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DRENGFURTH, a town of Prussia, in the province of Na-tangen, 44 miles S. E. of Konigsberg .
D RENTE, a district of Batavia, in the department of theYssel.
DRENTELBURG, or TRENTELBURG, a town of Ger-many, in the circle of the Upper Rhine , 18 miles N. N. W. ofGassel.
PREPANE, or DREPANUM, in ancient geography, a townof Bithynia , situated between tlie Sinus and Astacenus and tlieBosphorus Thracius; called llelenopolis by Constantine, in ho-nour of his mother.
Pk.epa.ne, the ancient name of Corcyra, from the curvity of itsfigure, resembling a sickle.
DREPANUM, the name of three ancient towns, viz. 1. onthe Arabic Gulf, on the side of Egypt : 2. on the N. side ofCrete , between Cydonia and the Sinus Ampiiimallus: 3. on theW. side of Cyprus .
DRESDEN, the capital of the late electorate of Saxony , inGermany , 75 miles N. \V. of Prague. Lon. 13.50. E. Lat. 51.10. N.
PRESSING, in surgery. Tlie apparatus of dressing consistsof dossils, tents, plasters, corn-presses, bandages, bands, ligatures,and strings. See Surgery.
PREl'X, a town of France , in the department of Eure andLoire, 4S miles \V. of Paris . Lon. 1. 27. E. Lat. 48. 44. N.
PR Eh E, or PRE1I1E, a town of Germany , in the circle ofM csipiialia, and county of Hova, 5 miles S. S. E. of Bremen .
PKEYEN, a small island of Denmark, in the Little Belt , 3miles S. W. of Middalfahrt.
PREYGELliAUSEN, a town of Germany , in the circle ofthe Lower Rhine, 5 miles N. W. of Bingen .
PRIESSEN, or DRESNO, a town of Germany , in the NewMarche of Brandenburg, 90 miles E. N. E. of Berlin .
DRIFT, in mining, a passage cut out under the earth betwixtshaft and shaft, or turn and turn; or a passage or way wroughtunder the earth to the end of a meer of ground, or part of anieer.
Drift, in navigation, the angle which the line of a ship's mo-tion makes with tlie nearest meridian, when she drives with herside to the wind and waves, and is not governed by the power ofthe helm : it also implies the distance which the ship drives onthat line. A ship’s way is only called drift in a storm ; and thenwhen it blows so vehemently as to prevent her from carrying anysail, or at least restrains her to such a portion of sail, as' may benecessary to keep her sufficiently inclined to one side, that shemay not be dismasted by her violent labouring produced by theturbulence of the sea.
Drift Sail, a sail used under water, veered out right a-lieadby sheets, as other sails are. It serves to keep the ship’s headright upon the sea in a storm, and to hinder her driving too fast ina current.
PRILL, or DRILL-BOX, a name given to an instrument forsowing land in the new method of horse-hoeing husbandry. SeeHusbandry.
Prill-sowing, a method of sowing grain or seed of any kind,so that it may all be at a proper depth in the earth, which is ne-cessary to its producing healthful and vigorous plants. Eor thispurpose a variety of drill-ploughs have been invented and recom-mended ; but from tlie expence attending tlie purchase, and theextreme complication of their structure, there is not an instrumentof that kind, as yet discovered, that is likely to be brought intogeneral use. 'Fins method, however, is greatly recommended inthe Georgiral Essays. See Husbandry.
DRINKING, is one of the animal functions, essential to theproper solution and digestion of food. Although the proportionof liquid to that of dry, or solid food, cannot be precisely ascer-tained : tet, if the constant secretion of lluids be laid down as thebasis of this computation, we should, perhaps, drink double thetiuanlily of the solid provisions we daily consume. Nevertheless,Oven this proportion is but too often exceeded, merely to pleasethe artiticial cravings of a corrupted palate. Thus, we no longerdrink with a view to quench thirst only, but at certain hours ofthe day. whether we are naturally inclined, or not. Nay, wefrequently meet with sots in beer, ale, spirits, wine, punch, andeven tea. Excessive drink, however, though it distend and op-press the stomach, and thus impede digestion, is not nearly so per-
VOL, II.—no. 68
nicious as gluttony, unless the former be attended with intoxica-tion. Jt however.impovcrishes the whole mass of the blood, by-rendering it too thin and watery ; so that relaxation of the urinaryand other canals, at length, general debility of tlie system, are itsnecessary concomitants. On the contrary, too little drink dis-poses persons of a sedentary life to indigestion ; because many par-ticles of solid food are, for want of dilution, passed unassimilatedthrough the alimentary canal; and tlie blood becomes viscid, andinert in its circulation. The active and laborious should, there-fore, drink more than the idle or phlegmatic ; and cither of the»emore in summer than in winter, to supply the great loss of hu-mours exhaled by insensible perspiration. Persons, whose naturalappetite is not depraved inconsequence of irregular living, mayeasily regulate the due proportion of their drink to that of dry ali-ment ; as, to them, thirst will be the safest guide. But those in-dividuals who have become slaves to the libations of Bacchus, areunfortunately deprived of this beneficent instinct, which is theprivilege even of irrational animals. If the moral turpitude ofcommitting excess in drinking, affords no argument to induce thehabitual votary to abstain from such pernicious practice, ve shallonly add, that lie will sooner or later feel the effects of it in pain-ful and lingering sickness. To a reflecting mind, it affords matterof iust surprize, how so many persons of worth and character,while sober, can devote themselves to a custom which they can-not but abhor in their friends. For tlie sake of a momentary gra-tification of the palate, wines and spirits are indiscriminately swal-lowed, and especially by those whose age, labours, and merit insociety, often entitle them to neither. Immense quantities ot va-luable grain by Nature designed for the support ot' the poor andindigent, are annually converted into liquid fire, or more properly,poison ! Where is the philanthropist, in our Imperial Senate,who possesses virtue and'influence sufficient to stem the torrent ofso extensive a system of mischief? After this involuntary digres-sion, we shall only observe, that large potations are, at all times,and in every constitution, improper; that they are particularlyinjurious when indulged in previously to the taking of food, andespecially before dinner; that all beverage is more pernicious tothe healthy in a warm, than in a cold state ; that the human sto-mach should never be inundated with immoderate quantities ofdrink at one time ; and that the most natural drink, and the mostconducive to health, without exception, is pure water.
PR1NO, a river of European Turkey , formed by tlie junctionof tlie two following:
Dhino Bianca, or White Prino, which rises near Rechia,on the borders of Dalmatia ; and
Prino, Nf.ro, or Black Prino, which rises in a lake nearAkrida; joining tlie Prino Bianca, it takes the name of Prinoonly, ami runs into the Adriatic, about 8 miles S. W. of Alcssio,forming a bay at its mouth, called The Gulf of Prino.
DRIVERS, among sportsmen, a machine for driving pheasantpowts, consisting of good strong ozier wands, such as the basket-makers use, set in a handle, and twisted or bound with small oziersin two or three places. With this instrument the sportsman drive*the young powts into his nets. See the next article.
DRIVING, among sportsmen, a method of taking pheasantpowts. The sportsman having found out the haunts of these birds,and fixed his nets therfe, he calls upon them together by a pheasantcall, imitating the voice of the dam ; after this he makes a noisewith his driver, which will make them run a little way forward ina cluster; and this he repeats till he has made sure of them, bydriving them into his nets.
Driving, in metallurgy, is said of silver, when, in the opera-tion of refining, the lead being burnt away, the remaining copperrises upon its surface in red fiery babbles.
Driving, in tlie sea language, is said of a ship, when an anchorbeing let fall will not hold her fast, liny prevent her sailing awaywith the wind or tide. The best help in this case is to let fallmore anchors, or to veer out more cable ; for the more cable shehas out, the safer she rides. When a ship is a hull, or a-try, theysay she drives to leeward.
DROGHEDA, or'JREDAlI, a town of Ireland , in the pro-vince of Leinster and county of Lowth, 5 inilesW. of the Irish chan-nel, and 23 N. of Dublin . Lon. 6. 1. W. Lat. 51. 53. N.
Drogheda Bay, a bay of the Irish Sea, on the coast of Louth ,Ireland .
DROIT, [jus, Lat.] signifies right or law, of which some dis-3 E tinguish