herby 
herby (er'bi or her'bi), rt. [< herb + -#!.] Per- 
taining or relating to herbs; abounding with 
or affected by herbs ; herbaceous. 
No substance but earth, and the procedures of earth, as 
tile and stone, yieldeth any moss or herlry substance. 
Bacon. 
For the cold, lean, and emaciated, such herby ingredi- 
ents should be made choice of as warm and cherish the 
natural heat. Evelyn, Acetaria, 
The roots of hills and herby valleys then, 
For food there hunting. Chapman. 
The open air of the barton, laden with hay scents and the 
herby breath of cows. T. Hardy, Interlopers at the Knap,iii. 
Hercoceras (her-kos'e-ras), n. [NL., < Gr. epnof, 
a fence, wall, barrier, + idpaf, horn.] The 
typical genus of the family Hercoceratida;. 
Hercoceratidse (her-kos-e-rat'i-de), n. id. 
[NL., < Hercoceras (-rat-) -t-'-ido;.] Afamily of 
nautiloid cephalopods, typified by the genus 
Hercoceras. They are discoidal forms having the whorl 
trapezoidal in cross section, and a row of large nodes or 
spines on the outer edges of the sides ; the apertures are 
more or less flattened dorsabdominally, and extended 
above into two lateral sinuses. Hyatt, Proc. Bosk Soc. 
Nat. Hist., XXII. 232. 
hercogamous (her-kog'a-mus), a. [As )ter- 
cogamy + -CMS.] Characterized by hercogamy, 
as a flower. 
hercogamy (her-kog'a-mi), n. [< Gr. f/wcof, a 
fence, wall, barrier, -f i&uof, marriage.] The 
prevention of self-fertilization in flowers by 
means of specific structural peculiarities. A 
term applied to those flowers in which obstructions, such 
as protuberances, etc., have been developed, which pre- 
vent fertilization by their own pollen without external aid, 
as that of insects. The rostellum of orchids is one of the 
best examples of this condition, where the natural access 
of pollen is, in most species, completely blocked from the 
stigmatic chamber. Also herkogamy. 
Herculanean (her-ku-la'ne-au), a. [< L. Her- 
culanetis, adj., < Herculaneum, Herculaneum, 
(Gr. 'Hpdnfetov), prop. neut. adj., < Hercules, 
Hercules: see Hercules.] Of or pertaining to 
Herculaneum, an ancient Roman city near 
Naples, buried at the same time with Pompeii 
by the eruption of Vesuvius in A. D. 79. The site 
of Herculaneum was forgotten, but it was discovered In 
the early part of the eighteenth century under the town of 
Kesina, and many remarkable works of art and other re- 
mains have since been obtained from it by excavation. 
Elevations, drawings, plans. 
Models of Herculanean pots and pans. 
Coipper, Progress of Error, 1. 398. 
Herculanensian (her"ku-la-nen'si-an), a. [< L. 
Herculanensis, < Herculaneum, Herculaneum.] 
Same as Herculanean. 
Herculanensian manuscripts. 
G. P. Marsh, Loots, on Eng. Lang., xxi. 
Herculean (her-ku'le-an), a. [< L. Herculeus, 
of or pertaining to Hercules, < Hercules, Her- 
cules: see Hercules.] 1 . Of or relating to Her- 
cules: as, the twelve Herculean labors; the 
Herculean myth. 2. [cup. or 1. c.] Resembling 
Hercules in size, strength, or courage ; appro- 
priate to the attributes of Hercules: as, a her- 
culean athlete ; a herculean fist. 
So rose the Danite strong, 
Herculean Samson, from the harlot-lap 
Of Philistean Dalilah. Milton, P. L., ix. 1060. 
An herculean robustness of mind, and nerves not to be 
broken with labour. Burke, Appeal to Old Whigs. 
3. [cap. or I. c.] Very difficult or dangerous : in 
allusion to the Herculean labors: as, a hercu- 
lean task. 
But what's the end of thy 
Herculean labours? 
B. Jonson, Masques 
[at Court. 
Hercules (her ' ku - 
lez), n. [L. ;invoc., 
as a familiar oath, 
liercules, hercitle, her- 
de, mehercle; Etrus- 
can Herde, aceom. of 
Gr. 'KpaKAijf, earlier 
'llpaKAer/f, lit. having 
or showing Hera's 
glory, < "Hpa, Hera, 
+ KMof, glory, fame : 
see glory.] 1. InGr. 
and Rom. myth., a 
mighty hero, origi- 
nating in Greek le- 
gend, but adopted by 
the Romans, and 
worshiped as the god 
of physical strength, 
The Farnese Hercules.- Statue COUTage, and related 
Nazk>t1jauk? iPI ' US ' " MUSM Qualities. According to 
the mythical account, his 
father, Zeus (Jupiter), destined him to the sovereignty of 
Tiryns by right of his mother, Alcmene, granddaughter 
2800 
of Perseus, but was thwarted by Hera (Juno). After 
Hercules had performed wonderful deeds in behalf of 
Thebes, his birthplace, Hera consented to his being iu;i<li 
immortal on condition of his accomplishing certain su- 
perhuman feats for his rival Eurystheus of Tiryns, in 
which he succeeded. These feats, called the twelve labors 
of Hercules, were as follows : (1) the strangling of the Ne- 
mean lion; (2) the killing of the Lerneau hydra; (3) the 
capture of the Ceryneiau stag ; (4) the capture of the Ery- 
manthianboar; (5) the cleaning of the Augean stables; (6) 
the slaughter of the Stymphalian birds ; (7) the capture of 
the Cretan bull ; (8) the capture of the man-eating mares 
of Diomedes ; (9) the securing of the girdle of Hippolyta, 
queen of the Amazons ; (10) the fetching of the red oxen of 
Oeryones ; (11) the procuring of the golden apples of the 
Hesperidcs ; (12) the bringing to the upper world of the 
dog Cerberus, guardian of iludcs. The subject of this most 
famous of the Herculean legends (of comparatively late 
date) Is distinguished as the Tirynthian Hercules from 
other personifications of Hercules worshiped In different 
places and countries (as the Cretan or the Egyptian Hercu- 
les, etc.), under the same or other names, the attributes of 
these various personifications being essentially the same, 
but their legendary history being different. Hercules is 
represented as brawny and muscular, with broad shoul- 
ders, generally naked, or draped merely In the skin of the 
Nemean lion, the head of the lion being often drawn over 
that of the hero as a helmet. He is usually armed with a 
club, sometimes with a bow and arrows. 
Leave that labour to great Hercules ; 
And let it be more than Alcides' twelve. 
Shak., T. of the S., L 2. 
My Eustace might have sat for Hercules ; 
So muscular he spread, so broad of breast. 
Tennyson, Gardener's Daughter. 
2. One of the ancient constellations, between 
Lyra and Corona Borealis, representing a man 
The Constellation Hercules. 
upon one knee, with his head toward the south, 
and with uplifted arms. The ancients did not Iden- 
tify the constellation with Hercules ; the moderns place 
a club in one hand, and a branch of an apple-tree, with 
the three heads of I'erbcrus, in the other. The constella- 
tion contains one star of the second magnitude (jS), nine 
of the third, and twelve of the fourth. 
3. A form of drop-hammer. See the extract. 
The Hercules, a ponderous mass of iron attached to a 
vertical guide rod, which was lifted originally by a gang of 
men with ropes, but afterwards by steam power, and al- 
lowed to fall by its own weight. i'ncyc. Brit., XI. 425. 
4. Same as Hercules-beetle Hercules' allheal, 
a perennial umbelliferous plant, Opopanax Chironium, a 
native of southern Europe. The roots and seeds are said 
to be similar in flavor and quality to the parsnip. Also 
called poundwort. Hercules' club, a weapon mentioned 
in the seventeenth century as consisting of a heavy head 
of wood with nails driven into it and furnished with a 
handle : apparently a weapon extemporized for the de- 
fense of a fortified place. Hercules' Pillars. See pil- 
lar. 
Hercules-beetle (her'ku-lez-be"tl), n. A very 
large Brazilian lamellicorn beetle, Megasoma or 
Dynastes hercules. A large horn projects from the 
head of the male, and there is a smaller similar projection 
Hercules-beetle (Dynastfs htrcules), about one third natural size. 
from the thorax, so that the animal resembles a pair of 
pincers with the body for the handle. This beetle is the 
largest true insect known, attaining a length of about (i 
inches. See Dynastes. 
Hercules'-club (her'ku-lez-klub), n. Same as 
angelica-tree. 
Hercynian (her-sin'i-an), a. [< L. Hercynius, 
< Gr. 'Ep/cfcv(of, pertaining to the region (L. Her- 
cynia silva or Hercynius saltus, the Hercynian 
Forest, < Gr. 'Epxtiviof Spv/ipf) called in mod. G. 
der Harz or das Harzgebirge, the Harz moun- 
herd 
tains.] Of or pertaining to the forest-covered 
mountain-system of Germany. The word varied 
unfitly in its application. Some ancient geographers 
made it cover a large part of Germany, while later writers 
restricted it to Bohemia, Moravia, etc. 
The reindeer lingered on in the Hercynian forest that 
overshadowed North Germany as late as the time of Julius 
Ctesar. Edinburgh Rev. 
hercynite (her 'si -nit), . [< Hereyn(ia) + 
-ite'.] A. mineral of the spinel group, contain- 
ing alumina and iron, found in the Bohemian 
(Hercynian) Forest. 
herd 1 (herd), n. [Early mod. E. also heard, 
In rile ; < ME. heerde, heorde, < AS. heorcl (gen. 
dat. heorde, also herde, hyrde), a herd, flock 
(of beasts, but also, like flock, of persons, a 
family or congregation, in Biblical sense) ; also, 
rarely, keeping or custody (a sense otherwise 
expressed by comp. heord-rwden, hyrd-riUdc/i ) ; 
= OHG. herta, MHG. hertc, hert, G. herde, heerde 
(for "herte, by LG. influence) = Icel. hjordh = 
bw. Dan. hjord = Goth, hairdo, a herd, flock. 
Cf. Skt. yartlha, troop, OBulg. crcda, a herd.] 
1. A number of animals feeding or driven to- 
gether ; a drove ; a flock : commonly used of the 
larger animals, such as cows, oxen, horses, 
asses (cattle), deer, camels, elephants, whales, 
etc., and sometimes of small cattle, as sheep, 
hogs, etc., and in falconry and fowling of birds, 
as swans, cranes, and curlews. 
I observed nothing but . . . sundry heards of blacke 
swine, and flocks of blacke sheepe. 
Coryat, Crudities, L 75. 
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea. 
Gray, Elegy. 
An herd of swans, of cranes, and of curlews. 
Slnttt, Sports and Pastimes, p. 97. 
The dwellers of the deep, in mighty herds, 
Passed by us. Bryant, Bella, 
2. In a disparaging sense, a company of men or 
people ; a rabble ; a mob: as, the vulgar herd. 
"When he perceived the common herd was glad he re- 
fused the crown, he plucked me ope his doublet, and 
offered them his throat to cut. Shak., J. C., L 2. 
Survey the world, and where one Cato shines, 
Count a degenerate herd of Catilines. Dryden. 
You can never interest the common herd in the abstract 
question. Coleridge. 
herd 1 (herd), t 1 . [< ME. herden, herd; from the 
noun.] I. intrans. 1. Togo in a herd; congre- 
gate as beasts; feed or run in droves. 
If men will with Nebuchadnezzar herd with the beasta 
of the field, no wonder if their reason departs from them. 
Stilling fleet, Sermons, I. li. 
2. To associate ; unite in troops or companies : 
become one of any faction, party, or set : used 
in a more or less derogatory or sinister sense. 
Ill herd among his friends, and seem 
One of the number. Addison, Cato, iii. 4. 
The sovereign people crowded Into the market-place, 
herding together with the instinct of sheep, who seek 
safety in each other's company. 
Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 437. 
A throng enclosed the rector of Briarfleld ; twenty or 
more pressed around him. . . . The curates, herding to- 
gether after their manner, made a constellation of three 
lesser planets. Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xvi. 
II. trans. To form into or as if into a herd. 
The rest . . . 
Are herded with the vulgar, and so kept. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, 1. 1. 
Wild stallions continually herded off the droves of the 
Indians of the southern plains, thus thwarting any en- 
deavor to improve the stock by breeding. 
The Century, XXXVII. 334. 
herd 2 (herd), n. [Early mod. E. also heard, 
herde; < ME. herde, hirde, heorde, hurde, < AS. 
hirde, hierde, hyrde, sometimes heorde (= OS. 
OFries. hirdi = MLG. herde =OHG. hirti, MHG. 
G. hirte, hirt = Icel. hirdhir = Sw. herde = 
Dan. hyrde = Goth, hairdeis), a keeper of cattle, 
sheep, etc. ; with suffix -e, orig. -ja, < heord, a 
herd, flock: see herd 1 .] A herdsman ; a keeper 
of cattle ; a shepherd ; hence, a keeper of any 
domestic animals: now rare in the simple form 
(except in Scotland), but common in composi- 
tion, as in cowherd, goatherd, gooseherd, shep- 
herd, swineherd. 
"Almyghty Lord, O Jesu Crist," quod he, 
"Sower of chast conseil, herde of us alle." 
Chaucer, Second Nun's Tale, I. 192. 
The noble Gawein and Agravain . . . sente in theire 
felowes and her pcple, and her barneys be-fore, as the 
heirde driveth his bestes to pasture. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.X ii. 267. 
herd 2 (herd), v. [< herd?, n. In this use hardly 
distinguishable from herd*, .] I. trans. To 
take care of or tend, as cattle. [Scotch.] 
When they were able now to herd the ewes, 
They yeed together thro' the heights and hows. 
Ross, Helenore, p. 14. 
