Gestation
in physiology, the act of carrying young in the uterus from the time of conception to that of parturition. The average time of a woman's pregnancy is 9 solar months, or about 280 days, though it may be as few as 7 or as many as 10. The period of gestation is shorter in carnivorous than in herbivorous animals. The young of the former are also less developed at birth, their eyes not opening for several days thereafter. Herbivorous animals: The elephant has 20 or 21 months ' gestation; the giraffe, 14 months; dromedary, 12 months; buffalo, 12 months; ass, 12 months; mare, upwards of 11 months; rhinoceros, 9 months; cow, 9 months; many of the larger deer, over 8 months; sheep and goat, 5 months; pig, 4 months Rodents: Beaver, 4 months; dormouse, 31 days; rabbit, 30 to 31 days; squirrel and rat, 28 days; guinea-pig, 21 days or GETA less. Carnivorous: Bear, 6 months; lion, 108 days; puma, 79 days; fox, wolf, and dog, 62-63 days; cat, 55 or 56 days.
Pouched animals: Kangaroo, 39 days; opossum, 26 days. Cetaceous animals:
Greenland whale, about 10 months. The most common duration for the varieties of monkeys is 7 months. Oviparous animals: The goose sits 30 days; swan, 42 days; hens, 21 days; ducks, 30 days; pea-hens and turkeys, 28 days; canaries, 14 days; pigeons, 21 days; parrots, 40 days. The periods are subject to considerable variation, especially in domestic animals, and various conditions modify the period, of which the above are only the averages.
GETA (jē'tä), SEPTIMUS, second son of the Emperor Severus; born A. D. 189, and was brother of the infamous Caracalla, with whom he was associated in the empire on the death of his father.
Caracalla, who envied his virtues and was jealous of his popularity, after having endeavored to effect his death by poison, murdered him, and wounded their mother, who was attempting to save him, A. D. 211.
GETÆ (jētē), a people of Thracian extraction, first mentioned as dwelling on the right bank of the Danube, but in the middle of the 4th century B. C. they crossed the river and settled in Transylvania and Wallachia. They were conquered by Darius Hystaspes in 515 в. c., and then accompanied him in his campaign against the Scythians. Both Alexander the Great, in 335, and Lysimachus, in 292, made unsuccessful attempts to subdue them. The Getæ, as distinct from the Dacians, sided with Octavius against Antony, and during the greater part of the 1st century after Christ continued to harass the Roman legions. In 106 A. D. the Dacians and Getæ were subdued by Trajan, their country being added to the empire. Subsequently the Getæ became fused with the Goths, who invaded their lands, and afterward carried many of them with them in their W. migrations. See JATS.
GETHSEMANE (geth-sem'a-nê), an olive garden or orchard near Jerusalem, memorable as the scene of the last sufferings of our Lord. The traditionary site of this garden places it on the E. side of the city and a very little beyond the Kedron, near the base of Mt. Olivet.