Gorse

“ It is, however, highly probable, if not certain, that formerly it was commoner than at present, at least in the north-western portion of the county, and it is to be feared that, as a breeding species, it is dying out. In this district (Wilsden) I am not aware of its having bred for over thirty years, which is very strange, as gorse is quite common on the waste lands, and flourishes up to 1000 ft. ”

“ But if stray horsemen roaming round the gorse give him no room for such hope, he will not go. All which is so plainly intelligible, that you, my friend, will not fail to understand why you are required to remain with the crowd. And with simple gorse coverts there is no strong temptation to move about. They are drawn quickly, and though there be a scramble for places when the fox has broken, the whole thing is in so small a compass that there is no difficulty in getting away with the hounds. In finding your right place, and keeping it when it is found, you may have difficulty ”

“ Now, remember, no hound can run fast over this short gorse, for his feet are soft; while we do not mind it, for our feet are hard. And these loose stones are almost better for us than the gorse, for our scent hardly lies on them and they hurt a hound's feet almost as much as the gorse." So they went to the bottom of the hill, and there was a peat-stream singing its song; but all that the Calf could hear of it was this:—
I carry no scent, come here, come here ”

“ It was long before I was old enough to be told anything like this that I began to feel that the moor was in secret my companion and friend, that it was not only the moor to me, but something else. It was like a thing alive—a huge giant lying spread out in the sun warming itself, or covering itself with thick, white mist which sometimes writhed and twisted itself into wraiths. First I noticed and liked it some day, perhaps, when it was purple and yellow with gorse and heather and broom, and the honey scents drew bees and butterflies and birds. ”

“ At the foot of the slope lay a stretch of pasture ground, some parts covered by “lady-smocks, all silver white,” with the course of the little stream through the midst indicated by a perfect golden river of shining kingcups interspersed with ferns. Beyond lay tracts of brown heath and brilliant gorse and broom, which stretched for miles and miles along the flats, while the dry ground was covered with holly brake, and here and there woods of oak and beech made a sea of verdure, purpling in the distance. ”

“ Gorilla, gor-il′a, n. a great African ape, the largest known anthropoid, generally referred to the same genus with the chimpanzee. [African.]
Gormand, older form of gourmand.—v.i. Gor′mandīse, to eat hastily or voraciously.—ns. Gor′mandīser; Gor′mandīsing, the act or habit of eating voraciously; Gor′mandism, gluttony.
Gorse, gors, n. a prickly shrub growing on waste places, the furze or whin.—adj. Gors′y. [A.S. gorst.]
Goshawk, gos′hawk, n. a short-winged hawk, once used for hunting wild-geese and other fowl, not having a toothed bill, like the falcons proper. ”

“ Thrusting aside the foliage, I beheld before me the woman in the yellow scarf. Seated with her back resting against the stem of a hazel-bush, she had her head sunken deeply between her shoulders, her mouth hideously agape, her eyes staring vaguely before her, her hands pressed to her swollen stomach, her breath issuing with unnatural vehemence, and her abdomen convulsively, spasmodically rising and falling. Meanwhile from her throat were issuing moans which at times caused her yellow teeth to show bare like those of a wolf. ”

“ Corsets.— At this period of life it is particularly necessary that the clothing should be warm and at the same time sufficiently loose to prevent the constriction of any part of the body. And whatever the adult woman may elect to do in the matter of wearing corsets herself, she does her young daughter an irreparable injury by constricting and moulding her growing body in these corset-splints. Corsets placed on the young girl interfere with the functions of circulation, respiration, digestion, and of the pelvic organs, also with muscular development. ”

“ An eminent physician whose scientific experiments with, and tests of, corsets have made him an acknowledged authority on the subject, states that, in spite of the claims of corset makers regarding the physiological correctness of their products, he finds by actual tests that the majority of corsets have now, as they have had for ages, the greatest pressure in a lateral direction around the waist or middle zone of the body. ”

“ Another growled: "Gor's feet have gone far: where have they gone where the Beast cannot follow our scent?"
"Down!" said Gor with unconscious dramatic effect, and he pointed at the rocky floor of the cave. "I have gone where even the Beast of the North cannot go. The caves back of this you have seen, but only Gor has seen the hole—the hole where a strong man can climb down; a hole too small for the great beast to get through. ”

“ When we find such diseases and ailments as the following attributed by authors of supposed talent to the use of the corset, we are no longer surprised at remarks and strictures emanating from similar sources meeting with ridicule and derision: "hooping-cough, obliquity of vision, polypus, apoplexy, stoppage of the nose, pains in the eyes, and earache" are all laid at the door of the stays. ”

“ The very distinct fall of the mercury column—one half to one inch and a half-twenty seconds after hooking the corset may be due in part to the liver emptying itself of blood.
The earlier corsets are worn, the more the liver would be affected since it is proportionately much larger in the child than in the adult. Previous to puberty its weight may be as much as one thirtieth, or even one twentieth, of that of the entire body; in the adult it averages one fortieth. ”

“ Then rushes up with a scream, and stooping the wrath of his eyebrows
Falls from the sky, like a star, while the wind rattles hoarse in his pinions.
Over him closes the foam for a moment; and then from the sand-bed
Rolls up the great fish, dead, and his side gleams white in the sunshine.
Thus fell the boy on the beast, unveiling the face of the Gorgon ”

“ My own, and a wide range of other experiences, leads me to a totally different conclusion, and I fully believe that, except in cases of confirmed disease or bad constitution, a well-made and nicely-fitting corset inflicts no more injury than a tight pair of gloves. Up to the age of fifteen I was educated at a small provincial school, was suffered to run as nearly wild as could well be, and grew stout, indifferent and careless as to personal appearance, dress, manners, or any of their belongings. ”

“ Body Poise
1. The poise or position of the body is affected by the corset.
This is the reason why it is necessary far you to understand what
normal poise is. The normal types, 20, 60, 40, and 30 necessarily
stand in normal poise.
5. When a corset is applied to the body the location of the
lacing, front or back, gives a positive compression over the back
or front of the body. This compression swings the pelvic girdle
backward or forward and so changes the balance or poise of the
body. The location of the lacing adjustment in the corset can
change abnormal to normal poise. ”

“ Contrasting with this, the corset in plate 2 relieves stomach and diaphragm of all pressure and lifts the abdomen up, back and in, giving a delightful feeling of buoyancy to the whole body. To sum up the evils of such corsets as those shown as in­correct in the preceding photographic reproductions: The pre­vailing defect is the high tight line midway between waist and bust. Those that are large in proportion at the waist and very tight in lateral lines around the hips mount upward on the body when the wearer moves and press tightly against the lower ribs. ”

“ In short, it is now generally admitted, and I, for one, freely allow, that moderate compression of the waist by well-made corsets is far from being injurious. It is really absurdly illogical for the opponents of the corset to bring forward quotations from medical writers of the last century, for the animadversions of Soemmering are still quoted. Let us, however, merely look at facts as they at present stand; statistics prove that there are several thousand more women than men in the United Kingdom. ”

“ The pressure of the upper interior organs upon the lower ones by tight dress, is increased by the weight of clothing resting on the hips and abdomen. Corsets, as usually worn, have no support from the shoulders, and consequently all the weight of dress resting upon or above them presses upon the hips and abdomen, and this in such a way as to throw out of use, and thus weaken, the supporting muscles of the abdomen, and impede abdominal breathing.
Then the stomach begins to draw from above, instead of resting on the viscera beneath it. ”

“ Gral held back nothing in his telling. Gor-wah listened and nodded and grunted, his brow furrowed and he growled deep in his throat.
"A weapon of great magic," Gor-wah pronounced, and he prodded with his fingers at it, almost afraid to touch.
"Arh-h-h!" echoed the males. "A weapon of great magic!"
"Let us have many such," Otah repeated with growl and gesture. "The tribe of Gor-wah will be greatest in all the valley!"
Again Gor-wah grunted, shook his head slowly. "The tribe of Gor-wah seeks only food and peace. This we have. We do well without such a weapon." ”

“ GORGON, GORGONS (Gr. Γοργώ, Γοργόνες, the “terrible,” or, according to some, the “loud-roaring”) , a figure or figures in Greek mythology. Homer speaks of only one Gorgon, whose head is represented in the Iliad (v. 741) as fixed in the centre of the aegis of Zeus. In the Odyssey (xi. 633) she is a monster of the under-world. Hesiod increases the number of Gorgons to three—Stheno (the mighty) , Euryale (the far-springer) and Medusa (the queen) , and makes them the daughters of the sea-god Phorcys and of Keto. Their home is on the farthest side of the western ocean ”

“ Swelled legs, although distinct from grease, is a disease that is apt to degenerate into it. Grease is a specific inflammation of the skin of the heels, sometimes of the fore-feet, but oftener of the hinder ones. Bad stable management is the true cause of it. Grease is a local complaint. The heel should be well but gently washed with soap and water, and as much of the [Pg 172] scurf detached as is easily removable. An ointment should be applied, to supple, cool, and heal the part. ”

“ The waist measure being right, the chest, where undue constriction will naturally produce evil effects, is very generally left to chance. If, then, the wearer suffers, who is to blame but herself?
"The remark echoed by nearly all your correspondents, that ladies have the remedy in their own hands by having their stays made to measure, is too self-evident for me to wish to enlarge upon it; but I do wish to assert and insist that, if a corset allows sufficient room in the chest, the waist may be laced as tightly as the wearer desires without fear of evil consequences ”

“ Place an indifferent corset upon a poorly developed subject whose body is out of poise chest hollowed, abdomen forward, and there will be no improvement in the conditions, even though such a corset may not be tight in the waist and may even fit the outlines of the body. Apply the bad corset and the evil conditions are com­plicated and increased, while the good corset first of all lifts the body into the correct poise by the bracing up and in of the ab­dominal walls, restores normal proportions, induces deep breath­ing and puts the subject into a position for the attainment of better health. ”

“ In proportion as the horn core grows, there develops within it a cavity which may either be of a simple character or divided by a longitudinal partition. This communicates with the frontal sinus, a fact which explains the collection of pus in the sinuses as a result of injuries to the horns. The sinus of the horn core does not exist in young animals, and is not completely developed before the third or fourth year of life. ”

“ The English corset is disastrous in that it exerts a constrict­ing encircling pressure on the abdomen about the lower costal margin and exaggerates the tendency to downward displace­ment of the viscera. The straight-busked French corset is much less harmful, and if skilfully made and applied serves to exert a moderate pressure on the lower abdomen. The corset that is most efficient is one that, while exerting a firm and constant pressure in a backward and upward direction on the abdomen below the umbilicus, leaves the upper portion of the abdomen quite free. ”

“ In the north of England, however, if the nose itches it is reckoned a sign that the person will either be crossed, vexed, or kissed by a fool; whereas an old writer tells us that "when a man's nose itcheth it is a signe he shall drink wine." Many omens, too, are gathered from bleeding of the nose. Thus Grose says, "One drop of blood from the nose commonly foretells death or a very severe fit of sickness; three drops are still more ominous;" and according to another notion one drop from the left nostril is a sign of good luck, and vice versâ. ”

“ We have seen that the amount of contraction at the waist bears no constant proportion to the amount of pressure exerted by a corset; we shall see that it bears no constant proportion to the diminution of vital capacity excepting a very general one. The shape of the corset and the strength of its bones are other factors we must know, and the habit of the individual, the resisting or yielding nature of the abdominal walls, and the readiness with which organs are displaced, bear largely on the problem. ”

“ But my gorge rises, and in spite of the scented air that follows her, I turn my eyes from the courtesan, whose fine lace head-gear and torn cuffs, white stockings and worn-out shoes, show me the misery of the day in company with the opulence of last night. ”