GON 



GOR 



GOLDEN RCLB. In arithmetic, a name 

 for proportion, or -the rule of three. 



GOLDFISH, an elegant fish, the Cyprinus 

 auratus, of the size of a pilchard, and thus 

 named from its golden colour. It is a na- 

 tive of China, but is now kept throughout 

 Europe in ponds, glass globes, and other 

 Tessels, by way of ornament. 



GOLDLEA.F, or LEAFGOLD, gold beaten 

 into a thin film or leaf, varying in thick- 

 ness and fineness, according to the pur- 

 poses for which it is intended. The metal 

 is first beaten on a block of marble, with 

 hammers of polished iron, to the thinness 

 of paper; it is thencutinto pieces ofabout 

 an inch square, placed between skins, 

 and beaten thinner; divided again into 

 squares, and again beaten until it has 

 acquired the necessary degree of thinness. 

 The finished leaves are put up into books 

 made of single leaves of soft paper, rubbed 

 over with a little chalk, to prevent adhe- 

 sion, when it is ready for the gilder. 



GOLD THREAD, or SPUN GOLD, is a flat- 

 tened silver gilt wire, wrapped or laid 

 over a thread of yellow silk, by twisting 

 with a wheel and iron bobbins. 



GOLF. A game with a ball and clubs, 

 almost peculiar to Scotland. 



GOLI'AH, the name given by Lambert to 

 a genus of coleopterous insects remark- 

 able for their size and beauty. Some of 

 the species inhabit Africa and the East 

 Indies, and others the tropical parts of 

 America. 



GOM'ARITES. In ecclesiastical history, 

 the Calvinistic divines of the Church of 

 Holland, in the 17th century: so called 

 after Gomar of Leyden. 



GOMPHO'SIS, <yop.$ca/ri; , from yofMfOf, 

 a nail. A species of immoveable connec- 

 tion of bones, in which one is fixed into 

 another, like a nail in a board ; e. g. the 

 teeth in the alveoli of the jaws. 



GOMC'TI, a species of palm. Borassus go- 

 mutus, growing in the Indian islands: 

 called also ejoo. It is remarkable for a 

 product which it yields resembling black 

 horse hair, found at the insertion of the 

 branches into the trunk, in a matted 

 form. It is manufactured into cordage. 



GON'DOLA, a large barge, curiously or- 

 namented, andnavigated on the Venetian 

 canals. It is usually rowed by two men, 

 hence called gondoliers, 



GON'FANON, i In heraldry, the banner 



GON'FALON. } of the Roman Catholic 

 Church, carried in the pope's army. 



GOXO-OONO, the tam-tam of the Chi- 

 nese, a kind of cymbal made of a copper 

 alloy (four copper and one tin). 



GONIOM'ETER, from -/MHO,, an angle, and 

 fAtr$ov, measure. An instrument to mea- 

 sure angles, especially of crystals. The 

 simplest goniometer consists of a gra- 

 duated brass semicircle A A, and a pair of 



proportional compasses BBBB, move- 

 able on the centre, and capable of being 

 lengthened or shortened. The faces of 

 the crystal are embraced by the exterior 

 legs of the compasses, and the value of 



the angle comprised between them may 

 be read off upon the semicircle by the knife 

 edge of the leg BCB. Dr. AVollaston's 

 reflecting goniometer is, however, much 

 more accurate and elegant than this, but 

 is much more complex. 



GOOGIXGS, ) certain clamps of iron 



GOODINGS, I bolted on the stern-post of 

 a ship, whereon to hang the rudder. 



GOOSE'BERRIES, the fruit of the goose- 

 berry-bush (q. v.). 



GOOSE'BERRS-BUSH, a name common to 

 the Ribes grossularia, which produces tha 

 rough gooseberry ; and the Ribcs Ui-a- 

 crispa, which produces the smooth goose- 

 berry. 



GOOSE-NECK. In a ship, a piece of iron 

 fixed on one end of the tiller, in which, 

 the lanniard of the whip-staff or wheel- 

 rope comes, for steering the ship ; also an 

 iron hook on the inner end of a boom. 



GOOSE-WINGS (of a sail), the clues or 

 lower corners of the main or fore-sail, 

 when the middle part is furled. A sail 

 set on a boom on the lee side of a ship is 

 also called a ctoosetcing. 



GOR'DIAN KNOT. In history, was a knot 

 made by Gordius, king of Phrygia.in the 

 harness of his chariot, so intricate as to 

 baffle every effort to untie it. 



GOK'DIUS, the hair-worm. A genus of 

 annelides of the abranchian order. The 

 body resembles a thread ; and the hair-Tail 

 worm (G. aquatints, Lin.), found in stag- 

 nant marshes, &c., is several inches in 

 length, and almost as fine as a hair. 



GORE. 1. In heraldry, an abatement 

 consisting of two arched lines, meeting in 



n acute angle in the middle of the fess 



point: it denotes a coward. 2. A piece 



of cloth or the like approaching to^a tri- 

 angle, but having the oblique angles 

 rounded off, and forming or intended to 

 form a part. 



GORGE (Fr.), the throat. In architec- 

 ture, another aamc for the moulding 



