HICHENS 



2792 



HIEROGLYPHICS 



though an attack may be brought on by a vio- 

 lent fit of laughter. Hiccough sometimes ac- 

 companies pneumonia, peritonitis, appendicitis 

 and typhoid fever, and in these diseases it is 

 regarded as an alarming symptom. 



Ordinary attacks of hiccough may be stopped 

 by a long, slow intaking of the breath, after 

 which the breath should be held as long as 

 possible. Frequently a case is relieved by a 

 drink of water. Some persons can stop an 

 attack by running the tongue far out of the 

 mouth and keeping it out for two or three 

 minutes. Ammonia, camphor or musk will 

 be found helpful in relieving more stubborn 

 cases, but if the attack is long continued it 

 may be necessary to administer a general 

 anaesthetic. See DIAPHRAGM. J.H.K. 



HICHENS, hitch' enz, ROBERT SMYTHE (1864- 

 ), an English novelist whose best-known 

 story, The Garden of Allah, was converted into 

 an elaborate play which met with considerable 

 success. Another story, Bella Donna, was 

 dramatized for Madame Nazimova. Hichens 

 was born at Speldhurst in Kent, and was edu- 

 cated at Clifton College, the Royal College of 

 Music and the London School of Journalism. 

 Among his novels, besides those mentioned, 

 are Green Carnation, Flames, Felix, The 

 Dweller on the Threshold and The Way of 

 Ambition. He also assisted in writing the play 

 Becky Sharp, in which Mrs. Fiske was starred. 

 In 1914 his Spell of the Holy Land was pub- 

 lished. 



HICKORY, hik'eri, the name given to sev- 

 eral species of trees found only in North 

 America, and until recently regarded as be- 

 longing to the same family as the walnut. 

 The hickories are trees of beauty, and their 

 timber is highly valued, for they grow to a 

 height of seventy to ninety feet, and the wood 

 is very heavy, strong and elastic. It is exten- 

 sively used in the manufacture of cask hoops, 

 ax handles, chair backs, axletrees, carriage 

 shafts, handles of golf clubs and other imple- 

 ments where great strength and elasticity are 

 required. The chief disadvantages of the tim- 

 ber are its rapid decay, caused by exposure, 

 and its liability to destruction by worms. 

 Hickory is highly esteemed as fuel, because it 

 develops more heat than most other woods, 

 and also for the high quality of charcoal which 

 can be made from it. Bacon and ham cured 

 by hickory smoke are said to possess finer 

 flavor than any other smoke can give. 



In forests, hickory trees grow to a height of 

 fifty or sixty feet before branches appear, but 



in open spaces they may grow widely-spreading 

 limbs. The fruit is a hard-shelled nut, grown 

 in a husk which divides into fou*. parts. The 

 nuts of some species have a very delicate 



HICKORY 



The form of the tree, as seen in winter ; the 

 appearance of leaves ; the nut in its case and out, 

 and a cross section of it. 



flavor, while others are quite bitter. The edible 

 ' nuts provided by the species known as white 

 hickory are greatly appreciated in America and 

 are exported in large quantities. 



HIERARCHY, hi'erahrki, from the Greek 

 words, hieros, meaning sacred, and arche, which 

 means government, is a term used by religious 

 writers to describe the whole governing and 

 ministering body of the Church. The word, in 

 its strict sense, can be applied only to those 

 Churches which are governed by prelates, such 

 as the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches. 

 The term has two divisions, order and juris- 

 diction. The first embraces all the various 

 classes of ministers who direct public worship, 

 administer the sacraments and perform the 

 other duties of their calling, whether estab- 

 lished by divine or by religious authority. The 

 hierarchy of jurisdiction deals directly with 

 the government of the Church and, beginning 

 with the Pope, comprises all degrees of religious 

 authority. 



HIEROGLYPHICS, hier o glif'iks, or HI- 

 EROGLYPHS, from Greek words meaning 

 sacred and carve. It was applied by the Greeks 

 to the symbols carved by the Egyptians on their 

 monuments, and in more modern times is 

 generally used to describe any form of picture- 

 writing, particularly that of the Aztecs and 

 the early American Indians. The hieroglyphics 

 of the Egyptians, .called sacred because the 



