GOETHE 



2522 



GOLD 



the next ten years he was deeply occupied 

 with affairs of state, devoting himself to agri- 

 culture, horticulture, geology and mineralogy, 

 and proving himself an able and conscientious 

 minister whose grasp of practical affairs was 

 astonishing. It was through this work that 

 he came to love the study of natural science, 

 to which he gave much attention during the 

 last years of his life. 



The years between 1786 and 1788 were spent 

 in Italy. Coming there under the influence of 

 classic art and literature, Goethe's own art 

 became calmer and freer, and the unfinished 

 dramas which he brought with him to Italy 

 Iphigenie, Tasso, Egmont and Faust begun 

 when he was under the spell of the Romantic 

 movement (see ROMANTICISM), were com- 

 pleted in an entirely different spirit. Several 

 unfruitful years followed his return to Weimar, 

 where, in 1791, he was appointed director of 

 the ducal theater. This post he held for 

 twenty-six years. In 1794 there came a new 

 influence into his life, the friendship of the 

 poet Schiller. Stimulated by the latter's en- 

 thusiasm for literature, he completed in 1796 

 his most significant novel, The Apprenticeship 

 of Wilhelm Meister, a story of theatrical life 

 which contains one of his most charming lyrics, 

 Kennst du das Land? The English translation 

 of this beautiful song is familiar: 



Know'st thou the land where the fair citron blows, 

 Where the bright orange midst the foliage glows, 

 Where soft winds greet us from azure skies, 

 Where silent myrtles, stately laurels rise, 

 Know'st thou it well? 



'Tis there, 'tis there, 

 That I with thee, beloved one, would repair. 



The next year Goethe published his epic of 

 humble peasant life, Hermann and Dorothea. 

 Several exquisite ballads followed, and in 1808, 

 with the publication of the first part of Faust, 

 he entered upon the final period of his literary 

 career. These last years in Weimar saw the 

 completion of a novel, Elective Affinities; his 

 autobiography, Truth and Fiction Relating to 

 My Life; a sequel to Wilhelm Meister; a col- 

 lection of Oriental lyrics; and the second part 

 of Faust. As he laid aside this monumental 

 work, the year before his death, he said, "It 

 is now really indifferent what I do, or if I 

 do anything at all." 



He died on March 22, 1832, and was buried 

 in the ducal mausoleum, near the resting place 

 of his friend and patron, Charles Augustus. 

 The house in Weimar, which was his home for 

 so many years, and the one in Frankfort where 



he was born, are preserved as memorials of 

 him, and many of the important cities of 

 Europe and the United States have erected 

 statues in honor of this master-genius. See 

 GERMAN LITERATURE. B.M.W. 



GOITER, goi'ter, an enlargement of the 

 thyroid gland, which is located nearly in the 

 front of the neck. The disease may appear 

 in the form of a small swelling, or it may 

 produce a growth of large proportions, several 

 inches deep. It is prevalent in many countries, 

 but particularly in the mountainous regions 

 of Switzerland and in Northern Italy, where 

 lime formations abound. A general lack of 

 nutrition, hardening of the tissues, and the 

 habit of carrying heavy weights- on the head, 

 are some of the causes of goiter. One treat- 

 ment of a certain form of the disease is the 

 local and internal administration of small doses 

 of iodine, but a physician should always deter- 

 mine whether this is the proper method to 

 employ. The X-ray has also been successfully 

 applied. Some authorities advise the entire 

 removal of the goiter by operation, but this 

 must be followed by the continued administra- 

 tion of thyroid lymph. The disease is seldom 

 fatal. 



GOLCONDA, golkon'da, the ancient city of 

 India which lay halfway between Madras and 

 Bombay, famous in olden times for diamonds, 

 which, however, were merely cut and polished 

 there. The expression richer than Golconda 

 became proverbial. The ruins of this city of 

 the long ago are still famous for the ancient 

 fortress, now used as a state prison, and for 

 the gray-stone burial places of one-time rulers 

 of the ancient kingdom of Golconda. 



GOLD. So far as is known there has never 

 been a time when this yellow metal has not 

 been "the precious metal," more sought after 

 than any other. All researches show that man 

 knew of it before he knew of any other metal, 

 and that it was everywhere, in a sense, the 

 standard of value. The Assyrians and the 

 Egyptians, the founders of the very oldest 

 civilizations, expended their skill in fashioning 

 ornaments from it; and what the ancient He- 

 brews thought of it is shown by the fact that 

 it seemed the only thing with which they 

 could compare those "precepts of the Lord" 

 which were the greatest factor in their national 

 life. "More to be desired are they than gold," 

 chanted the psalmist; "yea, than much fine 

 gold." Some of the Oriental peoples almost 

 worshiped it, for was it not in its color and 

 luster like the sun, the god of their idolatry? 



