicula or lancet-like instrument forming the 
central part of the sting. 
Until recently the latter [Zonitrs Hindus'] was supposed 
to be the sole member of its genns which possessed a dart ; 
now the former [Z. excavatus] keeps it company. 
Science, III. 342. 
(c) In conch., a love-dart, or spiculum amoris. (d) One of 
various moths, so called by British collectors, (e) A seam 
uniting two edges of stuff from between which a gore has 
been cut away : designed to shape a garment to the figure. 
(/) Figuratively, a piercing look or utterance. 
If there be such a dart in princes' frowns, 
How durst thy tongue move anger to our lace? 
Skak., Pericles, i. 2. 
It is certain that a good many fallacies and prejudices 
are limping about with one of his light darts sticking to 
them. H. James, Jr., Matthew Arnold. 
5. A sudden swift movement Ege and dart 
See eggi. 
dart 1 (dart), v. [< ME. darten; from the noun.] 
1. trans. 1. To throw with a sudden thrust, as 
a pointed instrument. 
Th' invaders dart their jav'lins from afar. 
Dryden, .<Eneid. 
2. To throw or thrust suddenly or rapidly; 
emit; shoot: as, the sun darts forth his beams. 
With Skill her Eyes dart ev'ry Glance. 
Congrcve, Amoret. 
The moon was darting through the lattices 
Its yellow light warm as the beams of day. 
Shelley, Revolt of Islam, iv. 3. 
3f. To pierce ; spear ; transfix. 
The wylde bole bigynneth sprynge 
Xow here, now there, idarted to the herte. 
Chaucer, Troilus, iv. 240. 
1458 
But they of Accawmacke vse staues like vnto lauelins 
headed with bone. With these they dart flsh swimming 
in the water. Capt. John Smith, True Travels, I. 133. 
A black lion rampant, sore that bled 
With a field arrow darted through the head. 
Drayton, Agincourt. 
II. in trans. 1. To have the piercing move- 
ment or effect of a dart ; move swiftly, like a 
dart. 
Right thro' his manful breast darted the pang. 
Tennyson, Geraint. 
And watch the airy swallows as they darted round the 
eaves. T. B. Aldrich, Kathie Morris. 
2. To spring or start suddenly and run swiftly: 
as, the deer darted from the thicket. 
In the evening of the seventeenth of June, Rupert 
darted out of Oxford with his cavalry on a predatory ex- 
pedition. Macaulay, Nugent's Hampden. 
dart 2 (dart), n. [Same as dare, dar, and dace, 
all ult. identical with dart 1 ; so called from its 
swift movements.] Same as dace, 1. 
dartars (dar'tarz), n. pi. [< F. dartre, tetter.] 
A scab or ulceration under the skin of a lamb. 
Also called cliin-scab. 
darter (dar'ter), )i. 1. One who throws a dart. 
They of Rhene and Leuce, cunning darten, 
And Sei|tlaua that well could manage steeds. 
Marlowe, tr. of Lucan, i. 
2. One who or that which springs or darts for- 
ward. 
Oft from out it leaps 
The finny darter with the glittering scales. Byron. 
3. In zoo). : (a) In icMh. : (I) The archer- 
fish, Toxntes jaculatnr. (2) One of the fresh- 
Darwinism 
which a crystalline four-fluted rod or dart consisting of 
carbonate of lime is found. 
E. K. Lankester, Encyc. Brit., XVI. 661. 
dart-snake (dart'snak), . A book-name of 
the serpent-like lizards of the genus Acontias, 
Dart-snake ( Acontias 
Darter (Etheostoma flabellare). 
water fishes of the United States constituting 
the subfamily JStiieostomina? of the family Per- 
cidce. All are of small size, and in general resemble the 
common yellow perch. The name is due to the fact that 
when disturbed they dart from their retreats, where they 
usually remain quiescent, on or near the bottom of streams. 
(3) A fresh-water fish of the genus Vranidea 
and family Cottida;. [Local, U. S.] (6) In or- 
nitli. : (1) A bird of the genus Plotus and fam- 
ily Plotidat. P. anhinga is the black-bellied darter, 
snake-bird, or water-turkey : so called from the way it 
darts upon its prey on the wing. See snake-bird, Plotus, 
and cut under anhinga. (2) pi. The Plotida; or snake- 
birds. 
darter-fish (diir'ter-fish), . Same as arcJier- 
fsh. 
Dartford warbler. See warller. 
dartingly (dar'ting-li), adv. Rapidly; like a 
dart. 
dartle (dar'tl), v. t.or i.; pret. and pp. dartled, 
ppr. dartling. [Freq. of darfl, v.J To dart; 
shoot out. [Bare.] 
My star that dartles the red and the blue. 
Browning, My Star. 
dart-moth (dart'moth), n. A noctuid moth of 
the genus Agrotis (which see). The larvse are 
among those known as cutworms. 
Dartmouth College case. See case 1 . 
dartoid (dar'toid), a. and n. [< dartos + -oid.~\ 
I. a. In anat., pertaining to, resembling, or 
consisting of dartos ; having slow involuntary 
contractility excitable by eold or mechanical 
stimulus, as the dartos Dartoid tissue, in anat., 
tissue resembling that of the dartos. 
II. n. The dartoid tissue or tunic; the dartos. 
dartos (dar'tos), it. [NL., < Gr. daprof, verbal 
adj. of aepetv, skin, flay: see darsis.] A layer 
of connective tissue containing unstriped mus- 
cular fiber, situated immediately beneath the 
skin of the scrotum. 
dartre (diir'tr), n. [F. : see dartars.] Herpes : 
used to designate almost all cutaneous diseases. 
dartrous (dar'trus), a. [< F. dartreux, < dartre: 
see dartre and -os.] Relating or subject to 
dartre ; herpetic. 
dart-sac (dart'sak), n. In pulmonate gastro- 
pods, the sac which secretes and contains the 
love-dart, or spiculum amoris; a thick-walled 
eversible appendage of the generative appa- 
ratus of the snail, in which the love-darts are 
molded as calcareous concretions, and from 
which they are ejected. 
Close to them [the digitate accessory glands] is the re- 
markable dart-sac, a thick-walled sac, in the lumen of 
translating the generic term: so called from 
the manner in which it darts upon its prey. See 
Aeontiida;. 
darweesh (dar'wesh), n. Same as dervish. 
Darwinella (dar-wi-nel'a), n. [NL., named 
after Charles Darwin, + dim. -eifa.] A genus 
of ceratose sponges, typical of the family Dar- 
winellidce. 
darwinellid (dar-wi-nel'id), n. A sponge of 
the family Darwinellidte. 
Darwinellidae (diir-wi-nel'i-de), n. pi. [NL., 
< Darwinella + -ida;.] A family of ceratose 
sponges. They have large pouch-shaped flagellated 
chambers, communicating by means of numerous pores in 
their walls with inhalent cavities, and by means of one 
wide mouth with exhalent cavities. The ground-mass 
is without granules and transparent, and the axis of the 
fibers is thick. 
Darwinian (dar-win'i-an), a. and n. [< Dar- 
win + -ian.~\ I. a. Of or pertaining to Charles 
Darwin, the celebrated English naturalist, or 
to the theory of development propounded by 
him. See Darwinism. 
Our artiste are so generally convinced of the truth of 
the Darwinian theory that they do not always think it 
necessary to show any difference between the foliage of an 
elm and an oak. Rusldn, Lectures on Art, p. 106. 
That struggle for existence against adverse external con- 
ditions, which . . . has been harped upon too exclusively 
by the Darwinian school. Damon, Origin of World, p. 228. 
Darwinian curvature. See nirvature. 
U. n. One who favors or accepts the theory 
of development or evolution propounded by 
Darwin. See evolution. 
Darwinianism (dar-win'i-an-izm), n. [< Dar- 
irininn + -ism.] Same as Darirhiinm. 
Darwinical (dar-win'i-kal), a. [< Darwin + 
-ic-al.] Same as Darwinian. [Rare.] 
Darwinically (dar-win'i-kal-i), adv. After the 
manner of Darwin; as a Darwinian; in accor- 
dance with the Darwinian doctrine of develop- 
ment. [Rare.] 
It is one thing to say, Darwinically, that every detail 
observed in an animal's structure is of use to it, or has 
been of use to its ancestors ; and quite another to affirm, 
Ideologically, that every detail of an animal's structure has 
been created for its benefit. Huxley, Lay Sermons, p. 304. 
Darwinism (dar'win-izm), n. [< Darwin (see 
def.) + -ism."] 1. The body of biological doc- 
trine propounded and defended by the English 
naturalist Charles (Charles Robert) Darwin 
(1809-1882), especially in his works "The Ori- 
gin of Species'* (1859) and "The Descent of 
Man" (1871), respecting the origin of species. 
It is, in general, the theory that all forms of living organ- 
isms, including man, have been derived or evolved by de- 
scent, with modification or variation, from a few primitive 
forms of life or from one, during the struggle for existence 
of individual organisms, which results, through natural 
selection, in the survival of those least exposed, by reason 
of their organization or situation, to destruction. It is not 
to Ite confounded with the general views of the develop- 
ment or evolution of the visible order of nature which have 
been entertained by philosophers from the earliest times. 
(See evolution.) That which is specially and properly Dar- 
winian in the general theory of evolution relates to the 
manner, or methods, or means by which living organisms 
are developed or evolved from one another : namely, the 
inherent susceptibility and tendency to variation accord- 
ing to conditions of environment; the preservation and 
perfection of organs best suited to the needs of the indi- 
vidual in its struggle for existence; the perpetuation of 
the more favorably organized beings, and the destruction of 
those less fitted to survive : the operation of natural selec- 
tion, in which sexual selection is an important factor; and 
the general proposition that at any given time any given 
organism represents the result of the foregoing factors, 
acting in opposition to the hereditary tendency to adhere 
to the type, or "breed true." See selection and turviml. 
