850 HIE 
thought. On this principle he procured a ball of gold, 
and another of filver, exactly of the fame weight with 
the crown; confidering, that, if the crown were of pure 
gold, it would be of equal bulk and expel an equal 
quantity of water as the golden ball ; and, if it were of 
filver, then it would be of equal bulk and expel an equal 
quantity of water with the ball of filver; but of inter¬ 
mediate quantity, if it confided of a mixture of the two, 
gold and filver; which, upon trial, he found to be the 
cafe; and hence, by a comparifon of the quantities of 
water difplaced by the three maffes, he difcovered the 
exadt portions of gold and filver in the crown. 
Now, fuppofe, for example, that each of the three 
maffes weighed ioo ounces; and that on immerfing them 
leverally in water, there were difplaced 5 ounces of wa¬ 
ter by the golden ball, 9 ounces by the filver, and 6 
ounces by the compound, or crown; that is, their re- 
fpedtive or comparative bulks are as 5, 9, and 6, the fum 
of which is 20. Then the method of operation is this: 
From 9 6 
Take 6 5 
Rem. 3 1, whofe fum is 4. 
Therefore 4 : too 1:3:75 oz. of gold, 
and 4 : too :: 1 : 25 oz. of filver. 
That is, the crown confided of 75 ounces of gold, and 
2.5 ounces of filver. 
HIEROBOTA'NE, f in botany. See Veronica. 
HIEROCASSA'REA, in ancient geography, a town 
of Lydia, mentioned by Tacitus. 
HIEROCE'PIA, in ancient geography, an ifland near 
Paphos in Cyprus. 
HI'EROCLES, a cruel perfecutor of the Chridians, 
and a violent promoter of the perfecution under Diocle- 
fian, flourifhed in 302. He wrote fome books againd the 
Chridian religion; in which he pretends to detedt fome 
inconfidencies in the Holy Scriptures, and compares the 
miracles of Apollonius Tyanaeus to thofe of our Saviour. 
He was refuted by Ladtantius and Eufebius. The re¬ 
mains of his works were collected into one volume odtavo, 
by bifliop Pearfon ; and publiftied in 1654, with a learned 
differtation prefixed to them. 
HI'EROCLES, a Platonic philofopher of the fifth 
century, taught at Alexandria, and was admired for his 
.eloquence. He wrote feven books upon Providence-and 
Fate; and dedicated them to the philofopher Olympio- 
dorus, who by his embaflies did the Romans great fer- 
vices under the emperors Honorius and Theodofius the 
younger. But thefe books are lod, and we only know 
them by the extracts in Photius. He wrote alfo a Com¬ 
mentary upon the golden verfes of Pythagoras; which 
is dill extant, and has been feveral times publilhed with 
thofe verfes. 
HIEROD'ULUM, in ancient geography, a town of 
Lydia. 
HIEROCLO'E, f. in botany. See Holcus. 
HI EROGLYPH, or Hierog LYPH'ic,y. [ hieroglyphe , 
Fr. ugo$, Gr. facred, and yhvtpu, to carve.] An emblem ; 
a figure by which a word was implied .—Hieroglyph feems 
to be the proper fubfiantive, and hieroglyphic the adjec¬ 
tive. Johnfon. —A lamp amongd the Egyptians is the 
hieroglyphic of life. Wilkins. —The fird writing man ufed 
was only the lingle pictures and gravings of the things 
they would reprefent, which way of exprefiion was after¬ 
wards called hieroglyphic. Woodward. 
Between the datues obelilks were plac’d, 
And the learn’d walls with hieroglyphics grac’d. Pope. 
The art of writing in picture.—No brute can endure the 
tade of drong liquor, and confequently it is againd all 
the rules of hieroglyph to adign any animals as patrons.of 
punch. Swift. 
Of the nature and origin of hieroglyphics, we have 
treated at confiderable length in our article Ecyft, 
vol. vi. p. 371-373; to which we refer the reader. In 
addition to thofe obfervations, we Ihall date the opi- 
H I E 
nions of the following writers on this very abdrufe fub- 
jedt. Dr. Blair, in his Ledtures on Belles Lettres, 
dates as follows;—“ It has been imagined, that hiero¬ 
glyphics were avi invention of the Egyptian prieds, for 
concealing their learning from common view ; and that, 
upon this account, it was preferred by them to the al¬ 
phabetical method of writing. But this is certainly a 
midake. Hieroglyphics were, undoubtedly, employed, 
at fird, front necedity, not from choicq or refinement; 
and would never have been thought of, if alphabetical 
charadters had been known. The nature of the inven¬ 
tion plainly fhows it to have been one of thofe grofs and 
rude effays towards writing, which were adopted in the 
early ages of the world ; in order to extend farther the 
fird method which they had employed of Ample pic¬ 
tures, or reprefentations of vifible objedts. Indeed, in 
after-times, when alphabetical writing was introduced 
into Egypt, and the hieroglyphical was, of courfe, fallen 
into difufe, it is known, that the prieds dill employed 
the hieroglyphical charadters, as a facred kind of writ¬ 
ing, now become peculiar to themfelves, and ferving to 
give an air of mydery to their learning and religion. In 
this date, the Greeks found hieroglyphical writing, 
when they began to have intercourfe with Egypt; and 
fome of their writers midook this ufe, to which they 
found it applied, for the caufe that had given rile to the 
invention. 
“ As writing advanced, from pidtures of vifible ob¬ 
jedts, to hieroglyphics, or fymbols of things invifible ; 
from thefe latter, it advanced, among fome nations, to 
fimple arbitrary marks which dood for objects, though 
without any refemblance or analogy to the objedts dig¬ 
nified, Of this nature was the method of writing prac- 
tifed among the Peruvians. They made ufe of fmall 
cords, of different colours; and by knots upon thefe, of 
various fizes, and differently ranged, they contrived 
figns for giving information, and communicating their 
thoughts to one another. 
“ Of this nature alfo, are the written charadters which 
arre ufed to this day, throughout the great empire of 
China. The Chinefe have no alphabet of letters, or 
fimple founds, which compofe their words. But every 
fingle charadter which they ufe in writing, is fignificant 
of an idea ; it is a mark which dands for fome one thing 
or objedt. By confequence, the number of thefe cha¬ 
radters mud be immenfe. It mud correfpond to the 
whole number of objedts or ideas which they have oc? 
cafion to exprefs ; that is, to the whole number of words 
which they employ in fpeech ; Hay, it mud be greater 
than the number of words ; one word, by varying the 
tone, with which it is fpoken, may be made to fignify 
feveral different things. They are faid to have feventy 
thoufand of thofe written charadters. To read and write 
them to perfedtion, is the dudy of a whole life ; which 
fubjedts learning, among them, to infinite difadvantage ; 
and mud have greatly retarded the progrefs of all fcience. 
“Concerning' the origin of thefe Chinefe charadters, 
there have been different opinions, and much controver- 
fy. According to the mod probable accounts, the Chi¬ 
nefe writing began, like the Egyptian, with pidtures 
and hieroglyphical figures. Thefe figures being, in 
progrefs, abbreviated in their form, for the fake of writ¬ 
ing them eafily, and greatly enlarged in their number, 
paffed, at length, into thofe marks or charadters which 
they now ufe, and which have fpread themfelves through 
feveral nations of the ead. For we are informed, that 
the Japanefe, the Tonquinefe, and the Corceans, who 
fpeak different languages from one another, and from 
the inhabitants of China, ufe, however, the fame writ¬ 
ten charadters with them ; and, by this means, corre¬ 
fpond intelligibly with each other in writing, though 
ignorant of the language fpqken in their feveral coun¬ 
tries ; a plain proof, that the Chinefe charadters are, 
like hieroglyphics, independent of language; are figns 
of things, not of words. 
