GULLY

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, be retired from the ring in 1808, and took to horse-racing. in 1827 he lost l40,000 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 l85,000 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. gulpaigan (_jerbadegan_ of the arab geographers), a district and city in central persia, situated n.w. of isfahan and s.e. of irak. together with khunsar it forms a small province, paying a yearly revenue of about l6000. the city of gulpaigan is situated 87 m. n.w. of isfahan, at an elevation of 5875 ft. in 33 deg. 24' n. and 50 deg. 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 isfahan province, at others it forms part of the province of irak, and at times, as in 1906, is under a governor appointed from teheran. gum (fr. _gomme_, lat. _gommi_, gr. [greek: kommi], possibly a coptic word; distinguish "gum," the fleshy covering of the base of a tooth, in o. eng. _goma_, palate, cf. ger. _gaumen_, roof of the mouth; the ultimate origin is probably the root _gha_, to open wide, seen in gr. [greek: chainein], 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 deg. 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 deg. 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 deg. 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 deg. c., it becomes transformed into metagummic acid, which is insoluble, but swells up in water like gum tragacanth. gum arabic, when heated to 150 deg. 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 deg. 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 with even fifty times its weight of that liquid forms a thick mucilage. part of it only is soluble in water, and that resembles gummic acid in being precipitated by alcohol and ammonium oxalate, but differs from it in giving a precipitate with neutral lead acetate and none with borax. the insoluble part of the gum is a calcium salt of bassorin (c12h20o10), which is devoid of taste and smell, forms a gelatinoid mass with water, but by continued boiling is rendered soluble. gum tragacanth is used in calico-printing as a thickener of colours and mordants; in medicine as a demulcent and vehicle for insoluble powders, and as an excipient in pills; and for setting and mending beetles and other insect specimens. it is medicinally superior to gum acacia, as it does not undergo acetous fermentation. the best pharmacopeial preparation is the _mucilago tragacanthae_. the compound powder is a useless preparation, as the starch it contains is very liable to ferment. gum kuteera resembles in appearance gum tragacanth, for which the attempt has occasionally been made to substitute it. it is said to be the product of _sterculia urens_, a plant of the natural order sterculiaceae. _cherry tree gum_ is an exudation from trees of the genera _prunus_ and _cerasus_. it occurs in shiny reddish lumps, resembling the commoner kinds of gum arabic. with water, in which it is only partially soluble, it forms a thick mucilage. sulphuric acid converts it into l-arabinose; and nitric acid oxidizes it to oxalic acid (without the intermediate formation of mucic acid as in the case of gum arabic). _gum of bassora_, from bassora or bussorah in asia, is sometimes imported into the london market under the name of the hog tragacanth. it is insipid, crackles between the teeth, occurs in variable-sized pieces, is tough, of a yellowish-white colour, and opaque, and has properties similar to gum tragacanth. its specific gravity is 1.36. it contains only 1% of soluble gum or arabin. under the name of caramania gum it is mixed with inferior kinds of gum tragacanth before exportation. _mucilage._--very many seeds, roots, &c., when infused in boiling water, yield mucilages which, for the most part, consist of bassorin. linseed, quince seed and marshmallow root yield it in large quantity. in their reactions the different kinds of mucilage present differences; e.g. quince seed yields only oxalic acid when treated with nitric acid, and with a solution of iodine in zinc iodide it gives, after some time, a beautiful red tint. linseed does not give the latter reaction; by treatment with boiling nitric acid it yields mucic and oxalic acids. _gum resins._--this term is applied to the inspissated milky juices of certain plants, which consist of gum soluble in water, resin and essential oil soluble in alcohol, other vegetable matter and a small amount of mineral matter. they are generally opaque and solid, and often brittle. when finely powdered and rubbed down with water they form emulsions, the undissolved resin being suspended in the gum solution. their chief uses are in medicine. examples are ammoniacum, asafetida, bdellium, euphorbium, gamboge, myrrh, sagapanum and scammony.