GRANIEB DE CASSAGNAC. 131 GRANT. things in France. After the diiitli of the Prince Imperial in 1S79, De Cassagnac .suppurled Prince Victor Napoleon, and to assist his iniix-'rialistic ideas founded a new journal, L'Auiorilc. His aggressive, temperament and caustic pen have in- volved him in numerous duels. He wrote in col- lahoration with his father Hiitoire populairc abrigie dc Xupolcoii HI. (1874-75). His own works include: Empire et roijuulc (1873), and Mcniuircs dc Chislehurst (1873). GRANITE (It. granito, granite, grained, from giaiiiic, to reduce to grains, from grano, Lat. granuin, grain; connected with Gotli. kiiiini, Icel., UHG. korn, Ger. Koni, grain, AS., Eng. coni)- An igneous rock or family of rocks characterized by acid composition and granitic texture (sea Igneous Rocks), containing the minerals quartz and potash feldspar, and usually, also, either light or dark mica, or both, together with horn- blende or augite. Other minerals are usually pres- ent in less abundance, as lime-soda feldspar, mag- netite, ilmeuite, sphenc, zircon, etc. The average composition of granite is as follows: Silica, 70 per cent.; alumina, 15 per cent.; sesquioxide and protoxide of iron, 4 per cent.; magnesia, 1 per cent. ; lime, 2 per cent. ; oxide of so- dium, 4 per cent. ; oxide of potassium. 4 per cent. The texture of granite, which gives its name to the texture of a considerable group of rock types, consists in a mosaic of interlock- ing crystalline grains representing an essen- tially uninterrupted period of ciystallization. Granites are classified into muscovite granite or alkali granite, muscovite-biotite granite or binary granite, hornblende granite, and augite granite, the first portion of the name generally indicating the mineral or minerals which with quartz and potash feldspar make up a large part of the rock's substance. Bj- loss of the constit- uent mineral quartz granite grades into syenite (q.v. ) ; by reduction of the amount of potash feldspar and gain in the proportion of lime-soda feldspar it passes into diorite (q.v.). Augite diorites Viy a similar change pass into gabbro. These transitions are mentioned not alone to show the relationships which e.xist between the different families of igneous rocks possessing granitic texture, but because they indicate trans- itions frequently observable within the same rock mass. Important variations in the relative proportions of the several mineral constituents of a rock within the same mass are. in fact, the rule rather than the exception, so that it is difficult to delimit with any sharpness the sev- eral types. In an earlier period of development of the science of geology, the question respecting the origin of granites was debated with great warmth by the rival schools of England and Germany. Hutton (q.v.) and his followers maintained that granites were formed from fusion and consolida- tion, whereas Werner and the Freiberg school of geologists, with even greater assurance, advocated the chemical precipitation theory of its forma- tion. Time has shown the correctness of the view held by Hutton, though his theory has befn modi- fied in important ways. It was long a tradition that granite and rocks of granitic te.xture gener- ally were all produced in the earlier geological ages, conditions necessary to their formation being assumed to have been attained which have not since been reproduced. This view was a natural one, since none of the granites then known was as young as the Tertiary age. When later granites were discovered which had been formed in the Tertiary or post-Tertiary jieriods, a diU'creiit explanation became necessary. The view then became general that the special con- ditions which are necessary for the formation of granite obtain only at considerable deptlis below tlic surface of the eartli, and that granites of recent formation are only rarely found because, except under unusuallj- favorable conditions, a long time interval is necessary to allow the forces of erosion and transportation to remove the rock cover under which they are buried. The granites which arc now forming at great depths will in a future age be so far dissected as to appear at the surface. In conjmon usage the term granite is loosely applied to any rock of granitic te.xture, and among petrographers the term is sometimes used in a broad family sense to cover rocks of por- phyritic texture but similar chemical composi- tion, namely, rbyolites (q.v.) and rhyolite por- phyries. Granite is an important building-stone. It is much harder to quarry and tool than are sand- stone, limestone, and marble, but has greater strength: the best grades are extremely resistant to weathering. Consult: Kemp, Handbook of Focks (New York, 1900) : Rosenbusch, Mikro- skopisclie I'hgsiographie der Mincralicn und Ge- siciiic (Stuttgart. 1890). See Bittldi.ng-Stone. GRANITE STATE. New Hampshire. See StATE.S. I'OPl'L.VR N.MKS OF. GRANITIC TEXTURE. See Igneous Rocks. GRA'NITJS LICIN'IA'NUS. A Roman his- torian of the second century a.d. Fragments of his works were found in 1853 on a Syrian palimp- sest by Paul de Lagarde. It was deciphered and published by Pertz, as (Irani Liciniani quw Hu- persunt (1857), and again in 1858 by seven pro- fessors at Bonn, the kdilio Philologoriim Bon- nensinm JJeptas. The original work, of which Madvig thinks this an excerpt, dates from the second century. Consult Dieekmann. De Granii Lieiniani I'onlihus ct Auctoritate (Berlin, 1896). GRANMICHELE, gran'me-kiVla. See Gram- MICUKI.E. GRANNY KNOT. See Knotting and Splic- ing. GRAN SASSO D'lTALIA, gran sas's6 de'tA- le'a (It., Great Rock of Italy). A group of mountains in Central Italy, the highest of the .Apennines, having their greatest height in Jlonte Corno (9580 feet) (Map: Italy, H 5). The Gran Sasso can be ascended without great difficulty in summer and autumn from Aquila, and less conveniently from Teramo. but in spring the snow makes climbing difficult. .Vt Campo Pcricoli (7220 feet) is a refuge built by the Italian Alpine Club, which has also published a special map of the local it v. Consult .^bbate, Guida al Gran Sasso d'ltalia (Rome, 1888). GRANT (OF. grant, groniit. errant, crant, from Lat. credere, Skt. i^raddhn. to trust; prob- ably influenced by folk etymology' with OF. garan- tir, to guarantee). In English and American law, the conveyance of real property by deed. Originally the term grant was confined to the conveyance of incorporeal hereditaments, such as easements, profits a prendre, and future estates
