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GEN'ERAL. In military affairs, (1.) The 

 rank of general is of several degrees, as 

 major-general, lieutenant-general, and gene- 

 ral, according to seniority, when promo- 

 tions are made ; and the commander- in- 

 chief of an army is called, by way of 

 eminence, the general; (2.) The term ge- 

 neral is also used for a particular beat of 

 the drum : it is the first which gives no- 

 tice for the infantry to be in readiness to 

 march. 



GEN'ERAL ISSUE. In lam, that plea 

 which denies at once the whole declara- 

 tion or indictment, without offering any 

 special matter by which to evade it. This 

 is the ordinary plea in criminal cases. 



GENERALIZATION. In logic, the act of 

 comprehending under a common name 

 several objects agreeing in some abstract 

 point. 



GEN'ERANT, a term used by mathema- 

 ticians for that which is generated, or 

 supposed to be generated, by the motion 

 of a point, line, or surface. See FLUXIONS. 



GEN'ERATISO LINE or FIGURE. In ma- 

 thematics, that line or figure, by the mo- 

 tion of which another figure or solid is 

 supposed to be described or generated. See 

 FLUXIONS. 



GENERA'TION. In mathematics, denotes 

 the formation or description of any geo- 

 metrical figure or magnitude, by the mo- 

 tion of another magnitude or quantity of 

 a dimension one degree less. See GENE- 

 BANT and GENERATING. 



GENERA'TOR. In music, the principal 

 eound or sounds by which others are pro- 

 duced. Thus the lowest C for the treble 

 of the piano-forte, besides its octave, 

 strikes an attentive ear with its twelfth, 

 above, or G in alt., and with its seven- 

 teenth above, or E in alt. Hence C is 

 called their generator, the G and its 

 products or harmonies. 



GENZK'IC, appertaining to a genus. The 

 gtneric names of animals and plants are 

 followed by other names usually de- 

 noting some peculiar quality or circum- 

 stance ; these appended names are called 

 s^nfic. 



GEN'ESIS. Titttri;, generation. 1. In 

 .H ipture, the name given to the first book 

 cf Moses, containing the history of the 

 creation, &c. In the original Hebrew it 



!<_. no title. 2. In mathematics, the 



formation of a line, plane, or solid, by 

 tfte flux of a point, line, or surface, called 

 tb dcfrribent. 



OIX'ET'TA, the Genets. A sub-genus of 

 tVuDarian mammalia. The common genet 

 li> found from the south of France to the 

 C*p cf Good Hope. Its skin forms an 

 iraporur.t article of trade. The name 

 genet is aiso used to designate a small- 

 Mixed Spanish horse. 



UBNB'VA, a corruption of Fr. genieire, a 



juniper berry. Gin: a spirit obtained by- 

 distillation from grain, rectified, witU the 

 addition of juniper berries. The oest U 

 made in Holland, and may be bought in 

 bond for 2s. 3d. to 2*. 6<f. the imperial gal- 

 lon, upon which there is a duty of 22s. 6d. '. 



GENIC'ULATE, Lat. geniculatm, knee- 

 jointed: applied to culms bent like the 

 knee, and to peduncles bent at the joints. 



GENII, a race of beings created from 

 fire, between man and angels, and hav- 

 ing a body, which they can metamorphose 

 at pleasure. 



GENIS'TA, the Broom. A genus of per- 

 manent plants. JHadelphia Decandi-tn. 

 Name from genu, the knee, in allusion to 

 the angular inflections of its twigs. There 

 are about 45 species, four of which are 

 common in Britain. 



GEN'ITIVE, Lat. ffenitivus. An epithet 

 in grammar for a case in the declension 

 of nouns, expressing primarily the thing 

 from which something also proceeds. The 

 genitive case is the second of the Latin 

 and Greek nouns, and answers to the pos- 

 sessive of the English. 



GENS. In ancient history, a subdivision 

 of the Roman people next to the curia or 

 tribe. 



GF.N'TIAN. In pharmacy, the ro6ts of 

 the Gentiana hitea, a perennial plant com- 

 mon on the Alps and Pyrenees, name<i 

 also felwort. Named from Gentius, kin^ 

 of Illyria, who first used it. 



GEN'TIANINE, an alkaline principle dis- 

 covered in gentian (root of G. lutea], and 

 supposed to be the active part of the root. 



GEN'TILE, Lat. gens, nation. A gene, al 

 term applied by the Jews and Christians 

 to all heathen nations. 



GBN'TLBMAIT. In law, any man above 

 the rank of a yeoman, or more strictly a 

 man who without a title bears a coat ot 

 arms. 



GENTLEMEN PENSIONERS. In England 

 a band of forty gentlemen, named es 

 quires, whose office is to attend the kin^ 

 to and from the chapel royal. 



GENTOO', a word employed by Europe 

 ans in the East Indies to designate thf- 

 language and people of that country. I 

 is a corruption of the Portuguese wore 

 gentio, which signifies gentile in the scrip 

 tural sense, but is not known o tht 

 natives. 



GE'NUS, (Lat.) from yi,o; , a family, race 

 or stock. 1. In logic, a universal which 

 is predicated of many things as the ma 

 terial or common part of their essence 



2. In natural history, a subdivision o> 



any class or order of natural beings, whe 

 ther of the animal, vegetable, or njinera> 

 kingdoms, all agreeing in certaii com 

 mon characters: a collection of specie* 

 See CLASS. In music, any scale of music 



GEOCEN'TRIC, from yr lt the earth, ani 



