till 1666, when he was deposed
for his embittered opposition to the union of the Lutheran and Reformed
Churches; he was subsequently pastor at Luebben; his hymns, 123 in number,
rank amongst the finest of their class (1607-1676).

GERIZZIM, a mountain of 2848 ft. in height in the S. of the valley
of Shechem, opposite EBAL (q. v.), and from the slopes of which
the blessings were responded to by half the tribes of Israel on their
arrival in Canaan (Josh. viii. 30-35); the Samaritans erected a temple on
this mountain, ruins of which still remain.

GERM THEORY, the doctrine that certain diseases are due to
fermentation caused by the presence of germs in the system in the form of
minute organisms called bacteria.

GERMAN CATHOLICS, a sect formed in 1844 by secession from the
Catholic Church of Germany, under the leadership of Johann Ronge, on
account of the mummery under papal patronage connected with the
exhibition of the Holy Coat of Treves and the superstitious influence
ascribed to it.

GERMAN VOLTAIRE, name given sometimes to Wieland and sometimes, but
less appropriately, to Goethe.

GERMANICUS, CAESAR, Roman general, son of Nero Claudius Drusus and
Antonia, daughter of Mark Antony; he served with distinction under his
uncle Tiberius in Dalmatia and Pannonia; was awarded a triumph, and in
A.D. 12 was elected consul; his success and popularity as leader of the
army on the Rhine provoked the jealousy of Tiberius, who transferred him
to the East, where he subsequently died; his son Caligula succeeded
Tiberius on the imperial throne (15 B.C.-A.D. 19).

GERMANY (49,428), constituted an empire in 1871, occupies a
commanding position in Central Europe, and stretches from Switzerland in
the S. to the German Ocean and Baltic Sea on the N.; Austria lies to the
SE., Russia to the NE., while France, Belgium, and the Netherlands flank
the W.; is made up of 26 States of widely varying size and importance,
comprising four kingdoms (of which Prussia is by far the largest and most
influential), six grand-duchies, five duchies, seven principalities,
three free towns (Luebeck, Bremen, Hamburg), and one imperial province,
Alsace-Lorraine; the main physical divisions are (1) the great lowland
plain stretching from the centre to the Baltic and North Sea, well
watered by the Ems, Weser, Elbe, Oder, Vistula, and their tributaries, in
which, bating large sandy tracts, agriculture employs a large class, and
cereals, tobacco, a