Part 8

GRUYERE (Ger. _Greyerz_), a district in the south-eastern portion of the Swiss canton of Fribourg, famed for its cattle and its cheese, and the original home of the "Ranz des Vaches," the melody by which the herdsmen call their cows home at milking time. It is composed of the middle reach (from Montbovon to beyond Bulle) of the Sarine or Saane valley, with its tributary glens of the Hongrin (left), the Jogne (right) and the Treme (left), and is a delightful pastoral region (in 1901 it contained 17,364 cattle). It forms an administrative district of the canton of Fribourg, its population in 1900 being 23,111, mainly French-speaking and Romanists. From Montbovon (11 m. by rail from Bulle) there are mountain railways leading S.W. past Les Avants to Montreux (14 m.), and E. up the Sarine valley past Chateau d'Oex to Saanen or Gessenay (14 m.), and by a tunnel below a low pass to the Simme valley and Spiez on the Lake of Thun. The modern capital of the district is the small town of Bulle [Ger. _Boll_], with a 13th-century castle and in 1900 3330 inhabitants, French-speaking and Romanists. But the historical capital is the very picturesque little town of _Gruyeres_ (which keeps its final "s" in order to distinguish it from the district), perched on a steep hill (S.E. of Bulle) above the left bank of the Sarine, and at a height of 2713 ft. above the sea-level. It is only accessible by a rough carriage road, and boasts of a very fine old castle, at the foot of which is the solitary street of the town, which in 1900 had 1389 inhabitants.

The castle was the seat of the counts of the Gruyere, who are first mentioned in 1073. The name is said to come from the word _gruyer_, meaning the officer of woods and forests, but the counts bore the canting arms of a crane (_grue_), which are seen all over the castle and the town. That valiant family ended (in the legitimate line) with Count Michel (d. 1575) whose extravagance and consequent indebtedness compelled him in 1555 to sell his domains to Bern and Fribourg. Bern took the upper Sarine valley (it still keeps Saanen at its head, but in 1798 lost the Pays d'En-Haut to the canton du Leman, which in 1803 became the canton of Vaud). Fribourg took the rest of the county, which it added to Bulle and Albeuve (taken in 1537 from the bishop of Lausanne), and to the lordship of Jaun in the Jaun or Jogne valley (bought in 1502-1504 from its lords), in order to form the present administrative district of Gruyere, which is not co-extensive with the historical county of that name.

See the materials collected by J. J. Hisely and published in successive vols. of the _Memoires et documents de la suisse romande ... introa. a l'hist._ (1851); Histoire (2 vols., 1855-1857); and Monuments de l'histoire (2 vols., 1867-1869); K. V. von Bonstetten, _Briefe uber ein schweiz. Hirtenland_ (1781) (Eng. trans., 1784); J. Reichlen, _La Gruyere illustree_ (1890), seq.; H. Raemy, _La Gruyere_ (1867); and _Les Alpes fribourgeoises_, by many authors (Lausanne, 1908). (W. A. B. C.)

GRYNAEUS (or GRYNER), JOHANN JAKOB (1540-1617), Swiss Protestant divine, was born on the 1st of October 1540 at Bern. His father, Thomas (1512-1564), was for a time professor of ancient languages at Basel and Bern, but afterwards became pastor of Roteln in Baden. He was nephew of the more eminent Simon Grynaeus (q.v.). Johann was educated at Basel, and in 1559 received an appointment as curate to his father. In 1563 he proceeded to Tubingen for the purpose of completing his theological studies, and in 1565 he returned to Roteln as successor to his father. Here he felt compelled to abjure the Lutheran doctrine of the Lord's Supper, and to renounce the _formula concordiae_. Called in 1575 to the chair of Old Testament exegesis at Basel, he became involved in unpleasant controversy with Simon Sulzer and other champions of Lutheran orthodoxy; and in 1584 he was glad to accept an invitation to assist in the restoration of the university of Heidelberg. Returning to Basel in 1586, after Simon Sulzer's death, as _antistes_ or superintendent of the church there and as professor of the New Testament, he exerted for upwards of twenty-five years a considerable influence upon both the church and the state affairs of that community, and acquired a wide reputation as a skilful theologian of the school of Ulrich Zwingli. Amongst other labours he helped to reorganize the gymnasium in 1588. Five years before his death he became totally blind, but continued to preach and lecture till his death on the 13th of August 1617.

His many works include commentaries on various books of the Old and New Testament, _Theologica theoremata el problemata_ (1588), and a collection of patristic literature entitled _Monumenta S. patrum orthodoxographa_ (2 vols., fol., 1569).

GRYNAEUS, SIMON (1493-1541), German scholar and theologian of the Reformation, son of Jacob Gryner, a Swabian peasant, was born in 1493 at Vehringen, in Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen. He adopted the name Grynaeus from the epithet of Apollo in Virgil. He was a schoolfellow with Melanchthon at Pforzheim, whence he went to the university of Vienna, distinguishing himself there as a Latinist and Grecian. His appointment as rector of a school at Buda was of no long continuance; his views excited the zeal of the Dominicans and he was thrown into prison. Gaining his freedom at the instance of Hungarian magnates, he visited Melanchthon at Wittenberg, and in 1524 became professor of Greek at the university of Heidelberg, being in addition professor of Latin from 1526. His Zwinglian view of the Eucharist disturbed his relations with his Catholic colleagues. From 1526 he had corresponded with Oecolampadius, who in 1529 invited him to Basel, which Erasmus had just left. The university being disorganized, Grynaeus pursued his studies, and in 1531 visited England for research in libraries. A commendatory letter from Erasmus gained him the good offices of Sir Thomas More. He returned to Basel charged with the task of collecting the opinions of continental reformers on the subject of Henry VIII.'s divorce, and was present at the death of Oecolampadius (Nov. 24, 1531). He now, while holding the chair of Greek, was appointed extraordinary professor of theology, and gave exegetical lectures on the New Testament. In 1534 Duke Ulrich called him to Wurttemberg in aid of the reformation there, as well as for the reconstitution of the university of Tubingen, which he carried out in concert with Ambrosius Blarer of Constanz. Two years later he had an active hand in the so-called First Helvetic Confession (the work of Swiss divines at Basel in January 1536); also in the conferences which urged the Swiss acceptance of the Wittenberg Concord (1536). At the Worms conference (1540) between Catholics and Protestants he was the sole representative of the Swiss churches, being deputed by the authorities of Basel. He was carried off suddenly in his prime by the plague at Basel on the 1st of August 1541. A brilliant scholar, a mediating theologian, and personally of lovable temperament, his influence was great and wisely exercised. Erasmus and Calvin were among his correspondents. His chief works were Latin versions of Plutarch, Aristotle and Chrysostom.

His son SAMUEL (1539-1599) was professor of jurisprudence at Basel. His nephew THOMAS (1512?-1564) was professor at Basel and minister in Baden, and left four distinguished sons of whom JOHANN JAKOB (1540-1617) was a leader in the religious affairs of Basel. The last of the direct descendants of Simon Grynaeus was his namesake SIMON (1725-1799), translator into German of French and English anti-deistical works, and author of a version of the Bible in modern German (1776).

See Bayle's _Dictionnaire_; W. T. Streuber in Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_ (1899); and for bibliography, Streuber's _S. Grynaei epistolae_ (1847). (A. Go.*)

GRYPHIUS, ANDREAS (1616-1664), German lyric poet and dramatist, was born on the 11th of October 1616, at Grossglogau in Silesia, where his father was a clergyman. The family name was Greif, latinized, according to the prevailing fashion, as Gryphius. Left early an orphan and driven from his native town by the troubles of the Thirty Years' War, he received his schooling in various places, but notably at Fraustadt, where he enjoyed an excellent classical education. In 1634 he became tutor to the sons of the eminent jurist Georg von Schonborn (1579-1637), a man of wide culture and considerable wealth, who, after filling various administrative posts and writing many erudite volumes on law, had been rewarded by the emperor Ferdinand II. with the title and office of imperial count-palatine (_Pfalzgraf_). Schonborn, who recognized Gryphius's genius, crowned him _poeta laureatus_, gave him the diploma of master of philosophy, and bestowed on him a patent of nobility, though Gryphius never used the title. A month later, on the 23rd of December 1637, Schonborn died; and next year Gryphius went to continue his studies at Leiden, where he remained six years, both hearing and delivering lectures. Here he fell under the influence of the great Dutch dramatists, Pieter Cornelissen Hooft (1581-1647) and Joost van den Vondel (1587-1679), who largely determined the character of his later dramatic works. After travelling in France, Italy and South Germany, Gryphius settled in 1647 at Fraustadt, where he began his dramatic work, and in 1650 was appointed syndic of Glogau, a post he held until his death on the 16th of July 1664. A short time previously he had been admitted under the title of "The Immortal" into the _Fruchtbringende Gesellschaft_, a literary society, founded in 1617 by Ludwig, prince of Anhalt-Kothen on the model of the Italian academies.

Gryphius was a man of morbid disposition, and his melancholy temperament, fostered by the misfortunes of his childhood, is largely reflected in his lyrics, of which the most famous are the _Kirchhofsgedanken_ (1656). His best works are his comedies, one of which, _Absurda Comica, oder Herr Peter Squentz_ (1663), is evidently based on the comic episode of Pyramus and Thisbe in _The Midsummer Night's Dream_. _Die geliebte Dornrose_ (1660), which is written in a Silesian dialect, contains many touches of natural simplicity and grace, and ranks high among the comparatively small number of German dramas of the 17th century. _Horribilicribrifax_ (1663), founded on the _Miles gloriosus_ of Plautus, is a rather laboured attack on pedantry. Besides these three comedies, Gryphius wrote five tragedies. In all of them his tendency is to become wild and bombastic, but he had the merit of at least attempting to work out artistically conceived plans, and there are occasional flashes both of passion and of imagination. His models seem to have been Seneca and Vondel. He had the courage, in _Carolus Stuardus_ (1649) to deal with events of his own day; his other tragedies are _Leo Armenius_ (1646); _Katharina von Georgien_ (1657), _Cardenio und Celinde_ (1657) and _Papinianus_ (1663). No German dramatic writer before him had risen to so high a level, nor had he worthy successors until about the middle of the 18th century.

A complete edition of Gryphius's dramas and lyric poetry has been published by H. Palm in the series of the Stuttgart Literarische Verein (3 vols., 1878, 1882, 1884). Volumes of selected works will be found in W. Muller's _Bibliothek der deutschen Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts_ (1822) and in J. Tittmann's _Deutsche Dichter des 17ten Jahrhunderts_ (1870). There is also a good selection by H. Palm in Kurschner's _Deutsche Nationalliteratur_.

See O. Klopp, _Andreas Gryphius als Dramatiker_ (1851); J. Hermann, _Uber Andreas Gryphius_ (1851); T. Wissowa, _Beitrage zur Kenntnis von Andreas Gryphius' Leben und Schriften_ (1876); J. Wysocki, _Andreas Gryphius et la tragedie allemande au XVII^e siecle_; and V. Mannheimer, _Die Lyrik des Andreas Gryphius_ (1904).

GUACHARO (said to be an obsolete Spanish word signifying one that cries, moans or laments loudly), the Spanish-American name of what English writers call the oil-bird, the _Steatornis caripensis_ of ornithologists, a very remarkable bird, first described by Alexander von Humboldt (_Voy. aux reg. equinoxiales_ i. 413, Eng. trans. iii. 119; _Obs. Zoologie_ ii. 141, pl. xliv.) from his own observation and from examples obtained by Aime J. A. Bonpland, on the visit of those two travellers, in September 1799, to a cave near Caripe (at that time a monastery of Aragonese Capuchins) some forty miles S.E. of Cumana on the northern coast of South America. A few years later it was discovered, says Latham (_Gen. Hist. Birds_, 1823, vii. 365), to inhabit Trinidad, where it appears to bear the name of _Diablotin_;[1] but by the receipt of specimens procured at Sarayacu in Peru, Cajamarca in the Peruvian Andes, and Antioquia in Colombia (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1878, pp. 139, 140; 1879, p. 532), its range has been shown to be much greater than had been supposed. The singularity of its structure, its curious habits, and its peculiar economical value have naturally attracted no little attention from zoologists. First referring it to the genus _Caprimulgus_, its original describer soon saw that it was no true goatsucker. It was subsequently separated as forming a subfamily, and has at last been regarded as the type of a distinct family, _Steatornithidae_--a view which, though not put forth till 1870 (_Zool. Record_, vi. 67), seems now to be generally deemed correct. Its systematic position, however, can scarcely be considered settled, for though on the whole its predominating alliance may be with the _Caprimulgidae_, nearly as much affinity may be traced to the _Strigidae_, while it possesses some characters in which it differs from both (_Proc. Zool. Society_, 1873, pp. 526-535). About as big as a crow, its plumage exhibits the blended tints of chocolate-colour and grey, barred and pencilled with dark-brown or black, and spotted in places with white, that prevail in the two families just named. The beak is hard, strong and deeply notched, the nostrils are prominent, and the gape is furnished with twelve long hairs on each side. The legs and toes are comparatively feeble, but the wings are large. In habits the guacharo is wholly nocturnal, slumbering by day in deep and dark caverns which it frequents in vast numbers. Towards evening it arouses itself, and, with croaking and clattering which has been likened to that of castanets, it approaches the exit of its retreat, whence at nightfall it issues in search of its food, which, so far as is known, consists entirely of oily nuts or fruits, belonging especially to the genera _Achras_, _Aiphanas_, _Laurus_ and _Psichotria_, some of them sought, it would seem, at a very great distance, for Funck (_Bull. Acad. Sc. Bruxelles_ xi. pt. 2, pp. 371-377) states that in the stomach of one he obtained at Caripe he found the seed of a tree which he believed did not grow nearer than 80 leagues. The hard, indigestible seed swallowed by the guacharo are found in quantities on the floor and the ledges of the caverns it frequents, where many of them for a time vegetate, the plants thus growing being etiolated from want of light, and, according to travellers, forming a singular feature of the gloomy scene which these places present. The guacharo is said to build a bowl-like nest of clay, in which it lays from two to four white eggs, with a smooth but lustreless surface, resembling those of some owls. The young soon after they are hatched become a perfect mass of fat, and while yet in the nest are sought by the Indians, who at Caripe, and perhaps elsewhere, make a special business of taking them and extracting the oil they contain. This is done about midsummer, when by the aid of torches and long poles many thousands of the young birds are slaughtered, while their parents in alarm and rage hover over the destroyers' heads, uttering harsh and deafening cries. The grease is melted over fires kindled at the cavern's mouth, run into earthen pots, and preserved for use in cooking as well as for the lighting of lamps. It is said to be pure and limpid, free from any disagreeable taste or smell, and capable of being kept for a year without turning rancid. In Trinidad the young are esteemed s great delicacy for the table by many, though some persons object to their peculiar scent, which resembles that of a cockroach (_Blatta_), and consequently refuse to eat them. The old birds also, according to E. C. Taylor (_Ibis_, 1864, p. 90), have a strong crow-like odour. But one species of the genus _Steatornis_ is known.

In addition to the works above quoted valuable information about this curious bird may be found under the following references: L'Herminier, _Ann. Sc. Nat._ (1836), p. 60, and _Nouv. Ann. Mus._ (1838), p. 321; Hautessier, Rev. Zool. (1838), p. 164; J. Muller, _Monatsb. Berl. Acad._ (1841), p. 172, and _Archiv fur Anat._ (1862), pp. 1-11; des Murs, _Rev. zool._ (1843), p. 32, and _Ool. Orn._ pp. 260-263; Blanchard, _Ann. Mus._ (1859), xi. pl. 4, fig. 30; Konig-Warthausen, _Journ. fur Orn._ (1868), pp. 384-387; Goering, _Vargasia_ (1869), pp. 124-128; Murie, _Ibis_ (1873), pp. 81-86. (A. N.)

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Not to be confounded with the bird so called in the French Antilles, which is a petrel (_Oestrelata_).

GUACO, HUACO or GUAO, also Vejuco and Bejuco, terms applied to various Central and South American and West Indian plants, in repute for curative virtues. The Indians and negroes of Colombia believe the plants known to them as guaco to have been so named after a species of kite, thus designated in imitation of its cry, which they say attracts to it the snakes that serve it principally for food; they further hold the tradition that their antidotal qualities were discovered through the observation that the bird eats of their leaves, and even spreads the juice of the same on its wings, during contests with its prey. The disputes that have arisen as to what is "the true guaco" are to be attributed mainly to the fact that the names of the American Indians for all natural objects are generic, and their genera not always in coincidence with those of naturalists. Thus any twining plant with a heart-shaped leaf, white and green above and purple beneath, is called by them guaco (R. Spruce, in Howard's _Neueva Quinologia_, "Cinchona succirubra," p. 22, note). What is most commonly recognized in Colombia as guaco, or _Vejuco del guaco_, would appear to be _Mikania Guaco_ (Humboldt and Bonpland, _Pl. equinox_, ii. 84, pl. 105, 1809), a climbing Composite plant of the tribe _Eupatoriaceae_, affecting moist and shady situations, and having a much-branched and deep-growing root, variegated, serrate, opposite leaves and dull-white flowers, in axillary clusters. The whole plant emits a disagreeable odour. It is stated that the Indians of Central America, after having "guaconized" themselves, i.e. taken guaco, catch with impunity the most dangerous snakes, which writhe in their hands as though touched by a hot iron (B. Seemann, _Hooker's Journ. of Bot._ v. 76, 1853). The odour alone of guaco has been said to cause in snakes a state of stupor and torpidity; and Humboldt, who observed that the near approach of a rod steeped in guaco-juice was obnoxious to the venomous _Coluber corallinus_, was of opinion that inoculation with it imparts to the perspiration an odour which makes reptiles unwilling to bite. The drug is not used in modern therapeutics.

GUADALAJARA, an inland city of Mexico and capital of the state of Jalisco, 275 m. (direct) W.N.W. of the Federal capital, in lat. 20 deg. 41' 10" N., long. 103 deg. 21' 15" W. Pop. (1895) 83,934; (1900) 101,208. Guadalajara is served by a short branch of the Mexican Central railway from Irapuato. The city is in the Antemarac valley near the Rio Grande de Santiago, 5092 ft. above sea-level. Its climate is dry, mild and healthy, though subject to sudden changes. The city is well built, with straight and well-paved streets, numerous plazas, public gardens and shady promenades. Its public services include tramways and electric lighting, the Juanacatlan falls of the Rio Grande near the city furnishing the electric power. Guadalajara is an episcopal see, and its cathedral, built between 1571 and 1618, is one of the largest and most elaborately decorated churches in Mexico. The government palace, which like the cathedral faces upon the _plaza mayor_, is generally considered one of the finest specimens of Spanish architecture in Mexico. Other important edifices and institutions are the university, with its schools of law and medicine, the mint, built in 1811, the modern national college and high schools, a public library of over 28,000 volumes, an episcopal seminary, an academy of fine arts, the Teatro Degollado, and the large modern granite building of the penitentiary. There are many interesting churches and eleven conventual establishments in the city. Charitable institutions of a high character are also prominent, among which are the Hospicio, which includes an asylum for the aged, infirm, blind, deaf and dumb, foundlings and orphans, a primary school for both sexes, and a girls' training school, and the Hospital de San Miguel de Belen, which is a hospital, an insane asylum, and a school for little children. One of the most popular public resorts of the city is the _Paseo_, a beautiful drive and promenade extending along both banks of the Rio San Juan de Dios for 1-1/4 m. and terminating in the _alameda_, or public garden. The city has a good water-supply, derived from springs and brought in through an aqueduct 8 m. long. Guadalajara is surrounded by a fertile agricultural district and is an important commercial town, but the city is chiefly distinguished as the centre of the iron, steel and glass industries of Mexico. It is also widely known for the artistic pottery manufactured by the Indians of the city and of its suburb, San Pedro. Among other prominent industries are the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods, leather, furniture, hats and sweetmeats. Guadalajara was founded in 1531 by Nuno de Guzman, and became the seat of a bishop in 1549. The Calderon bridge near the city was the scene of a serious defeat of the revolutionists under Hidalgo in January 1811. The severe earthquake of the 31st of May 1818 partially destroyed the two cathedral steeples; and that of the 11th of March 1875 damaged many of the larger buildings. The population includes large Indian and mestizo elements.