Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/442

LEFT DIURETICS 380 DIVING APPARATUS tuguese since 1535, and stood a famous siege in 1545. DIURETICS, medicines which cause an increase of the function of the kid- neys, and consequently augment the quantity of the urine. They are divided by Garrod into sedative, as squills, sco- parium, tobacco, colchicum; and stimu- lant, as juniper, turpentine, copaiba, cantharides, nitrite of ethyl, alcohol, and water. Indirect diuretics, or hy- dragogue purgatives, as elaterium, ^ream of tartar, digitalis, gamboge. Lithontriptics, or remedies which alter the quality of the urine and prevent the crystallization and deposition of the in- gredients which form gravel and cal- culi, as carbonates of lithium, potas- sium, sodium, and alkaline mineral waters, etc. Diuretics are given (1) to cause an increased flow of urine when the renal secretion is deficient; (2) to eliminate poisons and matters formed in disease from the blood; (3) to produce a larger flow of urine, to hold in solu- tion substances which would be de- posited, and form calculi. DIURETIN, theobromine sodio-salicy- late, Na2Ci4Hi2N405. A whitish, amor- phous powder, odorless, and possessing a sweet taste. Soluble in water and al- cohol, insoluble in ether or chloroform. Used in medicine as a diuretic in car- diac dropsy and Bright's disease. Often administered in conjunction with digi- talis, which prolongs its diuretic action. DIVER, one of a family of birds, re- markable for their power and habit of diving. The neck is long, the tail is very short and rounded; the wings short; the bill straight, strong, and pointed. They are confined to N. lati- tudes, whence they migrate further S. in the winter season. The largest of the three European species is the great northern diver, but the other two — the red-throated diver, and the black- throated diver — are perhaps better known, as they are found in abundance in this country. They live on fish, which they follow under the water, propelling themselves along with their wings as well as their feet. DIVES (rich), the name popularly adopted for the "rich man" in the par- able of the rich man and Lazarus, from the Vulgate translation. DIVIDEND, in arithmetic, a number which has to be divided by another; thus, if we have to divide 20 by 4, 20 is the dividend, and 4 the divisor. In bank- ruptcy, the fractional part of the assets of a bankrupt which is paid to the cred- itor in proportion to the amount of the debt which he has proved against the estate of the debtor. In commerce, the sum periodically payable as interest on loans, debentures, etc., or that periodi- cally distributed as profit on the capital of a railway or other company. DIVIDING ENGINE, a machine for marking the divisions on the scales of scientific, mathematical, or other instru- ments. DIVIDING RANGE, GREAT, an Australian chain of mountains, forming the watershed between the rivers flowing into the Pacific and those running to the W. It is situated at an average dis- tance of 30 miles from the sea, though in some places it recedes as much as 60 miles, and stretches from Cape York on the N. to Wilson's Promontory on the S. Culminating point. Mount Town- shend (7,353 feet). DIVIDIVI, the very astringent husks of Csesalpinia coriaria, imported from South America, in the form of dark brown rolls containing a few flat seeds. The outer rind of the husks contains a large quantity of tannin, together with ready-formed gallic acid. Dividivi is used in tanning. DIVINATION, the art or act of fore- telling future events, or discovering things secret or obscure, by the aid of superior beings, or by other than hu- man means; prescience; presage; pre- diction. At an early time divination formed a regular science, intimately allied with religion, and furnished with rules and regulations. Of all the na- tions of antiquity, few cultivated the science of divination with such enthu- siasm as the Greeks and Romans. The different systems of divination em- ployed by the ancients were of several kinds; by water, fire, air, earth; by the flight of birds, and their singing; by lots, dreams, arrows, etc. The Israel- ites were prohibited from practicing divi- nation of any kind by the law of Moses. DIVING APPARATUS, contrivances by means of which divers are enabled to remain a considerable time under water. As the most skilled divers are unable to remain under water more than two or three minutes without artificial respiration, means have been devised by hermetically sealed helmets, diving bells, and diving dresses, so that they can stay for several hours at a time at considerable depths of water and at the same time carry on their work. The div- ing bell was mentioned by the classic writers. Aristotle speaks of a diving bell or a reversed kettle or bell which was put over the head of the diver.