his learning. I represented to him that Nicolas de Lyra had been a very able theologian, and St. Au- gustine, a doctor of the church illustrious for his doctrine and sanctity, but that both had shown themselves bad geographers, for the Portuguese had reached a point on the other hemisphere where they had lost sight of the polar star and had dis- covered another at the opposite pole, that they had found all the countries under the torrid zone well populated." This argument produced its effect, and Columbus was heard. Geraldini was employed in diplomatic services in nearly all the courts of Europe, and his zeal in the service of the state was rewarded first with the bishopric of Volterra and Monte Corvino, and finally with that of Santo Do- mingo, which he was the first to hold. He em- barked in 1520 at Seville to take possession of his see. He founded schools and seminaries in the island, and did everything in his power for its spiritual and temporal welfare. Geraldini wrote a great many works on theology, collections of let- ters, exhortations addressed to Christian princes against the Turks, poetry, sacred and profane, a life of Catharine of Aragon in hexameter verse, treatises on polities and education, and finally an account of his voyage to the Antilles, which ap- peared under the title " Itinerarium ad regiones sub equinoctiali plaga constitutas Alexandri Ger- aldini Amerini, episcopi civitatis S. Dominici apud Indos occidentales " (Rome, 1631). This work gives a detailed narrative of the voyage of Geraldini along the coast of Africa to the mouth of the Senegal and thence to Santo Domingo. The editor adds a sketch of the lite of the author and a list of his works, printed and in manuscript. The best part of the work is the description of Santo Do- mingo, the condition of which at the time it was written being vividly set forth. We learn from it that already the native race had been almost entire- ly exterminated. In one of the letters annexed to his relation Geraldini announces that he is sending, among other rarities, two turkeys. This letter was written in 1533. and is consequently prior to the work of Oviedo, who had been regarded as the first author who mentioned these fowls. Geraldini wrote a curious treatise entitled " De viris Geral- dinis qui in obsequio apostolicae Sedis per varia tempora insudarunt," which Alacci read in manu- script and speaks of in his "Apes urbana?."
GERARD, James Watson, lawyer, b. in New
York city in 1794 ; d. there, 7 Feb., 1874. He was
graduated at Columbia in 1811, and soon after
leaving college became enrolled in a volunteer com-
pany called "'The Iron Greys," which was raised
for the defence of the harbor tluring the war with
Great Britain. He then studied law with George
Griffin, and practised in New York till 18C9, be-
coming distinguished in his profession. Mr. Gerard
early turned his attention to schemes of philan-
thropy. In 1823 he became a member of the
" Society for tlie prevention of pauperism," and
outlined and urged on the public mind a plan for
the establishment of the institution now known as
the " House of refuge for juvenile delinquents,"
the incorporation of which he, in connection with
others, procured in March, 1824. This was the
first institution of the kind in the United States.
He was the first person in this country to advocate
a uniformed police. By letters, addresses, and per-
sistent action, he so impressed the importance of
the change on the community that the uniformed
system was adopted, and has since been generally
employed in the various cities of the United States.
During the last twenty years of his life he was ac-
tively engaged in the cause of public education,
and held the office of trustee or school-inspector
for most of that period. Mr. Gerard invariably
declined to be a candidate for any other office. —
His son, James Watson, lawyer, b. in New Yoi'k
city, about 1822, was graduated at Columbia in
1843. He was active in the profession of the law
until 1880, and successively occupied the offices of
trustee and inspector of public schools. He was
subsequently a state senator in 1876-'7. He is the
author of several minor satirical works, including
" The Pelican Papers " (New York, 1879). and of
two legal works, " Title of the Corporation and
others to the Streets, Wharves. Lands, and Fran-
chises in the City of New York" (1872). and
" Titles to Real Estate in the State of New York "
(1873). He has also published an historical work
called " The Peace of Utrecht " (1885), and has
written many historical papers and delivered ad-
dresses chiefly relating to the early colonial history
of the state of New York.
GERARD DE RAYNEVAL, Conrad Alexandre, diplomatist, b. in France ; d. in Strasburg in April, 1790. He was one of the secretaries of Count de Vergennes, foreign minister under Louis XVI., and as such arranged and signed the treaty between France and the United States, 6 Feb., 1778. He was the first French minister accredited to the
United States, reaching Piiiladelphia early in July
of that year. lie remained in this country until
September, 1779, when he was succeeded "by the
Chevalier de la Luzerne. In the discussions with
congress in 1779 with regard to the conclusion of a
treaty of peace with Great Britain, and arranging
the boundaries of the new republic, the Chevalier
Gerard bore an important part, enjoying the full
confidence of Count de Vergennes. In 1779 he re-
ceived the degree of LL. D. from Yale.
GERHARD, William Paul, sanitary engineer,
b. in Hamburg, Germany, 30 July, 1854. He was
educated at the gymnasium in Kiel and at the
polytechnic school in Carlsruhe, where he was
graduated as a civil engineer in 1875. After a
year of military service he became an assistant
engineer in Hamburg. In September, 1877, he came
to the United States and settled in St. Louis, Mo.,
where he held the offices of assistant engineer in
the department of public works, then in the
department of water-works, and finally in the sewer
department. During 1880 he assisted James B.
Eads in the preparation of the plates of the
“History of the St. Louis Bridge,” and in 1881
became chief assistant to George E. Waring in
Newport. He removed to New York in 1883, where for
two years he was chief engineer of the Durham
house-drainage company, and since has practised
sanitary engineering, devoting himself particularly
to the sanitation of buildings and towns. He is a
member of scientific organizations both in
Germany and in the United States. During 1885-'6
he edited “Building,” and, besides articles on his
specialties contributed to technical journals, he has
published reports on the sanitary plumbing and
drainage of tenement-houses in the annual volumes
of the Rhode Island and Connecticut state boards
of health. His larger works include “Anlagen
von Haus-Entwässerungen” (Berlin, 1880);
“Diagram for Sewer Calculations” (London and New
York, 1882); “House-Drainage and Sanitary
Plumbing” (New York, 1883); “Hints on the
Drainage and Sewerage of Dwellings” (1884);
“Sanitary Questions” (1884); “Prinzipien der
Haus-Kanalization” (Leipsic, 1885); “A Guide to
Sanitary House-Inspection” (New York, 1885);
“The Prevention of Fire” (1886); “Notes embodying
the Recent Practice in Sanitary Drainage of
