Dolomites, a group of European mountains, a division of the Alps, in the Trentino, North Italy, and having the Piave and Rienz on the east, the Adige and Eisack on the west. They are named from the prevalence of the mineral dolomite, and present most interesting and picturesque scenery, the peaks being endlessly varied in form. The highest summits are Palle di San Martino (10,968 feet); Sorapiss (10,798 feet), and Monte Tofana (10,715 feet).
Dolphin (Delphīnus), a cetaceous animal, forming the type of a family (Delphinidæ) which includes also the beluga or white whale (Delphinapterus leucas), the narwhal (Monodon), porpoises (Phocæna), the ca'ing whale (Globicephalus melas), and the killer whale or grampus (Orca gladiator). Dolphins inhabit every sea from the equator to the poles; they are gregarious, and swim with extraordinary velocity. The common dolphin (D. delphis) measures from 6 to 10 feet in length, has a long, sharp snout with numerous nearly conical teeth in both jaws; its flesh is coarse, rank, and disagreeable, but is used by the Laplanders as food. It lives on fish, molluscs, &c., and often may be seen in numbers round shoals of herring. The animal has to come to the surface at short intervals to breathe. The blow-hole is of a semilunar form, with a kind of valvular apparatus, and opens on the vertex, nearly over the eyes. The structure of the ear renders the sense of hearing very acute, and the animal is observed to be attracted by regular or harmonious sounds. A single young one is produced by the female, who suckles and watches it with great care and anxiety, long after it has acquired considerable size. Dolphins are associated with many legends, and they figure in armorial bearings.—The name is also commonly but improperly given to fishes (species of Coryphæna) belonging to the mackerel family. They abound within the tropics, are about 4 or 5 feet long, very swift in swimming,
and are used as food, though said sometimes to be poisonous. The corn aphis (Siphonophora granaria) is locally known as the dolphin.
Domain´, same as Demesne; also applied especially to Crown lands or Government lands.—Right of eminent domain, the dominion of the sovereign power over all the property within the State, by which it is entitled to appropriate any part necessary to the public good, compensation being given.
Dombrowski (-brov´skē), Jan Henryk, a Polish general, distinguished in the wars of Napoleon, born in 1755, died in 1818. He supported the rising of the Poles under Kosciusko in 1794. In 1796 he entered the service of France, and at the head of a Polish legion rendered signal services in Italy from 1796 to 1801. He took a distinguished part in the invasion of Russia in 1812, and also in the campaign of 1813. After Napoleon's abdication he returned to Poland, and the year following was made a Polish Senator by Alexander I.
Section showing the inner and outer domes with the conical wall. Diameter inside dome at base 102 feet.
Dome, a vaulted roof of spherical or other curvature, covering a building or part of it, and forming a common feature in Byzantine and also in Renaissance architecture. Cupola is also used as a synonym, or is applied to the interior, dome being applied to the exterior. (See Cupola.) Most modern domes are semi-elliptical in vertical section, and are constructed of timber; but the ancient domes were nearly hemispherical and constructed of stone. Of domes the finest, without any comparison, ancient or modern, is that of the Rotunda or Pantheon at Rome (142½ feet internal diameter and 143 feet internal height), erected in the reign of Augustus, and still perfect. Among others the most noteworthy are St. Sophia at Constantinople (104 × 201 feet), the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore at Florence (139 × 310 feet), St. Peter's at Rome (139 × 330 feet), St. Paul's, London (112 × 215 feet), the Hôtel des Invalides (80 × 173 feet) and the Panthéon (formerly the church of St. Geneviève) at Paris (67 × 190 feet). The figures represent the internal diameter and height in English feet. The finest dome in America is that of the Capitol at Washington, built of cast iron.