GRISELDA. 294 GRISONS. Boccaccio's Decameron (the Tenth Xovel of the Tenth Day). Petrarcli, who owed the story to Boccaccio, translated it into Latin in 1373, under the title De Obcdiciilia et Fide Uxoria; and in the fourteenth century the story was well known tliroujj'huut Europe. In the year 1393 it was iu Paris elahorated into a 'mystery' play, Le mys- tere de Grixeldis, Marquise de 8(iiuces, and to aljout the same time belong several French prose versions, such as Lc iiiemigicr de Paris and others. In England the stoiy was told by Chaucer in his Clerbe's Tale, where the great English poet adopts the version given by Petrarch ; there is a reference to Patient Griselda by Lydgate in his Temple of Glass; there are indications of ballads and stories about Pacyent Gressell during the sixteenth century, and some ballads of a later date, and still preserved, also deal with the sub- ject; and finally, two plays, one (now lost) of the early sixteenth and one of the early seventeenth century (printed by the Shakespeare Society), treat the same matter. A plav' on the same sub- ject, by Hans Sachs, appeared in Germany in 1546. Versions of the story are also found in the literatures of Holland, Bohemia, Sweden, Iceland, etc. The old German book entitled ilarkgraf Walther has lately been reproduced with more or less fidelity in Schwab's Bueh der schUnsten Geseliichten and Sui/en, ilarbach's ^'olksbiicher, and Simrock's Deutsehe VolkshiicJier. Consult: ^Yestenholz, Die Gi'iseldissage in der Litteratiir- geschichte (Heidelberg, 1888) ; Originals ajid Analogues of Chauecr, part ii. (London, 1875), Chaucer Society; Child, E)iqlish and Scottish BaJlads, vol, iv. (Boston. 1882) : Warton, His- tory of English Poetry, edited by Hazlitt, vol. iv, (London, 1870). GRISETTE, gre'zet' (Fr,), A sort of wool- en cloth, so called from its gray color, frequently worn by the French women of the lower class. Hence the name is applied to young women em- ployed as shop girls, sewing girls, cliambermaids, etc. It is also used in a more special sense by foreigners to designate the young women of this class in Paris who are of doubtful character, and of the type made famous by Henry JIurger in his Vie de Boheme. GRISI, gre'ze, GitT-iA (1811-G9). A famous Italian dramatic soprano. She was born in ililan, and was a pupil of Giacoraelli, Madame Pasta, and Marliani. She was one of the greatest singers of the nineteenth century, and was at the height of her fame during the period of 1834- 49, when she was the unquestioned prima donna of the Parisian and London operatic stage. In 183(5 she married Count ilelcy, from whom she was afterwards divorced, later marrying her principal operatic support, Mario, the famous tenor, with wliom she made a tour of the L^nited States in 1854. She died in Berlin. GRIS'KINIS'SA, In Rhodes's burlesque Bnmbastes Furioso. the consort of Artaxaminous, King of Utopia, whom he wishes to put aside for the fair DistafTina, " GRIS-NEZ, grf'n.^', C.ipe. A headland of France, in the Department of Pas-de-Calais, op- posite and 21 miles distant from Dover, the point of land nearest to England ("Map: France. HI). Cape Grisnez is about equidistant from Calais on the northeast and Boulogne on the south. It has a lighthouse. GRISON, gri'son (Fr., gray), or Hukon. A large. i)lantigrade, uuisteline mammal {ilalictis ritula) of South and Central America, weasel-like in form, and about two feet long without the tail, which is about a foot long. Its coloration is pe- culiar in that it is light above and dark below — coal-black, except on the top of the head, back, and tail, where the hair is long and gray. The sharp contrast between the gray crown and the black face gives the animal a singular and rather vicious aspect. It is savage hi disposition, and when irritated gives a barking squeal, and emits a pungent odor more disgusting than that of a skunk. It lives in hollow trees, clefts in rocks, and holes in the ground, and frequents planta- tions and the neighborhood of buildings. A larger and less common, but otherwise similar, species is Allemand's grison (Galictis Alle- mandi). Compare Tayea. GRISONS, gre'zox' (Ger, Grauhiinden) . The largest, the most eastern, and the most thinly inhabited of the cantons of Switzerland, It is bounded on the north by the cantons of Glams and Saint Gall, and by Liechtenstein and Vorarl- berg; on the east by Tyrol; on the south by Lom- bardj-; and on the west by the cantons of Tieino and Uri (Map: Switzerland. D 2). Its area is 2770 square miles. The surface of the canton is broken b3- mountains. The Glarner Alps border on the northwest, and the Bernina on the south- east. The LeoiKintine Alps enter from the west, the Adula group being ii) the southw'estern part of the canton. In the east is the Rhsetian range. There are two large valley districts, of which the first and most important lies along the course of the Hither Ehine, and occupies the northwest- ern portion of the canton; and the second, that of the Inn, forming the Engadine (q.v.), extends through the southeastern .and eastern parts. In the southern or southeastern sections are the val- leys belonging to the basins of the Tieino, Adda, and the Adige. The lakes are small. The cli- mate is quite varied. In some districts winter reigns for nearly eight months, while the climate in the southern valleys is like that of the northern border of Italy. The upper valleys, particularly the Engadine and Davos, attract invalids from all the civilized world. Among the many famous 'air-cure' resorts are Davos- Platz and Saint Mo- ritz. About 55 per cent, of the canton is productive. In the colder districts crops of barley and rye are raised with difhculty. In the southern val- leys, however, wheat, corn, the vine, fig, and almond are successfullv cultivated. Pastures and forests occupy a large portion of the coun- try. Cattle, skins, timber, and cheese are the principal exjMirts. The rivers abound in salmon and trout, and in the mountains are deer, cham- ois, liears. and other game. The mineral deposits are nearly exhausted. Rare varieties of marble are quarried, and there are numerous mineral springs. "The manufacturing industries are unimportant, and are confined chiefly to the production of cotton goods, leather, and beer. The railway mileage is small, but there are many good roads in every part of the canton. The legislative fiower is in the hands of the Grosser Rat (Great Council ) , consisting of members elected at the rate of one for every 1300 inhabitants. The executive power is vested in a council of five elected members. The obligatory and facultative referendum and the initiative are
