Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/252

* DIBDIN. 212 DICE. (1809) was ellcetive in stimulating interest in rare ami early editions, and led to the hearty reeeption of his projHJsal lor an assoeiation of hililiophiles. whieh was organized as the Rox- biMKhe Club Iq.v.) in 1812. In addition to the Hibliomniiia. Dihdin's principal works are: An Jnlrodurlitm lu the (Ircck and Lntin Classics (IH02); 'I'l/iiuiirajiliicul .1/if ii/Hi'/iVs of (treat Hrilain (4 "vols. 181019): The Jiiltliograpliicat Iheameron (1817); Bibliothcca tipciweriana (1814); liihUoijrai>hical, Anliiiiiarinii, and Pie- iurcsque Tour in France and iUrmany (18"21) ; The Library i'omjianion (1824); and licmi- 7iiseenees of a Literary Life (1830). DI'BON. The name of two eities mentioned in the Bible. ( 1 ) A eity in Moab, the modern Dbili:in, al)out four miles north of Anion (Wady Alojib) on the road between lleshl)on and IVtra. Aceording to Num. .xxii. ."M, it was built by tlie (Jadites, and, in harmony with this aeeount, the place is referred to as DibonUad in Xuin. xxxiii. 45. In Xum. .x.xi. 30, the Amorite king, Sihon, is said to have reigned over Moab 'from Hesli- bon to Dibon' ; but the ancient song whence this fragment is taken probably celebrated victories of Israel over Moab, Sihon being a later inser- tion. If that is correct, the passage indicates the importance of Di!>n in the nintli century B.C. That is also emphasized by the Mcsha inscription founil by Klein at Uilmn in 1808. (Sec Mo.vuiTE Sto.ne. ) Meslia is here called the Dibonitc. or Diabonite. as the presence of the yud and llie Ureek Aaitiuy suggests that the true pronuncia- lion was. It is not quite clear whether the name is limited to the city, or extended to the adjacent territory, and it has therefore liecn supposed that the jiroper name of the city in earlier times was Qorcha, and Daibon the name «f the district. But it is more ]>robable that Qorcha was the name of a certain quarter oi the city where the royal residence was, and that the relation between orcha and Daibon was analo- gous to that between Zion and Jerusalem. (2) A place in .Tudah. nientione<l in eh. xi. 25, the ]ircsciil Dliaib. live miles north of Arad. DIBRANCHIATA (Xeo-T,at. nom. pi., from Ok. flf, dis, twice + ^pdyxia. brniirhia. gills). A grouj) of cephalopod niollusks. chiiracterized by the presence of a pair of gills, and by the internal position of the shell, as contrasted with the two pairs of gills and external shell of the tctrabranchiate nautiloids; the dibranchiate skeleton supporting the internal orgiins; the tctrabranchiate shell serving as an external jiro- tective covering to the :inimal. The Pibranchi- ata have undoubtedl.y been evolved from the Tetrabranehiata. probably in Triassic time, and there are even yet a few living forms, as Spirula. which are relics of the early intermediate stages tietween the two groups. Modern examples are the cuttlefish, squid, octopus, ami sepia (qq.v.) : while Belemnites (q.v.), Belemnoteulhis, Oeoteu- Ihis (q.v.) are a few of the man.y fossil forms which range from Triassic to recent times. For illu^tratiiin. m c C"lorcd Plate of DECAfon.s, ETC. DI'CiEAR'CHUS ( I.U., from Ok. AiKalapxot, Dih-aiarrhos) . A (ireek philosopher of Messina, in Sicily, and a contemporary of .Aristotle. The extant fragments justify the ancients, including t'icero, in their praise of his works. Of these it is quite impossible to determine nn accurate bibliography, since man,y referred to as indepen dent works were jirobably sections of larger vol- umes, lli^ B(o!'E//d5ot ("The l.ife of Greece"), in addition to political affairs, took some ac- count of poelr,v. niu>ic, and the games, and was thus the pioneer attempt in what the Ciermans style h'liltnrycschiehte. DICiE'UM ( Xeo-Lat., coined by Cuvier, 1817 ). . genis of Oriental and -u*tra1asian small birds, typical of a f:imily, Dica'ida'. closely allied to the sun-birds. They are sonietinu's called honey |)eckers or llowcr-jieckcrs (in India), but without much reason, and the seientilic name has l>ccome Knglish in Australia, wlierc the family is most prominent. All are snuiU, bril- liant-colored, insect-eating birds, with melodious voices, and most of them build elegant )»ursc- shaped nests of soft materials suspended from bushes. The swallow-dica-um {Dieanin hirun- diuaceum) is one of the l)e-.l-known. and re- sembles in size, shape, and habits one of the northern kinglets, but is ]iurpleblue, with a red throat and under tail-coyerts. Some orni- thologists put here also the diamond-bird (q.v.), l)Ut most class it elsewhere. See Plate of Pex- sii.i: NtsTs OK Birds, with XiiUEH atiox. DI'CAST (Gk. itKoo-TJis. dilcasles, from SIkti, dilce, right, justice). A member of the jKipular courts of Athens. These courts seem to have been instituted by Solon. :ind from the fifth cen- tur.v li.c. were a most important part of the democratic government. I'rom the body of .tlicnian citizen^ over tliirty years of age, there were chosen annually by lot 0000 in the lifth century, 5000 or possibly fewer in the fourth century. From this nund)er ten sections, of not over 501, were chosen daily to hear ea.ses. In very important trials two or more sections might be combined, and we hear of one court of 2500 jurors. The evidence was taken before- hand by a magistrate, who ])resided at the trial, and the dicasts merely listened to the speeches of the parties to the suit, and the reading of the evidence The voting was secret, and the dicasts were sworn to render their dwision in accordance with the laws and evidence. Unlike a modern jury, they were the sole judges of the law, as well as of the facts; a condition which hindered the development in Athens of any such body of judicial precedents as grew up in Rome. DICE ( OF. (/,-, del, Fr. de. Sp.. Port.. It. dado, die. from Lat. data.i. ]).]>. of dare, to give). The origin of dice is variously ascribed h.v some authors to occult sources, but more authentically to Psalmcdcs of Greece. Ii.c. 1244. Without ques- tion, the ^'auies played with them are the simi>lest and most universal games of chance in the world. The dice exhiMne<l from Thebes differ in no respect from the six-sided cubes of bone or ivory in use to-day. with spots ranging on each side from fi to 1. the sum of the spots on the op- posite sides of a cube always making 7. Dice are thrown nearly universally from a cylindrical hollow case, but among the negroes, in the game of craps (q.v.). they are (a<t from the hand. .Mostly tlicy arc thrown from the box upon n table, but it was not uncommon in some parts of Kngland until quite recent times to throw them into a bowl, and in Hieronymus. a game nuieh affected in the army, the dii-e are placed upon a strij) rounil the toji of a bowl, and the bowl twirled round, the force of the twirl dislodging tlie dice into the bottom of the bowl, where they