Page:LA2-NSRW-2-0356.jpg



GUILLOTINE

812

GUISCARD

markets for their wares. The craft-guild took care of the interests of its members, and saw that each one was skilled in the trade that the guild represented. On the whole, the guilds were useful in equalizing and harmonizing the interests of the producer and consumer. The first decisive move against guilds was made in England by Henry VIII, who confiscated all their property. They were abolished by legislation in England in 1535; in France in 1789; and in Germany in 1869. See History and Development of Guilds by Brentano; Guilds, Their Origin and Constitutionally Waif or d.

Guillotine (gilf Id-ten1), an instrument used for beheading, was introduced by the convention during the French Revolution. It was named after its inventor, Joseph Ignace Guillotin. It was first erected in the Place de Greve, Paris, on April 25, 1792, and was used to execute a highwayman. The guillotine is made of two grooved, upright posts, with a cross-beam at the top. In the grooves runs a heavy iron knife, with a slanting edge, which descends by its own weight upon the neck of the victim, who is bound to a board. An instrument of a like nature is said to have been used in Persia and in Italy, and during the i6th and lyth centuries one, called the Maiden, was in use in Scotland. It is popularly supposed that the inventor died oy his own instrument; but in truth he died in bed in 1814. See History of the Guillotine by Crooker.

Guin'ea=Fowl, the name given to the common domestic guinea-hen and to its wild relatives. The domestic variety is commonly seen in poultry yards in the United States. The birds have a full body, a small head and short tail; their plumage is usually dark gray, marked with small white spots. These came originally from wild African birds, common in Guinea and southward toward the Cape. They are also found in the northern part of Africa, having been known to the Romans. The wild guinea-fowls are of three kinds — those with a crest of feathers on the head; those with a bony helmet and bare heads; and those with a patch of feathers on the back of the head. The crested variety is more graceful than the others; their plumage is black, dotted with small bluish-white or light green spots." The skin of the neck is bare, bluish in color and sometimes ornamented with bright red. The helmeted variety, from which the domestic form is derived, go in large flocks. They are very noisy, fast runners, wild and wary. Some species of this kind live also in Madagascar. They destroy many insects. A similar bird occurs in Jamaica, where they are destructive to crops and are shot like other game.

Guinea, French9 is situated on the west-em coast of tropical Africa between Portu-

guese Guinea and the British colony of Sierra Leone, extending inland to the Headquarters of the Gambia and the Senegal. Area about 95,000 square miles; estimated population 1,498,000. The country is administered for France by a governor, the capital being Konakry on the Isle of Tombo. Products: rice, gum, palm-oil, nuts, coffee and rubber. The colony was acquired by France in 1843.

PORTUGUESE GUINEA is situated on the coast of Senegambia, and includes the adjacent archipelago of Bissagos, with the island of Bolanio, in which the capital of the same name is situated. The chief port is Bissao. The chief commercial products are rubber, wax, oil, seeds, ivory and hides. The area of the dependency is 13,940 square miles, with a population estimated at 820,000.

Guinea (gtn'e), Gulf of, a part of the Atlantic Ocean, forming a large angle on the west coast of Africa between Cape Palmas and Cape Lopez. It receives the delta of the Niger on the northeast; while on the east are the islands of Fernando Po, Prince and St. Thomas.

Guinea-Pig, the popular name for a South American animal related" to hares and rabbits. Its name is a curious mistake. It in no sense is a pig, and it does not occur in Guinea, but in Guiana, Bolivia, Brazil and some other parts of South America. Its common name is the cavy. The animal was domesticated in Europe in the i6th century, and is frequently seen in the United States. The animal has short incisor teeth and a very short or rudimentary tail. It lives wholly on vegetable food, and while feeding generally sits on the hind feet. It lives in burrows, and feeds at dusk and on dark days. It breeds with great rapidity, and is capable of bearing young when a few months old.

Guiscard (ges'kar'), Robert, duke of Apulia and Calabria, the sixth son of Tan-cred de Hauteville, was born in Normandy about 1015. He won great renown as a soldier in Italy, and after the death of his brother was proclaimed count of Apulia. He captured the Italian provinces of Reggio and Cosenza, thus conquering Calabria, and was confirmed in possession by Pope Nicholas II. He now waged war on behalf of the pope, gradually defeating the Saracens in Italy and in Sicily. Later he was occupied in defending Michael VII of Constantinople (whose son Robert's daughter had married) from Alexius Comnenus, whom he defeated at Durazzo in 1081. He then proceeded toward Constantinople, but, hearing that Henry IV was in Italy, he hurried back and liberated the pope from St. Angelo, where he was besieged in 1084. Robert then returned to Epirus, defeating the Greeks, but, while in Cephalonia on his way to Constantinople, he died suddenly