H O L 
£24 
which are Hill afted, not only in Denmark, but in Ger¬ 
many, and other countries. His other writings are, x. Hil- 
•tory of the jews from the Creation to the prefent Time, 
Copenhagen, 1742, 2 vols. 410. a. Epigrammata, Libri'VII. 
H-ifn. 1750, 8vo. 3. Moral Thoughts, Copenh. 1744, 8vo. 
4. Parallel Hi ft cry of various Heroines and other cele¬ 
brated Females, after-the Manner of Plutarch, 1745- 5- 
Mifcellaneous Poems, 1747. 6. Hi/ioria Navalis Darwrum 
& Norvegprum. 7. Letters on Hiftory, Politics, Metaphy- 
lics, Morality, and different Mifcellaneous Subjecls, Co¬ 
penh. 1747, 2 vols. Svo. 8. Moral Fables, 1749, 8vo. 9 - 
Lettre de M. le Baron Holherg, qni contient quelqucs Remarqucs 
fur tes Mcmoires conceruant la Rrine Chrijlinc, nouvellement pub- 
lies (par M. Arkenholz) a Lcipf. 1753, 8vo. 10. Conjc.Bures 
Jur It's Caiefcs de la Grandeur dts Remains, ncuvdlc Hypotheje, 
oppqfee a quelqucs (wires ci-dcjonl publiets fur le mcme Sujct, 
■1753, 8vo. 
FIOL'BURNHEAD, a cape of Scotland, on the north 
co aft of the county of Caithnefs. Lat. 58.35.N. Ion. 0.9. W. 
Edinburgh. 
■ HOL'CROFT (Thomas), born of obfeure parents, 
who fpeiled their name Olddcraft, which he reltored to its 
true orthography. His father was a (hoe-maker; to .which 
craft the fon always bore a peculiar relpedh When about 
twenty-five years old, Mr. Holcroft conceived a paftion 
for the ltage; and in the profellion of a player he conti¬ 
nued, not with, much fuccels, till after the production of 
the play of Duplicity, in 1781. Immediately on the ex¬ 
hibition of this comedy, he withdrew from the ftage as 
an a£lor, and for feveral years devoted his attention prin¬ 
cipally, to dramatic compoiition. His writings of this 
kind were as .fellow : 2. The Noble Peafant, an opera. 3. 
The Choleric Fathers, an opera. 4. The FolLies of a 
Day, a comedy, tranflated from the French of Beaumar¬ 
chais. 5. Seduction, a comedy, 1786. 6. The German 
Hotel, a drama, tranflation, 1790. 7. The School for Ar¬ 
rogance, a comedy, partly from the French of Deftouches, 
1791. 8. The Road to Ruin, a comedy, and the belt of 
his dramatic writings, 1792. 9. Love’s Frailties, a co¬ 
medy, 1794. 10. The Deferted Daughter, a comedy, 1795. 
11. The Man of Ten Thoufand, a comedy, 1796. 12. 
The Force of Ridicule, a comedy, 1796. 13. He is Much 
to Blame, a comedy, very fuccefsful, 1798. 14. Knave 
or Not, a comedy, 179S. 15. Deaf and Dumb, a comedy, 
from the French, very fuccefsful, 1801. 16. The Tale of 
Myfiery, an after-piece, from the French, 180a. 17. Hear 
Both Sides, a comedy, 1803. 18. The Vindictive Man, a 
comedy, 1806. 
Mr. Holcroft alfo exercifed his talent, with advantage to 
his reputation, in the novels of Anna St. Ives, publifhed 
1791, and FI ugh Trevor, publifhed 1794. He alfo pro¬ 
duced a third novel, entitled, Brian Perdue, in 1807. The 
public is further indebted to the pen of this ready writer 
for many tranflations. 1. The Private Lire of Voltaire, 
itmo. 2. Memoirs of Baron T re nek, 3. vols. 121T10. 3. 
Secret Hiftory of the Court of Berlin, by the Count de 
Mirabeau, 2 vols. 8vo. 4. Tales of the Caftle, by Ma¬ 
dame de Genlis, 5 vols. 121110. 5. Pofthumous Works of 
Frederic II. King of Pruflia, 13 vols. Svo. 6. An Abridged 
Dilplay of the Phyfiog-nomy of Lavater, 3 large vols. Svo. 
The great aclion of the life of Mr. Holcroft, was un- 
boubtedly his voluntary lurrender to the indiftment for 
high-treafon, preferred againft him in the autumn of the 
year 1794. Fie Ipent the principal part of the years 1799, 
1800, and 1801, in Germany and France ; and the obser¬ 
vations collected by him, in his travels, he afterwards pub- 
lilhed in 2 vols. 4to. He died at his houfe in Clipftone- 
ftreet, Marybone, on the 23d of March, 1809. The fur- 
viving (fecond) wife of Mr. Holcroft, is the niece of the 
celebrated Mercier, author of the Tableau de Paris, and a 
member of the French legislature. By this lady Mr. FIol-. 
croft left fix chi (Ten. 
HOLCUS, / [from oTw.o?, Gr. a furrow.] Indian Mil- 
tET ; in botany, a genus of the clafs polygamia, order 
snonoecia, natural order of gramina or grades. Thegene- 
1 
H O L 
ric characters are—-I. Hermaphrodite flowers, feftile. Calyx: 
glume one-fiowereu, two-valved, lubovate, obtule, coria¬ 
ceous, awniefs; outer valve large, concave, [lightly three¬ 
toothed at the tip, embracing the inner valve, which is ob¬ 
long, rolled up on the fldes. Corolla -. glume two-valved, 
tender, villofe, lefs than the calyx; outer valve fmalleft, 
placed within the inner calycine valve, in moil of the fpe- 
cies bifid at the tip, and awned ; awn from the cleft of the 
glume, long or fhoi t, jointed, twitted ; fometimes none. 
Nectary three-leaved} two of the leaflets cartilaginous, 
truncate; the third oppofite, ovate or lanceolate, villofe. 
Stamina: filaments three, capillary, very tender; antherm 
oblong, bifid. Piftillum : germ ovate; ftyles two, capillary, 
diverging; ftigmas oblong, feathered. Pericarpiuni: none; 
but the glumes of the corolla and calyx are rolled about the 
feed and inclofe it. Seed : folitary, ovate, covered, armed 
with the awn of the corolla, which however eafily falls 
off. II. Male flowert peduncled, folitary or in pairs accom¬ 
panying the hermaphrodite, fmaller. Calyx : glume two- 
valved ; valves ovate-lanceolate, fharpifh, chaffy, awniefs 7 
the outer valve concave, embracing the inner, which is 
narrower. Corolla: glume two-valved, fmaller, more ten¬ 
der; outer valve within the inner valve of the calyx, 
fliorter, two-toothed, awniefs; the inner valve doubled 
up on the edges. Piftillum ; germ final!, angular, abor¬ 
tive ; ftyles two, briftle-ftiaped ; Itigmas none. —EJJential 
CharaEler. Hermaphrodite. Calyx, glume one or two-flow- 
erecT; corolla, glume awned; ftamina three; ftyles two; 
feed one. Male. Calyx, glume two-valved; corolla none; 
ftamina three. 
Species. 1. Holcus fpicatus, or fpikea holcus: glumes 
two-flowered, avvnlefs ; flowers in pairs, involncred with 
a pencil, fpike ovate-oblong. Culm two feet high, the 
thicknefs of a fwan’s quill, covered with the (heaths of 
leaves ; both of them are hifpid. Leaves ufually ten in 
number, a finger’s breadth, hifpid. Spike very thick with 
very fliort pedicels, having at the top a bundle of briilles, 
within which are two fefiile flowers. Calyx two-valved, 
membranaceous, two-flowered. Outer petal of the her¬ 
maphrodite flower mucrcnate ; of the male blunt. Style 
longer than the flowers, woolly, (lightly bifid at top. An¬ 
thers oblong. This is an annual grafs, and a native of the 
Eaft Indies. Cultivated by Compton, bifhop of London, 
at Fulham. 
2. Holcus bicolor," or two-coloured holcus: glumes 
fmooth, black ; feeds globular, white awned. This is an 
annual grafs, bearing a great refemblance to the next fipe- 
cies, bvit very diftinct from it by the black calyxes and 
the feeds of a fnowy whitenefs. 
3. Holcus forghum, or Indian millet: glumes villofe, 
feed comprefied awned. Panicle contracted, ovate, upright, 
but as it ripens drooping. Calyx green, pubefeent, Awn 
brown at bottom, fmooth and whitifh at top. Seed naked, 
free, fubglobular, comprefied a little on both fldes, fmooth 
without fltining, of a milky whitenefs with a black um¬ 
bilical dot, There are feveral varieties of forghum, as of 
moft cultivated plants. The moll remarkable, befides H. 
bicolor, is the red-feeded one, cultivated among the Caf- 
fres. Of this the calyx when ripe, is cartilaginous, pale 
cheftnut-coloured, very fmooth, (hilling, only half the 
length of the feed; which is naked, obovate-globular, 
much acuminate towards the bale, red, not (hilling. 
Miller defcribes the forghum and faccharatus together, 
and indeed they differ fo little as fcarcely to merit being 
confidered as diftinft fpecies. According to him the ftaiks 
of thefe plants rife five or fix feet high, are ftrong, reedy, 
and like thofe of the maize, or turkey-wheat, but fmaller. 
The leaves are long and broad, having a deep furrow 
through the centre, where the midrib is deprelfed 011 the 
upper furface, and is very prominent below. The leaves 
are two feet and a half long, and two inches broad in the 
middle, embracing the ftaiks with their bale. The flow¬ 
ers come out in large panicles at the top of the ftaiks, re- 
fembling, at firft appearance, the male Ipikes of the tur¬ 
key-wheat ; thefe are lucceeded by large roundilh feeds, 
which- 
