Chapter XVIII: Act 1834: , and a purchaser of land no longer need trouble himself to (3)

_Larva and Nymph._--The duration of the subaquatic life of a dragon-fly is no doubt variable, according to the species. In the smaller forms it is probably less than a year, but precise evidence is wanting as to the occurrence of two broods in one year. On the other hand, it is certain that often a longer period is requisite to enable the creature to attain its full growth, and three years have been stated to be necessary for this in the large and powerful _Anax formosus._ Like all insects with incomplete metamorphoses, there is no quiescent pupal condition, no sharp line of demarcation between the larval and so-called "nymph" or penultimate stage. The creature goes on eating and increasing in size from the moment it emerges from the egg to the time when it leaves the water to be transformed into the aerial perfect insect. The number of moults is uncertain, but they are without doubt numerous. At probably about the antepenultimate of these operations, the rudimentary wings begin to appear as thoracic buddings, and in the full-grown nymph these wings overlap about one-half of the dorsal surface of the abdomen. In structure there is a certain amount of resemblance to the perfect insect, but the body is always much stouter and shorter, in some cases most disproportionately so, and the eyes are always separated; even in those genera (e.g. _Aeschna_) in which the eyes of the imago are absolutely contiguous, the most that can be seen in the larva is a prolongation towards each other, and there are no ocelli. The legs are shorter and more fitted for crawling about water plants and on the bottom. In the mouth parts the mandibles and maxillae are similar in form to those of the adult, but there is an extraordinary and unique modification of the lower lip. This is attached to an elongate and slender mentum articulated to the posterior portion of the lower surface of the head, slightly widened at its extremity, to which is again articulated the labium proper, which is very large, flattened, and gradually dilated to its extremity; but its form differs according to group as in the perfect insect. Thus in the _Agrionidae_ it is deeply cleft, and with comparatively slender side-pieces (or palpi), and strongly developed articulated spines; in the _Aeschnidae_ it is at the most notched, with narrow side-pieces and very strong spines; in the _Libellulidae_ it is entire, often triangular at its apex, and with enormously developed palpi without spines, but having the opposing inner edges furnished with interlocking serrations. The whole of this apparatus is commonly termed the mask. In a state of repose it is applied closely against the face, the elongated mentum directed backward and lying between the anterior pair of legs; but when an approaching victim is seen the whole apparatus is suddenly projected, and the prey caught by the raptorial palpi; in some large species it is capable of being projected fully half an inch in front of the head. The prey, once caught and held by this apparatus, is devoured in the usual manner. There are two pairs of thoracic spiracles, through which the nymph breathes during its later life by thrusting the anterior end of the body into the air; but respiration is mostly effected by a peculiar apparatus at the tail end, and there are two different methods. In the _Agrionidae_ there are three elongate flattened plates, or false gills, full of tracheal ramifications, which extract the air from the water, and convey it to the internal tracheae (in _Calopteryx_ these plates are excessively long, nearly equalling the abdomen), the plates also serving as means of locomotion. But in the other groups these external false gills are absent, and in their place are five valves, which by their sudden opening and closing force in the water to the rectum, the walls of which are furnished with branchial lamellae. The alternate opening and closing of these valves enables the creature to make quick jerks or rushes (incorrectly termed "leaps") through the water,[1] and, in conjunction with its mouth parts, to make sudden attacks upon prey from a considerable distance. Well-developed Aeschnid larvae have been observed to take atmospheric air into the rectum. The lateral angles of the terminal abdominal segments are sometimes produced into long curved spines. In colour these larvae are generally muddy, and they frequently have a coating of muddy particles, and hence are less likely to be observed by their victims. If among insects the perfect dragon-fly may be termed the tyrant of the air, so may its larva be styled that of the water. Aquatic insects and larvae form the principal food, but there can be no doubt that worms, the fry of fish, and even younger larvae of their own species, form part of the bill of fare. The "nymph" when arrived at its full growth sallies forth from the water, and often crawls a considerable distance (frequently many feet up the trunks of trees) before it fixes itself for the final change, which is effected by the thorax splitting longitudinally down the back, through which fissure the perfect insect gradually drags itself. The figures indicate this process as observed in _Aeschna cyanea_.

_The Complete Insect._-For a considerable time after its emergence a dragon-fly is without any of its characteristic colours, and is flaccid and weak, the wings (even in those groups in which they are afterwards horizontally extended) being held vertically in a line with the abdomen. By degrees the parts harden, and the insect essays its first flight, but even then the wings have little power and are semi-opaque in appearance, as if dipped in mucilage. In most species of _Calopterygina_, and in some others, the prevailing colour of the body is a brilliant bronzy green, blue or black, but the colours in the other groups vary much, and often differ in the sexes. Thus in _Libellula depressa_ the abdomen of the fully adult male is covered with a bluish bloom, whereas that of the female is yellow; but several days elapse before this pulverulent appearance is attained, and a comparatively young male is yellow like the female. The wings are typically hyaline and colourless, but in many species (especially _Calopterygina_ and _Libellulina_) they may be wholly or in part opaque and often black, due apparently to gradual oxydization of a pigment between the two membranes of which the wings are composed; the brilliant iridescence, or metallic lustre, so frequently found is no doubt due to interference--the effect of minute irregularities of the surface--and not produced by a pigment. A beautiful little genus (_Chalcopteryx_) of _Calopterygina_ from the Amazon is a gem in the world of insects, the posterior wings being of the most brilliant fiery metallic colour, whereas the anterior remain hyaline.

These insects are pre-eminently lovers of the hottest sunshine (a few are somewhat crepuscular), and the most powerful and daring on the wing in fine weather become inert and comparatively lifeless when at rest in dull weather, allowing themselves to be captured by the fingers without making any effort to escape. Many of the larger species (_Aeschna_, &c.) have a habit of affecting a particular twig or other resting place like a fly-catcher among birds, darting off after prey and making long excursions, but returning to the chosen spot. A. R. Wallace, in his _Malay Archipelago_, states that the inhabitants of Lombok use the large species for food, and catch them by means of limed twigs.

They are distributed over the whole world excepting the polar regions, but are especially insects of the tropics. At the present day about 2200 species are known, dispersed unequally among the several subfamilies as follows: Agrionina, 700 species; Calopterygina, 280; Gomphina, 320; Aeschnina, 170; Corduliina, 130; Libellulina, 600. In Europe proper only 100 species have been observed, and about 46 of these occur in the British islands. New Zealand is excessively poor, and can only number 8 species, whereas they are very numerous in Australia. Some species are often seen at sea, far from land, in calm weather, in troops which are no doubt migratory; the common _Libellula quadrimaculata_, which inhabits the cold and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, has been frequently seen in immense migratory swarms. One species (_Pantala flavescens_) has about the widest range of any insect, occurring in the Old World from Kamtchatka to Australia, and in the New from the Southern States to Chili, also all over Africa and the Pacific islands, but is not found in Europe. The largest species occur in the _Aeschnina_ and _Agrionina_; a member of the former subfamily from Borneo expands to nearly 6-1/2 in., and with a moderately strong body and powerful form; in the latter the Central American and Brazilian _Megaloprepus caerulatus_ and species of _Mecistogaster_ are very large, the former expanding to nearly 7 in., and the latter to nearly as much, but the abdomen is not thicker than an ordinary grass-stem and of extreme length (fully 5 in. in _Mecistogaster_).

_Fossils._--Among fossil insects dragon-flies hold a conspicuous position. Not only do they belong to what appears to have been a very ancient type, but in addition, the large wings and strong dense reticulation are extremely favourable for preservation in a fossil condition, and in many cases all the intricate details can be as readily followed as in a recent example. From the Carboniferous strata of Commentry, France, C. Brongniart has described several genera of gigantic insects allied to dragon-flies, but with less specialized thoracic segments and simpler wing-neuration. These form a special group--the Protodonata. True _Odonata_ referable to the existing families are plentiful in Mesozoic formations; in England they have been found more especially in the Purbeck beds of Swanage, and the vales of Wardour and Aylesbury, in the Stonesfield Slate series, and in the Lias and Rhaetic series of the west of England. But the richest strata appear to be those of the Upper Miocene at Oeningen, near Schaffhausen in the Rhine valley; the Middle Miocene at Radaboj, near Krapina in Croatia; the Eocene of Aix, in Provence; and more especially the celebrated Secondary rocks furnishing the lithographic stone of Solenhofen, in Bavaria. This latter deposit would appear to have been of marine origin, and it is significant that, although the remains of gigantic dragon-flies discovered in it are very numerous and perfect, no traces of their subaquatic conditions have been found, although these as a rule are numerous in most of the other strata, hence the insects may be regarded as having been drowned in the sea and washed on shore. Many of these Solenhofen species differ considerably in form from those now existing, so that Dr H. A. L. Hagen, who has especially studied them, says that for nearly all it is necessary to make new genera. It is of great interest, however, to find that a living Malayan genus (_Euphaea_) and another living genus _Uropetala_, now confined to New Zealand, are represented in the Solenhofen deposits, while a species of _Megapodagrion_ now entirely Neotropical, occurs in the Eocene beds of Wyoming.

A notice of fossil forms should not be concluded without the remark that indications of at least two species have been found in amber, a number disproportionately small if compared with other insects entombed therein; but it must be remembered that a dragon-fly is, as a rule, an insect of great power, and in all probability those then existing were able to extricate themselves if accidentally entangled in the resin.

See E. de Selys-Longchamps, _Monographie des Libellulidees d'Europe_
(Brussels, 1840); _Synopses des Agrionines, Calopterygines, Gomphines,
et Cordulines_, with Supplements (Brussels, from 1853 to 1877); E. de
Selys-Longchamps and H. A. L. Hagen, _Revue des Odonates d'Europe_
(Brussels, 1850); _Monographie des Calopterygines et des Gomphines_
(Brussels, 1854 and 1858); Charpentier, _Libellulinae europeae_
(Leipzig, 1840). For modern systematic work see various papers by R.
M'Lachlan, P. P. Calvert, J. G. Needham, R. Martin, E. B. Williamson,
F. Karsch, &c.; also H. Tumpel, _Die Geradflugler Mitteleuropas_
(Eisenach, 1900); and W. F. Kirby, _Catalogue of Neuroptera Odonata_
(London, 1890). For habits and details of transformation and larval
life, see L. C. Miall, _Natural History of Aquatic Insects_ (London,
1895); H. Dewitz, _Zool. Anz._ xiii. (1891); and J. G. Needham, _Bull.
New York Museum_, lxviii. (1903). For geographical distribution, G. H.
Carpenter, _Sci. Proc. R. Dublin Soc._ viii. (1897). For British
species, W. J. Lucas, _Handbook of British Dragonflies_ (London,
1899). For wings and mechanism of flight, R. von Lendenfeld, _S.B.
Akad. Wien_, lxxxiii. (1881), and J. G. Needham, _Proc. U.S. Nat.
Mus._ xxvi. (1903). For general morphology, R. Heymons, _Abhandl. k.
preuss. Akad._ (1896), and _Ann. Hofmus. Wein_, xix. (1904).
(R. M'L.; G. H. C.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] A similar contrivance was suggested and (if the writer mistakes
not) actually tried as a means of propelling steamships.

DRAGON'S BLOOD, a red-coloured resin obtained from several species of plants. _Calamus draco_ (Willd.), one of the rotang or rattan palms, which produces much of the dragon's blood of commerce, is a native of Further India and the Eastern Archipelago. The fruit is round, pointed, scaly, and the size of a large cherry, and when ripe is coated with the resinous exudation known as dragon's blood. The finest dragon's blood, called _jernang_ or _djernang_ in the East Indies, is obtained by beating or shaking the gathered fruits, sifting out impurities, and melting by exposure to the heat of the sun or by placing in boiling water; the resin thus purified is then usually moulded into sticks or quills, and after being wrapped in reeds or palm-leaves, is ready for market. An impurer and inferior kind, sold in lumps of considerable size, is extracted from the fruits by boiling. Dragon's blood is dark red-brown, nearly opaque and brittle, contains small shell-like flakes, and gives when ground a fine red powder; it is soluble in alcohol, ether, and fixed and volatile oils. If heated it gives off benzoic acid. In Europe it was once valued as a medicine on account of its astringent properties, and is now used for colouring varnishes and lacquers; in China, where it is mostly consumed, it is employed to give a red facing to writing paper. The drop dragon's blood of commerce, called _cinnabar_ by Pliny (_N.H._ xxxiii. 39), and _sangre de dragon_ by Barbosa was formerly and is still one of the products of Socotra, and is obtained from _Dracaena cinnabari_. The dragon's blood of the Canary Islands is a resin procured from the surface of the leaves and from cracks in the trunk of _Dracaena draco_. The hardened juice of a euphorbiaceous tree, _Croton draco_, a resin resembling kino, is the _sangre del drago_ or dragon's blood of the Mexicans, used by them as a vulnerary and astringent.

DRAGOON (Fr. _dragon_, Ger. _Dragoner_), originally a mounted soldier trained to fight on foot only (see CAVALRY). This mounted infantryman of the late 16th and 17th centuries, like his comrades of the infantry who were styled "pike" and "shot," took his name from his weapon, a species of carbine or short musket called the "dragon." Dragoons were organized not in squadrons but in companies, like the foot, and their officers and non-commissioned officers bore infantry titles. The invariable tendency of the old-fashioned dragoon, who was always at a disadvantage when engaged against true cavalry, was to improve his horsemanship and armament to the cavalry standard. Thus "dragoon" came to mean medium cavalry, and this significance the word has retained since the early wars of Frederick the Great, save for a few local and temporary returns to the original meaning. The phrases "to dragoon" and "dragonnade" bear witness to the mounted infantry period, this arm being the most efficient and economical form of cavalry for police work and guerrilla warfare. The "Dragonnades," properly so called, were the operations of the troops (chiefly mounted) engaged in enforcing Louis XIV.'s decrees against Protestants after the revocation of the edict of Nantes. In the British service the dragoons (1st Royals, 2nd Scots Greys, 6th Inniskillings) are heavy cavalry, the Dragoon Guards (seven regiments) are medium, as are the dragoons of other countries. The light cavalry of the British army in the 18th and early 19th century was for the most part called light dragoons.

DRAGUIGNAN, the chief town of the department of the Var in S.E. France; 51 m. N.E. of Toulon, and 28-1/2 m. N.W. of Frejus by rail; situated at a height of 679 ft. above the level of the sea, at the southern foot of the wooded heights of Malmont, and on the left bank of the Nartuby river; pop. (1906) 7766. It possesses no notable buildings, save a modern parish church, a prefecture, also modern, and a building wherein are housed the town library and a picture gallery, with some fair works of art. In modern times the ramparts have been demolished, and new wide streets pierced through the town.

DRAINAGE OF LAND. The verb "to drain," with its substantives "drain" and "drainage," represents the O. Eng. _dreahnian_, from the same root found in "dry," and signifies generally the act of drawing off moisture or liquid from somewhere, and so drinking dry, and (figuratively) exhausting; the substantive "drain" being thus used not only in the direct sense of a channel for carrying off liquid, but also figuratively for a very small amount such as would be left as dregs. The term "drainage" is applied generally to all operations involving the drawing off of water or other liquid, but more particularly to those connected with the treatment of the soil in agriculture, or with the removal of water and refuse from streets and houses. For the last, see SEWERAGE; the following article being devoted to the agricultural aspects of this subject. See also the articles RECLAMATION OF LAND, CANAL, IRRIGATION, RIVER ENGINEERING, WATER SUPPLY and (law) WATER RIGHTS.

Agricultural or field drainage consists in the freeing of the soil from stagnant and superfluous water by means of surface or underground channels. It may be distinguished from the draining of land on a large scale which is exemplified in the reclamation of the English Fens (see FENS). Surface drainage is usually effected by ploughing the land into convex ridges off which the water runs into intervening furrows and is conveyed into ditches. For several reasons this method is ineffective, and, where possible, is now superseded by underground drainage by means of pipe-tiles. Land is not in a satisfactory condition with respect to drainage unless the rain that falls upon it can sink down to the minimum depth required for the healthy development of the roots of crops and thence find vent either through a naturally porous subsoil or by artificial channels.

A few of the evils inseparable from the presence of overmuch water in the soil may be enumerated. Wet land, if in grass, produces only the coarser grasses, and many subaquatic plants and mosses, which are of little or no value for pasturage; its herbage is late in spring, and fails early in autumn; the animals grazed upon it are unduly liable to disease, and sheep, especially, to foot-rot and liver-rot. In the case of arable land the crops are poor and moisture-loving weeds flourish. Tillage operations on such land are easily interrupted by rain, and the period always much limited in which they can be prosecuted at all; the compactness and toughness of the soil renders each operation more arduous, and its repetition more necessary than in the case of dry land. The surface must necessarily be thrown into ridges, and the furrows and cross-cuts cleared out after each process of tillage, and upon this surface-drainage as much labour is expended in twenty years as would suffice to make under-drains enough to lay it permanently dry. With all these precautions the best seed time is often missed, and this usually proves the prelude to a scanty crop, or to a late and disastrous harvest. The cultivation of the turnip and other root crops, which require the soil to be wrought to a deep and free tilth, either becomes altogether impracticable and must be abandoned for the safe but costly bare fallow, or is carried out with great labour and hazard; and the crop, when grown, can neither be removed from the ground, nor consumed upon it by sheep without damage by "poaching."

The roots of plants require both air and warmth. A deep stratum through which water can percolate, but in which it can never stagnate, is therefore necessary. A waterlogged soil is impenetrable by air, and owing to the continuous process of evaporation and radiation, its temperature is much below that of drained soil. The surface of the water in the supersaturated soil is known as the "water-table" and is exemplified in water standing in a well. Water will rise in clay by capillarity to a height of 50 in., in sand to 22 in. Above the "water-table" the water is held by capillarity, and the percentage of water held decreases as we approach the surface where there may be perfect dryness. Draining reduces the "surface tension" of the capillary water by removal of the excess, but the "water-table" may be many feet below. Drains ordinarily remove only excess of capillary water, an excess of percolating water in wet weather.

In setting about the draining of a field, or farm, or estate, the first point is to secure a proper outfall. The lines of the receiving drains must next be determined, and then the direction of the parallel drains. The former must occupy the lowest part of the natural hollows, and the latter must run in the line of the greatest slope of the ground. In the case of flat land, where a fall is obtained chiefly by increasing the depth of the drains at their lower ends, these lines may be disposed in any direction that is found convenient; but in undulating ground a single field may require several distinct sets of drains lying at different angles, so as to suit its several slopes. When a field is ridged in the line of the greatest ascent of the ground, there is an obvious convenience in adopting the furrows as the site of the drains; but wherever this is not the case the drains must be laid off to suit the contour of the ground, irrespective of the furrows altogether. When parts of a field are flat, and other parts have a considerable acclivity, it is expedient to cut a receiving drain near to the bottom of the slopes, and to give the flat ground an independent set of drains. In laying off receiving drains it is essential to give hedgerows and trees a good offing, lest the conduit be obstructed by the roots.

When a main drain is so placed that parallel ones empty into it from both sides, care should be taken that the inlets of the latter are not made exactly opposite to each other. Much of the success of draining depends on the skilful planning of these main drains, and in making them large enough to discharge the greatest flow of water to which they may be exposed. Very long main drains are to be avoided. Numerous outlets are also objectionable, from their liability to obstruction. An outlet to an area of from 10 to 15 acres is a good arrangement. These outlets should be faced with mason work, and guarded with iron gratings.

The distance and depth apart of the parallel drains is determined chiefly by reference to the texture of the soil. In an impervious clay the flow of the water is much impeded and the water-table can be controlled only by frequent lines of pipes. On such land it is customary to lay them about 3 ft. from the surface and from 15 to 21 ft. apart. In lighter soils the depth, and proportionately the distance apart, is increased, but the drains are rarely more than 4 ft. 6 in. below the surface, though they may be 75 or 100 apart. A fall of at least 1 in 200 is desirable.

There are various forms of under-drainage, some of them alluded to in the historical section below, but by far the commonest is by means of cylindrical or oval pipes of burnt clay about 1 ft. in length, sometimes supplemented by collars, though nowadays the use of these is being abandoned. Pipes vary in bore from 2 in. for the parallel to 6 in. for the main drains.

In constructing a drain, it is of importance that the bottom be cut out just wide enough to admit the pipes and no more. Pipes, when accurately fitted in, are much less liable to derangement than when laid in the bottom of a trench several times their width, into which a mass of loose earth must necessarily be returned. This is easily effected in the case of soils tolerably free from stones by the use of draining spades and the tile-hook which are represented in the accompanying cut. The tile-hook is an implement by means of which the pipes may be lowered from the edge of the trench and laid at the bottom. An implement, sometimes propelled by steam, known as the draining plough, can be used for opening the trenches. Draining can be carried on at all seasons, but is usually best done in autumn or summer. A thoroughly trustworthy and experienced workman should be selected to lay the pipes, with instructions to set no pipes until he is satisfied that the depth of the drains and level of the bottoms are correct. The expense of tile-drainage may vary from about L2:10s. per acre on loose soils to L10 an acre on the most tenacious soils, the rate of wages and the cost of the pipes, the depth of the trenches and the ease with which they can be dug, all influencing the cost of the process.

Drainage is not a modern discovery. The Romans were careful to keep their arable lands dry by means of open trenches or covered drains filled with stones or twigs. It is at least several centuries since covered channels of various kinds were used by British husbandmen for drying their land. Walter Blith (see AGRICULTURE) about the middle of the 17th century wrote of the improvement which might be effected in barren land by freeing it from the excess of stagnant water on or near the surface by means of channels filled with faggots or stones, but his principles, never generally adopted, were ultimately forgotten. In the latter half of the 18th century, Joseph Elkington, a Warwickshire farmer, discovered a plan of laying dry sloping ground that is drowned by the outbursting of springs. When the higher-lying portion of such land is porous, rain falling upon it sinks down until it is arrested by clay or other impervious matter, which causes it again to issue at the surface and wet the lower-lying ground. Elkington showed that by cutting a deep drain through the clay, aided when necessary by wells or auger holes, the subjacent bed of sand or gravel in which a body of water is pent up by the clay, as in a vessel, might be tapped and the water conveyed harmlessly in the covered drain to the nearest ditch or stream. In the circumstances to which it is applicable, and in the hands of skilful drainers, Elkington's plan, known as "sink-hole drainage," by bringing into play the natural drainage furnished by porous strata, is often eminently successful.

During the subsequent thirty or forty years most of the draining that took place was on this system, and an immense capital was expended in such works with varying results. Things continued in this position until about 1823, when James Smith of Deanston, having discovered anew those principles of draining so long before indicated by Blith, proceeded to exemplify them in his own practice, and to expound them to the public in a way that speedily effected a complete revolution in the art of draining, and marked an era in agricultural progress. Instead of persisting in fruitless attempts to dry extensive areas by a few dexterous cuts, he insisted on the necessity of providing every field that needed draining at all with a complete system of parallel underground channels, running in the line of the greatest slope of the ground, and so near to each other that the whole rain falling at any time upon the surface should sink down and be carried off by the drains. A main receiving drain was to be carried along the lowest part of the ground, with sub-drains in every subordinate hollow that the ground presented. The distances between drains he showed must be regulated by the greater or less retentiveness of the ground operated upon, and gave 10 to 40 ft. as the limits of their distance apart. The depth which he prescribed for his parallel drains was 30 in., and these were to be filled with 12 in. of stones small enough to pass through a 3-in. ring--in short a new edition of Blith's drain. Josiah Parkes, engineer to the Royal Agricultural Society, advocated a greater distance apart for the drains, and, in order that the subterranean water might be reached, a depth of at least 4 ft.

The cultivated lands of Britain being disposed in ridges which usually lie in the line of greatest ascent, it became customary to form the drains in each furrow, or in each alternate, or third or fourth one, as the case might require, or views of economy dictate and hence the system soon came to be popularly called "furrow draining." From the number and arrangement of the drains, the terms "frequent" and "parallel" were also applied to it. Smith himself more appropriately named it, from its effects, "thorough draining." The sound principles thus promulgated by him were speedily adopted and extensively carried into practice. The great labour and cost incurred in procuring stones in adequate quantities, and the difficulty of carting them in wet seasons, soon led to the substitution of "tiles," and soles of burnt earthenware. The limited supply and high price of these tiles for a time impeded the progress of the new system of draining; but the invention of tile-making machines removed this impediment, and gave a stimulus to this fundamental agricultural improvement. The substitution of cylindrical pipes for the original horse-shoe tiles has still further lowered the cost and increased the efficiency and permanency of drainage works.

The system introduced by Smith of Deanston has now been virtually adopted by all drainers. Variations in matters of detail (having respect chiefly to the depth and distance apart of the parallel drains) have indeed been introduced; but the distinctive features of his system are recognized and acted upon.

A great stimulus was given to the improvement of land by the passing
in England of a series of acts of parliament, which removed certain
obstacles that effectually hindered tenants with limited interests
from investing capital in works of drainage and kindred amelioration.
The Public Money Drainage Acts 1846-1856 authorized the advance of
public money to landowners to enable them to make improvements in
their lands, not only by draining, but by irrigation, the making of
permanent roads, clearing, erecting buildings, planting for shelter,
&c. The rapid absorption of the funds provided by these acts led to
further legislative measures by which private capital was rendered
available for the improvement of land. A series of special improvement
acts were passed, authorizing companies to execute or advance money
for executing improvements in land. Finally, the Land Improvement Act
1864, amended and extended by the act of 1899, gave facilities for
borrowing money by charging the cost of draining, &c., as a
rent-charge upon the inheritance of the land. The instalments must be
repaid with interest in equal amounts extending over a fixed term of
years by the tenant for life during his lifetime, the tenant being
bound to maintain the improvements.

See C. G. Elliott, _Engineering for Land Drainage_ (New York, 1903);
F. H. King, _Irrigation and Drainage_ (New York, 1899); G. S.
Mitchell, _Handbook of Land Drainage_ (London, 1898), with a good
bibliography.

DRAKE, SIR FRANCIS (c. 1545-1595), English admiral, was born near Tavistock, Devonshire, about 1545 according to most early authorities, but possibly as early as 1539 (see Corbett, vol. i., Appendix A). His father, a yeoman and a zealous Protestant, was obliged to take refuge in Kent during the persecutions in the reign of Queen Mary. He obtained a naval chaplaincy from Queen Elizabeth, and is said to have been afterwards vicar of Upnor Church (evidently a misprint or slip of the pen for Upchurch) on the Medway. Young Drake was educated at the expense and under the care of Sir John Hawkins, who was his kinsman; and, after passing an apprenticeship on a coasting vessel, at the age of eighteen he had risen to be purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At twenty he made a voyage to Guinea; and at twenty-two he was made captain of the "Judith." In that capacity he was in the harbour of San Juan de Ulloa, in the Gulf of Mexico, where he behaved most gallantly in the actions under Sir John Hawkins, and returned with him to England, having acquired great reputation, though with the loss of all the money which he had embarked in the expedition. In 1570 he obtained a regular privateering commission from Queen Elizabeth, the powers of which he immediately exercised in a cruise in the Spanish Main. Having next projected an attack against the Spaniards in the West Indies to indemnify himself for his former losses, he set sail in 1572, with two small ships named the "Pasha" and the "Swan." He was afterwards joined by another vessel; and with this small squadron he took and plundered the Spanish town of Nombre de Dios. With his men he penetrated across the isthmus of Panama, and committed great havoc among the Spanish shipping. From the top of a tree which he climbed while on the isthmus he obtained his first view of the Pacific, and resolved "to sail an English ship in these seas." In these expeditions he was much assisted by the Maroons, descendants of escaped negro slaves, who were then engaged in a desultory warfare with the Spaniards. Having embarked his men and filled his ships with plunder, he bore away for England, and arrived at Plymouth on the 9th of August 1573.

His success and honourable demeanour in this expedition gained him high reputation; and the use which he made of his riches served to raise him still higher in popular esteem. Having fitted out three frigates at his own expense, he sailed with them to Ireland, and rendered effective service as a volunteer, under Walter, earl of Essex, the father of the famous but unfortunate earl. After his patron's death he returned to England, where he was introduced to Queen Elizabeth (whether by Sir Christopher Hatton is doubtful), and obtained a favourable reception. In this way he acquired the means of undertaking the expedition which has immortalized his name. The first proposal he made was to undertake a voyage into the South Seas through the Straits of Magellan, which no Englishman had hitherto ever attempted. This project having been well received at court, the queen furnished him with means; and his own fame quickly drew together a sufficient force. The fleet with which he sailed on this enterprise consisted of only five small vessels, and their united crews mustered only 166 men. Starting on the 13th of December 1577, his course lay by the west coast of Morocco and the Cape Verde Islands. He reached the coast of Brazil on the 6th of April, and entered the Rio de la Plata, where he parted company with two of his ships; but having met them again, and taken out their provisions, he turned them adrift. On the 19th of June he entered the port of St Julian's, where he remained two months, partly to lay in provisions, and partly delayed by the trial and execution of Thomas Doughty, who had plotted against him. On the 21st of August he entered the Straits of Magellan. The passage of the straits took sixteen days, but then a storm carried the ships to the west; on the 7th of October, having made back for the mouth of the strait, Drake's ship and the two vessels under his vice-admiral Captain Wynter were separated, and the latter, missing the rendezvous arranged, returned to England. Drake went on, and came to Mocha Island, off the coast of Chile, on the 25th of November. He thence continued his voyage along the coast of Chile and Peru, taking all opportunities of seizing Spanish ships, and attacking them on shore, till his men were satiated with plunder; and then coasted along the shores of America, as far as 48 deg. N. lat., in an unsuccessful endeavour to discover a passage into the Atlantic. Having landed, however, he named the country New Albion, and took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth. Having careened his ship, he sailed thence on the 26th of July 1579 for the Moluccas. On the 4th of November he got sight of those islands, and, arriving at Ternate, was extremely well received by the sultan. On the 10th of December he made the Celebes, where his ship unfortunately struck upon a rock, but was taken off without much damage. On the 11th of March he arrived at Java, whence he intended to have directed his course to Malacca; but he found himself obliged to alter his purpose, and to think of returning home. On the 26th of March 1580 he again set sail; and on the 15th of June he doubled the Cape of Good Hope, having then on board only fifty-seven men and three casks of water. He passed the line on the 12th of July, and on the 16th reached the coast of Guinea, where he watered. On the 11th of September he made the Island of Terceira, and on the 26th of September(?) he entered the harbour of Plymouth. This voyage round the world, the first accomplished by an Englishman, was thus performed in two years and about ten months. The queen hesitated for some time whether to recognize his achievements or not, on the ground that such recognition might lead to complications with Spain, but she finally decided in his favour. Accordingly, soon after his arrival she paid a visit to Deptford, went on board his ship, and there, after partaking of a banquet, conferred upon him the honour of knighthood, at the same time declaring her entire approbation of all that he had done. She likewise gave directions for the preservation of his ship, the "Golden Hind," that it might remain a monument of his own and his country's glory. After the lapse of a century it decayed and had to be broken up. Of the sound timber a chair was made, which was presented by Charles II. to the university of Oxford. In 1581 Drake became mayor of Plymouth; and in 1585 he married a second time, his first wife having died in 1583. In 1585, hostilities having commenced with Spain, he again went to sea, sailing with a fleet to the West Indies, and taking the cities of Santiago (in the Cape Verde Islands), San Domingo, Cartagena and St Augustine. In 1587 he went to Lisbon with a fleet of thirty sail; and having received intelligence of a great fleet being assembled in the bay of Cadiz, and destined to form part of the Armada, he with great courage entered the port on the 19th of April, and there burnt upwards of 10,000 tons of shipping--a feat which he afterwards jocosely called "singeing the king of Spain's beard." In 1588, when the Spanish Armada was approaching England, Sir Francis Drake was appointed vice-admiral under Lord Howard, and made prize of a very large galleon, commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, who was reputed the projector of the invasion, and who struck at once on learning his adversary's name.

It deserves to be noticed that Drake's name is mentioned in the singular diplomatic communication from the king of Spain which preceded the Armada:--

"Te veto ne pergas bello defendere Belgas;
Quae Dracus eripuit nunc restituantur oportet;
Quas pater evertit jubeo te condere cellas:
Religio Papae fac restituatur ad unguem."

To these lines the queen made this extempore response:--

"Ad Graecas, bone rex, fiant mandata kalendas."

In 1589 Drake commanded the fleet sent to restore Dom Antonio, king of Portugal, the land forces being under the orders of Sir John Norreys; but they had hardly put to sea when the commanders differed, and thus the attempt proved abortive. But as the war with Spain continued, a more formidable expedition was fitted out, under Sir John Hawkins and Sir Francis Drake, against their settlements in the West Indies, than had hitherto been undertaken during the whole course of it. Here, however, the commanders again disagreed about the plan; and the result in like manner disappointed public expectation. These disasters were keenly felt by Drake, and were the principal cause of his death, which took place on board his own ship, near the town of Nombre de Dios, in the West Indies, on the 28th of January 1595.

The older Lives by Samuel Clarke (1671) and John Barrow, junr. (1843),
have been superseded by Julian Corbett's two admirable volumes on
_Drake and the Tudor Navy_ (1898), the best source of information on
the subject, which were preceded by the same author's _Sir Francis
Drake_ in the "English Men of Action" series (1890). See also E. J.
Payne's edition of _Voyages of the Elizabethan Seamen to America:
Thirteen original narratives from the collection of Hakluyt_ (new ed.,
1893).

DRAKE, NATHAN (1766-1836), English essayist and physician, son of Nathan Drake, an artist, was born at York in 1766. He was apprenticed to a doctor in York in 1779, and in 1786 proceeded to Edinburgh University, where he took his degree as M.D. in 1789. In 1790 he set up as a general practitioner at Sudbury, Suffolk, where he found an intimate friend in Dr Mason Good (d. 1827). In 1792 he removed to Hadleigh, Suffolk, where he died in 1836. His works include several volumes of literary essays, and some papers contributed to medical periodicals; but his most important production was _Shakespeare and his Times, including the Biography of the Poet, Criticisms on his Genius and Writings; a new Chronology of his Plays; a Disquisition on the Object of his Sonnets; and a History of the Manners, Customs and Amusements, Superstitions, Poetry and Elegant Literature of his Age_ (2 vols., 1817). The title sufficiently indicates the scope of this ample work, which has the merit, says G. G. Gervinus (_Shakespeare Commentaries_, Eng. trans., 1877) "of having brought together for the first time into a whole the tedious and scattered material of the editions and of the many other valuable labours of Tyrwhitt, Heath, Ritson, &c."

DRAKENBORCH, ARNOLD (1684-1748), Dutch classical scholar, was born at Utrecht on the 1st of January 1684. Having studied philology under Graevius and Burmann the elder, and law under Cornelius Van Eck, in 1716 he succeeded Burmann in his professorship (conjointly with C. A. Duker), which he continued to hold till his death on the 16th of January 1748. Although he obtained the degree of doctor of laws, and was intended for the legal profession, he determined to devote himself to philological studies. His edition of Livy (1738-1746, and subsequent editions) is the work on which his fame chiefly rests. The preface gives a particular account of all the literary men who have at different periods commented on the works of Livy. The edition itself is based on that of Gronovius; but Drakenborch made many important alterations on the authority of manuscripts which it is probable Gronovius had never seen. He also published _Dissertatio de praefectis urbi_ (1704; reprinted at Frankfort in 1752 with a life of Drakenborch); _Dissertatio de officio praefectorum praetorio_ (1707); and an edition of Silius Italicus (1717).

DRAKENSBERG (_Quathlamba_ or _Kahlamba_, i.e. "heaped up and jagged," of the natives), a mountain chain of S.E. Africa, running parallel to the coast from Basutoland to the Limpopo river--a distance of some 600 m. The Drakensberg are the eastern part of the rampart which forms the edge of the inner tableland of South Africa. The sides of the mountains facing the sea are in general precipitous; on their inner face they slope more or less gently to the plateau. The culminating points of the range, and the highest lands in South Africa, are found in a sharp bend from S.E. to N.W. in about 29 deg. S. 29 deg. E., where "the Berg" (as the range is called locally) forms the frontier between Natal and Basutoland. Within 60 m. of one another are three mountains, Giant's Castle, Champagne Castle or Cathkin Peak, and Mont aux Sources, 10,000 to 11,000 or more ft. above the sea. From Mont aux Sources the normal N.E. direction of the range is resumed. Conspicuous among the heights along the Orange Free State, Transvaal and Natal frontiers are Tintwa, Malani, Inkwelo and Amajuba or Majuba (q.v.), all between 7000 and 8000 ft. The Draken's Berg--the particular hill from which the range is named--is 5682 ft. high and lies between Malani and Inkwelo heights. It was so named by the _voortrekkers_ about 1840. North of Majuba the range enters the Transvaal. Here the elevation is generally lower than in the south, but the Mauch Berg is about 8500 ft. high. At its northernmost point the range joins the Zoutpansberg. In their southern part the Drakensberg form the parting between the rivers draining west to the Atlantic and those flowing south and east to the Indian Ocean. At Mont aux Sources rise the chief headwaters of the Orange, Tugela and other rivers. In the north, however, several streams rising in the interior plateau, e.g. the Komati, the Crocodile and the Olifants, pierce the Drakensberg and reach the Indian Ocean. The range has numerous passes, many available for wheeled traffic. Van Reenen's Pass, between Tintwa and Malani, is crossed by a railway which connects the Orange Free State and Natal: Laing's Nek, the main pass leading from Natal to the Transvaal, which lies under the shadow of Majuba, is pierced by a railway tunnel. The railway from Delagoa Bay to Pretoria crosses the Drakensberg by a very steep gradient. Several subsidiary ranges branch off from the main chain of the Berg. This is especially the case in Natal, where one range is known as the Little Drakensberg. (See further BASUTOLAND; NATAL And TRANSVAAL.)

DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. [Greek: dran], act or do), the term applied to those productions of Art which imitate or, to use a more modern term, "represent" action by introducing the personages taking part in them as real, and as employed in the action itself. There are numerous varieties of the drama, differing more or less widely from one another, both as to the objects imitated and as to the means used in the process. But they all agree in the _method_ or _manner_ which is essential to the drama and to dramatic art, namely, _imitation in the way of action_. The function of all Art being to give pleasure by representation (see FINE ARTS), it is clear that what is distinctive of any one branch or form must be the manner in which this function is performed by it. In the epos, for instance, the method or manner is narrative, and even when Odysseus tells of his action, he is not acting.

1. THEORY OF THE DRAMA, AND DRAMATIC ART

Origin of the drama.

The first step towards the drama is the assumption of character, whether real or fictitious. It is caused by the desire, inseparable from human nature, to give expression to feelings and ideas. These man expresses not only by sound and gesture, like other animals, and by speech significant by its delivery as well as by its purport, but also by imitation superadded to these. To imitate, says Aristotle, is instinctive in man from his infancy, and no pleasure is more universal than that which is given by imitation. Inasmuch as the aid of some sort of dress or decoration is usually at hand, while the accompaniment of dance or song, or other music, naturally suggests itself, especially on joyous or solemn occasions, we find that this preliminary step is taken among all peoples, however primitive or remote. But it does not follow, as is often assumed, that they possess a drama in germ. Boys playing at soldiers, or men walking in a pageant--a shoemaker's holiday in ribbons and flowers, or a Shetland sword-dance--none of these is in itself a drama. This is not reached till the imitation or representation extends to action.

Dramatic action.

An action which is to present itself as such to human minds must enable them to recognize in it a procedure from cause to effect. This of course means, neither that the cause suggested must be the final cause, nor that the result shown forth need pretend to be the ultimate result. We look upon an action as ended when the purpose with which it began is shown to have been gained or frustrated; and we trace the beginning of an action back to the human will that set it on foot--though this will may be in bondage to a higher or stronger will, or to fate, in any or all of its purposes. Without an action in the sense stated--without a plot, in a word--there can be no drama. But the very simplest action will satisfy the dramatic test; a mystery representing the story of Cain and Abel without a deviation from the simple biblical narrative, a farce exhibiting the stalest trick played by designing sobriety upon oblivious drunkenness, may each of them be a complete drama. But even to this point, the imitation of action by action in however crude a form, not all peoples have advanced.

Dramatic literature.

But after this second step has been taken, it only remains for the drama to assume a form regulated by certain literary laws, in order that it may become a branch of dramatic literature. Such a literature, needless to say, only a limited number of nations has come to possess; and, while some are to be found that have, or have had, a drama without a dramatic literature, it is quite conceivable that a nation should continue in possession of the former after having ceased to cultivate the latter. It is self-evident that no drama which forms part of a dramatic literature can ignore the use of speech; and however closely music, dancing and decoration may associate themselves with particular forms or phases of the drama, their aid cannot be more than adventitious. As a matter of fact, the beginnings of dramatic composition are, in the history of such literatures as are well known to us, preceded by the earlier stages in the growth of the lyric and epic forms of poetry, or by one of these at all events; and it is in the continuation of both that the drama in its literary form takes its origin in those instances which lie open to our study.

The dramatic and the histrionic arts.

While the aid of all other arts--even, strictly speaking, the aid of the literary art--is merely an accident, the co-operation of the art of acting is indispensable to that of the drama. The dramatic writer may have reasons for preferring to leave the imagination of his reader to supply the absence of this co-operation; but, though the term "literary drama" is freely used of works kept away from the stage, it is in truth either a misnomer or a self-condemnation. It is true that the actor only temporarily interprets, and sometimes misinterprets, the dramatist, while occasionally he reveals dramatic possibilities in a character or situation which remained hidden from their literary inventor. But this only shows that the courses of the dramatic and the histrionic arts do not run parallel; it does not contradict the fact that their conjunction is, on the one side as well as on the other, indispensable. No drama is more than potentially such till it is acted.

Laws and rules of the drama.