Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/268

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260 DRELINCOURT to the present time has been advocated by Huxley, Thomson, and others. A considerable proportion of the deep-sea foraminifera are mi- distinguishable specifically from those of the chalk ; but all the higher forms inhabiting the deep sea, polyps, echinoderrns, Crustacea, and mollusks, are with one or two doubtful excep- tions only generically related to those of the cretaceous and tertiary periods. It may here be remarked that but little distinction has here- tofore been made by geologists between for- mations deposited in deep and in shallow water, and that we are unduly struck by re- semblances brought up suddenly before our eyes by the revelations of the dredge. Deduc- tions will therefore not be safe until we acquire a fuller knowledge of the bathymetrical rela- tions of fossil forms, so that we can compare those of a particular level with those of the corresponding level of the present seas. DRELINCOURT, Charles, a French Protestant divine, born at Sedan, July 10, 1595, died in Paris, Nov. 3, 1669. He pursued his studies in his native town and in Saumur, preached for two years near Langres, and in 1620 became pastor at Charenton, near Paris. He soon dis- tinguished himself as a preacher, being one of the first of the reformed ministry who treated their texts practically, instead of discussing them in a doctrinal and abstract way. Some of his writings, especially his book of " Conso- lations against the Fear of Death " (Paris, 1651), which has been translated into English and German, are still in use as books of devo- tion. It was to promote the sale of the Eng- lish translation of this work that Defoe wrote his celebrated fictitious account of the appari- tion of Mrs. Veal, who came from the other world on purpose to recommend the perusal of "Drelincourt on Death." DRENTHE, a N. E. province of the Nether- lands, bordering on the Prussian province of Hanover and the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, and Overyssel ; area, 1,031 sq. m. ; pop. in 1871, 108,056. It lies on each side of the watershed between the Zuyder Zee and the Dollart, and its surface is general- ly more elevated than that of the surround- ing provinces. Several streams rise within it, the principal of which are the Hunse and the Drentsche Aa, and there are a number of small lakes. The soil is poor and sandy, and only about half of it is capable of cultivation ; the re- mainder consists of heaths, bogs, marshes, and sand wastes. The chief industry is the breed- ing of horses, which are sent as foals into Friesland to be reared. Cattle, sheep, swine, and poultry of fine quality are also raised. On the western border are the colonies of Willems- oord and Frederiksoord, where large numbers of paupers are employed in brick-making, spin- ning, weaving, tanning, cutting peat, reclaim- ing waste lands, &c. Assen, the capital, is connected with Meppel, the chief town, by ca- nal and railway. In the south part of the prov- ince is the strong fortress of Koevorden. DRESDEN DRESDEN, the fourth city of the German em- pire in point of population, capital of the king- dom of Saxony and of a circle of its own name, in lat. 51 3' N., Ion. 13 44' E., 99 m. S. by E. of Berlin and 61 m. S. E. of Leipsic, lying on both sides of the Elbe, in the midst of a fertile valley, and in the neighborhood of the most picturesque scenery of the kingdom ; area of the circle, 1,627 sq. m. ; pop. of the circle in 1871, 677,671 ; pop. of the city, 177,089, nine tenths Lutherans. The city consists of four por- tions, viz. : the Altstadt with its three suburbs (the Pirnaische Vorstadt, See-Vorstadt, and Wilsdruffer-Vorstadt), on the left bank of the Elbe; the Friedrichstadt, separated from the" Altstadt by the narrow channel of a small stream, the Weisseritz; the Neustadt, on the right bank of the Elbe ; and the Antoiistadt, lying E. of the Neustadt on the same side of the river. The village of Stadt-Neudorf has recently been incorporated with the Neustadt; and the private purchase of large tracts of the public lands lying north of the former limits has also added somewhat to the extent of the city, which now contains, besides its public buildings, about 6,000 houses and 300 streets, and about 30 squares and places. The chief thoroughfares are the Schloss, Prager, See, Pirnaische, and Wilsdrufier streets, in the Alt- stadt and its suburbs; the Weisseritz and Schafer streets, in the Friedrichstadt; the Hauptstrasse, the Leipziger and Grosse Meiss- ner streets, in the Neustadt; and the Bautz- ner, Anton, and Schiller streets, in the An- tonstadt. The chief squares in that part of the city on the left bank of the Elbe are the Altmarkt and Neumarkt, the Schlossplatz, Theaterplatz, Antonsplatz, and Wilsdruffer- platz; on the right bank, the Bautznerplatz, Neustadtermarkt, and Palaisplatz. Two bridges across the Elbe connect the various portions of the town. The Altbrucke, built entirely of stone, crosses from the Schlossplatz, which lies on the river at its abrupt bend in the cen- tre of the city, to the Neustadtermarkt, and forms the most frequented passage from the old town to the new. It was constructed in the 13th century, renewed in the 14th, embellished in the 18th, and restored in 1814, after its par- tial destruction by the French in the preceding year. It is 1,420 ft. long, has 16 arches, and is of the most solid structure, having to resist the force of the spring freshets of the Elbe, which not infrequently rises during the time of melting ice 16 ft. in 24 hours, with a current of great violence. Jean Paul Richter called this bridge "the triumphal arch of Dresden" (Dresdens TriumpJibogeri). From its centre one of the best views of the city is obtained. Somewhat more than half a mile below this is the shorter Marienbriicke of 12 arches, over the Elbe just above the mouth of the Weisseritz. It is crossed by a railway connecting all the routes of rail- way travel to and from the city: the Leipsio and Silesian railways, the stations of which are in the Neustadt, with the Bohemian and