Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/837

 GIRALDTJS CAMBRENSIS rndimental horn, less strongly developed than the male. The giraffe has been long known to history. It is represented on the painted walls of the sekos of the Memnonium, dis- covered and described by Belzoni; and also on the celebrated Praenestine pavement, said to have been constructed by the orders of Sulla, who had served as quaestor in Numidia. It was exhibited in the circus maximus by Ju- lius Caasar, alive, for the first time in Europe, but was afterward a frequent spectacle at the cruel shows of Rome. Gordian, the third of the name, once exhibited 10 together. It con- tinued to be known and described by travellers, but was not brought into Europe until a much later period. During the last 40 years several specimens have been seen in the zoological gardens of London and Paris, and many have been brought to this country, where they seem to thrive. In its natural, as in its domesti- cated state, it is gentle, timid, shy, and in- offensive ; it is extremely docile in confine- ment, feeds from the hand, licks the hand which feeds it, and becomes the friend of those who are kind to it. Its natural range appears to be all the wooded parts of eastern, central, and southern Africa, from Sennaar and Abys- sinia to the vicinity of the settlements of the Cape of Good Hope, although, like all wild ani- mals, it recedes before the approach of civili- zation. In domestication it serves no purpose but to gratify curiosity and to promote the study of nature, since it is unfit for draught; and although its flesh is said by hunters to be eatable, it is not suitable for furnishing either meat or milk. GIRALDUS CAMBRENSIS. See BAEEY, GEEALD. (-IRAKI), Philippe de, a French inventor, born near Avignon, Feb. 1, 1775, died in Paris, Aug. 26, 1845. In 1806 he exhibited an improve- ment in lamps, and in the same year made some improvement in the steam engine, pro- ducing a rotary motion without a walking beam. His principal invention was a machine for flax spinning, to which subsequently he applied steam, and for which he received the emperor's medal in 1810, and another medal from the national exposition of industry in 1844. He invented several other machines, and for many years was interested in extensive manufactories of linen in Poland and in Aus- tria, as well as in France. GIRARD, Stephen, an American merchant and banker, born near Bordeaux, France, May 24, 1750, died in Philadelphia, Dec. 26, 1831. He was the son of a seaman, and sailed about 1760 as cabin boy to the West Indies and New York. Rising by degrees to be master and part owner of an American coasting vessel, he ac- cumulated in the course of a few years a sum sufficient to establish him in business as a small trader in Philadelphia in 1776. He married about this time the daughter of a ship builder of that city, but the union was unhappy. Mr. Girard applied for a divorce, and his wife ulti- mately died insane in a public hospital. Mean- GIRARD 821 while Girard trafficked with the West Indies with variable success, until his maritime ven- tures were suspended by the war of the revo- lution. He then opened a grocery and liquor shop, at first in Philadelphia, and during the British occupation of that city at Mount Holly, where he drove a profitable trade with the American soldiers. In 1780 he resumed his dealings with the West Indies and New Orleans, and some time afterward was in partnership for a few years with his brother John. The connection was dissolved in 1790, Stephen having gained while it lasted about $30,000. The foundation of his subsequent wealth, however, seems to have been a lease which he took of a range of stores, at a time when rents were much depressed by the war ; these he underlet at a large profit. Another source of gain was the negro insur- rection in Hayti. Two of his vessels were then in one of the ports of the island, and many of the planters placed their treasures in them for safety, but were afterward cut off with their entire families. About $50,000 worth of property whose owners could not be found thus remained in Mr. Girard's hands. With a remarkable capacity for business and a habit of strictness in money matters, he rapid- ly multiplied his wealth, and before long came to be recognized as one of the richest mer- chants in the city. During the prevalence of the yellow fever in Philadelphia in 1793, '7, and '8, when it raged with a violence never before seen in America, Mr. Girard not only gave money liberally, but performed in person the duties of physician and nurse, undertook the most disagreeable offices in the hospitals, and for two months kept charge of the hospital on Bush hill. In 1812, having purchased the building and a large part of the stock of the old United States bank, he commenced busi- ness as a private banker, with a capital of $1,200,000, which was afterward increased to $4,000,000. Besides the benefit which this institution proved to the national currency, it enabled Mr. Girard to make heavy loans to the government in times of public embarrass- ment ; and during the war of 1812, when out of a loan of $5,000,000 proposed by the secre- tary of the treasury only $20,000 could be ne- gotiated, he subscribed for the whole amount. He was active in procuring the charter of the second United States bank, of which he be- came a director. He contributed liberally to all public improvements, and adorned the city of Philadelphia with many handsome build- ings. He was frugal and parsimonious, but not avaricious ; profuse in his public charities, but stern in exacting the last fraction that was due him. His kindness to the sick was ex- traordinary, but he never had a friend. His appearance was very plain. He was unedu- cated ; was a free thinker in religion, and an admirer of the school of Voltaire and Rous- seau, after whom he was fond of naming his ships. His property at the time of his death