Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/447

* GUTTA-PEKCHA. 397 GUTZKOW. respect, is very extensive. Golf-lmlls are iiuulo of gutta-pereha. Gutta -perelui is supple, llexible, and very tena- cious and exten.sible, so that it may be drawn out to many times its length and retain almost all the extension. It is insoluble in water and dilute acids ; it resists alkalies and hydrolluoric acid, so that the latter may he contained in bottles or other receptacles made of or coated with gutta-percha. Gutta-percha is used for making a vast variety of ornamental and useful articles: but its most important application is for the insulating coating of sul)marine conduc- tors. In this application, as in most others, its chief defect arises from the readiness with wiiich it becomes oxidized and decomposed. Its great value arises from the ease with which it can be worked, and its being so complete a non-eon- duetor of electricity. Its non-conducting power is not modified by burying it in the ground or plunging it in fresh or salt water. Gvitta-percha is used as an insulating material in nearly 200,- 000 miles of ocean cables, and it is its suc- cessful application to this purpose that has made the extensive development of submarine teleg- raphy possible. From the time when Morse laid his telegraph line in New York Harbor from Castle Garden to Governor's Island, in 1842. using an insulated copper cable, the promoters of sub- marine telegraphy were seeking for a suitable insulating material. During this time Mont- gomerie was independently studying the proper- ties of gutta-percha, and it was suggested by Wheaistone, who was unable to put the idea into practice, that it would be a suitable insulating covering for a submarine conductor. This was successfully accomplished al:)Out 1848. Attempts have been made to remedy the defect of gutta-percha of softening in a high tempera- ture by a process of vulcanization similar to that so successfully applied to india-rubber (q.v.), but the results liave not been satisfactory. Gutta-percha differs very materially from caoutchouc or india-rubber in being non-elastic, or elastic only in a very small degree. Not- withstanding this very striking character of i'aoxitchoic, the two articles are often confounded in the public mind, probably from the similarity of their applications. India-rubber is displacing gutta-percha in some of its most important appli- cations, and especially in the coating of both land and marine telegraph cables. See Telegraph, SUUM.RIXE. GXJT'TA RO'SEA (Lat., red drop). A very old term used to denote a cutaneous eruption sometimes ]io[iularl3' called 'toddy blossoms' from its frequent occurrence in aged drunkards. It is really a form of acne. (See the article on Acne.) Gutta rosea febrilis is a eonditlon of the nose in certain malignant fevers when that organ becomes purple, swollen, and pustu- lar. It was considered a fatal symptom. Gutta rosea herpetica was applied to eczema of the nose, accompanied by itching, formation of pim- ples, and blisters, and scaling of the skin. Gutt.a rosea leprosa was applied to leprosy of the face with pustules. Gutta rosea syphilitica was ap- plied to the corona venerea, or row of papules and pustules appearing on the forehead of a syphilitic patient. GTJTTA SERE'NA (Lat., serene drop). An old name for amaurosis (q.v.). GUTTER (OF. ijuticre, Fr. goutUir, from OF. iiolc, I'l'. ijiiittr, drop, from Lat. ynltii, drop). An open channel for conveying water fnnu buildings, roads, etc. The Greeks, who constructed their roofs with a simple span, used gutters at the eaves of their buildings, hollowed cnit of the stone which formed the cornice. These gutters discharged their contents on the ground at intervals through small gargoyles (q.v.), usually in the sha])e of lions' heads. The Romans followed this example, and also formed gutters with tiles laid in cement. In the Middle Ages the eaves seem to have been left without gutters until, owing to the castles being frequently built on dry, rocky sites, it was found desirable to collect the rain-water and preserve it in cisterns. Stone or wooden eaves, gutters, and pipes were used for this purpose. In ecclesiastical architecture, when the construc- tion became complicated, it was necessary to convey the water from the roofs with great care, so as to prevent damage to the building. It was collected at the eaves of the central roof, and by means of well-projected gargoyles, thrown along channels formed in the crest of the but- tresses, and so carried beyond the walls of the building, and thrown off through gargoyles in a num'oer of small streams, which dispersed the water before it reached the ground. This acted well in calm weather, but during storms the water was blown back all over the building, which, in case of its being of a porous stone, softened, and became liable to decay. This led to the use of lead pipes, which carried the water directly to the ground, and discharged it into open gutters. At first, the pipes were used for conveying the water from the main roof to the roof of the side-chapels, whence it was discharged by gargoyles. Pipes conveying the water to the base of the building were first employed in Eng- land, where they seem to have come into use during the fourteenth century. They were formed with great taste, and had ornamental cups or cisterns at the top to receive the water from the mouth of the gargoyle. They were then made square in form, not circular, as they usually now are. The sides of streets next the curbstones, or the ditches along roads, in which the surface water flows, are also called gxitters. GUTT-y, or GUTTE (OF. cioute. fjotir. spot- ted, from Lat. guttatus, spotted, from fiiitta. spot). In heialdry, a term used to describe a particular charge on a field, covered with drops. When the drops are red. they are siipposed to represent drop.s of blood. In this case, some great suffering or labor, such as fighting for the recovery of the Holy Land, is supposed to be indicated. Where the droj)s are blue, they represent tears. When white, they are called diops of water; but it is possible that tears are intended in this ease also, and that repentance or penitence is signified by both. . field or charge may also be fitillc tie vri-l. or green, to rep- resent oil: and r/iittc tic poLr, or black, to repre- •.icnt pitch. See Heraldry. GUTZKO"W, goots'kr.. Karl ( ISII 78i. A dis- tingui-hcd German novelist and dramatist, bom in Berlin. He studied thcoloi;y and philosophy in Berlin and early contributed to lilcrarv journals. He subsequently studied law and political sci- ences at Heidelberg and Munich, but devoted him- self exclusively to literature. His early fiction is