GREAT SALT LAKE. An extensive sheet of salt water in northwestern Utah, near which is situated Salt Lake City. It lies in one of the great valleys of the Rocky Mountains, on the eastern edge of the Great Basin (q.v.), and is about 75 miles long, and 30 to 50 miles wide. There are nine islands in the lake, one of which is 16 miles and another 12 miles in length. The lake occupies a shallow depression, with an average depth of less than 20 feet; the surface lies about 4250 feet above sea-level. Owing to the annual variation of rainfall in the region, the lake is subject to great fluctuations in area; in 1850 its area was 1750 square miles, but it had increased to 2170 miles in 1869. During the period 1880-90 the waters subsided considerably, but recently they have again begun to rise. The lake receives from the south, through the Jordan River, the waters of Utah Lake, which are fresh, and from the north the drainage of Bear River, but it has no outlet. Its water is a concentrated natural brine, containing about 22 per cent. of sodium chloride, slightly mixed with other salts, and having a specific gravity of 1.1+. The manufacture of salt by evaporation of the lake water is an important industry. The only animals known to live in the water are a small shrimp (Artemia gracilis) and the larva of a fly (Ephydra gracilis). The first mention of Great Salt Lake was by Baron La Hontan in 1689, who gathered some information concerning it from the Indians west of the Mississippi. It was first explored and described by Frémont in 1843. A survey was made in 1849-50 by Stansbury, and more elaborate surveys in recent years by the United States Geological Survey. Gilbert has shown that the lake in Pleistocene time covered a much larger area. (See Lake.) Garfield Beach, on the southern shores of Great Salt Lake, is a bathing resort visited by many tourists for the novelty of a bath in the waters, which are so heavy that the body easily floats. See Utah.
GREAT SEAL. The official sign of the royal authority in England. All documents of importance emanating from the Crown, as grants, charters, and writs, were required to be authenticated by it. It was called “The key of the kingdom,” and was intrusted to the Lord Chancellor, who was also known as the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal. In the reign of Edward I. it became customary to issue writs under the privy seal, which might be affixed by any secretary of the King, but this practice was forbidden by statute in 1300. By act of union between England and Scotland (5 Anne, ch. 8), one great seal for the United Kingdom of Great Britain is used for sealing writs to summon Parliament, for treaties with foreign States, and all public acts of State affecting Great Britain. The holder of the great seal is still the Lord Chancellor. A seal is also kept in Scotland for sealing grants and writs affecting private rights there. As regards Ireland, the Act of Union (39 and 40 George III., ch. 67) provided that various acts, as to summoning Parliament, etc., should be done under the great seal of the United Kingdom; but in other respects the great seal of Ireland is used in the same manner as before the union.
GREAT SLAVE LAKE. An extensive and irregular sheet of water in the Territory of Mackenzie, Canada (Map: Northwest Territories, F 2). It has an area of 7100 square miles. Its greatest length is about 300 miles, and its greatest breadth 60 miles. It is surrounded, especially on the north, by rugged and precipitous shores; it contains many islands, some of them wooded, and is wholly frozen over for six months of every year. On the north it receives the surplus waters of Lakes Aylmer and Artillery, and on the south those of Lake Athabasca through the Great Slave River. Its own surplus is carried off by the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.
GREAT SLAVE RIVER. A river of Athabasca and Mackenzie, Canada. It is the outlet of Lake Athabasca into Great Slave Lake, and flows in a northwest direction from the former to the latter (Map: Canada, H 4). It is about 300 miles in length; its banks in many parts are well wooded, and its course in the lower part lies through a fertile alluvial region. With the exception of 13 miles of falls and rapids near Fort Smith, it is navigable for river and sea-going steamers.
GREAT STONE FACE, The. One of Nathaniel Hawthorne's short stories, which appeared in 1852 in The Snow Image, and Other Twice-Told Tales.
GREAT TOM. A 17,000-pound bell which hangs in the tower of the Tom Gate of Christ Church, Oxford, and is tolled at closing time, ten minutes after nine, every night.
GREAT UNWASHED, The. A designation applied to the multitude. It was used by Sir Walter Scott, and is attributed to Edmund Burke.
GREAT VALLEY. The valley between the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies (qq.v.).
GREAT WALL OF CHINA. See Chinese Wall.
GREAVES, grāvz (from OF. greves, from greve, shin ) . Pieces of armor used as a defense for the legs, originally made of leather, quilted linen, etc., and afterwards of steel hollowed to fit the legs and fastened with straps behind.
GREAVES, John (1602-52). An English mathematician. He was born at Colemore, graduated at Balliol College, Oxford, in 1621, and in 1630 became professor of geometry at Gresham College, London. He traveled in Southern Europe and Egypt, collecting valuable manuscripts, gems, and coins, and making measurements of monuments. In 1643 he was chosen professor of astronomy at Oxford, but five years later was ejected by the Puritans. Among his numerous works were: Pyramidographia, or a Discourse on the Pyramids (1646); A Discourse of the Roman Foot and Denarius (1647); and Elementa Linguæ Persicæ (1649).
GREAVES, Launcelot. The hero of Smollett's novel of the same name.
GREBE (Fr. grêbe, from Bret, krib, Welsh, Corn. crib, comb). A bird of the family Podicipidæ. having the feet not webbed in the usual manner, but lobate: that is, with a separate membrane for each toe, united only at the base. The tarsi (shanks) are so much compressed as to be almost like blades. The claws are large and flat. The bill is about as long as the head, straight and conical. The wings are short. There is no visible tail. The legs are attached so far back that the birds when on land assume an erect position, like penguins. They walk with
