Various

“ In art, the word Gem is the general term for precious stones when engraved with designs, whether adapted for sealing (σφραγίς, sigillum, intaglio) , or mainly for artistic effect (imagines ectypae, cameo) . They exist in a very large number of undoubtedly genuine old examples, extending from the mists of Babylonian antiquity to the decline of Roman civilization, and again starting with a new, but less original impulse on the revival of art. ”

“ If we reinterpret the history of the family and its descent into Egypt, and belittle its increase into a nation, and if we figure to ourselves a more gradual occupation of Palestine, we destroy the entire continuity of history as it was understood by those who compiled the biblical history, and we have no evidence for any confident reconstruction. ”

“ It is the genius of the paterfamilias that keeps the marriage bed, named after him lectus genialis and dedicated to him, under his special protection. The genius of a man, as his higher intellectual self, accompanies him from the cradle to the grave. ”

“ GELDERLAND, Gelders, or Guelders, formerly a duchy of the Empire, on the lower Rhine and the Yssel, bounded by Friesland, Westphalia, Brabant, Holland and the Zuider Zee; part of which has become the province of Holland, dealt with separately below. The territory of the later duchy of Gelderland was inhabited at the beginning of the Christian era by the Teutonic tribes of the Sicambri and the Batavi, and later, during the period of the decline of the Roman empire, by the Chamavi and other Frank peoples. ”

“ The responsibility for happiness or unhappiness, good or bad fortune, lay with the genius; but this does not suppose the existence of two genii for man, the one good and the other bad (ἀγαθοδαίμων, κακοδαίμων) , an idea borrowed from the Greek philosophers. The Roman genius, representing man’s natural optimism, always endeavoured to guide him to happiness; that man was intended to enjoy life is shown by the fact that the Roman spoke of indulging or cheating his genius of his due according as he enjoyed himself or failed to do so, when he had the opportunity. ”

“ Yet the actual site of the town is not as picturesque as that of several other spots in Switzerland. Though the cathedral crowns the hillock round which clusters the old part of the town, a large portion of the newer town is built on the alluvial flats on either bank of the Rhone. Since the demolition of the fortifications in 1849 the town has extended in every direction, and particularly on the right bank of the Rhone. It possesses many edifices, public and private, which are handsome or elegant, but it has almost nothing to which the memory reverts as a masterpiece of architectural art. ”

“ Gassendi holds an honourable place in the history of physical science. He certainly added little to the stock of human knowledge, but the clearness of his exposition and the manner in which he, like Bacon, urged the importance of experimental research, were of inestimable service to the cause of science. To what extent any place can be assigned him in the history of philosophy is more doubtful. The Exercitationes on the whole seem to have excited more attention than they deserved. They contain little or nothing beyond what had been already advanced against Aristotle. ”

“ When new and distinctly Roman subjects occur, such as the finding of the head on the Capitol, or Faustulus, or the she-wolf with the twins, both the stones and the workmanship are poor. In such cases, where the design stirs a genuine national interest, it may happen that very little of artistic rendering will be acceptable rather than otherwise, and much more is this true when the design is a symbol of some article of faith, as in the early Christian gems. There both the art and the material are at what may be called the lowest level. ”

“ So abundant is the testimony of modern travellers to the extent to which Eastern custom and thought elucidate the interpretation of the Bible, that it is very important to notice those features which illustrate Genesis. “The Oriental,” writes S.I. Curtiss (Bibl. sacra, Jan. 1901, pp. 103 sqq.) , “is least of all a scientific historian. He is the prince of story-tellers, narratives, real and imaginative, spring from his lips, which are the truest portraiture of composite rather than individual Oriental life, though narrated under forms of individual experience.” ”

“ Clear, colourless crystals are known as white sapphire, and are very valuable. It is evident, therefore, that whosoever succeeds in making artificially clear crystals of white sapphire has the power, by introducing appropriate colouring matter, to make the Oriental ruby, sapphire, emerald, topaz and amethyst. All of these stones, even when of small size, are costly and readily saleable, while when they are of fine quality and large size they are highly prized, a ruby of fine colour, and free from flaws, a few carats in weight, being of more value than a diamond of the same weight. ”

“ Few English households have been able in the past to avoid an appeal to the chancery court, and the bill and answer of a chancery plaintiff and defendant will often tell the story of a family quarrel in which a score of kinsfolk are involved, and the pleadings may contain the material for a family tree of many branching generations. Coram Rege and De Banco rolls may even, in the course of a dispute over a knight’s fee or a manor carry a pedigree to the Conquest of England, although such good fortune can hardly be expected by the searcher out of an undistinguished line. ”

“ These qualities united within the small compass of a gem were precisely such as were required in a seal as a thing of constant use, so inalienable in its possession as to become naturally a personal ornament and an attractive medium of artistic skill, no less than the centre of traditions or of religious and legendary associations. As regards the nations of classical antiquity, all seals are classed as gems, though in many cases the material is not such as would strictly come under that heading, and precious stones in the modern sense are hardly known to occur. ”

“ The irregular relief of its site and its long confinement within the limits of fortifications, which it had outgrown, have both contributed to render Genoa a picturesque confusion of narrow streets, lanes and alleys, varied with stairways climbing the steeper slopes and bridges spanning the deeper valleys. Large portions of the town are inaccessible to ordinary carriages, and many of the important streets have very little room for traffic. In modern times, however, a number of fine streets and squares with beautiful gardens have been laid out. ”

“ Other species are grown on rock-work or as greenhouse plants.
GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere) , a term which originally meant, in Roman mythology, a generative and protecting spirit, who has no exact parallel in Greek religion, and at least in his earlier aspect is of purely Italian origin as one of the deities of family or household. Every man has his genius, who is not his creator, but only comes into being with him and is allotted to him at his birth. ”

“ Genealogy in modern France has, with a few honourable exceptions, fallen into the hands of the popular pedigree-makers, whose concern is to gratify the vanity of their employers. Italy likewise has not yet shaken off the influence of those venal genealogists who, three hundred years ago, sold pedigrees cheaply to all comers. But much laborious genealogical inquiry had been made in Germany since the days of Hübner, and even in Russia there has been some attempt to apply modern standards of criticism to the chronicles of the swarming descendants of the blood of Rurik. ”

“ On the reverse we have the same king drawing his bow against his enemies from a war chariot. The scarabs of Egypt though uninteresting in themselves, considered as examples of engraving, have this accidental importance in the history of art, that they furnished the Phoenicians with a model which they were able to improve as regards the intaglio by a more free spirit of design, gathered partly from Egypt and partly from Assyria. The scarab thus improved exercised a lasting influence on the later history, since, as will be seen below, it was adopted and modified both by Greeks and Etruscans. ”

“ Moissan carried out a laborious and systematic series of experiments on the solubility of carbon in iron and other metals, and came to the conclusion that whereas at ordinary pressures the carbon separates from the solidifying iron in the form of graphite, if the pressure be greatly increased the carbon on separation will form liquid drops, which on solidifying will assume the crystalline shape and become true diamond. Many other metals dissolve carbon, but molten iron has been found to be the best solvent. The quantity entering into solution increases with the temperature of the metal. ”

“ Whether the closed primitive shell-sac of the slugs (and with it the transient embryonic shell-gland of all other Mollusca) is precisely the same thing as the closed sac in which the calcareous pen or shell of the Cephalopod Sepia and its allies is formed, is a further question which we shall consider when dealing with the Cephalopoda. It is important here to note that Clausilia furnishes us with an exceptional instance of the continuity of the shell or secreted product of the primitive shell-sac with the adult shell. ”

“ Genealogical research has, however, made great advance during the last generation. The critical spirit shown in such works as Round’s Studies in Peerage and Family History (1901) has assailed with effective ridicule the methods of dishonest pedigree-makers. Much raw material of genealogy has been made available for all by the publication of parish registers, marriage-licence allegations, monumental inscriptions and the like, and above all by the mass of evidences contained in the volumes issued by the Public Record Office. ”

“ The land for the 3 m. between Gaza and the sea consists principally of sand dunes. There is no natural harbour, but traces of ruins near the shore mark the site of the old Maiuma Gazae or Port of Gaza, now called el Mineh, which in the 5th century was a separate town and episcopal see, under the title Constantia or Limena Gaza. Hāshem, an ancestor of Mahomet, lies buried in the town. On the east are remains of a race-course, the corners marked by granite shafts with Greek inscriptions on them. To the south is a remarkable hill, quite isolated and bare, with a small mosque and a graveyard. ”