Ginger
in botany, Zingiber officinale, common or narrow-leaved ginger. It is a native of India, but is cultivated in most tropical countries. There is a broadleaved ginger, Z. zerumbet, also a native of India. It is used externally for cataplasms and fomentations, but is not eaten. In ordinary language, the dry, wrinkled rhizomes of the ginger-plant. The pieces, or as they are called races, are usually from 2 to 4 inches long, branched, flat, and of a pale buff color. The chief varieties imported into the United States are Jamaica , Cochin, Bengal, Japan, and African. The first three are scraped gingers, and of these Jamaica is the most esteemed owing to its color and flavor. Ginger is an agreeable aromatic and a valuable stomachic; but is more largely used as a condiment than as a medicine. Preserved ginger, so largely imported from China in jars, consists of the young rhizomes boiled in syrup.
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Gingko
the Japanese name of a coniferous tree of the yew alliance, with very characteristic leaves, in form and variation recalling the leaflets of the maiden-hair ferns. The yellow, drupelike seeds reach the size of a walnut, and are largely eaten throughout China and Japan. The Japanese esteemed the tree as sacred, and planted it round their temples. Chinese sometimes plant several male The tree is diœcious, but the and female trees close together, so that male and female flowers appear to arise on the same tree. GINSENG (Chinese Gensen "that which resembles a man"), a root used in China as a medicine. It is the root of a species of Panax (order Araliacea). P. Ginseng of Chinese Tartary is similar to P. quinquefolium of North America, which is exported to China. The ginseng of Korea is most valued, and is carefully cultivated in that country. The root is mucilaginous, sweetish, also slightly bitter and aromatic.
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Ginseng
jin'seng, a low herb allied to spikenard and wild sarsaparilla. Ginseng has an unbranched, upright stem a foot high, bearing a whorl of three long-stalked, five-fingered leaves and an umbel of greenish flowers. A cluster of spindle-shaped roots, four to nine inches long, are the ginseng of commerce. The demand for ginseng, especially from China, has led to high prices. Indians and white people have searched our rich woodlands so assiduously that the wild plant is now almost extinct. American ginseng was discovered near Montreal in 1716. The Indians were encouraged to bring in roots, and a trade with China began at once. Prices have risen steadily from 52 cents a pound in 1858 to $5.55 in 1902 and even $8 in 1906. Ginseng raising has of late become quite an industry. Under the influence of increased production the price is falling. In 1908 we exported 154,000 pounds of ginseng valued at $1,112,000. The Chinese supply is drawn in part from Korea and Manchuria. English-speaking physicians make little of ginseng, but with the Chinese it is a cure-all for body and mind. Roots of a certain shape are credited with healing power little short of the miraculous. See Medicine
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Ginx's Baby. See JENKINS
JOHN EDWARD.
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Gioberti
VINCENZO (jō-ber'te), an Italian writer; born in Turin, April ordained ned priest in 1825, and 5, 1801; was soon afterward was appointed court chaplain at Turin. He was banished in 1833 on account of his liberal tendencies, remaining a few years in France, and taught philosophy in a public school at Brussels. His first writings were philosophical, "The Theory of the Supernatural" (1837); the "Introduction of High In Philosophical Research" (1840). 1842, "Philosophical Errors of Antonio Rosmini"; and next the treatises, "The Beautiful" and "The Good," on the principles, respectively, of taste and morals. In 1843 appeared the most celebrated of his works, "Moral and Civil Principles of the Italians." In 1848 Gioberti was recalled to his native country amid popular acclamation, and later, on being elected deputy for Turin, tool took an active part in all the great political questions, and finally became prime minister of Sardina. In 1849 he returned into voluntary exile, and spent his last years in Paris in writing his "The Civil Renovation of Italy." He died in Paris, Oct. 26, 1852.
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Giolitti
GIOVANNI, an Italian statesman. He was born at Mondovi, province of Cuneo, in 1843; and was educated at Turin. He held a post in the Ministry of Finance for eight years, after which he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies. In 1889 he became Minister of the Treasury, and in 1890 Minister of Finance, becoming in 1892 President of the Ministry, being compelled to resign in the following year as a result of his relations with a director of the Banca Romana, whom he had made senator, and who had been guilty of issuing duplicate notes and corrupting government officials. In 1901 he was back in power again, becoming Minister of the Interior, in 1903 resigning and forming a ministry of his own. Resigning in 1905, he returned as head of the ministry in 1906, continuing till 1909, when he was followed by Sonnino, whom he succeeded in 1911. He resigned again in 1914, and when the World War broke out was against the participation in it of Italy. As a result, though regarded as almost Italy's most capable statesman, he did not figure prominently in the affairs arising out of it. His conduct of affairs was always characterized by retrenchment in expenditure. He brought in much legislation tending toward the amelioration of the condition of the working classes, and a large part of his influence has come from the support he found among them.
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Giordano
LUCA (jōr-dä-nō), an Italian painter; born in Naples about 1632; a scholar of Spagnoletto, studied the great Italian masters at Rome, and became the pupil of Peter of Cortona. He imitated the greatest masters so well that even connoisseurs were imposed upon. In 1679 he was employed by Charles II. to ornament the Escurial, and at the court of Spain he became a great favorite. After the death of Charles II. he returned to his native country. His most celebrated pieces are his frescoes, in the Escurial, at Madrid, Florence, and Rome. Some of his finest paintings are at Dresden. He died in Naples, Jan. 12, 1705.
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