an Athenian lawgiver, prior to Solon, so extremely severe, that he punished all faults, small or great, with death; hence his laws were proverbial, said to have been written with blood. He flourished 624 B.C.

Dragon, in zoology, a genus belonging to the order of amphibia reptilia. The characters of which are these: it has four legs, a cylindrical tail, and two membranaceous wings, radiated like the fins of a fish, by which he is enabled to fly, but not to any great distance at a time. There are two species, 1. The Plate volans, or flying dragon, with the wings entirely distinct from the fore-legs; it is found in Africa and the East Indies. 2. The prapos, with the wings fixed to the fore-legs; it is a native of America. They are both harmless creatures, and feed upon flies, ants, and small insects.

Draco Velans, in meteorology, a fiery exhalation, frequent in marshy and cold countries.

It is most common in summer; and though principally seen playing near the banks of rivers, or in boggy places, yet sometimes mounts up to a considerable height in the air, to the no small terror of the amazed beholders; its appearance being that of an oblong, sometimes roundish, fiery body, with a long tail. It is entirely harmless, frequently sticking to the hands and cloaths of people, without injuring them in the least.

astronomy, a constellation of the northern hemisphere. See Astronomy, p. 206.