Demo gorgon

( Myth.) A mysterious being, who was an object rather of terror than of worship: hence, in Paradise Lost (book ii.), Milton speaks of IMG:content-0549.png:[blocks in formation] The Demo gorgon is also introduced by Shelley, under a somewhat different aspect, into his drama Pro me the us Unbound. Demoiselle, ( dem - waw -sel',) n. [Fr. See DAMSEL.] In France, a young lady; sometimes, also, applied to a waiting-maid. (Zool.) The Numidian Crane ( An thro poi des virgo ), of the family Gruida . It is remarkable for the grace and symmetry of its form, and the elegance of its deportment. It measures three feet three inches in length; and has a beak two inches and a half long, the base of which is greenish and the tip red; the irides are crimson; the crown of the head is cinereous; the rest of the head and neck, black; the feathers of the breast are long and drooping; the under parts of the body, from the breast, the back, and the tail, are bluish-ash; the latter and the quills are tipped with black; and the legs are Fig. 795. THE DEMOISELLE, OR NUMIDIAN CRANE. (An thro poi des virgo.) thing; to destroy, raze, dismantle, or ruin; as, to demolish a building, to demolish an argument. "I expected the fabric of my book would have been long since demolished." - Til lots on. Demolisher, n . One who, or that which, demolishes, razes, or destroys; as, his reply is a demolisher . Demolition, (dem-o-lish'un,) n. [Fr.; Lat. demolitio .] Act of demolishing, or of overthrowing, pulling down, or destroying a pile or structure; ruin; collapse; destruction; as, the demolition of a house, of an argument, . De'mon, n . [Fr. démon ; Lat. dæmon; Gr. daimon, probably from daio , to divide; Sansk. dal , as being the divider or giver of a man's lot.] ( Myth .) The name given by the ancients to certain spirits or genii, which they regarded as intermediate between gods and men. According to Plato, the name is derived from dæmon , knowing, in allusion to their superior intelligence. Homer and some of the earlier of the Greek writers applied the term generally to every order of being superior to man; hence the gods were sometimes called demons , and the adjective daimon i a kos was used to signify divine. In Hesiod we have an expre account of the demons, as spirits intermediate between gods and men, being the souls of men who had lived in the golden and silver ages, and of whom there were different orders. According to Plato, the D. is a middle intelligence between the gods and men, watching over, directing, and recording the actions of the latter. In the opinion of some, the celestial deities did not at all interfere in the management of human affairs, but committed it entirely to the care of the demon; and that every mortal at birth received a particular D. , who accompanied him through life and acted as his guiding spirit. According to their influence, demons were distinguished as good and bad, aga tho demons and cacodemons (Gr. agathos , good, and kakos , bad); but in either case they were regarded as carrying out the intentions of the gods, and not as being in any degree hostile or opposed to them. Hence, in its original sense, a D. was not nece arily an evil spirit, an idea which has come to us from the Jews, who were wont to regard the deities of other nations as only embodiments or emi aries of the Evil One. The genii of the Romans were analogous to the demons of the Greeks, though they differed from them in many important particulars. Every individual was believed at birth to receive a particular genius, which accompanied him through life, and conducted him through its various vici itudes. The genius was represented as enjoying the good things of this life; hence for one to pinch his appetites was to defraud his genius. It was generally believed that each person had two genii-a good and a bad; and as the one or the other prevailed, so was his conduct good or the reverse. Places and cities, as well as men, were believed to have their particular genii. The origin of the doctrine of demons is to be sought in the East. The Hindoos a ociated with their supreme deity, Brahma, an innumerable host of me engers or demons, called deitjas ; and the Persians still further develop and systematize this doctrine of subordinate spirits. In accordance with the dualistic principle of their religion, they had two kinds of demons, - those who were servants of the good principle, or Ormuzd , and were called Izeds , or genii of the Light, and those who served the evil principle, Ahriman , and were called the Dewi, or genii of Darkne . The Jews, at the time of the Babylonish captivity, doubtle became acquainted with the system of the Persians; and to this may perhaps be attributed many of the popular notions that were afterwards held by them on this subject. Among Christian writers, demons are simply fallen angels, or devils, as used in the New Testament. See MAGIC, WITCHCRAFT.