open air.

ceedingly numerous, and form a striking feature in together, while cresses vegetate as freely as in the the peculiar vegetation of that region. They are of easy cultivation, and may be raised from seed sown in the spring; but in the winter they require protection. Three species of geranium proper inhabit the United States.

GESTURE. The bodily action of an orator, who is expected to stand gracefully, to hold up his head, and look at his auditors; to avoid violent contortions and vulgar grimaces, end to accommodate the motions of his arms and hands to the feelings excited by his words and arguments.

GEYSERS. The greatest curiosities which Iceland presents are the springs of hot water.

These celebrated fountains, or hot spouting water springs, are seldom very near the volcanoes, but are dispersed over the whole country, and are even to be found on the summits of several of the ice mountains. The largest and most remarkable of these is situated in a large field, about sixteen miles to the north of Skalholt. At a great distance from it, on one side, are high mountains covered with ice, and on the other Hecla is seen rising above the

GERMINATION. Among botanists, compre-clouds, while opposite to it is a ridge of rocks, at hends the precise time which the seeds take to the foot of which water from time to time rushes rise, after they have been committed to the soil. forth. At the distance of a mile and a half a loud The different species of seeds are longer or shorter, roaring noise is heard like that of a torrent precipin rising, according to the degree of heat which is itated from stupendous rocks, each ejection being proper to each. Millet, wheat, and several of the accompanied by violent subterraneous detonations. grapes, rise in one day; blite, spinach, beans, mus- The depth of the opening from which the water tard, kidney-beans, turnips, and rocket, in three rushes has not been ascertained, but some seconds days; lettuce and dill, in four; cucumber, gourd, elapse before a stone thrown in reaches the surface. melon, and cress, in five; radish and beet in six; The Danish traveller Olafsen, asserts that the water barley in seven; orach in eight; purslane in nine; rises as high as sixty fathoms; while Van Troil escabbage in ten; hyssop in thirty; parsley in forty timates the highest jet at not more than sixty feet: or fifty days; peach, almond, walnut, chestnut, the latter allows, however, that the jets may be more pæony, horned poppy, hypecoum, and ranunculus elevated, particularly in bad weather. The great falcatus, in one year; rose-bush, cornel-tree, haw-ness of the explosive power is evinced by its not thorn, medlar, and hazel-nut in two years. The seeds of some species of archis, and of some liliaceous plants, never rise at all. Some seeds require to be sown almost as soon as they are ripe, otherwise they will not sprout or germinate. Of this kind are the seeds of coffee and fraxinella. Others, particularly those of the pea-bloom flowers, preserve their germinating faculty for a series of years. Mr. Adanson asserts, that the sensitive plant retains that virtue for thirty or forty years. Air and water are the agents of germinations. The humidity of the air alone makes several sceds to rise that are exposed to it. Seeds too are observed to rise in water, without the intervention of earth; but water without air is insufficient. Mr. Homberg's experiinents on this head are decisive. He put several seeds under the exhausted receiver of an air-pump, with a view to establish something certain on the causes of germination. Some of them did not rise at all; and the greatest part of those which did, made very weak and feeble productions.

Thus it is for want of air, that seeds, which are buried at a very great depth in the earth, either thrive but indifferently or do not rise at all. They frequently preserve, however, their germinating virtue for many years within the bowels of the earth; and it is not unusual, upon a piece of ground being newly dug to a considerable depth, to observe it soon after covered with several plants, which had not been seen there in the memory of man. Were this frequently repeated, it would doubtless be the means of recovering certain species of plants which are regarded as lost; or which perhaps have never come to the knowledge of botanists.

Some seeds require a greater quantity of air than others. Thus purslane, which does not rise till after lettuce in the free air, rises before it in vacuo; and both prosper but little, or perish al

only preventing stones thrown in from sinking, but even forcing them up to a very great height, to gether with the water, and splitting the pebbles into a thousand pieces. The heat was found by Van Troil to be two hundred and twelve degrees of Fahrenheit, the boiling point. The edges of the pipe or basin are covered by a coarse stalactitic rind, and the water has been found to have a petrifying quality. The opening is perfectly circular, in diameter nineteen feet, and forms above, on the surface of the ground, a basin fifty-nine feet in diameter, the edge of which is nine feet above the orifice or hole.

In speaking of the Geysers, or hot spouting springs, Horrebow observes, that if you fill a bottle at one of them, the water it contains will boil three or four times, at the same time with the water in the well. The inhabitants boil their meat in it, by putting the meat in a vessel of cold water which they place in the hot spring.

Sir G. S. Mackenzie, in his recent travels in Iceland, visited the Geysers at a season favorable to his observations, the latter end of July. He found the cultivation of the surrounding territory much higher than might have been inferred from the idea generally entertained of the barren and unproductive state of Iceland. All the flat ground in that quarter of the island was swampy, but not so much so as to impede the progress of the party, who, having passed several hot springs to the eastward of Skalholt, and others rising among the low hills they had left to the right, in proceeding to the great Geyser, came to a farm house, situated on a rising ground in the midst of the bogs. Here the people were busily employed in making hay, a scene which afforded a pleasing change from the dreary solitude they had quitted; the whole of this extensive district, which abounds in grass, would, if drained, our traveller observes, prove a very rich

pasture country. Farther on they came to several | kept during the night, Sir G. S. Mackenzie took cottages at the foot of the mountain, round which his station at eleven o'clock, and his companions they turned, and came in sight of the hill, having lay down to sleep. About ten minutes before the Geysers at one of its sides. This hill, in height twelve he heard subterraneous discharges, and not more than three hundred feet, is separated waked his friends. The water in the basin was from the mountain towards the west, by a narrow greatly agitated, and flowed over, but there was not slip of flat boggy ground, connected with that any jet. The same occurred at half past two. At which extends over the whole valley. Having five minutes past four on Saturday morning, an crossed this bog, and a small river which ran alarm was given by one of the company. As our through it, the party came to a farm house at the traveller lay next the door of the tent, he instantly east end of the hill, and arrived at a spot where the drew aside the canvass, when, at the distance of most wonderful and awful effects of subterraneous little more than fifty yards, a most extraordinary heat are exhibited. and magnificent appearance presented itself. From a place they had not before noticed, they saw water thrown up, and steam issuing with a tremendous noise. There was little water; but the force with which the steam escaped, produced a white column of spray and vapor, at least sixty feet high. They enjoyed this astonishing and beautiful sight until seven o'clock, when it gradually disappeared.

On the east side of the hill there are several banks of clay, from some of which steam rises in different places; and in others there are cavities, in which water boils briskly. In a few of these cavities, the water being mixed with clay, is thick and varies in color; but is chiefly red and gray. Below these banks there is a gentle and uniform slope, composed of matter which, at some distant period, has been deposited by springs which no The remaining part of the morning was occupied longer exist. The strata or beds thus formed, in examining the environs of the Geysers; and at seemed to have been broken by shocks of earthquakes, particularly near the great Geyser. Within a space not exceeding a quarter of a mile, numerous orifices are seen in the old incrustations, from which boiling water and steam issue, with different degrees of force. At the northern extremity is situated the great Geyser, sufficiently distinguishable from the others by every circumstance connected with it. Ou approaching this spot it appeared that a mount had been formed of irregular, roughlooking depositions, upon the ancient regular strata, the origin of which had been similar. The slope of the latter has caused the mount to spread more on the east side; and the recent depositions of the water may be traced till they coincide with them. The perpendicular height of the mount is about seven feet, measured from the highest part of the surface of the old depositions. From these the matter composing the mount may be readily distinguished, on the west side, where a disruption has taken place. On the top of this mountain is a basin, which was found to extend fifty-six feet in one direction, and forty-six in another.

At a quarter before three o'clock in the afternoon, when the party reached the spot, they found the basin full of hot water, a little of which was running over. Having satisfied their curiosity at that time, they proceeded to examine some other places, whence they saw water ascending. Above the great Geyser, at a short distance, they came to a large irregular opening, the beauties of which, the writer observes, it is hardly possible to describe. The water with which it was filled was as clear as crystal, and perfectly still, although nearly at the boiling point. Through it they saw white incrustations, forming a variety of figures and cavities to a great depth, and carrying the eye into a vast and dark abyss, over which the crust supporting them formed a dome of an inconsiderable thickness; a circumstance which though not of itself agreeable, contributed much to the effects of this awful

every step they received some new gratification. Following the channel which had been formed by the water escaping from the great basin during the eruptions, they found several beautiful and delicate petrifactions. The leaves of birch and willow were seen converted into white stone, and in the most perfect state of preservation, every minute fibre being entire. Grass and rushes were in the same state, and also masses of peat. Several of these rare and elegant specimens were brought safely to Great Britain. On the outside of the mount of the Geyser, the depositions, owing to the splashing of the water, are rough, and have been justly compared to the heads of cauliflowers. They are of a yellowish brown color, and are arranged around the mount, somewhat like a circular flight of steps. The inside of the basin is comparatively smooth; and the matter forming it is more compact and dense than the exterior crust; when polished it is not devoid of beauty, being of a gray color, mottled with black and white spots and streaks. The white incrustation formed by the water of the beautiful cavity before described, had taken a very curious form at the water's edge, very much resembling the capital of a Gothic column,

GHEE. Is the name of a kind of clarified butter, made from the milk of buffaloes. It may be preserved sweet for a considerable time, and forms a great article of commerce in various parts of India. It is generally put up in duppers or bottles made of hides, each containing from ten to forty gallons.

GIANT'S CAUSEWAY. The Giant's Causeway is a remarkable promontory on the north coast of Ireland, eight miles northeast of Coleraine. It is the most extraordinary natural curiosity in the country, consisting of many hundred thousand columus of basaltic rock, of a dark iron-gray color, rising perpendicularly from the water's edge.

This promontory extends throughout the whole of Bengorehead, from Port Moon, on the east, to Port Na Gange, on the west, a mile and a half in a direct line; and is, in every part, indented with the

In scripture it is related, at a period apparently contemporary with Noah, or immediately antecedent to the flood, 'that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair, and they took them wives of all which they chose.' Further, 'there were giants in the earth in those days, and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men: and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, and men of renown.' These passages, it is true, contain some obscurities; but we do not conceive that they warrant the conclusion which certain critics have deduced, of this gigantic race beGIANTS. The name given to men whose stat-ing the offspring of divinities and human females. ure greatly exceeds the ordinary size of the human | At Hebron, in Judea, there was a celebrated tribe

and Talmai, are previously named as the children | Antæus, a reputed gigantic sovereign of Mauritania, of Anak, it is elsewhere said, 'it is a land which whose very existence is still more problematical. eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people The same observation will apply to another skelethat are in it are men of great stature.' Thus the ton forty-six cubits in length, alluded to by Pliny, context proves the correctness of the translation of which was exposed by the overthrow of a mounthis part of scripture; and that the appellation tain in Crete by an earthquake. In the year 758, giants is not the proper name of a particular tribe, during the darker ages, we are told, that at a place or nation, or tyrants, or evil doers, as commentators called Totu in Bohemia, a skeleton was found have inferred. Further, their history is continued, whose head could scarcely be compassed by the and Og, king of Bashan, in the same regions, is arms of two men, and whose legs, which are said specifically described, somewhat later, as the last to have been kept a long time in the castle, were of the race; as also, 'Bashan which was called the twenty-six feet long. Possibly this last measureland of giants.' This king was encountered and ment belongs to the entire skeleton rather than to slain by Moses at the head of the Israelites, appar- a part of it. In the year 1516, the skeleton of a ently at the gates of his own city; and it is said, giant thirty feet high is reported to have been found for only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the near Mazarino in Sicily. The skull was as large remuant of giants: behold his bedstead was a bed- as a hogshead, and each of the teeth weighed five stead of iron is it not in Rabbath of the children ounces, which it may be remarked in passing, is of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof, not a tenth part as heavy as the reputed tooth of and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of the gigantic king of Bashan. In the same island, a man.' This extraordinary bedstead, therefore, other remains of a giant thirty feet high were dismust have been between fourteen and sixteen feet covered in 1548, and two years afterwards, those long, and about seven in breadth, according as the of a third, whose height attained thirty-three feet. cubit is taken, at eighteen or twenty inches. Instead of these being entire skeletons, however, it is infinitely more probable that they were only detached fragments of bones, while conjecture enlarged the wanting parts to the size which is ascribed to the whole body.

The next giant of whom we read in scripture was Goliath; but before leaving the gigantic king of Bashan, we may remark, that a spacious cavern is said to have been found near Jerusalem some thousand years after his death, containing a grave or tomb, with an inscription in Chaldaic, Here lies the giant Og.' A tooth weighing four pounds and a quarter was found in the tomb, which, being sent from Constantinople, was offered to the emperor of Germany as a curiosity for two thousand rix dollars, in 1678. The emperor, however, being doubtful of the fact, ordered the tooth to be returned. The stature of Goliath must have been considerably inferior to that of Og; but his corporeal strength is undoubted, on considering his weapons and armor. Commentators conclude that six cubits and a span described to be his height, make about eleven feet, though we should be inclined to reduce it to about ten at the utmost. He was a professed warrior, and a champion of the Philistines; the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron.' 'He was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. No profane history is equally explicit as scripture regarding a distinct race of giants of extraordinary size; and we have united the passages to be found concerning them, previous to descending to a later date.

The ancients considered persons whose stature exceeded seven feet as gigantic. Living giants have certainly been seen who were somewhat taller; but the existence of those who greatly surpassed it, or were double the height, has been inferred only from remains discovered in the earth, and not from the occular testimony of credible witnesses. Were we to admit what has been reported on the subject, there would be no bounds to the dimensions of giants; the earth would seem unsuitable for them to tread upon. Thus Strabo speaks of the skeleton of a giant sixty cubits in length, found near a city in Africa now called Tangier; and without bestowing due reflection on the improbability of the fact, it is ascribed to

The solitary instances of gigantic stature occurring in Europe, as well as uncommon diminution of the human size, ought to be assimilated to that species of monstrosity, where the aberrations of nature tend either to excess or defect. Symmetrical giants are seen, it is true, though very rarely, and also symmetrical dwarfs; but more generally there is some disordered organization in their persons, particularly in the head and extremities. These are small in giants in proportion to their other members; but the head of dwarfs is almost invariably very large. Giants are seldom endowed with physical power or mental energy: the period of life is, for the most part, abridged in dwarfs. Nature seems to languish in the preservation of both, but more conspicuously in regard to the former: they want strength, and are deficient in courage: nay, it is said, that on some extraordinary occasion, when several dwarfs and giants were assembled at Vienna, a quarrel ensued, and one of the dwarfs fought a giant to considerable advantage. Did we not view these beings as mere exceptions, the scale of disparity in the human stature would not be so limited as is wont to be supposed. The difference between a person of two feet four inches, said to be the shortest dwarf, and another of eight feet, whom we shall here esteem the tallest man, being five feet eight inches, is enormous. That gigantic and pigmy stature is a simple accident, is proved from numerous facts. They are alike the children of ordinary parents; and their descendants, instead of resembling themselves, resemble their forefathers. Besides, all the other. members of their own generation are usually of the common size. Nevertheless, with proper precautions, the human race, as that of other animated beings, may be improved; of which a notable instance is said to exist at Berlin, in the posterity of a very fine grenadier regiment formed by Frederic. Thus the stature of an entire tribe may preserv

be