DEN
analogy between the parts of fome trees, and thofe of pecu- liar parts of animal bodies ; and Malpighi has, with great juf-
' tice, ufed the comparative anatomy of trees, to explain, by the formation of the galls, and other preternatural tumors on them, the puftules and other unnatural fte(hy excrefcences on animal bodies.
DENDROPHORI, Ati-J^^e"* in antiquity, perfons whofe employment it was to cut down trees, and carry them to mar- ket. Thofe were likewife called Dendrophori, who, in honour of fome deity, as Bacchus, Sylvanus, &c. carried trees pulled up by the roots through the city. Pitifc. Lex. Ant. in voc.
DENEB, or ALDENEB Akbail, in the writings of the Ara- bian Phyficians, the name of the equifetum or horfe-tail : there is, however, no great dependance to be had on what authors fay of this plant j for the Greek and Roman writers having fometimes called this plant polygonum, from its having many joints ; and polygonum being aifo the name of the com- mon knot-grafs ; the virtues of thefe two plants, though confiderably different, are blended together ; and the plants themfelves confounded under the fame name: nay, Pliny has gone fo far as to take in the Polygonatum, or Solomon's feal, into the number of Polygonums, from the fimilar found of the names; and fuppofing all that had been faid of polygonum was applicable to the bippuris, or horfe-tail ; he has told us, that it grows in fhady woods, and has large fpreading roots, and a fruit ofa round fhape, and of thefize of a coriander feed.
DENOMINATIVE, in logic. See Denomination, Cycl.
DE NON rejidentia ckrici regis, in law, the name of an anti- ent writ, the form whereof fee 2 inft. fol. 624.
DENS Cams, dogs tooth, in botany, the name of a genus of plants ; the characters of which are thefe ; the flower is of the litliaeeous kind, and is compofed of fix petals, which are pen- dulous, and bend backward. The middle of the flower is occupied by a piftill, which finally becomes a roundifh fruit, or feed veflel, divided into three cells, and containing a num- ber of oblong feeds : to this, it is to be added, that the root is flefhy, and of the fhape of a dog's tooth. See Tab. 1. of botany, Clafsg.
The fpecies of Dens Cants enumerated by Mr. Tournefort are thefe. 1. The dens canis, with a broad, and fomewhat roundifh leaf, and a purplifh red flower. 2. The broad and roundifh leaved dens canis, with a white flower. 3. The broad, and roundifh leaved dens cants, with a purplifh white flower. 4. The broad and roundifh leaved dens canis, with an amethyftine flower. 5. The yellow flowered dens canis. 6. The long and narrow leaved dens canis, with a milk white flower. 7. The long and narrow leaved dens canis, with a purplifh flower ; and 8. The long and narrow leaved dens canis, With a reddifh flower. Teurn. Inft. p. 378. The powder of the dried root of this plant is faid to kill worms in children. Drank in wine, it is an approved remedy far the tholic. It is faid to be reftri£tive and reparative, and taken in water, cures children of the epilepfy : it is alfo efteemed a great provocative to venery. Vid. James, DicT Med. in voc.
Dens Leonis, Dandelion, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, the characters of which are thefe : the flower is of the femi-flofculous kind, and the petals it is compofed of are placed on the embryo feeds, and furrounded by the cup. The embryos finally become feeds wing'd with down, which are affixed to the thalamus, but expand their downy ends into a globular head, and the ftalks are ufually hollow and not branched. The fpecies of dandelion enumerated by Mr. Tour- nefort are thefe : I. The fmooth mountain dandelion, with very long foliaceous fralks. 2. The common broad leaved dandelion. 3. The broader leaved dandelion. 4. The nar- rower leaved dandelion. 5. The dandelion with broad and roundifh leaves. 6. The dandelion with bulbs like the afpho- dell. 7. The fineft leaved dandelion, called by fome the {linking hawkweed. 8. The fmall dandelion with rough leaves. 9. The fmall dandelion with radicated leaves. 10. The tuberous rooted dandelion. 1 1. The hoary or hairy leaved dandelion. 12. The hoary rough leaved dandelion. 13. The rock dandelion with hairy and rough leaves. 14. The hairv dandelion^ with very fmall and rough leaves. 15'. The narrow leaved mountain dandelion, 16. The hoary mountain dande- lion, with fmall flowers. 17. The fmall moufe ear leaved alpine dandelion. 1 8. The leaft alpine fmooth dandelion. 1 cj.The fmallefr. rough leav'd dandelion. 20. The fmall Spmi\{h dandelion. 21. The dandelion commonly called moufe ear. 22. The moufe car dandelion, with lels hairy leaves. Tottrn. Inft. p. 468. The common fpecies of this plant has much the fame virtues with the common endive, but in a greater degree : the roots eaten in fpring are efteemed of great fervice in obftru&ions in the liver and fpleen.
Dens Caninus. See Dentes Can'mi.
DENSHRING, in agriculture. See Devenshring.
DENTALE, in natural hiftory, the name of a genus of the tubuli marini : the characters of which are, that they are iheily tubes, refembling the tusks of elephants, or the horn of fome animal which is a little bent. Some authors have called thefe elephants teeth. See Tab. of Foflils, Clafs 9. There are two principal kinds of them, the one fmooth, thej other ftriated. Of the fmooth kind, fome are all over white, ]
DEN
others are tipped with red at the end : and of the floated ones fome are altogether white, others are green, and in fome the ftriEe are more prominent, in others fainter, efpecially in the lefler ones. See Tab. of Shells, N y 4. This fifh is alfo called dcntalimn and fyringites. Taken in- wardly, it is ufed as an alkali to fweeten acids, to flop a loofe- nefs of the belly, and for fpitting of blood. It is alio ufed externally as a drier. Vid. Lemery, Diet, des drog. in voc. Dentniium.
Dentale, is a name given by fome to a fifh causht in the Mediterranean, and common in the markets of Italy, known more commonly among naturalifts by the name Demex. Bellmms, de Pifc. MUugbby, Hift. Pifc. p. 312. See Dentex. '
DENTARIA, Tcotlrwort, in botany, the name of a genus of plants. The characters of which are thefe : the flower con- lifts of four leaves, and is of the cruciform kind ; the piftilf arifes from the cup, and finally becomes a pod, divided by an intermediate membrane into two cells, and containing round- ifh feeds. To thefe marks it is to be added, that "the pods when ripe burft open with violence, and throw out the feeds to a conliderable diftance, and that the roots are flefhy, fcaly, and toothed.
The fpecies of dmtmia enumerated by Mr. Tournefort are thefe : 1. The feven leaved dmtaria. 2. The fmooth five leaved dmtaria. 3. The rough five leaved dentaria. 4. The feven leaved bulbiferous or bacciferous dentaria. 5. The three leaved dentaria. 6. The nine leaved dentaria. Taunt, inft p. 225.
The three firft fpecies of this plant are ufed internally, for exulcerated lungs, and the wind cholic ; the others 'only externally. Vid. Lemery, Diet, des Drog. in voc
DENTATED Im/ See Leaf.
DENTES Canini, Degs teeth, are fo termed, becaufe they are naturally a little pointed, and appear longer than the reft - almoft in the fame manner as in dogs : they might alfo properly enough be called angular, becaufe they make an angle, by which the incifors are feparated from the grindtrs ; the 'two fuperior have alfo been named eye-teeth from their' fituation. The bodies of the Dmtes Canini are thicker, and more pro- minent than thofe of the incifores, they are convex, and a little rounded on the outfide, and end in a fhort triangular point, one of the fides of which is a continuation of the convexity of the outfide, and the other two are flatter and turned in- wards. Thefe points are often worn out by maftication • their roots are commonly larger, thicker, longer, and more pointed than thofe of tha incifores, and fometimes perforate the bottom of the maxillary finus. WiNstow's anatomy, p. 4-3.
Dentes incifores, the cutting teeth, have this 'name from their ufe ; and are by fome authors called rifirii, becaufe they ap- pear in laughing : the four upper incifiru are larger and broader than the four lower ; and of the upper, the two in the mid- dle are larger than the other two : the bodies of thefe teeth re- femble large cutting wedges, and their roots are pointed. Their bodies are fo difpofed that their fharp ends lie all in a line, making one uniform edge ; each body has properly four fides ; one anterior a little convex, one pofterior a little con- cave, and two lateral much narrower than the former, and almoft flat : the anterior and pofterior fides decreafe in breadth towards the neck, the lateral fides towards the edge, fo that they reprefent in fome degree four triangles, with their apices and bafes reciprocally oppofite.
Thefe teeth have long roots, the lateral fides of which are broad and flat, the anterior and pofterior narrow : they ter- minate by degrees in a point, in which a fmall hole is obferv- able, in children pretty confiderable, but almoft obliterated in old age. [[■Inflow's anatomy, pag. 43.
Dentes maldres. See Molares dentes.
Dentes Pijcium, in anatomy. See Teeth.
DENTEX, in zoology, the name of a fea fifh, caught in great plenty in the Mediterranean, and common in the markets of Italy.
It is a well tafted fifh, and is caught of five, or fix, and fome- times ten pound weight : it is fomewhat broad and flat in its fhape, yet confiderably thick and long. Its head is flatted, its fnout very long, and its back ridg'd and fharp ; its back and fides are of a dusky yellowifh green colour, and fome- times, in the full grown fi(h, purplifh, always fpotted with very bright blue and black fpots ; the back and gill-fins have each a black fpot near their origin, and the belly fins are yellow. The teeth are difpofed in a Angle row in each jaw, and there are at diftances four, which are longer and broader than the reft and look like the canine teeth of men, or of quadrupeds : it is from thefe that it has its name, and thefe as well as the reft of the teeth are in this fifh covered with lips, as in qua- drupeds: its tail is forked, and its fcales are very large. Gefner de Aquat, p. 1119.
DENTICULI Elephantis, in the hiftory of (hells, a name given by many authors to the dmtaks, a fmall fhell of the tubulus maiinus kind, which is fomewhat bent and pointed at one end, and in fome meafure reprefents the elephants tusk. See Dentales,
DENTIFRICE, Cycl. The generality of operators for the teeth
allow
