GUMBO 



3745 



GUN 



from Kovno, his main base, to 

 Konigsberg. By Aug. 16 his 

 front extended from Pillkallen on 

 the N. to Goldap on the S. On 

 Aug. 17 Von Franyois held him up 

 for some hours at Stalluponen, but 

 after a stubborn fight was forced 

 to retire on Gumbinnen, 10 m. 

 farther along the railway, where he 

 was met and defeated on Aug. 20. 



Attacking f rontally, the Russians 

 rushed the German positions, but 

 the Germans reformed and counter- 

 attacked, and the battle fluctuated 

 for some time. In the end the 

 numbers of the Russians pre- 

 vailed, and the Germans retreated 

 as night fell. On the wings, both at 

 Pillkallen and at Goldap, Renneri- 

 kampf was successful by Aug. 21. 

 Von Frangois retired on Inster- 

 burg, an important railway and 

 road junction, but unable to hold 

 it, withdrew to Konigsberg. See 

 Tannenberg, Battle qf. 



Gumbo OR OKRA. (Hibiscus 

 esculentus). Annual herb of the 

 natural order Malvaceae. It is a 

 native of the W. Indies, and has 

 yellow flowers. The unripe fruits 

 contain much mucilage, and are 

 used in cookery for thickening 

 soups, and for other purposes. 



Gumboil. Small abscess on the 

 gum, arising in most cases from 

 decay at the root of a tooth. 



Gum Elemi (Canarium com- 

 mune). Tree of the natural order 

 Burseraceae. It is a native of the 

 Philippine Islands. The leaves are 

 broken up into seven to nine oval 

 leaflets. The flower? are small, 



Gummel. Town of Nigeria. It 

 is in the Katagum portion of 

 the Kano prov., 75 m. N.E. of 

 Kano. 



Gummersbach. Town of Ger- 

 many in the Rhine prov. of Prussia. 

 It is 25 m. E.N.E. of Cologne, and 

 is the chief town of a district. An 

 industrial centre, it has manufac- 

 tures of electrical apparatus, car- 

 pets, textiles, paper, machinery, 

 etc. Pop. 16,000. 



Gummidge, MRS. Character in 

 Charles Dickens's David Copper- 

 field. She is the widow of Peggot- 

 ty's partner, and, given a home by 

 hospitable Peggotty, takes the 

 most comfortable place and queru- 

 lously complains that she is a " lone, 

 lorn creetur, and everythink goes 

 contrairy with her." 



Gumming. Disease or affec- 

 tion of fruit trees usually due to 

 excessive richness in the soil. It 

 manifests itself by exudations of a 

 yellowish-brown transparent sub- 

 stance upon the stems or joint 



Gum Elemi. Foliage and flowers ; 

 below, left, fruit and section 



white and clustered, and the fruit 

 has a thin olive skin and a sweet 

 kernel. From incisions made in 

 the bark, a fragrant resin, of the 

 consistence of honey, exudes, and 

 hardens on exposure. This is the 

 elemi used in medicine. 



Gummata. Tumours which 

 may form in almost any organ or 

 tissue of the body during the course 

 of syphilis. Their appearance indi- 

 cate's an active stage of the disease 

 requiring energetic constitutional 

 treatment. See Syphilis. 



branches of the trees. Trees so 

 affected should either be trans- 

 planted into a less fertile soil or 

 rigorously root-pruned. As a rule, 

 gummy trees run to an excess of 

 foliage without making much fruit. 

 See Fruit Farming. 



Guxnti. River of India, in tins 

 United Provinces. It rises east of 

 Pilibhit, and after a course of about 

 500 m. enters the Ganges at Said- 

 pur, in Ghazipur District. The 

 Gumti is the only left bank tribu- 

 tary of the Ganges which does not 

 issue from the Himalayas; it de- 

 pends for its water entirely upon 

 the rains. (Lucknow is the chief 

 town on its banks.) 



Gumurdjina, GUMURZHINA OR 

 GUMULJINA. Town of Greece, in 

 Thrace. Known chiefly for its 

 large annual cattle market, it is 

 situated on the Karaga, about 

 70 m. S.W. of Adrianople, and 

 12m. from the Aegean Sea. The 

 district produces good wine. 

 Pop. 8,000. 



GUNS AND GUN MAKING 



Capt, E, de W, S. Colver and John Lcylancl 



A general sketch of guns in general is followed by an account of 

 naval guns. The guns used in land warfare are more usually 

 described as Artillery (q.v.). In addition there are articles on every 

 kind of gun, e.g., Howitzer; Machine gun; Stokes gun, etc., 

 and on the various explosives, e.g. Cordite ; Gunpowder ; Melinite, 

 etc. See also Ammunition; Ballistics; Explosives; Firearms; 

 Pistol ; Revolver ; Rifle, etc. 



Gun (Anglo-Saxon, gonne, ma- 

 chine for throwing missiles) is a 

 term somewhat loosely employed 

 to describe several widely different 

 varieties of firearms and, more par- 

 ticularly, relatively long-barrelled 

 varieties. Amongst the smaller 

 varieties of firearms, the term gun 

 is chiefly confined to long- barrelled, 

 smooth-bore sporting weapons and 

 the automatically operated rifles 

 termed machine guns. Among the 

 larger firearms, gun is the designa- 

 tion of the long-barrelled rifled 

 weapons, which, on account of 

 their stronger construction, per- 

 mitting higher chamber pressures, 

 and consequently greater muzzle 

 velocity of the projectile, are able 

 to throw the latter a greater dis- 

 tance with a comparatively flat 

 trajectory in contradistinction to 

 the more lightly constructed 

 howitzers, which, though they may 

 throw a projectile of equal or 

 greater weight for similar calibres, 

 work at a lower pressure, have a 

 shorter range, and attain this by a 

 very steep or high trajectory. 

 Howitzers are usually rifled, but 

 many of the very light varieties in- 

 troduced to aid trench fighting in 

 the Great War are smooth bored. 



The early history and develop- 

 ment of the sporting gun is the 

 same as that of the military wea- 



pon, and it was not until it was re- 

 cognized, towards the middle of 

 the 19th century, that a rifled 

 weapon was essential for military 

 purposes, that the two classes be- 

 came distinctive. Modern sporting 

 guns are essentially designed to 

 throw a charge of small shot to an 

 effective range of 50 to 90 yards, 

 the barrels being smooth bored. If 

 the bore is parallel throughout it is 

 known as cylinder, but if it is con- 

 stricted towards the muzzle in 

 order to increase the effective 

 range and prevent the shot spread- 

 ing so widely it is termed choke 

 (half or full). Most guns are 

 double barrelled, and except for 

 special purposes it is usual for the 

 right barrel to be cylinder and the 

 left choke bored. The size of the 

 bore is designated by a number, 

 this being a survival from the days 

 of the musket and founded on the 

 weight of the single lead bullet 

 which the barrel was designed to 

 use. The most usual size is 12 bore, 

 but 8 and 4 bore guns are employ- 

 ed for duck shooting, and 16, 20, 

 and 28 bore guns are used to some 

 extent when an exceptionally light 

 weapon is desired. 



The question of weight has al- 

 ways been an important one in the 

 manufacture of sporting weapons, 

 it being essential to attain the 



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