Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/65

Rh by the from the spoils of, and the western with similar  taken by the ns from the ; while among the subjects of the  are mentioned  slaying the n ,  and the ,  and ,  and , and  and a. In the ' were the maxims of the Seven s of ; in the ', was the sacred  with a perpetual  and the ὀμφαλός, or -stone, which was supposed to mark the centre of the ; and in the  was the   and the subterranean chamber from which the vapour of  ascended. Of less important may be mentioned the Lesche, or public, the s of which were adorned with the  of  and other master-pieces of  ; the , where the al contests connected with the  were held; the Stadium, of which there are still considerable remains; and, in the  of the same name, the , or   of the. The was entered from the east by a  from  known as the Schiste, or Cloven Way, and from the west by the great Crissean, which was used by the s who came from the , and by another which stretched north-west to. These s were regarded almost as the of the, and shared in its ; and each   was bound to keep them in repair within its own boundaries. About seven s to the north of the, on the side of , was the famous Corycian , a large in the  , which afforded the people of Delphi a refuge during the. It is now called in the district the Sarant' Aulai, or Forty Courts, and is said to be capable of holding 3000 people. Of the origin of the Delphian nothing is known. One told how the  of the site were discovered by a  whose s began to frisk about under the influence of the subterranean vapour; and another related how, after he had slain the great   on the spot, boarded a   in, and  the crew to his service. It seems almost certain that the place was the seat of a establishment previous to its connection with the  of ; but its whole  importance—which can hardly be over-estimated—is entirely due to this connection. The first of  was reputed to have been  by the semi-ical personages  and. It was burned down in, but was soon after replaced by the which has already been described. The for the work was taken by the  family of the, who were at that time in  from the  of. They employed the, and acquired great credit for the disinterested liberality with which they accomplished their task. The principal facts in the of Delphi have already been narrated in the article  (. ), where the reader will also find an account of the relation in which the  stood to the s of. It only remains to tell how the and its treasures, which had been  saved from the ns and the, were put under contribution by  for the payment of his s; how  removed no fewer than 500  images from the sacred precincts; and how  enriched his new city by the sacred s, the s of the ian , the , and the celebrated  dedicated by the   after the conclusion of the. afterwards sent to restore the ; but the  responded to 's enthusiasm with nothing but a wail over the glory that had departed.

1em  DELPHINIA, a festival of Apollo held annually on the 7th of the month Munychion (April) at, where he was styled Delphinios. All that is known of the ceremonies is that a number of girls proceeded to his temple carrying suppliants branches and seeking to propitiate Apollo, probably as a god having influence on the sea. It was at this time of year that navigation opened again after the storms of winter.

 DELTA. See.

 DELUC, (1727–1817), geologist and meteorologist, born at Geneva, Februarys, 1727, was descended from a family which had emigrated from Lucca and settled at Geneva in the 15th century. His father, Franois Deluc, was the author of some publications in refuta tion of Mandeville and other rationalistic writers, which are best known through Rousseau s humorous account of his ennui in reading them ; and he gave his son an excellent education, chiefly in mathematics and natural science. On completing it he engaged in commerce, which principally occupied the first forty-six years of his life, without any other interruption than that which was occasioned by some journeys of business into the neigh bouring countries, and a few scientific excursions among the Alps. During these, however, he collected by degrees, in conjunction with his brother Guillaume Antoine, a splendid museum of mineralogy and of natural histoiy in general, which was afterwards increased by his nephew Andre" Deluc. He at the same time took a prominent part in politics. In 1768 he was sent to Paris on an embassy to the Due de Choiseul, whose friendship he succeeded in gaining. In 1770 he was nominated one of the Council of Two Hundred. Three years later unexpected reverses in business made it advisable for him to quit his native town, which he only revisited once for a few days. The change was welcome in so far as it set him entirely free for scientific pursuits, and it was with little regret that he removed to England in 1773. He was made a fellow of the Royal Society in the same year, and received the appointment of reader to Queen Charlotte, which he con tinued to hold for forty-four years, and which afforded him both leisure and a competent income. In the latter part of his life he obtained leave to make several tours in Switzerland, France, Holland, and Germany. In Germany he passed the six years from 1798 to 1804 ; and after his return he undertook a geological tour through England. When he was at GSttingen, in the beginning of his German tour, he received the compliment of being appointed honorary professor of geology in that university ; but he never entered upon the active duties of a professorship. He was also a correspondent of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, and a member of several other scientific associa tions. His favourite studies were geology and meteorology. The situation of his native country had naturally led him to contemplate the peculiarities of the earth s structure, and the properties of the atmosphere, as particularly dis played in mountainous countries, and as subservient to tho measurement of heights. He inherited from his father a sincere veneration for the doctrines of Christianity, and a disposition to defend the Mosaic account of the creation against the criticism whose principal weapons were furnished by his favourite science. His royal patroness was most anxious to encourage and promote his labours in this field ; and he was generally supposed to have had 