Dimension
in algebra, a literal factor of a product or term; also called a degree; thus ab is an expression of three dimensions. A simple equation is said to be of one dimension. A quadratic of two, a cubic of three, and so on. In geometry, extension in a single line or direction. A line is extended in one direction, or has one dimension, that is length; a surface is extended in two directions, or has two dimensions, length and breadth; a solid is extended in three directions, or has three dimensions, length, breadth, and height or thickness.
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Diminutive
in grammar, a word derived from another to express a little thing of the same kind. The diminutive is formed usually by the addition of a syllable, called a diminutive-ending, as et, ette, let, kin, ling, ock, in, y, ie, ille, ule, etc. Thus we have: Cooky, a small cake. Rivulet, a small river. Babykin, a young baby. Peterkin, little Peter. Floret, a tiny flower. Wagonette, a low wagon. Storiette, a short story. Molecule, a small mole or mass. Hillock, a low hill. Duckling, a young duck. Gosling, a young goose.
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Dimity
a sheer, fine cotton dress fabric, characterized by tiny raised cords running warpwise of the web. Dimity is usually finished white, but both colored and printed dimities are on the market. The name is supposed to have been derived from Greek words signifying two threaded, and to have been applied to stuffs showing two warp threads or cords thrown into relief on the surface of the goods. The original materials were silk and wool. At present, the name is used exclusively for cotton fabrics. A heavy, corded cotton fabric dyed in plain colors and printed, used for furniture covering, drapery, etc., is likewise called dimity.
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Dimorphism
the power of assuming or crystallizing in two distinct forms. Sulphur, for instance, which usually crystallizes in the rhombic system when melted, may form monoclinohedric crystals. The same chemical substance may form two or even more distinct bodies or mineral species. Thus carbon in one form is the diamond, in another graphite; and carbonate of lime appears as calcspar or as arragonite.
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Dinan
a town in the department of Côtes-du-Nord, France, situated on the Rance, 15 miles S. of Saint-Malo. It has an old castle, the cathedral of St. The Sauveur, and a valuable museum. manufactures include agricultural implements, linen, wooden goods, barges, cider and sugar. The town has relics going back to the Romans. Pop. about 12,000.
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Dinant
a town of Belgium, in the province of Namur. It is on the Meuse river. Prior to the World War it had many noteworthy buildings, including the church of Notre-Dame, and the city hall, which was once the palace of the princes of Liège. There were important manufactures, including paper mills, carpet factories, breweries, tanneries, etc. The city was notable for its production of metal ware and glass work. Dinant suffered severely during the German invasion of Belgium in 1914. Pop. about 8,000.
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Dinaric Alps
the name applied to the mountains connecting the Julian Julian Alps with the Balkan system. The main range stretches from N. W. to S. E., separating Dalmatia from Bosnia and Herzegovina, as far as the mouth of the Narenta; and a minor chain extends through the Dalmatian coast country. The mountains are principally calcareous; the highest summits are Orjen (6,225) and Dinara (5,940), and the mean height is 2,300 feet. D'INDY (PAUL MARIE THÉO- DORE), VINCENT, a French composer, He was born at Paris, 1851, and was educated in Paris schools, becoming a pupil of César Franck for musical composition, and chief of the choirs of the Concerts Colonne, 1874. He received the Grand Post for musical composition in 1885 and was the founder, with Charles Bordes, of the Schola Cantorum, of which he continued director after Bordes' death. He was professor at the Conservatoire and a member of the Commission de l'Enseignment musical of Paris. His publications include: "Franck," "Beethoven"; musical) "La Légende de Saint Christophe," a sacred drama, "Le Chant de la Cloche"; 3 symphonies; and other works.
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Dingley
NELSON, an American legislator; born in Durham, Me., Feb. 15, 1832. He graduated from Dartmouth College in 1855; was elected to the State Legislature six times; was governor of Maine in 1874-1875; was elected to Congress in 1881, and was re-elected for seven terms. He was the author of the Dingley Tariff Bill of 1897, and a member of the Anglo-American Commission of 1898. He died in Washington, D. C., Jan. 13, 1899.
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Dingo
. See Dog
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Dinka
a powerful tribe of Negritos who lived on both sides of the White Nile between lat. 6° and 12° N. Their territory covers 60,000 square miles. They are intelligent, have some skill in making articles for household use, and also follow agriculture. Each village is governed by its own chief.
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Dinocerata
an order of mammalia having on each of the four feet five welldeveloped toes, each terminated by a hoof. Three horn cores. No upper incisors; upper canines assuming the form of long tusks directed downward. The species are large mammals from the Eocene of North America. Professor Cope ranks the Dinocerata as an aberrant group of Ungulata, while Professor Marsh considers them a distinct order intermediate between the Perissodactyle Ungulata and the Proboscidea.
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Dinosauria
a tribe or sub-order of reptiles established by Herman von Meyer in 1832, and subsequently called by him Pachypodes, or Pachypoda. In 1841 Professor Owen gave them the name which they still retain, Dinosauria. Huxley places them as one of two sub-orders under his order Ornithoscelida, and thus defines them: Cervical vertebræ short, femur as long as or longer than the tibia. Huxley divides them into three families: the Megalosauridæ, the Sceiidosauridæ, and the Iguanodontidæ. ~
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Dinotherium
or DINOTHERE, a genus of fossil mammals belonging to the order Proboscidea (Kaup, Huxley, and others), or to the order Cetacea, and the sub-order Sirenia (Blainville, Pictet, Carpenter, Dallas, and others), The D. giganteum, of which the entire skull and lower jaws were found in Miocene sand at Eppelsheim on the Rhine by Klipstein, and were described by Kaup, was apparently larger than the elephant. Its tusks, which projected from the lower jaw, curved downward, and were used by the animal, which was semi-aquatic, to support its head on the shore. It is believed that it had a short, flexible trunk. British
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