Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/111

DIETZ DIGBY 103 sumed in enormous quantity ; as an adjunct it forms an unstimulating and digestible article of food. The leguminous seeds, peas and beans, afford a nutriment rich in plastic matter, but hard of digestion and predisposing to flatu- lence. The popular prejudice that sugar pro- duces caries of the teeth has no good foun- dation. Closely allied to sugar are the vari- ous forms of fecula, arrowroot, tapioca, sago, potato starch, &c. They consist of minute granules composed of concentric layers, and termed the starch grains. These grains must be softened and hydrated by boiling, roasting, or panification before the starch is tit for use. It then forms an unstimulating and readily digestible ingredient of the food. Vegetables constitute an important part of our diet. With few exceptions their nutritive value . is low ; they consist largely of water holding organic salts in solution, of starch granules, of small quantities of albuminous matter, and of cel- lulose and epidermis. The cellulose, though possessing a chemical constitution identical with that of starch, when at all firm, resists the action of the gastric juice, and passes unchanged through the intestinal canal. They are valuable on account of their large quan- tities of organic salts, of the bulk which they give to the food, and of their stimulating effect upon the peristaltic action of the intes- tines. These latter qualities make them dis- agree where the digestive organs are feeble and irritable. They are digestible in proportion to their tenderness and the readiness with which they can be broken up into a pulp. The potato is one of the most valuable of the nutritious vegetables. St. Martin found potatoes roasted and baked disposed of more readily than when boiled, the one taking 2 hours to be convert- ed into chyme, the other an hour longer. The same rule applies to fruits as to vegetables; they are digestible just in proportion to the readiness with which they can be completely reduced to a pulp. Kipe strawberries, peach- es, oranges, and grapes rarely disagree, while cherries, apples, pears, &c., are more indigesti- ble ; roasting improves the digestibility of ap- ples and of most of the more solid fruits. DIETZ, Fedor, a German painter, born at Neuenstetten, Baden, in 1813, died near Dijon, in France, Dec. 18, 1870. He was president of the art academy at Carlsruhe, and was fa- mous for his battle pieces. His most celebrated pictures are the "Death of Gustavus Adolphus and Pappenheim at Llitzen," the "Storming of Belgrade by Max Emanuel," and " Queen Eleo- nore of Sweden at the Grave of Gustavus Adol- phus." The two last named are in the Munich athenseum. He died while presiding over the German sanitary organization in France. DIEZ, Friedrich Christian, a German philolo- gist^ born in Giessen, March 15, 1794. He studied philology at Giessen and Gottingen, and in 1823 became professor at Bonn. He is the author of Altspanische Bomanzen (Berlin, 1821) ; Beitrage zur Kenntniss der romani- schen Poesie (Berlin, 1825), republished in French under the title of Essai sur Us cours d! amour (Paris, 1842) ; Die Poesie der Trou- badours (1826); and Leben und Wirlcen der Troubadours (1829). Though these works were rapidly translated into French and Eng- lish, he owes his reputation mainly to his Grammatik der romanischen Sprachen (3 vols., Bonn, 1836-'42), and Etymologisches Worter- buch der romanischen Sprachen (Bonn, 1853), translated into English by T. C. Donkin (Lon- don, 1864). DIFFERENTIAL CALCULUS. See CALCULUS. DIFFRACTION OF LIGHT. See LIGHT. DIGA9IMA (double gamma ; so called from its form, F, resembling two gammas, T), the sixth letter in the ancient alphabet of the Greeks, corresponding to the Hebrew i and the Latin /, and probably equivalent in sound to the English w. It continued latest in the ^olic dialect, but early became obsolete in the Attic alphabet, and subsequently in the Greek lan- guage; though its original existence is indi- cated by the fact that the fifth letter (e) is the numerical symbol for 5, but the next letter () for 7. It does not appear in the Homeric po- ems as usually published, though they were composed when it was in use ; but its force remained in the metre after its form had dis- appeared, and its latent existence at the begin- ning of many words and syllables apparently commencing with a vowel made preceding short syllables, if ending with a consonant, long by position, or, if ending with a vowel, prevented a hiatus. In words of the Latin language etymologically connected with Greek words which were originally written with the digamma, it is represented by , thus : (FE2IIEPOS), vesperus; u6v, (S2FON), ovum. DIGBY, a W. S. W. county of Nova Scotia, bordering on the Atlantic; area, about 1,300 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 17,037. Long island and Digby neck, a long headland, enclose St. Mary's bay on the N. W. The surface is diversified with numerous mountains, valleys, and lakes, the last named giving rise to several rivers. Copper and silver ores are found. Capital, Digby. DIGBY. I. Sir Kenelm, an English philoso- pher, born at Gothurst, Buckinghamshire, in 1603, died in London, June 11, 1665. He was the son of Sir Everard Digby, who was executed in 1606 for complicity in the gunpowder plot. He was educated in the Protestant faith, and showed early tokens of talent. In 1621, hav- ing finished his education at Oxford, he visited the continent, where he travelled for about two years. After his return he was made gen- tleman of the bedchamber by Charles I., and held several offices. In 1628 he sailed with a squadron fitted out at his own expense, to fight the Algerines and the Venetians, with whom the English had quarrelled, and gained much credit by his courage and success. In 1636, while in France, he became a convert to Cath- olicism. He returned to England in 1638, sided