Decrescent
a heraldic term by which the wane of the moon is indicated. A moon decrescent is a half-moon with her horns turned to the (heraldic) sinister-i. e., the right of the spectator.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Single-source entries: D (27)
These 13 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Decrescent, Decretals, Dectera.
Decretals
a general name for the Papal decrees, comprehending the rescripts (answers to inquiries and petitions), decrees (judicial decisions by the Rota Romana), mandates (official instructions for ecclesiastical officers, courts, etc.), edicts (Papal ordinances in general) and general resolutions of the councils. The decretals form a most important portion of the Roman Catholic canon lav, the authoritative collection of them being that made by the orders of Gregory IX. and published in 1234.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Dectera
A figure of Irish medieval romance. She was the daughter of Cathbad the Druid, and mother of Cuchulain (q.v.). She and fifty other maidens disappeared from the court of Conor mac Nessa. Three years later, while pursuing a flock of birds which were spoiling the crops, the king and courtiers came upon a magnificent palace inhabited by a youth of noble mien and a beautiful woman and fifty maidens. These were recognised as Dectera and her companions, and the youth as Lugh , the sun-god. Conor summoned Dectera to him, but she sent him instead her new-born son, Cuchulain.
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Dedham
a town of Massachusetts, the county-seat of Norfolk co. It includes three villages and is on the Charles river, and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad. Though it is chiefly a residential suburb of Boston, it has important industries, including manufacturies of cotton and woolen goods, carpets, handkerchiefs, and pottery. The notable buildings include a memorial hall, a public library, and the Historical Society building. It also contains a county court house, a jail, and a house of correction. The town was settled in 1636 and was incorporated in the same year. The first free school in America was established here in 1645. Pop. (1910) 9,284; (1920) 10,792.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Deduction
in logic, as opposed to induction, is the method of reasoning from generals to particulars, as the latter is from particulars to generals. In duction is the mode by which all the materials of knowledge are brought to the mind and analyzed; deductions, the process by which the knowledge thus acquired is utilized, and by which new and more complicated inductions are rendered possible. Thu a deduction is also an induction.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Dee
the name of several British rivers. (1) A river of Scotland, partly in Kincardineshire, but chiefly in Aberdeenshire, one of the most finely wooded and one of the best salmon rivers in Great Britain. It rises on the S. W. border of Aberdeenshire, and flows generally E. 87 miles to the German ocean, having Aberdeen at its mouth. (2) A river of north Wales and Cheshire; rises in Lake Bala, Merionethshire; flows N. E., N., and N. W. to the Irish Sea 20 miles below Chester; length, about 80 miles. The ancient Britons held its waters sacred. (3) A river of Scotland, county of Kirkcudbright, rises in Loch Dee, a lonely lake, 7 furlongs long and from 115 to 4 furlongs wide, situated among 3 the western hills. It flows S. E. and S., and falls into Kirkcudbright Bay; length, 38 miles.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Deemster
an ancient legal term, a chief justice of the Isle of Man . At present there are two, one for the southern, one for the northern part of the island. The term is akin to doom, it being the duty of the deemster chief to pronounce the doom of the guilty. Hall Caine chose The Deemster for the name of one of his most noted stories. See Man
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Deer-Mouse
a handsome, delicate wild mouse. It is also called the white-footed mouse. It has rounded ears, wide, innocent eyes, fawn-colored sides, a daintily marked back, and white under parts. It is about seven inches long, half tail. It moves about at night and is active all winter. In the summer time, it collects nuts and seeds, stowing them away in hollow trees, and under stones and logs, or in pockets in the turf. A pair of small pouches, chipmunklike, are used to carry supplies. The deermouse is fond of honey. When pursued the deer-mouse endeavors to escape by long jumps, not equal, of course, to those of the jumping mouse . While apt to be a nuisance in camp from a habit of pilfering food, the deer-mouse is a companionable little fellow, quite free from the vicious habits of the European house mouse. See Mouse
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Deere
John. See Plow
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Deerfield
a town of Franklin co., Mass.; on the Connecticut river, and the Boston and Maine and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads; ls: 33 20-Vol. III-Cyc miles N. of Springfield. It is principally engaged in agriculture and the manufacture of pocket-books, and has a high school and public library. The town contains the village of South Deerfield, and was the scene of several contests with the Indians in colonial times. Among them the "Bloody Brook Massacre" the village were (1675) and the burning of by the French and Indians under De Rouville (1703). Old Deerfield has a beautiful Soldiers' Monument, and there is at South Deerfield a marble monument commemorative of the Bloody Brook disaster. Pop. (1920) 2,808.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Deergrass
or MEADOW BEAU- TY, a genus of an Asiatic plant of the chiefly in order Melastomaceæ, found New England. It is noted for the beauty of its flowers, which have bright purple petals, and thrives best on meadow land. It is said that there are but eight species of the order in the United States.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Deermouse
a small rodent belonging to the family Muridæ, which is found in abundance in this country. Its fur shows various brownish or grayish tints above, while the lower surface and feet, up to the wrists and ankles, are snowwhite. The length of the head and body is about three inches. Its habits are nocturnal, and it feeds on corn, of which, with acorns and nuts, it lays up stores for winter use.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Deerslayer, The
The, a novel by James Fenimore Cooper, published in 1841. It belongs to the series called Leatherstocking Tales. It is the first of the series in point of time, although it was published last. See Cooper ; Leatherstocking
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia