weaves are generally employed for the commoner classes of the latter. The effect is, in every case, obtained by what are technically called warp and weft float weaves. The illustration B shows the two double damask weaves arranged to form a dice pattern, while A shows a similar pattern made from two four-thread twill weaves. C and D represent respectively the disposition of the threads in A and B with the first pick, and the solid marks represent the floats of warp. The four squares, which are almost as pronounced in the cloth as those of a chess-board, may be made of any size by repeating each weave for the amount of surface required. It is only in the finest cloths that the double damask weaves B are used for dice patterns, the single damask weaves and the twill weaves being employed to a greater extent. This class of pattern is largely employed for the production of table-cloths of lower and medium qualities. The term damask is also often applied to cloths of this character, and especially so when the figure is formed by rectangles of different sizes.
DIEBITSCH, HANS KARL FRIEDRICH ANTON, count von
Diebitsch and Narden, called by the Russians Ivan Ivanovich,
Count Diebich-Zabalkansky (1785–1831), Russian field-marshal,
was born in Silesia on the 13th of May 1785. He was educated
at the Berlin cadet school, but by the desire of his father, a
Prussian officer who had passed into the service of Russia, he also
did the same in 1801. He served in the campaign of 1805, and
was wounded at Austerlitz, fought at Eylau and Friedland, and
after Friedland was promoted captain. During the next five
years of peace he devoted himself to the study of military science,
engaging once more in active service in the War of 1812. He
distinguished himself very greatly in Wittgenstein’s campaign,
and in particular at Polotzk (October 18 and 19), after which
combat he was raised to the rank of major-general. In the latter
part of the campaign he served against the Prussian contingent
of General Yorck (von Wartenburg), with whom, through
Clausewitz, he negotiated the celebrated convention of Tauroggen,
serving thereafter with Yorck in the early part of the War of
Liberation. After the battle of Lützen he served in Silesia
and took part in negotiating the secret treaty of Reichenbach.
Having distinguished himself at the battles of Dresden and
Leipzig he was promoted lieutenant-general. At the crisis of
the campaign of 1814 he strongly urged the march of the allies on
Paris; and after their entry the emperor Alexander conferred on
him the order of St Alexander Nevsky. In 1815 he attended the
congress of Vienna, and was afterwards made adjutant-general
to the emperor, with whom, as also with his successor Nicholas,
he had great influence. By Nicholas he was created baron, and
later count. In 1820 he had become chief of the general staff,
and in 1825 he assisted in suppressing the St Petersburg émeute.
His greatest exploits were in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829,
which, after a period of doubtful contest, was decided by
Diebitsch’s brilliant campaign of Adrianople; this won him the
rank of field-marshal and the honorary title of Zabalkanski
to commemorate his crossing of the Balkans. In 1830 he was
appointed to command the great army destined to suppress the
insurrection in Poland. He won the terrible battle of Gróchow on
the 25th of February, and was again victorious at Ostrolenka on
the 26th of May, but soon afterwards he died of cholera (or by his
own hand) at Klecksewo near Pultusk, on the 10th of June 1831.
See Belmont (Schümberg), Graf Diebitsch (Dresden, 1830); Stürmer, Der Tod des Grafen Diebitsch (Berlin, 1832); Bantych-Kamenski, Biographies of Russian Field-Marshals (in Russian, St Petersburg, 1841).
DIEDENHOFEN (Fr. Thionville), a fortified town of Germany,
in Alsace-Lorraine, dist. Lorraine, on the Mosel, 22 m. N. from
Metz by rail. Pop. (1905) 6047. It is a railway junction of
some consequence, with cultivation of vines, fruit and vegetables,
brewing, tanning, &c. Diedenhofen is an ancient Frank town
(Theudonevilla, Totonisvilla), in which imperial diets were held
in the 8th century; was captured by Condé in 1643 and fortified
by Vauban; capitulated to the Prussians, after a severe bombardment,
on the 25th of November 1870.
DIEKIRCH, a small town in the grand duchy of Luxemburg,
charmingly situated on the banks of the Sûre. Pop. (1905)
3705. Its name is said to be derived from Dide or Dido, granddaughter
of Odin and niece of Thor. The mountain at the foot of
which the town lies, now called Herrenberg, was formerly known
as Thorenberg, or Thor’s mountain. On the summit of this rock
rises a perennial stream which flows down into the town under the
name of Bellenflesschen. Diekirch was an important Roman
station, and in the 14th century John of Luxemburg, the blind
king of Bohemia, fortified it, surrounding the place with a
castellated wall and a ditch supplied by the stream mentioned.
It remained more or less fortified until the beginning of the 19th
century when the French during their occupation levelled the old
walls, and substituted the avenues of trees that now encircle the
town. Diekirch is the administrative centre of one of the three
provincial divisions of the grand duchy. It is visited during the
summer by many thousand tourists and travellers from Holland,
Belgium and Germany.
DIELECTRIC, in electricity, a non-conductor of electricity; it
is the same as insulator. The “dielectric constant” of a medium
is its specific inductive capacity, and on the electromagnetic
theory of light it equals the square of its refractive index for light
of infinite wave length (see Electrostatics; Magneto-Optics).
DIELMANN, FREDERICK (1847– ), American portrait and figure painter, was born at Hanover, Germany, on the 25th of December 1847. He was taken to the United States in early childhood; studied under Diez at the Royal Academy at Munich; was first an illustrator, and became a distinguished draughtsman and painter of genre pictures. His mural decorations and mosaic panels for the Congressional library, Washington, are notable. He was elected in 1899 president of the National Academy of Design.
DIEMEN, ANTHONY VAN (1593–1645), Dutch admiral and
governor-general of the East Indian settlements, was born at
Kuilenburg in 1593. He was educated in commerce, and on
entering the service of the East India Company speedily attained
high rank. In 1631 he led a Dutch fleet from the Indies to
Holland, and in 1636 he was raised to the governor-generalship.
He came into conflict with the Portuguese, and took their
possessions in Ceylon and Malacca from them. He greatly
extended the commercial relationships of the Dutch, opening up
trade with Tong-king, China and Japan. As an administrator
also he showed ability, and the foundation of a Latin school and
several churches in Batavia is to be ascribed to him. Exploring
expeditions were sent to Australia under his auspices in 1636 and
1642, and Abel Tasman named after him (Van Diemen’s Land)
the island now called Tasmania. Van Diemen died at Batavia on
the 19th of April 1645.
DIEPENBECK, ABRAHAM VAN (1599–1675), Flemish
painter, was born at Herzogenbusch, and studied painting at
Antwerp, where he became one of Rubens’s “hundred pupils.”
But he was not one of the cleverest of Rubens’s followers, and
he succeeded, at the best, in imitating the style and aping the
peculiarities of his master. We see this in his earliest pictures—a
portrait dated 1629 in the Munich Pinakothek, and a “Distribution
of Alms” of the same period in the same collection. Yet even
at this time there were moments when Diepenbeck probably
fancied that he might take another path. A solitary copperplate
executed with his own hand in 1630 represents a peasant sitting
under a tree holding the bridle of an ass, and this is a minute and
finished specimen of the engraver’s art which shows that the
master might at one time have hoped to rival the animal draughtsmen
who flourished in the schools of Holland. However, large
commissions now poured in upon him; he was asked for altarpieces,
subject-pieces and pagan allegories. He was tempted to
try the profession of a glass-painter, and at last he gave up every
