antiseptic tonics and stimulants. To destroy the fungous growth, the best local applications seem to be a saturated solution of borax, and alkalies; the chlorate of potash; the liniment of acetate of copper; corrosive sublimate gargles; solutions of the sulphates of zinc, iron, and copper; alkaline, and even common salt gargles. Nitrate of silver, though the most popular, has not proved the most successful application. Wounds affected with the fungus should be treated on similar principles.

DIPLOMACY (Gr. διπλωμα, from διπλοω, to double or fold), the science or art of conducting the official intercourse of independent states, and particularly of negotiating treaties. The term is of very recent origin, having first come into general use in the courts of Europe since the end of the 18th century. It is not to be found in Johnson's dictionary, and a French writer on the subject states that it is not in any dictionary anterior to 1819. The art itself, however, is as ancient as the division of mankind into peoples and nations. In the earliest periods of history heralds and ambassadors make their appearance, bearing messages from king to king or from state to state. The Romans had a college of heralds, 20 in number, supposed to have been instituted by Numa, whose functions embraced every thing connected with the declaration of war and the making of treaties. But regular and permanent embassies at foreign courts do not seem to have been maintained by any nation until the 16th century A. D. Ambassadors were sent for special occasions, and returned home when they had accomplished the particular object of their mission, or had found its accomplishment impracticable. They were clothed with a sacred, and to some extent a priestly character, and their personal privileges were seldom disregarded even by the rudest barbarians. The heralds whom Darius the Persian king sent to the Grecian cities to demand the symbols of submission, earth and water, some of whom were put to death at Sparta and at Athens, were looked upon less as ambassadors than as bearers of a hostile and insulting message; yet both the Spartans and Athenians afterward expressed their regret for the act, and attributed some of the misfortunes which subsequently befell them to divine judgments for the crime. The peculiar and complicated relations of the Grecian states with each other gave rise to a very active diplomatic intercourse between them, carried on generally by means of formal deputations of envoys, at the head of whom was sometimes placed a man of distinguished eminence. Throughout antiquity, indeed, embassies of importance do not appear to have been confided to the discretion of a single person, but rather to a commission of 2 or 3 or even more of equal rank. Ancient diplomacy appears to have been guided by no other rules than those of apparent self-interest, though to some extent a kind of international law was recognized among the Grecian republics. Engagements and treaties were observed only so long as it seemed profitable to observe

or not dangerous to disregard them. To oppress the weak, to deceive the strong, to employ by turns force or artifice as policy seemed to require such was the aim and such was the art of ancient diplomacy. The Romans professedly regarded all foreign nations as barbarians, to be subdued and made tributary whenever opportunities occurred. They made treaties and formed alliances, but renounced both without scruple when it became convenient to do so. Christianity first elevated diplomacy to a nobler position by teaching the brotherhood of man and of nations, within the pale of the church at least, and by giving them the supreme law of the gospel, and finally, during the middle ages, by recognizing the pope as the supreme head and arbiter of the Christian commonwealth. The most ancient specimens of diplomatic correspondence which have come down to us are those contained in the Excerpta Legationum, vol. i. of the Byzantine historians, or the 58d book of the great historical compilation made by order of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. Among them is a curious account of the embassy of Maximin, a high officer of the Byzantine court, who was sent by the emperor Theodosius, about the middle of the 5th century, on a mission to Attila, the king of the Huns, who received him in his capital on the banks of the Danube, at or near the place where the city of Buda now stands. The details of this mission are highly interesting, and it would seem to have been conducted very much in the manner of an embassy of modern times. In the middle ages diplomacy partook of the general rudeness, and was comparatively crude and simple. The relations of states were not complicated, and little forethought for any thing beyond immediate emergencies seems to have been exercised by the statesmen of the period, except by the popes, who had almost constantly in view a well-defined policy for extending and strengthening their ecclesiastical dominion. It is to the Italian republics that we owe the first marked development of the science of diplomacy, the characteristic of which is that as far as possible it substitutes reason and intellect for brute force, and teaches respect for justice and the rights of others, and is therefore peculiarly favorable, when not perverted, to weak, unwarlike, and commercial states. The Italian republics, exposed to the attacks of great military monarchies, cultivated diplomacy with peculiar care. Their politicians, conspicuous among whom was Macchiavelli, whose diplomatic correspondence has been pronounced the finest in existence, became celebrated for their unrivalled skill in the science, and it was long the practice of the greater states of Europe to employ Italians in negotiation, on account of their supposed peculiar aptitude for the subtleties of the profession. The ambassadors of Venice were especially famous, and the relations of their missions which they regularly made to the senate have a high reputation among historians, for the deep and accurate insight which

they give into the policy and manners and characters of the courts to which they were accredited. Italian plomacy was in general profound, cautious, and unscrupulous. It occupied itself much in forming combinations and alliances, and did not disdain to buy or bribe ministers, confessors, and mistresses, to corrupt generals, steal or forge documents, and sometimes even to employ poisoning and other forms of assassination to accomplish or promote its objects. These malpractices, however, were not confined to Italy, but characterized the diplomacy of all Europe to as late a period as the 16th century. A great impulse was given to diplomacy by the fall of the Byzantine empire, the invention of printing and of gunpowder, the discovery of America, and the general intellectual development and political fermentation of Europe in the 15th century. Henry III. of France created the office of minister of foreign affairs in the last year of his reign, and the first minister appointed to it was Louis de Révol, who held the post from Jan. 1, 1589, to Sept. 17, 1594. But it is to the reign of Henry IV. of France (1589-1610) that the origin of the modern system of diplomacy has been traced by writers on the subject. That monarch was served by distinguished statesmen and negotiators, preeminent among them the famous Sully, by whom the forms and usages of diplomacy were brought to a degree of perfection before unknown. Diplomacy, indeed, was a favorite instrument with Henry IV., who was all his life surrounded by singularly delicate and difficult complications of a mixed political and religious character. He was the inventor of the system of mediations, which has often since been found so convenient a mode of averting war without wounding the pride of nations. He had great and comprehensive plans of federation and for the preservation of perpetual peace among the states of Europe, to effect which he relied chiefly upon diplomacy. The despatches of his ambassadors and ministers are remarkable for their ability, sagacity, and elevation of sentiment. Cardinal Richelieu (1624 -'42) continued in the foreign policy of France the method of Henry IV., and directed his diplomacy chiefly against the house of Austria. He is generally considered the founder of the present system of maintaining permanent legations at foreign courts, instead of sending special and transient embassies, though long before his time resident embassies were kept by the Venetians at several courts. It was during his administration that French began to supersede Latin as the language of diplomacy in Europe, for which it is peculiarly well adapted by its clearness and precision. Diplomacy greatly enlarget its field of action in the 17th century. Embassies were sent from western Europe to countries that had been hitherto out of the pale of civilized intercourse-to Russia, to Persia, to Siam, and to other remote and barbarous regions. The ambitious and warlike policy of Louis XIV. exercised a marked influence upon the character of the diplomacy of his times.

Statesmen occupied themselves incessantly with projects of aggression or defence, and with forming or dissolving leagues and combinations. Aspirations after universal empire were entertained on the one hand, and apprehended on the other. Artifices unknown to primitive diplomacy were freely resorted to, such as secret articles and separate articles in treaties; and it has been suspected that even sham treaties were promulgated to mislead or blind the general public. This period is also remarkable for the number of its treaties for the regulation of commerce and navigation.—During the period between the treaty of Utrecht (1713) and the beginning of the French revolution (1789) the diplomacy of Europe assumed an aspect very different from that of the preceding century. Exhausted by foreign and civil wars, the nations longed for repose. France and Austria saw themselves counterbalanced, and their dreams of universal dominion dissipated, by the appearance of new powers on the stage. Russia and Prussia took their place in the front rank of European nations, while Great Britain acquired the mastery of the seas, and developed prodigiously her commerce, industry, and internal resources. This was an age of intellectual and moral revolutions, which preceded and prepared the stupendous political revolutions that marked the latter part of the century. New ideas, new opinions, new motives, gained admission, and acquired predominant influence in the minds of the ruling classes of Europe, especially in France, Germany, and England. The extension of commerce and the growth of colonies in America, Africa, and the East Indies, led to the remodelling of a branch of diplomatic service, the consular system, and to its restriction within nearly its present limits.

The French revolution and the long wars that sprung from it wrought a great change in the materials and tendencies of diplomacy, by sweeping from the map of Europe a number of effete states, by raising up gigantic combinations against Napoleon and against the revolutionary spirit, and by converting the current of events in Europe from a mere contest for supremacy between monarchs into a conflict of antagonistic principles, and a desperate struggle for existence on the part of the royal and privileged families against the increasing intelligence and aspirations of the people. In 1815 the diplomacy of the great continental powers sought to strengthen itself against revolution by assuming the cloak of sanctity, by forming the holy alliance, the object of which was to maintain what was called legitimacy, to keep things as they were, to regulate as one family the Christian states of Europe, and especially to check the tendencies of the smaller kingdoms toward constitutional government. The diplomatists of this period were remarkable for ability and for the world-wide celebrity that some of them attained, as the Frenchman Talleyrand, the Austrian Metternich, and the Russian Nesselrode. Several very memorable congresses of diplomatists also

distinguished this period, such as that at Vienna (1814), at Aix la Chapelle (1818), at Troppau (1820), at Laybach (1821), and at Verona (1822). The rapid decay of the Turkish empire, and the changes made in it by the separation of Greece and the long revolt of the pasha of Egypt, together with the ambitious designs of Russia, have opened a new and wide field to European diplomacy since 1820, which has been still further enlarged by the renewal of revolutionary outbreaks in 1848, and the revival of the French empire in the person of Louis Napoleon in 1852. The prodigious growth of the United States of America during the same period has also introduced a new and peculiar element into diplomacy, by raising to the position of a power of the first rank a republic which does not acquiesce in all the principles of international law established by the monarchies of Europe, and holds itself entirely aloof from the sphere of their traditional policy. In practice, the diplomacy of the United States, inaugurated by Franklin, Adams, Jay, and Jefferson, has maintained an honorable reputation for directness, intelligence, and success, though, unlike all other civilized governments, the republic does not maintain a regularly trained corps of diplomatic agents especially educated for and devoted to the profession. Among the most striking instances of the success of American diplomacy may be mentioned the negotiations conducted by Commodore Perry and Mr. Townsend Harris, which have resulted in opening Japan to the commerce of the world. More recently the chief exertions of American diplomacy have been directed to the condition and destiny of the island of Cuba and of the Spanish American republics. A line of policy in these quarters, marked by novel and decided features, was shaped out under the administration of President Pierce, and continued by President Buchanan, of which the fullest expositions are contained in the document commonly called the Ostend manifesto, though it was actually issued from Aix la Chapelle (1854), and the annual message of President Buchanan in 1858.-The superintendence of the diplomatic relations of a country is in modern times, and among civilized nations, generally intrusted to a particular officer of state, who, on the continent of Europe, is usually styled minister of foreign affairs (in some instances the prime minister is at the same time minister of foreign affairs); in England, the secretary of state for foreign affairs; in the United States, simply the secretary of state. The appointment of diplomatic agents belongs to the executive, though in the United States the appointment must be confirmed by the senate. The highest grade of diplomatic agent is that of ambassador. In the diplomacy of the Roman Catholic states of Europe the legates and nuncios of the pope take rank with the highest class. The second grade of diplomatic agents includes envoys, ordinary and extraordinary, ministers plenipotentiary, the internuncios of the pope, and all agents VOL. VI.-32

accredited directly to sovereigns. The third order of diplomatic agents, chargés d'affaires, are, with few exceptions, accredited not to the sovereign of the country to which they are sent, but to the department of foreign affairs. The diplomatic agents of the United States are classed, by act of congress, 1856, as ambassadors, envoys extraordinary and ministers plenipotentiary, ministers resident, commissioners, and chargés d'affaires. Consuls-general and consuls are also sometimes invested with diplomatic powers in countries where the United States have no other authorized representatives. See Marten, Précis du droit des gens modernes de l'Europe (new edition, Paris, 1857).

DIPLOMATICS, the science of the knowledge of ancient documents, and especially of their age and authenticity. The charters of grants from sovereigns to individuals and corporations were formerly called diplomas, and the word is applied to all letters, documents, and pieces of writing of a public nature that have come down to us from the middle ages and the subsequent centuries. The public documents of the ancients, that is to say, of the Greeks and Romans, have perished, except such as were inscribed on stone or metal. But a vast mass of MSS. of the middle ages exists in Europe, whose dates and authenticity can only be settled by careful and skilful investigation. The quality of the parchment or paper, and of the ink, and the style of the handwriting, afford the means which are relied upon by those versed in the science of diplomatics to determine the age of the document. Formerly ink was made of soot, and red ink made of vermilion was sometimes used. Those who apply themselves to the study of diplomatics can easily distinguish the ink and the parchment and paper of one epoch from those of another. The variations in handwriting are also so great that by the character alone it is possible to pronounce within 40 or 50 years when any diploma was written. Europe the study of diplomatics has been much cultivated. The standard book of reference on the subject is the Nouveau traité de diplomatique, par deux Bénédictins (6 vols. 4to., Paris, 1750).

In

DIPTERA (Gr. dis, twice, and reрov, wing), an order of insects, containing the fly, mosquito, &c., characterized by 2 wings, 2 knobbed threads (halteres, balancers or poisers) behind the wings, and a horny or fleshy proboscis. They undergo a complete transformation; the larvæ, usually called maggots, have no feet, and have the breathing holes generally in the posterior part of the body; the pupa or nymphs are either incased in the dried skin of the larva, or naked, showing the wings and legs free and unconfined. The head is large, globular, connected with the body by a very slender neck, and is capable of a considerable pivot-like motion; the greater part, especially in the males, is occupied by the brilliant compound eyes, the single ocelli, when they exist, being on the top of the head. Under the head is the proboscis

or sucker, which in some kinds can be drawn up and concealed in the mouth; it consists of a long channel, ending in 2 fleshy lips, and enclosing on its upper side from 2 to 6 fine bristles, sharp as needles, and making the punctures so familiarly known in the case of mosquito bites; as this apparatus takes the place of the jaws of other insects, these wounds may properly be called bites. The saliva which flows into the wounds causes the well-known swelling and itching, the irritation in some skins amounting to inflammation. The sheath serves to maintain the lancets in position, and the latter having made their punctures form a groove along which the vegetable or animal fluids rise by the suctorial power of the insect and the force of capillary attraction. In the flies which only lap their food the proboscis is large and fleshy. The antenna in the gnats are long and many-jointed, in the flies short and thick, at the base of the proboscis. The wings are generally horizontal, delicate, with many simple veins in them; the posterior wings are metamorphosed into the balancers or poisers. Some entomologists, as Latreille, think the poisers do not correspond to posterior wings, but are vesicular appendages connected with the posterior respiratory trachea of the chest. Just behind the wing joints, and in front of the poisers, are 2 small convex scales, opening and shutting with the wings, and called winglets. The thorax is often the hardest part of the insect, composed principally of the intermediate mesothorax. The abdomen is not always united to the thorax by the whole of its posterior diameter, and in many females ends in a retractile jointed ovipositor by which the eggs are deposited. The legs, 6 in number, are usually long and slender, with 5 articulate tarsi and 2 claws at the end, beside 2 or 3 little cushion-like expansions, by means of which they are able to ascend the smoothest surfaces and to walk with the back downward with perfect security. According to Marcel de Serres, the dorsal vessel (the heart) in diptera is narrow and its pulsations frequent. Respiration in the adult is carried on by vesicular and tubular trachea. The nervous system consists of an aggregate of cerebral ganglia, and in some of 9 other ganglia, 3 in the thorax and 6 in the abdomen, connected by longitudinal simple commissures or cords; the larvæ have usually one more pair of ganglia than the adults, and have the commissures often double. The proboscis being the transformed under lip, often geniculate, the perforating bristles may be regarded as maxillæ, mandibles, and tongue. In those larvæ which have a distinct head, as in the mosquito, the jaws are arranged for mastication, though some of the pieces are wanting; but in the acephalous maggots the mouth is suctorial. Communicating with the gullet is a thin-walled vesicle, the sucking stomach, in which the fluids swallowed are temporarily deposited; the stomach proper is long and narrow, and makes many convolutions in the abdomen. The end of the intestine is short,

muscular, and pyriform. The uriniferous vessels are long, and generally 4 in number, opening into the lower extremity of the stomach; the ovaries consist usually of numerous short 3 or 4-chambered tubes, terminating in a short or a convoluted oviduct; the testicles are 2, simple, and generally of an oval or pyriform shape, with long vasa deferentia ending in the ejaculatory duct in common with 2 simple accessory mucous glands, and with horny valves enveloping the projecting copulatory organ. The larvae, or maggots, are without legs, generally whitish, and vary exceedingly in form and habits; the larvæ of the mosquito are aquatic, breathing with the head downward through the tubular tail surrounded with feather-like appendages, and the pupæ tumble about in water by means of 2 oval fins. These larvæ, and those of most flies which have 4 or 6 bristles in the proboscis, have a distinct horny head, and cast their skins to become pupa, which are generally of a brownish color; many have thorns and prickles on the body by which they work their way out of their coverings; a few cover themselves with silken webs and spin cocoons. The larvae of other flies, with a soft retractile head, living by suction, increase. rapidly in size, and change their form without casting off their skins, which shorten and harden, forming a case within which the larva changes into a pupa, which comes forth a fly by forcing off one end of the case. Though this order contains the bloodthirsty mosquito, the disgusting flesh fly, and many insects depositing their eggs in the bodies of living animals, it is a most useful one, supplying food to insectivorous birds, and themselves consuming decomposing animal and vegetable substances which would otherwise infect the air. Their life in the perfect state is short, very few surviving the rigor of winter. Among the genera with many-jointed antenna the following are the most interesting and best known: Culex (Linn.), containing the well-known gnats and mosquitoes, whose larvæ and pupæ are so common in stagnant water, called wigglers and tumblers, and whose adult females pierce with their lancets and annoy by their nocturnal hum the human race from Lapland to the tropics; the best known species are the C. pipiens of Europe, and the C. Americanus of this country, which is probably distinct. The genus cecidomyia (Latr.) includes many species interesting to the agriculturist, as the Hessian fly (C. destructor, Say), the wheat fly (C. tritici, Kirby), the willow gall-fly (C. salicis, Fitch), injurious in the larva state. The genus tipula (Linn.), especially the T. oleracea (Linn.), commonly known in England by the name of Harry Long-legs, is noted for its depredations in the larva condition on the tender roots of meadow plants. In the genus simulium (Latr.) are the black fly and the midges of the northern parts of this country; the black fly (S. molestum, Harris) fills the air during the month of June in Canada and the northern states; it flies in the daytime, and is so savage that every bite draws blood, in some

skins accompanied by considerable irritation; it is black, with transparent wings, and about of an inch long. After continuing through June, it is followed by another species (S. noci vum, Harris), called "no-see-'em" by the Indians of Maine from their minuteness; they come forth toward evening, creep under any kind of garment, and produce a sharp, fiery pain without drawing blood; they are very troublesome to travellers and new settlers in July and August. Among those with few joints in the antennæ is the genus tabanus (Linn.), which contains the large horse flies, as the T. bovinus (Linn.), of a dark brown color, and an inch long, common in Europe, where there are more than 40 other species; the most common of the American species are the T. atratus (Fabr.), of a black color, with a whitish bloom on the back; the eyes are very large, of a shining black color, with 2 jet-black bands across them; it is about an inch long, with an expanse of wings of 2 inches; the orange-belted horse fly (T. cinctus, Fabr.) is smaller and less common, black, with the first 3 rings of the body orange; a smaller species is the T. lineola (Fabr.), with a whitish line along the top of the hind body. In the summer these flies are very troublesome to cattle and horses, being able to pierce through the thickest hide with their 6-armed proboscis; a strong decoction of walnut leaves applied as a wash is said to keep them off. The golden-eyed forest flies (chrysops, Meig.) are known by their brilliant spotted eyes and their banded wings; smaller than horse flies, they resemble them in their habits, frequenting woods and thickets in July and August; some are wholly black, others striped with black and yellow. The bee fly (bombylius æqualis, Fabr.) flies with great swiftness through sunny paths in the woods, hovering over flowers and sucking their honey, like humming birds; it is about of an inch long, shaped like a humble-bee, and covered with yellowish hairs; the expanse of the wings is about an inch; they are divided longitudinally into 2 equal parts by the colors, the outer half being dark brown and the inner colorless. Among the flies which prey on other insects, seizing them on the wing or on plants, is the genus midas (Latr.), of which the orange-banded species (M. filatus, Fabr.) is sometimes 1 inches long and 24 inches in expanse of wings; the general color is black; it frequents the woods in July and August, where it may be often seen flying or basking in the sun; the larva is a cylindrical maggot, growing to the length of 2 inches; the pupa measures 11 inches in length, is of a brown color, with forked tail, 8 thorns on the fore part of the body, and numerous sharp teeth on the edges of the abdominal rings; it pushes itself half out of its hole when the fly is about to come forth. The genera laphria (Fabr.) and asilus (Linn.) are also predaceous in the winged state; in the former the antennæ are blunt at the end, in the latter slender-pointed; the former resemble large humble-bees in their thick and heavy bodies and legs; in the

larva state these asilians live in the ground, where they do much mischief to the roots of plants. The soldier flies (stratiomyda) have 2 spines on the hinder part of the thorax; the proboscis contains only 4 bristles, and ends with fleshy lips adapted for sucking vegetable juices; they are fond of wet places, and their larva live in stagnant pools, some thrusting their breething tube out of the water; they undergo transformation within the hardened larval skin. The genus stratiomys (Geoff.) has a broad oval body, of a dark color, with yellow markings on each side, and the antennæ somewhat spindleshaped. The genus sargus (Fabr.) is said to have no spines on the thorax, a slender body, of a brilliant grass-green color, about an inch long, with a bristle on the end of the antennæ. These insects delight in sunny weather, being dull and inactive in cloudy days; the larvæ are found in dung and rich mould. The syrphida have also a fleshy proboscis, and live on the honey of flowers; they resemble bees, wasps, and hornets in the shape and colors of their bodies, and they sometimes lay their eggs in the nests of these insects; others drop their ova among plant lice, which the young eagerly feed upon. The larvae of the genus helophilus (Meig.) were named by Réaumur rat-tailed maggots, from the great length of their tubular tails, which serve as respiratory organs; the experiments of Réaumur show that while the insect lies concealed in mud, its respiratory tube may reach 5 inches to the surface of the water; it seems to be composed of 2 portions, which slide one into the other like the joints of a telescope; some of the larvæ of this family live in rotten wood. The family conopida resemble slenderbodied wasps; the antennæ are long and 3jointed; the proboscis long, slender, and geniculate. The genus conops (Linn.) is generally of a black color, and about an inch long; more than 20 species are described, usually found on flowers in June and July, but not in large numbers; the females deposit their eggs in the larvae and the perfect insects of the humble-bee, in whose bodies their young undergo metamorphosis. The common stable fly belongs to the genus stomoxys (Fabr.); the flesh fly to the genus sarcophaga (Meig.); the house fly and the meat fly to the genus musca (Linn.); the flower flies to the genus anthomyia (Meig.); the cheese fly to the genus piophila (Fallen.); the dung fly to the genus scatophaga (Meig.); the fruit and gall flies to the genera ortalis (Fallen.) and tephritis (Latr.); these will be described in the article FLY. The gadflies or bot flies, comprising the genera astrus (Linn.) and gasterophilus (Leach), affecting respectively the ox and the horse, will be described under GADFLY. Various winged and wingless ticks, infesting the horse, sheep, and birds, belonging to the order of diptera, but forming with the spider flies the order homaloptera of Leach and the English entomologists, will be treated in the article Tick; they include the genera hippobosca (Linn.), melophagus (Latr.), and ornithomyia (Latr.).—At the