Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/176

* GKASSMANN. 150 GBASS-TBEE. Die WeltmssenscMft odcr Physik (1862-73); Vic Lebeimlehre odor Biologic (1872); Die Wis- seiischaflxlehre oder I'hilonuphie (1876); Das M'eltlebeii oder die Metaphysik (1881) ; and Das I'/luiuoilcbcii. (1882). GBASSMAN'S LAW. A phonetic law, for- mulated by Hermann Grassmann (q.v.) in 1863, regarding the aspirated mutes or explosives o£ the Indo-tlcrmanic consonant s^-stem. This law he defined thus: If an Indo-Germanic root had origi- nally two aspirated mutes, only one aspirate was retained in Indo-lranian and in Greek. There seems to be no law as to which aspirated mute shall be retained. Examples of the phenomenon explained by the law are very numerous. Thus there may be cited Skt. kuiniha, Gk. Ki/iftos: Av. xumha, pot; Skt. yabhasti, arm; Lat. habere, to have: Lat. fiiifitre. to form; Goth, deigan., to knead; Skt. bahu: Gk. tt^xi", arm: Skt. biidJiiia, Gk. vveii-fiv: Lat. fundus, bottom; Skt. salialr, Gk. ficiv for Gk. 'iK-treiv : ix^i.v, to have; Gk. epli: plural rpfx''. 'mir; Skt. duhitur: Gk. dvyaTTip, Goth, duuhtar, daughter; and many others. The law appears very clearly in the re- duplication of Sanskrit and Greek verbs which have an initial aspirate mute. Thus Skt. chaii- duti, pleases: perfect cacliand-a; Skt. bhavati, Gk. ^i5ei, becomes : perfect bah/n/i-o, iriipvKa; Skt. bhujati, Gk. <pevyei, bends, flees: perfect biibhOja, v4ipcvya; and the like. By the operation of onomatopoeia, inflection, assimilation, and so forth, many words violate the principle involved in Grassmann's law. as Skt. jharjhara, drum, kumblwbhis, with pots. Gk. i6w8TJvai., to be stoned, 0;?6if, aunt, beside the literary Trfiic. The San- skrit grammarians were already familiar with this principle, and the Greek scholar Buttmann fq.v. ) also had made such explanations as rpi^tAV, dpe^eiv, from *6pe(p-, before Grassmann, who, however, by his exact enunciation of the law. is rightly accredited with the full discovery of the principle. See Phonetic Law. GRASS-MOTH. A family {Crambidce) of small moths, of which the species are numerous, inhabiting pastures, where they are often seen to rise in great numbers when disturbed, and soon to settle again on the blades of grass. Their form, when their wings are closed, is long and narrow, pointed at the head, abruptly cut oflF at the opposite end. They are often brown and white, sometimes silvery and golden. GRASS-OIL. A fragrant volatile oil obtained from the leaves and stems of certain grasses of the genus Andropogon. natives of India. The Andropogon Iicarancrisa yields a colorless or yellowish oil. The oil derived from the An- dropogon f^chocmanthus is colored green by a trace of copper usually present as an impurity. The principal chemical constituent of the oil is the monatomie .alcohol C,„HnO, called geraniol. Grass-oil is often met with in commerce under the names of oil of citronella and lemon-grass oil. It is used in scenting coney soap and to adul- terate rarer varieties of fragrant oils. GRASS-OWL. A typical owl I Sfrix Candida) of India and eastward, resembling the barn-owl, and almost invariably found in long grass. GRASS-PARRAKEET. See Paer.^keet. GRASS-PICKEREL. The common small pike (L«ci«s retirtilains) of the Eastern United States. See Pickerel. GRASSQUIT (from grass + v'"'. apparently imitative of the note). A diminutive finch or seed-eater (q.v.) of the genus Sixirophila (or some closely allied genus), abundant in the warmer parts of America and in the West Indies. The grassquits are only about four inches long, and are not bright-colored, black, white, olive, and gray being the predominant shades. They feed on seeds, and have very little power of song. But they are interesting and sociable little birds, and are frequent around houses. They build large domed nests, and lay fiv_e or six speckled eggs. They are also called 'pygmy finches,' and 'grass-finches.' GRASS-SNAKE (so called from its home). ( 1 ) One of the garter-snakes ( q.v. ). The name especially applies to the unstriped greenish- brown variety of Eutania sirtalis, called orrfi- naia by Cope, which has been regarded as a distinct species by other writers. The typical yel- low and black longitudinal stripes, are nearly or quite wanting; but three series of small, square, dark blotches run along each side. The abdomen is greenish white, with black spots near each end of the abdominal scales. The greensnake is sometimes called 'grass-snake.' (2) The common European species of water- snake, so called in Great IJritain, where it is the only serpent except the adder. See Watek- Skake. GRASS-SNIPE. A name among American gunners for sever.al shore-birds frequenting grassy places, most commonly perhaps for the pectoral sandpiper or 'jack snipe' {Tringa maculata) . See Sandpiper. GRASS-SPONGE. A commercial name for several North Indian sponges (allied to the sheepswool and velvet sponges), which grow upon hard bottoms among the eel-grass, and are marked outwardly by vertical ridges. One is Spongia graminea ; another, Spongia equina, ex- hibits a puzzling number of varieties. All of the grass-sponges are of inferior quality. GRASS STAGGERS. Cerebrospinal menin- gitis. See Meningitis. GRASS-TREE (so called from the grass-like foliage). Xaiitliorrliofa. A genus of the natural order Juncaceae. natives of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand, w-hich constitute a very pe- culiar feature in the vegetation of that part of the world. There are six or eight species, of which the widest known are Xanthorrlicen ar- borea, Xanllwrrhaa pumilo, Xanlhorrhcra Tate- ana, and Xanfhorrhcea hastilis. They have upright stems, which bear tufts of long narrow foliage at the summit, somewhat resembling small vniccas ; a long cylindrical spike of densely aggregated flowers surmounts the centre of the tuft of leaves. The base of the inner leaves of some species is edible, and forms, particularly when roasted, an agreeable article of food. The centres contain as much as 5 per cent, of sugar, which has been utilized to some extent. All the species abound in a resinous juice, which, on exposure to air, hardens into a reddish-yellow, inodorous sub- stance, with a shining fracture, soluble in alcohol, and useful as a tonic in dysentery, diarrhoea, and other intestinal maladies: used also by the na- tives of Australia for uniting the edges of wounds, and with a clayey earth for calking their canoes, and as a cement for various pur-