Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/493

Rh high rank. In 1780 David, who had just returned from Rome, opened a school of painting in Paris, and Drouais was one of his earliest and most promising pupils. He adopted the classical style of his master, and gave his whole time to study, painting during the day, and spending a great part of every night in designing. For weeks together it is said that he never left his studio. In 1733 he was admitted to compete for the great prize of painting offered by the Academy, the subject being the Widow of Nain. After inspecting the works of his fellow-competitors, how ever, he lost hope and destroyed his own canvas, but was consoled by the assurance of his master David that had he not done so ho would have won the prize. Next year he was triumphantly successful, the picture of the Woman of Canaan at the Feet of Christ, with which he gained the prize, being judged by competent critics to be worthy of comparison with the works of Poussin. He was carried shoulder high by his fellow-students through the streets to his mother s house, and a place was afterwards found for his picture in the Louvre. His success making him only the more eager to perfect himself in his art, he accompanied David to Rome, where he worked even more assiduously than in Paris. He was most strongly influenced by the remains of ancient art and by the works of Raphael. Goethe, who was at Rome at the time it was finished, has recorded the deep impression made by his picture of Marius at Mintumo, which he characterizes as in some respects superior to the work of David, his master. The last picture which he completed was his Philoctetus on the Island of Lemnos. He died of fever on the 15th July 1788. A monument to his memory was erected by his fellow-students in the church of Santa Maria in the Via Lata.  DROUET, (1763-1824), one of the Terrorists of the first French Revolution, chiefly noted for the part he played in the arrest of Louis XVI. at Varennes, was born at Sainte-Menehould in 1763. He served for seven years in the army, and afterwards assisted his father, who was post-master of his native town. The carriages conveying the royal family on their flight to the frontier stopped at his door on the evening of June 21, 1791 ; and the passengers, travelling under assumed names, were recog nized by Drouet, who immediately took steps which led to their arrest and detection on reaching Varennes. For this service the Assembly awarded him 30,000 francs, but he appears to have declined the reward.- In September 1792 he was elected deputy to the Convention, and took his place with the most violent party. He voted the death of the king without appeal, showed implacable hostility to the Girondins, and proposed the slaughter of all English residents in France. Sent as commissioner to the arrny of the north, he was captured at the siege of Maubeuge and imprisoned at Spielberg till the close of 1795. He then became a member of the Council of Five Hundred, and was named secretary. Drouet was implicated in the conspiracy of Babeuf, and was imprisoned ; but he made his escape into Switzerland, arid thence to Teneriffe. There he took part in the successful resistance to the attempt of Nelson on the island, in 1797. The first empire found in him a docile sub-prefect of Sainte-Menehould. After the second Restoration he was compelled to quit France. Returning secretly he settled at Macon, under a false name and a guise of piety, and preserved his incognito till his death, which took place in that town April 11, 1824.  DROUET D’ERLON, (1765-1844), count, marshal of France, and governor of Algeria, was born at Rheims, July 29, 1765. &quot; He entered the army in 1782, was discharged after five years service, re-entered it in 1792, and two years later became aide-de-camp to General Lefevre. He served at the sieges of Valenciennes, Q*uesr:oy, and Conde, and under Hocie at tho blockade of Ehrenbreitstein. As general of brigade (1799) he fought at Zurich, at the bridge of Schaffhausen, and at the taking of Constance. In August 1800 he was promoted general of division. He distinguished himself at Ulm and Hohenlinden, and by a skilful manoeuvre decided the victory of Jena (1806). Drouet took a brilliant part in the siege of Dant- zic, and signed the capitulation of the town; he fought at Mohrungen, and was severely wounded at Friedland (1807). After this battle he was made grand officer of the Legion of Honour, was created Count d Erlon, and received a pension. He afterwards served with distinction in the Peninsular War, and defeated General Hill at the Col de Maya. After the first Restoration he was named com mander of the 16th military division. He presided at the council of war, at Lille, which acquitted General Excelmans ; but in March 1815 he was arrested on suspicion of treason, and suffered a short imprisonment. He was present under Napoleon at Waterloo, and was severely reproached by the emperor for not bringing his division into action. After the second Restoration he quitted France, and did not return till 1825. He was appointed governor of Algeria in 1834, was created marshal of France in 1843, and died at Paris January 25, 1844.  DROWNING is one of the various forms of death from suffocation, the asphyxiating agent being water ; and, accordingly, all the appearances characteristic of death from asphyxia or apncea are present, varying in intensity accord ing to the manner of the death, whether it has or has not been attended with violent struggling. In addition, owing to the medium in which the death occurs, certain other signs specially characteristic of drowning are never absent. By older authors a peculiar form of death by drowning was described, in which the appearances of asphyxia were awanting, and also the special signs of this form of death. To this the name of syncopal asphyxia was given. Hence, in treating of drowning, descriptions of these two forms were given, and in the case of bodies recovered from the water death was said to have occurred either from asphyxia or from syncope. Now, undoubtedly it often happens when persons fall or are thrown into the water that, in con sequence of fright or of the shock sustained by violent con tact with the surface of the water, no effort is made to save themselves, and death rapidly ensues from syncope. In such cases none of the characteristic signs of drowning are found, and, so far as the examination of the body is con cerned, it is impossible to decide upon the exact cause of death. It is quite within the bounds of possibility that in such cases death may have been effected by other means, and the body have been thrown into the water to conceal the true cause of death. No such uncertainty, however, attends the investigation of a case of drowning by true asphyxia, as it was called. The drowned individual struggles to reach the surface of the water in his efforts to respire ; as he does so he draws water into his windpipe which provokes cough. This expels the air from his lungs, and the water which threatened to suffocate him ; and as he sinks, in his struggles he endeavours again to respire, but now draws water into his mouth which chokes him, and can only ba got rid of by swallowing. Insensibility then comes on, and death rapidly but placidly ensues from a true asphyxia. If the body be recovered say within two hours it is relaxed, and generally presents a pallid appearance. The face is slightly congested, the features placid and composed. The lips are livid, and the tongue is either protruded from the mouth, firmly grasped by the teeth, or it is applied so closely to the dental arch that the various teeth leave along its edge a distinct imprint. Here and there on the surface of the trunk may be observed patches of lividity which cannot be accounted for by the usual gravitation of blood 