ganister 
metal. , a hard, silicious rock forming the floor of 
some coal-seams in England. It is used as a refrac- 
tory material, and also for flagging. Ganister is also artifi- 
cially made by mixing ground quartz and fire-clay ; this ar- 
tificial form is used for lining Bessemer converters. Cal- 
cined, pulverized, and sifted ganister is used on a straight 
buff-stick of bull-neck leather tosmooth the threaded shoul- 
ders of socket-knives after they have been filed. Canis- 
ter beds, a series of beds in the northern counties of Eng- 
land, immediately over the millstone-grit, belonging to the 
lower coal-measures ; they produce excellent flagstones. 
One seam of coal in England is called the ganister coal, 
because it almost always has a ganister floor. Hence the 
name ganiiler beds has been given to the lower coal- 
measures. 
ganjah (gan'ja), . [Also written gunjah, repr. 
Hind, gdnja or gdnjha, the hemp-plant.] The 
hemp-plant of the north of India ; specifically, 
the dried plant which has flowered, and from 
which the resin has not been removed, used for 
smoking like tobacco. Also called guaza. 
gannen (gan'en), n. [E. dial., perhaps for gang- 
ing, a going: see gang, gangway.] In coal- 
mining, a broad heading or incline, down which 
coal is conveyed in tubs running on rails. 
Gresley. [North. Eng.] 
ganner (gan'er), n. A dialectal form of gander. 
gannet (gan'et), . [< ME. "ganet, found only 
in contr. gant, gante, < AS. ganot, ganet, a sea- 
fowl, = D. gent, a gander, = MLG. LG. gante, 
a gander, = OHG. ganazzo, MHG. ganze. a gan- 
der (cf. L. ganla (Pliny), a goose, > OP. gante 
= Pg. Pr. ganta; of Teut. origin); < gan-, in 
gander, and goose (G. gans, etc.) + suffix -ot, 
-et.] 1. The solan-goose^ Sula bassana, a large 
totipalmate swimming bird of the family Suit- 
da and order Steganopodes. It is about 3 feet long 
and 6 feet in stretch of wings, and of a white color tinged 
with amber-yellow on the head, with black primaries. 
gap 
Hence 2. A series or course of things or 
events. See to run the gantlet (6), below. 3. In 
railway cngin., the running together of parallel 
tracks into the space occupied by one, by cross- 
2452 
The ganoids are an ancient group, well developed in the 
paleozoic rocks, but now dying out. The fossil genera are 
numerous and the species highly differentiated, but to-day 
only eight genera and between thirty and forty species 
comprise the ganoid fauna of the world. 
Stand. Sat. Hist., HI. 91. 
ganoidal (ga-noi'dal), a. [< ganoid + -al.] 
Same as ganoid. 
Ganoidea (ga-noi'de-a), n.pl. [NL.] Same as 
Ganoidei, 2. 
ganoidean (ga-noi'de-an), a. and n. Same as 
a'anoidei (ga-noi'de-i), n. pi. [NL., pi. of <ja- j" g *!f tw ?u^? er rails -1 as \ brin ? each side 
no*: zee ganoid.] I, In Agassiz's system &^* *Soffi i^d^a "a'sin^ 
track tunnel or bridge without breaking the continuity of 
either rail. To run the gantlet, (a) To undergo the 
punishment of the gantlet. Seedef. 1. Hence (6) To be 
exposed or to expose one's self to a cbSirse or series of dis- 
agreeable or unpleasant treatment or observations, re- 
marks, criticisms, etc. Also sometimes to pass the gantlet. 
of classification, one of four orders into which 
the class of fishes was divided, it contained those 
which have ganoid scales or plates of an angular, rhom- 
hoidal, polygonal, or subcircular form, as distinguished 
from those with placoid, cycloid, or ctenoid scales. As thus 
Gannet (SMta bassaHa], adult .tin! young;. 
It inhabits the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North 
America, feeds on fish, which it catches by pouncing 
down upon them from on high, and congregates in vast 
numbers to breed in certain rocky places on the sea- 
coast. It is a strong flier, but is not found far from land. 
Some of the principal breeding-places are the Hebrides, 
St. Kilda, Ailsa Craig, and the Bass Rock, on the Euro- 
pean coast, and the "Gannet Rock," in the gulf of St. 
Lawrence. The flesh is rank, but the young are some- 
times eaten, and the old birds are taken iu numbers for 
their feathers. 
2. pi. The birds of the family Sulidte; the boo- 
bies, of which there are several species, of the 
genera Sula and Dysporus. 
Ganocephala (gan-o-sef 'a-la), n.pl. [NL., neut. 
pi. of ganocephalus : see ganocephaloug.] An 
order of extinct labyrinthodont amphibians. 
The eudoskeleton is notochordal and osseous; the bodies 
of the vertebrae are each represented by a basal intercen- 
trum and a pair of pleurocentra ; there is no occipital con- 
dyle ; the vomer is divided ; the temporal fossae are over- 
arched by bone ; and the head is covered with polished 
horny or ganoid plates, whence the name. The genera 
Arehegosaurui and Dendrerpelon are adduced by Owen 
as examples of this order. 
Owen has distinguished the oldest forms [of labyrinthu- 
donts] with armoured skull as Ganocephala. 
Claws, Zoology (trans.), II. 188. 
ganocephalous (gan-o-sef'a-lus), a. [< NL. 
ganocephalus, < Gr. 7 avof, brightness, sheen, lus- 
ter, + Ktfyakti, the head.] Having the head cov- 
ered with shining polished plates ; specifically, 
having the characters of the Ganocephala. 
Granodus (gan'o-dus), n. [NL. (so named from 
the polish of the teeth), < Gr. yavor, brightness, 
sheen, luster, + bSoif (ooWr-) = E. tooth.'] A 
genus of fossil chimseroid fishes. 
ganoid (gan'oid), a. and n. [< Gr. yavoq, bright- 
ness, sheen, luster, + eliof, appearance.] I. a. 
1. Having a smooth, shining surface, as if pol- 
ished or enameled : specifically applied to those 
scales or plates of fishes which are generally 
of an angular form and composed of a bony or 
hard horny tissue overlaid with enamel. See 
cut under scale. 2. Having ganoid scales or 
plates, as a fish ; specifically, of or pertaining 
to the Ganoidei : as, a ganoid fauna. 
II. n. One of the Ganoidei ; a fish of the order 
Ganoidei. 
Also ganoidean, ganoidian. 
framed by Agassiz, the ganoids were an artificial group, 
including siluroids, plectognaths, lophobranchs, and other 
teleost fishes. By Owen the Ganoidei were divided into 
two suborders, Lepidoganoidei and Placoganoidei. By 
later authors the group has IRVII restricted and raised to 
the rank of a subclass. 
Hence 2. In Miiller's system, a subclass of 
fishes with muscular or multivalvular aortic 
bulb, free branchise, covered g^ll-cavity, and no 
optic chiasm, a spiral intestinal valve (some- 
times rudimentary), and usually fulcra on one 
or more fins. It was divided by Muller into two orders : 
Chtmdrostei, with a cartilaginous skeleton, as the stur- 
geons and paddle-fishes, and Holostei, with lny skeleton, 
as the Polypttridat, Lepidotsteidce, Amiidte, and many ex- 
tinct forms. Each one of the existing families of ganoids 
has been made the type of an order by late writers. Thus, 
the sturgeons {Acipenserida?) typify the order Chondrostei 
in a restricted sense, or Glanwstomi ; the paddle-fishes 
(Polyodontidcc or Spatulariida), the order Selachostomi; 
the bichirs (Polypteridce), the order Crossopterygia or Ac- 
tinistia; the bony pikes or gars (Lepidogteidte), the order 
Khoniboganoidei or Ginglymudi ; and the bowfins (Ami- 
"'''). the order Cycloffanoidei or Halecomorphi. Besides 
these there are three extinct orders, Acanthodini, Placo 
dentti, and Pycnodontini. The ganoids abounded in for- 
mer geologic periods, as far back as the Silurian ; but the 
few above named are the only extant types. See ganoid, 
n. Also Ganoidea. 
ganoidian (ga-noi'di-an), a. and n. Same as 
ganoid. 
ganoin (gan'o-in), n. [< Gr. ; avoc, brightness, 
sheen, luster '(see ganoid), + -in 2 .] The peculiar 
bony tissue which gives the enamel-like luster 
and transparency to the plates of ganoid fishes 
and of some labyrinthodonts. It is simply 
dense homogeneous bone. 
ganomalite (ga-nom'a-lit), . [< Gr. yavu/ia, 
brightness, brilliancy '(< yavoeiv, make bright. 
}(4vof, brightness, sheen, luster), + A/0or, stone.] 
A rare silicate of lead and manganese, occur- 
ring massive, white or gray in color, at Lang- 
ban in Sweden. 
gant 1 (gant), a. An obsolete or dialectal form 
of gaunfl. 
gant 2 , gaunt 2 (gant), r. t. [A var. of gan&, 
yawn (AS. ganian): see ganS, yawn.] To yawn. 
[Scotch.] 
Gaunting bodes wanting one of three, 
Meat, sleep, or good company. Scotch proverb. 
gantein (gan'te-in), n. [< F. gant, a glove (see 
gauntlefl), + -e- + -in 2 .] A saponaceous com- 
position, used to clean kid and other leather 
gloves, composed of small shavings of curd soap 
1 part, water 3 parts, and essence of citron 1 
part. 
gantlet 1 (gant'let), n. Another spelling of 
gauntlefl. 
gantlet 2 , gauntlet 2 (gant'let), n. [More cor- 
rectly gantlope (q. v.), corrupted to gantlet or 
gauntlet by confusion with gantlefl, gauntlet 1 , 
a glove (there being some vague association 
with ' throwing down the gauntlet ' in chal- 
lenge) ; the proper form would be *gatloj>, or, 
accom. to E., *gatelope, < Sw. gatlopp (= G. gas- 
senlaufen), lit. a 'gate-leap,' i. e., a 'lane-run,' 
in the phrase lopa gatlopp, run the gantlet (cf. 
Icel. go'tuthiofr, a thief punished by the gant- 
let) ; < Sw. gata, a street, lane (= G. gasse = 
E. gate 2 ), + lopp, a running, course, career, < 
lopa = G. laufen = E. leap, run : see gate 2 , leap 1 , 
and lope.] 1. A military punishment formerly 
inflicted for heinous offenses, in which the of- 
fender, stripped to his waist, was compelled to 
run a certain number of times through a lane 
formed by two rows of men standing face to 
face, each of them armed with a switch or 
other weapon with which he struck the offender 
as he passed ; also, such a punishment used on 
board of ships, and, by extension, any similar 
punishment (used by some savage tribes and in 
Russia). Among the North American Indians this was 
a favorite mode of torturing prisoners of war, who often 
died under it. The Indians struck their victims with clubs, 
knives, lances, or any other convenient weapon. 
Ganymede and the EaRlc.-Musco 
Nazionale, Naples. 
To print is to run the gantlet and to expose one's self to 
the tongues-strappado. 
Gfanville, Vanity of Dogmatizing, Pref. 
Charles panes the gauntlet of curious eyes down the 
aisle of the arbor. W. M. Baiter, New Timothy, p. 72. 
gantlette (gant'let), n. Same as gauntlet^. 
gant-line (gant'lin), n. [< gant (uncertain) + 
line . Cf. girt-line.] Same as gift-line. 
gantlope (gant'lop), n. The earlier and less 
corrupt form of gantlet 2 . 
He is fain to run the gantelope through the terrors and re- 
proaches of his own conscience. ./. Scott, Sermon (1680). 
Some said he ought 
t.. be tied neck and 
heels ; others, that he 
deserved to run the 
yantelopf. 
Fieldiny, Tom Jones, 
[vil. 11. 
gantry, gantree 
(gan'tri, -tre), n. 
Same as gauntree. 
Ganymede (gan'i- 
med), n. [< L. 
Ganymedes, < Gr. t 
Tavun^Srif."] 1. In 
Gr. myth. , the cup- 
bearer of Zeus or 
of the Olympian 
gods, originally a 
beautiful Trojan 
youth, transferred 
to Olympus (ac- 
cording to Homer 
by the gods, ac- 
cording to others 
hv thp p<rlfi of 
Dy me eagle 
Zeus or by Zeus 
himself in the form of an eagle), and made im- 
mortal. He supplanted Hebe in her functions as cup- 
bearer. He was regarded at first as the genius of water, 
and is represented by the sign Aquarius in the zodiac. 
Or else flushed Ganymede, his rosy thigh 
Half-buried in the Eagle's down, 
Sole as a flying star shot thro' the sky. 
Tennyson, Palace of Art. 
2. Figuratively, a cup-bearer ; a waiter. 
Nature's self's thy Ganymede. 
Cowley, Anacreontics, The Grasshopper. 
ganzat (gan'za), n. [Sp. ganso, m., gander, 
gansa, t., goose, < Goth. *gans = OHG. gans = E. 
gooxe: see goose, gander, gannet.] One of the 
birds (a sort of wild goose) which, in Cyrano 
de Bergerac's "Comic History of the Moon" 
(1649), are represented as drawing thither the 
chariot of the Spanish adventurer Dominique 
Gonzales. 
They are but idle dreams and fancies, 
And savour strongly of the ganzas. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, II. iii. 781. 
There are others, who have conjectured a possibility of 
being conveyed through the air by the help of fowls, to 
which purpose the fiction of the ganzas is the most pleas- 
ant and probable. Bp. Wilkins, Daedalus, vii. 
gaol, gaoler (jal, ja'ler), n. Obsolescent spell- 
ings of. jail, jailer. 
gaon(ga'on),n.; pl.gaonim. [Heb., exaltation, 
excellence.] A rabbinic doctor of the law. The 
name gaonim belongs exclusively to the presidents of the 
academies' of Sora and Pumbaditha, in Babylonia, from 
A. D. 657 to 1034 and 1038. 
gap (gap), n. [< ME. gap, gappe, < Icel. gap = 
Sw. gap = Dan. gab, a gap, opening, breach, 
chasm, mouth, throat, < Icel. Sw. gapa, Dan. 
gabe, yawn, gape: see gape.] 1. A break or 
opening, as in a fence, a wall, or the like; a 
breach; a chasm; a way of passage, as be- 
tween rocks or through a mountain; a vacant 
space. 
And stoppe gone and deliverly 
Alle the gapvis of the hay [hedge]. 
Horn, of the Rose, 1. 4023. 
