GEMOTE, ge-mot' (AS. gemot, assembly). Among the Anglo-Saxons, the public assembly of freemen or men of noble rank for the purpose of legislative and judicial action. Besides the great council of the nation, the witenagem6t. (q.v.), there were among the Anglo-Saxons vari ous minor motes or moots, which were local bodies dealing with local affairs. There was a or county court which met usually twice a year; the which met thrice annually; the (see HuNnnED), which met every month, and an extraordinary meeting of which was held twice a year; and the of court baron. These institutions are regarded as being derived from the old Teu tonic assemblies where every freeman had a voice, and where a clashing of arms betokened the ap proval, and a groan the rejection of a plan.
GEMS (from Lat. gamma, bud). While the term gem is ordinarily applied to jewels and other valuable and precious stones, it is used in archaeology of cut or engraved stones of the precious kinds, and even small engraved portions of hard rocks set or worn as jewels.
Although the principal varieties of precious stones were known to the ancients, yet owing to the absence of scientific and chemical analysis, they appear to have distinguished precious and other stones only by color, specific gravity, and density. The different nomenclature, too, used by different authors, multiplied synonyms and caused confusion; so that it has become impos sible to identify all the stones mentioned by Theophrastus, Pliny, and others. As a general rule, the ancients did not engrave such precious stones as the diamond, ruby, and sapphire, being content with those of less hardness and value. The principal stones used by engravers were: (1) The carnelian, and its more transparent variety the sard, in common use in the days of Plato (so called from Sardis in Lydia., but chiefly obtained from India and Babylonia) ; (2) the chalcedony, supposed to be the ancient calchedo nion, used for seals and reliefs, of which two kinds have been found; (3) the onyx or nail-stone, variously described by Pliny and his predecessors, but distinguished by a white layer resembling the nail; (4) the niccolo or Xgyptilla, obtained from the onyx, a blue spot with a black zone encircling it; (5) the sardonyx, which was n variety of the onyx, having black, blue, white. and red colors, and particularly used for cameos and vases, by cutting down the lighter-colored layers to the darkest for a background to the figures: (6) the agate or achates, so named from a Sicilian river, embracing many varieties, as the jaspachates, dendryachates, but confounded with the jasper, considered a charm against scorpions and spiders, used for whetstones, and as a talisman by ath letes; it was obtained from Egypt, Greece, and Asia; (7) plasma or the prasius, root of emerald; its varieties were the molochates and nilion; (8) numerous varieties of the jasper, iaspis, green, blood-red, yellow, black, mottled or porcelain, and even blue, were employed for signets at the Roman period, and procured from India, Persia, and Cappadocia; (9) garnets, the granatici or red hyacinths of antiquity, which were principally in use in the latter days of the Roman Empire, and among the Oriental nations. With these
may be classed: (10) The carbunculus, supposed, however, by some to be the name given by the ancients to the ruby, brought from India, Cara mantis, Carchedon, and Anthemusia; (11) the ltyacinthus or jacinth, a yellow variety of the garnet, used for signets, and imported from Ethiopia and Arabia; (12) the lyncurium, or lychnis, the ancient name of the true modern jacinth; (13) several varieties of the emerald or sntaragdus, as the Bactrian or Scythian, sup posed to be a green ruby, principally derived from the emerald mines at Zabora, in the neigh borhood of Coptos; (14) the beryl or beryllus, obtained from India, cut in shape of a hexagonal pyramid, used at an early period, and for en graving; (15) the amethyst, brought from Arabia Petrua and Armenia Minor, used for intaglios at all periods; (16) the sapphirus of the ancients, supposed by some to be lapis lazuli, brought from Media, and in use among the Egyptians and Persians; (17) the anthrax, supposed to be the ruby; (18) the topaz, topazon, a name applied by the ancients to a green•stone found by the Troglo dytes in the island of Cytis, in the Red Sea, and first sent by Philemon to Berenice, out of which a statue of ArsinIA was made and placed in the so-called 'golden temple' by Ptolemy Philadelphus; (19) the chrysolithus ; (20) chrysoprase, turquoise callais; (21) the magnes, or lodestone, used for cylinders and gems of a late period; (22) the green tourmaline, or avan turine, sanclaresics ; (23) the obsidian, obsi dianus, four elephants made of which were dedicated by Augustus in the Temple of Concord; besides which we read of a statue of Menelaus, made of the same material, • returned to the Heliopolitans by Tiberius; (24) the opal opalites, or puderos, obtained from India, the largest of which then known was of the size of a hazel-nut; (25) the adamas, of which seven varieties were known to the ancients, used only for cutting other gems, or worn rough, but not engraved, or even faced. The list of Pliny, indeed, contains many other stones which have been either confounded with those already described, or else they are species of the same. Many of these had fanciful names, as (26) the aromatites of Arabia and Egypt, so called from its fragrance; (27) the alectorius, worn by the wrestler Milo, so called from being taken out of the gizzard of a fowl; (28) the aspilates, a fiery stone, said by Democri tus to be found in the nest of the Arabian birds. In the selection of stones for engraving, the gem engravers adapted the material to the subject. Bacchanalian subjects were often engraved on amethysts; marine, on beryls; martial, on came liens, sands, and red jaspers; rural, on green jasper; celestial, on chalcedonies. Virtues were also superstitiously attributed to the different varieties of gems. Thus the amethyst was sup posed to protect from the influence of wine; according to Dioscorides, the jasper was particu larly adapted for amulets; and Alexander of Tralles recommends the subject of Hercules, en graved on a Median stone, to be worn on the finger as a remedy against the colic. These su perstitions were collected in various writings, like the Physiologic.% some of them attributed to Saint Augustine.