Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/859

 GER

G AST -hound. See the article Hound, append.

GATE, among fportfmeni a term ufed for the footfleps of a

hart. Diet. Ruft. in voc. GATTON-^iY', a name ibmetimes give* lb the cornel-tree.

See the article Cornus, Suppl. GAULE, in botany, a name u fed by fomd writers for the my-

rica, or fweet-wiilow. See the article Mvrica, Append. GAZE-/m;^, or G AST-bound. See the article Hound,

Append. GEL-DE R-ra/^j the term by which fome call the opulus, or

water-elder. Seethe article Opulus, Suppl. GENERATION (Cycl and Suppl) —The antients believed that males and females were equally concerned in the work oi generation, and that the fcetus was formed in the womb by a mixture of the ferrunal juices of both fexes ; without pretend- ing to know, or determine by any fyftem, the manner of na- ture's operation.

Modern philofophers have thought that they faw farther than the antients, and have, at different times, adopted the two fyftcms of generation mentioned in the Cyclopedia under this head.

But the late experiments of Monf. de Buffbn, and of Mr. Needham, if they do not eftablifh a new fyftem, feem at lealt in a great meafure to overturn the old ones. Monf. de Buffon has endeavoured to prove that the ova in wo- men and quadrupeds arc chimeras, and that the fpermatic animalcule cannot be the fcetus. He could never find any ova which had detached thcmfelves from the ovary, and palled through the Fallopian tube into the matrix. Hut he difcover- ed a glandular body on the female tefticle, which auatomiib had miftaken for one of thefe; which glandular body, at cer- tain times, fwelled, opened and difcharged a liquor full of the fame animalcules, which Lcwenhock took for living creatures in the femen of males. And Monf. de Buffon adds that he found bodies perfc&ly fimilar to thefe, not only in the femina of very different animals, but in the infuiions of plants, of grains, and in the juices of fieih-meats, drelfed and prepared by the fire fo as to leave no creature living in them. From whence this ingenious gentlemaji concludes, that thefe pretended animalcules are not future animals ot the ipe- cies of the father ; he does not even allow them to be true anijnals, but fays they are fomethlng of an intermediate nature between brute matter and animals ; parts organized and ani- mated, the afiemblagc of which forms the fcetus. See Lettres de Monf. de Maupertuis, let. 17.

But the chief difficulty confifts in conceiving how the fcetus is formed from thefe elements. Monf. de Buffon thinks that every part of the body in both fexes furnifhes thefe organic moleculae, the refervoirs of which are the fcminal liquors of both fexes; that thefe liquors arrange and unite themfelves by attraction, in certain internal moulds, in a manner which that learned author has endeavoured to explain at large ; but which will not feem fufceptible of any abridgment, to thofe who would not choofe to run the rilque of mifrcprcnting his fenti- ments on fo oblcure a fubject: ; we therefore refer to the origi- nal, that is, to the Hiffoire Naturelle, printed at Paris, 1749, where the fubjeit of the generation of animals takes up the greateft part of the fecond volume.

Monf. de Maupertuis's lyftem, in his Venus Phyfique, has a near refemblance to that of Monf. de Buffon, and tends equally to overturn the fyftems of the ova, and of the fperma- tic animalcules, which have prevailed among modern phyfio- logifts. The former of thefe gentlemen, to confirm his own and Mr. de Buffon's opinion, adds an account of a fex- digitary family, as he calls it, at Berlin, many of which had a fupernumcrary finger or toe, and ibmetimes both. He fays that this fexdigitifm, or quality of having fupeniumerary fin- gers or toes, has been tranfmitted equally by the father and by the mother ; that it was loft by alliances with thofe who had but the common number of fingers. He adds, that he does not believe that any one will afcribe the continuation of fexdigitifm in a family, to chance ; thefe fupernumerary part: might have been accidental varieties at firft, but if they bi once cllablifhed by a fufficient number of generations, where both fexes have had them, they then become a foundation for a diftinct fpecies; and perhaps all the different fpecies dif- cernihle in animals of the fame kind, have been multipli- ed in this way. What we may obferve in other animals gives ground tor thefe fufpicions. See the Letter before cited. GEODES, in natural hiftory, a genus of cruftated bodies form- ed into large and in great part empty cafes, inclofmg a fmall quantity of earthy, or arenaceous matter. See the article Si- ll erochita. Append.

Of this genus are the following known fpecies: i.The crack- ed geodes, with ferrugineous brown and yellow crufts. 2. The wrinkled geodes, with ferrugineous reddifh-brown and gold-yellow crufts. 3. The fparkling geodes, with ferrugi- neous purplifti and orange-coloured crufts. 4. The long fcabrous geodes, with a fingle purplifh cruft. 5. The long geodes, with a fingle blackifh cruft. Hill, Hift. Foff. p. 541. GERMANDER-^w, in botany, the Englifh name of a genus of plants known among authors by that of teucrium. See the article Teucrju.m, Suppl,

GLO

GESSES, the fame with jrffis. See the article Tf-ss*s, Attend; GHERKINS. See the article GuerIOns, Append. GIi DINESS, the popular name for the dilteoiper caller! by phyficians vertigo. See the article Vertigo, Cycl. Giddinefs in horfes is cured by a glyfler- and Wood-letting, to' be repeated after two days moderate exeicife. Diet. Rui! in voc. G\GG(Cycl.)~ Gicgs, among farriefs, fmall bladders or Hi- tters on the ihfidc of a horfe's lips. They rhuft be laid Opel } and cleanfed with fait and vinegar, or 'alum-water. Diet. Rult. iii voc. GIGGE, in the manufacture of flax, denotes a bole made in the earth, where fife is made to dry the (lax laid over it; Did. Ruft. in voc. GILDER. See the article Guilder, Append. GILDING (Cycl. and Suppl.) - GlLDlNC-mi/;, a (lip of the' hollow Spaniih cane, cut up to a fmooth and (harp edge, with a good pen-knife : this cane-knife cuts the gold-leaf bct- ter than one of ftec], as it is apt to (lick to this laft. GlLDltliS-pdlletj a flat piece of wood, about thfee inches long and an inch broad, covered with a piece of fine woollen cloth.

By breathing upon this pallet, to moiften the cloth a litl'e, and then clapping it gently down upon the gold-leaf, this may be railed from tile cuihion, and conveyed to the work to be gilded. GlLL-go-iy-growid, the name ufed by fome writers for ground- ivy. See the article Ivy, Suppl. GILLIFLOWER, or July -fouler, iri botany; the Enghflt name given to Cetera! (pedes' of calfyophjUuS. See the article Pink, :'uppl. ^iieen's Gilliflower, the name by which forh'e call a diftir,<a genus of plants, defcribed by authors under that of befperis: See the article Hesperis, Suppl. Stock GtLLlFLOWERs, the name of another diftina genus of' plants called by botanical Writers leucoium; See the article Leucoium, Suppl. GTMMER -/.-»»*, or Gammer-/<oti£, a term ufed by country- • be. pie for a female or ewe lamb. Diet. Ruft. in voc. GINGER, the Englifh name of a, genus of plants called by au-

thbrs zlnziher. See the article Zingiber, Suppl. GINGIDIUM, a name ufed by fome botanifts for a (pedes'

of fennel. See the article FoenicuLum, Suppl. GINSENG, in botany, the name given by the people of the Eaft- Indies to the panax of botanical writers. See the article Pa- nax, Append. GIRDLE (Suppl.) — GiRDLE-tt)/j«/, a fmall fpinning-wheel made for hanging to a woman's girdle, or apron-ftnng ; (b that (he may Ipin with it, though walking about. Dia Ruft. in voc. GIRKIN, among gardeners, denotes a fmall kind of cucumber, ufed for preferving, about the ehd of Oflober. Ruft. Diet, in voc. GIRT, among builders, the fame with fillet; See the article

Fillet, Cycl. GIRTHS of a /addle, the ftrong Ilraps, made of a canvas itutF called girti-wch ; which being buckled under the horfe's bel- ly, icrve to fix the (addle. Ruft. Diet, in voc. GLADDON, or Gladwin, in botany, the name of a plant,

otherwife called fpurge-wort. Ruft. Diet, in voc. GLADE, in zoology. See the article Glead. Glade, in gardening, an open and light paffage made through, a wood, by lopping off the branches of trees. Miller, Gard. Diet, in voc. GLADWIN, a name fometimes ufed for the iris, or fiovJer de

luce. See the aricle Iris, Suppl. GLANDULOUS roots, among botanifts, fuch tuberofe roots as are fattened together in large numbers by fmall fibres or threads. Ruft. Dicl. in voc. GLASS-ztwr, is fometimes ufed as the name of agetius of plants defcribed by Linnaeus under that of faticomia. See the article Salicornia, Append. GLASSES, chemical, how cemented, when cracked. See the

article Cjement, Append. GLAS I ONBURY-rfertf, a name fo'metimes given tothemf/"-

pilus, or medlar. See the article Medlar, Suppl. GLAUBER'S fait. Seethe article Sal mirabile, Suppl. GLAZIER, an artificer who works or deals in glafs. GLEAD, or Glade, a name ufed in the northern parts of the kingdom for the mihus, or kite. See the article Kite, Append. GLEBA alana, a name by which fome call the yellowifh white

tripoli. See the article Tripoli, Cycl. and Suppl. GLEDE, in ornithology. See the article Glead, Append. GLISTER. See the articles Clyster, Cycl. and Enema,

Suppl. GLOBE-r/<?//>', the Englifh name of a genus of plants called

by authors giobularia. See the article Globul aria, Suppl. Ghonz-crow-foot, a name fometimes given to the belleborus, or

black hellebore. See the article Helleborus, Suppl. GhOBE-amarantb, the name of a genus of plants called by bo- tanical writers aylaratitbcide:. See the article Amaranth- oides, Suppl.

Globe-