Dow Chemical Co, Leading U.S. petrochemical company that manu¬ factures chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, paint, and many other products for industrial and home use. It was founded in 1897 by the chemist Herbert H. Dow, initially as a bleach plant to use wastes produced by the Midland Chemical Co. It was incorporated with Midland Chemi¬ cal and the Dow Process Co. in 1900. Dow’s products have included a broad range of industrial chemicals and metals, plastics and packaging materials, and bioproducts, including mustard gas, napalm, Agent Orange, silicone breast implants, aspirin, plastic wrap, and Styrofoam.
Dow Jones average Stock price average computed by Dow Jones & Co. Founded in 1882 by Charles H. Dow (1851-1902) and Edward D. Jones (1856-1920), Dow Jones & Co. commenced publication of the Wall Street Journal in 1889 and began computing a daily industrials average in 1897. Dow Jones publishes averages based on 20 transportation stocks, 15 utility stocks, and 30 selected industrial stocks, as well as a compos¬ ite average of all three; the industrial-stocks average is universally fol¬ lowed by U.S. and international investors. The company also publishes several bond averages. See also NASDAQ; stock exchange.
Dowland, John (b. 1562/63, Westminster, London, Eng.—d. Jan. 21, 1626, London) English composer and lutenist. Educated at Oxford, he was refused a court position in 1594 and, believing his adoptive Catholicism had been the cause, he left for the continent. There he traveled exten¬ sively and took a position at the Danish court. In 1612, when his com¬ positions had made him famous, he was finally appointed lutenist to the English court. He published three collections of songs, including about 90 works for solo lute and some 80 lute songs, including “Come again, sweet love does now endite,” “ Flow my tears,” and “Weep you no more, sad fountains.” His Lachrimae is a collection for viol-and-lute ensemble.
Down District (pop., 1999 est.: 63,800), Northern Ireland. Formerly part of County Down, it was established as a district in 1973. It fronts Strang- ford Lough and the Irish Sea. Extreme southern and western Down is mountainous; the dome-shaped Mourne Mountains reach an elevation of 2,789 ft (850 m). Down is a rich agricultural district; livestock raising is important. Down was settled in prehistoric times. It was where St. Patrick began his mission in Ireland (ad 432), and his well and bathhouses are preserved near the district seat, Downpatrick. In Tudor times, parts of Down were colonized by English and Scottish adventurers.
Down syndrome or trisomy Vtrl-.so-meN 21 Congenital disorder caused by an extra chromosome (trisomy) on the chromosome 21 pair. Those with the syndrome may have broad, flat faces; up-slanted eyes, sometimes with epicanthal folds (whence its former name, mongolism); mental retardation (usually moderate); heart or kidney malformations; and abnormal fingerprint patterns. Many persons with Down syndrome can live and work independently or in a sheltered environment, but they age prematurely and have a short (55-year) life expectancy. The risk of bear¬ ing a child with the disorder increases with the mother’s age; it can be detected in the fetus by amniocentesis.
Downing, Andrew Jackson (b. Oct. 30, 1815, Newburgh, N.Y., U.S.—d. July 28, 1852, vicinity of Yonkers, N.Y.) U.S. horticulturist, landscape gardener, and architect. He educated himself in landscape gar¬ dening and architecture while working in his father’s nursery. In 1850 he began collaborating with the British architect Calvert Vaux (1824-95); the two designed a number of estates in New York’s Hudson River val¬ ley and on Long Island. Recognized as the foremost U.S. landscape designer of his day, he was commissioned in 1851 to lay out the grounds for the Capitol, the White House, and the Smithsonian Institution. His death at 36 in a steamboat accident prevented him from seeing his plans to completion. His books on architecture and landscaping became stan¬ dard works, and his influence on American conceptions of the middle- class home were far-reaching.
Downpatrick Town (pop., 1991: 10,113), seat of Down district. North¬ ern Ireland. It is on the southwestern end of Strangford Lough. Formerly a MacDunleary stronghold, it was seized in 1177 by the Anglo-Norman adventurer John de Courci and served as his headquarters until 1203. St. Patrick is reputedly buried on the grounds of its cathedral.
dowry Vdaii-re\ Money, goods, or estate that a woman brings to her husband in marriage. The dowry has a long history in Europe, South Asia, Africa, and other parts of the world. Some of its basic functions are to protect the wife against ill treatment by her husband, since a dowry can be a conditional gift; to help the husband discharge the responsibilities of marriage, since the dowry makes it possible for the young man to estab¬ lish a household; to provide the wife with support in case of her husband’s death; and to compensate the groom’s kin for their payment of bridewealth. In Europe, the dowry served to build the power and wealth of great fami¬ lies and played a role in the politics of grand alliance through marriage. The giving of a dowry more or less disappeared in Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. The practice grew, however, in South Asia. In some cases, delayed or insufficient dowry made some young wives the victims of murder by their husbands or in-laws, a practice known as “bride burning” or “dowry death.”
dowsing Vdau-zh]\ Occult practice used for finding water, minerals, or other hidden substances. A dowser generally uses a Y-shaped piece of hazel, rowan, or willow wood (also called a dowser or a divining rod). The dowser grasps the rod by its two prongs and appears, while walking, to be receiving transmissions from beneath the earth. If the rod quivers violently or points downward, some buried substance has been located. First practiced in Europe during the Middle Ages, dowsing is most often used to find water but may also be employed to locate precious metals, buried treasure, archaeological remains, or even dead bodies.
Doyle, Arthur Conan See Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Draa \'dra\ River River, southwestern Morocco. Rising from two head- streams in the Atlas Mountains, it flows south to form much of the Algerian-Moroccan frontier before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Draa. Although it is Morocco’s longest river (700 mi [1,100 km] in length), all but the headstreams and upper course flow intermittently.
Drabble, Margaret (b. June 5, 1939, Sheffield, Yorkshire, Eng.) Brit¬ ish novelist. She graduated from the University of Cambridge. Her nov¬ els include The Realms of Gold (1975), The Radiant Way (1987), and The Gates of Ivory (1991). She has also written literary biographies (like her husband, Michael Holroyd) and other literary studies and has edited the Oxford Companion of English Literature (1985). A.S. Byatt is her sister.
dracaena \dr9-'se-no\ Any of about 50-80 species of ornamental foli¬ age plants that make up the genus Dracaena , in the agave family, native primarily to the Old World tropics. Most have short stalks and narrow, sword-shaped leaves; some have taller stalks and resemble trees. The small flowers are red, yellow, or green. D. sanderiana and D. fragrans are often grown as houseplants. The ornamental dragon tree ( D. draco ) of the Canary Islands bears orange fruit. Its trunk contains a red gum, called dragon’s blood, that was formerly used in medicines.
Draco Vdra-ko\ or Dracon (fl. 7th century bc) Athenian lawgiver. Almost nothing is known of his life. His harsh legal code (621 bc) pun¬ ished most crimes, even trivial ones, with death. Solon repealed Draco’s code, retaining only the homicide statutes.
Dracula Character created by Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel of the same name. A mesmerizing, ruthless vampire, Dracula captured the public imagi¬ nation, especially following Bela Lugosi’s elegant and chilling portrayal of