Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/141

 GOUT GOVERNOR'S ISLAND 133 ing generally less temperate in the use of stimulating food and drinks than southern na- tions. A life of indolent sensuality, amid the excitements and passions of civilization in cities, and the use of highly seasoned animal food with alcoholic stimulants, are the predisposing causes to this disease. A person may have a gouty diathesis, and die from the evils arising from it, without having experienced what is popularly understood as a "fit of the gout;" the gout poison (uric acid) may be eliminated from the blood in any organ rich in fibrous tissue, and from recent researches it would seem that many cases of neuralgia (sciatica and hemicrania), lithiasis, and oxaluria, with oxalate of lime deposits in the urine, are symp- toms of the same morbific action, and excess of uric acid in the blood either from over pro- duction or accumulation ; the habits and man- ner of life, the tissues most affected, and the peculiar urinary deposit, indicate the identity of the above forms of disease, and the pro- priety of the same treatment in all. Organic chemistry teaches that in the gouty diathesis, with excess of urates and oxalates, there is a deficiency of oxygen in the system ; hence the uric acid may remain unchanged, or may be oxidized only into oxalic acid, the later remain- ing as such instead of undergoing further oxi- dation and being converted into carbonic acid and urea, in which forms it can be removed from the organism. We find gout attacking the upper ranks of society, who indulge in a highly nitrogenous diet, which tends to pro- duce uric acid in excess, even though the nor- mal quantity should be duly eliminated, and the disease assumes the form of urate of soda deposits in the joints ; in .the lower classes, consuming less animal and stimulating food, and taking in more oxygen from their daily exercise, the uric acid becomes the oxalic, and the gouty diathesis manifests itself in neuralgia with ox- ,te of lime in abundance in the urine. By any authors rheumatism is considered closely allied to gout; and accordingly cases of the latter disease affecting especially fibrous tissues are sometimes called rheumatic gout, a patho- logical hybrid as absurd and impossible as scar- latinic measles would be, as Dr. Garrod has clearly shown ; a gouty person may have also rheumatism, but the two diseases are distinct and cannot pass the one into the other, the former having as a prominent character an excess of uric, and the latter of lactic acid. There are few diseases which have more em- pirical remedies extolled for their cure than gout ; almost every drastic purgative, diuretic, tonic, and narcotic has been pressed into the service, either for external or internal use. To say nothing here of soothing topical applica- tions, colchicum has enjoyed, and deservedly, a great reputation in the treatment of gout and neuralgia, between the attacks and in their chronic forms ; it is most efficacious when it acts upon the skin and bowels. The acetate of potash and other alkalies are in favor with uia ? many, both for their diuretic property and as alkalizing the acid in the blood and urine. Ni- tre-muriatic acid has been found of advantage for supplying the oxygen necessary for the conversion of the uric into oxalic acid, and the latter into carbonic acid and urea. The judicious use of purgatives, abstinence from highly nitrogenous food and stimulating drinks, attention to hygienic rules, and avoiding expo- sure to dampness, cold, and fatigue of body or mind, are absolutely necessary as aids in the treatment of this disease: GOIJVION SAINT-CYR, Laurent, a French mar- shal, born in Toul, April 13, 1764, died at Hyeres, March 17, 1830. He studied the fine arts, and in 1792 enlisted among the volunteers who marched to the invaded frontier. Being elected captain by his companions, he was at- tached to the staff of Gen. Custine, and in the course of a year rose to the rank of general of division. In 1796 he commanded a division of the army on the Rhine under Moreau. In 1798 he was sent to Rome to reestablish discipline in the army, which had nearly revolted against Masse'na, and succeeded. After the 18th Bru- maire he again served under Moreau, and de- feated Kray at Biberach (May 9, 1800). In 1801 he was sent as ambassador to Spain, and in 1802 commanded the French army of observa- tion in southern Italy. He was too indepen- dent in his conduct and sentiments to please Napoleon, who assigned him to employment which gave him no opportunity of gaining dis- tinction. In 1808 he was sent to Catalonia, and relieved Barcelona in spite of the scanty resources placed at his disposal ; but dissatisfied with the treatment he received, he sent in his resignation and left his post without waiting for his successor. This being considered a breach of discipline, he was cashiered and ordered to his country seat, where he remained for two years in a kind of imprisonment. In 1811 he was called back to service, in 1812 commanded a corps in the great army which invaded Russia, and defeated Prince "Wittgenstein at Polotzk on the Dtina, Aug. 17-18 ; for this victory he was made a marshal. During 1813 he made a heroic stand at Dresden, signing at last an honorable capitulation, which however was not sanctioned by Prince Sch warzenberg, and he and his troops were sent prisoners to Austria. He consequently took no part in the events which marked the fall of the empire. He gave in his adhesion to the Bourbons, and on the second restoration became minister of war under Talleyrand, and again in 1817. He retired in 1819, and devoted his leisure to the preparation of his Memoires (8 vols., 1829-'31). GOVERNOR'S ISLAND, a fortified post of the United States, lying in New York harbor, at the entrance of East river, about m. S. of the Battery, and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk channel. It is about a mile in cir- cumference, and contains Castle William, Fort Columbus, and South battery, the last com- manding the entrance to Buttermilk channel.