Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume V.djvu/768

 764 DE FOREST DEGREE ventures of Roxana " (1724), " A New Voyage round the World, by a Course never sailed be- fore" (1725), "The Memoirs of a Cavalier," and " The Political History of the Devil." He also wrote important economic and commer- cial treatises, entitled " The Complete English Tradesman," " An Essay on the Treaty of Com- merce with France," " A Plan of the English Commerce," and " Giving Alms no Charity." The most prominent characteristic of his fic- tions is the distinctness of reality which he gives to them by the elaborate and precise statement of details; which was turned to practical account in a curious way in his "Ap- parition of Mrs. Veal," written to create a demand for an unsalable book. (See DEELIN- COURT.) The "Memoirs of a Cavalier" and " Journal of the Plague " have been mistaken for real history. After an indefatigable and checkered life, Defoe died in the parish of his birth, insolvent, and the author of 210 books and pamphlets. He thus summed up the scenes of his career : No man has tasted different fortunes more ; And thirteen times I have been rich and poor. Though remembered chiefly as a novelist, he was during 30 years a leader in the fierce partisan strife by which, under William of Orange, constitutional liberty was realized in England, and has been pronounced " the most thorough Englishman and writer of his day, a model of integrity, and as consistent, sincere, and brave as he was gifted." The best edi- tions of his works, though incomplete, are that of London (3 vols., 1840-'43), with a me- moir by William Hazlitt, and that of Oxford (20 vols., 1840-'41), with memoirs and notes by Sir Walter Scott and others. In September, 1870, a monument was erected to his memory in the cemetery of Bunhill Fields, where he was buried. It bears this inscription : " Daniel De Foe, born 1661, died 1731 ; author of Robinson Crusoe." His life has been written by George Chalmers (4to, London, 1785) and Walter Wilson (3 vols. 8vo, London, 1830). DE FOREST, John William, an American au- thor, born in Derby, Conn., March 31, 1826. At the age of 20 he made a voyage to the Le- vant, where he remained nearly two years, re- siding chiefly in Syria. On his return he com- piled a " History of the Indians of Connecti- cut" (Hartford, 1850). In 1850 he went to Europe, where he remained four years, travel- ling in England, France, Italy, and Germany. Returning to America, he published " Oriental Acquaintance" (1857), and "European Ac- quaintance" (1858). In 1859 he produced "Seacliff," his first novel, and from that time to the breaking out of the civil war wrote short stories for. periodicals. In 1861 he re- cruited a company for the 12th Connecticut volunteers, was made captain, 'and served in the field till January, 1865, participating in the campaigns in the southwestern states under W< itzel and Banks, and in the Shenandoah valley under Sheridan. From 1865 to 1868 he held various official positions in the bureau of the veteran reserve corps and the freedman's bureau. Besides essays, stories, and poems, he has published the following novels, all of them appearing first in serial form : " Miss Ravenel's Conversion from Secession to Loyalty" (New York, 1867); "Overland" (1871); "Kate Beaumont" (1872); and "The Wetherel Af- fair" (1873). DEGER, Ernst, a German painter, born at Bockenem, Hanover, April 15, 1809. He studied at Berlin and afterward at Dtisseldorf, under Wilhelm von Schadow. His first efforts were oil pictures, among which are some altar- pieces of merit, especially a madonna and child in the church of St. Andrew at Dtisseldorf. In 1851 he completed the fresco painting for the church of St. Apollinaris, near Remagen, on the Rhine, and was engaged by Frederick William IV. of Prussia, to paint the chapel of the castle of Stolzenfels. In 1857 he sent for exhibition at the salon of Paris a picture of the infant Jesus, and in 1859 one of the Virgin Mary. He is a professor and member of the academy of fine arts in Munich. DE GERANDO. See GEBANDO. DEGREE. I. In algebra, the number ex- pressing the greatest number of times which an unknown quantity enters a term as a factor. Thus the term x*y 3 is of the second degree with respect to #, of the third with respect to y, but is called a term of the fifth degree. The degree of an equation is that of its highest term. Thus, 4ar"-f-7# 2 =8, is an equation of the third degree. II. In trigonometry, -^ part of a right angle, indicated by a small circle near the top of the figure ; thus, 30 signifies one third of a right angle. Each degree is divided into 60 minutes, each minute into 60 seconds ; thus, 31 12' 15" is read 31 degrees, 12 min- utes, 15 seconds. III. A degree of latitude is the distance N. or S. between two places 'on the same meridian at which plumb lines would make an angle of one degree with each other. Owing to the flattening of the earth toward the poles, this distance increases in length as the observer goes N. or S. ; being about 2,740 ft. more at latitude 60 than at the equator. The length of the degree midway between the equator and the poles is about 69 T ^ statute miles. Many careful measurements of a de- gree have been made by various European gov- ernments, not only in their own territories, but in South America, India, and Africa. The most northern accurate measurement was in Lapland, the most southern at the Cape of Good Hope ; and measurements have also been taken both in India and South America, almost exactly upon the equator. The longest arcs measured are those in France by Mechain and Delambre, and that in India by Col. Lambton ; the first being over 12, the second nearly 16. From a complete discussion of all the observa- tions, Bessel deduces the following results : the diameter of the earth at the equator is 41, 847,-