called on account of their succeeding the prefect of police. GEN'DER, in grammar, a distinction in nouns to mark the sexes; genders are either masculine, for the male sex; feminine, for the female sex; or neuter, for those which are of neither sex. The English language has very few terminations by which the genders are distinguished, such as count and countess, but generally supplies distinct words; as boy, girl; whereas, in the Latin and French, the terminations always mark the distinction, as bonus equus, a good horse; bona equa, a good mare; un bon citoyen a good citizen; une bonne citoyenne, a good female citizen. der this name are comprehended the diamond, ruby, sapphire, hyacinth, beryl, garnet, emerald, topaz, chrysolite, &c. To these have been added rock crystals, the finer flints of pebbles, the cat's eye, the oculus mundi, the chalcedony, the moon-stones, the onyx, the cornelian, the sardonyx, agate, &c. Of most of these species there are some of an inferior class and beauty; these are commonly called by jewellers occidental stones. They are mostly the produce of Europe, and found in mines or stone quarries; and are so named in opposition to those of a higher class, which are always accounted oriental, and supposed to be only produced in the east.-Gem-engraving, or gemsculpture, called also lithoglyptics, is the art of representing designs upon precious stones, either in raised work, as cameos, or by figures cut below the surface, as intaglios. This art is of great antiquity, and was probably practised by the Babylonians. Some think the art originated in India; but wherever it originated, we have ample evidence that among the Greeks and Romans it was in high esteem. The merit of cameos and intaglios depends on their erudition, as it is termed, or the goodness of the workmanship, and the beauty of their polish. The antique Greek gems are the most highly prized; and, next to them, the Roman ones of the times of the higher empire. Artificial gems. In order to approxi-show that they are noble by so many mate as near as possible to the brilliancy and refractive power of native gems, a basis, called a paste, is made from the finest flint glass, composed of selected materials, combined in different propor-portance with respect to the accomplishtions, according to the preference of the manufacturer. This is mixed with metallic oxydes capable of producing the desired color.-The imitation of antique gems consists in a method of taking the impressions and figures of antique gems, with their engravings, in glass, of the color of the original gems. Great care is necessary in the operation, to take the impression of the gem in a very fine earth, and to press down upon this a piece of proper glass, softened or half melted at the fire, so that the figures of the impression made in the earth may be nicely and perfectly expressed upon the glass. GENDARMES', or GENS D'ARMES, in the history of France, an appellation given to a select body of troops, who were destined to watch over the interior public safety, and consequently much employed by the police. They were so GENEAL'OGY, a history of the descent of a person or family from a series of ancestors. In various chapters and military orders, it is required that the candidates produce their genealogy, to descents.-The Jews were anxious to preserve their genealogies entire and uninterrupted; and this care on their part affords an argument of considerable im ment of those prophecies that pertain to the Messiah: accordingly, in their sacred writings, we find genealogies carried on for above 3500 years. GENERAL, in the army, is, next to field marshal, the highest military title adopted by the European states. Like most military designations, it owes its origin to the French, who, about the middle of the 15th century, conferred the title of lieutenant-general on the individual to whom the monarch (by virtue of his birth the commander or general of the national forces) intrusted the superintendence of the army. The title of general is conferred either on the commander-in-chief of the forces of a nation, or on the commander of an army or grand division; it is also given to the officers next in rank to the general, who, besides performing functions peculiar to their own offices, frequently act as the sub stitutes of their superior, with the designation of lieutenant-general and majorgeneral.-A particular beat of drum which in the morning gives notice to the infantry to be in readiness to march, is also called the general. GENERALIS'SIMO, a title conferred, especially by the French, on the commander-in-chief of an army consisting of two or more grand divisions, each under the superintendence of a general. According to Balzac, this dignity was first assumed by Cardinal Richelieu on the occasion of his leading the French army into Italy; but the term does not appear to have found favor among the other European states. GENERALIZA'TION, in logic, has been defined as the act of comprehending under a common name several objects agreeing in some point which we abstract from each of them and which that common term serves to indicate.-Ex. Copernicus generalized the celestial motions, by merely referring them to the moon's motion. Newton generalized them still more, by referring this last to the motion of a stone through the air. GEN'ERAL ÏS'SUE, in law, that plea which denies at once the whole declara tion or indictment, without offering any special matter by which to evade it. This is the ordinary plea upon which most causes are tried, and is now almost invariably used in all criminal cases. It puts everything in issue, that is denies everything, and requires the party to prove all that he has stated. In many cases, for the protection of justices, constables, excise officers, &c., they are allowed to plead the general issue, and give the special matter for their justification, under the act, in evidence. GENERATOR, in music, the principal sound or sounds by which others are produced. Thus the lowest C for the treble of the pianoforte, besides its octave, will strike an attentive ear with its twelfth above, or G in alt., and with its seventeenth above, or E in alt. Hence C is called their generator, the G and E its products or harmonics. GENER'IC, or GENER'ICAL, an epithet pertaining to a genus or kind. It is a word used to signify all species of natural bodies, which agree in certain essential and peculiar characters, and therefore all of the same family or kind; so that the word used as the generic name, equally expresses every one of them, and some other words expressive of the peculiar qualities of figures of each are | added, in order to denote them singly, and make up what is called the specific name. Thus the word rosa, or rose, is the generic name of the whole series of flowers of that kind, which are distinguished by the specific names of the red rose, the white rose, the moss rose, &c. Thus also we see, Canis is the generic name of animals of the dog kind; Felis, of the cat kind of the cat kind; Cervus, of the deer kind, &c. GENESIS, a canonical book of the Old Testament, and the first of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses. The Greeks gave it the name of Genesis, from its beginning with the history of the creation of the world. It includes the history of 2369 years, and besides the history of the creation, contains ap account of the original innocence and fail of man; the propagation of mankind the general defection and corruption of the world; the deluge; the restoration and re-peopling of the earth; and the history of the first patriarchs down to the death of Joseph. GENETH'LIAC, an ode or other short poem composed in honor of the birth of an individual. GE'NII, called by the Eastern nations Genn or Gien, are a race of beings created from fire, occupying an intermediate place between man and angels, and endowed with a corporeal form, which they are capable of metamorphosing at pleasure. They are said to have inhabited this earth many ages before the creation of man, and to have been at last driven thence for rebellious conduct against Allah. Their present place of abode is Ginnistan, the Persian Elysium; but they are represented as still interesting themselves deeply in the affairs of this earth, over which they exercise considerable influence. Every one is aware of the important part which the genii perform in the interesting stories of the East; and indeed a more correct idea may be formed of their origin, characteristics, and history, from a perusal of the Arabian Nights Entertainments, than can be conveyed by the most elaborate dissertation. GENITIVE CASE, the second case in Latin and Greek nouns, which denote possession: it is marked in English by s with an apostrophe, thus ('s). GE'NIUS, an aptitude for a particular pursuit, founded on some stimulus in youth, by which the mind and faculties are directed to excellence. It combines opposite intellectual qualities; the deep est penetration with the liveliest fancy; the greatest quickness with the most indefatigable diligence. To what is old it gives a new form; or it invents new; and its own productions are altogether original. We estimate it higher than talent, in the common acceptation of that term, which in the capacity for originating in extent and energy is inferior to genius. Where ordinary powers advance by slow degrees, genius soars on rapid wings. But genius does not assume its distinctive character in every exercise of its powers. A gifted poet, for instance, is not necessarily an ingenious philosopher, nor does the statesman's genius include that of the soldier. We distinguish this genius, therefore, into various kinds, as poetical, musical, mathematical, military, &c.; thus, for example, Milton possessed a genius for poetry, Mozart for music, Newton for mathematics, &c. Yet, although the union of great excellence in different walks of art and science is but rarely found in one man, some, like one man, some, like Michael Angelo, who was equally celebrated as a statuary, architect, and painter, are found possessing genius of a most comprehensive character.-By the ancients the word genius was used to express a supposed invisible spirit which directs a course of events. According to the belief of the Romans, every person had his own genius, that is, a spiritual being, which introduced him into life, accompanied him during the course of it, and again conducted him out of it at the close of his career. This belief was no doubt a consequence of their idea of a divine spirit pervading the whole physical world; and was probably a personification of the particular structure or bent of mind which a man receives from nature. The guardian spirit of a person (a purely Italian idea, which in modern language has been wrongfully transferred to Grecian Art,) is generally represented as a veiled figure in a toga, holding a patera and cornucopia, or as a beautiful youth, nude or nearly so, with the wings of a bird on his shoulders. The guardian spirits of the female sex, junones, are represented as young maidens with the wings of a butterfly or a moth, and draped. The Romans also gave a genius to edifices, towns, armies, and kingdoms. The Roman genius of a place was depicted as a serpent devouring fruits, which lay before it; there are, however, many exceptions to these rules. The modern world comprises under the term genii, the angels or messengers of heaven, and those emblematical figures, which, as everything was personified in ancient Art, are regarded as the deification of ideas. The most common idea of Christian genii are the patron angel of childhood and of youth, the angel of baptism, those of poverty and mercy, of religion and virtue, and the genii of the three Christian graces, faith, hope, and charity. In modern times we find the genii of countries often personified: the greatest work of this kind is the genius of Bavaria, a bronze female statue of colossal size by Schwanthaler, recently completed and placed in front of the Walhalla, near Munich. Modern representations of river gods are only to be regarded as genii when they are executed in the romantic and not in the antique style. GENS, in ancient history, a clan or sect, forming a subdivision of the Roman people next in order to the curia or tribe. The members and houses composing one of these clans were not necessarily united by ties of blood, but were originally brought together by a political distribution of the citizens, and bound by religious rites, and a common name, derived probably from some ancient hero. GENTILES, a name given by the Jews to all who were not of the twelve tribes of Israel. Among Christians, it is the name of all heathens who did not embrace the Christian faith. GENTLEMAN, in the modern languages of western Europe, we generally find a word to signify a person distinguished by his standing from the laboring classes, gentiluomo, gentilhomme, hidalgo, &c. In the German language, the term which most nearly expresses the same idea, is gebildet, which includes not only gentlemanly manners, but also a cultivated mind. cultivated mind. The English law-books say, that, under the denomination of gentlemen, are comprised all above yeomen; so that noblemen are truly called gentlemen; and further, that a gentleman, in England, is generally defined to be one, who, without any title, bears a coat of arms, or whose ancestors have been freemen: the coat determines whether he is or is not descended from others of the same name. In the highest sense, the term gentleman signifies a man who not only does what is just and right, but whose conduct is guided by a true principle of honor, which springs from that self-respect and intellectual refinement which manifest themselves in easy and free, yet delicate manners. GENRE-PAINT'ING, pictures of life Also and manners. Under this title are comprised the grave episodes of life, which are to history what a single scene is to a drama, or a lyric to an epic poem. comic scenes of every kind; a comic subject is seldom placed in the highest category of art, because it is the nature of comedy to overstep the strict line of beauty and to become caricature. The principal genre pictures consist of scenes of every-day life, and may be classified. Those of the Netherlands are the best, and deserve to live; though far from the ideal of art, they show a skilful execution and lead to higher thoughts. Another kind are the low attempts at coloring called costume or portrait genre pictures, which are merely studies. In taking for its subject the events of daily life, genrepainting (unless the subject is eminently suited to the idea) avoids religious themes as high and lasting, as well as historical subjects, which, though transitory, ought never to appear so. A view of an open house, into which the sun is shining, a peasant lighting his pipe,-all the passing events of life, its characters and aims, offer fitting subjects for genre-painting. Pure nature, true humanity, national character, as revealed by domestic manners, &c., form the circle of true genrepainting, the boundary being more clearly defined than is the case in historical or religious art. The distinction between history and genre-painting cannot be too clearly drawn. Transitions from one to the other are admissible, and such pictures belong to the happiest productions of art; and there are also circumstances under which the advantages of both styles may be united. We meet with specimens of genre-painting among the ancients. As the character of ancient worship changed, a freer space was offered to Art, which, by degrees, overstepped the ideal circle of the mythic-normal, withdrew the mystic veil with which the Saga covered everything, and revealing nature, assumed an individual character from which a genre-like style of art arose tending towards the mythic. This style was, however, very different from what we now call genre-painting, which may be explained by the plastic character pervading art. Still we see by the mural paintings at Herculaneum and Pompeii, that in later Roman art there were colored pictures of the genre kind. These were certainly imperfect attempts, but they prove, nevertheless, that mere manual artists turned to domestic painting. The introduction of a new religion, in the ser vice of which art was enrolled, delayed the progress of life-painting for more than a thousand years, but when that which was unnatural in Christian Art gave place to a free Germanic spirit, genre-painting arose refreshed. This spirit inclining towards the poetry of real life employed genre-painting for ecclesiastical purposes, but so many pleasing effects were developed, that religion was soon neglected and cast aside. The carpenter's workshop became popular, although it was not that of Joseph; the landscape was beautiful, even without the procession of the three kings; and the nosegay riveted the eye, although not placed in the oratory of the Virgin. GENRE-SCULPTURE, we have evidences of this branch of Art having been attempted by the ancients. After the time of Alexander the Great, religion, and consequently Art, underwent a great change; there was more room for individuality, and a style of art was developed which corresponded to the wants of the age, and which produced many works of a genre character. We know that genre-painting was very popular during the last ages of Grecian art, from the descriptions extant of the kitchen-scenes, &c., painted by Pyreicos, who finished these little pictures so exquisitely that they fetched a much higher price than large paintings by other artists. There are several specimens of genre-sculpture extant, the most remarkable of which is the Venus Callipygos, in the Museum at Naples. We find this style very often employed in Etruscan art, of which we have some specimens in the collection of bronzes in London, viz., a circular vase, the handle of which is formed by the figures of two struggling gladiators, a handle formed by two jugglers, also a rare bronze, formed of an Etruscan slave, kneeling, whose physiognomy betrays his descent; he is employed in cleaning a shoe, and holds a sponge in one hand. We meet with genre-sculpture among the biblical and legendary subjects in the middle ages; and it was carried on in the Germanic period, though only in small works, and those of a secular nature, viz., ivory carvings, and illuminations in books. Many critics affect to treat such works slightingly, but whoever looks at them with an unprejudiced eye, will be delighted at the union of nature with grandeur of conception, and will reasonably expect to see such subjects chosen for the highest efforts of the artist. GE'NUS, in natural history, a subdivision of any class or order of things, whether of the animal, vegetable, or mineral kingdoms. All the species of a genus agree in certain characteristics.-In music, a distribution of the tetrachord, or the four principal sounds, according to their quality. GEOGRAPHY, properly, a description of the earth or terrestrial globe, particularly of the divisions of its surface, natural and artificial, and of the position of the several countries, kingdoms, states, cities, &c. As a science, geography includes the doctrine or knowledge of the astronomical circles or divisions of the sphere, by which the relative position of places on the globe may be ascertained; and usually treatises of geography contain some account of the inhabitants of the earth, of their government, manners, &c., and an account of the principal animals, plants, and minerals.-General or universal geography, the science which conveys a knowledge of the earth, both as a distinct and independent body in the universe, and as connected with a system of heavenly bodies.-Mathematical geography, that branch of the general science which is derived from the application of mathematical truths to the figure of the earth, and which teaches us to determine the relative position of places, their longitudes and latitudes, the different lines and circles imagined to be drawn upon the earth's surface, their measure, distance, &c.-Physical geography, that branch which gives a description of the principal features of the earth's surface the various climates and temperature, showing how these, together with other causes, affect the condition of the human race, and also a general account of the animals and productions of the globe. Political geography, that branch which considers the earth as the abode of rational beings, according to their diffusion over the globe, and their social relations as they are divided into larger or smaller societies.-Sacred or biblical geography, the geography of Palestine, and other oriental nations mentioned in Scripture, having for its object the illustration of sacred history. } GEOL'OGY, the doctrine or science of the structure of the earth or terraqueous globe, and of the substances which compose it or the science of the compound minerals or aggregate substances which compose the earth, the relations which the several constituent masses bear to each other, their formation, structure, position, and direction. It also investigates the successive changes that have | taken place in the organic and inorganic kingdoms of nature; it inquires into the causes of these changes, and the influence which they have exerted in modifying the surface and external structure of our planet. It is a science founded on exact observation and careful induction, and is intimately connected with all the physical sciences. The geologist, in order that he may conduct his investigations with success, ought to be well versed in chemistry, mineralogy, zoology, botany, comparative anatomy; in short, every branch of science relating to organic and inorganic nature Within the memory of the present generation, the science of geology has made immense progress. Aided not only by the higher branches of physics, but by recent discoveries in mineralogy and chemistry, in botany, zoology, and comparative anatomy, it has extracted from the archives of the interior of the earth, records of former conditions of our planet, and deciphered documents which were a sealed book to our ancestors. It extends its researches into regions more vast and remote than come within the scope of any other physical science except astronomy, of which it has emphatically been termed the sister science. GE'OMANCY, a kind of divination by means of figures or lines, formed by little dots or points, either on the earth or on paper, and representing the four elements, the cardinal points, the planetary bodies, &c. This pretended science was flourishing in the days of Chaucer, and was deeply cultivated by Dryden at the time of his rifaccimento of the Knight's Tale. Cattan, who wrote a book on geomancy in the sixteenth century, absurdly enough observes, that it is "no art of inchaunting, as some may suppose it to be, or of divination, which is made by diabolicke invocation; but it is a part of natural magicke, called of many worthy men the daughter of astrologie, and the abbreviation thereof." GEOMETRY, originally and properly, the art of measuring the earth, or any distances or dimensions on it. But geometry now denotes the science of magnitude in general, comprehending the doctrines and relations of whatever is susceptible of augmentation and diminution ; as the mensuration of lines, surfaces, solids, velocity, weight, &c., with their various relations. Geometry is the most general and important of the mathematical sciences; it is founded upon a few axioms or self-evident truths, and every |