GAU 



348 



G AZ 



form fluids, except common air, which is 

 composed of two gaset. Gas retains it* 

 elasticity at all temperatures, and in this 

 it is distinguished from vapour. Sec ELAS- 

 TIC FLU ID*. 



GAS' BUHNERS, are either simple beaks 

 perforated with a small hole (common jet), 

 or a circle with a series of holes (argand), 

 or two holes drilled obliquely to make 

 the flame-cross (swalloie-tail) , or with a 

 slit constituting a sheet of flame (bat's- 

 wing.) 



GAS'-HOLDER, I a vessel for containing 



GASO'METER, 1 and preserving gas. The 

 gas-holder of the chemist assumes va- 

 rious forms. That used at gas-works is a 

 large reservoir (sometimes so large as to 

 contain 60,000 cubic feet of gas), made of 

 iron-plate, suspended in water, and coun- 

 terbalanced by weights, and is mostly 

 provided with some contrivance for mea- 

 suring the quantity of gas it contains. 



GAS'KET, a plaited cord fastened to the 

 Bail-yard of a ship, and used to furl or tie 

 the sail to the yard. 



GAS'TEROPODA, \ a class of molluscs, 



GAS'TEROPODS, j named from yoo-njf, 

 the belly, and trovs, a foot, because they 

 have a foot or organ of locomotion, situ- 

 ated on the abdominal surface. Cuvier 

 enumerates nine orders of Gasteropods, 

 some of which are entirely naked, as, for 

 example, the slug ; others have an interior 

 shell ; but most of them are furnished 

 with one that is large enough to receive 

 and shelter them. 



GAS'TRIC, appertaining to the gaster or 

 stomach, as the gastric juice, a fluid se- 

 creted by the stomach ; it is the principal 

 agent in the process of digestion. It is, 

 when healthy, of a saltish taste, inodorous, 

 and limpid like water. The food is changed 

 by it into a uniform soft paste. 



GASTROCNE'MIUS, yflc<rrj and %/x.ivu, 

 to gape. The calf of the leg. 



GAS'TRCH oi.ic, from gaster and colon. An 

 epithet for the great omentum , because it 

 passes from the gaster or stomach to the 

 arch of the colon. 



GASPKO-ENTEKITIS, from yeta-r^, the 

 stomach, and ivrieov, the intestine. In- 

 flammation of the stomach and intestines. 



GAS'TROMANCY, Gr., from ytttnv^ and 

 fA&t/rsiat, prophecy. Divination by means 

 of words emitted from the belly. 



GASTP^OT'OMY, from <ytx,ff7'f,^, the belly, 

 and Ttpvtu, to cut. The operation of cut- 

 Ting into tne abdomen of the living 

 fcurbject. 



GAS'-WATER, water through which the 

 common illuminating gas has passed : it 

 contains hydro-sulphuret and hydro-bi- 

 sulphuretof lime. 



GAVGF.'-COCKS, two cocks, usually con- 

 nected with steam-boilers, for the purpose 



of ascertaining the heiirht of the water 

 The pipe from the one reaches a little be- 

 yond the water-line, and that from the 

 other stands as 

 much above it. 

 On opening the 

 cocks, if the wa 

 ter be at the pro 

 per heisrht, wa- 

 ter should flow 

 out at A, and 

 steam at B ; 

 should steam is- 

 sue at both, the 

 water is too low, and if both give water, 

 the boiler contains too much water. 



GAVGE-OF-WAY. On railways, the width 

 in the clear between the top flanges of 

 the i ails. 



GAUGE-POINT. In ganging, the diameter 

 of a cylinder of one inch of height, and 

 of which the content is equal to a unit 

 of a given measure. 



GAUGING The measuring of the capa- 

 cities of vessels, chiefly casks, vats, and 

 the like ; and determining the amount of 

 liquid contained in them. 



GACGING-ROD, or DUGONAL-BOD, an in- 

 strument used in gauging. 



GAUT, a term used in India to denote a 

 passage or road through a chain of hills, 

 from the coast to the upland country. 



GAUZE, a very thin transparent textile 

 manufacture, sometimes woven with silk ; 

 and sometimes only of thread, either plain 

 or figured. A fabric of fine wire, for sieves 

 and safety-lamps, is called wire-gauze. 



GAVE'LET, an ancient and special cesa- 

 vit in Kent, in England, where the custom 

 of gavel-kind continues, by which the 

 tenant, if he withdraw! his rent and ser- 

 vices due to his lord, forfeits his lands and 

 tenements. 



GA'VEL-KIND, a tenure, in England, by 

 which land descends from the father to all 

 his sons in equal portions, and the land of 

 a brother, dying without issue, descends 

 equally to his brothers. This species of 

 tenure prevailed in England before the 

 Norman conquest, perhaps generally, but 

 particularly in Kent, where it still exists. 



GA'VIAL, a subdivision of the genus Cro- 

 codilus. Teeth of fossil gavials have been 

 found in the Tilgate strata. 



GAVOT, Fr. garotte. A sort of dance, the 

 air of which has two brisk and lively 

 strains in common time. 



GAT-LTJS'SITE, a white mineral, of a vi- 

 treous fracture, crystallised in oblique 

 rhomboidal prisms. Named in honour of 

 Gay-Lussac. It is a hydrated soda-carbo- 

 nate of lime, in atomic proportions. 



GAZEI/, Fr. gazelle, from the Arabic. An 

 animal of the antelope genus, found in 

 Africa and India. It is peculiarly remark- 

 able for the beauty and brilliancy of it 

 eyes. 



