_Ephedra._--This genus is the only member of the Gnetales represented

in Europe. Its species, which are characteristic of warm temperate

latitudes, are usually much-branched shrubs. The finer branches are

green, and bear a close resemblance to the stems of Equisetum and to

the slender twigs of _Casuarina_; the surface of the long internodes

is marked by fine longitudinal ribs, and at the nodes are borne pairs

of inconspicuous scale-leaves. The flowers are small, and borne on

axillary shoots. A single male flower consists of an axis enclosed at

the base by an inconspicuous perianth formed of two concrescent leaves

and terminating in two, or as many as eight, shortly stalked or

sessile anthers. The female flower is enveloped in a closely fitting

sac-like investment, which must be regarded as a perianth; within this

is an orthotropous ovule surrounded by a single integument prolonged

upwards as a beak-like micropyle. The flower may be described as a bud

bearing a pair of leaves which become fused and constitute a perianth,

the apex of the shoot forming an ovule. In function the perianth may

be compared with a unilocular ovary containing a single ovule; the

projecting integument, which at the time of pollination secretes a

drop of liquid, serves the same purpose as the style and stigma of an

angiosperm. The megaspore is filled with tissue as in typical

Gymnosperms, and from some of the superficial cells 3 to 5 archegonia

are developed, characterized by long multicellular necks. The

archegonia are separated from one another, as in _Pinus_, by some of

the prothallus-tissue, and the cells next the egg-cells (tapetal

layer) contribute food-material to their development. After

fertilization, some of the uppermost bracts below each flower become

red and fleshy; the perianth develops into a woody shell, while the

integument remains membranous. In some species of _Ephedra_, e.g. _E.

altissima_, the fertilized eggs grow into tubular proembryos, from the

tip of each of which embryos begin to be developed, but one only comes

to maturity. In _Ephedra helvetica_, as described by Jaccard, no

proembryo or suspensor is formed; but the most vigorous fertilized

egg, after undergoing several divisions, becomes attached to a tissue,

termed the columella, which serves the purpose of a primary suspensor;

the columella appears to be formed by the lignification of certain

cells in the central region of the embryo-sac. At a later stage some

of the cells in the upper (micropylar) end of the embryo divide and

undergo considerable elongation, serving the purpose of a secondary

suspensor. The secondary wood of _Ephedra_ consists of tracheids,

vessels and parenchyma; the vessels are characterized by their wide

lumen and by the large simple or slightly-bordered pits on their

oblique end-walls.

[Illustration: FIG. 17.--_Gnetum Gnemon._ (After Lotsy.)

A, Female Flower. a, Imperfect Archegonia.

n, Nucellus. e, Partially developed Megaspore.

pc, Pollen-chamber. F, Fertile half.

i, Integument. S, Sterile half.

p', Inner Perianth. pt, Pollen-tube.

p", Outer Perianth. z, Zygote.

B, C, Megaspore. z', Prothallus.

a, Imperfect Archegonia.

e, Partially developed Megaspore.

F, Fertile half.

S, Sterile half.

pt, Pollen-tube.

z, Zygote.

z', Prothallus.]

_Gnetum._--This genus is represented by several species, most of which

are climbing plants, both in tropical America and in warm regions of

the Old World. The leaves, which are borne in pairs at the tumid

nodes, are oval in form and have a Dicotyledonous type of venation.

The male and female inflorescences have the form of simple or

paniculate spikes. The spike of an inflorescence bears whorls of

flowers at each node in the axils of concrescent bracts accompanied by

numerous sterile hairs (paraphyses); in a male inflorescence numerous

flowers occur at each node, while in a female inflorescence the number

of flowers at each node is much smaller. A male flower consists of a

single angular perianth, through the open apex of which the

flower-axis projects as a slender column terminating in two anthers.

The female flowers, which are more complex in structure, are of two

types, complete and incomplete; the latter occur in association with

male flowers in a male inflorescence. A complete female flower

consists of a nucellus (fig. 17, A, n), surrounded by a single

integument (fig. 17, A, i), prolonged upwards as a narrow tube and

succeeded by an inner and an outer perianth (fig. 17, A, p' and p").

The whole flower may be looked upon as an adventitious bud bearing two

pairs of leaves; each pair becomes concrescent and forms a perianth,

the apex of the shoot being converted into an orthotropous ovule. The

incomplete female flowers are characterized by the almost complete

suppression of the inner perianth. Several embryo-sacs (megaspores)

are present in the nucellus of a young ovule, but one only attains

full size, the smaller and partially developed megaspores (fig. 17, B

and C, e) being usually found in close association with the surviving

and fully-grown megaspore. In _Gnetum Gnemon_, as described by Lotsy,

a mature embryo-sac contains in the upper part a large central vacuole

and a peripheral layer of protoplasm, including several nuclei, which

take the place of the archegonia of _Ephedra_; the lower part of the

embryo-sac, separated from the upper by a constriction, is full of

parenchyma. The upper part of the megaspore may be spoken of as the

fertile half (fig. 17, B and C, F) and the lower part, which serves

only as food-reservoir for the growing embryo, may be termed the

sterile half (fig. 17, B and C, S). (Coulter, _Bot. Gazette_, xlvi.,

1908, regards this tissue as belonging to the nucellus.) At the time

of pollination the long tubular integument secretes a drop of fluid

at its apex, which holds the pollen-grains, brought by the wind, or

possibly to some extent by insect agency, and by evaporation these are

drawn on to the top of the nucellus, where partial disorganization of

the cells has given rise to an irregular pollen-chamber (fig. 17, A,

pc). The pollen-tube, containing two generative and one vegetative

nucleus, pierces the wall of the megaspore and then becomes swollen

(fig. 17, B and C, pt); finally the two generative nuclei pass out of

the tube and fuse with two of the nuclei in the fertile half of the

megaspore. As the result of fertilization, the fertilized nuclei of

the megaspore become surrounded by a cell-wall, and constitute

zygotes, which may attach themselves either to the wall of the

megaspore or to the end of a pollen-tube (fig. 17, C, z and z'); they

then grow into long tubes or proembryos, which make their way towards

the prothallus (C, z'), and eventually embryos are formed from the

ends of the proembryo tubes. One embryo only comes to maturity. The

embryo of _Gnetum_ forms an out-growth from the hypocotyl, which

serves as a feeder and draws nourishment from the prothallus. The

fleshy outer portion of the seed is formed from the outer perianth,

the woody shell being derived from the inner perianth. The climbing

species of _Gnetum_ are characterized by the production of several

concentric cylinders of secondary wood and bast, the additional

cambium-rings being products of the pericycle, as in _Cycas_ and

_Macrozamia_. The structure of the wood agrees in the main with that

of _Ephedra_.

_Welwitschia (Tumboa)._--This is by far the most remarkable member of

the Gnetales, both as regards habit and the form of its flowers. In a

supplement to the systematic work of Engler and Prantl the well-known

name _Welwitschia_, instituted by Hooker in 1864 in honour of

Welwitsch, the discoverer of the plant, is superseded by that of

_Tumboa_, originally suggested by Welwitsch. The genus is confined to

certain localities in Damaraland and adjoining territory on the west

coast of tropical South Africa. A well-grown plant projects less than

a foot above the surface of the ground; the stem, which may have a

circumference of more than 12 ft., terminates in a depressed crown

resembling a circular table with a median groove across the centre and

prominent broad ridges concentric with the margin. The thick tuberous

stem becomes rapidly narrower, and passes gradually downwards into a

tap-root. A pair of small strap-shaped leaves succeed the two

cotyledons of the seedling, and persist as the only leaves during the

life of the plant; they retain the power of growth in their basal

portion, which is sunk in a narrow groove near the edge of the crown,

and the tough lamina, 6 ft. in length, becomes split into narrow

strap-shaped or thong-like strips which trail on the ground. Numerous

circular pits occur on the concentric ridges of the depressed and

wrinkled crown, marking the position of former inflorescences borne in

the leaf-axil at different stages in the growth of the plant. An

inflorescence has the form of a dichotomously-branched cyme bearing

small erect cones; those containing the female flowers attain the size

of a fir-cone, and are scarlet in colour. Each cone consists of an

axis, on which numerous broad and thin bracts are arranged in regular

rows; in the axil of each bract occurs a single flower; a male flower

is enclosed by two opposite pairs of leaves, forming a perianth

surrounding a central sterile ovule encircled by a ring of stamens

united below, but free distally as short filaments, each of which

terminates in a trilocular anther. The integument of the sterile ovule

is prolonged above the nucellus as a spirally-twisted tube expanded at

its apex into a flat stigma-like organ. A complete and functional

female flower consists of a single ovule with two integuments, the

inner of which is prolonged into a narrow tubular micropyle, like that

in the flower of _Gnetum_. The megaspore of _Welwitschia_ is filled

with a prothallus-tissue before fertilization, and some of the

prothallus-cells function as egg-cells; these grow upwards as long

tubes into the apical region of the nucellus, where they come into

contact with the pollen-tubes. After the egg-cells have been

fertilized by the non-motile male cells they grow into tubular

proembryos, producing terminal embryos. The stem is traversed by

numerous collateral bundles, which have a limited growth, and are

constantly replaced by new bundles developed from strands of secondary

meristem. One of the best-known anatomical characteristics of the

genus is the occurrence of numerous spindle-shaped or branched fibres

with enormously-thickened walls studded with crystals of calcium

oxalate. Additional information has been published by Professor

Pearson of Cape Town based on material collected in Damaraland in 1904

and 1906-1907. In 1906 he gave an account of the early stages of

development of the male and female organs and, among other interesting

statements in regard to the general biology of _Welwitschia_, he

expressed the opinion that, as Hooker suspected, the ovules are

pollinated by insect-agency. In a later paper Pearson considerably

extended our knowledge of the reproduction and gametophyte of this

genus.

AUTHORITIES.--General: Bentham and Hooker, _Genera Plantarum_ (London,

1862-1883); Engler and Prantl, _Die naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien_

(Leipzig, 1889 and 1897); Strasburger, _Die Coniferen und Gnetaceen_

(Jena, 1872); _Die Angiospermen und die Gymnospermen_ (Jena, 1879);

_Histologische Beitrage_, iv. (Jena, 1892); Coulter and Chamberlain,

_Morphology of Spermatophytes_ (New York, 1901); Rendle, _The

Classification of Flowering Plants_, vol. i. (Cambridge, 1904); "The

Origin of Gymnosperms" (A discussion at the Linnean Society; _New

Phytologist_, vol. v., 1906). Cycadales: Mettenius, "Beitrage zur

Anatomie der Cycadeen," _Abh. k. sachs_. _Ges. Wiss._ (1860); Treub,

"Recherches sur les Cycadees," _Ann. Bot. Jard. Buitenzorg_, ii.

(1884); Solms-Laubach, "Die Sprossfolge der Stangeria, &c.," _Bot.

Zeit._ xlviii. (1896); Worsdell, "Anatomy of Macrozamia," _Ann. Bot._

x. (1896) (also papers by the same author, _Ann. Bot._, 1898, _Trans.

Linn. Soc._ v., 1900); Scott, "The Anatomical Characters presented by

the Peduncle of Cycadaceae," Ann. Bot. xi. (1897); Lang, "Studies in

the Development and Morphology of Cycadean Sporangia, No. I.," Ann.

Bot. xi. (1897); No. II., _Ann. Bot._ xiv. (1900); Webber,

"Development of the Antherozoids of Zamia," Bot. Gaz. (1897); Ikeno,

"Untersuchungen uber die Entwickelung, &c., bei Cycas revoluta,"

_Journ. Coll. Sci. Japan_, xii. (1898); Wieland, "American Fossil

Cycads," Carnegie Institution Publication (1906); Stopes, "Beitrage

zur Kenntnis der Fortpflanzungsorgane der Cycadeen," _Flora_ (1904);

Caldwell, "Microcycas Calocoma," _Bot. Gaz._ xliv., 1907 (also papers

on this and other Cycads in the _Bot. Gaz._, 1907-1909); Matte,

_Recherches sur l'appareil libero-ligneux des Cycadacees_ (Caen,

1904). Ginkgoales: Hirase, "Etudes sur la fecondation, &c., de Ginkgo

biloba," _Journ. Coll. Sci. Japan_, xii. (1898); Seward and Gowan,

"Ginkgo biloba," _Ann. Bot._ xiv. (1900) (with bibliography); Ikeno,

"Contribution a l'etude de la fecondation chez le Ginkgo biloba,"

_Ann. Sci. Nat._ xiii. (1901); Sprecher, _Le Ginkgo biloba_ (Geneva,

1907). Coniferales: "Report of the Conifer Conference" (1891) _Journ.

R. Hort. Soc._ xiv. (1892); Beissner, _Handbuch der Nadelholzkunde_

(Berlin, 1891); Masters, "Comparative Morphology of the Coniferae,"

_Journ. Linn. Soc._ xxvii. (1891); ibid. (1896), &c.; Penhallow, "The

Generic Characters of the North American Taxaceae and Coniferae,"

_Proc. and Trans. R. Soc. Canada_, ii. (1896); Blackman,

"Fertilization in Pinus sylvestris," _Phil. Trans._ (1898) (with

bibliography); Worsdell, "Structure of the Female Flowers in

Conifers," _Ann. Bot._ xiv. (1900) (with bibliography); ibid. (1899);

Veitch, _Manual of the Coniferae_ (London, 1900); Penhallow, "Anatomy

of North American Coniferales," _American Naturalist_ (1904); Engler

and Pilger, _Das Pflanzenreich, Taxaceae_ (1903); Seward and Ford,

"The Araucarieae, recent and extinct," _Phil. Trans. R. Soc._ (1906)

(with bibliography); Lawson, "Sequoia sempervirens," _Annals of

Botany_ (1904); Robertson, "Torreya Californica," _New Phytologist_

(1904); Coker, "Gametophyte and Embryo of Taxodium," _Bot. Gazette_

(1903); E. C. Jeffrey, "The Comparative Anatomy and Phylogeny of the

Coniferales, part i. The Genus Sequoia," _Mem. Boston Nat. Hist. Soc._

v. No. 10 (1903); Gothan, "Zur Anatomie lebender und fossiler

Gymnospermen-Holzer," _K. Preuss. Geol. Landes._ (Berlin, 1905) (for

more recent papers, see _Ann. Bot., New Phytologist_, and _Bot.

Gazette_, 1906-1909). Gnetales: Hooker, "On Welwitschia mirabilis."

_Trans. Linn. Soc._ xxiv. (1864); Bower, "Germination, &., in Gnetum,"

_Journ. Mic. Sci._ xxii. (1882); ibid. (1881); Jaccard, "Recherches

embryologiques sur _l'Ephedra helvetica_," _Diss. Inaug. Lausanne_

(1894); Karsten, "Zur Entwickelungsgeschichte der Gattung Gnetum,"

_Cohn's Beitrage_, vi. (1893); Lotsy, "Contributions to the

Life-History of the genus Gnetum," _Ann. Bot. Jard. Buitenzorg_, xvi.

(1899); Land, "Ephedra trifurca," _Bot. Gazette_ (1904); Pearson,

"Some observations on Welwitschia mirabilis," _Phil. Trans. R. Soc._

(1906); Pearson, "Further Observations on Welwitschia," _Phil. Trans.

R. Soc._ vol. 200 (1909). (A. C. Se.)

GYMNOSTOMACEAE, an order of Ciliate Infusoria (q.v.), characterized by a

closed mouth, which only opens to swallow food actively, and body cilia

forming a general or partial investment (rarely represented by a girdle

of membranellae), but not differentiated in different regions. With the

Aspirotrochaceae (q.v.) it formed the Holotricha of Stein.

GYMPIE, a mining town of March county, Queensland, Australia, 107 m. N.

of Brisbane, and 61 m. S. of Maryborough by rail. Pop. (1901) 11,959.

Numerous gold mines are worked in the district, which also abounds in

copper, silver, antimony, cinnabar, bismuth and nickel. Extensive

undeveloped coal-beds lie 40 m. N. at Miva. Gympie became a municipality

in 1880.

GYNAECEUM (Gr. [Greek: gynaikeion], from [Greek: gyne], woman), that

part in a Greek house which was specially reserved for the women, in

contradistinction to the "andron," the men's quarters; in the larger

houses there was an open court with peristyles round, and as a rule all

the rooms were on the same level; in smaller houses the servants were

placed in an upper storey, and this seems to have been the case to a

certain extent in the Homeric house of the Odyssey. "Gynaeconitis" is

the term given by Procopius to the space reserved for women in the

Eastern Church, and this separation of the sexes was maintained in the

early Christian churches where there were separate entrances and

accommodation for the men and women, the latter being placed in the

triforium gallery, or, in its absence, either on one side of the church,

the men being on the other, or occasionally in the aisles, the nave

being occupied by the men.

GYNAECOLOGY (from Gr. [Greek: gyne, gynaikos], a woman, and [Greek:

logos], discourse), the name given to that branch of medicine which

concerns the pathology and treatment of affections peculiar to the

female sex.

Gynaecology may be said to be one of the most ancient branches of

medicine. The papyrus of Ebers, which is one of the oldest known works

on medicine and dates from 1550 B.C., contains references to diseases of

women, and it is recorded that specialism in this branch was known

amongst Egyptian medical practitioners. The Vedas contain a list of

therapeutic agents used in the treatment of gynaecological diseases. The

treatises on gynaecology formerly attributed to Hippocrates (460 B.C.)

are now said to be spurious, but the wording of the famous oath shows

that he was at least familiar with the use of gynaecological

instruments. Diocles Carystius, of the Alexandrian school (4th century

B.C.), practised this branch, and Praxagoras of Cos, who lived shortly

after, opened the abdomen by laparotomy. While the Alexandrine school

represented Greek medicine, Greeks began to practise in Rome, and in the

first years of the Christian era gynaecologists were much in demand

(Haser). A speculum for gynaecological purposes has been found in the

ruins of Pompeii, and votive offerings of anatomical parts found in the

temples show that various gynaecological malformations were known to the

ancients. Writers who have treated of this branch are Celsus (50

B.C.-A.D. 7) and Soranus of Ephesus (A.D. 98-138), who refers in his

works to the fact that the Roman midwives frequently called to their aid

practitioners who made a special study of diseases of women. These

midwives attended the simpler gynaecological ailments. This was no

innovation, as in Athens, as mentioned by Hyginus, we find one Agnodice,

a midwife, disguising herself in man's attire so that she might attend

lectures on medicine and diseases of women. After instruction she

practised as a gynaecologist. This being contrary to Athenian law she

was prosecuted, but was saved by the wives of some of the chief men

testifying on her behalf. Besides Agnodice we have Sotira, who wrote a

work on menstruation which is preserved in the library at Florence,

while Aspasia is mentioned by Aetius as the author of several chapters

of his work. It is evident that during the Roman period much of the

gynaecological work was in the hands of women. Martial alludes to the

"_feminae medicae_" in his epigram on Leda. These women must not be

confounded with the midwives who on monuments are always described as

"obstetrices." Galen devotes the sixth chapter of his work _De locis

affectis_ to gynaecological ailments. During the Byzantine period may be

mentioned the work of Oribasius (A.D. 325) and Moschion (2nd century

A.D.) who wrote a book in Latin for the use of matrons and midwives

ignorant of Greek.

In modern times James Parsons (1705-1770) published his _Elenchus

gynaicopathologicus et obstetricarius_, and in 1755 Charles Perry

published his _Mechanical account and explication of the hysterical

passion and of all other nervous disorders incident to the sex, with an

appendix on cancers_. In the early part of the 19th century fresh

interest in diseases of women awakened. Joseph Recamier (1774-1852) by

his writings and teachings advocated the use of the speculum and sound.

This was followed in 1840 by the writings of Simpson in England and

Huguier in France. In 1845 John Hughes Bennett published his great work

on inflammation of the uterus, and in 1850 Tilt published his book on

ovarian inflammation. The credit of being the first to perform the

operation of ovariotomy is now credited to McDowell of Kentucky in 1809,

and to Robert Lawson Tait (1845-1899) in 1883 the first operation for

ruptured ectopic gestation.

_Menstruation._--Normal menstruation comprises the escape of from 4 to

6 oz. of blood together with mucus from the uterus at intervals of

twenty-eight days (more or less). The flow begins at the age of

puberty, the average age of which in England is between fourteen and

sixteen years. It ceases between forty-five and fifty years of age,

and this is called the menopause or climacteric period, commonly

spoken of as "the change of life." Both the age of puberty and that of

the menopause may supervene earlier or later according to local

conditions. At both times the menstrual flow may be replaced by

haemorrhage from distant organs (epistaxis, haematemesis,

haemoptysis); this is called _vicarious menstruation_. Menstruation is

usually but not necessarily coincident with ovulation. The usual

disorders of menstruation are: (1) _amenorrhoea_ (absence of flow),

(2) _dysmenorrhoea_ (painful flow), (3) _menorrhagia_ (excessive

flow), (4) _metrorrhagia_ (excessive and irregular flow). Amenorrhoea

may arise from physiological causes, such as pregnancy, lactation, the

menopause; constitutional causes, such as phthisis, anaemia and

chlorosis, febrile disorders, some chronic intoxications, such as

morphinomania, and some forms of cerebral disease; local causes, which

include malformations or absence of one or more of the genital parts,

such as absence of ovaries, uterus or vagina, atresia of vagina,

imperforate cervix, disease of the ovaries, or sometimes imperforate

hymen. The treatment of amenorrhoea must be directed towards the

cause. In anaemia and phthisis menstruation often returns after

improvement in the general condition, with good food and good sanitary

conditions, an outdoor life and the administration of iron or other

tonics. In local conditions of imperforate hymen, imperforate cervix

or ovarian disease, surgical interference is necessary. Amenorrhoea is

permanent when due to absence of the genital parts. The causes of

dysmenorrhoea are classified as follows: (1) ovarian, due to disease

of the ovaries or Fallopian tubes; (2) obstructive, due to some

obstacle to the flow, as stenosis, flexions and malpositions of the

uterus, or malformations; (3) congestive, due to subinvolution,

chronic inflammation of the uterus or its lining membrane, fibroid

growths and polypi of the uterus, cardiac or hepatic disease; (4)

neuralgic; (5) membranous. The foremost place in the treatment of

dysmenorrhoea must be given to aperients and purgatives administered a

day or two before the period is expected. By this means congestion is

reduced. Hot baths are useful, and various drugs such as hyoscyanus,

cannabis indica, phenalgin, ammonol or phenacetin have been

prescribed. Medicinal treatment is, however, only palliative, and

flexions and malpositions of the uterus must be corrected, stenosis

treated by dilatation, fibroid growths if present removed, and

endometritis when present treated by local applications or curetting

according to its severity. Menorrhagia signifies excessive bleeding at

the menstrual periods. Constitutional causes are purpura, haemophilia,

excessive food and alcoholic drinks and warm climates; while local

causes are congestion and displacements of the uterus, endometritis,

subinvolution, retention of the products of conception, new growths in

the uterus such as mucous and fibroid polypi, malignant growths,

tubo-ovarian inflammation and some ovarian tumours. Metrorrhagia is a

discharge of blood from the uterus, independent of menstruation. It

always arises from disease of the uterus or its appendages. Local

causes are polypi, retention of the products of conception, extra

uterine gestation, haemorrhages in connexion with pregnancy, and new

growths in the uterus. In the treatment of both menorrhagia and

metrorrhagia the local condition must be carefully ascertained. When

pregnancy has been excluded, and constitutional causes treated,

efforts should be made to relieve congestion. Uterine haemostatics, as

ergot, ergotin, tincture of hydrastis or hamamelis, are of use,

together with rest in bed. Fibroid polypi and other new growths must

be removed. Irregular bleeding in women over forty years of age is

frequently a sign of early malignant disease, and should on no account

be neglected.

_Diseases of the External Genital Organs._--The vulva comprises

several organs and structures grouped together for convenience of

description (see REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM). The affections to which these

structures are liable may be classified as follows: (1) Injuries to

the vulva, either accidental or occurring during parturition; these

are generally rupture of the perinaeum. (2) _Vulvitis._ Simple

Vulvitis is due to want of cleanliness, or irritating discharges, and

in children may result from threadworms. The symptoms are heat,

itching and throbbing, and the parts are red and swollen. The

treatment consists of rest, thorough cleanliness and fomentations.

Infective vulvitis is nearly always due to gonorrhoea. The symptoms

are the same as in simple vulvitis, with the addition of mucopurulent

yellow discharge and scalding pain on micturition; if neglected,

extension of the disease may result. The treatment consists of rest in

bed, warm medicated baths several times a day or fomentations of

boracic acid. The parts must be kept thoroughly clean and discharges

swabbed away. Diphtheritic vulvitis occasionally occurs, and

erysipelas of the vulva may follow wounds, but since the use of

antiseptics is rarely seen. (3) Vascular disturbances may occur in the

vulva, including varix, haematoma, oedema and gangrene; the treatment

is the same as for the same disease in other parts. (4) The vulva is

likely to be affected by a number of cutaneous affections, the most

important being erythema, eczema, herpes, lichen, tubercle,

elephantiasis, vulvitis pruriginosa, syphilis and kraurosis. These

affections present the same characters as in other parts of the body.

_Kraurosis vulvae_, first described by Lawson Tait in 1875, is an

atrophic change accompanied by pain and a yellowish discharge; the

cause is unknown. Pruritis vulvae is due to parasites, or to

irritating discharges, as leucorrhoea, and is frequent in diabetic

subjects. The hymen may be occasionally imperforate and require

incision. Cysts and painful carunculae may occur on the clitoris. Any

part of the vulva may be the seat of new growths, simple or malignant.

_Diseases of the Vagina._--(1) Malformations. The vagina may be absent

in whole or in part or may present a septum. Stenosis of the vagina

may be a barrier to menstruation. (2) Displacements of the vagina; (a)

cystocele, which is a hernia of the bladder into the vagina; (b)

rectocele, a hernia of the rectum into the vagina. The cause of these

conditions is relaxation of the tissues due to parturition. The

palliative treatment consists in keeping up the parts by the insertion

of a pessary; when this fails operative interference is called for.

(3) Fistulae may form between the vagina and bladder or vagina and

rectum; they are generally caused by injuries during parturition or

the late stages of carcinoma. Persistent fistulae require operative

treatment. The vagina normally secretes a thin opalescent acid fluid

derived from the lymph serum and the shedding of squamous epithelium.

This fluid normally contains the vagina bacillus. In pathological

conditions of the vagina this secretion undergoes changes. For

practical purposes three varieties of _vaginitis_ may be described:

(a) simple catarrhal vaginitis is due to the same causes as simple

vulvitis, and occasionally in children is important from a

medico-legal aspect when it is complicated by vulvitis. The symptoms

are heat and discomfort with copious mucopurulent discharge. The only

treatment required is rest, with vaginal douches of warm unirritating

lotions such as boracic acid or subacetate of lead. (b) Gonorrhoeal

vaginitis is most common in adults. The patient complains of pain and

burning, pain on passing water and discharge which is generally green

or yellow. The results of untreated gonorrhoeal vaginitis are serious

and far-reaching. The disease may spread up the genital passages,

causing endometritis, salpingitis and septic peritonitis, or may

extend into the bladder, causing cystitis. Strict rest should be

enjoined, douches of carbolic acid (1 in 40) or of perchloride of

mercury (1 in 2000) should be ordered morning and evening, the vagina

being packed with tampons of iodoform gauze. Saline purgatives and

alkaline diuretics should be given, (c) Chronic vaginitis (leucorrhoea

or "the whites") may follow acute conditions and persist indefinitely.

The vagina is rarely the seat of tumours, but cysts are common.

_Diseases of the Uterus._--The uterus undergoes important changes

during life, chiefly at puberty and at the menopause. At puberty it

assumes the pear shape characteristic of the mature uterus. At the

menopause it shares in the general atrophy of the reproductive organs.

It is subject to various disorders and misplacements. (a)

_Displacements of the Uterus._--The normal position of the uterus,

when the bladder is empty, is that of anteversion. We have therefore

to consider the following conditions as pathological: anteflexion,

retroflexion, retroversion, inversion, prolapse and procidentia.

Slight anteflexion or bending forwards is normal; when exaggerated it

gives rise to dysmenorrhoea, sterility and reflex nervous phenomena.

This condition is usually congenital and is often associated with

under-development of the uterus, from which the sterility results. The

treatment is by dilatation of the canal or by a plastic operation.

Retroflexion is a bending over of the uterus backwards, and occurs as

a complication of retroversion (or displacement backwards). The causes

are (1) any cause tending to make the fundus or upper part of the

uterus extra heavy, such as tumours or congestion, (2) loss of tone of

the uterine walls, (3) adhesions formed after cellulitis, (4) violent

muscular efforts, (5) weakening of the uterine supports from

parturition. The symptoms are dysmenorrhoea, pain on defaecation and

constipation from the pressure of the fundus on the rectum; the

patient is often sterile. The treatment is the replacing of the uterus

in position, where it can be kept by the insertion of a pessary;

failing this, operative treatment may be required. Retroversion when

pathological is rarer than retroflexion. It may be the result of

injury or is associated with pregnancy or a fibroid. The symptoms are

those of retroflexion with feeling of pain and weight in the pelvis

and desire to micturate followed by retention of urine due to the

pressure of the cervix against the base of the bladder. The uterus

must be skilfully replaced in position; when pessaries fail to keep it

there the operation of hysteropexy gives excellent results.

Inversion occurs when the uterus is turned inside out. It is only

possible when the cavity is dilated, either after pregnancy or by a

polypus. The greater number of cases follow delivery and are acute.

Chronic inversions are generally due to the weight of a polypus. The

symptoms are menorrhagia, metrorrhagia and bladder troubles; on

examination a tumour-like mass occupies the vagina. Reduction of the

condition is often difficult, particularly when the condition has

lasted for a long time. The tumour which has caused the inversion must

be excised. Prolapse and procidentia are different degrees of the same

variety of displacement. When the uterus lies in the vagina it is

spoken of as prolapse, when it protrudes through the vulva it is

procidentia. The causes are directly due to increased intra-abdominal

pressure, increased weight of the uterus by fibroids, violent

straining, chronic cough and weakening of the supporting structures of

the pelvic floor, such as laceration of the vagina and perinaeum.

Traction on the uterus from below (as a cervical tumour) may be a

cause; advanced age, laborious occupations and frequent pregnancies

are indirect causes. The symptoms are a "bearing down" feeling, pain

and fatigue in walking, trouble with micturition and defaecation. The

condition is generally obvious on examination. As a rule the uterus is

easy to replace in position. A rubber ring pessary will often serve to

keep it there. If the perinaeum is very much torn it may be necessary

to repair it. Various operations for retaining the uterus in position

are described. (b) _Enlargements of the Uterus_ (hypertrophy or

hyperplasia). This condition may sometimes involve the uterus as a

whole or may be most marked in the body or in the cervix. It follows

chronic congestion or inflammatory prolapse, or any condition

interfering with the circulation. The symptoms comprise local

discomfort and sometimes dysmenorrhoea, leucorrhoea or menorrhagia.

When the elongation occurs in the cervical portion the only possible

treatment is amputation of the cervix. Atrophy of the uterus is normal

after the menopause. It may follow the removal of the tubes and

ovaries. Some constitutional diseases produce the same result, as

tuberculosis, chlorosis, chronic morphinism and certain diseases of

the central nervous system.

(c) _Injuries and Diseases resultant from Pregnancy._--The most

frequent of these injuries is laceration of the cervix uteri, which is

frequent in precipitate labour. Once the cervix is torn the raw

surfaces become covered by granulations and later by cicatricial

tissue, but as a rule they do not unite. The torn lips may become

unhealthy, and the congestion and oedema spread to the body of the

uterus. A lacerated cervix does not usually give rise to symptoms;

these depend on the accompanying endometritis, and include

leucorrhoea, aching and a feeling of weight. Lacerations are to be

felt digitally. As lacerations predispose to abortion the operation of

trachelorraphy or repair of the cervix is indicated. Perforation of

the uterus may occur from the use of the sound in diseased conditions

of the uterine walls. Superinvolution means premature atrophy

following parturition. Subinvolution is a condition in which the

uterus fails to return to its normal size and remains enlarged.

Retention of the products of conception may cause irregular

haemorrhages and may lead to a diagnosis of tumour. The uterus should

be carefully explored.

(d) _Inflammations Acute and Chronic._--The mucous membrane lining the

cervical canal and body of the uterus is called the endometrium. Acute

inflammation or endometritis may attack it. The chief causes are

sepsis following labour or abortion, extension of a gonorrhoeal

vaginitis, or gangrene or infection of a uterine myoma. The puerperal

endometritis following labour is an avoidable disease due to lack of

scrupulous aseptic precautions.

Gonorrhoeal endometritis is an acute form associated with copious

purulent discharge and well-marked constitutional disturbance. The

temperature ranges from 99 deg. to 105 deg. F., associated with pelvic

pain, and rigors are not uncommon. The tendency is to recovery with

more or less protracted convalescence. The most serious complications

are extension of the disease and later sterility. Rest in bed and

intrauterine irrigation, followed by the introduction of iodoform

pencils into the uterine cavity, should be resorted to, while pain is

relieved by hot fomentations and sitz baths. Chronic endometritis may

be the sequela of the acute form, or may be septic in origin, or the

result of chronic congestion, acute retroflection or subinvolution

following delivery or abortion. The varieties are glandular,

interstitial, haemorrhagic and senile. The symptoms are disturbance of

the menstrual function, headache, pain and pelvic discomfort, and more

or less profuse thick leucorrhoeal discharge. The treatment consists

in attention to the general health, with suitable laxatives and local

injections, and in obstinate cases curettage is the most effectual

measure. The disease is frequently associated with adenomatous disease

of the cervix, formerly called erosion. In this disease there is a new

formation of glandular elements, which enlarge and multiply, forming a

soft velvety areola dotted with pink spots. This was formerly

erroneously termed ulceration. The cause is unknown. It occurs in

virgins as well as in mothers, but it often accompanies lacerations of

the cervix. The symptoms are indefinite pain and leucorrhoea. The

condition is visible on inspection with a speculum. The treatment is

swabbing with iodized phenol or curettage. The body of the uterus may

also be the seat of adenomatous disease. Tuberculosis may attack the

uterus; this usually forms part of a general tuberculosis.

(e) _New Growths in the Uterus._--The uterus is the most common seat

of new growths. From the researches of von Gurlt, compiled from the

Vienna Hospital _Reports_, embracing 15,880 cases of tumour, females

exceed males in the proportion of seven to three, and of this large

majority uterine growths account for 25%. When we consider its

periodic monthly engorgements and the alternate hypertrophy and

involution it undergoes in connexion with pregnancy, we can anticipate

the special proneness of the uterus to new growths. Tumours of the

uterus are divided into benign and malignant. The benign tumours known

as fibroids or myomata are very common. They are stated by Bayle to

occur in 20% of women over 35 years of age, but happily in a great

number of cases they are small and give rise to no symptoms. They are

definitely associated with the period of sexual activity and occur

more frequently in married women than in single, in the proportion of

two to one (Winckel). It is doubtful if they ever originate after the

menopause. Indeed if uncomplicated by changes in them they share in

the general atrophy of the sexual organs which then takes place. They

are divided according to their position in the tissues into

intramural, subserous and submucous (the last when it has a pedicle

forms a polypus), or as to the part of the uterus in which they

develop into fibroids of the cervix and fibroids of the body.

Intramural and submucous fibroids give rise to haemorrhage. The menses

may be so increased that the patient is scarcely ever free from

haemorrhage. The pressure of the growth may cause dysmenorrhoea, or

pressure on the bladder and rectum may cause dysuria, retention or

rectal tenesmus. The uterus may be displaced by the weight of the

tumour. Secondary changes take place in fibroids, such as mucous

degeneration, fatty metamorphosis, calcification, septic infection

(sloughing fibroid) and malignant (sarcomatous) degeneration.

The modes in which fibroids imperil life are haemorrhage (the

commonest of all), septic infection, which is one of the most

dangerous, impaction when it fits the true pelvis so tightly that the

tumour cannot rise, twisting of the pedicle by rotation, leading to

sloughing and intestinal and urinary obstruction. When fibroids are

complicated by pregnancy, impaction and consequent abortion may take

place, or a cervical myoma may offer a mechanical obstacle to delivery

or lead to serious post partem haemorrhage. In the treatment of

fibroids various drugs (ergot, hamamelis, hydrastis canadensis) may be

tried to control the haemorrhage, and repose and the injection of hot

water (120 deg. F.) are sometimes successful, together with electrical

treatment. Surgical measures are needed, however, in severe recurrent

haemorrhage, intestinal obstruction, sloughing and the co-existence of

pregnancy. An endeavour must be made if possible to enucleate the

fibroid, or hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) may be required. The

operation of removal of the ovaries to precipitate the menopause has

fallen into disuse.

(f) _Malignant Disease of the Uterus._--The varieties of malignant

disease met with in the uterus are sarcoma, carcinoma and

chorion-epithelioma malignum. Sarcomata may occur in the body and in

the neck. They occur at an earlier age than carcinomata. Marked

enlargement and haemorrhage are the symptoms. The differential

diagnosis is microscopic. Extirpation of the uterus is the only chance

of prolonging life. The age at which women are most subject to

carcinoma (cancer) of the uterus is towards the decline of sexual

life. Of 3385 collected cases of cancer of the uterus 1169 occurred

between 40 and 50, and 856 between 50 and 60. In contradistinction to

fibroid tumours it frequently arises after the menopause. It may be

divided into cancer of the body and cancer of the neck (cervix).

Cancer of the neck of the uterus is almost exclusively confined to

women who have been pregnant (Bland-Sutton). Predisposing causes may

be injuries during delivery. The symptoms which induce women to seek

medical aid are haemorrhage, foetid discharge, and later pain and

cachexia. An unfortunate belief amongst the public that the menopause

is associated with irregular bleeding and offensive discharges has

prevented many women from seeking medical advice until too late. It

cannot be too widely understood that cancer of the cervix is in its

early stages a purely local disease, and if removed in this stage

usually results in cure. So important is the recognition of this fact

in the saving of human life that at the meeting of the British Medical

Association in April 1909 the council issued for publication a special

appeal to medical practitioners, midwives and nurses, and directed it

to be published in British and colonial medical and nursing journals.

It will be useful to quote here a part of the appeal directed to

midwives and nurses: "Cancer may occur at any age and in a woman who

looks quite well, and who may have no pain, no wasting, no foul

discharge and no profuse bleeding. To wait for pain, wasting, foul

discharge or profuse bleeding is to throw away the chance of

successful treatment. The early symptoms of cancer of the womb

are:--(1) bleeding which occurs after the change of life, (2) bleeding

after sexual intercourse or after a vaginal douche, (3) bleeding,

slight or abundant, even in young women, if occurring between the

usual monthly periods, and especially when accompanied by a

bad-smelling or watery blood-tinged discharge, (4) thin watery

discharge occurring at any age." On examination the cervix presents

certain characteristic signs, though these may be modified according

to the variety of cancer present. Hard nodules or definite loss of

substance, extreme friability and bleeding after slight manipulation,

are suspicious. Epithelial cancer of the cervix may assume a

proliferating ulcerative type, forming the well-known "cauliflower"

excrescence. The treatment of cancer of the cervix is free removal at

the earliest possible moment. Cancer of the body of the uterus is rare

before the 45th year. It is most frequent at or subsequent to the

menopause. The majority of the patients are nulliparae (Bland-Sutton).

The signs are fitful haemorrhages after the menopause, followed by

profuse and offensive discharges. The uterus on examination often

feels enlarged. The diagnosis being made, hysterectomy (removal of the

uterus) is the only treatment. Cancer of the body of the uterus may

complicate fibroids. Chorion-epithelioma malignum (deciduoma) was

first described in 1889 by Sanger and Pfeiffer. It is a malignant

disease presenting microscopic characters resembling decidual tissue.

It occurs in connexion with recent pregnancy, and particularly with

the variety of abortion termed hydatid mole. In many cases it destroys

life with a rapidity unequalled by any other kind of growth. It

quickly ulcerates and infiltrates the uterine tissues, forming

metastatic growths in the lung and vagina. Clinically it is recognized

by the occurrence after pregnancy of violent haemorrhages, progressive

cachexia and fever with rigors. Recent suggestions have been made as

to chorion-epithelioma being the result of pathological changes in the

lutein tissue of the ovary. The growth is usually primary in the

uterus, but may be so in the Fallopian tubes and in the vagina. A few

cases have been recorded unconnected with pregnancy. The virulence of

chorion-epithelioma varies, but in the present state of our knowledge

immediate removal of the primary growth along with the affected organ

is the only treatment.

_Diseases of the Fallopian Tubes._--The Fallopian tubes or oviducts

are liable to inflammatory affections, tuberculosis, sarcomata,

cancer, chorion-epithelioma and tubal pregnancy. Salpingitis

(inflammation of the oviducts) is nearly always secondary to septic

infection of the genital tract. The chief causes are septic

endometritis following labour or abortion, gangrene of a myoma,

gonorrhoea, tuberculosis and cancer of the uterus; it sometimes

follows the specific fevers. When the pus escapes from the tubes into

the coelom it sets up pelvic peritonitis. When the inflammation is

adjacent to the ostium it leads to the matting together of the tubal

fimbriae and glues them to an adjacent organ. This seals the ostium.

The occluded tube may now have an accumulation of pus in it

(pyosalpinx). When in consequence of the sealing of the ostium the

tube becomes distended with serous fluid it is termed hydrosalpinx.

Haematosalpinx is a term applied to the non-gravid tube distended with

blood; later the tubes may become sclerosed. Acute septic salpingitis

is ushered in by a rigor, the temperature rising to 103 deg., 104 deg.

F., with severe pain and constitutional disturbance. The symptoms may

become merged in those of general peritonitis. In chronic disease

there is a history of puerperal trouble followed by sterility, with

excessive and painful menstruation. Acute salpingitis requires

absolute rest, opium suppositories and hot fomentations. With urgent

symptoms removal of the inflamed adnexa must be resorted to. Chronic

salpingitis often renders a woman an invalid. Permanent relief can

only be afforded by surgical intervention. Tuberculous salpingitis is

usually secondary to other tuberculous infections. The Fallopian tubes

may be the seat of malignant disease. This is rarely primary. By far

the most important of the conditions of the Fallopian tubes is tubal

pregnancy (or ectopic gestation). It is now known that fertilization

of the human ovum by the spermatozoon may take place even when the

ovum is in its follicle in the ovary, for oosperms have been found in

the ovary and Fallopian tubes as well as in the uterus. Belief in

ovarian pregnancy is of old standing, and had been regarded as

possible but unproved, no case of an early embryo in its membranes in

the sac of an ovary being forthcoming, until the remarkable case

published by Dr Catherine van Tussenboek of Amsterdam in 1899

(Bland-Sutton). Tubal pregnancy is most frequent in the left tube; it

sometimes complicates uterine pregnancy; rarely both tubes are

pregnant. When the oosperm lodges in the ampulla or isthmus it is

called tubal gestation; when it is retained in the portion traversing

the uterine wall it is called tubo-uterine gestation. Wherever the

fertilized ovum remains and implants its villi the tube becomes turgid

and swollen, and the abdominal ostium gradually closes. The ovum in

this situation is liable to apoplexy, forming tubal mole. When the

abdominal ostium remains pervious the ovum may escape into the

coelomic cavity (tubal abortion); death from shock and haemorrhage

into the abdominal cavity may result. When neither of these

occurrences has taken place the ovum continues to grow inside the

tube, the rupture of the distended tube usually taking place between

the sixth and the tenth week. The rupture of the tube may be

intraperitoneal or extraperitoneal. The danger is death from

haemorrhage occurring during the rupture, or adhesions may form, the

retained blood forming a haematocele. The ovum may be destroyed or may

continue to develop. In rare cases rupture may not occur, the tube

bulging into the peritoneal cavity; and the foetus may break through

the membranes and lie free among the intestines, where it may die,

becoming encysted or calcified. The tubal placenta possesses foetal

structures, the true decidua forming in the uterus. The signs

suggestive of tubal pregnancy before rupture are missed periods,

pelvic pains and the presence of an enlarged tube. When rupture takes

place it is attended in both varieties with sudden and severe pain and

more or less marked collapse, and a tumour may or may not be felt

according to the situation of the rupture. There is a general "feeling

of something having given way." If diagnosed before rupture, the sac

must be removed by abdominal section. In intraperitoneal rupture

immediate operation affords the only chance of saving life. In

extraperitoneal rupture the foetus may occasionally remain alive until

full term and be rescued by abdominal section, if the condition is

recognized, or a false labour may take place, accompanied by death of

the foetus.

_Diseases of the Ovaries and Parovarium._--The ovaries undergo

striking changes at puberty, and again at the menopause, after which

there is a gradual shrinkage. One or both may be absent or malformed,

or they are subject to displacements, being either undescended,

contained in a hernia or prolapsed. Either of these conditions, if a

source of pain, may necessitate their removal. The ovary is also

subject to haemorrhage or apoplexy. Acute inflammations (oophorites)

are constantly associated with salpingitis or other septic conditions

of the genital tract or with an attack of mumps. The relation of

oophoritis to mumps is at present unknown. Acute oophoritis may

culminate in abscess but more usually adhesions are formed. The

surgical treatment is that of pyosalpinx. Chronic inflammation may

follow acute or be consequent on pelvic cellulitis. Its constant

features are more or less pain followed by sterility. The ovary may be

the seat of tuberculosis, which is generally secondary to other

lesions. Suppuration and abscess of the ovary also occur.

Perioophoritis, or chronic inflammation in the neighbourhood, may also

involve the gland. The cause of cirrhosis of the ovaries is unknown,

though it may be associated with cirrhotic liver. The change is met

with in women between 20 and 40 years of age, the ovaries being in a

shrunken, hard, wrinkled condition. Under ovarian neuralgia are

grouped indefinite painful symptoms occurring frequently in neurotic

and alcoholic subjects, and often worse during menstruation. The

treatment, whether local or operative, is usually unsatisfactory. The

ovary is frequently the seat of tumours, dermoids and cysts. Cysts may

be simple, unilocular or multilocular, and may attain an enormous

size. The largest on record was removed by Dr Elizabeth Reifsnyder of

Shanghai, and contained 100 litres of fluid, and the patient

recovered. The operation is termed ovariotomy. Dermoid cysts

containing skin, bones, teeth and hair, are of frequent growth in the

ovary, and have attained the weight of from 20 to 40 kilogrammes. In

one case a girl weighed 27 kilogrammes and her tumour 44 kilogrammes

(Keen). Papillomatous cysts also occur in the ovary. Parovarian and

Gartnerian cysts are found, and adenomata form 20% of all ovarian

cysts. Occasionally the tunic of peritoneum surrounding the ovary

becomes distended with serous fluid. This is termed ovarian hydrocele.

Ovarian fibroids occur, and malignant disease (sarcoma and carcinoma)

is fairly frequent, sarcoma being the most usual ovarian tumour

occurring before puberty. Carcinoma of the ovary is rarely primary,

but it is a common situation for secondary cancer to that of the

breast, gall-bladder or gastro-intestinal tract. The treatment of all

rapidly-growing tumours of the ovary is removal.

_Diseases of the Pelvic Peritoneum and Connective Tissue._--Women are

excessively liable to peritoneal infections. (1) Septic infection

often follows acute salpingitis and may give rise to pelvic

peritonitis (perimetritis), which may be adhesive, serous or purulent.

It may follow the rupture of ovarian or dermoid cysts, rupture of the

uterus, extra uterine pregnancy or extension from pyosalpinx. The

symptoms are severe pain, fever, 103 deg. F. and higher, marked

constitutional disturbances, vomiting, restlessness, even delirium.

The abdomen is fixed and tympanitic. Its results are the formation of

adhesions causing abnormal positions of the organs, or chronic

peritonitis may follow. The treatment is rest in bed, opium, hot

stupes to the abdomen and quinine. (2) Epithelial infections take

place in the peritoneum in connexion with other malignant growths. (3)

Hydroperitoneum, a collection of free fluid in the abdominal cavity,

may be due to tumours of the abdominal viscera or to tuberculosis of

the peritoneum. (4) Pelvic cellulitis (parametritis) signifies the

inflammation of the connective tissue between the folds of the broad

ligament (mesometrium). The general causes are septic changes

following abortion, delivery at term (especially instrumental

delivery), following operations on the uterus or salpingitis. The

symptoms are chill followed by severe intrapelvic pain and tension,

fever 100 deg. to 102 deg. F. There may be nausea and vomiting,

diarrhoea, rectal tenseness and dysuria. If consequent on parturition

the lochia cease or become offensive. On examination there is

tenderness and swelling in one flank and the uterus becomes fixed and

immovable in the exudate as if embedded in plaster of Paris. The

illness may go to resolution if treated by rest, opium, hot stupes or

icebags and glycerine tampons, or may go on to suppuration forming

pelvic abscess, which signifies a collection of pus between the layers

of the broad ligament. The pus in a pelvic abscess may point and

escape through the walls of the vagina, rectum or bladder. It

occasionally points in the groin. If the pus can be localized an

incision should be made and the abscess drained. The tumours which

arise in the broad ligament are haematocele, solid tumours (as

myomata, lipomata and sarcomata), and echinnococcus colonies

(hydatids).

BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Albutt, Playfair and Eden, _System of Gynaecology_

(1906); McNaughton Jones, _Manual of Diseases of Women_ (1904);

Bland-Sutton and Giles, _Diseases of Women_ (1906); C. Lockyer,

"Lutein Cysts in association with Chorio-Epithelioma," _Journal of

Obstetrics and Gynaecology_ (January, 1905); W. Stewart McKay,

_History of Ancient Gynaecology_; Hart and Barbour, _Diseases of

Women_; Howard Kelly, _Operative Gynaecology_. (H. L. H.)

GYONGYOSI, ISTVAN [STEPHEN] (1620-1704), Hungarian poet, was born of

poor but noble parents in 1620. His abilities early attracted the notice

of Count Ferencz Wesselenyi, who in 1640 appointed him to a post of

confidence in Fulek castle. Here he remained till 1653, when he married

and became an assessor of the judicial board. In 1681 he was elected as

a representative of his county at the diet held at Soprony (Oedenburg).

From 1686 to 1693, and again from 1700 to his death in 1704, he was

deputy lord-lieutenant of the county of Gomor. Of his literary works the

most famous is the epic poem _Muranyi Venus_ (Caschau, 1664), in honour

of his benefactor's wife Maria Szecsi, the heroine of Murany. Among his

later productions the best known are _Rozsa-Koszoru_, or Rose-Wreath

(1690), _Kemeny-Janos_ (1693), _Cupido_ (1695), _Palinodia_ (1695) and

_Chariklia_ (1700).

The earliest edition of his collected poetical works is by Dugonics

(Pressburg and Pest, 1796); the best modern selection is that of

Toldy, entitled _Gyongyosi Istvan valogatott poetai munkai_ (Select

poetical works of Stephen Gyongyosi, 2 vols., 1864-1865).

GYOR (Ger. _Raab_), a town of Hungary, capital of a county of the same

name, 88 m. W. of Budapest by rail. Pop. (1900) 27,758. It is situated

at the confluence of the Raab with the Danube, and is composed of the

inner town and three suburbs. Gyor is a well-built town, and is the seat

of a Roman Catholic bishop. Amongst its principal buildings are the

cathedral, dating from the 12th century, and rebuilt in 1639-1654; the

bishop's palace; the town hall; the Roman Catholic seminary for priests

and several churches. There are manufactures of cloth, machinery and

tobacco, and an active trade in grain and horses. Twenty miles by rail

W. S. W. of the town is situated Csorna, a village with a

Premonstratensian abbey, whose archives contain numerous valuable

historical documents.

Gyor is one of the oldest towns in Hungary and occupies the site of the

Roman _Arabona_. It was already a place of some importance in the 10th

century, and its bishopric was created in the 11th century. It was a

strongly fortified town which resisted successfully the attacks of the

Turks, into whose hands it fell by treachery in 1594, but they retained

possession of it only for four years. Montecucculi made Gyor a

first-class fortress, and it remained so until 1783, when it was

abandoned. At the beginning of the 19th century, the fortifications were

re-erected, but were easily taken by the French in 1809, and were again

stormed by the Austrians on the 28th of June 1849.

About 11 m. S.E. of Gyor on a spur of the Bakony Forest lies the famous

Benedictine abbey of Pannonhalma (Ger. _St Martinsberg_; Lat. _Mons

Sancti Martini_), one of the oldest and wealthiest abbeys of Hungary. It

was founded by King St Stephen, and the original deed from 1001 is

preserved in the archives of the abbey. The present building is a block

of palaces, containing a beautiful church, some of its parts dating from

the 12th century, and lies on a hill 1200 ft. high. The church has a

tower 130 ft. high. In the convent there are a seminary for priests, a

normal school, a gymnasium and a library of 120,000 vols. The chief

abbot has the rank of a bishop, and is a member of the Upper House of

the Hungarian parliament, while in spiritual matters he is subordinate

immediately to the Roman curia.

GYP, the pen name of SIBYLLE GABRIELLE MARIE ANTOINETTE RIQUETI DE

MIRABEAU, Comtesse de Martel de Janville (1850- ) French writer, who

was born at the chateau of Koetsal in the Morbihan. Her father, who was

the grandson of the vicomte de Mirabeau and great-nephew of the orator,

served in the Papal Zouaves, and died during the campaign of 1860. Her

mother, the comtesse de Mirabeau, in addition to some graver

compositions, contributed to the _Figaro_ and the _Vie parisienne_,

under various pseudonyms, papers in the manner successfully developed by

her daughter. Under the pseudonym of "Gyp" Madame de Martel, who was

married in 1869, sent to the _Vie parisienne_, and later to the _Revue

des deux mondes_, a large number of social sketches and dialogues,

afterwards reprinted in volumes. Her later work includes stories of a

more formal sort, essentially differing but little from the shorter

studies. The following list includes some of the best known of Madame de

Martel's publications, nearly seventy in number: _Petit Bob_ (1882);

_Autour du mariage_ (1883); _Ce que femme veut_ (1883); _Le Monde a

cote_ (1884), _Sans voiles_ (1885); _Autour du divorce_ (1886); _Dans le

train_ (1886); _Mademoiselle Loulou_ (1888); _Bob au salon_ (1888-1889);

_L'Education d'un prince_ (1890); _Passionette_ (1891); _Ohe! la grande

vie_ (1891); _Une Election a Tigre-sur-mer_ (1890), an account of

"Gyp's" experiences in support of a Boulangist candidate; _Mariage

civil_ (1892); _Ces bons docteurs_ (1892); _Du haut en bas_ (1893);

_Mariage de chiffon_ (1894); _Leurs ames_ (1895); _Le Coeur d'Ariane_

(1895); _Le Bonheur de Ginette_ (1896); _Totote_ (1897); _Lune de miel_

(1898); _Israel_ (1898); _L'Entrevue_ (1899); _Le Pays des champs_

(1900); _Trop de chic_ (1900); _Le Friquet_ (1901); _La Fee_ (1902); _Un

Mariage chic_ (1903); _Un Menage dernier cri_ (1903); _Maman_ (1904);

_Le Coeur de Pierrette_ (1905). From the first "Gyp," writing of a

society to which she belonged, displayed all the qualities which have

given her a distinct, if not pre-eminent, position among writers of her

class. Those qualities included an intense faculty of observation, much

skill in innuendo, a mordant wit combined with some breadth of humour,

and a singular power of animating ordinary dialogues without destroying

the appearance of reality. Her Parisian types of the spoiled child, of

the precocious schoolgirl, of the young bride, and of various masculine

figures in the gay world, have become almost classical, and may probably

survive as faithful pictures of luxurious manners in the 19th century.

Some later productions, inspired by a violent anti-Semitic and

Nationalist bias, deserve little consideration. An earlier attempt to

dramatize _Autour du mariage_ was a failure, not owing to the audacities

which it shares with most of its author's works, but from lack of

cohesion and incident. More successful was _Mademoiselle Eve_ (1895),

but indeed "Gyp's" successes are all achieved without a trace of

dramatic faculty. In 1901 Madame de Martel furnished a sensational

incident in the Nationalist campaign during the municipal elections in

Paris. She was said to have been the victim of a kidnapping outrage or

piece of horseplay provoked by her political attitude, but though a most

circumstantial account of the outrages committed on her and of her

adventurous escape was published, the affair was never clearly explained

or verified.

GYPSUM, a common mineral consisting of hydrous calcium sulphate, named

from the Gr. [Greek: gypsos], a word used by Theophrastus to denote not

only the raw mineral but also the product of its calcination, which was

employed in ancient times, as it still is, as a plaster. When

crystallized, gypsum is often called selenite, the [Greek: selenites] of

Dioscorides, so named from [Greek: selene], "the moon," probably in

allusion to the soft moon-like reflection of light from some of its

faces, or, according to a legend, because it is found at night when the

moon is on the increase. The granular, marble-like gypsum is termed

alabaster (q.v.).

Gypsum crystallizes in the monoclinic system, the habit of the crystals

being usually either prismatic or tabular; in the latter case the broad

planes are parallel to the faces of the clinopinacoid. The crystals may

become lenticular by curvature of certain faces. In the characteristic

type represented in fig. 1, f represents the prism, l the hemi-pyramid

and P the clinopinacoid. Twins are common, as in fig. 2, forming in some

cases arrow-headed and swallow-tailed crystals. Cleavage is perfect

parallel to the clinopinacoid, yielding thin plates, often

diamond-shaped, with pearly lustre; these flakes are usually flexible,

but may be brittle, as in the gypsum of Montmartre. Two other cleavages

are recognized, but they are imperfect. Crystals of gypsum, when

occurring in clay, may enclose much muddy matter; in other cases a large

proportion of sand may be mechanically entangled in the crystals without

serious disturbance of form; whilst certain crystals occasionally

enclose cavities with liquid and an air-bubble. Gypsum not infrequently

becomes fibrous. This variety occurs in veins, often running through

gypseous marls, with the fibres disposed at right angles to the

direction of the vein. Such gypsum when cut and polished has a pearly

opalescence, or satiny sheen, whence it is called satin-spar (q.v.).

[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

Gypsum is so soft as to be scratched even by the finger-nail (H = 1.5 to

2). Its specific gravity is about 2.3. The mineral is slightly soluble

in water, one part of gypsum being soluble, according to G. K. Cameron,

in 372 parts of pure water at 26 deg. C. Waters percolating through

gypseous strata, like the Keuper marls, dissolve the calcium sulphate

and thus become permanently hard or "selenitic." Such water has special

value for brewing pale ale, and the water used by the Burton breweries

is of this character; hence the artificial dissolving of gypsum in water

for brewing purposes is known as "burtonization." Deposits of gypsum are

formed in boilers using selenitic water.

Pure gypsum is colourless or white, but it is often tinted, especially

in the alabaster variety, grey, yellow or pink. Gypsum crystallizes with

two molecules of water, equal to about 21% by weight, and consequently

has the formula CaSO4.2H2O. By exposure to strong heat all the water may

be expelled, and the substance then has the composition of anhydrite

(q.v.). When the calcination, however, is conducted at such a

temperature that only about 75% of the water is lost, it yields a white

pulverulent substance, known as "plaster of Paris," which may readily be

caused to recombine with water, forming a hard cement. The gypsum

quarries of Montmartre, in the north of Paris, were worked in Tertiary

strata, rich in fossils. Gypsum is largely quarried in England for

conversion into plaster of Paris, whence it is sometimes known as

"plaster stone," and since much is sent to the Staffordshire potteries

for making moulds it is also termed "potter's stone." The chief workings

are in the Keuper marls near Newark in Nottinghamshire, Fauld in

Staffordshire and Chellaston in Derbyshire. It is also worked in Permian

beds in Cumberland and Westmorland, and in Purbeck strata near Battle in

Sussex.

Gypsum frequently occurs in association with rock-salt, having been

deposited in shallow basins of salt water. Much of the calcium in

sea-water exists as sulphate; and on evaporation of a drop of sea-water

under the microscope this sulphate is deposited as acicular crystals of

gypsum. In salt-lagoons the deposition of the gypsum is probably

effected in most cases by means of micro-organisms. Waters containing

sulphuretted hydrogen, on exposure to the air in the presence of

limestone, may yield gypsum by the formation of sulphuric acid and its

interaction with the calcium carbonate. In volcanic districts gypsum is

produced by the action of sulphuric acid, resulting from the oxidation

of sulphurous vapours, on lime-bearing minerals, like labradorite and

augite, in the volcanic rocks: hence gypsum is common around solfataras.

Again, by the oxidation of iron-pyrites and the action of the resulting

sulphuric acid on limestone or on shells, gypsum may be formed; whence

its origin in most clays. Gypsum is also formed in some cases by the

hydration of anhydrite, the change being accompanied by an increase of

volume to the extent of about 60%. Conversely gypsum may, under certain

conditions, be dehydrated or reduced to anhydrite.

Some of the largest known crystals of selenite have been found in

southern Utah, where they occur in huge geodes, or crystal-lined

cavities, in deposits from the old salt-lakes. Fine crystals, sometimes

curiously bent, occur in the Permian rocks of Friedrichroda, near Gotha,

where there is a grotto called the Marienglashohle, close to

Rheinhardsbrunn. Many of the best localities for selenite are in the New

Red Sandstone formation (Trias and Permian), notably the salt-mines of

Hall and Hallein, near Salzburg, and of Bex in Switzerland. Excellent

crystals, usually of a brownish colour arranged in groups, are often

found in the brine-chambers and the launders used in salt-works.

Selenite also occurs in fine crystals in the sulphur-bearing marls of

Girgenti and other Sicilian localities; whilst in Britain very bold

crystals are yielded by the Kimeridge clay of Shotover Hill near Oxford.

Twisted crystals and rosettes of gypsum found in the Mammoth Cave,

Kentucky, have been called "oulopholites" ([Greek: oulos], "woolly";

[Greek: pholeos], "cave").

In addition to the use of gypsum in cement-making, the mineral finds

application as an agricultural agent in dressing land, and it has also

been used in the manufacture of porcelain and glass. Formerly it was

employed, in the form of thin cleavage-plates, for glazing windows, and

seems to have been, with mica, called _lapis specularis_. It is still

known in Germany as _Marienglas_ and _Fraueneis_. Delicate

cleavage-plates of gypsum are used in microscopic petrography for the

determination of certain optical constants in the rock-forming minerals.

(F. W. R.*)

GYROSCOPE AND GYROSTAT. These are scientific models or instruments

designed to illustrate experimentally the dynamics of a rotating body

such as the spinning-top, hoop and bicycle, and also the precession of

the equinox and the rotation of the earth.

The gyroscope (Gr. [Greek: gyros], ring, [Greek: skopein], to see) may

be distinguished from the gyrostat ([Greek: gyros], and [Greek:

statikos], stationary) as an instrument in which the rotating wheel or

disk is mounted in gimbals so that the principal axis of rotation

always passes through a fixed point (fig. 1). It can be made to imitate

the motion of a spinning-top of which the point is placed in a smooth

agate cup as in Maxwell's dynamical top (figs. 2, 3). (_Collected

Works_, i. 248.) A bicycle wheel, with a prolongation of the axle placed

in a cup, can also be made to serve (fig. 4).

[Illustration: FIG. 1.]

[Illustration: FIG. 2.]

The gyrostat is an instrument designed by Lord Kelvin (_Natural

Philosophy_, S 345) to illustrate the more complicated state of motion

of a spinning body when free to wander about on a horizontal plane, like

a top spun on the pavement, or a hoop or bicycle on the road. It

consists essentially of a massive fly-wheel concealed in a metal casing,

and its behaviour on a table, or with various modes of suspension or

support, described in Thomson and Tait, _Natural Philosophy_, serves to

illustrate the curious reversal of the ordinary laws of statical

equilibrium due to the _gyrostatic domination_ of the interior invisible

fly-wheel, when rotated rapidly (fig. 5).

The toy shown in figs. 6 and 7, which can be bought for a shilling, is

acting as a gyroscope in fig. 6 and a gyrostat in fig. 7.

[Illustration: FIG. 3.]

[Illustration: FIG. 4.]

The gyroscope, as represented in figs. 2 and 3 by Maxwell's dynamical

top, is provided with screws by which the centre of gravity can be

brought into coincidence with the point of support. It can then be used

to illustrate Poinsot's theory of the motion of a body under no force,

the gyroscope being made kinetically unsymmetrical by a setting of the

screws. The discussion of this movement is required for Jacobi's

theorems on the allied motion of a top and of a body under no force

(Poinsot, _Theorie nouvelle de la rotation des corps_, Paris, 1857;

Jacobi, _Werke_, ii. Note B, p. 476).

To imitate the movement of the top the centre of gravity is displaced

from the point of support so as to give a preponderance. When the motion

takes place in the neighbourhood of the downward vertical, the bicycle

wheel can be made to serve again mounted as in fig. 8 by a stalk in the

prolongation of the axle, suspended from a universal joint at O; it can

then be spun by hand and projected in any manner.

[Illustration: FIG. 5.]

[Illustration: FIG. 6.]

[Illustration: FIG. 7.]

[Illustration: FIG. 8.]

[Illustration: FIG. 9.]

The first practical application of the gyroscopic principle was invented

and carried out (1744) by Serson, with a spinning top with a polished

upper plane surface for giving an artificial horizon at sea, undisturbed

by the motion of the ship, when the real horizon was obscured. The

instrument has been perfected by Admiral Georges Ernest Fleuriais (fig.

9), and is interesting theoretically as showing the correction required

practically for the rotation of the earth. Gilbert's barogyroscope is

devised for the same purpose of showing the earth's rotation; a

description of it, and of the latest form employed by Foppl, is given in

the _Ency. d. math. Wiss._, 1904, with bibliographical references in the

article "Mechanics of Physical Apparatus." The rotation of the fly-wheel

is maintained here by an electric motor, as devised by G. M. Hopkins,

and described in the _Scientific American_, 1878. To demonstrate the

rotation of the earth by the constancy in direction of the axis of a

gyroscope is a suggestion that has often been made; by E. Sang in 1836,

and others. The experiment was first carried out with success by

Foucault in 1851, by a simple pendulum swung in the dome of the

Pantheon, Paris, and it has been repeated frequently (_Memoires sur le

pendule_, 1889).

A gyroscopic fly-wheel will preserve its original direction in space

only when left absolutely free in all directions, as required in the

experiments above. If employed in steering, as of a torpedo, the

gyroscope must act through the intermediary of a light relay; but if

direct-acting, the reaction will cause precession of the axis, and the

original direction is lost.

The gyrostatic principle, in which one degree of freedom is suppressed

in the axis, is useful for imparting steadiness and stability in a

moving body; it is employed by Schlick to mitigate the rolling of a ship

and to maintain the upright position of Brennan's monorail car.

Lastly, as an application of gyroscopic theory, a stretched chain of

fly-wheels in rotation was employed by Kelvin as a mechanical model of

the rotary polarization of light in an electromagnetic field; the

apparatus may be constructed of bicycle wheels connected by short links,

and suspended vertically.

_Theory of the Symmetrical Top._

1. The physical constants of a given symmetrical top, expressed in

C.G.S. units, which are employed in the subsequent formulae, are

denoted by M, h, C and A. M is the weight in grammes (g) as given by

the number of gramme weights which equilibrate the top when weighed in

a balance; h is the distance OG in centimetres (cm.) between G the

centre of gravity and O the point of support, and Mh may be called the

preponderance in g.-cm.; Mh and M can be measured by a spring balance

holding up in a horizontal position the axis OC in fig. 8 suspended at

O. Then gMh (dyne-cm. or ergs) is the moment of gravity about O when

the axis OG is horizontal, gMh sin [theta] being the moment when the

axis OG makes an angle [theta] with the vertical, and g = 981

(cm./s^2) on the average; C is the moment of inertia of the top about

OG, and A about any axis through O at right angles to OG, both

measured in g-cm.^2.

To measure A experimentally, swing the top freely about O in small

plane oscillation, and determine the length, l cm., of the equivalent

simple pendulum; then

(1) l = A/Mh, A = Mhl.

Next make the top, or this simple pendulum, perform small conical

revolutions, nearly coincident with the downward vertical position of

equilibrium, and measure n, the mean angular velocity of the conical

pendulum in radians / second; and T its period in seconds; then

(2) 4[pi]^2/T^2 = n^2 = g/l = gMh/A;

and f = n/2[pi] is the number of revolutions per second, called the

_frequency_, T = 2[pi]/n is the period of a revolution, in seconds.

Steady motion of the top.

2. In the popular explanation of the steady movement of the top at a

constant inclination to the vertical, depending on the composition of

angular velocity, such as given in Perry's _Spinning Tops_, or

Worthington's _Dynamics of Rotation_, it is asserted that the moment

of gravity is always generating an angular velocity about an axis OB

perpendicular to the vertical plane COC' through the axis of the top

OC'; and this angular velocity, compounded with the resultant angular

velocity about an axis OI, nearly coincident with OC', causes the axes

OI and OC' to keep taking up a new position by moving at right angles

to the plane COC', at a constant precessional angular velocity, say

[mu] rad./sec., round the vertical OC (fig. 4).

If, however, the axis OC' is prevented from taking up this

precessional velocity, the top at once falls down; thence all the

ingenious attempts--for instance, in the swinging cabin of the

Bessemer ship--to utilise the gyroscope as a mechanical directive

agency have always resulted in failure (_Engineer_, October 1874),

unless restricted to actuate a light relay, which guides the

mechanism, as in steering a torpedo.

An experimental verification can be carried out with the gyroscope in

fig. 1; so long as the vertical spindle is free to rotate in its

socket, the rapidly rotating wheel will resist the impulse of tapping

on the gimbal by moving to one side; but when the pinch screw prevents

the rotation of the vertical spindle in the massive pedestal, this

resistance to the tapping at once disappears, provided the friction of

the table prevents the movement of the pedestal; and if the wheel has

any preponderance, it falls down.

Familiar instances of the same principles are observable in the

movement of a hoop, or in the steering of a bicycle; it is essential

that the handle of the bicycle should be free to rotate to secure the

stability of the movement.

The bicycle wheel, employed as a spinning top, in fig. 4, can also be

held by the stalk, and will thus, when rotated rapidly, convey a

distinct muscular impression of resistance to change of direction, if

brandished.

Elementary demonstration of the condition of steady motion.

3. A demonstration, depending on the elementary principles of

dynamics, of the exact conditions required for the axis OC' of a

spinning top to spin steadily at a constant inclination [theta] to the

vertical OC, is given here before proceeding to the more complicated

question of the general motion, when [theta], the inclination of the

axis, is varying by nutation.

It is a fundamental principle in dynamics that if OH is a vector

representing to scale the angular momentum of a system, and if Oh is

the vector representing the axis of the impressed couple or torque,

then OH will vary so that the velocity of H is represented to scale by

the impressed couple Oh, and if the top is moving freely about O, Oh

is at right angles to the vertical plane COC', and

(1) Oh = gMh sin [theta].

In the case of the steady motion of the top, the vector OH lies in the

vertical plane COC', in OK suppose (fig. 4), and has a component OC =

G about the vertical and a component OC' = G', suppose, about the axis

OC; and G' = CR, if R denotes the angular velocity of the top with

which it is spun about OC'.

If [mu] denotes the constant precessional angular velocity of the

vertical plane COC' the components of angular velocity and momentum

about OA are [mu] sin [theta] and A[mu] sin [theta], OA being

perpendicular to OC' in the plane COC'; so that the vector OK has the

components

(2) OC' = G', and C'K = A[mu] sin[theta],

and the horizontal component

(3) CK = OC' sin[theta] - C'K cos[theta]

= G' sin[theta] - A[mu] sin[theta] cos[theta].

The velocity of K being equal to the impressed couple Oh,

(4) gMh sin[theta] = [mu].CK = sin [theta] (G'[mu] - A[mu]^2 cos [theta]),

and dropping the factor sin[theta],

(5) A[mu]^2 cos[theta] - G'[mu] + gMh = 0, or A[mu]^2 cos[theta] - CR[mu] + An^2 = 0,

the condition for steady motion.

Solving this as a quadratic in [mu], the roots [mu]1, [mu]2 are given by

_ _

G' | 4A^2n^2 |

(6) [mu]1, [mu]2 = -- sec [theta] |1 [+-] [root] (1 - ------- cos [theta]) |;

2A |_ G'^2 _|

and the minimum value of G' = CR for real values of [mu] is given by

G'^2 CR

(7) ------- = cos [theta], -- = 2[root](cos [theta]);

4A^2n^2 An

for a smaller value of R the top cannot spin steadily at the

inclination [theta] to the upward vertical.