Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/626

 DRO

DRY

which in a few hours is found beginning to harden, and by decrees becomes very firm, of a ytllowiih colour, and is re- markable for having four horns, two larger and two Imaller, placed in different direaions near the head: and thefe are the organs of refpiration to the inclofed nymph. Thefe are the changes of the/?* of this clafs. They are of feveral fpecies, and differ in iiafc nut lefs than the worms from which they are produced. Of thefe the largeft are found in vaults and privies ; and in winter, multitudes of them may be met with in the hollows of willows and other trees where there is water. Reaumur, lib. cit. T. 4. p. 441 — 459* DRONTE, in zoology, the name given by Bontius, and fome other author?, to the biid mure ufually called De-do \ a very lar^eand ill fhaped fowl, fomewhat approaching to the nature of "the caffowary, but not fo tall. Ray's Ornithology, p. 107. See the article Dodo. DROPS (Cyd)—Engiijh Drops, a name given, in the time of king Charles the lecond, to a chemical preparation eftecmed of great virtue againft vapours and lethaigick affections, and faid to be purchafed for a large price by that monarch from the inventor. The medicine appeared to be only a fpirit drawn by the retort from raw filk, and afterwards rectified with oil of cinnamon, or any other efiential oil ; and was in reality no better than the common fal volatile oleofum, or any of the volatile fpirits, as thofe of hartfhorn, fal armoniac, or the reft, impregnated with an efiential oil, except that it was tefs difagreeable than any of them to the tafte, and therefore fit for perfons of nice palates. Mem. Acad. Par. 1700.

Rupert's Drops. See Rupert.

DROPSY (Cyf/.)— Some think that the anafarca, leucophlegma- tia, hydrops afcites, tympanites, hydrocele, t5Y. differ fo ex- ceeding httle, that it is fcarce worth while to retain fo many pompous Greek names. Medic. Eft" Edinb. vol. 1. p. 226. The oil of juniper, or an infufion of juniper-berries roafted, and made into a liquor like coffee, is faid to be good for the Drop/y.

Exercife is alfo recommended to hydropic people immediately before tapping, that the grofler particles in the water of their belly may be mixed with the thinner, and fo run out with them. And if there is reafon to fufpect any fuch grofs parts remaining after the operation, fome advife the injection of barley-water to dilute and bring them away. We have lately had accounts, in the philofophical t ran factions, of Dropfes cured by tapping, and afterwards injecting Cahor wine, mixed with Briftol water.

There is alfb an account of an uncommon Dropfy, from the want of a kidney, in the PhilofaphicalTranfactions, The fub- jeft was a young woman ; the water evacuated from the ab- domen on difle&ion, meafured near half a hogfhead, and was contained in a large fack, which almoit occupied the whole cavity of the abdomen above fix feet in circumference, and extended upwards of four feet from the xyphoid cartilage, to the os pubis. The figure and defcription of this fack and the adjacent parts, may be feen in Phil. Tranf. N Q. 482. Sea. 2.

We read of an hydropic body becoming fo infectious, that the furgeon who tapped the corpfe, was thrown into a pefti- lential fever. Phil. Tranf. N°. 454. Sect. 4.

Dropsy of the lungs. See Hydrops pulmonum.

DROSOLITHUS, in natural hiftory, the name of a ffone to which many great virtues are attributed, by the writers of the middle ages; but the accounts they have left us of it, are too imperfect to give us any juft idea of what (tone it was. They fay it was variegated with many colours, and that when laid upon the fire, it fweat or oozed out large drops of clear water, all over its furface.

DROUGHTS — Great Droughts are very prejudicial to the farmer and his paffure, and fuch years afford but very little reward for the labour and expence of keeping it in order. The only remedies are high inclofures, and plenty of water at hand. The firft of thefe is always in the farmer's power, and fhould be carefully provided by planting hedges in a pro- per manner, in counties moft fubject to fuffl-r by this difad- vantae;e. The other is not always fo eafy, but may be ma- naged feveral ways, as by finking wells ; but thefe, when deep, are very expenfive ; or by bringing the water in pipes, gut- ters, or other conveyances : and this is eafily done where there is a fpring or brook in the neighbourhood higher than the lands. Pumps, wheels, and fuch other engines are alfo ufed in fome places to bring on the water; and in others, ponds, cifterns, and receptacles are made to take in the rains and winter floods, and retain the water till fummer, when it is wanted.

The farmers of England are very deficient in this laft me- thod, which they might ufe to their great benefit in many places. In Spain they have no water in many parts but what they preferve in this manner. And at Amilerdam and Ve- nice they have whole cellars made into cifterns, which re- ceive the water that falls in rains, and preferve it all the year. Want of water for the cattle in fummer in many places jnight be eafily remedied by fome care of this kind, and ma- ny thoufand acres of land made ufeful, which are now left as

watte, by this means alone. It is very evident that thfe * feafible, becaufe it is done in places where there falls ftiiich'fef rain annually than with us; and yet by this the inhabit- nt* have always frefh water enough for the ufe of their houf-* cattle and gardens, none of which ever fail. Mortimer\ Huf* bandry, p. 296, See Cistern.

DROWNING (Cyd.) was formerly the capital punifhment for a woman, as hanging was for men. Hofm. Lex. in voc. See Fossa and Furca, Cyd.

DRUM {Cyd.) is ufed to iignify a kind of fifh in Virginia. The oil of this fifh is faid to cure pains in the limbs frequent in the country. See Phil. Tranf. N 454. §. 1.

DRUNKENNESS (Cyd.) is punifbable by the law of England*. The penalty is five Ihillings fine, or the flocks in cafe of non- payment. For a fecond offence the guilty perfon may be bound to his good behaviour 15. [ a See Stat. 4. Jac. i. c. c 21 Jac. 1. c. 7. b 21 Jac. I. ibid. J

Hobbes 3 makes voluntary Drunkennefs a breach of the law of nature, which directs us to preferve the ufe of our reafon. The law of England alfo does not allow it to be an excufe i n any cafe whatfoever. [ a Hob. de cive.J

DRUPE, among botanifts, a fpecies of pericarpium, confuting of a foft, flefliy, and fucculent pulp, in the center of which there is a nucleus. See Pericarpium.

DRUSA, in natural hiftory, a name given by fome of the Saxon miners to the common pyrites, and by others to fome peculiar kinds of it. But in general it is underftood to fignity both the pyrites and the marcafite.

DRY (Cyd.) — A dry air, ceteris paribus, lefiens the weight of the human body, and the contrary quality increafes it. See Moisture of the air.

Dry Cupping, in furgery, the application of cupping-glafles to various parts of the body, and raifing the common tumors un- der them without opening them with the fcarificator. The ufe of Dry cupping is twofold, either to make a revulfion of the blood from fome particular part affected, or elfe to caufe a derivation of it into the affected part upon which the glafs is applied. It is in the firft fenfe that Hippocrates orders a large cupping-glafs to be applied under the breafts of women, who have a too profufe dilcharge of the menfes, intending thereby to caufe a revulfion of the blood upwards from the uterus. And upon the fame principle have hemorrhages at the nofe been ftoppi d by applying cupping- glafles to the legs and feet, particularly about the ankles and knees. Spitting of blood from the lungs has alfo been cured by the fame me- thod ; and Scultetus gives a remarkable inftance of a woman, who by the repeated application of fix cupping -glafles, without fcarification, to her thighs, was not only relieved of the troublefome fymptoms arifuig from an ob ft ruction of the men- fes, but was alfo freed from the obftruction itfelf. Dry-cupping is alfo ufed with fuccefs to make a revulfion by applying the glafTes to the temples, behind the ears, or to the neck and fhoulders, for the removal of pains, venigos and other diforders of the head ; thty are alio applied to the up- per and lower limbs, to drive blood and fpirits into them when they are paralytick, and laftly to remove the fciatica, or other pains in the joints : the operation in thefe cafes is to be repeated till the part looks red and becomes painful. Heifer's Surgery, p. 308.

Dry -/neat, in the manege, is ufed for corn and hay. After taking the horfc from grafs, or houfing him, he is frequent- ly put to dry- meat.

DR'YAS, in botany, the name of a genus of plants called alfo by fome Dryadaa, and by Toumefort and others, made a fpecies of the caryophyllata. The characters are thefe : The pe- rianthium is compofed of one leaf divided into eight (trait ob- tufe equal fegments, fomewhat fhorter than the petals of the flower. The flower confifts of tight oblong expanded emar- ginated petals inferted into the cup. The ftamina are nu- merous, very fhort capillary filaments inferted into the cup. The anthers are flmple and fmall. The germina are nume- rous, fmall and fet clofe together; the ltyles are capillary, and are inferted into the fides of the germina, and the ftig- mata are fimple. There is no fruit, but the feeds ftand naked together, and are numerous, and of a roundifh comprefTed fi- gure, and fuftain a number of hairy ftyles. Linnai Gen. p. 223. Tourn. 151.

DRY1NUS, Qak-jnake, a fpecies of fcrpent, fo called from its being ufually found about hollow oaks. Bqllonius, who has mentioned it, fays, that fcarce any ferpent grows to a larger fize, or makes a more terrible hilling. Authors in general feem however {b little agreed about its defcription, that it is not eafy to afcertain the name to any peculiar (pecks of make. Ray* Syn. Anim. p. 290. DRYITES haphy in natural hiftory, a name given by authors to a fubfhnce but ill deferving the name of a ftone ; it being only foflil wood, found in detached mafles, not in whole trees or com pleat branches; which when taken up is found. to re- tain fo much of its vegetable nature, as to burn, tho' it ap- pears plainly to have imbibed fome ftony matter. There is much of this foflil wood found in Italy, in the banks and on the fhoresof rivers. We know alfb by what we fee of the fof-

fil