Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/362

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348 GUYTON DE MORVEAU 3,575 of English, and 1,190 of French origin. It is intersected by the St. Mary's and other rivers, and the coast is indented by numerous inlets. The fisheries are important, and gold raining is carried on at several points. Along the coast the land is rocky and barren, but in the interior there are some excellent farming tracts. Capital, Guysborough. GUYTON DE MORVEAl, Louis Bernard, a French chemist, born in Dijon, Jan. 4, 1737, died in Paris, Jan. 2, 1816. While yet a minor he was appointed deputy attorney general at the parliament of Dijon, which post he held till 1782. He devoted his leisure to scientific pursuits, and procured the establishment at the academy of Dijon in 1774 of public lectures upon various branches of natural philosophy, and himself undertook the professorship of chemistry. In conjunction with Maret and Durande, he published in 1777 Elements de chimie theorique et pratique, and also publish- ed annotated translations of several treatises of Bergman, Scheele, and Black. As Dearly as 1773 he had used chlorine as a general disin- fecting agent, and made the results of his ex- perience known in his Traite des moyens de desinfecter Vair (1801). He suggested in 1782 the plan of a new chemical nomenclature, which was at once adopted by Lavoisier and others, who, in conjunction with him, per- fected the original idea and reduced it to the shape it still retains. Meanwhile Guyton wrote the Dictionnaire de chimie for the Ency- clopedie methodique. In 1791 he was elected deputy to the legislative assembly, and after- ward to the convention, where he voted for the death of Louis XVI. He was among the promoters of the polytechnic school, in which lie was subsequently professor and director. He was administrator of the mint from 1800 to 1814, and favored the decimal system. GUZERAT, or Gnjerat (Hindoo, Gurjara Rash- tra a large district of India, in the province of Bombay, between lat. 20 45' and 24 45' N., and Ion. 69 and 74 20' E., bounded N. by the gulf of Outch and Rajpootana, E. by Candeish and Malvva, S. by several British collectorates, the gulf of Canibay, and the Arabian sea, and W. by Cutch and the sea; area, 41,536 sq. m. ; pop. estimated at 3,000,000. It comprehends the peninsula of Cattywar, the dominions of the guicowar, and several petty native states. The Western Ghauts form its E. boundary as far N. as lat. 21 28', when they turn eastward. The W. extremities of the Sautpoora and Vin- dhya mountains extend a short distance into the province. The central regions are level and open. The principal rivers are the Snbbermnt- tee, Mhyee, Nerbudda, Taptee, and western Bu- nass. The mineral resources are small, and confined chiefly to iron and fine carnelians. The lion, tiger, leopard, wolf, hyfena, antelope, deer, nylgau, camel, and buffalo are common. The staple crop is cotton, which occupies about one half of the tilled land. Rice is much cul- tivated, and wheat, barley, bajra (the princi- GWALIOR pal food of the poorer classes), gram, &c., are abundant. The inhabitants comprise Hindoos, Mahrattas, Rajpoots, Parsees, Coolies, Koon- bies (an agricultural tribe), Dunjas (who sub- sist chiefly by the chase and fishing), Catties (who predominate in Cattywar), Jains, Bheels, Charuns, and Bhats. Among the principal towns are Baroda, Dongurpoor, and'Cambay. Guzerat formed part of the Mohammedan empire of Delhi, and, after having been sep- arated from it during the Toghluk dynasty, was reannexed by Akbar in 1572, and re- mained a dependency till 1724. The Mahratta peishwa and the guicowar held large posses- sions in Guzerat, but the authority of the latter only is now recognized, the peishwa's territory having been ceded to the British. GWALIOR, or Guallor. I. A part of India un- til lately nominally independent, but now sub- sidiary to the British, bordering on the North- west Provinces, Bombay, &c. It stretches very irregularly between lat. 21 and 26 40' N., and Ion. 73 40' and 77 E.; area, 33,119 sq. m.; pop. about 3,250,000. The surface of the country in the north is level, in the centre hilly, and in the south rises into the Vindhya and Satpoora mountains. The Chumbul river bounds it on the N. W. ; other rivers are the Sinde, Betwah, and Dussam, flowing general- ly K. into the Jumna. S. of the mountains the Nerbudda and Taptee flow W. The soil is generally very fertile. The climate in the elevated S. part is mild and healthful. In Jan- uary and February the thermometer falls three or four degrees below the freezing point ; in the summer it sometimes rises to 100. The most important product of the country is opium, which is delivered by treaty at a certain price to the British authorities. Burhanpoor in the south is the chief manufacturing town, where fine muslin scarfs, gold thread, glass, and paper are made. Other chief places are Gwalior, Oojein, Mundisoor, Hindia, and Clmnderee. This state was founded after the successes ob- tained by the Mahrattas over the Mogul forces in 1738 by Ranojee Sindia, a chief who raised himself from obscurity to eminence. His nat- ural son Madhaji Sindia, who succeeded him, was an able and ambitious man, who greatly enlarged the possessions of the family, and in 1782, by the treaty of Salbye, concluded be- tween the East India company and the peishwa, vas recognized as a sovereign prince (maha- rajah). He maintained a large and well ap- pointed army, organized and disciplined by French officers ; and possessed himself of Delhi, Agra, and the person of the Mogul emperor, in whose name he subsequently acted. His dominions extended to the river Taptee on the south, and from the Ganges on the east to the gulf of Cambay on the west. His successor, Dowlut Row, became involved in war with the British, by whom his armies were totally defeated in 1803, and a considerable part of his territories taken from him, and he ceased to control the person of the Great Mogul. He