Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/745

GERANIUM tricolors, and gold and silver margined. Some of the tricolors, of which "Mrs. Pollock "may be taken as the type, have leaves beautifully colored ; but these do not flourish well in our hot summers, and are only seen in perfection when grown under glass. Pelargoniums grow GERARD 733 Horseshoe Geranium (Pelargonium zonale). readily from seed, and if started early in a hotbed the plants may be had in bloom the same season; the plants have such a mixed and varied ancestry that seeds from almost any of our cultivated kinds are likely to produce plants different from the immediate parent. Pin Grass (Erodium cicutarium). Those who engage in the production of new varieties practise careful crossing, using the pol- len of one variety upon the pistil of another in the usual way. The varieties are perpetuated by propagating from cuttings, which readily take root ; the commercial florists propagate them all winter for the spring sales; the amateur can readily multiply them in the open ground after the hot weather of summer is over. Cut- tings two to six inches long, planted in a shady place, will soon take root and make good plants for winter blooming ; if the stems from which, the cuttings are to be taken are very succulent, they should be cut half or two thirds through, and when the wounded surface has dried the cutting can be entirely removed. Erodium (Gr. epu6t6(;, a heron) is a genus closely related to geranium, from which it principally differs in having the leaves pinnately instead of palmately divided, and in the twisting of the styles when in fruit they break away from the beak-like receptacle. The plants are mostly natives of Europe and the East, and there is one species indigenous to Texas, E. Texanum. The only erodium of special interest is E. cicu- tarium, which is sparingly naturalized in some of the eastern states, and abundantly so on the Pacific coast, where it is of great service as a forage plant, its young growth furnishing a bite to the cattle when there is but little else for them to eat. It is known as pin grass, and also by the Mexican name of alfilaria. GERARD, the Blessed, a saint of the Roman Catholic church, and founder of the order of knights hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusa- lem.^ (See SAINT JOHN OF JERUSALEM.) GERARD, Cecile Jules Basile, a French officer, born at Pignans, Var, June 14, 1817, drowned in Africa in September, 1864. Enlisting in the spahis, he landed in Africa in 1842, and two years later killed his first lion. In all he killed 25. On his return to France he gave the re- sults of his experience in La chasse au lion (1855) and Gerard le tueur de lions (1856). The latter work has been translated into English under the title of " Gerard the Lion Killer." He afterward proposed to explore the Kong range in western Guinea, which had not yet been visited by any European. Starting from England in the latter part of 1863, he attempt- ed to penetrate into the interior of Africa through Dahomey. Failing in this, he pro- ceeded to Sierra Leone, whence an English man-of-war took him to the river Gallinas. He started again for the interior, but having been plundered of his baggage he resolved to return to Sierra Leone. While crossing the river Jong he was drowned. GERARD, Etienne Maurice, count, a French marshal, born at Damvillers, April 4, 1773, died in Paris, April 17, 1855. He enlisted in 1791 as a private, served under Dumouriez and Jourdan, and obtained a colonelcy in 1800. He distinguished himself at Austerlitz, Halle, Jena, and Wagram, receiving as reward for his ser- vices the rank of general of brigade and a bar- ony. After service in Portugal and Spain, he joined the Russian expedition, and as general of division evinced unfaltering energy during the retreat from Moscow. He was severely wounded in the campaign of 1813, and in 1814 fought successfully against the invading troops.