DIALYSIS, the process of separating the crystalloid or poisonous ingredients in a substance from the colloid or harmless ingredients.
DIAMANTE, a Spanish dramatic poet, who plagiarised Corneille’s “Cid” and passed it off as original; b. 1826.
DIAMANTINA (13), a district in Brazil, in the province of Minas Geraes, rich in diamonds.
DIAMOND, the name of Newton’s favourite dog that, by upsetting a lamp, set fire to MSS. containing notes of experiments made over a course of years, an irreparable loss.
DIAMOND NECKLACE, a necklace consisting of 500 diamonds, and worth L80,000, which one Madame de la Motte induced the jeweller who “made” it to part with for Marie Antoinette, on security of Cardinal de Rohan, and which madame made away with, taking it to pieces and disposing of the jewels in London; the swindle was first discovered when the jeweller presented his bill to the queen, who denied all knowledge of the matter; this led to a trial which extended over nine months, gave rise to great scandal, and ended in the punishment of the swindler and her husband, and the disgrace of the unhappy, and it is believed innocent, queen. See CARLYLE’S “MISCELLANIES.”
DIAMOND NET, a name given in the Hegelian philosophy to “the connective tissue, so to speak, that not only supports, but even in a measure constitutes, the various organs” of the universe. See HEGELIANISM.
DIAMOND STATE, Delaware, U.S., from its small size and great wealth.
DIANA, originally an Italian deity, dispenser of light, identified at length with the Greek goddess Artemis, and from the first with the moon; she was a virgin goddess, and spent her time in the chase, attended by her maidens; her temple at Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the world. See ARTEMIS.
DIANA DE POITIERS, the mistress of Henry II. of France, for whom he built the magnificent Chateau d’Anet, in Eure-et-Loir; she had a great influence over him, and the cruel persecutions of the Huguenots in his reign were due to her instigation (1490-1566).
DIANA OF FRANCE, the Duchess of Angouleme, the natural daughter of Henry II. and the Duchess de Castro (1538-1619).
DIARBEKIR (42), the largest town in the Kurdistan Highlands, on the Tigris, 194 m. NE. of Aleppo, and on the highway between Bagdad and Constantinople, with a large and busy bazaar.
DIASTASE, a nitrogenous substance developed during the germination of grain, and having the property of converting starch first into dextrine and then into sugar.
DIAVOLO, FRA (lit. Brother Devil), Michele Porsa, a Calabrian, originally a monk, who left his monastery and joined a set of bandits, who lent themselves to and conducted insurrectionary movements in Italy; taken prisoner, was hanged at Naples; Auber’s opera, “Fra Diavolo,” has no connection with him except the name (1760-1806).
DIAZ, BARTHELEMY, a Portuguese navigator, sent on a voyage of discovery by John II., in the command of two ships; sailed down the W. coast of Africa and doubled the Cape of Good Hope, which, from the storm that drove him past it, he called the Cape of Storms; returning to Lisbon he was superseded by Vasco da Gama, or rather subordinated to him; subsequently accompanied Cabral on his voyage to Brazil, and was lost in a storm in 1500.