DEER.

with the Book of Deir, which came from its Cistercian monastery, founded about the year 1219 by William Cumyn, Earl of Buchan, on the site of a church established by Saint Columba and his disciple, Saint Drostan, about the year 580. The remains of the monastery are unimportant. In 1715 MSS. which had belonged to the monks of Deir found their way to the university library at Cambridge, but the value of the Book of Deir was not discovered before 1860. It contains a copy of the Gospels (in the Latin version of Saint Jerome) and of the Apostles' Creed, in the handwriting of the ninth century, with a portion of a Missa de Infirmis, or 'Communion of the Sick' (containing an illuminated Celtic or Gaelic rubric), in a later hand. On the blank leaves at the beginning, in the handwriting of the early part of the twelfth century, are notes or memorials, in the Celtic or Gaelic language, recording immunities and endowments bestowed upon the church of Deir. These notes or memorials are of great philological interest, as the only known examples of the Celtic speech of Scotland in the twelfth century. Consult Stuart (ed.), The Book of Deir (Spalding Club, 1869).

DEER FIELD. A town including four villages, in Franklin County, Mass., on the Connecticut River, and on the Boston and Maine, and the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads (Map: Massachusetts, B 2). It has agricultural interests and manufactures of pocketbooks. The town contains a public library, Dickinson High School, and Deerfield Academy. Government is administered by annual town meetings. Population, 1900, 1969; 1905, 2112. A part

of the town was annexed to Greenfield in 1890.

Deerfield was founded in 1671, and incorporated in 1673. Near by, on September 19, 1675, the Indians caught Captain Lothrop and 84 men in an ambuscade. The latter being reinforced, the Indians were driven off, but the colonists had suffered a loss of 63 killed and 7 wounded. On February 29, 1704, the French and Indians surprised the place, killing 49 and capturing 100 of the inhabitants, while all the buildings were destroyed except the church and one dwellinghouse. The captives were taken to Canada, a number being murdered on the way. The survivors were liberated in 1706. Consult: Sheldon, A History of Deerfield, Mass. (Deerfield, 189596); and Powell, Historic Towns of New England (New York, 1898).

DEERFIELD RIVER. A river rising in Windham County, southern Vermont. It flows south into Massachusetts, where it bends to the southeast and empties into the Connecticut River near Deerfield. It is about 60 miles long

in a general direction, and drains an area of 650 square miles. The stream has a fall of 1028 feet from Readsboro, Vt., and furnishes extensive water-power there and at Hoosac Tunnel and Shelburne Falls. Its valley is famed for its

beauty.

DEER-FLY. A gad-fly which attacks deer; especially, in North America, the small green or yellow tabanids of the genus Chrysops.

DEERHOUND. See GREYHOUND. DEER-MOUSE. Any of several wild mice, which resemble a deer in colors and movement. The name is most properly applied in North America to the jumping mouse (Zapus Hudsonius), but is also given to the white-footed

mouse (Peromyscus leucopus). See MOUSE and Plate of MICE AND JERBOAS.

DEERSLAYER, THE. One of Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales, the first of the series written, but published last (1841). The title is the sobriquet of the leading character, Natty Bumppo.

DEER-STALKING. To stalk or steal up to game under cover is an attractive sport, with many variations of method in different countries, and even different parts of the same country; seeing that the deer ranges in North America alone, from the arctic circle of northern Canada to the bayous of the Mexican Gulf. The term 'stalking' is derived from the Scottish Highland method of hunting the deer in the so-called Scottish forests, which are not forests at all, but bare hill-tops and rugged glens, upon many of which even a rabbit would find it hard to live, much less a deer. Large tracts of land in Scotland, barren and otherwise useless, are left to the deer, with profit to the owners, who let the ranges for sporting purposes. The deer are located by a careful reconnaissance of the district, in which operation woodcraft and hunting skill are the prime essentials. For instance, their probable location will depend upon the weather; on fine, warm days the big stags will be on the highest hills, and on wet or stormy days they are usually on the lower land. In the morning they will be feeding and moving, and by midday will be lying down. When a suitable stag has been located, the difficulty will be to get within shooting distance without his seeing, hearing, or smelling the hunter; consequently the direction of the wind is the first consideration. There is practically no chance of success unless the hunter stalks 'up wind,' or across the wind in a position to insure that scent of him will not alarm the deer. Then again, the deer may be feeding, in which case they will move up wind at a fairly good rate, and the hunter has to calculate where his path and theirs will cross, by the time he can secretly approach them. These points determined, he takes a well-screened path, and cautiously approaches the point he has settled on from which to get a shot. In the last stretch of this, he may have to crawl up-hill flat on his stomach, pull himself along on his elbows, or he may have to creep down-hill, feet foremost, for deer seldom look up-hill when feeding. When the deer is again sighted, the problem is to guess his distance, concerning which a very successful authority has laid down the following rules: "Up to 80 yards, the deer's eye is to be seen distinctly, discernible, but only the dark line is visible. Up at 100 yards the shape of the eye is no longer to 150 yards the ears are plainly to be seen, but tice alone will tell the hunter how far to 'hold' at 200 yards they are well-nigh invisible." Pracin front of a walking, running, or galloping deer; but the following instructions are safe: At a slowly trotting one, at the front of the shoulder; walking deer aim straight at the heart; at a when on a quick trot, just see daylight in front of him; and for a galloping one, give two or three feet grace. The red deer of Scotland vary in weight from 200 to 400 pounds.

In America the method of stalking varies with the kind of deer and the locality. The method of following the Canadian caribou and Maine deer through thick forests and deep snow of

necessity varies from those adapted to the blacktail of California and the deer of Louisiana. In the extreme northern forests it is not possible to place or locate the deer with a field-glass; their track must be found, and in the snow it is the more easily detected. The hunter, clad in loose woolens from head to foot, threads among the beech and birch, and balsam and hemlock, until he comes across the sign. This he interprets from experience, for nothing else will teach him. In what direction and at what pace was the deer going? Was it a single stag? How long since had it passed? These and many other questions must be settled before he begins his quest on his snow-shoes; and even then he will have need of all his wits, for the deer is keenly alert to the slightest indication of danger. To baffle the hunter, he will double back on his track and jump sideways, apparently disappearing into the earth. He will rout up another deer and use him as a catspaw, or, better still, mix with a number of others until all individuality is apparently

lost; or he will follow the slot of another deer, or take to the water, or make for a swamp of shell ice and crackling cedar-brush. In the forestcovered hills of northern California, a guide takes a pair of dogs (shepherd dogs, for preference) into the woods, who hunt until they jump a deer. The hunters dismount and spread out, each taking a position known to the othersthe dogs drive the deer out of the brush, and that hunter who is most favorably situated gets the shot.

In Louisiana the deer are hunted by a pack of hounds, some dozen or so of the large black-andtan Louisiana deerhounds, with long, drooping ears, low, pendent dewlaps, deep chests, and straight tails. They are taken to the scene of the hunt in a wagon. The huntsman finds the track in the soft soil on the edge of the live-oak wood; the dogs are put on the trail and disappear within its gloomy, moss-hung recesses. The gunners form a skirmish line across from marsh to marsh, and, as the deer is chased within range, he is shot and given the coup de grâce, or the dogs will eventually pull him down and kill him. In other parts of the South the deer is 'fire-hunted,' or 'shined,' in which undertaking the hunters go through the woods at night bearing a blazing light in front; presently its glare strikes the eyes of a deer, which, fascinated by it, stands and stares curiously for some time, during which interval the hunters cautiously approach and shoot it. In the Eastern States hunting with jack lights is prohibited, and hunting with hounds is not permitted. Even the ownership of a dog for hunting deer is forbidden. When they are "still-hunted," the hunter sets out alone without dog or guide, picking out the track, reading all its lessons, and following it through all its sinuosities, until success rewards him. 'Still-hunting' is nearer to the Scottish stalking than any other form used in America. In the Caucasian Mountains of Russia the deer are 'called,' i. e. the call of the female is imitated by the hunter, and the deer, attracted by it, or the challenge of defiance of one stag to another, brings them to a place where the hunter has an opportunity to shoot them. In the province of Bombay a very simple practice is followed by the natives: Deer are located and watched until they have eaten their fill, and lie down to chew the eud. As soon as they are com

pletely settled, the native will very gently break a stick, making just enough noise to rouse the deer and unsettle them, so that they get up and move off. As soon as they lie down once more he makes a like noise, and the deer rise again. He continues this, increasing his disturbance, until the food in the deers' stomachs, not being properly digested, begins to trouble them, and they become so swollen and uncomfortable that they cannot run, when the hunter shows himself and shoots them. Consult: Van Dyke, The Red Deer (New York, 1896); Macrae, Handbook of Deer-stalking (Edinburgh, 1880); Van Dyke, The Still-Hunter (New York, 1882); Scrope, Days of Deer Stalking (London, 1838); Grimble, Deer-Forests of Scotland (1896); id., Highland Sport (London, 1896).

DEER-STEALING. In English law, the statutory offense of hunting, killing, or carrying off any deer in any forest, chase, or park, whether By the common law, deer at large are feræ naturæ private and inclosed or public and uninclosed. (wild animals), but the penchant of the Norman kings and their immediate followers for the with a peculiar sacredness, and led at a very hunting of deer caused that animal to be invested early period to the enactment of stringent forest and game laws for their protection. The matter is now regulated by a series of game laws, beginSee FOREST; ning with 16 George III., c. 30.

GAME LAWS; POACHING.

DE FACTO (Lat.). A legal phrase, signifying actual, based on fact; as distinguished from de jure, which means based on law. It is conmonly employed of the occupancy of public office or the exercise of political or other authority without legal warrant or by one whose legal title thereto is defective. Under a government

of law, a merely de facto authority may always be impeached, the proper legal remedy in England and in the United States being by the common-law writ of quo warranto, issued by a court of competent jurisdiction, to bring the offender into court and inquire by what warrant' he has presumed to exercise the office or authority in question.

Used in this general sense, as opposed to a de jure, or lawful, authority, the exercise of de facto authority is always a usurpation, and it maintains this character so long as it continues. or until it is legalized by proper legislative or other authority. Any public office, administrative, legislative, or judicial, may be usurped and its powers exercised by de facto authority; but the phrase has no application to the case of an excessive or other illegal exercise of power by a duly constituted authority, which does not amount to an assumption of any other office than that which it possesses. Nor does mere usurpation of an office without the actual exercise of its functions constitute the usurper an officer de facto. The authority claimed must be effective and actually exercised in order to give it the de facto character.

It is in this general sense of a power actually exercised, but without legal authority, that the term de facto is employed in international and constitutional law. It is thus applied to a revolutionary government, as the Continental Congress-whose acts gained legal sanction through the success of the Colonies and the recog nition of their independence by Great Britain

DE FACTO.

or the President and Congress of the Confederate States-whose de facto exercise of authority gained for them a certain measure of international recognition, but remained to the end, in point of law, an illegal usurpation. Acts performed by such an authority are wholly void and may be impeached in any proceeding, direct or collateral.

In administrative law, however, the term de facto is commonly used in a narrower sense, to describe the exercise of illegal authority, but with apparent right and under color of legal authority. The acts of an officer thus acting have a certain validity, so far as the interests of the public and of third persons are concerned, and cannot be questioned in any collateral proceeding. But they may be directly impeachedas by a refusal to recognize the de facto authority, or by instituting proceedings to test the usurper's title to the office exercised by him, or, at the common law, by a civil suit for the wrongful intrusion into office or for the profits thereof taken by the usurping official. But the mere possession of an office is prima facie evidence of a valid title thereto, and de facto authority is presumed to be de jure also, until the contrary is made to appear in an appropriate proceeding instituted for that purpose. See ADMINISTRATIVE LAW; OFFICE; also the authorities there referred to.

DEFAMATION (Lat. diffamare, from dis-, priv. + fama, report). The infringement of the right of reputation; specifically, the publishing of any matter concerning an individual which is untrue in fact, and which has a tendency to impair his public reputation. The right of every man to the good name which he has earned by a long course of good conduct is recognized by every developed system of law. It is regarded as a species of property, a valuable asset, of which no one can deprive him with impunity. Its violation is a legal wrong, or tort, and it may, under some circumstances, be a public wrong or crime.

As reputation is the estimation in which a man is held by the community in which he lives, the gist of the injury lies in the publication of the imputation upon his character. If communicated to him privately or written out for the purpose of publication, but not actually communicated to a third party, it is no violation of the right of reputation, no matter how unjust it may be. Furthermore, the law will protect reputation only in so far as it is fairly earned. A truthful imputation upon character is no violation of the right. But even the publication of derogatory matter which is in fact untrue may not amount to defamation in the legal sense. The imputation may be too vague and general, or too trivial to be regarded, or, although definite and harmful, it may be uttered under such circumstances of privilege as to justify and

excuse it.

In general it may be said that an action will lie for defamation in those cases, and in those cases only: (1) In which the charge or accusation is shown to have caused special pecuniary damage to the plaintiff; (2) in which the plaintiff is charged with the commission of a crime; (3) in which the present existence of an of fensive contagious disease is imputed to him: (4) in which the conduct of his profession or trade, or of an office of public trust held by

In

him, or his fitness therefor, is impugned; (5) in which unchastity is imputed to a woman. all these cases but the first, the words or acts charged are defamatory per se, and are actionable without proof of special damage resulting therefrom, and in all of them the action will lie whether the derogatory words were spoken or written. In the case of a written imputation, however, which is technically called a libel, special damage need never be shown, but it is enough to satisfy the jury that the words complained of were such as to bring the plaintiff into ridicule, odium, or contempt.

The most important and comprehensive ground of justification for imputations upon character is the privilege of fair criticism and comment on public men and affairs. This exists only in communities, like England and the United States, in which the government is of a free and popular character, and the liberty of the press and of public discussion has reached a high point. This privilege does not cover mere abuse, nor the malicious imputation of dishonesty and incapacity, nor the invasion of the private and domestic life of the person accused, unless this has some bearing on public affairs. But every citizen is protected in the honest expression of opinion, however severe and unjust it may be, concerning matters of public interest and general concern, whether political or not, so long as the limits of fair criticism are not exceeded. Privilege may also exist in matters of private concern, under special circumstances, as in comments on character made by a judge, advocate, or witness in the course of a judicial proceeding, such statements being privileged unless made maliciously or recklessly.

Reference has been made to the fact that the publication of defamatory matter may, under some circumstances, be a violation of the criminal law. This is never true of mere slander, or spoken defamation, but only of libel; and it is theoretically justified on the ground that written or printed attacks on character are likely to lead to breaches of the peace or to prove subversive of the good order and morals of the community. It seems more probable, however, that the criminal proceedings in libel cases are a survival of the primitive right of private vengeance for injuries of this character, which has, in process of time, been taken over by the State. See TORT; LIBEL; SLANDER; PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION; and consult the authorities there referred to.

DEFARGE, de-färzh', THÉRÈSE. The wife of the keeper of the wine-shop in Dickens's Tale of Two Cities; a type of the remorseless virago of the French Revolution. She is constantly knitting. She and her husband are the faithful guardians of Dr. Manette during the madness that succeeds his release from the Bastille; but

they afterwards seek the life of his daughter's lover, who is connected with a certain noble family which has incurred their deadly hate.

DEFAULT (OF. defaulte, It. diffalta, from Lat, de, away + fallere, to fail). In law, the failure of a party to a suit to take the next step in the process of litigation incumbent upon him, within the time limited by the practice of the court. Originally, the term was limited to the non-appearance of a party in court on the day assigned in the writ or summons, but it is now