to be a part of the territory of the state which he represents. On this fiction of exterritoriality was based the so-called right of asylum, under which criminals or other persons taking refuge within a foreign embassy secured freedom from arrest. The claim to grant such asylum has in practice been abandoned, and English law does not recognise any right of asylum as attaching to a foreign embassy. The right to freedom of religious worship (droit de chapelle) has long been recognised, and the larger tolerance of modern times in religious matters has deprived that right of much of its former significance.

Until the beginning of the 18th century Latin was the language generally used in diplomatic intercourse. French, however, gradually displaced Latin as the diplomatic language of states. At the Peace Conference at Paris in 1919, the English and French languages were employed on a footing of equality, and the English and French texts of the Treaty of Peace with Germany, and the Covenant of the League of Nations, are both authentic.

The permanent diplomatic agents of the several states not merely carry on the necessary intercourse and communications between their respective states, but are constantly engaged in adjusting points of difference, and in exchanging views on questions affecting the relations of these states. It is the duty of an ambassador, or other permanent diplomatic envoy, to keep his government informed on all matters of state policy or of political interest in the country in which he is resident; to protect the persons and property of subjects of his home state, and, in case of injury to them, to secure a remedy; and, in general, to forward the interests of his home state and those of its individual subjects. He must, however, scrupulously abstain from interference in the internal affairs of the state to which he is accredited. If he violates this rule, the state to which he is accredited may request

that he be recalled. Thus, in September 1915, Dr Dumba, the Austro-Hungarian ambassador in Washington, was, at the request of the United States, recalled for proposing plans to instigate strikes in American munition factories, and for employing an American citizen, with an American passport, to carry official despatches secretly to Austria through the lines of the enemies of Austria.

In recent years many changes have been made in the organisation of the British diplomatic service. The foreign office and the diplomatic service, always closely associated, are now amalgamated. The examination for entrance to the service is the same as that for the general civil service and the Indian civil service, special provision being made to ensure that the candidates attain a high standard in French and German. Between the diplomatic service and the consular service, a new commercial diplomatic service has been formed. In the more important countries there is now a commercial counsellor, who is the deputy of the ambassador, and who has under him one or more commercial secretaries. In less important countries there is a commercial first secretary with a suitable staff.

Colloquially the term is frequently applied to conduct which, if not altogether fraudulent, is characterised by a certain degree of cunning and subtlety. This use of the word probably arose from the popular impression that, in conducting the affairs of nations, there is in use a code of morality which would be condemned if practised by individuals in their intercourse with each other. Nor, judging from the old literature of legation, can it be said that this popular conception of the ambassador and his functions was altogether unfounded. Of late years,

however, the general progress of international morality, and more advanced conceptions of international relations, have considerably modified the older view of the functions of diplomacy and diplomatists. Speech in the mouth of a diplomatist is no longer an instrument for the concealment of thought; an ambassador is no more a functionary commissioned to lie abroad for the advantage of his country,' but one selected to tell the truth on her behalf.

The phrase Corps Diplomatique is usual for the whole body of ministers who are present at any court as representatives of foreign countries.

See P. Satow, A Guide to Diplomatic Practice (2 vols. London, 1917); Callières, The Practice of Diplomacy (London, 1919); D. P. Heatley, Diplomacy (Oxford, 1919); and Treatises on International Law.

Diplomatics, the science of dealing with historical documents, is closely connected with Palæography (q.v.). See RECORDS.

Diplozoon (Gr., 'double animal'), a remarkable flat worm or Trematode. It consists of two organisms fused together. The embryo, known as Diporpa, is ciliated and free-swimming, but soon relapses into parasitism. It loses its cilia, settles on a minnow's gills, loses its eyes, and remains for weeks or months like

many another Fluke (q. v.). Finally, however, a curious pheno

menon occurs.

One individual moors itself by its ventral sucker to a conical knob on the back of another, whicli thereupon so twists itself as to fix the first in

Diplozoon paradoxum. (From Leunis, after Zeller.)

dividual in the same manner.' The cones and

suckers are closely fused, but otherwise the secondarily twin animals remain independent. This double Trematode well deserves its name of Diplozoon paradoxum. See Zeller, Zeitscher. f. wiss. Zool. xxix. (1877).

Dipnoi (lit. double-breathers'), a small order of fishes in which the air-bladder has become a single or double lung. See CERATODUS, LEPIDOSIREN, and MUD FISHES.

Dippel's Animal Oil, a panacea invented by Johann Konrad Dippel (1673-1734), a German chemist and alchemist. It was obtained in the manufacture of ammoniacal products by the distillation of bones. A mixture of oils passes over, and these, after being repeatedly distilled, eventually yield an aromatic liquid, free from fetid odour. This obtained a great reputation as an antispasmodic, and being present in the old spirit of hartshorn, gave it properties somewhat different from those of the modern sal volatile. Owing to the careless way in which it was usually manufactured, and the consequent disgusting odour and taste which it possessed, it has been quite discarded and is no longer used in medicine.

Dipper (Cinclus), a genus in the family Cinclidæ, sometimes mistakenly referred to thrushes. The bill is straight, and there is a membrane partially covering the nostrils; the wings are short and rounded; the tail is very short; there is a complete layer of dense down beneath the close-set outer feathers. Dippers frequent clear pebbly streams and lakes, feeding chiefly on molluses and on aquatic insects and their larvæ. The bird carries its short tail elevated after the manner

of wrens, which it also resembles in the frequent dipping of the head, accompanied with an upward jerking of the tail. One species is found in Britain, the Common Dipper or Water Ousel (C. aquaticus), a bird about seven inches in length, silky black above, with throat and upper part of the breast pure white, and then a band of chestnut-brown. It is found throughout central and western Europe, and the genus has a world-wide representation. It is not gregarious. The dipper never fails to attract notice, as it sits upon some stone in the midst of or beside the stream, its white breast

be raised by, so as to rest on, two Y-shaped brass edges, which are lifted or depressed again by turning the handle H. On the outside of the glass door a light cross-bar carries a flat rod, at each end of which a magnifying lens or microscope is placed to read off the dip of the needle as indicated by its ends, on the graduated vertical circle. For the purpose of setting the one circle truly horizontal and the other truly vertical, one level, L, is placed on the horizontal circle, and another, M, on the top of the vertical circle.

If the needle be swinging freely in the plane of the magnetic meridian, if its centre of gravity lies. in the axis on which it is free to rotate, and if its magnetic axis coincides with its axis of figure, it

Water Ousel (Cinclus aquaticus).

rendering it conspicuous as it repeats the movement from which it derives its name. Its song is not confined to the breeding season, and may even be heard among the frosts of winter. Its movements under water are imperfectly understood; it walks quickly along the bottom, and also uses its wings like oars. The nest of interwoven moss, domed and with the entrance on the side, is built usually in some mossy bank close by a stream, and often near or under a cascade. The dipper breeds twice in the year. There are 4 to 6 dull white eggs. The statement is often made that it eats the spawn of fishes, but this charge is baseless. On the contrary, the dipper often devours the enemies of spawn.

Dipping-needle, or DIP CIRCLE. The magnetic dip or inclination, one of the three elements necessary for the complete determination of the earth's total magnetic force at any place, is defined to be the angle which the magnetic axis of a magnet, swinging freely in the plane of the magnetic meridian, makes with the horizon. The dipping-needle which is employed to determine its amount at any place, consists essentially, therefore, of a magnetic needle suspended in the plane of the magnetic meridian, so that it can indicate, on a graduated circle in its plane, the angle required. In the accompanying figure one form of the instrument is represented. A is a vertical brass circle, graduated into degrees and fractions of a degree, inclosed between circular glass doors (one of which is seen opened in the figure), and supported on the pillar P. This pillar fits into a socket in the horizontal circular disc B, also graduated at its margin, and from the base of the pillar two flat brass strips, CD, reach on opposite sides to the graduated edge. The horizontal disc is supported on three legs, whose lengths can be adjusted by screwing or unscrewing. On this horizontal circle the vertical circle can be turned in azimuth. The needle, NS, a thin flat piece of steel, pointed at both ends, is suspended in the plane of the vertical circle by means of hard, polished, cylindrical axles passing through its centre of gravity, and rolling on the agate edges, EE. When the indications of the needle are not actually being read, the axles may

Dipping-needle.

will correctly indicate the dip. But there are numerous errors possible in such an instrument which can only be avoided by taking the mean of two observations which have errors of equal amount but of opposite sign. This duplication of observations has to be carried out for each of the known possible instrumental errors, so that finally the true angle of inclination or dip is obtained, as the mean of no less than sixteen readings. The errors in question may be due to the following causes: (1) The vertical circle may not be properly set, and in conse.. quence, when the needle is standing vertically, it does not point exactly to 90°, as it should; (2) the bearings of the needle may not be exactly in the centre of the circle; (3) the centre of gravity of the needle may not be in the axis on which it can rotate; (4) its magnetic axis may not coincide with its axis of figure; (5) there may be friction or adhesion at the bearings.

In making an observation of the inclination with the instrument, the first requisite is the adjustment to verticality of the vertical circle by means of the levels. The plane of the magnetic meridian must then be found, and the axis turned round until the vertical circle is in that plane. This is done by finding the position in which the needle stands vertically, for in that position, which is at right angles to the plane of the magnetic meridian, the horizontal component of the earth's magnetic force is non-effective, owing to the mode of suspension; the vertical component only is effective, and causes the needle to hang vertically. The plane of the needle is then moved through 90°, and is thus brought into the magnetic meridian. In making this observation of the plane in which the needle stands vertically, it is necessary, in order to elimin

ate the effect of faults in construction already noted, to take a reading from the lower end, and one from the upper end of the needle; then, turning the circle round through 180°, to make other two in the same way; the mean of these four readings, with 90° subtracted, gives the plane of the meridian. To determine the angle of dip, four readings are taken, two with the face of the instrument towards magnetic east, and two with it facing magnetic west; one of each two being with a marked side of the needle facing the circle, the other being in the reversed position. The needle is then magnetised afresh, so that its polarity is reversed, and another series of four similar readings is obtained. The mean of these eight readings gives the true amount of the inclination.

The turning of the instrument through 180° is to avoid any error due to that noted above as (1); to counteract (2), readings of both ends of the needle are taken; presenting both faces (or sides) of the needle, neutralises the effect of any error such as (3); errors such as (4) are obviated by the reversal of polarity.

The dipping-needle is not of such form as is convenient for continuous registration; for these requirements-i.e. the variations of the vertical component of the earth's magnetic force, the vertical force magnetometer is used. See MAG

NETOMETER.

Diprotodon, a huge Australian Tertiary marsupial, a gigantic_kangaroo. The head alone was 3 feet long. See KANGAROO.

Dipsacea, or DIPSACACEA, the order of Teasel (q.v.) and Scabious (q. v.).

Dipsas, a genus of non-venomous serpents of the family Colubriformes. The body is much compressed laterally; the head is thick, blunt, and distinct from the neck; the scales are smooth. They are nocturnal, arboreal animals, feeding chiefly on lizards, frogs, and small birds, and are most abundant in neotropical and oriental regions. D. dendrophila, from the East Indies, is over six feet in length. Dipsas cyanodon is a large and beautiful species found in Java and Sumatra.

Dipsas cyanodon.

Dip-sector, an astronomical instrument for determining the dip of the horizon, is in principle similar to the Sextant (q.v.). See HORIZON.

Dipsomania is the typical form in which the morbid craving for alcohol and other nerve stimu

lants manifests itself. The craving attacks are recurrent, often periodic, and in

the intervals between them the subjects may either abstain altogether-which they are often able to do without difficulty-or they may take alcohol regularly without exceeding the bounds of moderation. The instinctive character of dipsomania is manifested in its symptoms, the chief of which are suggestibility, impulse, and suppression. After recovery from the drinking bout the painful experience is effectively suppressed from consciousness to such an extent that the inclination to alcohol may be converted into a repugnance towards it, and the subject believes that a recurrence of the experience is impossible. This psychological process of forgetting is quite natural, although,

to the uninitiated, it forms one of the most puzzling symptoms of the malady. But although the experience is thus suppressed, it remains independently active in the unconscious, and is liable to be reawakened into conscious activity under the influence of suggestions of various kinds, of which alcohol itself is the most potent. When a powerful, suppressed experience gains an ascendancy over the controlling mental processes responsible for its suppression, it usually displays the instinctive character of an impelling impulse. The subject, aware of the danger and alive to the painfulness of his past experience, endeavours to repress the complex, but too often is overcome by a force stronger than his own impaired will. There is every degree of difference between the ordinary forms of Alcoholism (q. v.) and what have been called the pathological forms, to which the term dipsomania has hitherto been generally applied, but the main characteristics-suggestibility, recurrence, and impulse-are essentially the same. It is true that many of the subjects of the exaggerated forms of alcoholism have an hereditary tendency to the neuroses and to insanity, and that they often manifest a stronger craving for, and a stronger impulse towards, nerve stimulants than less neurotic individuals. So powerful may this impulse be, and so inaccessible to advice or control, that some authorities look upon the pathological form as true dipsomania, which they compare with epilepsy or certain phases of mania. As has been pointed out, however, the difference between the ordinary and the pathological forms is only one of degree, and dipsomania, notwithstanding its name, must be regarded abnormal impulse to indulge in narcotic stimulants. as merely a more pronounced manifestation of the

·

Dip'tera, an order of two-winged insects, distinguished even by Aristotle. The wings are transparent, never folded, with predominant longitudinal veins; the hind-wings are transformed into small balancers' or 'halteres,' rarely absent; the mouth organs are adapted for piercing and sucking, the palps on the first pair of maxilla are free or absent, those of the second pair are modified into a tongue or labella; there is a complete metamorphosis (larva, pupa, and imago); the larva is a footless maggot or a grub with secondary feet, its mouth parts are adapted for biting or for sucking; those of the pupa are adapted for sucking. order is very large, numbering probably from 15,000 to 18,000 species, not including the fossil forms preserved in amber and the like. Many species, both as adults and as larvæ, are directly or indirectly of economic importance because of their attacks on man, domestic animals, household stores, and cultivated plants; others again mitigate the ravages of other insects. The order will be sufficiently illustrated under separate articles-e.g. BLOW-FLY, CORN INSECTS, DADDY-LONG-LEGS, GNAT, HESSIAN FLY, HOUSE-FLY, MIDGE, &c.

The

Dipterocarpacea, or DIPTERACEA, an East Indian order of archichlamydeous dicotyledons, including about 300 species, of which many are majestic trees, valued alike for timber and balsamic resins (see SAL, COPAL, DAMMAR, &c.). Dipterocarpus turbinatus, the Gurjun tree, and other species yield a fragrant oily resin, the so-called Gurjun balsam, while that of other species is sometimes called Dammar. Their timber is valuable for sleepers, &c. The seeds of various species of Shorea and other genera, especially S. stenoptera, growing in Borneo, Sumatra, and Java, yield Borneo tallow, a fat resembling cocoa butter in characters and uses. These are sometimes called illipe nuts, a name better confined to the fruits of Bassia and other Sapotacea. For the Malabar tallow-tree,

see TALLOW-TREE.

Diptych, a two-leaved writing tablet, in which were inscribed the names of living or dead Christians to be read aloud during the celebration of the eucharist. The practice was due originally to a custom under the Roman empire of magistrates, such as consuls, prætors, and ædiles, at the commencement of their office, giving away tablets inscribed with their names and portraits. In Christian usage it was in very early times customary to inscribe the names of dead bishops-a beginning of the calendars and martyrologies of later days. The insertion of the names of living persons may have had its origin in the ancient recital of the names of those who had voluntarily furnished the elements for the holy communion. It afterwards was extended to include the names of the living faithful, especially those in authority, ecclesiastical and civil. The commemoration of the faithful dead was originally distinct from any special prayer on their behalf. The earliest diptychs in existence are not older than the 5th century of our era. They are of various sizes, rarely exceeding eight inches by four, are sometimes of ivory and metal, as well as wood, and are adorned with an art that is elaborate, if not always beautiful.

Dipus. See JERBOA.

Dir'ce, wife of Lycus, treated with great cruelty her husband's divorced wife Antiope. The sons of Zeus by Antiope took vengeance on their mother's foe by tying her to a wild bull, which dragged her about till she died-a subject represented in a famous antique statue group.

Dircks, HENRY, civil engineer, born at Liver pool, 26th August 1806, is known as the author of works on perpetual motion (1861) and electrometallurgy; of The Ghost (in which he describes his invention, commonly called Pepper's Ghost') (1863), of a life of the Marquis of Worcester (1865), of Inventors and Inventions (1867), and of novels and essays. He died at Brighton, 17th September 1873. Director, one of a number of persons appointed to conduct the affairs of joint-stock undertakings, such as banks, railways, water and gas companies, fire and life assurance companies, and various kinds of manufacturing and trading companies. See COMPANY.-Director is a name used by Catholics for a spiritual guide and confessor.

Directorium is the part of the Catholic church calendar which gives the order of the festivals and prescribes the services for the several days of the year.

Directory, a name applied to a board of guardians over any commercial, industrial, or scientific enterprise. Historically the name refers to the body of five men-Lépeaux, Letourneur, Rewbell, Barras, and Carnot-to whom the execu tive was intrusted in France after the downfall of the Terrorists, 26th October 1795 (5th Brumaire III.), and which lasted till the 9th November 1799 (18th Brumaire VIII.). Its corruption and incompetence made government impossible, and it was overturned by the Abbé Sieyes and Bonaparte, who established in its stead the consulate, soon itself to fall before the imperial ambition of Napoleon.

Directory for Public Worship, a code of regulations concerning the different parts of public worship, drawn up by the Westminster Assembly in 1644, ratified by the English parliament in the same year, and adopted by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the 3d February, and by the Scottish parliament 'without a contrary voice,' on the 6th February 1645. It was on express order from both Houses of the English parliament that the Westminster Assembly addressed itself to the work of preparing this Directory, to supply the place of the Book of

Common Prayer, which had been abolished. In Scotland it was hailed as conducive to a happy unity and uniformity in religion among the kirks of Christ in these three kingdoms, united under one sovereign,' and to the corroboration of peace and love between the kingdoms.' Many of the regulations of the Directory are still complied with in all branches of the Presbyterian Church in Scotland, but in many things it has been generally departed from. The Directory is printed in vol. v. of Neale's History of the Puritans, and is usually appended to the Confession of Faith.

Directrix. If a point so move that its distance from a given fixed point is to its perpendicular distance from a fixed straight line in a constant ratio, it describes a conic section, of which the fixed straight line is termed the directrix, and the fixed point the focus. The

constant ratio referred to is termed the eccentricity, and its magnitude" determines the nature of the conic. Thus, if in the figure AB be the directrix and F the focus, if the point P move so that its dis

F

M L

tance from F is to its distance PM from AB in a constant ratio, then P will trace out a conic section, which will be an ellipse, parabola, or hyperbola, according as the ratio in question is less than, equal to, or greater than unity-i.e. as FP is less than, equal to, or greater than PM, or FV than VI.

Dirhem, a modification of the Greek drachma (see DRACHM), was the name under the califs for grains, and was also used for precious stones and a weight of silver equivalent to about forty-five medicine in Arabia, Persia, Egypt, and Turkey, As a coin the value varied, but may be given at 54d. under the califs. In Turkey, the name dirhem has been given to the much smaller weight, the French gramme.

Dirk is a dagger. In the complete equipment of the Scottish Highlander, the skean-dhu (black knife') is worn thrust inside the stocking.-The sidearm formerly worn by midshipmen and cadets of the royal navy when on duty was also called by this name. The weapon was a broad blade some 18 inches in length, furnished with a white fish-skin handle. This weapon, which superseded the sword in 1856, was clumsy, unsightly, and of small use for purposes of offence or defence.

Dirk Hartog Island, measuring 40 miles by 10, lies off the west coast of Australia, and, with Peron Peninsula to the south, incloses the Freycinet Inlet, while, with two smaller islands to the north, it forms the breastwork of Shark's Bay.

Dirschau (Polish Tczew), a manufacturing town of Poland, on the left bank of the Vistula, 20 miles SSE. of Danzig. Road and railway bridges cross the Vistula. Polish from 1466 till 1772, but occupied by Gustavus Adolphus in 1626, West Prussian to 1918, Dirschau is now a railway junction, and has great railway works and sugarfactories. Pop. 36,000.

Dirt-beds, the quarrymen's name of several layers which occur in the Purbeck (q.v.) Beds, having the appearance of black dirt. They rest on the fresh-water limestones of the Purbeck, and consist of one principal layer, from 12 to 18 inches thick, and from two to four thinner layers. The substance is to a large extent a dark-brown or blackish earthy lignite, being the remains of an ancient vegetable soil. Through it are dispersed in considerable abundance rounded fragments of limestone (derived from the underlying bed) from

3 to 9 inches in diameter. Fossil Cycads (q.v.) are the predominant vegetable remains; they occupy their original upright position, having become fossil on the spots where they grew. The stumps stand erect for a height of from 1 to 3, or even more feet, and at distances from each other similar to what may be observed in a recent forest. Besides these, the dirt-bed contains the silicified stems of

a

b

d

Dirt-bed (Isle of Portland):

e, fresh-water calcareous slate, &c.; b, dirt-bed with stools of trees; c, fresh-water bituminous limestone, &c.; d, Portland stone, marine.

coniferous trees, laid prostrate, in fragments 3 or 4 feet in length. From the accompanying diagram it will be seen that the marine conditions under which the Jurassic limestone (Portland stone) was accumulated were succeeded by estuarine and fluviatile conditions, when the overlying calcareous beds forming the base of the Purbeck series were deposited. These beds were in like manner overspread with sandy carbonaceous clay, which eventually formed a land surface upon which grew a forest of cycads. Subsequently this forest was submerged and converted into a morass; and the trees decayed, and were eventually overturned by the force of wind or flood. Thereafter they were buried under newer accumulations of silt and calcareous mud, which now form the overlying fresh-water calcareous slate, &c.

Dis, the Roman equivalent of the Greek Pluto (q.v.). It is akin to divus, and originally denoted merely 'godhead' or 'deity.'

Disability, in Law, is either absolute, which wholly disables the person from doing any legal act-e.g. outlawry, excommunication, attainder, alienage or partial, as infancy, lunacy, and drunkenness. For Catholic and Jewish disabili ties, see CATHOLIC EMANCIPATION and JEWS.

Disbar, to degrade from the rank of barristerat-law. This power is in England reposed in the benchers of the four Inns of Court. As the courts of law require that every barrister, before he is allowed to practise, must have been admitted to that office by one of the Inns of Court, so they will refuse to hear any one who has been deprived of his rank by the same authority. The power is rarely exercised, and only when the conduct of the offending party has been grossly irregular, one case of disbarring having occurred in 1862, and another in 1874. In the United States, the power to disbar ia vested in the courts which have power to admit counsellors and attorneys to the bar.

In Scotland, the power to disbar rests in the Faculty of Advocates (see ADVOCATES).

Disc, in Botany, is a term applied with considerable vagueness by different authors to modified regions of the floral axis, particularly when forming a prominent ring supporting functional or rudimentary stamens, or bearing glands or nectary. See AXIS, FLOWER.

Dise, or DISCUS, a circular plate of stone or metal about 10 or 12 inches in diameter, made for throwing to a distance as an exercise of strength or dexterity. Disc-throwing was one of the principal gymnastic exercises of the ancient Greeks and

Romans, and was included in the Pentathlon, the five exercises (leaping, foot-racing, disc-throwing, spear-throwing, and wrestling) prescribed for athletes in the national games. The discus was held in the right hand, leaning against the forearm, and thrown in the manner of a quoit, the player throwing it farthest being the winner. The method is well shown in the celebrated statue of the Discobolus (the disc-thrower) by Myron (q.v.), of which several copies exist, one being in the British Museum. See also QUOITS, SCULPTURE

Discalced, or DISCALCEATE, is the technical term for certain orders or sections of orders of friars and nuns bound by rule to go barefoot (from dis, and calceus, a shoe), especially amongst the Augustinians (q.v.), Carmelites (q.v.), Franciscans (q.v.), and Trinitarians (q.v.).

Discant. See DESCANT, COUNTERPOINT.

Discharge. See BANKRUPTCY; ELECTRICITY; ABSCESS, BOIL, PUS, SUPPURATION, ULCERS, WOUND. In the British army discharge is a matter of right at the expiration of the period of service for which a soldier has enlisted, subject to his subsequent service in the reserve. In 1914 this was seven years with the colours, and five years in the reserve. He is entitled to a certificate stating his service, conduct, and cause of discharge, with a note of any qualifications he may have for special employment in civil life. If abroad when discharged he is also entitled to be sent home free of expense. At any time within three months of his enlistment he may claim, in peace-time, his discharge on payment of £10, but after that the consent of his commanding officer is necessary, and the payment may amount to as much as £25. He may be discharged at any time if convicted by the civil power, or if sentenced thereto by court martial to be discharged with ignominy' when considered 'incorrigible and worthless.'

In the case of seamen, each person discharged receives an official paper giving the particulars of the voyage, with his rating, &c. A seaman who is discharged abroad and becomes distressed may be sent home at the expense of the owner of his last ship, or at the expense of the Mercantile Marine Fund. Lascars discharged elsewhere than in India must be returned to the port they shipped at. See CREW.

Disciples of Christ, a group of Christians found in various parts of the world who seek a restoration of the New Testament Christianity, and who advocate the union of all Christians on that basis. The names Churches of Christ and Christian Churches are also used. That of Campbellites, sometimes given in derision, they repudiate. Alexander Campbell (q.v.) was only one of a number who started independent movements, afterwards united.

Disciplina Arcani (Lat., Discipline of the Secret'), a term first employed by the German controversialists Tentzel and Schelstrate (1683–85) to denote a discipline of the early church, founded upon the words of Christ in Matt. vii. 6, and on 1 Cor. iii. 1-2, and Heb. v. 12-14, in virtue of which the knowledge of certain doctrines and the liberty of presence at certain rites connected with the most solemn mysteries of the Christian religion were withheld by the initiated from pagans and catechumens. Both unbelievers and catechumens were removed from the church at the commencement of what was afterwards called the Missa Fidelium (see MASS); such doctrines as regarded the sacraments of baptism and the eucharist were either not mentioned in the presence of these classes, or were referred to in enigmatical language, unintelligible to the uninitiated. This principle of reserve accounts for the absolute silence as to the eucharist