Derby, a municipal, parliamentary, and county borough in England, capital of Derbyshire, on the Derwent, here crossed by a graceful bridge of three arches, 115 miles N.N.W. of London. It is pleasantly situated in a wide and fertile valley open to the south, and is well and regularly built in the modern quarter. It has some fine public buildings, amongst which are the churches of All Saints, St. Alkmund, and St. Werburgh, the county hall, school of arts, and infirmary. There is also a very handsome free library and museum. The manufactures include silk, cotton, hosiery, lace, articles in Derbyshire spar, iron castings, and porcelain; and the principal engineering works of the Midland Railway are here. Derby is one of the oldest towns in the kingdom, and is supposed to owe its origin to a Roman station, Derventio. Under the Danes it took the name of Deoraby. Richardson, the novelist, and Herbert Spencer were natives. It returns two members to Parliament. Pop. 123,930 (1919).—The county of Derby, in the centre of the kingdom, is about 55 miles long and from 15 to 30 miles broad; area, 650,369 acres, five-sixths being arable or in permanent pasture. It exhibits much varied and romantic scenery, the southern and eastern parts having a fertile soil, while the north-western portion is bleak, with a rocky and irregular surface. Here is the loftiest range of the English Midlands, the mountains of the Peak. The Peak itself is 2000 feet high. The principal rivers are the Derwent, the Trent, the Wye, the Erwash, the Dove, and the Rother. Oats and turnips are important crops, and dairy-husbandry is carried on to a large extent. Coal is abundant in various parts of the county, iron-ore is also plentiful, and lead, gypsum, zinc, fluor-spar, and other minerals are obtained. The manufactures are very considerable, especially of silk, cotton, and lace, machinery, and agricultural implements. The county is divided into
eight parliamentary divisions, each with one member. Pop. 683,423.—Cf. J. C. Cox, Derbyshire.
Derby-day, the great annual London holiday, on which is run the horse-race for the stakes instituted by Lord Derby in 1780. It always takes place on a Wednesday, being the second day of the grand race-meeting which falls in the week after Trinity Sunday. The race is run on Epsom Downs, an extensive Surrey course 15 miles from London. The course is 1½ miles, and the time usually about 2 minutes, 42 seconds. The entry money of each subscriber is fifty guineas, and the stakes are run for by three-year-old colts and fillies entered when yearlings. In the first year of the Derby there were only thirty-six entries, but they are now very numerous, and the value of the winner's prize is at least £5000. The race is the most popular of British sporting events. The Ascot races are patronized by royalty; the world of fashion is to be found at Goodwood; but Derby-day draws to Epsom a vast crowd of every class. During the European War the race was suspended, but a substitute Derby was run at Newmarket from 1915 to 1918. In 1919 the Derby was again run at Epsom, and was won by Lord Glanely's Grand Parade. In 1920 it was won by Loder's Spion Kop, and in 1921 by Joel's Humorist.
Derby Scheme, a scheme produced by Lord Derby in 1915 with a view to making a final effort on behalf of voluntary recruiting. The National Register (q.v.), taken in August, 1915, of all persons between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five, had shown that over five million men of military age had not 'joined up'. As the number of recruits each week fell short of the number required by Lord Kitchener, Lord Derby, appointed Director of Recruiting, produced a scheme in which men were divided into 46 groups. Groups 1 to 23 were for single men, and groups 24 to 46 for married men. Thus a married man of eighteen was in group 24, whilst a single man of forty-one was in group 23. The scheme ensured that single men would be called up first, whilst men who had 'attested' could appeal to a tribunal and claim temporary or permanent exemption. Two and a half millions offered themselves in consequence of the Derby Scheme, and two millions were accepted.
Dereham (dēr´am), East, a town in England, nearly in the centre of the county of Norfolk, with manufactures of agricultural implements, iron-foundries, and a brisk trade. The poet Cowper was buried in the church there, and George Borrow was born there in 1803. Pop. 5524.
Der´elict, a vessel or anything relinquished or abandoned at sea, but most commonly applied to a ship abandoned by the crew and left floating about.
Derg, Lough: (1) a lake, Ireland, county of Donegal, about 3 miles long by 2½ miles broad at the broadest part, and studded with islets, one of which, called Station Island, is a great resort of Roman Catholic pilgrims; (2) an expansion of the River Shannon between County Tipperary and Counties Clare and Galway, about 24 miles long and averaging 2 miles in breadth.
Derham, William, English philosopher and divine, born in 1657, died 1735. He was long rector of Upminster in Essex. In 1696 he published his Artificial Clockmaker. His best-known works are entitled Physico-Theology, Astro-Theology, and Christo-Theology.
Derma, or Dermis, is the true skin lying under the epidermis (cuticle), which is known in contrast as the scarf-skin.
Dermes´tes, a genus of beetles, one species of which (D. lardarius) is known by the name of bacon-beetle, and is often found in ill-kept ham or pork shops.