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the Great Dog. Its light is estimated at six times as great as that of Vega or Arcturus. In ancient times it was described as of a reddish color, but its light now is white. The spectroscope shows that it is traveling away from us at a rapid rate and that its temperature is probably very much higher than that of our sun. From photometric measurements it appears that the light emitted by Sirius is probably 40 times as great as that emitted by our sun. For an interesting account of the color of Sirius see three articles by Professor See in Astronomy and Astrophysics for 1892.

It was discovered by Alvan G. Clark that Sirius is a double star having a very faint and close companion.

Dog′wood. Species of the genus Cornus which includes about 30 species, mostly in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. They usually are trees or shrubs, but sometimes herbs. The most showy species is the native C. florida, which is the flowering dogwood appearing in early spring. Its bark is said to contain the same substance as found in quinine. The wood is very hard and heavy, being used for tool-handles. The ordinary bush-forms, with red and greenish twigs and white, bluish or red berries, are common throughout the United States.

Dol′drums. The term doldrums probably is a latinized form of the word dull. In the early days of ocean-navigation it was applied to the regions near the equator where for months at a time there are intense heat and a dead calm, except for occasional squalls and light, very variable winds. These areas were dangerous to sailing-ships, especially until their exact location was known. Food and drink might give out before the vessel escaped from the calm. The area of doldrums moves north in July and south in January. In the Atlantic it moves between the equator and 10° north, in the Pacific between 15° south and 15° north. At any time the area covers about 5° of latitude. It is supposed that from these areas start both the tropical hurricanes and those currents of the ocean that flow from the equator to the poles.

A person who is in a depressed or sullen mood, with some tendency to gusts of temper, is said to be in the doldrums.

Döllinger (dẽl′ ĭng-ẽr), Johann Joseph Ignaz, a German theologian, was born at Bamberg in 1799. At 24 his reputation as a writer led to his appointment as professor of church-history at the school of Aschaffenburg. Three years later he was appointed professor at the University of Munich. He became prominent in church-matters, and wrote several historical works, in all of which he upheld the authority of the pope. He was very prominent in the struggle which took place in the Roman Catholic church about the adoption, as a church doctrine, of the infallibility of the pope, belonging himself to that party of the Catholics, called the Old Catholics, who were opposed to it. Döllinger wrote a large number of works, many of them of great value. He died at Munich in 1890. Among his works are Paganism and Judaism, The Church and the Churches, The Religion of Mohammed and The Reformation.

Dolphin, the common name for a number of small whales, also called porpoises. They are not fishes, but mammals. They are dusky above and whitish below, and attain a length of six feet and more. The snout is prolonged into a slender beak, and the mouth is provided with teeth — an unusual thing among whales. They swim rapidly, and are often seen from the deck of ocean-steamers, swimming on the surface and leaping slightly from the water. The name dolphin is also applied by sailors to a true fish that changes its colors when taken from the water, and is on that account celebrated in literature.

Domatia (in plants). Minute shelters of various sorts formed usually upon the under side of leaves and used as dwelling-places by the mites. They are generally formed by hairs roofing over an angle of the veins, or sometimes by outgrowths, folds and pits.

Dome is usually understood to imply a round roof like an inverted bowl, though the shape is not always that of a bowl. Most of the great domes have an opening or eye at the top, on which stands a little dome, called a lantern. Until recent times they were always built of masonry — stone, brick or tiles — but wood is now often used, as in St. Paul’s cathedral in London. The domes of St. Peter’s at Rome and of the Florence cathedral are built of stone. The finest dome in America is that of the capitol at Washington. It is made of cast-iron, and has a statue of Liberty at the top. Many consider it superior to the dome of St. Peter’s.

Domenichino (dṓ-mĕn′ ḗ-kē′ nṓ) or Domenico Zampieri, a celebrated Italian painter, was born at Bologna in 1581, the son of a shoemaker. He studied under several masters; and was known as a quiet, studious scholar, who never went into society except to study the faces of people in order that he might paint better. In Rome he painted for some of the prominent men of the time and gained a great reputation, but he

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