6q2 G O R 
drauglit tree, was made in fucli an artful manner, tliat 
the ends ot the cord could not be perceived. From 
circuiiilijnce, a report was I'pread tliat the empire 
ot Afia was promifed by the oracle to him lliat could 
unde the Gordian knot. Alexander in liis conqueft of 
Alia, palfed by Gordium; and as he wilhed to leave 
nothing undone, w'licli might iiifpire liis t'oldiers with 
courage and make liis enemies believe that lie was born 
to conquer Afia, he cut the knot with his fword ; tmd 
ti oni that cii cuinllance all’erted that the oracle was 
ic.illy tulfilled, andtliat his claims to univerfal empire 
Avere tiiUy juflified. JiJlm. 
GOR'DIUS, yi [!o named from the Gordian knot, 
becanl'e ol its mmble and numerous contortions.] In 
lielminthology, the H.'lirvvorm ; a genus belonging to 
the order ot inteftiiia ; the charaiters of which are : 
body round, filiform, equal, and fmooth. Five fpccies 
have been aicertained, wiiich are as follow : 
I. Gordius aquaticus : body pale, brown, witli dark 
extreniiiies. 'Fhis inhabits ttagnant waters, and is molt- 
ly trom tour to fix indies long ; it twifts itfeif into nu¬ 
merous contorl ions and knots, and if iiicaurioufly han¬ 
dled vvil! intiiitt a bite at tlie end of the fingers, '.ind oc- 
cation the complaint called a w hitlorv. See a corrett 
.figure ot this worm in the engraving, at rig. 6 . A imicJi 
larger .variety ot this fpccies is found on tlie fea-fiiores, 
called Gordius marinus. Severtd of thefe have been taken 
• tip on the coall of iDevondiire, and an account of them 
pubhdied in the yth volume of the .Limuean Tranfac- 
tions in 1804, as loilows : “Tliey are offo prodigious a 
length, that it is inipoliible to fix any bounds; tome of 
tlie fi'heniicn tay thiiiy y.irds, but periiapsas many feet 
is tjie utmod : thole fpecimetis vvhidi have come under 
our inipeclion did not appear to exceed twenty feet, and 
more commonly from eight to fourteen or fifteen. Jf 
the animal be wounded, or the body divided, Iniall 
threads of milky appearance iffue from the wound, and 
do not mix with tlic water witliout agitation. The ex- 
pa nfion and contrtidtion are fo tin! i mi ted, tluit it is fcarce- 
ly poilible to afeertain the utmod length of this worm : 
one, wliich was edeemed to be about eight feet long, was 
put aiive into fpirits, and indantly contracted to about 
one toot, at tlie fame time increaling double the bulk, 
wiiich originally ivas about the diameter of acrov\’s 
quill. In tlie vad exertion of the iiiutclcs, the animal 
is generally divided at iliofc parts which liad been 
twined into knots. This vvoriii is very difficult to pre- 
ferve perfect without coiitra6tion ; for, if fuifered to die 
in its natural elenieiif, one part will decay, wliile the 
other is alive ; and the addition of any tiling olfeudve 
produces coutraddion ; even frefii water.—This worm, 
under tlie name of Gordius medinenfis, lias been often con¬ 
founded witli the dracunculus, or worm that enters the 
cuticle, and lies between that and the mufcles ; but for 
wiiich fee the article Fii..-\Ki.v, vol. vii.p. 366, and the 
corrcfpbiident engraving. _ 
2. Gordius argillaceus : body uniformly yellowifli : 
found in clay at the bottom of dagnant waters, wiiich it 
pierces through ; and is hardly didinguilhable from the 
preceding. 
3. Gordius filuiii: body filiform, whitidi, and hya¬ 
line ; lound in the b.irk of old wooden pipes whicii have 
been placed in the ground for the purpofe of conveying 
dieanis of water ; it is extremely llendcr, and a little ta¬ 
pering at one end. 
4. Gordius lacteus; body uniformly white, and 
opake: found in d'agnant waters : when touched it con¬ 
tracts itlelt in a moment, and afterwards expands. 
5. Gordius arenarius : body fulvous, and obtufe. 
Tills inhabits the faiidy bottom of Chriilian’s Bay, in 
Norway. 
GOR'DON (Alexander), a learned writer of the 
eighteenth century ; a native of Scotland. He v/as fuc- 
celiively fecretary to the Society for the Encouragement 
of Learning, to the Egyptian Club, and to the Antiquary 
G O R 
Society. At lengtli be accompanied governor Gien to 
Carolina, where lie occupied various pofts in the piro. 
vince, and received a grant of land. He died in tliat 
country after publifiiing the following works: i. Itive- 
rarium Septentrionale, or a Journey through molt Parts of 
Scotland', 1726, folio. 2. Additions and Correftions to 
the above ; containing an Account of Roman Anti¬ 
quities in Scotland, and ancient Monuments in the 
North of England, 1732, folio. 3. The Lives of Pope 
Alexander VI. and his Son Cxfiir Borgia, 1729, folia. 
4. A complete Hiflnry of ancient Ampliitlieatres, traiif- 
lated from the Italian, 1730, 8vo. 5. An Ellay to¬ 
wards explaining tlie hieroglyphical Figures on the 
Coffin of a Mummy, 1737, folio. 6. Twenty-five 
Plates of all the Flgyptian Mummies in England, and 
other Egyptian Antiquities, 1739, folio. 
GOR'DON (Andrew), profefi’or of philofophy in 
the Scots monadery of the Benedictines at Erfurt, 
and correfpondent of the Academy of Sciences at 
Paris, born near Aberdeen in Scotland, in 1712. In 
1731 he undertook a tour through Autfria, Italy, and 
France; and on his return in 1732, lie entered into 
the order of the Benedictines in tiie Scots inonallery, 
where he applied to philofophy, and got hiinfelf o;- 
daiiied a pried. In 173; he went to Sabiburg to dudy 
law, and at the failie time attended the theologi¬ 
cal leitures, till he was invited to Erfurt, in 1737, to 
be profelTor of philofcpliy. His difeoveries in electri¬ 
city made his name well known, not only in Germany, 
but alio in Holland, England, France, and Italy. He 
was invited to be fuperinrendant of the Zalufki library, 
in Poland ; but this od'er he declined, and died in Au- 
gud 1731. Belides his occafional and controverbal 
writings, he was authorof the following works : i. Phe~ 
nomaia ElcElridtatis expofita \ Erfurt, 8 vo. 2. Phito- 
Jophia utilis & jucuuda ; Sfadt am Hof. i74S> 3 vois. 8vo. 
3. Impartial Account of the Origin of the prefent War 
in Great Britain; Strafourgh, 1743, 4to. 4. Phyfic.e ex. 
perunentalis Ekmcnta \ Erfurt, 11^1, 8vo. He is mentioned 
by Dr. Priedley as the firll perfoii w ho iifed a cylinder 
iiidead of a globe in the electrical apparatus. 
GOR'DON (James), a jeluit, born in 1353, and en¬ 
tered into that order when he was twenty one years old. 
He was the author of a Commentary upon the Bible, 
which he publilhed at Paris in 1632, in 3 vols. folio, un¬ 
der the title of, Blblia facra, cum Commentariis ad Scn~ 
Jusn Litera, & Explicationc Tcmporuni, Locorum, Rerumquc om¬ 
nium quo: in Jacris Codicibus habent Obfcuritateni: undcum Textu 
Bibbco) which Dupin pronounces it to be a very uleful 
and judicious work. He was likev.ife the author of, 
2. Opus c/ironologicum, Annorum Seriern, Picgnorum Mutationes 
Rerum, Ordo Orbe gejlarum Narrationcm a Mundi Exordia 
ifque ad Annum Ghrijli if>iq compleclcns ■, 1617, folio. 3. 
A Syltem of moral Theology ; and other works in the 
Latin language. 
GOR DON ('Thomas), adlftinguiflied writer, born at 
Kirkuubiight in Scotland. After receiving an acade¬ 
mical educiition in his own country, became to London, 
and maintained himfclf by teaching the learned lan¬ 
guages. He alfo intereded himfelf in the politics of the 
time, and was employed by the earl of Oxford in queea 
Anne’a reign. When the Bangcrian controverfy took 
place, he wrote two pamphlets in defence ot bidiop 
Hoadicy. He was afterwards connected with Mr. Tren- 
chard in the publication of Cato’s Letters, and The Inde¬ 
pendent W'liig. Belides his political works, Gordon made 
himfelf known by tranflatiuns of Tacitus in 1739, and of 
Sallult in 1743, with dilcourfes relative to the lubjeCts 
of each autlior prefixed. He died at tlie age of fixty-Iix. 
GORDO'NA, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na¬ 
ples, and province of Molife : fix miles fouth-weft of 
Molife. 
GORDO'NIA, f. [fo named from Mr. James Gordon, 
an eminent nurferyman at Mile-end, near London.] 
Loblolly B.w ; in botany, a genus of the clafs mo- 
nadelplii.., 
