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 144 GRAHAME only f m., with a maximum height of 107 ft. The crater was then 780 yards in cir- ruiMlVrence. The materials which composed tin- island were scoriae, pumice, and lapilli, arranged in regular strata which sloped steeply away from the crater. The only substances found not of volcanic nature were fragments of dolomitic limestone. No lava was ever seen to flow, and no solid beds were formed which could resist the action of the waves. By these all the loose materials were washed away, so that at the close of October it may be said to have entirely disappeared. Two years after- ward Capt. Swinburne found a dangerous reef at the spot, in the centre of which was a black rock of the diameter of 26 fathoms, from 9 to 11 ft. under water. Around it, extending 60 fathoms to deep water, were banks of black volcanic stones and loose sand. The black rock in the centre was supposed by Lyell to be solid lava which rose in the crater and became solidified and formed a dike. Another shoal 460 ft. S. W. of the great reef marked the spot where another outbreak of boiling water and steam had been observed in the month of August, 1881. In July, 1863, the island reap- peared, and in a few weeks rose to the height of 200 or 260 ft. ; but it was soon demolished by the wash of the waves. The volcano had appeared once or twice previous to 1831. It is said that a smoking island existed in this spot about the year 1801, and the shoal is marked in old charts. This island has been called by seven names, and is sometimes still known as Ferdinandea. GRAHAME, James, a Scottish poet, born in Glasgow, April 22, 1765, died near that city, Nov. 30, 1811. He was educated at the uni- versity of Glasgow, went to Edinburgh, and became a writer to the signet in 1791, and a member of the faculty of advocates in 1795. But the legal profession had always been dis- tasteful to him, and in the spring of 1809 he went to England, where he was ordained a minister of the established church, and became curate of Shipton, Gloucestershire, and after- ward of Sedgetield, in Durham. His principal Ccal works are "The Sabbath," "Mary, m of Scots," "British Georgics" and 44 The Birds of Scotland." GRAHAME, James, a Scottish historian, born in Glasgow, Dec. 21, 1790, died in London, July 8, 1842. He studied at St. John's college, Cambridge, but soon terminated his connection with that institution, and after preparatory studies was admitted an advocate at the Scot- tish bar in 1812. For nearly 14 years he practised his profession, until he was obliged through ill health to seek a more genial cli- mate. Settling in the south of England in the spring of 1826, he devoted himself to the prep- aration of a history of the United States. His early education, his religious views, which were those professed by the Scotch Covenant- ers and Puritans, and his zeal in the cause of civil liberty, combined to render the subject GRAIN attractive to him. In 1827 the first two vol- umes were published, and in 1836 a new edi- tion appeared in 4 vols. 8vo, bringing the his- tory down to the year 1776. The thoroughly American spirit in which the work was writ- ten interfered with its success in England, and for several years it attracted little notice in the United States; but in 1839 the author received from Harvard college the degree of LL. D., and in 1841 an article on his history by Prescott appeared in the "North American Review." Four years later an edition of his work was published at Philadelphia in 4 vols. 8vo, suc- ceeded in 1846 and 1848 by editions in 2 vols. each, that of 1846 containing a memoir of the author by Josiah Quincy. Mr. Quincy also published a work entitled "The Memory of the late Jarnes Grahame, the Historian of the Uni- ted States, vindicated from the Charges of Mr. Bancroft" (8vo, Boston, 1846). In 1837 Mr. Grahame, who for some years previous had re- sided at Nantes, France, began to collect ma- terials for continuing his history, but was com- pelled by ill health toward the close of the year to abstain from literary labor of all kinds. His last work was a pamphlet entitled, " Who is to Blame? or Cursory Review of the American Apology for American Accession to Negro Sla- very " (London, 1842). The subject had excited his attention for many years, and he had testi- fied his sincerity by joining with his children in liberating a number of slaves they had joint- ly inherited from his wife. He wrote pam- phlets on various social and religious questions, including a " Defence of the Scottish Presbyte- rians and Covenanters against the Author of the 4 Tales of my Landlord ;' " but the absorb- ing study of the best years of his life was American history. He delighted to call him- self an American by adoption, and declared that his daughter was " hardly dearer to him than America and American renown." His "History of the United States" is written, ac- cording to Chancellor Kent, '' with great grav- ity and dignity, moderation and justice." GRAHAM'S TOWN, a town of Cape Colony, capital of the district of Albany, 22 m. N. N. W. of Bathurst, and 465 m. E. by N. of Cape Town ; pop. about 8,000. It is pleasantly situ- ated on an eminence surrounded by high grassy hills. The streets are wide ; the dwellings pro- vided with gardens well watered and stocked with fruit trees. There are several handsome churches, a public library, two banks, and a flourishing grammar school. It is the see of an Anglican and a Roman Catholic bishop. GRAIL, Holy. See GEAAL. GRAIN (Lat. granum, a seed), the smallest measure of weight in use, about equal to that of a kernel of wheat. A statute passed in Eng- land in 1266 ordained that 32 grains of wheat, taken from the middle of the ear and well dried, should make a pennyweight, 20 of which should make an ounce, 12 of which should make a pound. The pound, therefore, consisted then of 7,680 grains, but afterward of only 5,760, in