GAB

522

GAD

might. The Saxon G, g, seems to have had generally the soundof y consonant; whence gate is by rustics still pronounced yate.The modern G takes its form from that of the Latins. It is amute, and cannot be sounded at all without the help ofa vowel.Its hard sound is formed by the reflection of the air against thep.date, made bv the tongue as the air passes out of the throat;which Martkuius expresses thu-, G spirit us cum pnlato; sothat G is a palatal letter. G often sounds hard before i, as give,Sc c. and .sometimes before e, as get, Sec. It is also hard in deriva-tives from words ending in g, as singing, stronger, Sec. and ge-nerally before er, at the end of w ords, as Jingcr. G is mule be-fore a, as gnash, sign. Gh has the sound of hard G in the begin-ning of a word, as ghostly; sometimes at the end it is quite silent,as though. But at the end of many other words Gh has the soundoff, as laugh, rough, tough, See. As an abbreviation, G. standsfor Gains, Gellius , gens, genius, Sec. G. G. for gemina, gessit,gesserunt, Sec. G. C. for genio civitatus or Ctcsaris. G. L.for Gains libertus, genio loci. G. V. S. for genio urbis sacrum.G. B. for genio bono. And G. T. for genio tutelari. In music,G is tie- character or mark of the treble cleft'; and from its beingplaced at the head, or marking the first sound in Guido’s scale,the whole scale took the name Gamut. As a numeral, G wasanciently used to denote 400; and with a dash over it, thus G, for40,000.

GAAL, [Vyj, Hebrew , i. c. an abomination,] the son of Ebed,the leader of the conspiracy of the Shechemites against the usurperAbimeleeh, the son of Gideon. See Judges, ix. 26—41.

GABALE, in mythology, a deity worshipped at Heliopolisunder the figure ofa'lion, with a radiant head ; and it is thus re-pre ented on manv medals of Caracalla .

GABAlt A, or GABBARA, in antiquity, the dead bodies whichthe Egvptians embalmed, and kept in their houses.

GABA RET, a town of France , in the department of Landes,15 miles \V. of Condom.

GABEL, [Lat. Gahella, Gabium, Gablagium, i. e. Vcctigal,~\has the same signification among the ancient English writers, thatGubelle had in France , before the revolution. It has been vari-ously used, for a rent, custom, service, Sec. Where it was apayment for rent, those who paid it were termed Gablutores.Formerly when mentioned without any addition, gabel sig-nified the tax on salt, though afterwards it was applied to all othertaxes. In the late French customs, the gabelle, or tax on salt, issaid to have hail its rise in 1286, under Philip IV . It was after-wards so greatly advanced by the succeeding kings, that at lengthit was estimated to constitute * of the whole revenue of the king-dom : so that a minot of salt at last paid a duty of 52 livres, 8 sols,and 6 deniers. Philip VI . first established granaries and officersof the gabelles, and prohibited all others from selling salt. Fromthat period, the commerce of salt for inland consumption conti-nued wholly in the king’s hands, every grain of it being sold byhis farmers. This very odious and oppressive tax was early abo-lished by the National Assembly.

Gabf.l, in geography, a town of Bohemia , in the circle ofBoleslaw, 45 miles N. of Prague .

GABELLE. See Gabel.

GABIN1AN LAWS, in Roman antiquity, laws instituted uponseveral occasions bv per-ons of the name of Gabinus.

GABINUS CINCTUS, in Roman antiquity, a particular wayof tucking the gown, by drawing it forwards on the breast, andtying it into a knot : as the people of Gabii did at a solemn sacri-fice, on the sudden attack of an enemy, in order to be fitter foraction.

Gabions, in fortification, are baskets made of ozier-twigs, ofacylindrical form, six feet high and four wide ; which, being filledwith earth, serve as a shelter from the enemy’s fire.

Gable, or Gable-End, of a house, is the upright triangularend from the cornice or eaves to the top of the house.

GABRES, or GAVRES, a religious sect in Persia and India ;called also Gebres, Guebres, Gevres, Gaurs, &c. See Magi.Those of this sect are dispersed through the country, and said tobe the remains of the ancient Persians, or followers of Zoroaster ,being worshippers of fire.

Gabres is also a name given by the Turks to the Christians ,signifying infidels, or people ofa false religion.

GABRIELITES, in ecclesiastical history, a sect of anabap-

tists that appeared in Pomerania , in 1530 ; so named from Ga-briel Scherling ; who, after having been for some time tolerated inthat country, was obliged to remove, and died in Poland .

GAD, [*u, lleb. i. e. a troop,] one of the 12 patriarchs, thoson of Jacob by Zilpuh, and progenitor of the tribe of theGaditcs.

Gad, in ancient geography, a district of Transjordan Palestine,situated between Gilead and the kingdom of Bashan on the N.and that of the Amorites to the S. having the Jordan to the VV,and bounded by various nations on the E. so called from the tribeof that name.

Gad, among miners, a small punch of iron, with a long woodenhandle, used to break up the ore. One of the miners holds thisin his hand, directing the point to a proper place, while tiic otherdrives it into the vein, by striking it with a sledge-hammer.

GADARA, in ancient geography, a strung town of the Persia ,in Decapolis, restored by Pompey after its demolition by theJews .

GAD-BEE, or GAD-FLY. See Oestrus.

GADEBUSCII, a town of Germany , 16 miles W. N. W. ofSchwerin .

GADEMIR, or GADEMIS, a country of Africa , W. of Fez-zan, containing 92 towns and villages.

Gademis, or Gadkmir, the capital of the above country, lies300 miles from the sea-coast.

GADES, or GADIIIA, in ancient geography, a small islandin the Atlantic, on the Spanish coast, 25 miles from the Pillars ofHercules.

GADOLINITE, a mineral first found in a white felspar inthe quarry of Ylterby in Sweden , and was called gadoliuite, fromGudolin who first ascertained its composition. Colour perfectblack, passing sometimes to brown. Found in mass. Fractureconehoidal. Scratches quartz. Brittle. Specific gravity 4.0-197*Gelatinizes with hot diluted nitric acid. Before the blow-pipe de-crepitates, and assumes a whitish red colour, but does not melt.With borax it melts into a topaz-yellow glass. A fleets 1 the mag-netic needle. A new earth called Ytlria, from the place whereit is formed, has been discovered in it. According to the analysisof \ auquelin, it is composed of:

35.0 yttria25.3 silica23.0 oxide of iron2.0 lime

2.0 oxide of manganese10.5 water and carbonic acid

100.0

Klaproth , on the other hand, found59.75 yttria21.25 silica18.00 oxide of iron0.50 alumina

99.50

GADONA, orGADUA, a country of Africa, S. of the Sene-gal , containing mines of gold, iron, and nitre.

GAD I S, in ichthyology, the Con, a genus of fishes of the of"derjugulares. Generic character: the head smooth; gill-HK'ni"brane, seven-rayed; body oblong, covered with deciduous scales 5fins all covered by the common skin ; more thanone dorsal fin,which the rays are unarmed ; ventral fins slender and ending in 3point. There are twenty-three species ; the most remarkable ar rthese,

G. BARRATus,the Pout, never grows to a large size, seldom ex-ceeding a foot in length. It is distinguished from all others by ltsgreat depth; one ot the size above-mentioned being near fo u *inches deep in the broadest part. The colour of the body is whd*-’’but more obscure on the back than the belly, and tinged vfitjjyellow. It is called at Scarborough a kleg, and is a very delica*fish.

G. Eglesinus, the Haddock, has a long body; the upp®*part of a dusky brown colour, and the belly and lower part of thsides silvery. On the back are three fins resembling those of thcommon cod-fish; the lateral line is black; and the tail is forks '

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