438 



GLUTEN GLUTTONY. 



it stand some time, to purify it further ; when all the 

 filth has settled to the bottom of the vessel, they melt 

 and boil it a second time. They next pour it into 

 flat frames or moulds, whence it is taken out pretty 

 hard and solid, and cut into square pieces or cakes. 

 They afterwards dry it in the wind, in a sort of coarse 

 net ; and at last string it, to finish its drying. The 

 best glue is that which is oldest ; and the surest way 

 to try its goodness, is, to lay a piece to steep three or 

 four days, and if it swell considerably without melt- 

 ing, and when taken out resume its former dryness, 

 it is excellent. A glue that will hold against fire or 

 water, may be made thus : mix a handful of quick 

 lime with four ounces of linseed oil, boil them to a 

 good thickness, then spread the paste on tin plates 

 in the shade, and it will become exceedingly hard, 

 but may be dissolved over a fire, as glue. Method of 

 preparing and using glue. Set a quart of water on 

 the fire, then put in about half a pound of good glue, 

 and boil them gently together till the glue be entire- 

 ly dissolved, and'of a due consistence. When glue 

 is to be used, it must be made thoroughly hot ; after 

 which, with a brush dipped in it, besmear the faces 

 of the joints as thick as possible ; then, clapping 

 them together, slide or rub them lengthwise one upon 

 another two or three times, to settle them close, and 

 so let them stand till they are dry and firm. Parch- 

 ment glue is made by boiling gently shreds of parch- 

 ment in water, in the proportion of one pound of the 

 former to six quarts of the latter, till it be reduced to 

 one quart : the fluid is then strained from the dregs, 

 and afterwards boiled to the consistence of glue. 

 Isinglass glue is made in the same way : but this is 

 improved by dissolving the isinglass in alcohol, by 

 means of a gentle heat. See Cement, 



GLUTEN ; a vegetable compound, procured by 

 repeatedly washing wheat flour in a large quantity 

 of water, by which means the starch is dissolved, 

 leaving the gluten behind in a very tenacious, ductile, 

 somewhat elastic state, and possessed of a brownish 

 grey colour. It has scarcely any taste, and is insol- 

 uble in water, alcohol, and ether, but is taken up by 

 acids and alkalies. The acjd solution is precipitated 

 by an alkali, and, reciprocally, the alkaline solution 

 by an acid. Dried by a gentle heat, it contracts its 

 volume, and becomes hard and brittle. Its products 

 with fire, or nitric acid, are nearly the same as those 

 of gum and sugar. Gluten is present in most kinds 

 of grain, such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, peas, and 

 beans ; but the first contains it in far the largest pro- 

 portion, which is the reason that wheaten bread is 

 more nutritious than that made with other kinds of 

 flour ; for, of all vegetable substances, gluten appears 

 to be the most nutritive. It is to the presence of 

 gluten, that wheat flour owes its property of forming 

 a tenacious paste with water, to which cause is due 

 the formation of light spongy bread. The carbonic 

 acid, which is disengaged during the fermentation of 

 the dough, being detained by the viscid gluten, dis- 

 tends the whole mass, and thus produces the rising 

 of the bread. Good wheat flour contains from nine- 

 teen to twenty-four per cent, of gluten. The wheat 

 of warm climates is richer in gluten than that of 

 colder regions. Gluten consists of two distinct prin- 

 ciples ; to one of which has been applied the name 

 of gliadine, from yita., gluten, and to the other that 

 of zymome, from &/*, a ferment. To obtain these 

 principles, the gluten is boiled repeatedly in alcohol, 

 which dissolves the gliadine, and leaves the zymome 

 in a pure state. On mixing the powder of guaiacum 

 with the latter substance, a beautiful blue colour in- 

 stantly appears ; and the same phenomenon ensues, 

 though less rapidly, when it is kneaded with gluten, 

 or the flour of good wheat moistened with water. 

 With bad flour, the gluten of which has suffered de- 



composition, the blue tint is scarcely visible. The 

 intensity of the colour thus produced is entirely de- 

 pendent on the relative quantity of zymome contained 

 in the flour ; and, since the quantity of zymome is 

 proportional to the quantity of gluten, the proportion 

 of the latter, and therefore the quality of the flour, 

 is tested by the action of the guaiacum. 



GLUTTON (gulo). This genus of quadrupeds is 

 distinguished by the head being but moderately 

 elongated, and the body long in proportion to its 

 height from the ground. The ears are rounded and 

 very short, There is a simple fold of the skin below 

 the tail, instead of the pouch observable in the bad- 

 ger, to which animal it bears some resemblance. It 

 may, in fact, be considered as intermediate between 

 the true plantigrade and digitigrade animals. Des- 

 marest describes four species ; one of which, the G. 

 arcticus, or wolverene, is an inhabitant of the northern 

 parts of America (G. luscus, Sabine). The wolve- 

 rene is about twenty-eight inches in length from the 

 tip of the nose to the origin of the tail, which latter 

 is about eight inches, if the hair at the extremity be 

 included, which is from three to four inches long. 

 The whole body is covered with very long and thick 

 hair, which varies in colour according to the season 

 or other circumstances. Its summer coat is generally 

 as follows : Face blackish as high as the eyebrows, 

 and between these and the ears whitish or brownish; 

 ears covered with coarse hairs ; the lower jaw and 

 the inside of the fore legs spotted with white ; upper 

 part of the back, thighs, and under part of the belly, 

 brown or brownish black ; sides, chestnut colour. 

 This fur is of considerable value, and is much used 

 in the northern parts of Asia, of which the wolverene 

 is also a native, for making and ornamenting robes. 

 The animal, however, does not breed in sufficient 

 numbers to furnish any great collection to the fur 

 traders. It is very voracious, but at the same time 

 slow and heavy in its motions, though it is remark- 

 ably acute in its sight and hearing. It is amazingly 

 powerful, and an overmatch for any animal of its own 

 size. It makes a strong resistance when attacked. 

 If it can lay hold of it, it will tear the stock from a 

 gun, and pull the traps, in which it is caught, to 

 pieces. It has been stated by persons who are fami- 

 liar with its habits, that it will lurk on a tree, and 

 drop on a deer passing underneath, and fasten on it, 

 drinking the blood, till the unfortunate animal dies 

 from exhaustion. It is one of the most destructive 

 quadrupeds found in the northern part of America, 

 destroying great numbers of young foxes, and 

 other animals ; it is also a great enemy to the beaver, 

 watching them as they come out of their houses, or 

 even breaking into their habitations. Among other 

 fabulous accounts of this animal is that given by 

 Olaus Magnus ; that it eats so voraciously, that it is 

 forced to go between two trees, in order to force out 

 part of the food. The other species are the G. vita- 

 tus, a native of South America ; extremely ferocious, 

 and, although capable of being tamed, never losing 

 its disposition to attack the smaller animals ; G. bar- 

 batus, which is likewise a native of South America, 

 This species lives in a burrow, and is easily tamed. 

 It has a strong musky odour G. capensis ; a native 

 of the cape of Good Hope. This species is very 

 destructive to bees, destroying their nests for the 

 sake of the honey and wax, of which it is very fond. 



GLUTTONY. One of the most disgusting of 

 vices, and, according to the Catholic church, placed 

 amongst the seven deadly sins, consists in an extra- 

 ordinary and depraved indulgence of appetite, 

 whether in solid or fluid food. When it exists as a 

 disease, it is called Bulimia, fames canina, or do<f- 

 like hunger, and the person must either be indulged 

 with food or falls into fainting fits. The unfortuimo 



