Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/79

Rh  tumors in the neck by its shape, consistence, and general development on both sides. The prognosis in a person advanced in life is unfavorable, but in early life it may be cured. The chief remedy for this disease is iodine, both internally and externally, either alone or combined with potash and iron; the patient should be removed from the infected district to the seashore, and a tonic regimen be pursued. When suffocation is imminent from the pressure of the tumor, relief may be obtained for the time by puncture, the seton, ligatures of the supplying arteries, or by extirpation of the gland; the last three are dangerous to life, and have proved fatal, and the first three may fail even if the patient survive the operations. The usual treatment is simply palliative, iodine with tonics and narcotics. There is a form of goitre not uncommon in anemic females in the United States and in England, with the symptoms of the Alpine disease, though milder, and relieved by the tonic treatment of anemia.  GOLCONDA, an ancient city and fortress of India, in the native state of Hyderabad or the

Nizam's dominions, 7 m. N. W. of Hyderabad. The fortress stands on a rocky eminence, and is a large and strong edifice. It is now chiefly used as a prison, and as a depository for the treasures of the Nizam. The principal inhabitants and bankers of Hyderabad are also permitted to retain houses in it, to which on any alarm they retire with their money and other valuables. About 600 yards from the fortress are the tombs of the ancient kings of Golconda. Each mausoleum occupies the centre of a large quadrangular platform, which is approached on every side by granite stairs. They are mostly constructed of gray stone, ornamented with stucco and Indian porcelain, whose colors retain all their pristine brilliancy, and on which are engraved in white characters various extracts from the Koran. These mausolea are very numerous, and have a striking and impressive appearance when viewed from a distance. Golconda was formerly renowned for its diamonds, but they were merely cut and polished here, being generally brought from Parteall in the S. part of the Nizam's dominions. It was anciently the capital of a powerful kingdom of the same name, which arose on the overthrow of the Bahmani empire; but it was taken by Aurungzebe and annexed to that of Delhi.

 GOLD, a precious metal, ranking the first in beauty and value among useful metals from the earliest times to the present day; distinguished for being the only metal of a yellow color, and for possessing in the highest degree the properties of ductility and malleability. In chemistry its symbol is Au, from the Latin aurum, gold; its equivalent number 98.5, or, in the usage of many chemists, the double of this, 197. Its density varies according as the metal is more or less compressed; it is rated when hammered at from 19.258 to 19.4. In a finely

divided state, precipitated from its solution by sulphate of iron, it has proved of specific gravity 20.72. When pure the metal is nearly as soft as lead, and is then susceptible of its greatest extension by beating or wire-drawing. (See .) In thin leaf it is transparent, and the transmitted light is of a green color; by heat the color is changed to ruby red, and this color the metal finely divided imparts under certain conditions to glass. Its melting point is variously given as 2016° F., 2192°, 2518°, and 2590°. In the heat of furnaces it is not volatilized; but gold wire is dispersed in vapor by the oxyhydrogen blowpipe, by the heat of the sun's rays concentrated by a powerful convex lens, or by the electric battery. As the current traverses it, the vapors 