GYM 
GYM 
1SG 
3. Cubiftic.e, or the art of tumbling, 3, Sphreriftiee, 
or tennis, including all the exercifes with pilae or balls. 
The palasftrice comprifed all exercifes under the deno¬ 
mination paltejlr* ; as wreftling, boxing, pancratia, 
hoplomachia, running, leaping, throwing the dilcus, 
the exercife of the javelin, and that of the hoop, de¬ 
nominated by the Greeks which confided in 
rolling an iron hoop five or fix feet in diameter, befet 
with iron rings, the noife of which apprifing the people 
to give way, afforded them aLfo an amufement, Botli 
ftrength and (kill were requifite in directing this hoop, 
which was to be driven with an iron rod. To thefe 
mutt alfo be added the exercifes belonging to the me¬ 
dicinal gymnadics ; as, 1. Walking. 2. Vociferation, 
or diouting. 3. Holding the breath. Hoffman enume¬ 
rates fifty-five forts of exercifes that were prafctifed in 
the gymnafia, as the fources or foundation of health 
and drength. 
GYMNAS'TIC, aa';. [yu//vac f hx«s,Gr. gymnajlique , Fr.] 
Pertaining to athletic exercife; confiding of leaping, 
wreftling, running, throwing the dart, or quoit. 
GYMNAS'TICALLY, adv. Athletically ; fitly for 
drong exercife.—Such as with agility and vigour are 
not gymnajlically compofed, nor actively ufe thofe parts. 
Brown. 
GYMNAS'TICON, f. A machine conftrufted upon 
cranks, fprings, and wheels, for the purpofe of giving 
exercife to the limbs, joints, and mufcles, of valetudi¬ 
narians. This ingenious contrivance is the invention of 
Mr. Francis Lowndes, medical electrician, in St. Paul’s 
Church-yard, London; for which, on September 9, 
1796, he obtained his majedy’s letters patent. 
GYMNAS'TICS, f. The art of performing exer¬ 
cifes of the body, whether for defence, health, or di- 
verfion.—The Cretans wifely forbid their fervants gym- 
najlics as well as arms; and yet your modern footmen 
exercife themfelves daily, whild their enervated lords 
are foftly lolling in their chariots. Arbuthnot . 
M. Burette has judicioufiy given the hidory of gym- 
najlics in the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of In- 
fcriptions. On the fird eftablifhment of fociety, he ob- 
ferves, men, being apprifed of the neceflity of mili¬ 
tary exercifes, -for repelling the infults of their neigh¬ 
bours, indituted games and propofed prizes, to animate 
their youth to combats of divers kinds. And as run¬ 
ning, leaping, dexterity in throwing'the javelin, in 
driving a ball, or tofling a quoit, together with wreft- 
ling, &c. were exercifes fuited to the taftical fcienceof 
thofe days ; fo the youth vied to excel in them, in the 
prefence of the aged, who fat as their judges, and dif- 
penfed prizes to'the conquerors; till what was origi¬ 
nally an amufement, became at length a matter of fuch 
importance, as to intered great cities and entire nations 
in its practice. Hence arofe an emulation to excel, in 
hopes, one day, of being proclaimed and crowned con¬ 
queror in the public games ; which was the highed ho¬ 
nour any mortal could arrive at: even Philip, king of 
Macedon, valued himfelf more highly on being pro¬ 
claimed viftor at the Olympic games, than upon all the 
vi&eries he had obtained over his enemies. See the ar¬ 
ticle Greece, vol. viii. 
Though it be impoflible to determine the precife 
epocha of the gymhadic art, yet it appears from feve- 
ral paffages in Homer, and particularly the twenty-third 
book of the Iliad, where he defcribes the games cele¬ 
brated at the funeral of Patroclus, that it was not un¬ 
known at the time of the Trojan war. From that de- 
fcription, which is the earlied record of the Grecian 
ymnadics, it appears, that they had chariot-races, 
oxing, wredling, foot-races, gladiators, throwing the 
difcus, drawing the bow, and hurling the javelin; and 
it (hould feem, from the particular account Homer gives 
of thefe exercifes, that even then the gymnadic art 
wanted little of perfection: fo that when Galen fays 
there was no gymnadic art in Homer’s days, and that it 
began to appear no earlier than Plato, he is to be un- 
derdood of medicinal gymnadics only ; which had their 
rife later ; becaufe, while men continued fober and la¬ 
borious, they had no occafion for medical aid; but 
when luxury and idlenefs.had reduced them to the fad 
neceflity of applying to phyficians, thefe, who had 
found that nothing contributed fo much to the prefer- 
vation and re-edabliflnnent of health, as exercife pro¬ 
portioned to the different complexions, ages, and fexes, 
of their patients, did not fail to refer them to the prac- < 
tice of gymnadics. 
GYMNE'SIAi, in ancient geography, two iflands 
near the Iberus in the Mediterranean, called Baleares by 
the Greeks. Plutarch. 
GYMNE'TES, a people of ^Ethiopia, who lived al- 
mofl naked. Pliny. 
GYMNE'TRUS, f. the Bare-breech, in ichthy¬ 
ology, a genus belonging to the order of thoracici. 
The generic character is the total want of the anal fin. 
There is no fifli, fays Bloch, in the 'Linnaean fydem, 
which has this character; therefore it is the more re¬ 
markable, and mult certainly form a new genus. Af- 
canius has indeed lpoken of a fifh with this peculiarity; 
but, from the imperfeCt account he has given, it is im¬ 
poflible to fay whether what he mentions under the 
name of regalccus, be the fame we are going to defcribe. 
Cepede makes the regalecus a diflinCt genus, which he 
laces among the apodes, as he fays it has no ventral 
ns, and two dorfals. We have thought better to in¬ 
clude them in one article. 
1. Gymnetrus Hawkinii, the Blochian gymnetrus: 
bluifh-filvery, with oblique, linear, brown, bands, and. 
rounded fpots, red fins, and four ventral proceffes. 
This, which is a native of the Indian feas, and which 
appears alfo to be occalionally feen in thofe of Europe, 
is defcribed by Dr. Bloch' from a drawing communi¬ 
cated by J. Hawkins, efq. It appears to be furnilhed 
with two pair of ventral proceffes, which are of confi- 
derable length, and terminate in large, dilated, finny, 
extremities of an oval form : the back-fin is continued 
as far as the tail, which, in the figure given by Dr. 
Bloch, is reprefented as of the ufual form in the gene¬ 
rality of fiflies; a circumftance now known to be owing 
to a miftake of the draughtfman. The colour of this 
fpecies is filvery, with a bluifli call on the upper parts, 
and feveral tranfverfe, alternate, browniflt, (hades con¬ 
tinued along the body, accompanied by large, diftantf 
round, fpots of a fimilar colour ; the fins and proceffes 
deep crimfon ; the pedtoral fins pretty large in propor¬ 
tion. It appears from a print, publiflted in the year 
1798, that a fpecimen of this filh was thrown on the 
coaft of Cornwall in the month of February in the fame 
year. Its length was eight feet fix inches, its breadth 
in the wideft part ten inches and a half, and its thick- 
nefs only two inches and three quarters ; the tail in this 
fpecimen was wanting .- the colours the fame as in the 
fpecimen figured by Dr. Bloch. 
2. Gymnetrus Ruffellii, the Ruffellian gymnetrus: 
defcribed from a drawing in the polfeflion of Dr. Ruf- 
fel. From the top of the head proceeds an extremely 
long procefs, pafling to a confiderable diftance over the 
back : this procefs is very broad at its bafe, where it 
appears to be ftrengthened by four flout rays, which 
gradually coalefce in their progrefs till at length they 
form a fingle filament: at fome little diftance beyond 
the bafe is a fecond procefs of fimilar form, but much 
fliorter, and confiding but of one ray gradually leffen- 
ing to its point; the pedtoral fins are very fmall; the 
ventral proceffes are of great length, but terminate in 
mere filaments, without any dilated extremities; and 
the tail, which confiftsof a lanceolate membrane ftrength¬ 
ened by two external or bounding rays, is furniflied with 
a fimilar terminating filament: the colour of the whole 
body is bright filver; the fins pale brown; the dorfal 
fin edged with a dulky border. The length of the 
