Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 06.djvu/97

* DEGENERATION. families, are iiuulo up of forms in different stages of degeneration. All parasites, entire classes, as that of sponges, and two classes of worms, as the. Trematoda and Cestoida, the iTUstacean class C'irripcdia or barnacles, and the parasitic fish-lice, as well as the parasitic isopods (BopyridiP), and many insects owe their characteristics to degeneration, while the great order of Diptera arc all highly modified by the atrophy of certain parts, their most obvious features being the reduction of the second pair of wings so as to form the ■l>alancers.' (See Fly.) The forerunners of the true vertebrates, the tunicates. all'ord a notable instance of the retrogressive development of an entire class. Enough has been said to show how verj' gen- eral throughout the animal kingdom is modifica- tion by partial or total atrophy. The study of animals thus aflected throws a flood of light on the factors and causes of progressive evolution. In mankind, degeneration on a wholesale scale is observed in the efTeots of slavery and of the slave trade in Africa, where it has been carried on for centuries, and on the master races. The result is that the white race is in a degree pulled ilown, .or deteriorated. A parallel is observable in ant societies, where the service rendered by the enslaved tends to disuse and atrophy in the masters. In the social evolution of man the joint work of Demoor, 'Massart, and Vanderville gives a multitude of facts proving that, as among organ- isms in general, so in human societies, evolution is at once progressive and retrogressive. Existing social forms have during the process of change and modification lost some parts of their struc- ture, and this process of degeneration cannot be regarded as a return to the primitive condition of inan. Thus. (1) an institution which has once disappeared in the course of human development never reappears; also. (2) an institution once re- liuced to the condition of a vestige cannot be reestablished and resume its former functions: (3) neither can it assume fresh functions. While in the organisms below man degenerative ctoIu- tion is brought about by a limitation of nutri- ment, in sociology' the cause is a limitation in capital or labor. -Vn institution which has ceased to be functional or useful may survive. These survivals exist here and there, and, as Houzeau has said, "it is to be expected that liv- ing and superior civilizations drag behind them a trail of debris, from dead civilizations." All I 'lis b.as the most significant bearing on human degeneracy and the study of criminology, espe- cially as to the existence of those pathological, mental, and moral degenerates that appear to live only to afflict struggling humanity. There are degenerate races, as the Australians, a probable branch of the Dravidian stock of India; the Gypsies, a broken-down low-caste Indian people; the Fuegians, a tribe segregated from the American Indian race. There are also sT-ltcred through the most highly developed civilizations physical, mental, and moral degen- erates, of which families like that of the James brothers of Missouri, the Juke of the State of ew York, or assassins like Booth, Guiteau, and certain Xihilists are examples. BlBl.ior.RAPllv. E. Ray Lankester, Deqenera- tinn (London, I8S0) : J. i)emoor, J. Massart, and E. Vandcr-ille, Evolution hi/ .Itrophi/ in liiolofji/ and Sociology (New York, ISnO) ; Morel. Traild 73 SE OOEJE. d(s dcgenirescences physiques, intellect uelles et morales de I'espice huniaino (Paris, 1857) ; E. S. Talbot, Deyeneracy: Us Causes, H.igns, and Re- sults iXew York, 1898). DEGER, d;"i'ger, Ernst ( 1809-85). A German painter, born at Bockenem, in Hanover. He .>tudied first at the Berlin Academy imder Wach, and then under Schadow. at Difsseldorf. He devoted himself to subjects from religious his- tory and inniicdiatcly attracted attention by the impressive character of his paintings of re- ligious subjects. The}- induced Count Furstcnberg to intrust the artist with the decoration of the newly built Church of Saint Apollinaris, near Remagen on the Rhine. Accompanied by Andreas and Karl Jliiller, and Ittenbach, whom he had chosen as his colaborers, Deger set out for Italy in 1837 to make the necessary studies. After his return in 1841, the frescoes at Remagen were exe- cuted within the following ten years, Deger painting those in the choir, which are looked upon as the greatest achievement of the Diissel- dorf School in that field. They include the colos- sal figure of the Redeemer, with the Madonna and John the Baptist on either side, and a number of scenes from the life of Christ. Deger was next commissioned by King Frederick William IV. to decorate the chapel in the Castle of Stolzenfels, near Coblenz, where he painted twelve frescoes, representing the redemption of the human race. After 18G9 he was professor at the Diisseldorf Academy. DEGEBANDO, de-zha'riix'dcV. -Joseph M.vrie, Baron (1772-1842). A French philosopher, born in Lyons. In 1797 he went to Paris, whence the event of the 1 8th Fructidor compelled him to flee to Germany. After his return he was secretary-general in Napoleon's Ministry, and a Councilor of State under the Bourbons. His De la generation dcs connnissances liumaines (1802) was crowned by the Academy of Berlin, and his nisloire comparce des si/stcmcs de philosophie (2 vols., 180(5-07) remains one of the most im- portant of French works on the subject. His De la bienfaisance publique (4 vols., 1839) should also be mentioned as among the most elaborate treatises on poor-relief. DEG^GENDORF. A town of Lower Bavaria, Germany, situated near the Danube, 30 miles northwest of Passau. It is a manufacturing town with woolen mills and breweries (^Slap: Germany, E 4). Its chief point of interest is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a pilgrim resort and the scene of reputed miraculous cures. Popu- lation, in moo,- GS43. DE GEOJE, da goiyye, Michael Jan (183G— ). A Dutch Arabist. He was born at Dronryp, Friesland, and was a pupil of the dis- tinguished Arabic scholar Dozy at the University of Leyden. In 18GG he was appointed to the pro- fessorship of Arabic at the University of Leyden, and from 1862 to 1878 was prominently engaged as an ins]H>ctor of schools and promoter of edu- cjition in Holland. He is editor of a new edition of Tahnri, and has continued the catalogue of Oriental manuscripts connnenced by Rcinhart Dozy, .mong his numerous publications are the following: .liiknbi, a description of Africa and Spain; Ilrlatlliori, a history of the conquest of Syria ; the geographical works of Istakhri, Ibn liaulcal, Mokndilasi. Ibn al-Fnkih. Ibn Khor- dadbeh, Ibn Rosteh, and al - Mnsudi (in the