DISCOUNT of calculating discount as simple interest: they would charge 41. 3s. 24d., a year's interest on 1047. at four per cent., for discounting the bill in question. DISCOUNT. In Political Economy. A person possessed of abilities, opportunities, and character necessary for carrying on an industrial occupation may be deficient in the capital requisite for accomplishing his purpose. On the other hand, some other person, whose tastes or whose powers are inadequate for engaging in any other occupation than that to which he is habituated, may have accumulated capital, and desire to employ it for his advantage. As capital is desirable, and the beneficial investment or employment of capital is desirable to both these parties respectively, it will not be difficult to conceive that means should be discovered for bringing these parties together, and for satisfying their several wishes; and as modern societies are large, and the demand and supply of capital may not on this account be easily brought into communication, the further need of some intermediary or other who will engage to find employment for capital, and capital for employment, will not long wait for satisfaction. The person who supplies capital will require some advantage for his loan, or, as Mr. Senior has said, 'a reward for his abstinence' in not employing his capital on his personal gratification; and again the borrower of capital is willing, because he discovers a further profit on the extension of his energies by means of additional capital, to promise the reward or remuneration required. The amount or remuneration demanded for the advance is determined by the joint competition of borrowers and lenders, and is known generally by the name of interest. [INTEREST.] Discount is only another form of interest. Investments of capital are either made for some long or permanent space of time, or are intended only for short or recurrent periods. The latter are generally made under the conditions of discount; that is, the interest to be paid at the end of the period is deducted from the amount advanced at its commencement. To borrow 1007. at four per cent. for three months, and to pay 1017. at the end of the period, does not, for the purpose of illustration, differ substantially from taking 997. at once, under the promise to pay 100l. at the end of three months. The former transaction would be called interest; the latter is the process of discounting a bill of exchange, or other obligation, the date of payment of which is deferred. The intermediaries to the borrower and lender in mercantile transactions are bankers, bill-discounters and the like. These functionaries employ to some extent their own capital, to a far larger extent the capital of others, in advances upon loan to borrowers; the charge for the accommodation being the discount. The motive inducing the deposit of cash or capital with a banker or bill-discounter is either the convenience of a banking account, DISCRETE and the privilege which the customer of a bank has in securing assistance either by loan or by discount on his paper; or a direct participation in the profits of the advances, by an arrangement allowing depositors a variable rate of interest on their deposits. This method of accumulating capital for banking purposes is especially characteristic of modern or jointstock banking; and the funds available for commercial purposes, but derived from deposits, are in such banks many times more than the proprietors' capital. The customary rates of interest and discount have a tendency to equality. But in the ordinary course of trade, the rate of discount is slightly lower than the rate of interest, because there is an advantage in the fact that the loan is rapidly repaid, bills being generally drawn for three months only, and the competition of lenders lowering the rate of discount to the minimum which the supply will permit. When, however, the money market is said to be tight, that is when there is a temporary excess of borrowers, either because it is necessary to meet extraordinary obligations, or because speculation is active, or the foreign exchanges are adverse, or the currency is contracted by the exportation of specie, the rate of discount is higher than the rate of interest; the competition of borrowers raising the rate to the maximum which can be extracted from their necessities. The rate of discount for the time being is determined generally by the directors of the bank of England. This establishment is, however, affected by the same influences which raise or depress the rate in the open market. The Bank itself discounts bills, and if it kept the rate above that which prevails elsewhere, its own profits would diminish; while on the other hand, were its rate less than that at which private bill-discounters can afford to make their advances, the pressure for accommodation would diminish its resources. The publication, therefore, of its minimum rate of discount is always a matter of importance to merchants, because it indicates what, in the opinion of a body of the most eminent men of business, is the rate at which loans can be made for commercial purposes. [EXCHANGE, BILL OF; PANIC; MONEY MARKET.] Discourse (Lat. discursus). In Rhetoric, a series of sentences and arguments arranged according to the rules of art. In Logic, this term is applied to the third operation of the mind, commonly called reasoning. [LOGIC.] Discovery. In Law, the act of revealing or disclosing any matter by a defendant in his answer to a bill in chancery. [CHANCERY.] Discrase or Discrasite (Gr. 8is, and кpâois, mixture). Native antimonide of silver. It occurs crystallised and in grains. The colour is silver-white with a metallic lustre. Discrete (Lat. discretus, separated). A term in Mathematics opposed to continuous. Thus ordinary numbers are discrete quantities, being formed by the successive addition of DISCRIMINANT disc. DISEASE Discutient (Lat. discutio, I disperse). Remedies which repel or resolve tumours. units. Again, four numbers are said to form | Castor and Iolaus as skilful throwers of the a discrete proportion when the ratio of the first to the second, although equal to that of the third to the fourth, differs from that of the second to the third. The numbers 2, 3, 4, 6 possess this property; whereas 2, 4, 8, 16 are continued proportionals. Discriminant (Lat. discrimino, I separate). The resultant of the system of equations, formed by equating to zero the several first derived functions of a given quantic, is called the discriminant of that quantic; since, when it vanishes, the quantic may always be expressed as a quadric in (n-1) variables linearly related to the n original ones. [ELIMINATION.] In the case of the ternary quadric U= =(a b c d e f ( x, y, z)3, Disease. Any morbid state of the body generally, or of any particular organ or part of the body, is called a disease. By medical writers the term disease is defined as implying a deviation from the natural and healthy actions of the whole system or of any individual part;' and they are in the habit of designating certain forms of disease by the following terms, namely: Acquired, which are not congenital or hereditary, but derived from causes evidently operating after birth. Acute, which are severe, but of comparatively short duration. Asthenic, attended by manifest de the discriminant being the resultant of the pression of the vital powers. Chronic, which The vanishing of this discriminant indicates that the conic u=0 breaks up into a pair of right lines, in other words possesses a double point. are of long duration. Congenital, which are born with the individual. Constitutional, which more or less affect the whole system. Contagious; this term should be confined to those diseases only which are communicable from one to another by contact, either personal or intermediate; it is presumed, for instance, that the plague is a truly contagious disease, and that it can be transferred from one individual to another only by actual bodily contact, or through the medium of bedclothes or articles of apparel. The term contagious disease is, however, often misapplied to those which are infectious, or communicable through the medium of the atmosphere. Endemic, diseases which are either peculiar to particular places, or which are especially prevalent in certain districts only. Epidemic, diseases which are generally diffused over a whole country; they may generally be traced to atmospheric causes, and are commonly of an infectious character: influenza and cholera often prevail in this way. Exanthematous are those diseases which are From the properties of the resultant of a system of quantics [RESULTANT], we at once conclude that the discriminant of an m-ary n-ic, that is to say of a quantic of the nth order in m variables, is a homogeneous function of the coefficients of the degree m (n−1)m-1, and of the weight n(n-1)-1; it being un-accompanied by an eruptive fever, such as derstood that the coefficient of any term of the quantic is affected with a suffix equal to the exponent of the power of one of the variables a in that term. Every equation with one unknown term may be converted into a binary quantic, and consequently has a discriminant. The latter, in fact, is the product of the squares of all the differences between any two roots of the equation, and consequently vanishes identically whenever the equation has two equal roots. The discriminant, it may be observed, lastly, is always an invariant of the quantic. [INVARIANT.] Discus (Lat.). The ancient quoit, which consisted of a heavy circular mass of iron, sometimes perforated in the middle. In the ancient game, the players aimed at no mark, but simply tried to throw the quoit to the greatest possible distance. In the Cabinet des Antiquités of Paris, a discus is preserved in which holes are provided for the thumb and fingers. The practice of throwing discs is mentioned by Homer amongst the sports which occurred at the funeral of Patroclus; and Pindar celebrates measles, smallpox, &c. Hereditary diseases are such as prevail in families, and are transmitted by parents to their offspring; gout and scrofula furnish examples. Idiopathic or primary diseases are those which are not dependent upon or symptomatic of others; certain affections of the head, for instance, may arise immediately from disease of the brain, or they may be mediately connected with disordered states of the stomach: the former are idiopathic, the latter symptomatic. Intercurrent diseases are those which arise in individuals from incidental causes during the prevalence of endemic or epidemic sickness. Intermittent diseases are marked by a regular cessation and recurrence of symptoms; the patient, during the interval, being, to all appearance, free from disorder: the various forms of ague are characteristically intermittent. Local diseases are opposed to those which are constitutional; they are presumed to be limited to some particular organ: the term chronic disease is sometimes misapplied in this sense. Malignant diseases are those which are of a highly dangerous and intractable character, DISINTEGRATION and the symptoms of which are generally very formidable from the first; various forms of fever, rapidly depressing the vital energies, are said to assume a malignant type: hence also the term malignant, as generally applied to the Asiatic cholera. Local diseases are frequently malignant, such as cancer and ill-conditioned ulcers: all these are opposed to the mild forms of the same maladies. Periodical, diseases which recur at fixed periods, as in autumn, winter, &c. Puerperal, diseases incident to women soon after childbirth. Specific diseases are those which are marked by some disordered vital action not belonging to disease in general, but peculiar to the individual case. Sporadic diseases are those arising from adventitious causes affecting the individual. Sthenic diseases are marked by the activity of the vital powers, directly opposed to those which are asthenic. Dr. William Farr some years ago proposed to apply the term zymotic to an extensive class of diseases which he probably regarded as produced by fermentation (from the Greek word Supów, to ferment). The term is perhaps more correctly applicable to diseases caused by paludal or animal decompositions, and in this way it has been used when speaking of fevers and of the effects of specific animal poisons. Its application has, however, been lately extended to diseases arising from scarcity of food, from unwholesome food, and even cases of scurvy and of worms. stones sometimes disintegrate with great irregularity, but more frequently they form into caverns, the water eating them out. The disintegration of rocks by the seaside is very marked and often very instructive. The action of weather is greatly helped when the climate is such as to admit of frequent alterations of temperature above and below the point at which water attains its greatest density (39° Fahr.). It is also well seen where ice is common in summer on account of the great elevation of the land. Thus, in mountains of great elevation this force is often exemplified. Disfranchisement (Lat. dis; Teutonic, Disjunctive. In Grammar, a conjunction frank, free). The deprivation of the rights which disjoins the sense of the connected senand privileges of free citizenship. The term is tences, as, 'He is either wicked or foolish,' chiefly applied in the present day to the actThey are neither wise nor brave.' which deprives a borough of the right of returning representatives to parliament. Disinfectants. Substances which destroy infectious and contagious poisons. Many articles formerly considered as possessing these properties are now known to be ineffectual, such as the fumes of vinegar, of burnt resins, of aromatic woods, and certain essential oils; these, however, only cover bad odours. The real disinfectants comprise a few of the gaseous acids, but nearly all of these have been superseded by the peculiar powers of chlorine. Disinfecting Liquor. Solutions of chloride of soda and of chloride of lime are known under this name. Labarraque's Disinfectant is a solution of hypochlorite of soda. Sir W. Burnett's Disinfectant is a solution of chloride of zinc. Disintegration (Lat. dis, and integer, whole). The gradual wearing away of a rock by ordinary atmospheric action. All rocks are subject to this action, some wearing away evenly and regularly, and showing little sign of the change they undergo; others, such as granite, wearing very irregularly, owing to the unequal hardness of the rocks. Some of the Shetland Isles present magnificent specimens of the wear and tear of granite. On the west of Meikle Roe the softer veins have mouldered away, while the firmer rock which included 6 Disjunctive Proposition. In Logic, a proposition compounded of two or more categorical propositions, so stated as to imply that some of them must be true: thus, Either A=B, or C=D.' A disjunctive, in which the two propositions are not naturally connected together in such a manner as to warrant their being proposed as alternatives, is nugatory and absurd in sense, although not incorrect in logical form. If one or more of the categorical antecedent propositions be denied, we infer that the remaining one, or, if there are more than one, some one of those remaining, is true: e. g. 'Either A=B or C=D; but A is not equal to B, therefore C=D.' A poem is either good, bad, or indifferent: but it is not good; therefore it is bad or indifferent. There are different forms of the disjunctive syllogism, founded on the disjunctive proposition. Disk (Gr. diokos). In Botany, a term ap plied to certain bodies or projections, situated between the base of the stamens and the base of the ovary, but forming part of neither, and taking a variety of forms, the most common of which are those of rings or scales. The disk is usually supposed to consist of rudimentary stamens, since an anther has been noticed to grow from that of Paonia Moutan, and in other cases manifest indications are observable of a tendency to assume the form of those organs. DISLOCATION DISPOSITION Dislocation (Lat. dis, and locus, a place). | greatest refraction, occupying the other end. A surgical term, synonymous with luxation. When the articular surfaces of bones are forced out of their proper situation, they are said to be dislocated or luxated. A considerable share of anatomical knowledge is required to detect the nature of these accidents; and it is much to be lamented that students neglect to inform themselves sufficiently upon the subject.' (Sir A. Cooper's Surgical Essays, i. p. 2.) Dispart. In Gunnery, half the difference between the diameter of the base ring at the breech of a gun and that of the swell of the muzzle. Dispensary (Lat. dispensare, to distribute). A place where medicines are made up and distributed; but the term is used more generally for a charitable institution, where the poor are supplied with medicines and advice. Institutions of this nature are of comparatively recent origin; though they are now to be met with in every town of any importance both in this country and on the Continent. In London there are one or more dispensaries in each district; and to every dispensary there are always attached one or more physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries, whose duty it is respectively to prescribe and dispense medicines to the poor, and to visit them in their own houses in the event of their being too ill to attend personally at the institution. In most cases dispensaries are supported by voluntary contributions. Dispensation. In Law, a license granted by the bishop to a clergyman within his diocese to omit some particular of his duty; as, to hold two or more benefices, or to reside out of his parish. In the church of England the power of dispensation has been very strictly limited by recent legislation. The name is peculiar to ecclesiastical law, and was formerly applied to the licenses granted by the papal authority for several purposes; as, to marry within the prohibited degrees, &c. Dispensatory. A word synonymous with PHARMACOPOEIA [which see]; signifying a book which describes the history, preparation, and composition of medicines. Dispensing Power. In English Law, it was held by early authorities, that the king had a right to dispense with the penalty on mala prohibita, things forbidden by law and not by moral obligation; whence the claims of James II. to dispense with tests against Roman Catholics and Dissenters, which contributed to his overthrow. Dispersion (Lat. dispersio). In Optics, a term used to denote the angular separation of the constituent rays of light when decomposed by the prism. In consequence of the unequal refrangibility of the different rays, a beam of light admitted through a small hole or slit in the shutter of a darkened room, and refracted by passing through a prism, forms an elongated image or spectrum; the red rays, which are the least refracted, occupying one end of the spectrum, and the violet rays, which suffer the The rays therefore, after refraction, are no longer parallel; so that the index of refraction (or the ratio of the sine of incidence to the sine of refraction) is different for each ray; and the difference of the indices for the extreme rays is called the dispersion of the light. Sir Isaac Newton, who first examined the prismatic colours, was led by some imperfect experiments to suppose the dispersion proportional to the refraction; but it was soon discovered that although the colours in spectra formed by prisms of different substances are always arranged in the same order, they do not occupy the same relative lengths-a prism of flint glass, for example, giving proportionally less red and more violet than a prism of crown glass; and that substances, for which the index of refraction of the middle ray of the spectrum is nearly the same, produce spectra of different lengths, or different amounts of dispersion. It is on this property, namely, the irrationality of the refractive and dispersive powers of different substances, that the methods of forming achromatic lenses depend: had the supposition of Newton been correct, it would have been impossible to produce an image by refraction unaccompanied by the prismatic colours. [ACHROMATISM; OBJECT-GLASS.] The difference between the indices of refraction of the extreme rays of the spectrum formed by a prism of any substance is called the coefficient of dispersion with respect to that substance, or simply the dispersion; and the dispersive power is the quotient which is obtained by dividing the coefficient of dispersion by the mean index of refraction diminished by unity. The mean index is that of the ray which corresponds to the middle of the spectrum. As these terms are of frequent occurrence in scientific works, we shall illustrate the definitions by an example. According to Sir D. Brewster, the index of refraction of diamond for the extreme violet ray is 2:467, and for the extreme red ray 2:411; the difference of these two indices is 056, which, therefore, is the coefficient of dispersion for diamond. Again, the mean index, or mean of the above two numbers, is 2:439, which diminished by unity becomes 1439; therefore the dispersive power of diamond is 056 divided by 1·439, or 0388. [REFRACTION; LIGHT; OPTICS; SPECTRUM.] Displacement of a Vessel. The weight of water which a vessel displaces, which is of course equal to her own weight; the shipwright's or government measurement ought to furnish a very good approximation to the quantity thus ascertained, but they both are made to comprehend so many extraneous conditions that they afford very slight indications of the actual displacement. Disposition. In Architecture, one of the six essentials of the art. It is the arrangement of the whole design by means of the ichnography (plan), orthography (section and elevation), and scenography (perspective view); and dif DISSECTION fers from distribution, which signifies the particular arrangements of the internal parts of a building. Dissection (Lat. disseco, I cut asunder). The cutting to pieces of any organised body with a view to elucidate its structure and functions. [ANATOMY.] Disseisin. In Law, a species of wrongful ouster or putting out of him who is seised of the freehold in lands: it is either single disseisin, or disseisin by force, more properly termed deforcement. Dissenters. Persons who dissent from the doctrines or usages of the established church of England. Roman Catholics, however, are generally referred to as a distinct class, and the term Dissenters applied to Protestants only, The first dissenters from the church of England were the Puritans, who, at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth, complained of the use of the surplice, the sign of the cross in baptism, and some other relics, as they esteemed them, of popery. The laws of Elizabeth, however, required their attendance at church under severe penalties; and no opportunity was allowed them, even though they held episcopacy itself in abhorrence, of forming separate sects or congregations. Perhaps the first distinct sect of Dissenters were the Brownists, who adopted very extreme opinions on the subject of church government, and against whom the punishment of death was enacted, as denying the queen's supremacy in ecclesiastical matters. On the accession of James I. an attempt was made by the puritanical party within the church to obtain a relaxation in some points of doctrine and discipline; but the conference at Hampton Court, which was convened upon that occasion, separated without effecting more than a few trifling alterations in the services. The penal laws continued in force, and Dissenters were not recognised as a distinct body by the state. They may be said to owe their origin in this sense to the assembly of divines convened by authority of parliament at Westminster in 1643, when a body of 120 clergymen and 30 laymen met and established the Presbyterian forms of doctrine and government, as set forth in the book called the Directory. The Independent party did not entirely accede to this settlement, and created some disturbances during the Protectorate. At the Restoration, the Presbyterian clergy were ejected on St. Bartholomew's day, 1662, by the Act of Uniformity, which reestablished the Liturgy, and was attended with some circumstances of aggravation and harshness. Two thousand nonconforming clergy were thereby ejected from their benefices. The Corporation Act, requiring attendance on the sacrament preparatory to accepting municipal offices, was also passed at the beginning of this reign; and the Test Act followed, which excluded Dissenters in like manner from all places of trust and profit under government. These laws were repealed by 9 Geo. IV.; and Dissenters are now required only to make a declaration, according to the form of the Act, that DISTEMPER they will not exercise any influence they may possess by virtue of such office to injure or weaken the church by law established. The Act of Toleration (1 Wm. & Mary) had long since abrogated the penal laws of Elizabeth against Dissenters, excepting Papists and such as deny the Trinity. Dissepiments (Lat. dissepimentum). In Botany, the partitions that are formed in the ovary by the united sides of the cohering carpels, and which separate the inside into cells; also called septa. Dissidents. In modern European History, a term applied in Poland to those dissenters from the established religion (Catholic) who, under the old republic, were allowed the free exercise of their faith; including Lutherans, Calvinists, and Greeks, but excluding various minor sects. Their rights were fixed by the Religious Peace (pax dissidentium) of 1573, but they were infringed upon in the eighteenth century by various princes. They were supported in demanding the repeal of these restrictions by Russia and Prussia (in 1766), and hence those powers acquired one of their favourite pretexts for interference in the affairs of the Polish nation. Their rights were restored in 1775, with some exceptions; but after the Russian conquest they were placed on the same footing with the Catholics. Dissolving Views. These popular phantasmagorial representations are produced by means of two magic lanterns [MAGIC LANTERN], which are placed side by side with their lens tubes slightly convergent, so that the projected images may be superposed upon the screen placed to receive them. An opaque rectangular shutter, capable of revolving vertically upon a pivot fixed midway between the two lanterns, is placed in front of the lenses in such a position that, when horizontal, it cuts off one half of the pencil of light from both lenses. If this shutter be made to revolve through a small arc, it must obviously shut off the whole of the pencil of light from one of the lanterns which we will call A, whilst it allows that from the other lantern B to pass unhindered. When the shutter is in this position, and each lantern is supplied with its slide, the image from B will be seen upon the screen in full brilliancy; but if the shutter be now made slowly to revolve in the opposite direction, the image from A will be gradually disclosed and that from B in the same degree concealed; the one appearing to dissolve whilst the other developes. To obtain a good effect with this apparatus, it is necessary that the lanterns should be illuminated with the lime light. Dissonance. In Music, the same as dis |