HAREM 



3841 



HAREWOOD 



Harem. A Gilded Cage. Oriental scene painted by 

 F. Goodall, R.A. 



Harem (Ar. hareem, sacred, set 

 apart, i.e. forbidden). Name ap- 

 plied in Mahomedan countries to 

 that part of the house in which the 

 women are secluded. The meaning 

 of the word has been extended to 

 include all the women thus kept 

 apart. Although the harem is prac- 

 tically a Mahomedan institution, 

 the custom of secluding the female 

 members of the household is of 

 great antiquity in the East ; ex- 

 cavations prove that the kings of 

 ancient Persia confined their 

 womenfolk to a separate part of 

 the palace, while various passages 

 in the O.T. provide evidence to the 

 same effect. 



According to the Koran, no 

 woman may allow her face to be 

 seen by any man save her father, 

 husband, son, or close blood rela 

 tions, and obedience to this pre- 

 cept, together with the practice of 

 polygamy and concubinage, led to 

 special apartments or entire wings 

 of large houses being devoted to 

 the women of the establishment. 

 Conditions of life in the harem 

 differ widely in Mahomedan coun- 

 tries. The law of Islam permits a 

 man four wives (the sultan is al- 

 lowed seven), and each wife may 

 demand a separate apartment. 



In India and Turkey the inmates 

 have more liberty than elsewhere, 

 and the rule of the eunuchs, in 

 whose charge the harems are fre- 

 quently placed, is less evil. Idle- 

 ness and scandalmongering are the 

 worst features of the system. 



Western ideas are 

 gradually having 

 their effect on the 

 harem, and the 

 institution, in more 

 civilized parts of 

 Islam, is becoming 

 greatly modified 

 See Polygamy. 

 Haren, O N N o 



ZWIER VAN (1711- 



79). Dutch poet 

 and statesman. 

 Brother of Willem 

 van Haren, he was 

 born at Leeuward 

 en on April 2, 1711. 

 and occupied 

 various offices of 

 state in the Nether- 

 lands, being a 

 staunch supporter 

 of the Orange 

 family. He wrote 

 much verse, among 

 his most notable 

 volumes being Die 

 Koophandel,1769: 

 Agon, a poetic 

 tragedy, 1769 ; De 

 Geusen, 1771 ; De 

 Vrijheid,1778. He 

 translated Pope's 

 EssayonMan. HediedSept.2,1779. 

 Haren, WILLEM VAN (1710-68). 

 Dutch poet. Born of a distin- 

 guished family at Leeuwarden, Feb 

 21, 1710, Haren studied at Franeker 

 and Groningen. In 1728 he in- 

 herited the castle and estates of 

 Henkenshage. His best work was 

 the epic poem Gevallen van Friso, 

 1741 , one of the notable long poems 

 in the language. He died July 4,1 768 

 Hares. North American Indian 

 tribe of Athapascan stock : pro- 

 perly the Kawchodinne, or great- 

 hare-people. Living N. and W. of the 

 Great Bear Lake, Canada, they num- 

 ber about 600. 

 They subsist on 

 fish, reindeer, 

 and the Arctic 

 hare,w Inch also 

 furnishes their 

 clothing. They 

 are in friendly 

 contact with 

 the Eskimos. 



Hare's -ear 

 (Bupleurum ro- 

 tund i folium). 

 Annual herb of 

 the natural 

 order Umbelli- 

 ferae, native of 

 Europe and W. 

 Asia. The stem 



Hare's-ear. Leaves 



and flower-head of 



Bupleurum fruti- 



cosum 



is hollow, ap- 

 pearing to run 

 through the 

 base of the 

 thick, oblong or 

 roundish, glau- 



cous leaves. The minute yellow 

 flowers form tiny umbels m the 

 centre of a cup of bracts whose 

 edges are united. A shrubby 

 perennial (B. fruticosum). from 

 Spain, is grown in gardens. 



Hare's-foot Fern (Davallia 

 canariensis). Fern of the natural 

 order Polypodiacoae, native of W 



Hare's-foot Fern. Rootstock and 



wedge-shaped fronds 

 Europe and the Canaries. The 

 rootstock creeps above ground, 

 densely clothed with shaggy brown 

 scales ; the frond is wedge-shaped, 

 cut up into leaflets (pinnae) which 

 are much divided. 



Hare's -tail Grass (La gurus 

 ovatus). Annual grass of the natural 

 order Gramineae. It is a native of 

 rnxmiu^o-^ W. and S. Eu- 

 rope, N. Africa, 

 and W. Asia. It 

 has numerous 

 stems, broad, 

 flat leaves, and 

 flower spikelets 

 crowded into a 

 white, hairy 

 oval head, 

 which suggest- 

 ed the name. 



Hare wood, 

 EARLO F.British 

 title borne since 

 1812 by the 

 family of Las- 

 celles. Edward 

 ) Lascelles, the 

 ; head of a well- 

 j known York- 

 I shire family, 

 I was created 

 j Baron Hare- 

 ] wood in 1796, 

 j an earlier crea- 

 j tion of this 

 j name having 

 I become extinct 

 i when its first 

 ! holder died. In 

 j 1812 he was 

 made an earl. 

 The family 

 estates are in 

 Yorkshire (W.R.), the chief seat 

 being Harewood House, near Leeds, 

 and the earl's eldest son is known 

 as Viscount Lascelles. 



Hare's-tail Grass, 

 showing root, 

 leaves, and flower 



R 5 



