Encyclopaedia Britannica; or, A dictionary of arts and sciences, compiled upon a new plan … > Volume 2, C-L

DAS (306
foutli of Exeter, which fends two members to parlia¬
ment: W. long. 40, and N. lat. 50° 25'.
DARWENT, a river, which,' rifing in the Peak of Dar-
byihire, runs from north to fouth through that county,
and falls into the Trent. r
DASYPUS, the Armadillo,in zoology, a genus of qua¬
drupeds belonging to the order of bruta. The dafypus
has neither fore-teeth nor dog-teeth ; it is covered with
a hard boneyfhell, intdrfe&ed with diftindt moveable
zones or belts: This (hell covers the head, the neck, the
back, the flanks, and extends even to the extremity of
the tail.; the only parts to which it does not extend,
are the throat, the breaft, and the belly, which are co¬
vered with a whitifh ikin of a coarfe grain, refembling
that of a hen after the feathers are pulled off. The
(hell does not confift of one entire piece, like that of
the tortoife, but is divided into feparate belts connedted
to each other by membranes, which enable the animal
to move it, and even to roll itfelf up like a hedge-hog.
The number of thefe belts does .not depend on the age
of the animal, as fome have imagined, but is uniformly
the fame at all times, and ferves to diftinguifh the dif¬
ferent fpecies. All the fpecies of this animal were o-
riginally natives of America: they were entirely un¬
known to the ancients ; and modern travellers mention
them as peculiar to Mexico, Brafil, and the fouthern
parts of America; though fome indeed have confound¬
ed them with two fpecies of manis, or /hell-lizard,
which are found in the Eaft Indies : Others report that
they are' natives of Africa, becaufe fome of them have
been tranfported' from Brafil to the coaft of Guinea,
where-a few have fince been propagated : but they were
never heard of in Europe, Afia, or Africa, till after
' the difeovery of America. — They are all endowed with
the faculty of extending* and contraftihg their bodies,
and of roiling themfelves up like a ball, but not into
fo compleat a fphere as the hedge-hog. They are very
inoffenfive animals, excepting when they get into gar¬
dens, where they devour the melons, potatoes, and
other roots. They walk quickly; but can hardly be
faid to run or leap ; fo that they feldom efcape the
purfuit either of men or dogs. But nature has not
left them altogether’defencelefs. They dig deep holes
in the earth ; and feldom go very far from their fub-
terraneous habitations: Upon any alarm, they imme¬
diately go into their holes; but, when at too great a
diftance, they require but a few moments to make one.
The hunters can hardly catch them by the tail before
they fink their body in the ground, where they flick fo
clofe, that the tail frequently comes away and leaves
the body in the earth ; which obliges the hunters,
when they want to take them alive and immutilated, to
dilate the fides of the hole. When they are taken, and
find that there is no refource, they inftantly roll them¬
felves up, and will not extend their bodies, unlefs they
are held near a fire. When in deep holes, there is no
other method of making them come out, but by foretng
in fmoke or water. They keep in their holes through
•the day, and feldom go abroad in queft of fubfiftence
but in the night. The hunters ufually chafe them with
Jmall dogs, which eafily come up with them. When
) DAT
the dogs are near, the creatures inftantly roll, themfelves
up, and in this condition the hunters carry them off.
However, if they be near a precipice, they often efcape
both the dogs and hunters : they roll themfelves up,
and tumble down like a ball, without breaking their
fliell; or receiving any injury. The dafypus is a very
fruitful animal; the female generally brings forth four .
young ones every month'; which is the reafon why the
fpecies is fo numerous, notwithftanding they are fo
much fought after on account of the fweetnefs of their
fielh. The Indians likewife make balkets, boxes, 6c.
of the ftiells which cover their heads.
Linntsus enumerates fix fpecies of dafypus, princi¬
pally diftinguilhed by-the number of their moveable
belts.
1*. The novemcinftus, or dafypus, with nine move-
able belts, (fee Plate LXVIII. fig. 1.) The head is long
and narrow; the muzzle extends a good way beyond
the under lip; the mouth is large; the eyes are fmall,
and placed on the fides of the head ; the ears are long,
and placed near each other; the tail is long and coni¬
cal, and terminates in a (harp point. It has five toes
on the hind-feet, and only four on the fore-feet; the
claws are long, and of a yellowiftr colour. ' The length
of the body, from the point of the muzzle, to the ori¬
gin of the tail, is about eleven inches ; and the length
of the tail, about nine and a half.
2. Theunicindlus, or dafypus, with eighteen move-
able belts : the other, fpecies have two large immove¬
able pieces of fliell, one on the (boulders, and another
on the buttocks : this fpecies has but one, which is on
the (boulders, from that to the tail confiding entirely
of moveable belts. The length of the body, from the
point of the muzzle, to the origin of the tail, is about
nine inches, and the tail about five.
3. The tricinftus, or dafypus, with three moveable
belts. The head is oblong, and covered with an en¬
tire piece of fliell ; the ears are (hort and roundifli ;
it has five toes on all the feet, and the two middle
claws of the fore feet are remarkably larger than the
reft ; the tail is (hort, being about two inches in length;
and the body is .about one foot long.
4. The quadricinftns, or dafypus, with four move-
able belts: Linnaeus is miftaken with regard to the
trivial name and fpecific charadler of this animal; it
ought to be called the fexcindtus, or dafypus, with fix
moveable belts; for, according to Briffonius, Bouffon,
and moft other natural hiftorians, none of the fpecies of
this genus have four moveable belts. It has five toes
on every foot.
5. The feptemcindius, or dafypus, with feven move-
able belt?: Here Linnaeus is in another error of the
fame kind; for this animal has eight moveable belts.
It has four toes on the fore-feet, and five on the hind-
feet.
6. The dafypus with 12 moveable belts. This is
the largeft fpecies, being about two feet in length.
DATA, among mathematicians, a term for fuch things
or quantities as are given or known, ih order to find
other things thereby that are unknown. Euclid ufes
the word data (of which he hath a particular tradl)
for