HAL 



HAM 



foreign member of the French Academy 

 of Sciences, in the room of Sir Hans 

 Sloane. 



Dr Hales, though he spent his time in 

 retirement at Teddington, was not un- 

 known to many persons of rank, whom 

 he visited, and received at his house with 

 all the simplicity of his modest and unaf- 

 fected character. Frederick, Prince of 

 \Vales, honoured himself with frequent 

 calls upon the philosopher, his neigh- 

 bour, whom he delighted to surprise in 

 his experimental researches. At the 

 death of that prince, he was, without any 

 solicitation, made clerk of the closet to 

 the Princess Dowager. It was hinted to 

 him, that there was an intention of pre- 

 senting him to the canonry of Windsor ; 

 but he desired to be excused accepting a 

 promotion, which might have brought 

 with it obligations of spending his time, 

 interfering with the plan which for so 

 many years he had adopted. His parochi- 

 al duties, and the uninterrupted pursuit of 

 his useful studies, continued to occupy 

 him to an advanced period of life, during 

 which he was never forsaken by his habi- 

 tual cheerfulness and serenity of mind, 

 sustained by temperance, piety, and con- 

 scious worth. He seems to have passed 

 through life without an enemy, and per- 

 haps the annals of biography cannot pro- 

 duce a character more marked by the 

 union of blamelessness with active bene- 

 volence. Pope has recorded " Plain Par- 

 son Hales" as his model of sincere piety. 

 Haller describes him as " pious, modest, 

 indefatigable, and born for the discovery 

 of truth." He died at Teddington, in Ja- 

 nuary, 1761, in his eighty -fourth year, and 

 was buried under the tower of the church, 

 which he had rebuilt at his own expense. 

 The Princess of Wales erected a monu- 

 ment to him in Westminster Abbey, in the 

 Latin inscription of which the reader will 

 be surprised to find nothing recorded of 

 him but that he was her chaplain. But 

 the reception his works met with through- 

 out Europe, into the principal languages 

 of which they were translated, will suffi- 

 ciently perpetuate his fame as a philoso- 

 pher. 



HALESIA, in botany, so named in ho- 

 nour of the learned and venerable Stephen 

 Hales, D. D. F. R. S. a genus of the Dode- 

 candria Monogynia class and order. Na- 

 tural order of Bicornes. Guajacanx, Jus- 

 sieu. Essential character : calyx four- 

 toothed, superior ; corolla four-cleft ; nut 

 quadrangular, with two seeds. There are 

 two species, viz. H. tetraptera, four-wing- 

 ed halesia, or snow-drop tree ; and H. 

 diptera, two- winged halesia-. 



HALF mark, a noble, or six shillings 

 and eight-pence. 



HALF moon, in fortification, an outwork 

 composed of two faces, forming a saliant 

 angle, whose gorge is in form of a cre- 

 scent, or half-moon ; whence the name. 



HALIOTIS, in natural history, the ear- 

 shell. Animal a Umax : shell univalve, 

 dilated, ear-shaped, with a longitudinal 

 row of orifices along the surface ; spire 

 lateral, and almost concealed. There are 

 nineteen species, of which H. tubercula- 

 ta is the most common ; it inhabits sou- 

 thern Europe, and gradually disappears 

 towards the north. The shell is subo- 

 vate, the outside transversely grooved, 

 rugged, and tuberculate. The inside is 

 like mother of pearl. When living, it ad- 

 heres to rocks. According to Pennant, 

 this was the sea-ear of Aristotle. 



HALL, in architecture, an avenue or 

 room at the entrance of a building. 



HALL is also a public building or court 

 of justice, as Westminster-hall, Guild- 

 hall, a company's hall, &c. In Westmin- 

 ster-hall are held the Courts of King's 

 Bench, Common Pleas, Chancery, and 

 Exchequer. 



HALLERIA, in botany, so called from 

 the famous Albert Haller, a genus of the 

 Didynamia Angiospermia class and order. 

 Natural order of Personatae. Scrophula- 

 rise, Jussieu. Essential character : calyx 

 trifid ; corolla quadritid ; filaments longer, 

 than the corolla; berry inferior, two- 

 celled. There is but one species, viz. H; 

 lucida, African fly honeysuckle, a native 

 of the Cape. 



HALLIARDS, in sea language, the 

 ropes or tackles usually employed to hoist 

 or lower any sail upon its respective 

 masts or stay. 



HALO, in physiology, a meteor in the 

 form of a luminous ring or circle, of va- 

 rious colours, appearing round the bodies 

 of the sun, moon, or stars. See ME- 

 TEOROLOGY. 



HALORAGIS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Octandria Tetragynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Calycunthemse. Onagrac, 

 Jussieu. Essential character ; calyx four- 

 cleft, superior ; petals four; drupe dry, 

 inclosing a four-celled nut. There are 

 two species, viz. H. prostrata and H. cer- 

 codia. 



HAM AMELIS, in botany, a genus of 

 the Tetrandria Digynia class and order. 

 Natural order of Berberides, Jussieu. Es- 

 sential character : involucre three-leav- 

 ed ; perianthers four-leaved ; petals four ; 

 nut two-horned, two-celled. There is only 

 one species, way H. virginica, witch hazel 



