Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/532

 I)EA

[ MH

DEA

Surprising Succefs. He has reduced the Thing to a fix'd Art or Method, which he has publifh'd in his Surdtts Loquem, Amflellod. KS92. and is Loquela, ibid. 1700.

In the 'Phil. TranfaS. N. 312. we have an Account by Mr. Waller, R. S. Sccr. of a Man. and his Sifter, each about 50 Tears old, born in the fame Town with Mr. Waller, who had neither of them the leaft Senfe of Hearing ; yet both of them knew, by the Motion of the Lips only, whatever was faid to them, ■ and would anfwer pertinently to the Queftion propofed. It feems they could both hear and fpeak when Children ; but loft their Senfe afterwards ; whence they retain'd their Speech, which, tho' uncouth,, was yet intelligible;

Such another Inftance is that of Mr. Goddy's Daughter, Minifter of St. Gervais in Geneva, related by Bifhop 3w- net. At two. Tears old they perceiv'd Hie had loft her Hearing; and eveiTmce, the' fhe hears great Noifes, yet hears nothing of what is faid to her. But by obferving the Motions of the Mouth and Lips of others, file has acqui- red fo many Words, that out of thefe (lie has form'd a Sort of Jargon, in which fhc can hold Conversion whole Day's with thofe that can fpeak her Lan- guage. She knows nothing that is laid to her, un- lets fhe fee the Motion of their Mouths that fpeak to her; So that in the Night, they are oblig'd to light Candles to fpeak to her. One Thing will appear the flrangeft Part of the whole Narration : She has a Sifter; with whom fhe has praftifed her Language more than with any body elfe ; and in the Night, by laying her Hand on her Sifter's Mouth,- fhe can perceive by that what fhe faith, and fo can difcourfe with her in the Dark. Burnet's Let. 4. p. 248.

'Tis obferv'd by feveral Authors, that /e«/Perfons, and thofe thick of Hearing, hear better and more eaiily if a loud Noife be raifed at the Time when you fpeak to them. Which is owing, no doubt, to the greater Tenfion of the Ear-Drum, on that Occafion. Dr. Wil- lis mentions a deaf Woman, who, if a Drum were beat in the Room, could hear any Thing very clearly ; fo that her Husband hired a Drummer for a Servant, that by his Means he might hold Conver- fation with his Wife. The fame Author mentions another, who, living near a Steeple, could always hear very well, if there was a Ringing of 3 or 4 Bells : But never elfe. See Drum.

DEA.N, a prime Dignitary in moft Cathedral, and Collegiate Churches; being ufually the Prefident of the Chapter. See Chapter.

He is call'd Dean, Decanus, of theGreek Ar.ct, Ten, as being fuppofed to prefide over ten Canons or Preben- daries, °ac leaft. See Prebendary, &c.

We diftinguifh between Deans of Cathedral, and thofe of Collegiate Churches. The firft, with their Chapter, are regularly fubjecf. to the Jurifdiftion of the Bifhop. As to 'Bess! of Collegiate Churches, they have ufually the contentious Jurifdiction in them- felvcs that is, they exercife Jurifdiction over their Ca- nons in all Civil or Criminal Matters ; tho' fome- times this belongs to them in common with the Chapter. See Collegiate and Cathedral.

The Word is form'd from the Latin Decanus, which was applied among the Romans to a Perfon who had the Command over ten Soldiers ; and to a petty Jud«e of a Decury. In Imitation whereof, the Prelates eliablifh'd Judges to infpect certain Parts of their Diocefes, under the Denomination of Archl- presbyteri, &c. who were fucceeded by Decani, or Deans. See Rural Dean.

In England, as there are two Foundations of Ca- thedral and Cullegiate Churches, the Old and the Ne«.v, (the latter being 'thofe founded by Henry the VHIth, on the Suppreflion of the Abbots and Priors, when their Convents were turned into Dean and Chapter;) fo there are two Ways of Creating the Deans ; Thofe of the old Foundation, are brought to their Dignity much like a Bifhop. The Prince firft fending out' his Conge d'Efiire to the Chapter ; the Chapter there chufing, the King yielding his Royal Affenr, and the Bifhop confirming him, and giving his Mandate to inilal him. Thofe of the new Foundation are inftail'd by a fhorter Courfe ; only by the King's Letters Patents, without either Election or Confirmation.

Conffantnie, we arc told, erected an Office ot 9'o'perfons at Conftantinople, taken out of divers Trades and Profeflions, whom he exempted from all'lmpofirions, and bellowed them on the Cathedral Church to render the Offices of Burial gratis to the Dcfuna, particularly to the Poor. Thefe he call'd

Decani and LeBicarii, probably by Reafon they were, divided by Tens ; Each whereof had a Bier or Litter to carry the Bodies in : 'Tis fuppofed to be thefe, who under Confians began to be call'd Copiates, i. e. Clerks deftined for Labour. For they are ufually rank'd among the Clerks, and even before the Chan- tors. By a Law of the Tear 557, it appears that there were of thefe Copiates at Rome. See Lecti- carii.

The Word Dean is alfo applied among us to divers that are the Chief of fome peculiar Churches, or Chap- pels; as, the Dean of the King's Chappel, of -Paul's, of the Arches, of Battel, of Soking, &c.

.Raw/ Dean, orE/ritfwDEAN, was formerly an Eccle- fiaftical Perfon, who had a Diftricl of ten Churches or Pafimes, either in the Country or City, within which he exercifed Jurifdiction. Thefe RuralDjL\xs were fometimes call'd Archipresbyteri, and at firlt were both in Order, and Authority, above the Arch- Deacons. They were defied by the Clergy, and by their Votes depofed ; but afterwards they were ap- pointed, and removed, at the Difcretion of rhe Bifhop -. And hence they were call'd Decani femporarii, to diftinguifh them from the Cathedral Deans, who were call'd ^Decani Terpetui. See Rural Dean.

We meet with Rural Deans as early as the IXth Century. Hincmar, in his Capitular to his Arch- Deacons, refcrves the Right of Electing them to him- felf ■ and only allows it to the Arch-Deacons, in Cafe he be abfent, ' and by Provifion only. Some take the Rural Deans to hold the Rank and Place of the Chorepifcopi. Be this as it will ; 'tis certain they are ■ very ancient in France, Germany, and England ; tho' till the End of the XVIth Century they were unknown in Italy, in Regard the Bifhopricks being there exceeding fmall, they were not needed. S. Charles Borromeo firft introduced them there. See Chorei'is- copus.

Dean, in the ancient Monafteries, was" a Superior eftablilli'd under the Abbot, to eafe him in taking Care of ten Monks ; whence he (vas call'd De- camis, in Imitation of thofe Officers among rhe Ro- mans, who had ten Soldiers under them. Till the Time of St. 'Benedict, there were ufually in each Monaftery a Provoft, Prdpiofitus, and feveral Deans, Decani, under the Abbot. In fome Abbies, there was but one Dean, and he, blefs'd by the Bifhop, as well as the Abbot himfelfi This Privilege gave him Occa- fion to ihink himfelf in fome Meafure the Abbot's equal; and to fcruple Obedience to him. St. Bene- dict was fenfible of this Inconvenience, and to pre- vent it in his Order, appointed that the Monafteries fhould be govern'd under the Abbot by feveral Deans, whofe Authority being thus fliared, they would be the lefs dangerous.

The Office of the Deans, we have obferved, was to have the Infpection of ten Monks, to look to their Working, and all their Exercifes. They were not chofe by Seniority, but Merit ; and might be depo- fed after three Admonitions. The Monafteries being now lefs numerous than they were in ancient Times, the Abbot, or Prior, don't ftand in fo much need of being eas'd ; So that Deans are fet a-fide.

DEAN and Chapter ; Anciently, Bifhops did not ordinarily tranfact Matters of Moment fine Concilia i Presbyterorum principalium, who were then call'd Senatores Ecclefirg, and Collegues of the Bifhops ; re- prefented in fome Meafure by our Cathedrals, where- of the Dean and fome of the Prebends are, upon the Bifhop's Summons, to aftift him in Ordinations, Deprivations, Condemnations, Excommunications, and other weiehty Concerns of the Church. See Chapter.

DE ARTICULATION, in Anatomy. See Diar-

THROSIS.

DEATH, Mors, is generally confider'd as the Se- paration of the Soul from the Body ; in which Senfe it ftands oppofed to Life, which confifts in the Union thereof. See Life.

The Phyficians generally define Death by a total Stoppage of the Circulation of the Blood; and aCef- fation of the animal, vital, &c. Functions confequent thereon ; As, Refpiration, Senfation, ckc.

An animal Body, by the Actions infeparable from Life, undergoes a continual Change. Its fmalleft Fi- bres become rigid, its Minute Veffels crow into folid Fibres no longer pervious to the Fluids, its greater Veffels grow hard and narrow, and every Thing be- comes contracted, clofed and bound up; whence the Drynefs, Immobility, and Extenuation obferved in old Age By fuch Means the Offices of the minuter Vef-

° ' feis