galium

[Lat. galium; Gr. galion =the Yellow Bedstraw ( Dioscorides ), from gala =milk, which some species of the genus are used to curdle.] Bot.: A genus of plants, the typical one of the order Galiacese (q.v.). Corolla rotate, four-cleft; stamens four; fruit didymous or dry, often hispid or tubercled. About 150 species are known. The most common are: (1) Galium verum and (2) G. cru ciata , perennial, with yellow flowers; (3) G. palustre , (4) G. uliginosum , (5) G. saxatile , (6) G. sylvestre, and (7) G. mollugo , perennial, with white flowers and very minute, glabrous, smooth granulate or rough fruit; (8) G. boreale , perennial, with white flowers and hispid fruit; (9) G. aparine , (10) G. tri corne , and (11) G. parisiense , annual, with white or greenish flowers, large fruit, and the angles of the stem and the margins of the leaves prickly. No. 5, the Smooth Heath Bedstraw, flowers from July to September on heathy spots and hilly pastures to such an extent as in some places to whiten the ground. No.1 is the Yellow Bedstraw, which also is common. Its flowers are used to curdle milk. No. 9 is the Goose-gra or Cleavers, which is abundant in hedges; the hooked fruits cling to the coats of animals, and are thus widely dispersed. An extract of G. rigidum , a foreign species, has been used succe fully in epilepsy, as has an extract of No. 7. The torrefied grains of various species of Galium are a good substitute for coffee. gall (1), *galle, s . [A. S. gealla ; O. Northumb. gall a; cogn. with Dut. gal ; Icel. gall ; Sw. gall a ; Dan. galde ; Ger. galle ; Lat. fel ; Gr. cholē .] IMG:content-0286.png:[blocks in formation] 2. Figuratively : (1) Anything exceedingly bitter. "In mi mete gave thai galle to be." E. Eng. Psalter; Ps.lxvii. 22. (2) Rancor, malignity, bitterne . "The time hath been when no harsh sound would fall From lips that now may seem imbued with gall ." Byron: English Bards and Scotch Reviewers. *(3) Anger; bitterne of mind. "They did great hurt unto his title, and have left a perpetual gall in the mind of the people." Spenser: Present State of Ireland. (4) Impudence; brazen a urance. ( U. S. Slang.) II. Physiol.: The same as BILE (q. v.). Gall of Gla : The neutral salt skimmed off the surface of crown-gla ; also called Sandiver (q. v.). chin, bench; go, gem; thin, this; gall-bladder, s. gall Anat .: A pear-shaped membranous sac, three or four inches long by one and a half broad, lodged obliquely in a fo a on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver. The neck, which is shaped like the letter S, bends downward and terminates in the cystic duct. "He had at divers times found worms in the gall - blad der in persons he had opened at Duseldorp." -Derham : Physico- Theology , bk. viii., ch. vi. (Note.) IMG:content-0287.jpg:[graphic] gall-duct, s. Anat.: A duct which conveys the bile; a Bileduct (q. v.). gall-pipe, s . The same as GALL-DUCT (q. v.). *gall-wet, a . Full of gall or bitterne . "Or do the relic ashes of his grave Revive and rise from their forsaken cave? That se with gall - wet words and speeches rude, Control the manners of the multitude." Bp. Hall : Satires , bk. ii. (Prol.) gâll (2), 8. [O. Fr.galle , from Lat. gall a =a gall. nut; Dut. galnort ; Fr. gale, noix de gale ; Ital. gall a ; Ger. gallapfel .] I. Ordinary Language : other than cases of insects, which are bred in them." Derham. II. Pharm .: Galls are used in pharmacy for the preparation of Gallic acid (q. v.). Officinal preparations of gall-nuts are Tinctura gallæ (tincture of galls), Unguentum gallæ (ointment of ga'ls), and Unguentum gallæ cum opio (ointment of galls with opium). Gall-nuts are useful on account of the Tannin (q. v.) and gallic acid contained in them. Tannin is a powerful astringent, and is useful in affections of the alimentary canal, also applied locally to suppre hæmorrhage from the gums, lips, nose, . Preparations of gall-nuts should not be given with salts of iron, infusions and decoctions containing alkaloids, salts of lead, antimony, ., nor with gelatine, as these substances give precipitates with tannic acid. Gall of the Earth: Bot.: (1) A composite plant, Mulgedium florid. anum; it is so called on account of its bitterne [MULGEDIUM]; (2) Nabulus fraser i . gall-insects, s. pl. Entom.: The hymenopterous tribe Gallicola, of which the type is the genus Cynips (q. v.). See also Cynipide, and Gall (2), s .