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286 DUCAS amined minutely all places of interest. Among his other publications were " A Series of more than 200 of the Anglo-Gallic Coins of the An- cient Kings of England, illustrated in 12 Let- ters" (4to, 1757); "The Histories and An- tiquities of the Archiepiscopal Palace at Lam- beth;" and numerous papers in the "Philo- sophical Transactions." DCCAS, Michael, a Byzantine historian of the 15th century. He was a descendant of the family of the emperor Michael VII. (Ducas), and held a high position at the court of Oon- stantine Palseologus, the last emperor of Con- stantinople. After the conquest of that city by Mohammed II. he took refuge with the prince of Lesbos, Dorino Gateluzzi, and by him and his successors was employed in diplomatic missions. He accompanied Domenico Gate- luzzi, Dorino's son, to Constantinople, and his prudence and skill saved the independence of Lesbos. But under Nicholas Gateluzzi, the eon of Nicholas, the wrath of Mohammed was called down upon the island, and it was united in 1462 to the Ottoman empire. Though Du- cas survived this event, nothing more is known of his life. It is probable that he retired to Italy, and wrote in his old age the history which has come down to us. This work be- gins with an outline of universal chronology, and does not become detailed and truly instruc- tive till the reign of John Palaeologus I., and it terminates in the middle of a sentence at the capture of Lesbos in 1462. It is written in a barbarous style, but is judicious and impartial. It was printed at Paris in 1649, and translated into French by the president Cousin, and pub- lished in his history of Constantinople (Paris, 1672-'4), and reprinted in Holland in 1685. It was edited by Bekker at Bonn in 1834. DUCAT, a gold coin, which has been long in circulation in a large part of Europe. The first ducats are said to have been struck in the 12th century in Sicily by Roger II., and to have received their name from the device in- scribed upon them: Sit tibi, Christe, datm, quern tu regis, iste ducatu*. A little later ducats of various kinds became current in Italy, and especially in Venice; and they spread thence through Switzerland, the Germanic states, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Spain, and Russia. In Spain, however, at present, the ducat is only a money of exchange. In Ger- many the ducats, being made in 1559 a legal coin of the empire, soon displaced the gold florins, and generally bore the likeness of the sovereign princes. The ducats of Austria and Holland are the only ones which have acquired a very extensive circulation. Those of Holland are the most widely spread, bearing an emblem of a knight armed cap-a-pie. This emblem was for a short time exchanged for the likeness of King Louis of Holland. The value of the ducat varies somewhat in different countries, but it is about 2 American dollars. There are also silver ducats in France and Spain, having half this value. (See COINS.) DU CHAILLU DUCCIO DI BUONINSEGNA, an Italian painter, flourished in the early part of the 14th century. He was a contemporary of Giotto, and one of the celebrities of the Sienese school of paint- ing. His masterpiece, representing the Virgin and several saints, was painted for the cathe- dral of Siena. Among his other works was the mosaic pavement of the cathedral, part of which remains. He also excelled as an architect. DC CBAILLU, Paul Belloni, an American trav- eller, born in Paris, July 31, 1835. He early went to live in the French settlement at the mouth of the Gaboon, on the west coast of Africa, where his father was a merchant, be- came familiar with the neighboring tribes, ac- quired their languages, and learned much of their habits and modes of life. In 1852 he came to the United States (of which he afterward be- came a naturalized citizen), and soon after pub- lished in the " New York Tribune " a series of articles on the Gaboon country, which elicited much interest. In October, 1855, he sailed from New York for Africa, with the intention of making a thorough exploration of the country on the west coast between lat. 2 N. and 2 S. He spent nearly four years, until June, 1859, among different tribes, penetrating to about Ion. 14 15' E., travelling on foot, un- accompanied by any white man, upward of 8,000 miles. During this time he shot and stuffed over 2,000 birds, of which 60 were pre- viously unknown, and killed over 1,000 quad- rupeds, among which were several gorillas, never before hunted, and probably never be- fore seen, by a white man, and 20 other spe- cies of animals previously unclassified. He returned to New York in 1859, bringing a large collection of native arms and implements and numerous specimens in natural history. After subjecting his specimens to scientific ex- amination in several cities, he carried them to England, where many of them were purchased by the British museum. The history of this expedition was published under the title of "Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa" (8vo, New York and London, 1861; new ed., enlarged, 1871). This volume is a valuable contribution to the geography, eth- nology, and zoology of western Africa; but many of its statements were received with dis- trust, principally because they were inconsis- tent with the maps of Barth and Petermann. A bitter controversy arose concerning Du Chaillu's truthfulness, Prof. Gray of the Brit- ish museum and others attacking his veracity with much asperity, while Prof. Owen and Sir Roderick Murchison defended him. As Du Chaillu had made his observations from compass bearings only, their correctness could not be definitively proved, and he resolved to vindicate his accuracy and his reputation by a second expedition. For this he prepared him- self by a course of scientific study, learned the use of astronomical and other instruments, and acquired the art of practical photography. Meanwhile his accuracy was vindicated by