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andSolor : it is called in the Indies pelandor Aroe, or the Aroerabbit. They are reckoned very delicate eating; and are verycommon at the tables of the great, who rear the young in the same[daces in which they keep their rabbits. If inhabits also Surinam ,and the hot parts of America .
D. Tkidactyla, Phillip’s Opossum, or the Kangurooli .vr, is described as similar, both in the general shape of the bodyand the conformation of the leg's, to the kangaroo ; but the visagehaving a strong resemblance to that of the rat, and the colour otthe whole not ill resembling that animal, it has obtained thename of the kangaroo rat. It is an inhabitant of New Hol-land .
' D. Volans, the Flying Opossum, a beautiful series, andclothed with fur of the most exquisite texture, is an inhabitant ofNew South Wales . In length, from the lip of the nose to theroot of the tail, it is 20 inches ; the tail itself is twenty-two inches,at the base quite light, increasing gradually to black at the end :the ears are large and erect: the coat or fur is of a rich and mostdelicate texture ; appearing, on the upper parts of the body atlirst sight, of a glossy black, but on a nicer inspection is found tobe mixed with grey ; the under parts are white, and on each hipis a tan-coloured spot nearly as big as a shilling ; at this part thefur is thinnest, but at the root of the tail it is so rich and close thatthe hide cannot he felt through it. The fur is also continued tothe claws. On each side of the body is a broad or flat membrane(as in the flying squirrels,) which is united to both the fore andbind legs. See Piate I,XVI.
DI I) l-'.I.TA, a genus of the class and order svngenesia polvga-mia frnstranea. Calyx expanding ; receptacle honey-combed di-viding into parts, which retain the seeds; down chalky, many-leaved. There are two species, annuals of the Cape.
DIDO, or ELISA, a daughter of Beius king of Tyre, whomarried Sichaius or Sicharbas her uncle, priest of Hercules. Ilerbrother, Pvgmalien, who succeeded Beius , murdered Sichxus toget possession of his immense riches; and Dido, disconsolate forthe loss other husband, whom she tenderly loved, and by whomshe was equally esteemed, set sail in quest of a settlement with anumber ot Tyrians, to whom the cruelty of the tyrant became odi-ous. According to some accounts, she threw into the sea the riches' of her husband which Pygmalion so greedily desired, and by thatartifice compelled flic ships to fly with her that had come by or-der of the tyrant to obtain the riches of Sichxus. But it is moreprobable Unit she carried the riches along w ith her, and by theirpowerful influence prevailed on the Tyrian tars to follow her.During her voyage, Dido visited the coast of Cyprus ; where shecarried away tiity prostitutes, and gave them as wives to her Ty-rian followers. A storm drove her fleet on the African coast,w here she bought of the inhabitants as much laud as could be sur-rounded by a bull’s hide cut into thongs. Upon this land shebuilt a citadel called Bvrsa; and the increase ot po|>ul?tion, andthe rising commerce among her subjects, soon obliged her to en-large her city and the boundaries of her dominions. \lcr beauty,as well as the fame of her enterprise, gained her many admirers;and her subjects wished to compel her to marry I alias king ofMauritania,u ho threatened them with a dreadful war. Didobeggedthree months to give her decisive answer ; and during that time■she erected a funeral pile, as if wishing by a solemn sacrifice toappease the manes of Siclixus, to whom she had promised eternalfidelity. When all was prepared, she stabbed herself on the pileiu presence of Jter people ; and by this uncommon action obtain-ed the name of Dido, “ valiant w oinan,” instead of Elisa. Ac-cording to Virgil and Ovid, the death of Dido was caused by thesudden departure of .Eneas ; of whom she was deeply enamoured,and whom she couhl not obtain as a husband. This poetical fic-tion represents .Eneas, as living in the age of Dido, and introducesan anachronism of near 300 years. Dido left Phoenicia 247 yearsafter the age of /Eneas, and about B. C. y 53. This chronologicalerror proceeded not from the ignorance of the poets, lint from avoluntary fiction. While Virgil describes, in a beautiful episode,the desperate love of Dido, and the submission of /Eneas to thewill of the gods, he traces the origin of the hatred which existedbetween the republics of liotne and Carthage , from their veryflr-t foundation, and pretends that ic was kindled by a more re-mote cause than the jealousy and rivalship of two flourishing em-pires. Dido after her death was honoured as a deity by her sub-jects.
D1DUS, or DODO, iu ornithology, a genus of the order gal-lime. Bill contracted in the middle by two transverse ruga. - ; eachmandible inflected at the point; face is bare behind the eyes. Ithas three species.
D. Ineptus, the Dronte of Buffon, or Hooded Dodo, issomewhat bigger than a swan, and near three feet in length. Thebill is strong, huge, and hooked at the end; the gape stretchesbeyond the eyes : the colour is a very pale blue ; except the endof the upper mandible, which is yellowish, and a red spot on theheiul of it ; the end of the lower is blackish ; the irides are white.The plumage is soft to the touch. The head is large, and seems-as it were covered with a black hood or cowl. The wings arevery short, and of a yellowish ash-colour: the tail feathers arecurled, stand up on the rump, and incline to yellow. It inhabitsthe islands of Mauritius and Bourbon in the Indian Ocean . SeePlate 1 All I.
D. Nazarenus, the Nazarene Dodo is bigger than a swan.The bill is a little bent downwards and large : instead of feathers,the whole is covered over with a black down ; but the wings arefeathered, and it lias some frizzled ones upon the rump, whichserve instead of a tail: the legs are long and scaly, and there arethree toes on each foot,
D. Solitarius, the Solitaire of Buffon, or Solitary Dodo,is a large bird, and the male is said to weigh sometimes 45 pounds.The neck is of a proportionable length, and the eye black amilively: the head is not crested, and the general colour of the plu-mage is grey and brown mixed: it has scarce any tail, and thebastard wing swells out into a round knob: the wings are tooshort for flight; and the hind parts are rounded like a horse’srump, being clothed with feathers, which may be termed coverts.The females are covered with sometimes brown and sometimeslight yellow feathers, and appear very beautiful. They arechased in the winter season, viz. from March to September;being then fat, and the young birds are much esteemed for thetable.
. DIDYNAMIA, [from J<;, twice, and Juwqaif, power,] thename of the 14th class in Linnxus’s sexual method ; consisting ofplants with hermaphrodite flowers, which have four male organs,two long and two short. See Botany .
DIE, in geography, a town of France , in the department ofDrome, 24 miles S. E. of Valence .
D1EGEM, a town of France , in the department of Dyle, 3miles N. of Brussels.
DIEGO de Kamires, an island near the coast of Terra delFuego, S. S. W. of Cape Horn .
Diego Garcias, or Chagas, an island of Africa, in the In-dian sea. l.on. ()3. 10. E. l.at. 8. 45. S.
Diego Bias, or Rodriguez, an island of Africa, in the In-dian ocean, 100 leagues E. from the island of Mauritius . Lon.57.32. E. Lat. 10. 30.
Diego Soukez, an island in the Indian sea, near the E. coastof the island of Madagascar .
DIEMEN, a .tow n of Holland, in the province of Holland ,4 miles S. E. of Amsterdam .
Diemen, Straits of, lie between the coast of Asia and theislands of Japan .
DIEP Bay, a hay on the N. W. coast of the island of St.Christopher .
Died Town, or Deep Town, a town of St. Christopher , seat-ed on the bay.
DIEPIIOI.T, or DIEPIIOLZ, a county of Germany , in thecircle of Westphalia .
Diepholz, the capital of the above county, situated on theIiunte, 30 miles S. S. W. of Bremen.
DIEPPE, a town of France , in the department of Lower Seineand late province of Normandy , with a good harbour, formed bythe mouth of the river Arques, capable of containing 200 ships, anold castle, and two piers. It lies 30 miles N. of Itouen.
DIES, [Eat. a day,] in doomsday book, signities one day’s en-tertainment lor the king.
Dies Datijs, in law, days of respite allowed by the court to adefendant.
Dies Marchia; was the day of congress or meeting of theEnglish and Scots, annually appointed to be held on the mar. liesor borders, in order to adjust all differences between them.
DIESIS, in music, is the division of atone less than a semi-F tone;