DEC 
DEC 
tens. 4. If after division there arc not so 
many figures in the quotient as there ought 
to be decimal parts, supply this defect by 
prefixing cyphers to the quotient found : 
thus, in Ex. 4. 
957 ) 7.2540 ( .00758 nearly. 
6.699 
. 5550 
4785 
.7650 
7656 
The quotient by division is found to be 
768 ; and, by the above rule, the first 
figure, 7, ought to stand in the decimal 
place of thousandths, which it is made to 
do by prefixing two cyphers. 
Vulgar fractions are reduced to decimals 
of the same value, by dividing the numera- 
tor by the denominator. 
„„ 1 1.0 , a a.uo 
liras, - = — =.5, and - =——=.75, 
? o o '<14. 
.00 
= .285714,nearly. 
7 7 
Decimal scaies are those which are de- 
cimally divided. 
DECIMATE, in military affairs, is to 
choose by lot, one out of ten, either by way 
of punishment, or for the purpose of being 
employed upon some public work. 
DECIPHERING, the art of finding the 
alphabet of a cypher. See Cypher, and 
Diplomatic Characters. 
DECK of a ship is a planked floor from 
stem to stem, 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 lower- 
most. Half deck reaches from the main- 
mast to tlie stem of the ship. Quarter-deck 
is that aloft tlie steerage, reaching to the 
round-house. See Ship. 
DECLARATION, is a shewing in writ- 
ing the grief and complaint of the demand- 
ant, or plaintiff, against tlie defendant, or 
tenant, wherein he is supposed to have done 
some wrong. And this ought to be plain 
and certain, both because it impeaches the 
defendant, and also compels him to answer 
thereto. It is also an exposition of the 
writ, with the addition of time, circum- 
stances, &c. and must be true as well as 
clear, for the court will not take things in it 
by implication ; and it sets forth the names 
both of tlie plaintiff and defendant, the na- 
ture and cause of the action, &c. and the da- 
mage received. Such a declaration in an ac- 
tion real is termed a count, and it is essential, 
that the count or declaration ought to con- 
tain demonstration, declaration, and con- 
clusion ; and in the conclusion the plaintiff" 
ought to aver, and offer to prove his suit, 
and shew the damages he has sustained by 
the wrong done him. Declaration must be 
certain : containing, 1, Such sufficient cer- 
tainty whereby the court may give a pe- 
remptory and final judgment upon tlie mat- 
ter in controversy. 2. The defendant may 
make a direct answer to the matter con- 
tained thereiil. 3. That the jury, after 
issue joined, may give a complete verdict 
thereupon. 4. No blank, or space, to be 
left therein. 
Declaration of war, a public procla- 
mation made by the herald at arms to the 
members or subjects of a state, declaring 
them to be at war with some foreign 
power, and forbidding all and every one 
to aid or assist the common enemy at their 
peril. 
DECLENSION, in grammar, an in- 
flexion of nouns according to their divers 
cases, as nominative, genitive, dative, &c. 
It is a different tiling in the modern lan- 
guages, which have not properly any cases, 
from what it is in the ancient greek and 
latin. With respect to languages, where 
the nouns admit of changes, either in tlie 
beginning, the middle or ending, declension 
is properly the expression of all those 
changes in a certain order, and by certain 
degrees called cases. With regard to lan- 
guages, where the nouns do not admit of 
changes in the same number, declension it 
the expression of the different states a noun 
is in, and the different relations it has; 
which difference of relations is marked by 
particles, and called articles, as a, the, of, 
to, from, by, &c. See Article : also 
Grammar. 
DECLINATION, in astronomy, the dis- 
tance of any celestial object from the equi- 
noctial, either northward or southward. It 
is either true or apparent, according as the 
real or apparent place of the object is con- 
sidered. A great circle is supposed to pass 
through the two poles, and through the cen- 
tre of every star. This circle is called a 
circle of declination. The arc of this circle 
included between the star and the equator 
measures the declination of the star. The 
declination of a star then is its perpendicu- 
lar distance from the equator. It is north 
or south, according as the star is situated on 
the north or south side of the equator. Alt 
the stars situated in the same parallel of the 
