GAR 



GAS 



panion into this most noble order, and 

 the ceremonies of investiture, are as fol- 

 low : when the Sovereign designs to 

 elect a companion of the garter, the 

 Chancellor belonging to this order draws 

 up the letters, which, passing both under 

 the Sovereign's sign manual and signet 

 of the order, are sent to the person by 

 garter principal king at arms, and are in 

 this manner, or to the same effect. " We, 

 with the companions of our most noble 

 order of the garter, assembled in chap- 

 ter, holden this present day at our castle 

 at Windsor, considering the virtuous 

 fidelity you have shown, and the honour- 

 able exploits you have done in our ser- 

 vice, by vindicating and maintaining our 

 right, &c. have elected and chosen you 

 one of the companions of our order. 

 Therefore, we require you to make your 

 speedy repair unto us, to receive the 

 ensigns thereof, and be ready for your in- 

 stallation upon the day of this pre- 

 sent month, &c. 



The garter, which is a blue velvet, 

 bordered with fine gold wire, having 

 commonly the letters of the motto of the 

 same, is, at the time of election, buckled 

 upon the left leg, by two of the senior 

 companions, who receive it from the So- 

 vereign, to whom it is presented upon a 

 velvet cushion by garter king at arms, 

 with the usual reverence, whilst the 

 Chancellor reads the following admoni- 

 tion, enjoined by the statutes. " To the 

 honour of God omnipotent, and in me- 

 morial of the blessed martyr St. George, 

 tie about thy leg,for thy renown,this noble 

 garter ; wear it as the symbol of the most 

 illustrious order, never to be forgotten, 

 or laid aside ; that thereby thou mayest 

 be admonished to be courageous, and 

 having undertaken a just war in which 

 thou shall be engaged, thou mayest stand 

 firm, valiantly fight, and successively 

 conquer." 



The princely garter being thus buck- 

 led on, and the words of its signification 

 pronounced, the knight elect is brought 

 before the Sovereign, who puts about 

 his neck, kneeling, a sky-coloured rib- 

 bon, whereunto is appendant, wrought 

 in gold within the garter, the image of 

 St. George on horseback, with his sword 

 drawn, encountering with the dragon. 

 In the mean time, the Chancellor reads 

 the following admonition : " Wear this 

 ribbon about thy neck, adorned with the 

 image of the blessed martyr and soldier 

 of Christ, St. George, by whose imitation 

 provoked, thou mayest so overpass both 

 prosperous and adverse adventures, that 



having stoutly vanquished thy enemies, 

 both of body and soul, thou mayest not 

 only receive the praise of this transient 

 combat, butbe crowned with the palm of 

 eternal victory." 



Then the knight elected kisses the So- 

 vereign's hand, thanks his Majesty for 

 the great honour done him, rises up, and 

 salutes all the companions severally, who 

 return their congratulations. 



GAS. This term was first applied by 

 Van Helmont, to denote the permanent- 

 ly elastic exhalations afforded in chemi- 

 cal processes. Dr. Priestley, whose ex- 

 tensive and successful researches into 

 this departmet of natural philosophy, in 

 the space of a few years, produced a re- 

 volution in the science of chemistry, 

 used the word air as the generic term 

 for permanently elastic fluids. Other 

 chemical writers of great reputation have 

 thought fit to revive Van Helmont's 

 term, and confine the word air to the at- 

 mospheric fluid. As this has been found 

 convenient, to prevent confusion of 

 ideas, it is now generally adopted ; the 

 gases which are not fully treated under 

 the articles of their respective bases, 

 will properly find a place here. 



GAS, ammoniacal. See AMMOXIA. 



GAS, carbonic acid. This is the first of 

 the elastic fluids that appears to have 

 been distinguished from common air, 

 though its nature was not properly un- 

 derstood till it was investigated by Dr. 

 Black. Its deadly properties, as it is 

 met with in subterranean cavities, parti- 

 cularly the celebrated Grotto del Cano 

 near Naples, occasioned it to be distin- 

 guished by the name of spiritus lethalis. 

 Van Helmont first gave the name of gas, 

 from a German word equivalent to our 

 spirit, to this vapour produced from burn- 

 ing charcoal. He likewise called it 

 spiritus sylvestris, and when arising from 

 fermented liquors, spiritus vinosus. From 

 its existing, in the inelastic state, in wa- 

 ter, it was called fixed air, a name which 

 Black and others long retained : Bewley 

 termed it mephitic air, from its great 

 abundance in nature combined with lime 

 in the form of chalk, and it has been 

 named the cretaceous and the calcareous 

 acid, subsequent to the discovery of its 

 acid nature. But carbonic acid has su- 

 perseded all those, since it appears to 

 have been ascertained that its radical is 

 carbon. Of this, or rather of charcoal, 

 according to the experiments of Lavoi- 

 sier, it contains twenty eight parts by 

 weight, to seventy-two of oxygen. Guy. 



