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

DEC
one vowel is of ten joined with another. 11. The let¬
ter that precedes or follows double confonants is, if a
confonant, always one of the liquids, /, m, n, r,
12. two different charadters occur, of which the
latter is often conjoined with various letters, and the
former is never found either by itfelf, or followed by
any other letter, thofe two are yu. 13. Thefe letters
qu are always followed by a vowel. 14. One vowel
recurs more frequently than another, as do the confo¬
nants, according to the language, <bc.
DECISE, a town of the Orleanois, in France, fituated
on the river Loire, about fifteen miles fouth-eall: of
Nevers: E. Ion. 30 32', and N. lat. 46° 40'
DECK of a Jhip is a planked floor from ftem to ftern,
upon which the guns lie, and where the men walk to
and fro.
Great fhips have three decks, firft, fecond, and
third, beginning to count from the lowermoft.
Half deck reaches from the main-maft to' the ftem
of the Ihip.
Quarter-deck is that aloft fhe fteerage, reaching to
the round-houfe.
Flulh-deck is that which lies even in a right-line
fore and aft, from ftem to ftern. A rope-deck is that
made of cordages, interwoven and ftretched over a
veffel, through which it is eafy *to annoy an enemy
who comes to board her. They are little ufed but by
fmall veffels,- to defend them againft privateers.
DECKENDORF, a town of Bavaria, in Germany,
fituated on the Danube, about thirty-feven miles
fouth-eaft of Ratifbon : E. long. 130, and N. lat. 48°
4S'-
DECLAMATION, a fpeech made in public, in the
tone and manner of an oration, uniting the expref-
"fion of a£Hon to the propriety of» pronunciation, in
order to give the fentiment its full impreflion upon the
mind.
DECLARATORY aflion, in Scots law, is that by
which a purfuer only craves, that feme right or privi¬
lege fhall be declared to belong to him, without de¬
manding the payment or performance of any thing from
the defender. See Scots Law, title, 30.
.DECLENSION, in grammar, an inflexion of nouns ac¬
cording to their divers cafes, as nominative, genitive,
dative, <bc. It is a different thing in the modern lan¬
guages, which have'hot properly any cafes, from what
it is in the ancient Greek and Latin. With refpeft
to languages, when the nouns admit of changes, either
in the beginning, the middle, or ending; declenfion
is properly the expreflion of all thofe changes in a cer¬
tain order, and by certain degrees called cafes. With
regard to languages, where the nouns do not admit of
changes in the fame number, declenfion is the expref-
fien of the different ftates a noun is in, and the diffe¬
rent relations it has; which difference of relations is
marked by particles, and called articles, as a, the,
of, to, from, by, &c.
DECLINATION, in aftronomy, the diftance of any ce-
leftial objedt from the equinodtial, either northward or
fouthward. It is either true or apparent, according
Vol. II. No. 43. * 3
DEC
as the real or apparent place of the objedl is confider-
ed. See Artronomy.
Declination of a’wall or plant for dials. See Dial¬
ling.
DECLINATOR, or Declinatory, an inftrument
contrived for taking the declinations, inclinations, and
reclinations of planes.
DECLINATURE of judges, in Scots law, declining
the jurifdidtion of a judge, or refilling to acquiefce in
his judgment from any legal obligation to the judge
himfelf, the incompetency of his jurifdiction to the na¬
ture of the adtion, or upon the privilege of the ob-
jedior or decliner. See Scots Law, title 2.
DECLIVITY denotes the reverfe of acclivity. See
Acclivity.
DECOCTION, in pharmacy, the boiling fimples, or
other drugs, in order to extradt their virtues for fome
medicinal purpofe. The general fubjedts of decodfion
are animals and vegetables, and fometimes minerals,
as antimony and quickfilver. The liquors which ferve
to boil them, are water, wine, vinegar, milk, and
whey.
DECOMPOSITION, in chemiftry, the redudlion of a
body into its principles or component parts. See
Chemistry.
DECORATION, in architedture, is ufed for whatever
adorns a building, either withoutfide or within.
DECORUM, in. architedlure, is the fuitablenefs of a
building, and the feveral parts and ornaments thereof,
to the ftation and occafion.
DECOUPLE', in heraldry, the fame as uncoupled:
thus a chevron decouple, is a chevron warning fo
much of it towards the point, that the two ends ftand
at a diftance from one another, being parted and un¬
coupled.
DECOURS, in heraldry. See Decrement.
DECOY, a place made for catching wild-fowl. Hence,
Decoy-duck is a duck that flies abroad, and lights into
company with wild ones, which by her allurements
ftie draw's into the decoy.
DECREE, an order made by a fuperior power, for the
regulation of an inferior.
Decree, in the civil law, is a determination that the
emperor pronounces upon hearing a particular ca^ife
between plaintiff and defendant.
Decree, or Decreet, in Scots law, the decifive
fentence or judgment of a court of law.
Decreet-arbitral, in Scots law, the fentence or
judgment of one to whom parties voluntarily fubmit the
determination of any queftion betwixt them. See
Scots Law, title 32.
DECREMENT, in heraldry, fignifies the wane of the
moon from the full to the new. The moon in this
ftate is called moon decrefcent, or in decours ; and
when borne in coat-armour, faces to the left fide of'
the efcutcheon, as fhe does to the right fide when in
the increment. See Crescent.
DECREPITATION, in chemiftry, the aft of calcining
fait over the-fire, till it ceafe to crackle. See Che¬
mistry. .
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