Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/378

* DIVIDING ENGINE. 824 DIVINATION. fixed suppoit. and elsewhere. These may be eountciin-tfa Uy a device due to Knwland which depoiuls iipini iho action of a lever resting on a cam attaclicd to the axis of the screw. Tc end of the lever is rigidly fastened to a rod which is parallel to the screw, and to which is at- tached, liy means of a sliort crank, a frame- work supported under the screw and free to move horizontallv. Part of this framework consists of two steel rods parallel to the screw, hctwecn which the two 'wings' of the nut can just move freely, as the nut is carried forward by the screw Thus., if the cam raises its lever, the rod will turn, nu)ving the framework holding the wings of the nul, and thus giving the nut a slight turn inde|iendcnt of the action of the screw. It is a matter, therefore, of trial to find a cam of such a shape, and to place it on the axis of the screw in such a position, that by its motion the irregular motion of the nut due to the irregu- larities of the nuichine nuiy be made perfectly regular. For a description of the construction of a "perfect' screw, reference should be made to the article "Screw," by Rowland, in the Encyclo- pwdia Brilaiinicii. ' A full description of Row- land's dividing engine is given in The Collected I'apirx of Hiiini A. Itoirlniid (Baltimore, 1902), DIVI-DIVI, de'vA-de'v* (Galibi or Carib word), or l.iiiimiu. The cured pods of Ca?sal- pinia eoriaria, a tree which grows on the coasts of Curacao. Carthagena. and other parts of tro])- ical America. They have been long used there for tanning, and have recently acquired impor- tance as an article of commerce. Divi-divi is one of the most astringent sibstanccs known. The tree reaches a height of 20 to SO feet, and produces about 100 pounds of pods annually. The pods contain tannin and gallic acid. It is said to tan leather with great rapidity. See C.KSAI.PIMA. DIVINA COMMEDIA, de-ve'ni kom-ma'- df-a. Sec Dantk. DIVINATION (l.at. diviiialio. from divinarc. to divine, from diiiiius, divine, from dirus. deity). A term employed to describe the quest of a" knowledge of secret things, past, present, or future, by various supernatural methods, princi- pallv oracular responses and omens. .As the ori- gin of the word indicates, the idea is based on the as-;umption that human intelligence may obtain knowledge from the divine mind through media atTectcd by divine influence. The Greek tenu liam-iKi) (rexy^) siggests the inspired interme- diary /lavTh (seer), a word which Plato and the Greeks associated with ixavta (inspired frenzy). The contact of the divine miml with human intel- ligence was believed to be accomplished either through a medium directly, or by signs and omens which were interpreted l>y the medium. The Stoic j)liilosophcrs recognized this difTcrence in method (Cicero, De Dithi<il!niir. i. (I, 3:?. and ii, 11), and designated the first Srexvo!, iiatura- lis (artless), i.e. the direct or natural method: and the second (vrtxroft arliliroxn. i.e. the artifi- cial method. Bouchf-Leclercq terms the first the intuitive and the second the indiu-tive method, because the artificial class admits of some spon- taneity and the natural something artificial. The natural, the intiitive method is very familiar as re[)resented by oracles, a term used to denote botli the seat of divination and the re- BjJonses themselves. Tor these responses the seats of worship of divinities were regarded as favorite localities, and were generally marked by some peculiar physical characteri.->tic, as a cleft in the ground whence an exhalation aro.se by which the medium was made to pass into a trance. There were several methods in which information from the divinity was communicated by the oracles: Diriiuiliuii by drvaiiix (oneiromancy ) required experience in dreams and the interpretation thereof. Persons desiring revelation by this means would go to sleep in places thought to be haunted by dreams, such as tombs of heroes and temples of divinities. As the body must be inert and the mind jjassive, various nu'ans were em- ployed to accomplish this, as refraining from wine and food for a certain jieriod. .Means were also taken to summon the dreams by incantations and by unusual conditions of sleeping, as when one lay on the skin of a ram slain by liim. This method was known as incubation {{yKoliiT)<fit). Such was the oracle of Amphiaraus at Oropus, near the spot where the hero became a god. Of this kind the most familiar oracles were healing shrines connected with the temples of .Escula- pius, Xecromancy was the method whereby rev- elation was conveyed by the shades of the dead who were summoned for the purpose. In Homer, Odysseus goes to the entrance of the lower world to consult the .shade of Tiresias. These oracles were given at places recognized as approaches to the lower world., as Lake Aornos in Thesprotia, and Lake .vernus near Cum;r in Italy. Chns- iiiulngy, or divination by frenzy (ralicinaliu or diriiuitio per furorcin). was the revealing of the will of the divinity by seers. Ueing in a state of frenzy, superinduced by exhalations or draughts of water from certain streams, or of blood, as of a land>, they s|>oke forth the pro- phetic words either from a presentiment or an in- spiration by the divinity, or from becoming, as was fancied, the incarnation of the <livinity for the time being. The most famous oracle of this class was at Delphi, situated on the side of Mount Parnassus in Phocis, which, originally belonging to G:ra, then to Themis, the represen- tative of law and order, finally came into the pos- session of Apollo, whose priestess, Pythia, gave his answers by means of her cries. The artificial or inductive methods of divina- tion admit of the following classification : Diriiin- iioii by iiistiiiclivr acts of animnh. Under this heading is therefore placed ornithomancy. ichthy- omancv. etc. This refers to revelations obtained from the behavior of birds and fishes, particularly of the fonncr. who. being in the heavens, come close tn the divinities and can act as messengers. With these should also be classed the instinctive or unconscious acts of nian. Such w:is the divina- tion by omens, so familiar to the Romans. The well-known story of Crassus is an illustration. Starling on his ill-fated expedition against the Parthians. he heard a man selling figs from Caiuius. and crying Tauneas.' which sounded like Cnrr nr ran ( Heware of going). Here we mav also place the modern divininsrod (q.v, ) which is said to bend when held over lonccalcd springs of water or mineral deposits. This custom is known in Kn<;land as 'dowsing.' See Murray. .Yeir Knt/linh Oirtiontiry. niriiinlion by hanisjiirntioti. This method was (he interpretation of the divine will by studyinff the entraiN of victims. Practiced in very remote