Gwalior (Town and capital of the state)
a town and capital of the state of Gwalior, 65 miles S. of Agra. Its nucleus is an isolated rock of about 340 feet in height, perpendicular on all sides; it measures 1½ miles by 300 yards, and its citadel, said to date from the 8th century, whose guns sweep the only approach, is virtually impregnable against any native force. Along the E. base of this eminence lies the old town of Gwalior, containing little worthy of notice but a beautiful mausoleum of white sandstone; and to the S. W. there extends for several miles the new town called Lashkar, where the Maharajah resides. Nearly 4 miles to the N. E. is Morar, the British cantonment from 1858 to 1886, when its fine sandstone barracks were handed over, along with the fortress, to Sindhia, and the European headquarters removed to Jhansi. Gwalior possesses two remarkable Hindu temples, and one of the most interesting examples of Hindu palace architecture in India; while Jain caves and rock sculptures abound on all sides. Pop. about 120,000.
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Gwion Bach
In Welsh romance and myth, son of Gwreang. Set by Ceridwin to stir the magic cauldron of science and inspiration intended to be drunk by her son, Gwion tasted the liquid and became gifted with supernatural sight. He fled, pursued by Ceridwin, and the pair were changed successively into a hare and a greyhound, a fish and an otter, a bird and a hawk, a grain of wheat and a black hen, which ultimately swallowed the wheat. (Compare the metamorphoses of Ceridwen and Gwion Bach with that of the Queen of Beauty and the Djinn in the Arabian Nights, Tale of the Second Calendar). Later Gwion was placed in a bag and flung into the sea by Ceridwin. He was drawn out by Elphin, son of Cwyddus, and was now called Taliesin (Radiant Brow). 66 66 66
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Gwynn
ELEANOR, better known by the name of "Nell," a celebrated mistress of King Charles II.; born in London about 1650. She was at first an orange girl, and also gained her bread by singing from tavern to tavern. About 1667 she became the mistress of Lord Buckhurst, who surrendered her about 1670 to the king. As mistress of the king she had an establishment, and was made lady of the privy chamber to Queen Catharine. She was merry and open-hearted, is said to have been faithful to Charles, mindful of old friends, and a liberal patroness of the poets Dryden, Lee, Otway, and Butler. From her are sprung the dukes of St. Albans. She died about 1690.
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Gyges
The first king of Lydia of the dynasty of the Mermnadae, dethroned Candaules and succeeded to the kingdom. He reigned B. C. 716-678. He sent magnificent presents to Delphi , and the riches of Gyges became a proverb. 2026 Editor's Note: The historical Gyges founded the Mermnad dynasty after assassinating King Candaules , a transition that Herodotus famously attributed to a plot involving the King's wife. While this page notes his wealth, the legend of his rise was later reimagined by Plato in the Republic, where Gyges uses a magical ring of invisibility to usurp the throne. The original Herodotus account also inspired the 1830 William Etty painting Candaules, King of Lydia , Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, which remains in the Tate Gallery collection. (Ed: BR 2026-06-09)
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Gypseous Series
in geology, the lower freshwater limestone and marl constituting the Upper beds of the Middle Eocene in the vicinity of Paris, France. They are of white and green marls with subordinate beds of gypsum. At the Hill of Montmartre is a quarry of gypsum valuable for the manufacture of plaster of Paris. Splendid fossil remains of Eocene mammals have been found in it. Similar gypseous marls are worked for gypsum at St. Romain, on the right bank of the Allier.
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Gypsy Moth
the Bombyx dispar an insect abounding in central Europe, where it does much damage to trees. Linnæus was the first to describe it. The eggs are laid in August and hatch in the spring in the trunks of trees, and on rocks and fences, the caterpillars feeding on plants and trees. After a few months the caterpillars, having attained their full growth, pupate, the moths emerging from the cocoon some weeks after. The insect was brought to America by Leopold Trouvelot, who was experimenting at Medford, Mass., with silkworms, and the specimens escaped. Twenty years later the damage caused by the caterpillars attracted public notice, and since that time, despite public measures taken to cope with the ravage, the gypsy moth has become a pest in many localities in Massachusetts. An effort was made by the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture to exterminate the insect, and was carried on over a period of ten years, at an expenditure of over a million dollars. The work was not thorough, however, and in recent years the presence of the moth has become so noticeable that public measures have had to be resumed to counteract the injury to plants, shrubs, and trees caused by it. The Massachusetts Board of Agriculture has issued bulletins giving the results of the methods originated by it, and, in so far as these methods have by the various municipalibeen followed ties that have been obliged to deal with the insect, they have borne fruit.
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Gyrate
To revolve around a central point. See Center of Gyration<??>.
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Gyrogonite
the sporangium, or seed-vessel, of the flowerless plant-genus Chara. It is very rough and hard, consisting of a membranous nut, covered by an integument, both of which are spirally streaked or ribbed. The integument is ment is composed of fine spiral is valves of a quadrangular for form.
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Gyromancy
Was performed by going round continually in a circle, the circumference of which was marked by letters. The presage was drawn from the words formed by the letters on which the inquirers stumbled when they became too giddy to stand. The object of this circumcursation was simply to exclude the interference of the will, and reduce the selection of letters to mere chance. In some species of enchantment, however, the act of turning round was to produce a prophetic delirium. The religious dances, and the rotation of certain fanatics on one foot, with their arms stretched out, are of this nature. These cases really indicate a magical secret, of which, however, the deluded victims rarely possessed any knowledge. In the phenomenon known as St. Vitus's Dance, and the movements of the convulsionaries, manifestations of spiritual intelligence were quite common. The tendancy of the spiritual force is to act spirally, rhythmically, whether in the use of language or of the bodily members. H
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