Gulf Oil Corp. Major U.S. petroleum company. Gulf Oil began with an oil gusher near Beaumont, Texas, in 1901 and was incorporated in 1907. The oil well was developed by the Pittsburgh Mellon family (see Andrew W. Mellon). Gulf became the first oil company to enter the con¬ sumer gasoline market when it opened a drive-in filling station in Pitts¬ burgh in 1913. By 1923 the Gulf refinery in Port Arthur, Texas, was the largest in the world. Gulf Oil continued to develop oil fields in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, as well as in Mexico and Venezuela. In 1984 it was bought by Chevron, another oil company.
Gulf Stream Warm ocean current, part of a general clockwise-rotating system of currents in the North Atlantic. A major contribution of the Gulf
Stream is its warming effect on the climates of adjacent land areas. In winter, the air over the ocean west of Norway is more than 40°F (22°C) warmer than the average for that latitude, one of the greatest temperature anomalies in the world. Winters in southwestern England are extraordi¬ narily mild for this northern latitude because of the Gulf Stream. Regions of the Gulf Stream, such as the Grand Banks, have been among the most productive commercial fishing grounds in the world.
Gulf War See Persian Gulf War
Gulf War syndrome Cluster of illnesses in veterans of the Persian Gulf War (1990-91). These illnesses are characterized by variable and nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, muscle and joint pains, headaches, memory loss, and posttraumatic stress reactions. The cause is unknown. The disorder does not appeal' to be fatal but can be associated with con¬ siderable distress and disability.
gull Any of more than 40 species of heavily built, web-footed seabirds (family Laridae) that are most abun¬ dant as breeders in temperate to arc¬ tic regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Adults are mainly gray or white, with variable head mark¬ ings. The bill is strong and slightly hooked, sometimes displaying a spot of colour. Species differ in bill and leg colours and in wing patterns.
Wingspans range from 24 to 63 in.
(0.6 to 1.6 m). Gulls feed on insects, mollusks, and crustaceans on beaches; worms and grubs in plowed fields; and fish and garbage from ships and along shores. Some large gulls prey on the eggs and young of other birds, including their own kind.
See also herring gull; kittiwake.
Gull, Sir William Withey (b.
Dec. 31, 1816, Colchester, Essex,
Eng.—d. Jan. 29, 1890, London)
British physician. A famous and popular teacher, Gull was one of the first clinicians to describe pathological lesions in tabes dorsalis (1856), inter¬ mittent hemoglobin in the urine, atherosclerotic atrophy of the kidney, and Gull disease (a form of hypothyroidism). He believed in minimal use of drugs and defended vivisection and clinical investigation. He was the leading British physician of his time; his patients included Queen Victo¬ ria.
Gullstrand, Allvar (b. June 5, 1862, Landskrona, Swed.—d. July 28, 1930, Stockholm) Swedish ophthalmologist. He contributed to knowledge of the cornea and of astigmatism, improved post-cataract-surgery correc¬ tive lenses, and devised the Gullstrand slit lamp, a valuable diagnostic tool for detailed study of the eye. He won a 1911 Nobel Prize for Physi¬ ology or Medicine for research on the eye as a light-refracting apparatus.
gum In botany, an adhesive substance of vegetable origin, mostly obtained as exudate from the bark of trees or shrubs belonging to the pea family. Gum arabic (from a species of acacia) is used in lithography. Gum tragacanth (from several shrub species in the genus Astragalus ) is used as a coating and binding agent in pill manufacture, as an emulsifier in processed foods, and as a thickener in sauces. Some plant gums are used in the manufacture of cosmetics.
gum or gingiva \'jin-jo-vo, jin-'jl-vs\ Mucous-membrane-covered con¬ nective tissue attached to and surrounding the necks of the teeth and the alveolar bone of the jaw. The edges of the gums around the teeth are free and extend into the spaces between the teeth. Fibres of the ligament that holds the teeth in their sockets enter the gum and hold it tightly against the teeth. Pink, speckled, and tough, healthy gums have limited sensitiv¬ ity to pain, temperature, and pressure. Changes in colour, loss of speck¬ ling, or abnormal sensitivity are early signs of gingivitis, in which pockets form between the gum and teeth and become infected, with inflammation, bleeding, and, in severe cases, loss of teeth.
GUM \'giim\ abbreviation of Gosudarstvenny Universalny Magazin (Russian: "State Department Store") Largest depart¬ ment store in Russia. Situated in Moscow’s Red Square, it occupies a huge, ornate building (constructed 1889-93) that once housed more than 1,000
heavily built, web-footed seabirds
Herring gull (Larus argentatus)
JOHN MARKHAM
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
818 i gum ► Gur
shops. GUM now includes about 150 shops selling food, clothing, home appliances, watches and cameras, and many other goods. It functions more like a Western-style shopping mall than a department store and is a popu¬ lar tourist attraction.
gum, chewing See chewing gum
Gum Nebula Largest known emission nebula in terms of how much of the sky it occupies as seen from Earth, extending over about 35° in the southern constellations Puppis and Vela. A complex of diffuse, glowing gas too faint to see with the unaided eye, it was discovered in the 1950s. It lies roughly 1,000 light-years from Earth and may be the remnant of an ancient supernova.
gum tree See tupelo
Gumal Pass \g3-'m9l\ or Gomal Pass \go-'m3l\ Mountain pass, southern North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan. Lying along the Gumal River valley in the Sulaiman Range, it is the most important pass between the Khyber and Bolan passes, and connects Ghazni in eastern Afghanistan with Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan. Actually a 4-mi (6-km) gorge, it is the oldest trade route in the area, traditionally used by nomadic Afghan trad¬ ers called Powindahs, whose entry into Pakistan is now restricted.
gumbo In soil science, any of various fine-grained, rich, black, alluvial soils, especially of the central U.S., that when wet become impenetrable and soapy or waxy and very sticky. When dried, gumbo “bakes” and becomes extremely hard.
gun Weapon consisting essentially of a metal tube from which a missile or projectile is shot by the force of exploding gunpowder or some other propellant. The term is often limited today to the so-called big guns, can¬ non larger than a howitzer or mortar. It may also be used to refer to mili¬ tary small arms such as the rifle, machine gun, and pistol, as well as to nonmilitary firearms such as the shotgun. Though the Chinese used gun¬ powder in warfare from the 9th century, guns were not developed until the Europeans acquired gunpowder in the 13th century. The earliest guns (c. 1327) resembled old-fashioned soda bottles; they apparently were fired by applying a red-hot wire to a touchhole drilled through the top. Sepa¬ rating the barrel and the powder chamber resulted in breechloaders, which continued to be used in naval swivel guns and fortress wallpieces well into the 17th century. Small arms, as distinguished from hand cannon, did not exist until the development of the matchlock in the 15th century. See also FLINTLOCK, WHEEL LOCK.
gunasthana Vgu-nos-'ta-noV In Jainism, any of the 14 stages of spiri¬ tual development through which a soul passes on its way to liberation. The goal is to gradually purify the soul and to gain release from the cycle of birth and death. The thirteenth stage was that of an arhat. In the final stage the soul achieves the release known as moksha. See also Eightfold Path, nirvana.