53G G E S 
lary, one-flowered. 12. Gefneria pumilla, or dwarf 
gefiieria : fteinlefs ; leaves ovale-wedge-ihaped, cre- 
nate, fubfedile ; peduncles fub-biflorou.'<, fliorter than 
file leaves.—All thefe are natives of Jamaica, and the 
tenth of I'dme other'idands in the Weft Indies; they 
wei'e all obferved by Swartz. They are ftirubby, ex¬ 
cept the eleventh, which is annual according to Swartz, 
but perennial as marked by others. Browne deferibes 
this as having a flender even ftem, feldom rifing above 
ten or loiii teen inches in height ; and throwing out a 
beautiful fingle reddilh flower from the axil of each of 
the upper leaves ; ftlaments longer than the corolla, 
and fomewliat twifted. as they rife. Monf. Lamarck 
flaw it in flower in the garden belonging to Monl'. I’lle- 
ritier, wlio named it Cyrilla pulchella; which fee. 
He firft received it in flower by means of Brouftbnet 
Iroiu Kngland, wliere it was introduced in 1778 by 
Mr. William Lorlyth. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe plants are propagated 
by feeds, which muft be procured from the counti ies 
where they grow naturally. They (hould be brought 
ovei' in their caplules, for as they are very fmall and, 
light, when they are Separated from the partition to 
which they adhere, they foon lofe their vegetative qua¬ 
lity. The fbeds ftiould be fown in pots filled with light 
earth, and plunged into a hot-bed of tanner’s bark as 
foon as tliey arrive, for they fometimes lie long in the 
gioiind; thole fown in autumn come up the following 
Ipring; therefore when they happen to anive here at 
that feafon, the pots in which the feeds are fown Ihould 
be plunged into the tan-bed in tlie ftove, and during 
tlte u infer the earth Ihould be notv and then gentlv wa- 
teied to prevent its drying too much, but it muft not 
be too moift. In the Ipring the pots ftiould be removed 
out of the ftove, and plunged into a frefli hot-bed, 
w hich will bring up the plants foon after. When thefe 
are fit to remove, they fhould be each planted into a fe- 
parate pot, and plunged into a good hot-bed of tan, ob- 
ferving to fliade them till thqy have taken new' root; 
then they muft be treated in the fame way as other ten¬ 
der plants from the lame countries. In autumn they 
muft be plunged into the tan-bed in the ftove, where, 
during the winter, they ftiould have but little water 
given to them ; for if they receive much wet, it will 
cleftroy them. In this ftove the plants muft conftantly 
remain, foT they will not thrive if they are kept out of 
the Jan. In the fummer they ftiould have free air ad¬ 
mitted to them at all times when the weather is warm ; 
and they muft be frequently refreflied with water during 
that feafon, but it muft not be given to them in too 
great plenty. As the plants advance in growth they 
will require larger pots, but there muft be care taken 
not to over.pot them, for they will not thrive in large 
pots. With this management the plants will flower 
the fecond year, and may be continued three or four 
years, but they are not of long duration in their native 
country. The fourth fort feldom flowers till the third 
year ; and, as it does not produce feeds here, it is with 
difficulty preferved in the European ftoves. The ele¬ 
venth fort deferves to be cultivated in the flower-gar- 
dens of America : it thrives beft in a cool gravelly 
foil, well furnifhed with moifhire, and intermixed with 
rich mould. See Digitalis and Cranioi.aria. 
GES'SANT, adj. In heraldry, a term ufed when a 
lion’s head is borne over a chief. 
GES'SENE, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of 
Bolcftau : nine miles north-eaft of Tumau. 
GKS'SES, /. The furniture belonging to a hawk. 
GES'SIGO POINT, a cape of Ireland, in the county 
of Sligo : eleven miles north-weft of Sligo. Lat. 54. 22. 
N. Ion. 8. 33. W, Greenwich. 
GlfS'SO, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Naples, 
and province of Abruzzo Citra: fifteen miles north, 
eaft of Civita Borella. 
G E S 
GES'SOPS, a tov/n of United America, In the ftate of 
Maryland : eight miles eaft-fouth-eaft of Fort vVilliara. 
GEST, a tow'n of France, in the department of the 
Mayne and Loire ; three leagues and a half of St. Flo- 
rent-le-'V'iel. 
GFiST, J. \_gejlum, Lat.] A deed; an action; an 
atchievement : 
Who fair them quiles, as him befeemed beft. 
And goodly can difeourfe with, many a noble gejl. Spevfer. 
Show ; reprefentation.— Gejis ftiould be interlarded after 
the Perfian manner, by ages, young and old.—The roll 
or journal of the feveral days, and ftages prefixed, in 
the progreft'es of our kings, many of tliem being ftill 
extant in the herald’s ofiice ; [from gijlc, or gife, Fr.] 
llanmer. 
I'll give you my commiftion 
To let him there a month, behind the gejl. 
Prefix’d tor’s parting. Shakefpeare. 
A ftage ; fo much of a journey as pafles without inter¬ 
ruption. It is now in all fenfes obfolttfi. —He diftindly fets 
down the geJls and progrels thereof. Brown. —A bed or 
Couch. 
GES'TA, a town of Sweden, in the province of Weft 
Gothland : twenty-three miles north-eaft of Uddevalla. 
GESTA'TION, f. \_gejlati.o, Lat.] h'he ad of bear¬ 
ing young in the womb ; or the progrefs of the foetu.s 
from tile time of conception to that of parturition. 
W’hen the ovum firft delc'ends into the womb, it is faid 
to be about the iize of a popp) -feed ; that in ten days 
it weighs half a grain; in thirty days, twenty-one 
grains; in three months, about three ounces; and, at 
the end of nine months, the perfed child is found of 
different lizes, and from four to nine pounds in w'eiglit; 
ten or eleven pounds are very rare. See the article 
Conception, vol. V. p. 12. 
The true time of gejlation in a w’oman, is nine folar 
months, each of which is reckoned to be about thirty 
days ten hours and a half; but it often happens that 
the child is born at feven months, and fometimes at ten, 
or even at eleven. C. Tellier, of the National Inftitute 
at Paris, has recently made diligent refearches into the 
obfeure fubjed of geftation; and he read a paper be¬ 
fore the council and grand fitting, to fliew that preg¬ 
nancy in women might be prolonged a quarter beyond 
the ufual time. A child, therefore, fays M. Tellier, 
born beyond the eleventh month of the widowhood of 
the mother, ought not to be always an impeachment of 
her chaftity. And fuch was the fentence paft'ed by a 
celebrated decree of the parliament of Paris, which de¬ 
clared as legitimate a prince of Conde born eleven 
months after the death of his father. An inftance of 
the fame kind, which occurred at Rome, is related by 
Aiilus Gellius. A woman of a moft refpectable cha- 
rader, brought forth a« child in the eleventh month 
after the death of her huftiand. The woman was ac- 
cufed of having violated her chaftity ; but the emperor 
Adrian, under whofe reign the affair happened, decreed 
that it was polTible for pregnancy to be extended to that 
period. The following are the author’s words : — 
“ Pixeterea ego de partu humano, praeterquam quae 
feripta in libris legi, 1 ioc quoque venilfe ufu Romae com- 
peri. Foeminam bonis atque honeftis moribus non am- 
bigua pwdicitia, in undecilno menfe, poll mariti mor¬ 
tem, peperifte ; fadumque elfe negotium propter ra- 
tionem temporis, quafi marito mortuo poftea concepif- 
fet, quoniam decern viri in decern menlibus gigni homi- 
ne'm, non in undecimo fcripfilfent; fed divum Hadria- 
num, caufa cognita, decreviffe in undecimo quoque 
menle partum edi pofte; idque ipfumejus rei decretum 
nos legimus. In eo decreto Hadrianus id ftatuere fe 
dicit requilitis veterum philofophorum et medicorusn 
fententiis. A, Cell, Noll. Att. lib, hi. cap. 16. 
Tabu 
