abundant kind, which lies close to the skin, and called "fur." With respect to structure, Eberle has proved that the sheath of the hair is vascular, and the substance of the hair is formed by the secretion of horny matter on the surface of the vascular pulp.

J. Cowperthwait, Esq., near Bristol, Pennsyl-
vania. It is quite an old tree, and has attained
the height of 35 or 40 feet. There are two
species of halesia, one called flower-winged
(H. tetraptera), and the other the two-winged
(H. diptera). The leaves of the latter are six
times the size of the former, and the fruit has
two large wings and two minute ones.

The organization of the hair is such as to allow of its undergoing certain changes when once formed, according to the state of health HAM (Dutch, hammen; Fr. jambon). In and general condition of the rest of the frame, commerce denotes the thigh of a hog or bear and even to be affected by loss of colour in salted and dried, so as to preserve it in a state consequence of violent mental emotions in the possessing a pungent and agreeable flavour. human subject. Some of the lower animals, York, Hants, Wilts, and Cumberland in Engas the Alpine hare, are subject to periodical land, and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, changes of colour of their fur, by which it is are the counties most famous for producing made to harmonize with the prevailing hue of fine hams. Those of Ireland are comparatively the ground which they habitually traverse. The coarse, and without flavour. See BACON. The chemical properties of hair were first pointed hams of Portugal, Westphalia, and Virginia out by Mr. Hatchett, in his paper in the Phil. are exquisitely flavoured, and are in high estiTrans. for 1800. It chiefly consists of an in-mation. The method of curing hams in the durated albumen, and when boiled with water, it yields a portion of gelatin. Soft flexible hair, which easily loses its curl, is that which is most gelatinous. Vauquelin discovered two kinds of oil in hair: the one colourless, in all hair; the other coloured, and imparting the peculiar tint to hair. Black hair also contains iron and sulphur. The following is his analysis:-1. An animal matter, constituting the greatest part. 2. A white solid oil, small in quantity. 3. A grayish-green oil, more abundant. 4. Iron; state unknown. 5. Oxide of manganese. 6. Phosphate of lime. 7. Carbonate of lime, very scanty. 8. Silica. 9. Sulphur. Leuwenhoeck (Phil. Trans.) and Hooke (Micrographia, p. 156) have published their microscopical observations on hair.

most celebrated districts, is to rub them very
hard with bay or other salt; then leave them
on a stone bench, in order that the brine may
discharge itself. In a few days the rubbing
process is repeated; about half an ounce of
saltpetre (nitrate of potassa) being added to
each ham. When they have continued about
a week longer on the bench, or in the salting-
tub, among the brine, they are commonly hung
up to dry in the sides of large open chimneys;
some have them exposed to the smoke of wood,
peats, coals, or other sorts of fuel, while others
carefully avoid having them smoked.
when not sold sooner, they are continued in
these situations till the approach of warm wea-
ther, when they are packed up in casks with
straw, or the seeds of oatmeal, and consigned
for sale. Hams lose about 20 per cent. of their
weight in drying.

And

Human hair makes a very considerable article in commerce, for wigs, &c. The hair of horses is extensively used in the manufacture of chairs, sofas, saddles, &c.; while the hair or wool of beavers, hares, and rabbits, &c., is much employed in the manufacture of hats, &c. The refuse hair of different animals, particularly the short hair from hides, and that of hogs, when it can be procured in sufficient quantity, will be found useful as a fertilizer; a fact that might readily be imagined when it is known that its chemical properties closely ap-ally till they acquire a moderate degree of heat. proximate to those of horn.

HAIR GRASS. See AIRA.

Hams may be cured in order to resemble, in taste, those of Westphalia, by the following process:-Cover a young ham of pork with dry salt; let it be for 24 hours to draw off the blood; then wipe it perfectly dry, and take one pound of brown sugar, a quarter of a pound of saltpetre, half a pint of bay salt, and three pints of salt; incorporate these ingredients in an iron pan over the fire, and stir them continu-

In this pickle the ham must be suffered to remain for three weeks, frequently turning it,. HALESIA. The name of two beautiful spe- when it should be suspended in a chimney for cies of shrub, or small trees, natives of North drying by means of smoke from no other but a Carolina and other Southern States. They are wood fire. The smoke from oak saw-dust or known by the familiar names of silver-bell and shavings is the best for imparting a fine flasnow-drop tree, and are highly ornamental, vour. This smoke contains imperfectly formed producing very early, whilst the tree is com- pyroligneous acid, which is the agent that completely leafless, a profusion of snow-white municates the flavour to the Westphalia hams. hanging blossoms, having a pleasant odour and In Dumfriesshire the pickle for hams is somevery much frequented by humming-birds, bees, times made with one-half ale, which renders and other insects. The flowers are disposed the hams shorter, and adds greatly to the richin bunches all along the branches, each budness of their flavour. The imports of bacon producing from 4 to 8 or 9. The flowering and hams into England, have been kept low by continues during two or three weeks, and the the heavy duty of 28s. exacted on each cwt.. blossoms are succeeded by pretty large winged But the duty having been recently greatly rejuiceless drupes, hanging likewise in bunches. The tree is propagated by cuttings or suckers from the roots, and appear to stand the severe winters of more Northerly States, very well. A Halesia, with several distinct trunks from the original root, is now flourishing at the seat of

duced, a large amount of hams cured in Ame-
rica will be sent to the English market. In
1842, the duty on foreign hams imported into
England was reduced to 14s. the cwt., or just
half of what it had been for many years. On
those imported from British colonies the duty.

is only 3s. 5d. per cwt. Although dried hams | 2 feet 4 inches from the end of the nose to the pay a duty of 148., those shipped in pickle pass arms, the average weight being 8 lbs. The ears the English Custom House at the pork duty of are longer in proportion than those of the com 88. per cwt. As a set off, however, against the mon hare, and especially those of the varying 68. saved in duty, it must be observed that pork rabbit. The fur is exceedingly thick and cured in pickle is of inferior quality to that woolly, of the purest white in the spring and cured in dry salt, and will not bring an equal autumn, excepting a tuft of long black hair at price. It is also shipped in that form at an in- the tip of the ears, which is reddish-brown at creased cost of packages and freight, and pays the base. The whiskers are also black at the a duty on a greater weight than when dried. base for one-half their length. In the summer See SWINE. the back and sides become a little grayish, the fur beneath still remaining white. The lepus glacialis, or hare of the icy regions, inhabits the Arctic circle, Greenland (where it remains entirely white even in summer). The food consists chiefly of tender herbs gathered from ravines. (Fauna Americana.)

HAMES. The iron or wooden harness by which draught-horses are attached to the carts,

&c.

HAND. The measure of the fist when clenched; it is equal to four inches. The height of horses is computed in this way. horse 15 hands high stands five feet at the shoulders.

A

HARE (Lepus timidus). The hare is naturally a timid animal, and extremely swift in motion when pursued by dogs. Hares are dispersed over almost every climate, and consequently the varieties are extremely numerous; and the sizes, forms, and habits, adapted to the physical wants of the family, greatly multiplies their diversities. Although hunted in all countries, being prolific in the extreme, their species does not apparently diminish in number. They begin to breed in the first year, and the female generally produces four or five leverets, after a gestation of about 31 or 32 days; and she is supposed to breed four or five times in the year. Unlike dogs, the eyes of these animals are open at their birth; and after being suckled for about three weeks, they are abandoned to their fate. Hares in a state of nature are believed to live from 9 to 12 years. The hare is known to have been a favourite object of the chace more than 2000 years ago.

Two or three species of the hare genus are natives of the United States. The common American rabbit, found all over the country, is the Lepus Americanus and Lepus Hudsonius of naturalists. It is smaller than the English hare, and even less than the European rabbit. In dry places it often burrows in the earth, and is very prolific, bringing forth 3 or 4 times a year from 5 to 10 at a time. It carries its young about 6 weeks. In the domestic state the male rabbit will often destroy the young. A second American species is the Varying Hare, the Lepus Virgianianus or Lepus variabilis of naturalists. This inhabits the Southern and Middle States, and most probably as far north as New England. Its colour is grayishbrown in summer, and white in winter; the orbits of the eyes are at all times surrounded | by a reddish fawn-colour; tail very short. The largest of this species are about 18 inches, total length, and weigh from 7 to 8 lbs. These animals never burrow, but frequent meadows, &c., near the base of mountains, and when pursued retreat into hollow trees. They bring forth several times a year, 3 or 4 at a birth, after a gestation of about 30 days.

In the extreme northerly parts of the continent, Captains Parry, Sabine, and other travellers, describe another American species under the name of Lepus glacialis, which is somewhat larger than the varying rabbit, being

HARIFF, Goose-Grass, Cliders, Cleavers, or Catchweed (Galium aparine). Pl. 10, h. This is an annual plant, with a fibrous root, growing in hedges almost everywhere. It is found wild even in Nepal. The flowers are small, pale, and buff-coloured, few together, on lateral leafy stalks, and blowing from May to August. The root is fibrous. The stem branched, brittle, supporting itself upon other plants; often three or four feet long; the four angles beset with hooked prickles, which are also abundant on the edges and keels of the leaves, by all which the herb sticks to the hands and clothes of those who touch it, as well as to the coats of animals, as do likewise the seeds. fruit is a double globe, beset with minute, short hooks. The expressed juice of the herb is reckoned anti-scorbutic; but this is doubtful, as well as some imaginary virtues in cancer which have been attributed to it. The roasted seeds are said to be no bad substitute for coffee, to which they are botanically related.

The

Three-flowered goose-grass is one of the names of the rough-fruited common bed straw. (G. tricorne).

HARRIERS. A breed of dogs kept princi pally for hunting the hare. There are three prominent varieties of the harrier,—the old southern hound, the modern harrier, and the beagle. Subordinate divisions occur, and a cross breed is used in hunting the otter. The modern harrier is little more than a dwarf foxhound. The size and form of the harrier, like those of the fox-hound, should be adapted to the nature of the country hunted over. Some sportsmen have a penchant for packs of undersized harriers; and a gentleman of the name of Harding used to hunt the open grounds about Dorchester with about 17 couple, which were not more than 16 or 17 inches high. (Blaine's Rural Sports, p. 404.)

HARROW. For the chief portion of the following article, I am indebted to the Messrs. Ransome, the celebrated agricultural imple ment makers of Ipswich; than whom no per sons can be better acquainted with the construction and uses of different machines and implements for agricultural purposes. This instrument succeeds to the plough in the natural order of description, and in the uses to which it is applicable. Its purpose is to pul verize the ground which has been moved by the plough, to disengage from it the weeds and roots which it may contain, or to cover the

seeds of the cultivated plants, when sown. | harrows appear to us too heavy and clumsy to The form of the plough has been very different admit of that despatch without which the work in different ages and countries, and there is cannot be well done; and though it is evident little resemblance between the rude machines that different soils demand different imple of the ancients and some of those which are ments, of proportionate weight and power, yet, now employed; but the harrow seems to have for the most part, harrows have been rather been nearly of the same form from the earliest over than under-weighted, particularly when times to which we are able to trace it on sculp-employed after a drill, or to bury seeds of any tures, medals, and other remains of antiquity. kind. Harrowing has been so long regarded It is a much more simple machine than the plough, and may even be held to be imperfect in any form in which it can be made; yet it is an instrument of great utility in tillage, and no other has yet been devised to supersede its use, or to equal it, for many of the purposes to which it is applicable. (Quart. Journ, of Agr. vol. i. p. | 503.)

as an operation which must be attended with considerable horse-labour, that our attention has been turned to the inquiry, whether this labour might not be greatly reduced by lightening the harrows. Many, we think, would be surprised at the amount of reduction of which seed-harrows, at least, are capable, and where land is clear, to see how effective a gang of very light small-toothed harrows may be made. Having noticed the perfect manner in which seed-corn is covered by a common rake with wooden teeth, in some parts of Norfolk, a friend of ours constructed a gang of harrows on the following plan, and he states that they proved the most popular and useful implement of the kind on the farm. Pl. 15, fig. 1.

The frames are of ash, and as light as pos

There were various stages in the gradual introduction of the modern harrow. The first implement used by men, for the purpose of covering seed, is generally the branch of a tree; to these soon succeed more desirable substances, such as beams of wood; and then, again, two or more beams are fastened together spikes, or teeth, are a much later improvement. Even now, in India (and there the natives but rarely alter their modes of cul-sible, the teeth (of iron) being but three inches ture or their implements), an instrument is used which is intended to produce the combined effects of the roller and the harrow. This, according to Mr. G. W. Johnson, "is nothing more in form than an English ladder made of bamboo, about 18 feet long, drawn by four bullocks and guided by two men, who, to increase its power, stand upon it, as they direct and urge on the cattle again and again has it to pass over the same surface, and thus it causes a great waste of time and labour."

Important as is the operation of harrowing, and second only to that of ploughing, it has often appeared to us that these implements have scarcely obtained the attention which is their due. We here speak less with reference to the improvements which have been carried into effect, than to the selection which appears generally to have been made. The operation is in many neighbourhoods so performed as to exhibit a prominent defect, either in the management of the farm, or in the construction of the implement: perhaps the blame may be fairly shared. It is admitted by all acquainted with the subject, that harrowing, especially on heavy soils, is the most laborious operation on the farm, not so much, perhaps, on account of the quantum of power requisite for the draught (though this is sometimes considerable), as for the speed with which the operation is, or ought to be, accompanied; and yet it is frequently left to the charge of mere boys, and sometimes performed by the worst horses on the farm. If we examine a field, one-half of which has been harrowed by weak, inefficient horses, and whose pace was consequently sluggish, the other half by an adequate strength and swiftness of animal power, we shall find the former will be rough and unfinished; the latter comparatively firm and level, and completed in what would be called a husbandrylike manner. Scarcely any thing in farming is more unsightly than the wavy, serpentine traces of inefficient harrowing. The generality of

long, exclusive of the part which enters the wood-work. They screw into the balks in the manner shown in Pl. 15, fig. 4.

It will be observed that the above four harrows are amply sufficient to cover a twelvefurrow stetch or ridge of 108 inches, but three will be wide enough for a three-furrow stetch of 90 inches, exclusive of a small portion of the furrows. If for some purposes the teeth be found too thick, every other tooth may be taken out; but for general purposes this will hardly be necessary. The two horses require, on this plan, to be kept quite level; for if one is suffered to go in advance of the other, a diagonal line is produced, by which the teeth will be made to follow each other, instead of cutting fresh ground. We are aware that, by the usual construction of harrows, a diagonal line of draught is required, in order to throw the teeth into a proper working position; but we are strongly inclined to the opinion, that the due execution of the implement ought to depend on its construction, and not on any particular mode of working it. Besides, the system of keeping one horse in advance of his partner is bad in principle; it is an unequal division of labour, the fore-horse being compelled to do more than his share of the work, which, under any circumstances, is always heavy enough. We have stated that the above set of harrows are of wood. Their extraordinary lightness renders this necessary; but, for general purposes, we prefer those made of iron, the weight of which can be increased to any reasonable degree without adding much to their substance. This is important in working tenacious clays, which, by adhering to the clumsy wooden balks, considerably increase the labour, and at the same time impede the proper execution.

In an experiment made between a pair of wooden harrows and a pair of iron ones, constructed on the same plan, having the same number, and precisely the same disposition of the teeth and balks, although the iron were