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sins amt Justinian , formed a constitution of his own, collectinginto one body all the decisions and all the causes which served toadvance the papal power; which collection of decretals was calledthe pentateuch, became it contains five books.

DECTURAI’OUR, one of the Laccadive islands, in the In-dian sea. Lon. 72. 0. E. Eat. 12. 8. N.

DECUMARIA, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order,and dodecandria class of plants. Calyx eight to twelve-leaved,superior; petals eight to twelve; capsule eight-celled, with manyseeds. There is but one species, viz. D. barbara, climbing deeti-tnaria, a native of Carolina.

DECUPLE Proportion, that of ten to one.

DECURIA, a Decury, among the ancient Romans, ten menunder one leader, called the Decurio. The decurio was the thirdpart of a turma, or the 30th of a legion of horse, which consistedof 300 men. The Roman cavalry was divided into decur:a-, whichwere subdivisions of a century, each century containing ten de-curies.

DECURIO, a subaltern officer in the Roman armies, whocommanded a deettria.

DECURIONES, MuyictPAi.ES, magistrates in the Roman,provinces, who formed a body to represent the Roman senate infree and corporate towns.

DECUSSATION, in geometry, optics, and anatomy, signifiesthe crossing of two lines, ravs, or nerves, when they meet in apoint, and then go on separately from one another.

DECUSSORiUM, an instrument used by surgeons, which, bypressing gently on the dura mater, causes an evacuation of thepus collected between it and the cranium, through the perforationmade by the trepan.

DeDDINGTON, a town of Oxfordshire , 16 miles N. ofOxford .

DEDHAM, a town in Essex , seated on the Stour, 7 milesN. N. E. of Colrhesler.

DEDICA TION, [dnlicatio, Lat.] the act of consecrating atemple, altar, statue, palace, &c. to the honour of some deity,'l'he use of dedications is very ancient both among the worshippersof the true God and among the heathens: the Hebrews call ithhcinuchah, “ imitation;” which the Greek translators renderiyxamVt, and !-/xrttvn- ( <Af, “ renewing.” In the scripture we meetwith dedications of the tabernacle, of altars, of the first and se-cond temple, and even of the houses of private persons. One ofthe most solemn on record is that of the first temple by Solomon. (1 Kings viii. 2 Chron. vi.) There were also dedications of ves-sels, and garments of the priests and Lcvites, and even of the menthemselves. The heathens had also dedications of temples, altars,and images, of their gods, &c. Nebuchadni zzar held a solemndedication of his statue, Dan. iii. 2. Pilate dedicated gilt buck-lers at Jerusalem to Tiberias, Philo de legat. l’etronius wouldhave dedicated a statue to the emperor in the same city, ibid. p.7t)l. Tacitus , Hist. lib. iv. c. 53. mentions the dedication of thecapital, upon rebuilding it by Vespasian, &c. The Jews cele-brated the anniversary of the dedication of their temple every yearfor eight days. This was first enjoined by Judas Maccabeus , andthe whole synagogue, in the year of the Syro-Macedonian era 148,i. e. 164 years before Christ. The heathens had similar anniver-saries, as that of the dedication of the temple of Parthenope, men-tioned by Lycophron Under Christianity, dedication is only ap-plied to a church; and is properly the consecration thereof per-formed by a bishop, w ith a number of ceremonies prescribed by the< hurch. The Christians finding themselves at liberty under Con-stantine , in lieu of their ruinous churches, built new ones in everyplace; and dedicated them with a deal of solemnity. The dedi-cation was usually performed in a synod; at least they assembleda number of bishops to assist at the service. We have the descrip-tion of those of the churches at Jerusalem and l yre in Eusebius ,and many others in later writers.

Dedication, Ulalicutio, Lat.] in literature, is an address pre-fixed to a book, soliciting patronage, or testifying respect for theperson to whom it is made.

DEE, a river of England and Wales , which rises in the N. W.angle of Merionethshire, and falls into the Irish sea 15 miles belowChester.

Df.e, a river of Ireland, which crosses the county of Louth .

Dee, a river of Scotland, in Aberdeenshire .

Dje, John, a famous mathematician and astrologer, was born

at Loudon in July 1527, where his father wa; a wealthy vintner.In 1542, he was sent to St. John’s college, Cambridge . Afterfive years close application to maMiematical studies, paiticularlyastronomy, he went to Holland, to visit several eminent mathema-ticians on the continent. Having continued abroad near a year,he returned to Cambridge ; and was there elected one of the fel-lows of Trinity college, then first erected by king Henry VIII ,In 1348, he took the degree of M. A. and left England a secondtime; his stay at home being rendered uneasy to him, by the sus-picions that were entertained of his being a conjuror; arisingpartly from his application to astronomy, but especially on ac-count of a piece ot machinery in the Ei 5 x»>i ef Aristophanes , whichhe exhibited to the university, and in which lie represented theScarabeus Hying up to Jupiter, with a man, and a basket of victualson its back. '(liese suspicions fie could never afterwards shakeoft: nor did his subsequent conduct, tend to clear him of the im-putation; for if he was not actually a conjuror, it was not lor wantof endeavours. Upon leaving England, lie went to (he universityof Louvain; where lie was much esteemed, and visited by severalpersons of high rank. Here he resided about two years, and thenset out. for France; where, in the college of Rheims , he read lec-tures of Euclid’s elements with vast applause. In 1551, he returnedto England, and king Edward VI . assigned him a pension of 100crowns, which lie afterwards relinquished for the rectory ot Uptonupon Severn: but soon after the accession of queen Mary, havingsome correspondence with the lady Elizabeth’s servants, lie was ac-cused of practising against the queen’s life by enchantment. On tiiisaccount he sutfered a tedious confinement, and was several times ex-amined; till, in 1555, he obtained his liberty by an order of coun-cil. Upon queen Elizabeth's accession, our astrologer was Con-sulted by lord Dudley, concerning a propitious day for her coro-nation. He was, on this occasion, introduced to the queen, whomade him great promises, which were never performed, thoughshe condescended to receive his instructions relative to his unin-telligible writings, which he published about tiiis time. In 1564,he made another voyage to the continent; to present a book liehad dedicated to the emperor Maximilian. He returned to Eng-land, hut in 1571, we find him in Lorrain; where, being danger-ously ill, the queen sent over two physicians to liis relief. Havingonce more returned to his native country, he settled at Mortiakein Surrey, where he continued his studies with unremitting ardour,and collected a considerable library of curious hooks and MSS.with a variety of instruments; most of which were afterwards de-stroyed by the mob, as belonging to one wiio dealt with the devil.In 1578, tlie queen being much indisposed, Mr. Dee was sentabroad to consult with German physicians and philosophers (astro-logers no doubt) on the occasion. We now behold liiiii again inEngland, where he was soon after employed in a more rationalservice. The queen desirous to be informed concerning her titleto those countries which had been discovered by her subjects,commanded Mr. Dee to consult the ancient records, and furnishher with proper geographical descriptions. Accordingly lie pre-sented her, in three weeks after, with two large roils, in which thediscovered countries were geographically described, and histori-cally illustrated. 1 liese rolls are preserved in the Cottonian li-brary. Ilis next employment was the reformation of the calendar,on which subject he wrote a rational and learned treatise, preserv-ed in the Ashmolean library at Oxford . Though Dee was un-doubtedly a man ot parts and learning, lie became at last a credu-lous alchemist, and gave bis mind to necromancy. In 1581, hefell acquainted with one Edward Kelley , by whose assistance lieperformed diverse incantations, and maintained a very frequentintercourse with spirits. He was, it is said, intimate withthe angels Raphael and Gabriel. One of them made him a pre-sent of a black speculum, in which his angels and demons appear-ed as often as he had occasion for them; they answered his ques-tions, and Kelley’s business was to record their dictates. In 1583,they were both introduced to a Polish nobleman, then in Eng-land, named Albert Laski, palatine of Siradia , a person addicted tothe same anticliristian pursuits. He was so charmed w ith Dee andhis companion, that lie persuaded them to accompany him to libnative country. They embarked for Holland iu Septi mber 1593;and travelling oyer land, arrived at the town of Laski in Februaryfollowing. 1 heir patron, however, finding himself abused by theirabominations, persuaded them to pay a visit to the emperor Ru-dolph II. ; who, in a very short time, was soon disgusted with9 them