GLA 
pensed with, whether slaves or freemen. 
It was customary for the persons thus situ- 
ated either to become Lanistae, or to sus- 
pend their ai ms in the Temple of Her- 
cules. 
There are few nations which have not 
imitated this strange custom, in a greater or 
less degree, at different periods of their his- 
tory ; and less than a century past we. had 
gladiators in London, who fought and bled, 
but- never killed each other. Malcolm’s 
Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of 
this great Metropolis, contains numerous 
particulars relating to those modern swords- 
men, whose exertions were rivalled by se- 
veral females in the art of boxing and cut- 
ting. One of their challenges, from the 
publication alluded to, will be a proper 
conclusion to this article. “ In Islington 
Road, on Monday, being the 17th of July, 
1727, will be performed a trial of skill by 
the following combatants : We, Robert 
Barker and Mary Welsh, from Ireland, 
having often contaminated our swords in 
the abdomnious corporations of such antago- 
nists as have had the insolence to dispute 
our skill, do find ourselves once more ne- 
cessitated to challenge, defy, and invite 
Mr. Stokes, and his bold Amazonian virago, 
to meet us on the stage ; where we hope 
to give a satisfaction to the honourable lord 
of our nation, who has laid a wager of 
twenty guineas on our heads. They that 
give the most cuts to have the whole mo- 
ney, and the benefit of the house. And if 
swords, daggers, quarter-staff, fury, rage, 
and resolution will prevail, our friends shall 
not meet with a disappointment.” — “We, 
James and Elizabeth Stokes, of the city of 
London, having already gained an universal 
approbation by our agility of body, dex- 
trous hands, and courageous hearts, need 
not preambulate on this occasion, but ra- 
ther choose to exercise the sword to their 
sorrow, and corroborate the general opi- 
nion of the town, than to follow the custom 
of our repartee antagonists. This will be 
the last time of Mrs. Stokes performing on 
the stage. There will be a door on purpose 
for the reception of the gentlemen, where 
coaches may drive up to it, and the com- 
pany come in without being crowded. At- 
tendance will be given at three, and the 
combatants mount at six. They all fight in 
the same dresses as before.” 
GLADIOLUS, in botany, English corn- 
flag , a genus of the Triandria Monogynia 
class and order. Natural order of Ensatae, 
<jL A 
Irides, Jussieu. Essential character: co- 
rolla six-parted, irregular, unequal ; stigrhas 
three. There are thirty species : these are 
herbaceous, perennial plants, with a tube- 
rous-coated root ; a simple stalk ; the flow- 
ers specious, in spikes, with a spathe to 
each flower. 
GLAMA, a species of Peruvian camel, 
with the back even, and the breast gibbose. 
See Camelus. 
GLANCE, in mineralogy, one of the 
ores of cobalt, found in beds of mica, in 
Sweden: its colour is tin-white; it is mas- 
sive in various forms, and crystallized in 
cubes and octahedrons ; the surface of the 
crystals is smooth and splendent ; it is brit- 
tle, and the specific gravity is 6.45. 
GLAND, in anatomy, a small body, 
formed by the interweaving of vessels of 
every kind, covered with a membrane, 
usually provided with an excretory duct, 
and destined to separate some particular 
fluid from the mass of blood, or to perfect 
the lymph. See Anatomy and PHYSIO- 
LOGY. 
The glands have been chemically exam- 
ined by Fourcroy and others. There are 
two sets of them : the conglobate, which 
are small, scattered in the course of the 
lymphatics ; and the conglomerate, such as 
the liver, kidneys, &c. Fourcroy supposes 
the first to be composed of gelatine ; the 
composition of the others has not been as- 
certained. 
GLANDERS. See Farriery. 
Glans. See Anatomy. 
GLAREOLA, the pratincole, in natural 
history, a genus of birds of the order Gral- 
lae. Generic character : bill strong, strait, 
short; hooked at the end ; nostrils at the 
base, linear and oblique ; feet four-toed ; 
toes long, slender, connected at the base by 
a membrane ; tail forked, consisting cf 
twelve feathers. There are three species, 
of which the principal is P. austriaca ; this 
is about as large as a black-bird, lives on 
water-insects and on worms ; is found in 
great numbers on the banks of the Rhine, 
in the neighbourhood of Strasburgh, and in 
innumerable flocks in the deserts of the 
Caspian Sea ; it is a bird particularly clamo- 
rous and restless. See Ayes, Plate VII. 
fig. 5. 
GLASS, a substance too well known to 
admit of a definition. It is a compound of 
the fixed alkalies, or alkaline earths with 
silica, brought into complete fusion, and 
then suddenly congealed. Silica, when 
