GOT 



bits most seas, and is often several feet 

 high, .nd expanded into a large surface ; 

 trunk and branches pinnate, and by means 

 of the smaller branches blending toge- 

 ther, forming an elegant kind of net- 

 work; polype with eight claws. See 

 ZOOPHYTES. 



GORTERIA, in botany, so named in 

 honour of David de Gorter, a genus of 

 the Syngenesia Polygamia Frustranea 

 class and order. Natural order of Com- 

 positae Capitatae. Corymbiferae, Jussieu. 

 Essential character: calyx imbricate, 

 with spiny scales; corolla of the ray ligu- 

 late ; down woolly ; receptacle naked. 

 There are thirteen species, mostly 

 shrubby plants from the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



GOSHAWK, the English name of the 

 yellow-legged falcon, with a brown back, 

 and a white variegated breast. See 

 FALCO. 



GOSSAMER is the name of a fine 

 filmy substance, like cob-web, which is 

 seen to float in the air in clear days in 

 autumn, and is more observable in stub- 

 ble-fields, and upon furze and other low 

 bushes. This is probably formed by the 

 flying-spider, which, in traversing the 

 air for food, shoots out these threads 

 from its anus, which are borne down by 

 the dew, &c. 



GOSSIPIUM, in botany, English cotton, 

 a genus of the Monodelphia Polyandria 

 class and order. Natural order of Colum- 

 niferae. Malvaceae, Jussieu. Essential cha- 

 racter: calyx double, outer trifid; cap- 

 sule four-celled; seeds wrapped in cot- 

 ton. There are six species. See MANU- 

 FACTURE of cotton. 



GOTHIC style, in architecture. The 

 characteristics of this mannner of building 

 are pointed arches, greater height than 

 breadth in the proportions, and profuse 

 ornament, chiefly derived from an imita- 

 tion of the leaves and flowers of plants. 

 The word gothic, by which it has long 

 been distinguished in England, has lately 

 been considered by its admirers as a term 

 of reproach, applied by architects who 

 were at a loss how to imitate its excel- 

 lence, in order to bring it into disrepute ; 

 the former therefore now call it the point- 

 ed style. If we were to judge wholly 

 from the complete oblivion which in- 

 volves the origin of gothic architecture, 

 it must follow, that architects were held 

 in as little estimation about the time of 

 Henry III. as common masons are at pre- 

 sent ; but this inference is doubtful, and 

 the cause that the names of the most emi- 

 nent have not reached us may be more 



correctly attributed to the then and SUb* 

 sequent neglect of literature. Writing 

 was almost exclusively confined to the 

 cloister, yet the monks, who could best 

 inform us of their architects and the 

 changes in their styles, were unaccount- 

 ably silent on the subject ; an instance 

 may be cited from Malcolm's Londini- 

 um Redivivum," in which that author in- 

 troduces a legend of the building of the 

 priory of St. Bartholomew, Smithfield, 

 written immediately after the death of 

 Rahere, the founder, by a monk resident 

 there. This person describes the man- 

 ner in which the money was raised, and 

 many miracles performed, but not a word 

 occurs relating to the architect : Rahere 

 died in 1 174, and the monk adds, " and 

 with moor ampliant buildings were the 

 skynnys of our tabernaculys dylatid ;" 

 we may therefore suppose that the arches 

 under the tower, which are partly circular 

 in the Saxon style, and partly pointed, 

 were some of the first essays in the new 

 mode of building, and erected about 

 1200. 



Westminster Abbey was begun by Hen- 

 ry HI. in 1245 ; this beautiful edifice is a 

 complete and regular specimen of the 

 purest pointed style ; it is consequently 

 perfectly fair to suppose, that the inter- 

 val between the above dates was the pe- 

 riod when gothic architecture superced- 

 ed its heavy and tasteless predecessor. 

 That it soon became the favourite mode 

 may be concluded, from its adoption in all 

 the additions made to old churches at 

 that time, which is discoverable in an in- 

 stant by the total disagreement of the 

 proportions and ornaments. There is 

 every probability that the first principles 

 of the style in question were derived 

 from the eastern nations, now partially * 

 under the dominion of the East India 

 Company, where there are many build- 

 ings dedicated to their mode of worship 

 that might almost be called gothic, and 

 those are certainly very ancient. The 

 Romans had explored the coasts of those 

 countries, and their remote descendants 

 may have been representations of the 

 structures alluded to, left by their ances- 

 tors, and adopted them with alterations in 

 some few of the earliest specimens of 

 Christian churches. When a people of 

 so much importance in the history of the 

 world, as the successors of its conquerors, 

 introduced any peculiarity in their man- 

 ners or buildings, it is reasonable to sup- 

 pose that they were eagerly imitated 

 throughout Europe; hence we find that 

 a few centuries produced a vast number 



