Gratz
a city and capital of Styria, Austria, 141 miles S. S. W. of Vienna. It is a picturesque old town, built on both sides of the Mur. Of the former fortress, erected on a hill in the center of the town, and dismantled in 1809 by the French, two towers and other remains still exist. The town itself contains several old buildings, as the Late Gothic cathedral (1462), two other Gothic churches (one built in 1283), the ancient castle of the Styrian dukes, the Landhaus, where the nobles of the duchy held their meetings, the university, originally founded in 1586, an armory, palaces of the Styrian nobles, and four monasteries dating from the 16th and 17th centuries. There are also national archives, a cabinet of coins and antiquities, a technical school (Johanneum), and a botanic garden. Prior to the World War the most important of its many industries were the manufacture of machines, steel goods, rails and railway carriages, sugar, wine, perfumery, stearine candles, soap, etc. Fat capons, biscuits, and chocolate figured prominently as articles of trade. Gratz was a favorite place of residence for Austrian officials retired from service. The town is mentioned in the annals as early as 881. In 1481 it repulsed the Hungarians from its walls, and in 1532 the Turks. In 1797, and again in 1809, it was occupied by the French. Pop. about 152,000.
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Graudenz
a town in the province of West Prussia, Germany; on the Vistula, 37 miles N. of Thorn. It carries on a trade in corn, wool, and cattle, and has iron foundries, breweries, and tapestry and cigar manufactories. About a mile N. of it on a hill is the fortress of Graudenz, built in 1776, defended against the and successfully French in 1807. It was maintained as a fortress till 1874, and now serves as a barrack and military prison.
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Gravel
small pebbles, stones, or fragments of stone, intermixed with sand loam, clay, flints, etc., formed by the action of water upon disintegrated portions of rock. In pathology, the presence of minute concretions in the urine. It is usually owing to the presence of uric acid, urates, oxalates, and phosphates. Among exceptional urinary calculi are carbonate of lime, cystine, xanthine, fatty and fibrinous concretions. The chief symptoms are dull, aching pains over the renal regions, extending to the thighs.
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Gravelines
a town in the department of Nord, France; at the mouth of the Aa, 13 miles E. N. E. of Calais. Considerable historical interest is attached to the place, as the scene of Egmont's victory over the French (1558), and the place off which the English dis- It was persed the Armada (1588). taken by the French in 1644, retaken by 10 weeks' siege in the Austrians after a 1652, and finally recaptured in 1658 by Louis XIV., who had it fortified by Vau- . about 6,000. ban. Pop
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Gravelotte
a village of Lorraine, 7 miles W. of Metz. There, under on Aug. 18, 1870, the French Bazaine sustained a severe defeat by the Germans.
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Gravesend
a port and borough of Kent, England, on the Thames, 24 miles . It consists of the E. S. E. of London old town, with narrow, irregular streets, eers, and of the handsome new town on the high ground. In the vicinity are extensive market gardens; and many of the inhabitants are employed in fishing. Gravesend forms the limit of the port of London; and here pilots and customhouse officers are taken on board of vessels going up the river. It carries on some shipbuilding, iron-founding, soapmaking, and brewing, and a consider able trade in supplying ships' stores. Gravesend was incorporated under Elizaa hythe, or landing beth; was originally place; and is mentioned as such in Domesday. Here the fleets of early voyagers, as that of Sebastian Cabot in 1553, and of Martin Frobisher in 1576, assembled, and here the lord mayor, aldermen, and city companies of London were wont to receive all strangers of eminence and to conduct them up the river in state. Pop. about 30,000.
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Gravimeter
An instrument for ascertaining the specific gravity of liquid or solid bodies.
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Gravity (Physics the terrestrial)
in physics, the terrestrial gravitation, the operation of the law of gravitation on the earth, specially in making heavy bodies fall in all parts of the planet in the direction of its center. Newton and Bessel have shown that in a vacuum a sovereign and a feather will fall with equal speed, though the rate will be very different in the atmospheric air. The attraction of the whole earth, considered as a sphere, on a body at its surface, is the same as if the whole matter of the earth were collected at its center. The attraction of the earth on a body within its surface is the same as if the spherical shell situated between the body and the earth's surface was removed; or is the same as if all the matter situated nearer to the earth's surface than the body was collected at the center, and all the matter situated at a greater distance was removed. The weight of a body is proportioned to the attraction which it exerts, hence gravity in many cases means simply weight.
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Gravity Escapement
An escapement is which the train raises a lever a constant distance, and the weight of the lever when returning to position gives impulse to the pendulum. It is particularly applicable to turret clocks.
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Gray Fibers
in anatomy, pale gray fibers found with or without white ones in the sympathetic or other nerves; they were first discovered by Remak, and are often called after his name. See FRANCISCAN.
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Gray Owl
the tawny-owl of northern Europe and of North America.
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Gray's Peak
a peak in the Colorado range, in Colorado, and one est in the Rocky Mountains. Its height is 14,341 feet.
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Grayson
CARY American naval officer, born and Mary College and at the from the United States Naval School. He served as surgeon in the to Navy and acted as personal physician President Wilson. He was appointed rank of rear medical director with the admiral, in 1916. During the World War he was a member of many important Council of organizations, including the National Defense. He accompanied at the meet- President Wilson to Paris ings at the Peace Conference.
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