GOOSE 361 GORDIANUS II. The Goorkhas, who are a short, thick-set race, are brave and faithful soldiers, and lent valuable aid to the British in the suppression of the mutiny and subse- quently. They also fought in the World War. Goorkha, or Gurkha, is about 53 miles from Khatmandu, the present capi- tal of Nepal. It was formerly the chief town. See Nepal. GOOSE, a tailor's smoothing and press- ing iron, from the handle being like the neck of a goose. Also a game of chance played on a card divided into small com- partments, numbered from 1 to 62, and arranged in a spiral form round an open central space. It was played by two or more persons, who moved their counters over the compartments according to the numbers which they threw on dice. In ornithology, any bird of the genus Anser. The domestic goose is believed to have descended from Anser ferus, called in books the greylag goose. It is valued for the table and on account of its quills and fine soft feathers. Geese=A«ser- inae, a sub-family of Anatidas (ducks). The body is large and heavy, the neck long, the head small, and the bill conical, GOOSE A. Head of Canadian Goose B. Snow Goose C. Half Webbed Goose D. Rough Billed Goose E. Cape Barren Goose the wings long and powerful. In sum- mer they inhabit the polar regions, mi- gn^ating S. in flocks on the approach of winter. GrOPHES,, a name given by the early f rench settlers in the TTnited States to various animals which honeycomb the ground by burrowing in it. In Canada and Illinois it was given to a gray bur- rowing squirrel, Spermophilus Frank- lini, W. of the Mississippi to S. Richard- sonii, in Wisconsin to a otriped squirrel, and in Missouri to a burrowing pouched rat, Geomys bursarius. All these are GOFHER mammals; but in Georgia the term was applied to a snake. Coluber ccnipen, and in Florida to a turtle, Testudo polyphe- mus. GOPPINGEN, a town in Wiirttem- berg, Germany, situated on the Fils, 26 miles by rail from Stuttgart. It is noted for its production of textile goods, toys, agricultural machinery, and enameled ware. Pop. about 25,000. GORAKHPUB, a division of the United provinces of Agra and Oudh, British India, with an area of about 10,000 square miles and a population of about 7,000,000. Lying along the south- ern slopes of the Himalayas, it is moun- tainous in character and thickly covered by forests. Cotton and rice are the chief productions. The city of Gorakhpur is the capital of the district; it is situated on the Rupti river, 100 miles N. E. of Benares. Fop. about 60,000. GORPIANUS (I-a'nus) I., MARCUS ANTOIsriUS, surnamed Africanus; Ro- man emperor; born about 158 A. D. He was descended by the father's side from the famous family of the Gracchi. After being asdile, he twice filled the ofiice of consul. He was then appointed pro- consul of Africa. The tyranny and in- justice of the Emperor Maximinus at length excited a rebellion in Africa, the authors of which proclaimed Gordianus emperor, though he was then (238) in his 80th year. At the same time his son was conjoined with him in the exercise of imperial authority. The younger Gordianus, however, was defeated and slain in battle by Capellianus, viceroy of Mauritania, before Carthage, where- unon his father put an end to his own ' existence (having been emperor for little more than a month) in 238. GORDIANTTS II., MARCUS AN- TONIUS, Roman emperor, son and associate of the preceding; bom in
