GOUR. See Gaur.

GOURD, a name given to various plants of the order Cuxurbitaceoe, but more strictly applied to those belonging to the genus Cucurbita, monoecious trailing herbs of annual duration, with long succulent stems furnished with tendrils, and large, rough, palmately-lobed leaves; the flowers, reticulated with veins, are generally large and of a bright yellow or orange colour, the barren ones with the stamens united; the fertile are followed by the large, succulent fruit that gives the gourds their chief economic value. Many varieties of Cucurbita are under cultivation in tropical and temperate climates, especially in southern Asia; but it is extremely difficult to refer them to definite specific groups, on account of the facility with which they hybridize; while it is very doubtful whether any of the original forms now exist in the wild state. M. Naudin, who made a careful and interesting series of observations upon this genus, came to the conclusion that all varieties known in European gardens might be referred to six original species; probably three, or at most four, have furnished the edible kinds in ordinary cultivation; and, as all these appear occasionally to hybridize, their limits must be regarded as very uncertain. Adopting the specific names usually given to the more familiar forms, the most important of the gourds, from an economic point of view, is perhaps C. maxima, the Potiron Jaune of the French, the red and yellow gourd of British gardeners, the spheroidal fruit of which is remarkable for its enormous size: the colour of the somewhat rough rind varies from white to bright yellow, while in some kinds it remains green; the fleshy interior is of a deep yellow or orange tint. This valuable gourd is grown extensively in southern Asia and Europe. In Turkey and Asia ...

קיקון, Jonah iv, 6, 7, 9, 10. Michaëlis, in his remarks on this subject, says, “Celsius appears to me to have proved that it is the _kiki_ of the Egyptians.” He refers it to the class of the _ricinus_, the great _catapucus_. According to Dioscorides, it is of rapid growth, and bears a berry from which an oil is expressed. In the Arabic version of this passage, which is to be found in Avicenna, it is rendered, “from thence is pressed the oil which they call oil of _kiki_, which is the oil of Alkeroa.” So Herodotus says: “The inhabitants of the marshy grounds in Egypt make use of an oil, which they term the _kiki_, expressed from the Sillicyprian plant. In Greece this plant springs spontaneously, without any cultivation; but the Egyptians sow it on the banks of the river and of the canals; it there produces fruit in great abundance, but of a very strong odour. When gathered, they obtain from it, either by friction or pressure, an unctuous liquid, which diffuses an offensive smell, but for burning it is equal in quality to the oil of olives.” This plant rises with a strong herbaceous stalk to the height of ten or twelve feet; and is furnished with very large leaves, not unlike those of the plane tree. Rabbi Kimchi says that the people of the east plant them before their shops for the sake of the shade, and to refresh themselves under them. Niebuhr says, “I saw, for the first time at Basra, the plant _ei-keroa_, mentioned in Michaëlis’s ‘Questions.’ It has the form of a tree. The trunk appeared to me rather to resemble leaves than wood; nevertheless, it is harder than that which bears the Adam’s fig. Each branch of the keroa has but one large leaf, with six or seven foldings in it. This plant was near to a rivulet, which watered it amply. At the ...

GOURGAUD, Gaspard, Baron (1783-1852), a French general of artillery, was born at Versailles, 14th September 1783. After studying at the polytechnic school and at the artillery school of Chalons, he joined the artillery in 1802, and, having acquitted himself with distinction in several campaigns, he received in 1807 the cross of honour and the grade of captain. He served in the subsequent Spanish and Austrian campaigns, and in 1811 he was sent to report on the strength of the fortifications of Dantzic, a mission which he fulfilled so much to the satisfaction of Napoleon that he was named one of the emperor’s ordnance officers. During the Russian campaigu he was the first to enter the Kremlin at Moscow, where he removed the match from a large quantity of powder the explosion of which would in all probability have destroyed the emperor’s life. For this service he received the title of baron. He accompanied the emperor in his subsequent campaigns, and in 1814, at the battle of Brienne, was again successful in delivering him from imminent peril. After the accession of Louis XVIII. he was named chief of the staff of the first artillery division, but on the return of Napoleon from Elba he was nevertheless named by him adjutant and general, and took part in the battle of Waterloo. Being one of the three French officers chosen by Napoleon to accompany him to St Helena, he was employed there in collecting materials for a history of Napoleon’s campaigns, but on account of some misunderstanding with Montholon, he left the island, and went to England. He published in 1818 La Campagne de 1815, and he also endeavoured to interest the emperors of Russia and Austria in Napoleon’s behalf. Shortly afterwards he was expelled from England as a spy of Napoleon’s. Returning to ...