48 
D R A 
$ man, was to be fentenced to banifliment. Thefe in- 
confirtencies and puerilities denote a very rude date of 
legiflation, if, indeed, they have not been aggravated 
by popular tradition. Draco was advanced in years when 
he gave laws, and had acquired much authority from 
his virtue and patriotifm. The Athenians, however, 
became fo difpleafed with his rigour, that he thought 
proper to withdraw to the idand of j^Egina. There, ac¬ 
cording to a dory which appears ridiculous, lie was re¬ 
ceived at the public theatre with an applaufe which 
proved fatal to him; for its ex predion confided in heap¬ 
ing upon him the cloaks and Rats of the audience, by 
which he was fitd'ocated. The laws of Draco, in the 
thirty-ninth Olympiad, are confidered as the mod an¬ 
cient writing to which we can fecurely appeal. It is faid 
that lie was addiffed to poetry, whence fome have 
thought that he could not have been fo harfti and rigid 
as has been reprefented ; but there are too many authen¬ 
tic examples of the union of a cruel difpofition, with a 
tade for elegant literature. All the laws of Draco were 
abolidied by Solon, except fuch as related to murder. 
DRA'CO,/. the Dragon, in adron’omy, a condella- 
tion of the northern hemifphere ; whofe ftars, according 
to Ptolemy, are eighty-one ; according to Tycho, thirty- 
two ; according to Hevelius, forty ; according to Bayer, 
thirty-three ; and according to Mr. Flamdeed, eighty. 
See Astronomy. 
DRA'CO, /. the Dragon, in zoology, a genus be¬ 
longing to the order of amphibia reptilia ; the characters 
of which are thefe : it has four legs, a cylindrical tail, 
and two membranaceous wings, radiated like the fins of 
a fiih, by which it is enabled to fly, but not to any great 
didance at a time. There are two fpecies enumerated by 
Linnaeus and Gmelin, as follow : 
1. Draco volans, the flying dragon; native of Africa 
and India, and found abundantly in the idand of Ceylon. 
It is didinguidied from the lizard tribe only by having , 
broad lateral membranes, drengthened by radii or bony 
precedes like the fins of fiih, and of a leathery fubdance; 
in this refpeft refembling the wings of the bat, flying 
fiih, flying fquirrel, &c. The body is afh-coloured grey, 
covered with minute fcales, clouded and varied with 
brown : beneath the gula or throat is a large pouch, 
membranaceous, and pointed ; tail long and dender, an- 
nulated with light brown. It preys upon infeCbs of al- 
mod every kind ; in purfuit of which it lurks among the 
foliage of trees, fhrubs, and plants. It is a fmall animal, 
mealuring only nine inches from the point of the nofe to 
the tip of the tail. It fprings from bough to bough, and 
from tree to tree, by means of its alar membranes, chirp- 
mg as it goes. In this fpecies the fore-legs are didinft 
from the wings; and, though very fmall, it is the larged 
of the genus : a correct figure of it is given in the en¬ 
graving, by Albertus Seba. 
2. Draco praepos, the flying dragon of America. In 
this the alar membranes are very fmall, ferruginous, with 
bars of deep brown running in an oblique direction round 
the edges of the wings. The body is covered with mi¬ 
nute fcales, of a dull cinereous colour. The tail is befet 
with fliarp prickles for fome didance from its bafe; it is 
very dender, and marked with obfcure fpots of brown. 
In this fpecies the wings are fadened to the fore-feet, but 
not to the hind ; the whole animal is very dender, and 
only feven inches long: modern naturalids confider it as 
a fmaller variety of the preceding, having precifely the 
fame form and habits, and tiling the fame food. 
The late Mr. Pennant, in his “ Outlines of the Globe,” 
after defcribing this, among the other amphibia of Cey¬ 
lon, remarks, “ that the animal which bears the dreadful 
name of dragon, is no more than an innocent little lizard, 
quite harmlefs, and perfectly inoffenfive : yet it is the 
only creature known, that really bears the form and make 
of that all-devouring and dedruCtive monder feigned by 
the poets and writers of ancient romance. See the article 
Dragon, 
D R A 
DRA'CO AR'BOR,/ in botany. See Dracaena 
and Pterocarpus. 
DRA'CO CE'PHALOS,/. in botany. See Chelone. 
DRA'CO HER'BA,/; in botany. See Artemisia. 
DR ACOCE'PHALUM,/! [from fya-ttuv, a dragon, and 
y.a(pa.\7i, a head ; the form of the flowers being ringent, or 
like a gaping mouth.] Dragon’s Head; in botany, a 
genus of the clafs didynamia, order gymnofpermia, natu¬ 
ral order verticillatas, (fcropularite, JuJf.) The generic 
characters are—Calyx : perianthium one-leafed, tubular, 
permanent, veryfliort. Corolla: one-petalled, ringent; 
tube length of the calyx ; throat very large, oblong, in¬ 
flated, gaping, a little compreffed on the back ; lip fupe- 
rior draight, arched, complicated, obtufe ; lip inferior 
three-cleft; lateral divifions upright, as it were the feg- 
ments of the throat ; the intermediate one hanging down, 
fmall, prominent forwards at the bafe, rottndifh, emar. 
ginate. Stamina : filaments four, Tubulate, hid beneath 
the upper lip of the corolla, of which two are a little 
diorter; antherae fomewhat cordate. Pidillum : germ 
four-parted ; dyle filiform, in the fituation of the da- 
mens ; digma two cleft, fliarp, dender, reflex. Pericar. 
pium : none ; calyx cheridiing the feeds in its bottom. 
Seeds : four, ovate-oblong, three-fided .—EJfential Cka- 
rattcr. Corolla, throat inflated, upper lip concave. 
Species. I. In fpikes. i. Dracocephalum Virginianum,. 
or Virginian dragon’s-head : flowers crowded, leaves li¬ 
near-lanceolate, ferrate. This riles with an upright rtalk, 
near three feet high. Leaves about three inches long, 
and half an inch broad, fertile; they are ufually in pairs 
at each joint, but fometimes there are three together. 
The dowers are purple, in terminating fpikes, and make 
a pretty variety among other hardy plants. It is peren¬ 
nial, and flowers from July to September. Native of 
North America, in woods, and by the ddes of rivers. 
2. Dracocephalum denticulatum, or denticulated dra¬ 
gon’s-head : flowers remote, leaves obovate-lanceolate, 
denticulate above. Allied to the firrt; but inferior in 
point of beauty. It fpreads more on the ground; its 
flowering-denis are not altogether fo upright, nor fo tall; 
the leaves are broader, and the flowers in the fpikes lefs 
numerous. It flowers in Augurt and September. Mr. 
Curtis received feeds of it from Philadelphia, collected 
at a condderable didance from that city, about the year 
1786. And Mr. Watfon, nurferyman at Idington, ob¬ 
tained the plant from Carolina, about the fame period. 
3. Dracocephalum Canarienfe, or Canary dragon’s-, 
head : leaves compound. This is a perennial plant, ri¬ 
ling with feveral dalks to the height of three feet or more, 
becoming woody at the lower part. Leaves at each joint, 
having three or five oblong, pointed, ferrate, leaflets. 
The flowers come out in fliort thick fpikes on the top of 
the dalks; they are of a pale blue colour, and are pro¬ 
duced from July to September. Native of the Canary 
iflands, whence it was brought to Europe, by the name 
of permento de Tana ; the old writers call it camphorojma 
and eedronel/a ; and we, balm of Gilead , from its rich odour, 
on being gently rubbed. It was deferibed by Morifon 
in 1690, and was cultivated in 1697, by the duchefs of 
Beaufort. 
4. Dracocephalum pinnatum, or pinnate-leaved dra¬ 
gon’s-head : leaves cordate, pinnate-dnuate. Native of- 
Jerkatfch, in Siberia. 
5. Dracocephalum peregrinum, or prickly-leaved dra¬ 
gon’s-head: flowers fomewhat fpiked, rtem-leaves ovate- 
oblong, gartied, bradles linear-lanceolate, denticulate- 
fpiny. Native of Siberia. 
6. Dracocephalum Aurtriacum, or Andrian dragon’s- 
head : leaves and braftes linear, parted, fpiny. This is 
a beautiful plant, and grows in Aurtria and Hungary, 
where it was firrt obferved by Cludus. It varies accord¬ 
ing to its foil in point of number of dems, &c. The 
rtems are annual, fquarifh, and villofe : the leaves oppo- 
fite; hoary below, fmooth and green above, and are 
deeply lobed or cut in apinnatitid manner. The flowers 
are 
