

OLA 



therefore turned to them, and supplicated 

 for mercy, which was granted, or refused, 

 according 1 to their opinion of his skill and 

 courage. Several learned authors have 

 differed as to the exact manner in which 

 the hands and fingers were placed, to ex- 

 press praise or disapprobation on those 

 occasions. According to Juvenal, the 

 bending of the thumbs back authorised 

 the conqueror to kill his adversary as a 

 coward. The Emperor might, however, 

 interfere, if he was present, and save the 

 gladiator ; it is supposed, besides, that his 

 entrance at the instant of defeat was fa- 

 vourable to the vanquished party, as far 

 as his life was concerned. 



The rewards of the victors consisted of 

 money collected from the spectators ; and 

 when they happened to be slaves, theyre- 

 ceived the pileus, or cap, denoting that 

 from that moment they became free ; or 

 the rudis, or wand, which signified their 

 services, as gladiators, were thenceforth 

 dispensed with, whether slaves or free- 

 men. It was customary for the persons 

 thus situated either to become Lamstx, or 

 to suspend their arms in the Temple of 

 Hercules. 



There are few nations which have not 

 imitated this strange custom, in a greater 

 or less degree, at different periods of their 

 history ; and less than a century past there 

 were gladiators in London, who fought 

 and bled, but never killed each other. 

 Malcolm's Anecdotes of the Manners and 

 Customs of this great Metropolis con- 

 tains numerous particulars relating to 

 those modern swords-men, whose exer- 

 tions were rivalled by several females in 

 the art of boxing and cutting. One of 

 their challenges, from the publication al- 

 luded to, will be a proper conclusion to this 

 article. "In Islington Road, on Monday, 

 being the 17th of July, 1727, will be per- 

 formed a trial of skill by the following 

 combatants: We, Robert Barker and 

 Mary Welsh, from Ireland, having often 

 contaminated our swords in the abdominous 

 corporations of such antogonists as have 

 had the insolence to dispute our skill, do 

 find ourselves once more necessitated to 

 challenge, defy, and invite Mr. Stokes, 

 and his bold Amazonian virago, to meet 

 us on the stage ; where we hope to give a 

 satisfaction to the honourable lord of our 

 nation, who has laid a wager of twenty 

 guineas on our heads. They that give 

 the most cuts to have the whole money, 

 and the benefit of the house. And if 

 swords, daggers, quarter-staff, fury, rage, 

 and resolution will prevail, our friends 

 shall not meet with a disappointment." 



GLA 



"We, James and Elizabeth Stokes, of the 

 city of London, having already gained an 

 universal approbation by our agility of 

 body, dextrous hands, a'nd courage- 

 ous hearts, need not preamb'ulate on this 

 occasion, but rather choose to exercise 

 the sword to their sorrow, and corroborate 

 the general opinion of the town, than to 

 follow the custom of our repartee antago- 

 nists. This will be the last time of Mrs. 

 Stokes performing on the stage. There 

 will be a door on purpose for the recep- 

 tion of the gentlemen, where coaches may 

 drive up to it, and the company come in 

 without being crowded. Attendance will 

 be given at three, and the combatants 

 mount at six. They all fight in the same 

 dresses as before." 



GLADIOLUS, in botany, English com- 

 flag, a genus of the Triandria Monogynia 

 class and order. Natural order of Ensa- 

 tx. Irides, Jussieu. Essential charac- 

 ter : corolla six-parted, irregular, une- 

 qual ; stigmas three. There are thirty 

 species : these are herbaceous, perennial 

 plants, with a tuberous-coated root ; a 

 simple stalk ; the flowers specious, in 

 spikes, with a spathe to each flower. 



GLAMA, a species of Peruvian camel, 

 with the back even, and the breast gib- 

 bose. See CAMELUS. 



GLANCE, in mineralogy, one of the 

 ores of cobalt, found in beds of mica, in 

 Sweden : its colour is tin-white, it is mas- 

 sive in various forms, and crystallized 

 in cubes and octahedrons ; the surface 

 of the crystals is smooth and splendent ; 

 it is brittle, and the specific gravity is 

 6.45. 



GLAND, in anatomy, a small body 

 formed by the interweaving of vessels of 

 every kind, covered with a membrane, 

 usually provided with an excretory duct, 

 and destined to separate some particular 

 fluid from the mass of blood, or to per- 

 fect the lymph. See ANATOMY and PHY- 

 SIOLOGY. 



The glands have been chemically exam- 

 ined by Fourcroy and others. There are 

 two sets of them : the conglobate, which 

 are small, scattered in the course of the 

 lymphatics : and the conglomerate, such 

 as the liver, kidneys, 8cc. Fourcroy sup- 

 poses the first to be composed of gelatine; 

 the composition of the others has not been 

 ascertained. 



GLANDERS. See FARRIERY. 

 GLANS. See ANATOMY. 



GLAREOLA, the pratincole, in natural 

 history, a genus of birds of the order Gral- 

 lae, Generic character : bill strong, strait, 



