GOL 



GON 



it small enough for the least iron ; the 

 finest holes of which last scarcely exceed- 

 ing the hair of the head, finish the work. 



TO dispose the wire to be spun on silk, 

 they pass it between two rollers of a little 

 mill : these rollers are of nicely polished 

 steel, and about three inches in diameter. 

 They are set very close to each other, and 

 turned by means of a handle fastened to 

 one of them, which gives motion to the 

 other. The gold wire, in passing between 

 the two, is rendered quite flat, but with- 

 out losing any thing of its gilding, and is 

 rendered so exceedingly thin and flexible, 

 that it is easily spun on silk thread, by 

 means of a hand wheel, and so wound on 

 a spool or bobin. 



GOLDFINCH See FRIJTGILLA. 



GOLD size. See SIZE. 



GOLDSMITH, or as some choose to 

 express it, silver -smith, an artist who makes 

 vessels, utensils, and ornaments in gold 

 and silver. 



The goldsmith's work is either perform- 

 ed in the mould, or beat out with the ham- 

 mer, or other engine. All works that have 

 raised figures are cast in a mould, and 

 afterwards polished and finished : plates, 

 or dishes, of silver or gold are beat out 

 from thin flat plates; and tankards, and 

 other vessels of that kind, are formed of 

 plates soldered together, and their mould- 

 ings are beat, not cast. The business of 

 the goldsmiths formerly required much 

 more labour than it does at present ; for 

 they were obliged to hammer the metal 

 from the ingot to the thinness they want- 

 ed : but there are now invented flatting- 

 nulls, which reduce metals to the thin- 

 ness that is required, at a very small ex- 

 pence. The goldsmith is to make his 

 own moulds, and for that reason ought to 

 be a good designer, and have a taste in 

 sculpture : he also ought to know enough 

 of metallurgy, to be able to assay mixed 

 metals, and to mix the alloy. The gold- 

 smiths in London employ several hands 

 under them, for the various articles of 

 their trade : such are, the jeweller, the 

 nuff-box and toy-maker, the silver turner, 

 the gilder, the burnisher, the chaser, the 

 refiner, and the gold-beater. 



GOLD, mosaic, that applied in pannels, 

 on properground, distributed into squares, 

 lozenges, 'and other compartments, part 

 whereof is shadowed, to heighten or raise 

 the rest. 



GOLD, shell, that used by the illuminers 

 to write gold letters. It is made with the 

 parings of leaf-gold, and even of the 

 leaves themselves, reduced into an impal- 

 pable powder, by grinding on a marble 



with honey. After leaving it to tnfusft 

 some time in aqua-fortis, they put -it in 

 shells, where it sticks. To use it they 

 dilute it with gum-water, or soap-water. 



GOLD, pure, that purged by fire of all 

 its impurities, and all alloy. The mo- 

 derns frequently call it gold of 24 carats f 

 but in reality there is no such thing as 

 gold so very pure, and there is always 

 wanting at least a quarter of a carat. 

 Gold of 22 carats has one- part of silver, 

 and another of copper; that of 23 carats 

 has half a part, i. e. half a twenty-fourth of 

 each. See CARAT. 



GOLDEN number, in chronology, a num- 

 ber shewing what year of the moon's cycle 

 any given year is. See CHRONOLOGY. 



The rule for finding the goklen number 

 is this ; add one to the given year, and 

 divide by 19, the quotient is the number 

 of cycles which have revolved since the 

 commencement of the Christian sera, and 

 the remainder will be the golden number 

 for the given year : the golden number 



1809-4-1 

 for 1809 = 95 for the number 



of cycles, and 5 the remainder will be the 

 golden number : when there is no re. 

 mainder the golden number is 19. 



GOLDEN rod. See SOLIDAGO. 



GOLDEN rule, in arithmetic, is also call- 

 ed the rule of three, and the rule of pro- 

 portion. See PROPORTION, and RULE OF 

 THREE. 



GOMPH1A, in botany, a genus of the 

 Decanclriu Monogynia class and order. 

 Essential character : calyx five-leaved ; 

 corolla five petalled ; berries two, on a 

 large receptacle ; seed solitary. There 

 are three species. 



GOMPHKENA, in botany, globe ama+ 

 rajith, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia 

 class and order. Natural order of Ama- 

 ranthi, Jussieu. Essential character : ca- 

 lyx coloured, outer three-leaved ; leaflets 

 two, converging, keeled ; petals rude, 

 villose; nectary cylindric, five-toothed i 

 style cloven half way ; capsule one-seed- 

 ed. There are nine species. 



GONATOCARPUS, in botany, a genus 

 of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and or- 

 der. Essential character; corolla four- 

 cleft ; drupe eight cornered, one-seeded. 

 There is only one species ; viz. G. mi- 

 cranthus. 



GONDOLA, in naval architecture, a flat 

 kind of boat, very long and narrow, chiefly 

 used on the canals at Venice. 



GONG, in music, an instrument used 

 in China, is made of a metal composed of 

 silver, lead, and copper, and its shape is a 

 sort of circular concave. The tone ia 



