GEIILINCX, he/links, Fr. pron. zhe'laNks', ARNOLD (1625-69). A Dutch philosopher. He was born at Antwerp, studied theology and phi losophy at Louvain, and afterwards remained twelve years as a, successful lecturer and teacher of the classics and the Cartesian philosophy. For some reason not certainly known, but supposed to have had connection with his intended mar riage, and his attacks upon scholasticism, he was compelled in 1658 to leave Louvain and went to Leyden, where he became a Protestant, was married, endured many hardships due to poverty, and in 1665 was helped by an influential friend to the position of extraordinary professor in the university. Entering into this work with great zeal, he continued in it until his death. He was distinguished among the followers of Descartes, and his writings contain germs of thought that were afterwards developed by Spinoza and Male branche. He gave special attention to the doc trine of the relation between the soul and the body. Descartes had already so separated ex tension and thought that only in the teeth of logic could he maintain against Gassendi the possibility of any interaction between them. Geu lincx was more consistent. Accepting from Des cartes this separation, he maintained that inter action was impossible, for one cannot be the author of any state of which one is unconscious; for man's very nature is consciousness; but a man is not conscious of the mechanism by which bodily motion is produced, hence he is not the author of bodily motion. Body and mind are like two clocks which act together, because at each instant they are adjusted by God. A phys ical occurrence is but the occasion on which God excites in the soul a corresponding mental state. Geulincx thus originated the theory of occasional causes. (See OCCASIONALISM.) But this theory compelled a further advance. God, who is the cause of the union of body and mind, is the sole cause in the universe. No fact contains in itself the ground of any other. The existence of the facts due to God, their sequence, and coexistence are also due to Him. He is the ground of all that is. Apart from God the finite being has no reality. In this Geulincx led the way for Spi noza. This occasionalistic view, carried out con sistently, of course leads to the doctrine that we cannot know extended reality directly, but have merely an idea of it, occasioned in us by God. Geulinex's main works were: De Virtute et I'rimis ejus Proprietatibus (1665; ten years later a new and enlarged edition appeared under the title I'vt7.)th creain-tiy); Loqica (1662) ;
Methodus Inveniendi Argumenta (1663) ; Meta physica Vera et ad Mentem Peripateticam(1691). A complete edition of his works in three volumes has recently been published by Land (The Hague, 1891-93). Consult: Grimm, Arnold Genlima' Erkenntnisstheorie and Occasionalismus (Jena, 1875) ; Land, Arnold Geulincx und seine Phi losophie (The Hague, 1895) ; Pfleiderer, Arnold Geulincx als Hauptvertreter der occasionalisti schen Metaphysik und Ethik (Tubingen, 1882) ; Van de Haeghen, Geulincx: Etude sur sa vie, sa philosophise et ses ouvrages (Ghent, 1886).
GE'UM (Lat., herb-bennet, avens). A genus of plants of the order Rosaceie. It is nearly allied to Potentilla, but is distinguished by the hard ened, hooked eyes which crown the carpels, and which are dry and become a bur. Two species are common natives of Great Britain, common avens or herb-bennet (Geum urbanum), an herb about one to two feet high, and water-avens (Geum, rivale), about one foot high. Both of these species have the radical leaves interruptedly pinnate and lyrate, and the cauline leaves ternate, but Geum urbonant has erect yellow flowers, and Geum rivale has nodding flowers of a brownish hue. The former grows in hedges and thickets, the latter in wet meadows and woods, and sometimes even in alpine situations. Both are aromatic, tonic, and astringent., and are employed to re strain mucous discharges, and in cases of dysen tery and intermittent fever. The root of Geum rivale is used also in diseases of the bladder. The root of Geum urbannin has when fresh a clove-like taste, and is used to flavor ale; for this purpose it is gathered in spring before the stem grows up. Geum rivale is a common plant in the United States as far west as Mis souri. The chocolate-root (Geum strietum) of North America has some reputation as a mild tonic. It was once employed in the United States in diseases of the bladder. It much resembles the British species in its leaves and has erect flowers like those of Geum urbanum. Many of the species are very hardy, and are used in borders and other ornamental plantings. One group has plumose styles that are very attractive after the petals have fallen. Gems Chiloense, a. native of Chile, is one of the best of this class. Other species are particularly adapted to rockeries. The genus is mainly represented in the cooler regions of the two hemispheres.