H fe E 
HER SIS 
many-leaved, lanceolate, lhor.t-, permanent; partial of 
one or two leaves, lanceolate, the length of the partial 
umbel; proper pe'rianthium obfcure, five-toothed. Co¬ 
rolla: univerfal flofculous; of the proper, petals five, 
oblong-ovate, upright, flat, entire, equal. Stamina : 
filaments five, filiform, fli'orter than the petals; antherae 
barren, oblong. Piflillum: germ inferior, comprefl'ed, 
larger than the corolla; ftyles two, filiform, upright, 
longer than the corolla; ftigmas oblufe. Peric'arpium: 
none; fruit orbicular, emarginate at the bale, gaping 
at the angles. Seeds : two, cordate-orbicular, com- 
prefled, flat, margined, marked with a Angle longitudi¬ 
nal elevated flreak. II. Male, umbels lateral, later, 
of the fame plant. Calyx: umbel univerfal as of the 
hermaphrodite; partial many-rayed ; the rays all flow¬ 
er-bearing; involucre as in the hermaphrodites; perian- 
thium fcarcely any. Corolla: as in the hermaphrodites. 
Stamina: filaments five, filiform, length of the corollet; 
antherae pollen-bearing, Oval, nearly twin.— EJfentialCka- 
ra&er. Hermaphrodite, umbel terminating; involucre 
univerfal and partial; umbellets with truncate rays, 
the central one floriferous ; petals five; ftamina five, 
barren; feeds in pairs, fuborbiculate. Male, umbels 
lateral, with univerfal and partial involucres; um¬ 
bellets many-flowered ; petals five; ftamina five, 
.fertile. 
Species, i. Hermas depauperata, or naked hermas : 
item flirubby; leaves oblong, embracing, toothed, vil- 
lofe underneath. This is an umbelled plant, with the 
leaves radical, white-tomentofe underneath. Stem high, 
lint pie, naked, with two or three alternate, remote, lit¬ 
tle fcales. Peduncles from the bofom of the fcales and 
the top of the Item. Umbels at the ends of the ftera 
and branches, peduncled, compound ; the end one her¬ 
maphrodite female, many-rayed, with feveral univerfal 
and partial.pedicels ; florets of the umbellets only foli- 
tary, the reft of the pedicels being truncate without a 
flower; the lateral umbels male, with all the rays of 
the umbels flower-bearing. Native of the Cape of 
Good Hope. 
2. Hermas gigantea, or large hermas: leaves lanceo¬ 
late-ovate, lanuginofe above, underneath tomentofe, en¬ 
tire. Leaves radical, petioled, obfcurely cremate, a foot 
in length and a fpan in breadth, the upper furface vil- 
lofe, the lower very clofely white-tomentofe. Stem 
four feet high, with a fmall leaf or two towards the 
lower part. The wool fcraped from the leaves is ufed 
for tinder at the Cape of Good Hope, as that front Ar- 
temifia is in China and Japan. 
3. Hermas capitata, or capitate hermas : ftem to¬ 
mentofe ; leaves fubcordate, ferrate; umbels capitate. 
Leaves petioled, radical, bluntifh, an inch long, veined, 
white-tomentofe underneath. Scape leaflefs, pubefcent, 
half a foot high. 
4. Hermas quinquedentata, or five-toothed hermas : 
.ftem fmooth ; leave's ovate, five-toothed, tomentofe un¬ 
derneath, umbel folitary. This is very diftinguilhable 
from the reft by its fmall leaves, with five nice deep 
ferratures. 
5. Hermas ciliata, or ciliate hermas: ftem fmooth ; 
leaves ovate, ciliate, tomentofe underneath, umbels fe¬ 
veral. This, with all the reft, are natives of the Cape 
of Good Hope; where the two laft were difcovered by 
Thunberg. For the Propagation and Culture , fee Bu- 
PIEURUM. 
HERMATHE'NA,/. A ftatue which reprefented 
Mercury and Minerva in the fame body. This ftatue 
was generally placed in fchools where eloquence and 
philofophy were taught, becaufe thefe two deities pre¬ 
lid ed over the arts and fciences. 
HERM'BACH, a town of Germany, in Weftphalia, 
and duchy of Juliers': feventeen miles foulh of Juliers. 
Lat. 50.42. N. Ion. 24. 2. E. 
HERMBS'DORF, a town of Silefia, in the princi¬ 
pality of Neyfae: two miles and a half north-weft erf 
Weydenau. 
HER'MENAULT (L.’), a town of France, in the 
department of Vendee, and chief place of a canton, in 
the diftridt of Fontenay-le-Comte : one league and three 
quarters north-weft of Fontenay-le-Comte, and three 
and a half eaft-north-eaft of Lucon. 
HERMENEUMAT'ICAL, and HERMENEU'TI- 
CAL, adj. [*eguvyevu, Gr. to interpret. J Belonging to 
interpretation. Scott. 
HER'MENT, a town of France, in the department 
of the Puy-de-Dome, and chief place of a canton in the 
diftridt of Clermont: feven leagues weft of Clermont, 
and eight weft-fouth-weft of Riom. 
HER/MES, or Mercury, called by the Egyptians 
Thct/i, and celebrated as a legiflator, prieft,'and philo¬ 
sopher, who, on account of his learning, and profound 
lkill in the arts and fciences, acquired the furhame Of 
Trijmegijlus, or Thrice Great. Thoth, according to Dio¬ 
dorus Siculus, was the counfellor and friend of Ofiris, 
who was left by him to aflift Ifis in the regency, when 
he embarked in the defign of vifiting and civilifing the 
feveral nations of the earth. The hiftorian adds, that 
he improved language, invented letters, inftituted reli¬ 
gious rites, and taught aftronomy, rnufic, and other 
arts. Many are of opinion that this Thoth or Hermes 
lived long before the time of Mofes, and feme have been 
fo fanciful as to confound him with Adam, while others 
have refpeftively maintained the opinions, that he was 
the fame perfon with Enoch, or Canaan, or the patri¬ 
arch Jofeph. Perhaps the molt probable judgment to 
be formed concerning him is, that he was fome perfon 
of fuperior genius, who, before the time of Mofes, had 
invented ufeful arts, and taught the firft rudiments of 
fcience ; -and who caufed his inftruCtions to be engraved 
in emblematical figures upon tables or columns of ftone, 
which he difperfed over the country, for the purpofe of 
enlightening the people. And it is reafonable to con¬ 
clude, that the fame fymbolical inferiptions were made 
ufe of in teaching the doftrines of religion, and the 
maxims of political and moral wifdom. 
The other Thoth or Hermes lived at a later period, 
but was equally celebrated with the former; and to him 
is particularly appropriated the name of Trifmegijlus. Ac¬ 
cording to Manetho, he tranflated from engraved tables 
of ftone, which had been buried in the earth, the lacred 
chara&ers of the firft Hermes, and wrote the explana¬ 
tion of them in books, which were depolited in the 
Egyptian temples. The fame author calls him the fon 
of Agatliodaemon, and adds, that to him are alcribed 
the reftoration of the wifdom taught by the firft Hermesj 
and the revival of geometry, arithmetic, and the arts, 
among the Egyptians, after they had been long loft or 
neglected. By the interpretation which he gave of the 
fymbols inferibed upon the ancient tables or columns, 
he obtained the fanCtion of antiquity to his own inftitu- 
tions; and, to perpetuate their influence upon the minds 
of the people, he committed the columns, with his own 
interpretations, to the care of the priefthood. Hence he 
obtained a high degree of refpeCt among the people, and 
was long revered as the reftorer of learning and the 
arts. He is faid to have written an incredible number 
of books, as commentaries upon the tables ot the fit'll 
Hermes, which treated of univerfal principles, of the 
nature and orders of celeftial beings, of aftrology, medi¬ 
cine, See. Clement of Alexandria gives an account of 
his having written thirty-two books upon theology and 
philofophy, and fix upon medicine, and mentions the 
particular fubjeCls of fome of them; but they are no 
longer in exiltence. As for the two dialogues which 
have been attributed to him, one of which is entitled 
Pcemander, and the other Afclepius, from the names of 
the principal fpeakers in them, no doubt remains of. their 
being fuppofititious. 
V HERMESI'ANAX, 
