G O R 



G O R 



the troops, which induced them to demand that liis miniflor 

 Pliilip (hould lie afTociated witli Gordian as partiK-r ni thu 

 empire. This was not fufficient to fa isfy his ambitious 

 views ; the young emperor was facrificed at liis inlligatiun ; 

 he was put to death near the banks of the Euphrates, in 

 March 244, after a reign of five years and eight mouths. 

 A I'epulchral monument was erefted to his memory on the 

 fpot wliere lie was killed. Gibbon. 



Gordian, a term in Hijlory. GorJian knot was a 

 knot made in the leathers or harnefs of the chariot of Gor- 

 dms, king of Phrygia, and father of Midas ; fo very 

 intricate, that there was no finding where it began or 

 ended. 



The inhabitants had a tradition, that the oracle had de- 

 clared, that he (hould be mailer of Afia who could untie 

 this knot. Alexander having undertakan it, rfnd fearing 

 that, if he iliould not be able to effect it, it would be 

 deemed an ill augury, and prove a check in the way of 

 his conquefts, cut it afnnder with his fword ; and thus, 

 fay Qnintus Curtius, cither accompliflied the oracle, or 

 eluded it. But Arillobulns gives a different account of 

 tliis matter. See Arrian, lib. iii. cap. 20, and Plut. in 

 Vit. Alex. 



Some will have the phrafe derived from Gordius who tied 

 tlie fatal knot ; others from Gordium, a city in Piirygia, 

 where the knot was made. 



GORUIUM, in Geography, a town of Afi;i, in Phrygia, 

 fituated on the river Sangar ; afterwards called Juliofolis. 



GORDIUS, in Zoology, a genus of Vermes, the eflen- 

 tial character of wliich confills in the body being round, 

 filifor.Ti, naked or fmooth, and of equal thicknefs through- 

 out. 



Linnasus, and after his example the French naturalil^ Bru- 

 guiere, has placed the animals of this genus among the in- 

 tcifinal vermes, an order of beings to which, from their 

 general ilrufture, they feem to bear no very remote alliance : 

 and this fimilarity is Hill more ftrongly evinced in the habits 

 of thofe fpecies which occafionally penetrate into the flefh 

 of men and animals, and therein for a while derive their 

 fuftenance from the blood and other fluids. Notwilhllaud- 

 ing this analogy, under fuch circumftances we cannot but 

 agree with Lamarck that it is impoffible to coniider them as 

 internal vermes with propriety, fince they only occafionally 

 refide in the bodies of animals as before mentioned, and in 

 their habits and manners of life at other periods differ moll 

 elfentially : they are literally aquatic animals, with carnivo- 

 •rous appetites; though for a certain length of time they 

 can fubfift like the true inteftinal vermes, when by any acci- 

 dental circumilance they happen to infinuate themfelves 

 ■into the flefli of a living animal. 



At the head of this tribe we may juftly place the fpecies ot;?- 

 ttintnjis, or hair worm of the Indies, a pernicious creature, re- 

 ferred to the genus Gordius by Linn-.eus in the latefl edition 

 of his .Syll. Nat., but from which it was afterwards removed 

 by hjs editor Gmelin to that of Filaria. This removal we 

 deem unneceJary, and under this perfuafion wifli to rettore 

 the fpecies 19 its former fituation in the genus Gordius. 



Species. 



MEDlNEX.'il?. Body entirely pale. Linn. Sloane Jam. &c. 



TWs very remarkable creature is often from ten to twelve 

 or even lifteen feet in length, and in thicknefs not exceed- 

 ing a horfc-hair. It is well known by its difaftrous effefts 

 as an inhabitant of both the Indies, where it lives in marlhy 

 places, and is frequently obferved on the ground in the 

 morning dew. In this fituation it eafily creeps up, and en- 

 tv.wcs jtfelf round the aaked legs cf the negro Javes, or 



animals, and penetrating the flvin, buries itfelf fpeedily in the 

 ttefli, where it caufes the moit violent pains, accompanied 

 with troublefome itchings, and oftentimes inflammation and 

 fever. The moft certain means of extricating the worm is 

 to make an iiiciiion in the part of the lleil; at which its en- 

 trance was effeited, fo as to obtain fecure hold of eitlier of 

 the extremities, or the head if poffible, and this being made 

 fail tu a fmall llick by means of a piece of filk, the animal 

 may be gradually drawn out of the wound by turning the 

 IHck round a little each day. The utmcll circumipeclion is 

 rcquifite in performing this operation, for if by being too 

 much flraincd the worm fliuuld break, the part remaining 

 within the flefh grows with increafed vigour, gangrene 

 appears alinoft immediately, and death itlelf enlues \ery 

 fliortly. 



Aquatici'S. Pale brown, with blackifli extremities. 

 Linn. Gordius fda, M'ill. Vilnius uqufiliciis, Gefn. 

 Meer-U'ijn, Jonft. Chittin, Hill. &c. 



This fo entirely refembles a hair of from four to fix 

 inches in length, that except by its motions it could be in no 

 manner dilliaguifhed from a fubllance of that kind by the ca- 

 fual obferver ; its internal llrufture is equally remarkable 

 alfo for its fimplicity, confViling merely, as it appears, of a 

 canal extending from one end to the other, and both the 

 mouth and vent are the moif iimple poifible, fince a fmall 

 vent conllitutes the firll, and a groove or hollow the latter. 

 Its ordinary places of refidence are ilagnant waters, in pools 

 and ditches, or in very tranquil rivers, as the agitation of 

 turbulent waters would deilroy its tender frame. During 

 winter it remains buried deep in the clay, from whence it 

 emerges in fpring, and is found in the water during the fum- 

 mer months, where it is frequently obferved, and from its ap- 

 pearance is vulgarly imagined to be the offspring of horj} hair 

 dropped by accident into the water. It twills itfelf into 

 various contortions ; and it is affirmed that its bite will oc- 

 cafion the complaint called a whitlow. A fac^ (lill more ex- 

 traordinary, and which appears in fome meafure to be au- 

 thenticated with tolerable accuracy, is the retentive power of 

 animation, which this creature polfeffes in a very fuperior de- 

 gree, though not by any means to tlie extent that certain 

 naturalills conceive. Some writers afSrm, indeed, that it has 

 been known to recover the free exercife of its vital functions 

 upon being fleeped for a fhort fpace of time in water, after 

 having remained in a dried liate for weeks, months, and even 

 years, and when of courfe it might be naturally conceived 

 the moll latent fpark of life mud be extinft. If thefe latter- 

 affnrances have not arifen from the re'ult of fome very 

 fuperficial experiments, they are at leafl to be received with 

 caution, fince their obfervers feem to believe that thefe animals 

 partook alfo in fome meafure of the reproduclive properties 

 of the polype, and which more recent obfcrvations prove 

 to be erroneous ; we cannot, therefore, upon the whole, 

 avoid concluding that although the animals cf this kind are 

 extremely tenacious of life, there is no fumndation in truth 

 for the very extraordinary aflertions above related. 



A ntilLLACEU.*;. Body uniformly yeilowiih. Linn. 



Very much refembles the lall, and like that fpecies is 

 found m the clay at the bottom of Ilagnant waters. 



FiLUM. Body filiform and whitifh, Miill. 



Extremely llender, tapering at one end, and hyaline. 

 Found in the bark of old wooden pipes which had been 

 placed in the ground for the conveyance of water. 



L.'tCTEUs. Body uniformly white and opacjue. Miill. 



Occurs in myriads in ilagnant water from the month of 

 July till September. When touched, this fpeci..'s contracts 

 itfelf in a moment, and then again expands immediately. 



AnLN.i.iuL"s. Fulvoub .ind obtule. Miill. 



luluibits 



