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 558 GALATZ GALAXY epistles whose authenticity has never been questioned by the critical theologians, and which is therefore of prime importance for establishing the theological views of the apos- tle. It consists of two parts. The first (chap. i. to v. 12), chiefly doctrinal, vindicates the apostolic commission of Paul, urges the doc- trine of salvation as the cardinal truth of Christianity, and illustrates the relation of the Christian to the Jewish church. The second contains exhortations and benedictions. It was called forth by some agents of the Jew- ish Christian party who endeavored to over- throw the belief in salvation by grace, and to incorporate circumcision and other Jewish rites with the ordinances of Christian worship. There is much diversity of opinion as to when and where the epistle was written; the major- ity of exegetical writers at present appear to assume that it was written from Ephesus, about the year 56. Special commentaries on this epistle have been written by Winer (4th ed., 1859), Flatt (1828), Usteri (1833), Riickert (1833), Hilgenfeld (1852), and Wieseler (1859). See also Holsten, Inhalt und Gedankengang des Brief es an die Galater(1859). GALATZ, or Galacz, a town of Eoumania, in Moldavia, on the left bank of the Danube, be- tween the mouths of the Sereth and Pruth, 120 m. S. by E. of Jassy ; pop. nearly 80,000, in- cluding many Greeks and Jews, some Arme- nians, and a vast multitude of foreign resi- dents of almost all European nationalities. The old part of the town consists of filthy and narrow streets, but the new part contains good stone houses, and has a more pleasant Galatz. appearance. The qu'ay is used as the princi- pal street, and there are extensive warehouses, granaries, and ship yards, and a large bazaar. The new Roman Catholic and several of the Greek churches are large edifices, and there are several educational institutions, a hospital, and an excellent quarantine building. Galatz is a free port, and one of the most impor- tant emporiums of the Danube. The open- ing of that river to all nations by the terms of the treaty of Paris of 1856 produced a great iitflux of merchants and traders, and the population, which had increased from 8,000 in 1835 to 50,000, growing chiefly du- ring the Crimean war, rapidly rose to 70,000, but has of late increased more slowly, ow- ing to the partial diversion of the trade by railways to other points. About half of the trade by sailing vessels is carried on under the Greek flag, though the English and Ital- ian merchants have become great rivals of the Greeks. The Sulina mouth of the Dan- ube forms he outer harbor for the accommo- dation of large ships, and the port of Galatz proper is accessible to craft of 300 tons. The exports of 1871 included nearly 400,000 quar- ters of wheat and about 500,000 of maize, be- sides flour and other cereals. Deal boards and timber are exported in great quantities, and tallow, wool, and hides to some extent. One third of the imports are from England, and the total value of imports (including those of Braila), chiefly manufactured and colonial goods and metals, is about 3,000,000. The average annual number of ships clearing for the Black sea is 1,150. Railways running re- spectively through Braila and Roman connect Galatz with Bucharest and Czernowitz. The Russians took the town in May, 1789, and the Turks gained a victory here in August of the same year. Between 1848 and 1856 Galatz was on several occasions occupied by Turkish, Russian, and Austrian troops. GALAXY (Gr. yfaa, milk; byakat-iaq {;/c/lof, the milky zone), the via lactea, or milky way, an irregular band of light visible in the heavens on a clear night. The following is an abridgment of Sir John Herschel's ac- count of this phenom- enon. In the northern heavens the milky way is for the most part faint. From Cepheus over Cassiopeia, Per- seus, Auriga, &c., to Monoceros, it forms a single stream, except where in Perseus it throws out a branch which can be traced as far as e Persei, and probably to the Pleiades and Hyades. Beyond Monoceros, southward, it becomes broader, brighter, and more com- plicated, opening out in Argo into a fan- like expansion 20 wide. Here the continu- ity of the stream is interrupted, a broad