Part 468

{ Dog" day` or Dog"day` (?) }. One of the dog days.

Dogday cicada (Zoöl.), a large American cicada (C. pruinosa), which trills loudly in midsummer.

Dog" days` (?). A period of from four to six weeks, in the summer, variously placed by almanac makers between the early part of July and the early part of September; canicular days; -- so called in reference to the rising in ancient times of the Dog Star (Sirius) with the sun. Popularly, the sultry, close part of the summer.

The conjunction of the rising of the Dog Star with the rising of the sun was regarded by the ancients as one of the causes of the sultry heat of summer, and of the maladies which then prevailed. But as the conjunction does not occur at the same time in all latitudes, and is not constant in the same region for a long period, there has been much variation in calendars regarding the limits of the dog days. The astronomer Roger Long states that in an ancient calendar in Bede (died 735) the beginning of dog days is placed on the 14th of July; that in a calendar prefixed to the Common Prayer, printed in the time of Queen Elizabeth, they were said to begin on the 6th of July and end on the 5th of September; that, from the Restoration (1660) to the beginning of New Style (1752), British almanacs placed the beginning on the 19th of July and the end on the 28th of August; and that after 1752 the beginning was put on the 30th of July, the end on the 7th of September. Some English calendars now put the beginning on July 3d, and the ending on August 11th. A popular American almanac of the present time (1890) places the beginning on the 25th of July, and the end on the 5th of September.

Dog"draw` (?), n. (Eng. Forest Law) The act of drawing after, or pursuing, deer with a dog. Cowell.

Doge (?), n. [It doge, dogio, for duce, duca, fr. L. dux, ducis, a leader, commander. See Duke.] The chief magistrate in the republics of Venice and Genoa.

Dog"-eared` (?), a. Having the corners of the leaves turned down and soiled by careless or long- continued usage; -- said of a book.

Statute books before unopened, not dog- eared.

Ld. Mansfield.

Doge"ate (?), n. Dogate. Wright.

Doge"less, a. Without a doge. Byron.

Dog"-faced` (?), a. Having a face resembling that of a dog.

Dog-faced baboon (Zoöl.), any baboon of the genus Cynocephalus. See Drill.

Dog" fan`cier (?). One who has an unusual fancy for, or interest in, dogs; also, one who deals in dogs.

Dog"fish` (?), n. (Zoöl.) 1. A small shark, of many species, of the genera Mustelus, Scyllium, Spinax, etc.

The European spotted dogfishes (Scyllium catudus, and S. canicula) are very abundant; the American smooth, or blue dogfish is Mustelus canis; the common picked, or horned dogfish (Squalus acanthias) abundant on both sides of the Atlantic.

2. The bowfin (Amia calva). See Bowfin.

3. The burbot of Lake Erie.

Dog"-fox` (?), n. (Zoöl.) (a) A male fox. See the Note under Dog, n., 6. Sir W. Scott. (b) The Arctic or blue fox; -- a name also applied to species of the genus Cynalopex.

Dog"ged (?), a. [Fron. Dog.] 1. Sullen; morose. [Obs. or R.]

The sulky spite of a temper naturally dogged.

Sir W. Scott.

2. Sullenly obstinate; obstinately determined or persistent; as, dogged resolution; dogged work.

Dog"ged*ly, adv. In a dogged manner; sullenly; with obstinate resolution.

Dog"ged*ness, n. 1. Sullenness; moroseness. [R.]

2. Sullen or obstinate determination; grim resolution or persistence.

Dog"ger (?), n. [D., fr. dogger codfish, orig. used in the catching of codfish.] (Naut.) A two-masted fishing vessel, used by the Dutch.

Dog"ger, n. A sort of stone, found in the mines with the true alum rock, chiefly of silica and iron.