<;<>i. IU;N 



Ml 



Gohleil Gllle, a li;unifl _' miles wide, funning 

 tin- entrance i> tin* niagniliriMit Hay f San I-' run 

 ci-.-<>, and washing tin- northern shore of tin- penin- 

 sula on which S;ui I'Yanriseo JH built. It is de- 

 fended liy Kort I'oinl, ut the north- western 

 e\i remit \ of i lie |ieiiiiisiiln, anil by a fort on 

 .Alcatm* Island, inside the entrance. 



Golden Horde. Seu KIPCHAKS. 

 4. olden Horn, s,-,- CUNSTANTINOI-LK. 

 4>oll('ll Legend ( I'.'it. .luri'ii Li-ifi-niln), a cele- 

 brated medieval eolleetion of lives of tlie greater 

 saints, wbicli passed through more than a hundred 

 editions, and \v;is rendered from Latin into most, of 

 the western languages. It is the work of .lacohn* 

 de Voragine (1230-98), a Dominiean, who was 

 Archbishop of Genoa for his last six yearn, and 

 wrote many works, among them the Chronicon 

 .In n ! us,-, a history of Genoa from mythical down 

 to contemporary times. The Golden Legend has 

 182 chapters, and is divided into five sections, 

 corresponding to as many divisions of the year. 

 It contains many puerile legends and contemporary 

 miracles vouchsafed especially to Dominicans. A 

 translation was made by William Caxton, and 

 published in 1483. A good edition is that by 

 Grasse ( Dresden, 1846). 



Golden Number for any year is the number 

 of that year in the Metonic Cycle ( q. v. ) ; and, as 

 this cycle embraces nineteen years, the golden num- 

 bers range from one to nineteen. The cycle of 

 the Greelc astronomer Meton (432 B.C.) came into 

 general use soon after its discovery, and the num- 

 ber of each year in the Metonic cycle was marked 

 in golden colours in the Roman and Alexandrian 

 calendars. Hence the origin of the name. Since 

 the introduction of the Gregorian calendar the 

 point from which the golden numbers are reckoned 

 is 1 B.C., as in that year the new moon fell on the 

 1st of .January; and, as 

 by Meton's law the 

 new moon falls on the 

 same day ( 1st of Janu- 

 ary) eveiy nineteenth 

 year from that time, 

 we obtain the following 

 rule for finding the 

 golden number for any 

 particular year. ' Add 

 one to the number of 

 years, and divide by 

 nineteen ; the quotient 

 gives the number of 

 cycles and the remain- 

 der c/ives the golden 

 number for that year ; 

 and if there be no re- 

 mainder, then nineteen 

 is the golden number, 

 and that year is the 

 luxt of the cycle.' The 

 golden number is used 

 for determining the 

 Epact (q.v.) and the 

 time for holding Easter 

 (q.v.). 



Golden Oriole. 



See ORIOLE. 



Golden-rod 



(Sol4dago$, a genus 

 of Composite?, chwely 

 allied to Aster. Only 

 the common S. Vlr- 

 gaurea is British, a few 

 others are European, 



but most (more than 100) belong to North America, 

 where their bright colouring lightens up the 

 beautiful autumnal scenery. Some e.g. S. cana- 



Common Golden-rod 

 (a garden variety). 



, ij m ml ijlttrn, &c. are found in old-fashioned 

 Inirders, but are HO coarse and weedy an hardly 

 to merit a place l>eyoiid the shady comer of the 

 roughest -In uU-ei v. <S'. Virgnurea had at one 

 time a great reputation as a vulnerary, whence 

 probably the name (from Lat. miliilurt, 'to unite'). 

 The leaves of this and a fragrant North American 

 species, .s. inlnrii, have IKJCII used ax a substitute 

 for tea. They are mildly astringent and tunic. 



Golden Ko.se, a rose formed of wrought gold, 

 and blessed with much solemnity by the pope in per- 

 son on the fourth Sunday in Lent, which w called, 

 from the first word in the service for the festival, 

 ' L-et a re Sunday. ' The rose is anointed with balsam, 

 fumigated with incense, sprinkled with musk, and is 

 then left upon the altar until the conclusion of the 

 mass. It is usually presented to some Catholic 

 prince, whom the pope desires especially to honour, 

 with an appropriate form of words. The practice 

 seems to nave originated in the 13th century. 

 Amongst recipients have been Henry VIII. (three 

 times), Queen Mary of England, Maria Theresa, 

 Napoleon III., and Isabella II. of Spain. 



Gold-eye, or MOON-EYE (Hyodon tergisus), a 

 peculiar fish, abundant in the western rivers and 

 lakes of North America. It has many technically 

 interesting peculiarities of structure, and. forms a 

 family by itself in the Physostomi order of bony 

 fishes. It measures about a foot in length. 



Goldfinch (Cardnelis elegims), the most beau- 

 tiful of British finches (Fringillidre). It is about 

 five inches in length ; has a thick, conical, sharp- 

 pointed bill; and is noteworthy among British 

 birds for its handsome plumage, in which black, 

 crimson-red, yellow, and white are, in the adult male, 

 exquisitely mingled. The female has less crimson 

 on the throat and no yellow on the breast, and the 

 ' gray -pate ' or ' bald-pate ' young are also of course 

 much less gaily adorned than the full-grown males. 



Goldfinch (Carduelis elegant). 



Goldfinches occur in small flocks on open unculti- 

 vated ground, feeding on thistles and other com- 

 posites, or are found breeding in gardens and 

 orchards. The nest, usually in a fruit-tree, is even 

 neater than that of the chaffinch, lined with the 

 finest down, but without lichens ; the eggs (4 or 5) 

 are grayish -white, with purplish -brown streaks 

 ami spots ; there are two broods in the year : the 

 young are fed on insects. The goldfinch is still a 

 common summer bird in Britain, especially in the 

 south ; most migrate southwards in October. It 

 breeds throughout Europe, especially in the south, 

 and ranges from the Canaries, through North 

 Africa, to Persia. Its soft pleasing song, intelli- 

 gence, docility, liveliness, and lovingness make it, 

 to its cost, a favourite cage-bird. See Howard 

 Saunders, Ma mini uf liritish Birds. 



