Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/847

 GLADBACH teresting feature in the appearance of glaciers, to which attention was first directed by Forbes, is the distribution of what he called the dirt bands, discolored streaks seen upon the sur- face, which he supposed were connected with the veined structure, appearing where this is more energetically developed than elsewhere, and caused by the collection of sand and dirt in the decomposed portions of the softer lam- inae. These are arranged in curves, the con- vexity of which is turned down the glacier, and are frequently so obscure that they are distinguished only by looking down upon them from some elevation. Tyndall and Huxley de- scribe them as spread out upon the smooth ice below ice cascades, and caused a similar sym- metrical arrangement of dark-colored sand distributed upon the surface of a current of fine mud, which they made to flow from a res- ervoir down an inclined trough, through a narrow channel, which spread out below over a widened area. Various other phenomena connected with the structure and motion of glaciers are discussed in the treatises on this subject already referred to. Besides the works mentioned, see "Norway and its Glaciers" (1853), and "On the Theory of Glaciers" (1859), by James D. Forbes ; Die Gletscher der Jetztzeit, by A. Mousson (1854) ; Neue Unter- suchungen uber die physiJcalische Geographie und die G'eologie der Alpen, by the brothers Schlagintweit (1854); "The Glaciers of the Alps," by John Tyndall (1860); "The Old Glaciers of North Wales and Switzerland," by A. 0. Ramsay (1860); and "The Land of Desolation," by Dr. Isaac I. Hayes (1871). GLADBACH, the name of two towns of Prus- sia, in the province of the Ehine. I. MoDchen- Gladbacli, in the district and 16 m. W. by S. of the city of Diisseldorf ; pop. in 1871, 26,326 (against 4,090 in 1852). It is one of the chief seats of the industry of Rhenish Prussia, hav- ing numerous manufactories of cotton, linen, and silk goods, tobacco, machines, and wire, and a number of bleaching grounds. Former- ly there was here a celebrated Benedictine ab- bey, which was founded in 972 by Archbishop Gero of Cologne. II. Bergisch-GIadbach, in the district and 8 m. N. E. of the city of Cologne ; pop. in 1871, 6,195. It contains manufactories of paper and percussion caps. In its vicinity is the village of Bensberg, with a castle built in 1710, and now converted by the Prussian gov- ernment into a military academy. GLADIATORS (Lat. gladius, a sword), in Ro- man antiquity, men who fought with each other or with wild animals at the public games, for the entertainment of spectators. They were originally captives, slaves, or condemned criminals; but under the republic free-born citizens, and under the empire knights, sena- tors, and even women, fought in the arena. Those who were malefactors were divided into two classes: those condemned ad gladi- um, to be killed within a year, and ad ludum, who were discharged if they survived three 360 VOL. vii. 53 GLADIOLUS 831 years. Professional gladiators were trained in schools at Rome, Capua, and Ravenna, by overseers (lanista), who either purchased and maintained them to let them out for public exhibitions, or only trained them for their owners. Clodius and Milo employed gladia- tors as a political force in their struggle; Cassar had 5,000 of them at Capua, who were not overlooked by Pompey. They were taught the postures to be assumed in falling and in dy- ing, and such food was chosen as would thick- en their blood in order to give the spectators a more leisurely view of their death. The public combat between gladiators began with weap- ons of wood, which were soon exchanged for deadly arms. Usually they were matched by pairs. According to their arms or modes of fighting, gladiators were divided into numerous classes. The andalatcB fought blindfolded, the catervarii in troops, the essedarii in chariots, the equites on horseback, the hoplomachi in full armor, the laqueatores with the lasso, the mir- millones with the weapons of the ancient Gauls, the Samnites with those of the people of Sam- nium, the Thraces with a dagger and round buckler. The retiarii were lightly equipped, and fought by throwing a net lasso-fashion over the head of their antagonist, and then despatch- ing him with a three-pointed lance or trident. If a combatant was vanquished, but not killed, his fate depended on the people, who turned their thumbs down if they wished him to be spared. A man who had once been a gladiator was always regarded as disgraced, and, if a knight, could not resume his rank. Gladiatorial contests were first exhibited at Rome in 264 B. C., as an entertainment at funerals, and they continued till the reign of Honorius (A. D. 404), when Telemachus, a Christian monk, rushed between two contending gladiators at Rome, and by his self-sacrifice occasioned the decree for their abolition. The passion for them had risen to its height under the emperors. Titus ordained a combat of 100 days, and Trajan one of 123 days, in which 10,000 gladiators fought, and 11,000 fierce animals were killed. Rome was imperilled about 72 B. 0. by a rebellion of gladiators. (See SPARTACUS.) GLADIOLUS (Lat. gladius, a sword), a genus of ornamental plants of the iridacea or iris family. A flattened solid bulb or corm sends up a stem bearing several long, sword-shaped, strongly nerved leaves, and terminating in a spike of large and usually showy flowers, which are somewhat irregular from the difference in the size of the petals, and more or less two- lipped. Sword lily and corn flag are names sometimes applied to these plants, but they are generally called by their botanical name gladi- olus. There are both hardy and tender species. The hardy ones are planted in autumn at the same time with hyacinths, tulips, &c.; the principal ones cultivated are G. communis, from Europe, which has been longer in the gardens than any other, and bears a few rose-colored, sometimes white flowers, and G. Byzantinu*,