The dragon being a symbol of destruction and a power of evil, the slaying of a dragon was considered a great achievement of mediæval heroes, such as King Arthur, Beowulf, Siegmund, and Tristram.—Cf. G. Elliot Smith, The Evolution of the Dragon; M. W. de Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan.
A, Larva of dragon-fly. B, Dragon-fly escaping from chrysalis. C, The perfect insect.
Dragon, or Dragon-lizard, a name for several species of lizards inhabiting South-East Asia. The common flying lizard (Draco volans), the best type of the genus, is about 10 or 12 inches in length, the tail being extremely long in proportion to the body. The sides are furnished with peculiar extensions of the skin, resembling wings, which help to support it in the air as it springs from branch to branch. These wing-like processes are borne by prolongations of five or six of the hindermost ribs, and can be folded up. Its food consists almost exclusively of insects.
Drag´onet, the common name of small marine fishes constituting a special family (Callionymidæ). The gemmeous dragonet (Callionymus lyra) is found in the British seas. The female is dull brown and much smaller than the male, which is brilliantly coloured with spots and bars of blue on a yellow ground. His first dorsal fin is large and drawn out into a long filament.
Dragon-fly, the common name of members of a family (Odonata or Libellulidæ) of neuropterous insects. They have a large head, large eyes, and strong horny mandibles. They are beautiful in form and colour, and are of very powerful flight. The great dragon-fly (Æschna grandis) is about 4 inches long, and the largest of the British species. They live on insects, and are remarkable for their voracity. The dragon-fly deposits its eggs in the water, where the wingless nymphs live on aquatic insects. The nymph stage lasts for a year. The family is of very wide distribution. The small blue Agrion is a common European form, but the familiar Libellula is the most extensively distributed. See Demoiselle.
Dragonnades, or Dragonades, the name given to the persecutions directed against the Protestants, chiefly in the south of France, during the reign of Louis XIV, shortly before the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Bands of soldiers, headed by priests, marched through the villages, giving the Protestant inhabitants the alternative of renouncing their faith or
being given over to the extortions and violence of the soldiery. The dragoons were conspicuous in these expeditions, to which they gave their name. The Dragonnades drove thousands of French Protestants out of France.—Cf. Tylor, The Huguenots in the Seventeenth Century.
Dragon's Blood, or Gum Dragon, a resinous juice, usually obtained by incision from various tropical plants, as Calămus Draco, Dracæna Draco, Pterocarpus Draco, &c. It varies in composition, and is often much adulterated. It is opaque, of a reddish-brown colour, brittle, and has a smooth shining conchoidal fracture. It is soluble in alcohol and oil, but scarcely so in water. It is used for colouring varnishes, for staining marble, leather, and wood, and for tooth tinctures.
