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DAHLIA a well-known plant, which receives its name from Dati. a Swedish botanist. DANTE (Dan-te), the sublimest of the Italian poets, was born at Florence, 1265; died

1321.

DARLING, GRACE, an heroic girl, daughter of the keeper of the North Sunderla ad lighthouse, on the coast of England. A steam-vessel having been wrecked in 1838 on the rocks known as the Great Harkars, Grace, who was then twenty-two years old, persuaded her father to go with her to the rescue of the crew in an open beat. There was a raging sea; but they went, and saved nine persons, who otherwise would have perished. Grace died a few years after this event. See Wordsworth's poem on her, p. 201. DAUPHIN; formerly the title of the eldest son of the King of France. The editions of the classics which were made for the use of the dauphin are entitled in usum delphini.

DAVY, SIR HUMPHREY, an eminent chemist, b. in Engiand 1778, d. 1829. He was an agreeable writer and poet. 317. DEATH, Thoughts on, 309, 318. DECEMBER, the twelfth month of our year, from the Latin decem, ten, because in the Roman year it constituted the tenth month, the year beginning with March. DEFLECT, to turn aside, deviate. DEGERANDO, a French writer, author of an excellent work on self-education. He died in 1842. He was a distinguished member of the French Institute.

The Mind its own Educator, 322. DEST, one who believes in the existence of God, but not in revealed religion. DEMOSTHENES, Character of, 243.

Democracy of Athens, 266. DEMURE (from the French des mœurs, of good manners), sober, downcast. DE QUINCEY, THOMAS, a powerful but eccentric writer, born in England about 1790. The account of Joan of Arc (p. 259) is chiefly taken from his masterly review of Michelet's (Meesh-la's) narra tive in his History of France. DERIVATIVE (from the Lat. de, from, and rivus, a small stream), flowing or proceeding from. A derivative word is one which takes its origin in another word. DER'VIS, a Persian word, meaning poor; in Mahoin'etan countries, a religious person leading an austere life. DERZHA'VIN, GABRIEL, a Russian poet and statesman, born 1743, died 1819. His Ode to the Deity (see p. 153), as we learn from the translator, Dr. Bowring, has been translated into Japanese, by order of the emperor, and is hung up, embroidered with gold, in the Temple of Jeddo. It has also been translated into the Chinese and Tartar languages, written on a piece of rich silk, and suspended in the imperial palace at Pekin'.

DEUM, the accusative case of the Latin word Deus, God. "Te Deum" are the first words of a celebrated Latin hymn, begin

ning "Te Deum laudāmus," We praise thee, O God.

DEWEY, REV. ORVILLE, on Death, 318. DIALOGUE (from the Gr. dia, and legein, to discourse together), a conversation be tween two or more persons. The follow ing are dialogues :

Adam and Orlando, 319.

A Sister Pleads for a Brother, 320.
Gil Blas and the Archbishop, 340.
The Trade of War, 343.
Brutus and Cassius, 350.
Franklin and the Gout, 355.
From Hamlet, 371.

Wolsey and Cromwell, 423 DIAMETER, from the Gr. dia rough, and metros, measure; a straight line passing through the centre of a circle, and dividing it into two equal parts.

DIAMOND, the most valuable of gems. The word is pronounced either in three syllables (dī-a-mond) or in two (di'mond). DIAPASON (Gr. dia, through, and pasōn, all), in music, the octave or interval which includes all the tones. By a bold metaphor, Dryden has beautifully availed himself of this expression in his Ode, p 416.

English

DICKENS, CHARLES, a popular author, born in Portsmouth, 1812. The World of Waters, 206. The Wind and Rain, 208. Alfred the Great, 244. DILEMMA (Gr.), a puzzling situation, where each alternative is bad.

DIOGENES (Di-ōj'e-nės). surnamed the Cynic, was a philosopher of ancient Greece; Dorn 414 B. C. He is said to have had an interview with Alexander the Great at Corinth, at which, on the king's asking him if he could oblige him in any way, the Cynic replied, "Yes, you can stand out of the sunshine." The Cynics were so called from the Greek word kunikos, dog-like, because of their morose, snarling mode of speech.

DIPLOMA (from the Gr. diploö, I fold up), a document, signed and sealed, conferring some privilege, right or honor. Thus a letter or writing of an university, conferring a degree, is called a diploma. DIPH'THONGS. See p. 16. DISC, or DISK (from the Gr. diskos, a round plate, a quoit; diskos being derived from dikein, to throw, whence its application to the form of the thing thrown. The word dish has a similar derivation). Disk, in astronomy, means the face of the sun and moon, as they appear to observers on the earth.

DISCHARGE. A debtor is said to have his

discharge when he has a release or ac quittance in full from his debt. DISCIPLE (from the Lat. disco, I learn), a learner; a follower.

DISCOVER, literally, to uncover. Mark the distinction between this word and to invent. We discover what already existed; we invent when we make something to be which hitherto was not. Harvey dis

covered the circulation of the blood; but
Watt "invented "the steam-engine.
DOCK, the place where a criminal stands in
court; also, a ship-builder's yard. A
dry dock has flood-gates to admit the
tide, or prevent its influx, as occasion
nay require.

DOGMA, an opinion; that which seems true
to one (from the Gr. dokein, to seem).
Dogmatism, positive assertion, without
proof.

DOUBLOON, a Spanish coin of the value of
two pistoles.

DRAGOON', to force to submit.
DRAMA (drama, or drăm-a).

This word is
from the Gr. drao, I act or do; and
means a composition in which the action
or narrative is not related, but represent-
ed. Adj., dra-măt'ic. See extracts, p.
383; also Dialogues.

DRAWING-ROOM, a room to which the com-
pany withdraw from the dining-room.
DRYDEN, JOHN, a celebrated English poet.
Born 1563; died 1631.

Futurity, by, 113.

Ode on Cecilia's Day, 416.
DUMAS, ALEXANDER, a French miscellaneous
writer, very voluminous.

Inconvenient Ignorance, 181.
Fall of a Mountain, &c., 106.
Imprisonment of Bonnivard, 142.
DUMPS, a gloomy, depressed state of mind.
It is not an elegant word.
DYMOND, JONATHAN, on Duelling, 330.

EAGLE. The figure of an eagle was the
standard of the Romans; and has been
adopted as the emblem of the United
States.

EARLY RISING, Thoughts on, 225.
ECHO (Gr.), the return or reverberation of a
sound. Plural, echoes.

ECLAT (k-kla', the a as in father), a burst-
ing forth; hence, applause, pomp, show.
ECLIPSE (Gr. ekleipo, I cease, faint away,
or disappear), the obscuration of the light
of a heavenly body, 174.

ECLIPTIC, the sun's path in the heavens. It
has been called the ecliptic because eclips-
es only happen when the moon is on the
same plane, or very near it.

ECONOMY (Gr. oikos, a house, and nõmös, a
law), originally, the thrifty management
of a family; hence applied to individual
and public concerns.

EDUCATION. This important word is traced
to the Latin e, from, and duco, I lead.
Thus education must educe; and that
(says Trench) is to draw out, and not to
put in. To draw out what is in the
child, -the immortal spirit which
there, this is the end of education; and
so much the word declares.

is

Thoughts on, 184, 322.
EDWARD, the Prince of Wales, surnamed
the Black Prince, son of Edward III. of
England, was born in 1330, died 1376.
While in France, in 1356, he won the great
battle of Poictiers (pronounced in French
Pina-te-a', the first a as in water).
E'ER (ar), a contraction for ever. Do not

confound this contraction with Ere, which

see.

ELECTRICITY (Gr. elektron, amber), the
substance in which the property of at-
traction after friction was first noticed.

Electric Telegraph, The, 378.
EL'EGY, commonly a plaintive poem, as is
implied by the Greek name, which signi
fies to cry alas! alas! (E! E! legcin)

Elegy in a Country Church-yard, 272.
ELEMENTARY SOUNDS, Table of, 17.
ELEUSINIAN, from Eleusis, an ancient city of
Attica, north-west of Athens, and famous
for the celebration of certain heathen
religious rites, the chief design of which is
said to have been to inculcate a belief in
the immortality of the soul, and in the
unity of the Deity.

ELIZABETH, Queen of England, was the
daughter of Henry VIII. by his que
Anne Boleyn. She was born 1533, died
1602. See pp. 145, 247.

ELLIOTT, EBENEZER, sometimes called the
"Corn-law rhymer" and "the poet of
the poor," was born in England in 1781;
died 1849.

Woman's Mission, by, 359.
ELLIPSE, an oval figure; the curve in
which the planets perform their revolu-
tions about the sun. It presents to the
eye, at once, variety and regularity, and
is, therefore, preferred by painters to the
circle for the outline of their pictures.
For the grammatical use of the word, see
p. 54.
ELLIPTICAL, having the form of an ellipse.
ELOQUENCE, the art of clothing thoughts in
the most suitable expressions, in order to
produce conviction or persuasion.

Eloquence of Statesmen, 266.

Moral and Religious Eloquence, 313.
Eloquence of Science, 494.

EMERALD, a mineral of a beautiful green
color, obtained in greatest perfection from
Peru. In value it is rated next to the
ruby.

EMERSON, R. W., The Snow-storm, 433.
EMPHASIS, see pp. 39, 40.

EMPORIUM, a Greek word, meaning a trad-
ing-place. It is now adopted into Eng
lish, and signifies a city or place where
great commercial transactions are made.
EMPYREUMA, a Greek word, meaning the
offensive smell produced by fire app ied
to organic matters, chiefly vegetable, in
close vessels. Empyreumatic oil is ob
tained from various substances in this
way.

ENCYCLOPEDIA (from the Gr. en, in, kyclos,
a circle, and paideia, instruction), a circle
of instruction; a dictionary of science, the
arts, &c.
ENDICOTT, JOHN, governor of the colony of
Massachusetts, 1644.

ENGHIEN, Duc d' (Duke D'ang-ghe-àng' ;
the first a as in father), son of the Duke
of Bourbon, was born in France in 1772.
Being accused of conspiracies against
Bonaparte as First Consul, although
nothing was proved against him, he
underwent sentence of death, 1804.

ENTREPOT (ang-tre-po', the a as in father,
the e as in her), a warehouse for the
deposit of goods.

EPHEMERAL (e-fèm'eral). This is from the
Gr. ephi, for, and ¿mera, a day; perish-
ing with the day; short-lived.
EPIC (Gr. épos, a word), a poem of the nar-
rative kind, describing generally the ex-
ploits of heroes.

EPICURE, one given to luxury; so called
from Epicurus, a Greek philosopher,
whose doctrines did not, however, author-
ize the sensual construction which was
wrested from them.

EPITOME (e pit'-o-me), an abridgment, an
abbreviation, or compendious abstract.
EP CH (p-ok or e-pok). This is from the
Gr. epecho, I stop, and means a certain
fixed point of time, made famous by some
remarkable event, from whence ensuing
years are numbered.

ERA differs from epoch in this

era is a
point of time fixed by some nation or de-
nomination of men; epoch is a point
fixed by historians and chronologists.
ERE (ar), before; sooner than; supposed
to be from the Saxon er, signifying the
morning. Being pronounced like E'er,
this word is sometimes mistaken for it.
ES'SAY, in literature, a short treatise, or
tract. Lord Bacon first used it in this
sense.

EUREKA (eu-re'-ka) a Greek word, meaning,
I have found. See p. 275.
EURIPIDES (U-rip'i-dēs), a Grecian tragic
poet, b. 480 B. C. He was torn in pieces
by the dogs of King Archela'us, whose
guest he was. Soph'ocles, who survived
him, publicly mourned his loss.
EVAN DER is said to have built on the Tiber,
at the foot of the Palatine Hill, a town
which was incorporated with Rome. He
taught the arts of peace.

ANGEL (from two Gr. words, meaning to
tell well, to announce good tidings),
the Gospel; the history of Christ's life
and resurrection.

EVERETT, EDWARD, b. in Massachusetts,
1794. Quoted pp. 185, 187, 249.
EXAMINE; said to be from the Latin, ex-
amen, the tongue or beam of a balance.
EXCEL'SIOR, the comparative degree of the
Latin adjective, excelsus, high; so that
it means higher. 285.
EXCOMMUNICATE, to expel from the com-
munion of the church.
EXILE, THE POOR, 82.

EXIT, the third person of the Latin verb
exeo, I go out; literally, he or it goes
out; hence the departure of a player
from the stage; a way of departure, pas-
sage out of a place.

Ex'ODUS, a way, or passage out; egress, de-
parture; the title of the second book of
Moses, which describes the journey from
Egypt.
EX'PLETIVE, a word not necessary to the
sense; one used to fill a space.
EXTEMPORE (ex-tem'-po-rë), on the spur of
the moment, at the time; from the Lat.
words ex, from, and tempore the time.

Avoid the blunder of pronouncing this
word (extempore) in three syllables.
EXTRAORDINARY (eks-tror'-de-na-ry).
EXTRIN'SIC, external, outward.

FABLE (Lat. fari, to speak). In English
it is applied to any feigned thing; gene-
rally a story inculcating a moral precept.
See pp. 67, 71, 72, 92, 130, 286, 412.
FALL OF A MOUNTAIN, 105.
FAME. The root of this word meaning
simply to speak or talk (good or ill), fame
may be either favorable or the contrary.
We often find that both praise and de-
traction are much exaggerated in men's
mouths; hence the proverb, "common
fame is a common liar," 64, 309.
FAUST. The au pronounced like ow in how.
FEBRUARY is from the Lat. februo, I cleanse;
because on the fifteenth of this month the
great feast of purification, called februa,
was held among the Romans.
FENELON, Archbishop of Cambray, in France,
a great writer, and most amiable man,
was b. 1651, d. 1715.

Fidelity in Little Things, 85.

Cicero and Demosthenes, 243.
FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, 281.
FERRA'RA, an ancient and famous city of
Italy; once the capital of a sovereign
duchy.

FEUDALISM. The feudal system was that
form of government anciently subsisting
in Europe, under which a victorious leader
allotted considerable portions of land,
called fiefs, or feuds, to his principal offi-
cers, who, in their turn, divided their
possessions among their inferiors; the
condition being that the latter should
render military service both at home and
abroad.

FIELD. This word (says Trench) properly
means a clearing where the trees have
been felled, or cut down, as in all our
early English writers it is spelled without
the i, "feld," and not "field."

FIJI (fe-jee), one of the S. Pacific islands.
FIRE-WATER, the appropriate name given by
the Indians to intoxicating liquors.
FLEECY TROOPS. By a figure known as
periphrasis (circumlocution), the poet
thus designates sheep, 136.

He

FLINT, TIMOTHY, an American writer, and a
missionary to the Mississippi valley.
died in 1839. See pp. 299, 302.
FLORENCE, capital of the Grand Duchy of
Tuscany, and one of the finest cities in
the world. The present population is
106,899.

FLUKES, the broad triangular plates at the
extremity of the arms of an anchor. The
fins of a whale, from their resemblance,
are sometimes thus called.
FLYING FISH, THE 217.
FOLIO (Lat. folium, a leaf), a book of the
largest size, formed by once doubling a
sheet of paper.

FOOLSCAP, a kind of paper, usually about
seventeen inches by fourteen. The deriva-
tion of the word is uncertain.

FO'RAY, a sudden or irregular incursion in|
a border war.

FORD, JOHN, an English dramatic writer, b.
1586, d. 1670. See p. 295.
FORECASTLE (fore-kas-si), that part of the
upper deck of a ship forward of the fore-
mast; also, in merchant vessels, the for-
ward part, under the deck, where the
sailors live.

FOREST, from the root of the Lat. word foras,
meaning out of doors.

FORY'ULA, a prescribed form or order; a
model.

FORUM, a Latin word, meaning literally,

what is out of doors, an outside space or
place; in Rome a public place where
causes were tried, and orations made.
FOSTER, JOHN, a much-esteemed English
writer, b. 1770, d. 1843. See pp. 104,
331.

FRANKLIN, BENJAMIN, distinguished as an
essayist, a philosopher, and a statesman,
was born in Boston, Mass., Jan. 17th,
1706, and died in Philadelphia, the city of
his adoption, April 17th, 1790. He dis-
covered the identity of lightning with
electricity, and obtained a lasting scien-
tific reputation thereby.

Remarks on his Character, 331.
Turning the Grindstone, by, 103.
Dialogue with the Gout, 355.
FRATZEL, The Silent Teacher, by, 288.
FREDERICK, generally called the Great, King
of Prussia, was born in 1712, and died
1786; a strict military disciplinarian, and
friendly to literature.

FRIAR, from the French frère, a brother; in
a restricted sense, a monk who is not a
priest.

FRIDAY, the sixth day of the week.

The

name is derived from Freya, a Saxon
goddess.

FROWARD (fro-ward), peevish, perverse; its
radical meaning being, turned or look-
ing from.

FULTON, ROBERT, an American engineer
and projector, born in Pennsylvania, in
1767, died 1815. His first steamboat was
put upon the Hudson (as described by
Judge Story, p. 324) in 1807. The merit
of a prior invention was claimed by John
Fitch, also an American.

GALAXY (Gr. galak'tos, of milk), the Milky
Way; the long, white, luminous track
visible across the heavens at night, from
horizon to horizon. It consists entirely
of stars, scattered by millions, like glit-
tering dust, on the black ground of the
general heavens.

GALEN, one of the greatest physicians of
ancient times, b. in Asia, 256.
GASTRIC JUICE, the peculiar fluid secreted
by the stomach, and essential to diges-
tion.

GE-NEVA, the most populous and industrious
town of Switzerland, on the Rhone.
ASIUS. The Latin root of this word means
to produce, to bring forth, 147, 214.
GENDA (Jĕn'oä), a famous seaport city of
northern Italy, on the Mediterranean.

GEN'TILE (Lat. gens, a nation). The Jews
designated all not professing their religion
as "the nations; " hence the word Gen
tile came to mean any person not a Jew
or a Christian, a heathen.

GIBBON, EDWARD, the celebrated English
historian, was b. 1737, d. 1794. In his
great work, "The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire," he does not always do
justice to his Christian characters. The
same energy and virtue which, appearing
in a heathen or a Mahometan, fills his
heart with fervor, and his lofty periods
with a swelling grandeur, leaves him cold
and impassible, or cavilling and contempt
uous, when it is exhibited in the cause
of Christianity. 144.

GIBRALTAR, a strongly fortified seaport
town and colony, belonging to G. Britain,
near the southern extremity of Spain,
where it occupies a mountainous prom-
ontory. The Strait of Gibraltar, between
Spain and Morocco, is about fifty miles
long, and from nineteen to twenty-three
broad.

GIL BLAS (Zhil Blas). It is difficult to ex-
press in English the exact pronunciation
of the French g. The nearest approach
to it is zh, the z being sounded as in
azure. The a of Blas has the first ele-
mentary sound (see p. 17), and the s is
sounded. See Le Sage, Santillanë, Sig-

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French history, the Gironde were, dur-
ing the revolution, a celebrated politi-
cal party, termed Girondins, from La
Gironde (the department in which Bor-
deaux is situated), which sent to the legis
lative assembly of 1791 three of the chief
leaders of the party, 291.
GITTERN. See Arion.

GLADIATOR (Lat. gladius, a sword), a
sword-player, a prize-fighter, 94.
GLASS. "Looks in a glass," &c., p. 321.
The allusion here is to the imposition
practised by fortune-tellers, who pre-
tended to see future events in a běryl, or
crystal glass.
GLOAMING, the twilight; probably the word
is a corruption of glooming.
GNOMON (no-mon), a Greek word, meaning
one who knows; in a dial, the pin which
by its shadow tells the hour.
GOLDAU (Gol-do'), a village of Switzerland,
which was overwhelmed by the fall of part
of the mountain of Rossberg, Sept. 3d.
1806. The account (p. 106) is substan-
tially true.

GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, a celebrated post, hi3-
torian, and essayist, was born in Ireland
in 1731; died 1774. He was one of the
most genial and elegant writers of his
day; but, notwithstanding his great repu
tation, activity, and success, his life was
embittered by perpetual debts and diffi-
culties.

The Village Preacher, 218.
The Discontented Miller, 222.
Retirement, 256.

GOOSE-QUILL. The proverb, p 64, indiestes

the superiority of mental force over physfcal; that "the pen is mightier than the sword."

GORGON, a fabled monster, the sight of which turned the beholder to stone. GOSPEL (Saxon, godspell; god, good, and spell, history), the Christian revelation. GRATTAN, HENRY, one of the most eloquent of Ireland's orators, b. 1746, d. 1820.

On Lord Chatham. 246. GRAHAME, JAMES, a Scottish poet, b. 1765, d. 1511. Winter Sabbath, by, 433. GRAVITATION (from the Lat. gravis, heavy) is a force which binds the universe together. It causes the falling of heavy bodies to the earth's surface, and, by a wonderful balancing of the same force, the heavenly bodies are kept within their proper paths. See Newton.

GRAY, THOMAS, an English poet, b. 1716, d. . 1771. His Elegy (p. 272) is the most celebrated of his poems. It is related by Lord Mahon, that the evening before the capture of Quebec (1759) Gen. Wolfe, while on the St. Lawrence in a boat with some of his officers, repeated this elegy, then new, aloud, and said, "Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec." See Curfew. GREECE. The effects of Grecian art, literature, and philosophy, upon the world, promise to be as enduring as its civilization. They can hardly be estimated. GREGA'RIOUS (Lat. grex, a herd), going in flocks or herds; not liking to live alone. GRIFFIN, GERALD, an Irish poet and miscel laneous writer, who died young, about the year 1840.

Love due to the Creator, 179. GUATEMALA, pronounced Gwa-te-mala; the a in the first and third syllables like that in father.

GUILLOTINE (gil-lo-tēn), a machine for be heading in France, named from its inventor, Dr. Guillotin.

GUINEA, a piece of money, so called because it was originally coined of gold brought from the coast of Guinea.

UTTIEREZ, pronounced Goot-ti-a'reth. JYGEs (jy'jēs), according to Plato, was a shepherd of Lydia, who had a ring, with which, by turning a stone in it, he could become invisible.

GYMNASTIC, pertaining to athletic exercises. The Greek root gymnos means naked, the ancients bein naked in their exercises.

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HAMLET (believed to be from the same Saxon root as home, anciently written hame), a small village; a little cluster of houses in the country.

HAMPDEN, JOHN, one of England's best patriots, was born in London in 1594. He strenuously resisted the impositions of the royal government. Being mortally wounded in the civil war against the king, he died, after six days of great suffering, in 1643. He was a devout Christian; and his last words were, "O, Lord, save my country. O, Lord, be merciful and here his speech

to

failed him, and he fell back and expired. HARVEY, WM., a celebrated physician, b. in England 1578, d. 1658. He discovered the circulation of the blood, of which he published an account in 1628.

HASTINGS, WARREN, born in England in 1733, d. 1818. He was appointed by the East India Company governor of their possessions: but, being accused of having governed tyrannically, and extorted large sums of money, he was impeached by the British House of Commons, but finally acquitted, 268.

HAWTHORNE, NATHANIEL, an American author, born about 1809; in 1853 appointed consul to Liverpool by President Pierce.

A Rill from the Town Pump, 231. HAZLITT, WM., an English critic and essay ist, who died in 1830. He was a vigorous writer, but apt to be borne away by violent prejudices.

HEBREWS, Literature of the, 389. HECTOR, the chief hero of the Trojans in their war with the Greeks. He was slain by Achilles.

HEMANS, FELICIA DOROTHEA, the most popular poetess of England, was born at Liverpool in 1795, died 1835. She married young, but her marriage was infelicitous She wrote much for the magazines of the day; and many of her lyrics are of a high order of merit.

The Graves of a Household, 105. Hymn of the Mountaineers, 239. The Captive's Dreams, 310. HENDERSON, JOHN, Account of, 167. HENRY, PATRICK, an American orator and statesman, born in Virginia 1736, died 1799. His early opportunities of education were very limited, but he rose above all impediments into great distinction as one of the most eloquent men of any age. He was a strenuous advocate for American independence. Extract from, 271. HERSCHEL, SIR JOHN, born in England 1790, a son of the celebrated astronomer, Wm. Herschel, and eminent for his mathematical and literary attainments.

On a Taste for Reading, 399. Wonders of the Universe, 406. HES'PERUS, a name given to the planet Venus when she follows the sun or ap pears in the evening; when she appears in the morning before sunrise, the same planet is called Lucifer

HET-E RO GE'NEOUS (Gr. eteros, other, and

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