GULLS 



2640 



GUM 



Its Influence upon Climate and Navigation. 

 The mildness of the climate in Northwestern 

 Europe as compared with the cold experienced 

 in America in the same latitude has been for 

 a long time attributed entirely to the presence 

 there of the Gulf Stream. Some men of sci- 

 ence, however, consider that this influence upon 

 the climate has been exaggerated; that the 

 mildness of winters in these regions is due more 

 to the prevailing southwestern winds which 

 bring moisture from the ocean. But it cannot 

 be doubted that the exceptional mildness of 

 these winds is caused by the great mass of 

 warm water which is banked against the north- 

 western coast of Europe by the Gulf Stream 

 drift. 



Whether its influence upon the climate of 

 Europe be great or small, the Gulf Stream ful- 

 fills anojther very important function. It keeps 

 the harbors of Northwestern Europe free from 

 ice all the winter and permits uninterrupted 

 navigation all the year round. Its influence in 

 this respect even in the Arctic Ocean has re- 

 ceived quite recently a striking illustration. In 

 the north of Russia, on the coast of the Arctic 

 Ocean, not far removed from the most northern 

 point on the European continent, there is a 

 port which, being under the influence of the 

 Gulf Stream, is free from ice all the year round. 

 This is the port of Ekaterina (which see), sit- 

 uated 68 N., which has been connected with 

 Petrograd by a railway 700 miles long, built 

 in 1915 during the progress of the great War 

 of the Nations. This, the most northern port 

 of Russia, is the only one free from ice and 

 therefore open to navigation all the year round. 

 Archangel, Russia's other northern port, con- 

 siderably farther south and east, is icebound 

 half of each year. O.B. 



Consult Hiker's The Power and Control of the 

 Gulf Stream. 



GULLS, gidz, birds' that are known as long- 

 winged swimmers, living in almost all parts of 

 the world. Though the ocean is their proper 

 home, yet they may be seen on interior waters, 

 near the great lakes and smaller bodies of 

 water. Gulls pick their food from the surface 

 of the water and do not plunge, like the terns. 

 Gulls in large flocks on large bodies of water 

 will follow passenger steamers for hours at a 

 time and will eagerly swoop down to the water 

 for food thrown overboard to them. 



The plumage is pearl-blue, brown or black, 



varying with the season and the age. The 

 small gulls (hat live near lakes are content/ 

 with a diet of worms, but tin- large ones are 

 as voracious, size considered, as are the .ea^lr>. 

 and eat not only fish but useful birds. They 

 are also .scavengers, feeding on animal food, 

 whether putrid or fresh. The large, black- 

 backed gull is a strong, savage bird and belongs 

 particularly to Europe. The black-headed and 

 the herring gulls make their nests in colonies 



GULLS 



The great black-headed gull, and head of the 

 great black-backed gull. 



in wet and swampy places, and build them 

 high enough to be free from the water. The 

 kittiwake gulls build their seaweed nests in 

 wild and rocky places and are so named because 

 their call sounds like "kittiwake." The tern, 

 or seaswallow, belongs to the family of gulls, 

 the black tern being one of the most common 

 birds on inland waters. See KITTIWAKE; TERN. 

 GUM, the name applied to a variety of 

 widely-differing substances of a more or less 

 adhesive nature, which are produced from the 

 sap which flows from certain trees, such as the 

 plum, peach and cherry. True gum is soluble 

 in water but not in alcohol. It is without odor 

 and has a faintly spicy taste. Many aromatic 

 substances which are used in the manufacture 

 of perfumes and incense are classed as gums; 

 gum arabic, of which there are eight or nine 

 varieties, obtained from the Senegal acacia in 

 Western Africa, is the best known of th<>e. 

 Cherry-tree gum is used in the manufacture of 

 hats, to stiffen felts. Benzoin and some allied 

 substances are also called gums, but they are 

 more correctly classed as balsams. Gums are 

 used as mixing agents in pharmacy, and as a 

 medium for obtaining cultures in bacteriology. 

 See GUM ARABIC; BALSAM. 



End of Volume Four 



