or other young animal, they would say, kuligatshis, thy pretty little paw. In nouns denoting inanimate objects, diminutives are formed by the termination es; as, wikwam, a house, wikwames, a small house; amokhol (kh guttural), a canoe, amokholes, a small canoe. In the ancient language of the Massachusetts Indians, which is a dialect of the Delaware stock, diminutives were formed (according to Eliot's Grammar) by adding es or emes, with a euphonic vowel or syllable; as, nunkomp, a youth, nunkompaes or nunkompaemes, a little youth; hassun, a stone, hassunemes, a little stone; and, of these two affixes, emes denotes the smallest size, &c.

DIOCESE, or DIOCESS (dioíknois); 1. a prefecture. According to Strabo, the division of the Roman empire into dioceses, at least in Asia, was customary as early as the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. The whole empire was afterward divided into dioceses by Constantine and his successors; at first into 4, and afterwards into 13: these comprehended 120 provinces, and were governed by 12 vicars or sub-prefects. Rome and its neighborhood had one of these officers to itself, exclusive of the one appropriated to Italy at large. 2. An ecclesiastical division in the Christian church; in the Catholic church, a territory over which the jurisdiction of an archbishop or bishop extends. With the Protestants in Germany, a diocese signifies all the parishes which are under the inspection of one superintendent. This arrangement is derived from the times of the emperor Constantine (4th cent., A.D.), who made Christianity the religion of the state. In the Episcopal Protestant countries, diocese signifies the jurisdiction of a bishop. Thus, in England, the province of Canterbury contains 21 dioceses, and the province of York, 3: each diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each archdeaconry into rural deaneries, and each deanery into parishes.

DIOCLETIAN, C. Valerius, surnamed Jovius, was a man of mean birth, a native of Dalmatia. He was proclaimed emperor by the army, 284 A. D. He was successful against his enemies, defeated Carinus in Moesia (286), conquered the Allemanni, and was generally beloved for the good ness of his disposition. But new troubles and attacks disturbed the Roman empire, and compelled him to share the burthen of government with colleagues; at first, with M. Aurel. Valerius Maximian (286), an ambitious, rude and cruel soldier, who defeated the Gauls. Diocletian, at the 21

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same time, was successful against the Persians in the East, and afterwards penetrated to the sources of the Danube, in Germany. He subsequently, in 292, named C. Galerius, Cæsar, and Maximian raised Constantius Chlorus to the same dignity. Thus the empire was divided into four parts. Diocletian recovered Egypt, and, as long as he preserved his influence, the unanimity continued; but he resigned the imperial dignity at Nicomedia (305), as did Maximian at Milan, at the same time. Diocletian retired to Salona in Dalmatia, where he found happiness in the cultivation of his garden, and lived in tranquillity until the year 313. He founded the absolute power, which was more firmly established by the family of Constantine.

DIODATI, John, an eminent divine, was born at Lucca, about the year 1589, of a noble Catholic family; but, embracing the Protestant faith early in life, he removed to Geneva, where he made such progress in his studies, that, at the age of 19, he was appointed professor of Hebrew in that city. Some time afterwards, he was made professor of theology, and, in 1619, was deputed, with his colleague, Theodore Tronchin, to represent the Genevan clergy at the synod of Dort; and his abilities were so much respected by that synod, that he was one of the six ministers appointed to draw up the Belgic confession of faith, which was intended to secure the professors of the reformed religion in Holland within the pale of pure and unadulterated Calvinism. Diodati is most celebrated for a translation of the Bible into Italian, faithful and elegant, but perhaps too paraphrastical; and father Simon maintains that his notes are rather the serious meditations of a divine, than the judicious reflections of a critic. He also translated the Bible into French, but is not thought to have succeeded so well in this as in the Italian. He was the first translator into French of father Paul's History of the Council of Trent, which is faithful, but not very elegant. Diodati died in 1649, at Geneva.

DIODORUS of Argyrium, in Sicily, and therefore called Siculus; a celebrated historian in the time of Julius Cæsar and Augustus. In order to render his history as complete and exact as possible, he travelled through a great part of Europe and Asia. It is very much to be regretted, that the greater part of this history, which the author called the Historical Library, in the composition of which he combined the ornaments of rhetoric with the detail of facts, after the example of Theopompus

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and Ephorus, and on which he had bestowed the labor of 30 years, has not reached our times. It consisted of 40 books, was written with the greatest fidelity, and comprised the history of almost all nations. Only the books 1-5 and 16-20 are now extant. Among the best editions are those of Wesseling and Eichstädt, with Heyne's commentary (Bipont and Strasburg, 1793-1807, 11 vols.).

DIOGENES of Sinope (a city of Pontus) flourished in the 4th century B. C., and was the most famous of the Cynic philosophers. (See Cynics.) Having been banished from his native place with his father, who had been accused of coining false money, he went to Athens, and requested Antisthenes to admit him among his disciples. That philosopher in vain attempted to repel the importunate supplicant, even by blows, and finally granted his request. Diogenes devoted himself, with the greatest diligence, to the lessons of his master, whose doctrines he extended still further. He not only, like Antisthenes, despised all philosophical speculations, and opposed the corrupt morals of his time, but also carried the application of his doctrines, in his own person, to the extreme. The stern austerity of Antisthenes was repulsive; but Diogenes exposed the follies of his contemporaries with wit and good humor, and was, therefore, better adapted to be the censor and instructer of the people, though he really accomplished little in the way of reforming them. At the same time, he applied, in its fullest extent, his principle of divesting himself of all superfluities. He taught that a wise man, in order to be happy, must endeavor to preserve himself independent of fortune, of men, and of himself: in order to do this, he must despise riches, power, honor, arts and sciences, and all the enjoyments of life. He endeavored to exhibit, in his own person, a model of Cynic virtue. For this purpose, he subjected himself to the severest trials, and disregarded all the forms of polite society. He often struggled to overcome his appetite, or satisfied it with the coarsest food; practised the most rigid temperance, even at feasts, in the midst of the greatest abundance, and did not even consider it beneath his dignity to ask alms. By day, he walked through the streets of Athens barefoot, without any coat, with a long beard, a stick in his hand, and a wallet on his shoulders; by night, he slept in a tub, though this has been doubted. He defied the inclemency of the weather, and bore the scoffs and insults of the people with

the greatest equanimity. Seeing a boy draw water with his hand, he threw away his wooden goblet as an unnecessary utensil. He never spared the follies of men, but openly and loudly inveighed against vice and corruption, attacking them with satire and irony. The people, and even the higher classes, heard him with pleasure, and tried their wit upon him. When he made them feel his superiority, they often had recourse to abuse, by which, however, he was little moved. He rebuked them for expressions and actions which violated decency and modesty, and therefore it is not credible that he was guilty of the excesses with which his enemies have reproached him. His rudeness offended the laws of good breeding rather than the principles of morality. Many anecdotes, however, related of this singular person, are mere fictions. On a voyage to the island of Ægina, he fell into the hands of pirates, who sold him as a slave to the Corinthian Xeniades in Crete. The latter emancipated him, and intrusted him with the education of his children. He attended to the duties of his new employment with the greatest care, commonly living in summer at Corinth, and in winter at Athens. It was at the former place that Alexander found him on the road-side, basking in the sun, and, astonished at the indifference with which the ragged beggar regarded him, entered into conversation with him, and finally gave him permission to ask for a boon. "I ask nothing," answered the philosopher, "but that thou wouldst get out of my sunshine." Surprised at this proof of content, the king is said to have exclaimed, "Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes." At another time, he was carrying a lantern through the streets of Athens, in the daytime: on being asked what he was looking for, he answered, "I am seeking a man." Thinking he had found, in the Spartans, the greatest capacity for becoming such men as he wished, he said, "Men Ï have found nowhere; but children, at least, I have seen at Lacedæmon." Being asked, "What is the most dangerous animal ?” his answer was, "Among wild animals, the slanderer; among tame, the flatterer." He died 324 B. C., at a great age. When he felt death approaching, he seated himself on the road leading to Olympia, where he died with philosophical calmness, in the presence of a great number of people, who were collected around him.-Another philosopher of the same name, who lived earlier, and belonged to the Ionian school, was Diogenes of Apollonia. He consid

ered air as the element of all things. He lived at Athens, in the 5th century B. C. DIOMEDES; 1. a king of the Bistones, who fed his horses on human flesh, and used to throw all strangers, who entered his territory, to those animals to be devoured. He was killed by Hercules, who carried off the horses.-2. One of the heroes at the siege of Troy, the son of Tydeus and Deiphyle, and king of Argos. He early lost his father, who was slain before Thebes, took part in the second expedition to Thebes, and became one of the suitors of Helen. After she was carried off, the Grecian chiefs resolved on an expedition to Troy, to avenge this outrage against Greece, and Diomedes engaged in the expedition, at the head of the Argives, Tyrinthians, and several other nations. His daring courage rendered him one of the most distinguished heroes, and, according to the testimony of Nestor, superior to all his contemporaries. Protected by Pallas, he not only encountered the most valiant of the enemies, many of whom he killed, but even ventured to attack the immortals. When Venus hastened to the rescue of her son Æneas, whom he was on the point of putting to death, he wounded the goddess in her hand with his spear, and would have torn Æneas from her arms but for the interference of Apollo. He thrice assailed even Apollo himself, nor did he desist till terrified by the threats of the god. Animated by Pallas, he then turned his arms against Mars, wounded him in his belly, and compelled him to return to Olympus. He was equally distinguished in the council. He boldly opposed the proposal of Agamemnon to leave the plains of Troy without having gained the object of the expedition, and prevailed; he even adhered to his opinion, after Achilles had rejected the proffered reconciliation. By carrying off the horses of Rhesus from the enemies' tents, he fulfilled one of the conditions on which alone Troy could be conquered. With Ulysses, he removed Philoctetes, who had the arrows of Hercules, from Lemnos, which was another condition of the fall of Troy. Finally, he was one of the heroes who were concealed in the wooden horse, by whom the capture of Troy was at length accomplished. Though he reached home in safety, the vengeance of Venus awaited him. During his absence, that goddess had inspired his wife, Ægiale, with a criminal passion for Cometes; and Diomedes, on his arrival, was compelled to leave Argos, and promise never to return, under pain

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of death. Accompanied by his most faithful friends, he set sail for Italy. Of his residence there, the accounts are contradictory and fabulous: some say that he died there at a great age; others, that he was slain by king Daunus; others, that he suddenly disappeared on the islands that have been called after his name. After his death, he was worshipped as a demi-god.

DION of Syracuse, who acquired immortal glory in the history of that state, lived in the times of the two kings who bore the name of Dionysius. He was related to them, and long exercised great influence over them. He attempted to reform the tyrannical disposition of the younger Dionysius by the precepts of philosophy; but his enemies succeeded in rendering him suspected by the king, and in effecting his banishment. Dion went over to Greece, where the beauty of his person, and, still more, the excellent qualities of his mind and heart, gained him so many friends, that he resolved to employ force to deliver his country from a prince who had closed his ears to remonstrances. With this design, he embarked with 800 valiant warriors, landed in Sicily, and, hearing that Dionysius had set out a few days before for Italy, hastened to Syracuse, and estered the city amidst the acclamations of the people. After some ineffectual attempts to recover his authority, Dionysius was at length obliged to abandon the crown, and fled, with his treasures, to Italy. Dion was also, soon after, obliged to leave the city, on account of the unjust suspicions of his fellow citizens. New troubles having broken out in Syracuse, he was recalled, and was about to restore the republican government, when he was assassinated by his treacherous friend, Calippus of Athens, 354 B. C. Thus perished a man of noble sentiments, great courage, and inflexible patriotism. He was the intimate friend of Plato. His life has been written by Plutarch and Corn. Nepos.

DIONEA MUSCIPULA (Venus's fly-trap) is a remarkable plant, inhabiting the basin of Cape Fear river, in North Carolina. The leaves are radical, spreading upon the ground, and terminated by an orbicular appendage, composed of two hemispherical lobes, which are fringed with hairs: when the inside of this appendage is touched, the lobes close suddenly, and thus imprison flies and other small insects. These, having no outlet, must necessarily perish, unless delivered by tearing the leaf. It is not until the insect is dead, and, of course, no longer affects the parts of the leaf by its motions, that the leaf opens,