Our Saviour's allusion to the gnat is a kind of prov- erb, either in use in his time, or invented by himself, " Blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and swallow down [holt, as we say] a camel." He adopts the an- tithesis 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 transla- tion, ICll (Trench, Auth. Vers. p. 13!). It is "strain ouV in the previous translations. The custom of fil- tering wine, among the Jews, for this purpose, was founded on the prohibition of "all flying, creeping things'' being used for food, excepting the saltatoHl (Lev. xi, 23). The custom seems alluded to by the Sjpt., which in Amos vi, G reads civXinnkvoQ olvog, "filtered wine" — a passage having a similar scope. According to the Talmud, eating a gnat incurred scourging or excommunication (Vorstius, 7)e -4(?cr^7.<!, N. T., p. 771, ed. Fischer; Grief, Oraculum Christi con- tra percolantes. culicem, etc.. Lips. 1749).— Kitto, s. v.
The species referred to in the N. T. is thought by Bochart {Hieroz. iii, 444) to be tiio Culex vinarius, the ^^■^rl-, yabchush', of the Talmud (Buxtorf, Lex. Talm. p. 927, a). The Hob. D"^:3, klnnim' (sing. '3, Isa. li, G), which constituted one of the plagues upon Egypt (Exod. viii, 16 sq. ; comp. Psa. cv, 31), are thought to have l)een a species of culex or gnat (comp.'IIerod. ii, 95), as these insects are very-numerous ip Egypt (Has- selquist, Trnv. p. 69; Maillet, Descr. <le I'ligjpte, ii, 134, ed. Mascrier).— Winer, ii, 118. See Lice.
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The weapon with which the gnat or mosquito makes its attack is a long and slender proboscis, projecting from the nioutli like a very fine bristle, and appearing to the naked eye quite simple. Under the magni- fying power of the microscope, however, it is seen to be a flexi- ble sheath (i) inclosing six dis- tinct pieces, two of which are cut- ting blades or lancets {g), two notched like a saw with reverted teeth (/), a tubular canal (( ), and the central one an exceedinglj' acute point, which is also tubular (li). When the attack is made, the gnat brings the tip of the or- gan within its sheath to press upon the skin, into which it pres- entlj' enters, the sheath remain- ing without and bending into an '''J,l^ angle as the lancets descend. When the weapon has penetrated to its base — a distance of one sixth of an inch or more — the lancets move laterally, and thus cut the flesh on either side, pro- moting the flow of blood from the Organs jin4 Mouth of superficial vessels ; at the same
moment a highly irritative fluid is poured into the wound, which has the eft'ect of diluting the blood, and thus of rendering it more capable of flowing up the slender central tube into the throat of the insect. It then sucks, if undisturbed, till its stomach is filled to repletion, leaving a painful tumor accompanied with an intolerable itching. It is the female gnat alone which is noxious ; the male, whose proboscis is feath- ered, has no power of sucking blood. — Fairbairn, s. v.
Gi-nesen, a.town in the Prussian province of Poscn, with (in 1805) '8950 inhabitants. It is believed to be the most ancient town of the former Polish empire. The cathedral church contains the relics of St. Adal- bert, the apostle of the Prussians, which were pur- chased and deposited there liy duko Boleslav I. Soon after, at the lieginning of the 11th century, Gnesen was made the see of an archbishop, Gaudentius, the broth- er and companion of St. Adalbert, being the first in- . cumbent of that dignity. Tiie archbishops of Gnesen were primates of the Polish empire, the first after the king, and the regents of the enquire during the vacan- cy of tlie throne. In 1821 the united archbishopric of Posen and Gnesen was organized, the archbishop re- siding at Posen, but Gnesen remaining the seat of a chapter. Soc Neher, Kircld. Statlstik, vol. ii. (A. J. S.)
Gnosimachi (yi^w^ic and paxopai), a name given to those in the 4th century who were the avowed ene- mies of the Gnostics. A certain Ehetorius is said to have formed a sect on the principle that matters of doctrine are indifferent, as no certainty can be obtain- ed as to doctrine ; but that a good life is all that is es- sential to Christianity. " It may be a question wheth- er there was ever a regularly constituted sect profess- ing such indifference to doctrines ; whether the fact ever amounted to anything more than this, that indi- viduals at difterent times and in different places were led by the same opposition and the same tendency of mind to entertain these views, of which individuals tlio above-mentioned Rhetorius may have been one." — Neander, Clmrch History (Torrey's), ii, 702.
Gnosis. Sec Gnosticism.
Gnosticism. A. Gnos's. — The New-Testament writers were occasionally determined in their choice of prominent words by tlie expressions which were current among the people they addressed. Such words as logos and gnosis, having acquired a peculiar signifi- cation in the schools, were recognised bj' them, and