HERALDS' COLLEGE 



HERBACEOUS PLANTS 



The use of supporters came in 

 fairly late ; they were a matter of 

 accidental growth, mere external 

 ornamentations, but speedily re- 

 cognized as of value in denoting 

 alliance and territorial dominion. 

 For very long they were only par- 

 tially admitted as hereditary. 

 Regal heraldry, both British and 

 Continental, shows an extraordin- 

 ary gallery of supporters used by 

 succeeding sovereigns, one king 

 often employing three or four, 

 differing from those of his prede- 

 cessor, though usually referring to 

 some matrimonial or other alliance. 



In later practice supporters are 

 supposed to be borne only by 

 sovereigns, princes, peers and their 

 eldest sons, and those enjoying 

 the right by special grant a form 

 of augmentation. But some old 

 families lay claim to them by pre- 

 scriptive right, and the baronets of 

 Nova Scotia long asserted as a 

 special privilege attaching to their 

 rank the right to use supporters. 

 From the 16th century onwards 

 English heralds made it common 

 form to grant supporters in con- 

 nexion with arms of community, 

 particularly those given to craft 

 guilds and chartered companies. 

 Differing Practices 



Heraldic practice differs in many 

 details in most countries. Thus the 

 methods of differencing arms for 

 cadency in England and Scotland 

 are very dissimilar, and each varies 

 from Continental rules. Ideas as 

 to tinctures and the charging of 

 charges also vary. The style of 

 art is also largely influenced by 

 locality. 



Many of the rules mentioned 

 above, and others too technical to 

 be given here, were undoubtedly 

 useful in preventing confusion and 

 making intelligent record possible. 

 Unfortunately the multiplication of 

 rules begat a race of uninspired 

 heralds who blazoned by rule of 

 thumb and thought that piling on 

 of detail and over-elaboration in 

 marshalling tended to increase 

 dignity, though it really detracted 

 from noble simplicity and led to a 

 succession of worthless follies. 



Heraldry meant much in the 

 days when armorial bearings and 

 other heraldic insignia appeared 

 on signets and more formal seals, 

 glittered in jewelled glass windows, 

 glowed on tapestried or painted 

 walls, even on personal garments, 

 marked the possession of treasured 

 books, and told graphically on the 

 illuminated genealogical scroll or 

 spreading family tree the story of 

 cherished alliances. It played a 

 useful part, appreciated by his- 

 torian and antiquary and no less 

 by the artist. Employed with dis- 

 cretion, it still fills a place, as 



helpful to the family annalist as 

 it is to the decorative artist of 

 sound taste. 



Bibliography. A Complete Body 

 of Heraldry, J. Edmondson, 1780; 

 Dictionary of Coats of Arms, J. W. 

 Papworth, 1874; General Armory, 

 Sir J. B. Burke, 1883; A Treatise on 

 Heraldry, J. Woodward, 1896; Eng- 

 lish Heraldry, C. Bontell, 6th ed. 

 1899; Peeps at Heraldry, P. Allen, 

 1912; The Book of Public Arms, 

 A. C. Fox Davies, 1915; A B C of 

 Heraldry, G. C. Rothery, 1915. 



Heralds' College. British cor- 

 poration for the regulation of all 

 matters connected with heraldry. 

 See College of Arms. 



Herat. City of Afghanistan, 

 sometimes called the key of India 

 from its strategic position. It is 

 the capital of the wHHKmBI^^B 

 prov. of the same | 

 name, and is 

 situated on the 1 

 Hari Rud, at an I 

 alt. of 3,000 ft., ! 

 about 400 m. 

 almost due W. of 

 Kabul, and 60 m. 

 E. of the Russian 

 and Persian fron- 

 tiers. Founded 

 by Alexander the 

 Great, it ii 

 great centre of 

 roads. It stands 

 in a beautiful and 

 very fertile dis- 

 trict, and manu- 

 factures fine carpets and silks. 

 Pop. 40,000. 



Herault. River of France. 

 Rising on the slopes of Mont 

 Aigonal, in the Cevennes, it flows 

 first S. and then S.W. along the 

 foot of the S. buttress of these 

 mts., and issues into the Gulf of 

 Lyons near Agde. The chief towns 

 on its banks are Valleraugue (Gard 

 dept.), Aniane, Gignac (Herault 

 dept.). Length, 78 m. 



Herault. Maritime dept. of 

 France. It adjoins the depts. of 

 Aude, Tarn, Aveyron, and Gard, 

 and its coast, consisting chiefly of a 

 string of sandy lagoons (etangs), 

 is on the N. W. of the Gulf of Lyons. 

 It thus formed part of the old 

 prov. of Languedoc. Towards the 

 sea the ground slopes gently, but 

 in the N.W. rise the Monts de 

 1'Espinouse and Monts Garrigues, 

 the southern flanks of the Cevennes. 

 The principal rivers are the Herault 

 and Orb; part of the Canal des 

 Etangs runs through the dept. from 

 Aigues Mortes (Gard) to Cette, 

 the Canal du Midi continuing to 

 Agde, Beziers, and into the dept. 

 of Aude. 



The vineyards are the most im- 

 portant commercial feature of 

 Herault, and there are several im- 

 portant mineral workings, e.y. 



copper, lead, and building stone. 

 Salt is produced from the neigh- 

 bourhood of the lagoons, and 

 Cette has a large fishing fleet. 

 The most important towns are 

 the capital, Montpellier, Lodere, 

 Bedarieux, Pezenas, Ganges, and 

 Frontignan. Its area is 2,402 

 sq. m. 



Herb. Plant whose stem, from 

 the absence of woody tissue, dies to 

 the ground annually. Herbs, how- 

 ever, may be annual, biennial, or 

 perennial in duration. Annuals 

 spring from the seed, flower, fruit, 

 and die all within one season. 

 Biennials during their first season 

 accumulate a store of food in an 

 underground rootstock which is 

 expended the second season in the 



Herat, Afg 



The old citadel 

 city walls 



from the 



production of an aerial stem, flowers 

 and fruit ; then they die. Peren- 

 nials produce annual stems hi 

 succession during an indefinite 

 number of years, such stems dying 

 in autumn after their valuable 

 contents have been withdrawn into 

 an underground rootstock, tuber, 

 bulb, or corm. The word is also 

 used, in the plural, by gardeners 

 to indicate those plants, whether 

 herbs or shrubs botanically, which 

 are employed for flavouring in 

 cookery, such as horehound, mint, 

 parsley , rue, sage, tansy, and thyme. 

 A herbalist is one who deals in 

 herbs, especially those useful for 

 medicinal purposes. Before the 

 medical profession reached its 

 present ubiquity, many persons 

 resorted to herbalists in cases of 

 illness. A herbal is a book in which 

 plants and names are described. 

 See Botany. 



Herbaceous Plants. Plants 

 wholly of soft material, without 

 woody stems. They are either 

 annual, produced from seed and 

 dying within the same year ; bien- 

 nial, produced from seed one year 

 and dying the next ; or perennial, 

 when the rootstock survives in the 

 ground, while the season's growth 

 dies down before the winter. See 

 Gardening. 



