Devil's Bit, the common name of a British species of scabious (Scabiōsa succīsa), nat. ord. Dipsaceæ. It has heads of blue flowers nearly globular, and a fleshy root, which is, as it were, cut or bitten off abruptly. It flowers from June to October, and is common in meadows and pastures.
Devil's Bridge, a name for several bridges in wild situations; one being in Cardiganshire, spanning a gorge of the Mynach; another in Switzerland, over which the St. Gothard Railway crosses the Reuss.
Devil's Parliament, the name given to a Parliament convened by Henry VI, which met at Coventry in 1459 and unjustly accused the Duke of York of high treason.
Devil's Punch-bowl, a small lake of Ireland, near the Lakes of Killarney, between 2000 and 3000 feet above the sea, supposed to be the crater of an ancient volcano. The name is also given to Highcomb Bottom, a glen in Surrey.
Devil's Wall, in the south of Germany, a structure which was originally a Roman rampart, intended to protect the Roman settlements on the left bank of the Danube and on the right bank of the Rhine against the inroads of the Teutonic and other tribes. Remains of it are found from the Danube, in Bavaria, to Bonn, on the Rhine.
Devil-worship, the worship paid to the devil, an evil spirit, a malignant deity, or the personified evil principle in nature, by many of the primitive tribes of Asia, Africa, and America, under the assumption that the good deity does not trouble himself about the world; or that the powers of evil are as mighty as the powers of good, and have in consequence to be bribed and reconciled. There is a sect called devil-worshippers inhabiting Armenia and the valley of the Tigris, who pay respect to the devil, to Christ, and to Allah or the supreme being, and also worship the sun.
Devise, in law, usually the disposition of real estate by will, but also sometimes applied to any gift by will, whether of real or personal estate.
Devitrification. Glass which has been kept for a considerable time at a temperature just below its fusion-point gradually becomes opaque or crystalline in appearance; this phenomenon is spoken of as devitrification. Poor glass, badly prepared window-glass, and glass which has been subjected to strain tend to devitrify on exposure to air, some of the ingredients separating in a crystalline form.
Devi´zes, a town in England, county of Wilts, giving name to a parliamentary division, finely situated on a commanding eminence, 82 miles west by south of London. The name is derived from the Lat. divisæ (terræ, divided lands), because the ancient castle of Devizes was built at the meeting-place of three different manors. Agricultural engines and implements are made, and malting is carried on. Pop. 6740.
Devon, or Devonshire, a maritime county in the s.w. of England, its northern coast being on the Bristol Channel and its southern on the English Channel; area, 1,671,364 acres, the county being the third largest of England. Its principal rivers are the Torridge and the Taw, flowing north into the Bristol Channel; and the Exe, Axe, Teign, Dart, and Tamar, flowing into the English Channel. From Exeter to the confines of Cornwall extends the wide and barren tract called Dartmoor; but the vale of Exeter, comprising from 120,000 to 130,000 acres, and the south extremity of the county called South Hams, limited by a line drawn from Torbay to Plymouth Sound, are amongst the most fertile districts of England. Tin, lead, iron, copper, manganese, granite, and the clay used by potters and pipe-makers are the chief mineral products. The geological formation of the Old Red Sandstone is so largely developed that the term Devonian has to some extent become its synonym. Agriculture is in a somewhat backward state, owing, probably, to the general preference given to dairy husbandry, for which the extent and richness of its grass-lands make the county most