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 264: DREYSE fessor in the conservatory of St. Petersburg, and in 1865 pianist to the emperor. He was also chapelraaster to the grand duke of Hesse- Darmstadt. As a player he was distinguished for his grace and expression, for great facility in left-hand passages, and the astonishing ra- pidity of his octave playing. He published more than 140 works, which are marked for their clearness, symmetry, and fine singing style. They consist of military rondos for piano and orchestra, sonatas, studies, fantasias, nocturnes, songs without words, and the like. DREYSE, Johann Nikolaus von, a German me- chanician, inventor of the needle gun, born at Sommerda, Prussia, Nov. 20, 1787, died Dec. 9, 1867. He was the son of a locksmith, and worked at his trade in Germany till 1809, when he went to Paris, and was employed there in a rifle factory till 1814. After his re- turn to Sommerda he made models for ma- chinery, and established an ironware factory. In 1824 he received a patent for the manufac- ture of percussion caps, and in 1825 one for a steam engine worked by a generator instead of a boiler. In 1827 he completed his invention of the muzzle-loading, and in 1836 that of the breech-loading needle gun, under the patronage of the Prussian government. The breech- loader was first employed in the Prussian ser- vice in 1840. In 1841 he established a large factory, which between that time and 1863 produced 300,000 needle guns, and employed in 1865 about 1,500 persons. He was enno- bled in 1864. DRIFT. See DILUVIUM. DRILL, in mechanics. See BORING. DRILL, in zoology. See BABOON. DROGHEDA, a town and port of Ireland, in the province of Leinster, and counties Meath and Louth, on the river Boyne, 4 m. from its mouth, and 26 m. K of Dublin, with which it is connected by rail; pop. in 1871, 16,135. It was for a long time strongly fortified, and from an early period till about the close of the 17th century was regarded by the English as a post of great importance. It was for three centuries the principal rendezvous of the nu- merous troops marched against the refractory and rebellious chieftains of Ulster and Leinster. It was gallantly defended in the civil war against a large force under Sir Phelirn O'Neill (1641-'2). In 1649 it was stormed by Cromwell, and on account of the carnage then inflicted the name of the protector is still abhorred by the inhabitants. In 1690 the town held out against the troops of William III. until after the battle of the Boyne, fought two miles from its walls, which is commemorated by an obelisk 150 feet high raised upon the spot where Schomberg fell. Few of the ancient fortifica- tions remain. The only perfect specimen is the St. Lawrence gate, consisting of two lofty round towers with the low gateway between. The Magdalen's steeple, a square structure of elegant proportions, is all that remains of a Dominician convent founded in 1224. Among DROME many other ruins are those of a Carmelite convent, and of a hospital of the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. . The town is now the seat of extensive cotton and linen manufacto- Gate of St. Lawrence. ries, tanneries, and breweries, and has some ship building and considerable trade in corn and cattle. Its harbor has been much improved within a few years, and vessels of 250 tons can discharge at the quay. Steamers ply constant- ly between Drogheda and Liverpool. DROHOBYCZ, a town of Austria, in Galicia, situated on a small tributary of the Dniester, 18 m. S. E. of Sambor; pop. in 1870, 16,884. Its Catholic church is the handsomest reli- gious edifice in Galicia. It has important salt works and manufactories of pottery, leather, and linens. DROITWICH, a parliamentary and municipal borough of Worcestershire, England, 6 m. N. E. of Worcester and 132 m. by rail N. W. of Lon- don ; pop. of the parliamentary borough in 1871, 9,510; of the municipal, 3,504. It is lighted with gas, and has a lunatic asylum and a hos- pital. Its chief trade is in salt, for the produc- tion of which it is famous, and which has been made there for more than 1,000 years. It is ob- tained from brine springs which rise near the centre of the town from a depth of 200 ft. The brine contains about 33 per cent, of salt, and used as baths has proved highly benefi- cial in cases of rheumatism and gout. About 100,000 tons of salt are made annually, which is shipped mostly by a canal connecting with the river Severn, capable of admitting vessels of 60 tons. The brine springs were anciently called wyches (Saxon), hence the name of the town, the prefix droit being supposed to refer to some right or privilege of the early inhab- itants to manufacture salt. The town is sup- posed to have been the Roman Salinas. DROME, a S. E. department of France, formed from parts of Dauphiny and Provence, border- ing on the departments of Isere, Hautes-Alpes, Basses- Alpes, Vaucluse, and Arddche, from the