[1] Not to be confounded with the bird so called in the French
Antilles, which is a petrel (_Oestrelata_).
GUACO, HUACO or GUAO, also Vejuco and Bejuco, terms applied to various
Central and South American and West Indian plants, in repute for
curative virtues. The Indians and negroes of Colombia believe the plants
known to them as guaco to have been so named after a species of kite,
thus designated in imitation of its cry, which they say attracts to it
the snakes that serve it principally for food; they further hold the
tradition that their antidotal qualities were discovered through the
observation that the bird eats of their leaves, and even spreads the
juice of the same on its wings, during contests with its prey. The
disputes that have arisen as to what is "the true guaco" are to be
attributed mainly to the fact that the names of the American Indians for
all natural objects are generic, and their genera not always in
coincidence with those of naturalists. Thus any twining plant with a
heart-shaped leaf, white and green above and purple beneath, is called
by them guaco (R. Spruce, in Howard's _Neueva Quinologia_, "Cinchona
succirubra," p. 22, note). What is most commonly recognized in Colombia
as guaco, or _Vejuco del guaco_, would appear to be _Mikania Guaco_
(Humboldt and Bonpland, _Pl. equinox_, ii. 84, pl. 105, 1809), a
climbing Composite plant of the tribe _Eupatoriaceae_, affecting moist
and shady situations, and having a much-branched and deep-growing root,
variegated, serrate, opposite leaves and dull-white flowers, in axillary
clusters. The whole plant emits a disagreeable odour. It is stated that
the Indians of Central America, after having "guaconized" themselves,
i.e. taken guaco, catch with impunity the most dangerous snakes, which
writhe in their hands as though touched by a hot iron (B. Seemann,
_Hooker's Journ. of Bot._ v. 76, 1853). The odour alone of guaco has
been said to cause in snakes a state of stupor and torpidity; and
Humboldt, who observed that the near approach of a rod steeped in
guaco-juice was obnoxious to the venomous _Coluber corallinus_, was of
opinion that inoculation with it imparts to the perspiration an odour
which makes reptiles unwilling to bite. The drug is not used in modern
therapeutics.
GUADALAJARA, an inland city of Mexico and capital of the state of
Jalisco, 275 m. (direct) W.N.W. of the Federal capital, in lat. 20 deg.
41' 10" N., long. 103 deg. 21' 15" W. Pop. (1895) 83,934; (1900)
101,208. Guadalajara is served by a short branch of the Mexican Central
railway from Irapuato. The city is in the Antemarac valley near the Rio
Grande de Santiago, 5092 ft. above sea-level. Its climate is dry, mild
and healthy, though subject to sudden changes. The city is well built,
with straight and well-paved streets, numerous plazas, public gardens
and shady promenades. Its public services include tramways and electric
lighting, the Juanacatlan falls of the Rio Grande near the city
furnishing the electric power. Guadalajara is an episcopal see, and its
cathedral, built between 1571 and 1618, is one of the largest and most
elaborately decorated churches in Mexico. The government palace, which
like the cathedral faces upon the _plaza mayor_, is generally considered
one of the finest specimens of Spanish architecture in Mexico. Other
important edifices and institutions are the university, with its schools
of law and medicine, the mint, built in 1811, the modern national
college and high schools, a public library of over 28,000 volumes, an
episcopal seminary, an academy of fine arts, the Teatro Degollado, and
the large modern granite building of the penitentiary. There are many
interesting churches and eleven conventual establishments in the city.
Charitable institutions of a high character are also prominent, among
which are the Hospicio, which includes an asylum for the aged, infirm,
blind, deaf and dumb, foundlings and orphans, a primary school for both
sexes, and a girls' training school, and the Hospital de San Miguel de
Belen, which is a hospital, an insane asylum, and a school for little
children. One of the most popular public resorts of the city is the
_Paseo_, a beautiful drive and promenade extending along both banks of
the Rio San Juan de Dios for 1-1/4 m. and terminating in the _alameda_,
or public garden. The city has a good water-supply, derived from springs
and brought in through an aqueduct 8 m. long. Guadalajara is surrounded
by a fertile agricultural district and is an important commercial town,
but the city is chiefly distinguished as the centre of the iron, steel
and glass industries of Mexico. It is also widely known for the artistic
pottery manufactured by the Indians of the city and of its suburb, San
Pedro. Among other prominent industries are the manufacture of cotton
and woollen goods, leather, furniture, hats and sweetmeats. Guadalajara
was founded in 1531 by Nuno de Guzman, and became the seat of a bishop
in 1549. The Calderon bridge near the city was the scene of a serious
defeat of the revolutionists under Hidalgo in January 1811. The severe
earthquake of the 31st of May 1818 partially destroyed the two cathedral
steeples; and that of the 11th of March 1875 damaged many of the larger
buildings. The population includes large Indian and mestizo elements.
GUADALAJARA, a province of central Spain, formed in 1833 of districts
taken from New Castile; bounded on the N. by Segovia, Soria and
Saragossa, E. by Saragossa and Teruel, S. by Cuenca and W. by Madrid.
Pop. (1900) 200,186; area, 4676 sq. m. Along the northern frontier of
Guadalajara rise the lofty Guadarrama mountains, culminating in the
peaks of La Cebollera (6955 ft.) and Ocejon (6775 ft.); the rest of the
province, apart from several lower ranges in the east, belongs to the
elevated plateau of New Castile, and has a level or slightly undulating
surface, which forms the upper basin of the river Tagus, and is watered
by its tributaries the Tajuna, Henares, Jarama and Gallo. The climate of
this region, as of Castile generally, is marked by the extreme severity
of its winter cold and summer heat; the soil varies very much in
quality, but is fertile enough in many districts, notably the cornlands
of the Alcarria, towards the south. Few of the cork and oak forests
which formerly covered the mountains have escaped destruction; and the
higher tracts of land are mainly pasture for the sheep and goats which
form the principal wealth of the peasantry. Grain, olive oil, wine,
saffron, silk and flax are produced, but agriculture makes little
progress, owing to defective communications and unscientific farming. In
1903, the only minerals worked were common salt and silver, and the
total output of the mines was valued at L25,000. Deposits of iron, lead
and gold also exist and were worked by the Romans; but their
exploitation proved unprofitable when renewed in the 19th century. Trade
is stagnant and the local industries are those common to almost all
Spanish towns and villages, such as the manufacture of coarse cloth and
pottery. The Madrid-Saragossa railway traverses the province for 70 m.;
the roads are ill-kept and insufficient. Guadalajara (11,144) is the
capital, and the only town with more than 5000 inhabitants; Molina de
Aragon, a fortified town built at the foot of the Parameras de Molina
(2500-3500 ft.), and on the right bank of the Gallo, a tributary of the
Tagus, is of some importance as an agricultural centre. Siguenza, on the
railway, is an episcopal city, with a fine Romanesque cathedral dating
from the 11th century. It is probably the ancient _Segontia_, founded in
218 B.C. by refugees from Saguntum. The population of the province,
which numbers only 42 per sq. m., decreased slightly between 1870 and
1900, and extreme poverty compels many families to emigrate (see also
CASTILE).
GUADALAJARA, the capital of the Spanish province of Guadalajara, on the
left bank of the river Henares, and on the Madrid-Saragossa railway, 35
m. E.N.E. of Madrid. Pop. (1900) 11,144. Guadalajara is a picturesque
town, occupying a somewhat sterile plain, 2100 ft. above the sea. A
Roman aqueduct and the Roman foundations of the bridge built in 1758
across the Henares bear witness to its antiquity. Under Roman and
Visigothic rule it was known as _Arriaca_ or _Caraca_; its present name,
which sometimes appears in medieval chronicles as _Godelfare_,
represents the _Wad-al-hajarah_, or "Valley of Stones," of the Moors,
who occupied the town from 714 until 1081, when it was captured by Alvar
Yanez de Minaya, a comrade of the more famous Cid. The church of Santa
Maria contains the image of the "Virgin of Battles," which accompanied
Alphonso VI. of Castile (1072-1109) on his campaigns against the Moors;
and there are several other ancient and interesting churches in
Guadalajara, besides two palaces, dating from the 15th century, and
built with that blend of Christian and Moorish architecture which
Spaniards call the _Mudejar_ style. The more important of these is the
palace of the ducal house del Infantado, formerly owned by the Mendoza
family, whose _panteon_, or mausoleum, added between 1696 and 1720 to
the 13th-century church of San Francisco, is remarkable for the rich
sculpture of its tombs. The town and provincial halls date from 1585,
and the college of engineers was originally built by Philip V., early in
the 18th century, as a cloth factory. Manufactures of soap, leather,
woollen fabrics and bricks have superseded the original cloth-weaving
industry for which Guadalajara was long celebrated; there is also a
considerable trade in agricultural produce.
GUADALQUIVIR (ancient _Baetis_, Moorish _Wadi al Kebir_, "the Great
River"), a river of southern Spain. What is regarded as the main stream
rises 4475 ft. above sea-level between the Sierra de Cazorla and Sierra
del Pozo, in the province of Jaen. It does not become a large river
until it is joined by the Guadiana Menor (Guadianamenor) on the left,
and the Guadalimar on the right. Lower down it receives many
tributaries, the chief being the Genil or Jenil, from the left. The
general direction of the river is west by south, but a few miles above
Seville it changes to south by west. Below Coria it traverses the series
of broad fens known as Las Marismas, the greatest area of swamp in the
Iberian Peninsula. Here it forms two subsidiary channels, the western 31
m., the eastern 12 m. long, which rejoin the main stream on the borders
of the province of Cadiz. Below Sanlucar the river enters the Atlantic
after a total course of 360 m. It drains an area of 21,865 sq. m. Though
the shortest of the great rivers of the peninsula, it is the only one
which flows at all seasons with a full stream, being fed in winter by
the rains, in summer by the melted snows of the Sierra Nevada. In the
time of the Moors it was navigable up to Cordova, but owing to the
accumulation of silt in its lower reaches it is now only navigable up to
Seville by vessels of 1200 to 1500 tons.
GUADELOUPE, a French colony in the West Indies, lying between the
British islands of Montserrat on the N., and Dominica on the S., between
15 deg. 59' and 16 deg. 20' N. and 61 deg. 31' and 61 deg. 50' W. It
consists of two entirely distinct islands, separated by a narrow arm of
the sea, Riviere Salee (Salt river), varying from 100 ft. to 400 ft. in
width and navigable for small vessels. The western island, a rugged mass
of ridges, peaks and lofty uplands, is called Basse-Terre, while the
eastern and smaller island, the real low-land, is known as Grande-Terre.
A sinuous ridge runs through Basse-Terre from N. to S. In the north-west
rises the peak of Grosse Montagne (2370 ft.), from which sharp spurs
radiate in all directions; near the middle of the west coast are the
twin heights of Les Mamelles (2536 ft. and 2368 ft.). Farther south the
highest elevation is attained in La Soufriere (4900 ft.). In 1797 this
volcano was active, and in 1843 its convulsions laid several towns in
ruins; but a few thermal springs and solfataras emitting vapour are now
its only signs of activity. The range terminates in the extreme south in
the jagged peak of Caraibe (2300 ft.). Basse-Terre is supremely
beautiful, its cloud-capped mountains being clothed with a mantle of
luxuriant vegetation. On Grande-Terre the highest elevation is only 450
ft., and this island is the seat of extensive sugar plantations. It
consists of a plain composed mainly of limestone and a conglomerate of
sand and broken shells known as _maconne de bon dieu_, much used for
building. The bay between the two sections of Guadeloupe on the north is
called Grand Cul-de-Sac Marin, that on the south being Petit Cul-de-Sac
Marin. Basse-Terre (364 sq. m.) is 28 m. long by 12 m. to 15 m. wide;
Grande-Terre (255 sq. m.) is 22 m. long from N. to S., of irregular
shape, with a long peninsula, Chateaux Point, stretching from the
south-eastern extremity. Basse-Terre is watered by a considerable number
of streams, most of which in the rainy season are liable to sudden
floods (locally called _galions_), but Grande-Terre is practically
destitute of springs, and the water-supply is derived almost entirely
from ponds and cisterns.
The west half of the island consists of a foundation of old eruptive
rocks upon which rest the recent accumulations of the great volcanic
cones, together with mechanical deposits derived from the denudation of
the older rocks. Grande-Terre on the other hand, consists chiefly of
nearly horizontal limestones lying conformably upon a series of fine
tuffs and ashes, the whole belonging to the early part of the Tertiary
system (probably Eocene and Oligocene). Occasional deposits of marl and
limestone of late Pliocene age rest unconformably upon these older beds;
and near the coast there are raised coral reefs of modern date.
The mean annual temperature is 78 deg. F., and the minimum 61 deg. F.,
and the maximum 101 deg. F. From July to November heavy rains fall, the
annual average on the coast being 86 in., while in the interior it is
much greater. Guadeloupe is subject to terrible storms. In 1825 a
hurricane destroyed the town of Basse-Terre, and Grand Bourg in Marie
Galante suffered a like fate in 1865. The soil is rich and fruitful,
sugar having long been its staple product. The other crops include
cereals, cocoa, cotton, manioc, yams and rubber; tobacco, vanilla,
coffee and bananas are grown, but in smaller quantities. Over 30% of the
total area is under cultivation, and of this more than 50% is under
sugar. The centres of this industry are St Anne, Pointe-a-Pitre and Le
Moule, where there are well-equipped _usines_, and there is also a large
_usine_ at Basse-Terre. The forests, confined to the island of
Basse-Terre, are extensive and rich in valuable woods, but, being
difficult of access, are not worked. Salt and sulphur are the only
minerals extracted, and in addition to the sugar _usines_, there are
factories for the making of rum, liqueurs, chocolate, besides
fruit-canning works and tanneries. France takes most of the exports; and
next to France, the United States, Great Britain and India are the
countries most interested in the import trade.
The inhabitants of Guadeloupe consist of a few white officials and
planters, a few East Indian immigrants from the French possessions in
India, and the rest negroes and mulattoes. These mulattoes are famous
for their grace and beauty of both form and feature. The women greatly
outnumber the men, and there is a very large percentage of illegitimate
births. Pop. (1900) 182,112.
The governor is assisted by a privy council, a director of the interior,
a procurator-general and a paymaster, and there is also an elected
legislative council of 30 members. The colony forms a department of
France and is represented in the French parliament by a senator and two
deputies. Political elections are very eagerly contested, the mulatto
element always striving to gain the preponderance of power.
The seat of government, of the Apostolic administration and of the court
of appeal is at Basse-Terre (7762), which is situated on the south-west
coast of the island of that name. It is a picturesque, healthy town
standing on an open roadstead. Pointe-a-Pitre (17,242), the largest
town, lies in Grande-Terre near the mouth of the Riviere Salee. Its
excellent harbour has made it the chief port and commercial capital of
the colony. Le Moule (10,378) on the east coast of Grande-Terre does a
considerable export trade in sugar, despite its poor harbour. Of the
other towns, St Anne (9497), Morne a l'Eau (8442), Petit Canal (6748),
St Francois (5265), Petit Bourg (5110) and Trois Rivieres (5016), are
the most important.
Round Guadeloupe are grouped its dependencies, namely, La Desirade, 6 m.
E., a narrow rugged island 10 sq. m. in area; Marie Galante 16 m. S.E.
Les Saintes, a group of seven small islands, 7 m. S., one of the
strategic points of the Antilles, with a magnificent and strongly
fortified naval harbour; St Martin, 142 m. N.N.W.; and St Bartholomew,
130 m. N.N.W.
_History._--Guadeloupe was discovered by Columbus in 1493, and received
its name in honour of the monastery of S. Maria de Guadalupe at
Estremadura in Spain. In 1635 l'Olive and Duplessis took possession of
it in the name of the French Company of the Islands of America, and
l'Olive exterminated the Caribs with great cruelty. Four chartered
companies were ruined in their attempts to colonize the island, and in
1674 it passed into the possession of the French crown and long remained
a dependency of Martinique. After unsuccessful attempts in 1666, 1691
and 1703, the British captured the island in 1759, and held it for four
years. Guadeloupe was finally separated from Martinique in 1775, but it
remained under the governor of the French Windward Islands. In 1782
Rodney defeated the French fleet near the island, and the British again
obtained possession in April 1794, but in the following summer they were
driven out by Victor Hugues with the assistance of the slaves whom he
had liberated for the purpose. In 1802 Bonaparte, then first consul,
sent an expedition to the island in order to re-establish slavery, but,
after a heroic defence, many of the negroes preferred suicide to
submission. During the Hundred Days in 1810, the British once more
occupied the island, but, in spite of its cession to Sweden by the
treaty of 1813 and a French invasion in 1814, they did not withdraw till
1816. Between 1816 and 1825 the code of laws peculiar to the island was
introduced. Municipal institutions were established in 1837; and slavery
was finally abolished in 1848.
GUADET, MARGUERITE ELIE (1758-1794), French Revolutionist, was born at
St Emilion near Bordeaux on the 20th of July 1758. When the Revolution
broke out he had already gained a reputation as a brilliant advocate at
Bordeaux. In 1790 he was made administrator of the Gironde and in 1791
president of the criminal tribunal. In this year he was elected to the
Legislative Assembly as one of the brilliant group of deputies known
subsequently as Girondins or Girondists. As a supporter of the
constitution of 1791 he joined the Jacobin club, and here and in the
Assembly became an eloquent advocate of all the measures directed
against real or supposed traitors to the constitution. He bitterly
attacked the ministers of Louis XVI., and was largely instrumental in
forcing the king to accept the Girondist ministry of the 15th of March
1792. He was an ardent advocate of the policy of forcing Louis XVI.
into harmony with the Revolution; moved (May 3) for the dismissal of the
king's non-juring confessor, for the banishment of all non-juring
priests (May 16), for the disbandment of the royal guard (May 30), and
the formation in Paris of a camp of _federes_ (June 4). He remained a
royalist, however, and with Gensonne and Vergniaud even addressed a
letter to the king soliciting a private interview. Whatever negotiations
may have resulted, however, were cut short by the insurrection of the
10th of August. Guadet, who presided over the Assembly during part of
this fateful day, put himself into vigorous opposition to the
insurrectionary Commune of Paris, and it was on his motion that on the
30th of August the Assembly voted its dissolution--a decision reversed
on the following day. In September Guadet was returned by a large
majority as deputy to the Convention. At the trial of Louis XVI. he
voted for an appeal to the people and for the death sentence, but with a
respite pending appeal. In March 1793 he had several conferences with
Danton, who was anxious to bring about a _rapprochement_ between the
Girondists and the Mountain during the war in La Vendee, but he
unconditionally refused to join hands with the man whom he held
responsible for the massacres of September. Involved in the fall of the
Girondists, and his arrest being decreed on the 2nd of June 1793, he
fled to Caen, and afterwards hid in his father's house at St Emilion. He
was discovered and taken to Bordeaux, where, after his identity had been
established, he was guillotined on the 17th of June 1794.
See J. Guadet, _Les Girondins_ (Paris, 1889); and F. A. Aulard, _Les
Orateurs de la legislative et de la convention_ (Paris, 2nd ed.,
1906).
GUADIANA (anc. _Anas_, Moorish _Wadi Ana_), a river of Spain and
Portugal. The Guadiana was long believed to rise in the lowland known as
the Campo de Montiel, where a chain of small lakes, the Lagunas de
Ruidera (partly in Ciudad Real, partly in Albacete), are linked together
by the Guadiana Alto or Upper Guadiana. This stream flows north-westward
from the last lake and vanishes underground within 3 m. of the river
Zancara or Giguela. About 22 m. S.W. of the point of disappearance, the
Guadiana Alto was believed to re-emerge in the form of several large
springs, which form numerous lakes near the Zancara and are known as the
"eyes of the Guadiana" (_los ojos de Guadiana_). The stream which
connects them with the Zancara is called the Guadiana Bajo or Lower
Guadiana. It is now known that the Guadiana Alto has no such course, but
flows underground to the Zancara itself, which is the true "Upper
Guadiana." The Zancara rises near the source of the Jucar, in the east
of the tableland of La Mancha; thence it flows westward, assuming the
name of Guadiana near Ciudad Real, and reaching the Portuguese frontier
6 m. S.W. of Badajoz. In piercing the Sierra Morena it forms a series of
foaming rapids, and only begins to be navigable at Mertola, 42 m. from
its mouth. From the neighbourhood of Badajoz it forms the boundary
between Spain and Portugal as far as a point near Monsaraz, where it
receives the small river Priega Munoz on the left, and passes into
Portuguese territory, with a southerly direction. At Pomarao it again
becomes a frontier stream and forms a broad estuary 25 m. long. It
enters the Gulf of Cadiz between the Portuguese town of Villa Real de
Santo Antonio and the Spanish Ayamonte, after a total course of 510 m.
Its mouth is divided by sandbanks into many channels. The Guadiana
drains an area of 31,940 sq. m. Its principal tributaries are the Zujar,
Jabalon, Matachel and Ardila from the left; the Bullaque, Ruecas, Botoa,
Degebe and Cobres from the right.
The GUADIANA MENOR (or _Guadianamenor_, i.e. "Lesser Guadiana") rises in
the Sierra Nevada, receives two large tributaries, the Fardes from the
right and Barbata from the left, and enters the Guadalquivir near Ubeda,
after a course of 95 m.
GUADIX, a city of southern Spain, in the province of Granada; on the
left bank of the river Guadix, a subtributary of the Guadiana Menor, and
on the Madrid-Valdepenas-Almeria railway. Pop. (1900) 12,652. Guadix
occupies part of an elevated plateau among the northern foothills of the
Sierra Nevada. It is surrounded by ancient walls, and was formerly
dominated by a Moorish castle, now in ruins. It is an episcopal see of
great antiquity, but its cathedral, built in the 18th century on the
site of a mosque, possesses little architectural merit. The city was
once famous for its cutlery; but its modern manufactures (chiefly
earthenware, hempen goods, and hats) are inconsiderable. It has some
trade in wool, cotton, flax, corn and liqueurs. The warm mineral springs
of Graena, much frequented during the summer, are 6 m. W. Guadix el
Viejo, 5 m. N.W., was the Roman _Acci_, and, according to tradition, the
seat of the first Iberian bishopric, in the 2nd century. After 711 it
rose to some importance as a Moorish fortress and trading station, and
was renamed _Wad Ash_, "Water of Life." It was surrendered without a
siege to the Spaniards, under Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1489.
GUADUAS, a town of the department of Cundinamarca, Colombia, 53 m. N.W.
of Bogota on the old road between that city and the Magdalena river port
of Honda. Pop. (1900, estimate) 9000, chiefly Indians or of mixed blood.
It stands in a narrow and picturesque valley formed by spurs of the
Eastern Cordillera, and on a small stream bearing the same name, which
is that of the South American bamboo (_guaduas_), found in great
abundance along its banks. Sugar-cane and coffee are cultivated in the
vicinity, and fruits of various kinds are produced in great abundance.
The elevation of the town is 3353 ft. above the sea, and it has a
remarkably uniform temperature throughout the whole year. Guaduas has a
pretty church facing upon its _plaza_, and an old monastery now used for
secular purposes. The importance of the town sprang from its position on
the old _camino real_ between Bogota and Honda, an importance that has
passed away with the completion of the railway from Girardot to the
Bogota plateau. Guaduas was founded in 1614.
GUAIACUM, a genus of trees of the natural order _Zygophyllaceae_. The
guaiacum or lignum-vitae tree (Ger. _Guajakbaum_, _Franzosenbaum_,
_Pockenholzbaum_; Fr. _Gayac_, _Gaiac_), _G. officinale_, is a native of
the West Indies and the north coast of South America, where it attains a
height of 20 to 30 ft. Its branches are numerous, flexuous and knotted;
the leaves opposite and pinnate, with caducous (falling early) stipules,
and entire, glabrous, obovate or oval leaflets, arranged in 2 or, more
rarely, 3 pairs; the flowers are in axillary clusters (cymes), and have
5 oval pubescent sepals, 5 distinct pale-blue petals three times the
length of the sepals, 10 stamens, and a 2-celled superior ovary. The
fruit is about 3/4 in. long, with a leathery pericarp, and contains in
each of its two cells a single seed (see fig.). _G. sanctum_ grows in
the Bahamas and Cuba, and at Key West in Florida. It is distinguished
from _G. officinale_ by its smaller and narrow leaflets, which are in 4
to 5 pairs, by its shorter and glabrous sepals, and 5-celled and
5-winged fruit. _G. arboreum_, the guaiacum tree of Colombia, is found
in the valley of the Magdalena up to altitudes 800 metres (2625 ft.)
above sea-level, and reaches considerable dimensions. Its wood is of a
yellow colour merging into green, and has an almost pulverulent
fracture; the flowers are yellow and conspicuous; and the fruit is dry
and 4-winged.
The lignum vitae of commerce, so named on account of its high repute as
a medicinal agent in past times, when also it was known as _lignum
sanctum_ and _lignum Indicum_, _lignum guaycanum_, or simply _guayacan_,
is procured from _G. officinale_, and in smaller amount from _G.
sanctum_. It is exported in large logs or blocks, generally divested of
bark, and presents in transverse section very slightly marked concentric
rings of growth, and scarcely any traces of pith; with the aid of a
magnifying glass the medullary rays are seen to be equidistant and very
numerous. The outer wood, the sapwood or alburnum, is of a pale yellow
hue, and devoid of resin; the inner, the heartwood or duramen, which is
by far the larger proportion, is of a dark greenish-brown, contains in
its pores 26% of resin, and has a specific gravity of 1.333, and
therefore sinks in water on which the alburnum floats. Owing to the
diagonal and oblique arrangement of the successive layers of its fibres,
the wood cannot be split; and on account of its hardness, density and
durability it is much valued for the manufacture of ships' pulleys,
rulers, skittle-balls, mallets and other articles.
[Illustration: From Bentley & Trimen's _Medicinal Plants_, by permission
of J. & A. Churchill.
Guaiacum or Lignum Vitae, _Guaiacum officinale_ shoot-bearing leaves and
flowers. 1, Fruit; 2, Vertical section of fruit, showing the solitary
pendulous seed in each chamber. All about 1/2 natural size.]
Chips or turnings of the heartwood of _G. officinale_ (_guaiaci lignum_)
are employed in the preparation of the _liquor sarsae compositus
concentratus_ of British pharmacy. They may be recognized by being
either yellow of greenish-brown in colour, and by turning bluish-green
when treated with nitric acid, or when heated with corrosive sublimate,
and green with solution of chloride of lime. They are occasionally
adulterated with boxwood shavings. Lignum vitae is imported chiefly from
St Domingo, the Bahamas and Jamaica.
The bark was formerly used in medicine; it contains much calcium
oxalate, and yields on incineration 23% of ash. Guaiacum resin, the
_guaiaci resina_ of pharmacopoeias, is obtained from the wood as an
exudation from natural fissures or from incisions; by heating billets
about 3 ft. in length, bored to permit of the outflow of the resin; or
by boiling chips and raspings in water to which salt has been added to
raise the temperature of ebullition. It occurs in rounded or oval
tears, commonly coated with a greyish-green dust, and supposed to be
the produce of _G. sanctum_, or in large brownish or greenish-brown
masses, translucent at the edges; fuses at 85 deg. C.; is brittle, and
has a vitreous fracture, and a slightly balsamic odour, increased by
pulverization and by heat; and is at first tasteless when chewed, but
produces subsequently a sense of heat in the throat. It is readily
soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, creosote, oil of cloves and
solutions of caustic alkalies; and its solution gives a blue colour
with gluten, raw potato parings and the roots of horse-radish, carrot
and various other plants. The alcoholic tincture becomes green with
sodium hypochlorite, and with nitric acid turns in succession green,
blue and brown. With glycerin it gives a clear solution, and with
nitrous ether a bluish-green gelatinous mass. It is blued by various
oxidizing agents, e.g. ozone, and, as Schonbein discovered, by the
juice of certain fungi. The chief constituents are three distinct
resins, _guaiaconic acid_, C19H20O5 (70%), _guaiac acid_, which is
closely allied to benzoic acid, and _guaiaretic acid_. Like all
resins, these are insoluble in water, soluble in alkalies, but
precipitated on neutralization of the alkaline solution.
Guaiacum wood was first introduced into Europe by the Spaniards in
1508, and Nicolaus Poll, writing in 1517 (see Luisinus, _De morbo
gallico_, p. 210, Ven., 1566), states that some three thousand persons
in Spain had already been restored to health by it. The virtues of the
resin, however, were not known until a later period, and in Thomas
Paynel's translation (_Of the Wood called Guaiacum_, &c., p. 9, ed. of
1540) of Ulrich von Hutten's treatise _De morbi gallici curatione per
administrationem ligni guaiaci_ (1519) we read of the wood: "There
followeth fro it, whan it bourneth a gomme, which we yet knowe not,
for what pourpose it serueth." Fluckiger and Hanbury
(_Pharmacographia_, p. 95) state that the first edition of the _London
Pharmacopoeia_ in which they find the resin mentioned is that of 1677.
The decoction of the wood was administered in gout, the stone, palsy,
leprosy, dropsy, epilepsy, and other diseases, but principally in the
"morbus gallicus," or syphilis, for which it was reckoned a certain
specific, insomuch that at first "the physitions wolde not allowe it,
perceyuynge that theyr profite wolde decay therby" (Paynel, _op. cit._
p. 8). Minute instructions are given in old works as to the mode of
administering guaiacum. The patient was confined in a closed and
heated chamber, was placed on the lowest possible diet, and, after
liberal purgation, was made twice a day to drink a milk-warm decoction
of the wood. The use of salt was specially to be avoided. A decoction
of 1 lb. of guaiacum was held to be sufficient for the four first days
of the treatment. The earlier opinions as to the efficacy of guaiacum
came to be much modified in the course of time, and Dr Pearson
(_Observations on the Effects of Various Articles of the Mat. Med. in
the Cure of Lues Venerea_, c. i., 2nd ed., 1807) says:--"I never saw
one single instance in which the powers of this medicine eradicated
the venereal virus." He found its beneficial effects to be most marked
in cases of secondary symptoms. Guaiacum resin is given medicinally in
doses of 5-15 grains. Its important preparations in the British
Pharmacopoeia are the _mistura guiaci_ (dose 1/2-1 oz.), the
ammoniated tincture of guaiacum (dose 1/2-1 drachm), in which the
resin is dissolved by means of ammonia, and the trochiscus or lozenge,
containing 3 grains of the resin. This lozenge is undoubtedly of value
when given early in cases of sore throat, especially of rheumatic
origin. Powdered guaiacum is also used.
Guaiacum resin differs pharmacologically from other resins in being
less irritant, so that it is absorbed from the bowel and exerts remote
stimulant actions, notably upon the skin and kidneys. It affects the
bronchi but slightly, since it contains no volatile oil.
The drug is useful both in acute and chronic sore throat, the mixture,
according to Sir Lauder Brunton, being more effective than the
tincture. The aperient action, which it exerts less markedly than
other members of its class, renders it useful in the treatment of
chronic constipation. Sir Alfred Garrod has urged the claims of this
drug in the treatment of chronic gout. Both in this disease and in
other forms of chronic arthritis guaiacum may be given in combination
with iodides, which it often enables the patient to tolerate. Guaiacum
is not now used in the treatment of syphilis.
The tincture of guaiacum is universally used as a test for the
presence of blood, or rather of haemoglobin, the red colouring matter
of the blood, in urine or other secretions. This test was first
suggested by Dr John Day of Geelong, Australia. A _single drop_ of the
tincture should be added to, say, an inch of urine in a test-tube. The
resin is at once precipitated, yielding a milky fluid. If "ozonic
ether"--an ethereal solution of hydrogen peroxide--be now poured
gently into the test-tube, a deep blue coloration is produced along
the line of contact if haemoglobin be present. The reaction is due to
the oxidation of the resin by the peroxide of hydrogen--such oxidation
occurring only if haemoglobin be present to act as an oxygen-carrier.
GUALDO TADINO (anc. _Tadinum_, 1 m. to the W.), a town and episcopal see
of Umbria, Italy, 1755 ft. above sea-level, in the province of Perugia,
22 m. N. of Foligno by rail. Pop. (1901), town, 4440; commune, 10,756.
The suffix Tadino distinguishes it from Gualdo in the province of
Macerata, and Gualdo Cattaneo, S.W. of Foligno. The cathedral has a good
rose-window and possesses, like several of the other churches,
15th-century paintings by Umbrian artists, especially works by Niccolo
Alunno. The town is still surrounded by walls. The ancient Tadinum lay 1
m. to the W. of the modern town. It is mentioned in the Eugubine tablets
(see IGUVIUM) as a hostile city against which imprecations are directed.
In its neighbourhood Narses defeated and slew Totila in 552. No ruins
are now visible, though they seem to have been extant in the 17th
century. The new town seems to have been founded in 1237. It was at
first independent, but passed under Perugia in 1292, and later became
dependent on the duchy of Spoleto.
GUALEGUAY, a flourishing town and river port of the province of Entre
Rios, Argentine Republic, on the Gualeguay river, 32 m. above its
confluence with the Ibicuy branch of the Parana, and about 120 m. N.N.W.
of Buenos Aires. Pop. (1895) 7810. The Gualeguay is the largest of the
Entre Rios rivers, traversing almost the whole length of the province
from N. to S., but it is of but slight service in the transportation of
produce except the few miles below Gualeguay, whose port, known as
Puerto Ruiz, is 7 m. lower down stream. A steam tramway connects the
town and port, and a branch line connects with Entre Rios railways at
the station of Tala. The principal industry in this region is that of
stock-raising, and there is a large exportation of cattle, jerked beef,
hides, tallow, mutton, wool and sheep-skins. Wood and charcoal are also
exported to Buenos Aires. The town was founded in 1783.
GUALEGUAYCHU, a prosperous commercial and industrial town and port of
the province of Entre Rios, Argentine Republic, on the left bank of the
Gualeguaychu river, 11 m. above its confluence with the Uruguay, and 120
m. N. of Buenos Aires. Pop. (1892, est.) 14,000. It is the chief town of
a department of the same name, the largest in the province. A bar at the
mouth of the river prevents the entrance of larger vessels and compels
the transfer of cargoes to and from lighters. The town is surrounded by
a rich grazing country, and exports cattle, jerked beef, mutton, hides,
pelts, tallow, wool and various by-products. A branch line running N.
connects with the Entre Rios railways at Basavilbaso. The town was
founded in 1783.
GUALO, CARDINAL (fl. 1216), was sent to England by Pope Innocent III. in
1216. He supported John with all the weight of papal authority. After
John's death he crowned the infant Henry III. and played an active part
in organizing resistance to the rebels led by Louis of France,
afterwards king Louis VIII. As representing the pope, the suzerain of
Henry, he claimed the regency and actually divided the chief power with
William Marshal, earl of Pembroke. He proclaimed a crusade against Louis
and the French, and, after the peace of Lambeth, he forced Louis to make
a public and humiliating profession of penitence (1217). He punished the
rebellious clergy severely, and ruled the church with an absolute hand
till his departure from England in 1218. Gualo's character has been
severely criticized by English writers; but his chief offence seems to
have been that of representing unpopular papal claims.
GUAM (Span. _Guajan_; _Guahan_, in the native Chamorro), the largest and
most populous of the Ladrone or Mariana Islands, in the North Pacific,
in 13 deg. 26' N. lat. and 144 deg. 39' E. long., about 1823 m. E. by S.
of Hong Kong, and about 1450 m. E. of Manila. Pop. (1908) about 11,360,
of whom 363 were foreigners, 140 being members of the U.S. naval force.
Guam extends about 30 m. from N.N.E. to S.S.W., has an average width of
about 6-1/2 m., and has an area of 207 sq. m. The N. portion is a
plateau from 300 to 600 ft. above the sea, lowest in the interior and
highest along the E. and W. coast, where it terminates abruptly in
bluffs and headlands; Mt Santa Rosa, toward the N. extremity, has an
elevation of 840 ft. A range of hills from 700 to nearly 1300 ft. in
height traverses the S. portion from N. to S. a little W. of the
middle--Mt Jumullong Mangloc, the highest peak, has an elevation of 1274
ft. Between the foot of the steep W. slope of these hills and the sea is
a belt of rolling lowlands and to the E. the surface is broken by the
valleys of five rivers with a number of tributaries, has a general slope
toward the sea, and terminates in a coast-line of bluffs. Apra (formerly
San Luis d'Apra) on the middle W. coast is the only good harbour; it is
about 3-1/2 m. across, has a depth of 4-27 fathoms, and is divided into
an inner and an outer harbour by a peninsula and an island. It serves as
a naval station and as a port of transit between America and the
Philippines, at which army transports call monthly. Deer, wild hog,
duck, curlew, snipe and pigeon are abundant game, and several varieties
of fish are caught. Some of the highest points of the island are nearly
bare of vegetation, and the more elevated plateau surface is covered
with sword grass, but in the valleys and on the lower portions of the
plateaus there is valuable timber. The lowlands have a rich soil; in
lower parts of the highlands raised coralliferous limestone with a light
covering of soil appears, and in the higher parts the soil is entirely
of clay and silt. The climate is agreeable and healthy. From December to
June the N.E. trade winds prevail and the rainfall is relatively light;
during the other six months the monsoon blows and produces the rainy
season. Destructive typhoons and earthquakes sometimes visit Guam. The
island is thought to possess little if any mineral wealth, with the
possible exception of coal. Only a small part of Guam is under
cultivation, and most of this lies along the S.W. coast, its chief
products being cocoanuts, rice, sugar, coffee and cacao. A United States
Agricultural Experiment Station in Guam (at Agana) was provided for in
1908.
The inhabitants are of the Chamorro (Indonesian) stock, strongly
intermixed with Philippine Tagals and Spaniards; their speech is a
dialect of Malay, corrupted by Tagal and Spanish. There are very few
full-blood Chamorros. The aboriginal native was of a very dark mahogany
or chocolate colour. A majority of the total number of natives live in
Agana. The natives are nearly all farmers, and most of them are poor,
but their condition has been improved under American rule. Public
schools have been established; in 1908 the enrolment was 1700. On the
island there is a small colony of lepers, segregated only after American
occupation. Gangrosa is a disease said to be peculiar to Guam and the
neighbouring islands; it is due to a specific bacillus and usually
destroys the nasal septum. The victims of this disease also are
segregated. There is a good general hospital.
Agana (or San Ignacio de Agana) is the capital and principal town; under
the Spanish regime it was the capital of the Ladrones. It is about 5 m.
N.E. of Piti, the landing-place of Apra harbour and port of entry, with
which it is connected by an excellent road. Agana has paved streets and
sewer and water systems. Other villages, all small, are Asan, Piti,
Sumay, Umata, Merizo and Inarajan. Guam is governed by a "naval
governor," an officer of the U.S. navy who is commandant of the naval
station. The island is divided into four administrative districts, each
with an executive head called a gobernadorcillo (commissioner), and
there are a court of appeals, a court of first instance and courts of
justices of the peace. Peonage was abolished in the island by the United
States in February 1900. Telegraphic communication with the Caroline
Islands was established in 1905; in 1908 there were four cables ending
at the relay station at Sumay on the Shore of Apra harbour.
Guam was discovered by Magellan in 1521, was occupied by Spain in 1688,
was captured by the United States cruiser "Charleston" in June 1899, and
was ceded to the United States by the Treaty of Paris on the 10th of
December 1898.
See _A List of Books (with References to Periodicals) on Samoa and
Guam_ (1901; issued by the Library of Congress); L. M. Cox, "The
Island of Guam," in _Bulletin of the American Geographical Society_,
vol. 36 (New York, 1904); Gen. Joseph Wheeler, _Report on the Island
of Guam_, June 1900 (War Department, Document No. 123); F. W.
Christian, _The Caroline Islands_ (London, 1899); an account of the
flora of Guam by W. E. Safford in the publications of the National
Herbarium (Smithsonian Institution); and the reports of the naval
governor.
GUAN, a word apparently first introduced into the ornithologist's
vocabulary about 1743 by Edwards,[1] who said that a bird he figured
(_Nat. Hist. Uncommon Birds_, pl. xiii.) was "so called in the West
Indies," and the name has hence been generally applied to all the
members of the subfamily _Penelopinae_, which are distinguished from the
kindred subfamily _Cracinae_ or curassows by the broad postacetabular
area of the pelvis as pointed out by Huxley (_Proc. Zool. Society_,
1868, p. 297) as well as by their maxilla being wider than it is high,
with its culmen depressed, the crown feathered, and the nostrils
bare--the last two characters separating the _Penelopinae_ from the
_Oreophasinae_, which form the third subfamily of the _Cracidae_,[2] a
family belonging to that taxonomer's division _Peristeropodes_ of the
order _Gallinae_.
The _Penelopinae_ have been separated into seven genera, of which
_Penelope_ and _Ortalis_, containing respectively about sixteen and
nineteen species, are the largest, the others numbering from one to
three only. Into their minute differences it would be useless to enter:
nearly all have the throat bare of feathers, and from that of many of
them hangs a wattle; but one form, _Chamaepetes_, has neither of these
features, and _Stegnolaema_, though wattled, has the throat clothed.
With few exceptions the guans are confined to the South-American
continent; one species of _Penelope_ is however found in Mexico (e.g. at
Mazatlan), _Pipile cumanensis_ inhabits Trinidad as well as the
mainland, while three species of _Ortalis_ occur in Mexico or Texas, and
one, which is also common to Venezuela, in Tobago. Like curassows, guans
are in great measure of arboreal habit. They also readily become tame,
but all attempts to domesticate them in the full sense of the word have
wholly failed, and the cases in which they have even been induced to
breed and the young have been reared in confinement are very few. Yet it
would seem that guans and curassows will interbreed with poultry
(_Ibis_, 1866, p. 24; _Bull. Soc. Imp. d'Acclimatation_, 1868, p. 559;
1869, p. 357), and what is more extraordinary is that in Texas the
hybrids between the chiacalacca (_Ortalis vetula_) and the domestic fowl
are asserted to be far superior to ordinary game-cocks for fighting
purposes. (A. N.)