G Y M 
above rpeeirtven, which was taken near Vizagapatam in 
the year 1788, was twoffeet eight inches from head to 
tail. From Dr. RufFelPs. memorandums on this fub- 
je£t', politely communicated to Dr. Shaw, it appears 
that’no-teeth were vifible in either jaw ; the opercula 
confided of two oblong, flexible, ftreaked, plates; the 
abdomen was very Ihort, and the vent placed near the 
head-; the caudal- fin was not united with the dorfal, 
and eonfiftfed of four rays, connected at the bale by a 
thin membrane, and afterwards joined together and 
ending in a fetaceous thread. The gill-membrane had 
live rays; the dorfal fin 3.20 j the peCtoral fin had eleven 
rays, the ventral two, and the caudal four. 
In the Britifh Mufeum is. a dried fpecimen of a fifh 
which appears to be nearly allied to this, but which is 
not (ufficiently perfect to admit of very exaCt defcrip- 
tion ; the body is much fhorter in proportion ; the la¬ 
teral line extremely ftrong or diftinCt ; the colour of the 
whole animal, except the fins and procefles, which are 
red", a bright filver ; and from the top of the head pro¬ 
ceeds a very ftrong horn-fhaped procefs of the length of 
feveral inches, gradually tapering into a llender extre¬ 
mity : the length of this fpecimen is about four feet 
and a half, and the breadth about five inches, exclufive 
of the back fin. 
3. Gymnetrus, lanceolatus, the Cepedian gymnetrus. 
This, which muft be confidered as a doubtful fpecies, 
is defcribed by Cepede from a coloured Chinefe draw¬ 
ing belonging to the mufeum of the prince of Orange. 
The author refers it to the prefent genus from the cir- 
cumftance of its wanting the anal fin, and gives it the 
trivial name of lanceolatus from the fhape of its tail, 
which is pointed at the tip. This fifh is of a gold co¬ 
lour, (haded with brown, and is deftitute of the ventral 
fins or appendages fo remarkable in the other fpecies. 
4. Gymnetrus Afcani'i, the Afcanian gymnetrus : til- 
very ; fpeckled longitudinally with brown points, and 
with the ventral cirri dilated at the tips. This extra¬ 
ordinary fifli feems to have been almoft unknown till 
within the fpace of a few years paft; nor are its cha¬ 
racters and lnftory yet fo diftinCtly afcertained as might 
be withed. It is a native of the northern feas, and 
feems to have been firft defcribed by profeflor Afcanius, 
in his work entitled, leones rerum naturalium, &c. The 
length of the fpecimen was ten feet, and the diameter, 
which was equal throughout the whole length, about 
fix inches; the head ftvort, the mouth fmall, and the 
eyes rather large ; on the upper part of the head, be- 
fore'the commencement of the dorfal fin, were fituated 
feven or eight upright naked rays or procefles, of mo¬ 
derate length ; the dorfal fin, which was rather thallow, 
commenced at a fmall diftance beyond thefe, and running 
along the whole length of the back, formed by its con¬ 
tinuation the tail-fin, which was carried to a very fmall 
diftance beneath the body, there being, properly fpeak- 
ing, no vent-fin ; the peCtoral fins were very fmall, of a 
fliglitly ovate or founded fhape, and fituated at a fmall 
diftance from the head ; the ventral fins, if they can be 
(aid to deferve the name, confifted of a pair of ex¬ 
tremely long Angle rays or procefles, terminated by a 
fmall ovate expanded tip, or finny extremity ; the 
gill-coverts appeared to confift of five or fix radiated 
laminae ; the colour of the whole body was bright filver, 
with a bluifti call diffufed over the upper part of the 
back; the lateral line was ftrongly marked, and ran 
from the gill-coverts to the tail; and the fides of the 
body were marked by feveral longitudinal double rows 
of flightly-extant, very fmall, dutky, fpecks ; the fore¬ 
head was white, the fins pale brown. This fifli is laid 
to be generally teen either preceding or accompanying 
the thoals of herrings in the northern feas, for which 
reafon it is popularly known by the title of king of the 
herrings. 
GYM'NI^S, in ancient geography, a town of Colchis. 
Vol. IJC. Not 
GYM m 
GYM'NIC, ad]. Gr, gym'tiiqve, Fr. ] Such 
as practice the athletic or gymnaftic exereifes: 
Have they not fword players* and ev’ryToft 
Of gymnic artifts, wreftlers, riders, runners? Milton. 
GYMNOCEPH'ALtJS, the Bald-head,/. A genus 
of fifties introduced by Bloch ; but the fpecies are now 
reflored to their places in the genera LutiaSus’ and 
Perca, which fee. 
GYMNOPY'RIS. See Pyrites, and Min era log y„ 
GYMNOS'OPHISTS, lyv^oeotp^, Gr. a naked fo- 
•phi ft.] A feCt of Indian philofophers, famous in anti¬ 
quity ; fo denominated from their going barefooted. 
There were fome of thefe in Africa, as well as in India. 
The African gymnofophifts dwelt upon a mountain in 
Ethiopia, near the Nile. They did not form themfelves 
into focieties like thofe of India 5 but each had his pru 
vate recefs, where he ftudied and performed his devo¬ 
tions by himfelf. If any perfon had killed another by 
chance, he applied to thefe fages for abfolution, and 
fubmitted to whatever penances they enjoined. They 
obferved an extraordinary frugality, and lived only 
upon the fruits of the earth. Lucan aferibes to thefe 
Gymnofophifts feveral new difeoveries in aftronomy. 
The Indian Gymnofophifts dwelt in the woods, where 
they lived upon the wild products of the earth, and 
never drank wine, nor married. Some of them prac- 
tifed phyfic, and travelled from one place to another ; 
thefe were particularly famous for their remedies againtfc 
fterility and conftitutional infirmities. Sdme of them, 
like wife, pretended to praCtife magic, and to foretel 
future events. But in general the Gymnofophifts were 
wife and learned men : their maxims and difeourfes, 
recorded by hiftorians, do not in the leaft favour of a 
barbarous education; but are plainly the refult of 
great fenfe and deep reflection. They kept up the 
dignity of their character to fo high a degree, that it 
was never their cuftom to wait upon any body, not even 
upon princes themfelves. They believed the immor¬ 
tality and tranfmigration of the foul; they placed the 
chief happinefs of man in a contempt of the goods of 
fortune and the pleafures of fenfe, and gloried iii having 
given faithful and difinterefted counfels to princes and 
magiftrates. It is faid, that when they became old and 
infirm, they threw themfelves upon a pile of burning 
wood, in order to prevent the miferies of an advanced 
age. One of them, named Calanus, thus expired in 
the prefence of Alexander the Great. 
GYMNOSPER'MA,/. [Gr. from 3/174,0;, naked, and 
airi^a., feed.] In botany, a plant bearing naked feeds; 
in oppofition to that which has the feeds inclofed in a 
caplule or other veflel. 
GYMNOSPER'MIA,/. In botany, the name of the 
firft order in the clals didynamia, in Linnams’s Artifi¬ 
cial Arrangement; comprehending thofe plants which 
have four ftamens, of which the two middle ones are 
fhorter than the two outer ones, within a ringent flower, 
fucceeded by four naked feeds. Thefe are the fame 
with the Labiati of Touvnefort, and the Veiticillatas of 
Ray, and of Linnaeus in his Natural Orders.—See the 
article Botany, vol. iii. p. 271. 
GYMNOSPER'MOUS, adj. [3/174,0; and ff7i£^cc,Cr.J 
In botany, having the feeds naked. 
GYMNOS'TOMUM, f. in botany, a genus of the 
clafs cryptogamia, order mufei. Generic characters— 
Capfule with the mouth naked; lip deciduous ; veil 
entire, feparating from the bafe ; flowers terminal. 
Species. 1. Gymnoftomum davallianura: Item very 
fhort; leaves lanceolate, pointed, carinate, fpread^ cap¬ 
fule campanulate, fmooth ; lid hemifphaerical. 
2. Gymnoftomum truncatulum: leaves ovate-lartceo- 
late, pointed, flat, fpreading, entire ; capfule turbinate, 
truncate. 
3. Gymnoftomum intermedium : leaves ovate-lanceo- 
N n late, 
