Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Destructors" to "Diameter" by Various
1898. Some cotton is grown, although the soil is as a whole poor; the
21838 words | Chapter 19
manufactures include salt, metal vessels and stone hand-mills. The chief
town, Dhrangadra, has a population (1901) of 14,770.
The chief of Dhrangadra, who bears the title of Raj Sahib, with the
predicate of His Highness, is head of the ancient clan of Jhala Rajputs,
who are said to have entered Kathiawar from Sind in the 8th century. Raj
Sahib Sir Mansinghji Ranmalsinghji (b. 1837), who succeeded his father
in 1869, was distinguished for the enlightened character of his
administration, especially in the matter of establishing schools and
internal communications. He was created a K.C.S.I in 1877. He died in
1900, and was succeeded by his grandson Ajitsinghji Jaswatsinghji (b.
1872).
DHULEEP SINGH (1837-1893), maharaja of Lahore, was born in February
1837, and was proclaimed maharaja on the 18th of September 1843, under
the regency of his mother the rani Jindan, a woman of great capacity and
strong will, but extremely inimical to the British. He was acknowledged
by Ranjit Singh and recognized by the British government. After six
years of peace the Sikhs invaded British territory in 1845, but were
defeated in four battles, and terms were imposed upon them at Lahore,
the capital of the Punjab. Dhuleep Singh retained his territory, but it
was administered to a great extent by the British government in his
name. This arrangement increased the regent's dislike of the British,
and a fresh outbreak occurred in 1848-49. In spite of the valour of the
Sikhs, they were utterly routed at Gujarat, and in March 1849 Dhuleep
Singh was deposed, a pension of £40,000 a year being granted to him and
his dependants. He became a Christian and elected to live in England. On
coming of age he made an arrangement with the British government by
which his income was reduced to £25,000 in consideration of advances for
the purchase of an estate, and he finally settled at Elvedon in Suffolk.
While passing through Alexandria in 1864 he met Miss Bamba Müller, the
daughter of a German merchant who had married an Abyssinian. The
maharaja had been interested in mission work by Sir John Login, and he
met Miss Müller at one of the missionary schools where she was teaching.
She became his wife on the 7th of June 1864, and six children were the
issue of the marriage. In the year after her death in 1890 the maharaja
married at Paris, as his second wife, an English lady, Miss Ada Douglas
Wetherill, who survived him. The maharaja was passionately fond of
sport, and his shooting parties were celebrated, while he himself became
a _persona grata_ in English society. The result, however, was financial
difficulty, and in 1882 he appealed to the government for assistance,
making various claims based upon the alleged possession of private
estates in the Punjab, and upon the surrender of the Koh-i-nor diamond
to the British Crown. His demand was rejected, whereupon he started for
India, after drawing up a proclamation to his former subjects. But as it
was deemed inadvisable to allow him to visit the Punjab, he remained for
some time as a guest at the residency at Aden, and was allowed to
receive some of his relatives to witness his abjuration of Christianity,
which actually took place within the residency itself. As the climate
began to affect his health, the maharaja at length left Aden and
returned to Europe. He stayed for some time in Russia, hoping that his
claim against England would be taken up by the Russians; but when that
expectation proved futile he proceeded to Paris, where he lived for the
rest of his life on the pension allowed him by the Indian government.
His death from an attack of apoplexy took place at Paris on the 22nd of
October 1893. The maharaja's eldest son, Prince Victor Albert Jay
Dhuleep Singh (b. 1866), was educated at Trinity and Downing Colleges,
Cambridge. In 1888 he obtained a commission in the 1st Royal Dragoon
Guards. In 1898 he married Lady Anne Coventry, youngest daughter of the
earl of Coventry. (G.F.B.)
DHULIA, a town of British India, administrative headquarters of West
Khandesh district in Bombay, on the right bank of the Panjhra river.
Pop. (1901) 24,726. Considerable trade is done in cotton and oil-seeds,
and weaving of cotton. A railway connects Dhulia with Chalisgaon, on the
main line of the Great Indian Peninsula railway.
DIABASE, in petrology, a rock which is a weathered form of dolerite. It
was long widely accepted that the pre-Tertiary rocks of this group
differed from their Tertiary and Recent representatives in certain
essential respects, but this is now admitted to be untenable, and the
differences are known to be merely the result of the longer exposure to
decomposition, pressure and shearing, which the older rocks have
experienced. Their olivine tends to become serpentinized; their augite
changes to chlorite and uralite; their felspars are clouded by formation
of zeolites, calcite, sericite and epidote. The rocks acquire a green
colour (from the development of chlorite, uralite and epidote); hence
the older name of "greenstones," which is now little used. Many of them
become somewhat schistose from pressure ("greenstone-schists,"
meta-diabase, &c.). Although the original definition of the group can no
longer be justified, the name is so well established in current usage
that it can hardly be discarded. The terms diabase and dolerite are
employed really to designate distinct facies of the same set of rocks.
The minerals of diabase are the same as those of dolerite, viz.
olivine, augite, and plagioclase felspar, with subordinate quantities
of hornblende, biotite, iron oxides and apatite.
There are olivine-diabases and diabases without olivine;
quartz-diabases, analcite-diabases (or teschenites) and hornblende
diabases (or proterobases). Hypersthene (or bronzite) is
characteristic of another group. Many of them are ophitic, especially
those which contain olivine, but others are intersertal, like the
intersertal dolerites. The last include most quartz-diabases,
hypersthene-diabases and the rocks which have been described as
tholeites. Porphyritic structure appears in the diabase-porphyrites,
some of which are highly vesicular and contain remains of an abundant
fine-grained or partly glassy ground-mass (_diabas-mandelstein_,
amygdaloidal diabase). The somewhat ill-defined spilites are regarded
by many as modifications of diabase-porphyrite. In the intersertal and
porphyrite diabases, fresh or devitrified glassy base is not
infrequent. It is especially conspicuous in some tholeites
(hyalo-tholeites) and in weisselbergites. These rocks consist of
augite and plagioclase, with little or no olivine, on a brown,
vitreous, interstitial matrix. Devitrified forms of tachylyte
(sordawilite, &c.) occur at the rapidly chilled margins of dolerite
sills and dikes, and fine-grained spotted rocks with large spherulites
of grey or greenish felspar, and branching growths of brownish-green
augite (variolites).
To nearly every variety in composition and structure presented by the
diabases, a counterpart can be found among the Tertiary dolerites. In
the older rocks, however, certain minerals are more common than in the
newer. Hornblende, mostly of pale green colours and somewhat fibrous
habit, is very frequent in diabase; it is in most cases secondary
after pyroxene, and is then known as uralite; often it forms
pseudomorphs which retain the shape of the original augite. Where
diabases have been crushed or sheared, hornblende readily develops at
the expense of pyroxene, sometimes replacing it completely. In the
later stages of alteration the amphibole becomes compact and well
crystallized; the rocks consist of green hornblende and plagioclase
felspar, and are then generally known as epidiorites or amphibolites.
At the same time a schistose structure is produced. But transition
forms are very common, having more or less of the augite remaining,
surrounded by newly formed hornblende which at first is rather fibrous
and tends to spread outwards through the surrounding felspar. Chlorite
also is abundant both in sheared and unsheared diabases, and with it
calcite may make its appearance, or the lime set free from the augite
may combine with the titanium of the iron oxide and with silica to
form incrustations or borders of sphene around the original crystals
of ilmenite. Epidote is another secondary lime-bearing mineral which
results from the decomposition of the soda lime felspars and the
pyroxenes. Many diabases, especially those of the teschenite
sub-group, are filled with zeolites.
Diabases are exceedingly abundant among the older rocks of all parts
of the globe. Popular names for them are "whinstone," "greenstone,"
"toadstone" and "trap." They form excellent road-mending stones and
are much quarried for this purpose, being tough, durable and resistant
to wear, so long as they are not extremely decomposed. Many of them
are to be preferred to the fresher dolerites as being less brittle.
The quality of the Cornish greenstones appears to have been distinctly
improved by a smaller amount of recrystallization where they have been
heated by contact with intrusive masses of granite. (J. S. F.)
DIABETES (from Gr. [Greek: dia], through, and [Greek: bainein], to
pass), a constitutional disease characterized by a habitually excessive
discharge of urine. Two forms of this complaint are described, viz.
Diabetes Mellitus, or Glycosuria, where the urine is not only increased
in quantity, but persistently contains a greater or less amount of
sugar, and Diabetes Insipidus, or Polyuria, where the urine is simply
increased in quantity, and contains no abnormal ingredient. This latter,
however, must be distinguished from the polyuria due to chronic granular
kidney, lardaceous disease of the kidney, and also occurring in certain
cases of hysteria.
_Diabetes mellitus_ is the disease to which the term is most commonly
applied, and is by far the more serious and important ailment. It is one
of the diseases due to altered metabolism (see METABOLIC DISEASES). It
is markedly hereditary, much more prevalent in towns and especially
modern city life than in more primitive rustic communities, and most
common among the Jews. The excessive use of sugar as a food is usually
considered one cause of the disease, and obesity is supposed to favour
its occurrence, but many observers consider that the obesity so often
met with among diabetics is due to the same cause as the disease itself.
No age is exempt, but it occurs most commonly in the fifth decade of
life. It attacks males twice as frequently as females, and fair more
frequently than dark people.
The symptoms are usually gradual in their onset, and the patient may
suffer for a length of time before he thinks it necessary to apply for
medical aid. The first symptoms which attract attention are failure of
strength, and emaciation, along with great thirst and an increased
amount and frequent passage of urine. From the normal quantity of from 2
to 3 pints in the 24 hours it may be increased to 10, 20 or 30 pints, or
even more. It is usually of pale colour, and of thicker consistence than
normal urine, possesses a decidedly sweet taste, and is of high specific
gravity (1030 to 1050). It frequently gives rise to considerable
irritation of the urinary passages.
By simple evaporation crystals of sugar may be obtained from diabetic
urine, which also yields the characteristic chemical tests of sugar,
while the amount of this substance can be accurately estimated by
certain analytical processes. The quantity of sugar passed may vary from
a few ounces to two or more pounds per diem, and it is found to be
markedly increased after saccharine or starchy food has been taken.
Sugar may also be found in the blood, saliva, tears, and in almost all
the excretions of persons suffering from this disease. One of the most
distressing symptoms is intense thirst, which the patient is constantly
seeking to allay, the quantity of liquid consumed being in general
enormous, and there is usually, but not invariably, a voracious
appetite. The mouth is always parched, and a faint, sweetish odour may
be evolved from the breath. The effect of the disease upon the general
health is very marked, and the patient becomes more and more emaciated.
He suffers from increasing muscular weakness, the temperature of his
body is lowered, and the skin is dry and harsh. There is often a
peculiar flush on the face, not limited to the malar eminences, but
extending up to the roots of the hair. The teeth are loosened or decay,
there is a tendency to bleeding from the gums, while dyspeptic symptoms,
constipation and loss of sexual power are common accompaniments. There
is in general great mental depression or irritability.
Diabetes as a rule advances comparatively slowly except in the case of
young persons, in whom its progress is apt to be rapid. The
complications of the disease are many and serious. It may cause impaired
vision by weakening the muscles of accommodation, or by lessening the
sensitiveness of the retina to light. Also cataract is very common. Skin
affections of all kinds may occur and prove very intractable. Boils,
carbuncles, cellulitis and gangrene are all apt to occur as life
advances, though gangrene is much more frequent in men than in women.
Diabetics are especially liable to phthisis and pneumonia, and gangrene
of the lungs may set in if the patient survives the crisis in the latter
disease. Digestive troubles of all kinds, kidney diseases and heart
failure due to fatty heart are all of common occurrence. Also patients
seem curiously susceptible to the poison of enteric fever, though the
attack usually runs a mild course. The sugar temporarily disappears
during the fever. But the most serious complication of all is known as
diabetic coma, which is very commonly the final cause of death. The
onset is often insidious, but may be indicated by loss of appetite, a
rapid fall in the quantity of both urine and sugar, and by either
constipation or diarrhoea. More rarely there is most acute abdominal
pain. At first the condition is rather that of collapse than true coma,
though later the patient is absolutely comatose. The patient suffers
from a peculiar kind of dyspnoea, and the breath and skin have a sweet
ethereal odour. The condition may last from twenty-four hours to three
days, but is almost invariably the precursor of death.
Diabetes is a very fatal form of disease, recovery being exceedingly
rare. Over 50% die of coma, another 25% of phthisis or pneumonia, and
the remainder of Bright's disease, cerebral haemorrhage, gangrene, &c.
The most favourable cases are those in which the patient is advanced in
years, those in which it is associated with obesity or gout, and where
the social conditions are favourable. A few cures have been recorded in
which the disease supervened after some acute illness. The unfavourable
cases are those in which there is a family history of the disease and in
which the patient is young. Nevertheless much may be done by appropriate
treatment to mitigate the severity of the symptoms and to prolong life.
There are two distinct lines of treatment, that of diet and that of
drugs, but each must be modified and determined entirely by the
idiosyncrasy of the patient, which varies in this condition between very
wide limits. That of diet is of primary importance inasmuch as it has
been proved beyond question that certain kinds of food have a powerful
influence in aggravating the disease, more particularly those consisting
largely of saccharine and starchy matter; and it may be stated generally
that the various methods of treatment proposed aim at the elimination as
far as possible of these constituents from the diet. Hence it is
recommended that such articles as bread, potatoes and all farinaceous
foods, turnips, carrots, parsnips and most fruits should be avoided;
while animal food and soups, green vegetables, cream, cheese, eggs,
butter, and tea and coffee without sugar, may be taken with advantage.
As a substitute for ordinary bread, which most persons find it difficult
to do without for any length of time, bran bread, gluten bread and
almond biscuits. A patient must never pass suddenly from an ordinary to
a carbohydrate-free diet. Any such sudden transition is extremely liable
to bring on diabetic coma, and the change must be made quite gradually,
one form of carbohydrate after another being taken out of the diet,
whilst the effect on the quantity of sugar passed is being carefully
noted meanwhile. The treatment may be begun by excluding potatoes, sugar
and fruit, and only after several days is the bread to be replaced by
some diabetic substitute. When the sugar excretion has been reduced to
its lowest point, and maintained there for some time, a certain amount
of carbohydrate may be cautiously allowed, the consequent effect on the
glycosuria being estimated. The best diet can only be worked out
experimentally for each individual patient. But in every case, if
drowsiness or any symptom suggesting coma supervene, all restrictions
must be withdrawn, and carbohydrate freely allowed. The question of
alcohol is one which must be largely determined by the previous history
of the patient, but a small quantity will help to make up the
deficiencies of a diet poor in carbohydrate. Scotch and Irish whisky,
and Hollands gin, are usually free from sugar, and some of the light
Bordeaux wines contain very little. Fat is beneficial, and can be given
as cream, fat of meat and cod-liver oil. Green vegetables are harmless,
but the white stalks of cabbages and lettuces and also celery and endive
yield sugar. Laevulose can be assimilated up to 1½ ozs. daily without
increasing the glycosuria, and hence apples, cooked or raw, are
allowable, as the sugar they contain is in this form. The question of
milk is somewhat disputed; but it is usual to exclude it from the rigid
diet, allowing a certain quantity when the diet is being extended.
Thirst is relieved by anything that relieves the polyuria. But
hypodermic injections of pilocarpine stimulate the flow of saliva, and
thus relieve the dryness of the mouth. Constipation appears to increase
the thirst, and must always be carefully guarded against. The best
remedies are the aperient mineral waters.
Numerous medicinal substances have been employed in diabetes, but few of
them are worthy of mention as possessed of any efficacy. Opium is often
found of great service, its administration being followed by marked
amelioration in all the symptoms. Morphia and codeia have a similar
action. In the severest cases, however, these drugs appear to be of
little or no use, and they certainly increase the constipation. Heroin
hydrochloride has been tried in their place, but this seems to have more
power over slight than over severe cases. Salicylate of sodium and
aspirin are both very beneficial, causing a diminution in the sugar
excretion without counterbalancing bad effects.
In _diabetes insipidus_ there is constant thirst and an excessive flow
of urine, which, however, is not found to contain any abnormal
constituent. Its effects upon the system are often similar to those of
diabetes mellitus, except that they are much less marked, the disease
being in general very slow in its progress. In some cases the health
appears to suffer very slightly. It is rarely a direct cause of death,
but from its debilitating effects may predispose to serious and fatal
complications. It is best treated by tonics and generous diet. Valerian
has been found beneficial, the powdered root being given in 5-grain
doses.
DIABOLO, a game played with a sort of top in the shape of two cones
joined at their apices, which is spun, thrown, and caught by means of a
cord strung to two sticks. The idea of the game appears originally to
have come from China, where a top (_Kouengen_), made of two hollow
pierced cylinders of metal or wood, joined by a rod--and often of
immense size,--was made by rotation to hum with a loud noise, and was
used by pedlars to attract customers. From China it was introduced by
missionaries to Europe; and a form of the game, known as "the devil on
two sticks," appears to have been known in England towards the end of
the 18th century, and Lord Macartney is credited with improvements in
it. But its principal vogue was in France in 1812, where the top was
called "le diable." Amusing old prints exist (see _Fry's Magazine_,
March and December 1907), depicting examples of the popular craze in
France at the time. The _diable_ of those days resembled a globular
wooden dumb-bell with a short waist, and the sonorous hum when
spinning--the _bruit du diable_--was a pronounced feature. At intervals
during the century occasional attempts to revive the game of spinning a
top of this sort on a string were made, but it was not till 1906 that
the sensation of 1812 began to be repeated. A French engineer, Gustave
Phillipart, discovering some old implements of the game, had
experimented for some time with new forms of top with a view to bringing
it again into popularity; and having devised the double-cone shape, and
added a miniature bicycle tire of rubber round the rims of the two ends
of the double-cone, with other improvements, he named it "diabolo." The
use of celluloid in preference to metal or wood as its material appears
to have been due to a suggestion of Mr C. B. Fry, who was consulted by
the inventor on the subject. The game of spinning, throwing and catching
the diabolo was rapidly elaborated in various directions, both as an
exercise of skill in doing tricks, and in "diabolo tennis" and other
ways as an athletic pastime. From Paris, Ostend and the chief French
seaside resorts, where it became popular in 1906, its vogue spread in
1907 so that in France and England it became the fashionable "rage"
among both children and adults.
The mechanics of the diabolo were worked out by Professor C. V. Boys in
the _Proc. Phys. Soc._ (London), Nov. 1907.
DIACONICON, in the Greek Church, the name given to a chamber on the
south side of the central apse, where the sacred utensils, vessels, &c.,
of the church were kept. In the reign of Justin II. (565-574), owing to
a change in the liturgy, the diaconicon and protheses were located in
apses at the east end of the aisles. Before that time there was only one
apse. In the churches in central Syria of slightly earlier date, the
diaconicon is rectangular, the side apses at Kalat-Seman having been
added at a later date.
DIADOCHI (Gr. [Greek: diadechesthai], to receive from another), i.e.
"Successors," the name given to the Macedonian generals who fought for
the empire of Alexander after his death in 323 B.C. The name includes
Antigonus and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes, Antipater and his son
Cassander, Seleucus, Ptolemy, Eumenes and Lysimachus. The kingdoms into
which the Macedonian empire was divided under these rulers are known as
Hellenistic. The chief were Asia Minor and Syria under the SELEUCID
DYNASTY (q.v.), Egypt under the PTOLEMIES (q.v.), Macedonia under the
successors of Antigonus Gonatas, PERGAMUM (q.v.) under the Attalid
dynasty. Gradually these kingdoms were merged in the Roman empire. (See
MACEDONIAN EMPIRE.)
DIAGONAL (Gr. [Greek: dia], through, [Greek: gônia], a corner), in
geometry, a line joining the intersections of two pairs of sides of a
rectilinear figure.
DIAGORAS, of Melos, surnamed the Atheist, poet and sophist, flourished
in the second half of the 5th century B.C. Religious in his youth and a
writer of hymns and dithyrambs, he became an atheist because a great
wrong done to him was left unpunished by the gods. In consequence of his
blasphemous speeches, and especially his criticism of the Mysteries, he
was condemned to death at Athens, and a price set upon his head
(Aristoph. _Clouds_, 830; _Birds_, 1073 and Schol.). He fled to Corinth,
where he is said to have died. His work on the Mysteries was called
[Greek Phrygioi logoi] or [Greek: Apopyrgizontes], in which he probably
attacked the Phrygian divinities.
DIAGRAM (Gr. [Greek: diagramma], from [Greek: diagraphein], to mark out
by lines), a figure drawn in such a manner that the geometrical relations
between the parts of the figure illustrate relations between other
objects. They may be classed according to the manner in which they are
intended to be used, and also according to the kind of analogy which we
recognize between the diagram and the thing represented. The diagrams in
mathematical treatises are intended to help the reader to follow the
mathematical reasoning. The construction of the figure is defined in
words so that even if no figure were drawn the reader could draw one for
himself. The diagram is a good one if those features which form the
subject of the proposition are clearly represented.
Diagrams are also employed in an entirely different way--namely, for
purposes of measurement. The plans and designs drawn by architects and
engineers are used to determine the value of certain real magnitudes by
measuring certain distances on the diagram. For such purposes it is
essential that the drawing be as accurate as possible. We therefore
class diagrams as diagrams of illustration, which merely suggest certain
relations to the mind of the spectator, and diagrams drawn to scale,
from which measurements are intended to be made. There are some diagrams
or schemes, however, in which the form of the parts is of no importance,
provided their connexions are properly shown. Of this kind are the
diagrams of electrical connexions, and those belonging to that
department of geometry which treats of the degrees of cyclosis,
periphraxy, linkedness and knottedness.
_Diagrams purely Graphic and mixed Symbolic and Graphic._--Diagrams may
also be classed either as purely graphical diagrams, in which no symbols
are employed except letters or other marks to distinguish particular
points of the diagrams, and mixed diagrams, in which certain magnitudes
are represented, not by the magnitudes of parts of the diagram, but by
symbols, such as numbers written on the diagram. Thus in a map the
height of places above the level of the sea is often indicated by
marking the number of feet above the sea at the corresponding places on
the map. There is another method in which a line called a contour line
is drawn through all the places in the map whose height above the sea is
a certain number of feet, and the number of feet is written at some
point or points of this line. By the use of a series of contour lines,
the height of a great number of places can be indicated on a map by
means of a small number of written symbols. Still this method is not a
purely graphical method, but a partly symbolical method of expressing
the third dimension of objects on a diagram in two dimensions.
In order to express completely by a purely graphical method the
relations of magnitudes involving more than two variables, we must use
more than one diagram. Thus in the arts of construction we use plans and
elevations and sections through different planes, to specify the form of
objects having three dimensions. In such systems of diagrams we have to
indicate that a point in one diagram corresponds to a point in another
diagram. This is generally done by marking the corresponding points in
the different diagrams with the same letter. If the diagrams are drawn
on the same piece of paper we may indicate corresponding points by
drawing a line from one to the other, taking care that this line of
correspondence is so drawn that it cannot be mistaken for a real line in
either diagram. (See GEOMETRY: _Descriptive_.)
In the stereoscope the two diagrams, by the combined use of which the
form of bodies in three dimensions is recognized, are projections of the
bodies taken from two points so near each other that, by viewing the two
diagrams simultaneously, one with each eye, we identify the
corresponding points intuitively. The method in which we simultaneously
contemplate two figures, and recognize a correspondence between certain
points in the one figure and certain points in the other, is one of the
most powerful and fertile methods hitherto known in science. Thus in
pure geometry the theories of similar, reciprocal and inverse figures
have led to many extensions of the science. It is sometimes spoken of as
the method or principle of Duality. GEOMETRY: _Projective_.)
DIAGRAMS IN MECHANICS.
The study of the motion of a material system is much assisted by the
use of a series of diagrams representing the configuration,
displacement and acceleration of the parts of the system.
_Diagram of Configuration._--In considering a material system it is
often convenient to suppose that we have a record of its position at
any given instant in the form of a diagram of configuration. The
position of any particle of the system is defined by drawing a
straight line or vector from the origin, or point of reference, to the
given particle. The position of the particle with respect to the
origin is determined by the magnitude and direction of this vector. If
in the diagram we draw from the origin (which need not be the same
point of space as the origin for the material system) a vector equal
and parallel to the vector which determines the position of the
particle, the end of this vector will indicate the position of the
particle in the diagram of configuration. If this is done for all the
particles we shall have a system of points in the diagram of
configuration, each of which corresponds to a particle of the material
system, and the relative positions of any pair of these points will be
the same as the relative positions of the material particles which
correspond to them.
We have hitherto spoken of two origins or points from which the
vectors are supposed to be drawn--one for the material system, the
other for the diagram. These points, however, and the vectors drawn
from them, may now be omitted, so that we have on the one hand the
material system and on the other a set of points, each point
corresponding to a particle of the system, and the whole representing
the configuration of the system at a given instant.
This is called a diagram of configuration.
_Diagram of Displacement._--Let us next consider two diagrams of
configuration of the same system, corresponding to two different
instants. We call the first the initial configuration and the second
the final configuration, and the passage from the one configuration to
the other we call the displacement of the system. We do not at present
consider the length of time during which the displacement was
effected, nor the intermediate stages through which it passed, but
only the final result--a change of configuration. To study this change
we construct a diagram of displacement.
Let A, B, C be the points in the initial diagram of configuration, and
A', B', C' be the corresponding points in the final diagram of
configuration. From o, the origin of the diagram of displacement, draw
a vector oa equal and parallel to AA', ob equal and parallel to BB',
oc to CC', and so on. The points a, b, c, &c., will be such that the
vector ab indicates the displacement of B relative to A, and so on.
The diagram containing the points a, b, c, &c., is therefore called
the diagram of displacement.
In constructing the diagram of displacement we have hitherto assumed
that we know the absolute displacements of the points of the system.
For we are required to draw a line equal and parallel to AA', which we
cannot do unless we know the absolute final position of A, with
respect to its initial position. In this diagram of displacement there
is therefore, besides the points a, b, c, &c., an _origin_, o, which
represents a point absolutely fixed in space. This is necessary
because the two configurations do not exist at the same time; and
therefore to express their relative position we require to know a
point which remains the same at the beginning and end of the time.
But we may construct the diagram in another way which does not assume
a knowledge of absolute displacement or of a point fixed in space.
Assuming any point and calling it a, draw ak parallel and equal to BA
in the initial configuration, and from k draw kb parallel and equal to
A'B' in the final configuration. It is easy to see that the position
of the point b relative to a will be the same by this construction as
by the former construction, only we must observe that in this second
construction we use only vectors such as AB, A'B', which represent the
relative position of points both of which exist simultaneously,
instead of vectors such as AA', BB', which express the position of a
point at one instant relative to its position at a former instant, and
which therefore cannot be determined by observation, because the two
ends of the vector do not exist simultaneously.
It appears therefore that the diagram of displacements, when drawn by
the first construction, includes an origin o, which indicates that we
have assumed a knowledge of absolute displacements. But no such point
occurs in the second construction, because we use such vectors only as
we can actually observe. Hence the diagram of displacements _without
an origin_ represents neither more nor less than all we can ever know
about the displacement of the material system.
_Diagram of Velocity._--If the relative velocities of the points of
the system are constant, then the diagram of displacement
corresponding to an interval of a unit of time between the initial and
the final configuration is called a diagram of relative velocity. If
the relative velocities are not constant, we suppose another system in
which the velocities are equal to the velocities of the given system
at the given instant and continue constant for a unit of time. The
diagram of displacements for this imaginary system is the required
diagram of relative velocities of the actual system at the given
instant. It is easy to see that the diagram gives the velocity of any
one point relative to any other, but cannot give the absolute velocity
of any of them.
_Diagram of Acceleration._--By the same process by which we formed the
diagram of displacements from the two diagrams of initial and final
configuration, we may form a diagram of changes of relative velocity
from the two diagrams of initial and final velocities. This diagram
may be called that of total accelerations in a finite interval of
time. And by the same process by which we deduced the diagram of
velocities from that of displacements we may deduce the diagram of
rates of acceleration from that of total acceleration.
We have mentioned this system of diagrams in elementary kinematics
because they are found to be of use especially when we have to deal
with material systems containing a great number of parts, as in the
kinetic theory of gases. The diagram of configuration then appears as
a region of space swarming with points representing molecules, and the
only way in which we can investigate it is by considering the number
of such points in unit of volume in different parts of that region,
and calling this the _density_ of the gas.
In like manner the diagram of velocities appears as a region
containing points equal in number but distributed in a different
manner, and the number of points in any given portion of the region
expresses the number of molecules whose velocities lie within given
limits. We may speak of this as the velocity-density.
_Diagrams of Stress._--Graphical methods are peculiarly applicable to
statical questions, because the state of the system is constant, so
that we do not need to construct a series of diagrams corresponding to
the successive states of the system. The most useful of these
applications, collectively termed Graphic Statics, relates to the
equilibrium of plane framed structures familiarly represented in
bridges and roof-trusses. Two diagrams are used, one called the
diagram of the frame and the other called the diagram of stress. The
structure itself consists of a number of separable pieces or links
jointed together at their extremities. In practice these joints have
friction, or may be made purposely stiff, so that the force acting at
the extremity of a piece may not pass exactly through the axis of the
joint; but as it is unsafe to make the stability of the structure
depend in any degree upon the stiffness of joints, we assume in our
calculations that all the joints are perfectly smooth, and therefore
that the force acting on the end of any link passes through the axis
of the joint.
The axes of the joints of the structure are represented by points in
the diagram of the frame. The link which connects two joints in the
actual structure may be of any shape, but in the diagram of the frame
it is represented by a straight line joining the points representing
the two joints. If no force acts on the link except the two forces
acting through the centres of the joints, these two forces must be
equal and opposite, and their direction must coincide with the
straight line joining the centres of the joints. If the force acting
on either extremity of the link is directed towards the other
extremity, the stress on the link is called pressure and the link is
called a "strut." If it is directed away from the other extremity, the
stress on the link is called tension and the link is called a "tie."
In this case, therefore, the only stress acting in a link is a
pressure or a tension in the direction of the straight line which
represents it in the diagram of the frame, and all that we have to do
is to find the magnitude of this stress. In the actual structure
gravity acts on every part of the link, but in the diagram we
substitute for the actual weight of the different parts of the link
two weights which have the same resultant acting at the extremities of
the link.
We may now treat the diagram of the frame as composed of links without
weight, but loaded at each joint with a weight made up of portions of
the weights of all the links which meet in that joint. If any link has
more than two joints we may substitute for it in the diagram an
imaginary stiff frame, consisting of links, each of which has only two
joints. The diagram of the frame is now reduced to a system of points,
certain pairs of which are joined by straight lines, and each point is
in general acted on by a weight or other force acting between it and
some point external to the system. To complete the diagram we may
represent these external forces as links, that is to say, straight
lines joining the points of the frame to points external to the frame.
Thus each weight may be represented by a link joining the point of
application of the weight with the centre of the earth.
But we can always construct an imaginary frame having its joints in
the lines of action of these external forces, and this frame, together
with the real frame and the links representing external forces, which
join points in the one frame to points in the other frame, make up
together a complete self-strained system in equilibrium, consisting of
points connected by links acting by pressure or tension. We may in
this way reduce any real structure to the case of a system of points
with attractive or repulsive forces acting between certain pairs of
these points, and keeping them in equilibrium. The direction of each
of these forces is sufficiently indicated by that of the line joining
the points, so that we have only to determine its magnitude. We might
do this by calculation, and then write down on each link the pressure
or the tension which acts in it.
We should in this way obtain a mixed diagram in which the stresses are
represented graphically as regards direction and position, but
symbolically as regards magnitude. But we know that a force may be
represented in a purely graphical manner by a straight line in the
direction of the force containing as many units of length as there are
units of force in the force. The end of this line is marked with an
arrow head to show in which direction the force acts. According to
this method each force is drawn in its proper position in the diagram
of configuration of the frame. Such a diagram might be useful as a
record of the result of calculation of the magnitude of the forces,
but it would be of no use in enabling us to test the correctness of
the calculation.
But we have a graphical method of testing the equilibrium of any set
of forces acting at a point. We draw in series a set of lines parallel
and proportional to these forces. If these lines form a closed polygon
the forces are in equilibrium. (See MECHANICS.) We might in this way
form a series of polygons of forces, one for each joint of the frame.
But in so doing we give up the principle of drawing the line
representing a force from the point of application of the force, for
all the sides of the polygon cannot pass through the same point, as
the forces do. We also represent every stress twice over, for it
appears as a side of both the polygons corresponding to the two joints
between which it acts. But if we can arrange the polygons in such a
way that the sides of any two polygons which represent the same stress
coincide with each other, we may form a diagram in which every stress
is represented in direction and magnitude, though not in position, by
a single line which is the common boundary of the two polygons which
represent the joints at the extremities of the corresponding piece of
the frame.
We have thus obtained a pure diagram of stress in which no attempt is
made to represent the configuration of the material system, and in
which every force is not only represented in direction and magnitude
by a straight line, but the equilibrium of the forces at any joint is
manifest by inspection, for we have only to examine whether the
corresponding polygon is closed or not.
The relations between the diagram of the frame and the diagram of
stress are as follows:--To every link in the frame corresponds a
straight line in the diagram of stress which represents in magnitude
and direction the stress acting in that link; and to every joint of
the frame corresponds a closed polygon in the diagram, and the forces
acting at that joint are represented by the sides of the polygon taken
in a certain cyclical order, the cyclical order of the sides of the
two adjacent polygons being such that their common side is traced in
opposite directions in going round the two polygons.
The direction in which any side of a polygon is traced is the
direction of the force acting on that joint of the frame which
corresponds to the polygon, and due to that link of the frame which
corresponds to the side. This determines whether the stress of the
link is a pressure or a tension. If we know whether the stress of any
one link is a pressure or a tension, this determines the cyclical
order of the sides of the two polygons corresponding to the ends of
the links, and therefore the cyclical order of all the polygons, and
the nature of the stress in every link of the frame.
_Reciprocal Diagrams._--When to every point of concourse of the lines
in the diagram of stress corresponds a closed polygon in the skeleton
of the frame, the two diagrams are said to be reciprocal.
The first extensions of the method of diagrams of forces to other
cases than that of the funicular polygon were given by Rankine in his
_Applied Mechanics_ (1857). The method was independently applied to a
large number of cases by W. P. Taylor, a practical draughtsman in the
office of J. B. Cochrane, and by Professor Clerk Maxwell in his
lectures in King's College, London. In the _Phil. Mag._ for 1864 the
latter pointed out the reciprocal properties of the two diagrams, and
in a paper on "Reciprocal Figures, Frames and Diagrams of Forces,"
_Trans. R.S. Edin._ vol. xxvi., 1870, he showed the relation of the
method to Airy's function of stress and to other mathematical methods.
Professor Fleeming Jenkin has given a number of applications of the
method to practice (_Trans. R.S. Edin._ vol. xxv.).
L. Cremona (_Le Figure reciproche nella statica grafica_, 1872)
deduced the construction of reciprocal figures from the theory of the
two components of a wrench as developed by Möbius. Karl Culmann, in
his _Graphische Statik_ (1st ed. 1864-1866, 2nd ed. 1875), made great
use of diagrams of forces, some of which, however, are not
reciprocal. Maurice Levy in his _Statique graphique_ (1874) has
treated the whole subject in an elementary but copious manner, and R.
H. Bow, in his _The Economics of Construction in Relation to Framed
Structures_ (1873), materially simplified the process of drawing a
diagram of stress reciprocal to a given frame acted on by a system of
equilibrating external forces.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Diagram of Configuration.]
Instead of lettering the joints of the frame, as is usually done, or
the links of the frame, as was the custom of Clerk Maxwell, Bow places
a letter in each of the polygonal areas enclosed by the links of the
frame, and also in each of the divisions of surrounding space as
separated by the lines of action of the external forces. When one link
of the frame crosses another, the point of apparent intersection of
the links is treated as if it were a real joint, and the stresses of
each of the intersecting links are represented twice in the diagram of
stress, as the opposite sides of the parallelogram which corresponds
to the point of intersection.
This method is followed in the lettering of the diagram of
configuration (fig. 1), and the diagram of stress (fig. 2) of the
linkwork which Professor Sylvester has called a quadruplane.
In fig. 1 the real joints are distinguished from the places where one
link appears to cross another by the little circles O, P, Q, R, S, T,
V. The four links RSTV form a "contraparallelogram" in which RS = TV
and RV = ST. The triangles ROS, RPV, TQS are similar to each other. A
fourth triangle (TNV), not drawn in the figure, would complete the
quadruplane. The four points O, P, N, Q form a parallelogram whose
angle POQ is constant and equal to [pi] - SOR. The product of the
distances OP and OQ is constant. The linkwork may be fixed at O. If
any figure is traced by P, Q will trace the inverse figure, but turned
round O through the constant angle POQ. In the diagram forces Pp, Qq
are balanced by the force Co at the fixed point. The forces Pp and Qq
are necessarily inversely as OP and OQ, and make equal angles with
those lines.
[Illustration: Fig. 2.--Diagram of Stress.]
Every closed area formed by the links or the external forces in the
diagram of configuration is marked by a letter which corresponds to a
point of concourse of lines in the diagram of stress. The stress in
the link which is the common boundary of two areas is represented in
the diagram of stress by the line joining the points corresponding to
those areas. When a link is divided into two or more parts by lines
crossing it, the stress in each part is represented by a different
line for each part, but as the stress is the same throughout the link
these lines are all equal and parallel. Thus in the figure the stress
in RV is represented by the four equal and parallel lines HI, FG, DE
and AB. If two areas have no part of their boundary in common the
letters corresponding to them in the diagram of stress are not joined
by a straight line. If, however, a straight line were drawn between
them, it would represent in direction and magnitude the resultant of
all the stresses in the links which are cut by any line, straight or
curved, joining the two areas. For instance the areas F and C in fig.
1 have no common boundary, and the points F and C in fig. 2 are not
joined by a straight line. But every path from the area F to the area
C in fig. 1 passes through a series of other areas, and each passage
from one area into a contiguous area corresponds to a line drawn in
the diagram of stress. Hence the whole path from F to C in fig. 1
corresponds to a path formed of lines in fig. 2 and extending from F
to C, and the resultant of all the stresses in the links cut by the
path is represented by FC in fig. 2.
Many examples of stress diagrams are given in the article on BRIDGES
(q.v.).
_Automatic Description of Diagrams._
There are many other kinds of diagrams in which the two co-ordinates
of a point in a plane are employed to indicate the simultaneous values
of two related quantities. If a sheet of paper is made to move, say
horizontally, with a constant known velocity, while a tracing point is
made to move in a vertical straight line, the height varying as the
value of any given physical quantity, the point will trace out a curve
on the paper from which the value of that quantity at any given time
may be determined. This principle is applied to the automatic
registration of phenomena of all kinds, from those of meteorology and
terrestrial magnetism to the velocity of cannon-shot, the vibrations
of sounding bodies, the motions of animals, voluntary and involuntary,
and the currents in electric telegraphs.
In Watt's indicator for steam engines the paper does not move with a
constant velocity, but its displacement is proportional to that of the
piston of the engine, while that of the tracing point is proportional
to the pressure of the steam. Hence the co-ordinates of a point of the
curve traced on the diagram represent the volume and the pressure of
the steam in the cylinder. The indicator-diagram not only supplies a
record of the pressure of the steam at each stage of the stroke of the
engine, but indicates the work done by the steam in each stroke by the
area enclosed by the curve traced on the diagram. (J. C. M.)
DIAL and DIALLING. Dialling, sometimes called gnomonics, is a branch of
applied mathematics which treats of the construction of sun-dials, that
is, of those instruments, either fixed or portable, which determine the
divisions of the day (Lat. _dies_) by the motion of the shadow of some
object on which the sun's rays fall. It must have been one of the
earliest applications of a knowledge of the apparent motion of the sun;
though for a long time men would probably be satisfied with the division
into morning and afternoon as marked by sun-rise, sun-set and the
greatest elevation.
_History._--The earliest mention of a sun-dial is found in Isaiah
xxxviii. 8: "Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which
is gone down in the _sun-dial_ of Ahaz ten degrees backward." The date
of this would be about 700 years before the Christian era, but we know
nothing of the character or construction of the instrument. The earliest
of all sun-dials of which we have any certain knowledge was the
hemicycle, or hemisphere, of the Chaldaean astronomer Berossus, who
probably lived about 300 B.C. It consisted of a hollow hemisphere placed
with its rim perfectly horizontal, and having a bead, or globule, fixed
in any way at the centre. So long as the sun remained above the horizon
the shadow of the bead would fall on the inside of the hemisphere, and
the path of the shadow during the day would be approximately a circular
arc. This arc, divided into twelve equal parts, determined twelve equal
intervals of time for that day. Now, supposing this were done at the
time of the solstices and equinoxes, and on as many intermediate days as
might be considered sufficient, and then curve lines drawn through the
corresponding points of division of the different arcs, the shadow of
the bead falling on one of these curve lines would mark a division of
time for that day, and thus we should have a sun-dial which would divide
each period of daylight into twelve equal parts. These equal parts were
called _temporary hours_; and, since the duration of daylight varies
from day to day, the temporary hours of one day would differ from those
of another; but this inequality would probably be disregarded at that
time, and especially in countries where the variation between the
longest summer day and the shortest winter day is much less than in our
climates.
The dial of Berossus remained in use for centuries. The Arabians, as
appears from the work of Albategnius, still followed the same
construction about the year A.D. 900. Four of these dials have in modern
times been found in Italy. One, discovered at Tivoli in 1746, is
supposed to have belonged to Cicero, who, in one of his letters, says
that he had sent a dial of this kind to his villa near Tusculum. The
second and third were found in 1751--one at Castel-Nuovo and the other
at Rignano; and a fourth was found in 1762 at Pompeii. G. H. Martini in
his _Abhandlungen von den Sonnenuhren der Alten_ (Leipzig, 1777), says
that this dial was made for the latitude of Memphis; it may therefore
be the work of Egyptians, perhaps constructed in the school of
Alexandria.
Herodotus recorded that the Greeks derived from the Babylonians the use
of the gnomon, but the great progress made by the Greeks in geometry
enabled them in later times to construct dials of great complexity, some
of which remain to us, and are proof not only of extensive knowledge but
also of great ingenuity.
Ptolemy's _Almagest_ treats of the construction of dials by means of his
_analemma_, an instrument which solved a variety of astronomical
problems. The constructions given by him were sufficient for regular
dials, that is, horizontal dials, or vertical dials facing east, west,
north or south, and these are the only ones he treats of. It is certain,
however, that the ancients were able to construct declining dials, as is
shown by that most interesting monument of ancient gnomics--the Tower of
the Winds at Athens. This is a regular octagon, on the faces of which
the eight principal winds are represented, and over them eight different
dials--four facing the cardinal points and the other four facing the
intermediate directions. The date of the dials is long subsequent to
that of the tower; for Vitruvius, who describes the tower in the sixth
chapter of his first book, says nothing about the dials, and as he has
described all the dials known in his time, we must believe that the
dials of the tower did not then exist. The hours are still the temporary
hours or, as the Greeks called them, _hectemoria_.
The first sun-dial erected at Rome was in the year 290 B.C., and this
Papirius Cursor had taken from the Samnites. A dial which Valerius
Messalla had brought from Catania, the latitude of which is five degrees
less than that of Rome, was placed in the forum in the year 261 B.C. The
first dial actually constructed at Rome was in the year 164 B.C., by
order of Q. Marcius Philippus, but as no other Roman has written on
gnomonics, this was perhaps the work of a foreign artist. If, too, we
remember that the dial found at Pompeii was made for the latitude of
Memphis, and consequently less adapted to its position than that of
Catania to Rome, we may infer that mathematical knowledge was not
cultivated in Italy.
The Arabians were much more successful. They attached great importance
to gnomonics, the principles of which they had learned from the Greeks,
but they greatly simplified and diversified the Greek constructions. One
of their writers, Abu'l Hassan, who lived about the beginning of the
13th century, taught them how to trace dials on cylindrical, conical and
other surfaces. He even introduced _equal_ or _equinoctial hours_, but
the idea was not supported, and the temporary hours alone continued in
use.
Where or when the great and important step already conceived by Abu'l
Hassan, and perhaps by others, of reckoning by _equal_ hours was
generally adopted cannot now be determined. The history of gnomonics
from the 13th to the beginning of the 16th century is almost a blank,
and during that time the change took place. We can see, however, that
the change would necessarily follow the introduction of clocks and other
mechanical methods of measuring time; for, however imperfect these were,
the hours they marked would be of the same length in summer and in
winter, and the discrepancy between these equal hours and the temporary
hours of the sun-dial would soon be too important to be overlooked. Now,
we know that a balance clock was put up in the palace of Charles V. of
France about the year 1370, and we may reasonably suppose that the new
sun-dials came into general use during the 14th and 15th centuries.
Among the earliest of the modern writers on gnomonics was SEBASTIAN
MÜNSTER (q.v.), who published his _Horologiographia_ at Basel in 1531.
He gives a number of correct rules, but without demonstrations. Among
his inventions was a moon-dial,[1] but this does not admit of much
accuracy.
During the 17th century dialling was discussed at great length by many
writers on astronomy. Clavius devotes a quarto volume of 800 pages
entirely to the subject. This was published in 1612, and may be
considered to contain all that was known at that time.
In the 18th century clocks and watches began to supersede sun-dials, and
these have gradually fallen into disuse except as an additional ornament
to a garden, or in remote country districts where the old dial on the
church tower still serves as an occasional check on the modern clock by
its side. The art of constructing dials may now be looked upon as little
more than a mathematical recreation.
_General Principles._--The diurnal and the annual motions of the earth
are the elementary astronomical facts on which dialling is founded.
That the earth turns upon its axis uniformly from west to east in
twenty-four hours, and that it is carried round the sun in one year at
a nearly uniform rate, is the correct way of expressing these facts.
But the effect will be precisely the same, and it will suit our
purpose better, and make our explanations easier, if we adopt the
ideas of the ancients, of which our senses furnish apparent
confirmation, and assume the earth to be fixed. Then, the sun and
stars revolve round the earth's axis uniformly from east to west once
a day--the sun lagging a little behind the stars, making its day some
four minutes longer--so that at the end of the year it finds itself
again in the same place, having made a complete revolution of the
heavens relatively to the stars from west to east.
The fixed axis about which all these bodies revolve daily is a line
through the earth's centre; but the radius of the earth is so small,
compared with the enormous distance of the sun, that, if we draw a
parallel axis through any point of the earth's surface, we may safely
look on that as being the axis of the celestial motions. The error in
the case of the sun would not, at its maximum, that is, at 6 A.M. and
6 P.M., exceed half a second of time, and at noon would vanish. An
axis so drawn is in the plane of the meridian, and points to the pole,
its elevation being equal to the latitude of the place.
The diurnal motion of the stars is strictly uniform, and so would that
of the sun be if the daily retardation of about four minutes, spoken
of above, were always the same. But this is constantly altering, so
that the time, as measured by the sun's motion, and also consequently
as measured by a sun-dial, does not move on at a strictly uniform
pace. This irregularity, which is slight, would be of little
consequence in the ordinary affairs of life, but clocks and watches
being mechanical measures of time could not, except by extreme
complication, be made to follow this irregularity, even if desirable.
The clock is constructed to mark uniform time in such wise that the
length of the clock day shall be the average of all the solar days in
the year. Four times a year the clock and the sun-dial agree exactly;
but the sun-dial, now going a little slower, now a little faster, will
be sometimes behind, sometimes before the clock-the greatest
accumulated difference being about sixteen minutes for a few days in
November, but on the average much less. The four days on which the two
agree are April 15, June 15, September 1 and December 24.
Clock-time is called _mean time_, that marked by the sun-dial is
called _apparent time_, and the difference between them is the
_equation of time_. It is given in most calendars and almanacs,
frequently under the heading "clock slow," "clock fast." When the time
by the sun-dial is known, the equation of time will at once enable us
to obtain the corresponding clock-time, or vice versa.
Atmospheric refraction introduces another error by altering the
apparent position of the sun; but the effect is too small to need
consideration in the construction of an instrument which, with the
best workmanship, does not after all admit of very great accuracy.
The general principles of dialling will now be readily understood. The
problem before us is the following:--A rod, or _style_, as it is
called, being firmly fixed in a direction parallel to the earth's
axis, we have to find how and where points or lines of reference must
be traced on some fixed surface behind the style, so that when the
shadow of the style falls on a certain one of these lines, we may know
that at that moment it is solar noon,--that is, that the plane through
the style and through the sun then coincides with the meridian; again,
that when the shadow reaches the next line of reference, it is 1
o'clock by solar time, or, which comes to the same thing, that the
above plane through the style and through the sun has just turned
through the twenty-fourth part of a complete revolution; and so on for
the subsequent hours,--the hours before noon being indicated in a
similar manner. The style and the surface on which these lines are
traced together constitute the dial.
The position of an intended sun-dial having been selected--whether on
church tower, south front of farmstead or garden wall--the surface
must be prepared, if necessary, to receive the hour-lines.
The chief, and in fact the only practical difficulty will be the
accurate fixing of the style, for on its accuracy the value of the
instrument depends. It must be in the meridian plane, and must make an
angle with the horizon equal to the latitude of the place. The latter
condition will offer no difficulty, but the exact determination of the
meridian plane which passes through the point where the style is fixed
to the surface is not so simple. At present we shall assume that the
style has been fixed in its true position. The style itself will be
usually a stout metal wire, and when we speak of the shadow cast by
the style it must always be understood that the middle line of the
thin band of shade is meant.
The point where the style meets the dial is called the centre of the
dial. It is the centre from which all the hour-lines radiate.
The position of the XII o'clock line is the most important to
determine accurately, since all the others are usually made to depend
on this one. We cannot trace it correctly on the dial until the style
has been itself accurately fixed in its proper place. When that is
done the XII o'clock line will be found by the intersection of the
dial surface with the vertical plane which contains the style; and the
most simple way of drawing it on the dial will be by suspending a
plummet from some point of the style whence it may hang freely, and
waiting until the shadows of both style and plumb-line coincide on the
dial. This single shadow will be the XII o'clock line.
In one class of dials, namely, all the vertical ones, the XII o'clock
line is simply the vertical line from the centre; it can, therefore,
at once be traced on the dial face by using a fine plumb-line.
The XII o'clock line being traced, the easiest and most accurate
method of tracing the other hour-lines would, at the present day when
good watches are common, be by marking where the shadow of the style
falls when 1, 2, 3, &c., hours have elapsed since noon, and the next
morning by the same means the forenoon hour-lines could be traced; and
in the same manner the hours might be subdivided into halves and
quarters, or even into minutes.
But formerly, when watches did not exist, the tracing of the I, II,
III, &c., o'clock lines was done by calculating the angle which each
of these lines would make with the XII o'clock line. Now, except in
the simple cases of a horizontal dial or of a vertical dial facing a
cardinal point, this would require long and intricate calculations, or
elaborate geometrical constructions, implying considerable
mathematical knowledge, but also introducing increased chances of
error. The chief source of error would lie in the uncertainty of the
data; for the position of the dial-plane would have to be found before
the calculations began,--that is, it would be necessary to know
exactly by how many degrees it declined from the south towards the
east or west, and by how many degrees it inclined from the vertical.
The ancients, with the means at their disposal, could obtain these
results only very roughly.
Dials received different names according to their position:--
_Horizontal dials_, when traced on a horizontal plane;
_Vertical dials_, when on a vertical plane facing one of the cardinal
points;
_Vertical declining dials_, on a vertical plane not facing a cardinal
point;
_Inclining dials_, when traced on planes neither vertical nor
horizontal (these were further distinguished as _reclining_ when
leaning backwards from an observer, _proclining_ when leaning
forwards);
_Equinoctial dials_, when the plane is at right angles to the earth's
axis, &c. &c.
_Dial Construction._--A very correct view of the problem of dial
construction may be obtained as follows:--
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
Conceive a transparent cylinder (fig. 1) having an axis AB parallel to
the axis of the earth. On the surface of the cylinder let equidistant
generating-lines be traced 15° apart, one of them XII ... XII being in
the meridian plane through AB, and the others I ... I, II ... II, &c.,
following in the order of the sun's motion.
Then the shadow of the line AB will obviously fall on the line XII ...
XII at apparent noon, on the line I ... I at one hour after noon, on
II ... II at two hours after noon, and so on. If now the cylinder be
cut by any plane MN representing the plane on which the dial is to be
traced, the shadow of AB will be intercepted by this plane and fall on
the lines AXII AI, AII, &c.
The construction of the dial consists in determining the angles made
by AI, AII, &c. with AXII; the line AXII itself, being in the
vertical plane through AB, may be supposed known.
For the purposes of actual calculation, perhaps a transparent sphere
will, with advantage, replace the cylinder, and we shall here apply it
to calculate the angles made by the hour-line with the XII o'clock
line in the two cases of a horizontal dial and of a vertical south
dial.
_Horizontal Dial._--Let PEp (fig. 2), the axis of the supposed
transparent sphere, be directed towards the north and south poles of
the heavens. Draw the two great circles, HMA, QMa, the former
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
horizontal, the other perpendicular to the axis Pp, and therefore
coinciding with the plane of the equator. Let EZ be vertical, then the
circle QZP will be the meridian, and by its intersection A with the
horizontal circle will determine the XII o'clock line EA. Next divide
the equatorial circle QMa into 24 equal parts ab, bc, cd, &c. ... of
15° each, beginning from the meridian Pa, and through the various
points of division and the poles draw the great circles Pbp, Pcp, &c.
... These will exactly correspond to the equidistant generating lines
on the cylinder in the previous construction, and the shadow of the
style will fall on these circles after successive intervals of 1,2, 3,
&c., hours from noon. If they meet the horizontal circle in the points
B, C, D, &c., then EB, EC, ED, &c. ... will be the I, II, III, &c.,
hour-lines required; and the problem of the horizontal dial consists
in calculating the angles which these lines make with the XII o'clock
line EA, whose position is known. The spherical triangles PAB, PAC,
&c., enable us to do this readily. They are all right-angled at A, the
side PA is the latitude of the place, and the angles APB, APC, &c.,
are respectively 15°, 30°, &c., then
tan AB = tan 15° sin _latitude_,
tan AC = tan 30° sin _latitude_,
&c. &c.
These determine the sides AB, AC, &c., that is, the angles AEB, AEC,
&c., required.
The I o'clock hour-line EB must make an angle with the meridian EA of
11° 51' on a London dial, of 12° 31' at Edinburgh, of 11° 23' at
Paris, 12° 0' at Berlin, 9° 55' at New York and 9° 19' at San
Francisco. In the same way may be found the angles made by the other
hour-lines.
The calculations of these angles must extend throughout one quadrant
from noon to VI o'clock, but need not be carried further, because all
the other hour-lines can at once be deduced from these. In the first
place the dial is symmetrically divided by the meridian, and therefore
two times equidistant from noon will have their hour-lines equidistant
from the meridian; thus the XI o'clock line and the I o'clock line
must make the same angles with it, the X o'clock the same as the II
o'clock, and so on. And next, the 24 great circles, which were drawn
to determine these lines, are in reality only 12; for clearly the
great circle which gives I o'clock after midnight, and that which
gives I o'clock after noon, are one and the same, and so also for the
other hours. Therefore the hour-lines between VI in the evening and VI
the next morning are the prolongations of the remaining twelve.
Let us now remove the imaginary sphere with all its circles, and
retain only the style EP and the plane HMA with the lines traced on
it, and we shall have the horizontal dial.
On the longest day in London the sun rises a little before 4 o'clock,
and sets a little after 8 o'clock; there is therefore no necessity for
extending a London dial beyond those hours. At Edinburgh the limits
will be a little longer, while at Hammerfest, which is within the
Arctic circle, the whole circuit will be required.
Instead of a wire style it is often more convenient to use a metal
plate from one quarter to half an inch in thickness. This plate, which
is sometimes in the form of a right-angled triangle, must have an
acute angle equal to the latitude of the place, and, when properly
fixed in a vertical position on the dial, its two faces must coincide
with the meridian plane, and the sloping edges formed by the thickness
of the plate must point to the pole and form two parallel styles.
Since there are two styles, there must be two dials, or rather two
half dials, because a little consideration will show that, owing to
the thickness of the plate, these styles will only one at a time cast
a shadow. Thus the eastern edge will give the shadow for all hours
before 6 o'clock in the morning. From 6 o'clock until noon the western
edge will be used. At noon it will change again to the eastern edge
until 6 o'clock in the evening, and finally the western edge for the
remaining hours of daylight.
The centres of the two dials will be at the points where the styles
meet the dial face; but, in drawing the hour-lines, we must be careful
to draw only those lines for which the corresponding style is able to
give a shadow as explained above. The dial will thus have the
appearance of a single dial plate, and there will be no confusion (see
fig. 3).
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
The line of demarcation between the shadow and the light will be
better defined than when a wire style is used; but the indications by
this double dial will always be one minute too fast in the morning and
one minute too slow in the afternoon. This is owing to the magnitude
of the sun, whose angular breadth is half a degree. The well-defined
shadows are given, not by the centre of the sun, as we should require
them, but by the forward limb in the morning and by the backward one
in the afternoon; and the sun takes just about a minute to advance
through a space equal to its half-breadth.
Dials of this description are frequently met with. The dial plate is
of metal as well as the vertical piece upon it, and they may be
purchased ready for placing on the pedestal,--the dial with all the
hour-lines traced on it and the style plate firmly fastened in its
proper position, if not even cast in the same piece with the dial
plate.
When placing it on the pedestal care must be taken that the dial be
perfectly horizontal and accurately oriented. The levelling will be
done with a spirit-level, and the orientation will be best effected
either in the forenoon or in the afternoon, by turning the dial plate
till the time given by the shadow (making the _one_ minute correction
mentioned above) agrees with a good watch whose error on solar time is
known. It is, however, important to bear in mind that a dial, so built
up beforehand, will have the angle at the base equal to the latitude
of some selected place, such as London, and the hour-lines will be
drawn in directions calculated for the same latitude. Such a dial can
therefore not be used near Edinburgh or Glasgow, although it would,
without appreciable error, be adapted to any place whose latitude did
not differ more than 20 or 30 m. from that of London, and it would be
safe to employ it in Essex, Kent or Wiltshire.
If a series of such dials were constructed, differing by 30 m. in
latitude, then an intending purchaser could select one adapted to a
place whose latitude was within 15 m. of his own, and the error of
time would never exceed a small fraction of a minute. The following
table will enable us to check the accuracy of the hour-lines and of
the angle of the style,--all angles on the dial being readily measured
with an ordinary protractor. It extends from 50° lat. to 59½° lat.,
and therefore includes the whole of Great Britain and Ireland:--
+-------+--------+--------+---------+----------+---------+--------+
| LAT. |XI. A.M.| X. A.M.| IX. A.M.|VIII. A.M.|VII. A.M.|VI. A.M.|
| | I. P.M.|II. P.M.|III. P.M.|IIII. P.M.| V. P.M.|VI. P.M.|
+-------+--------+--------+---------+----------+---------+--------+
| 50° 0'| 11° 36'| 23° 51'| 37° 27'| 53° 0' | 70° 43'| 90° 0'|
| 50 30 | 11 41 | 24 1 | 37 39 | 53 12 | 70 51 | 90 0 |
| 51 0 | 11 46 | 24 10 | 37 51 | 53 23 | 70 59 | 90 0 |
| 51 30 | 11 51 | 24 19 | 38 3 | 53 35 | 71 6 | 90 0 |
| 52 0 | 11 55 | 24 28 | 38 14 | 53 46 | 71 13 | 90 0 |
| 52 30 | 12 0 | 24 37 | 38 25 | 53 57 | 71 20 | 90 0 |
| 53 0 | 12 5 | 24 45 | 38 37 | 54 8 | 71 27 | 90 0 |
| 53 30 | 12 9 | 24 54 | 38 48 | 54 19 | 71 34 | 90 0 |
| 54 0 | 12 14 | 25 2 | 38 58 | 54 29 | 71 40 | 90 0 |
| 54 30 | 12 18 | 25 10 | 39 9 | 54 39 | 71 47 | 90 0 |
| 55 0 | 12 23 | 25 19 | 39 19 | 54 49 | 71 53 | 90 0 |
| 55 30 | 12 27 | 25 27 | 39 30 | 54 59 | 71 59 | 90 0 |
| 56 0 | 12 31 | 25 35 | 39 40 | 55 9 | 72 5 | 90 0 |
| 56 30 | 12 36 | 25 43 | 39 50 | 55 18 | 72 11 | 90 0 |
| 57 0 | 12 40 | 25 50 | 39 59 | 55 27 | 72 17 | 90 0 |
| 57 30 | 12 44 | 25 58 | 40 9 | 55 36 | 72 22 | 90 0 |
| 58 0 | 12 48 | 26 5 | 40 18 | 55 45 | 72 28 | 90 0 |
| 58 30 | 12 52 | 26 13 | 40 27 | 55 54 | 72 33 | 90 0 |
| 59 0 | 12 56 | 26 20 | 40 36 | 56 2 | 72 39 | 90 0 |
| 59 30 | 13 0 | 26 27 | 40 45 | 56 11 | 72 44 | 90 0 |
+-------+--------+--------+---------+----------+---------+--------+
_Vertical South Dial._--Let us take again our imaginary transparent
sphere QZPA (fig. 4), whose axis PEp is parallel to the earth's axis.
Let Z be the zenith, and, consequently, the great circle QZP the
meridian. Through E, the centre of the sphere, draw a vertical plane
facing south. This will cut the sphere in the great circle ZMA, which,
being vertical, will pass through the zenith, and, facing south, will
be at right angles to the meridian. Let QMa be the equatorial circle,
obtained by drawing a plane through E at right angles to the axis PEp.
The lower portion Ep of the axis will be the style, the vertical line
EA in the meridian plane will be the XII o'clock line, and the line
EM, which is obviously horizontal, since M is the intersection of two
great circles ZM, QM, each at right angles to the vertical plane QZP,
will be the VI o'clock line. Now, as in the previous problem, divide
the equatorial circle into 24 equal arcs of 15° each, beginning at a,
viz. ab, bc, &c.,--each quadrant aM, MQ, &c., containing 6,--then
through each point of division and through the axis Pp draw a plane
cutting the sphere in 24 equidistant great circles. As the sun
revolves round the axis the shadow of the axis will successively fall
on these circles at intervals of one hour, and if these circles cross
the vertical circle ZMA in the points A, B, C, &c., the shadow of the
lower portion Ep of the axis will fall on the lines EA, EB, EC, &c.,
which will therefore be the required hour-lines on the vertical dial,
Ep being the style.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.]
There is no necessity for going beyond the VI o'clock hour-line on
each side of noon; for, in the winter months the sun sets earlier than
6 o'clock, and in the summer months it passes behind the plane of the
dial before that time, and is no longer available.
It remains to show how the angles AEB, AEC, &c., may be calculated.
The spherical triangles pAB, pAC, &c., will give us a simple rule.
These triangles are all right-angled at A, the side pA, equal to ZP,
is the co-latitude of the place, that is, the difference between the
latitude and 90°; and the successive angles ApB, ApC, &c., are 15°,
30°, &c., respectively. Then
tan AB = tan 15° sin _co-latitude_;
or more simply,
tan AB = tan 15° cos _latitude_,
tan AC = tan 30° cos _latitude_,
&c. &c.
and the arcs AB, AC so found are the measure of the angles AEB, AEC,
&c., required.
In this ease the angles diminish as the latitudes increase, the
opposite result to that of the horizontal dial.
_Inclining, Reclining, &c., Dials._--We shall not enter into the
calculation of these cases. Our imaginary sphere being, as before
supposed, constructed with its centre at the centre of the dial, and
all the hour-circles traced upon it, the intersection of these
hour-circles with the plane of the dial will determine the hour-lines
just as in the previous cases; but the triangles will no longer be
right-angled, and the simplicity of the calculation will be lost, the
chances of error being greatly increased by the difficulty of drawing
the dial plane in its true position on the sphere, since that true
position will have to be found from observations which can be only
roughly performed.
In all these cases, and in cases where the dial surface is not a
plane, and the hour-lines, consequently, are not straight lines, the
only safe practical way is to mark rapidly on the dial a few points
(one is sufficient when the dial face is plane) of the shadow at the
moment when a good watch shows that the hour has arrived, and
afterwards connect these points with the centre by a continuous line.
Of course the style must have been accurately fixed in its true
position before we begin.
_Equatorial Dial._--The name equatorial dial is given to one whose
plane is at right angles to the style, and therefore parallel to the
equator. It is the simplest of all dials. A circle (fig. 5) divided
into 24 equal ares is placed at right angles to the style, and hour
divisions are marked upon it. Then if care be taken that the style
point accurately to the pole, and that the noon division coincide with
the meridian plane, the shadow of the style will fall on the other
divisions, each at its proper time. The divisions must be marked on
both sides of the dial, because the sun will shine on opposite sides
in the summer and in the winter months, changing at each equinox.
_To find the Meridian Plane._--We have, so far, assumed the meridian
plane to be accurately known; we shall proceed to describe some of the
methods by which it may be found.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.]
The mariner's compass may be employed as a first rough approximation.
It is well known that the needle of the compass, when free to move
horizontally, oscillates upon its pivot and settles in a direction
termed the magnetic meridian. This does not coincide with the true
north and south line, but the difference between them is generally
known with tolerable accuracy, and is called the variation of the
compass. The variation differs widely at different parts of the
surface of the earth, and is not stationary at any particular place,
though the change is slow; and there is even a small daily oscillation
which takes place about the mean position, but too small to need
notice here (see MAGNETISM, TERRESTRIAL).
With all these elements of uncertainty, it is obvious that the compass
can only give a rough approximation to the position of the meridian,
but it will serve to fix the style so that only a small further
alteration will be necessary when a more perfect determination has
been made.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
A very simple practical method is the following:--
Place a table (fig. 6), or other plane surface, in such a position
that it may receive the sun's rays both in the morning and in the
afternoon. Then carefully level the surface by means of a
spirit-level. This must be done very accurately, and the table in that
position made perfectly secure, so that there be no danger of its
shifting during the day.
Next, suspend a plummet SH from a point S, which must be rigidly
fixed. The extremity H, where the plummet just meets the surface,
should be somewhere near the middle of one end of the table. With H
for centre, describe any number of concentric arcs of circles, AB, CD,
EF, &c.
A bead P, kept in its place by friction, is threaded on the plummet
line at some convenient height above H.
Everything being thus prepared, let us follow the shadow of the bead P
as it moves along the surface of the table during the day. It will be
found to describe a curve ACE ... FDB, approaching the point H as the
sun advances towards noon, and receding from it afterwards. (The curve
is a conic section--an hyperbola in these regions.) At the moment when
it crosses the arc AB, mark the point A; AP is then the direction of
the sun, and, as AH is horizontal, the angle PAH is the altitude of
the sun. In the afternoon mark the point B where it crosses the same
arc; then the angle PBH is the altitude. But the right-angled
triangles PHA, PHB are obviously equal; and the sun has therefore the
same altitudes at those two instants, the one before, the other after
noon. It follows that, _if the sun has not changed its declination_
during the interval, the two positions will be symmetrically placed
one on each side of the meridian. Therefore, drawing the chord AB, and
bisecting it in M, HM will be the meridian line.
Each of the other concentric arcs, CD, EF, &c., will furnish its
meridian line. Of course these should all coincide, but if not, the
mean of the positions thus found must be taken.
The proviso mentioned above, that the sun has not changed its
declination, is scarcely ever realized; but the change is slight, and
may be neglected, except perhaps about the time of the equinoxes, at
the end of March and at the end of September. Throughout the remainder
of the year the change of declination is so slow that we may safely
neglect it. The most favourable times are at the end of June and at
the end of December, when the sun's declination is almost stationary.
If the line HM be produced both ways to the edges of the table, then
the two points on the ground vertically below those on the edges may
be found by a plummet, and, if permanent marks be made there, the
meridian plane, which is the vertical plane passing through these two
points, will have its position perfectly secured.
_To place the Style of a Dial in its True Position._--Before giving
any other method of finding the meridian plane, we shall complete the
construction of the dial, by showing how the style may now be
accurately placed in its true position. The angle which the style
makes with a hanging plumb-line, being the co-latitude of the place,
is known, and the north and south direction is also roughly given by
the mariner's compass. The style may therefore be already adjusted
approximately--correctly, indeed, as to its inclination--but probably
requiring a little horizontal motion east or west. Suspend a fine
plumb-line from some point of the style, then the style will be
properly adjusted if, at the very instant of noon, its shadow falls
exactly on the plumb-line,--or, which is the same thing, if both
shadows coincide on the dial.
This instant of noon will be given very simply, by the meridian plane,
whose position we have secured by the two permanent marks on the
ground. Stretch a cord from the one mark to the other. This will not
generally be horizontal, but the cord will be wholly in the meridian
plane, and that is the only necessary condition. Next, suspend a
plummet over the mark which is nearer to the sun, and, when the shadow
of the plumb-line falls on the stretched cord, it is noon. A signal
from the observer there to the observer at the dial enables the latter
to adjust the style as directed above.
_Other Methods of finding the Meridian Plane._--We have dwelt at some
length on these practical operations because they are simple and
tolerably accurate, and because they want neither watch, nor sextant,
nor telescope--nothing more, in fact, than the careful observation of
shadow lines.
The Pole star, or _Ursae Minoris_, may also be employed for finding
the meridian plane without other apparatus than plumb-lines. This star
is now only about 1° 14' from the pole; if therefore a plumb-line be
suspended at a few feet from the observer, and if he shift his
position till the star is exactly hidden by the line, then the plane
through his eye and the plumb-line will never be far from the meridian
plane. Twice in the course of the twenty-four hours the planes would
be strictly coincident. This would be when the star crosses the
meridian above the pole, and again when it crosses it below. If we
wished to employ the method of determining the meridian, the times of
the stars crossing would have to be calculated from the data in the
_Nautical Almanac_, and a watch would be necessary to know when the
instant arrived. The watch need not, however, be very accurate,
because the motion of the star is so slow that an error of ten minutes
in the time would not give an error of one-eighth of a degree in the
azimuth.
The following accidental circumstance enables us to dispense with both
calculation and watch. The right ascension of the star [eta] _Ursae
Majoris_, that star in the tail of the Great Bear which is farthest
from the "pointers," happens to differ by a little more than 12 hours
from the right ascension of the Pole star. The great circle which
joins the two stars passes therefore close to the pole. When the Pole
star, at a distance of about 1° 14' from the pole, is crossing the
meridian above the pole, the star [eta] _Ursae Majoris_, whose polar
distance is about 40°, has not yet reached the meridian below the
pole.
When [eta] _Ursae Majoris_ reaches the meridian, which will be within
half an hour later, the Pole star will have left the meridian; but its
slow motion will have carried it only a very little distance away. Now
at some instant between these two times--much nearer the latter than
the former--the great circle joining the two stars will be exactly
vertical; and at this instant, which the observer determines by seeing
that the plumb-line hides the two stars simultaneously, neither of the
stars is strictly in the meridian; but the deviation from it is so
small that it may be neglected, and the plane through the eye and the
plumb-line taken for meridian plane.
In all these cases it will be convenient, instead of fixing the plane
by means of the eye and one fixed plummet, to have a second plummet at
a short distance in front of the eye; this second plummet, being
suspended so as to allow of lateral shifting, must be moved so as
always to be between the eye and the fixed plummet. The meridian plane
will be secured by placing two permanent marks on the ground, one
under each plummet.
This method, by means of the two stars, is only available for the
upper transit of _Polaris_; for, at the lower transit, the other star
[eta] _Ursae Majoris_ would pass close to or beyond the zenith, and
the observation could not be made. Also the stars will not be visible
when the upper transit takes place in the daytime, so that one-half of
the year is lost to this method.
Neither could it be employed in lower latitudes than 40° N., for there
the star would be below the horizon at its lower transit;--we may even
say not lower than 45° N., for the star must be at least 5° above the
horizon before it becomes distinctly visible.
There are other pairs of stars which could be similarly employed, but
none so convenient as these two, on account of _Polaris_ with its very
slow motion being one of the pair.
_To place the Style in its True Position without previous
Determination of the Meridian Plane._--The various methods given above
for finding the meridian plane have for ultimate object the
determination of the plane, not on its own account, but as an element
for fixing the instant of noon, whereby the style may be properly
placed.
We shall dispense, therefore, with all this preliminary work if we
determine noon by astronomical observation. For this we shall want a
good watch, or pocket chronometer, and a sextant or other instrument
for taking altitudes. The local time at any moment may be determined
in a variety of ways by observation of the celestial bodies. The
simplest and most practically useful methods will be found described
and investigated in any work on astronomy.
For our present purpose a single altitude of the sun taken in the
forenoon will be most suitable. At some time in the morning, when the
sun is high enough to be free from the mists and uncertain refractions
of the horizon--but to ensure accuracy, while the rate of increase of
the altitude is still tolerably rapid, and, therefore, not later than
10 o'clock--take an altitude of the sun, an assistant, at the same
moment, marking the time shown by the watch. The altitude so observed
being properly corrected for refraction, parallax, &c., will, together
with the latitude of the place, and the sun's declination, taken from
the _Nautical Almanac_, enable us to calculate the time. This will be
the solar or apparent time, that is, the very time we require.
Comparing the time so found with the time shown by the watch, we see
at once by how much the watch is fast or slow of solar time; we know,
therefore, exactly what time the watch must mark when solar noon
arrives, and waiting for that instant we can fix the style in its
proper position as explained before.
We can dispense with the sextant and with all calculation and
observation if, by means of the pocket chronometer, we bring the time
from some observatory where the work is done; and, allowing for the
change of longitude, and also for the equation of time, if the time we
have brought is clock time, we shall have the exact instant of solar
noon as in the previous case.
In former times the fancy of dialists seems to have run riot in
devising elaborate surfaces on which the dial was to be traced.
Sometimes the shadow was received on a cone, sometimes on a cylinder,
or on a sphere, or on a combination of these. A universal dial was
constructed of a figure in the shape of a cross; another universal
dial showed the hours by a globe and by several gnomons. These
universal dials required adjusting before use, and for this a
mariner's compass and a spirit-level were necessary. But it would be
tedious and useless to enumerate the various forms designed, and, as a
rule, the more complex the less accurate.
Another class of useless dials consisted of those with variable
centres. They were drawn on fixed horizontal planes, and each day the
style had to be shifted to a new position. Instead of hour-_lines_
they had hour-_points_; and the style, instead of being parallel to
the axis of the earth, might make any chosen angle with the horizon.
There was no practical advantage in their use, but rather the reverse;
and they can only be considered as furnishing material for new
mathematical problems.
_Portable Dials._--The dials so far described have been fixed dials,
for even the fanciful ones to which reference was just now made were
to be fixed before using. There were, however, other dials, made
generally of a small size, so as to be carried in the pocket; and
these, so long as the sun shone, roughly answered the purpose of a
watch.
The description of the portable dial has generally been mixed up with
that of the fixed dial, as if it had been merely a special case, and
the same principle had been the basis of both; whereas there are
essential points of difference between them, besides those which are
at once apparent.
In the fixed dial the result depends on the _uniform_ angular motion
of the sun round the fixed style; and a small error in the assumed
position of the sun, whether due to the imperfection of the
instrument, or to some small neglected correction, has only a trifling
effect on the time. This is owing to the angular displacement of the
sun being so rapid--a quarter of a degree every minute--that for the
ordinary affairs of life greater accuracy is not required, as a
displacement of a quarter of a degree, or at any rate of one degree,
can be readily seen by nearly every person. But with a portable dial
this is no longer the case. The uniform angular motion is not now
available, because we have no determined fixed plane to which we may
refer it. In the new position, to which the observer has gone, the
zenith is the only point of the heavens he can at once practically
find; and the basis for the determination of the time is the
constantly but _very irregularly_ varying zenith distance of the sun.
At sea the observation of the altitude of a celestial body is the only
method available for finding local time; but the perfection which has
been attained in the construction of the sextant enables the sailor to
reckon on an accuracy of seconds. Certain precautions have, however,
to be taken. The observations must not be made within a couple of
hours of noon, on account of the slow rate of change at that time, nor
too near the horizon, on account of the uncertain refractions there;
and the same restrictions must be observed in using a portable dial.
To compare roughly the accuracy of the fixed and the portable dials,
let us take a mean position in Great Britain, say 54° lat., and a mean
declination when the sun is in the equator. It will rise at 6 o'clock,
and at noon have an altitude of 36°,--that is, the portable dial will
indicate an average change of one-tenth of a degree in each minute, or
two and a half times slower than the fixed dial. The vertical motion
of the sun increases, however, nearer the horizon, but even there it
will be only one-eighth of a degree each minute, or half the rate of
the fixed dial, which goes on at nearly the same speed throughout the
day.
Portable dials are also much more restricted in the range of latitude
for which they are available, and they should not be used more than 4
or 5 m. north or south of the place for which they were constructed.
We shall briefly describe two portable dials which were in actual use.
_Dial on a Cylinder._--A hollow cylinder of metal (fig. 7), 4 or 5 in.
high, and about an inch in diameter, has a lid which admits of
tolerably easy rotation. A hole in the lid receives the style shaped
somewhat like a bayonet; and the straight part of the style, which, on
account of the two bends, is lower than the lid, projects horizontally
out from the cylinder to a distance of 1 or 1½ in. When not in use the
style would be taken out and placed inside the cylinder.
A horizontal circle is traced on the cylinder opposite the projecting
style, and this circle is divided into 36 approximately equidistant
intervals.[2] These intervals represent spaces of time, and to each
division is assigned a date, so that each month has three dates marked
as follows:-January 10, 20, 31; February 10, 20, 28; March 10, 20, 31;
April 10, 20, 30, and so on,--always the 10th, the 20th, and the last
day of each month.
[Illustration: FIG. 7.]
Through each point of division a vertical line parallel to the axis of
the cylinder is drawn from top to bottom. Now it will be readily
understood that if, upon one of these days, the lid be turned, so as
to bring the style exactly opposite the date, and if the dial be then
placed on a horizontal table so as to receive sunlight, and turned
round bodily until the shadow of the style falls exactly on the
vertical line below it, the shadow will terminate at some definite
point of this line, the position of which point will depend on the
length of the style--that is, the distance of its end from the surface
of the cylinder--and on the altitude of the sun at that instant.
Suppose that the observations are continued all day, the cylinder
being very gradually turned so that the style may always face the sun,
and suppose that marks are made on the vertical line to show the
extremity of the shadow at each exact hour from sun-rise to
sun-set-these times being taken from a good fixed sun-dial,--then it is
obvious that the next year, on the _same date_, the sun's declination
being about the same, and the observer in about the same latitude, the
marks made the previous year will serve to tell the time all that day.
What we have said above was merely to make the principle of the
instrument clear, for it is evident that this mode of marking, which
would require a whole year's sunshine and hourly observation, cannot
be the method employed.
The positions of the marks are, in fact, obtained by calculation.
Corresponding to a given date, the declination of the sun is taken
from the almanac, and this, together with the latitude of the place
and the length of the style, will constitute the necessary data for
computing the length of the shadow, that is, the distance of the mark
below the style for each successive hour.
We have assumed above that the declination of the sun is the same at
the same date in different years. This is not quite correct, but, if
the dates be taken for the second year after leap year, the results
will be sufficiently approximate.
When all the hour-marks have been placed opposite to their respective
dates, then a continuous curve, joining the corresponding hour-points,
will serve to find the time for a day intermediate to those set down,
the lid being turned till the style occupy a proper position between
the two divisions. The horizontality of the surface on which the
instrument rests is a very necessary condition, especially in summer,
when, the shadow of the style being long, the extreme end will shift
rapidly for a small deviation from the vertical, and render the
reading uncertain. The dial can also be used by holding it up by a
small ring in the top of the lid, and probably the vertically is
better ensured in that way.
_Portable Dial on a Card._--This neat and very ingenious dial is
attributed by Ozanam to a Jesuit Father, De Saint Rigaud, and probably
dates from the early part of the 17th century. Ozanam says that it was
sometimes called the _capuchin_, from some fancied resemblance to a
cowl thrown back.
_Construction._--Draw a straight line ACB parallel to the top of the
card (fig. 8) and another DCE at right angles to it; with C as
centre, and any convenient radius CA, describe the semicircle AEB
below the horizontal. Divide the whole arc AEB into 12 equal parts at
the points r, s, t, &c., and through these points draw perpendiculars
to the diameter ACB; these lines will be the hour-lines, viz. the line
through r will be the XI ... I line, the line through s the X ... II
line, and so on; the hour-line of noon will be the point A itself; by
subdivision of the small arcs Ar, rs, st, &c., we may draw the
hour-lines corresponding to halves and quarters, but this only where
it can be done without confusion.
Draw ASD making with AC an angle equal to the latitude of the place,
and let it meet EC in D, through which point draw FDG at right angles
to AD.
With centre A, and any convenient radius AS, describe an arc of circle
RST, and graduate this arc by marking degree divisions on it,
extending from 0° at S to 23½° on each side at R and T. Next determine
the points on the straight line FDG where radii drawn from A to the
degree divisions on the arc would cross it, and carefully mark these
crossings.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
The divisions of RST are to correspond to the sun's declination, south
declinations on RS and north declinations on ST. In the other
hemisphere of the earth this would be reversed; the north declinations
would be on the upper half.
Now, taking a second year after leap year (because the declinations of
that year are about the mean of each set of four years), find the days
of the month when the sun has these different declinations, and place
these dates, or so many of them as can be shown without confusion,
opposite the corresponding marks on FDG. Draw the _sun-line_ at the
top of the card parallel to the line ACB; and, near the extremity, to
the right, draw any small figure intended to form, as it were, a door
of which a b shall be the hinge. Care must be taken that this hinge is
exactly at right angles to the _sun-line_. Make a fine open slit c d
right through the card and extending from the hinge to a short
distance on the door,--the centre line of this slit coinciding
accurately with the _sun-line_. Now, cut the door completely through
the card; except, of course, along the hinge, which, when the card is
thick, should be partly cut through at the back, to facilitate the
opening. Cut the card right through along the line FDG, and pass a
thread carrying a little plummet W and a _very_ small bead P; the bead
having sufficient friction with the thread to retain any position when
acted on only by its own weight, but sliding easily along the thread
when moved by the hand. At the back of the card the thread terminates
in a knot to hinder it from being drawn through; or better, because
giving more friction and a better hold, it passes through the centre
of a small disk of card--a fraction of an inch in diameter--and, by a
knot, is made fast at the back of the disk.
To complete the construction,--with the centres F and G, and radii FA
and GA, draw the two arcs AY and AZ which will limit the hour-lines;
for in an observation the bead will always be found between them. The
forenoon and afternoon hours may then be marked as indicated in the
figure. The dial does not of itself discriminate between forenoon and
afternoon; but extraneous circumstances, as, for instance, whether the
sun is rising or falling, will settle that point, except when close to
noon, where it will always be uncertain.
To _rectify_ the dial (using the old expression, which means to
prepare the dial for an observation),--open the small door, by turning
it about its hinge, till it stands well out in front. Next, set the
thread in the line FG opposite the day of the month, and stretching it
over the point A, slide the bead P along till it exactly coincide
with A.
To find the hour of the day,--hold the dial in a vertical position in
such a way that its plane may pass through the sun. The verticality is
ensured by seeing that the bead rests against the card without
pressing. Now gradually tilt the dial (without altering its vertical
plane), until the central line of sunshine, passing through the open
slit of the door, just falls along the sun-line. The hour-line against
which the bead P then rests indicates the time.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
The _sun-line_ drawn above has always, so far as we know, been used as
a _shadow-line_. The upper edge of the rectangular door was the
prolongation of the line, and, the door being opened, the dial was
gradually tilted until the shadow cast by the upper edge exactly
coincided with it. But this shadow tilts the card one-quarter of a
degree more than the sun-line, because it is given by that portion of
the sun which just appears above the edge, that is, by the upper limb
of the sun, which is one-quarter of a degree higher than the centre.
Now, even at some distance from noon, the sun will sometimes take a
considerable time to rise one-quarter of a degree, and by so much time
will the indication of the dial be in error.
The central line of light which comes through the open slit will be
free from this error, because it is given by light from the centre of
the sun.
The card-dial deserves to be looked upon as something more than a mere
toy. Its ingenuity and scientific accuracy give it an educational
value which is not to be measured by the roughness of the results
obtained.
The theory of this instrument is as follows:--Let H (fig. 9) be the
point of suspension of the plummet at the time of observation, so that
the angle DAH is the north declination of the sun,--P, the bead,
resting against the hour-line VX. Join CX, then the angle ACX is the
hour-angle from noon given by the bead, and we have to prove that this
hour-angle is the correct one corresponding to a north latitude DAC, a
north declination DAH and an altitude equal to the angle which the
_sun-line_, or its parallel AC, makes with the horizontal. The angle
PHQ will be equal to the altitude, if HQ be drawn parallel to DC, for
the pair of lines HQ, HP will be respectively at right angles to the
sun-line and the horizontal.
Draw PQ and HM parallel to AC, and let them meet DCE in M and N
respectively.
Let HP and its equal HA be represented by a. Then the following values
will be readily deduced from the figure:--
AD = a cos _decl._ DH = a sin _decl._ PQ = a sin _alt._
CX = AC = AD cos _lat._ = a cos _decl._ cos _lat._
PN = CV = CX cos ACX = a cos _decl._ cos _lat._ cos ACX.
NQ = MH = DH sin MDH = sin _decl._ sin _lat._
(:. the angle MDH = DAC = latitude.)
And since PQ = NQ + PN,
we have, by simple substitution,
a sin _alt._ = a sin _decl._ sin _lat._ + a cos _del._ cos _lat._
cos ACX; or, dividing by a throughout,
sin _alt._ = sin _decl._ sin _lat._ + cos _decl._ cos _lat._
cos ACX ... (1)
which equation determines the hour-angle ACX shown by the bead.
To determine the hour-angle of the sun at the same moment, let fig. 10
represent the celestial sphere, HR the horizon, P the pole, Z the
zenith and S the sun.
From the spherical triangle PZS, we have
cos ZS = cos PS cos ZP + sin PS sin ZP cos ZPS
but ZS = zenith distance = 90° - altitude
ZP = 90° - PR = 90°- latitude
PS = polar distance = 90° - declination,
therefore, by substitution
sin _alt._ = sin _decl._ sin _lat._ + cos _decl._ cos _lat._
cos ZPS ... (2)
and ZPS is the hour-angle of the sun.
A comparison of the two formulae (1) and (2) shows that the hour-angle
given by the bead will be the same as that given by the sun, and
proves the theoretical accuracy of the card-dial. Just at sun-rise or
at sun-set the amount of refraction slightly exceeds half a degree.
If, then, a little cross m (see fig. 8) be made just below the
sun-line, at a distance from it which would subtend half a degree at
c, the time of sun-set would be found corrected for refraction, if the
central line of light were made to fall on cm.
[Illustration: FIG. 10.]
LITERATURE.--The following list includes the principal writers on
dialling whose works have come down, to us, and to these we must refer
for descriptions of the various constructions, some simple and direct,
others fanciful and intricate, which have been at different times
employed: Ptolemy, _Analemma_, restored by Commandine; Vitruvius,
_Architecture_; Sebastian Münster, _Horologiographia_; Orontius
Fineus, _De horologiis solaribus_; Mutio Oddi da Urbino, _Horologi
solari_; Dryander, _De horologiorum compositione_; Conrad Gesner,
_Pandectae_; Andreas Schöner, _Gnomonicae_; F. Commandine,
_Horologiorum descriptio_; Joan. Bapt. Benedictus, _De gnomonum usu_;
Georgius Schomberg, _Exegesis fundamentorum gnomonicorum_; Joan.
Solomon de Caus, _Horologes solaires_; Joan. Bapt. Trolta, _Praxis
horologiorum_; Desargues, _Manière universelle pour poser l'essieu_,
&c.; Ath. Kircher, _Ars magna lucis et Umbrae_; Hallum, _Explicatio
horologii in horto regio Londini_; Joan. Mark, _Tractatus
horologiorum_; Clavius, _Gnomonices de horologiis_. Also among more
modern writers, Deschales, Ozanam, Schottus, Wolfius, Picard, Lahire,
Walper; in German, Paterson, Michael, Müller; in English, Foster,
Wells, Collins, Leadbetter, Jones, Leybourn, Emerson and Ferguson. See
also Hans Löschner, _Über Sonnenuhren_ (2nd ed., Graz, 1906). (H. G.)
[1] In one of the courts of Queens' College, Cambridge, there is an
elaborate sun-dial dating from the end of the 17th or beginning of the
18th century, and around it a series of numbers which make it available
as a moon-dial when the moon's age is known.
[2] Strict equality is not necessary, as the observations made are on
the vertical line through each division-point, without reference to the
others. It is not even requisite that the divisions should go completely
and exactly round the cylinder, although they were always so drawn, and
both these conditions were insisted upon in the directions for the
construction.
DIALECT (from Gr. [Greek: dialektos], conversation, manner of speaking,
[Greek: dialegesthai], to converse), a particular or characteristic
manner of speech, and hence any variety of a language. In its widest
sense languages which are branches of a common or parent language may be
said to be "dialects" of that language; thus Attic, Ionic, Aeolic and
Doric are dialects of Greek, though there may never have at any time
been a separate language of which they were variations; so the various
Romance languages, Italian, French, Spanish, &c., were dialects of
Latin. Again, where there have existed side by side, as in England,
various branches of a language, such as the languages of the Angles, the
Jutes or the Saxons, and the descendant of one particular language, from
many causes, has obtained the predominance, the traces of the other
languages remain in the "dialects" of the districts where once the
original language prevailed. Thus it may be incorrect, from the
historical point of view, to say that "dialect" varieties of a language
represent degradations of the standard language. A "literary" accepted
language, such as modern English, represents the original language
spoken in the Midlands, with accretions of Norman, French, and later
literary and scientific additions from classical and other sources,
while the present-day "dialects" preserve, in inflections, pronunciation
and particular words, traces of the original variety of the language not
incorporated in the standard language of the country. See the various
articles on languages (English, French, &c).
DIALECTIC, or DIALECTICS (from Gr. [Greek: dialektos], discourse,
debate; [Greek: ê dialektikê], sc. [Greek: technê], the art of debate),
a logical term, generally used in common parlance in a contemptuous
sense for verbal or purely abstract disputation devoid of practical
value. According to Aristotle, Zeno of Elea "invented" dialectic, the
art of disputation by question and answer, while Plato developed it
metaphysically in connexion with his doctrine of "Ideas" as the art of
analysing ideas in themselves and in relation to the ultimate idea of
the Good (_Repub._ vii.). The special function of the so-called
"Socratic dialectic" was to show the inadequacy of popular beliefs.
Aristotle himself used "dialectic," as opposed to "science," for that
department of mental activity which examines the presuppositions lying
at the back of all the particular sciences. Each particular science has
its own subject matter and special principles ([Greek: idiai archai]) on
which the superstructure of its special discoveries is based. The
Aristotelian dialectic, however, deals with the universal laws ([Greek:
koinai archai]) of reasoning, which can be applied to the particular
arguments of all the sciences. The sciences, for example, all seek to
define their own species; dialectic, on the other hand, sets forth the
conditions which all definitions must satisfy whatever their subject
matter. Again, the sciences all seek to educe general laws; dialectic
investigates the nature of such laws, and the kind and degree of
necessity to which they can attain. To this general subject matter
Aristotle gives the name "Topics" ([Greek: topoi], loci, communes loci).
"Dialectic" in this sense is the equivalent of "logic." Aristotle also
uses the term for the science of probable reasoning as opposed to
demonstrative reasoning ([Greek: apodeiktikê]). The Stoics divided
[Greek: logikê] (logic) into rhetoric and dialectic, and from their time
till the end of the middle ages dialectic was either synonymous with, or
a part of, logic.
In modern philosophy the word has received certain special meanings. In
Kantian terminology _Dialektik_ is the name of that portion of the
_Kritik d. reinen Vernunft_ in which Kant discusses the impossibility of
applying to "things-in-themselves" the principles which are found to
govern phenomena. In the system of Hegel the word resumes its original
Socratic sense, as the name of that intellectual process whereby the
inadequacy of popular conceptions is exposed. Throughout its history,
therefore, "dialectic" has been connected with that which is remote
from, or alien to, unsystematic thought, with the a priori, or
transcendental, rather than with the facts of common experience and
material things.
DIALLAGE, an important mineral of the pyroxene group, distinguished by
its thin foliated structure and bronzy lustre. The chemical composition
is the same as diopside, Ca Mg (SiO_{3})_{2}, but it sometimes contains
the molecules (Mg, Fe") (Al, Fe"')_{2} SiO_{6} and Na Fe"'
(SiO_{3})_{2}, in addition, when it approaches to augite in composition.
Diallage is in fact an altered form of these varieties of pyroxene; the
particular kind of alteration which they have undergone being known as
"schillerization." This, as described by Prof. J. W. Judd, consists in
the development of a fine lamellar structure or parting due to secondary
twinning and the separation of secondary products along these and other
planes of chemical weakness ("solution planes") in the crystal. The
secondary products consist of mixtures of various hydrated oxides--opal,
göthite, limonite, &c--and appear as microscopic inclusions filling or
partly filling cavities, which have definite outlines with respect to
the enclosing crystal and are known as negative crystals. It is to the
reflection and interference of light from these minute inclusions that
the peculiar bronzy sheen or "schiller" of the mineral is due. The most
pronounced lamination is that parallel to the orthopinacoid; another,
less distinct, is parallel to the basal plane, and a third parallel to
the plane of symmetry; these planes of secondary parting are in addition
to the ordinary prismatic cleavage of all pyroxenes. Frequently the
material is interlaminated with a rhombic pyroxene (bronzite) or with an
amphibole (smaragdite or uralite), the latter being an alteration
product of the diallage.
Diallage is usually greyish-green or dark green, sometimes brown, in
colour, and has a pearly to metallic lustre or schiller on the laminated
surfaces. The hardness is 4, and the specific gravity 3.2 to 3.35. It
does not occur in distinct crystals with definite outlines, but only as
lamellar masses in deep-seated igneous rocks, principally gabbro, of
which it is an essential constituent. It occurs also in some peridotites
and serpentines, and rarely in volcanic rocks (basalt) and crystalline
schists. Masses of considerable size are found in the coarse-grained
gabbros of the Island of Skye, Le Prese near Bornio in Valtellina,
Lombardy, Prato near Florence, and many other localities.
The name diallage, from diallage, "difference," in allusion to the
dissimilar cleavages and planes of fracture, as originally applied by R.
J. Haüy in 1801, included other minerals (the orthorhombic pyroxenes
hypersthene, bronzite and bastite, and the smaragdite variety of
hornblende) which exhibit the same peculiarities of schiller structure;
it is now limited to the monoclinic pyroxenes with this structure. Like
the minerals of similar appearance just mentioned, it is sometimes cut
and polished for ornamental purposes. (L. J. S.)
DIALOGUE, properly the conversation between two or more persons,
reported in writing, a form of literature invented by the Greeks for
purposes of rhetorical entertainment and instruction, and scarcely
modified since the days of its invention. A dialogue is in reality a
little drama without a theatre, and with scarcely any change of scene.
It should be illuminated with those qualities which La Fontaine
applauded in the dialogue of Plato, namely vivacity, fidelity of tone,
and accuracy in the opposition of opinions. It has always been a
favourite with those writers who have something to censure or to impart,
but who love to stand outside the pulpit, and to encourage others to
pursue a train of thought which the author does not seem to do more than
indicate. The dialogue is so spontaneous a mode of expressing and noting
down the undulations of human thought that it almost escapes analysis.
All that is recorded, in any literature, of what pretend to be the
actual words spoken by living or imaginary people is of the nature of
dialogue. One branch of letters, the drama, is entirely founded upon it.
But in its technical sense the word is used to describe what the Greek
philosophers invented, and what the noblest of them lifted to the
extreme refinement of an art.
The systematic use of dialogue as an independent literary form is
commonly supposed to have been introduced by Plato, whose earliest
experiment in it is believed to survive in the _Laches_. The Platonic
dialogue, however, was founded on the mime, which had been cultivated
half a century earlier by the Sicilian poets, Sophron and Epicharmus.
The works of these writers, which Plato admired and imitated, are lost,
but it is believed that they were little plays, usually with only two
performers. The recently discovered mimes of Herodas (Herondas) give us
some idea of their scope. Plato further simplified the form, and reduced
it to pure argumentative conversation, while leaving intact the amusing
element of character-drawing. He must have begun this about the year
405, and by 399 he had brought the dialogue to its highest perfection,
especially in the cycle directly inspired by the death of Socrates. All
his philosophical writings, except the _Apology_, are cast in this form.
As the greatest of all masters of Greek prose style, Plato lifted his
favourite instrument, the dialogue, to its highest splendour, and to
this day he remains by far its most distinguished proficient. In the 2nd
century a.d. Lucian of Samosata achieved a brilliant success with his
ironic dialogues "Of the Gods," "Of the Dead," "Of Love" and "Of the
Courtesans." In some of them he attacks superstition and philosophical
error with the sharpness of his wit; in others he merely paints scenes
of modern life. The title of Lucian's most famous collection was
borrowed in the 17th century by two French writers of eminence, each of
whom prepared _Dialogues des morts_. These were Fontenelle (1683) and
Fénelon (1712). In English non-dramatic literature the dialogue had not
been extensively employed until Berkeley used it, in 1713, for his
Platonic treatise, _Hylas and Philonous_. Landor's _Imaginary
Conversations_ (1821-1828) is the most famous example of it in the 19th
century, although the dialogues of Sir Arthur Helps claim attention. In
Germany, Wieland adopted this form for several important satirical works
published between 1780 and 1799. In Spanish literature, the Dialogues of
Valdés (1528) and those on Painting (1633) by Vincenzo Carducci, are
celebrated. In Italian, collections of dialogues, on the model of Plato,
have been composed by Torquato Tasso (1586), by Galileo (1632), by
Galiani (1770), by Leopardi (1825), and by a host of lesser writers. In
our own day, the French have returned to the original application of
dialogue, and the inventions of "Gyp," of Henri Lavedan and of others,
in which a mundane anecdote is wittily and maliciously told in
conversation, would probably present a close analogy to the lost mimes
of the early Sicilian poets, if we could meet with them. This kind of
dialogue has been employed in English, and with conspicuous cleverness
by Mr Anstey Guthrie, but it does not seem so easily appreciated by
English as by French readers. (E.G.)
DIALYSIS (from the Gr. [Greek: dia], through, [Greek: luein], to
loosen), in chemistry, a process invented by Thomas Graham for
separating colloidal and crystalline substances. He found that solutions
could be divided into two classes according to their action upon a
porous diaphragm such as parchment. If a solution, say of salt, be
placed in a drum provided with a parchment bottom, termed a "dialyser,"
and the drum and its contents placed in a larger vessel of water, the
salt will pass through the membrane. If the salt solution be replaced by
one of glue, gelatin or gum, it will be found that the membrane is
impermeable to these solutes. To the first class Graham gave the name
"crystalloids," and to the second "colloids." This method is
particularly effective in the preparation of silicic acid. By adding
hydrochloric acid to a dilute solution of an alkaline silicate, no
precipitate will fall and the solution will contain hydrochloric acid,
an alkaline chloride, and silicic acid. If the solution be transferred
to a dialyser, the hydrochloric acid and alkaline chloride will pass
through the parchment, while the silicic acid will be retained.
DIAMAGNETISM. Substances which, like iron, are attracted by the pole of
an ordinary magnet are commonly spoken of as magnetic, all others being
regarded as non-magnetic. It was noticed by A. C. Becquerel in 1827 that
a number of so-called non-magnetic bodies, such as wood and gum lac,
were influenced by a very powerful magnet, and he appears to have formed
the opinion that the influence was of the same nature as that exerted
upon iron, though much feebler, and that all matter was more or less
magnetic. Faraday showed in 1845 (_Experimental Researches_, vol. iii.)
that while practically all natural substances are indeed acted upon by a
sufficiently strong magnetic pole, it is only a comparatively small
number that are attracted like iron, the great majority being repelled.
Bodies of the latter class were termed by Faraday _diamagnetics_. The
strongest diamagnetic substance known is bismuth, its susceptibility
being--0.000014, and its permeability 0.9998. The diamagnetic quality of
this metal can be detected by means of a good permanent magnet, and its
repulsion by a magnetic pole had been more than once recognized before
the date of Faraday's experiments. The metals gold, silver, copper,
lead, zinc, antimony and mercury are all diamagnetic; tin, aluminium and
platinum are attracted by a very strong pole. (See MAGNETISM.)
DIAMANTE, FRA, Italian fresco painter, was born at Prato about 1400. He
was a Carmelite friar, a member of the Florentine community of that
order, and was the friend and assistant of Filippo Lippi. The Carmelite
convent of Prato which he adorned with many works in fresco has been
suppressed, and the buildings have been altered to a degree involving
the destruction of the paintings. He was the principal assistant of Fra
Filippo in the grand frescoes which may still be seen at the east end of
the cathedral of Prato. In the midst of the work he was recalled to
Florence by his conventual superior, and a minute of proceedings of the
commune of Prato is still extant, in which it is determined to petition
the metropolitan of Florence to obtain his return to Prato,--a proof
that his share in the work was so important that his recall involved the
suspension of it. Subsequently he assisted Fra Filippo in the execution
of the frescoes still to be seen in the cathedral of Spoleto, which Fra
Diamante completed in 1470 after his master's death in 1469. Fra Filippo
left a son ten years old to the care of Diamante, who, having received
200 ducats from the commune of Spoleto, as the balance due for the work
done in the cathedral, returned with the child to Florence, and, as
Vasari says, bought land for himself with the money, giving but a small
portion to the child. The accusation of wrong-doing, however, would
depend upon the share of the work executed by Fra Diamante, and the
terms of his agreement with Fra Filippo. Fra Diamante must have been
nearly seventy when he completed the frescoes at Spoleto, but the exact
year of his death is not known.
DIAMANTE, JUAN BAUTISTA (1640?-1684?), Spanish dramatist, was born at
Castillo about 1640, entered the army, and began writing for the stage
in 1657. He became a knight of Santiago in 1660; the date of his death
is unknown, but no reference to him as a living author occurs after
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