four in number, are visited, and certain religious observances maintained, sometimes for a week. Circuits on the knees are made round the wells; and amongst the ignorant the reputation of the sacred waters remains unimpaired.

The scenery of the county is pleasantly diversified, the people are intelligent and comparatively well educated, the landed proprietors are resident, and there is a thriving independence which may be looked for in vain outside the province of Ulster.

still the centre of an administrative district, the city has | of the former. To this day, however, the wells, which are sunk into comparative insignificance since the rise of Aurungabad, about ten miles to the east; but the fortress remains, from its natural position, one of the most remarkable in the country. It occupies the conical top of a great granite rock, which rises abruptly from the plain to a height of at least 300 feet, and is encompassed at the foot by a ditch upwards of 30 feet wide. The only means of access to the summit is afforded by a narrow bridge, with passage for not more than two men abreast, and a long gallery, excavated in the rock, which has for the most part a very gradual upward slope, but about midway is intercepted by a steep stair, the top of which is covered by a grating destined in time of war to form the hearth of a huge fire kept burning by the garrison above. In spite, however, of its natural strength and its various artificial defences, the fortress has frequently been taken. When about the year 1203 the Mahometans invaded this part of the Deccan, Deogurh, as the city was then called, was. the wealthy residence of a powerful rajah. In 1306 it was occupied by Mallek Naib, the emperor of Delhi's general; and in the early part of the same century Mahomet III., in his anxiety to make it the capital of his kingdom and worthy of its new name of Dowletabad, or Abode of Prosperity, endeavoured, but in vain, to cause a wholesale transmigration of the inhabitants of Delhi. About the year 1595 it surrendered to Ahmed Nizam, shah of Ahmadnagar; and on the fall of his dynasty it was taken possession of by Mallek Amber, an Abyssinian slave. His successors reigned till 1634, when it was taken by the Moguls, who transferred the seat of government to Aurungabad. In the 18th century it passed into the possession of Nizam el Mulk.

Minerals.-There are several quarries of fine sandstone. The best is that on Scrabb Hill, near Newtownards, where a very close-grained, clear-coloured, and hard and durable stone is raised. Limestone is not very general. Near Comber, on the shores of Strangford Lough, is a very hard and sparkling kind of reddish granular limestone. But the greatest magazine of this rock is in the vicinity of Moira, where the stone lies very near the surface. Granite occurs in many places in detached masses, but the great body of it is confined to the southern and western regions, chiefly in the Mourne Mountains. Crystals of topaz and beryl are found in the granite of Slieve Donard. Indications of lead have been discovered near Castlewellan, Killough, Newtownards, and Warrenpoint; and traces of copper in the Mourne Mountains near Rosstrevor.

Soil. The predominating soil is a loam of little depth, in most places intermixed with considerable quantities of stones of various sizes, but differing materially in character according to the nature of the subsoil. Clay is mostly confined to the eastern coast, and to the northern parts of Castlereagh. Of sandy soil the quantity is small; it occurs chiefly near Dundrum. Moor grounds are mostly confined to the skirts of the mountains. Bogs, though frequent, are scarcely sufficient to furnish a supply of fuel to the population.

DOWN, a maritime county of Ireland, in the province of Ulster, occupying the most easterly part of the island, is bounded N. by the county Antrim and Belfast Lough, According to Owners of Land Return (1876), there E. and S. by the Irish Sea, and W. by the county Armagh. were, in 1875, 3605 separate proprietors, holding a Its area, including Ballymacarret, a suburb of Belfast total area of 608,214 acres, valued at £776,518. The (1670 acres), covers 967 square miles, or 612,409 acres. number of owners of less than 1 acre numbered 1460, or The coast-line is very irregular, and is indented by several 40 per cent., that of all Ulster being 48 per cent. The loughs and bays. The largest of these is Strangford average size of the holdings was 168 acres, and the Lough, a fine sheet of water studded with 260 islets, 54 of average value per acre was £1, 5s. 61d., as against 2391 which have names, and all of which are finely wooded or acres and 15s. 81d. respectively for Ulster. As in the rich in pasturage. The lough runs for ten miles north-neighbouring counties of Antrim and Armagh, the value wards, and the ancient castles and ruined abbeys on the of the land in Down is considerably higher than that islets render the scene one of singular interest and beauty. of the rest of the province. Eighteen proprietors held Further south Dundrum Bay forms a wider expanse of upwards of 6000 acres each, and among them an aggregate water. In the south-west Carlingford Lough separates the extent equal to 481 per cent. of the total area,—the princounty from Louth. On its north-east shore lies the village ciple holders being:-Marquis of Downshire (Hillsborough), of Rosstrevor, now the resort of invalids from all parts of 64,356 acres; the Kilmerley Trustees, 37,454; Earl of the United Kingdom. Annesley (Castlewellan), 23,567; Marquis of Londonderry (Newtownards), 23,554; Colonel W. B. Forde (Seaforde), 19,882; Earl Dufferin (Clandeboy), 18,238; Hon. R. Meade's trustees (Dromore), 13,492; R. N. Batt (Belfast), 12,010; and Lord A. E. Hill-Trevor, 10,940.

Mountains. Between Strangford and Carlingford loughs the county is occupied by a range of hills known in its south-western portion as the Mourne Mountains, which give rise to the four principal rivers-the Bann, the Lagan, the Annacloy, and the Newry. The highest peak in the Mourne range is named Slieve Donard. It is 2796 feet above the level of the sea, and is exceeded only by one peak, Lugduff, in the Wicklow range, and the higher reeks in Killarney.

Springs.-Down is celebrated for its holy wells and mineral springs. The chalybeate are more numerous than the sulphurous, but both abound. There are springs at Ardmillan, Granshaw, Dundonnell, Magheralin, Dromore, Newry, Banbridge, and Tierkelly. The Struel springs, a mile south-east of the town of Downpatrick, are celebrated for their healing properties. Fifty years ago they were regarded as possessing not only chemical wealth in rare abundance, but miraculous powers; and the decline of public credulity in the latter was coincident with the failure

Agriculture. Of the total area of the county, which is 610,740 acres (exclusive of Ballymacarret), there are 339,541 acres under tillage, 187,604 in pasture, and 12,027 under wood. Although comparisons as to yields of crops between different periods is now fallacious, inasmuch as the increased and increasing impcrtation of wheat into Ireland has altered the system of agriculture, it may be mentioned that, while in five years the cultivation of wheat has fallen from 244,451 acres to 119,597 in Ireland, during the same period in Down the decrease was from 32,734 acres to 21,272. There are many landed proprietors who hold large tracts in their own hands. The great bulk of the labouring population is orderly and industrious. Their dwellings are better constructed and furnished than those for a similar class in other parts of Ireland. The pro

tended to mitigate the severity of early Athenian law. Before his time all cases of homicide were tried by the Areopagus, and we are justified in inferring that death was the universal penalty. To Draco is generally attributed the establishment of the pera, a body of fifty-one elders, who sat in four different courts,-one for cases of accidental homicide, a second for justifiable homicide, a third for cases where another homicide had been committed abroad by a prisoner who had been banished by one of the above-named courts, and a fourth for cases of deodand. Such an institution is of itself enough to explode the traditional conception of Draco, and we may now proceed to discuss the true character of his legislation. At Athens, as at Rome, the kings were the depositaries and administrators of law. With the extinction of the regal power this prerogative passed into the hands of the aristocracy as represented by the archons. It was in the nature of things that such a monopoly should be abused. The remedy for this abuse which the commons sought was a published code of laws. It was attained at Rome by the law of the Twelve Tables, and at Athens by the code of Draco, 621 B.C. In both cases the promulgated law was merely an enunciation of existing customs. Such was the work of Draco. Of his life we know absolutely nothing with the exception of a most improbable story related by Suidas. In Suidas's Lexicon, under the word "Draco, we are told that he composed his code in his old age, and was smothered to death in the theatre at Ægina with the caps, chitons, and cloaks which were thrown at him by an enthusiastic audience. The only value of the story is that it may show the feelings with which he was regarded by the commons of his own day.

of trees, where they are fond of lying basking in the sun, and feeding on whatever insect may come in their way. When threatened with danger they are said to feign death.

DRAGON-FLY (German, Wasserjungfer; Swedish, Trollslända; Danish, Guldsmed; Dutch, Scherpstekendevlieg; French, Demoiselle), the popular English name applied to the members of a remarkable group of insects which formed the genus Libellula of Linnæus and the ancient authors. In some parts of the United States they appear to be known as "Devil's Darning Needles," and in many parts of England are termed "Horse-stingers." It is almost needless to say that (excepting to other insects upon which they prey) they are perfectly innocuous, though some of the larger species can inflict a momentarily painful bite with their powerful jaws. Their systematic position is at present contested and somewhat uncertain. By most of the older systematists they were placed as forming part of the heterogeneous order Neuroptera. Fabricius, however, elevated them to the rank of a distinct order, which he termed Odonata; and whatever may be the difference of opinion amongst authors at the present day, that term is almost universally employed for the group. Erichson transferred all the groups of socalled Neuroptera with incomplete metamorphoses, hence including the dragon-flies, as a division of Orthoptera, which he termed Pseudo-Neuroptera. Gerstäcker more recently also retains them in the Orthoptera, terming those groups in which the earlier states are sub-aquatic Orthoptera amphibiotica. It is not necessary to enter into an examination here of the merits or demerits of those various systems, and it will suffice to say that all are agreed in maintaining the insects as forming a group marked by characters at once extraordinary and isolated in their nature.

The group Odonata (using the term as a matter of convenience) is divided into three families, and each of these again into two sub-families. The families are the Agrionida, Eschnida, and Libellulidæ,-the first including the sub-families Calopterygina and Agrionina, the second Gomphina and Eschnina, and the third Cordulina and Libellulina.

The structure of a dragon-fly being so very remark. able, it is necessary to enter somewhat extensively into details. The head is comparatively small, and excavated posteriorly, connected very slightly with the prothorax, on which it turns almost as on a pivot. The eyes are, as a rule, enormous, often contiguous, and occupying nearly the whole of the upper surface of the head, but sometimes (Agrionide and Gomphina) widely distant; occu

DRAGON (Spáκwv, sharp-sighted), the name given by the ancients to a fabulous monster represented by them as a huge winged lizard or serpent. They regarded it as the enemy of mankind, and its overthrow is made to figure among the greatest exploits of the gods and heroes of heathen mythology. A dragon watched the garden of the Hesperides, and its destruction formed one of the seven labours of Hercules. Its existence does not seem to have been called in question by the older naturalists, figures of the dragon appearing in the works of Gesner and Aldrovandi, and even specimens of the monster-evidently formed artificially of portions of various animals-having been exhibited. The only creatures ever known to have existed, at all comparable to this imaginary monster, are the Pterodactyls, remains of which are found in the Liassic and Oolitic formations. These were huge reptiles, provided with true wings somewhat resembling those of bats. The name "dragon" is now applied to a highly interesting, but verypied by innumerable facets, which are often larger on the harmless, group of small flying lizards forming the genus Draco, belonging to the Agamide, a family of Saurian Reptiles. They inhabit India and the islands of the Malay Archipelago, and 18 species of them are known. They are small creatures, measuring about 10 inches long, including the tail, which in some cases is more than half of the entire length. The head is small, and the throat is provided with three pouches which are spread cut when they lie on the trunks of trees. They are, however, chiefly remarkable for the wing-like cutaneous processes with which their sides are provided, and which are extended and supported by greatly elongated ribs. These form a sort of parachute by which the animals are enabled to glide from branch to branch of the trees on which they reside, but, being altogether independent of the fore limbs, they cannot be regarded as true wings, nor do they enable the lizard to fly, but merely to make extensive leaps. When not in use they are folded by the side after the manner of a fan, and the dragon can then walk or run with considerable agility. They also use their wing-like expansions in clasping the branches

upper portion. In front of them is a portion termed the vertex, which sometimes (Libellulida) forms a swollen vesicle, before which are placed the three very small ocelli, and on either side of which are inserted the antennae, which are smaller in proportion than in almost any other insects, consisting only of two short swollen basal joints and a 5 or 6-jointed bristle-like thread. The front of the head is vertical, and consists of a large, often dilated upper portion, which is commonly termed the nasus, followed by a tranverse portion termed the rhinarium, and this again by the large labrum, which conceals the jaws and inner mouth parts. The lower lip, or labium, is attached to a very small chin piece (or mentum), and is generally very large, often (Agrionida) divided almost to its base into two portions, or more frequently entire or nearly so; on each side of it are two usually enormous hypertrophied pieces, which form the "palpi," and which are often furnished at the tips with an articulated spine (or terminal joint), the whole structure serving to retain the prey. Considerable diversity of opinion exists VII.

49

small dark space limited by nervules, termed the pterostigma; and between this and the base of the wing is a point termed the "nodus," at which the sub-costal nervure is suddenly arrested. The arrangement of the nervures at the base of the wing is very singular, and slight differences in it form useful aids to classification. In the Eschnida and Libellulide this arrangement results in the formation of a triangular space (known as the "triangle"), which is either open or traversed by nervules; but in many Agrionida this space, instead of being triangular, is oblong or elongately quadrate, or with its upper edge partly straight and partly oblique. This fixitude of type in neuration is not one of the least important of the many peculiarities exhibited in these insects.

The internal structure is comparatively simple. The salivary glands appear to be absent, and the whole digestive apparatus consists of an elongate canal extending from mouth to anus, comprising the œsophagus, stomach, and intestine, with certain dilatations and constrictions; the characteristic Malpighian vessels are stated to number about forty, placed round the posterior extremity of the stomach. Dragon-flies eat their prey completely, and do not content themselves by merely sucking its juices; the harder portions are rejected as elongate, nearly dry, pellets of excrement.

with respect to the composition of the mouth parts, and by some authors the "palpi" have been termed the side pieces of the lower lip. In a dead dragon-fly the parts are closed on each other, and, for a just appreciation of their structure and power, it is necessary to take a living example in the fingers by the thorax, slight lateral pressure on which causes the insect to display the formidable arrangement. The prothorax is extremely small, consisting of only a narrow ring, the upper portion of which is often elevated into lobes. The rest of the thorax is very large, and consolidated into a single piece, with oblique sutures on the sides beneath the wings; the portion in front of the wings is extremely robust, and offers a median carina or suture above, and a broad transverse sinus posteriorly. The interalar portion is somewhat excavated, and on each side of it above are nodosities forming the attachments of the powerful muscles that work the wings; on each side is a large and distinct spiracle. The abdomen varies excessively in form, the two extremes being the filiform structure observable in most Agrionida, and the very broad and depressed formation seen in our familiar Libellula depressa. It consists of ten distinct segments, whereof the basal two and those at the apex are short, the others elongate, the first being excessively short. In a slit on the under side of the second in the male, accompanied by external protuberances, are concealed the genital organs: on the under side of the But the most extraordinary feature in the economy, eighth in the female is a scale-like formation, indicating-one which has attracted the attention of naturalists the entrance to the oviduct. The tenth is always provided from remote times, is the position of the genital organs, in both sexes with prominent appendages, differing greatly and the corresponding anomalous manner in which the in form, and often furnishing the best specific (and even pairing of the sexes and impregnation is effected. In generic) characters; by some authors these appendages are the male the intromittent organ is (as stated above) considered as representing a modified eleventh segment. situated in a slit on the under surface of the second The basal segments often have additional transverse abdominal segment; it is usually very crooked or sinuous sutures, and in the common triquetrous abdomen there is in form, and is accompanied by sheaths, and by external a fine longitudinal dorsal carina, and prominent lateral hooks or secondary appendages, and also by seminal vessels. angles; invariably the ventral curface has a longitudinal But the ducts of the vessels connected with the testes unite membranous space connecting the here divided chitinous and open on the under surface of the ninth segment; hence, portion of the external skeleton. The legs vary in length before copulation can take place, it is necessary that the and stoutness, but may, as a rule, be termed long and vessels in the second segment be charged from this opening, slender, and in a measure that appears disproportionate to and in the majority of cases this is done by the male the necessities of the insect; for a dragon-fly can scarcely previously to seeking the female. In the latter sex the be said to walk after the short promenade it takes on entrance to the oviduct and genital organs is on the under emerging from its puparium. The anterior pair probably surface of the eighth abdominal segment. The act of pairassist in capturing and holding its insect prey, but the ing may be briefly stated as follows. The male, when greatest service all the legs render is possibly in enabling flying, seizes the prothorax of the female with the strong the creature to rest lightly, so that it can quit a position of appendages at the extremity of the abdomen, and the repose in chase of passing prey in the quickest possible abdomen of this latter sex is then curved upward so as to manner, in which the majority of the species are aided also bring the under side of the eighth segment into contact by the horizontally extended wings. The coxa is short and with the organs of the second segment of the male. This stout, followed by a still shorter trochanter; the femora act must have been observed by all, though but few nonand tibiæ long and slender, almost invariably furnished on entomologists are acquainted with the reasons for this most their under surface with two series of strong spines, as also extraordinary position. In the more powerful Libellulido, are the tarsi, which consist of three slender joints, the last &c., the act is of short duration, and it is probable that having two long and slender claws, usually (but not polygamy and polyandry exist, for it possibly requires invariably) with a small tooth internally below the tips; more than one almost momentary act to fertilize all the the palms are absent or nearly so, and naturally are not eggs in the ovaries of a female. But in many Agrionidæ, necessary in a non-ambulatory insect. The wings are and in some others, the male keeps his hold of the always elongate, and furnished with strong longitudinal prothorax of the female for a lengthened period, retainneuration and dense transverse nervules strengthening the ing himself in-flight in an almost perpendicular manner, already strong (although typically transparent) membrane. and it may be that the deposition of eggs and pairing goes In the Agrionida both pairs are nearly equal, and are on alternately. There is, however, much yet to be learned carried vertically and longitudinally in repose, and the on these points. The gravid female usually lays her eggs neuration and membrane are less strong; hence the species in masses (but perhaps sometimes singly), and the operation of this family are not so powerful on the wing as are those may be witnessed by any one in localities frequented by of the other groups in which the wings are horizontally these insects. She hovers for a considerable time over extended in a position ready for instant service. The nearly the same spot, rapidly dipping the apex of her neuration is peculiar, and in many respects without precise abdomen into the water, or at any rate touching it, and analogy in other groups of insects, but it is not necessary often in places where there are no water-weeds, so that in here to enter into more than some special points. On the all probability the eggs fall at once to the bottom. But in costal margin (excepting in some Calopterygina) there is a some of the Agrionida the female has been often noticed