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344 



AL 



FCS'TIC, Ger. ftistick. The wood of a 

 pecies of mulberry (moms tinctoria], a 

 large tree which grows in most parts of 

 South America, West Indies, &c. It is 

 the old fustic of the English dyer, as the 

 rhits cotinus, a small European shrub, is 

 their young fustic. This last is also called 

 fustic and zante. 



FUT'TOCKS. In ship-building, a term 

 corrupted from foot-hooks, meaning the 

 lower timbers raised over the keel that 

 hold the ship together. 



FCT'TOCK PLATES. Flat iron bars, con- 

 necting the lower dead-eye of the top- 

 mast rigging at one end, with the futtock 

 shroud at the other. 



FUT'TOCK-SHBOUDS, foot-hook shrouds. 

 The small shrouds in a ship's rigging, 

 passing from the mainmast, foremast, and 

 mizenmast shrouds, to those of the top- 

 masts. 



G. 



G, the seventh letter of the English al- 

 phabet, as a numeral, formerly denoted 

 400, and with a dash over it, 40,000 ; as a 

 mark in music, it designates the treble 

 cleff; and from its being placed at the 

 head, or marking the first second in Gui- 

 de's scale, the whole scale took the name 

 of gamut. 



GAPEL',Fr. Gabelle. A term which when 

 formerly mentioned absolutely signified 

 a French tax on salt, but afterwards it 

 came to signify any impost or duty. In 

 old records it means rent, custom, or duty 

 due to the lord. 



GA'BIONS. In fortification, wicker bas- 

 kets which are filled with earth to form 

 temporary defences, &c. 



GA'BLE, Scot. Gaval. The upright tri- 

 angular end of a house from the cornice 

 or eaves to the top of the house. 



GAD. Among miners, a small punch of 

 iron with a wooden handle, used to break 

 up ore. 



GAFF. In ships, a sort of boom or spar, 

 used to extend the upper edge of the 

 mizzen. 



GAGE (Fr. and Eng.), a name given to a 

 variety of instruments used to measure 

 the degree of rarefaction in the receiver 

 of an air-pump ; quantity of rain which 

 falls in a given time ; force of steam in a 

 steam-boiler, height of tides, force of 

 wind, &c. &c. In plastering, the word 

 signifies the quantity of Paris plaster used 

 with the common plaster to accelerate 

 its setting. In architecture, it is applied 

 to the length of a tile or slate below 

 the lap. 



GAI'LLARDB (It.), a lively dance pecu- 

 liar to Italy. 



GAIN. In carpentry, the bevelled shoul- 

 der ol a binding joist. 



GALACTIN, a vegetable substance ob- 

 tained from the sap of the galatto-dendron 

 utile, or cow-tree of South America, where 

 it is used as a substitute for cream. 



GALAC'TILE, milk-stone; yotAc*, milk, 

 and A/00?, stone. A mineral which re- 

 sembles steatite ; but which when tritu- 

 rated in water gives a milk-like solution. 



GALACTOM'ETER, from yXa, milk, and 



ireov, measure. An instrument for as- 

 certaining the quality of milk by the quan- 

 ity of cream it produces. It is merely a 

 long graduated glass tube standing upon 

 a sole. The hydrometer is, however, the 

 most convenient galactometer. See MILK. 



GALACTOPH'ORUS, the milk-bearer; 

 '/mt.aL, milk, and qiau, to bear. An in- 

 strument used to facilitate lactation when 

 the nipple is not sufficiently developed. 



GALA'GO, the name given by Geoffrey to 

 a sub-genus of the Lemur tribe of mam- 

 malia. The species are all from Africa. 

 Their regimen is insectivorous and their 

 habits nocturnal. 



GALAN'GAL. In botany, the smaller ga- 

 langal is the Maranta galanga. The Eng- 

 lish galangal is the Cyperus longus. The 

 greater galangal is the Keempferia galanga. 



2 In pfiarmacy, the roots of the 



greater and smaller galangal, brought 

 from China and the East Indies. 



GAL'AXY. In astronomy, the milky- 

 way ; yctXtf, milk ; the ri lactea, of the 

 Latins. A long luminous tract forming 

 nearly a great circle of the celestial 

 sphere, inclined to the ecliptic at an angle 

 of 60. The ancients had many singular 

 ideas as to the cause of this phenomenon, 

 but the telescope proves that it is caused 

 by a vast assemblage of stars, too distant 

 to be distinguished by the naked eye. 



GAL'BANUM, Heb. Chalbanah. A gum- 

 resin which exudes from incisions made 

 in the stem of the Bubon galbanum, an 

 umbelliferous plant which grows abun- 

 dantly in Africa and some parts of Asia. 



GAL'BULA, the Jacamars, a genus of 

 birds. Order Scnnsoriee, Cuv. These 

 birds are closely allied to the king-fishers. 

 They live solitarily in wet forests, feed on 

 insects, and build on low branches. 



GAL'EA, a helmet, from yX-/j, a cat, bo- 

 cause helmets were originally made of 

 cats' skins! Applied to, 1. In botany, the 

 upper arched lip of a ringent and perso- 

 nate corol. 2. In anatomy, the amnion. 



3. In surgery, & bandage for the head. 



4. In pathology, headache extending 



all over the head. 5. In geology, a 



genus of echini found fossil ; they are dis- 

 tinguished by a large base from which the 

 shell rises in a vaulted, helmet- like form. 



GALE AS', Fr. galeasse. A description cf 

 heavy, lo^v-built vessel worked with both 

 kails and oars. 



