as the last in the long succession of Greek philosophers. (See | a quarter for his merchants in Samaria (1 Kings xx. 34). His NEOPLATONISM.) son Ben-Hadad made an unsuccessful attack on Israel at Aphek, and was allowed by Ahab to depart on a reversal of these terms (loc. cit.). This was the cause of a prophetic denunciation (1 Kings xx. 42). According to the Assyrian records Ahab fought as Ben-Hadad's ally at the battle of Karkar against Shalmaneser in 854. This seems to indicate an intermediate defeat and vassalage of Ahab, of which no direct record remains; and it was probably in the attempt to throw off this vassalage in 853, the year after the battle of Karkar, that Ahab met his death in battle with the Syrians (1 Kings xxii. 34-40). In the reign of Jehoram, Naaman, the Syrian general, came and was cleansed by the prophet Elisha of leprosy (2 Kings v.).

passed through a period of unrest in which it was captured and | along the south side of a quadrangle 163 yds.by 108 yds. Except ravaged by Egyptians, Carmathians and Seljuks in turn. The the famous inscription over the door-"Thy kingdom, O Christ, crusaders attacked Damascus in 1126, but never succeeded in is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout keeping a firm hold of it, even during their brief domination of the all generations "-every trace of Christianity was effaced from country. It was the headquarters of Saladin in the wars with the church at its conversion. It was destroyed by fire on the the Franks. Of its later history we need only mention the 14th of October 1893, and though it was subsequently rebuilt, Mongolian capture in 1260; its Egyptian recapture by the much that was of archaeological and historical interest perished. Mameluke Kotuz; the ferocious raid of Timur (Tamerlane) in It is estimated that there are over two hundred mosques in 1399; and the conquest by the Turkish sultan Selim, whereby Damascus. it became a city of the Ottoman empire (1516). In its more recent history the only incidents that need be mentioned are its capture by Ibrahim Pasha, the Egyptian general, in 1832, when the city was first opened to the representatives of foreign powers; its revolt against Ibrahim's tyranny in 1834, which he crushed with the aid of the Druses; the return of the city to Turkish domination, when the Egyptians were driven out of Syria in 1840 by the allied powers; and the massacre of July 1860, when the Moslem population rose against the Christians, burnt their quarter, and slaughtered about 3000 adult males. Modern City.-Damascus is a city with a population estimated at from 154,000 (35,000 Christians and Jews) to 225,000 (55,000 Christians and Jews), situated near the northern edge of a plain called the Ghutah, at the foot of Anti-Lebanon, 2250 ft. above the sea. The river Barada (the Abanah of 2 Kings v. 12) rises in the Anti-Lebanon, runs for about 10 m. in a narrow channel, and then spreads itself fan-wise over the plain. About 18 m. east of the city it loses itself in the marshlands known as the Meadow Lakes. A second river, the 'Awaj (possibly the Pharpar of 2 Kings), pursues a similar course. The plain is thus exceptionally well irrigated, and its consequent fertility is proverbial over the East. Damascus is situated on both banks of the Barada, about 2 m. from the exit of the river from the gorge. On the right bank is all the older part of the city, and a long suburb called El-Meidän extending about a mile along the Hajj Road. On the left bank are the suburbs El 'Amara and ElSalihia. The waters of the river are carried by channels and conduits to all the houses of the city. The orchards, gardens, vineyards and fields of Damascus are said to extend over a circuit of at least 60 m. In the surrounding plain are one hundred and forty villages, occupied in all by about 50,000 persons (1000 Christians, 2000 Druses).

The rough mud walls in the private houses give poor promise of splendour within. The entrance is usually by a low door, and through a narrow winding passage which leads to the outer court, where the master has his reception room. From this another winding passage leads to the harem, which is the principal part of the house. The plan of all is the same-an open court, with a tesselated pavement, and one or two marble fountains; orange and lemon trees, flowering shrubs, and climbing plants give freshness and fragrance. All the apartments open into the court; and on the south side is an open alcove, with a marble floor, and raised dais round three sides, covered with cushions; the front wall is supported by an ornamented Saracenic arch. The decoration of some of the rooms is gorgeous, the walls being covered in part with mosaics and in part with carved work, while the ceilings are rich in arabesque ornaments, elaborately gilt. A few of the modern Jewish houses have been embellished at an enormous cost, but they are wanting in taste.

Antiquities. Considering the great age of Damascus, its comparative poverty in antiquities is remarkable. The walls of the city seem to be Seleucid in origin; some of the Roman gateways being still in good order. The Derb el-Mistakim, or "Straight Street," still runs through the city from the eastern to the western gate. At the north-west corner is a large castle built in A.D. 1219, by El-Malik el-Ashraf, on the site of an earlier palace. It is quadrangular, surrounded by a moat filled by the Barada. The outer walls are in good preservation, but the interior is ruined.

The church of St John the Baptist constructed by Arcadius on the site of the temple was turned by Caliph Walid I. (705-717) to a mosque which was the most important building of Damascus. It was a structure 431 ft. by 125 ft. interior dimensions, extending

VII. 13

Products, Manufactures, &c.-Damascus occupies an important commercial position, being the market for the whole of the desert; it also is of great importance religiously, as being the startingpoint for the Hajj pilgrimage from Syria to Mecca, which leaves on the 15th of the lunar month of Shawwal each year. This of course brings much trade to the city. Its chief manufactures are silk work, cloths and cloaks, gold and silver ornaments, &c., brass and copper work, furniture and ornamental woodwork. The bazaars of Damascus are among the most famous of their kind. It is connected with Beirut and Mezerib by railway, and at the end of the past century the great undertaking of running a line to Mecca was commenced. In the surrounding gardens and fields walnuts, apricots, wheat, barley, maize, &c. are grown. Its commercial importance is referred to by Ezekiel (xxvii. 18), who mentions its trade in wines and wool. The climate is good; in winter there is often hard frost and much snow, and even in summer, with a day temperature of 100° F., the nights are always cool. Fever, dysentery and ophthalmia, chiefly due to exposure to heavy dews and cold nights, are prevalent. Though still the market of the nomads, the surer and cheaper sea route has almost destroyed the transit trade to which it once owed its wealth, and has even diminished the importance of the annual pilgrim caravan to Mecca. The Damascene, however, still retains his skill as a craftsman and tiller of the soil. The chief imports are cloths, prints, muslins, raw silk, sugar, rice, &c. The value of exports and imports in certain specified years is shown in the following table:

Exports
Imports

1890. 1894. 1898. 1905. £325,660 £400,830 £302,050 £386,000 525.710 614,490 675,080 872,400

Most of the Christians belong to the Orthodox and Roman Catholic (United) Greek Churches; and there are also communities of Melchites, Jacobites, Maronites, Nestorians, Armenians and Protestants. There are Protestant missions, founded 1843, and a British hospital.

AUTHORITIES.-Lortet, La Syrie d'aujourd'hui, p. 567 f. (Paris, 1884); Von Oppenheim, Vom Mittelmeer zum Persischen Golf, i. 49 f. (Berlin, 1899); G. A. Smith, Historical Geography of the Holy Baedeker-Socin, Handbook to Syria and Palestine. For the Great Land; Encyclopaedia Biblica, art. "Damascus "; Consular Reports; Mosque see Dickie, Phené Spiers, and Sir C. W. Wilson in Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, Oct. 1897. (R. A. S. M.)

DAMASK, the technical term applied to certain distinct types of fabric. The term owes its origin to the ornamental silk fabrics of Damascus, fabrics which were elaborately woven in colours, sometimes with the addition of gold and other metallic threads. At the present day it denotes a linen texture richly figured in the weaving with flowers, fruit, forms of animal life, and other types of ornament. " China, no doubt," says Dr Rock (Catalogue of Textile Fabrics, Victoria and Albert Museum), was the first country to ornament its silken webs with a pattern. India, Persia, and Syria, then Byzantine Greece followed, but at long intervals between, in China's footsteps. Stuffs so figured brought with them to the West the name 'diaspron' or diaper, bestowed upon them at Constantinople. But about the 12th century the city of Damascus, even then long celebrated for its looms, so far outstripped all other places for beauty of design, that her silken textiles were in demand everywhere; and thus, as often happens, traders fastened the name of damascen or damask upon every silken fabric richly wrought and curiously designed, no matter whether it came or not from Damascus." The term is perhaps now best known in reference to damask table-cloths, a

rioting and hand-to-hand fighting. In one of these encounters
the then new basilica, called the Liberian Basilica (S. Maria
Maggiore), was partially destroyed, and 137 dead bodies were
left in the building. On several occasions the secular arm had to
intervene, although the government of the emperor Valentinian
was averse from involving itself in ecclesiastical affairs. From
the outset the prefect of Rome recognized the claims of Damasus,
and exerted himself to support him. Ursinus and the leading
men of his faction were expelled from Rome, and afterwards
from central Italy, or even interned in Gaul. They, however,
persisted obstinately in their opposition to Damasus, combating
him at first by riots, and then by calumnious law-suits, such as
that instituted by one Isaac, a converted and relapsed Jew.
To the official support, which never failed him, Damasus
endeavoured to join the popular sympathy. From before his
election he had been in high favour with the Roman aristocracy,
and especially with the great ladies. At that period the urban
masses, but recently converted to Christianity, sought in the
worship of the martyrs a sort of substitute for polytheism.
Damasus showed great zeal in discovering the tombs of martyrs,
adorning them with precious marbles and monumental inscrip-
tions. The inscriptions he composed himself, in mediocre
verse, full of Virgilian reminiscences. Several have come down
to us on the original marbles, entire or in fragments; others are
known from old copies. In the interior of Rome he erected or
embellished the church which still bears his name (S. Lorenzo
in Damaso), near which his father's house appears to have
stood.

species of figured cloth usually of flax or tow yarns, but sometimes | conflict ensued between the rival factions, which quickly led to made partly of cotton. The finer qualities are made of the best linen yarn, and, although the latter is of a brownish colour during the weaving processes, the ultimate fabric is pure white. The high lights in these cloths are obtained by long floats of warp and weft, and, as these are set at right angles, they reflect the light differently according to the angle of the rays of light; the effect changes also with the position of the observer. Subdued effects are produced by shorter floats of yarn, and sometimes by special weaves. Any subject, however intricate, can be copied by this method of weaving, provided that expense is no object. The finest results are obtained when the so-called double damask weaves are used. These weaves are shown under DIE, and it will be seen that each weave gives a maximum float of seven threads. (In some special cases a weave is used which gives a float of nine.) The small figure here shown to illustrate a small section of a damask design is composed of the two single damask weaves; these give a maximum float of four threads or picks. No shading is shown in the design, and this for two reasons (1) the single damask weaves do not permit of elaborate shading, although some very good effects are obtainable; (2) the available space is not sufficiently large to show the method to advantage. The different single damask weaves used in the shading of these cloths appear, however, at the bottom of the figure, while between these and the design proper there is an illustration of the thirty-first pick interweaving with all the forty-eight threads. The principal British centres for fine damasks are Belfast and Dunfermline, while the medium qualities are made in GETTING & several places in Ireland, in a few places in England, and in the counties of Fife, Forfar and Perth in Scotland. Cotton damasks, which are made in Paisley, Glasgow, and several places in Lancashire, are used for toilet covers, table-cloths, and similar purposes. They are often ornamented with colours and sent to the Indian and West Indian markets. Silk damasks for curtains and upholstery decoration are made in the silk-weaving centres.

DAMASK STEEL, or DAMASCUS STEEL, a steel with a peculiar watered or streaked appearance, as seen in the blades of fine swords and other weapons of Oriental manufacture. One way of producing this appearance is to twist together strips of iron and steel of different quality and then weld them into a solid mass. A similar but inferior result may be obtained by etching with acid the surface of a metal, parts of which are protected by some greasy substance in such a way as to give the watered pattern desired. The art of producing damask steel has been generally practised in Oriental countries from a remote period, the most famous blades having come from Isfahan, Khorasan, and Shiraz in Persia.

DAMASUS, the name of two popes.

DAMASUS I. was pope from 366 to 384. At the time of the banishment of Pope Liberius (355), the deacon Damasus, like all the Roman clergy, made energetic protest. When, however, the emperor Constantius sent to Rome an anti-pope in the person of Felix II., Damasus, with the other clergy, rallied to his cause. When Liberius returned from exile and Felix was expelled from Rome, Damasus again took his place among the adherents of Liberius. On the death of Liberius (366) a considerable party nominated Damasus successor; but the irreconcilables of the party of Liberius refused to pardon his trimming, and set up against him another deacon, Ursinus. A serious

The West was recovering gradually from the troubles caused by the Arian crisis. Damasus took part, more or less effectually, in the efforts to eliminate from Italy and Illyria the last champions of the council of Rimini. In spite of his declaration at the council convened by him in 372, he did not succeed in evicting Auxentius from Milan. But Auxentius died soon afterwards, and his successor, Ambrose, undertook to bring these hitherto abortive efforts to a successful conclusion, and to complete the return of Illyria to the confessions of Nicaea. The bishops of the East, however, under the direction of St Basil, were involved in a struggle with the emperor Valens, whose policy was favourable to the council of Rimini. Damasus, to whom they appealed for help, was unable to be of much service to them, the more so because that episcopal group, viewed askance by St Athanasius and his successor Peter, was incessantly combated at the papal court by the inveterate hatred of Alexandria. The Eastern bishops triumphed in the end under Theodosius, at the council of Constantinople (381), in which the pope and the Western church took no part. They were invited to a council of wider convocation, held at Rome in 382, but very few attended.

This council had brought to Rome the learned monk Jerome, for whom Damasus showed great esteem. To him Damasus entrusted the revision of the Latin text of the Bible and other works of religious erudition. A short time before, the pope had received a visit from the Priscillianists after their condemnation in Spain, and had dismissed them. Damasus died in 384, on the 11th of December, the day on which his memory is still celebrated.

DAMASUS II., pope from the 17th of July to the 9th of August 1048, was the ephemeral successor of Clement II. His original name was Poppo, and he was bishop of Brixen when the emperor Henry III. raised him to the papacy. (L. D.*)

DAMAUN or DAMAN, a town of Portuguese India, capital of the settlement of Damaun, situated on the east side of the entrance of the Gulf of Cambay within the Bombay Presidency. The area of the settlement is 82 sq. m. Pop. (1900) 41,671, The settlement is divided into two parts, Damaun proper, and the larger pargana of Nagar Havili, the two being separated by a narrow strip of British territory. The soil is fertile, and rice, wheat and tobacco are the chief crops. The teak forests are valuable. Weaving is an industry less important than formerly; mats and baskets are manufactured, and deep-sea fishing is an

important industry. The shipbuilding business at the town | Philippe d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIV., the former, Anne of Damaun is important. Early in the 19th century a large Marie Louise, duchesse de Montpensier, was called La Grande transit trade in opium between Karachi and China was carried | Mademoiselle, by which title she is known to history (see MONTon at Damaun, but it ceased in 1837, when the British prohibited PENSIER, A. M. L., DUCHESSE de). it after their conquest of Sind. The settlement is administered as a unit, and has a municipal chamber.

Damaun town was sacked and burnt by the Portuguese in 1531. It was subsequently rebuilt, and in 1558 was again taken by the Portuguese, who made a permanent settlement and converted the mosque into a Christian church. From that time it has remained in their hands. The territory of Damaun proper was conquered by the Portuguese in 1559; that of Nagar Havili was ceded to them by the Mahrattas in 1780 in indemnification for piracy.

DAME (through the Fr. from Lat. domina, mistress, lady, the feminine of dominus, master, lord), properly a name of respect or a title equivalent to "lady," now surviving in English as the legal designation of the wife or widow of a baronet or knight and prefixed to the Christian name and surname. It has also been used in modern times by certain societies or orders, e.g. the Primrose League, as the name of a certain rank among the lady members, answering to the male rank of knight. The ordinary use of the word by itself is for an old woman. As meaning 'mistress," i.e. teacher, "dame" was used of the female keepers of schools for young children, which have become obsolete since the advance of public elementary education. At Eton College boarding-houses kept by persons other than members of the teaching staff of the school were known as "Dames' Houses," though the head might not necessarily be a lady. As a term of address to ladies of all ranks, from the sovereign down, "madam," shortened to "ma'am," represents the French madame, my lady.

DAME'S VIOLET, the English name for Hesperis matronalis, a herbaceous plant belonging to the natural order Cruciferae, and closely allied to the wallflower and stock. It has an erect stout leafy stem 2 to 3 ft. high, with irregularly toothed shortstalked leaves and white or lilac flowers, in. across, which are scented in the evening (hence the name of the genus, from the Gr. orepos, evening). The slender pods are constricted between the seeds. The plant is a native of Europe and temperate Asia, and is found in Britain as an escape from gardens, in meadows and plantations.

DAMGHAN, a town of Persia in the province of Semnan va Damghan, 216 m. from Teheran on the high-road thence to Khorasan, at an elevation of 3770 ft. and in 36° 10′ N., 54° 20′ E. Pop. about 10,000. There are post and telegraph offices, and a great export trade is done in pistachios and almonds, the latter being of the kind called Kaghazi (“ of paper ") with very thin shells, famous throughout the country. Damghan was an important city in the middle ages, but only a ruined mosque with a number of massive columns and some fine wood carvings and two minarets of the 11th century remain of that period. Near the city, a few miles south and south-west, are the remains of Hecatompylos, extending from Frat, 16 m. south of Damghan, to near Gúsheh, 20 m. west. Damghan was destroyed by the Afghans in 1723. On an eminence in the western part of the city are the ruins of a large square citadel with a small whitewashed building, called Molud Khaneh (the house of birth), in which Fath Ali Shah was born (1772).

DAMIANI, PIETRO (c. 1007–1072), one of the most celebrated "Damsel," a young girl or maiden, now only used as a literary ecclesiastics of the 11th century, was born at Ravenna, and after word, is taken from the Old French dameisele, formed from dame, a youth spent in hardship and privation, gained some renown and parallel with the popular dansele or doncele from the medieval as a teacher. About 1035, however, he deserted his secular Latin domicella or dominicella, diminutive of domina. The calling and entered the hermitage of Fonte Avellana, near French damoiselle and demoiselle are later formations.. The Gubbio; and winning sound reputation through his piety and English literary form "damosel" was another importation from his preaching, he became the head of this establishment about France in the 15th century. In the early middle ages damoiseau, 1043. A zealot for monastic and clerical reform, he introduced medieval Latin domicellus, dameicele, damoiselle, domicella, were a more severe discipline, including the practice of flagellation, used as titles of honour for the unmarried sons and daughters into the house, which, under his rule, quickly attained celebrity, of royal persons and lords (seigneurs). Later the damoiseau and became a model for other foundations. Extending the area (in the south donzel, in Béarn domengar) was specifically a young of his activities, he entered into communication with the emperor man of gentle birth who aspired to knighthood, equivalent to Henry III., addressed to Pope Leo IX. in 1049 a writing denounécuyer, esquire, or valet (q.v.). The damoiseau performed certain cing the vices of the clergy and entitled Liber Gomorrhianus; functions and received training in knightly accomplishments and soon became associated with Hildebrand in the work of in the domestic service of his lord. Later again the name was reform. As a trusted counsellor of a succession of popes he was also used of nobles who had not been knighted. In certain made cardinal bishop of Ostia, a position which he accepted seigneuries in France, notably in that of Commercy, in Lorraine, with some reluctance; and presiding over a council at Milan in damoiseau became the permanent title of the holder. In England 1059, he courageously asserted the authority of Rome over this the title, when used by the French-speaking nobility and members province, and won a signal victory for the principles which he of the court, was only applied to the son or grandson of the king; advocated. He rendered valuable assistance to Pope Alexander thus in the Laws of Edward the Confessor, quoted in Du Cange II. in his struggle with the anti-pope, Honorius II.; and having (Glossarium, s.v. Domicellus), we find "Rex vero Edgarum . . served the papacy as legate to France and to Florence, he was pro filio nutrivit et quia cogitavit ipsum heredem facere, nomi- allowed to resign his bishopric in 1067. After a period of retirenavit Ethelinge, quod nos Domicellum, id, Damisell; sed nos ment at Fonte Avellana, he proceeded in 1069 as papal legate to indiscrete de pluribus dicimus, quia Baronum filios vocamus Germany, and persuaded the emperor Henry IV. to give up his domicellos, Angli vero nullos nisi natos regum." Froissart intention of divorcing his wife Bertha. During his concluding calls Richard II. during the lifetime of his father the Black years he was not altogether in accord with the political ideas of Prince, le jeune Demoisel. The use of damoiselle followed much Hildebrand. He died at Faenza on the 22nd of February 1972. the same development; it was first applied to the unmarried Damiani was a determined foe of simony, but his fiercest wrath daughters of royal persons and seigneurs, then to the wife of a was directed against the married clergy. He was an extremely damoiseau, and also to the young ladies of gentle birth who vigorous controversialist, and his Latin abounds in denunciatory performed for the wives of the seigneurs the same domestic epithets. He was specially devoted to the Virgin Mary, and services as the damoiseaus for their husbands. Hence the later wrote an Officium Beatae Virginis, in addition to many letters, form demoiselle became merely the title of address of a young sermons, and other writings. unmarried lady, the mademoiselle of modern usage, the English "miss." At the court of France, after the 17th century, Mademoiselle, without the name of the lady, was a courtesy title given to the eldest daughter of the eldest brother of the king, who was known as Monsieur. To distinguish the daughter of Gaston d'Orléans, brother of Louis XIII., from the daughter of

His works were collected by Cardinal Cajetan, and were published in four volumes at Rome (1606-1615), and then at Paris in 1642, at Venice in 1743, and there are other editions. See A. Vogel, Peter del suo tempo (Florence, 1862); F. Neukirch, Das Leben des Peter Damiani (Jena, 1856); A. Capecelatro, Storia di S. Pier Damiani e Damiani (Göttingen, 1875); L. Guerrier, De Petro Damiano (Orleans, 1881); W. von Giesebrecht, Geschichte der deutschen Kaiserzeit

(Leipzig, 1885-1890); and Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie, Band | in the offing. Lake Menzala yields large supplies of fish, which iv. (Leipzig, 1898).

are dried and salted, and these, with rice, furnish the chief articles of trade.

DAMIEN, FATHER, the name in religion of JOSEPH DE VEUSTER (1840-1889), Belgian missionary, was born at Tremeloo, Damietta is a Levantine corruption of the Coptic name near Louvain, on the 3rd of January 1840. He was educated for Tamiati, Arabic Dimyat. The original town was 4 m. nearer a business career, but in his eighteenth year entered the Church, the sea than the modern city, and first rose into importance on joining the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary (also the decay of Pelusium. When it passed into the hands of the known as the Picpus Congregation), and taking Damien as his Saracens it became a place of great wealth and commerce, and, name in religion. In October 1863, while he was still in minor as the eastern bulwark of Egypt, was frequently attacked by the orders, he went out as a missionary to the Pacific Islands, taking crusaders. The most remarkable of these sieges lasted eighteen the place of his brother, who had been prevented by an illness. months, from June 1218 to November 1219, and ended in the He reached Honolulu in March 1864, and was ordained priest in capture of the town, which was, however, held but for a brief Whitsuntide of that year. Struck with the sad condition of the period. In June 1249 Louis IX. of France occupied Damietta lepers, whom it was the practice of the Hawaian government to without opposition, but being defeated near Mansura in the deport to the island of Molokai, he conceived an earnest desire February following, and compelled (6th April) to surrender to mitigate their lot, and in 1873 volunteered to take spiritual himself prisoner, Damietta was restored to the Moslems as part charge of the settlement at Molokai. Here he remained for the of the ransom exacted. To prevent further attacks from the sea rest of his life, with occasional visits to Honolulu, until he became the Mameluke sultan Bibars blocked up the Phatnitic mouth of stricken with leprosy in 1885. Besides attending to the spiritual | the Nile (about 1260), razed old Damietta to the ground, and needs of the lepers, he managed, by the labour of his own hands transferred the inhabitants to the site of the modern town. It and by appeals to the Hawaian government, to improve materi- continued to be a place of commercial importance for a conally the water-supply, the dwellings, and the victualling of the siderable period, until in fact Port Said gave the eastern part of settlement. For five years he worked alone; subsequently the Delta a better port. Damietta gives its name to dimity, a other resident priests from time to time assisted him. He suc- kind of striped cloth, for which the place was at one time famous. cumbed to leprosy on the 15th of April 1889. Some ill-considered Cotton and silk goods are still manufactured here. imputations upon Father Damien by a Presbyterian minister produced a memorable tract by Robert Louis Stevenson (An Open Letter to the Rev. Dr Hyde, 1890).

See also lives by E. Clifford (1889) and Fr. Pamphile (1889). (J. MF.) DAMIENS, ROBERT FRANÇOIS (1715-1757), a Frenchman who attained notoriety by his attack on Louis XV. of France in 1757, was born in a village near Arras in 1715, and early enlisted in the army. After his discharge, he became a menial in the college of the Jesuits in Paris, and was dismissed from this as well as from other employments for misconduct, his conduct earning for him the name of Robert le Diable. During the disputes of Clement XI. with the parlement of Paris the mind of Damiens seems to have been excited by the ecclesiastical disorganization which followed the refusal of the clergy to grant the sacraments to the Jansenists and Convulsionnaires; and he appears to have thought that peace would be restored by the death of the king. He, however, asserted, perhaps with truth, that he only intended to frighten the king without wounding him severely. On the 5th of January 1757, as the king was entering his carriage, he rushed forward and stabbed him with a knife, inflicting only a slight wound. He made no attempt to escape, and was at once seized. He was condemned as a regicide, and sentenced to be torn in pieces by horses in the Place de Grève. Before being put to death he was barbarously tortured with red-hot pincers, and molten wax, lead, and boiling oil were poured into his wounds. After his death his house was razed to the ground, his brothers and sisters were ordered to change their names, and his father, wife, and daughter were banished from France.

See Pièces originales et procédures du procès fait à Robert François Damiens (Paris, 1757).

DAMIETTA, a town of Lower Egypt, on the eastern (Damietta or Phatnitic) branch of the Nile, about 12 m. above its mouth, and 125 m. N.N.E. of Cairo by rail. Pop. (1907) 29,354. The town is built on the east bank of the river between it and Lake Menzala. Though in general ill-built and partly ruinous, the town possesses some fine mosques, with lofty minarets, public baths and busy bazaars. Along the river-front are many substantial houses furnished with terraces, and with steps leading to the water. Their wooden lattices of saw-work are very graceful. After Cairo and Alexandria, Damietta was for centuries the largest town in Egypt, but the silting up of the entrance to the harbour, the rise of Port Said, and the remarkable develop ment of Alexandria have robbed Damietta of its value as a port. It has still, however, a coasting trade with Syria and the Levant. Ships over 6 ft. draught cannot enter the river, but must anchor

DAMIRI, the common name of KAMĀL UD-DIN MUHAMMAD IBN MŪSĂ UD-DAMIRI (1344-1405), Arabian writer on canon law and natural history, belonged to one of the two towns called Damira near Damietta and spent his life in Egypt. Of the Shafi'ite school of law, he became professor of tradition in the Rukniyya at Cairo, and also at the mosque el-Azhar; in connexion with this work he wrote a commentary on the Minhāj ut-Tālibin of Nawawi (q.v.). He is, however, better known in the history of literature for his Life of Animals (Hayat ul-Hayawän), which treats in alphabetic order of 931 animals mentioned in the Koran, the traditions and the poetical and proverbial literature of the Arabs. The work is a compilation from over 500 prose writers and nearly 200 poets. The correct spelling of the names of the animals is given with an explanation of their meanings. The use of the animals in medicine, their lawfulness or unlawfulness as food, their position in folk-lore are the main subjects treated, while occasionally long irrelevant sections on political history are introduced.

The work exists in three forms. The fullest has been published several times in Egypt; a mediate and a short recension exist in manuscript. Several editions have been made at various times of extracts, among them the poetical one by Suyuti (q.v.), which was translated into Latin by A. Ecchelensis (Paris, 1667). Bochartus in his Hierozoicon (1663) used Damiri's work. There is a translation of the whole into English by Lieutenant-Colonel Jayakar (Bombay, 1906-1908), (G. W. T.)

DAMIRON, JEAN PHILIBERT (1794-1862), French philosopher, was born at Belleville. At nineteen he entered the normal school, where he studied under Burnouf, Villemain, and Cousin. After teaching for several years in provincial towns, he came to Paris, where he lectured on philosophy in various institutions, and finally became professor in the normal school, and titular professor at the Sorbonne. In 1824 he took part with P. F. Dubois and Th. S. Jouffroy in the establishment of the Globe; and he was also a member of the committee of the society which took for its motto Aide-toi, le ciel l'aidera. In 1833 he was appointed chevalier of the Legion of Honour, and in 1836 member of the Academy of Moral Sciences. Damiron died at Paris on the 11th of January 1862.

The chief works of Damiron, of which the best are his accounts of French philosophers, are the following:-An edition of the Nouveaux mélanges philosophiques de Jouffroy (1842), with a notice of the author, in which Damiron softened and omitted several expressions used by Jouffroy, which were opposed to the system of education adopted by the Sorbonne, an article which gave rise to a bitter controversy, and to a book by Pierre Leroux, De la mutilation des manuscrits de M. Jouffroy (1843); Essai sur l'histoire de la philosophie en France au XIX siècle (1828, 3rd ed.