GEN 



177 



GER 



roots, leaves, and flowers, used as 

 tonics : Gentianese, n. plu., fin' 

 shi-an'e-e, a tribe of the Order : 

 Gentiana, n,, jen'sht-dn'-d, an 

 extremely beautiful genus of 

 plants : Gentiana lutea., ldot'8-a 

 (L. lutum,, a plant used in dyeing 

 yellow), a species whose root is 

 principally used in medicine, 

 found at a high elevation on 

 Pyrenees and Alps, produces 

 showy yellow flowers, and the 

 root yellow internally : G. punc- 

 tata, pungk-tat'-a (L. punctdtus, 

 punctured from punctum, a 

 puncture, a sting) ; G. purpurea, 

 per-pur'8-d (L. purpureus, 

 purple-coloured from purpura, a 

 purple colour) ; and G. Pannon- 

 ica, pan-ntin'-ik-a (L. Panndnia, 

 an anc. country of Turkey), 

 are species whose roots- are often 

 mixed with the root of G. lutea : 

 G. kurroo, Icur-rd' (a native 

 name), a species of the Himalayas 

 having similar properties : G. 

 campestris, kdm-pest-ris (L. cam- 

 pestris, pert, to a level field from 

 campus, a flat field) ; and G. am- 

 areUa, am'-dr-eV-ld (a dim. of L. 

 amdrus, bitter), British species 

 which have also been used as 

 bitter tonics. 



genu, n., fin'u (L. gZnu, the 

 knee), the knee or bend of the 

 corpus callosum. 



genus, n., fin' Us, genera, n. plu., 

 jen'-er-d (L. genus, birth, race, 

 g&n$ris, of a race), that which 

 has several species under it ; a 

 group next lower to an Order ; a 

 Species is one of the group called 

 a Genus, while accidental differ- 

 ences in species give rise to 

 Varieties ; we have accordingly 

 in natural history, the Order, the 

 Genus, the Species, the Variety, 

 while to indicate minor differences 

 we have often groups called Sub- 

 orders, Sub -genera, Sub-species, 

 and Sub-varieties ; see * Species. ' 



Geoffroya, n., jef-froy'.a (after M . 

 Geo/roy, author of Materia Med~ 

 M 



ica. died 1731), a genus of trees, 

 Ord. Leguminosae, Sub-ord. Pap- 

 ilionacese : Geoffroya superba, 

 su'perb'd (L. superbus, excellent, 

 splendid), a species whose fruit, 

 called Umari, is much used by 

 the inhabitants of Brazil, etc. 



geotropism, n., je-ot'-rop-izm (Gr. 

 g$d, the earth ; trope, a turning, 

 a change), in bot., the influence 

 of gravitation on growth. 



Gephyrea, n. plu., jef-ir'-Z'd (Gr. 

 gephura, a mound or dyke), a 

 class of the Anarthropoda, com- 

 prising the spoon - worms and 

 their allies. 



GeraniaceaB, n. plu.^r-aft^-a'sg-e 

 (Gr. gerdnos, a crane, in allusion 

 to the long beak-like prolongation 

 of the axis), the Cranesbill family, 

 an Order of plants which are as- 

 tringent and aromatic : Gerani- 

 um, n., fir-an'-i-tim, a genus, 

 some of whose species produce 

 very handsome flowers : Geranium 

 maculatum, mak'-ul-at'-um (L. 

 maculatus, spotted, speckled 

 from macula, a spot), a species 

 whose root is called ' alum root, ' 

 from its being a very powerful 

 astringent : G. oblongatum, 06- 

 long-gat'-urn (L. oblongus, rather 

 long, oblong), the yellow geran- 

 ium, whose root-stock is used by 

 the natives of Namaqualand, S. 

 Africa, as an article of food ; G. 

 B/obertianum, rob-ertf'i'dn'-um 

 (from Robert, proper name), a 

 species used in K. "Wales in 

 nephritic complaints. 



germ, n., firm (L. germen, the 

 bud of a tree, a young twig), that 

 from which anything springs; the 

 rudiment of an undeveloped new 

 being: germ-cells, the cells or 

 nuclei which contain active 

 germinal matter or protoplasm ; 

 germ-mass, the germinal matter 

 or protoplasm ; the materials 

 prepared for the future form- 

 ation of the embryo : germen, 

 n., firm'-Zn, in bot., a name for 

 the ovary : germinal, a. , firm' 



