OAMBIEB 254 GAME months of the year for vessels of 150 tons, but from June to November the river becomes a torrent. The British Colony and Protectorate of Gambia occupies the banks of the river as far up as Georgetown; area, 69 square miles. It embraces St. Mary's Island, containing Bathurst, the chief town of the settlement. Besides the weav- ing of cotton into native cloths, there are manufactures of vegetable oils and bricks, and some boat-building. The staple product is the groundnut, which is exported to the S. of Europe for the ex- traction of oil. Other products are hides, rice, cotton, beeswax, kola nuts, and india-rubber. Formerly a dependency of Sierra Leone, the settlement was created an independent colony in 1843, and be- came a portion of the West African Settlements in 1876; in 1888 it was made a separate government. Pop. about 8,- 000. The protectorate has an area of 4,500 square miles; pop. about 200,000. GAMBIEB, GAMBIR (gam'ber), or PALE CATECHU, an important article of commerce, used to a small extent medicinally as an astringent but very largely in tanning and dyeing. It is an earthy-looking, light-brown substance, often in small cubes or in compact masses. It possesses no odor, but has a bitter, astringent taste, subsequently be- coming sweetish. It is prepared from the young leaves of the Uncaria Gatnbir, a native of the countries bordering the Straits of Malacca. As the plant, which grows to 8 or 10 feet, constantly pro- duces young leaves, the manufacture is carried on throughout the year. GAMBIEB, ISLANDS, a group of small coral islands in the South Pacific, about lat. 23° 8' S. and Ion. 134° 55' W.; belon^ng to France. The vegetation is luxuriant and there are numerous birds but no indigenous quadrupeds. A French mission station was formed on the largest island, Mangareva, in 1834. GAMBIT, in chess, the sacrifice of a pawn in the beginning of the game in order to obtain a favorable position for attack. GAMBLING, playing at games of hazard or chance for money. Strictly speaking, gambling may be understood as gaming in its worst sense, and as imply- ing professional play for a money stake by men who are unscrupulous adepts at so-called games of chance. GAMBOGE, or GAMBOGE (a corrup- tion of Cambodia, the name of the dis- trict in Annam where it is found) , a gum Tesin containing about 70 per cent, of resin, and 24 per cent, of soluble gum. It is obtained by piercing the bark of Garcinia tnorella, variety pedicellata, a tree belonging to the order Guttiferse, growing in Cambodia, Siam, and the S. part of Cochin China. The juice is allowed to harden in bamboo reeds, hence it occurs in commerce in the form of pipes which are striated externally. Gamboge is hard and brittle, breaking vdth a yellow-brown vitreous conchoidal fracture; its powder is a bright yellow color; it is inodorous, has a slight taste, but when chewed is acid. Gamboge is used as a pigment in water-color paint- ing. By the action of nitric acid it is oxidized into picric and oxalic acids. An inferior kind of gamboge in the form of flat cakes is prepared in Ceylon from Hehradendron gambogioides. In phar- macy, gamboge is used in the prepara- tion of Pilula cambogise composite, com- pound gamboge pill, composed of gam- boge, Barbados aloes, compound powder of cinnamon, hard soap, and syrup. Gamboge acts as a drastic hydragogrie purgative, it causes vomiting and grip- ing; it is seldom given alone, but com- bined with cream of tartar in cases of dropsy, or with calomel in cerebral diseases. GAMBRINUS (-bri'nus), a mythical king of Flanders, to whom is ascribed the invention of beer. His figure is familiar in German beer-cellars, often seated astride a cask, a foaming tankard in his hand. GAME, any contrivance, arrangement, or institution designed to afford recrea- tion, sport or amusement; as, the game of baseball, or of football; in the plural contests in different sports, as wrestling, running, etc. Public Games of Antiquity. — The pub- lic games of the Greeks were very numerous, and the origin of many of them is lost, on account of the religious mystery in which they were founded. Among the Grecian games, the most cele- brated were the Olympic, the Pythian, the Nemean, and the Isthmian. The con- querors in the Olympic games were held in high respect, and were looked on as the noblest and happiest of men. These games were held every five years at Olympia, in Elis, on the W. side of the Peloponnesus. Among the exercises, some were designed to give strength, and others agility. The lighter exercises com- prised running, leaping, throwing the quoit, and hurling the javelin. The more severe course of discipline included wrestling and boxing. Racing also con- stituted a particular feature in all the ancient games. The Isthmian games were held at Corinth, and, together with athletic exercises, horse and chariot races, constituted a large portion oi tha
