| GERMAN OCEAN | GERMANY | 743 |
It grows readily from cuttings, flourishes well in the dry atmosphere of dwelling rooms, and is admirably adapted to window culture; in the open ground it is a useful climber where it is desired to cover a surface quickly, but it is killed by the first frost.
German Ivy.
GERMAN OCEAN. See North Sea.
GERMAN SILVER, or Argentane, an alloy resembling silver, made of variable proportions of its ingredients according to the uses for which it is designed. A composition of 8 parts of copper to 3 each of nickel and zinc is recommended as making a close imitation of silver of 750⁄1000. The two latter metals are also used in the proportions of 4 each to 8 of copper. By using a larger proportion of copper the alloy is more easily rolled into plates, but the copper sooner becomes apparent in use. Iron used in the proportion of 2 to 2½ per cent, renders the composition whiter but more brittle. The genuine German silver, made from the original ore of Hildburghausen in Henneberg, analyzed by Keferstein, was found to consist of copper 40.4 per cent., nickel 31.6, zinc 25.4, iron 2.6.
GERMANTOWN, formerly a post borough of Philadelphia co., Pennsylvania, 6 m. N. W. of the state house, Philadelphia, and included since 1854 in the 22d ward of that city; pop. of the ward in 1870, 22,605. It has one main street, about 4 m. long, extending S. S. E. and N. N. W., which is intersected at right angles by several others. It is lighted with gas, is well supplied with water, and is connected with Philadelphia by both a steam and a horse railway. Many retired merchants and wealthy citizens of Philadelphia have here their residences, some of which are of great elegance. Among the public buildings are 21 churches, an academy and other schools, and a bank. There are also a number of extensive manufactories.—Germantown was laid out in 1684 under a grant from William Penn, and settled by Germans, whence its name. It is memorable as the scene of the defeat of the American army under Washington by the British on Oct. 4, 1777. Washington, having learned that Gen. Howe had detached a portion of the main division of his army, then at Germantown, determined to take advantage of it to attack his camp. After marching all night, he entered the town about sunrise. The enemy, who were encamped across the main street at right angles, were taken by surprise, but the morning being dark and foggy, the Americans were thrown into confusion by the many small enclosures of the village, and the British rallied and attacked in turn. Some of the Americans were seized with a panic, and what had promised to be a victory was changed into a defeat. Washington withdrew in good order, with all his artillery. The British loss was upward of 600; the American about 1,000.
GERMANUS (Fr. St. Germain l'Auxerrois), a saint of the Roman Catholic church, born in Auxerre, central Gaul, about 380, died in Ravenna, July 31, 448 or 449. He was of a senatorial family, studied literature and jurisprudence, and distinguished himself for eloquence. He was made by the emperor Honorius military governor of his native district, and in 418 was elected bishop of Auxerre, although a married man. He separated from his wife, gave his property to the poor, and built a monastery on the river Yonne. He twice visited England at the request of Celestine I., and by his authority the doctrines of Pelagius were condemned and suppressed there, and schools for the education of the clergy were opened. He once led the Britons against a party of Picts and Saxons who were plundering the coast, and terrified them into retreat by a general shout of “Hallelujah,” an action known under the name of the Hallelujah victory. He encouraged St. Patrick to undertake the conversion of the Irish, and in 447 went to Ravenna to mediate between the revolted Bretons and Valentinian III. His feast is celebrated on July 31. A manuscript preserved in the abbey of St. Gall, entitled Liber Sancti Ambrosii in Laudem Sanctorum compositus, is said by the Benedictine editors of St. Ambrose to have been probably written by St. Germanus. His life, written 30 years after his death by the priest Constantius, and put in verse by the monk Eric, is to be found in Labbe's Nova Bibliotheca Manuscriptorum. A new life of St. Germanus was given in vols. ix. and xi. of Newman's “Lives of the English Saints” (London, 1844).
GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland; Fr. Allemagne), formerly a large empire of central Europe, with an area at the time of the first French revolution of 267,714 sq. m., and 26,265,000 inhabitants. From 1806 to 1815 it was dismembered and disorganized. In 1815 the German confederation (Deutscher Bund) was established in the place of the old German empire, embracing part of Austria (the present
