GOLDFINCH 



3588 



GOLDMARK 



Goldfinch (Carduelis elegans). 

 Common British song-bird. About 

 5 ins. long, its plumage is hand- 



Goldfinch. A song-bird of the British 

 hedgerows 



Her ridge 



somely marked with black, white, 

 and yellow. It feeds on grubs, 

 aphides, and small seeds, and is 

 useful in keeping down the growth 

 of noxious weeds, especially thistles. 

 It nests in trees about May and 

 lays four or five eggs. See Eggs, 

 colour-plate. 



Goldfish (Carassius auratus). 

 Small fish of the carp family. It is 

 a native of China and Japan. 



Goldfish. Specimen of the varie- 

 gated variety 



Originally brown in colour, the 

 golden hue of the domesticated 

 variety is the result of selective 

 breeding in captivity. It is said to 

 have been introduced into Great 

 Britain about the close of the 17th 

 century. Its handsome appearance 

 and hardy constitution make it a 

 favourite species for the aquarium. 

 A specimen has been known to 

 live 29 years in a tank, being fed 

 three times a week on tiny scraps 

 of raw meat. A more convenient 

 food is finely crushed vermicelli, 

 whieh should be sprinkled on the 

 water in moderate quantities. 



The aquarium for goldfish should 

 be more wide than deep, so as to 

 present a large surface for the ab- 

 sorption of air; and be supplied 

 with growing weeds. If the fish are 

 seen gaping at the surf ace, it is a sign 

 that the water is not sufficiently 

 aerated. They will breed in a 

 large tank, but better results are 

 usually obtained by putting them 

 in a small pond. See Carp. 



Goldie, SIR GEORGE DASHWOOD 

 TAUBMAN (b. 1846). British ad- 

 ministrator. Born in the Isle of 



Man, May 20, 1846, the son of Col. 

 Goldie-Taubman, Speaker of the 

 House of Keys, he was educated 

 at the Royal 

 Military Acad- 

 emy, Wool- 

 wich, and ob- 

 tained a com- 

 mission in the 

 Royal Engi- 

 neers. A pio- 

 neer in the de- 

 velopment of 

 Nio-pria and SirG.TaubmanGoldie, 

 govern or of British administrator 

 the territory of 



the Royal Niger Company from 

 1895-99, when it was taken over 

 by the imperial government, he 

 attended the Berlin Conference 

 as an authority on Niger affairs 

 in 1884, directed the Niger-Sudan 

 campaign, and in 1897 accom- 

 panied the Kabba, Bida, and 

 Ilorin expeditions. In 1887 he re- 

 sumed his paternal name of Goldie 

 only, and was made K.C.M.G. He 

 was sworn of the privy council in 

 1898. He served upon several royal 

 commissions, and became presi- 

 dent of the Royal Geographical 

 Society and of the National De- 

 fence Association. 



Goldingen (Lithuanian Kvl- 

 diga). Town of Latvia, in the 

 former Russian govt. of Courland. 

 It stands on the Windau, 88 m. 

 W.N.W. of Mitau. There are 

 breweries, distilleries, and needle 

 factories. In the neighbourhood is 

 a ruined castle, formerly the resi- 

 dence of the dukes of Courland. 

 Pop. 9,850. 



Gold Lace. Ornamentation em- 

 ployed on uniforms and cere- 

 monial dress. It is particularly 

 used upon the uniforms of naval 

 officers, soldiers in some regiments, 

 ecclesiastical and theatrical gar- 

 ments, and liveries. The term de- 

 notes braid or cord, though gold 

 pillow lace is also made. In India 

 the gold thread for making the 

 lace is drawn out so thin that 

 from 1,100 to 1,400 yards of it will 

 only weigh an ounce. It is then 

 flattened by steam rollers and 

 wound by machinery round a 

 strand of silk. A finer thread up 

 to 2,000 yards an ounce is made by 

 drawing it through holes in a dia- 

 mond or ruby. In some countries, 

 gold lace is made with a copper basis 

 or copper and silver, and the 

 cheaper sort is formed of si/'j or 

 rotton thread covered with wax 

 and gold leaf. For theatrical lace 

 the cotton thread is covered with 

 Dutch metal (q.v.). i 



Gold Leaf. Thin sheet of gold' 

 chiefly used for gilding. It is of 

 great antiquity, and was probably 

 first produced in the Far East ; 

 but the early Greeks were able to 



produce leaf not much over one 

 100,000th part of an inch in thick- 

 ness, about three times the thick- 

 ness of fine modern leaf. The 

 Hebrews and the Egyptians were 

 acquainted with the art, very fine 

 specimens of leaf having been 

 found in several ancient Egyptian 

 mummy cases. 



Gold leaf is to-day prepared by 

 first casting the metal in small 

 ingot moulds, using extra high 

 temperature to increase fusibility, 

 followed by annealing the ingots 

 in hot ashes to clean them from 

 grease and improve malleability ; 

 rolling down the ingots between 

 hard, highly polished steel rolls, 

 each into a ribbon 10 ft. in length 

 by ITJ ins. wide to the oz. of metal ; 

 again annealing after cutting the 

 ribbon into small pieces ; piling 

 the little squares between sheets 

 of special paper in a cutch, 150 at 

 a time, and beating with a heavy 

 hammer till each piece is about 

 4 ins. square; cutting these each 

 into four ; piling and beating 

 again in a shoder, with lighter 

 hammers, the separating material 

 at this stage being gold-beaters' 

 skin ; removing from the shoder, 

 cutting again into four ; piling in 

 a final shoder and beating till the 

 pieces are about 3 ins. or 3J ins. 

 square. 



Thus the 150 original small 

 squares become 2,400 leaves, 

 which are finally trimmed and 

 packed, 25 at a time, in " books " 

 between thin paper which has 

 been rubbed with ochre to prevent 

 the leaves adhering. The final 

 thickness is usually about one 

 290,000th part of an inch. The 

 finest leaf is produced from pure 

 metal, but the gold for common 

 purposes may be alloyed either 

 with silver or copper, or with 

 both. See Gold. 



Goldmark, KARL (1830-1915). 

 Hungarian composer. Born May 

 18, 1830, he studied music at the 

 Vienna Con- 

 servatoire, af- 

 terwardsplay- 

 ing in theatri- 

 cal orchestras 

 in Hungarian 

 towns. Fame 

 came to him 

 through his 

 overture Sa- 

 Karl Goldmark, kuntala, pro- 

 Hungarian composer d u c e d in 

 Vienna in 1865, and this was 

 greatly enhanced by his opera The 

 Queen of Sheba, 1875. His com- 

 positions, which include the operas 

 Merlin, 1886, The Cricket on the 

 Hearth, 1896, and some orchestral 

 pieces, are distinguished for their 

 rich orchestral colouring. Gold- 

 mark died Jan. 1, 1915. 



