DIHONG, the name given to the Brahmaputra as it traverses Assam; in the rainy season it overflows its channel and floods the whole lowlands of the country.

DIJON (61), the ancient capital of Burgundy, and the principal town in the dep. of Cote d’Or, 195 m.  SE. of Paris, on the canal of Bourgogne; one of the finest towns in France, at once for its buildings, particularly its churches, and its situation; is a centre of manufacture and trade, and a seat of learning; the birthplace of many illustrious men.

DIKE (i. e.  Justice), a Greek goddess, the daughter of Zeus and Themis; the guardian of justice and judgment, the foe of deceit and violence, and the accuser before Zeus of the unjust judge.

DIKTYS, the fisherman of Seriphus; saved Perseus and his mother from the perils of the deep.

DILETTANTE SOCIETY, THE, a society of noblemen and gentlemen founded in England in 1734, and which contributed to correct and purify the public taste of the country; their labours were devoted chiefly to the study of the relics of ancient Greek art, and resulted in the production of works in illustration.

DILETTANTISM, an idle, often affected, almost always barren admiration and study of the fine arts, “in earnest about nothing.”

DILKE, CHARLES WENTWORTH, English critic and journalist; served for 20 years in the Navy Pay-Office; contributed to the Westminister and other reviews; was proprietor and editor of the Athenaeum; started the Daily News; left literary Papers, edited by his grandson (1789-1864).

DILKE, SIR CHARLES WENTWORTH, English publicist and politician, grandson of the preceding, born at Chelsea; called to the bar; travelled in America and the English colonies, and wrote a record of his travels in his “Greater Britain”; entered Parliament as an extreme Liberal; held office under Mr. Gladstone; from exposures in a divorce case had to retire from public life, but returned after a time; b. 1843.

DILLMANN, a great German Orientalist, born at Illingen, a village of Wuertemberg; studied under Ewald at Tuebingen; became professor at Kiel, at Giessen, and finally at Berlin; as professor of Old Testament exegesis made a special study of the Ethiopic languages, and is the great authority in their regard; wrote a grammar and a lexicon of these, as well as works on theology; b. 1823.

DILLON, a general in the service of France, born in Dublin; was butchered by his troops near Lille (1745-1792).

DILLON, JOHN, an Irish patriot, born in New York; entered Parliament in 1880 as a Parnellite; was once suspended, and four times imprisoned, for his over-zeal; sat at first for Tipperary, and since for East Mayo; in 1891 threw in his lot with the M’Carthyites; b. 1851.

DIMANCHE, M. (Mr. Sunday), a character in Moliere’s “Don Juan,” the type of an honest merchant, whom, on presenting his bill, his creditor appeases by his politeness.