GRASHOF. 145 GBASSES. stiltate fiir den Mnschiiiciibau (1870 and 1S75), he wroU" the indcqjeiident works entitled : Tlworie der Elaslicitiil iiiul Fcstiglcrit mit Be:un aiif Hire Aniceiiduiif/cn hi tier Tccliiiik (2d ed. 1878). and Thcorelhrhe Maschinenlckre (in three parts. 1875, 1SS3, 1890). GKASLITZ, inlls'lits (Bohemian Kraslice). One of the most important manufacturing towns of Bohemia, situated 20 miles north of Eger (Map: Austria, C 1). Noteworthy among its many manufactures are lace, linens, ready-made articles of dress, and wind instruments. Popula- tion, in 1890, 10,009; in 1900, 11,803. GRASMERE, gras'mer. A village near a lake of the same name in Westmoreland. England, four niile.s northwest of Ambleside. It is famous as a favorite residence of the Lake School of poets. A'ordswortli, Coleridge, and Southey (Map: England. C 2). Population, in 1891, lOlO"; in 1901. 781. The village, picturesquely situated at the head of the lake, contains the ancient church of the Excu7-sion, and in the ehurchyard are the graves of Wordswortli and Hartley Coleridge. The lake, oval in form, with its 'one green island,' is 1% miles long, half a mile broad, and 130 feet deep. It is girdled by high mountains, and forms one of the most beautiful scenes in England, nearly eveiy point of which is celebrated in Wordsworth's poetry. GRASS. See Gramine.e ; Grasses. GRASS (AS. grws. Goth., OHG. gras, Ger. Gras: uUimatel.v connected with Eng. green, grow, and with Lat. gramen, Gk. x'>P^'t chortos, grass). The herbage or vesture of the soil (ves- tura terrw) . It is a part of the soil or land in which it grows, and passes, like standing trees and houses, with the freehold. It may be cut by a tenant for life or years without impeachment of waste, but it does not come under the desciiption of an emblement (q.v.), not being an annual crop of the sort which a tenant at w'ill may, after the termination of his lease, gather as the fruit of his labor. See also Common ; P.^stuee. GRASS BASS. See Calico Bass. GRASS CLOTH. A name often, although er- roneously, given to certain beautiful fabrics manufactured in the East from different kinds of fibres, none of which are produced by grasses. One of these fabrics is made from the fibre of Bcchmeria tiivea, popularly called ramie (q.v.), or China-grass; another, also known as pina mus- lin, from the fibre of Bromelia pigna. (See BcEHMERiA and Bromeliace.s. ) The kinds of clotli really made from the fibre of grasses are extremely coarse. GRASSE, gras. The capital of an arrondisse- ment in the Department of Alpes-Maritimes, France. 18 miles west of Nice, and 8 miles from the Mediterranean ( Map : France. N 8 ) . It is picturesquely situated on a garden-covered hill, and has steep and narrow streets. Public buildings of historic and artistic interest are the hospital chapel, with its three paintings by Rubens, the parish church, an ancient cathedral, dating from the (welftli and thirteenth centuries, and the city hall, a former bishop's palace. Grasse is one of the largest perfume and essence manufacturing centres "of France, and about GO.OOO acres in its vicinity are covered with flower-gardens. Considerable quantities of es- sence of flowers are exported to Cologne and other places. The town dates from its settlement by Sardinian .lews in the sixth century. Population of the conunune. in 1901, 15,429, of whom about 9000 lived in the town. GRASSE, Francois Joseph Paul, Marquis i)E t;i!AssioTiLLY, Count de (1722-88). A French admiral, who conmianded the French fleet at the siege of Yorktovni during the Ameri- can Revolution. He was bom in Provence, and began his naval career at fifteen in the service of the Knights of Malta. Later entering the French navy, he was promoted to be a lieutenant in 1754 and a captain in 1702. In 1778 he com- manded a squadron that was sent to join d'Estaing in the West Indies, and took part in the operations at Saint Lucia and Santo Do- mingo. In 1781, with the rank of admiral, he was placed in command of the new French fleet sent to America, which was intended both to re- enforce the French in the West Indian waters and to cooperate with Rochambeau on the North American continent. After touching' first in the West Indies, the fleet of 29 sail reached Chesa- peake Bay on August 30th, where De Grasse blockaded the James and York rivers, and on September 5th repulsed an attack of the Eng- lish fleet under Graves. After rendering invalu- able assistance at the siege of Yorktown (q.v.) he sailed away to the West Indies again, where his operations for some time were crowned with great success. Finall}-, off Santo Domingo, on April 12, 1782, he met the English fleet under Rodney, who signally defeated him and carried him a pris- oner to London. Charges of incapacity and even treason were brought against him, and although after a thorough examination he was exonerated by the Council of War, he never again held a naval command. He wrote in his own defense a Memoire juslificatif (1782). Consult: The Operations of the French Fleet Under De Grasse in 17S1-2, in "Br.idford Club Series," No. 3 (New Y'ork, 1864) ; Magazine of American History, vol. vi. (New York, 1881) ; Winsor, Narrative and Critical History of America, vol. iv. (London, 188(i-89). GRASSERIE, gras're' (Fr.). A disease of silkworms, not contagious and not hereditary, and apparently produced by a lowering of the temperatui-e of the rearing-room. Affected worms crawl slowly and have a stretched, thin skin. A liquid exudes through the skin, soiling the food and the neighboring worms. Proper regulation of the temperature is the remedy. See Silk- worm. GRASSES {Graminew) . A natural order of plants, which contains more than 300 genera and 3500 species. Its members vary in size from moss- like specimens less than an inch in height to gigantic bamboos 100 feet or more tall. They are distributed over nearly the whole world ; some are characteristic of the hottest tropical regions, others of the far north and south, in the vicinity of almost perpetual snows. In number of specimens they are most abundant in the north tem])erate zone, where they clothe with verdure immense tracts of prairie, meadow, and steppe, and may be found growing or may be made to grow on almost everv' kind of soil. Some species are peculiar to di-y, sterile soils; others will flourish only in rich soils with abundant moisture. Some grow in marshes, stagnant water, or slow streams, and others only along
