Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/832

 816 GINSENG GIOBERTI toire litteraire tfltalie (9 vols., 1811-'19). A small portion of the 7th volume and about half of the 8th and 9th were written by Fran- cesco Salfi, who added a 10th entirely his own, bringing it down to the close of the 16th cen- tury. This work was received with great favor all over Europe, and especially in Italy, where many editions and translations of it have been published. A second edition (14 vols., Paris, 1824-'35) was published under the supervision of Daunou. GINSENG^ the root of the perennial herb for- merly called panax quinquefolium, but now placed in the genus aralia. The Chinese gin- seng is probably derived from another species of the same genus. The root of the plant grow- ing in the United States is of interest or value chiefly as an article of exportation to China, where it is supposed to possess remarkable vir- tues in the treatment of nearly all diseases. The fleshy root, from 4 to 9 in. long, throws up a Ginseng (Aralia quinquefolia). simple stem about a foot high, which bears at the top three long-petioled leaves, each of which has five divisions, and a small umbel of inconspicuous, greenish white flowers, which are succeeded by small berry-like red fruits. Before the introduction of the American root, ginseng is said to have brought its weight in gold at Peking. There is no reason to sup- pose its efficacy is other than imaginary. It is chewed by some persons in this country, but is not used in medicine, except as a demulcent. GIOBERTI, Giovanni Antonio, an Italian chem- ist, bora at Mangardino, Piedmont, Oct. 28, 1761, died Sept. 14, 1834. He introduced the principles of Lavoisier into Italy ; in 1790 be- came perpetual secretary of the society of agri- culture at Turin, in which science he effected great improvements; was a member of the provisional government established by the French in 1798, and was imprisoned by the Austrians in 1799. In 1800 he was made pro- fessor in the university of Turin. The Giober- tine tincture, discovered by him, is a prepara- tion for restoring ancient writings which have become illegible, either from the fading of the ink, or from the partial washing away of the original writing to make room for another. It was found that by the application of diluted muriatic acid and of prussiate of potash to the parchment previously moistened in water, the oldest and most faded MS. was almost wholly restored. (See PALIMPSEST.) GIOBERTI, Yineenzo, an Italian philosopher, born in Turin, April 5, 1801, died in Paris, Oct. 26, 1852. He studied at the university of Turin, and in 1825 was ordained priest. Becoming professor of theology at Turin, he spent sev- eral years in scholastic retirement. Eeligion and patriotism were the twin motives with which he inspired his pupils. On the accession of Charles Albert he was appointed court chaplain, but resigned the office in 1833. This step and the liberal tone of his university lec- tures made him suspected as an accomplice of the revolutionary schemes of " young Italy," and he was suddenly arrested. Although no direct connection with the u young^Italy " so- cieties was proved, he was sentenced to four months' imprisonment and to banishment. The first year of his exile he spent in Paris, for the purpose of pursuing his studies in philos- ophy. He then went to Brussels, where he occupied for eleven years a humble position as teacher in a private school. He resumed his interrupted studies, and produced his philo- sophical works, the Teoria del sovrannaturale (Brussels, 1838), and the Introduzione allo studio della filosofia (2 vols., Brussels, 1840). The mastery displayed in the latter work at once of the highest problems of theology, philosophy, and history, its profound exposi- tions and hostile criticisms of the principal modern philosophical systems, and its brilliant and novel subjection of science to revelation, and of all the culture of life to religion, caused him to be immediately recognized as one of the chiefs of Catholic philosophy. It was rather by the remarkably original form of its state- ments than by the novelty of its ideas that the Introduzione exerted its influence, and caused Gioberti to be hailed as the reconstruc- tor of modern philosophy. It was quoted with applause in the charges of French and Italian bishops, and, though assailed by a portion of the Catholic press, was examined, judged, and commended by Pope Gregory XVI. Eloquent, passionate, and full of bold and felicitous di- gressions, it contains more pages on literature, art, and especially politics, than on the philo- sophical theory which it introduces. In his work Del lello (Brussels, 1841) he applied his philosophy to esthetics. The first work that made him popularly known was the Del pri- mato morale e civile degli Italiani (Brussels, 1843), whose object was to restore in Italy not only the philosophy of the Christian fathers but the Guelph policy of the papacy. Italy, he maintains, is the sacerdotal nation of Ro-