or on healthy islands in inland waters. Some of the settlements of the black-headed or “peewit” gull, L. ridibundus, are a source of no small profit to their proprietors,—the eggs, which are rightly accounted a great delicacy, being taken on an orderly system up to a certain day, and the birds carefully protected. Ross’s or the roseate gull, Rhodostethia rosea, forms a well-marked genus, distinguished not so much by the pink tint of its plumage (for that is found in other species) but by its small dove-like bill and wedge-shaped tail. It is an exceedingly scarce bird, and beyond its having an Arctic habitat, little has yet been ascertained about it. More rare still is one of the species of Xema, X. furcatum, of which only two specimens, both believed to have come from the Galapagos, have been seen. Its smaller congener Sabine’s gull, X. sabinii, is more common, and has been found breeding both in Arctic America and in Siberia, and several examples, chiefly immature birds, have been obtained in the British islands. Both species of Xema are readily distinguished from all other gulls by their forked tails. (A. N.)
GULLY, JOHN (1783–1863), English sportsman and politician,
was born at Wick, near Bath, on the 21st of August 1783, the son
of an innkeeper. He came into prominence as a boxer, and in
1805 he was matched against Henry Pearce, the “Game Chicken,”
before the duke of Clarence (afterwards William IV.) and
numerous other spectators, and after fighting sixty-four rounds,
which occupied an hour and seventeen minutes, was beaten.
In 1807 he twice fought Bob Gregson, the Lancashire giant, for
two hundred guineas a side, winning on both occasions. As the
landlord of the “Plough” tavern in Carey Street, London, he
retired from the ring in 1808, and took to horse-racing. In
1827 he lost £40,000 by backing his horse “Mameluke” (for
which he had paid four thousand guineas) for the St Leger.
In partnership with Robert Ridskale, in 1832, he made £85,000
by winning the Derby and St Leger with “St Giles” and
“Margrave.” In partnership with John Day he won the Two
Thousand Guineas with “Ugly Buck” in 1844, and two years
later he took the Derby and the Oaks with “Pyrrhus the First”
and “Mendicant,” in 1854 the Two Thousand Guineas with
“Hermit,” and in the same year, in partnership with Henry
Padwick, the Derby with “Andover.” Having bought Ackworth
Park near Pontefract he was M.P. from December 1832
to July 1837. In 1862 he purchased the Wingate Grange estate
and collieries. Gully was twice married and had twelve children
by each wife. He died at Durham on the 9th of March 1863.
He appears to have been no relation of the subsequent Speaker,
Lord Selby.
GULPÁÏGÁN (Jerbádegán of the Arab geographers), a district
and city in Central Persia, situated N.W. of Isfahán and S.E.
of Irák. Together with Khunsár it forms a small province,
paying a yearly revenue of about £6000. The city of Gulpáïgán
is situated 87 m. N.W. of Isfahán, at an elevation of 5875 ft.
in 33° 24′ N. and 50° 20′ E., and has a population of about 5000.
The district is fertile and produces much grain and some opium.
Sometimes it is under the governor-general of the Isfahán
province, at others it forms part of the province of Irák, and at
times, as in 1906, is under a governor appointed from Teheran.
GUM (Fr. gomme, Lat. gommi, Gr. κόμμι, possibly a Coptic
word; distinguish “gum,” the fleshy covering of the base of
a tooth, in O. Eng. góma, palate, cf. Ger. Gaumen, roof of the
mouth; the ultimate origin is probably the root gha, to open
wide, seen in Gr. χαίνειν, to gape, cf. “yawn”), the generic
name given to a group of amorphous carbo-hydrates of the
general formula (C6H10O5)n, which exist in the juices of almost
all plants, and also occur as exudations from stems, branches
and fruits of plants. They are entirely soluble or soften in water,
and form with it a thick glutinous liquid or mucilage. They
yield mucic and oxalic acids when treated with nitric acid.
In structure the gums are quite amorphous, being neither organized
like starch nor crystallized like sugar. They are odourless
and tasteless, and some yield clear aqueous solutions—the real
gums—while others swell up and will not percolate filter paper—the
vegetable mucilages. The acacias and the Rosaceae yield
their gums most abundantly when sickly and in an abnormal
state, caused by a fulness of sap in the young tissues, whereby
the new cells are softened and finally disorganized; the cavities
thus formed fill with liquid, which exudes, dries and constitutes
the gum.
Gum arabic may be taken as the type of the gums entirely soluble in water. Another variety, obtained from the Prosopis dulcis, a leguminous plant, is called gum mesquite or mezquite; it comes from western Texas and Mexico, and is yellowish in colour, very brittle and quite soluble in water.
Gum arabic occurs in pieces of varying size, and some kinds are full of minute cracks. The specific gravity of Turkey picked gum (the purest variety) is 1.487, or, when dried at 100° C., 1.525. It is soluble in water to an indefinite extent; boiled with dilute sulphuric acid it is converted into the sugar galactose. Moderately strong nitric acid changes it into mucic, saccharic, tartaric and oxalic acids. Under the influence of yeast it does not enter into the alcoholic fermentation, but M. P. E. Berthelot, by digesting with chalk and cheese, obtained from it 12% of its weight of alcohol, along with calcium lactate, but no appreciable quantity of sugar. Gum arabic may be regarded as a potassium and calcium salt of gummic or arabic acid. T. Graham (Chemical and Physical Researches) recommended dialysis as the best mode of preparing gummic acid, and stated that the power of gum to penetrate the parchment septum is 400 times less than that of sodium chloride, and, further, that by mixing the gum with substances of the crystalloid class the diffusibility is lowered, and may be even reduced to nothing. The mucilage must be acidulated with hydrochloric acid before dialysing, to set free the gummic acid. By adding alcohol to the solution, the acid is precipitated as a white amorphous mass, which becomes glassy at 100°. Its formula is (C6H10O5)2H2O, and it forms compounds with nearly all bases which are easily soluble in water. Gummic acid reddens litmus, its reaction being about equal to carbonic acid. When solutions of gum arabic and gelatin are mixed, oily drops of a compound of the two are precipitated, which on standing form a nearly colourless jelly, melting at 25° C., or by the heat of the hand. This substance can be washed without decomposition. Gummic acid is soluble in water; when well dried at 100° C., it becomes transformed into metagummic acid, which is insoluble, but swells up in water like gum tragacanth.
Gum arabic, when heated to 150° C. with two parts of acetic anhydride, swells up to a mass which, when washed with boiling water, and then with alcohol, gives a white amorphous insoluble powder called acetyl arabin C6H8(C2H3O)2O5. It is saponified by alkalies, with reproduction of soluble gum. Gum arabic is not precipitated from solution by alum, stannous chloride, sulphate or nitrate of copper, or neutral lead acetate; with basic lead acetate it forms a white jelly, with ferric chloride it yields a stiff clear gelatinoid mass, and its solutions are also precipitated by borax.
The finer varieties are used as an emollient and demulcent in medicine, and in the manufacture of confectionery; the commoner qualities are used as an adhesive paste, for giving lustre to crape, silk, &c., in cloth finishing to stiffen the fibres, and in calico-printing. For labels, &c., it is usual to mix sugar or glycerin with it to prevent it from cracking.
Gum senegal, a variety of gum arabic produced by Acacia Verek, occurs in pieces generally rounded, of the size of a pigeon’s egg, and of a reddish or yellow colour, and specific gravity 1.436. It gives with water a somewhat stronger mucilage than gum arabic, from which it is distinguished by its clear interior, fewer cracks and greater toughness. It is imported from the river Gambia, and from Senegal and Bathurst.
Chagual gum, a variety brought from Santiago, Chile, resembles gum senegal. About 75% is soluble in water. Its solution is not thickened by borax, and is precipitated by neutral lead acetate; and dilute sulphuric acid converts it into d-glucose.
Gum tragacanth, familiarly called gum dragon, exudes from the stem, the lower part especially, of the various species of Astragalus, especially A. gummifer, and is collected in Asia Minor, the chief port of shipment being Smyrna. Formerly only what exuded spontaneously was gathered; this was often of a brownish colour; but now the flow of the gum is aided by incisions cut near the root, and the product is the fine, white, flaky variety so much valued in commerce. The chief flow of gum takes place during the night, and hot and dry weather is the most favourable for its production.
In colour gum tragacanth is of a dull white; it occurs in horny, flexible and tough, thin, twisted flakes, translucent, and with peculiar wavy lines on the surface. When dried at temperatures under 100° C. it loses about 14% of water, and is then easily powdered. Its specific gravity is 1.384. With water it swells by absorption, and
