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ing chloride of sodium (common salt), the rest being chiefly chlorides of magnesium, calcium, and deriva- tives of broniium. The chloride of magnesium gives the water a verj- loathsome taste; the chloride of cal- cium an oily appearance. The specific gravity of the water is 1.166. The presence of so much salt explains well the weird name of the sea, since save for a few microbes, no organic life can exist in it. Even fish from the ocean perish when put into it. The human body will not sink below the surface. Bathing, how- ever, in the Dead Sea can hardly be styled a pleasure, as the water is verj' irritating to the skin and eyes. There is, it need hardly be said, no foundation for the statement sometimes made, that birds cannot fly across the water, as occasionally sea-birds can be seen resting on its surface. From time to time large quan- tities of bitumen rise to the surface from the bottom. Bitimien is also found along the shores and is referred to in Genesis (xiv, 10) where it speaks of the puteos multos biiuminis — "many pits of slime". This fea- ture caused the ancients to speak of the sea as the "Lake of Asphalt".

The Dead Sea is mentioned in the Old Testament mostly as a boundary. Its formation comes into dis- cussion in the Book of Genesis (xiv, .3) where, speak- ing of the kings against whom Chodorlahomor fought, the text says: "All these came together into the woodland vale, which is now the salt sea". Accord- ing to the geologists who have explored the region, the formation of this depression of the earth's surface does not date from any historical period, but from the later tertiary or early quaternary period. Their the- ory is that at some remote time the western part of this region, owing to some profound disturbance of the strata, sank far below the eastern part, thus causing the great dissimilarity of the strata of the two sides of the sea. Besides this, the beds of gypsum, marl, flint, and alluvium found at different heights all along the Jordan valley indicate at that one t ime the entire valley, from the Lake of Tiberias to the Dead Sea, was a lake. Just what were the conditions at the time of the de- struction of Sodom and Gomorrha is only a matter of conjecture. But the words of the text, taken as they stand, prove that in the great catastrophe there was an inundation from the sea. The mooted question as to the sites of Sodom and Gomorrha does not properly enter into this article.

It is a very strange sight that this region presents to the eye, especially when seen from some height. On the eastern and western sides great mountains rise up in some places sheer from the water. To the north, the silvery Une of the Jordan can be traced as far as the eye can reach. To the south, the hills of solid salt, called Jebel Usdum — Mt. Sodom — and, on a clear day, mountains close to the Red Sea may be seen. Now all is deserted and dead. No vegetation or sign of human occupation greets the traveller. In other days the scene was different. Vessels plied the surface of the sea and many people lived near its shores. The prophecies of Esechiel (xlvii) and of Zacharies (xiv, 8) give one subject of thought on the scene here when the hfe-giving streams pouring forth from the Temple will have transformed it anew.

Smith, Hist. Geog. of the Holy Land (London, 1S95); Bull, Memoir on the Physical Geology and Geography of Arabia Petrtea, Palenline, etc. (London. 1886, Mount Seir. 1889); Lynch, Nar- Ttttive of the U. S. Expedition to. . . the Dead Sea (Washington, 1849) ; Official Report of the U. S. Expedition, etc. (Washington,

BDE LcTNES. Voyage d' Exploration A la Mer Morte _ s; DE Saclct. i'oyage aulour de la Mer Morte (1853); Tristram, The Land of Israel (London. 1882); ViooRonx, Manuel Biblique (Paris. 1901). I. 678; Lea Livres Saints et la erilique ratiortaliste, 5th ed., IV, 311; Gadtier in Ency. Bib- lictt, I, col. 10i2.
 * Lartet. Geologic, in Vol. Ill of the collection of Due de

Joseph V. Molloy.

Deaf, Education of the. See Education of THE Deaf.

Deambulatory. See Ambulatory.

Dean (Gk. 5^/co, ten ; Lat. decanus), one of the prin- cipal administrative officials of a diocese. The term was first used to denote a military officer having au- thority over ten soldiers ; in the fourth century it came to be used as a title for certain minor officials in the imperial household. A completely civil aspect was given to the office in Anglo-Saxon times in England, the dean having jurisdiction within his district or tithing for trials of first instance.

In the monastic life we find the term used by St. Benedict (Rule, c. xxi) to denote a monk who was placed over ten other monks, his duty being to see that their work was properly done and that they observed the rules of the liouse in which they were living. The custom which the monks thus introduced soon found its counterpart in diocesan pastoral work. The early Christian communities were always desirous of uniting themselves to the urban bishop, but for people who lived far away from the city communication with the bishop was not always easy; hence they were provided for by the appointment of a priest or deacon whose position was sometimes permanent, sometimes tem- porary. These ecclesiastics were merely assistants to the bishop and in the early fourth centurj' became known as chorepiscopi. Special decrees were made concerning them at the Councils of Ancyra (.314) and Antioch (341). The chorepiscopi, though frequently having the charge of several parishes, were neverthe- less always subject to the bishop of the city from whom they received their jurisdiction. They could only confer minor orders. Most of them were simple priests, but they had extensive faculties. (See Gill- mann, "Die Chorbischofe im Orient", Munich, 1903.) For the East the office of chorepiscopus was abolished at the Council of Laodicea (between 343 and 381) be- cause episcopal rights had been usurped by many who held the office; in their place (can. Ivii) were substi- tuted circuitores, visiiatores. But it was only in and after the eighth century that it finally disappeared in the East, though yet customary among the Jacobites. In the West, dm-ing and after the tenth century, there appeared another representative officer, the arch- deacon, who took the chief burden in administering the temporal affairs of the diocese and enjoyed, after the bishop, the greatest consideration. He was pres- ent at councils as the representative of the bishop, and on the death of the bishop he became the administra- tor of the diocese, to which he usually succeeded.

The immediate administrative necessities of the numerous rural parishes were provided for by the ap- pointment of several archpriests, who represented either the bishop or the archdeacon, and were origi- nally the priests having charge of baptismal churches. In the West, after the restoration of the vita canonica in the latter half of the eighth century, their number and influence grew. They were charged with the su- pervision of ecclesiastical life and conduct, with the execution of episcopal commands, and were wont to convoke more or less frequently the clergy of their district (capitula ruralia, concilia, calenda:). They made a yearly report to the bishop. It is to these ancient offices that the modern dean has succeeded (see Sagmijller, Entwickelung des Archipresbyterats, 1898). There are at present two classes of deans: deans of chapters (cathedral or collegiate) and deans of parochial districts. The latter act as repre- sentatives of the bishop in certain matters, as heads of aggregations of parishes, either urban or rural. The dean is also known by the name of vicar forane {ncarius foraneus).

Rural Deans. — In the Catholic Church it is to be noted that the dean has only delegated jurisdiction, restricted to a particular area and to certain matters specified by the bishop. His powers are generally determined by the diocesan statutes, by custom, or by special mandate of the bishop. In countries where canon law is in full force, deans have power to dis-