GERUMENHA, or GERUMENHI, an ancient town of Portugal, in Alentejo, with a strong castle, seated on a hill, near the Guadiana. In 1662 it stood a siege of a month, before it surrendered to the Spaniards. It lies eighteen miles below Badajoz. GER'UND, n. s. Lat. gerundium. A kind of verbal noun, which governs cases like verbs, and in Latin ends in di, do, and dum. GERYON, or GERYONES, in fabulous history, a king of Gades, in Iberia, who had three bodies, and fed his cattle with human flesh. This monster was slain by Hercules, who carried off his cattle. Hyginus makes him the son of Chrysaor, brother of the winged horse Pegasus, and the grandson of Neptune, by Medusa, one of the furies. The fable is supposed to mean that he was a king of three contiguous Spanish islands; or, as others think, there were three kings brethren, so united as to seem to have but one soul. GESNER (Conrad), M. D., a celebrated physician and naturalist, born at Zurich in 1516. Having finished his studies in France, he travelled into Italy, and taught medicine and philosophy at Lausanne, with extraordinary reputation, and excelled so much in natural history, that he was surnamed the German Pliny. He died December 9th, 1565, leaving many works behind him, on botany, medicine, grammar, natural history, &c. Of these the principal are, 1. A History of Animals, Plants, and Fossils; 2. Bibliotheca Universalis; a Greek and Latin Lexicon. Boerhaave emphatically styled him Monstrum Eruditionis, a prodigy of learning.' "Those indeed,' Mr. Coxe observes in his Letters on Switzerland, who are conversant with the works of this great naturalist, cannot repress their admiration at the amplitude of his knowledge in every species of erudition, and the variety of his discoveries in natural history. Their admiration is still further augmented, when they consider the gross ignorance of the age which he helped to enlighten, and the scanty succours he possessed to aid him in thus extending the bounds of knowledge; that he composed his works, and made those discoveries which would have done honor to the most enlightened period, under the complicated evils of poverty, sickness, and domestic uneasiness. During his last twenty-four years, however, his salary, as a professor, enabled him to live in easy circum stances. GESNER (John Matthew), an acute German critic, born at Neuburg, in 1691. After superintending the public school of Weinheim for eleven years, he removed to Anspach, and thence to Gottingen, where he was made professor of humanity, and public librarian, &c. He died at Gottingen in 1761. His most esteemed works are, an excellent Latin Dictionary, and his editions of the Classics. GESNER (Solomon), the celebrated author of the Death of Abel, was born at Zurich in 1730. In his early years he showed no signs of superior abilities. When he arrived at a proper age, he chose his father's profession, viz. that of a printer. In 1752 he made a tour through Ger many; and when at Berlin was admitted into a literary society, of which Gleim and Lessing were members. Every member read in turn some pieces of his own composition, and Gesner was very desirous of submitting to these able critics a small work, which was his first attempt. The piece which he wished, but had not eventually the courage to show, was his poem, entitled Night, which he published on his return to Zurich in 1753. The success of this essay emboldened him to publish a pastoral romance, called Daphnis, in three cantos. The applause deservedly bestowed upon this performance, induced him to publish his Idylls, and other rural poems in imitation of Theocritus. Pastoral poetry, which was then little known in Germany but by translations, began to be preferred to every other kind. These Idylls were the favorite object of his pursuit, and that part of his work which acquired him the greatest reputation. His Death of Abel was first published in 1758. It is written, like the rest of his pieces, in poetical prose; and went through three editions in one year. The French edition was followed by others, in Italian, Dutch, Danish, and, lastly, two in English, one in prose and the other in verse. He next published his First Navigator, a poem in three cantos, which many consider as his master-piece. He produced, likewise, in the dramatic style, Evander and Alcimne in three acts; and Erastus in one act, which was represented with applause at Leipsic and Vienna. In 1765 he was called to the grand council, in 1767 to the less; in 1768 he was appointed bailiff of Eilibach; that of the four guards in 1776; and in 1781 superintendant of waters, which office in 1787 was continued to him for six years. He died of a paralytic attack in 1788, aged fifty-eight. As a pastoral poet, Gesner, if he has been equalled by any, has been excelled by none. His pastoral romance of Daphnis is not inferior, in natural simplicity, to the celebrated work of Longus; but it surpasses it far in variety of images and incident. Erastus and Evander are instructive and interesting poems, on account of the contrast between the world and nature which reigns throughout them; and his First Navigator unites the mildest philosophy with all the splendor and imagery of Fairy land. The late empress, Catharine II., presented him with a gold medal as a mark of her esteem. Travellers thought they had seen only the half of Switzerland, if they had not been in the company of Gesner, or procured some of his drawings. GESNERIA, in botany, a genus of the angiospermia order, and didynamia class of plants; natural order fortieth, personatæ: CAL. quinquefied, and placed on the germen: COR. incurvated and then recurvated: CAPS. inferior and bilocular. Species eleven; all South American shrubs. GESSORIACUM, in ancient geography, a port and station for ships of the Morini in Gallia Belgica. In Caesar's time, according to Dio, there was no town; but Florus speaks of it as one; and the Gessoriacenses Muri, are mentioned by Eumenius in his Panegyric. The author of Tabula Theodosiana, commonly called Peutenger's map, says expressly, that Gessoriacum was in his time called Bononia. It is now called Boulogne. GEST, n. s. GESTATION, n. s. GESTURE, n. s. & v. a. Lat. gero, to bear. To bear or carry one's self in a particular way; a deed; representation; journal; a stage: to bear, as the parent its young in the womb: posture expressive of sentiment: to ridicule; to imitate. And after that his dice turned on chaunces, Chaucer. Troilus and Creseide. Chaucer. The Merchantes Tule. Who fair them quites, as him beseemed best, And goodly can discourse with many a noble gest. Spenser. Our attire disgraceth it, it is not orderly read, nor gestured as beseemeth. Hooker. When we make profession of our faith, we stand; when we acknowledge our sins, or seek unto God for favour, we fall down; because the gesture of constancy becometh us best in the one, in the other the behaviour of humility. Id. I'll give you my commission, To let him there a month, behind the gest, Prefixed for's parting. Shakspeare. Winter's Tale. To the dumbness of the gesture One might interpret. Id. Timon of Athens. He undertook so to gesture and muffle up himself in his hood, as the duke's manner was, that none should discern him. Wotton. Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye, In every gesture dignity and love! Milton's Paradise Lost. He distinctly sets down the gests and progress thereof. Browne. Aristotle affirmeth the birth of the infant, or time of its gestation, extendeth sometimes unto the eleventh month; but Hippocrates avers that it exceedeth not Ah, my sister, if you had heard his words, or seen his gestures, when he made me know what and to whom his love was, you would have matched in yourself those two rarely matched together, pity and delight. Sidney. Why in viviparous animals, in the time of gestation, should the nourishment be carried to the embryo in womb, which at other times goeth not that way ? Ray on the Creation. Every one will agree in this, that we ought either to lay aside all kinds of gesture, or at least to make use of such only as are graceful and expressive. Addison's Spectator. Their classical profiles, and glittering dresses, Sighed for their sakes-that they should e'er grow in extent, and having a population of 27,000 North and west it is mountainous and barren, but in the south it has beautiful valleys and plains, producing corn, flax, hemp, hops, &c., but the inhabitants depend chiefly on their forests, iron mines, and iron works. The chief town is Gefle. Sax. getan, ze tan; Goth. geta; pret. I got, anciently gat; part. pass. GET, v. a. & v.n. GET'TER, n. s. GETTING. got, or gotten. To obtain, whether by force or otherwise; to arrive at any state or posture: thus, to get off is to dispose of or escape; to get over, to conquer or suppress; to get up, to arise from repose or from a seat; to remove from one place to another; the act of acquisition or increase : sometimes used in the sense of beget. To get, in all its significations,' says Dr. Johnson, both active and neutral, implies the acquisition of something, or the arrival at some state or place by some means; except in the use of the preterite compound, which often implies mere possession: as, he has got a good estate, does not always mean that he has acquired, but barely that he possesses it. So we say, the lady has got black eyes, merely meaning that she has them.' Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom; and with all thy getting, get understanding. Prov. iv. 7. What hast thou to doen with hir live, Chaucer. The Plowmans Tale. And swiche a colour in his face hath had, Chaucer. The Man of Lawes Tale. Spenser's Hymnes. Such losels and scatterlings cannot easily, by any constable, or other ordinary officer, be gotten, when Spenser. they are challenged for any such fact. Id. Thine be the cosset, well hast thou it got. You knew he walked o'er perils, on an edge More likely to fall in than to get over. Shakspeare. Henry IV. Get on thy boots; we'll ride all night. Shakspeare. Take no repulse, whatever she doth say; For get you gone, she doth not mean away. Henry the sixth hath lost Id. All that which Henry the fifth had gotten. Peace is a very lethargy, a getter of more bastardchildren than war's a destroyer of men. Id. ld. Id. If they get ground and vantage of the king, Then join you with them like a rib of steel. Those boys are boys of ice; they'll none of her; sure they are bastards to the English, the French never got them. Id. Get you to bed on the instant; I will be returned forthwith. Id. Othello. The fox bragged what a number of shifts and devices he had to get from the hounds, and the cat said he had but one, which was to climb a tree. Bacon. Who hath a state to repair may not despise small things; and it is less dishonourable to abridge a petty charge than to stoop to petty gettings. Id. Sheep will get up betimes in the morning to feed against rain. Id. Nat. History. Then forcing thee, by fire he made thee bright; Nay thou hast got the face of man. Herbert. They might get over the river A vonat Stratford, and get between the king and Worcester. Clarendon. Phalantus was entrapped, and saw round about him but could not get out. Sidney. Women with studied arts they vex : Waller. Id. Like jewels to advantage set, Her beauty by the shade does get. All things, but one, you can restore; The heart you get returns no more. Id. The roving fumes of quicksilver, in evaporating, would oftentimes fasten upon the gold in such plenty, as would put him to much trouble to get them off from Iris rings. Boyle. Most of these things might be more exactly tried by the Torricellian experiments, if we could get tubes so accurately blown that the cavity were perfectly cylindrical. Id. When an egg is made hard by boiling, since there is nothing that appears to get in at the shell, unless some little particles of the water, it is not easy to discover from whence else this change proceeds than from a change made in the texture of the parts. Id. Whatever thou dost, deliver not thy sword; With that thou mayest get off, though odds oppose thee. Dryden. O heaven, in what a lab'rinth am I led! I could get out, but she detains the thread. Id. The laughing sot, like all unthinking men, Bathes and gets drunk; then bathes and drinks again. Lying is so cheap a cover for any miscarriage, and so much in fashion, that a child can scarce be kept from getting into it. Id. Though creditors will lose one-fifth of their principal and use, and landlords one-fifth of their income, yet the debtors and tenants will not get it. Id. Any tax laid on foreign commodities in England raises their price, and makes the importer get more for them; but a tax laid on your home-made commodities lessens their price. Id. Two or three men of the town are got among them. Tatler. After having got out of you every thing you can spare, I scorn to trespass. Guardian. 'Tis very pleasant to hear the lady propose her doubts, and to see the pains he is at to get over them. Addison. Imprisoned fires, in the close dungeons pent, Roar to get loose, and struggle for a vent; Eating their way, and undermining all, "Till with a mighty burst whole mountains fall. Id. Though the king could not get him to engage in a life of business, he made him however his chief companion. Id. Spectator. The man who lives upon alms, gets him his set of admirers, and delights in superiority. Addison. Sphinx was a monster that would eat Unless his ready wit disclosed Id. Whig Examiner. Those that are eager to get abundance of this world, and solicitous to lay up what they have gotten, little consider what may become of it, and in how little a time it may be all taken from them. Henry. Isaiah. xv. 7. There is a sort of men who pretend to divest themselves of partiality on both sides, and to get above that imperfect idea of their subject which little writers fall into. Pope on Homer. A knot of ladies, got together by themselves, is a very school of impertinence. Swift. Wood, to get his halfpence off, offered an hundred pounds in his coin for seventy in silver. Id. This practice is to be used at first, in order to get a fixed habit of attention, and in some cases only. Watts. Get by heart the more common and useful words out of some judicious vocabulary. Id. Our studies will be for ever, in a very great degree, under the direction of chance; like travellers we must take what we can get, and when we can get it. Sir J. Reynolds. Yes. I nursed thee Byron. Deformed Transformed. GETA (M. Septimius Antonius), the son of the emperor Severus, and brother to Caracalla. In the eighth year of his age he was moved with compassion at the fate of some of the partisans of Niger and Albinus, who were to be executed, and his father struck with his humanity retracted the sentence. After Severus's death, he reigned at Rome conjointly with his brother; jealous of his popularity, ordered him to be but Caracalla, who envied his virtues and was poisoned; and, this not being effected, he murdered him in the arms of his mother Julia, who, in attempting to defend him, received a wound in her arm, from the hand of her worthless son, A. D. 212. Geta had not reached the twentythird year of his age, and the Romans lamented the death of so virtuous a prince, while they groaned under the cruelties and oppressions of Caracalla. GETA, is a town of Sweden, on the north coast of the island of Aland. Long. 9° 50′ E., lat. 60° 25' N. GETÆ, an ancient nation of Thrace, who dwelt on both sides of the Ister, near Scythia, Supposed to be the ancestors of the Dacians and Goths; or, according to others, of the Walachians or Moldavians. GETHSEMANE, in ancient geography, a village at the foot of Mount Olivet, whither our Lord sometimes retired in the night-time. It was in a garden belonging to this village that he suffered his memorable agony in which he sweated blood; and was arrested by Judas and his band. The place is described by Maundrel as an even plot of ground, not above fifty-seven feet square, lying between the foot of Mount Olivet and the brook Cedron. GETHYLLIS, in botany, a genus of the monogynia order, and dodecandria class of plants; natural order ninth, spathacea: COR. six-cleft, and the stamina are in six different directions: CAPS. is trilocular. Species five; all Cape herbs. GEW'GAW, n. s. & adj. zezar; Fr. joyau; à Lat. gaudendo. That which is splendid or showy in appearance without sterling value; trifling. That metal they exchanged for the meanest trifles and gewgaws which the others could not bring. Abbot. Let her love whom she will I scorn to woo her, While she stays with me I'll be civil to her; But if she offers once to move her wings I'll fing her back all her vain gewgaw things. plant; cows, horses, and swine, are not fond of it. G. urbanum, with thick fibrous roots of an aromatic taste, rough serrated leaves, and upright, round, hairy stalks, terminated by large yellow flowers, succeeded by globular fruit. The roots, gathered in spring before the stem comes up, and infused in ale, give it a pleasant flavor, and prevent its growing sour. Infused in wine, they have a stomachic virtue. The taste is mildly austere and aromatic, especially when the plant grows in warm dry situations; but in moist shady places it hath little virtue. Both these species are easily propagated either by the root or seed. GEX, a town in the south-east of France, in the department of the Ain, noted for watchmaking. It stands near the foot of Mount Jura, and contains a population of 2500; ten miles west of Geneva. GEZULA, or GAZULA, a country of Africa, south of Morocco, the inhabitants of which are allies of the emperor. They are numerous, and are reckoned the most ancient people of Africa. They have no towns, but live in camps and villages, and are hospitable to strangers. They have an annual fair, which lasts two months. The country abounds in corn, pasture, copper and iron. GHASTFUL, adj. GHASTLY, n. s. GHAST'LINESS, n. s. GHAST'NESS, n. s. GHOST, N. S., . . & . GHOST LINESS, n. s. GHOST'LY, adj. . Sax. garr, a ghost, and fulle; Belgic gheest; Teut. geist; Swed. gast. A spi ritual appearance; a being as opposed to whatever is material. The name of the third person in the Holy Trinity; the soul of man; and by use applicable to whatever has a character of death, or is horrid, pale, emaciated. Save and defend us from our ghostly enemies. Common Prayer. There stood the temple of Mars Armipotent, Wrought all of burned stele; of which the' entree Was longe and streite, and gastly for to see. Chaucer. The Knightes Tale. And thou shalt understond, that marchandise is in two maneres; that on is bodily, and that other is gostly that on is honest and leful, and that other is dishonest and unleful. Id. The Persones Tale. Here will I dwell apart, Help me, ye baneful birds, whose shricking sound And when my weary ghost, with griefe outworne, But, suddein catching hold, did her dismay Id. Where truth in person does appear Euryalus, taking leave of Lucretia, precipitated her into such a love-fit, that within a few hours she ghosted. Sidney. Those departed friends, whom at our last separation we saw disfigured by all the ghastly horrours of death, we shall then see assisting about the majestick throne of Christ, with their once vile bodies transfigured into the likeness of his glorious body, mingling their glad acclamations with the hallelujahs of thrones, principalities, and powers. Boyle. The mighty ghosts of our great Harrys rose, And armed Edwards looked with anxious eyes, To see this fleet among unequal foes, By which fate promised them their Charles should rise. Dryden. I did not for these ghastly visions send; Their sudden coming does some ill portend. Id. I, who make the triumph of to-day, May of to-morrow's pomp one part appear, Ghastly with wounds, and lifeless on the bier? Prior What beckoning ghost along the moonlight shade Invites my steps, and points to yonder glade. But in his private thoughts and busy brain, Thousand thin forms and idle fancies flit; Pope The three-shaped Sphinx; and direful Harpy's train, Oft dreams of fire, and water; loose delight; Nor can he think, nor speak, nor move, for great af- fright. There would he dream of graves and corses pale, And ghosts that to the charnel-dungeon throng, And drag a length of clanking chain, and wail, Till silenced by the owl's terrific song; Or blast that shrieks by fits the shuddering aisles along. Beattie. < Besides, I hate to sleep alone,' quoth she, The matron frowned. 6 ghosts,' Why so? For fear of Byron. Replied Katinka; I am sure I see A phantom upon each of the four posts.' GHAUTS (Arab. maber, a pass) is a term particularly applied to certain ranges of hills, which run north and south, through the Indian peninsula; sometimes the highland is called Balaghaut (above the pass), and the bar Pagaenghauts (below the pass). Their GHAUTS, THE WESTERN, are the most elevated of these ranges, and extend from Cape Comorin to the Tuptee, or Surat River, where they do not terminate in a point, or promontory; but bend eastward in a wavy line parallel to the river, and are afterwards lost among the hills in the neighbourhood of Boorhanpoor. proper name, in the language of Hindostan, is Sukhein, Purbut, or the hills of Sukhein. They rise to an elevation of between 3000 and 4000 feet from the level of the sea. In its line along the Tuptee this ridge forms several passes, or ghauts, from which there is a descent into the low country of Khandesh. In their whole extent the Western Ghauts, according to Mr. Hamilton, include thirteen degrees of latitude, with the exception of a break in the ridge, about sixteen miles wide, in the latitude of Paniany, through which the River Paniany takes its course from the Coimbetoor province. Their distance from the sea coast is seldom more than seventy miles, commonly about forty, and they are frequently visible from the sea, Within one short space betwixt Barcelore and Mirjaow they approach within six miles of the sea. The altitude of these hills is sufficiently great to prevent the body of the clouds from passing over them, and accordingly the alternate north-east and south-west winds (called the monsoons) occasion a rainy season on the windward side of the mountains only. In the parallel of Surat this cause ceases to operate, and here therefore the south-west wind, no longer opposed by a wall of mountains, carries its supply of moisture without interruption over the surface of the country. About the fifteenth degree of north latitude the Western Ghauts, although steep and stony, are by no means rugged, or broken with rocks; but the stones are buried in a rich mould, and in many places are not seen without digging. Here therefore these fine mountains are covered with stately forests. There are no bam |
