GRIP. 



news. (Treatise on Greyhounds.) As it is out 

 of our province, in a work of this nature, to 

 treat at large of coursing and its agents, we 

 must refer the sportsman who wishes for de- 

 tailed information on the points of a good grey- 

 hound, and on breeding, feeding, &c., to that 

 excellent manual of reference for all matters 

 relating to the chase, Blame's Encyclopedia of 

 Rural Sports, a very learned and carefully ar- 

 ranged work, digested and compiled by a mas- 

 ter hand. 



GRIP. A small gutter, or ditch, cut across 

 a field, to drain it. When cut for draining, it 

 is mostly called a water or draining furrow. 



A good method of draining meadow or sward- 

 land, by grips, is that of cutting out the pieces 

 in a somewhat wedge-like form, taking off the 

 bottom part, and then replacing them, by which 

 means, a hollow is left below, for permitting 

 the water to flow off. 



Grip is also provincially used to signify the 

 hollow or cavity behind the cattle, in cow- 

 houses or cattle-sheds, into which the dung 

 and urine is discharged. These cavities should 

 always be sunk about 8, 10, or 12 inches below 

 the surface on which the cattle stand. 



GRIPES, or COLIC. We have found that, 

 in the absence of a veterinary surgeon in this 

 dangerous complaint, the following is the best 

 remedy for a horse : 1 pint of linseed oil, 

 1 ounce of laudanum, given in a little warm 

 gruel. Some persons assist the operation of 

 the above with a glyster composed of Ib. 

 of epsom salts, Ib. of treacle, dissolved in 

 three quarts of warm water. See CATTLE, and 

 SHEEP, DISEASES OF. 



GRIT. Hard sandstone, employed for mill- 

 stones and grindstones, pavement, &c. 



GRITS. See GHOATS. 



GROATS. In agriculture, are the small 

 grains formed from oats after having the husks 

 or shells taken off the grain. When crushed, 

 they are called Embden groats. Gruel made 

 from groats is a mild, little nutritive, easily 

 digested food, well adapted for cases of fever 

 and inflammation. An ounce of groats should 

 make a quart of gruel ; the mixture should be 

 constantly stirred during the boiling ; and when 

 cold, the clear liquor poured off from the sedi- 

 ment. Sugar or lemon juice may be added 

 if circumstances admit of such additions. 



GROMWELL; GRAY MILLET (Lithosper- 

 mum, from lithos a stone, and sperma a seed. 

 The little nuts or seeds being extremely hard, 

 and having a surface as smooth as a polished 

 pebble). Of this herbaceous perennial plant 

 there are four indigenous species in England. 



1. The common gromwell (L. officinalc), gro- 

 nall, gray-mill, or gray millet, for it has various 

 local names, which grows in dry, gravelly, or 

 chalky soils, and frequently amongst rubbish 

 and mins, blowing pale buff flowers, in May 

 and June. The root is tapering, strong, and 

 whitish. The whole herb rough with minute, 

 close, callous bristles. The stem is annual, 

 nearly two feet high, branched and leafy. The 

 leaves are sessile, alternate, grayish-green,ovate 

 or lanceolate. The seeds are gray, with a kind 

 of porcelain polish, and a stony hardness ; 

 whence they have been falsely reported to con- 

 tain calcareous earths, effervescing with acids. 

 594 



GROUND-NUT. 



j These seeds afford excellent flour, which might 

 in times of scarcity be converted into bread. 



2. Corn gromwell. See BASTARD ALKANET. 



3. Creeping or purple gromwell (L. purpuro 

 catruleum). A rare plant, found occasionally 

 in thickets on a chalky soil. 



4. Sea gromwell (L. maritirmim), growing in 

 many parts of the coasts of Scotland and the 

 aorth of England on the sea-shore among sand 

 or loose stones. The whole herb is remarkable 

 for its beautiful glaucous hue. (Eng. Flor. 

 vol. i. p. 254.) 



The field lithospermum, or stoneweed, a worth- 

 less plant, is the only species described by Dr. 

 Darlington, as found in Pennsylvania. There 

 are five or six additional species in the United 

 States. (Flora Cestrica.} 



GROOM (Flem. grom, a boy). A name now 

 usually applied to servants who are employed 

 about horses. The chief requisites in a groom 

 are, a mild disposition, and a fondness for the 

 animals of which he has the care. Great atten- 

 tion is also necessary to the feeding, dressing, 

 littering, and keeping horses clean. These 

 different operations should be daily executed 

 with regularity and exactness. The stable, as 

 well as the various articles that belong to it, 

 should also always be kept clean and in per- 

 fect order. 



GROUND CHERRY (Physealis viscosa), 

 clammy viscosa. The specific name of this 

 American plant is derived from the Greek word 

 Physa, a bladder or bag, in allusion to its in- 

 flated calyx, or seed-pod. It is found in fields, 

 fence-rows, &c., where, in the Middle States, it 

 flowers in July. The root is annual, the stem 

 growing 12 to 18 inches high, with spreading 

 branches. Leaves 2 to 4 inches long, and 2 to 3 

 inches wide, roundish ovate or obtuse. Flower 

 greenish-yellow, with purplish-brown spots at 

 the base. The berry succeeding the flower is 

 roundish, viscid, enclosed in the inflated calyx, 

 and of a greenish-yellow colour, and when fully 

 mature, orange. The flower stems are very 

 hairy. The ripe berries of one of the more hairy 

 varieties of the ground cherry (P.Pennsylvanica'), 

 are orange-coloured, more succulent than some 

 others, and rather palatable. (Flora Cestrica.) 



GROUND IVY. See ALEHOOF. 



GROUND-NUT (Apios tuberosa. From apios 

 a pear, in allusion to its pear-shaped tubers) 

 sometimes called wild bean. An American 

 plant, growing in the Middle States, having 

 a perennial root, producing oval tubers half 

 an inch or more in diameter at the base of 

 the stem. The stem is from 4 to 8 feet 

 long, slender, striate, slightly hairy, sparingly 

 branched, and climbing. The flower blooms 

 in August, is of a dingy purple with tinges of 

 green, rather handsome and pleasantly fra- 

 grant. The tubers on the roots are esculent 

 and nutricious, and the plant has been con- 

 sidered an object worthy of culture. It is the 

 only species of the genus. (Flora Cestrica.) 



Another plant producing a ground nut is the 

 Arachis hypogaa. This is an annual plant, with 

 long, trailing stalks. A native of Mexico, but 

 now cultivated in the West Indies for its nuts, 

 which are oblong, and grow beneath the sur- 

 face. These are used by the negroes as food. 

 But in France they are now cultivated for the 



