HUS 
are woven, the better. They serve to ren- 
der batteries firm, or to consolidate the pas- 
sage over muddy ditches : or to cover tra- 
verses and lodgments, for the defence of the 
workmen, against the tire-works, or the 
stones that may be thrown against them. 
Hurdj.es, in husbandry, certain frames, 
made either of split timber, or of hazel rods 
wattled together, to serve for sates in in- 
closures, or to make sheepfolds, &c. 
HURRICANE, a furious storm of wind, 
owing to a contrariety of winds. See arti- 
cle Wind and Whirlwind^ Hurricanes 
are frequent in the West Indies, where they 
make terrible ravages, by rooting tip trees, 
destroying houses and shipping, and the 
like. The natives, it is said, can foretell 
hurricanes by the following prognostics : 
1. All hurricanes happen either on the day 
of the full, change, or quarter of the moon. 
2. From the unusual redness of the sun, the 
great stillness, and at the same time, turbu- 
lence Of the skies, swelling of the sea, and 
the like, happening at the change of the 
moon, they conclude there will be a hurri- 
cane next full-moon ; and if the same signs 
be observed on the full moon, they may ex- 
pect one next new moon. As to the cause 
of hurricanes, they undoubtedly arise from 
the violent struggle of two opposite winds. 
Now as the wind betwixt the tropics is ge- 
nerally easterly, and upon the sun’s going 
back from the northern tropic, the western 
winds pour down with violence upon those 
parts, the opposition of these contrary 
winds cannot tail to produce a hurricane. 
Hurricanes shift not through all the points 
of the compass, but begin always with a 
north wind, veer to the east, and then 
cease; and their shifting between these 
two points is so sudden and violent, that it 
is impossible for any ship to veer with it ; 
whence it happens that the sails are carried 
away, yards and all, and sometimes the 
masts themselves wreathed round like an 
osier. 
HUSBAND and WIFE, usually termed 
baron and feme, are one person in law ; 
that is, the very being or legal existence of 
the woman is suspended during the mam- 
age; or, at least, is incorporated and consoli- 
dated into that of the husband, under whose 
wing, protection, and cover she performs 
every thing ; she is therefore called, in out- 
law, (French,) a feme covert, that is, under 
the protection and influence of her hus- 
band, her baron, or lord ; and her condi- 
tion, during her marriage, is called her co- 
verture. A man cannot grant lands to his 
HUS 
wife during the coverture, nor any estate or 
interest to her, nor enter into covenant with 
her; but he may, by his deed, covenant 
with others for her use, as for her jointure, 
or the like ; and he may give to her, by de- 
vise or will, because the devise or will does 
not take effect till after his death. 
Ail deeds executed by the wife, and acts 
done by her during her coverture, are void ; 
except a fine, or the like matter of record, 
in which case she must be solely and se- 
cretly examined, that 4 may be known 
whether or not her act be voluntaiy. A 
wife is so much favoured, in respect of that 
power and authority which her husband has 
over her, that she shall not suffer any pu- 
nishment for committing a bare theft, in 
company with, or by coercion of her hus- 
band ; but if she commit a theft of her own 
voluntary act, or by the bare command of 
her husband, or be guilty of treason, mur- 
der, or robbery, in company with, or by 
coercion of her husband, she is punishable 
as much as if she were sole ; because of the 
odionsness and dangerous consequence of 
these crimes. By marriage, the husband 
hath power over his wife’s peison ; and the 
courts of law still permit a husband to re- 
strain a w'ife of her liberty, in case of any 
gross misbehaviour ; but if he threaten to 
kill her, &c., she may make him find surety 
of the peace, by suing a writ of supplicavit 
out of Chancery, or by preferring articles 
of the peace against diim, in the court of 
King’s Bench, or she may apply to the spi- 
ritual court for a divorce, on account of cru- 
elly. The husband, by marriage, obtains a 
freehold in right of his wife, if he takes a 
woman to wife that is seized of a freehold ; 
and he may make a lease thereof for twenty- 
one years, or three lives, if it be made ac- 
cording to the statute, 32 Henry VIII. 
c. 28. The husband also gains a chattel 
real, as a term for years, to dispose of, if he 
please, by grant or lease in her life-time, or 
by surviving her : otherwise it remains with 
the wife ; and upon execution for the hus- 
band’s debt, the sheriff may sell the term 
during the life of the wife. The husband 
also, by the marriage, hath an absolute gift 
of all chattels personal, in possession of the 
wife in her own right, whether he survives 
her or not. But if these chattels personal 
are choses in action, that is, things to be 
sued for by action, as debts by obligation, 
contract, or the like, the husband shall not 
have them, unless he and his wife recover 
them. 
By custom in London, a wife may carry 
