Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/663

 GAVIAL GAY 651 water. There are five toes on the fore paws and four on the hind, the middle three of the former being united at their base by a very short web, and the external three of the latter by a thicker and more extensive membrane covered with small granular scales ; the nails are feebly curved. The nuchal plates are two, of large size and ridged, and oval form, sometimes with a small plate on each side of them ; the cervical plates, four pairs, extend from the middle third of the neck to the dorsal covering in a longi- tudinal band, and are ridged on their median line ; the upper part of the trunk is protected by four longitudinal series of ridged quadrilat- eral scales, each containing about 18, and the sides of the neck and flanks by flat smooth scales of medium size ; the tail has from 34 to 40 circles of scales, becoming crested about the sixth or seventh on each side, the double portion becoming single and the highest near middle of the length ; the under surface of the body is covered by about 60 transverse rows of smooth, oblong, quadrilateral scales, each pierced on the posterior border by a small open- j-W Gavial or Gangetic Crocodile. ing. The scales of the limbs are rhomboidal, and on the posterior ones from the ham to the little toe furnished with a serrated crest. The common species, the gavial of the Ganges (G. Gangeticus, Geoff.), is of a deep sea-green color above, with numerous irregular brown spots, smallest and thickest about the jaws, and be- low pale yellowish white ; the young have the back and limbs banded with black. It attains length of over 20 ft., though the specimens usually seen are considerably smaller than this ; in the adult the head is a little less than one fifth, and the tail about one half of the to- tal length of the animal. Though most com- mon in the river Ganges, it is found in other rivers of Asia ; and other species have been described from Africa. Notwithstanding its large size and numerous teeth, the gavial feeds on fishes and small prey ; the narrowness and feebleness of the jaws do not enable it to seize large land animals, like the wide and stronger jawt-cl crocodile and alligator. The general structure and habits of the gavial do not differ essentially from those of the crocodile. The fossil crocodiles which existed toward the end of the secondary epoch all had the elongated jaws of the gavial, the true crocodiles not appearing until the tertiary period at the same time with their mammalian prey. The crocodilus priseus of Sommering, the teleosaurus and the steneo- saurus of Geoffrey, all had the cranial charac- ters of the gavial. This reptile, though now confined to the warmest regions, in former geological ages lived in northern Europe. GAY, Claude, a French traveller and natural- ist, born at Draguignan, March 18, 1800. After having studied the natural sciences at Paris and travelled in Greece and the East, he went to Chili in 1828 and studied the botany, zoolo- gy, and meteorology of that country, and also of parts of Peru, Brazil, and Buenos Ayres. After his return to Paris in 1842 he published in Spanish, at the expense of the Chilian gov- ernment, his great work, the Historia fisica y politico, de Chile (Paris, 1843-'51), in 24 vols., besides an atlas in 2 large 4to vols., composed of 315 plates. GAY, Delphine. See GIKARDIN. GAY, Ebenezer, an American clergyman, born in Dedham, Mass., Aug. 26, 1696, died March 18, 1787. He graduated at Harvard college in 1714, and was in 1718 settled over the church at Hingham, Mass., where he remained till his death. On his 85th birthday he preached a sermon from the text : " Lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old," which, under the title of "The Old Man's Calendar," has been frequently republished in America, went through several editions in England, and was translated into one or two of the continental languages of Europe. Many of his other ser- mons were published. In theology he was liberal. John Adams said, on the first dis- tinctive announcement of Unitarianism in this country, that he had heard the doctrine from Dr. Gay long before. GAY, John, an English poet, born near Tor- rington, Devonshire, in 1688, died in London, Dec. 4, 1732. After receiving an elementary education at the grammar school of Barnstaple, he was apprenticed to a silk mercer in London, but soon abandoned this business for literary pursuits. In 1711 he produced his poem " Ru- ral Sports," which he dedicated to Pope, and a lifelong friendship sprung up between the two poets. In the following year he became secre- tary to the duchess of Monmouth. His next work, " The Shepherd's Week," was written to throw ridicule on the pastorals of Ambrose Philips, and met with great success. In 1713 he brought out a comedy called " The Wife of Bath," which was acted only three nights. In 1714 he accompanied the British ambassador, Lord Clarendon, to Hanover as secretary. On the death of Queen Anne, however, he was dismissed from office, and driven once more to use his pen as a means of support. Soon after returning to England he produced a drama en- titled "What d'ye Call It?" which was so well received that he made another attempt of a