DOUARNENEZ, a fishing-port of western France, in the department of Finistère, on the southern shore of the Bay of Douarnenez 15 m. N.W. of Quimper by rail. Pop. (1906) 13,472. Its sardine fishery, which is carried on from the end of June to the beginning of December, gives occupation to about 800 boats, and between 3000 and 4000 men, and the preserving of the fish is an important industry. Mackerel fishing, boat-building and rope and net making also occupy the inhabitants. There is a lighthouse on the small island of Tristan off Douarnenez.
DOUBLE (from the Mid. Eng. duble, the form which gives the present pronunciation, through the Old Fr. duble, from Lat. duplus, twice as much), twice as much, or large, having two parts, having a part repeated, coupled, &c. The word appears as a substantive with the special meaning of the appearance to a person of his own apparition, generally regarded as a warning, or of such an apparition of one living person to another, the German Doppelgänger (see [Apparitions]). Another word often used with this meaning is “fetch.” According to the New English Dictionary, “fetch” is chiefly of Irish usage, and may possibly be connected with “fetch,” to bring or carry away, but it may be a separate word. The Corpus Glossary of the beginning of the 10th century seems to identify a word fæcce with mære, meaning a goblin which appears in “nightmare.” “Double” is also used of a person whose resemblance to another is peculiarly striking or remarkable, so that confusion between them may easily arise.
DOUBLE BASS (Fr. contrebasse; Ger. Kontrabass, Gross Bass Geige; Ital. contrabasso, violone), the largest member of the modern family of stringed instruments played with a bow, known as the violin family, and the lowest in pitch. The double bass differs slightly in construction from the other members of the family in that it has slanting shoulders (one of the features of the viola da gamba, see [Violin]); that is to say that where the belly is joined by the neck and finger-board, it has a decided point, whereas in the violin, viola and violoncello, the finger-board is at right-angles to the horizontal part of a wide curve. It is probable that the shoulders of the double bass were made drooping for the sake of additional strength of construction on account of the strain caused by the tension of the strings. The double bass was formerly made with a flat back—another characteristic of the viol family—whereas now the back is as often found arched as flat. The bow is for obvious reasons shorter and stouter than the violin bow.
The technique of the double bass presents certain difficulties inherent in an instrument of such large proportions. The stretches for the fingers are very great, almost double those required for the violoncello, and owing to the thickness of the strings great force is required to press them against the finger-board when they are vibrating. The performer plays standing owing to the great size of the instrument.
The double bass sometimes has three strings tuned in England and Italy in fourths;
[1] in France and Germany to fifths.
