DAM 
rtary felicity vanifhed at once, and lie begged Dionyfins 
to remove him from a fituation which'expofed his life to 
fnch fears and dangers. Cicero. 
DAM'NIl, anciently a people of Britain; fituated be¬ 
tween the Selgovas to the fouth, and the Caledonii to the 
north : the dilh iiSt now called C/ydeJdale. - ( 
DA'MON, a Pythagorean philofopher, who fiourifhed 
about four hundred years before Chrift. We have no 
other particulars concerni#g him excepting a Itory pre¬ 
ferred by Valerius Maximus, in his chapter De Amicitice 
Vinculo. He was intimately united in friendfliip with Py¬ 
thias, who was educated in the fame fchool with himfelf. 
It happened that one of thefe friends had incurred the 
difpleafure of Dionyfius, tyrant of Syracufe, who con¬ 
demned him to be put to death. Pie was permitted, how¬ 
ever, to be at large, for the purpofe of fettling his atiairs, 
on the voluntary offer of the other friend, to 1 ecome pri- 
foner in his room, and to fubrnit to the fentence pro¬ 
nounced againlt him, if he ihould negledt fo return to 
the tyrant’s power at the time appointed for,his execution. 
The Angularity of the offer molt probably induced Di- 
ouylius to comply with it, and his curiolity to .ry the re- 
fult of fuch an extraordinary propofal. As the day fixed 
upon approached, and the firft prifo er had not yet made 
his appearance to redeem his friend, the latter was re¬ 
proached for hi - foolifii confidence ; but he firmly main¬ 
tained that his friend would not break his engagement; 
and was ju (lifted by the adhial furreudei which lie made 
of himlelfar the hour appointed by Dionyfius. The ty- 
l'ant was fo (truck at the magnanimity and fidelity which 
thefe philofophic brethren dilplayed, that he freely par¬ 
doned the offender, and entreated that he might be ad¬ 
mitted a third itno their band of friendfliip. 
DA'MON, an eminent Greek mufician of Athens, the 
maker of Pericles, and.the friend of Socrates. He was 
a pupil of Agathocles, and joined the ftudies of philo- 
fophy and eloquence to that of mulic. He was the 
founder of a mufical fe£t, to which he gave his name. 
The deparirnent of his art which he principally cultivat¬ 
ed was that which concerns time, or cadence-, for which 
PL.to highly commends him, as being, according to his 
fanciful theories, clofely connected with the moral effects 
of mulic. Plutaich represents Damon as not lefs of a 
politician than a mufician; and fays, that the leffons he 
gave Pericles were in reality upon affairs of government, 
under the difguife of a mufic-mafter. He adds, that 
Damon was afterwards .banifhed by the offracifm is a 
meddler in politics, and a friend to tyranny. It is of 
Damon that the ftory is told of the efficacy of mulic, as 
exhibited upon fome young men, w'ho had been inflamed 
to riot by wine and the Phrygian tone, and were brought 
b .ck to fobriety by the grave Doric. His fkill in charac¬ 
terizing his melodies, and the fimplicity of his manner, 
has occafioned the name and character of Damon to be 
affirmed in many of our paftoral dramatic pieces. 
DAMOO'N, a town of Hindooftan, on the north of 
Bombay, formerly of great ftrength, and pofteffed by the 
Portuguefe ; now in a ruinous (late. It was attacked by 
Aurengzebe, who determined to take it by florin ; but 
the ftrength of the place,, and the valour of the garrifon, 
obliged him to ftaife the fiege. 
DAMO'PHILUS, a philofopher and fophift who flou¬ 
riflied in the fecond century, under the reign of the em¬ 
peror Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. He wrote various 
works of merit in the Greek language; among which 
are, Philobibius ; or, the Lover of Books, a treatife on 
the choice of books, addreffed to Lollius Maximus ; and 
another treatife, the Lives of the Ancients. 
DA'MOSLL, f. [Fr.] Damfel.—I was taken with a 
damoftl. Shakefpeare. 
I prefent was, and can it witneffe well, 
When.armes he lwore, and ftraight did enterprize 
Th’ adventure of the errant damofel, Spenfcr. 
Vol. V. No, 297. 
DAM- 577 
DA'MOT, a province of Abyflinia, fituated in the 
fouth-weft part of that empire, about forty miles long 
from north to fouth, and rwenty from eaft to weft. 
DAMP, adj. [ dampe , Dut.] Moift ; inclining to wet; 
not completely dry ; foggy : 
She faid no more: the trembling Trojans hear, 
O’erfpread with a damp fweat and holy fear. Dryden. 
Dejedted ; funk; deprefled: 
All thefe and more came flocking, but with looks 
Downcaft and damp ; yet fuch wherein appear’d 
Obfcure fome glimpfe of joy. Milton. 
DAMP, J. Fog; moift air; moifture : 
Ni.'ht; not now, as ere man fell, 
Wholefome, and cool, and mild ; but with black air 
Accompanied, with damps and dreadful gloom. Milton. 
A noxious vapour exhaled from the earth. Dejection ; 
depreflion of fpirit ; cloud of the mind.—An eternal 
ftate he knows, and confefles that he has made r.o provi- 
fion for, that; he is undone for ever: a profpedf enough 
to call a damp over' his fprightlieft hoiirs. Rogers. 
Adam, by this from the cold fudden damp 
Recov’ring, and his fcatter’d fpirits return’d, 
To Michael thus his humble words addrefs’d. Milton. 
Ev’n now, while thus I ftand bleft in thy prefence, 
A fecret damp of grief comes o’er my thoughts'. Addifon. 
The mephitic air, too often fatal in coal-pits and mines, 
is commonly diftinguifhed by the term damps. -The chief 
diftindlions made by the miners, are choke-damp, which 
extinguifhes their candles, hovers about the bottom of 
the mine, and deftroys refpiration,: 'dad fire-damp, which 
occupies the fuperior fpaces, and explodes like gun-pow¬ 
der, whenever it comes in contact with their lights. 
Thefe phenomena, which a few years ago were wrapt in 
myftery, are now fatisfadtorily explained ; for which fee 
Chemistry, vol iv. p.160, 196, 199, &c. 
To DAMP, v.a. To wet; tomoiften ;,to make htunid. 
To deprefs ; to dejedt; to chill ; to dull.—The very lofs 
of one pleafure is enough to* damp the relifli of another. 
VEJlrange. —Dread of death hangs over the mere natural 
man, and, like the hand-writing on the wall, damps all 
his jollity. Attcrhury. —To weaken; to abate ; to hebe¬ 
tate ; to riifcourage.—A foft body dampeth the found 
much more than a hard. Bacon. — 1 o hebetate ; to abate 
motion ; to difeourage ; to dull.—Ufury dulls and dumps 
all induftries, improvements, and new inventions, wherein 
money would be ftirring, if it were not for this-ling. 
Bacon . 
Unlefs an age too late, or cold 
Climate, or years, damp my intended wing. Milton. 
DAM'PIER (William), an eminent Englifli naviga¬ 
tor, born about 1652, at Eaft Coker, in Somerfetfhire. 
Becoming an orphan, he was removed from the Latin 
fchool, and placed with a maker of a fliip at Weymouth.. 
With him he made a voyage to Newfoundland; but, as 
he fays, he was fo pinched with that cold climate, that 
he refolved never to return to thofe northern parts, and 
left his maker. He was, however, loon after tempted 
by a warm voyage, and failed as a toremaft-man to the 
Eaft Indies, being latisfied with the acquifttion of ex- 
pierience in navigation, which feems ever to have been 
his great obje£l. In 1673, he ferved in the Dutch war, 
under fir Edward Spragge, and was in two engagements. 
He left the fleet on account of ficknefs, and remained 
fometime with his brother in the country to recruit. In 
the next year he accepted .an offer from colonel Hellier 
to go out as under-manager of a plantation in Jamaica. 
He did not long continue in the ftation of an overfeer, 
but engaged with a coafting trader, under whom he 
became well acquainted with all the ports and bays of 
Jamaica. Leaving that employment, he entered on. 
7 H board 
