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Russians claim the sovereignty of Daghestan, which is divided into four districts; but their authority is not universally acknowledged. Many of the inhabitants subsist by plunder; but it has recently been the scene of contest between the Persians and Russians. The chief towns are Tarki, Derbend, Baschli, and Ottermisch.

DAGO, or DAGHO, an island in the Baltic Sea, on the coast of Livonia, between the gulf of Finland and Riga. It is of a triangular figure, and may be about twenty miles in circumference. It has nothing considerable but two castles called Daggerwort and Paden. Long. 22° 50′ E., lat. 58° 44' N.

DAGOE, DAGHO, or DAGEN, an island of the Baltic, at the entrance of the gulf of Finland, near the coast of Esthonia, and separated from the island of Oesel by a narrow channel. It is about forty miles long, and from twenty-six to thirty-six broad, and is well peopled. At Dagerort there is a lighthouse.

DAGON, the idol of Ashdod or Azotus. He is commonly represented as a monster, half man and half fish; whence most learned men derive the name from the Hebrew dag, which signifies a fish. Those who make him to have been the inventor of bread corn, derive his name from the Hebrew, 117, Dagon, signifying corn; whence Philo-Biblius calls him Zeve Aparpetos, Jupiter Aratrius. This deity continued to have a temple at Ashdod to the time of the Maccabees: for the author of the first book of Maccabees tells us, that Jonathan, one of the Maccabees, having beaten the army of Apollonius, Demetrius's general, they fled to Azotus, and entered into Bethdagon (the temple of their idol); but Jonathan set fire to Azotus, and burnt the temple of Dagon and all those who were fled into it.' Dagon, according to some, was the same with Jupiter, according to others Saturn or Venus; but according to most Neptune.

DAHALAK, DALAKA, or DALACCA, an island in the Red Sea, near the coast of Abyssinia, about twenty-five miles in length, and twelve in breadth, anciently celebrated for its pearl fishery. It is low and flat, with a sandy soil, and in summer destitute of every kind of herbage, except a small quantity of bent grass, which is barely sufficient to feed a few antelopes and goats. From the end of March to the beginning of October, they have no rain in Dahalak; but in the intermediate months they have heavy showers, when the water is collected into artificial cisterns, to supply the inhabitants during the ensuing summer. Of these cisterns, which are supposed to be either the work of the Persians or of the first Ptolemies, upwards of 300 remained at a recent period, cut out of the solid rock. Its principal port is Dahalece-el-Kebar, but it will only admit small vessels; and its trade is with Masuah. It was formerly much more populous than at present. This as well as the neighbouring islands is dependent upon Masuah; and the governor is furnished monthly with a goat from each of the twelve villages; besides which every vessel putting in here for Masuah, pays him a pound of coffee, and every one from Arabia, a dollar. From these his revenue chiefly arises. Long. 39° 0′ E., lat. 15° 40′ N.

DAHL, or DAL, a large river of Sweden, which runs through the provinces of Dalecarlia and Gestricia, and falls into the gulf of Bothnia, four leagues E. S. E. of Gefle. Near Elfkarleby it forms a celebrated cataract, scarcely inferior to the fall of the Rhine at Lauffen.

DAHLIA, in botany, a genus of plants belonging to the syngenesia class and polygamia order, thus named by Cavanilles in honor of Dr. Andrew Dahl, a Swedish botanist. The stems die every winter, but the root is perennial and tuberous. The known species are but four. 1. D. pinnata, figured by Cavanilles, and in Andrew's Botanical Repository: it has bipennate leaves of a deep purple color. 2. D. rosea, a rose-colored variety figured by Cavanilles in his Icones. 3. D. coccinea, a scarlet variety; and, 4. D. crocata, a saffron-colored species. These beautiful plants are now becoming so general in British gardens, that a lengthened description would be superfluous: it is sufficient to say, that they elevate the stem like the holly-hock, and bear fine showy axillary and terminal flowers late in the autumn.

DAHOMEY, or DAUMA, a kingdom of Africa, on the coast of Guinea, situated about sixty or seventy miles from the Atlantic, to the east of Ashantee. This kingdom,which is correctly placed in various old maps, particularly that of Mercator, who names its ancient capital Dauina, was erased from the maps of Africa in 1700, and the existence of the nation of Dauma denied; but it emerged from obscurity in 1727, by the fame of its conquests of the maritime states of Whidah and Ardra. Dahomey, as known at present, is supposed to reach from the sea coast 150 miles in land, but no European has yet penetrated to that distance from the coast. The soil is a deep rich clay, of a reddish color, with a little sand on the surface, except about Calmina, where it is more light and gravelly; but there is not to be found a stone so large as an egg in the whole country, so far as it has been visited by Europeans. Of. farinaceous vegetables, the country yields a plentiful supply, in proportion to the culture. The Dahomese likewise cultivate yams, potatoes, the cassada or manioka, the plantain, and the banana. Pine-apples, melons, oranges, limes, guavas, and other tropical fruits, also abound in this fertile country. Nor is it destitute of productions adapted for commerce and manufacture; such as indigo, cotton, the sugar-cane, tobacco, palm-oil, with a variety of spices, particularly a species of pepper, very similar in flavor, and indeed scarcely distinguishable from the black pepper of the East Indies. The Dahomese, like the other inhabitants of tropical climates, plant twice a-year, viz., at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes; after which the periodical rains prevail. The harmattan, or dry wind, blows here strongly from the north-east; but Mr. Norris does not ascribe to it those pestilential qualities which have often been supposed, for while it parches up the ground, and injures every species of vegetable, it does not induce any fatal diseases. It is even said to cure cutaneous eruptions, and stop the progress of small pox, fluxes, and remittent fevers. The greatest bane of the climate is the periodical rains; which are attended with terri

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ble tornadoes. The language is that which the Portuguese call Lingua Geral, and is spoken not only in Dahomey Proper, but in Whidah, and the other dependent states. The Dahoman religion is vague and uncertain in its principles, and rather consists in the performance of some traditionary ceremonies, than of any fixed system of belief, or moral conduct. According to Mr. Norris, human sacrifices are not unfrequent among the Dahomese. Their kings, he says, water the graves of their ancestors every year with the blood of human victims. The same traveller mentions that the people in general take a peculiar pleasure in contemplating human skulls. The king said to a traveller, Some heads I place at my door: others I throw into the market-place. This gives a grandeur to my customs; this makes my enemies fear me; and this pleases my ancestors to whom I send them.' The king is even said to sleep in a room paved with the skulls of prisoners of distinction taken in war; and frequently to exclaim, Thus I can trample on the skulls of my enemies whenever I please.' It appears to be customary with the Dahomese to cut off the ears of the prisoners they take in war, and to send them as a present to the Grand Seignior: upwards of 300 pairs of ears have been seat to him at one time. They believe more firmly in their amulets and fetiches, than in the deity; their national fetiche is the tiger; and their houses or huts are decorated with images, tinged with blood, stuck with feathers, besmeared with palm oil, and bedaubed with eggs. The government is perhaps the most perfect despotism upon earth, and seems to admit of no intermediate degree of subordination between the king and slave. Norris having asked a soldier if he did not think the enemy numerous in a war in which he found the Dahomese engaged; the latter replied, 'I think of my king, and then I dare engage five of the enemy myself.' He added, it is not material, my head belongs to the king, not to myself; if he pleases to send for it, I am ready to resign it; for if it is shot through in battle, it is no difference to me, I am satisfied.' A minister of state crawls towards the apartment of audience on his hands and knees, till he arrives in the royal presence, where he lays himself flat on his belly, rubbing his head in the dust, and uttering the most humiliating expressions. Being desired to advance, he receives the king's commands, or communicates any particular business, still continuing in a recumbent posture; for no person is permitted to sit, even on the floor, in the royal presence, except the women; and even they must kiss the earth when they receive or deliver the king's message. The king of Dahomey maintains a considerable standing army, commanded by an agaow or general, with several other subordinate military officers; the payment of these troops chiefly depends on the success of the expeditions in which they are engaged. Sometimes the king takes the field at the head of his troops; and on very great emergencies at the head of his women. For within the walls of the different royal palaces in Dahomey, are immured not less than 3000 women; several hundreds of whom are trained to arms under a female general, and subordinate officers appointed by the king.

These Amazons are regularly exercised, and go through their evolutions with much expertness; their accoutrements being precisely similar to those of the male troops. The dress of the men in Dahomey consists of a pair of striped or white cotton drawers, of the manufacture of the country, over which they wear a large square cloth of the same, or of European manufacture. This cloth is about the size of a common counterpane for the middling class, but much larger for the grandees. It is wrapped about the loins, and tied on the left side by two of the corners, the others hanging down, and sometimes trailing on the ground. A piece of silk or velvet, of sixteen or eighteen yards, makes a cloth for a grandee. The head is usually covered with a beaver or felt hat, according to the quality of the wearer. The king, as well as some of his ministers, often wears a gold or silver laced hat and feather. The arms and upper part of the body remain naked, unless when the party travels, or performs laborious work, when the large cloth is laid aside, and the body is covered with a sort of frock or tunic without sleeves. The feet are always bare, none but the sovereign having a right to wear sandals. The dress of the women, though simple, consists of a greater number of articles than that of the men. They use several cloths or handkerchiefs; the neck, arms, and ancles, are adorned with beads and cowries; and rings of silver, or baser metal, encircle the fingers. The ears are so pierced as to admit the little finger, and a coral bead of that size, red sealing wax, or a piece of oyster-shell, stuck into each. Girls, before the age of. puberty, wear nothing but a string of beads or shells round the loins, and young women usually expose the breasts. The general character of the Dahomese is marked by a strange mixture of ferocity and politeness. The former appears in the treatment of their enemies; the latter they possess far above most of the African nations with whom we have hitherto had any intercourse. Abomey, the capital, lies between long. 3° and 4° E., and in lat. 7° 50' N.

DAILLE (John), a protestant minister of the seventeenth century, the most esteemed by the Catholics of all the controversial writers among the Protestants. He was tutor to two of the grandsons of the illustrious M. du Plessis Mornai. Mr. Daille having lived fourteen years in this family, travelled into Italy with his two pupils; one of them died abroad; with the other he visited Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Flanders, Holland, and England, and returned in 1621. He was received minister in 1623, and became chaplain to the family of M. Mornai. In 1625 he was appointed minister of the church of Saumur, and in 1626 removed to Paris, where he spent the rest of his life, and composed several works. His first work, Of the Use of the Fathers, was his masterpiece; printed in 1631. He died in 1670, aged seventy-seven.

DAILY. See DAY. DAINT, adj. DAIN'TEOUS, adj. DAIN'TY, n. s. & adj. DAIN'TILY, adv. DAIN'TINESS, n. s.

Fr. dain, delicate. From Lat. dens, a tooth, because pleasing to the palate, as Minsheu says: delicious, exqui

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Which of you all

Shakspeare.

Will now deny to dance? She that makes dainty,
I'll swear hath corns. Id. Romeo and Juliet.
Therefore to horse;

And let us not be dainty of leave-taking,
But shift away.
Id. Macbeth.

Why, that's my dainty; I shall miss thee;
But yet thou shalt have freedom. Id. Tempest.
What should yet thy palate please?
Daintiness and softer ease,

Sleeked limbs and finest blood? Ben Jonson. The duke exceeded in the daintiness of his leg and foot, and the earl in the fine shape of his hands.

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Why should ye be so cruel to yourself,
And to those dainty limbs, which nature lent
For gentle usage and soft delicacy? Milton.

She then produced her dairy store,
And unbought dainties of the poor. Dryden.
Your dainty speakers have the curse,
To plead bad causes down to worse. Prior.
The shepherd swains, with sure abundance blest,
On the fat flock and rural dainties feast. Pope.

DAIRY, n. s. From dev, says Lye, an DAIRY-MAID. Sold word for milk. The milk-house, or place where it is managed. A dairy-maid and milk-maid, are nearly synonymous. In Gloucestershire, the dairy is still called a dey-house. Yet we supply a very early use of 'dairies.'

Citees and burghes, castles high and towres, Thorpes and barnes, shepenes and dairies, This maketh that thir ben no Faeries.

Chaucer. Cant. Tales. Dairies being well housewived, are exceeding commedious. Bacon.

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Id.

Addison.

DAIRY. The operations of the dairy are connected with the domestic comforts of almost every English family. Man is here seen taking that useful and honorable direction of the works of nature for which he was designed, and his original companion, when a good housewife, is almost more than a help meet' for him. She is generally, and for the great benefit of both parties, entrusted with the practical management of this department, even of extensive farming establishments; and so large a portion of 'skill, frugality, cleanliness, and industry,' is required, as a modern author well observes, in hardly any other of the duties of a farmer's wife.

In our articles AGRICULTURE and Bos we have entered pretty largely into the natura. history and peculiarities of the only animal whose milk is extensively used in this country; we shall, in this paper, principally advert,-1. To the selection and general management of cows kept for the dairy, and by cow-keepers, as they are termed. 2. To the operations of the regular dairy in our cheese and butter counties, particularly the former for in our article BUTTER will be found many useful directions with regard to that important manufacture. 3. We shall offer a few remarks on the structure of the dairy-house and its furniture.

i. Of the selection and management of cows.In and about London the Holderness cows, a variety of the short-horned breed, are preferred. They have large carcases and yield a great quantity of milk. They take their name from a district in Yorkshire, where, as well as in the county of Durham, they are extensively bred; but most English counties have cultivated the breed in some degree. The Edinburgh dairy-men select the short-horned cow of Roxburghshire for similar reasons. Ayrshire has also a celebrated breed. In Lancashire (and in the neighbourhood of Liverpool this topic has been well canvassed) a native long-horned cow is said to have a general preference. The Guernsey breed is also highly valuable for its rich and abundant milk. At Caton, in Lancashire, in Mr. Hodgson's dairy establishment, a long-ho.ned cow yielded eight quarts of milk a day and four pounds of butter per week on an average of twelve months, during which period one of the short-horned breed gave nine quarts per day and four pounds and a half of butter per week, both having what they chose to take of exactly the same kind of food. But the quantity each consumed was not noted. Dr. Anderson's strong recommendation of the Alderney cows, as affording the richest milk hitherto known; though there are many

individuals of different kinds which afford much richer milk than others,' as he says, seems long to have kept up the public preference for them in many districts.

Cows known to afford milk and butter of the best qualities, will of course be selected; but neither size nor breed seems to be a uniform criterion. Respectable cow-keepers rarely breed cattle, so that actual experience of the animal is the only final test; and the quantity of milk yielded seems to be, in this case, the sole ground of favoritism. Those who supply the metropolis with milk generally purchase their cows at from three to four years old, and in calf, at Islington, or Smithfield. Some of them own several hundreds. The number scattered in and about London is calculated at about 9000. Ten bulls are generally allowed to a stock of 300 cows, and the calves are sent to Smithfield market at one, two, or three days old. The quantity of milk given on an average, by each cow, is said to be nine quarts a day, or 3285 quarts per annum. The weekly expense of their food is estimated in the Middlesex Report at 10s. 3d., and the other charges about £5. 7s. per annum.

These cows are often confined in the cowhouse, or the premises adjoining, during the whole time of their being devoted to the purposes of the cow-keeper; but respectable establishments turn them out to grass in the spring. In the night they are turned into their stalls, and fed at about three in the morning with half a bushel each of grains. From four to half-past six or seven they are milked for the retail dealers; then they receive a bushel each of green food or turnips, and soon after at the rate of a truss or meadow hay to ten cows. They are now turned out into the cow-yard, from eight to twelve o'clock, and about half-past one to three are milked and fed again as in the morning. This is the regular plan from September to May at least, or during the turnip season. At other parts of the year cabbages and tares diversify their food until they are turned out to grass (where that change of food is supplied to them), and now they remain in the field all night; but are frequently fed with grains to increase their milk, even at this period.

The cow-feeders of Edinburgh, according to the Supplement of the Encyclopædia Britannica, do not find it for their interest to keep their cows for more than one year, or even so long, if they can be fattened sooner. Their object is to have as great a quantity of milk as possible in the first instance; and when the cows fall off in milking, as they almost always do from between four and six months after calving, to prepare them speedily for the butcher. Most of the cows continue to give a good deal of milk while they are fatten ing, and even until they are sent to the shambles. It is expected they should sell to the butcher at the price paid by the cow-keeper. Their food in summer is brewers' and distillers' grains and dreg, wheat shellings or small bran, grass and straw; and in winter the same grains, dreg and bran, with turnips and potatoes, and hay instead grass. When grains are scarce, cut or chopped hay is mixed with them. Some of them are sent to pasture in fields near the city, for about two

of

months, during the best of the grass season; but even then a certain number must be kept in the house, for consuming the grains, which are purchased by contract for a whole year.'

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With regard to management, the cow-keepers begin with grains, dreg, and bran, mixed together, at five o'clock in the morning; feed a second time at one o'clock in the afternoon; and a third from seven to eight in the evening. Grass in summer, and turnips or potatoes in winter, are given at both intervals. A small quantity of straw is laid below the grass. which absorbs its moisture, and is eaten after the grass; and, in winter, straw or hay is given after the turnips. Part of the turnips or potatoes are boiled, particularly when there is a scarcity of grains, and intermixed with them. The expense in summer is said to be 2s. 10 d., and in winter 3s. 7 d. per day, for each cow. The cows are seldom milked more than twice a-day: for about a month after being bought, it is sometimes necessary to milk them three times. The common periods of milking are six o'clock in the morning, from three to four in the afternoon, and, when milked a third time, nine in the evening. Their produce in milk, when fed as already stated, may average about seven Scotch pints, or nearly twelve quarts and a half daily, per cow. When the cows are smaller, and not so well fed, five pints, or about nine quarts, are said to be the average. The price of milk in Edinburgh used to be 6d. per pint, but of late it has been sometimes lower in summer. This is said to be very little more than the price of the food. For interest of money, risk, expenses of management, and profit, there is the dung, worth £3. 10s. for each cow; some savings on the cows while at grass, which costs only 18. 8d. per day; and, probably, a small advance of price may be commonly got from the butcher, when the cows are skilfully selected and well managed. There have been instances of cow-feeders contracting with others to retail their milk; but the practice is not common. The cow-keepers generally retail it themselves. In one instance a guinea a-week for the milk of each cow was paid by retailers to a farmer in the vicinity of Edinburgh.'

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Comparing the London and Edinburgh dairies,' continues the above writer, there seems to be a difference in favor of the best of the latter of no less than three quarts and a half per day. If this be the fact, perhaps it is owing to the whole of the Edinburgh cows being always in milk; none of them being kept for years, and bred from, as in the London dairies.'

Dr. Andersons's general aphorisms on the subject of the qualities of milk cannot be too well impressed on all dairy and cow-keepers. He says, 1. Of the milk drawn from a cow at any time, that which comes first is always thinnest, and continues to increase in thickness to the last drop. This is proved by experiment; and so great is the importance of attending to it, that the person who, by bad milking of his cows, loses but half a pint of his milk, loses, in fact, as much cream as would be afforded by six or eight pints at the beginning, and ioses besides that part of the cream which alone can give richness and high flavor to his butter. 2. When milk throws up

crean to the surface, that portion which rises first will be thicker, and of better quality, as well as in greater quantity, than that which rises in a second equal portion of time. 3. Thick milk throws up a smaller quantity of cream to the surface than such as is thinner; but that cream is of a richer quality. If water be added to that thick milk, it will afford a considerably greater quantity of cream than before, but its quality is at the same time greatly debased. 4. Milk when carried in vessels to any distance, so as to suffer considerable agitation, never throws up cream so rich, nor in such quantity, as if the same had been put into the milk-pans without any agitation. From these aphorisms, the following corollaries are deducible. 1. The cows ought always to be milked as near the dairy as possible. 2. The milk of different cows should be kept by themselves, that the good cows may be distinguished from the bad. 3. For butter of a very fine quality, the firstdrawn milk ought always to be kept separate from the last.

The Farmers' Magazine, vol. xv. supplies the following directions on the subject of feeding stalled cows, as those which are practically given by a very intelligent dairy-man, to his cowfeeder and milkers, at Farnham, in Surrey :

1. To the feeder. Go to the cow-stall at six o'clock in the morning, winter and summer; give each cow half a bushel of the field-beet, carrots, turnips, or potatoes cut; at seven o'clock, the hour the dairy-maid comes to milk them, give each some hay, and let them feed till they are all milked. If any cow refuse hay, give her something she will eat, such as grains, carrots, &c., during the time she is milking, as it is absolutely necessary the cow should feed whilst milking. As soon as the woman has finished milking in the morning, turn the cows into the airing ground, and let there be plenty of fresh water in the troughs; at nine o'clock give each cow three gallons of a mixture composed of eight gallons of grains and four gallons of bran or pollard; when they have eaten that, put some hay into the cribs; at twelve o'clock give each three gallons of the mixture as before; if any cow looks for more, give her another gallon; on the contrary, if she will not eat what you give her, take it out of the manger, never at one time letting a cow have more than she will eat up clean. Mind and keep your mangers clean, that they do not get sour. At two o'clock give each cow half a bushel of carrots, field-beet, or turnips; look the turnips, &c., over well before you give them to the cows, as one rotten turnip, &c. will give a bad taste to the milk, and most likely spoil a whole dairy of butter. At four o'clock put the cows into the stall to be milked; feed them on hay as you did at milking time in the morning, ever keeping in mind that the cow whilst milking must feed on something. At six o'clock give each cow three gallons of the mixture as before. Rack them up at eight o'clock. Twice in a week put into each cow's feed, at noon, a quart of malt dust.'

2. To the dairy-maid. Go to the cow-stall at seven o'clock; take with you cold water and a sponge, and wash each cow's udder clean before milking; dowse the udder well with cold water, winter and summer, as it braces, and repels heats.

Keep your hands and arms clean. Milk each
cow as dry as you can, morning and evening,
and when you have milked each cow, as you
suppose, dry, begin again with the cow you first
milked, and drip them each; for the principal
reason of cows failing in their milk is from neg-
ligence in not milking each cow dry, particularly
at the time the calf is taken from the cow.
fer no one to milk a cow but yourself, and have
no gossiping in the stall. Every Saturday night
give in an exact account of the quantity of milk
each cow has given in the week.'

Suf

Where butter is the principal object,' says Mr. Loudon, such cows should always be chosen as are known to afford the best and largest quantity of milk and cream, of whatever breed they may be. But the quantity of butter to be made from a given number of cows must always depend on a variety of contingent circumstances; such as the size and goodness of the beasts, the kind and quantity of the food, and the distance of time from calving. As to the first, it need scarcely be mentioned that a large cow will give greater store of milk than one of a smaller size; though cows of equal size differ as to the quantity of cream produced from the milk of each: it is, therefore, on those cows whose milk is not only in large abundance, but which, from a peculiar inherent richness, yields a thick cream, that the butter dairy-man is to place his chief dependence; and where a cow is deficient in either of these, she should be parted with, and her place supplied by one more proper for this use. As to the second particular, namely, the kind and quality of the food, those who would wish to profit by a dairy, ought to provide for their cows hay of a superior goodness, to be given them in the depth of winter, and this in an unlimited degree, that they may always feed till they are perfectly satisfied. And, when the weather will permit, the cows should be indulged with an outlet to marshes or low meadow-grounds, where they may feed on such green vegetables as are present; which is far preferable to the practice of confining them the whole day on dry meat, will enable them to yield greater plenty of milk, and will give a fine yellow color to the butter even in the winter season.'

ii. The operations of the regular dairies of the cheese and butter counties have been justly stated to be very little improved by the application of modern science to farming, Dr. Anderson and Mr. Marshall are the only scientific writers whose attention seems to have been turned to the subject. The latter, in his Rural Economy of Gloucestershire, has registered a number of observations on the heat of the dairy-room, and of the milk when the rennet was applied in cheese-making; on the time required for coagulation; and the heat of the whey after: but the chemistry of these arts and productions has been wholly neglected at present. We cannot therefore do better than present the reader with the following popular account of the cheeses best known in this country.

Cheshire cheese is prepared in the following manner :-The evening's milk is not touched till the next morning, when the cream is taken off. and put to warm in a metal pan heated with boiling water. The cows being milked early in

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