Chapter X: Part 10

DIEBITSCH, HANS KARL FRIEDRICH ANTON, count von Diebitsch and Narden, called by the Russians Ivan Ivanovich, Count Diebich-Zabalkansky (1785-1831), Russian field-marshal, was born in Silesia on the 13th of May 1785. He was educated at the Berlin cadet school, but by the desire of his father, a Prussian officer who had passed into the service of Russia, he also did the same in 1801. He served in the campaign of 1805, and was wounded at Austerlitz, fought at Eylau and Friedland, and after Friedland was promoted captain. During the next five years of peace he devoted himself to the study of military science, engaging once more in active service in the War of 1812. He distinguished himself very greatly in Wittgenstein's campaign, and in particular at Polotzk (October 18 and 19), after which combat he was raised to the rank of major-general. In the latter part of the campaign he served against the Prussian contingent of General Yorck (von Wartenburg), with whom, through Clausewitz, he negotiated the celebrated convention of Tauroggen, serving thereafter with Yorck in the early part of the War of Liberation. After the battle of Lutzen he served in Silesia and took part in negotiating the secret treaty of Reichenbach. Having distinguished himself at the battles of Dresden and Leipzig he was promoted lieutenant-general. At the crisis of the campaign of 1814 he strongly urged the march of the allies on Paris; and after their entry the emperor Alexander conferred on him the order of St Alexander Nevsky. In 1815 he attended the congress of Vienna, and was afterwards made adjutant-general to the emperor, with whom, as also with his successor Nicholas, he had great influence. By Nicholas he was created baron, and later count. In 1820 he had become chief of the general staff, and in 1825 he assisted in suppressing the St Petersburg _emeute_. His greatest exploits were in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828-1829, which, after a period of doubtful contest, was decided by Diebitsch's brilliant campaign of Adrianople; this won him the rank of field-marshal and the honorary title of Zabalkanski to commemorate his crossing of the Balkans. In 1830 he was appointed to command the great army destined to suppress the insurrection in Poland. He won the terrible battle of Grochow on the 25th of February, and was again victorious at Ostrolenka on the 26th of May, but soon afterwards he died of cholera (or by his own hand) at Klecksewo near Pultusk, on the 10th of June 1831.

See Belmont (Schumberg), _Graf Diebitsch_ (Dresden, 1830); Sturmer,
_Der Tod des Grafen Diebitsch_ (Berlin, 1832); Bantych-Kamenski,
_Biographies of Russian Field-Marshals_ (in Russian, St Petersburg,
1841).

DIEDENHOFEN (Fr. _Thionville_), a fortified town of Germany, in Alsace-Lorraine, dist. Lorraine, on the Mosel, 22 m. N. from Metz by rail. Pop. (1905) 6047. It is a railway junction of some consequence, with cultivation of vines, fruit and vegetables, brewing, tanning, &c. Diedenhofen is an ancient Frank town (Theudonevilla, Totonisvilla), in which imperial diets were held in the 8th century; was captured by Conde in 1643 and fortified by Vauban; capitulated to the Prussians, after a severe bombardment, on the 25th of November 1870.

DIEKIRCH, a small town in the grand duchy of Luxemburg, charmingly situated on the banks of the Sure. Pop. (1905) 3705. Its name is said to be derived from Dide or Dido, granddaughter of Odin and niece of Thor. The mountain at the foot of which the town lies, now called Herrenberg, was formerly known as Thorenberg, or Thor's mountain. On the summit of this rock rises a perennial stream which flows down into the town under the name of Bellenflesschen. Diekirch was an important Roman station, and in the 14th century John of Luxemburg, the blind king of Bohemia, fortified it, surrounding the place with a castellated wall and a ditch supplied by the stream mentioned. It remained more or less fortified until the beginning of the 19th century when the French during their occupation levelled the old walls, and substituted the avenues of trees that now encircle the town. Diekirch is the administrative centre of one of the three provincial divisions of the grand duchy. It is visited during the summer by many thousand tourists and travellers from Holland, Belgium and Germany.

DIELECTRIC, in electricity, a non-conductor of electricity; it is the same as insulator. The "dielectric constant" of a medium is its specific inductive capacity, and on the electromagnetic theory of light it equals the square of its refractive index for light of infinite wave length (see ELECTROSTATICS; MAGNETO-OPTICS).

DIELMANN, FREDERICK (1847- ), American portrait and figure painter, was born at Hanover, Germany, on the 25th of December 1847. He was taken to the United States in early childhood; studied under Diez at the Royal Academy at Munich; was first an illustrator, and became a distinguished draughtsman and painter of genre pictures. His mural decorations and mosaic panels for the Congressional library, Washington, are notable. He was elected in 1899 president of the National Academy of Design.

DIEMEN, ANTHONY VAN (1593-1645), Dutch admiral and governor-general of the East Indian settlements, was born at Kuilenburg in 1593. He was educated in commerce, and on entering the service of the East India Company speedily attained high rank. In 1631 he led a Dutch fleet from the Indies to Holland, and in 1636 he was raised to the governor-generalship. He came into conflict with the Portuguese, and took their possessions in Ceylon and Malacca from them. He greatly extended the commercial relationships of the Dutch, opening up trade with Tong-king, China and Japan. As an administrator also he showed ability, and the foundation of a Latin school and several churches in Batavia is to be ascribed to him. Exploring expeditions were sent to Australia under his auspices in 1636 and 1642, and Abel Tasman named after him (Van Diemen's Land) the island now called Tasmania. Van Diemen died at Batavia on the 19th of April 1645.

DIEPENBECK, ABRAHAM VAN (1599-1675), Flemish painter, was born at Herzogenbusch, and studied painting at Antwerp, where he became one of Rubens's "hundred pupils." But he was not one of the cleverest of Rubens's followers, and he succeeded, at the best, in imitating the style and aping the peculiarities of his master. We see this in his earliest pictures--a portrait dated 1629 in the Munich Pinakothek, and a "Distribution of Alms" of the same period in the same collection. Yet even at this time there were moments when Diepenbeck probably fancied that he might take another path. A solitary copperplate executed with his own hand in 1630 represents a peasant sitting under a tree holding the bridle of an ass, and this is a minute and finished specimen of the engraver's art which shows that the master might at one time have hoped to rival the animal draughtsmen who flourished in the schools of Holland. However, large commissions now poured in upon him; he was asked for altarpieces, subject-pieces and pagan allegories. He was tempted to try the profession of a glass-painter, and at last he gave up every other occupation for the lucrative business of a draughtsman and designer for engravings. Most of Diepenbeck's important canvases are in continental galleries. The best are the "Marriage of St Catherine" at Berlin and "Mary with Angels Wailing over the Dead Body of Christ" in the Belvedere at Vienna, the first a very fair specimen of the artist's skill, the second a picture of more energy and feeling than might be expected from one who knew more of the outer form than of the spirit of Rubens. Then we have the fine "Entombment" at Brunswick, and "St Francis Adoring the Sacrament" at the museum at Brussels, "Clelia and her Nymphs Flying from the Presence and Pursuit of Porsenna" in two examples at Berlin and Paris, and "Neptune and Amphitrite" at Dresden. In all these compositions the drawing and execution are after the fashion of Rubens, though inferior to Rubens in harmony of tone and force of contrasted light and shade. Occasionally a tendency may be observed to imitate the style of Vandyck, for whom, in respect of pictures, Diepenbeck in his lifetime was frequently taken. But Diepenbeck spent much less of his leisure on canvases than on glass-painting. Though he failed to master the secrets of gorgeous tinting, which were lost, apparently for ever in the 16th century, he was constantly employed during the best years of his life in that branch of his profession. In 1635 he finished forty scenes from the life of St Francis of Paula in the church of the Minimes at Antwerp. In 1644 he received payment for four windows in St Jacques of Antwerp, two of which are still preserved, and represent Virgins to whom Christ appears after the Resurrection. The windows ascribed to him at St Gudule of Brussels were executed from the cartoons of Theodore van Thulden. On the occasion of his matriculation at Antwerp in 1638-1639, Diepenbeck was registered in the guild of St Luke as a glass-painter. He resigned his membership in the Artist Club of the Violette in 1542, apparently because he felt hurt by a valuation then made of drawings furnished for copperplates to the engraver Pieter de Jode. The earliest record of his residence at Antwerp is that of his election to the brotherhood (Sodalitat) "of the Bachelors" in 1634. It is probable that before this time he had visited Rome and London, as noted in the work of Houbraken. In 1636 he was made a burgess of Antwerp. He married twice, in 1637 and 1652. He died in December 1675, and was buried at St Jacques of Antwerp.

DIEPPE, a seaport of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Seine-Inferieure, on the English Channel, 38 m. N. of Rouen, and 105 m. N.W. of Paris by the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 22,120. It is situated at the mouth of the river Arques in a valley bordered on each side by steep white cliffs. The main part of the town lies to the west, and the fishing suburb of Le Pollet to the east of the river and harbour. The sea-front of Dieppe, which in summer attracts large numbers of visitors, consists of a pebbly beach backed by a handsome marine promenade. Dieppe has a modern aspect; its streets are wide and its houses, in most cases, are built of brick. Two squares side by side and immediately to the west of the outer harbour form the nucleus of the town, the Place Nationale, overlooked by the statue of Admiral A. Duquesne, and the Place St Jacques, named after the beautiful Gothic church which stands in its centre. The Grande Rue, the busiest and handsomest street, leads westward from the Place Nationale. The church of St Jacques was founded in the 13th century, but consists in large measure of later workmanship and was in some portions restored in the 19th century. The castle, overlooking the beach from the summit of the western cliff, was erected in 1435. The church of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours on the opposite cliff, and the church of St Remy, of the 16th and 17th centuries, are other noteworthy buildings. A well-equipped casino stands at the west end of the sea-front. The public institutions include the subprefecture, tribunals of first instance and commerce, a chamber of commerce, a communal college and a school of navigation.

Dieppe has one of the safest and deepest harbours on the English Channel. A curved passage cut in the bed of the Arques and protected by an eastern and a western jetty gives access to the outer harbour, which communicates at the east end by a lockgate with the Bassin Duquesne and the Bassin Berigny, and at the west end by the New Channel, with an inner tidal harbour and two other basins. Vessels drawing 20 ft. can enter the new docks at neap tide. A dry-dock and a gridiron are included among the repairing facilities of the port. The harbour railway station is on the north-west quay of the outer harbour alongside which the steamers from Newhaven lie. The distance of Dieppe from Newhaven, with which there has long been daily communication, is 64 m. The imports include silk and cotton goods, thread, oil-seeds, timber, coal and mineral oil; leading exports are wine, silk, woollen and cotton fabrics, vegetables and fruit and flint-pebbles. The average annual value of imports for the five years 1901-1905 was L4,916,000 (L4,301,000 for the years 1896-1900); the exports were valued at L9,206,000 (L7,023,000 for years 1896-1900). The industries comprise shipbuilding, cotton-spinning, steam-sawing, the manufacture of machinery, porcelain, briquettes, lace, and articles in ivory and bone, the production of which dates from the 15th century. There is also a tobacco factory of some importance. The fishermen of Le Pollet, to whom tradition ascribes a Venetian origin, are among the main providers of the Parisian market. The sea-bathing attracts many visitors in the summer. Two miles to the north-east of the town is the ancient camp known as the Cite de Limes, which perhaps furnished the nucleus of the population of Dieppe.

It is suggested on the authority of its name, that Dieppe owed its origin to a band of Norman adventurers, who found its "diep" or inlet suitable for their ships, but it was unimportant till the latter half of the 12th century. Its first castle was probably built in 1188 by Henry II. of England, and it was counted a place of some consideration when Philip Augustus attacked it in 1195. By Richard I. of England it was bestowed in 1197 on the archbishop of Rouen in return for certain territory in the neighbourhood of the episcopal city. In 1339 it was plundered by the English, but it soon recovered from the blow, and in spite of the opposition of the lords of Hantot managed to surround itself with fortifications. Its commercial activity was already great, and it is believed that its seamen visited the coast of Guinea in 1339, and founded there a Petit Dieppe in 1365. The town was occupied by the English from 1420 to 1435. A siege undertaken in 1442 by John Talbot, first earl of Shrewsbury, was raised by the dauphin, afterwards Louis XI., and the day of the deliverance continued for centuries to be celebrated by a great procession and miracle plays. In the beginning of the 16th century Jean Parmentier, a native of the town, made voyages to Brazil and Sumatra; and a little later its merchant prince, Jacques Ango, was able to blockade the Portuguese fleet in the Tagus. Francis I. began improvements which were continued under his successor. Its inhabitants in great number embraced the reformed religion; and they were among the first to acknowledge Henry IV., who fought one of his great battles at the neighbouring village of Arques. Few of the cities of France suffered more from the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685; and this blow was followed in 1694 by a terrible bombardment on the part of the English and Dutch. The town was rebuilt after the peace of Ryswick, but the decrease of its population and the deterioration of its port prevented the restoration of its commercial prosperity. During the 19th century it made rapid advances, partly owing to Marie Caroline, duchess of Berry, who brought it into fashion as a watering-place; and also because the establishment of railway communication with Paris gave an impetus to its trade. During the Franco-German War the town was occupied by the Germans from December 1870 till July 1871.

See L. Vitet, _Histoire de Dieppe_ (Paris, 1844); D. Asseline, _Les
Antiquites et chroniques de la ville de Dieppe_, a 17th-century
account published at Paris in 1874.

DIERX, LEON (1838- ), French poet, was born in the island of Reunion in 1838. He came to Paris to study at the Central School of Arts and Manufactures, and subsequently settled there, taking up a post in the education office. He became a disciple of Leconte de Lisle and one of the most distinguished of the Parnassians. In the death of Stephane Mallarme in 1898 he was acclaimed "prince of poets" by "les jeunes." His works include: _Poemes et poesies_ (1864); _Levres closes_ (1867); _Paroles d'un vaincu_ (1871); _La Rencontre_, a dramatic scene (1875) and _Les Amants_ (1879). His _Poesies completes_ (1872) were crowned by the French Academy. A complete edition of his works was published in 2 vols., 1894-1896.

DIES, CHRISTOPH ALBERT (1755-1822), German painter, was born at Hanover, and learned the rudiments of art in his native place. For one year he studied in the academy of Dusseldorf, and then he started at the age of twenty with thirty ducats in his pocket for Rome. There he lived a frugal life till 1796. Copying pictures, chiefly by Salvator Rosa, for a livelihood, his taste led him to draw and paint from nature in Tivoli, Albano and other picturesque places in the vicinity of Rome. Naples, the birthplace of his favourite master, he visited more than once for the same reasons. In this way he became a bold executant in water-colours and in oil, though he failed to acquire any originality of his own. Lord Bristol, who encouraged him as a copyist, predicted that he would be a second Salvator Rosa. But Dies was not of the wood which makes original artists. Besides other disqualifications, he had necessities which forced him to give up the great career of an independent painter. David, then composing his Horatii at Rome, wished to take him to Paris. But Dies had reasons for not accepting the offer. He was courting a young Roman whom he subsequently married. Meanwhile he had made the acquaintance of Volpato, for whom he executed numerous drawings, and this no doubt suggested the plan, which he afterwards carried out, of publishing, in partnership with Mechan, Reinhardt and Frauenholz, the series of plates known as the _Collection de vues pittoresques de l'Italie_, published in seventy-two sheets at Nuremberg in 1799. With so many irons in the fire Dies naturally lost the power of concentration. Other causes combined to affect his talent. In 1787 he swallowed by mistake three-quarters of an ounce of sugar of lead. His recovery from this poison was slow and incomplete. He settled at Vienna, and lived there on the produce of his brush as a landscape painter, and on that of his pencil or graver as a draughtsman and etcher. But instead of getting better, his condition became worse, and he even lost the use of one of his hands. In this condition he turned from painting to music, and spent his leisure hours in the pleasures of authorship. He did not long survive, dying at Vienna in 1822, after long years of chronic suffering. From two pictures now in the Belvedere gallery, and from numerous engraved drawings from the neighbourhood of Tivoli, we gather that Dies was never destined to rise above a respectable mediocrity. He followed Salvator Rosa's example in imitating the manner of Claude Lorraine. But Salvator adapted the style of Claude, whilst Dies did no more than copy it.

DIEST, a small town in the province of Brabant, Belgium, situated on the Demer at its junction with the Bever. Pop. (1904) 8383. It lies about half-way between Hasselt and Louvain, and is still one of the five fortified places in Belgium. It contains many breweries, and is famous for the excellence of its beer.

DIESTERWEG, FRIEDRICH ADOLF WILHELM (1790-1866), German educationist, was born at Siegen on the 29th of October 1790. Educated at Herborn and Tubingen universities, he took to the profession of teaching in 1811. In 1820 he was appointed director of the new school at Mors, where he put in practice the methods of Pestalozzi. In 1832 he was summoned to Berlin to direct the new state-schools seminary in that city. Here he proved himself a strong supporter of unsectarian religious teaching. In 1846 he established the Pestalozzi institution at Pankow, and the Pestalozzi societies for the support of teachers' widows and orphans. In 1850 he retired on a pension, but continued vigorously to advocate his educational views. In 1858 he was elected to the chamber of deputies as member for the city of Berlin, and voted with the Liberal opposition. He died in Berlin on the 7th of July 1866. Diesterweg was a voluminous writer on educational subjects, and was the author of various school text-books.

DIET, a term used in two senses, (1) food or the regulation of feeding (see DIETARY and DIETETICS), (2) an assembly or council (Fr. _diete_; It. _dieta_; Low Lat. _diaeta_; Ger. _Tag_). We are here concerned only with this second sense. In modern usage, though in Scotland the term is still sometimes applied to any assembly or session, it is practically confined to the sense of an assembly of estates or of national or federal representatives. The origin of the word in this connotation is somewhat complicated. It is undoubtedly ultimately derived from the Greek [Greek: diaita] (Lat. _diaeta_), which meant "mode of life" and thence "prescribed mode of life," the English "diet" or "regimen." This was connected with the verb [Greek: diaitan], in the sense of "to rule," "to regulate"; compare the office of [Greek: diaitetes] at Athens, and _dieteta_, "umpire," in Late Latin. In both Greek and Latin, too, the word meant "a room," from which the transition to "a place of assembly" and so to "an assembly" would be easy. In the latter sense the word, however, actually occurs only in Low Latin, Du Cange (_Glossarium_, s.v.) deriving it from the late sense of "meal" or "feast," the Germans being accustomed to combine their political assemblies with feasting. It is clear, too, that the word _diaeta_ early became confused with Lat. _dies_, "day" (Ger. _Tag_), "especially a set day, a day appointed for public business; whence, by extension, meeting for business, an assembly" (Skeat). Instances of this confusion are given by Du Cange, e.g. _diaeta_ for _dieta_, "a day's journey" (also an obsolete sense of "diet" in English), and _dieta_ for "the ordinary course of the church," i.e. "the daily office," which suggests the original sense of _diaeta_ as "a prescribed mode of life."

The word "diet" is now used in English for the _Reichstag_, "imperial diet" of the old Holy Roman Empire; for the _Bundestag_, "federal diet," of the former Germanic confederation; sometimes for the _Reichstag_ of the modern German empire; for the _Landtage_, "territorial diets" of the constituent states of the German and Austrian empires; as well as for the former or existing federal or national assemblies of Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, &c. Although, however, the word is still sometimes used of all the above, the tendency is to confine it, so far as contemporary assemblies are concerned, to those of subordinate importance. Thus "parliament" is often used of the German _Reichstag_ or of the Russian Landtag, while the _Landtag_, e.g. of Styria, would always be rendered "diet." In what follows we confine ourselves to the diet of the Holy Roman Empire and its relation to its successors in modern Germany.

The origin of the diet, or deliberative assembly, of the Holy Roman Empire must be sought in the _placitum_ of the Frankish empire. This represented the tribal assembly of the Franks, meeting (originally in March, but after 755 in May, whence it is called the Campus Maii) partly for a military review on the eve of the summer campaign, partly for deliberation on important matters of politics and justice. By the side of this larger assembly, however, which contained in theory, if not in practice, the whole body of Franks available for war, there had developed, even before Carolingian times, a smaller body composed of the magnates of the Empire, both lay and ecclesiastical. The germ of this smaller body is to be found in the episcopal synods, which, afforced by the attendance of lay magnates, came to be used by the king for the settlement of national affairs. Under the Carolingians it was usual to combine the assembly of magnates with the _generalis conventus_ of the "field of May," and it was in this inner assembly, rather than in the general body (whose approval was merely formal, and confined to matters momentous enough to be referred to a general vote), that the centre of power really lay. It is from the assembly of magnates that the diet of medieval Germany springs. The general assembly became meaningless and unnecessary, as the feudal array gradually superseded the old levy _en masse_, in which each freeman had been liable to service; and after the close of the 10th century it no longer existed.

The imperial diet (_Reichstag_) of the middle ages might sometimes contain representatives of Italy, the _regnum Italicum_; but it was practically always confined to the magnates of Germany, the _regnum Teutonicum_. Upon occasion a summons to the diet might be sent even to the knights, but the regular members were the princes (_Fursten_), both lay and ecclesiastical. In the 13th century the seven electors began to disengage themselves from the prince as a separate element, and the Golden Bull (1356) made their separation complete; from the 14th century onwards the nobles (both counts and other lords) are regarded as regular members; while after 1250 the imperial and episcopal towns often appear through their representatives. By the 14th century, therefore, the originally homogeneous diet of princes is already, at any rate practically if not yet in legal form, divided into three colleges--the electors, the princes and nobles, and the representatives of the towns (though, as we shall see, the latter can hardly be reckoned as regular members until the century of the Reformation). Under the Hohenstaufen it is still the rule that every member of the diet must attend personally, or lose his vote; at a later date the principle of representation by proxy, which eventually made the diet into a mere congress of envoys, was introduced. By the end of the 13th century the vote of the majority had come to be regarded as decisive; but in accordance with the strong sense of social distinctions which marks German history, the quality as well as the quantity of votes was weighed, and if the most powerful of the princes were agreed, the opinion of the lesser magnates was not consulted. The powers of the medieval diet extended to matters like legislation, the decision upon expeditions (especially the _expeditio Romana_), taxation and changes in the constitution of the principalities or the Empire. The election of the king, which was originally regarded as one of the powers of the diet, had passed to the electors by the middle of the 13th century.

A new era in the history of the diet begins with the Reformation. The division of the diet into three colleges becomes definite and precise; the right of the electors, for instance, to constitute a separate college is explicitly recognized as a matter of established custom in 1544. The representatives of the towns now become regular members. In the 15th century they had only attended when special business, such as imperial reform or taxation, fell under discussion; in 1500, however, they were recognized as a separate and regular estate, though it was not until 1648 that they were recognized as equal to the other estates of the diet. The estate of the towns, or college of municipal representatives, was divided into two benches, the Rhenish and the Swabian. The estate of the princes and counts, which stood midway between the electors and the towns, also attained, in the years that followed the Reformation, its final organization. The vote of the great princes ceased to be personal, and began to be territorial. This had two results. The division of a single territory among the different sons of a family no longer, as of old, multiplied the voting power of the family; while in the opposite case, the union of various territories in the hands of a single person no longer meant the extinction of several votes, since the new owner was now allowed to give a vote for each of his territories. The position of the counts and other lords, who joined with the princes in forming the middle estate, was finally fixed by the middle of the 17th century. While each of the princes enjoyed an individual vote, the counts and other lords were arranged in groups, each of which voted as a whole, though the whole of its vote (_Kuriatstimme_) only counted as equal to the vote of a single prince (_Virilstimme_). There were six of these groups; but as the votes of the whole college of princes and counts (at any rate in the 18th century) numbered 100, they could exercise but little weight.

The last era in the history of the diet may be said to open with the treaty of Westphalia (1648). The treaty acknowledged that Germany was no longer a unitary state, but a loose confederation of sovereign princes; and the diet accordingly ceased to bear the character of a national assembly, and became a mere congress of envoys. The "last diet" which issued a regular recess (_Reichsabschied_--the term applied to the _acta_ of the diet, as formally compiled and enunciated at its dissolution) was that of Regensburg in 1654. The next diet, which met at Regensburg in 1663, never issued a recess, and was never dissolved; it continued in permanent session, as it were, till the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. This result was achieved by the process of turning the diet from an assembly of principals into a congress of envoys. The emperor was represented by two _commissarii_; the electors, princes and towns were similarly represented by their accredited agents. Some legislation was occasionally done by this body; a _conclusum imperii_ (so called in distinction from the old _recessus imperii_ of the period before 1663) might slowly (very slowly--for the agents, imperfectly instructed, had constantly to refer matters back to their principals) be achieved; but it rested with the various princes to promulgate and enforce the _conclusum_ in their territories, and they were sufficiently occupied in issuing and enforcing their own decrees. In practice the diet had nothing to do; and its members occupied themselves in "wrangling about chairs"--that is to say, in unending disputes about degrees and precedences.

In the Germanic Confederation, which occupies the interval between the death of the Holy Roman Empire and the formation of the North German Confederation (1815-1866), a diet (_Bundestag_) existed, which was modelled on the old diet of the 18th century. It was a standing congress of envoys at Frankfort-on-Main. Austria presided in the diet, which, in the earlier years of its history, served, under the influence of Metternich, as an organ for the suppression of Liberal opinion. In the North German Confederation (1867-1870) a new departure was made, which has been followed in the constitution of the present German empire. Two bodies were instituted--a _Bundesrat_, which resembles the old diet in being a congress of envoys sent by the sovereigns of the different states of the confederation, and a _Reichstag_, which bears the name of the old diet, but differs entirely in composition. The new Reichstag is a popular representative assembly, based on wide suffrage and elected by ballot; and, above all, it is an assembly representing, not the several states, but the whole Empire, which is divided for this purpose into electoral districts. Both as a popular assembly, and as an assembly which represents the whole of a united Germany, the new Reichstag goes back, one may almost say, beyond the diet even of the middle ages, to the days of the old Teutonic folk-moot.

See R. Schroder, _Lehrbuch der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (1902), pp.
149, 508, 820, 880. Schroder gives a bibliography of monographs
bearing on the history of the medieval diet. (E. BR.)

DIETARY, in a general sense, a system or course of diet, in the sense of food; more particularly, such an allowance and regulation of food as that supplied to workhouses, the army and navy, prisons, &c. Lowest in the scale of such dietaries comes what is termed "bare existence" diet, administered to certain classes of the community who have a claim on their fellow-countrymen that their lives and health shall be preserved _in statu quo_, but nothing further. This applies particularly to the members of a temporarily famine-stricken community. Before the days of prison reform, too, the dietary scale of many prisons was to a certain extent penal, in that the food supplied to prisoners was barely sufficient for existence. Nowadays more humane principles apply; there is no longer the obvious injustice of applying the same scale of quantity and quality to all prisoners under varying circumstances of constitution and surroundings, and whether serving long or short periods of imprisonment.

The system of dietary in force in the local and convict prisons of
England and Wales is that recommended by the Home Office on the advice
of a departmental committee. As to the local prison dietary, its
application is based on (1) the principle of variation of diet with
length of sentence; (2) the system of progressive dietary; (3) the
distinction between hard labour diets and non-hard labour diets; (4)
the differentiation of diet according to age and sex. There are three
classes of diet, classes A, B and C. Class A diet is given to
prisoners undergoing not more than seven days' imprisonment. The food
is good and wholesome, but sufficiently plain and unattractive, so as
not to offer temptation to the loafer or mendicant. It is given in
quantity sufficient to maintain health and strength during the single
week. Prisoners sentenced to more than seven days and not more than
fourteen days are given class A diet for the first seven days and
class B for the remainder of the sentence. In most of the local
prisons in England and Wales prisoners sentenced to hard labour
received hard labour diet, although quite 60% were unable to perform
the hardest forms of prison labour either through physical defect, age
or infirmity. The departmental committee of 1899 in their report
recommended that no distinction should be made between hard labour and
non-hard labour diets. Class A diet is as follows:--_Breakfast_,
Bread, 8 oz. daily (6 oz. for women and juveniles) with 1 pint of
gruel. Juveniles (males and females under sixteen years of age) get,
in addition, 1/2 pint of milk. _Dinner_, 8 oz. of bread daily, with 1
pint of porridge on three days of the week, 8 oz. of potatoes
(representing the vegetable element) on two other days, and 8 oz. of
suet pudding (representing the fatty element) on the other two days.
_Supper_, the breakfast fare repeated.

Class B diet, which is also given to (1) prisoners on remand or
awaiting trial, (2) offenders of the 1st division who do not maintain
themselves, (3) offenders of the 2nd division and (4) debtors, is as
shown in Table I.

Class C diet is class B amplified, and is given to those prisoners
serving sentences of three months and over.

TABLE I.

+------------+------------------+--------+--------+-----------+
| | | Men. | Women. | Juveniles.|
+------------+------------------+--------+--------+-----------+
| | | | | |
| Breakfast. | Daily:-- | | | |
| | Bread | 8 oz. | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Gruel | 1 pt. | 1 pt. | 1 pt. |
| | Milk | .. | .. | 1/2 pt. |
| | | | | |
| Dinner. | Sunday:-- +--------+--------+-----------+
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Cooked meat, | | |
| | preserved | 4 " | 3 " |
| | by heat | | |
| | Monday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Beans | 10 " | 8 " |
| | Fat bacon | 2 " | 1 " |
| | | | |
| | Tuesday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Soup | 1 pt. | 1 pt. |
| | | | |
| | Wednesday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Suet pudding | 10 " | 8 " |
| | | | |
| | Thursday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Cooked beef, | | |
| | without bone| 4 " | 3 " |
| | | | |
| | Friday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Soup | 1 pt. | 1 pt. |
| | | | |
| | Saturday:-- | | |
| | Bread | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Potatoes | 8 " | 8 " |
| | Suet pudding | 10 " | 8 " |
| | | | |
| Supper. | Daily:-- | +---------+----------+
| | Bread | 8 oz. | 6 oz. | 6 oz. |
| | Porridge | 1 pt. | | |
| | Gruel | | 1 pt. | |
| | Cocoa | | | 1 pt. |
+------------+------------------+--------+---------+----------+

TABLE II.
+------------------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| |Sun. | Mon. | Tue. | Wed. | Thu. | Fri. | Sat. |
+------------------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Breakfast. | | | | | | | |
| Bread. oz.| 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Porridge. pt.| * |1-1/2 |1-1/2 |1-1/2 |1-1/2 |1-1/2 |1-1/2 |
+------------------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Dinner. | | | | | | | |
| Bread. oz.| 4 | 6 | .. | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 |
| Beef. oz.|4-1/2| .. | .. | .. | 4-1/2| .. | .. |
| Vegetables. oz.| 12 | .. | .. | 12 | 12 | .. | .. |
| Barley Soup. pt.| .. | 1-1/2| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Pork. oz.| .. | .. | 4-1/2| .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Beans. oz.| .. | .. | 12 | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Fish. oz.| .. | .. | .. | 10 | .. | .. | .. |
| Cheese. oz.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 3 | .. |
| Broth. pt.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. |
| Irish Stew. pt.| .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 |
+------------------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+
| Supper. | | | | | | | |
| Bread. oz.| 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Butter. oz.| 1/2 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Tea. pt.| 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. |
| Gruel. pt.| .. | 1-1/2| 1-1/2| 1-1/2| .. | 1-1/2| 1-1/2|
| Broth. pt.| .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | .. |
| Cheese. oz.| .. | .. | .. | .. | 2 | .. | .. |
+------------------+-----+------+------+------+------+------+------+
* On Sundays 1 pint of tea and 2-1/2 oz. of butter are given instead
of porridge.

The dietary of convict prisons, in which prisoners are all under long
sentence, is divided into a diet for convicts employed at hard labour
and a diet for convicts employed at sedentary, indoor and light
labour. It will be found set forth in the Blue-book mentioned above.
The sparest of all prison diets is called "punishment diet," and is
administered for offences against the internal discipline of the
prison. It is limited to a period of three days. It consists of 1 lb.
of bread and as much water as the prisoner chooses to drink.

In French prisons the dietary is nearly two pounds weight of bread,
with two meals of thin soup (breakfast and dinner) made from potatoes,
beans or other vegetables, and on two days a week made from meat. In
France the canteen system is in vogue, additional food, such as
sausages, cheese, fruit, &c., may be obtained by the prisoner,
according to the wages he receives for his labours. The dietary of
Austrian prisons is 1-1/2 lb. of bread daily, a dinner of soup on four
days of the week, and of meat on the other three days, with a supper
of soup or vegetable stew. Additional food can be purchased by the
prisoner out of his earnings.

These dietaries may be taken as more or less typical of the ordinary
prison fare in most civilized countries, though in some countries it
may err on the side of severity, as in Sweden, prisoners being given
only two meals a day, one at mid-day and one at seven p.m., porridge
or gruel being the principal element in both meals. On the other hand,
the prison dietaries of many of the United States prisons go to the
other extreme, fresh fish, green vegetables, even coffee and fruit,
figuring in the dietary.

Another class of dietary is that given to paupers. In England, until
1900, almost every individual workhouse had its own special dietary,
with the consequence that many erred on the side of scantiness and
unsuitability, while others were too lavish. By an order of the Local
Government Board of that year, acting on a report of a committee, all
inmates of workhouses, with the exception of the sick, children under
three years of age, and certain other special cases, are dieted in
accordance with certain dietary tables as framed and settled by the
board. The order contained a great number of different rations, it
being left to the discretion of the guardians as to the final
settlement of the tables. For adult inmates the dietary tables are for
each sex respectively, two in number, one termed "plain diet" and the
other "infirm diet." All male inmates certified as healthy able-bodied
persons receive plain diet only. All inmates, however, in workhouses
are kept employed according to their capacity and ability, and this is
taken into consideration in giving allowances of food. For instance,
for work with sustained exertion, such as stone-breaking, digging,
&c., more food is given than for work without sustained exertion, such
as wood-chopping, weeding or sewing. Table II. shows an example of a
workhouse dietary.

In the casual wards of workhouses the dietary is plainer, consisting
of 8 oz. of bread, or 6 oz. of bread and one pint of gruel or broth
for breakfast; the same for supper; for dinner 8 oz. of bread and 1-1/2
oz. of cheese or 6 oz. of bread and one pint of soup. The American
poor law system is based broadly on that of England, and the methods
of relief are much the same. Each state, however, makes its own
regulations, and there is considerable diversity in workhouse
dietaries in consequence. The German system of poor relief is more
methodical than those of England and America. The really deserving are
treated with more commiseration, and a larger amount of outdoor
relief is given than in England. There is no casual ward, tramps and
beggars being liable to penal treatment, but there are "relief
stations," somewhat corresponding to casual wards, where destitute
persons tramping from one place to another can obtain food and lodging
in return for work done.

In the British navy certain staple articles of diet are supplied to
the men to the value approximately of 6d. per diem--the standard
government ration--and, in addition, a messing allowance of 4d. per
diem, which may either be expended on luxuries in the canteen, or in
taking up government provisions on board ship, in addition to the
standard ration. The standard ration as recommended in 1907 by a
committee appointed to inquire into the question of victualling in the
navy is as follows:--

_Service Afloat._

1 lb. bread (or 3/4 lb. bread and 1/4 lb. trade flour).
1/2 lb. fresh meat.
1 lb. fresh vegetables.
1/8 pint spirit.
4 oz. sugar.
1/2 oz. tea (or 1 oz. coffee for every 1/4 oz. tea).
1/2 oz. ordinary or soluble chocolate (or 1 oz. coffee).
3/4 oz. condensed milk.
1 oz. jam or marmalade.
4 oz. preserved meat on _one_ day of the week in harbour, or on
_two_ days at sea.

Mustard, pepper, vinegar, and salt as required.

Substitute for soft bread when the latter is not available--
1/2 lb. biscuit (new type) or 1 lb. flour.

Substitutes for fresh meat when the latter is not available:--

/(1) Salt pork day:--
| 1/2 lb. salt pork.
| 1/4 lb. split peas.
| Celery seed, 1/2 oz. to every 8 lb. of split peas put
| into the coppers.
On | 1/2 lb. potatoes (or 1 oz. compressed vegetables).
alternate<
days | (2) Preserved meat day:--
| 6 oz. preserved meat.
| 8 oz. trade flour \
| 3/4 oz. refined suet > or 4 oz. rice.
| 2 oz. raisins /
\ 1/2 lb. potatoes (or 1 oz. compressed vegetables).

On shore establishments and depot ships 1/4 pt. fresh milk is issued in
lieu of the 3/4 oz. of condensed milk.

In the United States navy there is more liberality and variety of
diet, the approximate daily cost of the rations supplied being 1s. 3d.
per head. In the American mercantile marine, too, according to the
scale sanctioned by act of Congress (December 21, 1898) for American
ships, the seaman is better off than in the British merchant service.
The scale is shown in Table III.

TABLE III.

+---------+-----------------------++-----------+----------------+
| Weekly | Articles. || Weekly | Articles. |
| Scale. | || Scale. | |
+---------+-----------------------++-----------+----------------+
|3-1/2 lb.| Biscuits. || 7/8 oz. | Tea. |
|3-3/4 " | Salt beef. || 21 " | Sugar. |
| 3 " | " pork. || 1-1/2 lb.| Molasses. |
|1-1/2 " | Flour. || 9 oz. | Fruits, dried. |
| 2 " | Meats, preserved. || 3/4 pt. | Pickles. |
|10-1/2 " | Bread, fresh (8 lb. || 1 " | Vinegar. |
| | flour in lieu). || 8 oz. | Corn Meal. |
| 1 " | Fish, dried. || 12 " | Onions. |
| 7 " | Potatoes or yams. || 7 " | Lard. |
| 1 " | Tomatoes, preserved. || 7 " | Butter. |
|2/3 " | Peas. || 1/4 " | Mustard. |
|2/3 " | Calavances. || 1/4 " | Pepper. |
|2/3 " | Rice. || 1/4 " | Salt. |
|5-1/4 oz.| Coffee, green. || | |
+---------+-----------------------++-----------+----------------+

In the British mercantile marine there is no scale of provisions
prescribed by the Board of Trade; there is, however, a traditional
scale very generally adopted, having the sanction of custom only and
seldom adhered to. The following dietary scale for steerage
passengers, laid down in the 12th schedule of the Merchant Shipping
Act 1894, is of interest. See Table IV.

Certain substitutions may be made in this scale at the option of the
master of any emigrant ship, provided that the substituted articles
are set forth in the contract tickets of the steerage passengers.

In the British army the soldier is fed partly by a system of
co-operation. He gets a free ration from government of 1 lb. of bread
and 3/4 lb. of meat; in addition there is a messing allowance of 3-1/2d.
per man per day. He is able to supplement his food by purchases from
the canteen. Much depends on the individual management in each
regiment as to the satisfactory expenditure of the messing allowance.
In some regiments an allowance is made from the canteen funds towards
messing in addition to that granted by the government. The ordinary
_field_ ration of the British soldier is 1-1/2 lb. of bread or 1 lb. of
biscuit; 1 lb. of fresh, salt or preserved meat; 1/2 oz. of coffee; 1/6
oz. of tea; 2 oz. of sugar; 1/2 oz. of salt, 1/36 oz. of pepper, the
whole weighing something over 2 lb. 3 oz. This cannot be looked on as
a fixed ration, as it varies in different campaigns, according to the
country into which the troops may be sent. The Prussian soldier during
peace gets weekly from his canteen 11 lb. 1 oz. of rye bread and not
quite 2-1/2 lb. of meat. This is obviously insufficient, but under

TABLE IV.--_Weekly, per Statute Adult._

+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| | Scale A. | Scale B. |
| |For voyages not |For voyages |
| | exceeding 84 days | exceeding 84 days |
| | for sailing ships | for sailing ships |
| | or 50 days | or 50 days |
| | for steamships. | for steamships. |
+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+
| | lb. oz. | lb. oz. |
| Bread or biscuit, not | | |
| inferior to navy biscuit | 3 8 | 3 8 |
| Wheaten flour | 1 0 | 2 0 |
| Oatmeal | 1 8 | 1 0 |
| Rice | 1 8 | 0 8 |
| Peas | 1 8 | 1 8 |
| Beef | 1 4 | 1 4 |
| Pork | 1 0 | 1 0 |
| Butter | .. | 0 4 |
| Potatoes | 2 0 | 2 0 |
| Sugar | 1 0 | 1 0 |
| Tea | 0 2 | 0 2 |
| Salt | 0 2 | 0 2 |
| Pepper (white or | | |
| black), ground | 0 0-1/2 | 0 0-1/2 |
| Vinegar | 1 gill | 1 gill |
| Preserved meat | .. | 1 0 |
| Suet | | 0 6 |
| Raisins | | 0 8 |
| Lime juice | | 0 6 |
+---------------------------+-------------------+-------------------+

the conscription system it is reckoned that he will be able to make up
the deficiency out of his own private means, or obtain charitable
contributions from his friends. In the French infantry of the line
each man during peace gets weekly 15 lb. of bread, 3-3/10 lb. of meat,
2-1/2 lb. of haricot beans or other vegetables, with salt and pepper, and
1-3/4 oz. of brandy.

An Austrian under the same circumstances receives 13.9 lb. of bread, 1/2
lb. of flour and 3.3 lb. of meat.

The Russian conscript is allowed weekly:--

Black bread 7 lb.
Meat 7 lb.
Kvass (beer) 7.7 quarts.
Sour cabbage 24-1/2 gills = 122-1/2 oz.
Barley 24-1/2 gills = 122-1/2 oz.
Salts 10-1/2 oz.
Horse-radish 28 grains.
Pepper 28 grains.
Vinegar 5-1/2 gills = 26-1/2 oz.

DIETETICS, the science of diet, i.e. the food and nutrition of man in health and disease (see NUTRITION). This article deals mainly with that part of the subject which has to do with the composition and nutritive values of foods and their adaptation to the use of people in health. The principal topics considered are: (1) Food and its functions; (2) Metabolism of matter and energy; (3) Composition of food materials; (4) Digestibility of food; (5) Fuel value of food; (6) Food consumption; (7) Quantities of nutrients needed; (8) Hygienic economy of food; (9) Pecuniary economy of food.

1. _Food and its Functions._--For practical purposes, food may be defined as that which, when taken into the body, may be utilized for the formation and repair of body tissue, and the production of energy. More specifically, food meets the requirements of the body in several ways. It is used for the formation of the tissues and fluids of the body, and for the restoration of losses of substance due to bodily activity. The potential energy of the food is converted into heat or muscular work or other forms of energy. In being thus utilized, food protects body substance or previously acquired nutritive material from consumption. When the amount of food taken into the body is in excess of immediate needs, the surplus may be stored for future consumption.

Ordinary food materials, such as meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, &c., consist of inedible materials, or _refuse_, e.g. bone of meat and fish, shell of eggs, rind and seed of vegetables; and _edible material_, as flesh of meat and fish, white and yolk of eggs, wheat flour, &c. The edible material is by no means a simple substance, but consists of _water_, and some or all of the compounds variously designated as food stuffs, proximate principles, nutritive ingredients or nutrients, which are classified as _protein_, _fats_, _carbohydrates_ and _mineral matters_. These have various functions in the nourishment of the body.

The _refuse_ commonly contains compounds similar to those in the food from which it is derived, but since it cannot be eaten, it is usually considered as a non-nutrient. It is of importance chiefly in a consideration of the pecuniary economy of food. _Water_ is also considered as a non-nutrient, because although it is a constituent of all the tissues and fluids of the body, the body may obtain the water it needs from that drunk; hence, that contained in the food materials is of no special significance as a nutrient.