Its arrangement is not in the alphabetical order of words but of roots, the derivatives and compounds being collected after each root. It was the basis of the works of Scapula and Schrevelius. The most thorough subsequent Greek lexicons are the German works of Schneider, Passow, Seiler, Rost, and Pape. The work of Passow was the basis of the Greek-English lexicon of Liddell and Scott (Oxford, 1845; New York, edited by Henry Drisler, 1848). The Greek language was long studied through the medium of the Latin, and no Greek-English lexicon was projected until the present century. The first of these that was announced was that of John Pickering (Boston, 1826; many subsequent editions), which was partially executed in 1814. It was preceded in publication only by the similar English work of John Jones (1823).-The first standard dictionaries of modern languages were produced under the patronage of learned academies; the oldest being the Italian Vocabulario della Crusca, first published in 1612, which was avowedly founded on Tuscan principles, made the 14th century the Augustan period of the language, and slighted the great writers of the 16th century. In Spain the lexicon of Lebrixa (1492) and the Tesoro of Covarrubias (1611) were the only dictionaries of note till the new academy produced its great work (6 vols., Madrid, 1726-39), an abridgment of which was immediately prepared, the 5th revised edition of which was issued in 1817.-Though German lexicography begins with Hrabanus Maurus, a contemporary of Charlemagne, yet the first noteworthy German lexicon was Die Teutsch Sprach of Maaler (Zürich, 1561), and the first learned and critical work of the kind was Frisch's Deutsch-Lat. Wörterbuch (Berlin, 1741). All others have been superseded successively by the work of Adelung (Leipsic, 1774), and that of the brothers Grimm (Leipsic, 1852 et seq.; the 2d vol., reaching to the letter E, is nearly completed, April, 1859).The dictionary of the French academy was published in 1694, and adopted the alphabetical order in its 2d edition in 1718. The 6th edition was issued in 1835. The first volume of a new, revised, and greatly enlarged edition appeared in 1859. It reaches only to the word abusivement, and the work if continued upon the same scale promises to occupy the academy for many generations. The dictionary of Trévoux, named from the town where it was first published in 1704, is at once a dictionary and a cyclopædia of curious knowledge. It was enlarged in successive editions, till in 1771 it reached its present magnitude, in 8 large folio vols., and it abounds in items of antiquarian and philological information.The object of the first lexicographical labors in England was to facilitate the study of the Latin language, and bilingual dictionaries had become common while those designed for merely English readers were rare and meagre productions. One of the earliest of the latter was that of Dr. John Bullokar, entitled the "English Expositour" (London, 1616), explaining 5,080 of what were esteemed the "hardest words." It passed through many editions. Subsequent works were the "Glossographia, or Dictionary of Hard Words," by Thomas Blount (London, 1656); the "New World of English Words," by Edward Phillips, the nephew and pupil of Milton (1658); and the "Universal Etymological English Dictionary," by Nathan Bailey (London, 1726), in which the first attempt was made to give a complete collection of the words of the language, and which was long in the highest repute, and passed through at least 27 editions. An interleaved copy of a folio edition of Bailey's dictionary was the repository of the articles collected by Dr. Johnson in preparing his dictionary. The work of Johnson, after 8 years of arduous labor, appeared in 1755, and has exerted an influence superior to any other in fixing the external form of the language and settling the meaning of words. He first introduced into English lexicography the plan of illustrating the various significations of words by examples extracted from the best authors. It was much enlarged by Todd in the editions of 1814 and 1827, and has been the basis of many smaller works. The most important subsequent dictionaries are those of Richardson, Webster, and Worcester. Richardson's "New Dictionary of the English Language" (London, 2 vols. 4to., 1835-37) is an elaborate work, especially valuable to the student of the history of the language. Its arrangement is in the alphabetical order of the primitives, beneath each of which its derivatives are grouped. Dr. Noah Webster was engaged 36 years on his "American Dictionary of the English Language," the first edition of which was issued in 1828, in New York (2 vols. 4to.), when the author was in his 70th year. A revised edition appeared in 1840 (2 vols. 8vo.), with the addition of several thousand words which in the intervening 12 years had passed from technological science into common language; and a revised appendix was added in 1843. A new edition, revised and enlarged by Prof. C. A. Goodrich, was published in Springfield, Mass., in 1848 (1 vol. 4to., 1400 pages). This work surpasses any that had preceded it in the comprehensiveness of its plan, the copiousness of its vocabulary, the fulness of its etymological department, and the accuracy_and completeness of its definitions. Dr. J. E. Worcester's quarto dictionary, which has been preceded by two minor and preparatory works of high authority, is announced to be issued in 1859 in a volume of about 1800 pages.-The title of dictionary is sometimes given to alphabetically arranged cyclopædias, as dictionaries of biography, of the arts and sciences, of medicine, law, manufactures, commerce, and various other departments. (See CYCLOPEDIA.) DICTYS OF CRETE, a pseudonyme of the author of a history of the Trojan war, from which some ancient grammarians have imagined that Homer drew materials for the Iliad and Odyssey. The MS. of the work, written in Phoenician characters, is said to have been found in the au thor's tomb at Cnossus, in the reign of Nero, and industrial pursuits, are from his fertile pen, who caused it to be translated into Greek. A while after the withdrawal of D'Alembert he Latin version of the first 5 books has come down had the exclusive supervision of the whole. to us, but the work is commonly regarded as a While preparing articles on the mechanic arts forgery. Dictys is said to have followed Ido- he often passed entire days in workshops, exmeneus, king of Crete, to the siege of Troy. amining the machines in operation, and receiving explanations from the workmen, not unfrequently taking their place himself. The most eminent liberal thinkers of France ranged themselves under the banner of the Encyclopédie, 2 volumes of which appeared in 1751. Its hostility to Christianity had been anticipated, and a religious party was already formed to assail it. Complaints were made to the king, and by a decree of the royal council (Feb. 7, 1752) the 2 volumes were suppressed and the printing of others forbidden during 18 months. This suspension was revoked, 5 new volumes had appeared in 1757, and the work had 4,000 subscribers, when it was again assailed with a tempest of denunciations. Pompignan attacked the philosophes in the academy, Fréron in the Année littéraire, Palissot satirized them on the stage, Le Chapelain fulminated against them in a sermon before the king, and Le Hayer wrote a work of 21 volumes (1757) in refutation of them. The court, the parliament, the Sorbonne, and the threatre combined against the Encyclopédie, which was again suspended (March 8, 1759). D'Alembert, either wearied or frightened, deserted his partner, and Voltaire advised Diderot to flee from his country, and to complete his work enjoying the hospitality of Catharine of Russia. He, however, struggled firmly against all obstacles, replying to no raillery, and managing so well that he interested in his behalf the duke of Choiseul, Malesherbes, and even Madame de Pompadour. Permission was obtained to continue the publication at Paris, without subjecting it to censorship; but on the title-page Neufchâtel was to be printed instead of Paris, and the name of the editor was left blank. The 10 additional volumes were thus produced with no further difficulty, except that the publisher clandestinely mutilated many of the articles in the latter volumes after the final proofs had been received from the editor. While engaged on the Encyclopédie, Diderot, whose elastic mind could grasp every subject, wrote books of various kinds in his own name, and greatly contributed to those by his friends. Thus a large portion of Raynal's Histoire philosophique du commerce des Européens dans les deux Indes belongs to him, while the most eloquent pages of De l'esprit, by Helvetius, and of the Système de la nature, by D'Holbach, are attributed to his pen. The artistical part of Grimm's correspondence, known as Les salons, was written by him, and several letters on different subjects bear unmistakable marks of his hand. Under the impulse of his generous nature, Diderot was always ready to help the needy, his study being a sort of consulting office, where every one was welcome to good advice or more substantial aid. His personal influence over his time could scarcely be overrated. In 1757 and 1758 he produced 2 domestic dramas, DIDEROT, DENIS, a French writer and philosopher, born in Langres, Oct. 5, 1713, died in Paris, July 30, 1784. He was the son of a cutler, and was first educated for the church, but soon gave up theology to enter an attorney's office in the French metropolis. Law, however, did not occupy his time so much as literature and science, which he studied with enthusiastic diligence. He was then ordered by his father to select a profession, or return home; but neglecting to do either, he was deprived of his monthly allowance and found himself without means. Not discouraged in the least, he tried to make a living by teaching; and though often reduced to the greatest poverty, his devotion to letters and his careless and enthusiastic disposition carried him through all his troubles, not only during his early years, but during the whole of his life. Still penniless and unknown, he was married in 1743, under somewhat romantic circumstances, to Mlle. Champion, who was no better treated by fortune than himself; and then it was that he began to try his pen. He wrote an abridged translation of Stanyan's "History of Greece," and contributed to a "Dictionary of Medicine,” accepting at the same time any literary employment that was offered him; thus he wrote for a preacher 6 sermons which brought him 50 crowns apiece, and this he frequently alluded to afterward as one of the best bargains he ever made. His domestic life was far from exemplary, and it was to satisfy the pecuniary demands of a woman, Madame de Puisieux, with whom he had contracted an intimacy, that he wrote his Essai sur le mérite et la vertu, in 1745; his Pensées philosophiques, in 1746, the boldness of which made a deep sensation, and was punished by a sentence of the parliament; his Bijoux indiscrets, a collection of obscene tales, of which he was himself ashamed; and his Lettres sur les aveugles, "for the use of those who see," in 1749, which procured him at once an acquaintance with Voltaire and 3 months' imprisonment at Vincennes, where he was often visited by Rousseau. On his liberation, having got rid of his mistress, he breathed a little more freely, and, in conjunction with D'Alembert, framed the plan of the work upon which his reputation is mostly founded, the Encyclopédie. Its professed aim was to present in a single work the truths of science, the principles of taste, and the processes of all the arts; but it was in fact a vehicle for the diffusion of new ideas among the reading public. This colossal undertaking, notwithstanding all sorts of troubles and difficulties, was carried through by the unflinching energy of Diderot, who was the soul of it. The pros pectus of the work, the philosophical system of human knowledge, nearly all the articles upon ancient philosophy, and all those on the trades Le fils naturel and Le père de famille, which, though dull performances, paved the way to the change afterward accomplished in the dramatic style in France. His industry brought him in money, but his careless manner of spending it and his dissipated habits frequently involved him in pecuniary difficulties. In 1765 he was constrained to offer his library for sale. Catharine II. of Russia, being apprised of the fact, purchased it for 15,000 francs, but on condition that he would be the keeper of it at a salary of 1,000 francs a year; she moreover ordered 50 years' income to be paid at once. When the Encyclopédie was completed, Diderot paid a visit to his protectress, and spent several months at her court, where he was treated with great respect. On his return to Paris he published Jacques le fataliste and La religieuse, 2 novels which have been very extensively read, and in 1779 his Essai sur les règnes de Claude et de Néron, which is nothing else than an encomium of Seneca. His later years were passed in comparative quiet and comfort. He superintended the education of his daughter, and, to the astonishment of his friends, used to read the Bible with the young girl. He had been all his life considered a confirmed atheist, a reputation which his vehement attacks on the religion of the day served to sustain. During the last year of his life, he was frequently visited by the curate of St. Sulpice, with whom he was pleased to talk on religious subjects; and if he did not consent to any recantation of his philosophical opinions, he showed no particular enmity to Christianity. Toward the end of 1783 he had an apoplectic fit, and peacefully breathed his last among a circle of afflicted friends. He left an only daughter, Mme. de Vandeul, who wrote Mémoires of his life. His friend Naigeon published an edition of his works, in 15 vols. 8vo., 1798; but a more complete one, in 22 vols., appeard in 1822. To this must be added his Mémoires et œuvres inédites, 4 vols. 8vo., printed in 1830. DIDIUS SALVIUS JULIANUS, MARCUS, Roman emperor for a short time under the name of Marcus Didius Commodus Severus Julianus, born about A. D. 133, killed June 2, 193. Having filled successively the offices of quaestor, ædile, and prætor, he was appointed to the command of a legion in Germany, and afterward to the government of Belgica. Here he showed much energy in repressing an insurrection of the Chauci, a tribe living on the banks of the Elbe, and as a recompense for this service he was made consul. He also distinguished himself against the Catti, was governor of Dalmatia, and afterward of Lower Germany, and was then appointed to the charge of the commissariat in Italy. Having been accused of conspiring against the emperor Commodus, he was acquitted of the charge, while his accuser was condemned to death. After this he was governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor, was again consul, A. D. 179, and having filled the office of proconsul of Africa, returned to Rome, where he was made commander of the city guards, and where he lived in an extravagant and licentious manner. After the assassination of Pertinax, the prætorian guards who committed the deed offered the imperial throne to him who would pay the highest price; and after a brisk competition with Sulpicianus, the prefect of the city, Didius succeeded in obtaining it. The senate was obedient to the will of the unruly soldiery, and Didius was acknowledged emperor. But the people were not so cringing, and the newmade ruler, whenever he appeared in public, was received with cries of "Robber and parricide." Moreover, he was not recognized as emperor by Septimius Severus, who held command of 3 legions in Illyria, by Clodius Albinus, nor by Pescennius Niger, who held like commands in Britain and Syria respectively. Severus, having been proclaimed emperor by his troops, marched upon Rome, and was recognized by the senate. Deserted by almost all his former friends and adherents, Didius was murdered in his palace by a common soldier, having reigned a little more than 2 months, and Severus established himself in his place. DIDO, or ELISSA, a Phoenician princess and founder of Carthage, daughter of Mutgo, Belus, or Agenor, king of Tyre. According to Justin, she was the wife of her uncle Acerbas, priest of Hercules, who was murdered for his wealth by Pygmalion, the son and successor of Mutgo. Dido dissembled her sorrow, and with a number of disaffected Tyrian nobles succeeded in escaping from her native country, bearing with her the treasures of her murdered husband. The party first landed at the island of Cyprus, whence they carried off by force 80 maidens, and then pursuing their journey disembarked on the coast of Africa, purchased as much land as might be covered with the hide of a bull, and by cutting the hide into thin strips enclosed a large tract of country, on which the city of Carthage soon began to rise. The colony prospered so well as to excite the jealousy of a neighboring chief, Hiarbas, who demanded the hand of Dido in marriage, and threatened her with war in case of refusal. The queen asked 3 months for consideration, at the end of which time she caused a funeral pile to be prepared, and mounting upon it plunged a sword into her breast. Her story has been told with many variations and embellishments, and Virgil, with a disregard of chronology, which the charm of his narration may well excuse, represents her as killing herself for unrequited love of Æneas. The date of her founding of Carthage is thought to be 878 B. C., though Philistus places it 37 or even 50 years before the taking of Troy (1234 B. C.), and Servius as late as 40 years before the founding of Rome (793 B. C.). DIDOT, the name of a French family of printers who have greatly contributed to improve the art of printing in their country. The firm, now existing under the name of Firmin Didot frères, was first established in 1713 by FRANÇOIS DIDOT, who made himself known by several important publications, and gained such popularity as to be appointed syndic of the booksellers' corporation. His two sons, FRANÇOIS AMBROISE (1730-1804) and PIERRE FRANÇOIS (1732-'95), increased the business, and paid especial attention to the printing department. While the latter established paper mills at Essone, near Paris, the former materially improved the casting of types, the best specimens of which ever seen in France were from his type foundery; and his standard editions were admired for their correctness and beauty. The Collection d'Artois (64 vols. 18mo.), and the Collection des classiques Français, printed at once in 4to., 8vo., and 18mo., by order of Louis XVI., are still highly valued. Among the sons of Pierre, HENRI, a type-founder, is known for the microscopical types with which he printed some little volumes which are esteemed as gems of their kind; and ST. LÉGER engaged in the manufacture of paper. The sons of François Ambroise, PIERRE (1760-1853) and FIRMIN (1764-1836), who succeeded their father at the beginning of the revolution, added to the good name of the firm by publishing magnificently executed folio editions of French and Latin writers, such as Racine, Horace, Virgil, &c., known as Editions du Louvre. Firmin also aimed to furnish the general reader with cheap and correct editions. He invented, or more correctly, revived the stereotype process, which he brought at once to comparative perfection, and which has proved so invaluable to the public and the book trade. A man of classical attainments, he translated Virgil's "Bucolics" and Theocritus's "Idyls." He was elected in 1827 to the chamber of deputies. His sons, AMBROISE FIRMIN, born in 1790, and HYAOINTHE, born in 1794, have succeeded him in the management of the firm, enhancing its importance by well devised improvements and additions. Their publishing establishment has scarcely a rival in the world. Its head-quarters are in the rue Jacob in Paris, while the various manufactories, offices, and shops connected with it are established in the suburbs or the immediate vicinity of Paris. While the greatest attention is given to perfecting the present system of printing, every new process receives a fair trial. The assortment of type is perhaps the richest to be found in any private establishment, including not only every possible variety of modern, but also Greek and oriental characters. A complete catalogue of their pub lications would cover hundreds of pages, and include the titles of thousands of works. Among those especially worthy of notice, we mention: Monuments de l'Égypte et de la Nubie, by Champollion the younger; Voyage de Jacquemont dans Inde; Expédition scientifique des Français en Morée; Thesaurus Linguæ Græcæ of Henry Stephens, with annotations, and additions by the best French and German scholars; a complete Bibliothèque des auteurs Grecs, a very cheap and correct edition of the Greek writers, with copious notes and Latin translations. Their editions of the French classics are as numerous as they are valuable; while their popular publications, such as L'univers pittoresque, L'encyclopédie moderne, La nouvelle biographie générale, &c., leave nothing to be desired in point of cheapness and correct execution. An idea may be formed of the importance of their present transactions by the fact, that on an average they print 140 reams of paper, or about 70,000 sheets, a day. The two heads of the firm are now aided by their sons PAUL and ALFRED, who have been by special training prepared to conduct the business of the firm and maintain its reputation. DIDRON, ADOLPHE NAPOLÉON, a French writer upon Christian art and archæology, born in Hautevillers, department of Marne, March 13, 1806. He travelled on foot through France, examining all the remarkable medieval monuments, particularly those of Normandy. In 1838 he delivered in the bibliothèque royale a course of lectures on Christian iconography, after which he made a journey to Greece to compare the art of the Greek church with that of the West, and to obtain access to certain medieval manuscripts. On his return to Paris he delivered another course of lectures, and in 1845 founded there an archæological publishing house, and a manufactory of painted glass. He was appointed in 1835 by the minister of public instruction secretary of the historical committee of arts and monuments, and is the author of the elaborate and interesting reports issued by that committee. He is also the editor of the "Archæological Annals," a periodical established by him in 1844, devoted particularly to the archæology of the middle ages, and in preparing which he is assisted by the principal archeologists, architects, designers, and engravers of Europe. His most important publication is his "Christian Iconography," of which an English translation was published in London (12mo. 1851). DIDYMIUM (Gr, diduμos, twin), a metal discovered in 1841 by Mosander in the mineral cerite, and named for its resemblance to the metal lanthanium, which occurs in the same mineral, and for the persistence with which its salts remain combined with those of this metal. The rose color of the salts of lanthanium is probably due to the presence of didymium. But neither of the two metals, nor the cerium with which they occur, possesses any special interest. DIDYMUS, an Alexandrian grammarian and critic, born about 64 B. C. He was remarkable for his industry and the voluminousness of his writings, in consequence of which he received the nicknames of XaλKevтepos, or brazen-bowelled, and Bißioladas, or forgetter of his books. The number of his works is stated by Athenæus at 3,500, and by Seneca at 4,000. DIEBITSCH, HANS KARL FRIEDRICH ANTON, count, a general in the Russian service, born at Gross-Leippe, Silesia, May 13, 1785, died at Kleczewo, near Pultusk, in Poland, June 10, 1831. His father, who served under Frederic the Great and Frederic William II. of Prussia, and subsequently under Paul in Russia, sent him in 1797 to the house of cadets in Berlin, but made him enter the ranks of the Russian imperial guard in 1801. He fought bravely in the battle of Austerlitz in 1805, in those of Eylau and Friedland in 1807, was made captain, devoted himself with zeal to the study of military science during the 5 years of peace which followed the treaty of Tilsit, served with great distinction under Wittgenstein during the invasion of the French in 1812, compelled, or rather persuaded, the Prussian general York to capitulate, was active as chief of Wittgenstein's staff in 1813, distinguished himself at Lützen, and was then attached as quartermaster-general to the corps of Barclay de Tolly in Silesia. Here he contributed to the conclusion of the secret treaty of Reichenbach between Russia, Prussia, Austria, and England, in June, 1813. He fought at Dresden, as well as at Leipsic, where he was made by Alexander lieutenant-general on the battle field. In the French campaign of 1814, when Schwartzenberg, frightened by the bold march of Napoleon, who threw himself between his army and the Rhine, advised the retreat of the allied armies, it was Diebitsch who decided for the march on Paris, which terminated the war. Arrived at Montmartre, the emperor Alexander embraced him, and decorated him with the order of Alexander Nevskoi. In 1815 he was married to a niece of Barclay de Tolly. After the return of Napoleon from Elba he was sent to the first corps, but was soon recalled to serve as adjutant of the emperor. Being made chief of the staff of the army, he accompanied Alexander on his journey through the south of Russia, and was present at his death at Taganrog in 1825. Having been sent with the news of this event to the grand duke Constantine at Warsaw, he returned to St. Petersburg, where he distinguished himself during the revolutionary outbreak of Dec. 25 by intrepidity, prudence, and humanity. The new emperor, Nicholas, rewarded his services with the title of baron, and afterward with that of count. In the war of 1828-'9 against Turkey, he acquired new renown by the taking of Varna, and by the crossing of the Balkan, which forced the Porte to make the peace of Adrianople, and procured him the name of Zabalkanskoi (Transbalkanian). Having spent some time at Berlin, he hastened to St. Petersburg at the news of the outbreak of the revolution in Warsaw, Nov. 29, 1830, and was appointed commander-in-chief of the army which was sent to put it down, as well as governor of the provinces adjoining Poland. Commencing the campaign in the midst of winter, he crossed the Polish frontier, Jan. 25, 1831; but the first engagements at Wisniew and Stoczek, Feb. 11, at Dobre on the 18th, at Grochow and Wawer on the 19th, in which the Poles fought heroically against overwhelming numbers, and still more the battles fought about the end of March in the vicinity of Praga, proved that fortune had left his banners. Without profiting by the favorable issue of the bloody battles of Nur, Lomza, and Ostrolenka (May 15-26), he removed his camp to Kleczewo, where he was suddenly overtaken by death, which was officially attributed to the cholera, but by general rumor to poison. Certain it is, that his deposition was determined upon, and that shortly before Count Orloff had arrived at the camp from St. Petersburg to examine into the condition of the army. DIEFFENBACH, JOHANN FRIEDRICH, a German surgeon, born in Königsberg, Prussia, in 1792, died in Berlin, Nov. 11, 1847. He was the son of a professor of theology, and at first devoted himself to that study, but broke off this peaceful pursuit to join in the war against Napoleon, serving as a volunteer in a company of Mecklenburg troops from 1813 to 1815. He afterward resumed his theological studies, which, however, he exchanged for the more congenial pursuit of medicine. Having taken his medical degree at Würzburg in 1822, he established himself at Berlin, where he had great success as a surgeon, and where, in 1830, he was appointed head surgeon of one of the hospitals, 2 years after professor in the university, and in 1840 director of clinical surgery in the same institution. Dieffenbach was especially distinguished for his remarkable dexterity in the use of the scalpel, for the success of his operations in the formation of artificial noses, cheeks, lips, &c., and for the cures which he effected in cases of squinting and stammering. He was, however, not eminent as a lecturer. Among his works may be mentioned the "Operative Surgery," his masterpiece, which has been translated into several different languages; "Surgical Experiences, especially with regard to the Restoration of Portions of the Human Body which have been destroyed;" "The Cure of Stammering by a new Surgical Operation ;" and "On the Cutting of the Sinews and Muscles." DIEL DU PARQUET, JACQUES, a French colonial governor, died at St. Pierre, Martinique, Jan. 3, 1658. In 1638 he was appointed governor of Martinique by his uncle, D'Enambuc, the founder of the French colony on that island, and also of that on the island of St. Christopher. This appointment was afterward confirmed by the company which then had control of French affairs in the islands of America, and Du Parquet held the office until his death. He exerted himself vigorously to promote the welfare of the colony, which was in a miserable condition when he assumed the control of its affairs, and his efforts were attended with a gratifying success. He purchased from a Carib chief one of the small islands of the West Indies, and the seller, afterward repenting of his agreement, made war upon the colonists whom Du Parquet had established there. The contest was long and bloody, but at last the French compelled the savages to submit. Du Parquet introduced the cultivation of the sugar cane into Martinique. In 1650 he went to France, where he purchased for a large sum of money and an annual rent the ownership of the islands of Martinique Sainte Alousie, Grenada, and the Grenadines. He ad |