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DELIBES 311 BELLA CRUSCANS stone wall 5% miles long, strengthened by the British at the beginning of the 19th century with a ditch and glacis. The palace or residence of the Great Mogul, built by Shah Jehan, begun in 1631, and now known as "the fort," is situated in the E. of the city, and abuts directly on the river. It is surrounded on three sides by an embattled wall of reddish sandstone nearly 60 feet high, with round towers at intervals, and a gateway on the W. and S. Since the mutiny in 1857, a great portion has been demolished in order to make room for military barracks. One of the most re- markable objects in the city is the Jamma Musjid or Great Mosque, a mag- nificent structure in the Byzantine-Ara- bic style, built by the Emperor Shah TOMB OF THE BANGLE-MAKER DELHI, INDIA Jehan in the 17th century. Among mod- ern buildings are the government college, founded in 1792 (abolished as a college) ; the Residency, and a Protestant church. The East Indian Railway enters the city by a bridge over the Jumna. The S. W, quarter of the town is densely occupied by the shops and dwellings of the native population; the streets are narrow and tortuous, but some of the main thor- oughfares of the city are splendid streets, the chief being the Chandni Chauk, or "Silver Street." During the mutiny Delhi was seized by the Sepoys, who held possession for four months, during which many atrocities were committed. Pop. about 235,000. DELIBES, LEON (de-leb), a French composer; born in St. Germain du Val, Feb. 21, 1836; entered the Paris Conser- vatoire in 1848, and in 1855 produced an operetta, "Two Bags of Charcoal." At the Grand Opera, his music for the ballet "The Fountain" (1866) met with great success. The ballet-music for "Copp^lia" (1870), is his finest work. He wrote music for a third ballet and for three comic operas. "The King Said So" (1873), became very popular. In 1880 he was appointed professor in the Con- servatoire. He died Jan. 16, 1891. DELILAH, a woman of the Philistines, beloved of Samson. She persuaded him to reveal to her the secret of his great strength, and when she learned that it lay in his long and thick hair, cut off his locks while he was asleep and then treacherously delivered the helpless man into the hands of his enemies. DELIQUESCENCE, the property which certain very soluble salts and other bodies possess of absorbing moisture from the atmosphere. This property is made use of in drying salts, etc., the sub- stance being placed over another sub- stance which absorbs water from the air, as sulphuric acid, chloride of cal- cium, quicklime, etc., in an air-tight ves- sel called a desiccator. DELIRIUM, increased ideation rang- ing from simple confusion of thought to fixed delusion, accompanied by incoher- ence, restlessness, and frequently com- bined with some amount of unconscious- ness, deepening at times into coma. It often occurs in the course of general specific diseases, in pneumonia, erysipe- las, gout, acute mania, alcoholic poison- ing as delirium tremens, and as a con- sequence of nervous exhaustion from mental overwork. DE LISLE. See Leconte de Lisle. DELIVERY, in law (1) the delivery of a deed, or the handing of it over to the grantee, which is expressed in the attestation, "sealed and delivered," is one of the requisites to a good deed. A deed takes effect only from this delivery; for if the date be false or impossible, the de- livery ascertains the time of it. A delivery may be either absolute, that is, to the grantee himself or to a third per- son to hold till some conditions be per- formed on the part of the grantee. In certain cases as wills, bonds made by a parent in favor of his children, or deeds in which the grantee has himself an in- terest, or where there is a mutual obli- gation between the parties, delivery is not required. See Deed. (2) An expression peculiar to Eng- land, also called jail delivery, a term applied to the Sessions at the Old Bailey, London, or the Assizes, when the jail is delivered or cleared of the prisoners. DELLA CRUSCANS, a coterie of English poetasters resident for some time in Florence, who printed inferior senti- mental poetry and prose in 1785. Re- moving to England, their work was pub- lished chiefly in the "World" and "Oracle." Mrs. Piozzi, Boswell, Merry, Cobb Holcrf^ft, Mrs. H. Cowley, and Mrs.