Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 03.djvu/452

LEFT DODONA 390 DOG DAYS a turkey, and incapable of flight. The wings were rudimentary, the legs short and stout, and the tail a tuft of soft plumes. The beak was strongly arched C- DODO toward the end, and the upper mandible had a hooked point like that of a bird of prey. DODONA (do-do'na), a town of Thesprotia in Epirus (or Thessaly), in the midst of vast forests. It was the sanctuary of the Pelagic worship, and possessed an oracle of Jupiter, one of the most celebrated and most ancient of Greece. The oracles were given by an oak, called the prophetic tree; the priestess interpreted sometimes the rust- ling of the branches, sometimes the sound given out by copper vases suspended to the sacred tree; and, at others, the sing- ing of doves hidden in its foliage or the murmur of a neighboring spring. DODSLEY, ROBERT, an English poet and dramatist; born at Mansfield, Notts., in 1703. He was a noted bookseller and publisher in London, and had close re- lations with the authors of the time: Pope, Johnson, Goldsmith, Burke, etc. His first volume of verses, "The Muse in Livery," was received with great favor, as was his satiric drama, "The Toy Shop," brought out at Covent Garden. He wrote the popular comedies : "The King and the Miller of Mansfield"; "Sir John Cockle at Court"; and the tragedy "Cleone." He died in Durham, ^ec. 25, 1764. DOE, JOHN, and RICHARD ROE, cwo fictitious personages of the English law who formerly appeared in a suit of ejectment. This fictitious form of pro- cedure was abolished in 1852. In the United States John Doe and Jane Doe are used in many parts of legal pro- ceedings where the real names of of- fenders cannot be ascertained, or where there are reasons for concealing them. DOG, a digitigrade, carnivorous ani- mal, forming the type of the genus Canis, which includes also the wolf, the jackal, and, as a sub-genus, the fox. The origin of the dog is a much debated question, some considering the breed derived from the wolf, an opinion which is based on resemblances of structure, the fact of the two animals breeding together and pro- ducing fertile young, and the equality in the period of gestation. It is generally agreed that no trace of the dog is to be found in a primitive state, the dhole of India, and dingo of Australia being be- Meved to be wild descendants from do- mesticated ancestors. Several attempts to make a systematic classification of the varieties of dogs have been made, but without much success. Hamilton Smith divides dogs into six groups, as follows: (1) Wolf-dogs, including the Newfoundland, Eskimo, St. Bernard, shepherd's dog, etc.; (2) Watch-dogs and cattle-dogs, including the German boar- hound, the Danish dog, the matin dog, etc.; (3) Greyhounds, the lurcher, Irish hound, etc.; (4) Hounds, the bloodhound, staghound, foxhound, setter, pointer, spaniel, cocker, poodle, etc.: (5) Cur- dogs, including the terrier and its allies; (6) Mastiffs, including the different kinds of mastiffs, bull-dog, pug-dog, etc. Dogs have in the upper jaw six incisors, two strong, curved canines, and six molars on each side, the first three, which are small and have cutting edges, being called false molars ; in the lower jaw are six incisors, two canines, and on each side seven molars. The female has six to ten mammae; she goes with young nine weeks as a rule. The young are born blind, their eyes opening in 10 to 12 days; their growth ceases at two years of age. The dog commonly lives about 10 or 12 years. By English law it is prohibited to use dogs for purposes of draught. DOGBANE, an American plant found from Canada to the Carolinas, belonging to the natural order of Apocy^iacese. The whole plant is milky; the root is intensely bitter and nauseous, and is employed in the United States instead of ipecacuanha. Another species yields a useful fiber, and is knovim as Canada or Indian hemp. DOG DAYS, the name applied by the ancients to a period of about 40 days, the hottest season of the year, at the time of the heliacal rising of Sirius, the do^-star. The time of the rising is now, owmg to the precession of the equinoxes, different