1* 



HARPSICHORD. 



HARVEST. 



ml* of 0, etch parallel noU being in perfect unison, the noto* of the 

 middle row are tuned a semitone higher ;" that is, a U mad* hrp, 4o., 

 so that in modulating from the key of o to that of u, the performer 

 introduce* a finger between the o natural and D of the outside strings 

 to etrike c sharp, which i in the middle row." 



The harp, at a generally useful iiutnimont, may be said to date iU 

 exiateoo* from the time when pedale were added to it. With these it 

 is possible to modnUte into all key*, and to execute any music auited 

 to keyed-instrument*. We are indebted for the praeent improved and 

 nearly perfect itato of the harp to the late M. Sebastian Erard, who, in 

 1794, took out a patent for a harp with seven pedal* that rendered the 

 chromatic aoale. Thi* wa* a aingle-action-harp, the pedal* only 

 *h*i"g one change on the string*. In 1808 the lame mechanist 

 produced hi* double-action harp, the pedal* of which have two action*. 

 Thi* but u tuned in the key of o flat By fixing the pedala in the firat 

 groove the instrument i* at once tranipoeed into c natural ; and by 

 fixing them in the aeoond groove it i* transposed another semitone 

 higher, into the key of o aharp. The compaaa of the harp thus 

 improved U from double K below the ban to 8 in altuaiino ; or 



But though the harp in thi* highly improved state may be used for 

 the performance of any music written for the pianoforte, yet in 

 executing compositions in which there is much modulation, the 

 difficulty ii of an extreme kiinl. and indeed unconquerable except by 

 devoting more time to practice than ought to be bestowed on an 

 accomplishment, however elegant and fascinating. 



In the construction of the harp there are many ingenious mechanical 

 contrivance* which would repay the study of persons fond of such 

 investigations : there is also much skilful workmanship required. The 

 name of Eraid is still one of power in connection with this instrument. 

 At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Mr. P. Erard received the Council 

 Medal fur his pianofortes, and on " account of the great merits of his 

 harp* the jury included them in the award." Messrs. B. Jones are 

 honourably mentioned for an improved triple strung Welsh harp, and 

 a Spaniard named Uallego* received a prize medal for an ingenious 

 specimen of kar/.-f/uitar. 



HARPSICHOKD (originally, and with some reason, written Jfarpti- 

 con), a keyed musical instrument, in form the same as the grand piano- 

 forte, but smaller, strung with steel and brass wires, two to each note, 

 which were struck by jaett armed with small pieces of quill, acting as 

 tJtrtrmiu, and thus made to render a brilliant but somewhat harsh 

 sound, wholly unlike that produced by the hammers of the piano-forte. 

 The compass of the harpsichord did not at first exceed three octaves, 

 but by degrees was extended to five, from double F below the base to 

 r in alUsnimo : or 



All harpsichords had slops, which increased or diminished the string 

 power : they also were generally furnished with a tirell, or a means of 

 opening and closing the lid : and many were supplied with two rows 

 of keys, the upper acting on a separate set of strings, which gave a 

 very soft sound, intended as an imitation of a muted violin, Ac. 



The period at which the harpeichord was invented is quite uncertain. 

 It is not absurd to surmise that the organ speedily suggested some 

 instrument of the keyed kind, in which strings were substituted for 

 pipe*, but of that under notice there are no traces before the 15th 

 century. Indeed we find no intimation of the harpsichord having 

 been introduced into England till the early part of the 17th century ; 

 and in less than two hundred years it had fallen into disuse in this, as 

 well, we believe, a* in every other, country. In 1838, Mr. Moscheles, 

 wishing at his Soirttt itiuicalti to perform some of the lessons of 

 Scarlatti, Handel, and Seb. Bach on the instrument for which they 

 were written, had great difficulty in finding, in the vast city of London, 

 a harpsichord to enable him to accomplish his purpose. Several other 

 stringed instruments struck by plectra, were, together with the harpsi- 

 chord, superseded by the superior action of the PlAltoPOHTK. 



UAUQUKBUa [ARMS.] 



MARTIN (C^H.U,). A white crystalline twin extracted from 

 lignite. 



HAKTITK. A resinous matter very similar to hatch tHn. 



IIAIITSHOHN. SI-HUT OK. [AMMOXIA.] 



HARTSHORN, the horn of the Cerrut Maphtu, the hart, or common 

 stag [Dm], which ban a place in the pharmacopo-ia, because it contnn-< 

 less earthy matter, and more gelatine, than other bones. It U kept in 

 the form of shavings, of which a sufficient quantity boiled in water 

 yield* a jelly suitable to convalescents, which may be flavoured with 

 lemon-juice or wine, *c ; but there i* no proof that it is superior to 



jelly made from calves' feel. It u sometime* a uauful addition to milk 

 for young children, but it possesses no alkaline properties, and the 

 further addition of a little lime-water i* often necessary to fit it fur 

 irritable stomachs. The decoction of hartehorn U often used by 

 brewers to clarify beer and other liquor*, a* being cheaper than 

 isinglass (Pereira). The pungent volatile salt, called amelling-ialt*, 

 retain* the name of hartshorn from being originally obtained by dis- 

 tillation of this horn. [AJOKHR4.] 



IIAKl'si-li T.s. aclassof priesU in ancient Rome, whose principal 

 duty wa* to inspect the entrails of the victim* which had been sacrificed, 

 and thereby to foretel future event*. They also interpreted various 

 phenomena, such a* lightning, earthquake*, 4c. (Cicero, ' Cat.' iii. 8 ; 

 Div.' i. 41.) This art, called //ariuptnua, was derived from Ktruria. 

 where it is said to have been discovered by one Tages. trie. Div.' 

 iii. 23.) The Roman* used frequently to send their children to 

 Etruria in order to be instructed in this art (Niebuhr), or as others 

 read the passage (Cic. 'Div.'i. 41) caused a number of Young Ktrurianx 

 belonging to Roman families to be so instructed ; and Etrurian haru- 

 spices often practised their profession in Rome. The duties of the 

 haruspices in many respect* resembled those of the augurs ; but they 

 were not reckoned so important, and they never acquired that political 

 influence which the augurs possessed. [Auut'RS.] They were formed 

 into a college or corporation at Rome, of which the chief was called 

 " Summus Haruspex," or " Magister Publicus." Their art fell into 

 disrepute among the well educated Romans in the later times <-i the 

 republic. Cicero ridicules their pretensions of foretelling future 

 events, and relates that Cato used to say that he wondered how one 

 haruapex could meet another without laughing. (Cic., Div.' ii. Jl.l 

 The Emperor Claudius wished to revive the study ; aud under liis 

 directions a decree of the senate was passed for that purpose (Tac., 

 'Ann.' xi. 15) ; but it probably produced little effect. 



HARVEST is a most important period to the husbandman. When 

 by his skill and industry the ground has been well prepared to receive 

 the seed, and every circumstance has been favourable to the growth 

 and ripening of his crops, he may be deprived of a great portion of 

 his reward by an unseasonable time of harvest. Although the state of 

 the weather be beyond his control, he may, by an attentive observation 

 of the usual changes at particular periods of the year, anticipate its 

 influence in any particular situation. The precautions which are neces- 

 sary in a northern climate, where the fruits of the earth come late to 

 maturity, would be superfluous in more southern latitudes. It is from 

 the inhabitants of northern and mountainous countries that we are 

 likely to learn the means of obviating the effects of an unfavourable 

 season and a late harvest. 



In those southern climates where the heat and drought are not too 

 great for the growth of corn, the only care of the farmer is to procure 

 hands sufficient to reap it. The heat of the sun and air soon dries the 

 straw and hardens the grain. A spot is levelled in the fieKl. anil the 

 com is threshed out immediately, either by the tread of cattle driven 

 over it, or by the flails of numerous threshers. The corn is winnowed 

 and stored in granaries ; and the straw is reserved till winter, when it 

 forms the chief fodder of horses and cattle. In these regions the 

 harvest is a continual feast ; no ungenial weather disappoints the hopes 

 of the husbandman. But in northern climates, where the harvest is 

 later, and cold rains and storms are frequent in autumn, ingenuity is 

 often taxed to save the corn from being entirely spoiled, after it has 

 been severed from the ground ; roomy bams are erected to secure it in 

 the straw, till it can be threshed ; and the joy of harvest is frequently 

 interrupted by the anxiety which is the consequence of sudden changes 

 of weather. 



To lessen the casualties of harvest in a moist climate, the experienced 

 husbandman endeavours to arrange the time of sowing each kind of 

 grain, so as to ensure their coming to maturity in a regular succes- 

 sion. Thus he has more time to attend to the precautions of 

 which experience has taught him the utility ; and if the duration of 

 harvest is longer, there is less danger of all his crops being spoiled )>y 

 a wet season. 



It was long the custom through the whole of the north of Europe 

 to store all the produce of the farm into barns, especially the corn ; 

 and it wan thought that as soon as the sheave* were collected under a 

 roof, all danger was past. The increase of the produce raised on most 

 landx l'_v an improved system of agriculture gave rise to the practice 

 of stacking corn in the open air, and securing it by a covering of 

 thatch. It was soon found that the grain thus stored in the straw was 

 better preserved than that which was in the barn ; and the invent ion of 

 stone, or cast-iron pillars, as supports for the frames 011 whieh tli. 

 grain was stacked, not only secured it from the depredations of vermin. 

 but kept it in n much drier state than when the stacks wore made on 

 the ground. This was- a great improvement ; and now, in the best 

 managed farms, the only barns required are those in which the 

 corn is threshed ; and if there is sufficient room to hold the contents 

 of one stack of the usual dimensions, it U all that is absolutely 

 required. 



The want of room in the barn* wa* probably one of the reasons 

 why the reapers were permitted to cut the straw half-way between the 

 ear and the root, leaving more than half the straw in the field. Another 

 reason also was the profusion of weeds which grew amongst the corn, 

 and which retarded its drying, by retaining the wet much longer than 



