GONG METAL. See Bell Metal.
GONIOM′ETRY. The art of measuring the angles of crystals, by means of a GONIOMETER; a most important matter in chemistry and mineralogy. The only accurate and simple instrument of this kind is the REFLECTING GONIOMETER invented by Dr Wollaston. Facility in using this instrument is readily acquired by a few trials.
GOOSE. This bird, the Anser domesticus, is a favourite article of food almost everywhere, and may fairly claim a similar position amongst poultry to that occupied by “good Sir Loin” among joints of meat. The vulgar inuendos occasionally heard to its prejudice should be directed against the cook rather than the bird, as it is only when it is unskilfully dressed and too highly seasoned that it is apt to disagree with that “irascible member of the interior,” a delicate or overloaded stomach. Undue susceptibility in that quarter may, however, be generally allayed by an oblation, in the shape of a little ‘eau de vie,’ used as sauce or gravy. Formerly, almost miraculous virtues were attributed to this bird. Its flesh was said to promote longevity, to cure hydrophobia, and to be aphrodisiac. The fat (GOOSE GREASE; ADEPS ANSERIS), mixed with honey, was supposed to be “good against the bitings of a mad dog.” At the present day it is occasionally used in clysters, and, when scented, as a pomade to make the hair grow, for which purpose it is said to be superior to bear’s grease. In quantity it is an emetic of very easy action. The large feathers of the wings (quills) are used for writing. The small feathers form the common stuffing of our beds.
GOOSE′BERRY. The fruit or berry of Ribes grossularis. Unripe fruit, cold and acidulous; ripe fruit, wholesome and slightly laxative; but the seeds and skins should not be eaten, as they are very indigestible; the juice of the green fruit is made into wine (English champagne); the seeds, washed and roasted, were formerly used as a substitute for coffee (GOOSEBERRY COFFEE). Gooseberries are preserved by simply bottling them, and keeping them in a very cold place. See Cheese, Fool, Fruit, &c.
GOULARD. Syn. Goulard’s extract. See Solution of Diacetate of Lead.
GOUT. Syn. Arthritis, L. A painful disease that chiefly attacks the male sex, particularly those of a corpulent habit and robust frame. Persons who live temperately and take much exercise are seldom troubled with gout. Indolence, inactivity, luxurious habits of life, and free living, are the chief exciting causes of this disease; but excessive study, grief, watchfulness, exposure to cold, and the too free use of acidulous liquors, also occasionally bring it on. In some persons it is an hereditary disease.
Symp. Gout is generally preceded by unusual chilliness of the feet and legs, and a numbness or a sensation of prickling along the lower extremities; the appetite fails, flatulency, indigestion, torpor, and languor ensue, and extreme lassitude and fatigue follow the least bodily exercise; the bowels become costive, and the urine pallid. The fits usually come on in the night; the patient is awakened by the severity of the pain, generally in the first joint of the great toe, or occasionally in the heel, whole foot, or calf of the leg. The pain resembles that of a dislocated joint, accompanied by a sensation resembling the effusion of cold water; the pain increases, rigors and febrile symptoms ensue, accompanied with local throbbing and inflammation. Sometimes both feet and legs are attacked; at others, only one. Towards morning the patient generally falls asleep, and sinks into a state of copious perspiration, from which he awakes comparatively recovered. This constitutes what is called a ‘fit of gout.’ These fits or paroxysms are apt to return at intervals, commonly every evening, with more or less violence; and when frequent, the disease usually extends its action, the joints become affected, and concretions of a chalky nature (chalk stones, gout stones) are formed upon them, and they become stiff and nearly immovable.
Treat. A plain or vegetable diet, moderate exercise, and the use of warm laxatives, gentle tonics, diaphoretics, and diuretics, are among the best preventives. The moderate use of alkaline remedies, as potassa and magnesia, has also been recommended. To relieve the fit of gout, or to check it at its commencement, the affusion of cold water will be often found effective. The use of the ‘eau médicinale’, or the ‘vinum colchici’ of the Pharmacopœia, may also be had recourse to; a due dose of which taken at bedtime will frequently carry off the paroxysm, and nearly always mitigate the symptoms. The effect of the above remedies do not greatly differ from each other. The action of both medicines is accompanied with great languor, and a deadly nausea or sickness, which terminates in vomiting or a discharge from the bowels, or both. These symptoms have often reached an alarming extent, and in some constitutions follow even a moderate dose. This method of cure should not, therefore, be unadvisedly and incautiously adopted.
Another remedy which has been recommended for gout is lemon juice, but experience has proved that this agent is not to be depended on. The dose proposed by Dr O. Rees, who originated this treatment, was 2 or 3 fl. oz., twice or thrice a day.
To ensure the efficacy of lemon juice, it must