Devizes,

Devizes, a parliamentary borough and market town of Wiltshire, England, on the Great Western railway and on the Kennet canal, 82 m. S. W. of London; pop. in 1871, 6,840. It contains two handsome parish churches, besides other places of worship, and a fine town hall. Its manufactures are chiefly silk, crape, snuff, and malt. The grain market held here every Thursday has been famous ever since the time of Henry VIII., and is still the largest in the west of England. The town is supposed to owe its origin to a strong castle built here in the reign of Henry I. by Roger, bishop of Salisbury, and dismantled toward the close of the reign of Edward III.

Dewberry

See Bramble.

Dewsbury,

Dewsbury, a manufacturing town and parish of England, in the West Riding-of Yorkshire, situated on the left bank of the Calder, and on the London and Northwestern railway, 28 m. S. W. of York; pop. in 1871, 24,773 (in 1851, 5,031). It is at the head of what is called the shoddy trade of England, vast quantities of refuse woollen rags, called "devil's dust," being collected from all parts of the kingdom and made into cloth, blankets, and carpets. About 3,000 persons are employed in these manufactures. There are collieries and iron works in the immediate neighborhood.

Dey,

Dey, throughout the 17th century the title of the commander of the armies of Algiers, subject to a pasha appointed by the Porte. At the beginning of the 18th century the dignity of pasha was united with that of dey, and the dey was the highest officer of Algiers from that time till the conquest of the country by the French in 1830. The deys were appointed and deposed by a council or divan, and the deposition of a dey was generally followed by his death. His nomination was announced to the Porte at Constantinople, which always confirmed it by a firman. The dey, who was also the commander-in-chief of the army and navy, exercised with his ministers all the executive authority; and the later deys took away the power of the divan.

Dezful

See Desful.

Dharwar

See Darwak.

Dhawalagiri

See Himalaya.

Dhole

See Dog.

Diagoras Of Melos

Diagoras Of Melos, surnamed the Atheist, a Greek philosopher, lived in the time of Socrates and Aristophanes, but neither the date of his birth nor that of his death is known. He must have removed from his native island to Athens before the performance of the "Clouds" of Aristophanes (423 B. C), for he is alluded to in that piece as one well known to the Athenians. He was a disciple of Demo-critus of Abdera. He ridiculed the popular religion, and attacked especially the Eleusinian mysteries. He was accused of impiety (411), but the real grievance was his politics. Fearing the result of a trial, he made his escape from the city. He was condemned to death by the court, and a price set upon his head; yet he lived for a time at Pallene, and finally died at peace in Corinth. His works are all lost.