u 



I1YDHA HVDUAl I.K S 



eilriMlnl la-* djminkxis, Uutt, in ITGti, they 

 eontainrd 70,000 square wiles, and uftnrdrd un iiu- 

 Mttte UiisnSM- His reign was passed in WUIN with 

 tbe Kngifefe and with the Mulirattas, the fonntr of 

 wfaidi powers excited his peculiar jealousy. A in at y 

 which he made with the East India company, in 17<3!>, 

 was violated in 1780, and he was opposed with suc- 

 ceas in the field by Uie English general, Sir Eyre 

 Coote. '1 he Mahraltas joining in a league against 

 Kt t he carried on a disadvantageous war, (luring 

 the continuance of which he died, in 1782. For nn 

 account of the subsequent fate of his empire, see 

 Tiffoo Sdib. 



IIYDRA; in fabulous history, a celebrated mon- 

 ster, which infested the neighbourhood of the lake 

 Lenta in the Peloponnesus. It was Uie fruit of 

 \ -!i:.in;i'- un.oii \\uii Tji'linii. It had a hundred 

 beads according to Diodorus, fifty according to Si- 

 monides, and nine according to Apollodorus, Hygi- 

 nus, &c. The central head was immortal. As soon 

 as one of those heads was cut oft', two immediately 

 grew up, if the wound was not stopped by fire. It 

 was one of Uie labours of Hercules to destroy this 

 dreadful monster, and this he easily effected with the 

 assistance of lolaus, who applied a burning iron to 

 the wounds as soon as one head was cut off. The 

 central head the conqueror buried in the earth, and 

 covered wiUi a piece of rock. While Hercules was 

 destroying Uie hydra, Juno, jealous of his glory, sent 

 a sea-crab to bite his foot. This new enemy was 

 soon despatched, ami Juno, unable to succeed in her 

 attempts to lessen Uie fame of Hercules, placed the 

 crab among the constellations, where it is now called 

 the Cancer. The conqueror dipped his arrows in the 

 gall of the hydra. From that circumstance all the 

 wounds which he gave proved incurable and mortal. 

 Some writers consider this fable as a symbolical re- 

 presentation of the clearing and draining of the Pelo- 

 ponnesus by the first authors of civilization. 



HYDRA, the centre of the Greek maritime trade, 

 and the palladium of Greek independence, with the 

 neighbouring Spezzia, is situated south-east of the 

 Peloponnesus, between two and three leagues from 

 the coast, and is guarded by steep rocks and batteries 

 from Uie attacks of an enemy ; so that vessels in the 

 port are in no danger but from fire-ships. Spezzia, on 

 the contrary, is unprotected, and its inhabitants at 

 the approach of au enemy, flee for shelter to Hydra. 

 The two islands together contain about eighty-five 

 square miles and 40,000 inhabitants, although with- 

 out springs, herds, or agriculture. They subsist by 

 navigation and trade. The city of Hydra, contain- 

 ing 30,000 inhabitants, rises like an amphitheatre 

 over Uie harbour. The houses are very beautiful, 

 and adorned with modern works of art in marble. In 

 the interior, Uiey are very neat and tasteful. A 

 natural grace shows itself even in the dress of the 

 sailors. The ladies live very retired, in the bosom of 

 their families. The first inhabitants of Hydra and 

 Spezzia were of Albanian descent. They differ in 

 their Arnaout dialect, as well as in their cliaracter, 

 dress, and manners, from the Romaics or modern 

 Greeks. When the Russians, in the war of 1774, 

 evacuated the Morea, many of the Peloponnesians 

 fled with Uieir property from the vengeance of the 

 Turks to the rocks of Hydra. They now built greater 

 Teasels, and undertook more distant voyages, espe- 

 cially since France, in consequence of Uie war of 

 1792, was obliged to give up its trade to the Levant. 

 These modem Argonauts were seen in every harbour 

 of Italy, France. Spain, the Baltic, and even Ame- 

 rica. In Marseilles, they exchanged the Greek corn 

 for the cloths and silks of Lyons. As bold as they 

 were dexterous, they escaped the British cruisers, 

 and safely entered blockaded harbours, and gained 



large profits in this wy; so that Uiey were enabled. 

 l>y the extension of their trade, to establish nirrr.ni 

 Uie houses in Uie first cities of Europe, before 1810. 

 They equipped their vessels with cannon to secure 

 Uiem against the Algerineeorsairs. Accustomed from 

 youth to great activity, to moderation, and the dan- 

 gers of a sea life, the Hydriots and the oilier island- 

 ers of the Archipelago are the boldest and the most 

 active sailors in the Mediterranean. Commerce has 

 not merely filled their purses ; it has also enlightened 

 their minds. Besides the common schools, Hydra 

 has erected, within thirty years, an institution for the 

 cultivation of classical literature, and the Italian and 

 French languages. The rich Hydriots, the Sciots, and 

 others, encouraged the translation and publication of 

 books in foreign languages. They sent their sons to 

 the best schools in Germany, France, and Italy. 

 Thus they became acquainted with the sciences, and 

 acquired a taste for the arts ; their manners were re- 

 fined, and they were enabled to establish, on their 

 return, good seminaries of learning. The late war 

 exhausted their wealth, and caused a total stagnation 

 of their trade. Scarcely were the magistrates able 

 to defray the expenses of the sailors and vessels. Or. 

 this account, they have, in times of danger, contem- 

 plated leaving their country, taking with them their 

 families and property. The restoration of peace, we 

 trust, will restore their ancient prosperity. 



HYDRANGEA; a genus of plants, including three 

 or four shrubs, having somewhat of the general ap- 

 pearance of the gelder-rose or viburnum, but differing 

 in the structure of the flowers. All the species are, 

 in their wild state, exclusively confined to the United 

 States of America, but they are frequently cultivated 

 in the European gardens, for ornament. The H. 

 vulguris grows on the Alleghanies, and in other parts 

 of the Union, but not north of Philadelphia, in the 

 AUantic states. The H. nivea, a more ornamental 

 shrub than the preceding, and differing by the white 

 inferior surface of the leaves, and the large size of 

 the marginal flowers, seems to be more exclusively 

 confined to the region about the southern portion of 

 the Alleghanies, extending, however, as far north as 

 Pennsylvania. The H. quercifolia, distinguished by 

 its lobate leaves, inhabits the country bordering oiv 

 the gulf of Mexico, and is not unfrequently cultivated 

 in our own gardens. The hortensia or Japan rose, a 

 plant closely allied to the preceding genus, and even 

 united with it by some authors, is more frequent with 

 us, and has very commonly usurped the name of 

 hydrangea. This plant is a general favourite in China 

 and Japan, the countries from which it was original- 

 ly brought ; aiid, indeed, the fine corymbs of large 

 rose-coloured flowers, which retain their freshness tor 

 a long time, and succeed each other throughout the 

 whole season, added to the ease of cultivation, afford 

 well founded claims for distinction. The fruit is yet 

 unknown, the large flowers, so much resembling those 

 of the snow-ball tree, being constantly barren. 



HYDRAULICON (water-organ), in music; an 

 instrument acted upon by water, the invention of 

 which is said to be of higher antiquity than that of 

 the wind organ. 



HYDRODYNAMICS treats of the state and 

 forces of liquids, at rest or in motion. The name is 

 derived from Llu^, water, and luia.^:, force. It is 

 divided into hydrostatics and hydraulics. 



Hydrostatics (from uStig, water, and ffraTimi, 

 the science of bodies at rest) is the science which 

 treats of the weight, pressure, and equilibrium of 

 liquid fluids. The particles in liquids are freely 

 movable among each other, so as to yield to the 

 least disturbing force; but though it was formerly 

 believed that the liquid fluids are incompressible, 

 recent experiments have shown that they may be 



