GLACIERS, GEYSERS, AND ICEBERGS.-1. Spitzbergen glacier. 2. Greenland glacier. 3, 4. Mo

7. Rosenlau glacier. 8. Hot springs of New Zealand, lake Rotorua. 9. Eruption of a gla

jing icebergs.

5. Tracks of ancient glaciers near the Rhone. 6. Tracks of glaciers near the Aar.

cier. 10. Kaprapiti, boiling spring in New Zealand.

From the Hub to the Hudson, Plain Talks on the Art of Living, and Workingmen and their Employers See Supp., page 895.

GLADE-NET, a kind of net used for the capture of birds in the glades of forests. It is much used both in England and in some parts of the continent of Europe for the capture of woodcocks. It is made of a breadth suitable to the glade in which it is to be suspended, through which the birds are known to be accustomed to pass; and is. made of fine thread-netting, edged with cords, having weights attached to it below, so that when the rope by which it is held up is let go, it falls at once to the ground; a rope from the upper part of it passing over a pulley in a tree, and being held by the hand or the fowler. When the net is ready, the neighboring parts of the wood are beaten to disturb the woodcocks, and when they approach it, it is let down, or drawn up, as may be necessary. In England, the use of the glade-net is common chiefly among poachers and gamekeepers, who, without the knowledge of their employers, but tempted by the high price of woodcocks, resort to this method of obtaining money. Other birds, and sometimes hares, are also caught in the glade-net. In Siberia, the glade net is employed for the capture of wild fowl, and glades are opened in order to its use, between one lake and another, or between a lake and a river near together.

GLADHEIM, in Norse mythology, the dwelling-place of Odin, the largest and noblest of edifices. In this home is Valhalla (the hall of heroes), radiant with gold, to which are conducted all who fall in battle. The ceiling is formed of spears; the roof of shields, and the benches are strewn with coats of mail. It has 540 gates, through each of which 800 men can go abreast.

GLADIATOR, in antiquity, from gladius, a sword, was one who fought in the arena, at the amphitheater at Rome, and in other cities, for the amusement of the public. The gladiators were generally slaves, bought and trained for the purpose, by masters who made this their business. The custom is supposed to have been borrowed from the east, and to have had its origin in the practice of human sacrifices, or that of taking the lives of captives or prisoners of war, in honor of heroes who had died in battle. Thus, in the Iliad, we read that Achilles sacrificed twelve Trojan prisoners to the manes of his friend Patroclus, and Virgil speaks of captives sent to Evander, to be sacrificed at the funeral of his son Pallas. The "great custom" of the king of Dahomey thus finds warrant in classic antiquity; and the North American Indians, in putting their prisoners to death with tortures, have only refined upon an ancient barbarism.

After a time, all considerable funerals were solemnized by human sacrifices, which took the form of combats, in which, to increase the interest of the spectators, the prisoners were required to sacrifice each other; and as prisoners, and afterwards other slaves, were kept for this purpose, they were trained to fight with skill and courage, to make the spectacle more impressive. These contests first took place at funerals, but afterwards in the amphitheater; and in process of time, instead of a funeral rite, became a common amusement. The first we read of in Roman history was the show of a contest of three pairs of gladiators, given by Marcus and Decius Brutus, on the death of their father, in the year of Rome 490. In the year 537, a show of 22 pairs was given in the Forum. In 547, the first Africanus diverted his army at New Carthage with a gladiatorial exhibition. The fashion now rapidly increased. Magistrates, public officers, candidates for the popular suffrages, gave shows to the people, which consisted chiefly of these bloody and generally mortal encounters. The emperors exceeded all others in the extent and magnificence of these cruel spectacles. Julius Cæsar gave a show of 320 couples; Titus gave a show of gladiators, wild-beasts, and sea-fights for 100 days; Trajan gave a show of 123 days, in which 2,000 men fought with and killed each other, or fought with wild-beasts for the amusement of the 70,000 Romans, patricians, and plebeians, the highest ladies and the lowest rabble, assembled in the Colosseum. A vast number of slaves from all parts of the world were kept in Rome, and trained for these exhibitions. There were so many at the time of Cataline's conspiracy, that they were thought dangerous to the public safety, and it was proposed to distribute them among the distant garrisons.

Efforts were made to limit the number of gladiators, and diminish the frequency of these shows. Cicero proposed a law, that no man should give one for two years before becoming a candidate for office. The emperor Augustus forbade more than two shows in a year, or that one should be given by a man worth less than half a million sesterces; but it was difficult to restrain what had become a passion, and men even had such contests for the amusement of their guests at ordinary feasts.

These shows were announced by show-bills and pictures, like the plays of our theaters. The gladiators were trained and sworn to fight to the death. If they showed cowardice, they were killed with tortures. They fought at first with wooden swords, and then with steel. When one of the combatants was disarmed, or upon the ground, the victor looked to the emperor, if present, or to the people, for the signal of death; if they extended their thumbs, the act signified approbation; if they closed them down, disapprobation. A gladiator who had conquered was rewarded with a branch of palm, and sometimes with his freedom. Though the gladiators at first were slaves, freemen afterwards entered the profession, and even knights. Senators and knights fought in the shows of Nero, and women in those of Domitian. The emperor Constan⚫