sions to be more enlightened than others, and from their affecting to be able to bring back mankind to the knowledge of the true God. The opinions held by these people have not been completely ascertained; they were fond of speculation, and like many of the gnostics of modern times, held public worship and positive institutions in little esteem.

GOAL, or GAOL. See GAOL.

GOAT, in zoology. See CAPRA. These animals require scarcely any thing to keep them. Their milk is esteemed the greatest nourisher of all liquids, women's milk excepted, and very comfortable to the stomach. The young kids also are very good for the table, and may be managed in all respects like lambs.

GOAT'S beard, in botany. See TRAGO

POGON.

GOAT-sucker. See CAPRIMULGUS. These birds are regarded by the American Indians as very ominous. They believe that goat-suckers were not known in their country till the English had made depredation upon it, and that they are, in fact, the departed spirits of the murdered Indians. In Carolina the lower class of people look upon them as birds of ill omen, and are gloomy, and almost melancholy, if one alights on the house or near the door, and begins its call, which they will sometimes do even on the very threshold, imagining that it is a sure prognostic of the death of one of the family.

GOBIUS, the goby, in natural history, a genus of fishes of the order Thoracici. Generic character: head small; eyes approximated, with two punctures between them; gill membrane, four-rayed, ventral fins united into a funnel-like oval; dorsal fins two.

There are twenty-five species, of which we shall notice the following. G. niger, or the black goby, is about six inches in length. It inhabits the Mediterranean and North Seas, and often, in summer, when it deposits its spawn, enters the mouths of rivers for that purpose. It is eaten, but not highly valued. The ventral fins unite into a species of funnel, by which this fish is said often to attach itself almost inseparably to stones and rocks. It lies chiefly under stones; and its food consists of worms, insects, and the young of small fishes. For another species, the lanceolated goby, see Pisces, Plate IV. fig. 4.

GOD, Deus, the Supreme Being, the first cause or creator of the universe, and the only true object of religious worship, The Hebrews called him Jehovah; which name they never pronounced, but used

instead of it the words Adonai, or Elohim.

God, says Sir Isaac Newton, is a relative term, and has respect to servants. It denotes, indeed, an eternal, infinite, absolutely perfect being: but such a being, without dominion, would not be God. The word God, frequently signifies lord, but every lord is not God. The domi nion of a spiritual being, or lord, constitutes God; true dominion, true God. From such true dominion it follows, that the true God is living, intelligent, and powerful; and from his other perfec tions, that he is supreme, or supremely perfect. He is eternal and infinite; omnipotent and omniscient; that is, be endures from eternity to eternity, and is present from infinity to infinity. He governs all things that exist, and knows all things that are to be known. He is not

eternity or infinity, but eternal and infinite. He is not duration and space, but he endures and is present; he endures always, and is present every where; and by existing always and every where, constitutes the very things we call duration and space, eternity and infinity. He is omnipresent, not only virtually, but substantially; for power without substance cannot subsist. All things are contained and move in him, but without any mutual passion; that is, he suffers nothing from the motions of bodies, nor do they undergo any resistance from his omnipresence.

to us.

need of nice or subtle reasonings in this matter; a manifest contrivance immediately suggests a contriver. It strikes us like a sensation, and artful reasonings against it may puzzle us, but without shaking our belief. No person, for example, that knows the principles of optics and the structure of the eye, can believe that it was formed without skill in that science, or that the ear was formed without the knowledge of sounds, or that the male and female, in animals, were not formed for each other, and for continuing the species. All our accounts of nature are full of instances of this kind. The admirable and beautiful structure of things for final causes exalt our idea of the contriver: the unity of design shows him to be one. The great motions in the system, performed with the same facility as the least, suggest his almighty power, which gave motion to the earth and the celestial bodies with equal ease as to the minutest particles. The subtility of the motions and actions in the internal parts of bodies, shows that his influence penetrates the inmost recesses of things, and that he is equally active and present every where. The simplicity of the laws that prevail in the world, the excellent disposition of things in order to obtain the best ends, and the beauty which adorns the works of nature, far superior to any thing in art, suggest his consummate wisdom. The usefulness of the whole scheme, so well contrived for the intelligent beings that enjoy it, with the internal disposition and moral structure of those beings themselves, show his unbounded goodness. These are the arguments which are sufficiently open to the views and capacities of the unlearned; while, at the same time, they acquire new strength and lustre from the discoveries of the learned.

The Deity's acting and interposing in the universe show that he governs, as well as formed it; and the depth of his counsels, even in conducting the material universe, of which a great part surpasses our knowledge, keep up an inward veneration and awe of this great being, and dispose us to receive what may be otherwise revealed to us concerning him. It has been justly observed, that some of the laws of nature, now known to us, must have escaped us, if we had wanted the sense of seeing. It may be in his power to bestow upon us other senses, of which we have at present no idea; without which it may be impossible for us to know all his works, or to have more adequate VOL. VI.

ideas of himself. In our present state we know enough to be satisfied of our dependency upon him, and of the duty we owe to him, the Lord and Disposer of all things. He is not the object of sense; his essence, and, indeed, that of all other substances, is beyond the reach of all our discoveries; but his attributes clearly appear in his admirable works. We know that the highest conceptions we are able to form of them are still beneath his real perfections; but his power and dominion over us, and our duty towards him, are manifest.

"Though God has given ús no innate ideas of himself," says Mr. Locke, " yet, having furnished us with those faculties our minds are endowed with, he hath not left himself without a witness; since we have sense, perception, and reason, and cannot want a clear proof of him as long as we carry ourselves about us. To show, therefore, that we are capable of knowing, that is, being certain, that there is a God, and how we may come by this certainty, I think we need go no farther than ourselves, and that undoubted knowledge we have of our own existence. I think it is beyond question, that man has a clear perception of his own being; he knows certainly that he exists, and that he is something. In the next place, man knows, by an intuitive certainty, that bare nothing can no more produce any real being than it can be equal to two right angles. If, therefore, we know there is some real being, it is an evident demonstration, that from eternity there has been something: since what was not from eternity had a beginning, and what had a beginning must be produced by something else. Next, it is evident, that what has its being from another, must also have all that which is in and belongs to its being from another too: all the powers it has must be owing to and received from the same source. This eternal source, then, of all beings must be also the source and original of all power; and so this eternal being must be also the most powerful.

"Again, man finds in himself perception and knowledge: we are certain then that there is not only some being, but some knowing intelligent being, in the world. There was a time, then, when there was no knowing being, or else there has been a knowing being from eternity. If it be said, there was a time when that eternal being had no knowledge; I reply, that then it is impossible there should have ever been any knowledge; it being as impossible that things wholly void of

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knowledge, and operating blindly, and without any perception, should produce a knowing being, as it is impossible that a triangle should make itself three angles greater than two right ones. Thus, from the consideration of ourselves, and what we infallibly find in our own constitutions, our reason leads us to the knowledge of this certain and evident truth, that there is an eternal, most powerful, and knowing Being, which whether any one will call God, it matters not. The thing is evident; and from this idea, duly consider ed, will easily be reduced all those other attributes we ought to ascribe to this eternal Being.

"From what has been said, it is plain to me, that we have a more certain know. ledge of the existence of a God, than of any thing our senses have not immediate ly discovered to us. Nay, I presume I may say, that we more certainly know that there is a God, than that there is any thing else without us. When I say we know, I mean, there is such a knowledge within our reach, which we cannot miss, if we will but apply our minds to that as we do to several other inquiries.

"It being then unavoidable for all ra tional creatures to conclude that something has existed from eternity, let us next see what kind of a thing that must be. There are but two sorts of beings in the world, that man knows or conceives; such as are purely material, without sense or perception; and sensible perceiving beings, such as we find ourselves to be. These two sorts we shall call cogitative and incogitative beings; which, to our present purpose, are better than material and immaterial.

"If then there must be something eternal, it is very obvious to reason that it must necessarily be a cogitative being; because it is as impossible to conceive that bare incogitative matter should ever produce a thinking intelligent being, as that nothing of itself should produce matter. Let us suppose any parcel of matter eternal, we shall find it in itself unable to produce any thing. Let us suppose its parts firmly at rest together; if there were no other being in the world, must it not eternally remain so, a dead inactive lump? is it possible to conceive that it can add motion to itself, or produce any thing? Matter then, by its own strength, cannot produce in itself so much as motion. The motion it has must also be from eternity, or else added to matter by some other being more powerful than matter. But let us suppose motion eternal too; but yet matter, incogitative matter, and motion,

could never produce thought. Knowledge will still be as far beyond the pow er of nothing to produce. Divide matter into as minute parts as you will, vary its figure and motion as much as you please, it will operate no otherwise upon other bodies of proportionable bulk, than it did before this division. The minutest particles of matter repel and resist one another just as the greater do, and that is all they can do; so that if we suppose nothing eternal, matter can never begin to be; if we suppose bare matter without motion eternal, motion can never begin to be; if we suppose only matter and motion eternal, thought can never begin to be; for it is impossible to conceive that matter, either with or without motion, could have, originally, in and from itself, sense, perception, and knowledge, as is evident from hence, that then sense, perception, and knowledge, must be a property eternally inseparable from matter, and every particle of it. Since, therefore, whatsoever is the first eternal being must necessarily be cogitative; and whatsoever is first of all things must necessarily contain in it, and actually have, at least, all the perfections that can ever after exist, it necessarily follows, that the first eternal being cannot be matter. If, therefore, it be evident that something must necessarily exist from eternity, it is also as evident, that that something must be a cogitative being. For it is as impossible that incogitative matter should produce a cogitative being, as that nothing, or the negation of all being, should produce a positive being or matter.

"This discovery of the necessary existence of an eternal mind sufficiently leads us to the knowledge of God; for it will hence follow, that all other knowing beings that have a beginning must depend on him, and have no other ways of know. ledge or extent of power, than what he gives them; and therefore, if he made those, he made also the less excellent pieces of this universe, all inanimate bodies, whereby his omniscience, power, and providence, will be established; and from thence all his other attributes necessarily follow."

With respect to Christians, it need only be just mentioned, that they were very early divided in opinion as to the nature and essence of the Supreme Being; a great part worshipping three persons in the unity of the godhead, whilst others absolutely rejected a trinity of persons, and asserted the unity of the divine nature, both as to person and substance.

With respect to the theology of the

Pagans, it is thought by most learned men that they acknowledged but one God; and that the many different divinities worshipped by them were but attributes and actions of one and the same God. This may probably be true of the wiser Heathens; and, indeed, there are many strong and beautiful passages in Pagan authors, to prove that these acknowledg ed but one God. Thus Pythagoras taught the unity of God, and defined him to be a mind penetrating and diffusing itself through all the parts of the universe, from which all animals receive life; and Plato called God the being which is; and whenever he mentions the Deity, it is always in the singular number.

GOGGLES, in surgery, instruments used for the cure of squinting, or that distortion of the eyes which occasions this disorder. They are short conical tubes, composed of ivory stained black, with a thin plate of the same ivory fixed in the tubes; through the centre of the plates is a small circular hole, about the size of the pupil of the eye, for the transmission of the rays of light. These goggles must be worn regularly and constantly, till the muscles of the eye are brought to act properly and uniformly, so as to direct the pupil straight forward. GOLD is a yellow metal, of much greater specific gravity than any other body in nature, except platina. It is soft, very tough, ductile, and malleable; unalterable and fixed, whether exposed to the atmosphere, or to the strongest heat of furnaces. The most powerful burning mirrors are said to have volatilized it; and it has been driven up in fumes, in the metallic state, by flame urged upon it by a stream of oxygen gas. The electric shock converts it into a purple oxide, as may be seen by transmitting that commotion through gold leaf between two plates of glass; or by causing the explosive spark of three or more square feet of coated glass to fall upon a gilded surface. A strong heat is required to melt it, which does not happen till after ignition. Its colour, when melted, is of a bluish green; and the same colour is exhibited by light transmitted through gold-leaf.

The limits of the ductility and malleability of gold are not known, and its tenacity exceeds that of any other metal. A gold wire of one tenth of an inch diameter requires 500lb. weight to break it. The method of extending gold, used by the gold-beaters, consists in hammering a number of thin-rolled plates between skins or animal membranes. By the weight and measure of the best wrought

gold leaf, it is found, that one grain is made to cover 56 square inches; and from the specific gravity of the metal, together with this admeasurement, it follows, that the leaf itself is 000 parts of an inch thick. This, however, is not the limit of the malleability of gold; for the gold-beaters find it necessary to add three grains of copper in the ounce to harden the gold, which otherwise would pass round the irregularities of the newest skins, and not over them; and in using the old skins, which are not so perfect and smooth, they proceed so far as to add twelve grains. The wire which is used by the lace-makers is drawn from an ingot of silver, previously gilded. In this way, from the known diameter of the wire, or breadth when flattened, and its length, together with the quantity of gold used, it is found, by computation, that the covering of gold is only one-twelfth part of the thickness of gold-leaf, though it still is so perfect as to exhibit no cracks when viewed by a microscope.

No acid acts readily upon gold but the nitro-muriatic acid, called aqua-regia, and the oxygenized-muriatic acid. The sulphuric acid, distilled from manganese, has some action upon it: as have likewise the pale nitric acid, and the phosporic acid when boiling. Chromic acid added to the muriatic enables it to dissolve gold.

The small degree of concentration of which the oxygenized-muriatic acid is susceptible, and the imperfect action of the latter acids, render aqua-regia the most convenient solvent for this metal.

When gold is immersed in aqua-regia, an effervescence takes place with the escape of gas; the solution tinges animal matters of a deep purple, and corrodes them. By careful evaporation, fine crystals of a topaz colour are obtained. The gold is precipitated from its solvent by a great number of substances. Lime and magnesia precipitate it in the form of a yellowish powder. Alkalies exhibit the same appearance; but an excess of alkali redissolves the precipitate. The precipitate of gold obtained from aqua-regia by the addition of a fixed alkali appears to be a true oxide, and is soluble in the sulphuric, nitric, and muriatic acids; from which, however, it separates by standing, or by evaporation of the acids. Gallic acid precipitates gold of a reddish colour, very soluble in the nitric acid, to which it communicates a fine blue colour.

Ammonia precipitates the solution of gold much more readily than fixed alkalies. This precipitate, which is of a brown, yellow, or orange colour, possesses the