DIONYSIUS (OF HALICARNASSUS)

at least after the 8th century, was universally adopted as the commencement of the era.

DIONYSIUS OF HALICARNASSUS, a Greek historian and rhetorician, born in Halicarnassus, in Caria. He removed to Rome early in the reign of Augustus, and 22 years later, shortly before his death, published, his work, entitled Ρωμαϊκη Αρχαιολογια, or “Roman Antiquities.” It was in 20 books, and contained the history of Rome from the earliest mythical times to the era of the Punic wars, where the history of Polybius begins. There remain only the first 11 books, which stop with the year 441 B. C., a few years after the expulsion of the decemvirs. Several fragments and extracts from the last 9 books have been preserved in the collections made by command of the emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus in the 10th century. The best editions of his works are those of Hudson (Oxford, 1704) and Reiske (Leipsic, 1774-'6). His rhetorical compositions have been published separately by Gross and by Westermann. There is an English translation of the "Roman Antiquities," by Edward Spelman (4 vols. 4to., London, 1758). DIONYSIUS THE YOUNGER Succeeded his father Dionysius the Elder, as tyrant of Syracuse, 367 B. C. At that time he was a reckless young man, educated in luxury, and unused to public affairs. He hastened to conclude a peace with the Carthaginians, abandoned his father's projects of foreign settlements and power, and devoted himself to pleasure. The philosopher Dion was his uncle, and undertook to excite him to a noble career. He conversed with him of the doctrines of Plato, and through his influence that philosopher was invited to visit the court of Syracuse. On coming, Plato proposed an amendment to the constitution, changing the government from nominal democracy and real despotism to a confederate authority, in which the sovereignty should reside in all the members of the ruling family, who should form together a college of princes. The monarch rejected this proposal, and soon after took up his residence in Locri, and gained some advantages against the Lucanians; but the wild orgies to which he surrendered himself drew upon him the contempt both of his subjects and of foreigners. With a small band of exiles, and with two vessels laden with arms, Dion landed in Sicily (359 B. C.), and was joined by thousands as he marched toward Syracuse. Dionysius had instantly returned from Locri, but his troops were defeated, and he was obliged to retreat to the citadel; and finding it impossible to retain his power, he collected his most valuable property, and sailed away to Italy, while his friends still kept possession of the stronghold. In 346 he availed himself of internal dissensions to recover his power in the city, and continued to reign there during the next 3 years. But the former Syracusan empire was now in fragments; and even the garrison which defended the tyrant in the citadel was rebellious. Timoleon now appeared upon the stage, marched against Syracuse in 343, and

Dionysius consented to an arrangement, by which he was allowed to depart in safety to Corinth. He passed the remainder of his life in a private condition, with low associates, performing, according to various traditions, the parts of schoolmaster, actor, and mendicant priest of Cybele.

DIONYSUS. See BACCHUS.

DIOPHANTUS OF ALEXANDRIA, the only Greek writer on algebra, first mentioned by John, patriarch of Jerusalem, in the 8th century, unless he be identical with the astronomer Diophantus, on whose work Hypatia is said by Suidas to have written a commentary. There are no more definite indications of his era. When his MSS. came to light in the 16th century, 13 books of his Apieμerika were announced, only 6 of which have been produced. Another treatise by him, Пept Twv Apidμwv Пoλvywvwv ("On Polygonal Numbers "), is extant. These books contain a system of reasoning on numbers with the use of general symbols, and are therefore algebraical treatises, though the demonstrations are written out at length in common language. The term Diophantine was applied by some modern mathematicians, as Gauss and Legendre, to the peculiar analysis employed in investigating the theory of numbers. The similarity of the Diophantine and Hindoo algebra renders it probable that both had a common origin, or that one was derived from the other. The best edition of his works is that of Fermat, in Greek and Latin, published posthumously (Toulouse, 1670). They were translated into German by Schulz (Berlin, 1821). The 6 books of the "Arithmetic" were translated into French by Stévin and Girard (Paris, 1625). A complete translation of his works into English was made by the late Miss Abigail Lousada, but has not been published.

DIOPTRICS, that part of optics which treats of refracted light. See OPTICS.

DIOSCORIDES, PEDACIUS or PEDANIUS, & medical and botanical writer of the 1st or 2d century A. D., probably a native of Anazarbus in Cilicia. He made collections of plants in Italy, Gaul, Greece, and Asia Minor, and wrote a treatise in 5 books on materia medica (Hept 'Yλns Iarpins), a work which enjoyed the highest reputation until the 17th century. It is now chiefly valuable as illustrating the opinions of physicians in ancient times, and as giving us some idea of their attainments in natural history. It has been translated into the Arabic, Italian, Spanish, French, and German languages, and many editions of it have been published in Latin and Greek.

DIP, in geology, the inclination of a stratum of rock from a horizontal line. The angle of inclination is measured by an instrument called a clinometer, and the magnetic needle which is commonly with it gives the point of the compass toward which the rock slopes or dips.-In terrestrial magnetism, it is the inclination which a needle makes from a horizontal line after it has been magnetized, when before this it was

perfectly balanced in a horizontal position. In the northern hemisphere the north pole of the needle dips toward the north pole of the earth, and in the southern hemisphere the south pole is depressed toward the south pole of the earth. The line called the magnetic equator, upon which a needle continues in the same horizontal plane before and after it is magnetized, is a curved line, not varying from the geographical equator. From this toward either pole the dip increases in intensity, and by means of a needle constructed with great delicacy, and furnished with a graduated vertical arc, called a dipping needle, the angle is measured and determined for different places upon the surface of the earth. It is found, however, not to be constant in any place, but to follow the motion of the magnetic poles, which appear to move westward at an annual rate of about 11' 4". The position of these poles is ascertained by comparison of the angles given by the dipping needle in different latitudes. In 1831 Commander Ross succeeded in reaching the spot in the northern hemisphere calculated to be the N. magnetic pole, lat. 70° 5' 17" N., long. 96° 46′ 45" W., where he found the dipping needle to take a position within 1' of the vertical, and the compass needles to be as perfectly indifferent to polarity as if they possessed no magnetic properties. For compasses intended to be used over a wide range of latitude, provision has to be made to counteract the effect of dip, in order that the needle may retain a horizontal position. This is effected by a small weight, so adjusted as to be slid along the bar as may be required. In passing from the northern to the southern hemisphere, it must be taken off the south pole of the needle and placed upon the north end. Dipping needles require to be made with the nicest accuracy, and to be free as possible from friction and every other impediment to their motion. By means of a universal joint, or by reference to a variation compass, the needle is made to move always in a vertical plane coinciding with the magnetic meridian of the place. -The dip of the horizon is the angle which a line to the visible horizon makes with a horizontal plane; its magnitude depends upon the height to which the observer's eye is elevated.

DIPHTHERIA (Gr. dipepa, skin), the most recent name of a disease of the mucous membranes first described by Bretonneau as diphtherite, characterized by the exudation of a thick leathery membrane in the throat; it may occupy also any portion of the air passages even to the bronchi, the gastro-intestinal surfaces, the points of junction of the skin and mucous membrane, and the skin itself where it is delicate or deprived of its epidermis. It is allied to some forms of scarlatinous inflammation, to croup, and to quinsy, with which it is often confounded. It is probably, as it has occurred during the last few years in France and England, only an intense epidemic form of an old disease, manifesting itself in various forms of throat disease. In the formation of firm con

cretions and in its tendency to spread when epidemic, it resembles in some respects the disease of infants known as muguet. Various causes have been assigned for it, and it is generally admitted to be a specific disease. Dr. Laycock and others regard it as due to the oidium albicans, a parasitic fungus, whose sporules and mycelium have been found on the mucous membrane of the mouth, fauces, and alimentary canal; its irritation induces in the enfeebled membranes an increased secretion of epithelial scales and exudation corpuscles, which with the fungus constitute the membrane or pellicle; it seems to act upon the capillaries of the subjacent tissue, which is red and bleeding. Syphilitic, scarlatinic, or rubeolic inflammation may take on the diphtheritic form during an epidemic, and the fungus may excite an irritation without forming a pellicle; it is not vesicular nor ulcerative like aphthæ, and the redness is deeper. These microscopic parasitic organisms doubtless cause more diseased conditions than physicians are as yet aware of, and the question naturally arises whether the fungous growth is the primary process, or whether it is secondary, requiring the nidus of a previously diseased membrane for its development. From the occurrence of similar growths in a variety of diseases, they would seem a consequence rather than a cause, springing up wherever they find a suitable nidus, complicating and often masking the original disease; the fungus of diphtheria, however, is said to be peculiar, and different from other similar parasites. The sporules may and do pass from one person to another, and the disease is consequently contagious, rendering necessary the isolation of the sick. It is most common in the foul districts of the large cities of France and England, and is attributed to the action of putrid effluvia on the fauces, especially the foul air of sewers and cess-pools; according to the report of the registrar-general, in March, 1858, 2,000,000 of the people of London live over such subterranean structures, so imperfectly secured that any variation in the pressure of the atmosphere forces up the foul air and sends it along every street and into every house, as if it were an apparatus specially contrived for passing currents of poisonous vapor steadily over the people. The same authority states that in 1857 15,000 deaths in London were attributed to the aggregate effects of impure air and other sanitary defects, and recommends the conducting off of the effluvia of these receptacles through pipes running as high as the chimneys. It is altogether probable that many epidemics in this country have had a similar origin, and from the account of the symptoms and successful treatment of the recent epidemie of singular throat disease in Albany, it would seem that it was diphtheria; it was found in all parts of the city, and in almost every block, and raged for several months with a mortality of about 5 per cent.-As diphtheria most severely attacks debilitated constitutions, in addition to hygienic and sanitary measures, the general treatment should be by

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

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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 53d 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 enlarged 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

DIPLOMACY

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 πτεрoν, 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