Dino´ceras (Gr. deinos, terrible, keras, a horn), a fossil mammal found in the Eocene strata of North America, in some respects akin to the elephant and of equal size, but without a proboscis. Its bones were very massive; it had two vertical tusks in the upper jaw, three pairs of horns, and the smallest brain, proportionally, of any known mammal.
Dinor´nis (Gr. deinos, terrible, ornis, a bird), an extinct genus of large wingless birds—classed with the small existing Apteryx. The bones of several species have been found in New Zealand. The largest must have stood 12 feet in height, several of its bones being at least twice the size of those of the ostrich. The body seems to have been even more bulky in proportion, the tarsus being short and stout in order to sustain its weight. They do not appear to have become extinct until the seventeenth or eighteenth century, and are spoken of as moas by the natives, who buried the eggs (more than 1 foot long) with their dead as provision for their journey to the other world.
Dinosau´ria (Gr. deinos, terrible, and sauros, a lizard), a group of extinct reptiles, allied in skeletal structure both to the lizards and the birds. While some were only 3 feet long, a large number attained gigantic size. Atlantosaurus being 115 feet long. Many were carnivorous, but some of the large heavy forms were herbivorous, and protected by bony spines or plates. The Dinosaurs were the dominant land animals of the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods.
Dinothe´rium (Gr. deinos, terrible, thērion, beast), a genus of extinct gigantic proboscidean mammals, precursors of the elephants, the
remains of which occur in Miocene formations in several parts of Europe. The type-species (D. giganteum) is calculated to have attained the length of 18 feet. It had a proboscis and also two tusks placed at the anterior extremity of the lower jaw, and curved downwards somewhat after the manner of those in the upper jaw of the walrus. The skull is best known from that found in 1835 at Eppelsheim; but the skeleton can now be pieced together from remains in various localities. The vertebræ resemble those of mastodon. Dinotherium may have inhabited rivers or estuaries.
Di´ocese (Gr. dioikēsis, administration), the circuit or extent of a bishop's jurisdiction. Each English diocese is divided into archdeaconries, each archdeaconry (nominally) into rural deaneries, and each deanery into parishes. In the Eastern Churches the term eparchy is used for diocese. See Bishop.
Diocle´tian (Gaius Valerius Diocletianus, surnamed Jovius), a man of mean birth, a native of Dalmatia, proclaimed Emperor of Rome by the army A.D. 284. He defeated Carinus in Mœsia (286), conquered the Allemanni, and was generally beloved for the goodness of his disposition, but was compelled by the dangers threatening Rome to share the government with M. Aurelius Valerius Maximian. In 292 Galerius and Constantius Chlorus were also raised to a share in the empire, which was thus divided into four parts, of which Diocletian administered Thrace, Egypt, Syria, and Asia. As the result of his reconstitution of the empire there followed a period of brilliant successes in which the barbarians were driven back from all the frontiers, and Roman power restored from Britain to Egypt. In 305, in conjunction with Maximian, he resigned the Imperial dignity at Nicomedia, and retired to Salona, in Dalmatia, where he cultivated his garden in tranquillity until his death in 313. In the latter part of his reign he was induced to sanction a persecution of the Christians.—Bibliography: Gibbon, Decline and Fall; P. Allard, La Persécution de Dioclétien; A. J. Mason, The Persecution of Diocletian.
Dioda´ti, Giovanni, Italian Protestant divine, born at Lucca, about 1576, of a noble Catholic family. He was for some time professor, first of Hebrew, then of theology, at Geneva, and in 1619 represented the Genevan clergy at the Synod of Dort, and aided in drawing up the Belgic confession of faith. He is most celebrated for a translation of the Bible into Italian (1607), which is superior to his translation of it into French. He died at Geneva in 1649.