lyandria Monogynia class and order. Natu- 
ral order of Guttifer®, Jussieu. Essential 
character : corolla four-petal!ed ; calyx four- 
cleft ; stigma sessile, cross-shaped ; drupe 
with an eight-furrowed nucleus. There is 
but one species, viz. G. cauliflora, anchovy- 
pear. This tree is about fifty feet in 
height, branching at the top ; leaves on 
short petioles, pendulous, two or three feet 
long; flowers from the stem, on short, 
scaly, many-flowered peduncles. The up- 
rightness of the growth, and the size of the 
leaves, give this tree a very elegant appear- 
ance. The fruit is nearly as large as an al- 
ligator’s egg, resembling it very much in 
shape, but of a brown colour ; they pickle 
the fruit, and eat it in the same manner with 
the East Indian mango, which it resembles 
in flavour; This beautiful tree is common 
in many parts of Jamaica, growing generally 
in low moist places. 
GRIELUM, in botany, a genus of the 
Decandria Pentagynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Gruinales. Essential charac- 
ter : calyx five-cleft ; petals five ; filament 
permanent ; pericarpium five, with one 
seed in each. There is only one species, 
viz. G. tenuifolium, a native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
GRIFFON, in heraldry, an imaginary 
animal, feigned by the ancients to be half 
eagle and half lion ; by this form they 
intended to give an idea of strength and 
swiftness joined together, with an extra- 
ordinary vigilance in guarding the things 
intrusted to its care. Thus the heathen na- 
turalists persuaded the ignorant, that gold 
mines were guarded by these creatures with 
incredible watchfulness and resolution. 
GRINDERS. See Anatomy. 
GRINDING, the reducing hard sub- 
stances to fine powders, either by the mor- 
tar, or by way of levigation upon a marble. 
GRIPE, in the sea-language, is a piece of 
timber fayed against the lower piece of the 
stern, from the fore-mast end of the keel, 
joining with the knee of the head : its use 
is to defend the lower part of the stern 
from any injury; but. it is often ^nade 
the larger, to make the ship keep a good 
wind. 
Gripe is also a sea-term, for a ship’s 
turning her head more to the wind than 
she should ; this is caused either by over- 
loading her a-head, the weight of which 
presses her down, so that she will not rea- 
dily fall off from the wind ; or by staying 
or setting her masts too much aft: which 
js always a fault in short ships that draw 
much water, since it causes them to be 
continually running into the wind : though 
in floating ships, if the masts be not stayed 
very far aft, they will never keep a good 
wind. 
GRISLEA, in botany, a genus of the 
Octandria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Calycanthem*. Salicariae, 
Jussieu. Essential character: calyx four- 
cleft; petals four, from the incisures of the 
calyx ; filaments, very long, ascending ; 
capsule globular, superior, one-celled, con- 
taining many seeds. There are two species, 
viz. G. secunda and G. tomentosa, the lat- 
ter is a beautiful flowering shrub, a native 
of the hills and valleys through the northern 
provinces of the Carnatic in the East 
Indies. 
GRIT, a genus of argillaceous earths, 
with a texture more or less porous, equable 
and rough to the touch. It neither gives 
fire with steel, nor effervesces with acids. 
When fresh and breathed on, it exhales an 
earthy smell. Its specific gravity varies 
from 2.0 to 2.6 and is used for mill-stones 
and whet-stones, and sometimes for filter- 
ing-stones and building. 
GROMETS, in the sea-language, small 
rings formerly fastened with staples to the 
yards, to make fast the gaskets, but now 
never used. 
GRONOVIA, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order. 
Natural order of Cucurbitaceae. Essential 
character : petals five, together with the 
stamens inserted into the bell-shaped 
corolla ; berry dry, inferior, containing 
one seed. There is but one species, viz. 
G. scandens, climbing gronovia, an annual 
plant ; sending out many trailing branches 
like those of the cucumber, closely set with 
broad leaves, which have a strong smell. 
Peduncles many flowered, axillary. 
GROSS, in law-books, signifies absolute 
or independent on another: thus, an ad- 
vowson in gross, is one distinct and separate 
from the manor. 
Gross beak, theEnglish name of a bird 
called by authors loxia. See Loxia. 
Gross weight, the whole weight of mer- 
chandizes, with their dust and dross : as 
also the bag or chest wherein they are con- 
tained. An allowance is usually made out 
of the gross-weight for tare and tret. See 
Tare. 
GROTTO, a large deep cavern or den 
in a mountain or rock. Okey-hole, Elden- 
hound, Peake’s-hole, and Pool’s-hole, are 
famous among the natural caverns or 
grottos of our country. The entrance to 
Okey-hole, on the south side of Mendip- 
