In his right hand Grasping ten thousand thunders, which he sent Sydney. Doom, as they please, my empire not to stand, I'll grasp my sceptre with my dying hand. Dryden. Like a miser 'midst his store, Who grasps and grasps till he can hold no more. Id. This hand and sword hath been acquainted well; It would have come before into my grasp, Id. Don Sebastian. To kill the ravisher. The left arm is a little defaced, though any one may see it held something in its grasp formerly. Addison. Kings, by grasping more than they can hold, First made their subjects, by oppression, bold. Dennis. For what are men who grasp at praise sublime, But bubbles on the rapid stream of time? Sax. gnær; Swed. Goth., and Belg. gras; Teut. grass; à Greek αγρωστις αγρος,a field.) GRASS, n. s. & v. n.] GRASS-PLOT, n. s. GRASS'Y, adj. GRAS'SINESS, n. s. Minsheu. The comGRA'SIER, n. s. GRASS-HOPPER, n. s. mon herbage of the GRASS-POLA, n. s. field; a level covered with grass. Grasier GRAZE, v. n. & v. a. GRA'ZER, n. s. and grazier, one who GrassGRAʼZIFR, N. s. feeds cattle. hopper, a small insect that hops in the summer. Grass-pola, and grass of Parnassus, plants. Graze, to eat grass; to touch slightly over a surface; to feed. ; Ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass, and bellow Chaucer. The Floure and the Leafe. Id. Prologue to the Legende of Good Women. Tusser. Spenser. Shakspeare. Henry V. Id. This Neptune gave him, when he gave to keep His scaly flocks that graze the watery deep. The most in fields, like herded beasts, lie down, Id. floor. grassy To dews obnoxious, on the Some graze their land till Christmas, and some Mortimer. longer. Id. A third sort of grazing ground is that near the sea, which is commonly very rich land. They are much valued by our modern planters to adorn their walks and grass-plot. His flock daily crops Their verdant dinner from the mossy turf Id. Philips GRASS, in botany, is defined to be a plant having simple leaves, a stem generally jointed and tubular, a husky calyx (called gluma), and the seed single. Hence wheat, oats, barley, &c., are properly grasses; while clover, and some other similar plants, are not grasses, though so frequently called by that name. Of grass the leaves are food for cattle, the small seeds for birds, and the larger grain chiefly for man. And it is observable that nature has so provided that cattle, in grazing, seldom eat the flower intended to produce seed, unless compelled by hunger. GRASSES, CULMIFEROUS, may be divided into two general classes for the purposes of the farmer, to which it might be of use for him to attend, viz. 1. Those which, like the common annual kinds of corn, run chiefly to seed-stalks; the leaves gradually decaying as these advance towards perfection, and becoming totally withered or falling off entirely when the seeds are ripe. Rye-grass belongs to this class in the strictest sense. To it likewise may be assigned the vernal grass, dog'stail-grass, and fine bent grass. 2. Those whose leaves continue to advance even after the seedstalks are formed, and retain their verdure and succulence during the whole season, as is the case with the fescue and poa tribes of grasses, whose leaves are as green and succulent when the seeds are ripe, and the flower-stalks fading, as at any other time. It is wonderful,' Mr. Stillingfleet remarks, 'to see how long mankind has neglected to make a proper advantage of plants of such importance, and which, in almost every country, are the chief food of cattle. The farmer, for want of distinguishing and selecting grasses for seed, fills his pastures either with weeds, or bad or improper grasses; when, by making a right choice, after some trials, he might be sure of the best grass, and in the greatest abundance that his land would admit. At present, if a farmer wants to lay down his land to grass, what does he do? He either takes his seeds indiscriminately from his own foul hay-rick, or sends to his next neighbour for a supply. By these means, besides a certain mixture of all sorts of rubbish, which must necessarily happen, if he chance to have a large proportion of good seeds, it is not unlikely but that what he intends for dry land may come from moist, where it grew naturally, and the contrary. This is such a slovenly method of proceeding as, one would think, could not possibly prevail universally; yet this is the case as to all grasses except the darnel grass, and what is known in some few counties by the name of the Suffolk grass; and this latter is owing, I believe, more to the soil than any care of the husbandman. Now, would the farmer be at the pains of separating, once in his life, half a pint or a pint of the different kinds of grass seeds, and take care to sow them separately, in a very little time he would have wherewithal to stock his farm properly, according to the nature of the soil, and might at the same time spread these seeds separately over the nation, by supplying the seedshops. The number of grasses fit for the farmer is, I believe, small; perhaps half a dozen or half a score are all he need to cultivate; and how small the trouble would be of such a task, and how great the benefit, must be obvious to every one at first sight. Would not any one be looked on as wild who should sow wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, beans, vetches, buck-wheat, turnips, and weeds of all sorts together? yet how is it much less absurd to do what is equivalent in relation to grasses? Does it not import the farmer to have good hay and grass in plenty? and will cattle thrive equally on all sorts of food? We know the contrary. Horses will scarcely eat hay that will do well enough for oxen and cows. Sheep, says Linnæus, are particularly fond of one sort of grass, and fatten upon it faster than any other in Sweden. And may they not do the same in Britain? How shall we know till we have tried?' Tracts relating to Natural History. 1. Annual meadow grass, poa annua.- This grass,' says Mr. Stillingfleet, makes the finest turf. It grows every where by way sides, and on rich sound cominons. It is called in some parts the Suffolk grass. I have seen whole fields of it in High Suffolk, without any mixture of other grasses; and, as some of the best salt butter we have in London comes from that county, it is most likely to be the best grass for the dairy. I have seen a whole park in Suffolk covered with this grass; but whether it affords good venison I cannot tell, having never tasted of any from it. I should rather think not, and that the best pasture for sheep is also the best for deer. However this wants trial. I remarked on Malvern Hill something particular in relation to this grass. A walk that was made there, for the convenience of the water-drinkers, in less than a year was covered in many places with it, though I could not find one single plant of it besides in any part of the hill. This was no doubt owing to the frequent treading, which above all things makes this grass flourish; and therefore it is evident that rolling must be very serviceable to it. It has been objected that this grass is not free from bents, by which word is meant the flowering stems. I answer, that this is most certainly true, and that there is no grass without them. But the flowers and stems do not grow so soon brown as those of other grasses; and, being much shorter, they do not cover the radical leaves so much; and therefore this grass affords a more agreeable turf without mowing than any other whatever that I know of.' The seeds of this species drop off before they are dry, and, to appearance, before they are ripe. The utmost care is therefore necessary in gathering the blades, without which very few of the seeds will be saved. It ripens from the middle of April to so late, it is believed, as the end of October; but mostly disappears in the middle of the summer. It grows in any soil and situation, but rather affects the shade. 2. Bulbous for-tail grass, alopecurus bulbosus, is recommended by Dr. Anderson, in his Essay on Agriculture, &c., as promising on some occasions to afford a valuable pasture grass. • It seems chiefly,' he observes, 'to delight in a moist soil, and therefore promises to be only fit for a meadow pasture grass.' The quality that first recommended it to his notice was, the unusual firmness that its matted roots gave to the surface of the ground, naturally soft and moist, in which it grew; which seemed to promise that it might be of use upon such soils, chiefly in preventing them from being much poached by the feet of cattle which might pasture upon them. Mossy soils, especially, are so much hurt by poaching that any thing which promises to be of use in preventing it deserves to be attended to. 3. Cock's tail, or feather-grass, stipa pennata. See STIPA. 4. Creeping meadow grass, poa compressa, according to Dr. Anderson, seems to be the most valuable grass of any of this genus. Its leaves are firm and succulent, of a dark Saxon-green color, and grow so close upon one another as to form the richest pile of pasture-grass. The flowerstalks, if suffered to grow, appear in sufficient quantities; but the growth of these does not prevent the growth of the leaves, both advancing together during the whole summer; and, when the stalks fade, the leaves continue as green as before. Its leaves are much larger and more abundant than the common meadow-grass, poa trivialis; and therefore it better deserves to be cultivated. 5. Creeping soft grass, holcus lunatus. HOLCUS. tus. See 6. Crested dog's-tail grass, cynosurus cristaMr. Stillingfleet imagines this grass to be proper for parks, from his having known one, where it abounds, that is famous for excellent venison. He recommends it also, from experience, as good for sheep; the best mutton he ever tasted, next to that which comes from hills where the purple and sheep's fescue, the fine bent, and the silver-hair grasses abound, having been from sheep fed with it. He adds, that it makes a very fine turf upon dry sandy or chalky soils; but, unless swept over with the scythe, its flowering stems will look brown; which is the case of all grasses which are not fed on by a variety of animals. For that some animals will eat the flowering stems is evident by commons, where scarcely any parts of grasses appear but the radical leaves, This grass is said to be the easiest of the whole group to collect a quantity of seeds from. It flowers in June, and is ripe in July. 7. Fine bent grass, agrostis capillaris, is recommended by Mr. Stillingfleet, from his having always found it in great plenty on the best sheep pastures, in the different counties of England that are remarkable for good mutton. This grass flowers and ripens its seed the latest of them all. It seems to be lost the former part of the year, but vegetates luxuriantly towards the autumn. It appears to be fond of moist ground. It retains its seed till full ripe, flowers the latter end of July, and is ripe the latter end of August. The same may be said of the mountain and silver-hair grasses. 8. Flote, or floating fescue grass, festuca fluitans. See FESTUCA. It is surprising that the seeds of this plant, which are used as nutritious food in Sweden, Germany, &c., have hitherto been neglected in Britain, as they are so easily collected and cleansed. There is a clamminess on the ear of the flote fescue, when the seeds are ripe, that tastes like honey; and for this reason perhaps they are called manna seeds. Linnæus, in his Flora Suecica (art. 95) says, that the bran of this grass will cure horses troubled with botts, if kept from drinking for some hours. Concerning this grass we have the following information by Mr. Stillingfleet. Mr. Dean, a very sensible farmer at Ruscomb, Berkshire, assured me that a field, always lying under water, of about four acres, was covered with a kind of grass, that maintained five farm horses in good heart from April to the end of harvest, without giving them any other kind of food, and that it yielded more than they could eat. He, at my desire, brought me some of the grass, which proved to be the flote fescue with a mixture of the marsh bent; whether this last contributes much towards furnishing so good pasture for horses, I cannot say. They both throw out roots at the joints of the stalks, and therefore are likely to grow to a great length. In the index of dubious plants, at the end of Ray's synopsis, there is mention made of a grass, under the name of gramen caninum supinum longissimum, growing not far from Salisbury, twenty-four feet long. This must by its length be a grass with a creeping stalk; and that there is a grass in Wiltshire, growing in watery meadows, so valuable that an acre of it lets from £10 to £12, I have been informed by several persons. These circumstances incline me to think it must be the flote fescue; but, whatever grass it be, it certainly must deserve to be enquired after.' 9. Great meadow grass, poa pratensis, seems to approach in many respects to the nature of the purple fescue; only that its leaves are broader, and not near so long; being only about a foot or sixteen inches at their greatest length. Like it, it produces few seed-stalks and many leaves, and is an abiding plant. It affects chiefly the dry parts of meadows, though it is to be found on most good pastures. It is very retentive of its seeds, and may therefore be suffered to remain till the stalks are quite dry. It blossoms in the beginning of June, and its seeds are ripe in July. 10. Meadow fox-tail grass, alopecurus pratensis. Linnæus says, this is a proper grass to sow on grounds that have been drained. Mr. Stillingfleet was informed, that the best hay which comes to London is from the meadows where this grass abounds. It is scarce in many parts of England, particularly Herefordshire, Berkshire, and Norfolk. It might be gathered at almost any time of the year from hay ricks, as it does not shed its seeds without rubbing, which is the case of but few grasses. It is amongst the most grateful of all grasses to cattle. It is ripe about the end of June. 11. Mountain hair grass, aira flexuosa. See No. 7, and AIRA. 12. New American grass. A new grass from America, named agrossis cornucopiæ, was some time ago much advertised and extolled, as possessing the most wonderful qualities, and the seeds of it were sold at the enormous rate of £68 the bushel. But we have not heard that it has at all answered expectation. On the contrary, Dr. Anderson, in his Bee (vol. i. p. 38) says, that it has upon trial been found to be good for nothing. Of the seeds sown, few ever germinated: but enow of plants made their ap pearance, to ascertain that the grass, in respect of quality, is among the poorest of the tribe; and that it is an annual plant, and altogether unprofitable to the farmer. 13. Purple fescue grass, festuca rubra. See FESTUCA. 14. Rye grass, hordeum murinum. Rye grass is properly the secale villosum. Perennial darnel, lollium perenne, is also, in some counties of England, improperly called rye grass. 15. Silver-hair grass, aira caryophyllea. No. 7, and AIRA. See over, and all the clods and stones taken off, and then covered over an inch thick with good mould. The seed is to be sown pretty thick, that it may come up close and short; it must then be raked over again, to cover the seed, that if the weather should be windy, it may not be blown away. Where grass is sown in gardens, either for lawns or walks, there should always be a good quantity of the white trefoil or Dutch clover sown with it; for this will make a fine turf much sooner than any other sown grass, and will retain a better verdure than any other of the grass 16. Sheep's fescue grass, festuca ovina. See tribe. To keep grass walks handsome, and in FESTUCA. This is perhaps the most valuable good order, sow in autumn fresh seed over any grass of all. It is observed to grow and thrive places that are not well filled, or where the grass in lands of all qualities and in all situations, is dead: but nothing improves grass so much as from they dryest up-land pastures to the very mowing and constant rolling. When turf is moist part of meadows. It does not part with laid in gardens, it is a general practice to cover its seeds till some time after they are ripe, and the surface of the ground under the turf, either even quite dry. It makes the thickest and with sand or very poor earth, in order to keep closest pile of any of them, and sends up but the grass fine, by preventing its growing too few flower-stalks in proportion to its leaves It rank. This is proper for very rich ground, but flowers in June, and is ripe in July. not for middling or poor land; for, when this is practised in such places, the grass will soon wear out and decay in patches. When turf is taken from a common or down, such ought to be chosen as is free from weeds: and, when it is designed to remain for years without renewing, a dressing should be laid upon it every other year, either of very rotten dung, ashes, or, where it can easily be procured, rotten tan; but these dressings should be laid on early in the winter, that the rain may wash them into the ground, otherwise they occasion the grass to burn when the warmth of the summer begins. When grass is thus dressed, and well rolled and mowed, it may be kept very beautiful for many years; but where it is not dressed, or fed with sheep, it will rarely continue handsome more than eight or ten years. 17. Vernal grass, anthoxanthum odoratum, grows very commonly on dry hills, and likewise on sound rich meadow land. It is one of the earliest grasses we have; and from its being found on such kinds of pastures as sheep are fond of, and whence excellent mutton comes, it is most likely to be a good grass for sheep pastures. It gives a grateful odor to hay. In one respect it is very easy to gather, a; it sheds its seeds upon the least rubbing. A correspondent of the Bath. Society, however, mentions a difficulty that occurs in collecting them, owing to its being surrounded with taller grasses at the time of its ripening, and being almost hid amongst them. If it be not carefully watched when nearly ripe, he observes, and gathered within a few days after it comes to maturity, great part of the seed will be lost. The twisted elastic awns, which adhere to the seed, lift them out of their receptacles with the least motion from the wind, even while the straw and ear remain quite erect. It is found mostly in the moist parts of meadows; very little of it on dry pastures. It flowers about the beginning of May, and is ripe about the middle of June. GRASS WALKS are made, for the most part, not by sowing grass seeds, but by laying turfs: and indeed the turfs from a fine common or down are much preferable to sown grass: but, if walks or plats are to be made by sowing, the et way is to procure the seed from those pastures where the grass is naturally fine and clear; or else the trouble of keeping it from spiry or benty grass will be very great, and it will scarcely ever look handsome. To sow grass walks, the ground must be first dug; and, when it has been dressed and laid even, must be carefully raked GRASS WRACK. See ZOSTERA. GRASS, a river of the state of New York, North America, which enters the St. Lawrence near St. Reges Island. It has a course of 120 miles through St. Lawrence county. GRASSE, a well-built town of the department of the Var, France, standing in a natural amphitheatre surrounded with orangeries, and flower gardens, particularly those devoted to the culture of roses. Vines and olives also add to the attractions of its charming scenery. It is a good trading town in wine, liquors, silk, leather, and soap. Population 12,500. It is nine miles W. N. W. of Antibes, and nineteen W.S.W. of Nice. GRASSMERE WATER, a beautiful lake in Westmoreland, near Ambleside and Rydal. Its banks are formed into small bays, by bold projecting eminences, some of rock and some of turf. GRATAROLUS (William), a learned physician of the sixteenth century, born at Bergamo in Italy. He taught medicine with reputation at Padua; but, having embraced the Protestant religion, he retired to Switzerland, where he was made professor of physic. He died at Basil in 1568, aged fifty-two. He wrote several curious works in Latin; amongst which are, 1. The Manner of Preserving and Improving the Me mery. 2. Of Preserving in Health Travellers, Men of Letters, Magistrates, and Studious Persons, &c. Fr. gratter; old Fr. gruter; Ital. grattare, of Lat. rado, to chafe. GRATE, v. a. & v. n. GRA TER, n. s. GRATINGLY, adv. To rub or wear by attrition; to form a sound by means of grating hard bodies together; figuratively to offend the ear by harsh and discordant notes. Grater, a coarse file with which soft bodies are pulverised. The pure fetters on his shinnes grete. Chaucer. The Knightes Tale. Thereat enraged, soon he 'gan upstart, Grinding his teeth, and grating his great heart. Spenser. Thereat the fiend his gnashing teeth did grate. Id. We are not so nice as to cast away a sharp knife, because the edge of it may sometimes grate. GRATE, n. s. Ital. grata, Lat. crates. A partition made with bars placed near to one another, or crossing each other, such as in cloysters or prisons; the range of bars within which fires are made. And so befell, by aventure or cas, That thurgh a window thikke of many a barre Chaucer. The Knightes Tale. I have grated upon my good friends for three reprieves for you, and your couch fellow, Nim: or else you had looked through the grates, like a geminy of Shakspeare. baboons. Out of a little grate his eyes he cast Upon those bordering hills, and open plain. Daniel. A fan has on it a nunnery of lively black-eyed vestals, who are endeavoring to creep out at the grates. Addison. My dear is of opinion that an old-fashioned grate consumes coals, but gives no heat. Id. Spectator. GRATES FOR FIRES are composed of ribs of iron placed at small distances from one another, so that the air may have sufficient access to the fuel, and the accumulation of the ashes, which would choke the fire, may be prevented. Grates seem peculiarly adapted to the use of pit-coal, which requires a greater quantity of air to make it burn more freely than other kinds of fuel. The hearths of the Britons seem to have been fixed in the centre of their halls, as is yet practised in some parts of Scotland, where the fire is nearly in the middle of the house, and the family sit all around it. Their fire-place was perhaps nothing more than a large stone, depressed a little below the level of the ground, and thereby adapted to receive the ashes. About a century ago, it was only the floor of the room, with the addition of a bank of clay. But it was now changed among the gentlemen for a portable fire pan, raised upon low supporters, and fitted with a circular grating of bars. Such were in use among the Gauls in the first century, and among the Welsh in the tenth. See FIRE-PLACES. GRATEFUL, adj. GRATE FULLY, adv. GRATEFULNESS, n. s. GRATIFICATION, n. s. GRATIFY, V. a. GRA'TIS, adj. GRATITUDE, N. s. GRATUITOUS, adj. GRATUITY, n. s. GRATUITOUSLY, adv. GRATULATE, v. a. GRATULATION, n. s. GRATULATORY, adj. Fr. gratuit; Lat. gratus, gratificor, gra tulor, gratuitus. Gratefulness implies a due sense and estimation of favors received the quality of being acceptable and 'pleasing. To gratify 18 to afford indulgence or pleasure. A gratuitous act is volunJtary as opposed to compulsion. A gratuity, a free gift. To gratulate is to salute with expressions of joy. They are the first gratulations wherewith our Lord and Saviour was joyfully received at his entrance into the world, by such as in their hearts, arms, and bowels embraced him. Hooker. |