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-the departments of tlie Upper and Lower PjTEnces, and 

 on the W. by the department of Landes. This department 

 is compofed of Condommois, Armagnac, and Comminges, 

 and takes its name from tl'.c river which croflcs it from fouth 

 to north. Its capital is Auch. It isfituatedin N. lat. 43' 40'; 

 its territorial extent is 7,047^ kiliometres, or about 339 

 fquare leagues, and the number of its inhabitants is eftimat- 

 ed at 291,845. It is dinded into five diftriAs, to's. Condour, 

 containing 67,103 inhabitants, Lp(iloune,with57, 445, Auch, 

 having 52,825, Lombcs, with 37,393, and Mirande, with 

 77,079 inhabitants. The number of its cantons is 3c, and 

 ot its communes 700. The total of its contributions, per- 

 fonal, fumptuary, and on moveables and immoveables, &c. is 

 *,663,3iofrancs, and the expence of adminiftration, juftice, 

 and public inftruclion, is 278,498 francs. Tlie foil of this 

 hilly department is indifferenliy fertile, yielding moderate 

 crops of grain, vrine, fruits, and good paiturts. 

 I GERSA, or Gairsa, anilland of Scotland, five miles E. 



of Enhallow, two S. of Weir, ai'.d one E. of Mainland, is two 

 miles long and one broad, and contains 50 inhabitants. The 

 greateft part confifts of a conical hill ; ileep on the W. fide, 

 and towards the E. more plain and fertde. The only har- 

 bour is that of MiUburn on the E. coaft. See Gairsa. 



GERSAU, or Geuisac, a village or town of Switzerland, 

 at the foot of the Rigi, and the fmallefi: repubhc in Europe. 

 Its territory is about a league in breadth, and two leagues 

 in length ; iituated partly on a fraall neck of land at the 

 edge of the lake of Schweitz, and partly lying upon the 

 rapid dechvity of the Rigi. It contains about 1200 inha- 

 bitants, having their general aflembly of burgefTes, their 

 landamman, their council of regency, their courts of juftice, 

 and their mihtia. In the whole republic there is not a fingle 

 horfe ; and the only way of arriving at the town is by water, 

 excepting a narrow path down the ileep fides of the mountain, 

 which is almoft impaffable. Gerifau is entirely compofed of 

 fcattered houfes and cottages of a very neat and pitiurcfque 

 appearance; each dwelling is provided with a field or fmall gar- 

 den. The inhabitants are much employed in preparing filk for 

 the manufactures of Bade. This httle republic is under the 

 proteftion of the four cantons, Luccrn, Uri, Schweitz, and 

 Undenvalden ; and in cafe of war furniflies its quota of men. 

 The town is fix miles diftant S.W. from Schweitz. N. lat. 

 46* ^f. E. long. 8' 20'. 



GERSCHITZ, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Kori- 

 gingratz ; nine miles N.W. of Konigingratz. 



GERSCHNITZ, a town of Germany, in the principality 

 fif Bapeuth ; fix miles E. of Bayreuth. 



GERSDORF, a town of Germany, in the principality of 

 Querfurt ; four miles N.E. of Juterbock. 



GE?>.SON, in Biography, chancellor of the church End 

 iiniverfityof Paris at the beginningoftb.e fifteenth century ; 

 according to whom the ground-work of all difcant was the 

 plain-chant ; and in his treatife upon the education of chil- 

 dren for the ehoir of Notre Dame, he enjoins a particular 

 attention to chanting, counterpoint, and dilcant, as the tlirte 

 molt eflential branches of their inftruclion and ftudy. (Ma- 

 gifter cantus ftatutis horis doceat pueros planum cantum prin- 

 cipaliter, et contrapunftum, et aliquos difcantus honeftos — 

 decent and fober melodies.) He likev.-ife tells us, that in 

 this cathedral, during his time, the choirifters were only al- 

 lowed, by the ftatutes, to praclife difcant till their voices 

 broke. (Nee faciat eos tantum inCfterc in talibus, quod per- 

 dint in grammatica profeclum ; attento maxime quod in 

 ecclefia noftra difcantus non eft in ufu, fed per ttatuta por- 

 hibitui, faltem quoad voces quae mutatae dicuntur). The Abbe 

 Lebeuf underftands thefe laft words as we have tranflated 

 iicm : (Le d^chaot n'etoit poiat eo u£age daiw I'eglifede 



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Paris, el qu'an eontraire il etoit dcfendu par les ftat'.tts, an 

 moins a I'cgard des veix qui avoient paffe Ic terns dc la mu- 

 tation. Traite Hid. fur le Chant. Eccles. p. 92.) The 

 indefatigable Abbe Lebeuf found in the king of France's 

 Lbrary the ftatutes here alluded to, which had been framed 

 in the 13th century, and from which the chancellor had beca 

 ordered to makeextrafts in 1408. He concludes the fourtli 

 article of his trail, which relates to pfalmody, by informing ut 

 that no written difcant was allowed in church miffals or gra- 

 duals, except for the cxercife and improvement of the finging 

 boys. (Nee debet in caiitu notulato regukiriter immifceri 

 difcantus, pueris exceptis propter exercitationem fuam. Gcr- 

 fon, torn. iv. ultima; edit. p. 717.) 



GERSPACH, in Geography, a town of Germany, in thp 

 county of Eberftcin, on the Murg ; taken by the French in 

 1794; three miles S.E. of Baden. N. lat. 48 48'. E. long. 

 8 20'. 



GERSPRINTZ, a town of Germany, ia the county of 

 Erbach ; loven miles N.W. of Erbach. 



GERSTEN, Christian Louis, in Biography, -vc^shoTA 

 at GiefTen in 1701 : here he was educated, and in the year 

 1733 he was appointed profeflbr of mathematics and tht 

 mechanical fciences in that city. On account of fome dif- 

 pute he was difmifled from his office, and left GiefTen in 

 1744 ; he went firft to Altona, and from thence to Pcterf- 

 burgh ; but meeting with no encouragement, he returned 

 and attempted to g^t rcinftatcd in his office, but failing in 

 his defign, he infultcd the landgrave, was arrefted at Franc k- 

 fort in 1 748, and doomed to perpetual imprifonment in tlic 

 caftle of Marburg, with an annual allowance of 200 flo- 

 rins. Here he employed himfelf in teaching the matlie- 

 matics to thofe young perfons who came to his prifon for 

 inftrudlion, and his leifure moments were occupied in ftudy- 

 ing the phenomena of the atmofphcre, and the eiianget 

 which take place in it, fo as to become very expert iu tlie 

 fcience of meteorology. In thq year 1760 he was liberated 

 from his confinement, but his freedom was not complete ; he 

 was admitted at large for a time by way of proving whether 

 he was entitled to a general difcharge : efcaping however 

 from his fliackles he went privately to Franckfort, where 

 he kept himfelf concealed, or at leaft quiet, till he died ia 

 1762. His works were numerous, and written in the Latia 

 langaage : they chiefly rehte to meteorology, to the me- 

 thods cf calculating eclipCcs, and to the ftructure of ailro- 

 nomical inftruments; He was eileomed by his contempo- 

 raries for his integrity and his learning. He fent loine pa- 

 pers to the Royal Society of London, of which feveral 

 were infcrted in the volumes of their Tranlactions. Moreri. 



GERSTUNGEN, in Geography, a town of Ger.nanv, 

 in the principality of Eifenach, on the Werra ; 8 miles W« 

 of Eifenach. 



GERSWALDE, a town of Germany, in tJie Uckor 

 Mark of Braadenljurg ; 9 miles S. of Prenzlaw. 



GERTHAUSEN, a town of Gennany, in the county- 

 of Henneberg ; I o miles W. of Mcinun^en. 



GERTRUDENBERG, a town ot Germany, ia the 

 bifliopric of Olnnbruck ; i mile E. of Ofnabruck. 



GERTRUYDENBERG, St., a town of Brabant, 

 but i.i later times fubjeil to Holland, with 3 good harbour, 

 formed by the Merwe, whicli here extends to a confiderabls 

 lake, called « Bics Bofch/' over which is a paflageof twa 

 hours to Dort, It is built in the form of a crefcent, \^a\ 

 regular fortifications, good baftions, and forts witli (luices j 

 by means of which they can lay tl;e adjacent country under 

 water. In ancient charters it is called " ^^oas Littoris,"' 

 the mountain of the Ihore. In 64", Pepin de Landen, 

 duke of Bribant, gave it to his daughter Gertrude, wha 

 5 e buJB 



