446 



GILOLO OINjSENG. 



monument was erected by the sculptor Bacon, at the 

 expense of the late lord Whitbrcad. 



GILOLO; one of the Molucca islands, in the East 

 Indian ocean, about seventy leagues long, and 200 in 

 circuit, but little known. It is said that the air is 

 very hot aiul unwholesome, and that the country is 

 very fertile in rice and s:;go. The inhabitants are 

 represented to be well made, but savage and cruel, 

 living without laws or fixed habitations. It neither 

 bears cloves nor nutmegs. The equinoctial line runs 

 through the southern part of it. Lon. 128 E. 



GILRAY. See Caricature 



GIMBALS ; the brass rings by which a sea com- 

 pass is suspended in its box, so as to counteract the 

 effect of tlie ship's motion, and keep the card hori- 

 zontal. 



GIMLE. See Northern Mythology. 



GIN. English gin, or geneva, is made of spirit 

 obtained from oats, barley, or malt, rectified or re- 

 distilled, with the addition of juniper berries, oil of 

 turpentine, &c. See the article Spirits. 



GIN, COTTON. See Cotton. 



GINGER (umomum zingiber) is an East Indian 

 plant, belonging to the natural order canneee. The 

 root is of the size of a finger, knotty, creeping, and 

 produces three or four sterile stems, about two feet 

 high, which are provided with lanceolate leaves, 

 seven or eight inches in length, disposed alternately 

 on two opposite sides of the stem, and nearly horizon- 

 tal. The flowering stems are situated at some dis- 

 tance from these, and are covered with membranous 

 scales, of which the superior ones are largest, and 

 each envelopes a flower. It grows in moist places 

 in various parts of tropical Asia and the East Indies, 

 and has been cultivated to some extent in the West 

 Indies, particularly in Jamaica. The root has an 

 aromatic, pungent taste, and is much used by the in- 

 habitants as a condiment, and sometimes, when 

 green, and mixed with other herbs, as a salad. It is 

 also candied, and makes an excellent preserve. It is 

 used medicinally, as a carminative, and in debility of 

 the stomach and alimentary canal. Ginger was 

 known to the Romans during the time of the em- 

 perors, and is described in Pliny as being brought 

 from Arabia. 



GINGUENE, PETER Louis, born at Rennes, in 

 Brittany, in 1748, was descended from an ancient but 

 impoverished family. He early acquired the ancient 

 and living languages with great facility, and discov- 

 ered much taste for painting, poetry, and music. At 

 Paris, he was obliged to divide his time between la- 

 bours in one of the Bureaux du Controle General and 

 his studies. His punctuality and skill in the duties 

 of his office, and free and elegant penmanship, ac- 

 quired him the esteem of his employers ; and an 

 anonymous poem, Confession de Zulme, inserted in 

 the Almanack des Muses, gained him reputation. 

 He studied the foundations of the French language 

 in the old grammarians and poets, especially in Ra- 

 belais and Malherbe. Both writers were his favour- 

 ites, especially the last. In the contests between the 

 partisans of Gluck (q. v.) and Piccini (q. v.), he took 

 the side of Piccini and the Italian music, the more 

 zealously, as he was Piccini's particular friend. In 

 his notice, however, of The Life and Works of Ni- 

 cholas Piccini (Paris, 1800), notwithstanding all his 

 predilection for Piccini, he recognised Gluck as a 

 ,man of taste and science. A poem upon the death 

 of prince Leopold of Brunswick, and a eulogy upon 

 Louis XII., were rewarded with prizes by the aca- 

 demy, and met everywhere with a favourable recep- 

 tion. His letters upon the Confessions of Rousseau 

 (Lettres sur les Confessions de J. J. Rousseau, Paris, 

 179 J, translated into English, London, 1792) attract- 

 ed much attention. By the rigid impartiality with 



which he examined his life, he did more for his de- 

 fence, than would have been effected by the most 

 laboured panegyric. The revolution, in which ho 

 took an active part, as a friend of liberty, brought 

 him into a wider circle of literary and official labour. 

 Without neglecting his studies, to which belonged 

 his contributions to the Meniteur and the Mercurcde 

 France (1790 2), his labours upon the Dictionnuirr 

 de Musiyue, in company with Framery (Paris, 1791, 

 and 1815, 4to), as a part of the Encyclopedic Mttltod- 

 iy/ie, and his contributions to a Nouvelle Grannnaire 

 raisonnee, he associated himself with the more mode- 

 rate and judicious writers upon the affairs of Un- 

 tunes, by his share in the Feiiille J'illageoise (1791 

 and 2, in company with Grouvelle, and, in 1793 5, 

 alone), and also by commencing and editing, from 

 1794 to 1807, the Decade Philosophique Litteraire et 

 Politique, 54 vols. (called Revue after 1805.) The 

 Decade neither sounded the trumpet for Robespierre 

 in the commencement, nor for Bonaparte afterwards, 

 and was one of the few journals kept up through the 

 whole revolution without loss of reputation. He was 

 not less industrious in the duties of his office as direc- 

 tor-general of the public schools, and, after resign- 

 ing this office in February, 1798, as ambassador to 

 the court of Turin. On his return, lie became a mem- 

 ber of the tribunate. But as he esteemed it his duty 

 to oppose some of the regulations of the govern- 

 ment, he was one of the tribunes rejected by the sein 

 ate in 1802. He then commenced the valuable work, 

 to which he is chiefly indebted for his fame his His- 

 toire Litteraire d Italic, of which volumes, 1 6 were 

 published at Paris, 1811 13, and volumes 7 9 af- 

 ter his death, in 1819. Tiraboschi, in his inquiries, 

 had in view, rather the particulars than the general 

 subject; Ginguene, on the other hand, endeavoured 

 to illustrate the general course and history of Italian 

 literature, from the time of Constantine to the eigh- 

 teenth century. He draws from the sources, and 

 writes, generally, without prejudice. There is no- 

 thing splendid, either in the thoughts or style ; but 

 we are captivated by the unpretending, strong sense 

 which prevails in the whole work, by his striking 

 characters of individuals, and by his noble language, 

 notwithstanding a certain monotony. Besides his 

 labours as a member of the institute, the sessions of 

 which he regularly attended, he wrote many Fables, 

 chiefly after Italian models (Paris, 1810 14), trans- 

 lated Catullus' Marriage of Thetis and Peleus into 

 French verse (Paris, 1812), and contributed a good 

 deal to tiieBiographie Iwiverselle,and to the 13th and 

 14th volumes of the Histoire Litteraire de la France. 

 A fortunate independence, happy domestic relations, 

 and the respect of the best of his countrymen, shed 

 happiness upon the evening of his life. He died at 

 Paris, Nov. 16, 1816. Besides producing the writ 

 ings above mentioned, and some small pamphlets, he 

 edited the works of Chamfort (Paris, 1795, 4 vols.), 

 and of Lebrun (Paris, 1811, 4 vols.), and prepared 

 the text of numbers 14 25 of the Tableaux de la 

 Revolution Franqaise. The catalogue of his library 

 is important, on account of his great collection of 

 Italian books. This collection was purchased entire 

 for the British museum in London. 



GINSENG. The root of this plant has been cele- 

 brated for a long time among the Chinese, entering 

 into the composition of almost every medicine used 

 by the higher classes ; and, indeed, so highly is it 

 prized as to have received the appellations of " pure 

 spirit of the earth " and " plant that gives immortal- 

 ity. " Volumes have been written on its virtues, and 

 recourse is had to it in every difficulty. The plant, 

 which is the panax quinquefolium of botanists, is 

 herbaceous, about a foot high, upright, and very 

 simple, furnished above with three petiolate leaves 



