[1] Born c. 1360; rector of the university of Paris 1393; afterwards
treasurer of Langres and archdeacon of Bayeux; died at Paris in 1437.
GERSONIDES, or BEN GERSON (GERSHON), LEVI, known also as RALBAG
(1288-1344), Jewish philosopher and commentator, was born at Bagnols in
Languedoc, probably in 1288. As in the case of the other medieval Jewish
philosophers little is known of his life. His family had been
distinguished for piety and exegetical skill, but though he was known in
the Jewish community by commentaries on certain books of the Bible, he
never seems to have accepted any rabbinical post. Possibly the freedom
of his opinions may have put obstacles in the way of his preferment. He
is known to have been at Avignon and Orange during his life, and is
believed to have died in 1344, though Zacuto asserts that he died at
Perpignan in 1370. Part of his writings consist of commentaries on the
portions of Aristotle then known, or rather of commentaries on the
commentaries of Averroes. Some of these are printed in the early Latin
editions of Aristotle's works. His most important treatise, that by
which he has a place in the history of philosophy, is entitled
_Milhamoth 'Adonai_ (The Wars of God), and occupied twelve years in
composition (1317-1329). A portion of it, containing an elaborate survey
of astronomy as known to the Arabs, was translated into Latin in 1342 at
the request of Clement VI. The _Milhamoth_ is throughout modelled after
the plan of the great work of Jewish philosophy, the _Moreh Nebuhim_ of
Moses Maimonides, and may be regarded as an elaborate criticism from the
more philosophical point of view (mainly Averroistic) of the syncretism
of Aristotelianism and Jewish orthodoxy as presented in that work. The
six books pass in review (1) the doctrine of the soul, in which
Gersonides defends the theory of impersonal reason as mediating between
God and man, and explains the formation of the higher reason (or
acquired intellect, as it was called) in humanity,--his view being
thoroughly realist and resembling that of Avicebron; (2) prophecy; (3)
and (4) God's knowledge of facts and providence, in which is advanced
the curious theory that God does not know individual facts, and that,
while there is general providence for all, special providence only
extends to those whose reason has been enlightened; (5) celestial
substances, treating of the strange spiritual hierarchy which the Jewish
philosophers of the middle ages accepted from the Neoplatonists and the
pseudo-Dionysius, and also giving, along with astronomical details, much
of astrological theory; (6) creation and miracles, in respect to which
Gerson deviates widely from the position of Maimonides. Gersonides was
also the author of a commentary on the Pentateuch and other exegetical
and scientific works.
A careful analysis of the _Milhamoth_ is given in Rabbi Isidore Weil's
_Philosophie religieuse de Levi-Ben-Gerson_ (Paris, 1868). See also
Munk, _Melanges de phil. juive et arabe_; and Joel,
_Religionsphilosophie d. L. Ben-Gerson_ (1862). The _Milhamoth_ was
published in 1560 at Riva di Trento, and has been published at
Leipzig, 1866. (I. A.)
GERSOPPA, FALLS OF, a cataract on the Sharavati river in the North
Kanara district of Bombay. The falls are considered the finest in India.
The river descends in four separate cascades called the Raja or
Horseshoe, the Roarer, the Rocket and the Dame Blanche. The cliff over
which the river plunges is 830 ft. high, and the pool at the base of the
Raja Fall is 132 ft. deep. The falls are reached by boat from Honavar,
or by road from Gersoppa village, 18 m. distant. Near the village are
extensive ruins (the finest of which is a cruciform temple) of
Nagarbastikere, the capital of the Jain chiefs of Gersoppa. Their family
was established in power in 1409 by the Vijayanagar kings, but
subsequently became practically independent. The chieftaincy was several
times held by women, and on the death of the last queen (1608) it
collapsed, having been attacked by the chief of Bednur. Among the
Portuguese the district was celebrated for its pepper, and they called
its queen "Regina da pimenta" (queen of pepper).
GERSTACKER, FRIEDRICH (1816-1872), German novelist and writer of
travels, was born at Hamburg on the 10th of May 1816, the son of
Friedrich Gerstacker (1790-1825), a celebrated opera singer. After being
apprenticed to a commercial house he learnt farming in Saxony. In 1837,
however, having imbibed from _Robinson Crusoe_ a taste for adventure, he
went to America and wandered over a large part of the United States,
supporting himself by whatever work came to hand. In 1843 he returned to
Germany, to find himself, to his great surprise, famous as an author.
His mother had shown his diary, which he regularly sent home, and which
contained descriptions of his adventures in the New World, to the editor
of the _Rosen_, who published them in that periodical. These sketches
having found favour with the public, Gerstacker issued them in 1844
under the title _Streif-und Jagdzuge durch die Vereinigten Staaten
Nordamerikas_. In 1845 his first novel, _Die Regulatoren in Arkansas_,
appeared, and henceforth the stream of his productiveness flowed on
uninterruptedly. From 1849 to 1852 Gerstacker travelled round the world,
visiting North and South America, Polynesia and Australia, and on his
return settled in Leipzig. In 1860 he again went to South America,
chiefly with a view to inspecting the German colonies there and
reporting on the possibility of diverting the stream of German
emigration in this direction. The result of his observations and
experiences he recorded in _Achtzehn Monate in Sudamerika_ (1862). In
1862 he accompanied Duke Ernest of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Egypt and
Abyssinia, and on his return settled at Coburg, where he wrote a number
of novels descriptive of the scenes he had visited. In 1867-1868
Gerstacker again undertook a long journey, visiting North America,
Venezuela and the West Indies, and on his return lived first at Dresden
and then at Brunswick, where he died on the 31st of May 1872. His genial
and straightforward character made him personally beloved; and his
works, dealing as they did with the great world hitherto hidden from the
narrow "parochialism" of German life, obtained an immense popularity.
This was not due to any graces of style, in which they are singularly
lacking; but the unstudied freshness of the author's descriptions, and
his sturdy humour, appealed to the wholesome instincts of the public.
Many of his books were translated into foreign languages, notably into
English, and became widely known on both sides of the Atlantic. His best
works, from a literary point of view, are, besides the above-mentioned
_Regulatoren_, his _Flusspiraten des Mississippi_ (1848); the novel
_Tahiti_ (1854); his Australian romance _Die beiden Straflinge_ (1857);
_Aus dem Matrosenleben_ (1857); and _Blau Wasser_ (1858). His _Travels_
exist in an English translation.
Gerstacker's _Gesammelte Schriften_ were published at Jena in 44 vols.
(1872-1879); a selection, edited by D. Theden in 24 vols. (1889-1890).
See A. Karl, _Friedrich Gerstacker, der Weitgereiste. Ein Lebensbild_
(1873).
GERSTENBERG, HEINRICH WILHELM VON (1737-1823), German poet and critic,
was born at Tondern in Schleswig on the 3rd of January 1737. After
studying law at Jena he entered the Danish military service and took
part in the Russian campaign of 1762. He spent the next twelve years in
Copenhagen, where he was intimate with Klopstock. From 1775 to 1783 he
represented Denmark's interests as "Danish Resident" at Lubeck, and in
1786 received a judicial appointment at Altona, where he died on the 1st
of November 1823. In the course of his long life Gerstenberg passed
through many phases of his nation's literature. He began as an imitator
of the Anacreontic school (_Tandeleien_, 1759); then wrote, in imitation
of Gleim, _Kriegslieder eines danischen Grenadiers_ (1762); with his
_Gedicht eines Skalden_ (1766) he joined the group of "bards" led by
Klopstock. His _Ariadne auf Naxos_ (1767) is the best cantata of the
18th century; he translated Beaumont and Fletcher's _Maid's Tragedy_
(1767), and helped to usher in the _Sturm und Drang_ period with a
gruesome but powerful tragedy, _Ugolino_ (1768). But he did perhaps even
better service to the new literary movement with his _Briefe uber
Merkwurdigkeiten der Literatur_ (1766-1770), in which the critical
principles of the _Sturm und Drang_--and especially its enthusiasm for
Shakespeare,--were first definitely formulated. In later life
Gerstenberg lost touch with literature, and occupied himself mainly with
Kant's philosophy.
His _Vermischte Schriften_ appeared in 3 vols. (1815). The _Briefe
uber Merkwurdigkeiten der Literatur_ were republished by A. von Weilen
(1888), and a selection of his poetry, including _Ugolino_, by R.
Hamel, will be found in Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_, vol.
48 (1884).
GERUZEZ, NICOLAS EUGENE (1799-1865), French critic, was born on the 6th
of January 1799 at Reims. He was assistant professor at the Sorbonne,
and in 1852 he became secretary to the faculty of literature. He wrote a
_Histoire de l'eloquence politique et religieuse en France aux XIV^e,
XV^e, et XVI^e siecles_ (1837-1838); an admirable _Histoire de la
litterature francaise depuis les origines jusqu'a la Revolution_ (1852),
which he supplemented in 1859 by a volume bringing down the history to
the close of the revolutionary period; and some miscellaneous works.
Geruzez died on the 29th of May 1865 in Paris. A posthumous volume of
_Melanges et pensees_ appeared in 1877.
GERVAIS, PAUL (1816-1879), French palaeontologist, was born on the 26th
of September 1816 at Paris, where he obtained the diplomas of doctor of
science and of medicine, and in 1835 he began palaeontological research
as assistant in the laboratory of comparative anatomy at the Museum of
Natural History. In 1841 he obtained the chair of zoology and
comparative anatomy at the Faculty of Sciences in Montpellier, of which
he was in 1856 appointed dean. In 1848-1852 appeared his important work
_Zoologie et paleontologie francaises_, supplementary to the
palaeontological publications of G. Cuvier and H. M. D. de Blainville;
of this a second and greatly improved edition was issued in 1859. In
1865 he accepted the professorship of zoology at the Sorbonne, vacant
through the death of L. P. Gratiolet; this post he left in 1868 for the
chair of comparative anatomy at the Paris museum of natural history, the
anatomical collections of which were greatly enriched by his exertions.
He died in Paris on the 10th of February 1879.
He also wrote _Histoire naturelle des mammiferes_ (1853, &c.);
_Zoologie medicale_ (1859, with P. J. van Beneden); _Recherches sur
l'anciennete de l'homme et la periode quaternaire_, 19 pl. (1867);
_Zoologie et paleontologie generales_ (1867); _Osteographie des
cetaces_ (1869, &., with van Beneden).
GERVASE OF CANTERBURY (d. c. 1210), English monk and chronicler, entered
the house of Christchurch, Canterbury, at an early age. He made his
profession and received holy orders in 1163; but we have no further clue
to the date of his birth. We know nothing of his life beyond what may be
gathered from his own writings. Their evidence suggests that he died in
or shortly after 1210, and that he had resided almost continuously at
Canterbury from the time of his admission. The only office which we know
him to have held is that of sacrist, which he received after 1190 and
laid down before 1197. He took a keen interest in the secular quarrels
of the Canterbury monks with their archbishops, and his earliest
literary efforts were controversial tracts upon this subject. But from
1188 he applied his mind to historical composition. About that year he
began the compilation of his _Chronica_, a work intended for the private
reading of his brethren. Beginning with the accession of Stephen he
continued his narrative to the death of Richard I. Up to 1188 he relies
almost entirely upon extant sources; but from that date onwards is
usually an independent authority. A second history, the _Gesta Regum_,
is planned on a smaller scale and traces the fortunes of Britain from
the days of Brutus to the year 1209. The latter part of this work,
covering the years 1199-1209, is perhaps an attempt to redeem the
promise, which he had made in the epilogue to the _Chronica_, of a
continuation dealing with the reign of John. This is the only part of
the _Gesta_ which deserves much attention. The work was continued by
various hands to the year 1328. From the _Gesta_ the indefatigable
Gervase turned to a third project, the history of the see of Canterbury
from the arrival of Augustine to the death of Hubert Walter (1205). A
topographical work, with the somewhat misleading title _Mappa mundi_,
completes the list of his more important writings. The _Mappa mundi_
contains a useful description of England shire by shire, giving in
particular a list of the castles and religious houses to be found in
each. The industry of Gervase was greater than his insight. He took a
narrow and monastic view of current politics; he was seldom in touch
with the leading statesmen of his day. But he appears to be tolerably
accurate when dealing with the years 1188-1209; and sometimes he
supplements the information provided by the more important chronicles.
See the introductions and notes in W. Stubbs's edition of the
_Historical Works of Gervase of Canterbury_ (Rolls edition, 2 vols.,
1879-1880). (H. W. C. D.)
GERVASE OF TILBURY (fl. 1211), Anglo-Latin writer of the late 12th and
early 13th centuries, was a kinsman and schoolfellow of Patrick, earl of
Salisbury, but lived the life of a scholarly adventurer, wandering from
land to land in search of patrons. Before 1177 he was a student and
teacher of law at Bologna; in that year he witnessed the meeting of the
emperor Frederic I. and Pope Alexander III. at Venice. He may have hoped
to win the favour of Frederic, who in the past had found useful
instruments among the civilians of Bologna. But Frederic ignored him;
his first employer of royal rank was Henry fitz Henry, the young king of
England (d. 1183), for whom Gervase wrote a jest-book which is no longer
extant. Subsequently we hear of Gervase as a clerk in the household of
William of Champagne, cardinal archbishop of Reims (d. 1202). Here, as
he himself confesses, he basely accused of heretical opinions a young
girl, who had rejected his advances, with the result that she was burned
to death. He cannot have remained many years at Reims; before 1189 he
attracted the favour of William II. of Sicily, who had married Joanna,
the sister of Henry fitz Henry. William took Gervase into his service
and gave him a country-house at Nola. After William's death the kingdom
of Sicily offered no attractions to an Englishman. The fortunes of
Gervase suffered an eclipse until, some time after 1198, he found
employment under the emperor Otto IV., who by descent and political
interest was intimately connected with the Plantagenets. Though a clerk
in orders Gervase became marshal of the kingdom of Arles, and married an
heiress of good family. For the delectation of the emperor he wrote,
about 1211, his _Otia Imperialia_ in three parts. It is a farrago of
history, geography, folklore and political theory--one of those books of
table-talk in which the literature of the age abounded. Evidently
Gervase coveted but ill deserved a reputation for encyclopaedic
learning. The most interesting of his dissertations are contained in the
second part of the _Otia_, where he discusses, among other topics, the
theory of the Empire and the geography and history of England. We do not
know what became of Gervase after the downfall of Otto IV. But he became
a canon; and may perhaps be identified with Gervase, provost of
Ebbekesdorf, who died in 1235.
See the _Otia Imperialia_ in G. Leibnitz's _Scriptores rerum
Brunsvicensium_, vols. i. and ii. (Hanover, 1707); extracts in J.
Stevenson's edition of _Coggeshall_ (Rolls series, 1875). Of modern
accounts the best are those by W. Stubbs in his edition of _Gervase of
Canterbury_, vol. i. introd. (Rolls series, 1879), and by R. Pauli in
_Nachrichten der Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften zu Gottingen_ (1882).
In the older biographers the _Dialogus de scaccario_ of Richard Fitz
Neal (q.v.) is wrongly attributed to Gervase. (H. W. C. D.)
GERVEX, HENRI (1852- ), French painter, was born in Paris on the 10th
of December 1852, and studied painting under Cabanel, Brisset and
Fromentin. His early work belonged almost exclusively to the
mythological genre which served as an excuse for the painting of the
nude--not always in the best of taste; indeed, his "Rolla" of 1878 was
rejected by the jury of the Salon _pour immoralite_. He afterwards
devoted himself to representations of modern life and achieved signal
success with his "Dr Pean at the Salpetriere," a modernized paraphrase,
as it were, of Rembrandt's "Anatomy Lesson." He was entrusted with
several important official paintings and the decoration of public
buildings. Among the first are "The Distribution of Awards (1889) at the
Palais de l'Industrie" (now in the Versailles Museum), "The Coronation
of Nicolas II." (Moscow, May 14, 1896), "The Mayors' Banquet" (1900),
and the portrait group "La Republique Francaise"; and among the second,
the ceiling for the Salle des Fetes at the hotel de ville, Paris, and
the decorative panels painted in conjunction with Blanchon for the
mairie of the 19th arrondissement, Paris. He also painted, with Alfred
Stevens, a panorama, "The History of the Century" (1889). At the
Luxembourg is his painting "Satyrs playing with a Bacchante" as well as
the large "Members of the Jury of the Salon" (1885). Other pictures of
importance, besides numerous portraits in oils and pastel, are
"Communion at Trinity Church," "Return from the Ball," "Diana and
Endymion," "Job," "Civil Marriage," "At the Ambassadeurs," "Yachting in
the Archipelago," "Nana" and "Maternity."
GERVINUS, GEORG GOTTFRIED (1805-1871), German literary and political
historian, was born on the 20th of May 1805 at Darmstadt. He was
educated at the gymnasium of the town, and intended for a commercial
career, but in 1825 he became a student of the university of Giessen. In
1826 he went to Heidelberg, where he attended the lectures of the
historian Schlosser, who became henceforth his guide and his model. In
1828 he was appointed teacher in a private school at Frankfort-on-Main,
and in 1830 _Privatdozent_ at Heidelberg. A volume of his collected
_Historische Schriften_ procured him the appointment of professor
extraordinarius; while the first volume of his _Geschichte der
poetischen Nationallitteratur der Deutschen_ (1835-1842, 5 vols.,
subsequently entitled _Geschichte der deutschen Dichtung_; 5th edition,
by K. Bartsch, 1871-1874) brought him the appointment to a regular
professorship of history and literature at Gottingen. This work is the
first comprehensive history of German literature written both with
scholarly erudition and literary skill. In the following year he wrote
his _Grundzuge der Historik_, which is perhaps the most thoughtful of
his philosophico-historical productions. The same year brought his
expulsion from Gottingen in consequence of his manly protest, in
conjunction with six of his colleagues, against the unscrupulous
violation of the constitution by Ernest Augustus, king of Hanover and
duke of Cumberland. After several years in Heidelberg, Darmstadt and
Rome, he settled permanently in Heidelberg, where, in 1844, he was
appointed honorary professor. He zealously took up in the following year
the cause of the German Catholics, hoping it would lead to a union of
all the Christian confessions, and to the establishment of a national
church. He also came forward in 1846 as a patriotic champion of the
Schleswig-Holsteiners, and when, in 1847, King Frederick William IV.
promulgated the royal decree for summoning the so-called "United Diet"
(Vereinigter Landtag), Gervinus hoped that this event would form the
basis of the constitutional development of the largest German state. He
founded, together with some other patriotic scholars, the _Deutsche
Zeitung_, which certainly was one of the best-written political journals
ever published in Germany. His appearance in the political arena secured
his election as deputy for the Prussian province of Saxony to the
National Assembly sitting in 1848 at Frankfort. Disgusted with the
failure of that body, he retired from all active political life.
Gervinus now devoted himself to literary and historical studies, and
between 1849 and 1852 published his work on _Shakespeare_ (4 vols., 4th
ed. 2 vols., 1872; Eng. trans. by F. E. Bunnett, 1863, new ed. 1877). He
also revised his _History of German Literature_, for a fourth edition
(1853), and began at the same time to plan his _Geschichte des
neunzehnten Jahrhunderts_ (8 vols., 1854-1860), which was preceded by an
_Einleitung in die Geschichte des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts_ (1853). The
latter caused some stir in the literary and political world, owing to
the circumstance that the government of Baden imprudently instituted a
prosecution against the author for high treason. In 1868 appeared
_Handel und Shakespeare, zur Asthetik der Tonkunst_, in which he drew an
ingenious parallel between his favourite poet and his favourite
composer, showing that their intellectual affinity was based on the
Teutonic origin common to both, on their analogous intellectual
development and character. The ill-success of this publication, and the
indifference with which the latter volumes of his _History of the 19th
Century_ were received by his countrymen, together with the feeling of
disappointment that the unity of Germany had been brought about in
another fashion and by other means than he wished to see employed,
embittered his later years. He died at Heidelberg on the 18th of March
1871.
Gervinus's autobiography (_G. G. Gervinus' Leben, von ihm selbst_) was
published by his widow in 1893. It does not, however, go beyond the
year 1836. See E. Lehmann, _Gervinus, Versuch einer Charakteristik_
(1871); R. Gosche, _Gervinus_ (1871); J. Dorfel, _Gervinus als
historischer Denker_ (1904).
GERYON (GERYONES, GERYONEUS), in Greek mythology, the son of Chrysaor
and Callirrhoe, daughter of Oceanus, and king of the Island of Erytheia.
He is represented as a monster with three heads or three bodies
(_triformis_, _trigeminus_), sometimes with wings, and as the owner of
herds of red cattle, which were tended by the giant shepherd Eurytion
and the two-headed dog Orthrus. To carry off these cattle to Greece was
one of the twelve "labours" imposed by Eurystheus upon Heracles. In
order to get possession of them, Heracles travelled through Europe and
Libya, set up the two pillars in the Straits of Gibraltar to show the
extent of his journey, and reached the great river Oceanus. Having
crossed Oceanus and landed on the island, Heracles slew Orthrus together
with Eurytion, who in vain strove to defend him, and drove off the
cattle. Geryon started in pursuit, but fell a victim to the arrows of
Heracles, who, after various adventures, succeeded in getting the cattle
safe to Greece, where they were offered in sacrifice to Hera by
Eurystheus. The geographical position of Erytheia is unknown, but all
ancient authorities agree that it was in the far west. The name itself
(= red) and the colour of the cattle suggest the fiery aspect of the
disk of the setting sun; further, Heracles crosses Oceanus in the golden
cup or boat of the sun-god Helios. Geryon (from [Greek: geryo], the
howler or roarer) is supposed to personify the storm, his father
Chrysaor the lightning, his mother Callirrhoe the rain. The cattle are
the rain-clouds, and the slaying of their keepers typifies the victory
of the sun over the clouds, or of spring over winter. The euhemeristic
explanation of the struggle with the triple monster was that Heracles
fought three brothers in succession.
See Apollodorus ii. 5. 10; Hesiod, _Theogony_, 287; Diod. Sic. iv. 17;
Herodotus iv. 8; F. Wieseler in Ersch and Gruber, _Allgemeine
Encyclopadie_; F. A. Voigt in Roscher's _Lexikon der Mythologie_; L.
Preller, _Griechische Mythologie_; article "Hercules" in Daremberg and
Saglio, _Dictionnaire des antiquites_.
GESENIUS, HEINRICH FRIEDRICH WILHELM (1786-1842), German orientalist and
biblical critic, was born at Nordhausen, Hanover, on the 3rd of February
1786. In 1803 he became a student of philosophy and theology at the
university of Helmstadt, where Heinrich Henke (1752-1809) was his most
influential teacher; but the latter part of his university course was
taken at Gottingen, where J. G. Eichhorn and T. C. Tychsen (1758-1834)
were then at the height of their popularity. In 1806, shortly after
graduation, he became _Repetent_ and _Privatdozent_ in that university;
and, as he was fond of afterwards relating, had Neander for his first
pupil in Hebrew. In 1810 he became professor extraordinarius in
theology, and in 1811 ordinarius, at the university of Halle, where, in
spite of many offers of high preferment elsewhere, he spent the rest of
his life. He taught with great regularity for upward of thirty years,
the only interruptions being that of 1813-1814 (occasioned by the War of
Liberation, during which the university was closed) and those occasioned
by two prolonged literary tours, first in 1820 to Paris, London and
Oxford with his colleague Johann Karl Thilo (1794-1853) for the
examination of rare oriental manuscripts, and in 1835 to England and
Holland in connexion with his Phoenician studies. He soon became the
most popular teacher of Hebrew and of Old Testament introduction and
exegesis in Germany; during his later years his lectures were attended
by nearly five hundred students. Among his pupils the most eminent were
Peter von Bohlen (1796-1840), A. G. Hoffmann (1769-1864), Hermann
Hupfeld, Emil Rodiger (1801-1874), J. F. Tuch (1806-1867), W. Vatke
(1806-1882) and Theodor Benfey (1809-1881). In 1827, after declining an
invitation to take Eichhorn's place at Gottingen, Gesenius was made a
_Consistorialrath_; but, apart from the violent attacks to which he,
along with his friend and colleague Julius Wegscheider, was in 1830
subjected by E. W. Hengstenberg and his party in the _Evangelische
Kirchenzeitung_, on account of his rationalism, his life was uneventful.
He died at Halle on the 23rd of October 1842. To Gesenius belongs in a
large measure the credit of having freed Semitic philology from the
trammels of theological and religious prepossession, and of inaugurating
the strictly scientific (and comparative) method which has since been so
fruitful. As an exegete he exercised a powerful, and on the whole a
beneficial, influence on theological investigation.
Of his many works, the earliest, published in 1810, entitled _Versuch
uber die maltesische Sprache_, was a successful refutation of the
widely current opinion that the modern Maltese was of Punic origin. In
the same year appeared the first volume of the _Hebraisches u.
Chaldaisches Handworterbuch_, completed in 1812. Revised editions of
this appear periodically in Germany, e.g. that of H. Zimmern and F.
Buhl (1905). The publication of a new English edition was started in
1892 under the editorship of Professors C. A. Briggs, S. R. Driver and
F. Brown. _The Hebraische Grammatik_, published in 1813 (27th edition
by E. Kautzsch; English translation from 25th and 26th German editions
by G. W. Collins and A. E. Cowley, 1898), was followed in 1815 by the
_Geschichte der hebraischen Sprache_ (now very rare), and in 1817 by
the _Ausfuhrliches Lehrgebaude der hebraischen Sprache_. The first
volume of his well-known commentary on Isaiah (_Der Prophet Jesaja_),
with a translation, appeared in 1821; but the work was not completed
until 1829. The _Thesaurus philologico-criticus linguae Hebraicae et
Chaldaicae V. T._, begun in 1829, he did not live to complete; the
latter part of the third volume is edited by E. Rodiger (1858). Other
works: _De Pentateuchi Samaritani origine, indole, et auctoritate_
(1815), supplemented in 1822 and 1824 by the treatise _De
Samaritanorum theologia_, and by an edition of _Carmina Samaritana_;
_Palaographische Studien uber phonizische u. punische Schrift_ (1835),
a pioneering work which he followed up in 1837 by his collection of
Phoenician monuments (_Scripturae linguaeque Phoeniciae monumenta
quotquot supersunt_); an Aramaic lexicon (1834-1839); and a treatise
on the Himyaritic language written in conjunction with E. Rodiger in
1841. Gesenius also contributed extensively to Ersch and Gruber's
_Encyclopadie_, and enriched the German translation of J. L.
Burckhardt's _Travels in Syria and the Holy Land_ with valuable
geographical notes. For many years he also edited the Halle
_Allgemeine Litteraturzeitung_. A sketch of his life was published
anonymously in 1843 (_Gesenius: eine Erinnerung fur seine Freunde_),
and another by H. _Gesenius, Wilhelm Gesenius, ein Erinnerungsblatt an
den hundertjahrigen Geburtstag_, in 1886. See also the article in the
_Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_.
GESNER, ABRAHAM (1797-1864), Canadian geologist, was born in Nova Scotia
in 1797. He qualified as a doctor of medicine in London in 1827.
Returning to the Dominion, he published in 1836 _Remarks on the Geology
and Mineralogy of Nova Scotia_, and continuing his researches he was
enabled in 1843 to bring before the Geological Society of London "A
Geological Map of Nova Scotia, with an accompanying Memoir" (_Proc.
Geol. Soc._ iv. 186). In 1849 he issued a volume on the industrial
resources of the country. He dealt also with the geology and mineralogy
of New Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island. Devoting himself to the
economic side of geology in various parts of North America, he was
enabled to bring out in 1861 _A Practical Treatise on Coal, Petroleum
and other Distilled Oils_. He died at Halifax, N.S., on the 29th of
April 1864.
GESNER, JOHANN MATTHIAS (1691-1761), German classical scholar and
schoolmaster, was born at Roth near Ansbach on the 9th of April 1691. He
studied at the university of Jena, and in 1714 published a work on the
_Philopatris_ ascribed to Lucian. In 1715 he became librarian and
conrector (vice-principal) at Weimar, in 1729 rector of the gymnasium at
Ansbach, and in 1730 rector of the Thomas school at Leipzig. On the
foundation of the university of Gottingen he became professor of
rhetoric (1734) and subsequently librarian. He died at Gottingen on the
3rd of August 1761. His special merit lies in the attention he devoted
to the explanation and illustration of the subject matter of the
classical authors.
His principal works are: editions of the _Scriptores rei rusticae_, of
Quintilian, Claudian, Pliny the Younger, Horace and the Orphic poems
(published after his death); _Primae lineae isagoges in eruditionem
universalem_ (1756); an edition of B. Faber's _Thesaurus eruditionis
scholasticae_ (1726), afterwards continued under the title _Novus
linguae et eruditionis Romanae thesaurus_ (1749); _Opuscula minora
varii argumenti_ (1743-1745); _Thesaurus epistolicus Gesnerianus_ (ed.
Klotz, 1768-1770); _Index etymologicus latinitatis_ (1749). See J. A.
Ernesti, _Opuscula oratoria_ (1762), p. 305; H. Sauppe, _Gottinger
Professoren_ (1872); C. H. Pohnert, _J. M. Gesner und sein Verhaltnis
zum Philanthropinismus und Neuhumanismus_ (1898), a contribution to
the history of pedagogy in the 18th century; articles by F. A.
Eckstein in _Allgemeine deutsche Biographie_ ix.; and Sandys, _Hist.
of Class. Schol._ iii. (1908), 5-9.
GESNER [improperly GESSNER; in Latin, GESNERUS], KONRAD VON (1516-1565),
German-Swiss writer and naturalist, called "the German Pliny" by Cuvier,
was born at Zurich on the 26th of March 1516. The son of a poor furrier,
he was educated in that town, but fell into great need after the death
of his father at the battle of Kappel (1531). He had good friends,
however, in his old master, Myconius, and subsequently in Heinrich
Bullinger, and he was enabled to continue his studies at the
universities of Strassburg and Bourges (1532-1533); he found also a
generous patron in Paris (1534), in the person of Joh. Steiger of Berne.
In 1535 the religious troubles drove him back to Zurich, where he made
an imprudent marriage. His friends again came to his aid, enabled him to
study at Basel (1536), and in 1537 procured for him the professorship of
Greek at the newly founded academy of Lausanne (then belonging to
Berne). Here he had leisure to devote himself to scientific studies,
especially botany. In 1540-1541 he visited the famous medical university
of Montpellier, took his degree of doctor of medicine (1541) at Basel,
and then settled down to practise at Zurich, where he obtained the post
of lecturer in physics at the Carolinum. There, apart from a few
journeys to foreign countries, and annual summer botanical journeys in
his native land, he passed the remainder of his life. He devoted himself
to preparing works on many subjects of different sorts. He died of the
plague on the 13th of December 1565. In the previous year he had been
ennobled.
To his contemporaries he was best known as a botanist, though his
botanical MSS. were not published till long after his death (at
Nuremberg, 1751-1771, 2 vols, folio), he himself issuing only the
_Enchiridion historiae plantarum_ (1541) and the _Catalogus plantarum_
(1542) in four tongues. In 1545 he published his remarkable _Bibliotheca
universalis_ (ed. by J. Simler, 1574), a catalogue (in Latin, Greek and
Hebrew) of all writers who had ever lived, with the titles of their
works, &c. A second part, under the title of _Pandeclarium sive
partitionum universalium Conradi Gesneri Ligurini libri xxi._, appeared
in 1548; only nineteen books being then concluded. The 21st book, a
theological encyclopaedia, was published in 1549, but the 20th, intended
to include his medical work, was never finished. His great zoological
work, _Historia animalium_, appeared in 4 vols. (quadrupeds, birds,
fishes) folio, 1551-1558, at Zurich, a fifth (snakes) being issued in
1587 (there is a German translation, entitled _Thierbuch_, of the first
4 vols., Zurich, 1563): this work is the starting-point of modern
zoology. Not content with such vast works, Gesner put forth in 1555 his
book entitled _Mithridates de differentiis linguis_, an account of about
130 known languages, with the Lord's Prayer in 22 tongues, while in 1556
appeared his edition of the works of Aelian. To non-scientific readers,
Gesner will be best known for his love of mountains (below the
snow-line) and for his many excursions among them, undertaken partly as
a botanist, but also for the sake of mere exercise and enjoyment of the
beauties of nature. In 1541 he prefixed to a singular little work of his
(_Libellus de lacte et operibus lactariis_) a letter addressed to his
friend, J. Vogel, of Glarus, as to the wonders to be found among the
mountains, declaring his love for them, and his firm resolve to climb at
least one mountain every year, not only to collect flowers, but in order
to exercise his body. In 1555 Gesner issued his narrative (_Descriptio
Montis Fracti sive Montis Pilati_) of his excursion to the Gnepfstein
(6299 ft.), the lowest point in the Pilatus chain, and therein explains
at length how each of the senses of man is refreshed in the course of a
mountain excursion.
Lives by J. Hanhart (Winterthur, 1824) and J. Simler (Zurich, 1566);
see also Lebert's _Gesner als Arzt_ (Zurich, 1854). A part of his
unpublished writing, edited by Prof. Schmiedel, was published at
Nuremberg in 1753.
GESSNER, SOLOMON (1730-1788), Swiss painter and poet, was born at Zurich
on the 1st of April 1730. With the exception of some time (1749-1750)
spent in Berlin and Hamburg, where he came under the influence of Ramler
and Hagedorn, he passed the whole of his life in his native town, where
he carried on the business of a bookseller. He died on the 2nd of March
1788. The first of his writings that attracted attention was his _Lied
eines Schweizers an sein bewaffnetes Madchen_ (1751). Then followed
_Daphnis_ (1754), _Idyllen_ (1756 and 1772), _Inkel and Yariko_ (1756),
a version of a story borrowed from the _Spectator_ (No. 11, 13th of
March 1711) and already worked out by Gellert and Bodmer, and _Der Tod
Abels_ (1758), a sort of idyllic pastoral. It is somewhat difficult for
us now to understand the reason of Gessner's universal popularity,
unless it was the taste of the period for the conventional pastoral.
His writings are marked by sweetness and melody, qualities which were
warmly appreciated by Lessing, Herder and Goethe. As a painter Gessner
represented the conventional classical landscape.
Collected editions of Gessner's works were repeatedly published (2
vols. 1777-1778, finally 2 vols. 1841, both at Zurich). They were
translated into French (3 vols., Paris, 1786-1793), and versions of
the _Idyllen_ appeared in English, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish
and Bohemian. Gessner's life was written by Hottinger (Zurich, 1796),
and by H. Wolfflin (Frauenfeld, 1889); see also his _Briefwechsel mit
seinem Sohn_ (Bern and Zurich, 1801).
GESSO, an Italian word (Lat. _gypsum_), for "plaster of Paris"
especially when used as a ground for painting, or for modelling or
sculpture.
GESTA ROMANORUM, a Latin collection of anecdotes and tales, probably
compiled about the end of the 13th century or the beginning of the 14th.
It still possesses a twofold literary interest, first as one of the most
popular books of the time, and secondly as the source, directly or
indirectly, of later literature, in Chaucer, Gower, Shakespeare and
others. Of its authorship nothing certain is known; and there is little
but gratuitous conjecture to associate it either with the name of
Helinandus or with that of Petrus Berchorius (Pierre Bercheure). It is
even a matter of debate whether it took its rise in England, Germany or
France. The work was evidently intended as a manual for preachers, and
was probably written by one who himself belonged to the clerical
profession. The name, _Deeds of the Romans_, is only partially
appropriate to the collection in its present form, since, besides the
titles from Greek and Latin history and legend, it comprises fragments
of very various origin, oriental and European. The unifying element of
the book is its moral purpose. The style is barbarous, and the narrative
ability of the compiler seems to vary with his source; but he has
managed to bring together a considerable variety of excellent material.
He gives us, for example, the germ of the romance of "Guy of Warwick";
the story of "Darius and his Three Sons," versified by Occleve; part of
Chaucer's "Man of Lawes' Tale"; a tale of the emperor Theodosius, the
same in its main features as that of Shakespeare's _Lear_; the story of
the "Three Black Crows"; the "Hermit and the Angel," well known from
Parnell's version, and a story identical with the _Fridolin_ of
Schiller. Owing to the loose structure of the book, it was easy for a
transcriber to insert any additional story into his own copy, and
consequently the MSS. of the _Gesta Romanorum_ exhibit considerable
variety. Oesterley recognizes an English group of MSS. (written always
in Latin), a German group (sometimes in Latin and sometimes in German),
and a group which is represented by the vulgate or common printed text.
The earliest editions are supposed to be those of Ketelaer and de
Lecompt at Utrecht, of Arnold Ter Hoenen at Cologne, and of Ulrich Zell
at Cologne; but the exact date is in all three cases uncertain.
An English translation, probably based directly on the MS. Harl. 5369,
was published by Wynkyn de Worde about 1510-1515, the only copy of
which now known to exist is preserved in the library of St John's
College, Cambridge. In 1577 Richard Robinson published a revised
edition of Wynkyn de Worde, and the book proved highly popular.
Between 1648 and 1703 at least eight impressions were issued. In 1703
appeared the first vol. of a translation by B. P., probably
Bartholomew Pratt, "from the Latin edition of 1514." A translation by
the Rev. C. Swan, first published in 2 vols. in 1824, forms part of
Bonn's antiquarian library, and was re-edited by Wynnard Hooper in
1877 (see also the latter's edition in 1894). The German translation
was first printed at Augsburg, 1489. A French version, under the title
of _Le Violier des histoires romaines moralisez_, appeared in the
early part of the 16th century, and went through a number of editions;
it has been reprinted by G. Brunet (Paris, 1858). Critical editions of
the Latin text have been produced by A. Keller (Stuttgart, 1842) and
Oesterley (Berlin, 1872). See also Warton, "On the Gesta Romanorum,"
dissertation iii., prefixed to the _History of English Poetry_; Douce,
_Illustrations of Shakespeare_, vol. ii.; Frederick Madden,
Introduction to the Roxburghe Club edition of _The Old English
Versions of the Gesta Romanorum_ (1838).
GETA, PUBLIUS SEPTIMIUS (189-212), younger son of the Roman emperor
Septimius Severus, was born at Mediolanum (Milan). In 198 he received
the title of Caesar, and in 209 those of Imperator and Augustus. Between
him and his brother Caracalla there existed from their early years a
keen rivalry and antipathy. On the death of their father in 211 they
were proclaimed joint emperors; and after the failure of a proposed
arrangement for the division of the empire, Caracalla pretended a desire
for reconciliation. He arranged a meeting with his brother in his
mother's apartments, and had him murdered in her arms by some
centurions.
Dio Cassius lxxvii. 2; Spartianus, _Caracalla_, 2; Herodian iv. 1.
GETAE, an ancient people of Thracian origin, closely akin to the Daci
(see DACIA). Their original home seems to have been the district on the
right bank of the Danube between the rivers Oescus (Iskr) and Iatrus
(Yantra). The view that the Getae were identical with the Goths has
found distinguished supporters, but it is not generally accepted. Their
name first occurs in connexion with the expedition of Darius Hystaspis
(515 B.C.) against the Scythians, in the course of which they were
brought under his sway, but they regained their freedom on his return to
the East. During the 5th century, they appear as furnishing a contingent
of cavalry to Sitalces, king of the Odrysae, in his attack on Perdiccas
II., king of Macedon, but the decay of the Odrysian kingdom again left
them independent. When Philip II. of Macedon in 342 reduced the Odrysae
to the condition of tributaries, the Getae, fearing that their turn
would come next, made overtures to the conqueror. Their king Cothelas
undertook to supply Philip with soldiers, and his daughter became the
wife of the Macedonian. About this time, perhaps being hard pressed by
the Triballi and other tribes, the Getae crossed the Danube. Alexander
the Great, before transporting his forces into Asia, decided to make his
power felt by the Macedonian dependencies. His operations against the
Triballi not having met with complete success, he resolved to cross the
Danube and attack the Getae. The latter, unable to withstand the
phalanx, abandoned their chief town, and fled to the steppes ([Greek:
Getia he eremos], north of the Danube delta), whither Alexander was
unwilling to follow them. About 326, an expedition conducted by
Zopyrion, a Macedonian governor of Thrace, against the Getae, failed
disastrously. In 292, Lysimachus declared war against them, alleging as
an excuse that they had rendered assistance to certain barbarous
Macedonian tribes. He penetrated to the plains of Bessarabia, where his
retreat was cut off and he was forced to surrender. Although the people
clamoured for his execution, Dromichaetes, king of the Getae, allowed
him to depart unharmed, probably on payment of a large ransom, great
numbers of gold coins having been found near Thorda, some of them
bearing the name of Lysimachus. When the Gauls made their way into
eastern Europe, they came into collision with the Getae, whom they
defeated and sold in large numbers to the Athenians as slaves. From this
time the Getae seem to have been usually called Daci; for their further
history see DACIA.
The Getae are described by Herodotus as the most valiant and upright of
the Thracian tribes; but what chiefly struck Greek inquirers was their
belief in the immortality of the soul (hence they were called [Greek:
athanatizontes]) and their worship of Zalmoxis (or Zamolxis), whom the
euhemerists of the colonies on the Euxine made a pupil of Pythagoras.
They were very fond of music, and it was the custom for their
ambassadors the priests to present themselves clad in white, playing the
lyre and singing songs. They were experts in the use of the bow and
arrows while on horseback.
See E. R. Rosler, "Die Geten und ihre Nachbarn," in _Sitzungsberichte
der k. Akad. der Wissenschaften, philosophisch-historische Classe_,
xliv. (1863), and _Romanische Studien_ (Leipzig, 1871); W. Tomaschek,
"Die alten Thraker," in above _Sitzungsberichte_, cxxviii. (Vienna,
1893); W. Bessel, _De rebus Geticis_ (Gottingen, 1854); C. Mullenhoff
in Ersch and Gruber's _Allgemeine Encyclopadie_; T. Mommsen, _Hist. of
Rome_ (Eng. trans.), bk. v. ch. 7.
GETHSEMANE (Hebr. for "oil-press"), the place to which Jesus and His
disciples withdrew on the eve of the Crucifixion. It was evidently an
enclosed piece of ground, a plantation rather than a garden in our sense
of the word. It lay east of the Kidron and on the lower slope of the
mount of Olives, at the foot of which is the traditional site dating
from the 4th century and now possessed by the Franciscans. The Grotto of
the Agony, a few hundred yards farther north, is an ancient
cave-cistern, now a Latin sanctuary. (See further JERUSALEM.)
GETTYSBURG, a borough and the county-seat of Adams county, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A., about 35 m. S.W. of Harrisburg. Pop. (1900) 3495; (1910) 4030.
It is served by the Western Maryland and the Gettysburg & Harrisburg
railways. The site of the borough is a valley about 1-1/2 m. wide; the
neighbouring country abounds in attractive scenery. Katalysine Spring in
the vicinity was once a well-known summer resort; its waters contain
lithia in solution. Gettysburg has several small manufacturing
establishments and is the seat of Pennsylvania College (opened in 1832,
and the oldest Lutheran college in America), which had 312 students (68
in the preparatory department) in 1907-1908, and of a Lutheran
theological seminary, opened in 1826 on Seminary Ridge; but the borough
is best known as the scene of one of the most important battles of the
Civil War. Very soon after the battle a soldiers' national cemetery was
laid out here, in which the bodies of about 3600 Union soldiers have
been buried; and at the dedication of this cemetery, in November 1863,
President Lincoln delivered his celebrated "Gettysburg Address." In 1864
the Gettysburg Battle-Field Memorial Association was incorporated, and
the work of this association resulted in the conversion of the
battle-field into a National Park, an act for the purpose being passed
by Congress in 1895. Within the park the lines of battle have been
carefully marked, and about 600 monuments, 1000 markers, and 500 iron
tablets have been erected by states and regimental associations.
Hundreds of cannon have been mounted, and five observation towers have
been built. From 1816 to 1840 Gettysburg was the home of Thaddeus
Stevens. Gettysburg was settled about 1740, was laid out in 1787, was
made the county-seat in 1800, and was incorporated as a borough in 1806.
_Battle of Gettysburg._--The battle of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of July 1863
is often regarded as the turning-point of the American Civil War (q.v.)
although it arose from a chance encounter. Lee, the commander of the
Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, had merely ordered his scattered
forces to concentrate there, while Meade, the Federal commander, held
the town with a cavalry division, supported by two weak army corps, to
screen the concentration of his Army of the Potomac in a selected
position on Pipe Creek to the south-eastward. On the 1st of July the
leading troops of General A. P. Hill's Confederate corps approached
Gettysburg from the west to meet Ewell's corps, which was to the N. of
the town, whilst Longstreet's corps followed Hill. Lee's intention was
to close up Hill, Longstreet and Ewell before fighting a battle. But
Hill's leading brigades met a strenuous resistance from the Federal
cavalry division of General John Buford, which was promptly supported by
the infantry of the I. corps under General J. F. Reynolds. The Federals
so far held their own that Hill had to deploy two-thirds of his corps
for action, and the western approaches of Gettysburg were still held
when Ewell appeared to the northward. Reynolds had already fallen, and
the command of the Federals, after being held for a time by Gen. Abner
Doubleday, was taken over by Gen. O. O. Howard, the commander of the XI.
corps, which took post to bar the way to Ewell on the north side. But
Ewell's attack, led by the fiery Jubal Early, swiftly drove back the XI.
corps to Gettysburg; the I. corps, with its flank thus laid open, fell
back also, and the remnants of both Federal corps retreated through
Gettysburg to the Cemetery Hill position. They had lost severely in the
struggle against superior numbers, and there had been some disorder in
the retreat. Still a formidable line of defence was taken up on Cemetery
Hill and both Ewell and Lee refrained from further attacks, for the
Confederates had also lost heavily during the day and their
concentration was not complete. In the meanwhile Meade had sent forward
General W. S. Hancock, the commander of the Federal II. corps, to
examine the state of affairs, and on Hancock's report he decided to
fight on the Cemetery Hill position. Two corps of his army were still
distant, but the XII. arrived before night, the III. was near, and
Hancock moved the II. corps on his own initiative. Headquarters and the
artillery reserve started for Gettysburg on the night of the 1st. On
the other side, the last divisions of Hill's and Ewell's corps formed up
opposite the new Federal position, and Longstreet's corps prepared to
attack its left.
[Illustration: Gettysburg.]
Owing, however, to misunderstandings between Lee and Longstreet (q.v.),
the Confederates did not attack early on the morning of the 2nd, so that
Meade's army had plenty of time to make its dispositions. The Federal
line at this time occupied the horse-shoe ridge, the right of which was
formed by Culp's Hill, and the centre by the Cemetery hill, whence the
left wing stretched southward, the III. corps on the left, however,
being thrown forward considerably. The XII. held Culp's, the remnant of
the I. and XI. the Cemetery hills. On the left was the II., and in its
advanced position--the famous "Salient"--the III., soon to be supported
by the V.; the VI., with the reserve artillery, formed the general
reserve. It was late in the day when the Confederate attack was made,
and valuable time had been lost, but Longstreet's troops advanced with
great spirit. The III. corps Salient was the scene of desperate
fighting; and the "Peach Orchard" and the "Devil's Den" became as famous
as the "Bloody Angle" of Spottsylvania or the "Hornets' Nest" of Shiloh.
While the Confederate attack was developing, the important positions of
Round Top and Little Round Top were unoccupied by the defenders--an
omission which was repaired only in the nick of time by the commanding
engineer of the army, General G. K. Warren, who hastily called up troops
of the V. corps. The attack of a Confederate division was, after a hard
struggle, repulsed, and the Federals retained possession of the Round
Tops. The III. corps in the meantime, furiously attacked by troops of
Hill's and Longstreet's corps, was steadily pressed back, and the
Confederates actually penetrated the main line of the defenders, though
for want of support the brigades which achieved this were quickly driven
out. Ewell, on the Confederate left, waited for the sound of
Longstreet's guns, and thus no attack was made by him until late in the
day. Here Culp's Hill was carried with ease by one of Ewell's divisions,
most of the Federal XII. corps having been withdrawn to aid in the fight
on the other wing; but Early's division was repulsed in its efforts to
storm Cemetery Hill, and the two divisions of the centre (one of Hill's,
one of Ewell's corps) remained inactive.
That no decisive success had been obtained by Lee was clear to all, but
Ewell's men on Culp's Hill, and Longstreet's corps below Round Top,
threatened to turn both flanks of the Federal position, which was no
longer a compact horseshoe but had been considerably prolonged to the
left; and many of the units in the Federal army had been severely
handled in the two days' fighting. Meade, however, after discussing the
eventuality of a retreat with his corps commanders, made up his mind to
hold his ground. Lee now decided to alter his tactics. The broken ground
near Round Top offered so many obstacles that he decided not to press
Longstreet's attack further. Ewell was to resume his attack on Meade's
extreme right, while the decisive blow was to be given in the centre
(between Cemetery Hill and Trostle's) by an assault delivered in the
Napoleonic manner by the fresh troops of Pickett's division
(Longstreet's corps). Meade, however, was not disposed to resign Culp's
Hill, and with it the command of the Federal line of retreat, to Ewell,
and at early dawn on the 3rd a division of the XII. corps, well
supported by artillery, opened the Federal counter-attack; the
Confederates made a strenuous resistance, but after four hours' hard
fighting the other division of the XII. corps, and a brigade of the VI.,
intervened with decisive effect, and the Confederates were driven off
the hill. The defeat of Ewell did not, however, cause Lee to alter his
plans. Pickett's division was to lead in the great assault, supported by
part of Hill's corps (the latter, however, had already been engaged).
Colonel E. P. Alexander, Longstreet's chief of artillery, formed up one
long line of seventy-five guns, and sixty-five guns of Hill's corps came
into action on his left. To the converging fire of these 140 guns the
Federals, cramped for space, could only oppose seventy-seven. The
attacking troops formed up before 9 A.M., yet it was long before
Longstreet could bring himself to order the advance, upon which so much
depended, and it was not till about 1 P.M. that the guns at last opened
fire to prepare the grand attack. The Federal artillery promptly
replied, but after thirty minutes' cannonade its commander, Gen. H. J.
Hunt, ordered his batteries to cease fire in order to reserve their
ammunition to meet the infantry attack. Ten minutes later Pickett asked
and received permission to advance, and the infantry moved forward to
cross the 1800 yds. which separated them from the Federal line. Their
own artillery was short of ammunition, the projectiles of that day were
not sufficiently effective to cover the advance at long ranges, and thus
the Confederates, as they came closer to the enemy, met a tremendous
fire of unshaken infantry and artillery.
The charge of Pickett's division is one of the most famous episodes of
military history. In the teeth of an appalling fire from the rifles of
the defending infantry, who were well sheltered, and from the guns which
Hunt had reserved for the crisis, the Virginian regiments pressed on,
and with a final effort broke Meade's first line. But the strain was too
great for the supporting brigades, and Pickett was left without
assistance. Hancock made a fierce counterstroke, and the remnant of the
Confederates retreated. Of Pickett's own division over three-quarters,
3393 officers and men out of 4500, were left on the field, two of his
three brigadiers were killed and the third wounded, and of fifteen
regimental commanders ten were killed and five wounded. One regiment
lost 90% of its numbers. The failure of this assault practically ended
the battle; but Lee's line was so formidable that Meade did not in his
turn send forward the Army of the Potomac. By the morning of the 5th of
July Lee's army was in full retreat for Virginia. He had lost about
30,000 men in killed, wounded and missing out of a total force of
perhaps 75,000. Meade's losses were over 23,000 out of about 82,000 on
the field. The main body of the cavalry on both sides was absent from
the field, but a determined cavalry action was fought on the 3rd of July
between the Confederate cavalry under J. E. B. Stuart and that of the
Federals under D. McM. Gregg some miles E. of the battlefield, and other
Federal cavalry made a dashing charge in the broken ground south-west of
Round Top on the third day, inflicting thereby, though at great loss to
themselves, a temporary check on the right wing of Longstreet's
infantry.
GEULINCX, ARNOLD (1624-1669), Belgian philosopher, was born at Antwerp
on the 31st of January 1624. He studied philosophy and medicine at the
university of Louvain, where he remained as a lecturer for several
years. Having given offence by his unorthodox views, he left Louvain,
and took refuge in Leiden, where he appears to have been in the utmost
distress. He entered the Protestant Church, and in 1663, through the
influence of his friend Abraham Heidanus, who had assisted him in his
greatest need, he obtained a poorly paid lectureship at the university.
He died at Leiden in November 1669. His most important works were
published posthumously. The _Metaphysica vera_ (1691), and the [Greek:
Gnothi seauton], _sive Ethica_ (under the pseudonym "Philaretus," 1675),
are the works by which he is chiefly known. Mention may also be made of
_Physica vera_ (1688), _Logica restituta_ (1662) and _Annotata in
Principia philosophiae R. Cartesii_ (1691).
Geulincx principally deals with the question, left in an obscure and
unsatisfactory state by Descartes, of the relation between soul and
body. Whereas Descartes made the union between them a violent
collocation, Geulincx practically called it a miracle. Extension and
thought, the essences of corporeal and spiritual natures, are absolutely
distinct, and cannot act upon one another. External facts are not the
causes of mental states, nor are mental states the causes of physical
facts. So far as the physical universe is concerned, we are merely
spectators; the only action that remains for us is contemplation. The
influence we seem to exercise over bodies by will is only apparent;
volition and action only accompany one another. Since true activity
consists in knowing what one does and how one does it, I cannot be the
author of any state of which I am unconscious; I am not conscious of the
mechanism by which bodily motion is produced, hence I am not the author
of bodily motion ("Quod nescis quomodo fiat, id non facis"). Body and
mind are like two clocks which act together, because both have been set
together by God. A physical occurrence is but the occasion (opportunity,
occasional cause) on which God excites in me a corresponding mental
state; the exercise of my will is the occasion on which God moves my
body. Every operation in which mind and matter are both concerned is an
effect of neither, but the direct act of God. Geulincx was thus the
first definitely to systematize the theory called Occasionalism, which
had already been propounded by Gerauld de Cordemoy (d. 1684), a Parisian
lawyer, and Louis de la Forge, a physician of Saumur. But the principles
on which the theory was founded compelled a further advance. God, who is
the cause of the concomitance of bodily and mental facts, is in truth
the sole cause in the universe. No fact contains in itself the ground of
any other; the existence of the facts is due to God, their sequence and
coexistence are also due to him. He is the ground of all that is. My
desires, volitions and thoughts are thus the desires, volitions and
thoughts of God. Apart from God, the finite being has no reality, and we
only have the idea of it from God. Descartes had left untouched, or
nearly so, the difficult problem of the relation between the universal
element or thought and the particular desires or inclinations. All these
are regarded by Geulincx as modes of the divine thought and action, and
accordingly the end of human endeavour is the end of the divine will or
the realization of reason. The love of right reason is the supreme
virtue, whence flow the cardinal virtues, diligence, obedience, justice
and humility. Since it is impossible for us to make any alteration in
the world of matter, all we can do is to submit. Chief of the cardinal
virtues is humility, a confession of our own helplessness and submission
to God. Geulincx's idea of life is "a resigned optimism."
Geulincx carried out to their extreme consequences the irreconcilable
elements in the Cartesian metaphysics, and his works have the peculiar
value attaching to the vigorous development of a one-sided principle.
The abrupt contradictions to which such development leads of necessity
compels revision of the principle itself. He was thus important as the
precursor of Malebranche and Spinoza.
Edition of his philosophical works by J. P. N. Land (1891-1893, for
which a recently discovered MS. was consulted); see also the same
editor's _Arnold Geulincx und seine Philosophie_ (1895), and article
(translated) in _Mind_, xvi. 223 seq.; V. van der Haeghen, _Geulincx.
Etude sur sa vie, sa philosophie, et ses ouvrages_ (Ghent, 1886); E.
Grimm, _A. Geulincx' Erkenntnisstheorie und Occasionalismus_ (1875);
E. Pfleiderer, _A. G. als Hauptvertreter der okkasionalistischen
Metaphysik und Ethik_ (1882); G. Samtleben, _Geulincx, ein Vorganger
Spinozas_ (1885); also Falckenberg, _Hist. of Mod. Philos._ (Eng.
trans., 1895), ch. iii.; G. Monchamp, _Hist. du Cartesianisme en
Belgique_ (Brussels, 1886); H. Hoffding, _Hist. of Mod. Philos._ (Eng.
trans., 1900), i. 245.
GEUM, in botany, a genus of hardy perennial herbs (natural order
Rosaceae) containing about thirty species, widely distributed in
temperate and arctic regions. The erect flowering shoots spring from a
cluster of radical leaves, which are deeply cut or lobed, the largest
division being at the top of the leaf. The flowers are borne singly on
long stalks at the end of the stem or its branches. They are white,
yellow or red in colour, and shallowly cup-shaped. The fruit consists of
a number of dry achenes, each of which bears a hook formed from the
persistent lower portion of the style, and admirably adapted for
ensuring distribution. Two species occur in Britain under the popular
name "avens." _G. urbanum_ is a very common hedge-bank plant with small
yellow flowers; _G. rivale_ (water avens) is a rarer plant found by
streams, and has larger yellow flowers an inch or more across. The
species are easy to cultivate and well adapted for borders or the
rock-garden. They are propagated by seeds or by division. The most
popular garden species are _G. chiloense_ and its varieties, _G.
coccineum_ and _G. montanum_.
GEVELSBERG, a town of Germany, in the Prussian Rhine Province, 6 m. S.W.
from Hagen, on the railway to Dusseldorf. It has two churches, schools
and a hospital, and considerable manufactures of cutlery. Pop. (1905)
15,838.
GEX, a town of eastern France, chief town of an arrondissement in the
department of Ain, 10 m. N.W. of Geneva and 3 m. from the Swiss
frontier. Pop. (1906) town, 1385; commune, 2727. The town is beautifully
situated 2000 ft. above sea-level at the base of the most easterly and
highest chain of the Jura. It is the seat of a subprefect and has a
tribunal of first instance, and carries on considerable trade in wine,
cheese and other provisions, chiefly with Geneva. It gives its name to
the old Pays de Gex, situated between the Alps and the Jura, which was
at various times under the protection of the Swiss, the Genevese and the
counts of Savoy, until in 1601 it came into the possession of France,
retaining, however, until the Revolution its old independent
jurisdiction, with Gex as its chief town. The Pays de Gex is isolated by
the Jura from the rest of French territory, and comes within the
circumscription of the Swiss customs, certain restrictions being imposed
on its products by the French customs.
GEYSER, GEISER, or GEISIR, a natural spring or fountain which discharges
into the air, at more or less regular intervals of time, a column of
heated water and steam; it may consequently be regarded as an
intermittent hot spring. The word is the Icelandic _geysir_, gusher or
rager, from the verb _geysa_, a derivative of _gjosa_, to gush. In
native usage it is the proper name of the Great Geyser, and not an
appellative--the general term _hver_, a hot spring, making the nearest
approach to the European sense of the word (see Cleasby and Vigfusson,
_Icelandic English Dictionary_, s.v.).
Any hot spring capable of depositing siliceous material by the
evaporation of its water may in course of time transform itself into a
geyser, a tube being gradually built up as the level of the basin is
raised, much in the same manner as a volcanic cone is produced. Every
geyser continuing to deposit siliceous material is preparing its own
destruction; for as soon as the tube becomes deep enough to contain a
column of water sufficiently heavy to prevent the lower strata attaining
their boiling points, the whole mechanism is deranged. The deposition of
the sinter is due in part to the cooling and evaporation of the
siliceous waters, and in part to the presence of living algae. In geyser
districts it is easy to find thermal springs busy with the construction
of the tube; warm pools, or _laugs_, as the Icelanders call them, on the
top of siliceous mounds, with the mouth of the shaft still open in the
middle; and dry basins from which the water has receded with their
shafts now choked with rubbish.
Geysers exist at the present time in many volcanic regions, as in the
Malay Archipelago, Japan and South America; but the three localities
where they attain their highest development are Iceland, New Zealand and
the Yellowstone Park, U.S.A. The very name by which we call them
indicates the historical priority of the Iceland group.
The Iceland geysers, mentioned by Saxo Grammaticus, are situated about
30 m. N.W. of Hecla, in a broad valley at the foot of a range of hills
from 300 to 400 ft. in height. Within a circuit of about 2 m., upwards
of one hundred hot springs may be counted, varying greatly both in
character and dimensions. The Great Geyser in its calm periods appears
as a circular pool about 60 ft. in diameter and 4 ft. in depth,
occupying a basin on the summit of a mound of siliceous concretion; and
in the centre of the basin is a shaft, about 10 ft. in diameter and 70
ft. in depth, lined with the same siliceous material. The clear
sea-green water flows over the eastern rim of the basin in little
runnels. On the surface it has a temperature of from 76 deg. to 89 deg.
C., or from 168 deg. to 188 deg. F. Within the shaft there is of course
a continual shifting both of the average temperature of the column and
of the relative temperatures of the several strata. The results of the
observations of Bunsen and A. L. O. Descloizeaux in 1847 were as follows
(cf. _Pogg. Ann._, vol. 72 and _Comptes rendus_, vol. 19): About three
hours after a great eruption on July 6, the temperature 6 metres from
the bottom of the shaft was 121.6 deg. C; at 9.50 metres, 121.1 deg.; at
16.50 metres, 109 deg. (?); and at 19.70 metres, 95 deg. (?). About nine
hours after a great eruption on July 6, at about 0.3 metres from the
bottom, it was 123 deg.; at 4.8 metres it was 122.7 deg.; at 9.6 metres,
113 deg.; at 14.4 metres, 85.8 deg.; at 19.2 metres, 82.6 deg. On the
7th, there having been no eruption since the previous forenoon, the
temperature at the bottom was 127.5 deg.; at 5 metres from the bottom,
123 deg.; at 9 metres, 120.4 deg.; at 14.75 metres, 106.4 deg.; and at
19 metres, 55 deg. About three hours after a small eruption, which took
place at forty minutes past three o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th,
the temperature at the bottom was 126.5 deg.; at 6.85 metres up it was
121.8 deg.; at 14.75 metres, 110 deg.; and at 19 metres, 55 deg. Thus,
continues Bunsen, it is evident that the temperature of the column
diminishes from the bottom upwards; that, leaving out of view small
irregularities, the temperature in all parts of the column is found to
be steadily on the increase in proportion to the time that has elapsed
since the previous eruption; that even a few minutes before the great
eruption the temperature at no point of the water column reached the
boiling point corresponding to the atmospheric pressure at that part;
and finally, that the temperature about half-way up the shaft made the
nearest approach to the appropriate boiling point, and that this
approach was closer in proportion as an eruption was at hand. The Great
Geyser has varied very much in the nature and frequency of its eruptions
since it began to be observed. In 1809 and 1810, according to Sir W. J.
Hooker and Sir George S. Mackenzie, its columns were 100 or 90 ft. high,
and rose at intervals of 30 hours, while, according to Henderson, in
1815 the intervals were of 6 hours and the altitude from 80 to 150 ft.
About 100 paces from the Great Geyser is the _Strokkr_ or churn, which
was first described by Stanlay in 1789. The shaft in this case is about
44 ft. deep, and, instead of being cylindrical, is funnel-shaped, having
a width of about 8 ft. at the mouth, but contracting to about 10 in.
near the centre. By casting stones or turf into the shaft so as to
stopper the narrow neck, eruptions can be accelerated, and they often
exceed in magnitude those of the Great Geyser itself. During quiescence
the column of water fills only the lower part of the shaft, its surface
usually lying from 9 to 12 ft. below the level of the soil. Unlike that
of the Great Geyser, it is always in ebullition, and its temperature is
subject to comparatively slight differences. On the 8th of July 1847
Bunsen found the temperature at the bottom 112.9 deg. C; at 3 metres
from the bottom, 111.4 deg.; and at 6 metres, 108 deg.; the whole depth
of water was on that occasion 10.15 metres. On the 6th, at 2.90 metres
from the bottom it was 114.2 deg.; and at 6.20 metres, 109.3 deg. On
the 10th, at 0.35 metres from the bottom, the reading gave 113.9 deg.;
at 4.65 metres, 113.7 deg.; and at 8.85 metres, 99.9 deg.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The great geyser-district of New Zealand is situated in the south of the
province of Auckland in or near the upper basin of the Waikato river, to
the N.E. of Lake Taupo. The scene presented in various parts of the
districts is far more striking and beautiful than anything of the same
kind to be found in Iceland, but this is due not so much to the grandeur
of the geysers proper as to the bewildering profusion of boiling
springs, steam-jets and mud-volcanoes, and to the fantastic effects
produced on the rocks by the siliceous deposits and by the action of the
boiling water. In about 1880 the geysers were no longer active, and this
condition prevailed until the Tarawera eruption of 1886, when seven
gigantic geysers came into existence; water, steam, mud and stones were
discharged to a height of 600 to 800 ft. for a period of about four
hours, when quieter conditions set in. Waikite near Lake Rotorua throws
the column to a height of 30 or 35 ft.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
In the Yellowstone National Park, in the north-west corner of Wyoming,
the various phenomena of the geysers can be observed on the most
portentous scale. The geysers proper are about one hundred in number;
the non-eruptive hot springs are much more numerous, there being more
than 3000. The dimensions and activity of several of the geysers render
those of Iceland and New Zealand almost insignificant in comparison. The
principal groups are situated along the course of that tributary of the
Upper Madison which bears the name of Fire Hole River. Many of the
individual geysers have very distinctive characteristics in the form and
colour of the mound, in the style of the eruption and in the shape of
the column. The "Giantess" lifts the main column to a height of only 50
or 60 ft., but shoots a thin spire to no less than 250 ft. The "Castle"
varies in height from 10 or 15 to 250 ft.; and on the occasions of
greatest effort the noise is appalling, and shakes the ground like an
earthquake. "Old Faithful" owes its name to the regularity of its
action. Its eruptions, which raise the water to a height of 100 or 150
ft., last for about five minutes, and recur every hour or thereabouts.
The "Beehive" sometimes attains a height of 219 it.; and the water,
instead of falling back into the basin, is dissipated in spray and
vapour. Very various accounts are given of the "Giant." F. V. Hayden saw
it playing for an hour and twenty minutes, and reaching a height of 140
ft., and Doane says it continued in action for three hours and a half,
and had a maximum of 200 ft.; but at the earl of Dunraven's visit the
eruption lasted only a few minutes.
_Theory of Geysers._--No satisfactory explanation of the phenomena of
geysers was advanced till near the middle of the 19th century, when
Bunsen elucidated their nature. Sir George Mackenzie, in his _Travels
in Iceland_ (2nd ed., 1812), submitted a theory which partially
explained the phenomena met with. "Let us suppose a cavity C (fig. 1),
communicating with the pipe PQ, filled with boiling water to the
height AB, and that the steam above this line is confined so that it
sustains the water to the height P. If we suppose a sudden addition of
heat to be applied under the cavity C, a quantity of steam will be
produced which, owing to the great pressure, will be evolved in
starts, causing the noises like discharges of artillery and the
shaking of the ground." He admitted that this could be only a partial
explanation of the facts of the case, and that he was unable to
account for the frequent and periodical production of the necessary
heat; but he has the credit of hitting on what is certainly the
proximate cause--the sudden evolution of steam. By Bunsen's theory the
whole difficulty is solved, as is beautifully demonstrated by the
artificial geyser designed by J. H. J. Muller of Freiburg (fig. 2). If
the tube ab be filled with water and heated at two points, first at a
and then at b, the following succession of changes is produced. The
water at a beginning to boil, the superincumbent column is
consequently raised, and the stratum of water which was on the point
of boiling at b being raised to d is there subjected to a diminished
pressure; a sudden evolution of steam accordingly takes place at d,
and the superincumbent water is violently ejected. Received in the
basin c, the air-cooled water sinks back into the tube, and the
temperature of the whole column is consequently lowered; but the under
strata of water are naturally those which are least affected by the
cooling process; the boiling begins again at a, and the same
succession of events is the result (see R. Bunsen, "Physikalische
Beobachtungen uber die hauptsachlichsten Geisire Islands," _Pogg.
Ann._, 1847, vol. 72; and Muller, "Uber Bunsen's Geysertheorie,"
ibid., 1850, vol. 79).
[Illustration]
The principal difference between the artificial and the natural
geyser-tube is that in the latter the effect is not necessarily
produced by two distinct sources of heat like the two fires of the
experimental apparatus, but by the continual influx of heat from the
bottom of the shaft, and the differences between the boiling-points of
the different parts of the column owing to the different pressures of
the superincumbent mass. This may be thus illustrated: AB is the
column of water; on the right side the figures represent approximately
the boiling-points (Fahr.) calculated according to the ordinary laws,
and the figures on the left the actual temperature of the same places.
Both gradually increase as we descend, but the relation between the
two is very different at different heights. At the top the water is
still 39 deg. from its boiling-point, and even at the bottom it is 19
deg.; but at D the deficiency is only 4 deg. If, then, the stratum at
D be suddenly lifted as high as C, it will be 2 deg. above the
boiling-point there, and will consequently expend those 2 deg. in the
formation of steam.
GEZER (the Kazir of Tethmosis [Thothmes] III.'s list of Palestinian
cities and the Gazri of the Amarna tablets), a royal Canaanite city on
the boundary of Ephraim, in the maritime plain (Josh. xvi. 3-10), and
near the Philistine border (2 Sam. v. 25). It was allotted to the
Levites, but its original inhabitants were not driven out until the time
of Solomon, when "Pharaoh, king of Egypt" took the city and gave it as a
dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife (1 Kings ix. 16). Under the form
Gazera it is mentioned (1 Macc. iv. 15) as being in the neighbourhood of
Emmaus-Nicopolis ('Amwas) and Jamnia (Yebnah). Throughout the history of
the Maccabean wars Gezer or Gazara plays the part of an important
frontier post. It was first taken from the Syrians by Simon the Asmonean
(1 Macc. xiv. 7). Josephus also mentions that the city was "naturally
strong" (_Antiq._ viii. 6. 1). The position of Gezer is defined by
Jerome (_Onomasticon_, s.v.) as four Roman miles north (_contra
septentrionem_) of Nicopolis ('Amwas). This points to the mound of
debris called _Tell-el-Jezari_ near the village of Abu Shusheh. The site
is naturally very strong, the town standing on an isolated hill,
commanding the western road to Jerusalem just where it begins to enter
the mountains of Judea. This identification has been confirmed by the
discovery of a series of boundary inscriptions, apparently marking the
limit of the city's lands, which have been found cut in rock--outcrops
partly surrounding the site. They read in every case in [Hebrew: nur]
[Hebrew: taham][1], "the boundary of Gezer," with the name _Alkios_ in
Greek, probably that of the governor under whom the inscriptions were
cut. The site has been partially excavated by the Palestine Exploration
Fund, and an enormous mass of material for the history of Palestine
recovered from it, including remains of a pre-Semitic aboriginal race, a
remarkably perfect High Place, the castle built by Simon, and other
remains of the first importance.
See R. A. S. Macalister's reports in _Palestine Exploration Fund
Quarterly Statement_ (October 1902 onwards). Also _Bible Sidelights
from the Mound of Gezer_, by the same writer. (R. A. S. M.)