"SAFETY AND EQUAL GOVERNMENT ARE THINGS, WHICH SUBJECTS MAKE AS HAPPY AS THEIR KINGS."-WALLER.

330

FRAGMENTS OF THE GOTHIC LANGUAGE ARE FOUND IN OUR OWN.

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is usually rowed by two men, called gondo

"GOSPELLERS" IS A NAME GIVEN BY THE PAPISTS TO THE WICKLIFFITES.

THOSE GOVERNMENTS WHICH CURB NOT, EVILS CAUSE; AND A RICH KNAVE'S A LIBEL ON OUR LAWS."-YOUNG. "SET ALL THINGS IN

THEIR OWN PECULIAR PLACE; AND KNOW THAT ORDER IS THE GREATEST GRACE." -DRYDEN.

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BY GRAFTING, MANY SORTS OF FRUIT ARE KEPT FROM DEGENERATING.

A New Dictionary of the Belles Lettres.

hollow chisel for cutting or hollowing out either wood or stone.

GOURD, or CALABASH, a climbing plant, bearing a pulpy edible fruit; allied to the cucumber, melon, squash, &c., and has been cul cultivated from time immemorial in the warmer parts of Asia and Africa, and also by the aborigines of America, previous to its discovery by the Europeans. The leaves are rounded and slightly viscous; the flowers white, and somewhat stellated; and the fruit large, varying much in shape in different varieties. In Egypt and Arabia the lower classes boil it in vinegar, or make it into a sort of pudding by filling the shell with rice and meat.

GOUT, or ARTHRITIS, in medicine, a very painful disease, the principal seat of which is in the joints and ligaments of the feet. It is often periodical or intermitting. It is a disease which seldom attacks young people, and is attended with the secretion of the superfluous earthy matter, which is no longer necessary for the formation of the bones, but which, instead of being carried off by the organs of secretion, is deposited beneath the skin, or accumulates internally, thus producing chalk stones and various internal concretions.

GRACE, in objects of taste, a certain species of beauty, which appears to consist in the union of elegance and dignity. In theology, the free unmerited love and favour of God; or the divine influence in restraining from sin. - Days of Grace, in com. mercial law, three days allowed for the payment of a bill after it has become due. -The word grace is also used in speaking of or to a duke or duchess, as your Grace, his or her Grace. The Graces, among the heathen world, were female beauties deified: they were three in number; Aglaia, Thalia, and Euphrosyne, the constant attendants of Venus. In music, graces are turns, trills, and shakes, introduced for the purpose of embellishment.

GRACILIS, in anatomy, a muscle of the leg, so called from its slenderness.

GRADATION, in general, the ascending step by step, or proceeding in a regular and uniform manner. It also means a degree in any order or series. Thus we say, there is a gradation in the scale of being; or we observe a gradation in the progress of society from a rude state to civilized life. Gradation, in logic, is an argumentation, consisting of four or more propositions, so disposed, as that the atttribute of the first is the subject of the second; and the attribute of the second, the subject of the third; and so on, till the last attribute come to be predicated of the subject of the first proposition. Gradation, in chemistry, a process by which metals are gradually raised to a still higher degree of purity.

GRADIENT. The literal meaning of this word is, "moving by steps;" but it has lately been used technically to denote, in reference to railways, their deviation from a level surface to an inclined plane.

GRADUATE, one who has obtained a degree at an university, or from some pro

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fessional incorporated society, after a due course of study, and suitable examination.

GRAFTING, in horticulture, the process of inserting a branch of one tree into the stock of another, so that it may receive nourishment from it, while at the same time it produces a new tree, like the old one whence the graft was taken. The use of grafting is to propagate any curious sorts of fruits, so as to be certain of their kinds. All good fruits have been obtained accidentally from seeds; and of the seeds of these it is wholly uncertain whether they will produce fruit worthy of cultivation; but when shoots are taken from such trees as bear good fruit, no alteration need be apprehended. The reason of the advantages obtained by grafting is differently explained; but it seems probable that they should be attributed to the greater facility with which the tender cion can assimilate the juices already prepared by the stock, than those which it must draw immediately from the earth, if planted.

GRAIN, the generic name of the seeds of wheat, barley, oats, rice, &c. All kinds of grain contain nutritious particles of a similar character, although they vary, both in their quantity and in their mixture, in various grains; but their most valuable elements are,-gluten, which affords the strongest nourishment for the animal body; fecula or starch, which, though not so nutritious as gluten, seems to render it more digestible; and a sweet mucilage, which is more nutritious than starch, but is small in quantity, and renders the grain liable to the vinous and acetous fermentation. It is likewise the name of a small weight, the twentieth part of a scruple in apothecaries' weight, and the twenty-fourth part of a penny-weight troy. Grain also denotes the component particles of stones and metals, the veins of wood, &c. Hence cross grained, or against the grain, is, contrary to the fibres of wood, &c. Grains (in the plural), the husks or remains of malt after brewing, or of any grain after distillation.

GRAINS OF PARADISE, a narcotic pepper, brought from Guinea, and, according to the opinions of some writers, much used by brewers.

GRAL'LÆ, in ornithology, the fourth order of birds, with obtuse bills and long legs, as cranes, snipes, bustards, storks, and ostriches.

GRAL'LIC (from gralle), in ornithology, an epithet given to an order of fowls having long legs, naked above the knees, which fit them for wading in water.

GRAMINA, or GRASSES, the most numerous family of plants, common to all countries, but varied in species by soil and elevation. An English meadow in natural grass often exhibits a hundred several species. But the most productive grasses have been specially cultivated, and we now have fields sown with rye-grass, red clover, trefoil, sanfoin, lucerne, &c. &c., called artificial grasses. Nor must we omit to mention, that the grasses include wheat, rye, barley,

THE PROPER SEASON FOR GRAFTING IS IN FEBRUARY AND MARCH.

331

PARTICULAR KINDS OF GRAIN GROW WILD IN SOME COUNTRIES, BUT THEY HAVE NOT THE PERFECTION OF OUR CULTIVATED GRAIN.

332

POMPEY'S PILLAR, AT ALEXANDRIA, CONSISTS OF A SINGLE BLOCK OF RED GRANITE, UPWARDS OF SIXTY-SEVEN FEET HIGH.

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GRANITE IS THE MOST DURABLE OF ALL MATERIALS FOR BUILDING.

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oats, rice, Indian corn, and the sugar-cane;

their chief characteristic being that their

stems or culms are cylindrical and provided

at intervals with knots, from each of which

arises a long linear or lanceolate leaf,

sheathing the stem for some distance.

GRAMIN'EOUS, in botany, an epithet for plants belonging to the family of grasses,

having simple leaves, a jointed stem, a

husky calyx, termed glume, and a single

seed.

GRAMMAR, the art which analyzes and

classes the words in a language, which de

tails its peculiarities, and furnishes rules,

construction. General grammar teaches

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ferent colours and proportions of the com

ponent parts.

GRANITEL, in mineralogy, a granitie

compound containing two constituent parts, as quartz and felspar, or quartz and horn

blende.

recognized by the best authorities, for its

GRANULATION, the act of forming

into grains. The process by which a metal

the principles which are common to all

languages; and the grammar of any parti

cular language teaches the principles pe

culiar to that language. Grammar treats

of sentences, and of the several parts of

which they are compounded. Sentences

consist of words; words of one or more

syllables; syllables of one or more letters;

so that, in fact, letters, syllables, words,

and sentences, make up the whole subject

of grammar. By means of inarticulate

sounds beasts can express certain feelings;

but man is distinguished from the brute

creation by the power of modifying a much

greater variety of sounds, and of fixing to

each modification a particular meaning.

The sounds thus modified are called words,

and as words have no natural relation to

the ideas and perceptions of which they are

significant, the use of them must either

have been the result of human sagacity, or

have been suggested to the first man by

the Author of nature. Grammar is also

used for a book containing the rules of this

art, methodically digested; as, "Murray's

English Grammar," "Moody's New Eton

Latin Gramınar," &c.

GRAMME, a French measure of weight,

equal to 22-966 grains English.

GRAND JURY, a jury convened by the

Sheriff to examine into the grounds of ac

cusation against offenders, and validity of

indictments. Offenders against whom true

is reduced into grains is effected by melting

bills are found by the grand jury are after

wards tried before a petty jury.

GRANDEE', a designation given to a

nobleman of Spain or Portugal.

GRANITE, a primary rock, of uniform

structure, composed of particles of quartz,

mica, and felspar, crystalized, and cohering

without cement. It is the foundation rock

of the earth, on which others lie, but raised

in mountains whose lofty peaks are formed

of it. The aspect of granitic mountains is

extremely diverse, depending, in part, upon

the nature of its stratification, and the de

gree of disintegration it has undergone. In

Europe, the central part of the principal

mountain ranges is of this rock, as in Scan

dinavia, the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Car

a considerable part of the Uralian and Altaic

ranges of mountains; and it appears also

flavours, some of them highly esteemed.

The climate of England is not so favourable

to their proper ripening, but the grapes we

raise in hot-houses are generally superior

to those which we import green from Ma

laga and other ports of Spain. ain. When dried

and preserved, they are called raisins.

vated to any advantageous extent in Eng

Whether or not the vine will ever be culti

land, we are incompetent to form a correct

judgment; but we think it due to Mr. Cle

ment Hoare, whose skill and industry (as

we can personally attest) have been for

many years most successfully directed to

this end, to advise all who may be desi

tific information on this particular branch

has published on its growth and culture.

rous of gleaning sound practical and scien

pathian mountains. In Asia, granite forms

of horticulture, to consult the treatise he

He has there, most unquestionably, given to compose the principal mountains that examples of native produce, which hold out

of granite is greatly diversified by the dif

independent of "the vine-covered hills," if

WATERLOO AND LONDON BRIDGES ARE BOTH BUILT OF GRANITE.

have been examined in Africa. The colour

an encouraging prospect of our becoming

GRAPES SHOULD HANG ON THE VINE TILL THEY ARE PERFECTLY RIPE, FOR IF UNRIPE WHEN GATHERED THEY WILL NEVER RIPEN. CRICKETS AND

GRASSHOPPERS EFFECT THEIR CHIRPING NOISE, BY GRATING THEIR SPINY THIGHS AGAINST THEIR HARD WINGS.

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"THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE SUBLIMEST GRATITUDE."--PALEY.

A New Dictionary of the Belles Lettres.

not of entering into competition with our continental neighbours. We observe that Mr. H. has availed himself of the popular method of discussing the merits of his plans, by a course of lectures delivered at the Mechanics' Institution, Winchester; the neighbourhood of which city, he says, is highly favourable to the growth of the vine. Alluding more especially to the southern coast of this island, where alone the solar heat is sufficiently powerful to ripen the fruit, he emphatically observed, that "every cottager should possess a vine, which, if properly treated, would produce him sufficient fruit to pay his rent."

GRA'PE-SHOT, in artillery, a combination of small shot put into a thick canvass bag, and corded so as to form a kind of cylinder.

GRAPHITE, in mineralogy, carburet of iron; that substance used for pencils, which is very generally called black-lead.

GRAPHOMETER, a mathematical instrument, called also a semi-circle, whose use is to observe any angle whose vertex is at the centre of the instrument in any plane, and to find how many degrees it contains.

GRAP'NEL, a small anchor fitted with four or five flukes or claws, used to hold boats or small vessels.

GRASSHOPPER, in entomology, a species of the genus Gryllus, to which belong the locust and cricket. The grasshopper of our fields is innocent and harmless.

GRATITUDE, an agreeable emotion, in which good-will to a benefactor forms the ground-work. Gratitude for benefits received cannot be too highly cherished; for it implies a feeling and generous heart, and a proper sense of duty.

GRAVEL, small stones or pebbles, intermixed with sand. It is supposed to originate from fragments of rocks and flints, worn by the action of the sea, and by their mutual attritions into rounded and other forms. Its red colour is occasioned by the oxyde of iron, and, when found, it affords evidence of a sea-beach having once been on the spot. Gravel, in medicine, a painful disorder, arising from a gritty matter concreting into small stones in the kidneys and bladder.

GRA'VER, in the art of engraving, a tool by which all the lines, scratches, and shades are cut in copper, &c.

GRAVIMETER, an instrument for measuring the specific gravities of bodies.

GRAVITATION, in physiology, a species of attraction, or the tendency of one body towards another, in consequence of its gravity. Thus, a body elevated above the earth tends to fall, that is, it gravitates to wards the centre of the earth; and the planets are supposed to gravitate towards the sun, or centre of the solar system. The following remarks on gravitation, from Moseley's Illustrations of Science, are so descriptive of its universality, that we can not resist the temptation of copying them "Gravitation is fixed in matter eternally and inseparably. No lapse of time wears it away, no modification of circumstances in

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which it can be placed-no appliance of artificial means-or power of other natural forces upon it, removes or can remove the slightest conceivable portion of it. You may crush the parts of a body into a powder, apply to it the power of heat, and melt it into a liquid or you may, by a yet intenser application of heat, dilate it into a gas; you may make of it a chemical solution; bring it it again to its original form of a solid-analyze it again and again-combine and recombine it; through all these changes you will not in the slightest conceivable degree have affected the gravity or weight of any one of its particles. Not only is the power of gravitating thus unalterably infixed in matter, but it is infixed in it universally. There is no place on the earth's surface where there is matter and not weight-there is no matter known to exist in our system of the universe which does not gravitate; and if we carry on our inquiries beyond the limits of our system, into the fathomless depths of space, we find there the stars gravitating towards one another." The vis inertiæ, says Sir Isaac Newton, is a passive principle by which most bodies persist in their motion or rest, receive motion in proportion to the force impressing it, and resist as much as they are resisted. By this principle alone there never could have been any motion in the world; some other principle was necessary for putting bodies into motion; for, from the various compositions of two motions, it is certain that there is not always the same quantity of motion in the world. But by reason of the tenacity of fluids, the attrition of their parts, and the weakness of elasticity in solids, motion is much more apt to be lost than got, and is always upon the decay. There is therefore a necessity of conserving and recruiting it, by active principles; and such is the cause of gravity, by which the planets and comets keep their motion in their orbs, and bodies acquire great motion in falling, &c.

GRAVITY, SPECIFIC, is the relative gravity of any body or substance, considered with regard to some other body, which is assumed as a standard of comparison; and this standard, by universal consent and practice, is rain-water, on account of its being less subject to variation in different circumstances of time, place, &c., than any other body, whether solid or fluid. It happens that a cubic foot of rain water weighs 1000 ounces avoirdupois. Consequently, assuming this as the specific gravity of rain-water, and comparing all other bodies with this, the same numbers that express the specific gravity of bodies, will at the same time denote the weight of a cubic foot of each in avoirdupois ounces, which is a great convenience in numerical computations. From the preceding definition we readily draw the following laws of the specific gravity of bodies, viz. 1. in bodies of equal magnitude, the specific gravities are directly as the weights, or as their densities; 2. in bodies of the saine specific gravities, the weights will be as the magni

GRAVITY, IN MUSIC, IS THE MODIFICATION OF ANY SOUND.

333

GRAVITY AT TWO MILES FROM THE EARTH, IS FOUR TIMES LESS THAN AT ONE MILE; AND SO GOES ON LESSENING.

THE

"CHRISM" IS A MYSTERY PECULIAR TO THE GREEK COMMUNION, AND HOLDS THE PLACE OF CONFIRMATION IN THE ROMISH CHURCH.

THE NICENE AND ATHANASIAN CREEDS ARE ALLOWED IN THE GREEK CHURCH.

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tudes; 3. in bodies of equal weights, the

specific gravities are inversely as the mag

nitudes; 4. the weights of different bodies

are to each other in the compound ratio of

their magnitudes and specific gravities.

Hence, it is obvious, that, of the magni

tude, weight, and specific gravity of a body,

any two being given, the third may be

found; and we may thus find the magni

tude of bodies, which are too irregular to

admit of the application of the common

rules of mensuration; or we may, by know

ing the specific gravity and magnitude, find

the weight of bodies which are too ponder

ous to be submitted to the action of the

balance or steelyard; or lastly, the magni

tude and weight being given, we may as

certain their specific gravities. The most

accurate and concise mode of ascertaining

the density of liquids, is to employ a small

glass measure with a very short, narrow

neck, and adjusted to hold exactly 1000

grains of distilled water. The vessel being

filled with any other liquid, the weight of

it is observed, and thence its relative den

sity to water may be found by merely strik

ing off three decimal places. At each ope

ration the glass must be carefully rinsed

with pure water, and again dried, by heat

ing it, and then sucking out the humified

air by the help of a slender inserted tube.

If fluids of various densities, and not dis

posed to unite in any chemical affinity, be

poured into a vessel, they will arrange

themselves in horizontal strata, according

to their respective densities, the heavier

always occupying a lower place.

GRAVITY, CENTRE OF, in mechanics,

is a point within a a body, through which, if

a plane pass, the segments on each side

will equiponderate; that is, neither of them

of the centre of gravity be prevented, or if

the body be suspended by its centre of gra

[GRE

the larger parts of the rock, but in grains

so comminuted as to resemble a homoge

neous cement. It is of various colours,

generally inclining to some shade of gray

GREBE, in ornithology, a fowl of the

cies.

GREEK CHURCH, that portion of

views of Christianity introduced into the

the fifth century, under the patriarchs of

or brown.

genus Colymbus and Anseres, of several spe

Christians who conform, in their creed,

usages, and church government, to the

former Greek empire, and perfected, since

Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and

church recognizes two sources of doctrine,

comprehends not only those doctrines which

were orally delivered by the apostles, but

also those which have been approved of by

the fathers of the Greek church. It is the

only church which holds that the Holy

differing from the Catholic and Protestant

Jerusalem. Like the Roman Catholic, this

the bible and tradition, under which last it

Ghost proceeds from the Father only, thus

churches, which agree in deriving the Holy

Ghost from the Father and the Son. Like

the Catholic church, it has seven sacra

ments-baptism, chrism, the eucharist pre

ceded by confession, penance, ordination,

marriage, and supreme unction; but it is

from original sin in baptism requires an

peculiar in holding that full purification

immersion three times of the whole body in

water, whether infants or adults are to be

tion) with it as the completion of baptism.

baptized, and in joining chrism (confirma

It rejects the doctrine of purgatory, has

nothing to do with predestination, works of

supererogation, indulgences, and dispen

sations; and it recognizes neither the pope

can move the other. Hence, if the descent

nor any one else as the visible vicar of Christ

on earth. In the invocation of the saints,

in their fasts, relics, &c. they are as zealous

as the Romanists; it may be said, indeed,

sist almost entirely of outward forms.

vity, it will continue at rest in equilibrium

in any position. The centre of gravity of a

parallelogram or cylinder, or any prism

whatever, is in the middle point of the axis,

and the centre of gravity of a circle or any

regular figure, is the same as the centre of

magnitude. The common centre of gravity

of two bodies is a point so situated in a

right line joining the centres of the two

bodies, that if the point be suspended, the

two bodies will equiponderate and rest.

Thus the point of suspension in a balance

or steelyard, where the two weights equi

ponderate, is the common centre of gravity

of the two weights.

that the services of the Greek church con

This is the religion of Russia; the eccle

siastical establishment of which consists

arch-bishops, nineteen bishops, 12,500 pa

rish churches, and 425 convents, fifty-eight

in a holy synod, four metropolitans, eleven

of which are connected with monastic

schools for the education of the clergy.

The Greek church, under the Turkish do

under such circumstances, faithful ul to

Constantinople exercises the highest eccle

GRAY'LING, in ichthyology, a voracious

fish of the genus Salmo, larger than a trout,

and of a silvery gray colour. It is found

in clear rapid streams in the north of Eu

rope, and is much esteemed as food.

kind of rock or stone, composed of grains

or fragments of different minerals, chiefly

of quartz, felspar, siliceous slate, and argil

lite. These several ingredients are united

by an indurated argillaceous substance, or

the interstices between the larger fragments

are filled by the same materials which form

whole Turkish empire; but they labour

emption from beheading."

GREEK FIRE, a combustible compo

Turks. It consists of naptha, bitumen,

sulphur, gum, &c.

the primitive inhabitants of Greece, the

Pelasgi, was already extinct in the time of

THE ROMANISTS CALL THE GREEK CHURCH THE GREEK SCHISM."

334

PETER THE GREAT ABOLISHED THE PATRIARCHAL OFFICE IN THE GREEK CHURCH IN RUSSIA, AND

APPOINTED AN EXARCH, WITH

LIMITED POWERS.