GAL 



GAL 



shells, named from the typical g^'C'is 

 fusus, and characterized by the remark- 

 able length, generally equal, of the canal 

 and of the spire. 



FUSION ifusus, melted, from fundo, 

 to pour out). The state of melting. 

 Substances which admit of being fused 

 are termed fusiblCy but those which 

 resist the action of fire are termed 

 refractory. Fusion differs from lique- 

 faction in being applied to metals and 



other substances which melt at a high 

 temperature. 



1. Aqueous Fusion. The solution of 

 salts which contain water of crystalliza- 

 tion, on exposure to heat. 



2. Dry Fusion. The liquefaction pro- 

 duced by heat after the water of crystalli- 

 zation has been expelled. 



3. Igneous Fusion. The melting of 

 anhydrous salts by heat without under- 

 going any decomposition. 



G 



GA'BBRO. The Italian name for a 

 rock consisting essentially of felspar and 

 diallage, called by the French geologists 

 euphotide. 



GA'DIDiE [gadiis, the cod). The Cod 

 tribe; a family of malacopterygious, or 

 soft-spined, fishes, distinguished by the 

 softness of all their fins, and by the in- 

 sertion of their pointed ventrals under 

 the throat. They comprise the cod, the 

 ling, the haddock, the whiting, &c. 



GA'DOLINITE. A rare mineral found 

 by Gadolin in Sweden, containing yttria, 

 oxide of cerium, &c. When heated, it 

 appears to burn, emits light, and becomes 

 yellow, but undergoes no change in 

 weight. 



GAGE or GAUGE. A term derived 

 from the Anglo-Saxon, and denoting, in 

 Physics, any apparatus for ascertaining 

 dimension. The gage of the air-pump is 

 a barometer, connected with the machine, 

 for the purpose of determining the pres- 

 sure of the air within the receiver, and, 

 consequently, the degree to which the 

 air has been rarified. 



GA'HNITE. Automalite. A native 

 aluminate of zinc, in which the alumina 

 plays the part of an acid. It is named 

 from its discoverer, Gahn. A similar 

 combination occurs in spinel, which is an 

 aluminate of magnesia. 



GALA'CTIC ACID (7aXa, milk). Lac- 

 tic acid. The acid of milk, supposed to 

 be merely animalized acetic acid. Ga- 

 lactin is ah ingredient in the sap of the 

 Galactodendron utile, or Cow-tree of 

 South America. 



GALATHE'ID^. A group of crus- 

 taceous animals, named from the genus 

 Galathea, and constituting, according to 

 Milne Edwards, a transition from the 

 anomourous to the macrourous Crustacea, 

 146 



more particularly approaching the por- 

 cellance. 



GA'LAXY {yaXa^iat kvkXo?, circle of 

 milkiness). The Milky Way; a broad 

 line of light passing entirely round the 

 heavens, and named from its milky white- 

 ness. Herschel supposes the sidereal 

 universe to be divided into clusters or 

 strata of stars, and the '* milky way" to 

 be that particular cluster or stratum in 

 which our sun is placed. See Nebula. 



GA'LBULUS. The Latin term for the 

 fruit of the cypress, and employed by 

 Goertner as synonymous with strobile, 

 from which it differs only in being round, 

 and having the heads of the carpels much 

 enlarged. The fruit of the Juniper is a 

 galbulus, with fleshy coalescent carpels. 

 Desvaux calls it arcesthide. 



GA'LEA. The Latin term for a hel- 

 met, and hence applied, in botany, to the 

 upper arched lip of the corolla of several 

 labiate plants, as in Lamium album. 



GALE'NA (7a\ea), to shine). Lead- 

 glance ; the native sulphuret of lead, 



GA'LIPOT. A white resin derived 

 from the pinus maritima, consisting 

 almost entirely of a colourless, crystal- 

 lizable resin, named pimaric acid. 



GA'LLIC ACID. An acid obtained 

 from gall-nuts, but principally by decom- 

 position of tannic acid. By the applica- 

 tion of a brisk heat to gallic acid, the 

 pyrogallic acid is obtained as a crystalline 

 sublimate ; and, on applying heat to the 

 same acid by means of an oil bath, the 

 metagallic or melangalic acid of Berze- 

 lius remains as a fixed residue in the 

 retort. 



GALLI'COL^. Gall-inhabiters ; a 

 family of hymenopterous insects, of the 

 section pupivora, which deposit their ova 

 in the leaf-buds of several species of 



