260 GRISEBACH ed physician to the New York hospital, which post he held till 1867. He was for 15 years a member of the prison association, and for 10 years the chairman of its executive committee. He paid much attention to hygiene and the ventilation of buildings, and wrote several treatises upon these subjects. His principal works are : " Animal Mechanism and Physiol- ogy" (1839): "Sanitary Condition of the La- boring Classes of New York" (1844); "Uses and Abuses of Air, and the Means for the Ven- tilation of Buildings " (1850) ; " Hospital Hy- giene" (1853); "A History, Chronological and Circumstantial, of the Visitations of the Yellow Fever in New York" (1858); "First Lessons in Physiology, with Brief Rules of Health, for the use of Schools " (1860) ; " Sani- tary Legislation, Past, Present, and Future" (1861); and "Use of Tobacco, and the Evils resulting from it " (1868). GRISEBACH, Angost Ueinrieh Rudolf, a German botanist, born in Hanover, April 17, 1814. He studied in Gottingen and Berlin, and became in 1837 adjunct and in 1847 regular professor of botany in the university of Gottingen. He published Beise durch Bumelien und nach Brussa im Jahre 1839 (2 vols., Gottingen, 1841) ; and among his many botanical works is Die Vegetation der Erde nach Hirer Tdimati- schen Anordnung :' ein Abriss der vergleichenden Geographic der Pfianzen (2 vols., with a map, Leipsic, 1872). The author in this work gives a geographical description of plants in relation to the physical history of the earth. GRISI, Ginlia, an Italian singer, born in Mi- lan in 1812, died in Berlin, Nov. 25, 1869. She was the daughter of Gaetano Grisi, who was an officer of engineers, and niece of the singer Grassini; and she was assisted in her musical studies by her elder sister Giuditta, who was also a celebrated singer. On her d6but in Bologna at the age of 17 she made a great impression by the grace and loveliness of her person, her intelligence, and fine vocal abili- ties. In 1832 she took the part of Adalgisa on the first representation of Bellini's Norma at Milan, and shared with Pasta, who personated Norma, the triumph of the occasion. She had previously entered into a contract with Lanari, the impresario at Florence, to sing for him for six years at a very moderate salary ; but find- ing that her talents could command higher pay elsewhere, she secretly fled to France to avoid her obligations. In Paris, through the influ- ence of Rossini, she was engaged as prima donna of. the Italian opera ; and in 1834 her d6but in London was very successful. In the parts of Norma, Semiramide, Lucrezia Borgia, and Elvira in I Puritani, she showed dramatic capacities which rendered her scarcely less at- tractive as an actress than as a singer ; while in the buffo music of II barMere di Seviglia, Don Pasquale, or Cenerentola, she was almost equally successful. In August, 1854, in com- pany with Signor Mario, she visited the United States. In 1836 she married in London M. do GRISONS Melcy, but retained in her profession her for- mer name. The marriage was unhappy and was judicially dissolved. Mme. Grisi subse- quently married Mario. GRISONS (Ger. GrauMndteri), the eastern- most and largest of the Swiss cantons, border- ing on Liechtenstein, Tyrol, Italy, and the can- tons of St. Gall, Glarus, Ticino, and Uri ; great- est length 90 m., greatest breadth 64m. ; area, 2,774 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 91,782, of whom about 52,000 were Protestants. The whole canton is an alternation of valleys and moun- tains, several of the latter of which reach an elevation of from 10,000 to 13,000 ft. above the sea. Among the Alpine mountain passes are those of the Bernardino, Spltigen, Julier, and Bernina; among the valleys is the Engadine. The scenery is surpassingly grand. The cli- mate is more diversified than is usual even in Switzerland. While on the mountains win- ter reigns for more than half the year, the air of the vale below is almost as mild and genial as that of Italy. In the loftier districts the snow sometimes continues as late as July, but in the valleys which look toward the south cultivation can commence as early as the be- ginning of March. The principal rivers are the upper courses of the Rhine and Inn, and several tributaries of the upper Ticino and Adda. The chief productions are rye, barley, oats, timber, hemp, flax, potatoes, fruit, wine, cheese, and cattle ; the rearing of the last con- stitutes the great business of the inhabitants. Iron, lead, and zinc are produced, but not ex- tensively mined. There are no manufactures of importance, but a considerable transit trade is carried on through the canton between Italy and Germany. The annual value of exports is about 6,500,000 francs; of imports, 8,000,000. The canton is divided into three leagues, the (rraubund (league of counts, or gray league), Gotteshausbund (league of God's house), and Zehngerichteiibund (league of ten jurisdictions), which are governed by their respective presi- dents and by a general diet of deputies from each Bund. They are subdivided into com- munes, each of which was formerly almost in- dependent within its own limits. Of late cen- tralization has made some progress ; the can- tonal government has received greater powers, and cantonal courts have taken the place of the former independent courts. As a canton the country is now divided into 14 districts, which are subdivided into circles. The name of the canton is said to be derived from the color of the dress worn by a band of the people who in 1424 met in a forest near Trons and bound themselves to defend each other against their feudal lords. Formerly Romansh was the language of the entire population ; the first German settlers came into the country about 600 years ago, since which time the German language has steadily gained ground, until by the census of 1870 the number of Ger- man families was found to exceed the Ro- mansh. Capital, Coire.
