DILL{Anethum), a genus of umbelliferous plants having decompound leaves; umbels without involucre; yellow flowers, with calices incomplete above; and lenticular fruit, compressed from back to front, flattened at the margin, and presenting on each side three ridges. The common species, A. graveolens, is indigenous to the south of Europe, Egypt, and the Cape of Good Hope. It resembles fennel in appearance. Its root is long and fusiform; the stem is round, jointed, and about a yard high; the leaves have fragrant folioles; and the fruits are brown, oval, aud concavo-convex. The plant flowers from June till August in England. The seeds are sown, preferably as soon as ripe, either broadcast or in drills between 6 and 12 inches asunder. The young plants should be thinned when three or four weeks old, so as to be at distances of about 10 inches. A sheltered spot and dry soil are needed for the production of the seed in the climate of England. The leaves of the dill are used in soups and sauces, and, as well as the umbels, for flavouring pickles.

The seeds are employed for the preparation of dill-water and oil of dill (valued for their carminative properties), are largely consumed in the manufacture of gin, and, when ground, are eaten as a condiment in the East. See Botany, vol. iv. p. 123.

DILLINGEN, a town of Bavaria, in the circle of Schwaben-Neuburg, on the left bank of the Danube, 24 miles north-west of Augsburg. Its principal structures are the royal palace, formerly the residence of the bishops of Augsburg, the royal gymnasium and Latin school, with a library of 75,000 volumes, five churches, two episcopal seminaries, a Capuchin monastery, a Franciscan nunnery, and a deaf and dumb asylum. The university, founded in 1549, was abolished in 1804, being converted into alyceum. The inhabitants, who in 1875 numbered 5029, are engaged in cattle-rearing, the cultivation of corn, hops, and fruit, ship-building and the shipping trade, and the manufacture of cloth, paper, and cutlery. Dillingen was taken by the Swedes in 1632 and 1648, by the Austrians in 1702, and on the 18th July 1800 by the French.