Hecatomb
a Greek word meaning literally a hundred oxen. In the worship of the Greeks it was customary to sacrifice a large number of animals, preferably oxen. The legs and certain portions of the intestines were wrapped in fat and burned on the altar. The remainder of the carcass served for a feast which came at the conclusion of the religious ceremony. While the sacrifice by no means required the full number of oxen, and might, indeed, be performed with other animals, it is needless to say that the prospect of a bountiful feast led the populace to regard the full number of one hundred oxen with favor. A man of wealth hardly deemed it consistent with his social standing to tender the priests a smaller number. Hecatomb has passed into popular use, rather inappropriately, to designate a sacrifice of human life, as in case of a railroad accident and the burning of a ship at sea, or an assault on a fortress. See Barbecue
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Hecla
a mountain of Iceland. One of the most celebrated volcanoes in the world. It is almost a mile high, and has five craters. Eighteen eruptions are on record. The last occurred in 1845. In 1783 a stream of lava fifteen miles wide and forty-five miles long was thrown out in a single eruption. Mt. Hecla stands alone on a plain about twenty miles from the sea. See Iceland ; Volcano
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Hedge School
a term applied to the wayside schools of Ireland. See Carleton ; William
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Hedgehog
an insect-eating animal belonging to a family of several species. It is not related to the woodchuck or to the porcupine. The teeth are small and sharp--more like those of a shrew. The common hedgehog of Europe is about nine inches in length. Its upper parts are covered thickly with strong, sharp spines about an inch in length. When attacked or alarmed the little animal tucks its nose and feet in, and, by means of a peculiar set of muscles running along its sides something like the strings of a lady's handbag, draws the spiny portion of its hide together in such a way as to become a perfect globe, armed with spiny bristles at every point of the surface. It may be handled, or teased by dogs, for hours at a time, before it will open up or expose itself to its enemies. Its spines are so elastic that it may be thrown like a ball without suffering injury. In addition to insects, the hedgehog is not averse to birds, eggs, and even poisonous snakes, which it is able to eat, tail first, with the utmost satisfaction. The hedgehog feeds at night, and hibernates in the winter. There are no hedgehogs in America. See Shrew ; Porcupine
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Hegel
GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH, a German metaphysician; born in Stuttgart, in 1770. He studied at the theological institute of Tübingen from 1788-1793, and was next a private tutor at Berne (1793-1796), and subsequently at Frankfort-on-the-Main (1797- 1800). Having removed to Jena, and contracted an intimacy with Schelling, he devoted himself to metaphysical study. After the battle of Jena, Hegel was employed on a newspaper at Bamberg till 1808. He was professor successively at Jena, Heidelberg, and Berlin. He was at first the disciple of Schelling, with whom he was associated in the conduct of a philosophical journal in 1802-1803. But his opinions gradually took a different turn. He rejected Schelling's intellectual intuition as an unwarrantable assumption, though he continued to maintain its leading idea-the unity of the subjective or ideal, and the objective or real; and in this idea endeavored to establish that absolute cognition and absolute truth, which alone, according to this school, can satisfy the demands of the philosophical spirit. Hegel seems not to have perfected his system; and as he had no power of exposition, or of lucid expression of his thoughts, it is impossible to give a clear view of his philosophy. His most important works are his "Phenomenology of the Mind"; "Logic"; and "Encyclopædia of Philosophical Sciences." He died in Berlin, in 1831.
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Hegira
he-ji'ra, an Arabic word meaning the flight or departure. More particularly it is the date of Mohammed's flight from the holy city of Mecca, 622 A. D. The Mohammedans reckon time from the hegira, as we do from the birth of Christ. Their dates begin 622 years behind ours. In order to change from one time to the other, it is necessary to make an additional allowance for the shortness of the Arabic year, which consists of lunar months. See Mohammed ; Calendar
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Heidelberg
hi'dl-burg. See Baden
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Heidelberg (Town of Baden on the left bank)
a town of Baden; on the left bank of the Neckar, here crossed by two bridges; in one of the loveliest districts of Germany. It is on a narrow strip between the river and the castlerock and Geisberg, spurs of the Königstuhl (1,850 feet); and chiefly consists of one main street and less important cross and paralled streets. The principal buildings are: The church of St. Peter; the church of the Holy Ghost; the castle, anciently the residence of the Electors Palatine; HEILDELBERG UNIVER- SITY (q. v.); the town house, etc. The castle, begun in the end of the 13th century, and exhibiting elaborate examples of early and late Renaissance architecture, is the most remarkable edifice in Heidelberg. It is now an ivy-clad ruin, but is carefully preserved from further decay. The principal industry is brewing. One of the greatest curiosities of the place is the Heidelberg tun, kept in a cellar under the castle. It is 36 feet in length, 26 in diameter, and capable of holding 800 hogsheads. Heidelberg is rich in public walks and fine views, that from the Königstuhl being of surpassing beauty. It was long the capital of the Palatinate, but was superseded by Mannheim in 1720. In 1622 Tilly captured and sacked the city. A similar simi fate overtook it in 1689 and 1693 at the hands of the French. Pop. about 56,000.
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Heidelberg University
a coeducational institution in Tiffin, O.; founded in 1850 under the auspices of the Reformed Church in the United States; reported reported at the close of 1919: Professors and instructors, 25; students, 25; 331; president, C. E. Miller, D. D.
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