Chapter IX: Part 9

[216] A direct satirical invective against rhymed tragedy of the
"heroic" type is to be found in Arrowsmith's comedy _Reformation_
(1673).

[217] _The Grounds of Criticism in Tragedy._

[218] _All for Love (Antony and Cleopatra)._

[219] _Don Sebastian._

[220] _The Rival Queens_; _Lucius Junius Brutus_; _The Massacre of
Paris._

[221] _Don Carlos_; _The Orphan_; _Venice Preserved._

[222] _Oroonoko_; _The Fatal Marriage._

[223] _The Mourning Bride._

[224] _The Fair Penitent_; _Jane Shore._

[225] A notable influence was exercised upon English comedy as well
as upon other branches of literature by C. de Saint-Evremond, a
soldier and man of fashion who was possessed of great intellectual
ability and of a charming style. Though during his long exile in
England--from 1670 to his death--he never learned English, his
critical works included _Remarks on English Comedy_ (1677), and one
of his own comedies, the celebrated _Sir Politick Would-be_,
professed to be composed "_a la maniere angloise_."

[226] _Epsom Wells_; _The Squire of Alsatia_; _The Volunteers._

[227] A dramatic curiosity of a rare kind would be _The Female
Rebellion_ (1682), which has been, on evidence rather striking at
first sight, attributed to Sir Thomas Browne. It is more likely to
have been by his son.

[228] _The Country Wife_; _The Plain-Dealer._

[229] _The Double Dealer._

[230] _The Recruiting Officer_; _The Beaux' Stratagem._

[231] _A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage._

[232] Sir Novelty Fashion (Lord Foppington), &c.

[233] _The Lying Lover_; _The Tender Husband._

[234] _The Conscious Lovers._

[235] _The Absolute Unlawfulness of Stage Entertainments fully
Demonstrated_; _The Stage defended_, &c. (1726).

[236] _The Siege of Damascus._

[237] _Mariamne._

[238] _The Double Falsehood._

[239] _The Revenge (Othello)._

[240] _Fatal Curiosity._

[241] _Irene_ (1749); _The Patriot_ attributed to Johnson, is by
Joseph Simpson.

[242] _Elfrida_; _Caractacus_.

[243] _Rosamunda._

[244] _Love in a Village_, &c.

[245] _The Waterman_, &c.

[246] _Pasquin_; _The Historical Register for 1736._

[247] _The Golden Rump._

[248] The first dramatic performance licensed by the lord chamberlain
after the passing of the act was appropriately entitled _The Nest of
Plays_, and consisted of three comedies named respectively _The
Prodigal Reformed_, _In Happy Constancy_ and _The Trial of Conjugal
Love_. It is a curious fact that in the first decade of the reign of
George III. a severe control of the theatre was very actively exerted
after a positive as well as a negative fashion--objectionable
passages being ruthlessly suppressed and plays actually written and
licensed for the purpose of upholding the existing regime.

[249] J. Townley, _High Life Below Stairs_ (1759).

[250] _The Minor_; _Taste_; _The Author_, &c.

[251] This celebrated play was at first persistently attributed to
Miss Elizabeth Carter.

[252] _The School for Lovers._

[253] _False Delicacy._

[254] _The Jealous Wife_; _The Clandestine Marriage._

[255] _The Heiress._

[256] _The West Indian_; _The Jew._

[257] _The Belle's Stratagem_; _A Bold Stroke for a Husband_, &c.

[258] _The Road to Ruin_, &c.

[259] _John Bull_; _The Heir at Law_, &c.

[260] _Midas_; _The Golden Pippin._

[261] _Bertram._

[262] _Ion._

[263] _Fazio._

[264] _Philip van Artevelde._

[265] _The Death of Marlowe._

[266] _Becket_; _The Cup._

[267] _Merope._

[268] _The Golden Legend._

[269] _Love is Enough._

[270] _Strafford_; _The Blot on the Scutcheon._

[271] _Atalanta in Calydon_; _Bothwell_; _Chastelard_; _Mary Stuart._

[272] _Virginius_; _The Hunchback._

[273] A drama entitled _Speculum vitae humanae_ is mentioned as
produced by Archduke Ferdinand of the Tirol in 1584.

[274] _Susanna_ (_Geistliches Spiel_) (1536), &c. Sixt Birk also
brought out a play on the story of _Susanna_, which he had previously
treated in a Latin form, in the vernacular (1552).

[275] _Siegfried_; _Eulenspiegel_, &c.

[276] _Susanna_; _Vincentius Ladislaus_, &c.

[277] _Mahomet_; _Edward III._; _Hamlet_; _Romeo and Juliet_, &c.

[278] _The Tempest_ (Ayrer, _Comedia v. d. schonen Sidea_).

[279] _Herr Peter Squenz_ (_Pyramus and Thisbe_);
_Horribilicribrifax_ (Pistol?).

[280] His son, Christian Gryphius, was author of a curious dramatic
summary (or _revue_) of German history, both literary and political;
but the title of this school-drama is far too long for quotation.

[281] One of his _aliases_ was _Pickelharnig_. In 1702 the electress
Sophia is found requesting Leibniz to see whether a more satisfactory
specimen of this class cannot be procured from Berlin than is at
present to be found at Hanover.

[282] Deschamps and Addison.

[283] _Richard III._; _Romeo and Juliet_.

[284] _Die Zwillinge_ (_The Twins_); _Die Soldaten_, &c.

[285] _Julius von Tarent._

[286] _Der Hofmeister_ (_The Governor_), &c.

[287] _Genoveva_, &c.

[288] Iffland's best play is _Die Jager_ (1785), which recently still
held the stage. From Mannheim he in 1796 passed to Berlin by desire
of King Frederick William II., who thus atoned for the hardships
which he had allowed the pietistic tyranny of his minister Wollner to
inflict upon the Prussian stage as a whole.

[289] _Die deutschen Kleinstadter_ is his most celebrated comedy and
_Menschenhass und Reue_ one of the most successful of his sentimental
dramas. According to one classification he wrote 163 plays with a
moral tendency, 5 with an immoral, and 48 doubtful.

[290] _Der Groosskophta_ (Cagliostro); _Der Burgergeneral_.

[291] A. W. von Schlegel and Tieck's (1797-1833).

[292] A. W. von Schlegel, _Lectures on Dramatic Art and Literature_,
&c.

[293] _Zriny_, &c.

[294] _Ion._

[295] _Alarcos._

[296] _Kaiser Octavianus_; _Der gestiefelte Kater_ (_Puss in Boots_),
&c.

[297] _Der 24. Februar_ (produced on the Weimar stage with Goethe's
sanction).

[298] _Der 29. Februar_; _Die Schuld_ (_Guilt_).

[299] _Das Bild_ (_The Picture_); _Der Leuchtthurm_ (_The
Lighthouse_).

[300] _Die Ahnfrau_ (_The Ancestress_).

[301] _Das Kathchen_ (_Kate_) _von Heilbronn_.

[302] _Der zerbrochene Krug_ (_The Broken Pitcher_).

[303] _Prinz Friedrich von Homburg._

[304] _Sappho_, _Medea_, &c.

[305] _Konig Ottokar's Gluck und Ende_ (_Fortune and Fall_); _Der
Bruderzwist_ (_Fraternal Feud_) _in Habsburg_.

[306] _Die verhangnissvolle Gabel_ (_The Fatal Fork_); _Der
romantische Oedipus_.

[307] _Die Nibelungen_; _Judith_, &c.

[308] _Der Erbforster._

[309] _Uriel Acosta_; _Der Kunigslieutenant._

[310] _Die Valentine._

[311] _Die Karlsschuler._

[312] _Der Pfarrer von Kirchfeld_; _Der Meineidbauer_; _Die
Kreuzelschreiber_; _Das vierte Gebot_.

[313] _The Robbers_ (Franz Moor). His next most famous part was Lear.

[314] In connexion with the production in 1855 of "F. Halm's"
_Fechter von Ravenna_, of which the authorship was claimed by a
half-demented schoolmaster.

[315] As to more recent developments of German theatrical literature
see the article GERMAN LITERATURE, and the remarks on the influence
of foreign works in the section on _Recent English Drama_ above.

[316] _Aluta_; _Asotus_; _Hecastus_, &c.

[317] _Gysbrecht van Aemstel_; _Lucifer_.

[318] _Ulysses of Ithaca._

[319] _The Politician-Tinman_; _Jean de France or Hans Franzen; The
Lying-In_, &c.

[320] _Aladdin_; _Corregio._

[321] _Maria Stuart_; _A Bankruptcy_; _Leonarda._

[322] _Brand_; _Peer Gynt._

[323] _Samfundets Stuttere_; _Et Dukkehjem_; _Gengangere._

[324] _Pan Jowialski_; _Oludki i Poeta_ (_The Misanthrope and the
Poet_).

DRAMBURG, a town of Germany in the kingdom of Prussia, on the Drage, a tributary of the Oder, 50 m. E. of Stettin, on the railway Ruhnow-Neustettin. Pop. 5800. It contains an Evangelical church, a gymnasium, a hospital and various administrative offices, and carries on cotton and woollen weaving, tanning, brewing and distilling.

DRAMMEN, a seaport of Norway, in Buskerud and Jarlsberg-Laurvik _amter_ (counties), at the head of Drammen Fjord, a western arm of Christiania Fjord, 33 m. by rail S. W. from Christiania. Pop. (1900) 23,093. Its situation, at the mouth of the broad Drammen river, between lofty hills, is very beautiful. It is the junction of railways from Christiania to Haugsund, Kongsberg and Hunefos, and to Laurvik and Skien. The town is modern, having suffered from fires in 1866, 1870 and 1880. It consists of three parts: Bragernaes on the north, divided by the river from Strumsu and the port, Tangen, on the south. The prosperity of Drammen depends mainly on the timber trade; and saw-milling is an active industry, the logs being floated down the river from the upland forests. Timber and wood-pulp are exported (over half of each to Great Britain), with paper, ice and some cobalt and nickel ore. The chief imports are British coal and German machinery. Salmon are taken in the upper reaches of the Drammen.

DRANE, AUGUSTA THEODOSIA (1823-1894), English writer, was born at Bromley, near Bow, on the 29th of December 1823. Brought up in the Anglican creed, she fell under the influence of Tractarian teaching at Torquay, and joined the Roman Catholic Church in 1850. She wrote, and published anonymously, an essay questioning the _Morality of Tractarianism_, which was attributed to John Henry Newman. In 1852, after a prolonged stay in Rome, she joined the third order of St Dominic, to which she belonged for over forty years. She was prioress (1872-1881) of the Stone convent in Staffordshire, where she died on the 29th of April 1894. Her chief works in prose and verse are: _The History of Saint Dominic_ (1857; enlarged edition, 1891); _The Life of St Catherine of Siena_ (1880; 2nd ed., 1899); _Christian Schools and Scholars_ (1867); _The Knights of St John_ (1858); _Songs in the Night_ (1876); and the _Three Chancellors_ (1859), a sketch of the lives of William of Wykeham, William of Waynflete and Sir Thomas More.

A complete list of her writings is given in the _Memoir of Mother
Francis Raphael, O.S.D., Augusta Theodosia Drane_, edited by B.
Wilberforce, O.P. (London, 1895).

DRAPER, JOHN WILLIAM (1811-1882), American scientist, was born at St Helen's, near Liverpool, on the 5th of May 1811. He studied at Woodhouse Grove, at the University of London, and, after removing to America in 1832, at the medical school of the University of Pennsylvania in 1835-1836. In 1837 he was elected professor of chemistry in the University of the City of New York, and was a professor in its school of medicine in 1840-1850, president of that school in 1850-1873, and professor of chemistry until 1881. He died at Hastings, New York, on the 4th of January 1882. He made important researches in photo-chemistry, made portrait photography possible by his improvements (1839) on Daguerre's process, and published a _Text-book on Chemistry_ (1846), _Text-book on Natural Philosophy_ (1847), _Text-book on Physiology_ (1866), and _Scientific Memoirs_ (1878) on radiant energy. He is well known also as the author of _The History of the Intellectual Development of Europe_ (1862), applying the methods of physical science to history, a _History of the American Civil War_ (3 vols., 1867-1870), and a _History of the Conflict between Religion and Science_ (1874).

His son, HENRY DRAPER (1837-1882), graduated at the University of New York in 1858, became professor of natural science there in 1860, and was professor of physiology (in the medical school) and dean of the faculty in 1866-1873. He succeeded his father as professor of chemistry, but only for a year, dying in New York on the 20th of November 1882. Henry Draper's most important contributions to science were made in spectroscopy; he ruled metal gratings in 1869-1870, made valuable spectrum photographs after 1871, and proved the presence of oxygen in the sun in a monograph of 1877. Edward C. Pickering carried on his study of stellar spectra with the funds of the Henry Draper Memorial at Harvard, endowed by his widow (_nee_ Mary Anna Palmer).

See accounts by George F. Barker in _Biographical Memoirs of the
National Academy of Science_, vols. 2 and 3 (Washington, 1886, 1888).

DRAPER, one who deals in cloth or textiles generally. The Fr. _drap_, cloth, from which _drapier_ and Eng. "draper" are derived, is of obscure origin. It is possible that the Low Lat. _drappus_ or _trappus_ (the last form giving the Eng. "trappings") may be connected with words such as "drub," Ger. _treffen_, beat; the original sense would be fulled cloth. "Drab," dull, pale, brown, is also connected, its first meaning being a cloth of a natural undyed colour. The Drapers' Company is one of the great livery companies of the city of London. The fraternity is of very early origin. Henry Fitz-Alwyn (d. 1212?), the first mayor of London, is said to have been a draper. The first charter was granted in 1364. The Drapers' Gild was one of the numerous subdivisions of the clothing trade, and appeared to have been confined to the retailing of woollen cloths, the linen-drapers forming in the 15th century a separate fraternity, which disappeared or was merged in the greater company. It is usual for drapers to combine the sale of "drapery," i.e. of textiles generally, with that of millinery, hosiery, &c. In _Wills_ v. _Adams_ (reported in _The Times_, London, Nov. 20, 1908), the term "drapery" in a restrictive covenant was held not to include all goods that a draper might sell, such as furs or fur-lined goods.

DRAUGHT (from the common Teutonic word "to draw"; cf. Ger. _Tracht_, load; the pronunciation led to the variant form "draft," now confined to certain specific meanings), the act or action of drawing, extending, pulling, &c. It is thus applied to animals used for drawing vehicles or loads, "draught oxen," &c., to the quantity of fish taken by one "drag" of a net, to a quantity of liquid taken or "drawn in" to the mouth, and to a current of air in a chimney, a room or other confined space. In furnaces the "draught" is "natural" when not increased artificially, or "forced" when increased by mechanical methods (see BOILER). The water a ship "draws," or her "draught," is the depth to which she sinks in the water as measured from her keel. The word was formerly used of a "move" in chess or similar games, and is thus, in the plural, the general English name of the game known also as "checkers" (see DRAUGHTS). The spelling "draft" is generally employed in the following usages. It is a common term for a written order "drawn on" a banker or other holder of funds for the payment of money to a third person; thus a cheque (q.v.) is a draft. A special form of draft is a "banker's draft," an instruction by one bank to another bank, or to a branch of the bank making the instruction, to pay a sum of money to the order of a certain specified person. Other meanings of "draft" are an outline, plan or sketch, or a preliminary drawing up of an instrument, measure, document, &c., which, after alteration and amendment, will be embodied in a final or formal shape; an allowance made by merchants or importers to those who sell by retail, to make up a loss incurred in weighing or measuring; and a detachment or body of troops "drawn off" for a specific purpose, usually a reinforcement from the depot or reserve units to those abroad or in the field. For the use of the term "draft" or "draught" in masonry and architecture see DRAFTED MASONRY.

DRAUGHTS (from A.S. _dragan_, to draw), a game played with pieces (or "men") called draughtsmen on a board marked in squares of two alternate colours. The game is called Checkers in America, and is known to the French as _Les Dames_ and to the Germans as _Damenspiel_. Though the game is not mentioned in the _Complete Gamester_, nor the _Academie de jeux_, and is styled a "modern invention" by Strutt, yet a somewhat similar game was known to the Egyptians, some of the pieces used having been found in tombs at least as old as 1600 B.C., and part of Anect Hat-Shepsa's board and some of her men are to be seen in the Egyptian gallery of the British Museum. An Egyptian vase also shows a lion and an antelope playing at draughts, with five men each, the lion making the winning move and seizing the bag or purse that contains the stakes. Plato ascribes the invention of the game of [Greek: pessoi], or draughts, to Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes Trismegistus, and Homer represents Penelope's suitors as playing it (_Odyss._ i. 107). In one form of the game as played by the Greeks there were 25 squares, and each player had 5 men which were probably moved along the lines. In another there were 4 men and 16 squares with a "sacred enclosure," a square of the same size as the others, marked in the exact centre and bisected by one of the horizontal lines, which was known as the "sacred line." From the incident in the game of a piece hemmed in on this line by a rival piece having to be pushed forward as a last resort, arose the phrase "to move the man from the sacred line" as synonymous with being hard pressed. This and other phrases based on incidents in the game testify to the vogue the game enjoyed in ancient Greece. The Roman game of _Latrunculi_ was similar, but there were officers (kings in modern draughts) as well as men. When a player's pieces were all hemmed in he was stale-mated, to use a chess phrase (_ad incitas redactus est_), and lost the game. Other explanations of this phrase are, however, given (see _Les Jeux des anciens_, by Becq de Fouquieres). The fullest account of the Roman game is to be found in the _De laude Pisonis_, written by an anonymous contemporary of Nero (see CALPURNIUS, TITUS). Unfortunately the texts are full of obscurities, so that it is difficult to make any definite statements as to how the game was played.

As early as the 11th century some form of the game was practised by the Norsemen, for in the Icelandic saga of Grettir the Strong the board and men are mentioned more than once.

The history of the modern forms of the game starts with _El Ingenio o juego de marro, de punto o damas_, published by Torquemada at Valencia in 1547. Another Spaniard, Juan Garcia Canalejas, is said to have published in 1610 the first edition of his work, a better-known edition of which appeared in 1650. The third Spanish classic, that of Joseph Carlos Garcez, was printed in Madrid in 1684. It is noteworthy that in an illustration in Garcez's book the pieces depicted resemble somewhat some of those used by the Egyptians, and are not unlike the pawns used in chess.

In 1668 Pierre Mallet had published the first French work on the game, and elementary though his knowledge of the game seems to have been, even in comparison with that of Canalejas or Garcez, the historical notes, rules and instructions which he gave, served as a basis for many later works. Mallet wrote on _Le Jeu de dames a la francaise_, which was almost identical with the modern English game. The old French game is, however, no longer practised in France, having been superseded by _Le Jeu de dames a la polonaise_. Manoury gives reasons for believing that the latter game originated in Paris about 1727.

About 1736 a famous player named Laclef published the first book on Polish draughts, but the first important book on the game is Manoury's _Jeu de dames a la polonaise_, in the production of which it is said that the author had the assistance of Diderot and other _encyclopedistes_. This book, which appeared in 1787, was to the new game all that Mallet's was to the old French game, and until the appearance of Poirson Prugneaux's _Encyclopedie du jeu de dames_ in 1855 it remained the standard authority on so-called Polish draughts. The Polish game early attained popularity in Holland, and in 1785 the standard Dutch work, Ephraim van Embden's _Verhandeling over het Damspel_, was produced. In German-speaking countries the progress of the new game was slower, and the works produced in the first half of the 19th century generally treat of the older game as well as the Polish game. This is also the case with Petroff's book published in St Petersburg in 1827; and similarly Zongono's, which dates from 1832, deals with the new game and with the older Italian game.

In 1694 Hyde wrote _Historia dami ludi seu latrinculorum_, in which he tried to prove the identity of draughts with _ludus latrinculorum_. This work is historical and descriptive, but contains nothing concerning the game as played in Great Britain. The authentic history of draughts in England commences with William Payne's _Introduction to the Game of Draughts_, the dedication of which was written by Samuel Johnson. Payne's games and problems were incorporated in a much more important work, namely Sturges's _Guide to the Game of Draughts_, which appeared in 1800 and has gone through a score of editions. About this time the game was much practised in both England and Scotland, but the first important production of the Scottish school was Drummond's _Scottish Draught Player_, the first part of which dates from 1838, additional volumes appearing in 1851-1853 and 1861. In 1852 Andrew Anderson published his _Game of Draughts Simplified_. A first edition had appeared in 1848, but the later print is the important one, as it standardized the laws of the game, fixed the nomenclature of the openings, introduced a better arrangement of the play, and, since Anderson was one of the finest players of the game, excelled in accuracy. In Anderson's time little was known about the openings commencing with any move other than 11-15, and it was not until more than thirty years later that the other openings received more adequate recognition. This was done in Robertson's _Guide to the Game of Draughts_, and perhaps better in Lees' _Guide_ (1892).

Andrew Anderson was the first recognized British champion player of the game. He and Wyllie, better known as "the herd laddie," contested five matches for the honour, Anderson winning four to Wyllie's one. After his victory in 1847 Anderson retired from match play and the title fell to Wyllie, who made the game his profession and travelled all over the English-speaking world to play it. In 1872 he successfully defended his position against Martins, the English champion, and in 1874 against W. R. Barker, the American champion, but two years later he was beaten by Yates, a young American. On the latter's retirement from the game, the championship lapsed to Wyllie, who held it successfully until his defeat by Ferrie, the Scottish champion, in 1894. Two years later Ferrie was beaten in his turn by Richard Jordan of Edinburgh, who had just gained the Scottish championship; and the new holder defeated Stewart, who challenged him in 1897, and successfully defended his title against C. F. Barker, the American champion, to meet whom he visited Boston in 1900 and played a drawn match.

In 1884 the first international match between England and Scotland took place, and resulted in so decisive a victory for the northerners that the contest was not renewed for ten years. The matches played in 1894 and 1899 also went strongly in favour of the Scots, but in 1903 the Englishmen gained their first victory.

In 1905 a British team visited America and defeated a side representing the United States.

The tournament for the Scottish championship has been held annually in Glasgow since 1893. The number and skill of the Scottish players have given this tournament its pre-eminence; but if the levelling up of the standards of play in Scotland and England continues, the competition which is held biennially by the English Draughts Association is likely to rank as a serious rival to the Glasgow tourney.

_The English Game._--Draughts as played now in English-speaking countries is a game for two persons with a board and twenty-four men--twelve white and twelve black--which at starting are placed as follows: the black men on the squares numbered 1 to 12, and the white men on the squares numbered 21 to 32 on the diagram below. In printed diagrams the men are usually shown on the white squares for the sake of clearness, but in actual play the black squares are generally used now. In playing on the black squares the board must be placed with a black square in the left-hand corner. The game is played by moving a man forward, one square at a time except when making a capture, along the diagonals to the right or left. Thus a white man placed on square 18 in the diagram can move to 15 or 14. Each player moves alternately, black always moving first. If a player touch a piece he must move that piece and no other. If the piece cannot be moved, or if it is not the player's turn to move, he forfeits the game. As soon as a man reaches one of the squares farthest from his side of the board, he is "crowned" by having one of the unused or captured men of his own colour placed on him, and becomes a "king." A king has the power of moving and taking backwards as well as forwards.

BLACK.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| 5 | | 6 | | 7 | | 8 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | 9 | |10 | |11 | |12 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|13 | |14 | |15 | |16 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |17 | |18 | |19 | |20 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|21 | |22 | |23 | |24 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| |25 | |26 | |27 | |28 |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
|29 | |30 | |31 | |32 | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
WHITE.

If a man is on the square adjacent to an opponent's man, and there is an unoccupied square beyond, the unprotected man must be captured and removed from the board. Thus, if there is a white man on square 18, and a black man on square 14, square 9 being vacant, and white having to move, he jumps over 14 and remains on square 9, and the man on 14 is taken up.

If two or more men are so placed that one square intervenes between each they may all be taken at one move. Thus if white having to move has a man on 28, and black men on 24, 16 and 8, the intermediate squares and square 3 being vacant, white could move from 28 to 3, touching 19 and 12 en route, and take the men on 24, 16, and 8; but if there is a piece on 7 and square 10 is vacant, the piece on 7 cannot be captured, for becoming a king ends the move.

It is compulsory to take if possible. If a player can take a man (or a series of men) but makes a move that does not capture (or does not capture all that is possible), his adversary may allow the move to stand, or he may have the move retracted and compel the player to take, or he may allow the move to stand and remove the piece, that neglected to capture from the board (called "huffing"). "Huff and move" go together, i.e. the player who huffs then makes his move. When one player has lost all his pieces, or has all those left on the board blocked, he loses the game.

The game is drawn when neither of the players has sufficient advantage in force or position to enable him to win.

The losing game, or "first off the board," is a form of draughts not much practised now by expert draught players. The player wins who gets all his pieces taken first. There is no "huffing"; a player who can take must do so.

_Draughts Openings._--As there are seven possible first moves, with
seven possible replies to each, or forty-nine in all, there is an
abundant variety of openings; but as two of these (9-14, 21-17 and
10-14, 21-17) are obviously unsound, the number is really reduced to
forty-seven. Much difference of opinion exists regarding the relative
strength of the various openings. It was at one time generally held
that for the black side 11-15 was the best opening move.

Towards the end of the 19th century this view became much modified,
and though 11-15 still remained the favourite, it was recognized that
10-15, 9-14 and 11-16 were little, if at all, inferior; 10-14 and
12-16 were rightly rated as weaker than the four moves named above,
whilst 9-13, the favourite of the "unscientific" player, was found to
be weakest of all.

The white replies to 11-15 have gone through many vicissitudes. The
seven possible moves have each at different times figured as the
general favourite. Thus 24-19, which analysis proved to be the weakest
of the seven, was at one period described by the title of "Wyllie's
Invincible." In course of time it came to be regarded as decidedly
weak, and its name was altered to the less pretentious title of
"Second Double Corner." In the Scottish Tournament of 1894 this
opening was played between Ferrie and Stewart, and the latter won the
game with white, introducing new play which has stood the test of
analysis, and so rehabilitating the opening in public favour. The
21-17 reply to 11-15 was introduced by Wyllie, who was so successful
with it that it became known as the "Switcher." This opening perhaps
lacks the solid strength of some of the others, but it so abounds in
traps as to be well worthy of its name. The other five replies to
11-15, namely 24-20, 23-19, 23-18, 22-18 and 22-17, are productive of
games which give equal chances to both sides.

The favourite replies to 10-15 are 23-18, 22-18 and 21-17, but they do
not appear to be appreciably stronger than the others, with the
possible exception of 24-20.

In response to 11-16, 23-18 is held to give white a trifling
advantage, but it is more apparent than real. With the exception of
23-19, which is weak, the other replies are of equal strength, and are
only slightly, if at all, inferior to the more popular 23-18. 9-14 is
most frequently encountered by 22-18, but all white's replies are
good, except of course 21-17 which loses a man, and 23-18 which
weakens the centre of white's position.

Against 10-14 the most popular move is 22-17, which gives white an
advantage. Next in strength come 22-18 and 24-19. 23-18 is weak.

The strongest reply to 12-16 is 24-20. The others, except 23-19, which
is weak, give no initial advantage to either side.

As already mentioned, 9-13 is black's weakest opening move, both 22-18
and 24-19 giving white a distinct advantage. Nevertheless 9-13 is a
favourite debut with certain expert players, especially when playing
with inferior opponents.

The term "opening" is frequently applied in a more restricted sense
than that used above. When practically all games started with 11-15 it
was convenient to assign names to the more popular lines of play. Thus
11-15, 23-19, 8-11, 22-17, if followed by 11-16, was called the
"Glasgow"; if followed by 9-13, 17-14, the "Laird and Lady"; if by
3-8, the "Alma."

The variety possible in the opening is a fair reply to the objection
sometimes heard that the game does not afford sufficient scope for
variation. As a matter of fact a practically unlimited number of
different games might be played on any one opening.

The three following games are typical examples of the play arising
from three of the most frequently played openings:--

Game No. 1.--"Ayrshire Lassie" Opening.

a 11-15 25-18 10-15 22-17 b 15-18 24-6
a 24-20 3-8 23-19 13-22 24-20 2-9
8-11 26-22 6-10 26-17 18-27 17-10
c}
28-24 5-9 d} 27-23 11-16 31-24 8-11

9-13 30-26 9-14 20-11 16-23 Drawn.
22-18 1-5 18-9 7-16 20-16 R. Jordan.
15-22 32-28 5-14 29-25 12-19

a. 11-15, 24-20 forms the "Ayrshire Lassie" opening, so named by
Wyllie. It is generally held to admit of unusual scope for the display
of critical and brilliant combinations.

b. 16-20, 25-22, 20-27, 31-24, 8-11, 17-13, 2-6, 21-17, 14-21, 22-17,
21-25, 17-14, 10-17, 19-1. Drawn. R. Jordan.

(c)

26-23 28-19 20-16 7-11 14-10 15-10
9-14 2-6 6-10 19-24 26-23 23-18
18-9 20-11 16-11 11-18 10-7 10-15
5-14 8-24 10-15 24-27 4-8 20-16
29-25 27-20 11-7 18-15 7-3 15-22
11-16 10-15 14-18 27-31 8-12 16-7
20-11 31-26 7-3 22-18 3-7 Drawn.
7-16 15-19 18-23 31-27 27-24 A. B. Scott.
24-20 23-16 3-7 18-14 7-11 v.
15-24 12-19 23-30 30-26 24-20 R. Jordan.

(d)

19-16 7-10 23-19 11-15 16-11 25-30
12-19 6-1 15-24 27-24 18-25 20-16
22-17 9-14 28-19 22-25 17-14 Drawn.
15-22 26-23 8-11 29-22 10-17 R. Jordan.
24-6 11-15 19-16 14-18 21-14

Game No. 2.--"Kelso-Cross" Opening.

a 10-15 8-12 13-22 5-9 14-18 22-25
a 23-18 25-21 26-17 20-16 17-14 29-22
12-16 1-6 d 19-26 2-7 10-17 17-26
21-17 32-27 30-23 24-19 21-14 5-1
9-13 12-16 15-22 15-24 6-10 26-30
17-14 27-23 24-19 23-19 14-9 1-5
16-19 7-10 9-14 24-27 10-14 30-26
24-20 14-7 19-12 31-24 19-15 5-9
6-9 3-10 11-15 9-13 14-17 26-23
b 27-24 c 22-17 28-24 24-20 9-5 Drawn.
R. Jordan.

a. These two moves form the "Kelso-Cross" opening.

b. 27-23 is also a strong line for white to adopt.

c. 30-25, 4-8, 18-14, 9-27, 22-18, 15-22, 24-15, 11-18, 20-4, 27-32,
26-17, 13-22, 4-8, 22-26, and black appears to have a winning
advantage. R. Jordan.

d. Taking the piece on 18 first seems to lose, thus:--

15-22 e 9-13 13-17 6-9 5-14
24-8 17-14 23-18 14-10 10-7 White
4-11 10-17 17-21 9-14 2-6 wins.
31-27 21-14 28-24 18-9 7-2 Dallas.

e. 2-7, 27-24, 22-26, 23-18, 26-31, 18-15, 11-18, 20-2, 9-13, 2-9,
5-14, 24-19, 13-22, 30-26. White wins.

Game No. 3.--"Dundee" Opening.

12-16 11-15 c 8-12 4-8 9-14 1-26
24-20 20-11 17-13 18-15 26-22 31-22
8-12 7-16 5-9 2-7 14-17 19-23
28-24 24-20 22-18 30-26 21-14 13-9
9-14 b 16-19 15-22 10-14 18-23 12-19
22-17 23-16 25-18 29-25 27-18 9-6
3-8 12-19 14-23 14-18 6-10 7-11
a 26-22 20-16 27-18 32-27 15-6 Drawn.
R. Jordan.

a. This move is the favourite at this point on account of its
"trappiness," but 25-22 is probably stronger, thus: 25-22, 16-19,
24-15, 11-25, 29-22, 8-11, 17-13, 11-16, 20-11, 7-16, and white can
with advantage continue by 27-24, 22-17, 23-19 or 22-18.

b. 15-19, 20-11, 8-15, 23-16, 12-19, 17-13, 5-9, 30-26, 4-8, 27-23,
8-12, 23-16, 12-19, 31-27, 1-5, 27-23, 19-24, 32-27, 24-31, 22-17.
White wins. C. F. Barker.

c 8-11 27-18 15-18 14-10 24-27 7-10
16-7 15-22 14-10 19-24 31-24 27-31
2-11 25-18 6-15 10-7 16-20 10-26
22-18 10-15 17-14 18-23 3-7 31-22
14-23 18-14 11-16 7-3 20-27 30-25
Drawn. R. Stewart v. R. Jordan.

Problem No. 1 is the simplest form of that known to draughts-players
as the "First Position." It is of more frequent occurrence in actual
play than any other end-game, and is, besides, typical of a class of
draughts problems which may be described as analytical, in
contradistinction to "strokes."

Problem No. 1, by Wm. Payne.
BLACK.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | B |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | |WW | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | |WW | |BB |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | | | | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
WHITE.

White to move and win.

Solution:--

27-32 18-15 15-11 11-15 28-32 19-24
28-24 2-28-24 12-16 19-24 27-31 White
23-18 32-28 28-32 32-28 15-19 wins.
3-a-24-28 1-24-20 16-19 24-27 31-26

a. 12-16 same as Var. I. at 5th move.

Var. I.

24-27 18-15 19-16 28-32 8-12 15-11
15-18 b 16-20 18-23 8-12 23-18 White
12-16 15-18 16-11 32-27 12-8 wins.
28-32 24-19 23-19 12-8 18-15
27-24 32-28 11-8 27-23 8-12

b. 24-28 same as Var. II. at 1st move.

Var. II. 12-16, 15-11, 16-19, 32-27, 28-32, 27-31, 32-28, 11-16,
19-23, 16-19. White wins.

Var. III. 24-19, 32-28, c 19-16, 28-24, 16-11, 24-20, 11-8, 18-15.
White wins.

c. 12-16, 28-32, 19-24 or 16-20, same as Var. II. at 5th and 9th moves
respectively. White wins.

Problem No. 2.
BLACK.
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | B | | | | B | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| B | | | | B | | B | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | W | | B | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| B | | W | | | | B | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | B | | W | | | | B |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| W | | W | | | | W | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | | W | | W | | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
| | | W | | | | W | |
+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
WHITE.

White to move and win.

Problem No. 2 is a fine example of another class of problems, namely,
"strokes." It is formed from the "Paisley" opening, thus:--

11-16 22-17 11-16 26-19 9-13 15-10
24-19 9-13 25-21 4-8 25-22 a 2-7
8-11 17-14 6-9 29-25 7-11
28-24 10-17 23-18 13-17 19-15
16-20 21-14 16-23 31-26 12-16

a. This forms the position on the diagram. The solution is as
follows:--

27-23 7-14 18-9 14-23 26-3
20-27 9-6 5-14 21-7 27-31
14-9 1-10 23-18 3-10 3-7

White wins. Jacques and Campbell.

_Other Varieties._--The forms of draughts practised on the European
continent differ in some respects from the English variety, chiefly in
respect of the power assigned to a man after "crowning." The game of
_Polish Draughts_ is played in France, Holland, Belgium and Poland,
where it has entirely superseded _Le Jeu de dames a la francaise_. It
is played on a board of 100 squares with 20 men a side. The men move
and capture as in English draughts, except that in capturing they move
either forward or backward. A crowned man becomes a queen, and can
move any number of squares along the diagonal. In her capture she
takes any unguarded man or queen in any diagonal she commands, leaping
over the captured man or queen and remaining on any unoccupied square
she chooses of the same diagonal, beyond the piece taken. But if there
is another unguarded man she is bound to choose the diagonal on which
it can be taken. For example (using an English draught-board) place a
queen on square 29 and adverse men at squares 22, 16, 24, 14. The
queen is bound to move from 29 to 11, 20, 27, and having made the
captures to remain at 9 or 5, whichever she prefers. The capturing
queen or man must take all the adverse pieces that are _en prise_, or
that become so by the uncovering of any square from which a piece has
been removed during the capture, e.g. white queen at square 7, black
at squares 10, 18, 19, 22 and 27, the queen captures at 10, 22, 27 and
19, and the piece at 22 being now removed, she must go to 15, take the
man at 18, and stay at 22, 25 or 29. In consequence of the intricacy
of some of these moves, it is customary to remove every captured piece
as it is taken. If a man arrives at a crowning square when taking, and
he can still continue to take, he must do so, and not stay on the
crowning square as at draughts. Passing a crowning square in taking
does not entitle him to be made a queen. In capturing, the player must
choose the direction by which he can take the greatest number of men
or queens, or he may be huffed. Numerical power is the criterion, e.g.
three men must be taken in preference to two queens. If the numbers
are equal and one force comprises more queens than the other, the
player may take whichever lot he chooses. This form of draughts,
played on a board of 144 squares with 30 men a side, is extensively
practised by British soldiers in India.

The German _Damenspiel_ is Polish draughts played on a board of the
same size and with the same number of men as in the English game. It
is sometimes called Minor Polish draughts, and is practised in Germany
and Russia.

The _Italian game_ differs from the English in two important
particulars--a man may not take a king, and when a player has the
option of capturing pieces in more than one way he must take in the
manner which captures most pieces. There is a difference too in the
placing of the board, the black square in the corner of the board
being at the player's right hand, but until a king is obtained the
differences from the English system are unimportant in practice.

In _Spanish draughts_ the board is set as for the Italian game. The
men move as in English draughts, but, in capturing, the largest
possible number of pieces must be taken, and the king has the same
powers as in the Polish game. The game does not differ essentially
from the English game until a king is obtained, and many games from
Spanish works will be found incorporated in English books. Sometimes
the game is played with 11 men and a king, or 10 men and 2 kings a
side, instead of the regulation 12 men.

_Turkish draughts_ differs widely from all other modern varieties of
the game. It is played on a board of 64 squares, all of which are used
in play. Each player has 16 pieces, which are not placed on the two
back rows of squares, as in chess, but on the second and third back
rows. The pieces do not move diagonally as in other forms of the game,
but straight forward or to the right or left horizontally. The king
has the same command of a horizontal or vertical row of squares that
the queen in Polish draughts has over a diagonal. Capturing is
compulsory, and the greatest possible number of pieces must be taken,
captured pieces being removed one at a time as taken.

AUTHORITIES.--Falkener's _Games Ancient and Oriental_; Lees' _Guide to
the Game of Draughts_; Drummond's _Scottish Draught Players_ (Kear's
reprint); Gould's _Memorable Matches_ and _Book of Problems_, &c. The
_Draughts World_ is the principal magazine devoted to the game. In
Dunne's _Draught Players' Guide and Companion_ a section is devoted to
the non-English varieties. (J. M. M. D.; R. J.)

DRAUPADI, in Hindu legend, the daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala, and wife of the five Pandava princes. She is an important character in the _Mahabharata_.

DRAVE, or DRAVA (Ger. _Drau_, Hung. _Drava_, Lat. _Dravus_), one of the principal right-bank affluents of the Danube, flowing through Austria and Hungary. It rises below the Innichner Eck, near the Toblacher Feld in Tirol, at an altitude of a little over 4000 ft., runs eastward, and forms the longest longitudinal valley of the Alps. The Drave has a total length of 450 m., while the length of its Alpine valley to Marburg is 150 m., and to its junction with the Mur 250 m. Owing to its great extent and easy accessibility the valley of the Drave was the principal road through which the invading peoples of the East, as the Huns, the Slavs and the Turks, penetrated the Alpine countries. The Drave flows through Carinthia and Styria, and enters Hungary near Friedau, where up to its confluence with the Danube, at Almas, 14 m. E. of Esseg, it forms the boundary between that country and Croatia-Slavonia. At its mouth the Drave attains a breadth of 1055 ft. and a depth of 20 ft. The Drave is navigable for rafts only from Villach, and for steamers from Barcs, a distance of 95 m. The principal affluents of the Drave are: on the left the Isel, the Gurk, the Lavant, and the largest of all, the Mur; and on the right the Gail and the Drann.

DRAVIDIAN (Sanskrit _Dravida_), the name given to a collection of Indian peoples, and their family of languages[1] comprising all the principal forms of speech of Southern India. Their territory, which also includes the northern half of Ceylon, extends northwards up to an irregular line drawn from a point on the Arabian Sea about 100 m. below Goa along the Western Ghats as far as Kolhapur, thence north-east through Hyderabad, and farther eastwards to the Bay of Bengal. Farther to the north we find Dravidian dialects spoken by small tribes in the Central Provinces and Chota Nagpur, and even up to the banks of the Ganges in the Rajmahal hills. A Dravidian dialect is, finally, spoken by the Br[=a]h[=u][=i]s of Baluchistan in the far north-west. The various Dravidian languages, with the number of speakers returned at the census of 1901, are as follows:--

Tamil 17,494,901
Malay[=a]lam 6,022,131
Kanarese 10,368,515
Tulu 535,210
Kodagu 39,191
Toda 805
K[=o]ta 1,300
Kuru[chi] 609,721
Malto 60,777
G[=o]nd[=i] 1,125,479
Kui 494,099
Telugu 20,697,264
Br[=a]h[=u][=i] 48,589
----------
Total 57,497,982

Of these Tamil and Malay[=a]lam can be considered as two dialects of one and the same language, which is, in its turn, closely related to Kanarese. Tulu, Kodagu, Toda and K[=o]ta can be described as lying between Tamil-Malay[=a]lam and Kanarese, though they are more nearly related to the latter than to the former. The same is the case with Kuru[chi] and Malto, while Kui and G[=o]nd[=i] gradually approach Telugu, which latter language seems to have branched off from the common stock at an early date. Finally, the Br[=a]h[=u][=i] dialect of Baluchistan has been so much influenced by other languages that it is no longer a pure Dravidian form of speech.

The Dravidian languages have for ages been restricted to the territory they occupy at the present day. Moreover, they are gradually losing ground in the north, where they meet with Aryan forms of speech. If we compare the caste tables and the language tables in the Indian census of 1901 we find that only 1,125,479 out of the 2,286,913 G[=o]nds returned were stated to speak the Dravidian G[=o]nd[=i]. Similarly only 1505 out of 17,187 K[=o]l[=a]ms entered their language as K[=o]l[=a]m[=i]. Such tribes are gradually becoming Hinduized. Their language adopts an ever-increasing Aryan element till it is quite superseded by Aryan speech. In the north-eastern part of the Dravidian territory, to the east of Chanda and Bhandara, the usual state of affairs is that Dravidian dialects are spoken in the hills while Aryan forms of speech prevail in the plains. The Dravidian Kui thus stands out as an isolated island in the sea of Aryan speech.

This process has been going on from time immemorial. The Dravidians were already settled in India when the Aryans arrived from the north-west. The fair Aryans were at once struck by their dark hue, and named them accordingly _krisna tvac_, the black skin. In the course of time, however, the two races began to mix, and it is still possible to trace a Dravidian element in the Aryan languages of North India.

The teaching of anthropology is to the same effect. Most speakers of Dravidian languages belong to a distinct anthropological type which is known as the Dravidian. "The Dravidian race," says Sir H. Risley, "the most primitive of the Indian types, occupies the oldest geological formation in India, the medley of forest-clad ranges, terraced plateaus, and undulating plains which stretches, roughly speaking, from the Vindhyas to Cape Comorin. On the east and west of the peninsular area the domain of the Dravidian is conterminous with the Ghats, while farther north it reaches on one side to the Aravallis and on the other to the Rajmahal hills."

This territory is the proper home of the race. A strong Dravidian element can, however, also be traced in the population of northern India. In Kashmir and Punjab, where the Aryans had already settled in those prehistoric times when the Vedic hymns were composed, the prevailing type is the Aryan one. The same is the case in Rajputana. From the eastern frontier of the Punjab, on the other hand, and eastwards, a Dravidian element can be traced. This is the case in the valleys of the Ganges and the Jumna, where the Aryans only settled at a later period. Anthropologists also state that there is a Dravidian element in the population of western India, from Gujarat to Coorg.

It is thus probable that Dravidian languages have once been spoken in many tracts which are now occupied by Aryan forms of speech. The existence of a Dravidian dialect in Baluchistan seems to show that Dravidian settlers have once lived in those parts. The tribe in question, the Br[=a]h[=u][=i]s, are, however, now Eranians and not Dravidians by race, and it is not probable that there has ever been a numerous Dravidian population in Baluchistan. The Br[=a]h[=u][=i]s are most likely the descendants of settlers from the south.

There is no indication that the Dravidians have entered India from outside or superseded an older population. For all practical purposes they can accordingly be considered as the aborigines of the Deccan, whence they appear to have spread over part of northern India. Their languages form an isolated group, and it has not been possible to prove a connexion with any other family of languages. Such attempts have been made with reference to the Munda family, the Tibeto-Burman languages, and the dialects spoken by the aborigines of the Australian continent. The arguments adduced have not, however, proved to be sufficient, and only the Australian hypothesis can still lay claim to some probability. Till it has been more closely tested we must therefore consider the Dravidian family as an isolated group of languages, with several characteristic features of its own.

The pronunciation is described as soft and mellifluous. Abruptness and
hard combinations of sounds are avoided. There is, for example, a
distinct tendency to avoid pronouncing a short consonant at the end of
a word, a very short vowel being often added after it. Thus the
pronoun of the third person singular, which is _avan_, "he," in Tamil,
is pronounced _avanu_ in Kanarese; the Sanskrit word _v[=a]k_,
"speech," is borrowed in the form _v[=a]ku_ in Tamil; the word
_gurram_, "horse," is commonly pronounced _gurramu_ in Telugu, and so
on. Combinations of consonants are further avoided in many cases where
speakers of other languages do not experience any difficulty in
pronouncing them. This tendency is well illustrated by the changes
undergone by some borrowed words. Thus the Sanskrit word
_br[=a]hmana_, "a Brahmin," becomes _bar[=a]mana_ in Kanarese and
_pir[=a]mana_ in Tamil; the Sanskrit _Dramida_, "Dravidian," is
borrowed by Tamil under the form _Tir[=a]mida_. _Dramida_, which also
occurs as _Dravida_, is in its turn developed from an older _Damila_,
which is identical with the word _Tamir_, Tamil.

The forms _pir[=a]mana_ and _Tir[=a]mida_ in Tamil illustrate another
feature of Dravidian enunciation. There is a tendency in all of them,
and in Tamil and Malay[=a]lam it has become a law, against any word
being permitted to begin with a stopped voiced consonant (g, j, [d.],
d, b), the corresponding voiceless sounds (k, c, t, [t.], p,
respectively) being substituted. In the middle of a word or compound,
on the other hand, every consonant must be voiced. Thus the Sanskrit
word _danta_, "tooth," has been borrowed by Tamil in the form
_tandam_, and the Telugu _anna_, "elder brother," _tammulu_, "younger
brother," become when compounded _annadammulu_, "elder and younger
brothers."

There is no strongly marked accent on any one syllable, though there
is a slight stress upon the first one. In some dialects this
equilibrium between the different parts of a word is accompanied by a
tendency to approach to each other the sound of vowels in consecutive
syllables. This tendency, which has been called the "law of harmonic
sequence," is most apparent in Telugu, where the short _u_ of certain
suffixes is replaced by _i_ when the preceding syllable contains one
of the vowels _i_ (short and long) and _ei_. Compare the dative suffix
_ku_, _ki_, in _gurramu-ku_, "to a horse"; but _tammuni-ki_, "to a
younger brother." This tendency does not, however, play a prominent
role in the Dravidian languages.

Words are formed from roots and bases by means of suffixed formative
additions. The root itself generally remains unchanged throughout.
Thus from the Tamil base _per_, "great," we can form adjectives such
as _per-iya_ and _per-um_, "great"; verbs such as _per-u-gu_, "to
become increased"; _per-u-kku_, "to cause to increase," and so on.

Many bases can be used at will as nouns, as adjectives, and as verbs.
Thus the Tamil _kadu_ can mean "sharpness," "sharp," and "to be
sharp." Other bases are of course more restricted in their respective
spheres.

The inflection of words is effected by agglutination, i.e. various
additions are suffixed to the base in order to form what we would call
cases and tenses. Such additions have probably once been separate
words. Most of them are, however, now only used as suffixes. Thus from
the Tamil base _k[=o]n_, "king," we can form an accusative
_k[=o]n-ei_, a verb _k[=o]n-en_, "I am king," and so on.

Dravidian nouns are divided into two classes, which Tamil grammarians
called high-caste and casteless respectively. The former includes
those nouns which denote beings endowed with reason, the latter all
others. Gender is only distinguished in the former class, while all
casteless nouns are neuter. The gender of animals (which are
irrational) must accordingly be distinguished by using different words
for the male and the female, or else by adding words meaning male,
female, respectively, to the name of the animal--processes which do
not, strictly speaking, fall under the head of grammar.

There are two numbers, the singular and the plural. The latter is
formed by adding suffixes. It, however, often remains unmarked in the
case of casteless nouns.

Cases are formed by adding postpositions and suffixes, usually to a
modified form of the noun which is commonly called the oblique base.
Thus we have the Tamil _maram_, "tree"; _maratt-[=a]l_, "from a tree";
_maratt-u-kku_, "to a tree"; _v[=i]du_, "a house"; _v[=i]t[t.]-[=a]l_,
"from a house." The case terminations are the same in the singular and
in the plural. The genitive, which precedes the governing noun, is
often identical with the oblique base, or else it is formed by adding
suffixes.

The numeral system is decimal and higher numbers are counted in tens;
thus Tamil _pattu_, "ten"; _iru-badu_, "two tens," "twenty."