748 



THE STANDARD DICTIONARY OF FACTS 



tion than that of the cow, and is often useful 

 to consumptive patients. Some gouts yield as 

 much as four quarts of milk daily, although the 

 average quantity is more nearly two. The skin 

 of the goat was early used for clothing, and is 

 now dressed us leather for many uses, particu- 

 larly for making gloves and the finer kinds of 

 shoes. The hair, which may be advantageously 

 clipped annually, is used for making n.pe> 

 which are indestructible in water. The horns 

 are used for making knife-handles, etc., and the 

 fat is said to be superior to that of the ox for 

 candles. Goats are found wild only in moun- 

 tainous countries; they all exhibit a great apti- 

 tude for scrambling among rocks and bushes, 

 are extremely sure-footed on narrow ledges and 

 pinnacles, and display great strength and agility 

 in leaping. The Rocky Mountain goat is an 

 animal of the antelope family. Its size is about 

 that of an ordinary sheep, and its general ap- 

 pearance is not unlike that of a sheep of the 

 Merino breed, its long, straight hair hanging 

 down in an abundant white fleece. 



Gold. On account of its beautiful color and 

 since it does not become tarnished or corroded 

 in use, is considered the most precious of metals 

 and is used as the principal basis of value 

 throughout the civilized world. It has been 

 known from time immemorial, and is found in 

 many parts of the world. It is usually found 

 in the metallic or native state in the form of 

 nuggets or smaller particles, in sand or gravel, 

 or distributed through rocks or veins. Nuggets 

 weighing as much as 1,000 ounces have been 

 found. Native gold always contains some 

 silver. The metal is also found in combination 

 with tellurium as "telluride ore," and it fre- 

 quently accompanies copper ores and iron 

 pyrites. The extraction of gold from sands or 

 gravels, called alluvial or placer mining, is 

 accomplished by washing with water in various 

 ways. The heavy gold sinks to the bottom 

 when the material is stirred up with water, and 

 mercury (quicksilver) is usually used to amal- 

 gamate the gold and hold it. Solid ores have 

 to be powdered by stamp mills or other devices 

 before the gold can be extracted, and sometimes 

 they must be heated to redness (roasted) to 

 drive off tellurium or other things. One of the 

 modern methods of extracting gold from ores 

 consists in dissolving out the metal with water 

 containing potassium cyanide. This is known 

 as the "cyanide process." Gold is the heav- 

 iest of all the familiar metals except platinum. 

 It is more than nineteen times as heavy as 

 water. In malleability it stands first among 

 the metals, being capable of being beaten to a 

 thickness of j^rinnyof an inch and ductile enough 

 to be drawn into a wire 500 feet long and weigh- 

 ing only one grain. It may be alloyed with 

 other metals to change the color for designs. 

 The best known alloy of gold is that with 

 copper, which is used for gold coins. The chief 

 gold discoveries have been in California, 1848; 

 Australia, 1851; British Columbia, 1858; New 

 Zealand and Nova Scotia, 1861; South Africa, 

 1868; West Australia, 1870; South Australia, 

 1886; Alaska and Klondike. 



Goose. A genus of web-footed birds, 

 having the bill not longer than the head, 



more high than broad at the base, the upper 

 mandible slightly hooked at the tip; the legs 

 placed farther forward than in ducks, and so 

 better adapted for walking; the neck of mod- 

 erate length, with sixteen vertebra', a character 

 which widely distinguishes them from swans. 

 In general, geese spend more of their time on 

 land than any other of the Anatidcc, feeding on 

 grass and other herbage, berries, seeds, and 

 other vegetable food. Although large birds. 

 and of bulky form, they have great powers o! 

 flight. They strike with their wings in fighting, 

 and there is a hard callous knob or tubercle at 

 the bend of the wing, which in some species 

 becomes a spur. The domestic goose i^ regarded 

 as deriving its origin from the Gray Lag goose 

 or common wild goose, but all the specie 

 very capable of domestication, and several of 

 them have been to some extent domesticated. 

 The Gray Lag goose is almost three feet in 

 length from the tip of the bill to the extremity 

 of the short tail. Its extent of wing is about 

 five feet. The wings do not reach to the ex- 

 tremity of the tail. The weight of the largest 

 birds is about ten pounds. The color of the 

 plumage is gray, varying in some parts to 

 grayish-brown; the rump and belly white, the 

 tail grayish-brown and white; the bill is orange. 

 the nail at the tip of the upper mandible white. 

 The young are darker than the adults. 



Guinea Pig or Cavy. A small animal 

 belonging to the family of rodents. It is in- 

 digenous to South America, and has been intro- 

 duced into many parts of Europe, where it is 

 domesticated as a pet. It possesses a very low 

 degree of intelligence; in its natural home it is 

 gregarious, and is usually found living on dry 

 lands covered with low brushwood. The color 

 of the guinea pig is variegated, and its tail is 

 quite rudimentary. It is an extremely prolific 

 animal, and begins to breed at the age of ten 

 months, producing many broods in a year; 

 each litter usually consists of about eight. The 

 origin of the popular name of this animal is 

 quite unknown; it appears to be very inappro- 

 priate, for the animal does not come from 

 Guinea, nor yet is it a pig. 



Hippopotamus. A genus of animals 

 nearly allied to the pigs, hogs, and peccaries, 

 and belonging to the class Ungulata. The 

 group is represented by only one (well-estab- 

 lished) living species, the Hippopotamus am- 

 phibius, or River horse, of Africa. It is enor- 

 mously bulky and unwieldy, attaining a height 

 of five feet, and a length of as much as twelve 

 feet. The feet are massive, and are terminated 

 by four hoofed toes; the skin is very thick and 

 strong. Between the skin and the flesh there is 

 a layer of fat, which is salted and eaten by the 

 Dutch settlers of South Africa. The hippopota- 

 mus feeds entirely upon vegetable substances, 

 such as grasses and shrubs; it dives and swims 

 with great facility. 



Horse. An ungulate or hoofed mammal. 

 The horse proper is characterized by the tail 

 being furnished with long hairs from its base; 

 by the long and flowing mane; by the posses- 

 sion of a bare callosity on the inner surface of 

 the hind as well as of the fore legs; and by the 

 head and ears being smaller and the limbs 



