Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/492

* DBAGON. 426 DRAGON-FISH. over heresy and »cUi-m. a- wlieii it was adopted as tlie emblem of the knights of the Order of the Dragon in Hungary — an Order instituted for the purpo^' of contending against the Hussites of Bohemia. Tile dragon is often employed in heraldry; and other animals, sneh as the lion, are sometimes represented with the hinder parts resembling dragons. Consult Miihly. Vic SrlilaiKje in <ler Kuiisl (Basel, 1807). See Gbiffin. DKAGON. The name now applied to various lizards. One is a South American tree-lizard {Thorictis dnichcena), both the eggs and tlesh of which are eaten. Others are members of the igiianid genus Callisaiuus. several species of which are common in southern California and Koutliward. The name most commonly belongs, however, to the arboreal Hying lizards of the genus Draco of the East Indies. Ttiey are dis- tinguished from all the other living lizards by having horizontally spread-out folds of skin, supported by live or six false ribs, which do not encircle tlic'body. but stand out at right angles from it, forming a parachute, which buoys up the lizard in its extremely swift bounds from limb to limb in pursuit of insects, for it does not possess the power of true llight. When at rest, the ribs and skin are folded l)ack along the sides of the bodv. and do not interfere with active running about. About twenty species are recog- nized, none more than eight inches long, but they keep in the tops of the forest trees, and little is known about them. The most familiar is the Malayan one (Draco volans). which is of a brilliant but variable metallic hue above, varied bv bands and spots, while the parachute and the throat appendage of the male are orange. Similarlv brilliant colors belong to the other species, yet little is seen of them. e.cept when the creature is excited and displays itself in anger or courtship. The dragon has no power of changing its colors, is perfectly harmless, and is trciiiicnlly kept as a tamed pet. DRAGONADES (Fr.. from dranoti. dra- goon so called either from their firearm, which was ornamented with the head of a dragon, or from their standard, which bore a dragon). The name applied to a series of religious persecutions in France, which was inaugurated shortly be- fore the revocation of the Edict of Xantes (1085). and continued for some time. Louis XlV.'s Minister of War, the Due de Louvois. vas responsible for the cruel measures taken to compel the Protestants to renounce then- faith and enter the Roman Church. Armed expeditions marched through the provinces de- manding of the Huguenots in the small towns and villages that they should ab- jure their faith. Foremost among the armed force rode dragoons, who. on account of their barbaritv. had the unenviable honor of giving a name "to the persecutions. It was the custom to quarter the dragoons in the houses of those Huguenots who showed themselves particularly obstinate in denying the doctrines of Catholi- cism. The outrages committed by a brutal sol- diery, free from all restraint, and. in fact, en- couraged in their licentious conduct, made life with honor impossible for the Huguenots and drove thousan.ls of families out of the coinitry or into the bosom of the Church. Louis was delighted to find that from two hundred and fifty to four bundled I'rolc-taiits were being converted daily, and in consequence, on October 22, 108o. a few mouths after the date of the lirst of the persecutions, he revoked the Edict of Nantes (<i.v.), that the good work might be fully accomplished. Under Louis XV. the drago- nadcs were renewed by the chief minister, the Due de Bourbon. Consult: Rousset, Uisluirc d^- Loiivuis (4 vols., I'aris, 1803) : Tylor, The Hugueiiols in the Seventeenth Century (London, 18'.I2) ; Perkins, France Under the Jieyeney (Boston, 18!»2) : Baird, The Huguenots and the Keroeation of the Edict of Xantes (New York, 1895). DRAGONET (OF. dragonet, diminutive of draijiiii. dragon I. A fish of a genus (Calliony- mus) Usually classed with the gobies, but by some authors given separate family rank. They are remarkable for having the gill openings re- duced to a small hole on each side of the nape, and the ventral tins placed under the throat, separate. an<l larger than the pectorals. They have no air-bhuhler. The species are pretty numerous, mainly inhabitants of the temperate coasts of the 0"ld World, but .some living in Oriental tropical seas, and of brilliant and (juaint apiiearance. The se.xes dilTer greatly, the adult males having the fin-rays produced into filaments, and the intervening membranes highly colored, especially in the breeding .season, where- as the females wear a more sombre dress. Heiiee the beautiful British species, the gemmcous dra- gonet. or yellow sculpin {Callionymus lyra), was formerly considered two species, one of which was finally discovered to be the female of the other. They feed upon small shellfish. DRAGONETTI. drag."! n.M't^. Domenico ( 1T.").')-1S40|. . iiotcil Italian double-bass player, born in Venice, lie stuilied double-bass playing under Berini. a member of the band at San Marco, was admittiKl to the on-bcstra of the Opera Houll'e in 1708. and in 17011 to that of the Opera Seria. In 1773 he succeeded IJcrini at San Marco. He went to London in 17!>4, at once gained fame, and thenceforth resided chielly in England. He was in ISOS-O!) in Vienna, where he had also visited his friend Haydn in 1708: but during that time he refused to play in public, for fear of being hustled olT to Paris by Napoleon as a valuable acquisition. His title of 'patriarca del contrabasso' was not merely honorary; for in 1845. at the age of ninety, he headed the thirteen double-basses at the "Rectliovcii festival in Bonn, and won high c(miniendation from Iterlioz. As a perfi>rmer he has probably never been excelled. His instrument, a di Salo, bought at the San Pietro monastery, Vicenza, he pre- sented to the vestry of San Marco. aii<l to the British Museum he" gave 182 bound volumes of the scores of classical operas. He published little. DRAGON-BIRD. ( 1 ) A name given to the umbiella-liird h.v.). in allusion to the shape of its crest, which resembles the ornamental top of the helmet of a dragoon of the cighleentli ci'iitiiry. (2i An Au-lralian ant-thrush (I'ilta strcpilans) . DRAGON-FISH. One of several small gurnard liU- lislies of the genus Pega.sus. in- habiting Oriental and Australian seas. Its body is covered with bony plates, which are movalde except near the tail; and the pectoral fins are large and fan like. The eyes are very promi- nent, and the snout greatly prolonged and tooth-