years, and at Leyden abjured Catholicism and gave private lessons in philosophy. His friends obtained for him the chair of philosophy in the university of Louvain, where he taught till his death the doctrines of Descartes, of whom he was the most remarkable disciple prior to Spinoza and Malebranche. In his writings are contained the germs of some of the doctrines of these philosophers, as the confusion of will with love, the vision in God, the hypothesis of occasional causes, and the absolute unity of substance. GEYER, HENRY SHEFFIE, an American jurist, born in Frederictown, Md., Dec. 9, 1790, died in St. Louis, March 5, 1859. In 1811 he began the practice of the law in his native town. He was an officer in the U. S. army in the war of 1812, at the close of which he removed to St. Louis, then a frontier village, where the remainder of his life was passed. He was a member of the territorial legislature of Missouri in 1818; was 5 times elected to the legislature of the state; and was speaker of the house of representatives in the first three general assemblies after the adoption of the state constitution. As one of the revisers of the statutes in 1825, he contributed more, perhaps, than any other individual to the adoption of a system of laws in Missouri superior to that of any other western state at that time. In 1850 the post of secretary of war was tendered to him by President Fillmore, but he declined it. In 1851 he was elected U. S. senator from Missouri, to succeed Thomas H. Benton. He was at the time of his death the oldest member of the St. Louis bar, both in years and in professional standing.

GEYSERS (Icelandic, geysa, to burst forth violently), intermittent hot springs found in various parts of Iceland. The principal locality is in the S. W. division of the island, about 35 m. N. W. from Hecla, and 70 from Reikiavik, the chief town. Here, in a circuit of about 2 miles, it is said over 100 springs may be counted which send forth hot water, 50 or more in the space of a few acres. These are on the lower slope of a small hill of trappean rock, and above them in the steeper part of the hill under the cliffs of this rock are banks formed by the incrustations of ancient and now nearly extinct geysers. The springs are of various dimensions, and exhibit various degrees of activity; some are uniformly full and quiet, others are constantly boiling, and others only at intervals, with explosive discharges of water and steam. The vapors arising from them fill the atmosphere around, forming clouds that are seen from among the mountains miles away. They are accompanied with sulphurous odors; and the geysers of other localities upon the island are found to deposit sulphur derived from the decomposition of iron pyrites contained in the clays through which the hot waters penetrate. The chief spouting springs of the group are distinguished by the names of the Great Geyser and the Great and Little Strokr. The Great Geyser when quiet presents the appearance of a circular mound made up of silicious incrusta

tions, enclosing a pool, the sides of which slope inward at an average angle of 13°, and outward at a mean inclination of 8°. The height of the mound on the lower side is about 20 feet, but only half as much on the upper side. Its diameter varies from 50 to 60 feet. In the centre is a well 10 feet in diameter, its mouth about 5 feet below the level of the surface of the water when the pool is filled. The total depth obtained by sounding is 78 feet below this surface. The pool is filled with water, except for 6 or 7 hours after a great eruption, by which it is emptied even to the depth of 4 or 5 feet in the well. At other times the water is constantly flowing out, at a mean temperature of 185° F. At intervals of about an hour and a half a rumbling noise is heard underground, and the water heaves up in the centre, throwing an increased quantity over the margin. The great eruptions take place at irregular intervals, sometimes exceeding 30 hours. At these times loud explosions are heard beneath the surface, the water is thrown into violent agitation, it boils furiously, and at last is suddenly sent forth in a succession of jets, which increase in force till they become an immense fountain, that is lost to view in the clouds of steam in which it is enveloped. The heights reached by these jets have been variously estimated by different travellers. The lowest estimate is 60 or 70 feet; that of Von Troil in 1772 is 92 feet; of Sir John Stanley in 1789, 96 feet; of Lieut. Ohlsen, a Danish officer, in 1804, determined by a quadrant, 212 feet; of Sir George Mackenzie in 1810, 90 feet; and of Henderson, in 1815, 150 feet. The discharge continues only about 5 minutes, when the geyser subsides to a state of tranquillity.-The Great Strokr, so named either from the Icelandic word meaning churn, or from stroka, to agitate, is only from 300 to 400 feet distant from the Great Geyser, from which it differs in appearance in being an irregularly formed well, incrusted with silicious deposits, but having little of the basin shape at its mouth. Its orifice is about 8 feet in diameter, diminishing to about 10 inches at the depth of 27 feet; the whole depth is a little over 44 feet. The water for the greater part of the time is 10 or 12 feet below the surface, but at intervals of half a day or thereabout it breaks forth in a great eruption like those of the Great Geyser, as observed by Henderson, this continued for of an hour, during which an eruption of the Great Geyser also took place that lasted only 5 minutes. By throwing stones into the well of the Strokr, Henderson found he could bring on an eruption in a few minutes. The Little Strokr exhibits the same phenomena upon a smaller scale. There are in the same vicinity two large and quiet wells remarkable for their beautifully blue water. These were once active, and one of them was described by an English traveller as the Roaring Geyser. It became tranquil immediately after an earthquake in 1789, when the Great Strokr first broke forth. The deposits of silica which accumulate around

the geysers are derived from the small amount of this material which is taken up in solution by the hot water. By the analysis of Dr. Black, made upon 10,000 grains (about of a gallon), it would appear that the whole amount of solid matter remaining dissolved in the cold water is only a little more than of the whole, the quantity examined yielding as follows: soda, 0.95, alumina 0.48, silica 5.40, muriate of soda 2.46, dry sulphate of soda 1.46; in all 10.75. As the water evaporates and is chilled, the excess of silica is added to the surface around, filling the interstices of the mosses and grass, and making of these silicious petrifactions, while the living plants still thrive and shoot above the strong substance that binds together their roots and stems. Where the waters are found at a temperature of 98° C. (208.4° F.), M. Descloiseaux observed that the confervæ still flourished. From the experiments of this savant and of M. Bunsen made in 1846, it appears that the temperature of the waters varies at different depths, as also at different periods between two eruptions, the changes always taking place in the same manner and with considerable regularity. Immediately before the eruptions there is a maximum temperature at the bottom of the well estimated at 260.6° F., and a minimum immediately after of 253.4° F. The temperature of boiling water at the depth reached by the thermometer should be about 276° F. The water therefore is not thrown into ebullition at this point, but must be at some other, nearer the source of the heat, with which the geyser is supposed to be connected by a long and sinuous channel. Upon this are no doubt cavities in the upper portions of which steam collects. When an eruption has taken place, the temperature of the lower portions of the liquid column is reduced, the steam in the reservoirs has less tension than is required to counterbalance the weight of the column in the well and of the superincumbent atmosphere, and the water consequently subsides. As new steam is generated, it is for a time condensed in the water, which is below its boiling temperature, and to which it imparts its latent heat. This at last is thrown into ebullition, and the steam is accumulated in sufficient quantity to raise by its tension the column of water and project it into the air. The different sets of eruptions may be owing to the existence beneath the surface of reservoirs of different capacities and at different elevations. It has also been proposed to explain the phenomenon on the principle that water when long boiled, by the loss of the air it contains, requires a great accession of heat to throw it into ebullition, and that this is then apt to take place with a sudden production of vapor accompanied with violent explosion. It is a singular fact in the history of Iceland that no mention is made of the geysers until they are spoken of by Svenson, bishop of Skalpolt, in the 17th century; and this is the more remarkable, as Ari Frode, who wrote of the geography and history of the island in the 11th cen

tury, spent his youth in their immediate vicinity. They bear unmistakable evidences of having been in operation in this district, if not in the exact spots where they are now found, from remote periods.-There are also geysers in California, in Napa co. about 60 m. N. of Napa City. They are formed by a number of hot sulphur springs, the water of which is continually boiling, and in several places is thrown up to the height of 10 or 15 feet. The geysers of Iceland are treated of in the works named below: "Letters on Iceland," by Von Troil (1772); "Travels in Iceland," by Sir George Mackenzie (1810); "Journal of a Residence in Iceland during the years 1814 and 1815," by Ebenezer Henderson; "Visit to Iceland in the Summer of 1834," by John Barrow, jr.; "A Visit to Iceland," by the Hon. A. Dillon (1840); observations of M. Descloiseaux in Annales de chimie et de physique (April, 1847), and "Philosophical Magazine" (vol. xxx. p. 397); "Tracings of Iceland and the Faroe Islands," by R. Chambers (1856); "A Yacht Voyage," by Lord Dufferin (London, 1858).

GFRÖRER, AUGUST FRIEDRICH, & German historian, born March 5, 1803, in Calw, Würtemberg. He studied theology at Tübingen from 1821 to 1825, was appointed in 1828 tutor (Repetent) in the theological seminary of Tübingen, in 1830 librarian at Stuttgart, and in 1846 professor of history in the university of Freiburg. He was also elected in 1848 a member of the parliament of Frankfort. His first work, on Philo and the Alexandrine theosophy (Stuttgart, 1835), was written from the critical standpoint of the Tübingen school; but while preparing his "History of Primitive Christianity" (3 vols., Stuttgart, 1835-'6), he changed his views on Christ and Christianity, and arrived at length, during the publication of his "History of the Christian Church" (4 vols., Stuttgart, 1841-'6), at the opinion that the Roman Catholic church is the true church of Christ; but he did not join that communion till 1853. Beside the works already mentioned, he has written a "History of Gustavus Adolphus" (Stuttgart, 3d ed., 1852); a

History of the Carlovingians of Eastern and Western Franconia from 840 to 918" (2 vols., Stuttgart, 1848); a "Primitive History of the Human Race" (2 vols., 1855); and began in 1858 a "History of Pope Gregory VII.," which is intended to be in 5 vols.

GHARA, GHARRA, or GARRA. I. A small river of Sinde, Hindostan, flowing through a low, level country, and emptying into a long creek which conveys its waters to the Indian ocean, 10 m. E. of Kurrachee. The village of Ghara in the Kurrachee district is on its bank. II. A name given to the Sutlej in the Punjaub, from its union with the Beas at Endreesa to its confluence with the Chenaub, 300 m. lower down, after which it receives the name of Punjnud. Its course, though tortuous at intervals, is in general remarkably straight, its direction being nearly S. W. At Hureekee, a short distance below the mouth of the Beas, it is 600 or

700 feet wide, and about 12 feet deep, and runs with a velocity of 24 m. an hour. In the S. part of its course, however, it becomes sluggish and muddy, with low alluvial banks which are frequently overflowed. Its waters are of a light color, while those of the Chenaub are reddish, and for several miles below their confluence the opposite sides of the united rivers preserve the difference of hue.

GHAUTS (literally mountain pass; whence, through the Teutonic languages, the English word gate), the name of two ranges of mountains in S. Hindostan. The principal of these is the western, which extends N. from Cape Comorin, the southern extremity of this country, in an almost unbroken chain of remarkably uniform topography, to the river Taptee, at the mouth of which is Surat, 800 m. N. of Cape Comorin. The general direction of the chain is parallel with the coast of the Indian ocean, which it approaches in one place within 6 m.; but being for the most part at a distance of 40 to 70 m., its summits are hardly discerned from the shores. On its western side it presents a front which rises boldly from the hilly country between the ranges and the coast; but on the east it gradually slopes away, or spreads in table-land, having an average elevation of about 3,000 feet above the sea, or is continued in long spurs, which stretch out through this central region, known as the Deccan. The country on the west, called the Malabar coast, is comparatively low, its average elevation being roughly estimated at 200 feet above tide. It is hilly, but also penetrated by creeks and bays making back from the sea; and it is traversed by extensive ravines, which are shaded with forest and jungle. But few gaps break the continuity of the chain, and only one of these is deep enough to drain the waters on the E. slopes into the Indian ocean. This point is in the S. part of the range against the Coimbatore country, from which the river Ponany flows through a break 16 m. wide. Opposite this break it is thought that ships navigating the Indian ocean experience the N. E. monsoons in greater fury than elsewhere. The average height of the western Ghauts is estimated at 4,000 feet, but some of the peaks rise much higher. Bonasson is said to be 7,000 feet high, and Dodabetta in the Neil gherries 8,760 feet. The range, though often steep and stony, is not remarkably rough nor rocky. A deep rich soil covers the surface, and even upon the summits supports stately forests, such as are found only in the tropics. The bamboo attains an unusual height, rivalling that of the lofty palms which are scattered here and there among its detached clumps. The teak forms forests upon the mountain sides, and on the lower hills in the southern district of Travancore are magnificent forests producing pepper, cassia, frankincense, and other aromatic gums. In the most elevated regions no undergrowth or jungle is encountered, but the open woods afford unobstructed passage in every

direction. Roads, however, are maintained only at great cost, owing to the violence of the torrents of water during the rainy season; hence the passes across the range are few and difficult. These are occupied by military fortresses, which, with the unhealthiness of the climate and the dangers from lurking tigers, suggest considerations little in harmony with the natural beauties of these scenes. There are, however, points among the mountains noted for their salubrity, and on this account resorted to by Europeans, as some of the Neilgherries, and the village in the Mahableshwur hills, 80 m. S. E. of Bombay, made a convalescent station in 1828 by Sir J. Malcolm. The elevation of this point is 4,500 feet above the sea.--The Neilgherries, among which are some of the most elevated peaks of the range, occupy a tract of some 700 sq. m. on the E. of the main chain N. of Coimbatore. Here the eastern Ghauts are usually regarded as diverging from the western'; but some trace them further S. through the Carnatic in the range of hills which meet the western Ghauts about 20 miles from Cape Comorin. Each range extends across to the Coromandel coast, and coming together in lat. 13° 20' N. the chain continues with the coast, some say even to Balasore, which is within 125 m. of Calcutta; but it is commonly regarded as running out before reaching the river Kistnah, thus limiting the eastern Ghauts to about 500 m. in length. Its hills are naked and rocky, and seldom attain the altitude of 3,000 feet. A glance at the map of southern Hindostan exhibits the chief peculiarity in the topography of the country included between the two ranges of the Ghauts and bounded on the N. by the Vindhya mountains. The drainage of this region is all toward the bay of Bengal. The greater elevation of the western Ghauts and the gradual slope of the country toward the E. and S. E. is betrayed, and the fact also that this country must be a very elevated region, as the mountains on the Coromandel coast are crossed by all these rivers far below their sources. A striking resemblance is perceived between the western Ghauts, ranging in front of the Indian ocean, and the Andes which look out upon the Pacific from the western verge of the South American continent. The long rivers commencing on their eastern slopes suggest the drifting of watercharged clouds across the range, which shed their moisture, as those driven by the trade winds discharge theirs upon the Andes. Such clouds are in fact brought alternately from either sea, as the monsoons, after setting all the summer months from the S. W., turn when the sun ceases to parch the desert plains of central Asia, and, in the regular N. E. trades, blow from the sea of Bengal upon the E. coast. The S. W. monsoons commence in May and June, with terrific storms of thunder and rain, which vent their greatest fury upon the western Ghauts. The clouds, but half discharged, are swept on over the hills of the Deccan, watering them with less copious showers. This contin

ues until October. During this time that part of the Coromandel coast under the lee of the eastern Ghauts receives no rain; but about the mouth of the Godavery the clouds arrive still charged with it; and further to the N. they are not wholly deprived of it, until they reach the snowy regions of the Himalaya. In October these winds fail, and the regular N. E. trades or monsoons set in with terrible thunder and lightning and hurricanes on the bay of Bengal, producing while they last, which is to about the close of the year, the rainy season on the Coromandel coast and the eastern Ghauts. But under the lee of the western range this is the dry season, a season of fair weather with occasional southern gales. The quantity of rain precipitated upon the western Ghauts during the summer is unprecedented in any other part of the world in the same length of time. At the station of Mahableshwur, already referred to, it has been found equal to 239 inches. The mean annual fall upon the American continent is 39 inches. Such deluges of water pouring down the steep western slope of the range may well produce the extensive ravines which traverse the Malabar country.-In their geological structure both ranges of the Ghauts appear to agree with other great N. and S. mountain chains of the world. Their rocks are the metamorphic schists, which contain rich metals and valuable ores. Gold is found pretty generally diffused along their course, and is especially abundant in the Neilgherries. Copper ores are worked in the eastern Ghauts near the sources of the Pennar river, about 40 m. N. E. from Cuddapah. In the same region of the Carnatic, only 7 m. N. E. from Cuddapah, diamonds have been found for centuries past; and 2° further N., in the province of Hyderabad, is Golconda, celebrated of old as the depot of precious gems found in the regions watered by the Pennar and Kistnah rivers. From the table-lands of Mysore, which border the eastern Ghauts on the N. W., are brought the precious ruby, topaz, chrysolite, cats-eye, garnet, beryl, &c. The region of the carnelian is in the province of Guzerat, which is beyond the N. extremity of the western Ghauts, the outlet of which is Cambay. (See CAMBAY STONES, and CARNELIAN.) The famous diamond region of Pannah in Bundelcund, supposed to be the Panassa of Ptolemy, is also beyond the limits of the Ghauts, in the Vindhya mountains, which, stretching across central Hindostan, connect the N. terminations of the E. and W. chains. Iron ores of the richest qualities are found in abundance along the Ghauts on both sides of the peninsula of Hindostan. They are successfully worked in the rude forges of the natives in Malabar, Mysore, and Bejapoor, both into wrought iron and steel; and the bar iron of the district of Orissa, shipped from Balasore, is a merchantable article in the market of Calcutta. At Porto Novo, S. of Madras, are the extensive iron works of the East India iron company, which also has an

other establishment at Beypoor on the opposite side of the peninsula of Malabar.

GHAZIPOOR, or GHAZEEPORE, a district of British India, under the lieut. gov. of the N. W. provinces; area, 2,187 sq. m.; pop. 1,596,324, of whom 1,438,085 are Hindoos. It is bounded N. and E. by the Goggra, S. by the Ganges, and W. by the Juanpoor. It is a low, level country, diversified by many shallow lakes and well irrigated by nature and by art. The climate is healthy, except in the latter part of autumn, when fevers of a mild type prevail. The thermometer ranges from 58° to 98°. Its best known productions are rose water and attar of roses, for which many hundreds of acres of the flowers are cultivated, and its chief agricultural crops are maize, wheat, pulse, barley, oats, rice, indigo, oil seeds, gram, tobacco, opium, and sugar. Cotton is grown to some extent. Ghazipoor was anciently subject to the sovereigns of Ayodha (Oude), and after passing through the hands of those of the Kanouj, Patan, and Mogul dynasties, was seized by Surajah Dowlah, vizier of Oude, about 1761. The Mogul Shah Alum granted it in 1764 to the East India company, by whom it was relinquished to the vizier of Oude in 1765; the latter ceded it again to the British by the treaty of 1775.-GHAZIPOOR, the chief town of the above district, is situated on the left bank of the Ganges, 46 m. N. E. from Benares, and 431 m. N. W. from Calcutta; pop. 38,573. It stands on high ground, enclosed by beautiful groves of banyan and pipal, and is noted for its healthy climate. At its E. end is the palace of Meer Cossim Ali, nabob of Bengal.

GHEE, a kind of butter used in many parts of India, prepared generally from the milk of buffaloes. The milk is successively boiled, cooled, and mixed with a little curdled milk. The process is completed by churning the curdled mass, to which some hot water is once added. It is an article of commerce in India, but unpalatable to Europeans from its strong smell and flavor. It may be kept from rancidity by boiling till all the water is evaporated, and then adding curdled milk and salt, and preserving it in close jars.

GHEEL, a town and commune of Belgium, in the province and 26 m. S. E. of Antwerp; pop. 10,720. It has several churches and some manufactures. The commune has from time immemorial been a sort of asylum for insane persons, who are lodged and boarded in the houses of the peasantry.

GHEGA, CARLO DE, an Italian engineer, born in Venice in 1808, studied at Pavia, officiated as engineer in the construction of public works and railways in various parts of Italy and the Tyrol, visited the United States in 1842, and afterward wrote on the system of railways and bridges employed in the mountainous regions of the United States. As inspector in chief of the Austrian government railways, he superintended the railway through the Alps, and projected the celebrated passage over the Semmering.

GHENT (Flem. Gend; Fr. Gand; Ger. Gent), the capital of the Belgian province of East Flanders; pop. in 1857, 108,925. It is situated at the junction of the Scheldt and the Lys, 45 m. by rail from Brussels, and intersected by a great number of navigable canals which communicate with those rivers, and form 26 islands connected with each other by about 80 bridges. The streets are spacious, and the fantastic variety of gable ends, rising stepwise or ornamented with scroll work and carving, imparts great picturesqueness to the stately houses. It has about 300 streets, 28 public squares, fine promenades, and a great number of churches. The sumptuous cathedral of St. Bavon contains the masterpieces of Jan and Hubert van Eyck. The city hall, with its Moorish front, the famous belfry, and the Vrydags-markt, or Friday square, where Jacques van Artevelde kindled the flames of civil war, and where the duke of Alva lighted the fires of the inquisition, are celebrated for their historical associations. The city is rich in charitable, industrial, artistic, literary, and scientific institutions, and possesses a university attended by about 300 students, with an extensive library and a botanical garden. There are 21 public hospitals, of which that called Bylogue can accommodate 600 persons. The palais de justice, the central prison, and the Béguinage, the principal establishment in Belgium of the Beguin nuns, are worthy of special mention. The cotton manufacture employs about $9,000,000 of capital and upward of 20,000 persons, and produces annually 1,000,000 pieces of plain and printed calicoes. Sugar refining is also extensively carried on. The principal articles of trade are corn, oil, seeds, wine, and Flemish linens, of which about 20,000 pieces are exposed for sale every Friday.-Ghent is first mentioned as a town in the 7th century. It acquired importance during the middle ages, when the citizens established a form of municipal government, joined the association of the Hanse towns, and obtained the free navigation of the Rhine and other privileges. Toward the end of the 12th century it became the capital of Flanders, and by the end of the 13th it had so much increased in wealth and power that it was thought to eclipse Paris; and at a subsequent period Charles V. used sportively to say that he could put Paris into his Gant (glove). This emperor was born in Ghent, as was also John of Gaunt, "timehonored Lancaster," who derived from it his appellation. As early as the 14th century, the age of the Arteveldes, Froissart estimated the number of fighting men whom Ghent could bring into the field at 80,000, no doubt an exaggeration. At the end of the 15th century there was, according to Erasmus, no town in all Christendom to be compared to it for size, power, political constitution, or the culture of its inhabitants. By its jurisdiction over many large but subordinate towns, Ghent controlled more than its own immediate population, which has been estimated as high as 200,000, although it possibly did not much exceed 150,000. The

constitution of the city was very liberal, and in all but theory it was a republic. All this prosperity was destroyed by the insurrection that broke out in the early part of the 16th century, which originated in the resistance of the citizens against onerous taxes. The emperor punished this resistance by depriving the city of all its privileges and immunities (April 29, 1540). The revenues belonging to it were confiscated; its ancient form of government was abolished; the right to appoint the city magistrates was vested in the crown; a new system of laws and political administration was established, and orders were given for erecting a strong citadel in order to bridle the revolutionary spirit of the population. A large fine for defraying its expenses was imposed upon the unfortunate citizens, as well as an annual contribution for the support of the garrison. At the same time 26 of the principal citizens were put to death, and a greater number sent into banishment. A congress assembled in Ghent in 1576 to form a confederacy for the expulsion of the Spaniards from the Netherlands. The massacre of Antwerp and the eloquence of the prince of Orange produced a quickening effect upon its deliberations, which had proceeded with decorum while the citadel was being cannonaded. The latter fell on the same day (Nov. 8, 1576) which saw the conclusion of the treaty known under the name of "Pacification of Ghent." But in the stormy period which followed, and in which the revolt against the Spanish authority was varied by intestine dissensions, the city became a prey to riot and anarchy. Early in the spring of 1584 a formal resolution was passed by the government of Ghent to open negotiations with Spain, and within 3 months after the murder of William of Orange, whose policy and selfsacrifice had saved the city on many occasions, it fell into the hands of the duke of Parma, the Spanish viceroy (Sept. 17, 1584). The citadel was rebuilt, and about a third of the population left the city. Before the expiration of the century, however (1596), Ghent, along with the other cities and provinces of the Netherlands, was severed from the crown of Spain in favor of Isabella, daughter of Philip II., who married Albert, son of the emperor of Germany. Louis XIV. took it in 1678, but soon after restored it to Spain in the peace of Nimeguen. During the war of Spanish succession, at the end of which it was given by the treaty of Rastadt to Austria, Ghent was alternately in the hands of both contending parties. It was also taken by the French in the war of the Austrian succession, and twice in the campaigns of the revolution, when it became the capital of the French department of the Scheldt. After the downfall of Napoleon in 1814 it was attached to the kingdom of the Netherlands. During the Hundred Days Louis XVIII. took refuge in Ghent. The famous Moniteur de Gand was issued there under the editorship of Baron Eckstein and M. Guizot and other friends of the Bourbons who gathered round Louis XVIII. The revolution