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* DE BABY. 26 1864) ; Beitrii<ie zur Morphologic uiid I'hijsioloyie (ler I'ihc (5 parts, 1S04-S2, partly in collabora- tion with Woronin) ; 'orlesungeti iiber Bakterien (2ded. 1887). DEBATABLE LAND. A tract of land situ- ated between the E-k and the Sark, on the soutji- western part of the border of England and .'x'otland. and at one time claimed by both king- doms; lienee its name. In 1542 commissioners appointed by the two Crowns divided tlie land by a line drawn from east to west betwixt the two rivers. The U|)pcr half was adjudged to Scot- land, and the southern part to England. The Debatable Land continued long after to be the residence of freebooters and criminals, to whom its dubidu-; Ntale atlorded a refuge. See BoBDER. DEBAT-PONSAN, de-ba' po.N'sa.x', Edouabd Bernaki) (1847 — ). A French historical and portrait painter, born in Toulouse. He was a pupil at the Beaux-Arts in Paris and then of Cabancl, and won the Prix de Rome in 1870. Althougli his pictures include historical subjects, such as the dramatic "Gate of the Louvre on Saint Bartholomew's Day" (1880), he is par- ticularly successful with portraits. Among these are ''M'. Paul de Cassagnac" (1882) and "Gen- eral Boulanger." His works are notable both for drawing and color. He was awarded a third class medal at the Paris Exposition of ISSn, and the Cross of the Legion of Honor in 1881. DEBAY, dc-ba'. A family of French sculp- tors. ,Te. Baptiste .TosEPii the elder (1770- 1863) was born at Malines and studied under Chaudet in Paris, where he afterwards settled permanently. He was made an officer of the Legion of Honor in 1825. Among his principal works are the marble statues of "Charles ilar- tel," in the Versailles Museum, and of "Colbert." in the Luxembourg, an "Equestrian Statue of Louis XIV." at Montpellier. two groups in mar- ble of "Mercuiy and .rgus." and "(Jirl in a Shell," which is generality pronounced his finest production. His son and pupil. .Je. Baptiste JcsEPll the younger (1802-62). was born at Nantes, and studied also under Bosio in Paris, where he won the Grand Prix de Rome in 182n. For his marble statue of a "Young Girl Slave" (18.36) he received a first-class medal. Besides the statues of "Charles VIU." in the Versailles Museum, and of "General Cambronne" at Xantes, a "Genius of the Navy" and a "Genius of the Chase" are worthy of notice. His brother, AUGUSTE Hyacintiie (1804-65), bom at Nantes, was equally excellent as a sculptor and painter. He was a pupil of his father, and, in painting, of Gros, in Paris, where he won the (irand I'rix in 182:i. His finest plastic work is "The First Cradle," which obtained a gold medal at the Universal Exposition of 1855. In the Louvre may be seen his statues of the architect Per- rault. and of the painter Claude Lorrain. His most remarkable painting is the so-called "Field of the Cloth of Gold" in the Versailles Museum, an intensely dramatic composition on a gigantic scale, representing the meeting be- tween l-'rancis I. and Henry VIII. in 1520. An "Episode of 170.') at Nantes" and "Lueretia on the Colbitine Hill" nrc in the Museum at Nantes. DE BEAUMONT, de b6'raON'. See fioN DE Beaimont. DE BEATJNE, dc b'.n', Fi.orimoxd. See Beaine. DEBORAH. DEBEN'TUKE (ME. dchititiir, from Lat. de- biiiliir iiiilii, there are owing to me, a phrase with which receipts began, from debcic, owe). In the most general sense, a written acknowledg- ment of indebtedness. The term has long been in use in England to describe various classes of Government obligations, as soldiers' debentures, exchequer debentures, and custom-house deben- tures, and it is employed in the same sense in the Initcd States ( U. S. Rev. Stat., §§3037- 3040). Ui late years the term debenture has come into common use, esi)ecially in England, to designate company securities of all sorts, in- eluding the corporate bonds, which, in the United States, comprehend the greater part of such obligations. They need not be bonds, however, though they are usually of that character; and neither is it necessary, to give them the char- acter of debentures, that they shall be issued by corporations, though most of them doubtless are. They may or may not be secured by mortgage or other charge on the property of the comi)any or individual issuing them. They dilTcr from "cer- tificates of stock, in that they contain a promise, usually in the form of a covenant, to ])ay a principal sum, with periodical interest thereon, on a specified date in the future, and they are usually issued in series, and for the purpo.se of borrowing money thereon. They are commonly transferable, and, it is said, may be so drawn as to be negotiable. When, as usually is the case, debentures are secured by a charge on the property of the com- ])any issuing them, the charge is in the form of a 'floating security,' as it is called, attaching at any given moment during the life of the deben- ture to all the property owned by the company at that time. The dissolution of the company causes the debentures to mature, even though the time for which they were given has not ex- pired, and the floating security thereupon be- comes fixed and definite, and the property may be reached by the debenture-holders in an action for the appointment of a receiver and the en- forcement of the security. From this it is evi- dent that such delientures depend for their se- curity upon the condition of the company, and may readily become worthless or nearly so. The matter of issuing debentures and the na- ture of the security which they afl'ord are largely regulated by general statutes providing for the incorporation of companies and sometimes by private acts for the government of individual corporations. Consiilt: Palmer, Company Prece- dents (6th or later ed., London, 1895) ; Manson, I'he Debentures and Debenture iHtoct' of Tradinff find Other Coiniiiniies (London, 1894) ; .Tones, Treatise on the Law of Corporate Bonds and Mortuaries (2d ed., Boston, 1894). See BoND; Corporation : Secirity. DE'BIB. A place in the south of .Judah (.To.sh. X. 38). (See Kir-tatii-Sepiier. ) In Josh. xv. 7, where Debir has been supposed to be a name of a city, we should probably read Midttarah 'to the wilderness,' and in .Josh xiii. 26 the correct reading seems to be T,idel)ir or Lodebnr (q.V.K DEBIT AND CREDIT. See Soi.r, rxD IlAliiV. DEB'ORAH (lleb. bee). A heroine who helju'd to deliver the Israelites from the oppre-- sion of the Canaanites. and who in tradition becomes a prophetess aiul a 'judge.' She was the wife of Lapidoth, and dwelt in (he hill country