G O L 625 G O L
propoitions with which it forms an amalgam : this, like other amal-gams, is softer, the larger the proportion of mercury. It softensand liquefies by heat, and crystallizes by cooling. Lead uniteswith gold, and considerably impairs its ductility, one-fourth of agrain to an ounce rendering it completely brittle. Copper renderspold less ductile, harder, more fusible, and of a deeper colour,t his is the usual addition in coin, and other articles used in socie-ty. 'I in renders it brittle in proportion to its quantity. Bismuth renders gold while and brittle; as do likewise nickel, manganese,arsenic, and antimony. Zinc produces the same effect; and,when equal in weight to the gold, a metal of a fine grain is pro-duced, which is said to he well adapted to form the mirrors of re-flecting telescopes; being susceptible of a very fine polish, and notsubject to rust.
Gold, Pure, that purged by fire of all its impurities, and allalloy. The moderns frequently call it gold of twenty-four carats,hut in reality there is no such thing as gold so very pure, andthere is always wanting at least a quarter of a carat. Gold oftwenty-two carat; has one part of silver and another of copper;that of twenty-three carats has half a part, i. c. half a twenty-fourthof each. See Carat.
Gold, Mosaic, is gold applied in pnnnels on a proper ground,distributed into squares, lozenges, and other compartments; partof w hich is shadowed to raise or heighten the rest. See Mosaic.
Gold Plates for Enamelling are generally made of ducatswhose fineness is from 23} carats to 23|; as the finest gold is thebest for this purpose, unless where some parts of the gold are leftbare and unpolished, as in watch-cases, snuff-boxes, See. for whichpurposes a mixture of alloy is necessary, and silver is preferred tocopper, because the latter disposes the plates to tarnish and turn
Gold, Shell, is that used by the gilders and illuminers, andwith which gold-letters are written. It is made by grinding gold-leaves, or gold-beaters fragments, with a little honey, and atter-Wards separating the honey from the powdered gold by water."When the honey is washed away, the gold may be put on paperor kept in shells; whence its name. "When it is used, it is dilutedwith gum-water or soap-suds. The German gold-powder, pre-pared from tiie Dutch gold-leaf in the same manner, is generallyused; and when it is well scoured with varnish, answers the end inJapanner’s gilding as well as the genuine.
GoLD,Si'UN,or Gold Thread , is flatted gold-wire wrapped overa thread of silk, by twisting it with a wheel and iron bobbins.
Gold-Wire, a cylindfcal ingot of silver, gilt, or covered withgold, and afterwards drawn successively through a great numberof little round holes, of a drawing iron, each less than the other,fill it be sometimes no bigger than a hair. See M ire-Drawing.
Gold-Wire, Platted, is the above wire flatted between tworollers of polished steel, to lit it to be spun on a stick, or to beused flat w ithout spinning, as in brocades, laces, embroideries, &c.
Gold Coast, in geography, a maritime country of Africa , onfhe coast of Guinea , abounding with gold; and extending 180udles in length from Gold River to Ponni.
Gold River, a river of Africa, in Guinea , the sands of whicha '>ound with gold-dust. .
Gold River, a river of America, on the Isthmus of Darien ,a bounding also w ith gold-dust. . . .
. GOLDAPP, a town of Prussian Lithuania, founded in 1jo4,sixtv-eight miles E. S. E. of Konigsberg . , T . ,
GOLDBERG, a town of Silesia, in the duchy of Ligmtz, ele-Wo miles W. N. W. of Jauer.
GOLDEN CUPS. See Ranunculus.
Golden Fish. See Cyprinus. ,. ,
„ Golden Fleece , in the ancient mythology, was the •fleece of the ram upon which Phryxus and Uelle are said to m e,"am over the sea to Colchis ; and which being sacrifice! 1er > was hung upon a tree in the grove of Mars, see
Kauts. . ,
i Golden Fi.eecf., Order of the, a military' ori ^ el1 hilip the Good, duke of Burgundy, in 1427 ; thus m1 ^presentation of the golden fleece, borne by the king 50 brs, which consisted of flints and steels. ■ c nf TVi-
r ; Golden Island, an island of S. America , in the r^n. Niud province of Terra Fiona. Lon. 77. 10. W. Lat.
V °L. ii. N0 . 98.
Golden Number, in chronology, a number shewing whatyear of the moon’s cycle any given year is. See Chronology.
Golden Rule. See Arithmetic.
Golden Thistle. See Scolymus.
GOLDFINCH, in ornithology. See Fringilla.
GOLDINGEN, a town of Poland , in the duchy of Courland,forty-eight miles W. N. W. of Mittau .
GOLD.SIZE, for Burnished Gilding, is prepared of 1-}1I>.of tobacco-pipe clay, -} oz. of red chalk, } oz. of black lead, 40drops of sweet oil, and 3 draclnns of pure tallow: grind the day,chalk, and black lead, separately, very fine in water, then mixthem together, add the oil and tallow, and grind the mixture to adue consistence.
Gold-size, for Japanning, may be made by pulverising guinanimi and asphaltum, of each 1 oz. red lead, litharge ol gold,and timbre, of each 1} oz. mixing them with lib. of linseed-oil,and boiling them; stir them till the whole be incorporated, amiappeal's when cold of the consistence of tar: strain the mixturethrough a flannel, and keep it stopped up in a bottle for use.When used, it must be ground with as much Vermillion as willgive it an opaque body, and diluted with oil of turpentine, so thatit may be worked freely with the pencil. A more simple prepa-ration is made with lib. of linseed-oil, and 4 oz. of gum annni;powder the gum, and mix it gradually with the boiling oil; let itcontinue to boil till it becomes of the consistence of tar; strain itthrough a coarse cloth; keep and use it as the other.
GOLDSMITH, Oliver, an eminent writer , was born, accord-ing to one account, in 1731, at Pallas, in the county of Longford,in Ireland , and to another at Elpliin, in 1729. liis father was aclergyman, who gave him a good education, and sent him to Tri-nity College, Dublin, from w hence he removed to Edinburgh , tostudy physic. At this place he became security for a fellow-stu-dent, on which account he was obliged to escape to England, butwas arrested at Sunderland , and released by two college-friends,whom he met with there. He then went to Holland, and travelledthrough Flanders, and part of Germany, on foot. At Louvain hetook the degree of Bachelor of Physic, the highest degree he everattained. After accompanying an English gentleman to Geneva ,and the south of France , he arrived in England in 1738. Beingreduced to a low state, he became usher in a school at Peckham ;where, however, lie did not remain long, but settled in London ,and subsisted by writing for periodical publications. He firstemerged from obscurity in 1765 by the publication of his poem,enlituled, the Traveller, or a Prospect of Society. The year fol-lowing' appeared his beautiful novel of the Vicar of Wakefield.He now took chambers in the Temple; but the liberality of hi*temper, and a propensity to gaming, involved him in frequent dif-ficulties. Inl/fiShe brought out his comedy of the Good-Na-tured Man at Covent Garden. In 1770 he published The De-serted Village, a poem, which, in point of description and pathos,is above all praise. As a comic poet he appeared to great advan-tage in 1772, by the play of She Stoops to Conquer, or the Mis-takes of a Night. lie died by taking an extravagant dose ofJames’s powder in 1774, and was buried in the Temple church-yard. A monument was erected to his memory in \\ estminster-abbev, with a beautiful Latin epitaph by Dr. Johnson. Besidesthe above works, he produced a number of others: as a Historyof England, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to his Son, 2vols. 12mo. A History of England, 4 vols. 8vo. ; A Roman His-tory, 2 vols. 8vo. ; A Grecian History, 2 vols.; A History of theEarth and Animated Nature, 8 vols. 8vo.; Chinese Letters, Ac.A View of Experimental Philosophy, 3 vols. 8vo. ; A Posthum-ous Work, Miscellanies, &c.
GOLDSMITH, or SILVERSMITH, is an artist who makesvessels, utensils, and ornaments, ia gold and silver. As the gold-smith often has to make his own moulds, he ought to be a gooddesigner, and have a taste in sculpture: he also ought to Ihiowenough of metallurgy to be able to assay and refine gold and sil-ver, and to mix the exact quantity of a'lloy. The goldsmiths inLondon employ different hands under them for the variousbranches ot their trade; such as jewellers, box-makers, toy-makers,turners, gilders, burnishers, chasers, refiners, founders, &c. Gold-smiths are superior tradesmen: their wares must be assayed by thewardens of their own company in London , and marked; and thegold and silver must be of the standard fineness, under a penallyof 10 /. Any false metal may be seised and forfeited to the kirn?
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