GAUTAMA 272 GAY he studied at Brunswick and Gottingen. Here he made several of his greatest dis- coveries in analysis, which induced him to make the cultivation of science the chief object of his life. He published "Arithmetical Disquisitions" in 1801. In 1807 he received the appointment of ordi- nary professor and director of the observ- atory at Gottingen, which situation he held for nearly 48 years. He gave to the world a host of treatises on pure mathe- matics, geodesy, astronomy, and the cog- nate sciences, besides making observa- tions on terrestrial magnetism which have proved of great utility to the culti- vation of science. He died in Gottingen, Germany, Feb. 23, 1855. GAUTAMA, (gou'ta-ma), the family name of the founder of Buddhism (q.v.). GAUTIER, THEOPHILE, a French poet and prose writer; born in Tarbes, France, Aug. 31, 1811. He studied at the College Charlemagne, Paris, and at first tried painting, but turned to literature. In verse he published: "Albertus" (1830) ; "Comedy of Death" (1832) ; "Enamels and Cameos" (1856) ; his best poetry; etc. Of novels and short stories he wrote "Young France" (1833) ; "Made- moiselle de Maupin" (1835) ; "Fortunio" (1838) ; "A Tear of the Devil" (1839) ; "Militona" (1847) ; "The Tiger's Skin" (1852) ; "Jettatura" (1857) ; "Captain Fracasse" (1863) ; "Handsome Jenny" (1865) ; "Spirite" (1866) ; etc. For more than 30 years he contributed to the Paris newspapers criticisms on the thea- ter and the salon. He wrote "Journey in Spain" (1843); "Zigzags" (1845); "Constantinople" (1854) ; "Journey in Russia" (1866) ; etc. "The Grotesque" (1844), on the writers of the 16th ana 17th centuries; "Balzac" (1858); 'Tri- vate Menagerie" (1869), biographical; "History of Romanticism" (1872) "Liter- ary Portraits and Souvenirs" (1875) ; "The East" (1877), the last two being posthumous. He died in Paris, Oct 23, 1872. GAUZE, a light, transparent silk or cotton stuff. Gauzes have been occasion- ally made of thread, but the name has always signified a silk fabric. GAVARNIE (ga-var-neO , CASCADE BE, a waterfall in the Cirque de Gavarnie, Pyrenees. It is the second highest in Europe, being 1,385 feet in height. GAVARNIE, CIRQUE DE (serk de), a natural amphitheater in the Pyrenees, 14 miles S. S. E. of Cauterets. It is 2% miles in vsridth and 5,380 feet in height. GAVESTON, PIERS (ga-ves-ton) , the favorite of Edward 11., King of Eng- land. He was a Gascon by birth, and on account of his father's services to Ed- ward I. was chosen companion to the Prince of Wales, over whom he acquired a complete and very mischievous ascen- dency, and breeding dissension between him and his father. Edward I. banished him in 1307, but dying the same year. Edward II. at once recalled him, made him Earl of Cornwall, and gave him in marriage his niece, Margaret de Clare. Intoxicated with his elevation and honors he exasperated the nobles. He was again banished, again recalled, and, the barons having declared war, was besieged in Scarborough castle, captured, and execu- ted near Warwick, June 19, 1312. GAVOTTE, or GAVOT (ga-vof) , orig- inally a dance of the gavots or people of Gap, in the department of the Upper Alps. Origin: French. The description of the dance, "a brisk round for as many as will," identifies it with the country dance. The gavotte seems to have been more popular as an instrumental piece than as a dance, and to have been a favorite movement in suites lessons, and sonatas from the latter part of the 17th century. GAY, JOHN, an English poet; born near Barnstaple, Devonshire, England, in 1685. He was apprenticed to a siiK mercer in London. In 1713 he published his "Rural Sports." In 1712 he became secretary to Anne, Duchess of Mon- mouth. "Trivia, or the Art of Walking the Streets of London," appeared in the same year. In 1714 his caricature of Ambrose Philips's pastoral poetry was published, "The Shepherd's Week." He was appointed secretary to the Earl of Clarendon, in his embassy to the court of Hanover. In 1715 appeared his bur- lesque drama of "What d'ye Call it?" "Three Hours after Marriage," a farce, altogether failed. In 1720 he published his poems by subscription, in 1723 his tragedy, "The Captives," and in 1726 his well-known "Fables." His "Beggar's Opera," the notion of which seems to have been afforded by Swift, was first acted in 1727, at Lincoln's Inn Fields, where it ran for 63 nights, but the lord- chamberlain refused to license for per- formance a second part entitled "Polly." The latter part of his life was spent in the house of the Duke of Queensberry, where he wrote his sonata "Acis and Galatea" and the opera "Achilles." He died in London, Dec. 4, 1732. GAY, WALTER, an American artist; born in Hingham, Mass., Jan. 22, 1856; was educated in Boston; studied art under Bonnat in Paris, where he was in frequent exhibitions. His paintings.
