465 



GRANULATION. 



GRASS LAND. 



406 



All corporeal hereditaments, as lands and houses, of which actual 

 delivery can be made, are said to lie in livery ; but advowsons, commons, 

 rents, reversions, &c., which from their nature cannot so be transferred, 

 are said to lie in grant. This distinction has been removed by modern 

 legislation, and a grant may now be made of every species of property. 

 At common law, as at present, a writing was necessary to support a 

 grant ; the writing being the evidence of such transfer of property, as 

 livery of seisin was in the case of a feoffment. Until the statute 

 4 Ann, c. 16, sc. 9, the ceremony of attornment was necessary in such 

 grants of interests in reversion or remainder as are grantable ; that is, 

 the tenant in* possession consented to the grant of the seignory, by 

 which consent he became tenant to the new lord. 



Attornment was a consequence of the feudal law, and until the cere- 

 mony was rendered unnecessary by the statute cited, and by another 

 (11 George II., c. 19), the doctrine relating to it was one of the most 

 confused and difficult branches of the law. 



GRANULATION. [WOUND.] 



GRAPE SHOT is an assemblage, in the form of a cylindrical column, 

 of nine balls resting on a circular plate, the size of the bore of the gnu, 

 through which passes a pin serving as an axis. The balls are contained 

 in a strong canvas bag, and are bound together or quilted on the 

 exterior of the latter by a cord disposed about the column in the 

 manner of a net ; they then have something of the appearance of a bunch 

 of grapes. From the rusting of the iron shot the canvas becomes soon 

 destroyed, hence another description of grape shot, sometimes called 

 tier shot, has been introduced ; the balls are retained round the iron 

 pin by a series of flat iron plates, screwed down parallel to the lower 

 plate, and between every two of which is a layer of balls. 



The dimensions of a column, or assemblage of balls, and the sizes of 

 the balls in the column, vary from 4 llis. to 8 oz. with the nature of 

 the ordnance from which they are to be discharged ; according to the 

 present method the grape shot are adapted to 6, 9, 12, 18,24, and 

 32-poucder guns, but then- weights are rather greater than those of the 

 usual shot which correspond to each nature of gun. 



A fire of grape shot is on service frequently directed against an 

 enemy's troops when advancing in close order to an attack, and on 

 board ship at close quarters : 600 yards is considered the limit of the 

 effective range of grape. 



GRAPE SUGAR. [SuoAB.] 



GRAPE VINE. [VrNE.] 



GRAPHIC ACID. [GRAPHOTE.] 



GRAPHITE. Plumbago. Slack Lead. The natural sources of this 

 variety of carbon, 'and the uses to which it is applied, have already 

 been described. See GRAPHITE, in NAT. HIST. Div. 



The artificial formation of graphite occurs in several manufacturing 

 processes. For example, when cast-iron is melted in contact with 

 charcoal, a quantity of the latter is dissolved, and on the cooling of the 

 mass, crystallises out in characteristic six-sided plates ; closely resem- 

 bling that variety of graphite now largely imported from Ceylon. 

 Crystalline graphite is also deposited in the retorts used in the manu- 

 facture of coal-gas. Amorphous graphite similar to that obtained 

 from the Borrowdale mines in Cumberland and from Germany is 

 deposited on one of the carbon terminals of the electric-light apparatus 

 during the passage of the current. 



For most of the useful purposes to which it is applied, graphite 

 requires to be freed from the impurities with which, in the native 

 state, it is nearly always contaminated. To this end, a process, dis- 

 covered by Professor Brodie, has recently been made the subject of a 

 patent. Its details are as follows : One pound of powdered graphite 

 is mixed with four pounds of concentrated sulphuric acid, and one 

 ounce of powdered chlorate of potash is then added. The mixture is 

 heated until chlorous fumes cease to be evolved, the residue is then 

 thrown into water, washed, dried, and ignited. The ignited substance 

 is washed in water, on which it floats, while the impurities fall to the 

 bottom. Lastly, it is dried. By this process the graphite may be 

 obtained in a state of chemical purity. 



The phenomenon that ensues during the ignition of the substance 

 just described is very peculiar, much resembling that which takes 

 place on the application of heat to the bichromate of ammonia. Gases 

 are given off in the interior of the little grains or plates, the whole 

 swells up to very many times its original bulk, and is reduced to the 

 most minute state of division. 



According to Professor Brodie's researches, the composition of the 

 body that results from the oxidation of graphite as above detailed, is 

 not constant. It contains the elements of sulphuric acid combined 

 with oxygen, with hydrogen, and with a large per centage of carbon. 

 By repeating the oxidising process, however, five or six times, the 

 whole of the graphite is converted into a light-yellow, transparent 

 crystalline substance, to which Professor Brodie has given the name 

 Hraphic Acid. It contains : 



Carbon 61-11 



Hydrogen 1-85 



Oxygen 37-04 



100-00 



Corresponding with the formula C S ,H.0 10 . Graphic acid is very 

 slightly soluble in water, combines with the alkalies to form crystal- 

 ARTH AWD SCI. DTV. TOT. TV. 



line salts, and is reduced by deoxidising agents to a body resembling 

 graphite. 



GRASS LAND maybe divided into water-meadows, upland pastures, 

 and artificial grasses. The first are treated of under IRRIGATION : the 

 nature and management of the two last we shall here briefly describe. 

 Upland pastures are portions of land on which the natural grasses grow 

 spontaneously, varying in quantity and quality with the soil and 

 situation. The plants which form the natural sward are not confined 

 to the family of the Graminete, but many other plants, chiefly with 

 perennial roots, form part of the herbage. In the richest soils the 

 variety is exceedingly great. When a sod is taken up, and all the 

 plants on it are examined, the species will be found more numerous 

 than we should have believed possible ; * and in the same ground the 

 plants will vary in different years, so as to induce one to conclude that, 

 like most other herbaceous plants, the grasses degenerate when they 

 have grown for a long time on the same spot, and that a kind of rota- 

 tion is established by nature. It is chiefly in those pastures where the 

 grasses are allowed to grow till they form their seed that this is 

 observable ; for when they are closely fed, and not allowed to shoot 

 out a seed-stem, they are less subject to degenerate and disappear. 

 This may be a reason why experienced dairymen are so unwilling to 

 allow their best pastures to be mown for hay. They pretend that the 

 feed is deteriorated in the next year, and that inferior grasses are 

 introduced which injure the quality of their butter and cheese. Close 

 feeding is always considered as the most advantageous, both to the 

 cattle and the proprietor. 



The only way in which a pasture can be profitable is by feeding 

 stock ; and its value is in the exact proportion to the number of sheep 

 or cattle which can be fed upon it in a season. Extensive pastures are 

 often measured only by their capacity in this respect. Thus, we speak 

 of downs for 1000 sheep ; and in Switzerland and other mountainous 

 countries they talk of a mountain of 40, CO, or 100 cows, without any 

 mention of extent in acres. 



When a pasture is naturally rich, the only care- required is to stock 

 it judiciously, to move the cattle frequently from one spot to another 

 (for which purpose inclosures well fenced are highly advantageous), 

 and to eradicate certain plants which are useless or noxious, such as 

 docks and thistles, furze, broom, briars and thorns, which, not being 

 touched by the cattle as long as they have better food, would increase 

 and overrun the ground, and take up a space which would be more 

 profitably occupied by good herbage. The dung of the cattle also, 

 when left in heaps as it is dropped, kills the grass and introduces coarse 

 and less palatable plants. This must be carefully beat about and 

 spread, or carried together in heaps to make composts with earth, 

 to manure the poorer meadows or the arable laud. All that is required 

 in rich pastures in which cows and oxen are fed, and which are 

 properly stocked, is to prevent the increase of the coarser and less 

 nutritive plants. Weeding is as important in grass as in arable land ; 

 and if it is neglected, the consequence will soon be observed by the 

 inferior quality of the feed. The urine of the cattle is the manure 

 which chiefly keeps up the fertility of grass land ; and although in 

 hot and dry weather it frequently burns up the grass where it falls, 

 when it is diluted by showers the improved appearance of the surface 

 hows that its effect has not been detrimental. To enrich poor meadows 

 there is no manure so effective as diluted urine, or the drainings of 

 stables and dung-hills. 



When pastures are poor, and the herbage is of a bad quality, the 

 cause is to be sought for in the soil. A poor arid soil is not fitted 

 for grass, nor one which is too wet from the abundance of springs 

 and the want of outlet for the water. These defects can only be 

 remedied by expensive improvements. A soil which is too dry may 

 be improved by cultivation and judicious manuring ; but for this 

 purpose it must be broken up and treated for some time as arable 

 land : and it may be a question whether or not the expense of improving 

 the soil will be repaid by the superior quality of the pasture when 

 it is again laid down to grass. In general the poor light soils, if they 

 are worth cultivation, answer better as arable laud, especially where 

 the turnip husbandry is well understood. The low wet clay soils may 

 be converted into good pastures by draining them well ; and the 

 improvement thus produced is so great, that judicious draining in such 

 soils is the most profitable investment of capital. 



When old meadows have been neglected, or too often mown, without 

 being recruited by manure or irrigation, they are often overrun with 

 moss or rushes, and produce nothing but a coarse sour grass. In that 

 case, besides draining it if required, the land must be broken up and 

 undergo a regular course of tillage, until the whole of the old sward is 

 destroyed, and a better collection of grasses covers its surface. If this 

 be done judiciously, the pasture will not only be greatly improved in 

 the quality, but also in the quantity of the grass. There is a natural 

 prejudice against the breaking up of old grass land. This has arisen 

 from the improper manner in which it is frequently effected. The 

 sward when rotten is a powerful manure, and produces great crops of 

 corn. These tempt the farmer to repeat the sowing of corn on newly 



* In a sod of grass taken from Pclbornc Common, the following grasses were 

 found : Planlago Innefolata, Agrostis capillaris, Arena jlavctccns, IMtctylis 

 fflomerata, Fcttwa durivscula. Pea minua, Cynowrut cristatus, TrifotiHtn rcpcna, 

 Orepit trctorum, Achilla mtllefolivm, (Jalium terttni, llypocharis raclicata, 

 Sierarium pilosdta, Thymus sfrpyllvm. (Curtis ' On Grasses. 1 ) 



H II 



