DESCENT 332 DESERT or soul differs from the body (whose existence consists in space and exten- sion) by its simplicity and immateriality and by the freedom that pertains to it; that every perception of the soul is not dis- tinct; that it is so far an imperfect finite being; that this imperfection of its own leads it to the idea of an absolutely per- fect being; and from this last idea he deduces all further knowledge of the truth. Descartes also contributed great- ly to the advancement of mathematics and physics. His system of the universe at- tracted great attention in his time, though long since exploded. His works effected a great revolution in the princi- ples and methods of philosophizing. In 1647 the French court granted him a pension and two years later, on the in- vitation of Christina of Sweden, he went to Stockholm, where he died, Feb. 11, 1650. DESCENT, in law, a passing from an ancestor to an heir; a transmission by succession or Inheritance. Lineal de- scent is where property descends di- rectly from father to son, and from son to grandson; where property descends directly from a man to a brother, nephew, or other collateral representa- tive. DESCENT OP MAN. See Darwinian Theory. deschanel, paul eugene LOUIS, former President of the French Republic. He was born in 1856 and was educated at the College St. Barbe and the Lycee Condorcet, graduating as Licenci^ es lettres et en droit. In 1878 he became sub-prefect of Dreux and in the following year general secretary of Seine-et-Mame and sub-prefect of Brest. In 1881 he became sub-prefect of Mea«x. In 1885 he was elected deputy to repre- sent Eure-et-Loir in the Chamber of Deputies, and continued as a member of the Chamber, becominp: its Vice-Presi- dent in 1898 and holding that position till 1902. During 1905-1912 he was President of the Commission of Foreign and Colonial Affairs, and during 1906- 1912 was Rapporteur of the Budget of Foreign Affairs. In 1919 he was elected President of the Republic, but had to resign, owing to ill health in 1920, being succeeded by Alexandre Millerand. M. Deschanel has won for himself a place in the literary world almost as conspicuous as the place held by him in the public life of France. His works include: "La Politique fran^aise en Oceanie;" "Les Interets frangais dans I'ocean Paci- fique;" "Figures de femmes;" Figures litt^raires; "La Republique Nouveile;" "Paroles francaises;" "Madame de Se- vigne;" M. Deschanel was a member of the Academic Fran^aise and the Academic des Sciences morales et politiques. DESEADA, or DESIRADE, one of tke Leeward Islands, belonging to France, in the Caribbean Sea, about 10 mfles long and hardly 5 broad. The soil is in some places black and good, in others sandy and unproductive. DESERET, the name first adopted by the Mormons for what is now Utah, See Mormons: Utah. DESERT, a term generally used to designate an uninhabited place or soli- tude. In this sense it is equally appli- cable to the fertile plains watered by the Maraiion, and to the wastes of Libya; but it is applied more particularly to the vast sandy and stony plains of Africa and Asia. The most striking feature of north Africa consists of its immense deserts. Of these the chief is the Sahara, or the Desert, so called by way of pre- eminence. In many parts the dreary waste of loose and hardened sand is broken by low hills of naked sandstone, or by tracts of arid clay, and occasional- ly it is enlivened by verdant isles, or oases, which serve as resting-places for the caravans that traverse these dismal regions. But for these oases, indeed, the Sahara would be wholly impassable. The great deserts of Africa are separated from those of Asia only by the valley of the River Nile and the Red Sea. Soon after quitting the Nile, the traveler by the route of Suez encounters sand, which is continued into the center of Arabia, where it forms the desert of Nejd, ex- tending to the valley of the Euphrates. The sandy zone then inclines N., enters Persia, and forms the saline deserts of Adjemi, Kerman, and Mekran: it is turned N. E. by the valley of the Indus, passes through Cabul and Little Bok- hara, till it joins the vast deserts of Gobi and Shamo, which occupy so large a portion of central Asia between the Altaian and Mustai chains, and reach to the confines of China. The sandy zone, thus traced throughout the breadth of the ancient continent from western Africa to 120" E. longitude, has been' computed to cover an area of 6,500,000 square miles; but the Asiatic portion of this tract includes many chains of moun- tains, and fertile valleys. Except the Nile, the Euphrates, the Indus, and the Oxus, there are no large rivers in a iregion which embraces almost a fourth part of both Africa and Asia. This por- tion of central Asia forms a series of elevated plains 6,000 miles in length from E. to W. In the Old Testament
