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GOLDEN BULL 



GOLDEN FLEECE 



them, in the larval state, commit ravages on the 

 produce of the field and garden. 



Golden Bull (Lat. bulla aurea), so called 

 from the gold case in which the seal attached to it 

 was enclosed, was an edict issued by the Emperor 

 Charles IV. in 1356, mainly for the purpose of 

 settling the law of imperial elections. See GER- 

 MANY, ELECTORS, BULL. 



Golden-crested Wren (Reyidus cristatw), 

 a very beautiful bird of the family Sylviidee, the 

 smallest of British birds. Its entire length is 

 scarcely three inches and a half. Notwithstand- 

 ing its English name, it is not really a wren, but 

 this name continues in popular use rather than 

 Regulus and Kinglet, which have been proposed 

 instead. The golden-crested wren is greenish- 

 yellow on the upper parts, the cheeks and throat 

 grayish-white ; the crown feathers elongated, arid 

 forming a bright yellow crest. In its habits it is 

 intermediate between the warblers and the tits. 



Golden-crested Wren (Rfyiilux cristatus). 



It particularly affects fir-woods. It is not un- 

 common in Britain, from the most southern to the 

 most northern parts ; but many come also from 

 more northern countries to spend the winter, and 

 it is on record that, in October 1822, thousands 

 were driven on the coast of Northumberland and 

 Durham by a severe gale from the north-east. The 

 nest of this bird is suspended from the outermost 

 twigs of a branch of fir, some of them being inter- 

 woven with it. Another species (R. ignicapillus), 

 with more vividly red crest, is sometimes found in 

 Britain, and species are found in Asia and North 

 America. 



Goldeil-eye Fly (Chrysopa perla), also called 

 Lacewing Fly, a neuropterous insect, common in 

 Britain ; pale green, with long thread-like antennae, 

 long gauze-like wings, and brilliant golden eyes. 



Golden-eye Fly ( Chrysopa perla) : 



a, cocoon ; 6, the same magnified ; c, larva ; d, the same 

 magnified, and freed from adhering substances ; e, perfect 

 insect, on a branch to which its eggs are attached. 



Its flight is feeble. The length, from the tip of the 

 antennae to the tip of the wings, is almost an inch 



and a half, but the insect without wings and 

 antennae is not more than one-third of this. The 

 female attaches her eggs, in groups of 12 or 16, by 

 long hair-like stalks, to leaves or twigs, where they 

 have been mistaken for fungi. The larvae are 

 ferocious-looking little animals, rough with long 

 hairs, to which particles of lichen or bark become 

 attached ; they are called aphis-lions, and are very 

 useful in the destruction of aphides, on which they 

 feed. The pupa is enclosed in a white silken 

 cocoon, from which the fly is liberated by a lid. 

 The general facts above stated are also true of 

 another very common species ( Ch. viilgaris) a 

 delicate green insect, witli a body about half an 

 inch long. The species of Chrysopa emit a very 

 disagreeable odour. The nearly allied genus Heme- 

 robius is also abundantly representecl in Britain 

 and elsewhere. 



Golden Fleece (Fr. toison dor), in Greek 

 tradition, the fleece of the ram Chrysomallus, the 

 recovery of which was the object of the famous 

 expedition of the Argonauts (q.v. ). The Golden 

 Fleece has given its name to a celebrated order 

 of knighthood in Austria and Spain, founded by 

 Philip III., Duke of Burgundy and the Nether- 

 lands, at Bruges on the 10th January 1429, on the 

 occasion of his marriage with Isabella, daughter of 

 King John I. of Portugal. This order was insti- 

 tuted for the protection of the church, and the 

 fleece was probably assumed for its emblem as 

 much from being the material of the staple manu- 

 facture of the Low Countries as from its connec- 

 tion with heroic times. The number of the knights 

 was thirty-one, and they themselves filled up 

 vacancies by vote. This continued till 1559, when 

 Philip II. of Spain held the last ( the 23d ) chapter 

 of the order in the cathedral of Ghent ; and sub- 

 sequently Philip obtained from Gregory XIII. per- 

 mission to nominate the knights himself. After 

 the death of the * last Hapsburg king of Spain 

 in 1700, the Emperor Charles VI. laid claim to 

 the sole headship of the order in virtue of his 

 possession of the Netherlands, and, taking with 

 him the archives of the order, celebrated its in- 

 auguration with great magnificence at Vienna in 

 1713. Philip V. of Spain contested the chaim of 

 Charles ; and the dispute, several times renewed 

 was at last tacitly adjusted by 

 the introduction of the order 

 in both countries. The in- 

 signia are a golden fleece (a 

 sheepskin with the head and 

 feet attached) hanging from a 

 gold and blue enamelled flint- 

 stone emitting flames, and 

 borne in its turn by a ray of 

 fire. On the enamelled obverse 

 is inscribed Pretium laborum 

 non vile. The decoration was 

 originally suspended from a 

 chain of alternate flints and 

 rays, for which Charles V. 

 allowed a red ribbon to be sub- 

 stituted, and the chain is now 

 worn only by the Grand-master. Order of the Golden 

 The Spanish decoration differs Fleece, 



slightly from the Austrian. 

 The costume consists of a long robe of deep red 

 velvet, lined with white tafl'etas, and a long mantle 

 of purple velvet lined with white satin, and 

 richly trimmed with embroidery containing fire- 

 stones and steels emitting flames and sparks. On 

 the hem, which is of white satin, is embroidered in 

 gold, Je Vay empris. There is also a cap of purple 

 velvet embroidered in gold, with a hood, and the 

 shoes and stockings are red. See ReifTenberg, 

 Hixtoire 'de I'Ordre de Toison d'Or (1830); and 

 Zoller, Der Orden vom Goldenen Vlies (1879). 



