Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/388

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GLACIER 324 GLADIOLUS , of the two. It was during the glacial period that the Alpine plants, now found on the summit of European mountains, passed S. from the Arctic regions. Dur- ing the later of the two glacial periods man existed; whether he did so during the earlier one is a matter of dispute. See Geology. GLACIER (glas'i-er), a river of ice. A glacier commences primarily as a frozen mass of snow, formed above the line of perpetual congelation, and consol- idated partly by pressure and partly by the freezing of water infiltered into it from its surface. In the Swiss Alps the glaciers are between 20 and 30 miles long, their greatest breadth 2 or 3 miles, and their depth more than 600 feet. Why the glacier descends has been a very dis- puted question. Tyndall attributed it chiefly to regelation, that is, to parts of it melting and freezing again. When, in descending a mountain-side, the gla- cier has to force its way through a narrow channel, the brittle ice is crushed and broken, but by virtue of "regelation" it freezes anew when it has cleared the obstruction. Tyndall imitated the whole process artificially on a small scale, and his is now the accepted explanation of glacier movement. As a glacier de- scends, it carries with it stones, which, on its melting, are deposited in a moraine. It makes also a dome-shaped mass of smoother rock, called in Switzerland roches moutonnees. GLACIER LAKE, a lake produced temporarily or permanently by a glacier. It is noteworthy that glacier lands like Switzerland are also lands abounding in lakes. GLACIER, NATIONAL PARK. See National Parks. GLACIS (gla'sis) , in fortifications, the superior slope of the rampart of the covered way, or, where the rampart does not exist, the declivity immediately in front of the ditch of a work, forming a gentle slope toward the country, and protecting the revetment of the escarp from the fire of an enemy. GLADBACH, or MUNCHEN (miin' chen) GLADBACH, a town of Rhenish Prussia, 16 miles W. of Diisseldorf. It is the center of the Rhenish cotton-spin- ning industry and has manufactures of silk, wool, linen, and paper, cotton print- ing works, dye works, bleachfields, ii*on foundries, machine shops, breweries, and brickworks. Gladbach, which has been a town since 1366, was formerly the seat of an important linen trade; the cotton industry was introduced in the end of the 18th century. The town possesses a church dating from the 12th and ISth centuries, the crypt from the 8th. Pop. about 65,000. GLADDEN, WASHINGTON, an American author; born in Pottsgrove, Pa., Feb., 11, 1836; was graduated at Williams College in 1859; ordained in the Congregational Church, and became pastor of the First Congregational Church in Columbus, O., in 1882. His publications include "Plain Thoughts on the Art of Living" (1868) ; "Workingmen and Their Employers" (1876) ; "The Young Men and the Churches" (1885) ; "Burning Questions" (1889); "Social Facts and Forces" (1897); "The Chris- tian Pastor" (1898); "Where Does the Sky Begin?" (1904) ; "The New Idolatry" (1905); "The Church and Modern Life" (1908) ; "Recollections" (1909) ; "Live and Learn" (1914) ; "Commencement Days" (1917). He died in 1918. GLADIATOR, one of a class of men whose profession was to fight in public for the entertainment of the people. They were armed with deadly weapons, and usually fought in pairs. The num- bers of these men were principally re- cruited from prisoners of war, or re- fractory slaves sold by their masters to the lanista, or trainer. Malefactors also were occasionally forced into fighting as gladiators, and occasionally Roman citi- zens offered themselves voluntarily for hire, and to such the specific term auetorati was applied, their pay be- ing called auctoramentum. Under the more worthless and dissolute emperors, equites, priests, and senators did not scruple to contend in the arena, in the hope of attracting the attention and gaining the favor of the prince; and even high-born women were found who consented to pander to the appetite for novelty, by fighting with each other or with dwarfs. The representatives of different nations were frequently matched against each other, and the comparative efficiency of their weapons, offensive and defensive, was thus put to the test. GLADIOLUS (-o'lus), a genus of Iridacese, with beautiful spikes of flowers, sword-shaped leaves and corms or bulbous rhizomes. They are propa- gated by offset corms or from seed; in this way innumerable hybrids have been produced. The hardy European forms are well adapted to the mixed border, wild garden or shi-ubbery in dry and sunny situations. Among the leading Cape forms are G. cardmalis (red), psittachius (yellow with purple spots), floribnndus (purple and white), etc., and these have given rise to numerous by-