[1] The O. Eng. word _grund_, ground, is common to Teutonic
languages, cf. Du. _grond_, Ger. _Grund_, but has no cognates outside
Teutonic. The suggestion that the origin is to be found in "grind,"
to crush small, reduce to powder, is plausible, but the primary
meaning seems to be the lowest part or bottom of anything rather than
grit, sand or gravel. The main branches in sense appear to be, first,
bottom, as of the sea or a river, cf. the use, in the plural, for
dregs; second, base or foundation, actual, as of the first or main
surface of a painting, fabric, &c., or figurative, as of a principle
or reason; third, the surface of the earth, or a particular part of
that surface.
GROUND NUT (Earth Nut, Pistache de Terre, Monkey Nut, Pea Nut, Manilla
Nut), in botany, the fruit or pod of _Arachis hypogaea_ (nat. ord.
Leguminosae). The plant is an annual of diffuse habit, with hairy stem,
and two-paired, abruptly pinnate leaflets. The pods or legumes are
stalked, oblong, cylindrical, about 1 in. in length, the thin
reticulated shell containing one or two irregularly ovoid seeds. After
the flower withers, the stalk of the ovary has the peculiarity of
elongating and bending down, forcing the young pod underground, and thus
the seeds become matured at some distance below the surface. Hence the
specific and vernacular names of the plant. Originally a native of South
America, it is extensively cultivated in all tropical and subtropical
countries. The plant affects a light sandy soil, and is very prolific,
yielding in some instances 30 to 38 bushels of nuts per acre. The pods
when ripe are dug up and dried. The seeds when fresh are largely eaten
in tropical countries, and in taste are almost equal to almonds; when
roasted they are used as a substitute for chocolate. In America they are
consumed in large quantities as the "pea-nut"; but are not much
appreciated in England except by the poorer children, who know them as
"monkey-nuts." By expression the seeds yield a large quantity of oil,
which is used by natives for lamps, as a fish or curry oil and for
medicinal purposes. The leaves form an excellent food for cattle, being
very like clover.
Large quantities of seeds are imported to Europe, chiefly to Marseilles,
London and Hamburg, for the sake of their contained oil. The seeds yield
from 42 to 50% of oil by cold expression, but a larger quantity is
obtained by heat, although of an inferior quality. The seeds being soft
facilitate mechanical expression, and where bisulphide of carbon or
other solvent is used, a very pure oil is obtained.
The expressed oil is limpid, of a light yellowish or straw colour,
having a faint smell and bland taste; it forms an excellent substitute
for olive oil, although in a slight degree more prone to rancidity than
the latter. Its specific gravity is 0.916 to 0.918; it becomes turbid at
3 deg. C., concretes at +3 deg. to -4 deg. C., and hardens at +7 deg. C.
It is a non-drying oil. Ground nut oil consists of (1) oleic acid
(C18H34O2); (2) hypogaeic acid (C16H30O2), by some supposed to be
identical with a fatty acid found in whale oil; (3) palmitic acid
(C16H32O2); and (4) arachic acid (C20H40O2). The oil is used in the
adulteration of gingelly oil.
GROUND-PEARL, the glassy secretion forming the pupacase of coccid
insects of the genus _Margarodes_, belonging to the homopterous division
of the Hemiptera.
GROUND RENT. In Roman law, ground rent (_solarium_) was an annual rent
payable by the lessee of a _superficies_ or perpetual lease of building
land. In English law, it appears that the term was at one time popularly
used for the houses and lands out of which ground rents issue as well as
for the rents themselves (cf. _Maundy_ v. _Maundy_, 2 Strange, 1020);
and Lord Eldon observed in 1815 that the context in which the term
occurred may materially vary its meaning (_Stewart_ v. _Alliston_, 1
Mer. 26). But at the present time the accepted meaning of ground rent is
the rent at which land is let for the purpose of improvement by
building, i.e. a rent charged in respect of the land only and not in
respect of the buildings to be placed thereon. It thus conveys the idea
of something lower than a rack rent (see RENT); and accordingly if a
vendor described property as property for which he paid a "ground rent,"
without any further explanation of the term, a purchaser would not be
obliged to accept the property if it turned out to be held at a rack
rent. But while a rack rent is generally higher in amount than a ground
rent, the latter is usually better secured, as it carries with it the
reversionary interest in buildings and improvements put on the ground
_after_ the date at which the ground rent was fixed, and accordingly
ground rents have been regarded as a good investment. Trustees empowered
to invest money on the security of freehold or copyhold hereditaments,
may invest upon freehold ground rents reserved out of house property. In
estimating the amount that may be so invested, account may be taken of
the value of the houses, as, if the ground rents are not paid, the
landlord can re-enter. Again, where a settlement authorizes trustees to
purchase lands or hereditaments in fee-simple or possession, a purchase
of freehold ground rents has been held to be proper. A devise of "ground
rent" carries not only the rent but the reversion. Where a tenant is
compelled, in order to protect himself in the enjoyment of the land in
respect of which his rent is payable, to pay ground rent to a superior
landlord (who is of course in a position to distrain on him for it), he
is considered as having been authorized by his immediate landlord to
apply his rent, due or accruing due, in this manner, and the payment of
the ground rent will be held to be payment of the rent itself or part of
it. A lodger should make any payment of this character under the Law of
Distress Amendment Act 1908 (s. 3; and see RENT). Ground rents are
apportionable (see APPORTIONMENT).
In Scots law, the term "ground rent" is not employed, but its place is
taken, for practical purposes, by the "ground-annual," which bears a
double meaning. (i.) At the time of the Reformation in Scotland, the
lands of the Church were parcelled out by the crown into various
lordships--the grantees being called Lords of Erection. In the 17th
century these Lords of Erection resigned their superiorities to the
crown, with the exception of the feu-duties, which were to be retained
till a price agreed upon for their redemption had been paid. This
reserved power of redemption was, however, resigned by the crown on
the eve of the Union and the feu-duties became payable in perpetuity
to the Lords of Erection as a "ground-annual." (ii.) Speculators in
building ground usually grant sub-feus to builders at a high feu-duty.
But where sub-feus are prohibited--as they might be, prior to the
Conveyancing (Scotland) Act 1874--and there is much demand for
building ground, the feuars frequently stipulate for an annual rent
from the builders rather than for a price payable at once. This annual
rent is called a "ground-annual." Interest is not due on arrears of
ground-annuals. Like other real burdens, ground-annuals may now be
freely assigned and conveyed (Conveyancing (Scotland) Act 1874, s.
30).
The term "ground rent" in the English sense does not seem to be
generally used in the United States, but is applied in Pennsylvania to a
kind of tenure, created by a grant in fee simple, the grantor reserving
to himself and his heirs a certain rent, which is the interest of the
money value of the land. These "ground rents" are real estate, and, in
cases of intestacy, go to the heir. They are rent services and not rent
charges--the statute _Quia Emptores_ never having been in force in
Pennsylvania, and are subject to all the incidents of such rents (see
RENT). The grantee of such a "ground rent" may mortgage, sell, or
otherwise dispose of the grant as he pleases; and while the rent is paid
the land cannot be sold or the value of the improvements lost.
A ground rent being a freehold estate, created by deed and perpetual in
duration, no presumption could, at common law, arise from lapse of time,
that it had been released. But now, by statute (Act of 27th of April
1855, s. 7), a presumption of release or extinguishment is created where
no payment, claim or demand has been made for the rent, nor any
declaration or acknowledgment of its existence made or given by the
owner of the premises subject to it, for the period of 21 years. Ground
rents were formerly irredeemable after a certain time. But the creation
of irredeemable ground rents is now forbidden (Pennsylvania Act 7
Assembly, 22nd of April 1850).
For English Law see Foa, _Landlord and Tenant_ (3rd ed., London,
1901); Scots Law, Bell's _Principles_ (10th ed., Edinburgh, 1899);
American Law, Bouvier, _Law Dict._ (Boston and London, 1897).
(A. W. R.)
GROUNDSEL (Ger. _Kreuzkraut_; Fr. _senecon_), _Senecio vulgaris_, an
annual, glabrous, or more or less woolly plant of the natural order
Compositae, having a branched succulent stem 6 to 15 in. in height,
pinnatifid irregularly and coarsely-toothed leaves, and small
cylindrical heads of yellow tubular florets enveloped in an involucre of
numerous narrow bracts; the ribbed fruit bears a soft, feathery, hoary
tuft of hairs (_pappus_). The plant is indigenous to Europe, whence it
has been introduced into all temperate climates. It is a troublesome
weed, flowering throughout the year, and propagating itself rapidly by
means of its light feathery fruits; it has its use, however, as a food
for cage-birds. _Senecio Jacobaea_, ragwort, is a showy plant with heads
of bright yellow flowers, common in pastures and by roadsides. The genus
_Senecio_ is a very large one, widely distributed in temperate and cold
climates. The British species are all herbs, but the genus also includes
shrubs and even arborescent forms, which are characteristic features of
the vegetation of the higher levels on the mountains of tropical Africa.
Many species of the genus are handsome florists' plants. The groundsel
tree, _Baccharis halimifolia_, a native of the North American sea-coast
from Massachusetts southward, is a Composite shrub, attaining 6 to 12
ft. in height, and having angular branches, obovate or oblong-cuneate,
somewhat scurfy leaves, and flowers larger than but similar to those of
common groundsel. The long white pappus of the female plant renders it a
conspicuous object in autumn. The groundsel tree has been cultivated in
British gardens since 1683.
The Old English word, represented by "groundsel," appears in two
forms, _grundeswylige_ and _gundaeswelgiae_; of the first form the
accepted derivation is from _grund_, ground, and _swelgau_, to
swallow; a weed of such rapid growth would not inaptly be styled a
"ground-swallower." If the form without the r be genuine, the word
might mean "pus-absorber" (O.E. _gund_, filth, matter), with reference
to its use in poultices for abscesses and the like.
GROUND-SQUIRREL, one of the names for a group of (chiefly) North
American striped terrestrial squirrel-like rodents, more generally known
as chipmunks. They are closely allied to squirrels, from which they are
distinguished by the possession of cheek-pouches for the storage of
food. The sides, or the sides and back, are marked with light stripes
bordered by dark bands; the ears are small, and without tufts; and the
tail is relatively short. With the exception of one Siberian species
(_Tamias asiaticus_), ground-squirrels are confined to North America,
where they are represented by a large number of species and races, all
referable to the genus _Tamias_. In North America ground-squirrels are
migratory, and may be abundant in a district one year, and absent the
next. They feed on nuts, beechmast, corn and roots, and also on grubs.
With the assistance of their cheek-pouches they accumulate large
supplies of food for the winter, during which season they lie dormant in
holes. Although generally keeping to the ground, when hunted they take
to trees, which they climb in search of food. One of the longest known
American species is _T. striatus_.