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LEFT GRAMONT 375 GRAN GRAMONT (gra-mon'), the name of an illustrious French family, the best known of whom are : Gabriel, a cardinal and diplomatist, in the time of Louis XII. and Francis I.; died in 1534. Anthony, duke of Gramont, marshal of France, and viceroy of Navarre, author of "Memoirs," died in 1678, Armand, son of the latter, and Count de Guiche, whose "Memoirs" also exist, 1638-1674; Phili- BERT, Count de Gramont, son of An- thony, known by his memoirs, written by his brother-in-law Anthony, Count Hamilton, died in 1720; Anthony, Duke de Gramont, a French marshal and am- bassador, known as Count de Guiche, 1671-1725; Louis, Duke de Gramont, lost the battle of Dettingen, and was killed at Fontenoy, 1745. The last Duke of Gramont, father of the Duke of Guiche, and the countesses of Tanker- ville and Sebastiani. He died in 1836. GRAMOPHONE, or "DISC TALKING MACHINE," a mechanism for reproduc- ing sound, differing in construction, but not in principle, from the phonograph. It was invented in 1888 by Emile Ber- liner, a German-American inventor, who was chief instrument inspector of the Bell Telephone Co., and also inventor of the telephone transmitter. The gramophone differs from the phonograph principally in that its rec- ords are engraved on discs instead of on cylinders. On the cylinder of the phono- graph the vibrations reproducing the sounds are caused by winding grooves of uneven depths, the variation of depth causing the needle to vibrate up and down. The records on the discs of the gramophone are spiral grooves radiating outward from the center, and zig-zag- ging, so that the I'ecording needle vi- brates laterally, while the disc revolves in a horizontal position. In the gramo- phone, also, the needle, or stylus, is not propelled by a feed screw, the disc itself causing the stylus, or needle, to move, at the same time that it causes it to vi- brate. Gramophone records were first made by photo-engraving sound tracings, or by direct etchings in copper or zinc. Later wax surfaces were employed. From the original record a disc, or matrix, was made, by electrotyping. This, in turn, is used for making impressions in celluloid, rubber or composition. Cellu- loid was first used, in a semi-heated state, but later it was found better to use hard rubber discs, on which the reversed rec- ords of the electrotypes were reproduced, in reverse, by heavy pressure. It was this improving process, perfected in 1895, which made the gramophone a commer- cial possibility. A further improvement followed by substituting for the rubber discs a composition of shellac, in which the records could be more sharply repro- duced, resulting in clearer and more distinct sounds. Another substitute still is a fibrous die, faced with a thin layer of shellac on both sides. This gives a disc much lighter in weight, less suscep- tible to changes of climate or tempera- ture and capable of harder usage. The motive power of the gramophone was at first applied by hand, but later a mechan- ism on the principle of a clock, driven by a spring, was invented by Eldridge R. Johnson, which not only supplied motive power but acted as a speed regulator. In more recent years the etching process of producing the records has been aban- doned, the expiration of the regular gramophone patents enabling the various gramophone manufacturers to utilize the wax cutting process, while still re- taining the principle of horizontal mo- tion. This latter change, besides various other qualities of the phonograph, which were also incorporated, brought the phonograph to its present high degree of perfection. For the reproduction of sing- ing and music the gramophone is consid- ered the better instrument, the disc lend- ing itself to infinite repetition, without deterioration of the records. GRAMPIANS, a mountain range in Scotland. They commence in W. Scot- land from the extremity of the lowest arm of the Frith of Clyde, between the counties of Argyle and Dunbarton, and running S., sweep round in a deep semi- circle to the E., till they nearly impinge on the German Ocean, in the county of Kincardine. Before reaching this tei*- minus a branch is thrown off, which, trending in a N. W. direction, forms a lesser curve, which, passing throueh Ab- erdeen, Banff, and Elgin, is^ finally lost on the skirts of Inverness-shire. In this extended course it sends up several lofty peaks that form the highest eminences in Scotland. Of these the most impor- tant are Ben Lomond, Ben Ledi, Ben More, Ben Lawer, and Ben Voirlich. Also, the name of a mountain chain in the colony of Victoria, South Australia, whose highest point is Mount William, which is 4,500 feet above the level of the sea. GRAN, a town of Hungary, on the Danube, here crossed by a bridge of boats, 25 miles N. W. of Pest, and oppo- site the mouth of the Gran river. The town is the see of the primate of Hun- gary, and its great domed cathedral (1821-1856), on the castle hill, reveals in its magnificent proportions St. Peter's at Rome. The palace of the prince-arch-