HOG 



iioa 



by muriatic acid, and, when pure, is 

 crystallized in sillvy needles. It is 

 slightly bitter, solui)le in bot water 

 and alcohol. The formula is NCis 

 Hg O5 -\- Aq. for the ciystals. It is 

 converted by heat into benzoic acid, 

 ammonia, and prussic acid. Any quan- 

 tity of this acid can be formed by ta- 

 king doses of benzoic acid, which be- 

 comes transformed into hippuric. Its 

 compounds with bases are called hip- 

 ■purates. 



HIRCIN. The fluid fat separable 

 from suet, which gives it the peculiar 

 odour resembling the smell of goats. 

 By saponifying, hircic acid may be ob- 

 tained. 



HIRSUTE. 



HIRUDIN.^ 



HIRUxNDO. 

 lows. 



HISPID. Set with minute spines, 

 or stiff bristles. 



HISTER, HISTERID-E. A fam- 

 ily of coleopterous insects with five 

 joints on each tarsus, and belonging 

 to the section of Claviconies. They 



Fis- I. 



Set with stiff hairs. 

 . The tribe of leeches. 

 The genus of swal- 



^ 



are peculiar from the quickness with 

 which they feign death when in dan- 

 ger. 



HIVES. See Beehives. 



H O A R F R O S T. Erost attended 

 with the precipitation of much watery 

 vapour. 



HOARY. In descriptive botany, 

 covered with short hairs, so as to have 

 a white or frosted appearance. 



HOE, HAND. The practice of hoe- 

 ing, though laborious, is eminently 

 useful in pulverizing the soil, admit- 

 ting air, warmth, and dew. Soils, 

 well broken and rendered fine, are 

 very much more fertile than when al- 

 lowed to bake and become hard. Land 

 should be hoed when hard and par- 

 tially dry, especially about young 

 plants. The figure of the hoe is al- 

 tered to suit different tillage. The 

 common hoe and grubbing hoe are 

 familiarly known. Fig. 1 represents 

 the head of the Spanish hoe for weed- 

 ing. Fig. 2 is the thrust hoe, for the 

 same purpose. Fig. 3 is a useful com- 

 pound hoe, the fork of which may be 



Fig- 3. 



used first on stiff lands, and the blade 



afterward. Some hoes, for weeding 



small plants, are made with the blade 



O cut into two or more 



1 teeth : they enable the 



/\/\ gardener to scrape the 



y V \J earth about young plants 



very effectively. 



HOG. "The hog is one of the do- 

 mestic animals which is most widely 

 dispersed through the world, and 

 yields to no other in its usefulness. 

 It lives and thrives on every kind of 

 food, vegetable or animal. It grazes 

 like the ox, and will even eat hay ; 

 and its stomach can digest what few 

 other animals could swallow with im- 

 puiiily. The sow bears two litters 

 in the year, having from eight to | 

 twelve, and even sometimes eighteen | 

 or twenty young at a time. No ani- j 



mal converts a given quantity of corn 

 or other nutritive food so soon into 

 fat, or can be made fat on so great a 

 variety of food. 



"The food of the hog in a wild state 

 is grass, roots, acorns, beach-mast, 

 and wild fruits. 



"There are many varieties of the 

 domestic hog. The brindle hog most 

 nearly resembles the wild species ; 

 but although the flesh is savoury, he 

 does not fatten so soon, nor is he so 

 profitable as the more indolent and 

 softer-skinned sorts are. The great 

 quality of a hog is his power of di- 

 gestion ; the more rapidly he fattens, 

 and the earlier he can be made to in- 

 crease in flesh without increasing in 

 bone, the better is the breed. Some 

 of the small hogs which are brought 

 from China are remarkable for this 



369 



