C66 



HECATOMB HEDGEHOG. 



prayed particularly for her aid. Sacrifices used to 

 be offered to her, at places where three ways met, 

 especially dogs. Her mysterious festivals were cele- 

 brated annually at ^Egina. Her appearance was 

 frightful. She had serpents' feet, and serpents hung 

 hissing around her neck and shoulders. In reference 

 to her threefold relations, she was painted with three 

 faces or three heads ; hence called Triformis. With 

 the progress of the fine arts, she was represented only 

 with the three faces of the virgin Diana. Various 

 figures of her are found on gems. 



HECATOMB (from the Greek Uarov, a hundred, 

 /3/f, oxen) ; at first, signifying a sacrifice of a hun- 

 dred beasts of any sort. Thus Homer speaks of a 

 hecatomb of lambs. Some explain the word as a 

 poetical figure, denoting, in general, a sacrifice of 

 many victims. 



HECKEWELDER, JOHN, reverend, was born in 

 Bedford, England, March 12, 1743. His father, a 

 member of the society of United Brethren at Herrn- 

 hut, went to England, in the prosecution of plans for 

 communicating the gospel to heathen nations, and, in 

 1754, removed to Pennsylvania, with his family. At 

 tliat time, John was in his twelfth year, and had 

 been brought up to the trade of a cooper and joiner. 

 When but nineteen, he accompanied Mr Post in the 

 perilous expedition upon which he was sent, by the 

 government of Pennsylvania, to attempt to conciliate 

 the hostile Indian tribes on the Ohio (in 1762). The 

 interest he took in the aboriginals was great, and this 

 expedition made them the principal object of his 

 thoughts. In the year 1771, he entered among them 

 as a missionary, and for a long series of years, devot- 

 ed himself entirely to that benevolent, and, at the 

 time, dangerous calling. In common with his 

 brethren, he suffered all the horrors which the revo- 

 lutionary war entailed upon the Christian Indian 

 flock, and which almost annihilated the fruit of forty 

 years' labours. Until the year 1786, he followed 

 the wrecks of that once flourishing community, and 

 then returned to Bethlehem, in Pennsylvania. He had 

 acquired during this period, a perfect knowledge of 

 the Delaware language, and an extensive acquain- 

 tance with Indian affairs generally. On that account, 

 he was several times requested by president Washing- 

 ton to accompany missions to the western Indians, to 

 induce them to adopt pacific measures. In 1797, 

 he went to reside in Ohio, in order to superintend 

 the management of the lands granted by congress on 

 the Muskingum, to the remnants of his former Indian 

 congregation. There he remained until 1810, when 

 he finally took up his residence at Bethlehem. He 

 wrote a Narrative of the Mission of the United 

 Brethren among the Delaware and Mohegan Indians, 

 and contributed largely to the first volume of the 

 Transactions of the Historical and Literary commit- 

 tee of the American Philosophical Society, of which 

 he was a member. Many manuscripts of his are 

 now in the possession of that society, and some of 

 them are soon to be published. He also wrote 

 several pamphlets and books in the German lan- 

 guage. He died in 1823. 



HECLA ; a volcanic mountain, about 5000 feet 

 high, in the south-western part of Iceland. At the 

 foot of the mountain is the river Wester Rangaa, the bed 

 of which consists of large masses of lava. The nearest 

 inhabited place is the farm Naifurholt. Hecla has 

 three summits, of which the central is the highest. 

 The whole consists of volcanic masses, loose grit 

 and ashes. The crater is not much above 100 feet 

 deep. Since 1004, twenty-four eruptions are said to 

 have taken place, of which the latest were those in 

 1766, in 1818, and in 1823. A hot vapour issues 

 from various small openings near the top ; and the 

 thermometer, which in the air stands below the freez- 



ing point, will rise, when set on the ground, to 120, 

 or even 150 degrees. Sir Joseph Banks visited the 

 mountain in 1772, and Sir George Mackenzie in 

 1810. From the summit there is an extensive view, 

 two-fifths of the island being visible, as the country 

 is level, except where ajocul, or glacier, intervenes. 

 See Iceland. 



HECTOR ; the son of Priam and Hecuba, the 

 bravest of the Trojans, whose forces he commanded. 

 His wife was Andromache, the daughter of Action, 

 king of Cilicia, by whom he had Astyanax or 

 Scamander, and, according to some, Laodamas and 

 Amphinous. His exploits are celebrated in the 

 Iliad. He encountered the Grecian heroes in battle, 

 and often gained advantages over them. His words 

 and example animated the Trojans with new courage 

 whenever their strength failed : in council, he recom- 

 mended perseverance, unity, and contempt of danger. 

 By his presence, Troy was invincible. But when he 

 had slain Patroclus, the friend of Achilles, the latter, 

 forgetting his dispute with Agamemnon, resumed his 

 arms to avenge the death of his beloved companion. 

 Pierced by the spear of Achilles, the body of Hector 

 was dragged at the chariot wheels of the conqueror, 

 and afterwards delivered to Priam for a ransom, 

 who gave it a solemn burial. Hector is, indisput- 

 ably, the finest hero in the Iliad. Inferior to no one in 

 valour, he fell by the hand of Achilles, not from 

 want of courage, but because he had entered the con- 

 test wearied with a protracted battle, and faint with 

 wounds, and trusting to the aid of Deiphobus, under 

 whose form Minerva deceived him. In humanity, 

 Hector stood alone. One of the finest episodes in the 

 Iliad, is the relation of his parting from Andromache, 

 where he expresses the best feelings of a prince, a 

 husband, and a father. 



HECUBA (Greek f Ex/3), a daughter of Dymas, 

 king of Thrace; according to some, of Cisseus, or of 

 the river Sanagrius and Metope. She was the second 

 wife of Priam, king of Troy, to whom she bore 

 Hector and Paris. While pregnant with the latttr, 

 she dreamed that she brought a torch into the world, 

 which consumed all Troy. The explanation of this 

 dream, given by the soothsayers, was that her son 

 should occasion the ruin of the kingdom. He was 

 consequently exposed, but miraculously rescued from 

 death. Hecuba afterwards became the mother of 

 Creusa, Laodice, Polixena, Cassandra, Deiphobus, 

 Helenus, Pammon, Polites, Antiplujs, Hipponous, 

 Polydorus, Troilus. After the conquest of Troy, 

 the unhappy princess fell to the share of Ulysses, as 

 a slave. Rendered desperate by this misfortune, 

 she exasperated the Greeks by her reproaches, and 

 was at last stoned to death by them. Under the 

 stones, instead of the body of Hecuba, was found 

 that of a dog. The old tragedians represent her on 

 the stage as a tender mother, a noble princess, and 

 a virtuous wife, subjected to the most cruel destiny. 



HEDGEHOG (erinaceus, Lin.). These quadru- 

 peds are distinguished by having the body covered 

 with spines, instead of hair. The skin of the back 

 is provided with muscles, which enable the animal 

 to roll itself up in the form of a ball. The tail is 

 very short, and the feet furnished with five toes. 

 There appear to be but two species well ascer- 

 tained ; ttie third, given by Desmarest, being founded 

 on a short description by Seba, which may possibly 

 belong to an animal of another genus. The best 

 known is the common hedgehog (E. Europeeus), a 

 native of most of the temperate parts of Europe and 

 Asia. This species has a Jong nose, the nostrils 

 bordered on each side by a loose flap ; the ears are 

 short, rounded, naked, and dusky ; the upper part of 

 the face, sides, and rump covered with strong, coarse 

 hair, of a yellowish ash colour, the back with sharp, 



