HELSINGOR 



3930 



HELVETIUS 



to the capital in 1827 when Abo 

 was burned down. The port con- 

 sists of three harbours and a road- 

 stead with a good anchorage. Con- 

 siderable export trade is carried on 

 with Petrograd, Sweden, and Eng- 

 land, in timber, paper, cellulose, 

 and butter ; the chief industries 

 are sugar-refining, brewing, machi- 

 nery and carpet making, distilling 

 and tobacco-dressing. 



Helsingfors is protected by the 

 island defences. The coast rly. 

 goes W. to Hango and Abo, and a 

 second line runs N. to connect with 

 the line from Vasa round the region 

 of the lakes to Viborg and Petro- 

 grad. Founded by Gustavus I 

 about 5 m. to the N.E. in 1550, it 

 was removed by Queen Christina 

 in 1642; taken by the Russians in 

 1808, it later became the capital 

 of the grand duchy, and of the 

 republic. Pop., with Sveaborg, 

 187,544. See Finland. 



Helsingdr. Alternative name 

 for the Danish port better known 

 as Elsinore (q.v.). 



Heist, BAKTHOLOMAEUS VAN DER 

 (c. 1613-70). Dutch painter. Born 

 at Haarlem, he studied probably 

 under Frans Hals, whose style he 

 followed. He lived chiefly at Am- 

 sterdam, where he helped to found 

 the painters' guild. There are 

 many portraits and groups by him 

 in the Rijks Museum, and others 

 at The Hague, Rotterdam, etc. 

 His pictures are solidly painted, 

 but a little lifeless in colour. He 

 died at Amsterdam. 



Helston. Mun. bor. and market 

 town of Cornwall, England. It 



is a good centre for visiting the 

 Lizard. An important place before 

 the Norman Conquest, King John 

 made Helston a borough. The 

 citizens were allowed to hold mar- 

 kets and fairs, and in the Middle 

 Acres obtained other valuable privi- 

 leges. It retains its mayor and cor- 

 poration. Market days, Wed. and 

 Sat. Pop. 3,000. See Flora Day. 

 Helve. Powerful form of ham- 

 mer at one time extensively used 

 for the " shingling " of iron blooms. 



Helve. 



Hammer formerly used in 

 iron-working 



Helston, Cornwall. View looking down Coinage 

 Hall Street 



stands on the Caber, 10 m. W.S.VV. 

 of Falmouth on the G.W. Rly. 

 There is an old church dedicated 

 to S. Michael, and a town hall. 

 Helston is noted for the annual 

 celebration on May 8 of a festival 

 known as the Furry or Flora 

 Dance. It was one of the stannary 

 towns, and tin and copper were 

 extensively worked. To-day the 

 industries include milling and tan- 

 ning. Near the town is Looe Pool, 

 into which legend says the sword 

 Excalibur was thrown. Helston 



This is an operation by which the 

 spongy mass of iron is consolidated 

 and any liquid slag it contains 

 squeezed out. In its usual form the 

 helve consisted of a horizontal 

 beam having at one end a double 

 " knife edge " forming a fulcrum 

 on which it could oscillate, and at 

 the other a massive head removable 

 for repair or renewal, a fulcrum 

 stand, an anvil, and a cam wheel. 

 The latter was, in the old days, 

 usually driven by a water wheel, 

 a\ id in revolving lifted the hammer 

 end of the beam a certain distance 

 and then released it so that the 

 hammer fell on the mass of iron on 

 the anvil. The hammer blow would 

 represent sometimes a weight of 10 

 tons falling 18 ins., 

 ' the rate of striking 

 being 60 blows a 

 minute. See Steam 

 Hammer. 



Helvella. Genus 

 of fungi of the 

 natural order As- 

 comycetes. They 

 are all edible, the 

 best known being 

 the white helvella 

 (H. crispa) with 

 ribbed, hollow and 

 inflated stem, and 

 a thin cap broken 

 into lobes which 

 are folded and wrinkled. In the 

 black helvella (H. lacunosa) the 

 head is more inflated, less wrinkled, 

 and entirely of a sooty colouring. 



Helvellyn. Mountain of the Lake 

 District of England. It is on the 

 borders of Cumberland and West- 

 morland overlooking Ulleswater. 

 Its height is 3,118 ft., being ex- 

 ceeded only by Scafell Pikes. It 

 is best ascended from Patterdale, 

 the way passing along Striding 

 Edge, but there are other ascents. 

 See Lake District. 



Helvetic Republic. Govern- 

 ment set up by the French directory 

 in Switzerland. The republic was 

 proclaimed on Mar. 29, 1798, as the 

 " Helvetic republic, one and in- 

 divisible," a central government, 

 consisting of a senate and great 

 council, for the Swiss cantons being 

 set up at Lucerne. The constitu- 

 tion of the republic was a great step 

 forward in combining the various 

 districts of Switzerland, but quar- 

 rels arose and the constitution was 

 abolished by Napoleon, Feb., 1803. 



Helvetii. Ancient people in- 

 habiting the western portion of 

 what is now Switzerland. Their 

 chief town was Aventicum (mod. 

 Avenches). They first come into 

 history as allies of the Cimbri 

 and Teutones when those nations 

 attempted to invade Italy at the 

 end of the 2nd century B.C. In 

 58 B.C., under pressure from the 

 German tribes, they invaded Gaul, 

 but were driven back by Caesar. 



Helvetius, CLAUDE ADRIEN 

 (1715-71). French philosopher. 

 Born in Paris and for 12 years 

 farmer -general 

 of taxes 

 (1738-51), he 

 amassed a 

 large fortune. 

 He spent the 

 rest of his life 

 on his estate 

 near Paris, 

 devoting him- 

 self to charit- 

 able works 

 and philosophical study. He died 

 Dec. 26, 1771. One of the chief 

 representatives of the French Illu- 

 minati (q.v. ), and intimate with the 

 Encyclopedistes (q.v.), Helvetius 

 was a hedonist and utilitarian. His 

 book De 1'Esprit (On the Mind) 

 was banned and publicly burnt. Al! 



Claude A. Helvetius, 

 French philosopher 



Helvellyn, showing Striding Edge, 

 one of the paths of ascent 



