GUI 



GRO 



Vegetables," a genus of the Gynandria 

 Polyandria class and order. Natural or- 

 der of Columniferae. Tiliacese, Jussieu. 

 Essential character: calyx five-leaved; 

 petals five, with a nectareous scale at the 

 base of each; berry four-celled. There 

 are thirteen species. 



GRIAS, in botany, a genus of the Po- 

 lyandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Guttifera, Jussieu. Essen- 

 tial character : corolla four-petalled ; ca- 

 lyx four-cleft ; stigma sessile, cross- 

 shaped ; drupe with an eight-furrowed 

 nucleus. There is but one species, viz. 

 G. cauliflora, anchovy-pear. This tree is 

 about fifty feet in height, branching at 

 the top ; leaves on short petioles, pendu- 

 lous, two or three feet long ; flowers 

 from the stem, on short, scaly, many- 

 flowered peduncles. The uprightness of 

 the growth, and,,the size of the leaves, 

 give this tree a very elegant appearance. 

 The fruit is nearly as large as an alliga- 

 tor's egg, resembling it very much in 

 shape, but of a brown colour ; they pickle 

 the fruit, and eat it in the same manner 

 with the East Indian mango, which it 

 resembles in flavour. This beautiful 

 tree is common in many parts of Ja- 

 maica, growing generally in low moist 

 places. 



GRIELUM, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decandria Pentagynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Gruinales. Essential 

 character : calyx five-cleft : petals five, 

 filament permanent ; pericarpium five,- 

 with one seed in each. There is only one 

 species, viz. G. tenuifolium, a native of the 

 Cape of Good Hope. 



GRIFFON, in heraldry, an imaginary 

 animal, feigned by the ancients to be half 

 eagle and half lion ; by this form they 

 intended to give an idea of strength and 

 swiftness joined together, with an extra- 

 ordinary vigilance in guarding the things 

 intrusted to its care. Thus the heathen 

 naturalists persuaded the ignorant, that 

 gold mines were guarded by these crea- 

 tures with incredible watchfulness and 

 resolution. 



GRINDERS. See ABTATOMT. 



GRINDING, the reducing hard sub- 

 stances to fine powders, either by the 

 mortar, or by way of levigation upon a 

 marble. 



GRIPE, in the sea-language, is a piece 

 of timber fayed against the lower piece of 

 the stern, from the fore-most end of the 

 keel, joining with the knee of the head : 

 its use is to defend the lower part of the 

 stern from any injury; but it is often 



made the larger, to make the ship keep a 

 good wind. 



GHIPE is also a sea-term, for a ship's 

 turning her head more to the wind than 

 she should ; this is caused either by over- 

 loading her a-head,the weight of which 

 presses her down, so that she will not 

 readily fall off from the wind; or by stay- 

 ing or setting her masts too much aft ; 

 which is always a fault in short ships that 

 draw much water, since it causes them 

 to be continually running into the wind:, 

 though in floating ships, if the masts be 

 not stayed very far aft, thej' will never 

 keep a good wind. 



GRISLEA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Octandria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Calycanthemse. Saiica- 

 riae, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 

 four-cleft ; petals four, from the incisures 

 of the calyx ; filaments, very long, as- 

 cending ; capsule globular, superior, one- 

 celled, containing many seeds. There are 

 two species, viz. G. secunda and G. to- 

 mentosa, the latter is a beautiful flower- 

 ing shrub, a native of the hills and valleys 

 through the northern provinces of the 

 Carnatic in the East Indies. 



GRIT, a genus of argillaceous earths, 

 with a texture more or less porous, equa- 

 ble, and rough to the touch. It neither 

 gives fire with steel, nor effervesces with 

 acids. When fresh and breathed on, it 

 exhales an earthy smell. Its specific 

 gravity varies from 2.0 to 2.6, and is used 

 for mill stones and whet-stones, and 

 sometimes for filtering-stones and build- 

 ing. 



GROMETS, in the sea-language, small 

 rings formerly fastened with staples to the 

 yards, to make fast the gaskets, but now 

 never used. 



GRONOVIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Pentamlria Monogynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Cucurbitacese. Essen- 

 tial character : petals five, together with 

 the stamens inserted into the bell-shaped 

 corolla; berry dry, inferior, containing 

 one seed. There is but one species, 

 viz. G. scandens, climbing gronovia, an 

 annual plant ; sending out many trailing 

 branches like those of the cucumber, 

 closely set with broad leaves, which have 

 a strong smell. Peduncles many flowered, 

 axillary. 



GROSS, in law-books, signifies abso- 

 lute, or independent of another : thus, an 

 advowson in gross, is one distinct and se- 

 parate from the manor. 



GROSS BEAK, the English name of 



