GALBANUM 



3398 



GAL1CIA 



Galbanum. Gum resin used in 

 medicine for chronic catarrh and 

 rheumatism. Its origin is uncer- 

 tain, though a consensus of opinion 

 gives it as a resin from an umbelli- 

 ferous plant, Ferula galbaniflva, 

 found hi Persia. Galbanum occurs 

 in the form of tears or large masses, 

 yellow in colour, and possessing an 

 odour of balsam with a bitter taste. 

 Galena (Persian, boor). Name 

 denoting several mountain tribes 

 in the Pamir and Hindu Kush re- 

 gion in Afghanistan and Russian 

 Turkistan. The best known are the 

 Shighni and Wakhi near Badak- 

 shan. They represent the eastern- 

 most extension of the round- 

 headed, long-bearded race occupy- 

 ing the alpine axis westward to the 

 Pyrenees. Early Aryan admixture 

 often reappears in tall, blond, red- 

 haired, grey-eyed descendants. 

 Living in patriarchal communities, 

 with no intertribal cohesion, they 

 speak non-Sanskrit dialects. See 

 Iskasmi. 



Galdos, BENITO PEREZ (1845- 

 1920). Spanish novelist and drama- 

 tist. Born at Las Pal mas, Canary 

 Islands, he 

 studied law at 

 Madrid, but 

 turnedto litera- 

 ture. In 1871 

 he published 

 La Fontana de 

 Oro, and in 

 1879 appeared 

 the first series 

 o f Episodios 

 N a c ionales 

 (National Epi- 

 sodes), which was to extend to 

 50 vols. and present in fiction form 

 the history of 19th century Spain. 

 He wrote also a large number of 

 novels, notably the popular Dona 

 Perfecta, 1876 (Eng. trans. 1880), 

 and novels of contemporary life, in- 

 cluding Nazarin, 1895, his greatest 

 individual work. There are English 

 translations of Gloria, 1879 ; Tra- 

 falgar, 1884 ; and Marianela, 1893. 

 Of his dramas, Electra, 1901, is 

 the best known. Galdos sat as a 

 deputy in the Cortes, 1885, and 

 died at Madrid, Jan. 4, 1920. 



Gale, NORMAN ROWLAND (b 

 1862). British poet. Bom at Kew, 

 he published his earliest poems 

 about 1888, and was soon noted for 

 his dainty lyrics of birds and 

 flowers, h i s 

 spirited crick- 

 sting songs, 

 and his 

 charming 

 verses ad- 

 dressed to 

 children. His 

 volumes of 

 poems include 

 A Country 



B. Ffetti Galdos, 

 Spanish novelist 



Muse, 1892 ; Orchard Songs, 1983 ; 



Cricket Songs, 1894 ; Songs for 



Little People, 1896 ; More Cricket 



Songs, 1905 ; A Book of Quatrains, 



1909 ; Merry-go-Round of Song, 



1919. He also wrote some stories, 



including A June Romance, 1894. 



Galen OR CLAUDIUS GALENUS (c 



A.D. 130-200). Greek physician 



and writer on medical philosophy. 



Born at Per- 



!| gamum, Asia 



I Minor, he 



] studied at the 



Wj^^H |j chief semin- 



j aries of Greece 



1 and Egypt, 



^|J I and about 164 



B|| I went to Rome, 



Hj where he be- 



" Claudius GalenT came famous 



Greek physician by his wonder- 



Norman R. Gale, 

 British poet 



. 



of which were 

 popularly attributed to magic. He 

 was intimate with Marcus Aure- 

 lius, and body physician to his son 

 Commodusduringtheemperor's ab- 

 sence on the Danubian campaign. 

 Later he returned to Pergamum. 



Galen was the author of some 

 500 treatises on medical and philo- 

 sophical subjects. Most of these 

 were burnt in the Temple of Peace 

 in Rome, where they had been de- 

 posited, but 83 authentic works 

 are extant, besides some commen- 

 taries on Hippocrates and some 

 works of doubtful authenticity. 

 The date and place of his death 

 are uncertain, some authorities 

 saying it took place in Sicily 

 about 200, others at Pergamum 

 some years later. As a physician 

 Galen ranks second only to Hip- 

 pocrates ; he was great as a prac- 

 tical anatomist, but as a physio- 

 logist erred on the side of theory. 

 He coordinated all the medical 

 knowledge of his predecessors and 

 contemporaries, and did more 

 than any other single man to 

 render possible the development 

 of modern medicine. See Harvey 

 and Galen, J. Payne, 1897. 



Galena OR LEAD GLANCE. The 

 most important ore of lead and the 

 source of most of the lead of the 

 world. Widely distributed through- 

 out the world in granite, lime- 

 stone, argillaceous, and sandstone 

 rocks, it is often associated with 

 ores of zinc, silver, and copper. 

 When pure it contains 86'55 p.c. 

 of lead and 13*45 of sulphur, and 

 is a sulphide of lead. Galena 

 usually contains silver, sometimes 

 in such proportions that it is 

 rather an ore of silver than of lead. 

 See Lead ; Silver. 



Galeopithecus. Generic name 

 for the flying lemurs (q.v.). Natives 

 of Malaya and the Philippines, they 

 eat leaves and fruit. See Colugo. 



Galerites (Lat. galerus, a cap). 

 Sea urchins of the Cretaceous 

 system, with conical shaped shells, 

 which give them the popular name 

 of sugar-loaves. The under sur- 

 face is flat, with a central mouth. 



Galerius VALERIUS MAXI- 

 MIANUS (d. 311). Roman emperor 

 A.D. 305-311, also known as Maxi- 

 mianus II. At the quadripartite 

 division of the empire by Diocle- 

 tian in 293, Galerius became one 

 of the Caesars or junior rulers, 

 with control of the Danube pro- 

 vinces and the Balkans from 

 Sirmium, and on the abdication of 

 Diocletian in 305 he became senior 

 emperor. 



Galesburg. City of Illinois, 

 U.S.A., the co. seat of Knox co. 

 It is 43 m. E.N.E. of Burlington, 

 and is served by the Chicago, Bur- 

 lington and Quincy, and the At- 

 chison, Topeka and Santa Fe rlys. 

 An educational centre, it contains 

 Knox, Lombard, and Corpus Christi 

 colleges, extensive rly. workshops 

 and stockyards, and brickmaking, 

 ironf ounding, and the manufacture 

 of boilers, engines, and agricultural 

 implements are carried on. Gales- 

 burg was settled in 1837, and 

 chartered as a city in 1857. 

 Pop. 24,629. 



Galgacus OR CALGACUS. Cale- 

 donian chief. He commanded the 

 northern native tribes when Cale- 

 donia was invaded by Agricola 

 (q.v.), and after a determined re- 

 sistance was defeated about A.D. 

 85 at the battle of Mons Grau- 

 pius, the modern Grampians (q.v.). 

 The site of the battle is variously 

 placed. Tacitus put into the mouth 

 of Galgacus the well-known words 

 " they make a solitude and call it 

 peace." 



Galicia. Former kingdom and 

 prov. of N.W. Spain, .now divided 

 into the provs. of Corunna, Luco, 

 Pontevedra, and Orense. It lies 

 between the Bay of Biscay, the 

 Atlantic, and Portugal, with deeply 

 indented coast-line, and is traversed 

 by mts. and watered by the Minho 

 and many smaller streams. The 

 Galician people (Gallegos), a rude, 

 industrious race, retain their in- 

 dividuality. The coastal climate is 

 mild and equable, the rain fall abun- 

 dant, and the soil is productive. 

 A Roman colony, a Suevian king- 

 dom, a Moorish possession, a part of 

 Castile or Leon, Galicia has shared 

 fully in the history of the peninsula. 

 Its area was nearly 16,000 sq. m. 



Galicia. Formerly the largest 

 prov. of Austria, but since the 

 Great War mostly within the re- 

 public of Poland. Galicia extends 

 for rather more than 300 m. along 

 the N. side of the Carpathian Mts., 

 from the common frontier of Po- 

 land and Czecho-Slovakia in the 



