DANCOURT

dancourt, florent carton (1661-1725), french dramatist and actor, was born at fontainebleau on the 1st of november 1661. he belonged to a family of rank, and his parents entrusted his education to pere de la rue, a jesuit, who made earnest efforts to induce him to join the order. but he had no religious vocation and proceeded to study law. he practised at the bar for some time, but his marriage to the daughter of the comedian francois lenoir de la thorilliere led him to become an actor, and in 1685, in spite of the strong opposition of his family, he appeared at the theatre francais. his gifts as a comedian gave him immediate and marked success, both with the public and with his fellow actors. he was the spokesman of his company on occasions of state, and in this capacity he frequently appeared before louis xiv., who treated him with great favour. one of his most famous impersonations was alceste in the _misanthrope_ of moliere. his first play, _le notaire obligeant_, produced in 1685, was well received. _la desolation des joueuses_ (1687) was still more successful. _le chevalier a la mode_ (1687) is generally regarded as his best work, though his claim to original authorship in this and some other cases has been disputed. in _le chevalier a la mode_ appears the _bourgeoise_ infatuated with the desire to be an aristocrat. the type is developed in _les bourgeoises a la mode_ (1692) and _les bourgeoises de qualite_ (1700). dancourt was a prolific author, and produced some sixty plays in all. some years before his death he terminated his career both as an actor and as an author by retiring to his chateau at courcelles le roi, in berry, where he employed himself in making a poetical translation of the psalms and in writing a sacred tragedy. he died on the 7th of december 1725. the plays of dancourt are faithful descriptions of the manners of the time, and as such have real historical value. the characters are drawn with a realistic touch that led to his being styled by charles palissot the teniers of comedy. he is very successful in his delineation of low life, and especially of the peasantry. the dialogue is sparkling, witty and natural. many of the incidents of his plots were derived from actual occurrences in the "fast" and scandalous life of the period, and several of his characters were drawn from well-known personages of the day. most of the plays incline to the type of farce rather than of pure comedy. voltaire defined his talent in the words: "ce que regnard etait a l'egard de moliere dans la haute comedie, le comedien dancourt l'etait dans la farce." his two daughters, manon and marie anne (mimi), both obtained success on the stage of the theatre francais. the complete works of dancourt were published in 1760 (12 vols. 12mo). an edition of his _theatre choisi_, with a preface by f. sarcey, appeared in 1884. dandelion (_taraxacum officinale_), a perennial herb belonging to the natural order compositae. the plant has a wide range, being found in europe, central asia, north america, and the arctic regions, and also in the south temperate zone. the leaves form a spreading rosette on the very short stem; they are smooth, of a bright shining green, sessile, and tapering downwards. the name dandelion is derived from the french _dent-de-lion_, an appellation given on account of the tooth-like lobes of the leaves. the long tap-root has a simple or many-headed rhizome; it is black externally, and is very difficult of extirpation. the flower-stalks are smooth, brittle, leafless, hollow, and very numerous. the flowers bloom from april till august, and remain open from five or six in the morning to eight or nine at night. the flower-heads are of a golden yellow, and reach 1(1/2) to 2 in. in width; the florets are all strap-shaped. the fruits are olive or dull yellow in colour, and are each surmounted by a long beak, on which rests a pappus of delicate white hairs, which occasions the ready dispersal of the fruit by the wind; each fruit contains one seed. the globes formed by the plumed fruits are nearly two inches in diameter. the involucre consists of an outer spreading (or reflexed) and an inner and erect row of bracts. in all parts of the plant a milky juice is contained, which has a somewhat complex composition. the chief constituent is taraxacin, a neutral principle. in addition the juice contains taraxacerin (derived from the former), asparagin, inulin, resins and salts. an extract (dose 5-15 grains), a liquid extract (dose (1/2)-1 drachm) and a succus (dose 1-2 drachms) of the root are all used medicinally. for the purposes formerly recognized taraxacum is now never used, but it has been shown to possess definite cholagogue properties, and may therefore be prescribed along with ammonium chloride in cases of hepatic constipation, which it very constantly relieves. the root--which is the medicinal product--is most bitter from march to july, but the milky juice it contains is less abundant in the summer than in the autumn. for this reason, the extract and succus are usually prepared during the months of september and october. after a frost a change takes place in the root, which loses its bitterness to a large extent. in the dried state the root will not keep well, being quickly attacked by insects. externally it is brown and wrinkled, internally white, with a yellow centre and concentric paler rings. it is two inches to a foot long, and about a quarter to half an inch in diameter. the leaves are bitter, but are sometimes eaten as a salad; they serve as food for silkworms when mulberry leaves are not to be had. the root is roasted as a substitute for coffee. several varieties of the dandelion are recognized by botanists; they differ in the degree and mode of cutting of the leaf-margin and the erect or spreading character of the outer series of bracts. the variety _palustre_, which affects boggy situations, and flowers in late summer and autumn, has nearly entire leaves, and the outer bracts of its involucre are erect. [illustration: dandelion (_taraxacum officinale_). 1, unopened head; 2, ripe head from which all the fruits except two have been removed; 3, one floret, enlarged; 4, one fruit.]