Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/870

* DAMIEN DE VEUSTER. 754 DAMMAB. and could begin his sermons with the words, 'We lepers.' He finally succumbed to the concentra- tion of the leprosy in his lungs. His simple, heroic life and death attracted wide notice, and, in addition to the benefits secured by him for tlie immediate objects of his endeavors, led to agitation by Englishmen of the ditticult leper problem in India. IMany know his name chiefly through the famous Ofie'ji Letter to the Neoereud Dr. Hyde, written by Eobert Louis Stevenson, first printed m the Sydney (New South Wales) Presbyterian of October 26, 1880, and privately published at Sydney as a pamphlet in 1890. Consult: Stoddard, The Lepers of Molokai (Notre Dame, 1885), and Father Pamphile, Life and Letters of Father Damien (London, 1889). DAMIENS, da'mya^^', Eobekt Franctois (171.5-.57). A French fanatic, kno^^l for his attempt to assassinate Louis XV. He was born near Arras, in France. Opimn and accompanying de- mentia caused him to crown a life of idleness, mischief, and dishonesty with an attempt to kill the King of France. He himself alleged that it was the conduct of Louis toward the Parlement that drove him to the act: the op])onents of the .Jesuits sought to implicate them in this crime. On January 5, 1757, as the King was entering his carriage, bound for the Trianon, Damiens stabbed him in the side, but not seriously. All the agencies of slow fire, glowing pincers, and boil- ing oil were visited u]ion the poor wretch to make him reveal the names of possible accom- plices. He confessed nothing, however. He was torn apart by four strong horses, and his re- mains were burned and his family was driven from France. DAMIETTA, da'miet'ta (Ar. Damyat, Copt. Buiniuli, Lat. Tamiathis) . A town of Lower Egypt, situated on the right bank of the eastern branch of the Nile (Jlap: Egypt, E 1), about eight miles from its mouth. It contains a num- ber of ancient mosques, marble baths, and sev- eral bazaars. It is the seat of a governor and a Coptic bishop, and of a number of European consular representatives. The mouth of the river is closed by a bar which prevents the entrance of large vessels. In former j'ears Damietta was a flourishing manufacturing and commercial centre, with a population of about 80,000. With the opening of the Suez Canal and the rise of Alexandria its commerce has declined consider- ably, and its manufacturing industries, with the exception of the weaving of cotton fabrics, have almost wholly disappeared. The cloth dimity is supposed to have received its name from Damietta. where it was first manufactured. The exports consist of rice, southern fruits, and wood. Damietta is connected by rail with Cairo and Alexandria, and contains a popu- lation of (1897) 31,515, including a few foreign- ers. The existing town was erected about 1251, but prior to that a city of the same name (anciently Tamiathis) stood about four miles to the south. It was strongly fortified by the Sara- cens, and formed on that side the bulwark of Egypt against the Crusaders, who. however, succeeded in capturing it more than once. It was razed and rebuilt further inland, on the site it now occupies, by the Sultan Bibars. DAMIOTTI, da'me-ot'te. Dr. The Paduan charlatan in Scott's My Aunt Margaret's Mirror. He shows the faithlessness of Sir Philip Forester in the enchanted mirror. DAMIRON, dii'me'roN', Jean Philibebt (1794-1802). A French philosophical writer. He studied under liurnouf, Villemaiu, and Cousin, lectured on philosophy in various Parisian in- stitutions, and became professor in the Normal School and titular professor at the Sorbonne. He was for years a regular contributor to the Globe, and afterwards published his articles collected under the title Essais sur I'histoire de la philosophie en France au XIX. siccle (1828). His most important works are: Cours complet de philosophie; Essai sur rhistoire de la phi- losophie en France au XVII. siecle (1846), and Memoires pour servir a I'histoire de la phi- losophic du XVIII. sidcle (1858-64). DAMIS, da'me'. The excitable and self-willed son of Orgon in Molifere's Tartuffe. DAMJANICS, dom'yo-nits, Johann (1804- 49). An Hungarian revolutionist, born at Pane- sova. He entered the Austrian Army, in which he rose to a captaincy; was received into the councils of Kossuth in 1848; and, at the out- break of hostilities, organized a battalion, as commander of which he distinguished himself. Promoted to be general, he participated in the various operations leading to the Revo- lutionists' retreat, and after the disaster of ^'ilagos surrendered to the Russians, by whom lie was turned over to Austria. He was con- demned to death, and with twelve other generals was hanged by Ilaynau at Arad. DAM'MAK, or DAMMAR PINE (Hind. dumar, pitch, resin), Agathis, formerly called Dammara. A genus of trees of the natural order Coniferse, distinguished by their broad, lanceolate, leathery leaves, which have numerous nearly parallel veins. The name, originally applied to its resinous product, has been ex- tended to a number of dilTercnt trees, one of which is the Moluccan dammar (Agathis orien- talis), which grows on the high mountain ridges of the ISIolucea Islands. It grows to a great height, attains a diameter of nine feet, and gen- erally has the lower part of the trunk beset with knots as large as a man's hand. The timber is light and of inferior quality, and the tree is chiefly valuable for its resin, which is soft, transparent, hardens in a few days, and is then white, with a crystalline appearance. The resin often flows spontaneously from the tree in such quantity that it hangs in masses like icicles of a handbreadth and a foot long. At another period of the year it is yellow, and less valued. By incision, especially in the protuberances of the stem, it is obtained in large pieces. So long as dammar resin is soft it has a strong smell ; upon drying this odor is lost. It contains only a trace of volatile oil, but consists of two dis- tinct resins, one of which is soluble in alcohol, the other not. It is light, brittle, and easily friable, readily soluble in oil of turpentine. It is used in Asia for domestic purposes, and in the arts like other resins ; it is an article of commerce, and in Europe is employed in various ways to form varnishes, which dry quickly, have a very bright lustre, are colorless, but readily become viscid again, and are not penna-' nent. so that this resin cannot be made a sub- stitute for copal and amber. It is almost com- pletely soluble in benzole, and in this solvent