Hermetic 
Their seals, their characters, hermetic rings. 
B. Jonson, Underwoods, Ixii. 
Among the numerous students of hermetick philosophy, 
not one appears to have desisted from the task of trans- 
mutation from conviction of its impossibility, but from 
weariness of toil or impatience of delay, a broken body 
or exhausted fortune. Rambler, No. 63. 
It is well known that I have approached more nearly to 
projection than any other hermetic artist who now lives. 
Scott, Kenilworth, xvlii. 
In solitude and utter silence did the disciples of the 
Hermetic Philosophy toil from day to day, from night to 
night. Longfellow, Hyperion, UL 
8. [I. c.] Of or pertaining to a hermes: as, a 
hermetic column Hermetic art, alchemy; chemis- 
try. 
The dream of the philosopher's stone induces dupes, 
under the more plausible delusions of the hermetic art, to 
neglect all rational means of improving their fortunes. 
Burke. 
Hermetic column, a column terminated by the head and 
shoulders of a man ; a hermes. Hermetic medicine, an 
old system of medicine, founded upon chemical doctrines ; 
spagyric medicine. Hermetic seal, an alchemicor chem- 
ical seal ; an air-tight closure of a vessel effected by fusion, 
soldering, or welding. 
Not nature, but grace and glory, with an hermetic seal, 
give us a new signature. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1836X II. 67. 
Hermetical (her-met'i-kal), a. [< Hermetic + 
-al.~\ Same as Hermetic. 
And what the hermetieal philosophy saith of God is in 
a sense verifiable of the thus ennobled soul, that its cen- 
tre is every where, but its circumference no where. 
Qlanville, Vanity of Dogmatizing, \ xiv. 
hermetically (her-met'i-kal-i), adv. 1. Ac- 
cording to the Hermetic books ; agreeably with 
Hermetic philosophy; esoterically ; secretly. 
2. In a hermetic manner ; chemically ; specifi- 
cally, by means of fusion : as, a vessel hermeti- 
cally sealed or closed. 
This little tube was open at one end, and the other . . . 
was hermetically sealed. Boyle, Works, I. 21. 
hermetics (her-met'iks), n. [PI. of hermetic: 
see -ics.] Hermetic philosophy; the body of 
doctrine contained in the Hermetic books ; se- 
cret science; esoterism: a term popularly con- 
founded with alchemy, and conceived to indi- 
cate the art of manipulating salt, sulphur, and 
mercury in some incomprehensible manner 
whereby the philosopher's stone might be pro- 
duced. 
Herminia (her-min'i-a), . [NL. (Latreille, 
1802), < L. Herminia, fern'. otHerminius, a Roman 
name.] The typical genus of moths of the fam- 
ily Herminiidce, haying slender, not pilous, pal- 
pi, with the third joint much shorter than the 
second. There are many species in all quarters 
of the globe. 
Herminiidae (her-mi-ni'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Herminia + -idre. ] A family of geometrid moths, 
taking name from the genus Herminia, having 
the wings not angulate, and the front not promi- 
nent. There are upward of 60 genera. Some 
of the species are known as snout-moths. Also 
written Herminida, HerminidcE. 
Herminium (her-min'i-um), n. [NL. (Linnseus, 
1753), < Gr. ep/jic; or epftiv, a bedpost, < epua, a 
prop, support.] A genus of monocotyledonous 
plants, belonging to the natural order Orcliidece, 
tribe Oplirydece. Its distinguishing features are its 
spnrless lip, very short column, erect emarginate anther, 
naked glands to the pollinia, and oblong erect capsule. 
The genus consists of 6 species of low slender herbs, with 
few, generally narrow, leaves and small flowers, densely 
racemed or spiked, growing in the temperate and moun- 
tainous regions of Europe and Asia. a. Monorchit is the 
musk-orchis of Europe. It has a slender stem 3 to 6 inches 
high, and yellowish-green flowers in a terminal spike. 
hermit (her'mit), n. [The form heremite, more 
correctly eremite, as now pronounced, is directly 
from the LL. eremita, ML. improp. heremita(see 
eremite) ; the form hermit is old, < ME. hermite, 
heremite, eremite, < OF. hermite, ermite, termite, 
F. ermite, hermite = Pr. ermita = Sp. Pg. ere- 
mita = It. eremita, romito (cf. OF. hermitain = 
Pr. hermitan = Sp. ermitano = Pg. ermitao, < 
ML. eremitanus), < LL. eremita, ML. often im- 
prop. heremita, < Gr. tprifdrrK, a hermit, prop, 
adj., of the desert, < cprifiia, a solitude, desert, 
wilderness, (. kprjfiof, desolate, lonely, solitary, 
akin to qpe/ia, quietly, gently, softly, Goth, rimis, 
rest, quiet, Skt. -J ram, stop, rest, be content.] 
1. One who dwells alone, or with but few com- 
panions, in a desert or other solitary place, for 
religious meditation, or from a desire to avoid 
society. See anchoret. 
The most perfect hermits are supposed to have passed 
many days without food, many nights without sleep, and 
many years without speaking. 
Gibbon, Decline and Fall, xxxvii. 
2f. A beadsman; one bound to pray for an- 
other. 
2806 
In thy dumb action I will be as perfect 
As begging turmitt in their holy prayers. 
Shale., Tit. And., UL 2. 
For those of old, 
And the late dignities heap'd up to them, 
We rest your hermits. Shak., Macbeth, i. (!. 
3. In 2067., one of sundry animals of solitary 
or secluded habits. See the compounds. 
The house-hunting adventures of the hermits [hermit- 
crabs] have been so frequently described that a repetition 
is useless. Amer. Naturalist, XXII. 894. 
False hermit. See/atee.=Syn. 1. Monk (see anchoret), 
ascetic, solitary. 
hermitage (her'mi-taj), n. [< ME. hermitage, 
heremytage, eremitage,<. OF. hermitage, ermitage, 
F. ermitage, hermitage (= Pr. ermitatge = Pg. 
eremitagem = It. eremitaggio, romitaggio), < her- 
mite, ermite, a hermit: see hermit.'] 1. The 
habitation of a hermit or of a company of her- 
mits ; a hermit's cell or hut, usually in a desert 
or solitary place ; hence, any secluded habita- 
tion. 
A litle lowly Hermitage it was, 
Downe in a dale, hard by a forests side. 
Spenser, F. Q., 1. 1. 34. 
A court does some man no harm, when another finds 
temptation in a hermitage. Donne, Sermons, xxix. 
A chapel, and thereby 
A holy hermit in a hermitage. 
Tennyson, Holy Grail. 
2. [cop.] A French wine produced from vine- 
yards on the sides of a hill rising from the river 
Rhone near Valence, in the department of 
Drdme : so called from a hermitage which an- 
ciently existed there. The red Hermitage is the 
most celebrated and most abundant; very little of the 
white Hermitage is made, and still less of the straw-col- 
ored or patile. Also Ermitage. 
Two more [drops] of the same kind heightened it into 
a perfect Languedoc ; from thence it passed into a florid 
Hermitage. Additon, Tatler, No. 131. 
hermitary (her'mi-ta-ri), .; pi. hermitaries 
(-riz). [' hermit + -ary 1 . Ct.ML.heremitarius, 
n., a hermit, < heremita, eremita, a hermit.] A 
hermit's cell annexed to an abbey ; a hermitage. 
hermit-bird (her'mit-bferd), K. 1. A humming- 
bird of the genus Phaethornis, as the Cayenne 
hermit-bird, P. superciliosus. 2. A South 
American barbet or puff-bird of the genus Mo- 
nasa; a nun-bird. There are several species. 
hermit-crab (her'mit-krab'), re. A crab of the 
family Paguridte (which see). This crab has nei- 
ther a long hard tail like a shrimp or crawfish, nor yet a 
short one doubled underneath like ordinary crabs, but a 
soft fleshy one requiring to be covered and protected. To 
this end it takes possession of and occupies a cast-off shell 
of some univalve mollusk, such as a periwinkle or a small 
whelk. The crab backs into the shell, inserting the ten- 
der abdomen in the spire, and filling the aperture of the 
shell with his claws and other hard parts, thus guarding 
his otherwise unprotected and vulnerable rear. In mov- 
ing about, the crab carries his house with him, like a snail 
with his shell on his back, and quits it for another only 
when he outgrows it. In many cases sea-anemones grow 
on the shell, the triple association furnishing an excellent 
example of commensalism. (See cut under cancrisocial.) 
There are several genera and numerous species of hermit- 
crabs ; the commonest belong to Pagurut and Eupagu- 
rus. (See cut under Eupagurus.) The Diogenes crab, a 
species of Cenobita, belongs here. The most common her- 
mit-crab on the Atlantic coast of the United States Is the 
short-armed hermit, Eupagurus pollicaris, attaining a 
large size and inhabiting the shells of such mollusks as 
Pyrvla and Natica. It is called by the fishermen jack- 
in-the-box, thief, and stone-lobster, and is believed by some 
to turn into a lobster. 
hermit-crow (her'mit-kro'), n. The chough, 
Fregilus or Pyrrhocorax graculus. See cut un- 
der chough. 
hermitess (her'mi-tes), n. [< hermit + -tss. 
Cf. equiv. OF. hermitresse."] A female hermit. 
The violet is truly the hermitess of flowers. 
Parthenia Sacra (1633), p. 38. 
hermitical (her-mit'i-kal), a. [< hermit + -ic- 
al. Cf. heremitical, eremitical.] Pertaining or 
suited to a hermit or to retired life ; eremitical 
(the more common word). 
You describe so well your hermitical state of life that 
none of your ancient anchorites could go beyond you, for a 
cave in the rock, with a fine spring, or any of the accom- 
modations that befit a solitary. Pope, to E. Blount, xi. 
hermit-thrush (her'mit-thrush'), n. A very 
common true thrush of North America, found 
in nearly all parts of the continent. It is about 
7 J inches long, olive above shading into rufous on the tail, 
white below tinged with pale tawny, and profusely spotted 
on the breast with dark brown. It is a shy and secluded 
inhabitant of woodland and undergrowth, migratory and 
insectivorous, and a fine songster. It nests on the ground, 
laying 4 or 5 pale-bluish eggs. There are several varieties 
of the hermit-thrush, giving rise to a number of technical 
names, among which Turdus pallasi, T. nanits, and T. 
unalascce are most frequently used. See cut in next column. 
hermit-warbler (her'mit-war'bler), n. The 
western warbler, Dendreeca occidentalis, one of 
several relatives of the common black-throated 
green warbler (D. wrens) of the United States. 
Hernandia 
: 4 
Hermit-thrush (Turdta pallasfi. 
It is 6 inches long, 7 j in extent of wings, ashy-gray above 
tinged with olive and streaked with black, the top and sides 
of the head rich yellow marked with black, the throat and 
breast black, ending in a convex border sharply contrasted 
with the white of the other under parts. It is found from 
the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific. 
hermodactyl (her-mo-dak'til), n. [< LGr. {p- 
fiotiditrvtos, a plant identified by some with CoZ- 
chicum autumnale, by others with Iris tuberosa; 
lit. 'Hermes's finger,' < 'Ep/jff, Hermes, + <5<4- 
fcrt)?.of, finger.] In phar., a dried bulbous root, 
probably obtained from Colchicum variegatum or 
checker-flower, formerly brought from Turkey 
in considerable quantities, and much esteemed 
as a cathartic, but now entirely discarded. 
Hermogenean (her-mo-je'ne-an), a. and n. [< 
L. Hermogenes, < Gr. 'Ep/toyfviji; , Hermogenes (< 
'Ep/if/f, Hermes, 4- -ynw, -bom), + -e-an.~] I. a. 
Of or pertaining to Hermogenes or his doctrines. 
See II. 
II. n. A follower of Hermogenes, who lived 
near the close of the second century, and who 
held matter to be eternal and the source of all 
evil, but in other respects was an orthodox 
Christian. 
Hermogenian (her-mo-je'ni-an), a. and . [< 
LL. Hermogenianus, a', and n.J < L. Hermogenes, 
< Gr. 'Epuoyevric, Hermogenes: see Hermoge- 
nean.'] I. a. 1. Same as Hermogenean. 2. 
Of or pertaining to Hermogenianus, a noted 
Roman jurist who lived in the fourth century, 
the writer of several works on jurisprudence, 
and the reputed compiler of the "Codex Her- 
mogenianus," or Hermogenian code. See code. 
The Gregorian and Hermogenian Codes were arranged 
upon a different principle. 
Maine, Early Law and Custom, p. 367. 
II. n. Same as Hermogenean. 
hern 1 t (hern), n. [< ME. herne, hyrne,<.A.S. hyrne, 
a corner, < horn, a horn, a projecting point. Cf. 
corner, ult. < L. cornu = AS. E. horn.'] A corner. 
As yonge clerkes . . . 
Seken in every halke and every herne 
Particuler sciences for to lerne. 
Chaiiaer, Franklin's Tale, L 398. 
The stone thatwos reprovyd 
Of men that were biggand, 
In the hede of the hirne 
Is now made liggande. 
MS. Cantab, ft. v. 48, f. 91. (Hattiwell.) 
hern 2 (htoni),j>ron. [E. dial., < her + -n, adj. 
formative. Cf. hisn.~] Hers. [Prov. Eng. and 
U.S.] 
His heart kep' goin' pity-pat, 
But hern went pity Zekle. 
Lowell, The Conrtin'. 
hern 3 (hern), n. [< ME. hern, herne, contr. of her- 
oun, heiron, heron : see heron.] Same as heron. 
I come from haunts of coot and hern. 
Tennyson, The Brook. 
hern 4 t, n. An obsolete form of harn. 
hern 5 (hern), n. [Cornish.] The pilchard. 
Also hernan. 
Hernandia (her-nan'di-ii), n. [NL. (Linnseus, 
1753), after Dr. Hernandez, a Spanish botanist. 
The Sp. proper name Hernandez, Hernando, 
formerly Fernandez, Fernando, F. Ferdinand, 
G. Ferdinand, is of 
OHG. origin.] A 
genus of apetalous 
plants, belonging to 
the natural order 
Laurinew, tribe Her- 
nandie<f, character- 
ized by its laterally 
dehiscent anthers, 
stamens as many as 
the 6-8 segments of 
the perianth and op- 
posite them, and 1- 
Celled OVary With Jack-ln-a-boi (Hernandia 
a j_. S0rtwa). 
broad stigma. The 
genus includes 6 or 8 species of trees with moncecious 
yellowish flowers, 3 in an involucre, the central one sessile 
