DE WETTE, WILHELM MARTIN LEBERECHT, a German theologian, born near Weimar; studied at Jena, professor of Theology ultimately at Basel; was held in high repute as a biblical critic and exegete; contributed largely to theological literature; counted a rationalist by the orthodox, and a mystic by the rationalists; his chief works “A Critical Introduction to the Bible” and a “Manual to the New Testament” (1780-1849).

DE WITT, JAN, a Dutch statesman, born at Dort; elected grand pensionary in 1652; like his father, Jacob de Witt, before him, was a declared enemy of the House of Orange, and opposed the Stadtholdership, and for a time he carried the country along with him, but during a war with England his influence declined, the Orange party prevailed, and elected the young Prince of Orange, our William III., Stadtholder.  He and his brother Cornelius were murdered at last by the populace (1625-1672).

DEWSBURY (73), a town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 8 m.  SW. of Leeds; engaged in the manufacture of woollens, blankets, carpets, and yarns.

DEXTRINE, a soluble matter into which the interior substance of starch globules is converted by acids or diastase, so called because when viewed by polarised light it has the property of turning the plane of polarisation to the right.

DEYSTER, LOUIS DE, a Flemish painter, born at Bruges; was of a deeply religious temper, and his character was reflected in his choice of subjects, such as the “Death of the Virgin,” “The Resurrection of Christ,” &c.; he was a recluse (1656-1711).

DEZOBRY, CHARLES, a French writer, born at St. Denis; author of “Rome in the Time of Augustus” (1798-1871).

DHAGOBA, a mound with a dome-shaped top, found to contain Buddhist relics.

DHARMA, the name given to the law of Buddha, as distinct from the Sangha, which is the Church.

DHARWAR (32), a town in the S. of the Bombay Presidency, a place of considerable trade in a district noted for its cotton growing.

DHWALAGIRI, one of the peaks of the Himalayas, the third highest, 26,826 ft. high.

DIABETES, a disease characterised by an excessive discharge of urine, and accompanied with great thirst; there are two forms of this disease.

DIAB`LERETS, a mountain of the Bernese Alps, between the Cantons de Vaud and de Valois.

DIAFOIRUS, THOMAS, the name of two pedantic doctors, father and son, who figure in Moliere’s “Malade Imaginaire.”

DIAGORAS, a Greek philosopher, born in Melos, one of the Cyclades, 5th century B.C., surnamed the Atheist, on account of the scorn with which he treated the gods of the popular faith, from the rage of whose devotees he was obliged to seek safety by flight; died in Corinth.

DIALECTIC, in the Hegelian philosophy the logic of thought, and, if of thought, the logic of being, of essential being.

DIALOGUES OF PLATO, philosophical dialogues, in which Socrates figures as the principal interlocutor, although the doctrine expounded is rather Plato’s than his master’s; they discuss theology, psychology, ethics, aesthetics, politics, physics, and related subjects.