law of England are exceedingly artificial, being derived chiefly from the old feudal system, and by usage become fixed, though the reasons that first gave rise to them have long ceased to exist. The principal of these rules are as follows: 1. The estate descends lineally to the oldest son, to the exclusion of all others; or if he is deceased, then to his descendants, male or female, following the same rule of preference in all respects as prescribed in this and the following rules. 2. In case of the decease of the oldest son without issue, then to the next oldest and his descendants, and so to the last of the males. 3. In case of failure of male issue, then to the daughters, who, contrary to the order prescribed in the preceding rules, do not take successively, but become seized jointly of a peculiar estate called coparcenery, the incidents of which we need not now stop to discuss, further than to say that each coparcener has an absolute undivided interest, which she may convey, or which on her decease will descend to her heirs. 4. Failing all lineal descendants, the estate does not ascend lineally-that is to say, to the father or grandfather, who by the common law are incapacitated to take directly from the son or grandson, though they may indirectly through collateral heirs-but to the nearest collateral kindred, still following the preference of males to females, and, of the males of the same degree, the oldest having the exclusive right. Thus the oldest brother and his descendants will take; failing whom, the next brother and his descendants; or in default of brothers, then all the sisters in copercenery; but if there be no brothers or sisters, then the kindred of next degree will succeed, subject to the same rules of preference. 5. In respect to collateral succession, several other rules apply. (a.) The heir must be not only the nearest of kin of the person last seized, but must be of the whole blood, that is to say, must be descended from the same two ancestors, male and female; as, if A and B are brothers having the same father but not the same mother, if an estate descends to A from the father and he dies, B shall not inherit from him, although if A had died before the father, B would have been the heir of the father. So far was this exclusion carried by the common law, that a sister of the whole blood would take in preference to a brother of the half blood, and the estate would even escheat rather than it should descend to the latter; and the same rule prevailed in respect to more remote collateral relatives. (b.) It is also necessary, in order to inherit col laterally, to be of the blood of the first purchaser, that is to say, of the person who first acquired the estate; as, if A purchase land and it descends through several generations to B, who dies without issue, no collateral relative of B can take the estate unless he is also of the blood of A, from whom it originally came. (c.) Kindred on the side of male ancestors, how ever remote, are preferred to kindred descended from females, however near, unless the estate

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descended from a female, in which case the kindred of such female can alone inherit. Thus the relatives on the father's side are preferred to the mother's, and on the grandfather's to the grandmother's, and so in all the degrees of ancestry. (d.) In computing degrees of consanguinity, the rule of the canon law is adopted as before mentioned, whereby the relationship to the common ancestor is alone considered. According to this rule, brothers are related in the first degree, cousins in the second; but as this would often make a different degree of relationship be tween the same parties, according as it was computed from one or the other to the common ancestor, it was found necessary to adopt a further rule, that the consanguinity of each to the other was to be determined by that of the most remote from the common ancestor. Again, there might sometimes be different sets of kindred in the same degree of relationship by referring to different ancestors, as a nephew is in the same degree as an uncle, the common ancestor of the one being the father, of the other the grandfather; in such a case, another rule intervenes, viz.: that the relative representing the nearest ancestor shall take priority, according to which the nephew would inherit before the uncle. Several important changes have been made in the law of descent by statute 3 and 4 William IV., c. 106 (1833), the principal of which are: 1, that a lineal ancestor is permitted to inherit, and takes precedence of a collateral heir; thus the father is preferred to the brother or sister; 2, relatives of the half blood are relieved from disability to inherit, and succeed next after relatives of the same degree of the whole blood; 8, several provisions are made for the determination of the question who was the purchaser from whom by the rules of common law the descent was to be traced. The person last entitled is to be deemed a purchaser, unless it be shown that he took by inheritance, and so of any preceding ancestor. In the case of a devise by a man to his heir, such heir shall be deemed to have taken by the devise and not by descent, and is to be regarded as a purchaser. When land is purchased under a limitation to the heirs of a particular ancestor, such ancestor is deemed the purchaser. From this summary of the English law of descent, which gives only the general rules without noticing certain exceptions which are said to exist by ancient usage in some places, it is apparent that the basis of the system was a condition of society no longer existing. The theory of seeking for a single male heir to the exclusion of all others belongs to the turbulent period when a military head of a family was needed, and all the other members of the family found shelter in a common mansion, under the protection of an organized domestic force. The perpetuation of the rule, in a period of private immunity from violence, can serve no other purpose than to keep together the estates of great land proprietors. This may be essential for maintaining the respectability of the titles of nobility, but is inapplica

ble to all other proprietors; and moreover, personal property, which was comparatively unnoticed by the feudal law, but which has become a large proportion of the wealth of the kingdom, is distributed by another rule, conforming to the equitable principle of the civil law. The retention of this part of the old feudal law is there fore mainly attributable to the stern prejudice in favor of ancient usage which has always been peculiar to the English people.-The law of descent in the United States is based upon the English statute (22 and 23 Charles II.) for the distribution of the personal estate of intestates, which statute is substantially in conformity with the civil law. In most of the states real and personal estate descend by the same rule, with the exception only of the interest of the husband and wife respectively, the former of whom has an estate for life in all the lands belonging to a deceased wife, and the wife has an estate for life in one third of the lands belong ing to a deceased husband, which is called dower. The rule of descent in the state of New York, which may be taken as the law of most of the other states, is: 1, of the lineal descendants of the intestate, an equal proportion to all who are of equal degree of consanguinity, whether male or female; but in the case of the decease of any one of them, then his or her descendants take the proportion that would have belonged to such deceased party if living; thus, should the intestate leave 2 chil dren and 3 grandchildren, descendants of a deceased child, the estate will be divided into 3 parts, the 3 grandchildren taking the which would have belonged to the parent whom they represent; 2, upon failure of lineal descend ants, the father of the intestate will inherit, unless the estate came on the part of the mother; 3, if the father is not living, or cannot for the, reason above mentioned take the estate, the mother will be entitled to hold it for life, the reversion to belong to the brothers and sisters; 4, if no lineal descendants or father or mother, then the estate will descend to the nearest collateral relatives of equal degree, and the same rule applies as in the case of lineal descendants, that the descendants of a deceased party take the same share that such ancestor would have been entitled to if living. The rules as to collateral succession are as follows: (a) brothers and sisters, or the children of deceased brothers and sisters, are first entitled; but in case no brother or sister is living, but there are descendants of several, then such descendants take equally per capita, and not per stirpes or representation, as would be the case if one of the brothers or sisters were living; (b) if no brothers or sisters of the intestate nor descendants of deceased brothers or sisters, the next heirs are uncles and aunts on the father's side, or failing these, the same relatives on the mother's side; if, however, the estate came on the part of the mother, then her relatives have the preference; but if the estate had not descended from either father or mother, then the

relatives on the part of both take equally. In the descent, both lineal and collateral, relatives of the half blood are equally entitled with those of the whole blood. The rules of succession by the French civil code are nearly the same as those prevailing in this country. The variations are principally these: 1, if there are father and mother (or either of them) and brothers and sisters, the estate is divided into 2 parts, one of which belongs to the father and mother in equal proportion, the other to the brothers and sis ters or descendants of a deceased brother and sister, such descendants taking by representation the share that the child whom they represent would have taken; if either father or mother is deceased, his or her share vests in the brothers and sisters; 2, if there is a father or mother, but no brothers or sisters, the collateral relatives take a half; 8, if there are children of different father or mother, the estate is divided into 2 parts, the paternal line taking one part and the maternal or uterine the other; children of the whole blood take a share in each moiety.

DESERET, a co. of Utah, bounded E. by Great Salt Lake, and W. by California. It is drained by the Mary or Humboldt river, and traversed by several mountain ranges.-The name of Deseret was also given by the Mormons to the territory around the Great Salt lake, but was not accepted by congress, who substituted therefor the name of Utah. According to the Mormons, "Deseret" signifies "the land of the honey bee."

DESERTER, in military affairs, an officer, soldier, or sailor who abandons the public service in the army or navy, without leave. In England the punishment for desertion is, with certain limitations, left to the discretion of court martials, death being the extreme penalty. By the articles for the government of the navy of the United States (art. 12), it is enacted that "if any person in the navy shall desert to an enemy or rebel, he shall suffer death," and (art. 13) "if any person in the navy shall desert in time of war, he shall suffer death, or such other punishment as a court martial shall adjudge.” The rules and articles for the government of the land forces of the United States authorize the infliction of corporal punishment not exceeding 50 lashes for desertion in time of peace, by sentence of a general court martial'; and the laws do not permit punishment by stripes and lashes for any other crime in the land ser vice. In time of war a court martial may sen tence a deserter to suffer death, or otherwise punish at its discretion.

DESEZE, RAYMOND, a French magistrate, born in Bordeaux in 1750, died in Paris in 1828. A lawyer in his native city, he was called to Paris by the count De Vergennes, gained repu tation in several important lawsuits, was chosen one of the counsel of King Louis XVI. when arraigned before the convention, and delivered an eloquent defence in his behalf. He was ar rested, but liberated after the 9th Thermidor, lived in retirement during the consulate and the

DESFONTAINES

empire, and on the restoration of the Bourbons was appointed president of the court of cassation, DESFONTAINES, PIERRE FRANÇOIS GUY DOT, a French critic, born at Rouen in 1685, died Dec. 16, 1745. He studied under the Jesuits, received orders, and was a successful teacher of rhetoric in the college of Bourges. He was invited to Paris in 1724, to restore the Journal des savants, which had fallen into discredit. In this he succeeded, and published afterward, sometimes alone, and sometimes in conjunction with others, several periodicals, among which were the Observations sur les écrits nouveaux. His criticisms were marked by severity and rudeness, and among the many enemies whom he made by his trenchant pen was Voltaire, who had once saved him from prison, or perhaps the galleys. The paper warfare between the critic and the philosopher attracted general attention, and ended in the discomfiture of the former. The principal works of Desfontaines are a Dictionnaire néologique, and a translation of the Eneid.

DESFONTAINES, RENÉ LOUICHE, a French botanist, born in Tremblay, in Brittany, in 1752, died in Paris, Nov. 16, 1833. After studying at the college of Rennes, he went to Paris to prepare for the medical profession, but devoted himself chiefly to botany. He was received into the academy of sciences in 1782, the custom of the time being to admit young men of approved capacity, with a view of encouraging them to greater accomplishments. He immediately embarked for the Barbary states, and during two years explored the natural history, especially the flora, of the north of Africa. He published the result of his investigations in the Flora Atlantica (2 vols., Paris, 1798), which gave descriptions of 1,600 species of plants, 300 of which were new. On his return to Paris in 1785 he was appointed by Buffon to succeed Lemonnier as professor in the jardin des plantes, and from this time he was occupied with his lectures. He was the first to indicate the difference in growth and structure between the monocotyledonous and the dicotyledonous plants. He made a catalogue of the jardin des plantes (1804; 3d ed. in Latin, 1829); continued the Collection des velins du muséum d'histoire naturelle, which had been begun for Gaston of Orleans; and published numerous memoirs in the transactions of learned societies.

DESHA, a S. E. co. of Ark., bordering on the Mississippi, intersected by Arkansas and White rivers; area, 869 sq. m.; pop. in 1854, 3,971, of whom 1,840 were slaves. The surface is low, level, and subject to inundation. The soil is alluvial, and in 1854 produced 6,940 bales of cotton, and 130,055 bushels of corn. Number of pupils in the public schools, 40. Capital, Napoleon.

DESIRADE, or DESEADA, a rocky island of the Little Antilles, in the Caribbean sea, E. of Guadeloupe, of which it is a dependency. It is scantily furnished with wood and fresh water. Area, 10,695 acres; pop. in 1856, 1,235, of

whom 284 were whites. It was the first island discovered by Columbus in his second voyage, on which he set out, Sept. 25, 1493.

DESHOULIÈRES, ANTOINETTE (DU LIGIER DE LA GARDE), a French authoress, born in Paris about 1634, died in the same city, Feb. 17, 1694. The daughter of a maître d'hôtel of Marie de' Medici and Anne of Austria, she was early noted for beauty and wit, and received a brilliant education under the best masters. She studied the Latin, Italian, and Spanish languages; read the long romances of D'Urfé, La Calprenède, and Mlle. de Scudéry, which were then the delight of the court; and early began to write verses, her first attempts being corrected by the poet Hesnaut. In her 18th year she was married to Guillaume de la Fon de Boisguérin (seigneur des Houlières), who in the troubles of the Fronde embraced the party of the prince of Condé, and was exiled. Mme. Deshoulières subsequently rejoined her husband at the court of Brussels, where she became an object of suspicion, and was imprisoned in 1657 in the castle of Vilworde, where she read the Scriptures and fathers of the church, was rescued by her husband by a coup de main after 8 months, and on her return to France after the amnesty became a favorite at the court of Anne of Austria. She wrote poems in almost all styles from the madrigal to tragedy, and was intimate with the two Corneilles, with Fléchier, Mascaron, Quinault, Benserade, and Ménage, and with the dukes of Montausier, La Rochefoucauld, Nevers, and Saint Aignan. She attained the best success in pastorals and in moral and philosophical pieces. Her idyls, especially those entitled Les moutons and Les fleurs, were most admired, and gained her the appellation of the 10th muse and the French Calliope; and the subsequent ill success of her tragedies caused the advice, of proverbial fame, to be given her, de retourner à ses moutons. She became a member of the academy of the Ricovrati of Padua in 1684, and of the academy of Arles in 1689. Like Mme. de Sévigné, she belonged to the literary clique hostile to Racine. Voltaire said that of all French ladies who had cultivated poetry, Mme. Deshoulières had succeeded best, since more of her verses than those of any other were known by heart. The principal editions of her works are those of 1747 and 1799, each in 2 vols.

DESMIDIEÆ, minute and interesting algæ, which grow in fresh water, and whose contour and forms present singularly beautiful appearances under the microscope. For a long time claimed both as animals and plants, they seem to stand on the limits of either kingdom. The controversy as to their true place has enlisted a great number of observers, who have submitted every fact connected with their study to the most rigorous examination. Ehrenberg has claimed them as animalcules; and in the "Annals of Natural History" (London, 1840), Mr. Dalrymple has given extended observations of a similar character upon a single genus (closterium), which appeared to him to indicate

animality. In the "American Journal of Science and Arts" (vol. xli., 1841), Professor Bailey admits the general correctness of Mr. Dalrymple's observations, yet differs from him in some respects. He considers the desmidiem as animalcules, and includes them in his sketch of the infusoria. In a memoir "On the Organization of the Polygastric Infusoria," in Weigmann's Archiv for 1846, C. Eckhard advocates their animality. He notices only the closteria, and derives his argument for their being animals partly from their motion, partly from their organization. According to Pritchard, in his "History of Infusoria, living and fossil" (London, 1842), Dr. Meyen shows that Ehrenberg has described and represented in his great work a very considerable number of organized bodies looked upon by botanists as belonging to the vegetable kingdom. In these representations naturalists have been able to attain what has been long desirable; for although in respect to the more highly developed and complete vegetable beings the truest delineations are indispensably necessary at the present day, it is much more requisite that every one of these lower and microscopic organisms should be laid before us in the same tangible manner. Ehrenberg has not only given systematic descriptions of these questionable animals or plants, but his own observations, coupled with those of his predecessors, upon the nature of these bodies, will be found copiously detailed by him. It is, however, apparent that all the facts known upon the subject are interpreted as if these creations were undoubtedly animals, while the same facts would bear a very different signification if we proceeded upon the supposition that they were merely plants. Meyen contended for the vegetable character of the desmidies, and was the first to detect the presence of starch in the cells; and the accuracy of his remarks, which had been doubted, was fully confirmed by Ralfs, Jenner, and other recent algologists. The presence of starch in the desmidies can be readily detected by treating them with a solution of iodine; all vegetable tissues in which starch grains are found assume a purplish or violet color on its application. Prof. Bailey did not consider this a conclusive proof of their vegetable nature, since, if animal, the starch might have been swallowed. But it is affirmed that no starch is to be detected in the young cell, while upon the growth of the sporangium or seed-vessel it appears and increases rapidly, as in the seeds of the higher plants, in which it generally abounds. Of all the circumstances which indicate the vegetable nature of the desmidieæ, this is the most important, since it can be so easily submitted to experiment. In certain cavities in closterium, Mr. Dalrymple noticed a peculiar motion of molecules on which he laid some stress. This motion has been frequently noticed, and is to be seen in many plants. At first sight it would seem to denote an animal function, yet really in the desmidien it becomes a proof of their vegetability. It has been termed swarming, on

account of the commotion which arises within the cell, as if all its contents were endowed with life; as the disturbance increases, the cell opens, when the molecules, or rather zoospores, hasten from their prison, darting about in every direc tion, until at length they settle down into a state of repose. The presence and functions of zoospores in plants of entirely differing families and groups, render their occurrence in those under consideration no evidence of their being animals. That the desmidieæ resist decomposition, exhale oxygen on exposure to the sun, preserve the purity of the water containing them, and when burned do not emit the peculiar odor usually so characteristic of animal combustion, are also important facts respecting this family. Berkeley, in his "Introduction to Cryptogamic Botany," remarks that much controversy has existed with respect to their true nature, but that at the present day few persons will adopt the views of Ehrenberg; for if in some points there be anomalies, as in closterium, their whole history is so evidently vegetable, their mode of increase, growth, &c., that if we refuse them the title of vegetables, we may as well dispute that of the whole tribe of zoosporous algae. As to their occasionally producing bodies endowed with active motion, it is now a matter of certainty that such bodies exist in a variety of algae of very different construction; and in order that the cellulose (or peculiar ma terial of the cell walls of vegetables) should exhibit the proper reaction when acids are applied for tests, the membranes of cells or of the fronds must be thoroughly cleansed from all extraneous matters. But perhaps the most important of all is the fact that, under the influence of light, they give out oxygen, which, added to the other characteristics, is quite convincing. Considering the desmidien as vegetable productions, we find them peculiar for their beauty, variety of forms, and the external markings and appendages to be noticed upon them. They are mostly of an herbaceous green color, and contain a green internal matter. The frond divides into two valves or segments, by a sort of voluntary action; a mode of growth in the bisection of cells that Meyen and others have proved to be frequent if not universal in the more simple algae. In the desmidies the multiplication of the cells by repeated division is full of interest, both on account of the remarkable manner in which it takes place, and because it unfolds the process of cell-growth in the tissue of other plants, thus furnishing valuable facts in general vegetable physiology. The compressed and deeply constricted cells of eriastrum offer most favorable opportunities for ascertaining the manner of this division; for although the frond is really a single cell, yet this cell in all its stages appears like two, the seg ments being always distinct, even from the commencement. As the connecting portion is so small, and necessarily produces the new segments, which cannot arise from a broader base than its opening, these are at first very minute, though they rapidly increase in size.

The

DESMIDIEÆ

segments are separated by the elongation of the connecting tube, which is converted into two roundish hyaline lobules. These lobules increase in size, acquire color, and gradually put on the appearance of the older portions. Of course, as they increase, the original segments are pushed further asunder, and at length are disconnected, each taking with it a new segment to supply the place of that from which it has separated. All the desmidies are gelatinous. In some the mucus is condensed into a distinct and well defined hyaline sheath or covering; in others it is more attenuated, and the fact that it forms a covering is discerned only from its preventing the contact of the colored cells. In general, its quantity is merely sufficient to hold the fronds together in a kind of filmy cloud, which is dispersed by the slightest touch. When they are left exposed by the evaporation of the water, this mucus becomes denser, and is apparently secreted in larger quantities to protect them from the effects of drought. Their normal mode of propagation seems to be by the production of single large spores or sporangiums, which derive their existence from the union of the green coloring matter (endochromes) of two contiguous plants. These spores are mostly globular, although they exhibit a great variety of forms with reference to their external surfaces. Sometimes they bear no resemblance to the parent plant. But once formed, they are propagated by division, in the same manner as the ordinary cells, and in the 3d generation acquire their regular form, which they may continue to propagate for years, without ever producing a true spore.-Very little is known respecting the uses of the desmidiem. Probably they assist in preserving the purity of the water in which they grow; a function which they may fulfil in the economy of nature in common with most aquatic vegetables. The food of bivalve mollusks belonging to fresh waters seems to be made up of them. They are found principally where there is some admixture of peat, and in clear pools rather than in running streams. They abound in open places, and are rarely seen in shady woods or in deep ditches. According to Brébisson, the calcareous districts of France are very unproductive of them. So numerous are the species and so diversified their shapes and characters, that they have been divided into distinct genera as natural series present themselves in turn. In the first of these series we discover the plant an elongated, jointed filament, which may be cylindrical, sub-cylindrical, triangular or quadrangular, plane with the margins even and smooth, or with the margins incised and sinuated. In hyalotheca we have the mucous envelope alluded to above, within which are numerous joints, which are usually broader than long; and as each has a shallow groove passing round it, it resembles a small pulley wheel. The minuteness of the plant may be estimated from the length of these joints, which vary from to of an inch. H. dissiliens (Bréb.) is found in North America VOL, VI.-27

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as well as in Europe. In desmidium, the joints are bidentate at the angles; the filament is fragile and of a pale green color; the length of the joint is from toy of an inch. D. Swartzii (Ag.) is common throughout the United States. In micrasterias we have a simple, lenticular frond, deeply divided into two-lobed segments, each lobe inciso-dentate and generally radiate. Many species of this beautiful plant are common in this country. We have also found euastrum, which belongs to the same series, of frequent occurrence. Certain curious spiny objects detected in a fossil state in flint in Europe remind us of xanthidium, but which probably are spores; the compressed bipartite and bivalved frond of the xanthidium being represented in the fossils by one that is globose and entire. The constriction about the middle of the frond is lost in closterium, which also differs in shape, it being crescent-like or arcuate. The species of this are common and numerous. The fronds of ankistrodesmus are aggregated into fagot-like bundles. Pediastrum tetras, occurring from Maine to Virginia, according to Bailey, has an extremely minute frond composed of 4 cells, which make a star-like figure; while P. biradiatum, found in New Jersey (Bailey) as well as in Germany (Meyen), has many more cells, yet still arranged in a stello-radiate manner.-In collecting the desmidies, the student must seek in proper situations the sediment observable in the form of a dirty cloud or greenish scum upon the stems and leaves of filiform aquatic plants. This is to be carefully transferred to a bottle of pure water, and thus he will secure many beautiful species for his microscopes. If the bottle be exposed to the light, the little plants will continue in good condition, and thrive for several months, thus furnishing subjects for examination ready

at hand.

DES MOINES, a S. E. co. of Iowa, bordering on Ill., washed by the Mississippi on the E. and S. E., bounded S. W. by Skunk river, and drained by Flint creek; area, 408 sq. m.; pop. in 1856, 20,198. Limestone and anthracite are the principal mineral productions. The surface is much diversified and occupied by prairies and tracts of timber. The soil is fertile, well cultivated, and in 1856 yielded 11,274 tons of hay, 221,109 bushels of wheat, 359,938 of oats, 1,456,491 of corn, 206,026 lbs. of butter, and 20,056 of wool. Capital, Burlington.

DES MOINES, the largest river of Iowa. It rises in the S. W. part of Minnesota, and takes a S. E. course to Emmet co., Iowa. Thence it runs nearly S. S. E. to the Mississippi, which it joins about 4 m. below Keokuk. The country through which it flows is an undulating, fertile region, interspersed with tracts of prairie. The state government has recently undertaken to render the river navigable as far as Fort Des Moines, a distance of over 200 m.

DESMOND, EARLS OF, an ancient family of great influence in the S. W. of Ireland, from the year 1329 to 1583. The line numbered 15 earls. The title and family are now extinct.