row valleys. For a considerable distance it forms the boundary between Spain and Portugal. It is navigable for small vessels as far as the Spanish frontier, and receives the waters of the Pisuerga, Seco, Esla, Sabor, Tua, Tamega, Adaja, Tormes, Turon, Coa, and Tavora, beside many smaller streams. Navigation is often interrupted by freshets, and the river is but little used for commercial purposes. On its banks are the vineyards which produce the celebrated wines of Oporto. Its length, including windings, is estimated at from 400 to 500 miles.

DOUVILLE, JEAN BAPTISTE, & French traveller and naturalist, born in Hambie, Feb. 15, 1794. The death of a rich relative gave him the means of gratifying a taste for adventure, and he travelled in Europe, South America, and Asia, landing at Genoa on his return in 1824. In 1826 he went to Paris, where he was made member of the geographical society. He sailed from Havre, Aug. 6 of the same year, for Buenos Ayres, where he arrived Oct. 29. The La Plata was at that time under blockade by the Brazilians, and the French vessel was captured while endeavoring to violate it; but Douville was befriended by the Brazilian admiral, and after a short sojourn at Montevideo, was sent to Buenos Ayres, where, finding his resources nearly exhausted, he attempted to replenish them by mercantile operations. Having been accused of some fraudulent transaction in business, of which he was afterward acquitted, he left Buenos Ayres in disgust, and went to Rio Janeiro, Aug. 1827. On Oct. 15 he embarked for Congo, whence he returned to France in 1831. The stories of his discoveries in several kingdoms hitherto almost unknown to Europeans, and of his exploration of the Congo or Zaire and other rivers, aroused great enthusiasm among the Parisians. He received a medal from the geographical society; his researches were published under the title of Voyage au Congo et dans l'Afrique équinoxiale (4 vols., with a map, Paris, 1832), and his book and chart were used as the basis of subsequent maps of Africa. But the evident exaggeration of some of his statements soon awakened suspicion. The English "Foreign Quarterly Review" assailed him as an impostor, and a few weeks later his deceptions were more fully exposed in the Revue des deux mondes. To cover his shame by real discoveries, he sailed for Brazil in 1833, and penetrated to the interior of South America, by the Amazon. Nothing has since been heard of him. Recent discoveries in Africa prove the truth of the accusations against him, although it is supposed that he reached the interior of that country, or that at least he obtained his information from Portuguese documents before unpublished; and some geographers of repute still credit a portion of his

narrative.

DOUW, or Dow, GERARD, a Dutch painter, born in Leyden in 1613, died there in 1680. He had been engaged for some time in painting on glass, when he became a pupil of Rembrandt, under whom he studied for 3 years. He began

with portrait painting, but was so extremely slow in finishing that no one would submit to the tediousness of sitting to him. He then devoted himself to painting domestic scenes. He was so exact in the imitation of objects, that a glass is needed to appreciate the skill and delicate finish of his work. His drawing was neither bold nor correct, but his figures are not wanting in life and expression, and his coloring is strong, fresh, and harmonious. He shared none of the poetical taste of his master, for his pictures generally consist of 2 or 3 figures engaged in the most trivial and often disagreeable occupations, as many of their titles indicate. Among the most celebrated are the "Dropsical Woman," the "Village Grocer's Wife," the "Dentist," and the "Violin Player." His works are to be found in all the public galleries of Europe, but private fortunes were hardly sufficient to command them, for it was the rule of Douw to be paid for his pictures according to the time they cost him.

DOVE, a river of England, noted for its picturesque scenery. It rises near Buxton, among the hills of the Peak of Derbyshire, and falls into the Trent, after a southerly course of 39 miles. Near the town of Ashbourne it flows through a remarkable winding chasm 2 miles in length, called Dovedale.

DOVE, HEINRICH WILHELM, a German meteorologist, born in Liegnitz, Prussian Silesia, Oct. 6, 1803. He was educated at Breslau and Berlin, in 1826 became a teacher and subsequently a professor extraordinary in the university of Königsberg, and in 1829 was invited to Berlin, where he has since filled the professorship of physics. For a series of years he has devoted much attention to the investigation of the laws which regulate atmospheric phenomena, and which he has evolved with clearness and precision. His reports and isothermal maps, prepared from an immense number of isolated observations, afforded the first representation of the isothermal lines of the whole globe for every month of the year, beside much kindred information, the importance of which to meteorologists can scarcely be overestimated. His investigations on the thermal influence of the gulf stream and on kindred subjects have also attracted the favorable notice of scientific men. As an experimenter in electricity he was the first to announce the presence of a secondary current in a metallic wire, at the moment that the circuit of the principal current is completed. Of his works, many of which have appeared in the "Transactions" of the Berlin academy of sciences, and in Poggendorf's Annalen, the principal are: Ueber Mass und Messen; Meteorologische Untersuchungen; Ueber die nicht periodischen Aenderungen der Temperaturvertheilung auf der Oberfläche der Erde; Untersuchungen im Gebiete der Inductionselektricität; Temperaturtafeln; Monatsisothermen, &c. In a more popular style he has written several treatises on meteorological and electrical phenomena, which have found many readers. In the

capacity of director of the Prussian observatories he publishes each year the results of their labors. Among his most recent writings are Klimatologische Beiträge (Berlin, 1857).

DOVER. I. A city and capital of Strafford co., N. H., situated 12 m. from the ocean, on both sides of the Cocheco river, 68 m. N. of Boston, and 12 m. N. W. of Portsmouth; pop. in 1775, 1,666; 1820, 2,871; 1830, 5,449; 1840, 6,458; 1850, 8,166; 1859, about 9,200. The Cocheco river runs through the township, and furnishes great motive power, the principal fall being 323 feet. The supply of water is maintained through the dry season by draining Bow pond in the town of Strafford, which has been converted into an immense reservoir. The falls are situated at the head of tide water, to which point the river is navigable for sloops and schooners. The Cocheco company is one of the oldest incorporated manufacturing companies in the United States, and its operations have been among the most successful. It has 4 large mills for the manufacture of print cloths, also a large printery and machine shop, turning out about 9,000,000 yards per annum, and employing about 2,000 persons, the majority of whom are females. The mills are in the form of a quadrangle, and make an imposing appearance. There is also a mill for the manufacture of woollens, also an iron foundery, several tanneries, and other manufactures. The total capital employed is about $2,500,000. Black river, in the south part of the town, a smaller stream, furnishes water power which is used by establishments for the manufacture of flannels, carriages, and for various other mechanical employments. The town was settled in 1623 by the Laconia company of fishmongers of London, and is the oldest in the state. The first settlement was made on the tongue of land formed by the union of Cocheco and Piscataqua rivers. The settlement at "Strawberry Bank," or Portsmouth, was made about the same time, on the bank of the Piscataqua, a short distance down the river. It is one of the most fertile townships in the state, and the farms are in a high state of cultivation. The city is regularly laid out, and contains many elegant private residences. It is connected with Boston and Portland by the Boston and Maine railroad, and also with Winnepiseogee lake by the Cocheco road; the last named is a favorite route to the White mountains. The 3d Congregational church in the state was organized in this town about 1638. The first church edifice in the state stood on the ridge of land which rises gradually from the Piscataqua river, and was surrounded by palisades as a protection from the Indians. Jeremy Belknap, the first historian of the state, and the author and editor of several important works, was pastor of the church for 20 years from 1767 to 1787. There are 10 churches in the town, and about 70 stores. The city hall is a commodious and substantial brick edifice. The schools are excellent, and the high school building recently erected is one of the finest in the state. A monthly magazine and 3 weekly newspapers

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are published here. II. A post town, capital of the state of Delaware and of Kent co., on Jones's creek, 5 m. above Delaware river; pop. in 1850, 4,207. It is regularly built, mostly of brick, on high ground, 50 m. S. from Wilmington, and 114 N. E. from Washington. The streets are wide, straight, and cross each other at right angles. The principal public buildings face an open square, the E. side of which is occupied by a handsome state house. In 1850 there were 4 churches, 2 large hotels, a newspaper office, an academy, 9 schools, 3 grist mills, and 2 saw mills. The town contains a monument to the memory of Col. John Haslett, who fell in the battle of Princeton, a telegraph office, and one bank. The line of the Delaware, New Castle and Wilmington, and Wilmington and Frenchtown railroads, from Philadelphia to Seaford, passes through it. The trade is chiefly in flour with Philadelphia. III. A village and township of Tuscarawas co., Ohio, on the right bank of Tuscarawas river, near the mouth of Sugar creek, 98 m. S. from Cleveland; pop. of the township in 1850, 3,248; of the village in 1853, 1,500. It is regularly laid out, on the W. side of the Ohio canal, across which and the river there is a bridge 346 feet long. It is the shipping point for large quantities of wheat and flour; in 1851 the amount was stated at 534,415 bushels of wheat, and 40,495 barrels of flour. The town has great facilities for manufacturing, and in 1854 contained a woollen factory, 2 furnaces, 3 tanneries, a saw mill, 2 grist mills, and churches of 6 denominations. The name of its post office is Canal Dover.

DOVER (Fr. Douvres; anc. Dubris), a parliamentary and municipal borough, cinque port, and fashionable watering place of Kent, England, situated on the N. W. shore of the strait of Dover; pop. in 1851, 22,244. It is built mainly in a valley, partly encompassed by an amphitheatre of chalk hills, cliffs, and downs, on which stand a castle, a citadel, and several fortresses. The castle, an immense structure, whose walls enclose 35 acres of ground, is supposed to have been founded by the Romans. Other portions, however, are of Norman and Saxon construction, while others again belong to still later epochs. It contains a spacious keep, used as a magazine and considered bomb-proof, and barracks for 2,000 men, beside which extensive barracks for the officers, outside of the castle, were erected in 1857. Within the precincts of the castle stands an octagonal watch tower, interesting not only as the earliest specimen of Roman architecture, but also as one of the most ancient pieces of regular mason-work in Great Britain. In the time of Edward the Confessor Dover castle was considered the key to the whole kingdom. In 1296 the French made a descent upon this place, and committed great depredations in the neighbouring country. It witnessed the landing of Charles II. on his restoration to the British throne, May 27, 1660, and the embarkation of Louis XVIII., April 24, 1814, on the restoration of the Bourbons in France. Dover now

consists of an old and a new town; the former is the seat of most of the trade, and has narrow and irregular streets. The new portion is built with more taste, and contains a number of good houses, chiefly occupied by summer visitors.. The importance of the town is principally owing to its position as a channel of communication between England and the continent. It was formerly the chief port of embarkation, but has been partially superseded in that respect by Folkestone. The Southeastern and Dover railway, which enters the town through a tunnel cut in the cliffs, connects it with the cities of Great Britain, and it has continual steamboat intercourse with Calais and Boulogne. Large sums of money have been spent at various times upon its harbor, which consists of 3 basins, the outer one enclosed between 2 piers 150 feet apart, but the entrance is unfortunately obstructed by a movable shingle bar. It has been determined to construct here a harbor of refuge, and the sum of £2,500,000 has been appropriated for the erection of immense jetties to reach far out into the sea. The submarine telegraph between England and the continent extends across the channel from Dover to Calais; it was completed in Oct. 1851. In the vicinity of the town, abutting on the sea, stands the remarkable chalk cliff called Shakespeare's or Hay cliff, described in "King Lear;" it is 350 feet high and almost perpendicular. In May, 1847, a huge mass of this cliff, 254 feet in height, 15 feet thick, and estimated to contain 48,000 tons of chalk, scaled off and fell to the base. Another mass of 10,000 cubic yards fell soon after. There are a number of ship yards on the coast, and many of the inhabitants are employed in sail and rope making. The registered shipping of the port in 1856 was 55 vessels of 3,553 tons; the entrances were 473 sailing vessels, tonnage 43,487, and 21 steam vessels, tonnage 2,679; clearances, 121 sailing vessels, tonnage 5,112, and 5 steam vessels, tonnage 663. The coasting trade of Dover is flourishing, and its fisheries are extensive and profitable. It imports from France large quantities of eggs, fruit, and other rural produce. There are several large paper mills in the neighborhood. The principal buildings in the town are 2 hospitals, 2 parish churches, a number of chapels, a synagogue, the custom house, town hall and gaol, workhouse, assembly rooms, theatre, museum, baths, news rooms, bonding warehouses, and many good hotels. Dover is the seat of government and principal station of the cinque ports, and returns 2 members to the house of commons.

DOVER, STRAIT OF (Fr. Pas de Calais; anc. Fretum Gallicum), a strait connecting the English channel with the German ocean, and separating England from France. It extends from Dungeness and Cape Gris Nez N. E. to the S. Foreland and Calais; length, 22 m.; breadth at Dover, where it is narrowest, 21 m.

DOVER'S POWDERS, a preparation of ipecacuanha and opium, each a drachm, and of sulphate of potassa an ounce, rubbed together

into a very fine powder. Though called by the name of Dr. Dover, it differs from that originally recommended by him, which contained nitrate of potash and licorice in addition to the ingredients named. It is a medicine admirably adapted for promoting perspiration, and possesses at the same time the properties of an anodyne. It is given, after depletion, in cases requiring profuse diaphoresis, and is particularly used in dysentery, diarrhoea, and affections of the liver and of the bowels, sometimes combined with small quantities of calomel.

DOVREFIELD, DOVREFJELD, or DOFRINES (Norw. Daavrefjeld), a name sometimes given to the whole system of the Scandinavian Alps, which extend from Cape Lindesnaes on the Cattegat, along the dividing line between Sweden and Norway, to Cape Sviatoi, at the W. entrance to the White sea. The Dovrefield mountains, however, properly consist only of the central part of this range, extending in an E. N. E. direction from the valley of Lessõe, where the Langfield range or S. portion terminates, to the Syltfjället, where the chain of Kiōlen or Kiōel begins. They are composed mostly of gneiss and micaceous schist. The principal peak is the Skagstols-tind, a snow-capped mountain having an altitude of 8,390 feet. It is the highest summit in the Scandinavian peninsula. There are 4 passes across this range, along which at intervals of 10 m. there are houses for the reception of travellers. The most frequented of these roads leads from Christiania to Trondhjem, and passes along the E. declivity of the peak of Sneehaettan. It reaches in some places an altitude of 4,200 feet. The Dovrefield mountains derive their name from Daarre, a small village of Norway, and field or fjeld, a mountain ridge.

DOW, LORENZO, an American preacher, born in Coventry, Conn., Oct. 16, 1777, died in Georgetown, D. C., Feb. 2, 1834. When about 14 years of age he began to be agitated by religious speculations, had frequent dreams and visions, and was so troubled by his meditations upon the "doctrine of unconditional reprobation and particular election," that on one occasion he was on the point of putting an end to his life. Finally he adopted the doctrines of the Methodists, and in the spring of 1796, after many mental struggles and against the wishes of his family, became an itinerant preacher of that persuasion. His youth and eccentricity of character for a long time prevented his recognition by the conferences of the Methodist church, and he was at one period even prompted to renounce the name of Methodist. He finally received a regular license to preach, and, in spite of contumely and rebuffs, frequently from members of his own sect, and ceaseless hardships and dangers of all kinds, persevered for nearly 40 years, with an enthusiasm which never relaxed, and often with astonishing effect. In the course of his ministry he travelled over many parts of the United States and Canada, and in 1799 and again in 1805 visited England and Ireland,

where his peculiar eloquence attracted much attention and on several occasions subjected him to persecution. His wife, Peggy Dow, to whom he was married in 1804, was a woman of character and qualities very similar to his own, and accompanied him fearlessly in all his peregrinations. Dow's eccentricity of manner and dress for a long time excited a prejudice against him, and in many parts of the country he was familiarly known as "crazy Dow." In person he was awkward and ungainly, his voice was harsh, and his delivery not such as would impress a cultivated mind. But to the class whom he most frequently addressed, his simple fervor, though coupled with illiterate phraseology, supplied the place of eloquence, and he seldom failed of having attentive and even enthusiastic hearers. Many anecdotes are related of his courageous bearing, when threatened with violence by lawless men. His journal, containing the history of his life to his 40th year, together with some of his miscellaneous writings, and a short autobiography of Peggy Dow, was published in New York in 1856.

DOWER (law Lat. doarium, or douarium; Fr. douaire), the estate which the wife has by operation of law in the property of her deceased husband. Strictly it applies only to what the law gives her independent of any act of the husband, and which, in fact, it is not in his power to bar. A marriage portion, therefore, whether given with the wife or secured to her use, and whether so given or secured by the father or other relative, or by the husband himself, is not dower; and yet the term by which such marriage portion was designated in the Roman law (dos) was used by Bracton and other English writers for the right of the widow in the lands of her deceased husband given to her by the common law, as well as the endowment in contemplation of marriage, which last was also called donatio ante nuptias. The English word dower expressed the former, and also the donation before marriage, which was in two modes, viz.: ad ostium ecclesia, and ex assensu patris. Both of these were made at the porch of the church, after affiance and before marriage; in the one, the husband endowed the wife of lands of which he was himself seized; in the other, with consent of his father, he endowed her of lands belonging to his father; and it was usual to specify the particular lands intended. Endowment at the church door was the common mode of providing for the wife in the time of Bracton, and no other mode could be substituted, as by will or any other conveyance; the object of which was to prevent fraud: Non enim valent facta in lecto mortali, nec in camera, aut alibi ubi clandestina fuerunt conjugia. The feudal restriction against alienation of lands was, however, extended to dower, and the husband was not allowed to endow the wife ad ostium ecclesia of more than a third part of his lands. This gave rise to the common law rule which has ever since prevailed. In the absence of such dotation, or in case of the omission to

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specify the particular ands, it was prescribed that the wife should be entitled to one-third of the lands of the husband for life if she survived him, which was called dos rationabilis. It was at first limited to the lands which the husband had at the time of the dotation, unless he specially charged his future acquisitions; and in case he had no lands, or not sufficient, he was permitted to endow his wife of personal property, which was held to be a bar against any claim to dower of lands thereafter acquired. But in Magna Charta it was provided that the wife should have for dower the third part of all the lands which the husband had held during his lifetime, unless she had been endowed with less ad ostium ecclesia. In the reign of Henry IV. it was denied that the wife could be endowed of her husband's goods and chattels; and Littleton, who wrote in the reign of Edward IV., asserted that she could be endowed ad ostium ecclesia of more than a third part of the lands, and that she had the election after the husband's death to accept it or to take her dower at common law. In consequence of this uncertainty, that mode of endowment fell into disuse, but was never abolished by law until recently by act 3 and 4 William IV., c. 105 (1833). Dower at common law 's different from the dotation of other countries, in being limited wholly to lands, and to such only as the husband holds in fee. By the civil law the donatio ante nuptias (or, as Justinian called it, propter nuptias) was all the provision made for the wife. It might consist of either lands or personal property; but though it went into the possession of the husband, it could not, if it consisted of lands, be alienated by him even with the consent of the wife, for which the reason given is the fragility of the female sex (ne sexus muliebris fragilitas in perniciem substantiæ earum convertatur). Upon the death of the husband, or dissolution of the marriage otherwise, the wife only took what had been given with her on the marriage, or of which a donation had been made during the marriage. Of the other property of the husband she could take nothing either as widow or heir.-In France, the two modes of providing for the wife are designated by the discriminative terms dot and douaire; the former of which is defined to be that which the wife brings in marriage (ce que la femme apporte en mariage); the latter is the right which the wife has, by custom or matrimonial contract, to a certain portion of the estate of the husband upon his death (la jouissance que la coutume ou les conventions matrimoniales accordent d'une certaine portion des immeubles du mari à la femme qui lui survit). The origin of douaire was that in some provinces of France, called France coutumière, women were not endowed on marriage (n'avoient pas de dot de leur parens); and hence grew up the custom that the husband at his death should leave something for the support of the wife. What was so left was called either dot or douaire, the wife being said to be douée or dotée. But as it was intended for her support merely, it was provided that after

her death it should go to the children of the husband if he left any. Philip Augustus fixed the dower of the wife at one-half of the goods which the husband had at the marriage. Henry II. of England established in his French provinces a rule that dower should be one-third, and this difference continued to exist on the opposite sides of the Loire, until the customary law was swept away by the legislation which succeeded the revolution of 1789. By the present law of France married persons may, by stipulation made before marriage, become subject to the law of community, or to the law of dowry. If the former, it brings into common stock all the movables of which the parties are possessed at the time of marriage, and of immovables which shall be acquired during marriage. Dower (la dot) is what the wife brings to the husband in marriage, and it may be either by donation from another or by a settle ment of the wife upon herself (tout ce que la femme se constitue ou qui lui est donné en contrat de mariage est dotal), and it may extend to all the present or future property of the wife, but cannot be constituted or augmented dur ing marriage. The parties may stipulate for a community of future acquisitions only. The husband has the management of dotal property, but is accountable as a usufructuary, and in case it be put in peril, the wife may obtain a separation of goods.-The English law of dower has recently undergone very great changes. By stat. 3 and 4 William IV., c. 105, the widow is not entitled to dower of lands which the husband has disposed of in his lifetime, or by will. All charges by will, and all debts and encumbrances to which the estate of the husband is subject, take priority of dower; and dower is made subject to any restrictions which the husband may impose by will. But on the other hand, the wife is entitled to equitable dower of any beneficial interest of the husband which shall amount to an estate of inheritance in possession, except joint tenancy; and no gift of personal property by the husband can invalidate the right to dower, unless expressly so declared by will. This modification of the law of dower has probably grown out of the general custom prevailing in England among land proprietors of making marriage settlements. In cases where this is omitted, the wife still has some provision under the statute of distribution (29 Charles II.), which gives her one-third of the personal estate of the husband when he dies intestate, not for life merely, but absolutely. In the United States, the general rule prevails of allowing to the widow an estate for life in one-third of all the lands of which the husband was seized in fee. The rule, however, varies in different states in two particulars. In the state of New York, and most other states, dower is a charge upon all the lands of which the husband was seized at any time during the marriage, except such as she has released by joining in the conveyance thereof by the husband. In some of the states, as Vermont, Connecticut,

Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia, it is limited to the lands of which the husband was seized at the time of his death; but the husband is not allowed to bar dower by will, nor by a voluntary conveyance, in which any benefit is reserved to himself. Again, in Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Missouri, dower does not attach to lands sold under judicial process, nor to lands sold under a mortgage executed by the husband alone. The rule is general, perhaps universal, that the wife takes one-third of the personal estate upon the death of the husband, in accordance with the English statute of distribution.

DOWLER, BENNET, an American physician and physiologist, born in Ohio co., Va., April 16, 1797. He was educated at the university of Maryland, where in 1827 he received the degree of doctor of medicine. During the last 23 years he has practised his profession in New Orleans, and since March, 1854, has been the editor of the "New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal." From an early period in his career experiments upon the human body, immediately or very soon after death, occupied a large share of his attention, and the results of his investigations, comprising some important discoveries with regard to contractility, calorification, capillary circulation, &c., were given to the world in a series of essays in 1843-'4. Since that time these and other original experiments have been extended, generalized, and analyzed by him. With one exception he has found in the course of his experiments no fact invalidating the fundamental laws which he announced in his first publications relative to post mortem contractility of the muscular system. He had prematurely assumed, early in his researches, in accordance with the prevailing theory, that the death rigidity, or rigor mortis, is antagonistic to, or incompatible with, the coexistence of muscular contraction; but he soon found instances which led him to maintain that the contractile function exists in all bodies immediately after death, although in some it is scarcely appreciable, while in others it is absent or feeble at first, but gradually increases. In all it is intermittent, and may be economized by proper management, or overtasked and exhausted, or even destroyed by a severe blow. He was consequently led to the conclusion that this force is inherent in the muscular tissue, and in every portion of it, being wholly inde pendent of the brain, spinal cord, and nerves. During the last 18 years Dr. Dowler has shown by experiments on hundreds of human bodies that the capillary circulation is often active for some minutes, and even for hours, after the respiration and the action of the heart have ceased, and occasionally after the removal of this organ; and that in the same cadaver a high degree of calorification, together with active capillary and chylous circulations, may continue simultaneously for several hours. His researches on animal heat, in health, in disease, and after death, which have from time to time been published