H A I 
*> cre -.f a blueish colour, some of them 
weighing a hundred pounds. Hist, de 1' ranee, 
tom. ii. p. 339- . ■ 
At I .isle, in Flanders, in 1686, fell nan- 
stones of a very large size ; some of which 
contained in the middle a dark-brown mat- 
ter, which, thrown on the lire, gave, a very 
great report. Phil. 1 vans. No. 203. 
Dr. Halley and others also relate, that in 
Cheshire, Lancashire, &c. Aprii 29, 169', a 
thick black cloud coming from Carnarvon- 
shire, disposed the vapours to congeal in such 
a manner, that tor about the oveadth of two 
miles, which was the limit ot the cloud, in us 
progress, for the space of 60 miles, it did 
inconceivable damage; not only killing all 
sorts ot fowls and other small animals, laid 
splitting trees, knocking down horses and 
men, and even ploughing up the earth; so 
that the hailstones buried themselves under 
ground an inch or an inch and a half deep. 
The hailstones, many of which weighed live 
ounces, and some half a pound, and being 
five or six inches about, were of various 
figures; some round, others halt-round; 
some smooth, others embossed and crenated : 
the icy substance of them was very transpa- 
rent and hard, but there was a snowy kernel 
in the middie of them. 
In Hertfordshire, May 4, the same year, 
after a severe storm of thunder and light- 
ning, a shower of hail succeeded, which far 
exceeded the former : some persons were kill- 
ed by it, and their bodies beaten all black and 
blue ; vast oaks were split, and fields of rve 
cut down as with a scythe. The stones mea- 
sured from 1 0 to 13 or 14 inches about, 1 neir 
figures were various, some oval, others pick- 
ed, and some flat. Philosoph. Trans. No. 
229. 
Methods have lately been proposed, in 
England and France, to draw off the light- 
ning, and dissipate hail-storms. Monthly 
Magazine, July 1806. 
HAIR. See Physiology. 
Hair and feathers cover different parts 
of animals, and are obviously intended 
by nature to protect them from the cold. 
For this their softness and pliability, and the 
slowness with which they conduct heat, ren- 
der them peculiarly proper. 
1. Hair is usually distinguished into various 
kinds, according to its size and appearance. 
The strongest and stillest of all is called bris- 
tle; of this kind is the hair on the back of 
hogs. When remarkably line, soft, and pli- 
able, it is called wool ; and the finest of all is 
known by the name of down. But all these 
varieties resemble one another very closely 
in their composition. 
Hair appears to be a kind of tube covered 
with a cuticle. Its surface is not smooth, but 
either covered with scales, or consisting ot 
imbricated cones. Hence the rough ess oi 
its feel, and the disposition which it has to 
entangle itself, which has given origin to the 
processes of felting and fulling. It is con- 
stantly increasing in length, be ng protruded 
from the roots, and seems at first to be soft 
or nearly gelatinous. From the experime.fi-- 
which have been made on hair by Ac: Ru'd and 
Hatchett, it follows that it cont ..ns gelatine, 
to which it owes its suppleness and toughne - 
This substance may be separated by boding 
the hair in water. ' When thus treated it be- 
comes much more brittle than before. In 
deed if the process is continued ,oug enough, 
HAL 
ihe hair crumbles to pieces between the fin- 
gers. The portion insoluble m water pos- 
sesses the properties ot coagulated albumen. 
Mr. Hatchett has concluded, from his ex- 
periments, that the hair which loses its curl 
in moist weather, and which is the softest and 
most flexible, is that which yields its gelatine 
mo t easily; whereas strong and elastic hair 
yields it with the greatest difficulty, and in 
the smallest proportion. T his conclusion has 
been confirmed by a very considerable hair- 
merchant: in London, who assured him that 
the first kind of hair was much more injured 
by boiling than the second. 
The rapidity with which hair burns, and 
the fusion which it undergoes in that case, 
si iev/ us, however, that hair does not altoge- 
ther correspond with coagulated albumen in 
its nature, but approaches towards the oils. 
When distilled, 1152 parts of hair yielded 
Berthollet the following products : 
90 carbonat of ammonia 
1 79 water smelling of burnt hail 
288 oil 
271 gases 
324 coal 
1152. 
The oil was of a brown colour, solid unless 
exposed to a heat equal to 73°, very soluble 
in alcohol, burnt with great brilliancy, and 
with scintillations like hair. The charcoal 
was difficult to incinerate, and was attracted 
bv the magnet; of course it contained iron. 
From the experiments of Fourcroy and Vau- 
queliu, we learn that horsehair, .when burnt, 
leaves a residuum ot 0.12, which is mostly 
phosphat of lime. 
The alkalies dissolve hair at a boiling-heat, 
and form with it an animal soap ; but lime 
appears to have but little action on it. When 
muriatic acid is poured into the solution of 
hair in potass, a quantity of sulphurated hy- 
drogen gas is disengaged, and a black sub- 
stance, ~ doubtless charcoal, precipitates. 
Hence it follows that it contains sulphur. 
Accordingly, it a bit of silver is put into the 
solution, it instantly assumes a black colour. 
Sulphuric acid dissolves hair by the assist- 
ance of heat, some charcoal is deposited, and 
carbonic acid gas separates. Nitric acid 
tinges it yellow, and dissolves it when assist- 
ed by heat; while a fat matter separates, and 
oxalic acid is formed. Berthollet obtained 
from wool more than half its weight of oxalic 
acid. Muriatic acid dissolves it readily ; but 
the solution does not become black, and has 
much the appearance of a solution of glue in 
the same acid. Oxymuriatic acid ^ whitens 
hair, and destroys its strength. When the 
hair is plunged into the acid in the state of 
gas, it is very soon converted into a pulp. 
2. ^Feathers seem to possess very nearly 
the same properties with hair. Mr. Hatchett 
has ascertained that the quill is composed 
chiefly of coagulated albumen. Though fea- 
thers were boiled for a long time in water, 
Mr. Hatchett could observe no traces of ge- 
latine. 
Hair’s breadth, a measure of length, 
’being the 48th part of an inch. 
HALCYON. See Alcedo. 
HALE. See Haul. 
HALESIA, a genus of the monogynia or- 
der, in the dode’eandria class of plants ; and in 
the natural method ranking under the 18th 
HAN 8g5 
order, bicornes. The calyx is quadridentated, 
superior ; the corolla quadrifid ; the nut qua- 
drangular and dispermous. 4 here are two 
species, herbaceous plants of N. America. 
HALF-MOON, in fortification, an out- 
work composed of two faces, forming a sa- 
liant angle, whose gorge is in form of a cres- 
cent, or half-moon; whence the name. See 
Fortification. 
Half-seal, that used in the court of chan- 
cery for sealing commissions to delegates, 
upon any appeal, in ecclesiastical or marine 
causes. 
HALIOTIS, the ear-shell, a genus of in- 
sects belonging to the order of vermes testa- 
cea. This L an animal of the snail kind, with 
an open shell resembling an ear. I here aie 
nineteen species, distinguished by the figure of 
their shells. 
HALLERIA, a genus of the angiospernna 
order, in the didynamia class ot plants; and 
in the natural method ranking under the 40 th 
order, personatax 1 he calyx is trifid ; the 
corolla quadrifid; the filaments longer than 
the corolla; the berry inferior and bilocular 
(the fruit not yet fully described). r i here is 
one species, a shrub of the Cape. 
HALO, in physiology, a meteor in the 
form of a luminous ring or circle, ot various 
colours, appearing round the boefies ot the 
sun, moon, or stars. See Optics. 
HAMELLIA, a genus of the monogynia 
order, in the pentanclria class of plants ; and 
in the natural method ranking with those of 
which the order is doubtful. The corolla is 
quinquefid; the berry quinquelocular, inte- 
rior, polyspermous. I here are four species, 
trees of the West Indies. 
HAMMER, a well-known tool used by 
mechanics, consisting ot an iron head, fixed 
crosswise upon a handle of wood. 
There are several sorts of hammers used 
by blacksmiths; as, 1. The hand-hammer, 
which is of such weight that it may be wielded 
or governed with one hand at the anvil. 2. 
The up-hand sledge, used with both hands, 
and seldom lifted above the head, o* Ihe 
about-sledge, which is the largest hammer of 
all, and held bv both hands at the farthest end 
of the handle; and being swung at arm’s-length 
over the head, is made to fall upon the work 
with as heavy a blow as possible. There is 
also another. hammer used by smiths, called a 
ri ve tti ng- hammer, which is the smallest of till, 
and is seldom used at the forge, unless upon 
small work. 
HAMSOKEN, is used in Scotland for the 
crime of him that violently, and contrary to 
the king’s peace, assaults a man in his own 
house, which is punishable equally with ra- 
vishing a woman. 
HANAPER office, in the court of chan- 
cery, is that out of which issue all origi- 
nal writs that pass under the great seal, and 
all commissions of charitable uses, sewers, 
bankrupts, ideoey, lunacy, and such-like. 
These writs, relating to the business of the 
subject, and the returns to them, were origi- 
nally kept in a hamper, in hanaperio ; the 
other writs, relating to matters wherein 
the crown is immediately or mediately con- 
cerned, were preserved in a little sack or bag, 
in parva baga; and thence has arisen the dis- 
tinction of the hanaper office and petty-bag, 
office : both of which belong to the common 
law court in chancery. 3 Black. 48. 
