HEMISPHERE 



HEMP NETTLE 



form a rostrum or beak which is 

 used for piercing and sucking ; none 

 of them passes through a quiescent 

 pupal stage. As a general rule they 

 have four wings, the fore ones more 

 or less horny. See Insect. 



Hemisphere (Gr. hemi, half : 

 sphaira, a globo). Half of the globe- 

 All great circles divide the world 

 into hemispheres, but maps in 

 common use only depict hemi- 

 spheres in two ways. The equator 

 divides the world into the N. and 

 S. hemispheres. The world is also 

 divided into the E. and W. hemi- 

 spheres, the latter containing N. 

 and S. America,the former the other 

 continents. The great circle made 

 of the meridians 20 W. and 160 E. 

 is usually taken as the boundary 

 line between these hemispheres. 

 See Earth ; Equator. 



Hemlock (Conium maculatum). 

 Biennial herb of the natural order 

 Umbelliferae. A native of Europe, 

 N. Africa, N. and W. Asia, it has 

 a stout, furrowed stem, spotted 

 with purple and is 2ft. to 4 ft. high. 



Hemlock. Blowers of the poisonous 

 umbelliferous plant 



The leaves are wedge-shaped, finely 

 divided, fern-like ; flowers small, 

 white, in compound umbels. All 

 parts of the plant, but especially 

 the fruits, contain an oily, poisonous 

 fluid, the active principle of which 

 is alkaloid coniine. 



Cases of poisoning by conium 

 have occurred from mistaking the 

 leaves for parsley. The symptoms 

 are weakness and paralysis of the 

 muscles, the lower limbs being 

 first affected, and the action of the 

 poison gradually extending up- 

 wards. Eventually paralysis of 

 respiration occurs, and death en- 

 sues from asphyxia. This sequence 

 of events is described in the well- 

 known account of the death of 

 Socrates, who was condemned to 

 drink hemlock. The treatment is to 

 wash out the stomach, administer 

 stimulants, and perform artificial 

 respiration if necessary. 



Hemlock Spruce {Tsuga cana- 

 densis). Evergreen tree of the 

 natural order Coniferae A native 



Hemlock Spruce. Leaves and cones 

 of this N. American evergreen tree 



of N.E. America, it attains a height 

 of (50 ft. to 80 ft. The short narrow 

 leaves are green above and white 

 beneath, solitary, in two irregular 

 ranks; the cones small and oval, 

 hanging down from the tips of the 

 branches, with semicircular scales. 

 It is a timber tree, and the bark is 

 used for tanning. 



Hemp. Commercially, a general 

 name for textile fibres produced by 

 a number of unrelated plants, but 

 originally restricted to those ob- 

 tained from the annual herb hemp. 

 (See Cannabis. ) African bow- 

 string hemp is yielded by Sanse- 

 vieria guineensis ; Indian bow 

 string hemp by Calotropis gigantea , 

 Bengal, Bombay, Madras, Brown, 

 and Sunn hemps by Crotalaria 

 juncea ; Jubbulpore hemp by Crota- 

 laria tenui folia ; Indian hemp by 

 Apocynum cannabinum ; brown In- 

 dian hemp by Hibiscus cannabinus ; 

 Manila hemp by Musa textilis ; and 

 Sisal hemp by Agave sisalana. 



True hemp (Cannabis saliva) is 

 little grown in the U.K. ; before 

 the Great War the British imports 

 of its fibres were valued at 3 or 

 4 million per year. It was widely 

 cultivated in Russia and Poland, 

 but the best quality came from 

 Italy. Most of this is used in the 

 production of strong ropes and 

 twines, and woven into wear- 

 resisting wrappers, conveyer belts, 

 sail-cloth, and fire-hose. Before the 

 introduction of the cheaper jute 

 (Corchorus) early in the 19th cent., 

 hemp was used largely for making 

 sacks, canvas, etc. Hemp is used 

 as a drug or intoxicant under the 

 names of bhang, ganja, and charas. 

 Hashish is the Arabic name given 

 to a preparation of the leaves. The 

 plant has valuable medicinal pro- 

 perties, and has been widely used 

 in the East. 



To discourage branching and pro- 

 duce the maximum length of fibre, 

 the plants are grown, like 

 timber and corn, in close rows. 

 When the ripe stems are pulled 

 they are made into bundles and 

 subjected to processes of retting, 



bleaching, and scutching, such as 

 are applied to flax (q.v.). Hemp 

 grows best in cool climates, and 

 prefers a moist, rich, well-drained 

 loam. Where both seed and fibre 

 are required, from 2 to 2 bushels 

 of seed are drilled to the acre, 

 which yields from 20 to 25 bushels 

 of seed and 2 to 3 tons of stems 

 equal to 6 to 8 cwts. of fibre. Male 

 plants are pulled as soon as the 

 flowers wither, but the females are 

 left, of course, until the seeds are 

 ripe. The name, in A.S. henep, 

 is connected with Gr. and Lat. 

 cannabis. See Cannabis ; Rope. 



Hemp Agrimony OR BLACK 

 ELDER (Eupatorium cannabinum). 

 Perennial herb of the natural order 

 Compositae. It is a native of Eu- 

 rope, N. Africa, and N. and W. Asia. 



Hemp Agrimony. Leaves and flowers 

 of the perennial herb 



It has a branching stem about 4 ft. 

 high, and the leaves are divided 

 into three or five lance-shaped 

 toothed leaflets. It is one of the 

 simplest of the Composite flowers, 

 each head consisting of five or six 

 pale purple florets, but the heads 

 are gathered into large clusters. 

 The florets are all tubular. A re- 

 putedly tonic decoction is made of 

 the leaves. 



Hemp Nettle (Galeopsis tetra- 

 hil). Annual herb of the natural 

 order Labiatae. It is a native of 

 Europe and N. and W. Asia. It 

 has a bristly stem, with swollen 



Hemp Nettle. Foliage and flowers 

 of the annual herb 



