Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/625

 GANNET GANOIDS 613 for his system of chloric inhalation for catarrh. He is best known, however, by his process for embalming, for which he received the same prize. It consists in injecting a solution of sul- phate of aluminum into the carotid artery. GANNET, a web-footed bird, of the family sulidce and genus sula (Briss.). The genus is characterized by a bill longer than the head, strong, straight, and broad at the base ; the sides compressed and grooved toward the tip, which is slightly curved, with the lateral mar- gins obliquely and unequally serrated ; the nos- trils basal, linear, in a lateral groove, and al- most invisible ; the wings long and pointed, the first and second quills longest ; the tail long and graduated ; the tarsi short and stout, rounded in front and keeled behind ; the toes long, all four connected by a full membrane ; the claws moderate and rather flat, the middle one serra- ted, and the hind one rudimentary; beneath the lower mandible is a naked sac, capable of moderate distention. There are about ten species described, in various parts of the world, of which two are natives of the western hemi- sphere, the booby (8. fiber, Linn.), treated under its own title, and the gannet, or solan goose (S. bassana, Briss.). The gannets are usually found in immense numbers on desert and rocky islands near the mainland, migrating southward in small parties on the approach of cold weather ; they sometimes float lightly on the sea, but are generally seen on the wing ; their flight is powerful, rapid, buoyant, and long sustained ; their food consists of fishes which swim near the surface, upon which they dart headlong from a considerable height, ma- king a great splash, and sometimes remaining under water a minute or two ; they swallow Common Gannet (Sula bassana), adult and young. the fish head foremost, and their gullet is so expansible as to take in the largest herring. The common gannet (S. bassana) has a close dense plumage, of a general whitish color, buff yellow on the head and hind neck, and pri- maries brownish black ; the bill is pale bluish gray; bare space about the eye and on the neck blackish blue ; iris white. The length to end of tail is 40 in., to end of wings 38, the ex- tent of wings about 6 ft., and the bill 4 in. ; the weight is 7 Ibs. The female is like the male, but smaller. The young are brown and white above, and grayish white below. This species breeds in great numbers on the rocky islands near the coast of Labrador, and after the breeding season, in May and June, is found all along the Atlantic states to the gulf of Mex- ico ; it is entirely maritime, and never seen in- land unless forced in by violent gales. The flight, when travelling, is low, performed by 30 or 40 flaps of the wings, and then by sailing for an equal distance with extended neck ; the walk is exceedingly slow and awkward. The nest is a hole in the earth surrounded by weeds and sticks matted together for a height of 10 to 20 in., and only a single pure white egg, about 3 in. long, is laid in it ; the young are hatched in about a month ; the males assist in incubation. They congregate on the same rock in vast numbers, and are quarrelsome during incubation, being fond of stealing from each other the materials for the nests, which are sometimes brought a distance of 30 miles. A young gannet, with its large head, closed eyes, thin neck, small wings, large abdomen, naked skin, and bluish black color, is a most uncouth and disagreeable object. When shot at or wounded, gannets disgorge their food like vul- tures. They have very few enemies among birds or beasts ; the eggs and young are some- times devoured by the larger gulls. According to Audubon, the feathers on the lower parts are very convex externally, giving the appear- ance of light shell work. GANNETT, Ezra Stiles, an American clergy- man, born in Cambridge, Mass., May 4, 1801, died from a railroad accident at Revere, Mass., Aug. 26, 1871. He studied at Phillips academy, Andover, entered Harvard college in 1816, and graduated in 1820; studied the three following years in the divinity school at Cambridge ; re- ceived ordination as colleague with William Ellery Channing, June 30, 1824, in the Federal street church, Boston ; and upon Dr. Channing's death in 1842 he became sole pastor. The con- gregation subsequently removed to Arlington street, and Dr. Gannett continued to be its pastor until his death, a period of 47 years, with only an intermission of two years, during which he resided in Europe on account of his health. He published many occasional sermons and addresses, and from 1844 to 1849 was one of the editors of u The Christian Examiner." GANOIDS (Gr. yavog, splendor), in Miiller's classification, an order of fishes, having either enamelled scales, bony plates, or a naked skin ; fins generally, but not always, covered anteri- orly by spiny plates (fulcra) ; the internal skeleton sometimes osseous, as in the gar pike, or partly cartilaginous, as in the sturgeons ; the vertebral column occasionally extending to the end of the upper caudal lobe ; nasal apertures