II UTTON H Y ACINT II US. 



11 



on mathematical and philosophical subjects. He 

 died January 27, 1823, in the eighty-sixth year of 

 his age. 



H UTTON, JAMES ; a natural philosopher, distin- 

 guished as the author of a system of geology, which 

 refers the structure of the solid parts of the earth to 

 the action of fire, hence termed the Plutonian 

 theory. He was born at Edinburgh, in 1726, and 

 studied in the university under Maclaurin, the cele- 

 brated mathematician. He also applied himself to 

 chemistry, and went to Leyden, where he graduated 

 as M. D., in 1749. About 1768, lie settled at Edin- 

 burgh, where he published numerous works relating 

 to natural philosophy, among which are, Disserta- 

 tions on different Subjects in Natural Philosophy 

 (Edinburgh, 1792, 4to), an Investigation of the 

 Principles of Knowledge, and of the Progress of 

 Reason from Sense to Science and Philosophy (Edin- 

 burgh, 1794, 3 vols., 4to), Theory of the Earth, 

 with Proofs and Illustrations, in four parts (Edin- 

 burgh, 1795, 2 vols., 8vo). His death took place in 

 1797. The geological system, or theory of the 

 earth, proposed by this philosopher, excited a warm 

 controversy among men of science, and met with an 

 advocate in the late professor Playfair, who, in 1802, 

 published a work entitled Illustrations of the Hut- 

 tonian Theory of the Earth. 



HUUS (house, dwelling); a Danish and Norwegian 

 correlative of the German haus, and English house, 

 appearing in many geographical names. 



HUY'GENS, CHRISTIAN (or, as it was sometimes 

 written, Huyghens), distinguished for his researches 

 and discoveries in the departments of mathematics, 

 physics, and astronomy, son of Constantine Huygens, 

 A poet, was born in 1629, at the Hague. He accom- 

 panied Henry, count of Nassau, in 1649, to Holstein 

 and Denmark. He afterwards travelled in France 

 and England, and lived at Paris, from 1666 to 1681, 

 with a pension from the king of France. To him is 

 generally ascribed, on the European continent, the 

 application of the pendulum to clocks (1656), by 

 which lie was led to the discovery of evolutes. The 

 English attribute the invention of the pendulum 

 clock to Hooke. Huygens treats of these subjects 

 in iiis principal work, Horologium oscillatorium, &c. 

 (Paris, 1673, fol.), which also contains a complete 

 treatise on the properties of the cycloid, connected 

 with his theory of pendulum clocks and evolutions. 

 This, and other geometrical discoveries, he applied 

 with great success to mechanics. He investigated 

 the laws of the motion of heavy bodies in a given 

 path. He discovered, in 1661, simultaneously with 

 Wallis and Wren, the laws of the communication of 

 motion, by impact, and proposed the theory of oscil- 

 latory motion, in which he solved the problem of the 

 centre of oscillation, and the laws of the central 

 forces. To him is, moreover, ascribed the discovery 

 of the principles more fully developed by James 

 Bernoulli, of the preservation of living forces. He 

 was not less distinguished in optics, and he gave a 

 physico-mathematical theory of the motion of light, 

 by which he attempted to explain the strength and 

 liveliness of light. He also acquired a high reputa- 

 tion in astronomy, by establishing many fundamental 

 truths ; lie examined more minutely, with telescopes 

 improved by himself, in 1655, the form and ring of 

 Saturn, and discovered the four satellites of this 

 planet, &c. His works have appeared in three col- 

 lections Huygenii Opusc. Postlwma (Leyden, 

 1707); Opera varia ed. J.4. s' Gravesande, with the 

 Life of Huygens (Leyden, 1724,4 parts); and, finally, 

 Opera reliyua, &c. (Amsterdam, 1728, 2 vols. 4to). 

 Jurisprudence, which he studied at Leyden, he aban- 

 doned from a greater inclination for the mathematical 

 ami natural sciences, for the study of which he tra- 



velled much. He devoted his life to science, and 

 resided partly in Paris, partly at the Hague. At the 

 latter place he died, in 1695. See his Life prefixed 

 to the edition of his works, by s'Gravesande, and in 

 Montucla's Hist, des Math., 2d vol., p. 415. 



HUYSUM, JOHN VAN, the most distinguished 

 flower and fruit painter of modern times, was born at 

 Amsterdam, in 1682. He surpassed his predecessors 

 in softness and freshness, in delicacy and vivacity of 

 colour, in fineness of pencilling, in the disposition of 

 light, and in exquisite finish. . His father, Justus 

 Huysum, a picture dealer and a painter of moderate 

 merit, at first employed him in all brandies of paint- 

 ing; but young Huysum, at a maturer age, felt a 

 decided inclination tor the representation of the pro- 

 ductions of the vegetable kingdom. He therefore 

 separated from his father, and married about 1705. 

 In landscape painting, he followed the manner of 

 Nicholas Piemont, a much esteemed painter in Hol- 

 land. But he reached the highest perfection in 

 flower and fruit pieces. He knew how to penetrate 

 the secrets of nature, to seize the transitory blossom 

 in its most perfect state, and to represent it with 

 enchanting truth and variety of colours. He was the 

 first who had the idea of painting flowers on a white 

 ground. He was so jealous of rivalry, that he per- 

 mitted no one to see him at work, nor would he take 

 any pupils, except his brother Michael and the 

 daughter of a friend. His flowers have more truth 

 and beauty than his fruits ; the drops of dew and in- 

 sects which he painted on them are like real life. 

 Unhappy domestic circumstances, particularly the lev- 

 ity and prodigality of his wife, and the bad conduct 

 of his son, rendered him melancholy ; yet his works 

 show no traces of this turn of mind. He died at 

 Amsterdam, 1749, without leaving a fortune to his 

 three sons, though his pictures sold for 1000 to 1400 

 florins. His brother Justus was a battle painter, 

 and died at the age of twenty-two years. The third, 

 James, copied his brother's flower and fruit pieces so 

 perfectly, that they brought a very high price. He 

 died in England, in 1740. 



HYACINTH. The numerous and splendid varie- 

 ties of the garden hyacinth (hyacinthus Orientalis) 

 have always been general favourites, and in some 

 countries, the fondness for this plant amounts to a 

 complete mania. In Holland, upwards of 2000 

 varieties have received distinct names, recognised by 

 the different florists, and the price of 1000 florins 

 has been paid for a single plant. (See Flower- 

 Trade.') The environs of some of the Dutch towns 

 astonish the traveller, from the gorgeous appearance 

 produced by the vast profusion of these flowers. 

 The wild plant is a native of the Levant, and has a 

 bulbous root, from which rise a few linear lanceolate 

 leaves and a leafless stem, bearing six or eight bell- 

 shaped flowers, of a blue or white colour. The cul- 

 tivated double varieties have very graceful forms and 

 a remarkable diversity of colour. The natural affi- 

 nities of this plant place it in the same family with the 

 squill and onion. All the species of hyacinth are 

 natives of Europe. 



HYACINTH, in mineralogy. See Zircon. 



HYACINTHUS ; in heathen mythology a son of 

 Amyclas and Diomede, greatly beloved by Apollo 

 and Zephyrus. He returned the former's love, and 

 Zephyrus, incensed at his coldness and indifference, 

 resolved to punish his rival. As Apollo, who was 

 intrusted with the education of Hyacinthus, once 

 played at quoits with his pupil, Zephyrus blew the 

 quoit, as soon as it was thrown by Apollo, upon the 

 head of Hyacinthus, and he was killed with the blow. 

 Apollo was so disconsolate at the death of Hyacin- 

 thus, that he changed his blood into a flower which 

 bore his name, and placed bis body among the con 



