[1] Another International Conference held in December 1904 at the
Hague dealt with the status of hospital-ships in time of war. Great
Britain did not take part in this Conference. Her abstention,
however, was not owing to any objection of principle, but purely to
considerations of domestic legislation.
GENEVA, LAKE OF, the largest lake of which any portion belongs to
Switzerland, and indeed in central Europe. It is called _Lacus Lemannus_
by the old Latin and Greek writers, in 4th century A.D. _Lacus
Lausonius_ or _Losanetes_, in the middle ages generally _Lac de
Lausanne_, but from the 16th century onwards _Lac de Genève_, though
from the end of the 18th century the name _Lac Léman_ was
revived--according to Prof. Forel _Le Léman_ is the proper form. Its
area is estimated at 223 sq. m. (Swiss Topographical Bureau) or 225½ sq.
m. (Forel), of which about 140 sq. m. (134½ sq. m. Forel) are
politically Swiss (123½ sq. m. belonging to the canton of Vaud, 11½ sq.
m. to that of Geneva, and 5 sq. m. to that of the Valais), the remainder
(83 sq. m.) being French since the annexation of Savoy in 1860--the
entire lake is included in the territory (Swiss or Savoyard) neutralized
by the congress of Vienna in 1815. The French part takes in nearly the
whole of the south shore, save its western and eastern extremities,
which belong respectively to Geneva and to the Valais.
The lake is formed by the Rhone, which enters it at its east end,
between Villeneuve (E.) and St Gingolph (W.), and quits it at its west
end, flowing through the city of Geneva. The only important
tributaries are the Drance (S.), the Venoge (N.) and the Veveyse (N.).
The form of the lake is that of a crescent, of which the east end is
broad and rounded, while the west end tapers towards the city of
Geneva. The bird's eye length of the whole lake, from Chillon to
Geneva, is 39½ m., but along its axis 45 m. The coast-line of the
north shore is 59 m. in length and that of the south shore 44¾ m. The
maximum depth is 1015½ ft., but the mean depth only 500 ft. The
surface is 1231¼ ft. (Swiss Topog. Bureau) or 1220 ft. (Forel) above
sea-level. The greatest width (between Morges and Amphion) is 8½ m.,
but the normal width is 5 m. The lake forms two well-marked divisions,
separated by the strait of Promenthoux, which is 216½ ft. in depth, as
a bar divides the Grand Lac from the Petit Lac. The _Grand Lac_
includes the greater portion of the lake, the _Petit Lac_ (to the west
of the strait or bar) being the special Genevese portion of the lake,
and having an area of but 30½ sq. m. The unusual blueness of the
waters has long been remarked, and the transparency increases the
farther we get from the point where the Rhone enters it, the deposits
which the river brings down from the Alps gradually sinking to the
bottom of the lake. At Geneva we recall Byron's phrase, "the blue
rushing of the arrowy Rhone" (_Childe Harold_, canto iii. stanza 71).
The limit of visibility of a white disk is 33 ft. in winter (in
February 1891 Prof. Forel observed an extreme of 70½ ft.) and 21¼ ft.
in summer. Apart from the seasonal changes in the level of the lake
(which is highest in summer, no doubt because of the melting of the
Alpine snows that feed the Rhone), there are also the remarkable
temporary disturbances of level known as the _seiches_, in which the
whole mass of water in the lake rhythmically swings from shore to
shore. According to Prof. Forel there are both longitudinal and
transverse _seiches_. The effect of the longitudinal _seiches_ at
Geneva is four times as great as at Chillon, at the other end of the
lake, while the extreme duration of this phenomenon is 73 minutes for
the uninodal longitudinal _seiches_ (35½ minutes for the binodal) and
10 minutes for the transverse _seiches_ (5 minutes for the binodal).
The maximum height of a recorded _seiche_ at Geneva is rather over 6
ft. (October 1841). The currents in the water itself are irregular.
The principal winds that blow over the lake are the _bise_ (from the
N.E.), the _vaudaire_ or _Föhn_ (from the S.E.), the _sudois_ or _vent
de pluie_ (from the S.W.) and the _joran_ (from the N.W.). The storm
winds are the _molan_ (from the Arve valley towards Geneva) and the
_bornan_ (from the Drance valley towards the central portion of the
lake). The lake is not as rich in fish as the other Swiss lakes, one
reason being the obstacle opposed by the Perte du Rhône to fish
seeking to ascend that river. Prof. Forel knows of but twenty
indigenous species (of which the _Féra_, or _Coregonus fera_, is the
principal) and six that have been introduced by man in the 19th
century. A number of lake dwellings, of varying dates, have been found
on the shores of the lake. The first steamer placed on the lake was
the "Guillaume Tell," built in 1823 at Geneva by an Englishman named
Church, while in 1873 the present Compagnie générale de navigation sur
le lac Léman was formed, and in 1875 constructed the first saloon
steamer, the "Mont Blanc." But despite this service and the railways
along each shore, the red lateen sails of minor craft still brighten
the landscape. The railway along the northern shore runs from Geneva
past Nyon, Rolle, Morges, Ouchy (the port of Lausanne), Vevey and
Montreux to Villeneuve (56½ m.). That on the south shore gains the
edge of the lake at Thonon only (22¼ m. from Geneva), and then runs
past Evian and St Gingolph to Le Bouveret (20 m. from Thonon). In the
harbour of Geneva two erratic boulders of granite project above the
surface of the water, and are named _Pierres du Niton_ (supposed to be
altars to Neptune). The lower of the two, which is also the farthest
from the shore, has been taken as the basis of the triangulation of
Switzerland: the official height is 376.86 mètres, which in 1891 was
reduced to 373.54 mètres, though 376.6 mètres is now said to be the
real figure. Of course the heights given on the Swiss Government map
vary with these different estimates of the point taken as basis.
For all matters relating to the lake, see Prof. F.A. Forel's
monumental work, _Le Léman_ (3 vols. Lausanne, 1892-1904); also (with
fine illustrations) G. Fatio and F. Boissonnas, _Autour du lac Léman_
(Geneva, 1902). (W. A. B. C.)
GENEVIÈVE, or GENOVEFA, ST (c. 422-512), patroness of Paris, lived
during the latter half of the 5th century. According to tradition, she
was born about 422 at Nanterre near Paris; her parents were called
Severus and Gerontia, but accounts differ widely as to their social
position. According to the legend, she was only in her seventh year when
she was induced by St Germain, bishop of Auxerre, to dedicate herself to
the religious life. On the death of her parents she removed to Paris,
where she distinguished herself by her benevolence, as well as by her
austere life. She is said to have predicted the invasion of the Huns;
and when Attila with his army was threatening the city, she persuaded
the inhabitants to remain on the island and encouraged them by an
assurance, justified by subsequent events, that the attack would come to
nothing (451). She is also said to have had great influence over
Childeric, father of Clovis, and in 460 to have caused a church to be
built over the tomb of St Denis. Her death occurred about 512 and she
was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles, popularly known as the
church of St Geneviève. In 1793 the body was taken from the new church,
built in her honour by Louis XV., when it became the Panthéon, and burnt
on the Place de Grève; but the relics were enshrined in a chapel of the
neighbouring church of St Étienne du Mont, where they still attract
pilgrims; her festival is celebrated with great pomp on the 3rd of
January. The frescoes of the Panthéon by Puvis de Chavannes are based
upon the legend of the saint.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The main source is the anonymous _Vita s. Genovefae
virginis Parisiorum_, published in 1687 by D.P. Charpentier. The
genuineness of this life was attacked by B. Krusch (_Neues Archiv_,
1893 and 1894) and defended by L. Duchesne, _Bibliothèque de l'École
des Chartes_ (1893), _Bulletin critique_ (1897), p. 473. Krusch
continued to hold that the life was an 8th-century forgery
(_Scriptores rer. Merov_. iii. 204-238). See A. Potthast, _Bibliotheca
medii aevi_ (1331, 1332), and G. Kurth, _Clovis_, ii. 249-254. The
legends and miracles are given in the Bollandists' _Acta Sanctorum_,
January 1st; there is a short sketch by Henri Lesetre, _Ste
Geneviève_, in "Les Saints" series (Paris, 1900).
GENEVIÈVE, GENOVEVA or GENOVEFA, OF BRABANT, heroine of medieval legend.
Her story is a typical example of the widespread tale of the chaste wife
falsely accused and repudiated, generally on the word of a rejected
suitor. Genovefa of Brabant was said to be the wife of the palatine
Siegfried of Treves, and was falsely accused by the majordomo Golo.
Sentenced to death she was spared by the executioner, and lived for six
years with her son in a cave in the Ardennes nourished by a roe.
Siegfried, who had meanwhile found out Golo's treachery, was chasing the
roe when he discovered her hiding-place, and reinstated her in her
former honour. Her story is said to rest on the history of Marie of
Brabant, wife of Louis II., duke of Bavaria, and count-palatine of the
Rhine, who was tried by her husband and beheaded on the 18th of January
1256, for supposed infidelity, a crime for which Louis afterwards had to
do penance. The change in name may have been due to the cult of St
Geneviève, patroness of Paris. The tale first obtained wide popularity
in _L'Innocence reconnue, ou vie de Sainte Geneviève de Brabant_ (pr.
1638) by the Jesuit René de Cérisier (1603-1662), and was a frequent
subject for dramatic representation in Germany. With Genovefa's history
may be compared the Scandinavian ballads of _Ravengaard og Memering_,
which exist in many recensions. These deal with the history of Gunild,
who married Henry, duke of Brunswick and Schleswig. When Duke Henry went
to the wars he left his wife in charge of Ravengaard, who accused her of
infidelity. Gunild is cleared by the victory of her champion Memering,
the "smallest of Christian men." The Scottish ballad of Sir Aldingar is
a version of the same story. The heroine Gunhilda is said to have been
the daughter of Canute the Great and Emma. She married in 1036 King
Henry, afterwards the emperor Henry III., and there was nothing in her
domestic history to warrant the legend, which is given as authentic
history by William of Malmesbury (_De gestis regum Anglorum_, lib. ii. §
188). She was called Cunigund after her marriage, and perhaps was
confused with St Cunigund, the wife of the emperor Henry II. In the
_Karlamagnus-saga_ the innocent wife is Oliva, sister of Charlemagne and
wife of King Hugo, and in the French Carolingian cycle the emperor's
wife Sibille (_La Reine Sibille_) or Blanchefleur (_Macaire_). Other
forms of the legend are to be found in the story of Doolin's mother in
_Doon de Mayence_, the English romance of _Sir Triamour_, in the story
of the mother of Octavian in _Octavian the Emperor_, in the German folk
book _Historie von der geduldigen Königin Crescentia_, based on a
12th-century poem to be found in the _Kaiserchronik_; and the English
_Erl of Toulouse_ (c. 1400). In the last-named romance it has been
suggested that the story gives the relations between Bernard I. count of
Toulouse, son of the Guillaume d'Orange of the Carolingian romances, and
the empress Judith, second wife of Louis the Pious.
See F.J. Child, _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, vol. ii.
(1886), art. "Sir Aldingar"; S. Grundtvig, _Danske Kaempeviser_
(Copenhagen, 1867); "Sir Triamore," in _Bishop Percy's Folio MS._, ed.
Hales and Furnivall, vol. ii. (London, 1868); _The Romance of
Octavian_, ed. E.M. Goldsmid (Aungervyle Soc., Edinburgh, 1882); _The
Erl of Toulous and the Emperes of Almayn_, ed. G. Lüdtke (Berlin,
1881); B. Seuffert, _Die Legende von der Pfalzgräfin Genovefa_
(Würzburg, 1877); B. Golz, _Pfalzgräfin Genovefa in der deutschen
Dichtung_ (Leipzig, 1897); R. Köhler, "Die deutschen Volksbücher von
der Pfalzgräfin Genovefa," in _Zeitschr. für deutsche Philologie_
(1874).
GENGA, GIROLAMO (c. 1476-1551), Italian painter and architect, was born
in Urbino about 1476. At the age of ten he was apprenticed to the
woollen trade, but showed so much inclination for drawing that he was
sent to study under an obscure painter, and at thirteen under Luca
Signorelli, with whom he remained a considerable while, frequently
painting the accessories of his pictures. He was afterwards for three
years with Pietro Perugino, in company with Raphael. He next worked in
Florence and Siena, along with Timoteo della Vite; and in the latter
city he painted various compositions for Pandolfo Petrucci, the leading
local statesman. Returning to Urbino, he was employed by Duke Guidobaldo
in the decorations of his palace, and showed extraordinary aptitude for
theatrical adornments. Thence he went to Rome; and in the church of S.
Caterina da Siena, in that capital, is one of his most distinguished
works, "The Resurrection," remarkable both for design and for colouring.
He studied the Roman antiquities with zeal, and measured a number of
edifices; this practice, combining with his previous mastery of
perspective, qualified him to shine as an architect. Francesco Maria
della Rovere, the reigning duke of Urbino, recalled Genga, and
commissioned him to execute works in connexion with his
marriage-festivities. This prince being soon afterwards expelled by Pope
Leo X., Genga followed him to Mantua, whence he went for a time to
Pesaro. The duke of Urbino was eventually restored to his dominions; he
took Genga with him, and appointed him the ducal architect. As he neared
the close of his career, Genga retired to a house in the vicinity of
Urbino, continuing still to produce designs in pencil; one, of the
"Conversion of St Paul," was particularly admired. Here he died on the
11th of July 1551. Genga was a sculptor and musician as well as painter
and architect. He was jovial, an excellent talker, and kindly to his
friends. His principal pupil was Francesco Menzocchi. His own son
Bartolommeo (1518-1558) became an architect of celebrity. In Genga's
paintings there is a great deal of freedom, and a certain peculiarity of
character consonant with his versatile, lively and social temperament.
One of his leading works is in the church of S. Agostino in Cesena--a
triptych in oil-colours, representing the "Annunciation," "God the
Father in Glory," and the "Madonna and Child." Among his architectural
labours are the church of San Giovanni Battista in Pesaro; the bishop's
palace at Sinigaglia; the façade of the cathedral of Mantua, ranking
high among the productions of the 16th century; and a new palace for the
duke of Urbino, built on the Monte Imperiale. He was also concerned in
the fortifications of Pesaro.
GENISTA, in botany, a genus of about eighty species of shrubs belonging
to the natural order Leguminosae, and natives of Europe, western Asia
and North Africa. Three are native in Britain. _G. anglica_ is the
needle-furze or petty whin, found on heaths and moist moors, a spinous
plant with slender spreading branches 1 to 2 ft. long, very small leaves
and short racemes of small yellow papilionaceous flowers. The pollen is
emitted in a shower when an insect alights on it. _G. tinctoria_, dyer's
green-weed, the flowers of which yield a yellow dye, has no spines.
Other species are grown on rock-work or as greenhouse plants.
GENIUS (from Lat. _genere_, _gignere_), a term which originally meant,
in Roman mythology, a generative and protecting spirit, who has no exact
parallel in Greek religion, and at least in his earlier aspect is of
purely Italian origin as one of the deities of family or household.
Every man has his genius, who is not his creator, but only comes into
being with him and is allotted to him at his birth. As a creative
principle the genius is restricted to man, his place being taken by a
Juno (cp. Juno Lucina, the goddess of childbirth) in the case of women.
The male and female spirit may thus be distinguished respectively as the
protector of generation and of parturition (_tutela generandi,
pariendi_), although the female appears less prominent. It is the genius
of the _paterfamilias_ that keeps the marriage bed, named after him
_lectus genialis_ and dedicated to him, under his special protection.
The genius of a man, as his higher intellectual self, accompanies him
from the cradle to the grave. In many ways he exercises a decisive
influence on the man's character and mode of life (Horace, _Epistles_,
ii. 2. 187). The responsibility for happiness or unhappiness, good or
bad fortune, lay with the genius; but this does not suppose the
existence of two genii for man, the one good and the other bad ([Greek:
agathodaimôn], [Greek: kakodaimôn]), an idea borrowed from the Greek
philosophers. The Roman genius, representing man's natural optimism,
always endeavoured to guide him to happiness; that man was intended to
enjoy life is shown by the fact that the Roman spoke of indulging or
cheating his genius of his due according as he enjoyed himself or failed
to do so, when he had the opportunity. A man's birthday was naturally a
suitable occasion for honouring his genius, and on that occasion
offerings of incense, wine, garlands, and cakes were made (Tibullus ii.
2; Ovid, _Tristia_, iii. 13. 18). As the representative of a man's
higher self and participating in a divine nature, the genius could be
sworn by, and a person could take an oath by his own or some one else's
genius. When under Greek influence the Roman idea of the gods became
more and more anthropomorphized, a genius was assigned to them, not
however as a distinct personality. Thus we hear of the genius of Jupiter
(Jovis Genio, _C.I.L._ i. 603), Mars, Juno, Pluto, Priapus. In a more
extended sense the genius is also the generator and preserver of human
society, as manifested in the family, corporate unions, the city, and
the state generally. Thus, the genius publicus Populi Romani--probably
distinct from the genius Urbis Romae, to whom an old shield on the
Capitol was dedicated, with an inscription expressing doubt as to the
sex (_Genio ... sive mas sive femina_)--stood in the forum near the
temple of Concord, in the form of a bearded man, crowned with a diadem,
and carrying a cornu copiae and sceptre. It frequently appears on the
coins of Trajan and Hadrian. Sacrifice, not confined to bloodless
offerings like those of the genius of the house, was offered to him
annually on the 8th of October. There were genii of cities, colonies,
and even of provinces; of artists, business people and craftsmen; of
cooks, gladiators, standard-bearers, a legion, a century, and of the
army generally (_genius sanctus castrorum peregrinorum totiusque
exercitus_). In imperial times the genius of Augustus and of the
reigning emperor, as part of the sacra of the imperial family, were
publicly worshipped. It was a common practice (often compulsory) to
swear by the genius of the emperor, and any one who swore falsely was
flogged. Localities also, such as theatres, baths, stables, streets, and
markets, had their own genius. The word thus gradually lost its original
meaning; the nameless local genii became an expression for the
universality of the _divinum numen_ and were sometimes identified with
the higher gods. The local genius was usually represented by a snake,
the symbol of the fruitfulness of the earth and of perpetual youth.
Hence snakes were usually kept in houses (Virgil, _Aen._ v. 95; Persius
i. 113), their death in which was considered a bad omen. The personal
genius usually appeared as a handsome youth in a toga, with head
sometimes veiled and sometimes bare, carrying a drinking cup and cornu
copiae, frequently in the position of one offering sacrifice.
See W.H. Roscher, _Lexikon der Mythologie_, and article by J.A. Hild
in Daremberg and Saglio, _Dictionnaire des antiquités_, where full
references to ancient and modern authorities are given; L. Preller,
_Römische Mythologie_, 3rd ed., by H. Jordan; G. Wissowa, _Religion
und Kultur der Römer_.
Apart from the Latin use of the term, the plural "genii" (with a
singular "genie") is used in English, as equivalent to the Arabic
_jinn_, for a class of spirits, good or bad, such as are described, for
instance, in _The Arabian Nights_. But "genius" itself has become the
regular English word for the highest conceivable form of original
ability, something altogether extraordinary and beyond even supreme
educational prowess, and differing, in kind apparently, from "talent,"
which is usually distinguished as marked intellectual capacity short
only of the inexplicable and unique endowment to which the term "genius"
is confined. The attempt, however, to define either quality, or to
discriminate accurately between them, has given rise to continual
controversy, and there is no agreement as to the nature of either; and
the commonly quoted definitions of genius--such as Carlyle's
"transcendant capacity of taking trouble, first of all,"[1] in which the
last three words are usually forgotten--are either admittedly incomplete
or are of the nature of epigrams. Nor can it be said that any
substantial light has been thrown on the matter by the modern
physiological school, Lombroso and others, who regard the eccentricity
of genius as its prime factor, and study it as a form of mental
derangement. The error here is partly in ignoring the history of the
word, and partly in misrepresenting the nature of the fact. There are
many cases, no doubt, in which persons really insane, of one type or
another, or with a history of physical degeneration or epilepsy, have
shown remarkable originality, which may be described as genius, but
there are at least just as many in whom no such physical abnormality can
be observed. The word "genius" itself however has only gradually been
used in English to express the degree of original greatness which is
beyond ordinary powers of explanation, i.e. far beyond the capacity of
the normal human being in creative work; and it is a convenient term
(like Nietzsche's "superman") for application to those rare individuals
who in the course of evolution reveal from time to time the heights to
which humanity may develop, in literature, art, science, or
administrative life. The English usage was originally derived, naturally
enough, from the Roman ideas contained in the term (with the analogy of
the Greek [Greek: daimôn]), and in the 16th and 17th centuries we find
it equivalent simply to "distinctive character or spirit," a meaning
still commonly given to the word. The more modern sense is not even
mentioned in Johnson's _Dictionary_, and represents an 18th-century
development, primarily due to the influence of German writers; the
meaning of "distinctive natural capacity or endowment" had gradually
been applied specially to creative minds such as those of poets and
artists, by contrast with those whose mental ability was due to the
results of education and study, and the antithesis has extended since,
through constant discussions over the attempt to differentiate between
the real nature of genius and that of "talent," until we now speak of
the exceptional person not merely as having genius but as "a genius."
This phraseology appears to indicate some reversion to the original
Roman usage, and the identification of the great man with a generative
spirit.
Modern theories on the nature of "genius" should be studied with
considerable detachment, but there is much that is interesting and
thought-provoking in such works as J.F. Nisbet's _Insanity of Genius_
(1891), Sir Francis Galton's _Hereditary Genius_ (new ed., 1892), and
C. Lombroso's _Man of Genius_ (Eng. trans., 1891).