du umvirate

[Lat. duumvir at us, from duumvir.] 1. The a ociation of two officers or magistrates in the carrying out of any public duties; a government of two. IMG:content-0673.png:[blocks in formation] A lisa under, 6,266. Dwarfs are described by several ancient cla ical writers. Hero dot us gives an account of a race of dwarfs living in Libya and the Syrtes, to which Aristotle and Pliny also refer. Mr. H. M. Stanley, in his journey acro Africa in 1888, came upon a dwarfish race, which he thought might be descended from that mentioned by Hero dot us. Philetas of Cos, distinguished about 330 B. C., as a poet and grammarian, was jocularly said to have carried weights to prevent his being blown away. He was preceptor to Ptolemy Philadelphus. ( Elian .) Julia, niece of August us, had a dwarf named Coropas, two feet and a hand's breadth high; and Andromeda, a freedmaid of Julia's, was of the same height. ( Pliny .) The best known of modern dwarfs was Charles S. Stratton, or, as he was popularly called, Tom Thumb. He was born in Bridge port, Ct., and traveled extensively abroad and at home under the management of P. T. Barnum. Wherever he went he attracted great attention, even from such personages as Queen Victoria and Napoleon III. *3. An attendant on a lady or knight; a page. "The champion stout Eftsoones dismounted from his courser brave, And to the dwarf awhile his needle spear he gave." Spenser. F. Q., I. i. 11. 4. Anything insignificant in size in comparison with others. "To see the trees, which I had thought so tall, Mere dwarfs." Words worth: Sonnets. Dwarf is largely used in composition, especially office. IMG:content-0674.png:[blocks in formation] D-valve, 8. [So called from its shape.] Mach.: A species of slide-valve, employed chiefly in the steam-engine, and adapted to bring each steam-port alternately in communication with the steam and exhaust respectively.