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light shone out anew with additional splendour in the ministry ofhis apostles. The darkness which now covered Judea and theneighbouring countries, beginning at noon and continuing tillJesus expired, was not the effect of an ordinary eclipse of thesun ; for that can never happen but at the new moon, whereasnow it was full moon ; not to mention, that the total darkness oc-casioned by eclipses of the sun never continues above tour mi-nutes; wherefore it must have been produced by the divine power,in a manner we cannot explain. Accordingly, Luke (Luke xxiii.44, 45), after relating that there was darkness over all tire earth,adds, “ and the sun was darkened;” which perhaps may imply,that the darkness of the sun did not occasion, but proceeded from,the darkness that was over all the land. Further, the Christianwriters, in their most ancient apologies to the heathens, aflirm,that as it was full moon at the passover when Christ was crucified,no such eclipse could happen by the course of nature. They ob-served also, that it was taken notice of as a prodigy by the heathensthemselves.

DARLINGTON, a county of the United States , in Cberawsdistrict, South Carolina , bounded on the S. and S.VV. by Lynch’sCreek. It is 35 miles long and 21 broad.

Darlington, a town of Durham , situated on a flat on the ri-ver Skerne, 19 miles S. of Durham .

DARN ML, in botany. See Lolium.

DAROCA, a town of Spain, in the province of Arragon , 38miles S.S.W. of Saragossa .

DARTFORD, a town of Kent , seated on the Darent, 1G milesE. by S. of London.

DARTMOUTH, a sea-port town in Devonshire , 30 miles•S.S.W. of Exeter, and 204 W. byS. of London . Lon. 3. 45. \V.Lat. 50. 22. N.

Dartmouth, a sea-port of the United States , in Bristol county,Massachusetts, 70 miles S. of Boston .

DARTOS, in anatomy, one of the coats which form the scro-tum.

DARWAR, a considerable fortress of Ilindoslan, in the coun-try of Sanore, 90 miles E. N. E. of Goa .

DASSEN, an island in the Atlantic, nerr the coast of Africa ,between the Cape of Good Hope , and the Saldanhu bay. Lon.• 8° 1' 52“ K. from Greenwich. Lat. 34° 25 1 N.

DASYPUS, the Armadillo, or Tatou, in zoology; a genysdf the ck iss mammalia, and order bruta. No tusks; grinders shortand cylindrical, and seven or eight in each jaw; body coveredwith a shelly armour, intersected by circles. All the species ofthis animal were originally natives of America : they were entirelyUnknown to the ancients; and modern travellers mention them aspeculiar to Mexico, Brazil, and the southern parts of America ;though some indeed have confounded them with two species ofmanis, or shell-lizard, which are found in the East Indies: othersreport that they are natives of Africa , because some of them havebeen transported from Brazil to the coast of G uinea, where a fewRave since been propagated: but they were never heard of in Eu-rope, Asia, or Africa, till after the discovery of America . Theyare all endowed with the faculty of extending and contractingtheir bodies, and of rolling themselves up like a ball, but not intoso complete a sphere as the hedge-hog. They are very inoffen-sive animals, excepting when they get into gardens, where theydevour the melons, potatoes, and other roots. They walk quickly;but can hardly be said to iuii or leap, so that they seldom escapethe pursuit either of men or dogs. But nature has not loft themaltogether defenceless. They dig deep holes in the earth; andseldom go very far from their subterraneous habitations: upon anya larm they immediately go into their holes; but, when at too greata distance, they require but a few moments to make one. Thehunters can hardly catch them by the tail before they sink theirbody in the grotmd; whore they slick so close, that the tail fre-quently comes away and leaves the body in the earth; which ob-kges the hunters, when they want to take them alive and iimnuti-yited, to dilate the sides of the hole. When they are taken, andbud that there is no resource, they instantly roll themselves up,ar >d will not extend their bodies, unless they are held near a fire.

hen in deep holes, there is no other method of making themcome out, but by forcing in smoke or watei. They keep in theirboles through the day, and seldom go abroad in quest of subsist-ence, but in the night. The hunters usually chase them with small

dogs, which easily come up with'them. When the dog* are near,the creatures instantly roll themselves up, and in this conditionthe hunters carry them off. However, if they be near ;t preri'-pice, they often escape both the dogs and hunters: they roll them-selves up, and tumble down like a ball, without breaking theirshell, or receiving any injury. M he dasypus is a very fruitful ani-mal: the female generally brings forth tour young ones everymonth; which is the reason why the species are so numerous, not-withstanding they are so much sought after, on account of thesweetness of their flesh. The Indians likewise make baskets,boxes, &c. of the shells which cover their heads. Linmtus enu-merates six species of dasypus, principally distinguished by thenumber of their moveable belts. Mr. Kerr, who prefers the ar-rangement of the Count de Buffon , to that of Linnaus, etiunie-'rates ten species of this genus.

D. Novemcinctus, the Nine-banded Armadillo, has ninebelts, four claws on each fore-foot, and live on the hind feet, Tirehead is live inches long, the body 18, and the tail 12; but some arcsmaller. Plate XLII.

D. Novemdecimcinctuj, the Cirquincon, has no shield cmthe rump, and has only 18 bands, though from the name we shouldsuppose it to have 19. The body is 10 inches long, the headthree, and the tail live. The head resembles that of a weazel,having a large flat forehead, small eyes, and ears about an inchlong. The breast, belly, and ears, are naked,

D. Septemcinctus, the Seven-handed Armadillo, with sevenbelts; four toes on each of the fore-feet, and live on the hind.Gmelin says it has only six belts, but Mr. Kerr vindicates Lin-rneus, who says it lias seven.

D.Se.xcinctus, the Encouberto, or Six-handed Armadillo,has six moveable girdles, two shields, and five toes on each foot.It lives on roots and fruits; and the flesh is good. The bead ,e-sembles a pig; there are 18 teeth in each jaw: the tail is thick atthe rump; the body is of a reddish yellow colour, and is com-monly plump. Plate XLII.

DATA, among mathematicians, a term for such tilings or quan-tities, as are given, or known, in order to liud other tilings therebythat are unknown. Euclid uses the word data fof which lie has "aparticular tract) for such spaces, lines, and angles, as are given inmagn’tude, or to which we can assign others equal. From the useof this word in mathematics, it has been transplanted into otherarts; as philosophy, medicine, &c. where it expresses any quan-tity, which, for the sake of a present calculation, is taken forgranted to be such, without requiring an immediate proof for itscertainty; called also the given quantity, number, or power. Andhence also such things as are known, from whence cither in naturalphilosophy, the animal mechanism, or the operation of medicines,we come to the knowledge of others unknown, are now frequentlyin physical writers called data.

. DATE, inlaw, is the description of the day, month, year ofour Lord, and year of the reign of the king, in which a deed orother writing was made. Anciently deeds had no dates but onlyof the month and year, and now, if in the date of any deed, theyear of our Lord is right, though the year of the king’s reign bewrong, it shall not hurt the same. A deed is good, though it hasno date of the day, or if that be mistaken, or though it contains animpossible dale; but then he that pleads such a deed, must setforth the time when it was delivered: for every deed or writinghas a date in law, and that is the day of the delivery; and wherethere is none, a plaintiff, it is said, may count it of any date. Inwritings of importance, the date should be written in words atlength. In letters, it is usually written in figures. An antedate isa date prior to the real time when the instrument was signed. Apost-date is that posterior to the real lime when the instrument waspassed.

DATJSCA, Bastard-hemp, in botany, a genus of the dode-candria order, and diorcia class of plants; natural order, Miscella-nea 1 . Male calyx pentaphyllous; no corolla; antherai sessile,long, and 15 in number; female caivx bidented; no corolla,styles three; capsule triangular, three-liorned, unilocular, pervi-ous, polyspermous, inferior. It has two species, natives of N orthAmerica .

DATISI, in logic, a mode of syllogisms in the third figure,wherein the major is an universal affirmative, and the minor andconclusion particular affirmative propositions. Thus,

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