species of figured cloth usually of flax or tow yarns, but sometimes
made partly of cotton. The finer qualities are made of the best
linen yarn, and, although the latter is of a brownish colour during
the weaving processes, the ultimate fabric is pure white. The
high lights in these cloths are obtained by long floats of warp
and weft, and, as these are set at right angles, they reflect the
light differently according to the angle of the rays of light; the
effect changes also with the position of the observer. Subdued
effects are produced by shorter floats of yarn, and sometimes
by special weaves. Any subject, however intricate, can be
copied by this method of weaving, provided that expense is no
object. The finest results are obtained when the so-called
double damask weaves are used. These weaves are shown under
Die, and it will be seen that each weave gives a maximum float
of seven threads. (In some special cases a weave is used which
gives a float of nine.) The small figure here shown to illustrate
a small section of a damask design is composed of the two single
damask weaves; these give a maximum float of four threads or
picks. No shading is shown in the design, and this for two
reasons—(1) the single damask weaves do not permit of
elaborate shading, although some very good effects are obtainable;
(2) the available space is not sufficiently large to show the
method to advantage. The different single damask weaves used
in the shading of these
cloths appear, however,
at the bottom of the
figure, while between
these and the design
proper there is an illustration
of the thirty-first
pick interweaving with all
the forty-eight threads.
The principal British centres for fine damasks are Belfast and Dunfermline, while the medium qualities are made in several places in Ireland, in a few places in England, and in the counties of Fife, Forfar and Perth in Scotland. Cotton damasks, which are made in Paisley, Glasgow, and several places in Lancashire, are used for toilet covers, table-cloths, and similar purposes. They are often ornamented with colours and sent to the Indian and West Indian markets. Silk damasks for curtains and upholstery decoration are made in the silk-weaving centres.
DAMASK STEEL, or Damascus Steel, a steel with a peculiar
watered or streaked appearance, as seen in the blades of fine
swords and other weapons of Oriental manufacture. One way of
producing this appearance is to twist together strips of iron and
steel of different quality and then weld them into a solid mass.
A similar but inferior result may be obtained by etching with
acid the surface of a metal; parts of which are protected by some
greasy substance in such a way as to give the watered pattern
desired. The art of producing damask steel has been generally
practised in Oriental countries from a remote period, the most
famous blades having come from Isfahan, Khorasan, and
Shiraz in Persia.
DAMASUS, the name of two popes.
Damasus I. was pope from 366 to 384. At the time of the banishment of Pope Liberius (355), the deacon Damasus, like all the Roman clergy, made energetic protest. When, however, the emperor Constantius sent to Rome an anti-pope in the person of Felix II., Damasus, with the other clergy, rallied to his cause. When Liberius returned from exile and Felix was expelled from Rome, Damasus again took his place among the adherents of Liberius. On the death of Liberius (366) a considerable party nominated Damasus successor; but the irreconcilables of the party of Liberius refused to pardon his trimming, and set up against him another deacon, Ursinus. A serious conflict ensued between the rival factions, which quickly led to rioting and hand-to-hand fighting. In one of these encounters the then new basilica, called the Liberian Basilica (S. Maria Maggiore), was partially destroyed, and 137 dead bodies were left in the building. On several occasions the secular arm had to intervene, although the government of the emperor Valentinian was averse from involving itself in ecclesiastical affairs. From the outset the prefect of Rome recognized the claims of Damasus, and exerted himself to support him. Ursinus and the leading men of his faction were expelled from Rome, and afterwards from central Italy, or even interned in Gaul. They, however, persisted obstinately in their opposition to Damasus, combating him at first by riots, and then by calumnious law-suits, such as that instituted by one Isaac, a converted and relapsed Jew.
To the official support, which never failed him, Damasus endeavoured to join the popular sympathy. From before his election he had been in high favour with the Roman aristocracy, and especially with the great ladies. At that period the urban masses, but recently converted to Christianity, sought in the worship of the martyrs a sort of substitute for polytheism. Damasus showed great zeal in discovering the tombs of martyrs, adorning them with precious marbles and monumental inscriptions. The inscriptions he composed himself, in mediocre verse, full of Virgilian reminiscences. Several have come down to us on the original marbles, entire or in fragments; others are known from old copies. In the interior of Rome he erected or embellished the church which still bears his name (S. Lorenzo in Damaso), near which his father’s house appears to have stood.
The West was recovering gradually from the troubles caused by the Arian crisis. Damasus took part, more or less effectually, in the efforts to eliminate from Italy and Illyria the last champions of the council of Rimini. In spite of his declaration at the council convened by him in 372, he did not succeed in evicting Auxentius from Milan. But Auxentius died soon afterwards, and his successor, Ambrose, undertook to bring these hitherto abortive efforts to a successful conclusion, and to complete the return of Illyria to the confessions of Nicaea. The bishops of the East, however, under the direction of St Basil, were involved in a struggle with the emperor Valens, whose policy was favourable to the council of Rimini. Damasus, to whom they appealed for help, was unable to be of much service to them, the more so because that episcopal group, viewed askance by St Athanasius and his successor Peter, was incessantly combated at the papal court by the inveterate hatred of Alexandria. The Eastern bishops triumphed in the end under Theodosius, at the council of Constantinople (381), in which the pope and the Western church took no part. They were invited to a council of wider convocation, held at Rome in 382, but very few attended.
This council had brought to Rome the learned monk Jerome, for whom Damasus showed great esteem. To him Damasus entrusted the revision of the Latin text of the Bible and other works of religious erudition. A short time before, the pope had received a visit from the Priscillianists after their condemnation in Spain, and had dismissed them. Damasus died in 384, on the 11th of December, the day on which his memory is still celebrated.
Damasus II., pope from the 17th of July to the 9th of August 1048, was the ephemeral successor of Clement II. His original name was Poppo, and he was bishop of Brixen when the emperor Henry III. raised him to the papacy. (L. D.*)
DAMAUN or Daman, a town of Portuguese India, capital of the settlement of Damaun, situated on the east side of the entrance of the Gulf of Cambay within the Bombay Presidency. The area of the settlement is 82 sq. m. Pop. (1900) 41,671. The settlement is divided into two parts, Damaun proper, and the larger pargana of Nagar Havili, the two being separated by a narrow strip of British territory. The soil is fertile, and rice, wheat and tobacco are the chief crops. The teak forests are valuable. Weaving is an industry less important than formerly; mats and baskets are manufactured, and deep-sea fishing is an
