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Grimsby, Isaac Newton, under the name of the Inflexion of Light. 
Grimsel. These discoveries of Grimaldi are contained in his work 
“—Y~" entitled Physico-Mathesis de Lumine, Coloribus et Iride, 
Bononiz, 1665. The principal object of this work, is to 
determine whether light be a substance or a quality ; 
and, after occupying 535 quarto pages in this discussion, 
he concludes, with the Aristotelians, that it is not a 
substantial, but an accidental quality. A full account 
of this work will be found in the Phil. Trans. for 1672, 
No. 79, p. 3069. Grimaldi died in 1663, in the forty- 
fourth year of his age. The discovery of the solar spots, 
and the present nomenclature of the lunar spots, have 
been erroneously ascribed to him. See Phil. Trans. 
abridged, vol. i. p. 675, Note. See also Optics. 
GRIMSBY, or Great Grimssy, is a borough and 
seaport town of England, in Lincolnshire, situated near 
the mouth of the Humber. The streets are clean, and 
the houses in general well built. The church, which 
is called St James, is spacious and handsome, and is 
built in the form of a cross, with a tower in the cen- 
tre. The steeple is a fine specimen of English point- 
ed architecture. A part of the choir fell down in 1600, 
but the steeple has scarcely suffered from the depreda- 
tions of time. In the upper part of the steeple is the 
singular inscription, “ Pray for the soul of John Em- 
pringham.” ‘The church contains many ancient mo- 
numents. Grimsby had formerly a monastery of Gray 
Friars, a convent of Benedictines, and a priory of Au- 
gustine canons. Grimsby was once a rich and popu- 
lous town, with a considerable foreign and inland trade. 
It was a mayoralty in the reign of King John; and in 
the reign of Edward III. it furnished 11 ships and 170 
mariners to assist at the siege of Calais. The harbour, 
however, was gradually choked up, and a dangerous 
sand bank having drifted near its mouth, its trade de- 
clined, and was transferred to Hull. Of late, the trade 
of the place has revived; the harbour has been im- 
proved, a dock constructed at great expence, and the 
town enlarged by additional buildings. A small coast« 
ing trade is carried on with sloops. Salt and coals are 
the chief articles of importation. There was once at 
Grimsby a castle, but it is entirely decayed. There are 
some very extraordinary fountains near the town, called 
Blow Wells, which never overflow, though they rise 
to a level with the surface ofthe ground. Grimsby is a 
ort town under that of Hull, and has a deputy col- 
ector, comptroller, and coast surveyor. The Grimsby 
canal is a short canal which leads from the Humber to 
Grimsby wet docks. Population of the burgh and 
parish, in 1811, 2747. See the Beauties of England 
and Wales, vol. ix. p. 689, &e. 
GRIMSEL is the name of a lofty mountain in Swit- 
zerland, over which there is a road from the canton of 
Berne into the Upper Vallais. The distance from Meyr- 
ingen on the Aar, to the Hospice of Grimsel, is about 
seven leagues, and from thence to. Oberghestelen on the 
Rhone, is three leagues. This road is bordered in se« 
veral places with frightful precipices, and it is often ne- 
cessary to pass over bridges apparently insecure. 
After leaving Meyringen, the traveller passes through 
the forests of Mount Kirchet, by the agreeable valley of 
Im Grund. The gneiss here appears below the calca= 
reous strata, lying above the primitive rock. The strata 
of the gneiss are almost vertical, a little inclined to the 
south. Beyond the forest which occupies the extremi- 
ty of Grund, the calcareous rocks cease altogether, and 
the gneiss and micaceous schistus replace it on the side 
of Guttaner, the southern dip of these rocks being a 
little increased. In the valley of D’Urbach, the great 
516 
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glacier of D’Urbach or of Gauli descends into the plain; 6 
and after passing the Aar by a bridge, a rough and’so- 
litary path cut out of the rock leads between the moun- 
tains of Urbach, Ritzli, Gauli, and Gouttan, to the 
hamlet of Im Boden, and thence to the village of Gout~ 
tanen, situated $198 feet above the level of the sea, 
where there is a tolerably good inn. This. was 
burnt in 1803, but, in consequence of the. li ity of 
the Swiss, it has been rebuilt. About a quarter of a 
league above Gouttanen, the granite ‘in 
and extends to the Grimsel. Its stratification iv diss 
tinctly seen. At first the strata stretch from north-east 
to south-west, and afterwards from: east-north-east to. 
west-south-west. About half a league from Gouttanen, 
the Aar forms a cascade at the side of the road; and a 
fine rainbow may be always seen in clear weather bes ~ 
tween ten and two o'clock. Beyond Goutanen the 
road passes Mount Stampf, and, after twice crossing 
the Aar, the traveller es the chalet of Handeck in 
two hours. The glacier and the lake of Ghelmer are 
distinctly seen from that mountain to the east, and to 
the south-west a the glaciers of Erlen and Ritzli,. 
and the Handeckhorn to the south, At a.considerable 
distance below the chalet, the Aar forms one of. the 
finest waterfalls in Switzerland. It should be visited 
during sunshine, between half-past nine and eleven 
o'clock, and from the bed of the river, as near the bot~ 
tom of the fall as possible. From Handeck to the 
Hospice is a distance of two Jeagues, over a terrible 
road, which is three times crossed by frightful though 
substantial bridges. About half) a 
deck appear immense rounded of grain: 
which steps have been cut for the feet of the and 
of travellers. After travelling half an hour longer, we: 
cross the fine Alpine pastures of Roderischboden. At 
the last bridge, not far from the Hospice, the Aar suf- 
fers another remarkable fall. Nh APO rio 
The Hospice, which was built:in 1557, is surrounded 
with frightful rocks, and is situated at:a he of 5628 
feet above the level of the sea. The r of it is allows 
ed to hunt in any of the cantons of Switzerland, and is 
bound, in return, to feed and lodge all travellers that cross 
the Grimsel. He remains at the Hospice from March 
till the beginning of November. He can furnish seven: 
beds, though there are sometimes more than a 
undred candidates for them. Near the Hospice is a 
small lake called Kleinsee, from thirty-two to sixty-two 
feet deep. The Sassbach throws itself into the lake in - 
a fine cascade. After leaving the Hospice, the road 
continues to ascend for three quarters of a league, and 
at its most elevated Pout the height is 6570 feet. 
The height of the Seidelhorn, which is' the highest sum- 
mit of this mountain, is 8580 feet. From the highest 
part of the road, there is a fine view of the Furca, of 
the Galenstock, of the peaks of St»Gothard, of the 
Gries, and of the southern chain of the Vallais, as far 
as Mont Blanc. The descent to Oberghestelen occu« 
pies only about two hours. ow ek 
On the top of the Grimsel a reddish granite occurs; 
mica slate appears in the southern face; and argillas 
ceous schistus at the southern foot of the mountain. 
A singular grotto, filled with crystals, was opened on 
Mount Jochli, upon the Zinkenstock, in 1720.» It was 
the richest ever found in Switzerland: It was 120 feet 
deep and 18 wide, and: contained crystals of which a 
small number weighed nearly eight quintals, and se« 
veral four or five quintals. Several thousands of quins 
tals were obtained, of the estimated value of 30,000 flo~ 
rins, One of the largest of these was $4 feet diame» 
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