GULL 



are often deposited on distant 

 shores by the Gulf Stream. Its 

 celebrated headquarters is in the 

 Atlantic, where it is estimated to 

 cover an area of 200,000 sq. m., 

 known as the Sargasso Sea, and 

 almost unaltered since the days 

 when Columbua encountered it 

 about 400 leagues to the W. of the 

 Canaries, to the great alarm of his 

 men, who imagined it to be at- 

 tached to rocks. 



Gull. Order (Laridae) of sea- 

 birds, comprising about 50 species. 

 It includes the various genera com- 

 monly known as gulls, terns, kitti- 

 wakes, and skuas. Most are grey and 

 white in colour, have long and 

 powerful wings, and are web- 

 footed. All are fine swimmers and 

 fliers, and many of them divers. 

 The majority haunt the coasts, 



his medical degree at London Uni- 

 versity in 1841, having gained the 

 necessary knowledge by securing 

 a minor appointment at Guy's 

 Hospital and there attending the 

 lectures. At Guy's, where he was 

 lecturer a nd 

 then phy- 

 sician, he made 

 his reputation 

 by his skill in <i 

 dealing with 

 disease, and he 

 en hanced it 

 after the re- 

 covery of the 



he attended, 

 from typhoid in 1871. He was then 

 made a baronet. Gull died in 

 London, Jan. 29, 1890. 



" Gulliver's Travels. Satiric 

 work of fiction by Jonathan Swift, 

 parts of which have come to be 

 regarded chiefly as a children's 

 story book. It was first published 

 pseudonymously in 1726 as Travels 

 into Several Remote Nations of the 

 World by Lemuel Gulliver. It is 

 divided into four parts, telling of 

 as many voyages ; to Lilliput and to 

 Brobdingnag, in both of which the 

 satire is political ; to Laputa, 

 satirising philosophers and men of 

 science ; and to the Houyhnhnms, 

 where the satire degenerates into 

 misanthropy. Apart from the 

 satire, sometimes playful and fre- 

 quently bitter, it is one of the most 

 original and convincing works of 

 extravagant fiction. The idea is 

 borrowed from the Vera Historia, 

 or True History, of Lucian (q.v. ), 



Gull. Left to right, Black-beaded gull, Larus ridibundus ; Herring gull, L. argentatus ; Common gull, L. canus 



usually in flocks, but are frequently 

 found far inland during severe 

 weather. Gulls are often seen fol- 

 lowing the plough in search of 

 grubs, and the assemblage of vast 

 flocks of black-headed gulls is a 

 common sight in London during 

 winter. When at sea they feed on 

 fishes and small crustaceans, and 

 serve as useful shore scavengers. 

 Gulls are all migratory, either 

 wholly or partially. Their large 

 eggs, of which they lay usually 

 two or three a season, are in many 

 places collected for the table. 

 Most gulls nest on the cliffs ; some, 

 as the black-headed gulls, in the 

 marshes. 



Among the more familiar species 

 are the common gull, which is 

 really less common than many 

 others, and only visits England in 

 winter ; the black-headed gull, 

 which is common around the 

 coasts, has a red beak, and develops 

 a dark-brown head and neck in 

 summer ; and the herring gull, a 

 large bird measuring nearly 2 ft. 

 in length, which has a yellow beak, 

 with red legs, and yellow rings 

 round the eyes. See Bird. 



Gull, SIR WILLIAM WITHEY 

 (1816-90). British physician. Born 

 at Colchester, Dec. 31, 1816, he 

 began life as a schoolmaster. Turn- 

 ing, however, to medicine, he took 



Gulland, JOHN WILLIAM (1864- 

 1920). British politician. Born at 

 Edinburgh, he was educated at the 

 High School and University. He 

 became a corn merchant, and was 

 interested in 

 the municipal 

 affairs of Edin- 

 burgh. He was 

 M.P. for Dum- 

 fries Burghs, 

 1906-18; sec- 

 retary to the 

 Scottish Lib- 

 eral committee 

 in the House 

 of Commons, 

 1906-9 ; junior 

 lord of the 

 Treasury and Scottish whip, 1909- 

 15 ; and joint-parliamentary secre- 

 tary to the Treasury, 1915-17. He 

 died Jan. 27, 1920. 



Gullane. Village and watering- 

 place of Haddingtonshire, Scotland. 

 It stands on Gullane Bay, an open- 

 ing of the Firth of Forth, 4 m. 

 from N. Berwick and 19^ from 

 Edinburgh. It is visited for its 

 bathing, and there are golf links. 

 The name means a little lake. 

 Pop. 920. 



Gullet (Lat. gula, throat). Tube 

 leading from the pharynx to the 

 stomach through which food 

 See Oesophagus. 



which also inspired Cyrano de 

 Bergerac's Voyage a la Lune. See 

 Swift. 



Gully (Lat. gula, throat). Term 

 meaning a channel worn in the 

 ground by running water, a small 

 steep-sided valley or ravine, or a 

 ditch or deep gutter. 



John Wm. Gulland, 

 British politician 



Russell 



Gulliver watching the Lilliputian 

 army marching between bis legs 



From a drawing by T. Morten 



