M 
HAL 
sermon, which he preached before the Col- 
lege of Physicians, in 1751, on Dr. Crown’s 
foundation, contains some curious physiolo- 
gical remarks relative to the benevolence of 
the Deity, as displayed in the huntan frame. 
His literary honours were augmented in 
1753, by his election as a foreign member 
of the French Academy of Sciences, in the 
room of Sir Hans Sloane. 
Dr. Hales, though he spent his time in 
retirement atTeddington, was not unknown 
to many persons of rank, whom he visited 
and received at his house with all the sim- 
plicity of his modest and unaffected charac- 
ter. Frederick, Prince of Wales, honoured 
himself with frequent calls upon the philo- 
sopher, his neighbour, 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 present- 
ing him to the canonry of Windsor ; but he 
desired to be excused accepting a promo- 
tion, which might have brought with it 
obligations of spending his time, interfering 
with the plan which for so many years he 
had adopted. His parochial duties, and 
the uninterrupted pursuit of his useful stu- 
dies, continued to occupy him to an ad- 
vanced period of life, during which he was 
never forsaken by his habitual cheerfulness 
and serenity of mind, sustained by tempe- 
rance, piety, and conscious' worth. He seems 
to have passed through life without an 
enemy, and perhaps the annals of biogra- 
phy cannot produce a character more mark- 
ed by the union of blamelessness with ac- 
tive benevolence. Pope has recorded 
“ Plain Parson Hales” as his model of sin- 
cere piety. Haller describes him as 
“ pious, modest, indefatigable, and born 
for the discovery of truth.” He died at 
Teddington, in January, 1761, in his eighty- 
fourth year, and was buried under the 
tower of the church which he had rebuilt 
at his own expence. The Princess of Wales 
erected a monument 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 chap- 
lain. But the reception his works met with 
throughout Europe, into the principal lan- 
guages of which they were translated, will 
sufficiently perpetuate his fame as a philo- 
sopher. 
HALESIA, in botany, so named in ho- 
nour of the learned and venerable Stephen 
HAL 
Hales, D. D. F. R. S. a genus of theTlode- 
candria Monogynia class and order. Na- 
tural order of Bicornes. Guajacanse, Jus- 
sieu. Essential character: calyx four- 
toothed, superior ; corolla four-cleft ; nut 
quadrangular, with two seeds. There are 
two species, viz. H. tetraptera, four-winged 
halesia, or snow-drop tree ; and H. diptera, 
two-winged halesia. 
HALF mark , a noble, or six shillings 
and eightpence. 
Half moon, in fortification, an outwork 
composed of two faces, forming a saliant 
angle, whose gorge is in form of a crescent, 
or half-moon : whence the name. 
HALIOTIS, in natural history, the ear- 
shell. Animal a Umax : shell univalve, di- 
lated, ear-shaped, with a longitudinal 
row of orifices along the surface; spire 
lateral, and almost concealed. There are 
nineteen species, of which H. tuberculata 
is described by Mr. Donovan as a native of 
this country. The shell is subovate, the 
outside transversely grooved, rugged, and 
tuberculate. The inside is like mother-ot- 
pearl. It inhabits the sea near Guernsey, 
and is likewise frequently cast up on the 
southern shores of Devonshire. When liv- 
ing it adheres to rocks. According to Pen- 
nant this was the sea-ear of Aristotle. 
HALL, in architecture, a large room at 
the entrance of a fine house and palace. 
Hall is also a public building or court of 
justice, as Westminster-hail, Guild-hall, a 
company’s hall, &c. In Westminster-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. Scrophularhe, 
Jussieu. Essential character : calyx trifid ; 
corolla quadrifid ; filaments longer than the 
corolla ; berry inferior, two-celled. There 
is but one species, viz. H. lucida, African 
tly-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 vari- 
ous colours, appearing round the bodies of 
the sun, moon, or stars. See Meteorology. 
HALORAGIS, in botany, a genus of 
the Octandria Tetragynia class and order. 
Natural order of Calycanthemae. Onagrse, 
Jussieu. Essential character: calyx four- 
