Distich (Gr. distichos, 'consisting of two rows') is the classical name given to any two lines, but especially to a hexameter and pentameter, making complete sense, the character of which is seen in the following well-known example by Schiller: Im Hexameter steigt des Springquells flüssige Säule, which was thus Englished by Coleridge: In the hexameter rises the fountain's silvery column, It was much used by the Greeks and Romans as a vehicle for the expression of single thoughts and sentiments; and hence became almost exclusively employed for the classical epigram. The greater poets of modern Germany, as Goethe and Schiller, have also shown a fondness for the distich, and remarkable skill in its use. A collection of moral maxims in Latin, ascribed to a certain Dionysius Cato (q.v.), is called Disticha, and was highly popular during the middle ages. Distillation is the name given to the process of applying heat to a liquid, or, it may be, a solid, in order that certain constituents may pass away in vapour, and, by suitable arrangements, be obtained in the form of a liquid. When the vapour does not condense as a liquid, but only as a fine dust or flour, the process is called Sublimation (q.v.). The natural evaporation of water, by the heat of the sun, or warm air currents, the ascent of the vapour into the colder regions of the atmosphere, and the condensation there into clouds and mists, with the subsequent rain-shower, form together the grandest example of distillation. The apparatus for artificial distillation essentially consists of three parts, the Still (or RETORT, q.v.), Condenser, and Receiver. The still is made of glass, copper, iron, or earthenware, according to the nature of the substances to be placed in it. In experimental chemical work, glass is almost the only material admissible, while in the preparation of alcohol from grain, copper-stills are commonly employed. The condenser is made in an infinity of forms, the object being to condense the vapours disengaged from the still as rapidly and effectually as possible. For this purpose it is important that the condenser shall expose a large surface to the cooling medium, water or air. Owing to its rapidity in conducting heat, and the thinness of pipes made of copper, this metal is generally employed in the construction of condensers. Whatever the form, the principle is the same-viz. that the hot vapours pass through a tube or vessel surrounded with cold water, which running in a constant stream, passes away more or less warm after it has done its work. The receiver merely consists of a suitable vessel in which to receive the distillate. As the forms of apparatus are capable of infinite variety, so the conditions of distillation are innumerable; the best defined types being Fractional Distillation, Destructive Distillation, and Distillation in Vacuo. In Fractional Distillation a mixture of liquids having different boiling-points is put in the still and heat is applied. If the vapours were allowed to pass over together and the distillate to be received in a single receiver, it is evident that nothing would be gained. If, however, the temperature be raised very slowly, and especially if the vapour requires to rise through a high head, or tube, before passing into the condenser, it will be found that the more volatile liquids pass over first in a state of comparative purity, and the others follow as the heat is increased. Several types of fractionating heads or columns are used in the laboratory, all with constrictions or interceptors of some type, to pass vapour over previously condensed vapour. If the receiver be frequently changed, fractions or portions of liquid are obtained, corresponding to the different substances present. For example, if a mixture of glycerine, water, alcohol, chloroform, and ether were distilled, the ether would distil first, then the chloroform, next the alcohol, and lastly, the water, while nearly all the glycerine would be left behind. Destructive Distillation, or Dry Distillation as it is sometimes called, is best exemplified when coal is heated in an iron still or retort, as in the manufacture of gas. Now, in coal there are only traces of moisture capable of distillation, but when strongly heated, the coal is destroyed, or decomposed, and a large number of substances distil over, some of which, like lighting gas, are permanently in the gaseous state, others like Creasote │(q.v.) are liquid, while others, such as naphthaline, are solid bodies at the ordinary temperature. Here no distillation takes place until the substance heated is destroyed, hence the term destructive distillation. Further examples are the distillation of wood in close vessels, at a red heat, when charcoal is left in the vessel, and wood-vinegar, woodspirit, tar, &c. pass over in vapour, and are condensed; and the heating of bones in similar retorts, when animal charcoal is left in the retort, and Dippel's animal oil distils over. See CHARCOAL, COAL-TAR, and DIPPEL'S ANIMAL OIL. Distillation in Vacuo.-When water is heated in a kettle it eventually boils, and if a thermometer be plunged into it, the mercury is seen to remain stationary at a temperature of about 212° (100° C.). It will be noticed, however, that when the barometer is low, the temperature of the boiling water is somewhat below 212° (100° C.), and that when the barometer is very high, the temperature is also high. On the summit of Mont Blanc, it is found that water boils at about 180° (82° C.); while in a vessel from which the air has been removed by an airpump, it continues to boil even when the temperature falls down to the freezing-point (see BOILING.) There are many substances which are injured by heat, such as extract of malt and sugar, and when solutions of these bodies require to be evaporated on a large scale, they are always distilled in vacuo, so that the water may be removed without unduly heating the vessel. There is another very interesting method of distillation whereby liquids which, alone, cannot be distilled without decomposition, are made to distil in presence of the vapour of some other liquid. Thus, glycerine is not, practically speaking, capable of being distilled, but when heated with high-pressure steam, it readily distils over, and can thus be purified. The great object of distillation is purification, and in the manufacture of the fragrant volatile oils of lemon, lavender, &c., it is necessary to distil them along with water so as to avoid overheating of the oils, and consequent injury. Not only is the flavour improved by this treatment, but they distil at a lower temperature along with water than when alone. The term distillation in excise language refers to the distillation of alcohol alone. information on this subject, see FERMENTATION, ALCOHOL, BRANDY, GIN, SPIRITS, and especially WHISKY; under which latter head the subject of the duties payable and of illicit distillation are also treated. For Distilled Water is the condensed product obtained by the distillation of water. All natural waters, even rain-water, contain certain saline matters (common salt, &c.) in a state of solution, from which they can only be completely freed by the process of distillation. The characteristics of distilled water are, that it possesses a mawkish, insipid taste, without odour or colour, and when evaporated to dryness in a vessel, it ought to leave no residue. Unless very specially prepared, it is sure to contain 14 DISTINGUISHED SERVICE ORDER traces of free ammonia, and, when this is the case, it is liable to form a green vegetable growth in any bottle containing it. The other properties of distilled water will be noticed under WATER. Distilled Waters is the name for what is obtained by distilling water along with the parts of plants containing essential oils. Rose-water and lavenderwater are familiar examples. Distinguished Service Order. This order was instituted by royal warrant on 6th September 1886 for rewarding the distinguished services of naval and military officers who have been honourably mentioned in despatches. Foreign officers who have been associated with British forces in naval and military operations are eligible as honorary members of the order. The Companions of the order rank immediately after those of the Order of the Indian Empire. The Sovereign is head of the order. The badge consists of a gold cross, enamelled white, edged gold, having on one side in the centre, within a wreath of laurel enamelled green, the imperial crown in gold upon a red enamelled ground, and on the reverse, within a similar wreath and on a similar red ground, the royal cipher; and it is suspended from the left breast by a red riband, edged blue, of one inch in width. Dis'tomum. See FLUKE. Distortion. When any body is subjected to the action of a deforming force, or stress, the corresponding deformation, or strain, is sometimes termed a distortion. In this limited sense the term is frequently used in treatises on elasticity. The definition would almost indicate some relation between a distortion and the force causing it. Such relation was first given by Hooke (1635-1703) in he law which bears his name: Distortion is proportional to the distorting force. Thus, for example, if a plank of wood supported at each end be deflected at the middle through a certain space by the placing there of a given weight, twice the weight will give twice the deflection, and so on. See ELASTICITY. Distrain. See DISTRESS. Distress, in English law, is the common-law remedy by which a man may enforce payment of rent or other duties, or may impound another's cattle trespassing upon his land. Distress is defined as the taking of a personal chattel out of the possession of the wrong-doer into the custody of the party injured, without process of law. Distress was formerly an incident of all feudal services, such as suit of court, and fealty: it was also used to compel obedience to the orders of a court leet. In modern days, distress is practically enforced chiefly for non-payment of rent, for non-payment of rates and penalties, and upon cattle straying upon land not belonging to their owner. Cattle so straying may be impounded and retained as security till their owner make satisfaction Distress for rates and penalties is allowed by the statutes imposing them. In this species of distress, and distress for non-payment of rent, the articles are not merely kept as security, but may be sold to pay the amount due. Whatever goods the landlord finds on the premises, even goods belonging to a stranger (not being a lodger), may be distrained; but animals feræ naturæ, and goods delivered to the tenant by way of trade (as horses in a smithy, garments DISTRIBUTION at a tailor's), may not be taken. Lodgers' goods are protected against distraint by an Act of 1871; bedding, wearing apparel, and tools or implements of trade to the value of £5 are also protected. Under the Law of Distress Amendment Act, 1888, distress can only be levied by a certified bailiff. A landlord may, by a statute, 11 Geo. II. chap. 19, distrain goods fraudulently carried off the premises; and by the same statute he may, with the assistance of the peace-officer of the parish, break open doors to obtain the goods so removed. In the American Union, some of the states have abolished distress, as being harsh to the tenant, and unjust in favouring the landlord over other creditors. In Scotland, the term distress was formerly in use; the right to lay hold of straying cattle and the landlord's right of hypothec are analogous to the English law. See POINDING. D'Istria, DORA. See GHIKA. Distribution, in Political Economy, refers to the method in which the products of industry are shared among the people concerned. The methods of distribution have varied and do vary in accordance with the state of social development. They depend on legal as well as on economic conditions. They depend mainly on the ideas and institutions which prevail with reference to property in the three requisites of production-viz. land, labour, and capital. In countries where slavery prevailed, the slaveholder, as the owner alike of land, labour, and capital, disposed at his pleasure of the entire product of industry. Under the feudal system, by which the cultivator was attached to the soil and had a fixed interest in it, he was obliged to render to his superiors dues in labour, in kind, and latterly in money, which were fixed by custom or authority. Where the system prevails of cultivators owning the soil, as it does in America, and among the peasant proprietors of the European continent, the owner, inasmuch as he unites in his own person land, labour, and capital, disposes of the entire product, except such portion as may be claimed by the money-lender. In cases where the state owns the land, the cultivator pays a rent or tax to the government, and retains the remainder. Italy, the owner advancing the land and stock (in The metayer system still exists in whole or in part), and receiving from the cultivator a fixed share of the produce, generally one-half. In Great Britain, and to a large extent in other countries with a highly developed industry, land, labour, and capital are supplied, each by a different class of person, and their share in the product is termed respectively rent, wages, and profits (interest, earnings of management, &c.). The respective amounts of these shares are determined by three main factors: (1) the amount produced; (2) the price obtained; (3) the relative bargaining power, collective or individual, of the above three agents. It should be pointed out that under such a system the central function in distribution, as well as in production, rests with the employer. As he originates and controls the productive process, so in the distributive process he settles with landlord and labourer, and markets the product. If the employer operates in whole or in part with borrowed capital, interest on that capital must also be deducted from his share of the produce. All these claims satisfied, the amount of his share will depend on the relative efficiency of his management compared with that of competitive employers. The above process is, however, considerably modified by the influence of law and custom. There is an increasing tendency to revert to judicial rents and wages. Account must also be taken of the growing share in wealth claimed by government through taxation for public purposes-defence, justice, education, pensions, public health, &c. Some sections of the so-called professional classes are from this source paid for services rendered to the state. But the clerical and teaching professions derive their income more or less from corporate property, while the legal and medical professions obtain their share of the distribution mostly from the services they render to private individuals. It is now admitted that economists have bestowed excessive attention on production, to the neglect of the problem of distribution. But the reproach has a much wider application than to economists merely, for it may generally be said that while modern communities have enormously increased their productive forces, they have not yet solved the problem of distribution. The enormous inequalities of distribution are a danger felt by all thinking men. It is a question which is more and more challenging the attention of statesmen and economists. An economic system can be satisfactory only when a high standard of production finds its complement in a reasonable and equitable distribution, supplying to the mass of the citizens the means for their due physical, intellectual, and moral development. Merchants, wholesale and retail, are said to effect the distribution of manufactured products, acting as middlemen between the manufacturer and consumer. For special methods of seeking to secure the equitable distribution of profits amongst those who earn them, see CO-OPERATION, PROFIT-SHARING; for other kinds of distribution, see KIN (NEXT OF) and HEIR; also GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION. For an analysis of national income, see The Division of the Product of Industry, by A. L. Bowley (1919), Wealth and Taxable Capacity, by Sir J. Stamp (1922). District Councils. See PARISH, LOCAL GOVERNMENT. District of Columbia, a district of the United States, now coinciding with the federal capital, is bounded on the west by the river Potomac, and on all other sides by Maryland. It originally embraced lands on both sides of the Potomac, the portion east of the river being ceded to the general government by Maryland, and that west of the river (36 sq. miles) by Virginia in 1788-89: the latter section, however, was retroceded to Virginia in 1846, and the present district has an area of 69 sq. miles. The federal city, afterwards called Washington, was laid out from a plan furnished by Major L'Enfant, and the public buildings were erected and completed before December 1800, when the seat of government was removed hither from Philadelphia. In 1814 the British burned the Capitol, White House (the president's residence), and executive buildings, besides much private property, the total damage being estimated at $2,500,000. The district remained an unorganised territory, under the sole government of congress, up to the year 1871, although it had a county organisation, and Washington and Georgetown held charters for their local government; a congressional committee each session recommended such legislation and appropriations as were deemed needful for it. An Act passed in 1871 organised a territorial government, and provided for a governor to be appointed by the president, and approved by the senate; for a secretary, appointed by the president; and for the election of a delegate to congress, to serve for two years. There was also a legislature, with eleven councilmen appointed by the president, and twenty-two delegates chosen by the people. In 1874-78, however, congress placed the whole control and government of the district in charge of three commissioners, appointed by the president and approved by the senate. These have full power to make appointments to absolutely all offices in the district; the citizens have nothing to say in relation thereto, nor is a vote given to them either in district or national affairs. Area, 69 sq. m. (land area, 60 sq. m.); pop. (1800) 14,093; (1850) 51,687; (1870) 131,700; (1880) 177,624; (1890) 230,392; (1900) 278,718; (1910) 331,069; (1920) 437,571. See WASHINGTON. Distrito Federal, a district of the republic of Mexico, including the city of Mexico, almost surrounded by the state of Mexico, but touching Morelos in the south, is directly administered by the federal authorities, with some small measure of local government; area, 578 sq. m.; pop. 1,000,000, mostly in Mexico city. Dita Bark, the bark of the apocynaceous forest tree Alstonia scholaris, found in the Philippines and elsewhere, has tonic and antiperiodic properties, like that of other trees of the genus. It yields an alkaloid ditain or ditarnin, C16H19NO2 Dital, a key or stop for raising the pitch of a guitar or lute by a semitone. Ditch, in Agriculture, is a trench usually made along the sides of fields, so that all the drains may be led into it, or along the top of a field to divert surface water. A hedge is often planted along the side, and the two form a better fence for cattle. In cold undrained lands the earth thrown out of the trench forms a mound of dry earth, which is particularly serviceable for the growth of thornhedges. Accordingly, in certain districts this is the common mode adopted in planting hedges. Various forms of ditches are made; sometimes a double ditch is adopted, with the hedge between. Since the general use of small and large pipes, however, ditches have in many cases been converted into underground drains, a great saving of land being thus effected, and fields often given a more convenient form. See DRAINAGE. Ditchling Beacon, a summit of the South Downs (813 feet), 6 miles N. of Brighton, is not the highest point in the range or in the county. Dithyrambus, originally a surname of Diony. sus, of uncertain derivation and meaning, was subsequently applied to a species of lyric poetry cultivated more particularly at Athens, and characterised by loftiness and vehemence of style, which, however, at a later period, degenerated into bombast and extravagance. The Dithyrambus was originally a passionate hymn, sung by one or more revellers to the music of a flute; but Arion is said to have invented for it a regular choral or antistrophic form. He is also spoken of as the inventor of the tragic style, as having introduced among lyrics of a more festive and joyous character, gloomy dithyrambs, representing the sorrows of Dionysus. Lasus of Hermione freed the dithyramb from its antistrophic character; and thenceforward it became more and more mimetic and dramatic. It was out of the mournful dithyrambic songs that the stately and solemn tragedy of the ancient Greeks arose. But few fragments of the dithyrambic poetry survive. Ditmarsh, DITHMARSCHEN, or DITMARSEN, the western district of Holstein, lying between the Eider and the Elbe, with an area of 550 sq. m., and a pop. of 100,000. It is low-lying and fertile, and has to be defended by dykes from flooding. Originally a part of Saxony, and from 1474 till 1559 practically an independent state between Germany and Denmark, the district still retains many ancient peculiarities. The Landbuch, containing the ancient laws, dates from 1348. The Chronik was written in the Lower Saxon dialect by Adolfi (1559-1629). Dittany (Dictamnus), a genus of Rutaceæ, of which the common species, also called Bastard Dittany or Fraxinella (D. albus), a native of the south of Europe, is an old inmate of our gardens. It is a perennial, with unbranched stem, pinnate leaves, and a fine raceme of white or rose coloured (var. fraxinella) flowers. The plant diffuses a powerful fragrance from its numerous oil-glands when in flower, and during dry hot weather exhales such a quantity of volatile oil, that it is said that a slight flash has been obtained by its sudden combustion when a candle is brought near it on a warm summer evening. The root is thick, white, and very bitter, and was formerly in medicinal repute. Dittany of Crete, used as a febrifuge, is a very different plant (Origanum Dictamus), a kind of Marjoram (q.v.). Diu, a seaport, situated at the eastern extremity of a Portuguese island (7 x 2 miles) of the same name, off the south coast of Kathiawar, 180 miles NW. of Bombay. Once an important city of 50,000 souls, it has sunk in importance till now the whole island has but 20,000 inhabitants, mostly fishermen. Some magnificent buildings still attest its ancient splendour, such as the Jesuit College (1601), now a cathedral. The place has been in possession of the Portuguese ever since 1535, and stood a famous siege in 1545. of Diuretics, medicines having the property increasing the secretion or excretion of urine, and on this account much employed in dropsies, as well as in a variety of other diseases. The principal diuretics are the salts of potash, especially the nitrate, acetate, and bitartrate (cream of tartar); squill, in powder, vinegar, or syrup; digitalis or foxglove, in powder or infusion; the decoction or infusion of broom-tops (scoparium); nitrous ether (in sweet spirit of nitre); caffeine, the active principle of coffee; the alcohols and ethers, with most of the volatile oils, especially that of juniper, as in gin; the berries of the common elder; the tincture of cantharides or Spanish flies; turpentine, &c. The last named (from the alcohols onwards in the above enumeration) are more or less irritating in their effects on the urinary organs, and should not be used without due consideration as to the requirements of the particular case. Cream of tartar and the broom-decoction form one of the safest and best diuretic mixtures which can be employed in domestic use; or cream of tartar may be given alone, either dissolved in hot water and allowed to cool, or in substance along with syrup. Divan is a Persian word meaning collection, society, council, audience-chamber, as also the kind of cushioned seats or sofas which in receptionrooms in the East are ranged against the wall. Another meaning is a collection of poems-in which special sense of the term Goethe used it for his West-östlicher Diwan. Diver, or LOON (Colymbus), a genus of birds of the family Colymbidæ, emphatically oceanic, and confined to northern latitudes. They have a strong, straight, rather compressed, pointed bill, about as long as the head; a short and rounded tail; short wings; thin compressed legs placed very far back, a short hind-toe, and the other digits completely webbed. They fly well, but are particularly expert in diving. They prey upon fish, which they pursue under water, making use of their wings as well as of their legs and webbed feet in their dexterous swimming. On land they can hardly walk, and the name Loon is supposed to refer to this incapacity, and to be from the same root with lame. They nest on the islands, rocks, or shores of lochs and fiords, but except at breeding-time keep to the water. In winter they sometimes follow the rivers inland. The Great Northern Diver or Loon, also called the Immer or Ember Goose (C. glacialis), is a bird about 2 feet long, exhibiting no little beauty of plumage; the upper parts black, spotted with white; the head black, with tints of green and blue; the belly white. In winter and in youth it is predominantly brownish-gray and white beneath. It is a winter visitant of the British coasts, even to the farthest south, and is occasionally seen in inland districts; is found in like manner in most parts of Europe, the north of Asia, and North America as far south as Texas, but it breeds chiefly in he Great Northern Diver (Colymbus glacialis). more northern Its cry is very peculiar and wild, has been likened regions, as Labrador, Iceland, and Spitsbergen. to the howl of a wolf, and is in some countries superstitiously regarded as ominous of evil. The bird is easily tamed, and becomes very familiar.The Black-throated Diver (C. arcticus) is another much smaller size, being only about 26 inches in northern bird, of similarly wide distribution, but length. It is found round the coasts of Britain, and occasionally breeds in the fresh-water lochs of the north of Scotland. The upper head and neck are ashen-gray, the cheeks and throat black, the general upper surface black with white spots, the under surface white with posterior black spots. In youth and winter it is blackish-brown above, and white beneath.-The Red-throated Diver (C. septentrionalis) is also found in all the northern parts of the world, is more common in Britain than either of the other species, and is the bird generally called Loon on the British coasts. In size it scarcely equals the Black-throated Diver. Its back is brownishgray, the belly white, the throat red. In winter, coloured, and without the red throat. The flesh like the preceding species, this diver is more soberly of all the divers is dark, tough, and unpalatable. The name is sometimes extended to allied genera. See AUK, GREBE, PENGUIN, &c. Di'ves (Lat., 'rich'), the name popularly adopted for the rich man' in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, from the Vulgate translation. Dividend, the sum falling to be divided realised assets, after payment of the expenses. among the creditors of a bankrupt from the The dividend is reckoned at so much per pound of the claims, and the term is applied both to the each creditor (see BANKRUPTCY). The profits of whole sum divided and the proportion falling to a bank, railway, or other joint-stock company, distributed annually or half-yearly among the shareholders, are also called dividends; and the same term is used to denote the interest payable on the public funds, and sometimes on other loans and debentures. Dividing Engine. See GRADUATION. Dividi'vi, or LIBIDIBI, the curled pods of Caesalpinia coriaria (see CESALPINIA), a West Indian and South American leguminous tree, are of remarkable astringency, and are imported especially for use in tanning. reason. Divination (Lat. divinatio; Gr. manteia, mantike technē), the act of obtaining the knowledge of unknown or future things by supernatural revelation, or more strictly, the knowledge of the divine thought manifested to the human soul by objective or subjective signs, and apprehended by means outside the range of the rational. It postulates a belief in a divine providence, and the possibility of reciprocal relations between man and God considered as being able to contribute to man's happiness. Its essential characteristic is thus a belief that the divine thought may be comprehended by the human understanding in a knowledge of a special nature, more or less direct, more or less complete, but always through supernatural means, with or without the concurrent agency of the Thus its domain includes all that the human mind can apprehend by its own powers; in the first place, the future, in so far as it escapes rational foresight; in the second place, the past and the present, in so far as they are inaccessible to ordinary investigation. This supernatural knowledge, says M. Bouché-Leclerq, has been oftener applied to the investigation of the past or of the present than to that of the future. Most of the ancient prodigies were considered as having their causes in the past; the result of their interpretation was always to make known the present will of the gods, and through that, but indirectly, the secrets of the future. And in the future even, considered as capable of being modified, divination oftener teaches that which should happen in accordance with the actual plan of providence, than reveals that which actually will happen. It is closely connected with magic, which may here be defined summarily as the art of voluntarily producing effects contrary to the laws of nature, by a mastery over obscure supernatural forces. Many of its methods consist in the interpretation of the marvellous effects produced at first by magical receipts, and there is an element of magic in every practice or rite destined to prepare or to produce an act of divination. While magic is the consequence of the active knowledge which permits the human will to make use of supernatural influences, the specially prophetic faculty-the particular function of the diviner-on the other hand, is the result of the contemplative knowledge which places the divine thought within the scope of the human intelligence. The former is an enlargement of the activity and of the human initiative at the expense of the divine freedom; the latter is like an increase of visual power added to the understanding. Otherwise a broad distinction may be made between artificial divination by haruspication, astrology, lots, the interpretation of prodigies, lightning, augury, and the like; and natural divination, by dreams and prophetic oracles, considered as the direct revelation of the divine will, or an inward intuition flashed with irresistible conviction upon the human soul. The last subjective divination follows from that conception of the prophetic function which had its place in the philosophi cal system of Plato. It proceeds by a state of psychic exaltation or prophetic ecstasy, which Suspends the intellectual energies of the human agent in a kind of sympathetic passivity suitable for the transmission of the divine thought. The conditions most favourable for receiving the divine impressions have beforehand been induced by the weakening or the destruction of the individuality of the medium through certain morbid physiologi cal conditions, as ecstatic enthusiasm, deep sleep, sickness, or the approach of death-the last, a notion that lingers long in the heart of our modern civilisation. The scientific spirit of Aristotle rejects external divination and accepts subjective prophecy, but reduces it to nothing more than the natural exercise of a special faculty. It is neither easy,' he says, to despise such things, nor yet to believe them.' The Stoical school maintained divination because the gods were too beneficent to have denied to men a gift so good, but they identified providence with necessity or the inevitable connection of causes and consequences, and thus involved divination in an illogical confusion betwixt fatalism and free-will, the only reason for its existence that remained being its utility. The usual attempt at an explanation was that divination and the consecutive resolution of man had been foreseen with the rest by providence, and that thus its end was active co-operation in the realisation of the divine plan. The Epicureans made divination impossible by leaving it neither object nor agent, for The their gods exercised no providence over men. sceptical Lucian imitates Aristophanes in his amusing burlesques on the difficulty which Apollo feels liant Carneades left divination in its fatal dilemma in composing his official hexameters. The brilbetwixt necessity and free-will, and Cicero follows with a halting conservatism, unable entirely to surrender his wishes to a conviction that his logic demands. Pliny the naturalist and Suetonius feel all the embarrassments of the old dilemma, and their attitude to divination may to some extent be explained by classifying them as superstitious rationalists. Plutarch, an eclectic Platonist, enumerates with marked particularity all the prodigies and miracles that had happened to his heroes, and seems to have believed in an innate human faculty for divination, a state of receptivity through which the soul becomes the instrument of God, just as the body is the instrument of the soul. With the spiritual revival that marked the rise of Neoplatonism, we find divination again established and based on cosmic sympathy. The Egyptian ascetic Plotinus accepted inward revelation, and directly ascribed all the phenomena of divination to the agency of the gods and other spiritual forces. Porphyry had an intensely vivid sense of the spiritual in nature, and regarded the supernatural and its external expression almost as the least extraordinary of all her secrets. The divine communicates itself to the human through inward illumination in specially gifted souls, and to others less highly endowed through dreams, chance presages, and voices. The early Christian controversialists accepted the supernatural inspiration of the Pagan oracles, that of the Hebrew prophets and the saints, but but explained that it came not from God, like from the devil. It was easy for them to demonstrate the fallacy and errors of the ancient oracles, but they were hardly logical in, at the same time, accepting such of these as could be interpreted as foretelling the coming of Christ or some of the peculiar dogmas of Christian theology. It was St Augustine who finally formulated the orthodox opinion of western Christianity on the subject in a special treatise, De Divinatione conscious fraud in the function of the diviner, as he Dæmonum. He limits greatly the part ascribed to found the whole mystery sufficiently explained by the intervention of the bad angels, which existed in such countless numbers. The devils imitated as far as possible the divine methods, and hence we have false dreams, visions, and prophetic inspirations resembling in everything save their origin those so often vouchsafed to the saints. Thus early Christianity agreed perfectly with Paganism upon the facts of divination, simply substituting the wicked angel for the good genius and the gods of a polytheistic religion. It merely eliminated the external rites, as infected with magic, |