GRASS-OIL 



GRATIOLA 



363 



The popular and al.su iln- botanical naiueH are 

 founded on tin- niytli that the best-known specie* 

 (/'. /KI/HA-//-/.V) first appeared on Mount Parnassus, 

 tin- abode of graco and beauty. Tlie plant i> .1 

 unlive of \>x- and moist heath* in Britain and 

 throughout northern Europe and Russian Asia, 

 becoming a mountain plant in southern Kurope 

 and \\r-t i-i-iiii.il Asia. The calyx is deeply 

 5-cleft, the petals white, ft in number, and there 

 are 5 perfect aiul 5 imperfect stamens, the latter 

 bearing iii-if.-nl of anthers a tuft of 10 to 12 

 globular-headed hairs. There are several other 

 species natives of Asia and North America. 



<r;is>-oil, a name under which several volatile 

 oils derived from widely different plants are 

 grouped. The gross-oil obtained by distillation 

 from the leaves of Antlropogon warancusa is 

 used for rheumatism, and has the same stimulant 

 effect as cajeput oil. Ginger-grass Oil is obtained 

 from ,1. nitrdus, a native of India, and other 

 species of the same genus. Geranium Oil, derived 

 from Pelargonium radula, is so like ginger- 

 grass oil in its properties that they are used 

 (or the same purposes, and are bought and sold 

 under either name, mainly as an adulterant of Oil 

 of Rose. Turkish Grass-oil is obtained from A. 

 vac/modes, indigenous to India, Persia, and Arabia. 

 Lemon-grass Oil, or Citronella Oil, is derived by dis- 

 tillation from A. schcenanthus, indigenous to India 

 and cultivated in Ceylon. It has an odour resem- 

 bling oil of citron, and is largely used for scenting 

 soap. Cyperus-grass Oil is extracted from the 

 tubers of Cyperus esculent us, indigenous to southern 

 Europe, and is used t>oth as a table oil and in the 

 manufacture of soap. 



Grass-tree ( Xanthorrhfea), a genus of plants 

 of the natural order Liliace<*e, natives of Australia, 

 and constituting a very peculiar feature in the 

 vitiation of that part of the world. They have 

 shrubby stems, with tufts of long wiry foliage at 

 the summit, a long cylindrical spike "of densely 

 aggregated flowers shooting up from the centre of 

 the tuft of leaves. The base of the inner leaves of 

 some species is eatable, and forms, particularly 

 when roasted, an agreeable article of food. It has 

 a balsamic taste ; and all the species abound in a 

 resinous juice, which, on exposure to the air, 

 hardens into a reddish-yellow inodorous substance 

 with a shining fracture, soluble in alcohol, and 

 aseful as a tonic in dysentery, diarrhoea, and other 

 intestinal maladies ; used also by the natives of 

 Australia for uniting the edges of wounds, and 

 with an aluminous earth for caulking their canoes, 

 and as a cement for various purposes. The Common 

 Grass-tree ( X. hastilis) has a stem about four feet 

 high, but sometimes a foot in diameter. It is of 

 very slow growth, and is supposed to be many 

 centuries old when it has reached such dimensions. 

 Several species are found in eastern Australia and 

 also in New Zealand, where their leaves are used 

 as fodder for all kinds of cattle. 



Grassum, in the law of Scotland, is a lump 

 sum paid by persons who take a lease of landed 

 property. ' Rent,' says Bell, ' is naturally periodi- 

 cal, but sometimes part is paid in anticipation in 

 ^ra>sum. And so grassum is, when analysed, a 

 proportion taken from each year's rent, and paid at 

 once by anticipation, either to supply some necessity 

 for ready money, or to disappoint some future pos- 

 sessor of the estate. ' In England the words ' pre- 

 mium ' in some cases, and 'fine ' in others, mean 

 the same thing. 



Grass wrack (Zosttra), a genus of plants of 

 the natural order Naiades, one or the few genera of 

 phanerogamous plants which grow amongst sea- 

 weeds at the bottom of the sea. The leaves are 

 narrow and grass-like, and the flowers consist 



merely of stamens and pi-tiU, without any peri- 

 anth, inserted on the central nerve of one hide of 

 a Hat thin linear xjintfis, with a leafy ..////<. The 

 polh-n is confervoid. The Common GraMwrack 

 (Z. mariiut) is a perennial plant, which forms 

 green meadows on the sandy bottom of shallow 

 parts of almost all the European seas, and abound- 

 in creeks and salt-water ditches. It is found in 

 great plenty on the British shores. It becomes 

 white by exposure to the air. The rush-like cover- 

 ings of Italian liquor-flasks are made of it : it is 

 much used for packing glass bottles ; and it serves 

 well for thatch. Cattle eat it as forage ; it is 

 burned to obtain soda, and has lieen employed in 

 the manufacture of paper. It has been long used 

 in Holland, Iceland, and elsewhere for -lulling 

 pillows and mattresses ; and this use has of late 

 years very much extended, so that the plant has 

 become an article of commerce, under the name 

 of Alga marina, or more commonly, but incor- 

 rectly, Alva marina (Ger. See-gras). 



Grate. See WARMING. 



Gratian, a Benedictine monk, who at Bologna 

 between 1139 and 1142 compiled the Decretum 

 Gratiani. See CANON LAW. 



Gratianus, AUGUSTUS, Roman emperor from 

 375 to 383, was the eldest son of Valentinian I., 

 and was born at Sirmium in Pannonia in 359. At 

 nine he was elevated by his father to the rank of 

 Augustus at Ambiani, or Amiens, in Gaul, and 

 next year accompanied him in his expedition against 

 the Alemanni, in order to learn the art of war. On 

 the death of Valentinian the troops elevated Gra- 

 tian to the throne, giving him at the same time as 

 a colleague his half-brother Valentinian II. Gaul, 

 Spain, and Britain fell formally to Gratian's share, 

 but as his brother was only four years old he 

 virtually ruled also over the rest of the western 

 empire, fixing his residence at Treviri (Trenes). 

 At first he snowed vigour in repelling the incur- 

 sions of the turbulent barbarians, 'and suddenly 

 found himself in 378, on the defeat and death at 

 Adrianople of his uncle Valens at the hands of 

 the Goths, sovereign also of the eastern empire. 

 Finding himself inadequate for the task of ruling 

 the whole empire, he recalled Theodosius from 

 Spain, and appointed him his colleague on the 19th 

 January 7 379. Gratian possessed some admirable 

 virtues : he was pious, chaste, temperate, and 

 eloquent ; but his character was too pliant, and he 

 was often led to commit gross acts of cruelty and 

 tyranny- His persecution of the pagans, and after- 

 wards of heretic Christians, made him a great 

 favourite with orthodox ecclesiastics, but rather 

 alienated the affections of his subjects generally ; 

 while his fondness for frivolous amusements and 

 unworthy associates excited the contempt of the 

 army, so that when Maximus was proclaimed 

 emperor by the legions in Britain crowds of the 

 disaffected flocked to his standard. Gratian was 

 defeated by him near Paris, and fled to Lyons, 

 where he was put to death 25th August 383. 



Grati'ola, a. genus of plants of the order Scro- 

 phularinese. G. officinalis, or Hedge Hyssop, found 

 in most parts of Europe, is extremely bitter, a violent 

 purgative, diuretic, and emetic, and in overdoses an 

 acrid poison ; but as a medicine was formerly called 

 Gratia Dei ( ' Grace of God '). 



Gratry, ALPHONSE, Catholic theologian, born 

 3Cth March 1805 at Lille, became General-vicar at 

 Orleans, professor at the Sorbonne, and member of 

 the Academic. He wrote a Conrs de Philosophic, a 

 work on the creed, a commentary on Matthew, 

 and La Morale et In Loide I'Histoire (1868). He 

 confuted the policy of the Vatican Council, but 

 submitted himself, and died 25th November 1871, 

 leaving Souvenirs de ma Jeunesae. 



