GANGLION 



2:;so 



GAR 



Ganges Canals, two irrigation canals running 

 parallel with the Ganges for a distance of 100 

 miles, storing water for irrigation purposes. 

 Together they water nearly 2,000,000 acres of 

 land, on which rice, indigo, cotton, fruits and 

 opium are grown in vast quantities. F.ST.A. 



GANGLION, gang'glion. See NERVOUS SYS- 

 TEM. 



GANGRENE, gang 'green, is mortification, or 

 local death, of body tissues. There are two 

 forms of the disease dry and moist. The 

 former is particularly a disease of old age, due 

 to arterial changes, and its progress is ex- 

 tremely slow. Its symptoms are numbness, 

 some pain and a drying and blackening of the 

 skin. Moist gangrene results from infection, 

 suspended circulation and other agencies which 

 destroy the tissues. This form shows a soft 

 discolored mass, covered with blisters, and is 

 characterized by a disagreeable odor. In both 

 forms of the disease there may be a zone of 

 inflammation between the dead and living tis- 

 sue called the "line of demarcation." Hospital 

 gangrene was at one time frequently found in 

 hospitals which were improperly conducted, 

 from a sanitary standpoint. In these cases 

 mortification quickly followed infection and de- 

 manded prompt surgical operation. Modern 

 aseptic methods have abolished this form of 

 the disease. The treatment of gangrene is 

 usually a matter of incision or amputation well 

 beyond the affected area, but in its early 

 stages the disease may be checked by careful 

 dietary and medicinal treatment. 



CAN 'NET, a large, white sea bird which is 

 often of service to fishermen, because it dis- 



THE GANNET 



closes the location of schools of herring by 

 following them and diving for the fish, which 

 is its main food. The birds have strong, sharp 

 bills, webbed feet, a small pouch beneath the 



throat, and are about three feet long. They 

 make their nests of seaweed on rocky cliffs 

 on Bird Rock and Bonaventure, in the Gulf 

 of Saint Lawrence, and on islets off the British 

 Islands. They are very tame, and the mother 

 will not move off her one pale, bluish-white 

 egg even when a person walks close to her. 

 The young require nearly two months to com- 

 plete their growth and remain mottled brown 

 for three or four years. 



GANYMEDE, gan'imeed, in mythology, was 

 a youth of marvelous beauty, whom Jupiter 

 (which see), in the form of an eagle, kidnapped 

 and carried off to Olympus to be his cup- 

 bearer. Hebe, the goddess of youth, had al- 

 ways poured the nectar in which the gods often 

 pledged themselves, until one day at a solemn 

 occasion she tripped and fell. This accident 

 disgraced her and she was forced to resign her 

 office. So Jupiter, in the form of an eagle, 

 left Olympus in search of her successor, and 

 flew over the earth until he saw this beautiful 

 youth, the son of the king of Troy. Swooping 

 down, he caught the boy in his mighty talons 

 and carried him back to the top of his moun- 

 jtain, where he was taught his duties as cup- 

 bearer to the gods. A marble statue, which is 

 a copy of an early bronze statue by Leochares 

 of Athens, representing Ganymede being car- 

 ried off by the eagle, stands in the Vatican at 

 Rome. Homer says : 



"And godlike Ganymede, most beautiful 

 Of men, the gods beheld and caught him up 

 To heaven, so beautiful was he, to pour 

 The wine to Jove, and ever dwell with them." 



GAPES, gayps. Poultry often have a dis- 

 ease which makes them open their beaks and 

 cough continually. This disease is called 

 gapes, and is caused by a tiny worm which 

 lodges in the windpipe of the fowl. Gapes is 

 not a fatal disease, but it prevents poultry 

 from fattening. The best way to cure the 

 malady is to make the fowls breathe the dust 

 of air-slacked lime, which starts a violent 

 coughing and dislodges the worm. Epsom salts 

 added to the food may effect a cure. Another 

 favorite method of dislodging the worm is 

 with a feather dipped in turpentine. The 

 coops, dishes and even the earth in the coops 

 should be disinfected after the disease has been 

 banished. 



GAR. There are two kinds of fish that are 

 called gar, or garfish, because they are much 

 alike in structure and appearance. Both are 

 long and slender, with round bodies and spear- 

 like snouts which are filled with teeth. One 



