HER 



371 



HER 



HEPAT'IC, from fam{, belonging to the 

 liver. Applied to designate the liver colour, 

 and also as an anatomical epithet for 

 parts connected with the liver. Sulphur- 

 etted hydrogen gas has also been termed 

 hepatic air, from its being given off when 

 some sulphurets are thrown into water. 



HEFATISA'TION, from vfsrot^, the liver, 

 the conversion of any texture into a sub- 

 stance resembling liver. The term is 

 generally applied to the lungs. 



HEP'ATITE, from faa^, fetid heavy 

 spar. A variety of sulphate of barytes, 

 which when rubbed emits a sulphurous 

 smell, resembling that of sulphuretted 

 hydrogen (hepatic air). 



HEPATI'TIS, from r,xoc.$- An inflamma- 

 tion of the liver. 



HEPTACAPsuLAR,from nrr, seven, and 

 capsula, a cell ; seven-celled. A term in 

 botany. 



HEP'TACHORD, from vrrct, seven and 

 chord; a system of seven sounds. The 

 term is applied in ancient poetry to verses 

 sung or played on seven chords, or dif- 

 ferent notes, as on the harp when it had 

 but seven strings. The harp also has been 

 called a heptachord by poets. 



HEP'TAGON, from JTTC*, seven, and 

 ytniat, an angle. A figure having seven 

 equal sides, and as many equal angles. 



HEPTAG'ONAL NUMBERS, polygonal num- 

 bers, wherein the difference of the terms 

 of the corresponding arithmetical pro- 

 gression is five. f 



HEP'TAHEXAHE'DRAL, from ITT*, seven, 

 and hexahedral. Presenting seven ranges 

 of faces, one above another, each range 

 consisting of six faces. 



HEPTAM'DBIA, from Iwrce,, seven, and 

 !, a man. A class of plants character- 

 ised in the sexual system of Linnaeus by 

 hermaphrodite flowers, with seven dis- 

 tinct stamens. 



HEP'TARCHY, from iv-rot, seven, and 

 y^, rule. A sevenfold government; also 

 a country divided into seven governments, 

 as the Saxon Heptarchy, which compre- 

 hended the whole of England when sub- 

 ject to seven independent princes. These 

 kingdoms were Kent, the South Saxons 

 (Sussex), West Saxons, East Saxons (Es- 

 sex), the East Angles, Mercia and Nor- 

 thumberland. 



HERAC'LEONITES, an early sect of heretics 

 who rejected all the ancient prophecies, 

 and regarded themselves as superior to 

 the Apostles: so called from Heracleon. 



HER'ALD, Ger. herold. An officer at 

 arms, whose business it is to denounce 

 war, to proclaim peace, or be otherwise 

 employed by the sovereign in martial 

 messages or other business. The heralds, 

 tix in number, are the judges and ex- 

 aminers of coau of arms, and the pre- 



servers of genealogies, and they marshal 

 all solemnities and ceremonies at corona- 

 tions, royal marriages, installations, 

 funeral processions, &c. Their names are 

 Richmond, Lancaster, Chester, "Windsor, 

 Somerset and York, and they are all equal 

 in degree, and have precedence only ac- 

 cording to the seniority of their creation. 



HER'ALDRY, the art, practice, or science 

 of recording genealogies, blazoning and 

 explaining in proper terms all that be- 

 longs to arms ; of marshalling or disposing 

 with regularity divers arms on an es- 

 cutcheon or field. It also teaches what- 

 ever relates to the marshalling of solemn 

 processions, and other public ceremonies 

 at coronations, installation of knights, 

 creations of peers, nuptials, christenings 

 of princes, funerals, &c. 



HERB, Lat. herba. That sort of plant 

 which rises with stalks and leaves from 

 the root, and bears its fruit only once, 

 and then with its root wholly perishes. 

 There are two kinds : annuals which per- 

 ish the same year, and biennials which 

 have their leaves the first year, and their 

 flowers and fruits the second, and then 

 die away. Perennial plants which have 

 a new stem springing up every year, are 

 also termed herbaceous, and indeed the 

 term is extended to that part of any plant 

 which arises from the root, and is ter- 

 minated by the fructification. 



HERBA'cEous,Lat. herbaceus. An epithet 

 for all plants which have succulent stems 

 and die down to the root every year. See 

 HERB. 



HERB.S, herbs. The fourth tribe into 

 which Linna3us divides the vegetable 

 kingdom. 



HERBA'RICM, an herbary. A collection 

 of dried specimens of plants : horfas siccus, 

 or dry garden. 



HER'CULES. 1. A fabulous hero of anti- 

 quity, the son of Amphitryon and Alc- 

 mena, whose exploits are celebrated by 

 the poets. 2. The name of a constella- 

 tion of the northern hemisphere, known 

 also by the names of Cerberus and the 

 Ajiple Branch. It contains 113 stars, of 

 which the most brilliant is Has Algothi, of 



the third magnitude. 3. The name of a 



stamping-machine used in the dockyards, 

 similar to the pile engine. 



HEREDIT'AMENTS. In law, such things 

 as are immoveable, and which a man may 

 leave to his heirs by way of inheritance, 

 or which not being otherwise devised, 

 naturally descend. 



HERED'ITART. 1. In law, an appellation 

 given to whatever belongs to a family by 



right of succession. 2. Diseases which 



are propagated from parents to their 

 offspring, as scrofula, gout, mania, &c., 

 are termed hereditary diseases, as belong- 

 ing to the family. 



HER'ESY, Lat. hteresit. An opinion of 



2 B 2 



