Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/202

 194 DOMAIN fish, and that of dolphin is taken away by sailors from the cetacean and given to the scom- beroid. This species grows to the length of about 5 ft. ; the colors are bluish green above, with azure and golden reflections, and citron yellow In-low, with pale blue tints; the pecto- rals are partly leaden and partly yellow, the ventrals yellow below and black above, the anal yellow, and the iris golden. In the At- lantic is the C. equisetis (Linn.), with a shorter body and more elevated head. On the coast of South America is the C. dorade (Val.), from the name given to the genus by the Por- tuguese. About a dozen other species are de- scribed in different parts of the globe. They are exceedingly active, strong, and voracious, pursuing the flying fish, forcing them to leave the water, and seizing them as they descend into it again. Nothing can be more beautiful in a calm sunny day, in the clear water of mid-ocean, than to see these brilliant creatures darting around the vessel, displaying their ever-varying tints of golden, blue, and green, Coryphaea dorade. with every movement. They gather around any floating object, and are readily caught by a hook or harpoon ; when brought upon deck the beautiful play of rapidly changing colors commences, produced, as in the chameleon and the cuttle fish, by changes in the surface by muscular action, as may be seen by the con- stant undulation of the long dorsal fin. The flesh is considered good food; it is white, and rather dry. Sailors have an idea, which is probably true, that it is sometimes unwhole- some and even poisonous, and they are in the habit of boiling a piece of silver money with the tish to detect the fact; if the piece be tarnished by the boiling, the fish is rejected; if it remain bright, it is fit for the table. DOMAIN, or Demesne (mediaeval Lat. doma- nium, the dominion of the lord); in England, l:iinU ivtaiiinl l.y the great landed proprietors for their own use; the terras, dominicales or demesne lands being occupied by the lord or domintu //nmorii, while the other or tenemen- tal lands are distributed among the tenants. The d. -mi-sue lands of the king, terra domini- calesregix, which were at an early period very large, and to which additions were made by forfeitures and otherwise, had been, at the time when Blackstone wrote, almost entirely alienated ; but as a portion of them were not conveyed absolutely in fee, but upon long leases, they will revert to the crown upon the expiration of those leases. The principal im- portance of the royal demesne lands grows out of certain incidents that at an early period attached to the estate of the tenants of those lands. The tenure by which such estates were held is designated by old writers as ancient demesne ; and to some extent it still continues to exist. Strictly, lands so held were copy- hold, and as such were excepted by the statute 12 Charles II., c. 24, by which military tenures were abolished. One incident, showing that the tenure was originally a species of villenage, is that the lands do not pass J>y the common conveyances, but by surrender to the lord in the manner of copyhold estates, for certain uses mentioned in the surrender, and a new grant by the lord in pursuance thereof to the cestuy que use. The public domain of the United States is almost beyond calculation. The ori- ginal thirteen states embraced an area of 341,756 square miles. The whole territory conceded to the United States by the definitive treaty of peace of 1783 was 880,000 square miles. The concessions made by the states to the general government of lands claimed by them outside their respective limits consti- tuted the nucleus of our public domain, which was afterward increased by the purchase of Louisiana from France and Florida from Spain, the annexation of Texas, the acquisitions from Mexico, and the purchase of Alaska from Russia, to a grand total of 2,912,784-74 square miles, or 1,864,382,223 acres, which has first or last belonged to and been subject to sale or other disposition by the government of the United States. For its sale the general sys- tem, which now for a long time has prevailed, is to cause it to be surveyed into townships six miles square, embracing 36 equal sections, and these subdivided into quarters, eighths, and sixteenths, and the lots sold at a uniform price of $1 25 an a,cre. Full payment is in gene- ral required before giving title or possession; but preemption privileges to the extent of 160 acres are allowed to settlers, who on comply- ing with the formalities prescribed by law may enter and make improvements. A home- stead not exceeding 160 acres is given to ac- tual settlers who enter under proper claim and actually occupy for five years. In addition to these liberal provisions for settlers, large quan- tities of land have been given as bounties for military services, and munificent donations made for various public purposes. The lands designated in the public surveys as swamp or overflowed lands, but a considerable portion of which are only nominally such, have been gen- erally given to the states within which they lie ; every sixteenth section in a township has been- set apart for the support of common schools ; large endowments in lands have been made