II. The second class of glosses is due to the habit, as old perhaps as the art of writing itself, of readers inscribing on the margin of MSS., or books, observations of their own, explanatory or otherwise of the text. This was especially the case with the sacred books, partly because after the establishment of Christianity they were more read than other books, partly because their contents gave abundant occasion for theological, historical, or philological annotation. Hence, from an early period, marginal notes intended to illustrate in some way the text came to have a place in the codices containing the sacred books. At first very brief, often confined to a single word, these glosses grew into more extended remarks, written in a smaller hand on the margin, and sometimes between the lines of the codex. In the ancient Hebrew codices, these marginal notes were the source of not a few of the KW readings ; and the glosses on the margins of the codices of the LXX. and the N. T. have given rise to many of the various readings which exist in both of these. It is believed also, as marginal notes are apt to be transferred by ignorant or careless copyists, into the text,* that some such interpolations are to be found in the received text of the N. T., and it is con sidered to be one of the problems which criticism has to solve to detect these, and eliminate them. The exercise of a sound and cautious judgment, however, is required to preside over this, lest rash and unauthorised alterations be made (Valcknaer, Dissert. a'e Glossis Sacris, Franeq. 1737 ; J. A. Ernesti, De vero usu et indole Glossariunz Gr., Lug. Bat. 1742; Tittmann, De Glossis N. T., aestimandis et judicandis,Witt. 1782 ; Wassenbergh, De Glossis N. T., prefixed to Valcknaer's Scholia in _Libros quosclam N. T., Amst. 1795 ; Borne mann De Glossematis N. T. caute dijudicandis, in his Scholia ad Luc. Evang.,i830). It has been pro posed to restrict the term sioss to the marginal annotations as such, and to use g-losseme to desig nate those which are supposed to have been intro duced into the text ; but the usage of writers is not uniform in this respect.
The longer marginal annotations (Glosa llfarga nales), were made principally on the text of the Vulgate. These were of various kinds ; some grammatical, some historical, some theological, some allegorical and mystical. The most famous collection of these is that made in the gth century by Walafrid Strabo, from the writings of Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome, Gregory, Isidorus, Beda, Alcuin and Rhabanus Maurus, with additions by himself: This became the great exegetical thesaurus of the middle ages, and was know n as the Glosa Ordi naria. Of notes written between the lines (Glosa
Interlineares), a collection was made by Anselm of Laon in the beginning of the 12th century. Both tl-ese works were printed together about the end of the t5th century, 4 vols. fol.; they have often been reprinted since, with the commentary of Lyra. Other glossaries are those of Peter the Lombard on the Psalms, Par. 1535 ; of Hug,o a S. Caro, Postillez in universa Ven. 14S7, fol. [CAR0].—W. L. A.
GNAT (Kthpeuti, • Vulg. culex ; Order, diptera, Linn., culicida, L:atr.; occurs Matt. xxiii. 24). The word cdnnuq. seems to be the generic term for the gnat among the ancient Greek writers, under which they included several species, as we use the word fly, and the fly ;' though they give distinct names to some species, as the word aip.pos, etc. Rosennviller observes that the Ku:mares of the Greeks seem to be the ephenzerce of Linnreus (apud Bochart, vol. iii. p. 444, 4to, Leips. 1793 .96). Aristotle gives the name to a species whose larvae are bred in the lees of wine, which is then called the culex vinarius (Hirt. An. 5, 19). Pliny also refers to various species of gnats : varia sunt culicum genera' (Hist. .Nat. 35). Alii ex ficis, A-aril dicti' (ibid.) Alii ex aceto nascuntur' (ibid.) Sunt etiam qui vocantur muliones. Alii centrina' (xvii. 27). We ourselves recognise se veral kinds under the common name, as gall gnats, horse, wheat, winter (see also Linn. Syst. Nat., Diptera, Culex). Our Saviour's allusion to the gnat is a kind of proverb, either in use in his time, ar invented by himself, Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow down [bolt, as we say] a cameL' He adopts the antithesis of the smallest insect to the largest animal, and applies it to those who are superstitiously anxious in avoiding small faults, yet do not scruple to commit the greatest sins. The typographical error, strain at a gnat,' first found its way Into King James's translation, 16ii. It is 'strain out' in the previous transla tions. The custom of filtering wine, among the Jews, for this purpose, was founded on the prohi bition of all flying, creeping things' being used for food, excepting the saltatorii (Lev. xi. 23). The custom seems alluded to by the Sept., which, in Amos vi. 6, reads Scalcrgepov army, filtered wine,' a passage having a similar scope. Accord ing to the Talmud, eating a gnat incurred scourg ing or excommunication.—J. F. D.