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HI R

H IR

out any of the bluish cast. The skin is most excessively toughand strong, except on the belly, where it is considerably softer.Its voice is a peculiar kind of interrupted roar, between that of abull and the braying of an elephant. When on land it moves ina somewhat slow and awkward manner; but if pursued, can runwith considerable speed, and directly, plunging into the water sinksto the bottom, and pursues its progress beneath. It is observedto be extremely cautious of making its appearance by day, espe-cially in such places as are much frequented by mankind, scarcelylifting its nose above the surface while breathing; but it is fearlessin rivers which run through unfrequented regions, where it is oc-casionally seen to rush out of the watqr with sudden impetuosity,trampling down every thing in its way; and at such times is, ofcourse, highly dangerous. It is, however, naturally of a harmlessdisposition ; not attacking other animals, but merely committinghavoc in plantations of maize, rice, sugar-canes, &c. and destroy-ing the roots of trees, by loosening them with its vast teeth. It iscapable, notwithstanding its great bulk, .of swimming very swiftly.See Plate LXIX. The hippopotamus was known to the Ho-mans. Scaurus treated the people with the sight of five crocodilesand one hippopotamus during his xdileship, and exhibited them ina temporary lake. Augustus produced one at his triumph overCleopatra . This animal appears to be the Behemoth of Job ; whoadmirably describes its manner, its food, and its haunts : chap. xl.verse 15.— : 24. Ver. 15th, the learned Bochart observes, implies thelocality of its situation, being an inhabitant of the Nile , in theneighbourhood of Uz, the land of Job. The 16th describes itsgreat strength; and the 18 th the peculiar hardness of its bones. The21st and 22d indicate its residence amidst the vast reeds of theNile and other African rivers overshadowed w ith thick forests.The 23d the characteristic wideness of its mouth ; which is hyper-bolical!}' described as large enough to exhaust the Jordan. Anentertaining account of the hippopotamus is given in Sparman’sVoyage to the Cape of Good Hope , where these animals arecalled sea-cows.

HIPPURIS, Mare’s-tail; a genus of the monygynia order,and monandria class of plants ; natural order, Inundata :. There isno calyx ; petals a two-lobed rim ; stigma simple; seed one. It hasthree species.

lilPPUS, an affection of the eyes, that makes them representobjects in the like kind of motion as when on horseback.

HIR, a town of Persia, in the province of Kirman.

HIRJEA, in botany, a genus of the trigynia order, and decan-dria class of plants. Calyx pentaphyUous; petals roundish andunguiculated ; there are three bilabiated seeds.

HIRCH-IIORN, a town in the Lower Rhine, seven miles E. of iHeidelberg .

HIRCUS, in astronomy, a fixed star of the first magnitude,called also Capella.

Hjrcus is also used for a comet, encompassed with a mane,seemingly hairy.

HIRE, Philip de la^ an eminent French mathematician andastronomer, born at Paris in 1640. His father was painter in or-dinary to the king, and designed him forthesaine profession: but liedevoted himself to mathematical studies, and was nominated to-gether with M. Picard to make the necessary observations for anew map of France , by the directions of W. Colbert. In 1683,he was employed in continuing the famous meridian-line begun byM. Picard ; and was next engaged in constructing the grandaqneducts projected by Lewis XIV. He died in 1718, afterhaving written a great number of works, besides several occasionalpapers dispersed in Journals, and in Memoirs of the Academy ofSciences .

HlRPINI, in ancient geography, a people of Italy , next tothe SamnitCs, to the S. E. and descendants from them ; situatedto the N. of the Picentini, and to the W. of the Apuli, having onthe N. the Apennine and a part of Samnium . The name is BomHirpus, a term denoting a wolf in their language; either becauseunder the conduct of this animal the colony was led and settled,according to Strabo ; or because, like that prowling animal, theylived on plunder, according to Servius.

HIRTELLA, in botany, a genus of the monogvnia order, andpentandria class of plants. Petals five ; filaments very long, per-sisting, spiral; berry monospermous ; style, lateral. It has three'species.

IIIRUDO, the Leech ; a genus of insects of the ordervermes intestina. The body moves either forward or backward.There are, seventeen species, principally distinguished by theircolour. The most remarkable are the following :

11. Geometra, the Geometrical Leech, grow’s to an inchand a half in length ; and has a smooth and glossy skin of a duskybrown colour, but in some seasons greenish-spotted with white.When in motion, its back is elevated into a kind of ridge :and it then appears as if measuring the space it passed over like acompass, whence its name. Its tail is remarkably broad ; and itholds as’firmly by it as by the. head. It is common on stones inshallow running waters; and is often found on trouts and otherfish after spawning-time.

H. Medicinalis, the Medicinal Leech, the form of whichis well known, grows to the length of two or three iuches. Thebody is of a blackish brown colour, marked on the hack with sixyellow spots, and edged with a yellow line on each side ; but boththe spots and the lines grew faint, and almost disappear, at someseasons. The head is smaller than the tail, which fixes itselfvery firmly to any thing the creature pleases. It is viviparous,and produces but one young one at a time, which is in July. Itis an inhabitant of clear running waters, and is well known for itsuse in bleeding. The leech’s head is armed with a sharp instru-ment that makes three wounds at once. They are three sharp tu-bercles, strong enough to cut through the skin of a man, or evenof an ox or horse, 'i he mouth is as it were the body of the pump,and the tongue or fleshy nipple the sucker; by the working ofthis piece of mechanism, the blood is made to rise up to the con-duit which conveys it to the animal’s stomach, which is a mem-branaceous skin divided into 24 small cells. The blood which issucked out is there preserved for several months almost withoutcoagulating, and proves a store of provision to the animal. Thenutritious parts, pure and already digested by animals, requirenot to lie disengaged from the heterogeneous substances: nor in-deed is there any thing like an anus discoverable in the leech ;mere transpiration seems to be all that it performs, the matter fix-ing on the surface of its body, and afterwards coming off in smallthreads. Of this an experiment may lie tried by pulling a leechinto oil, where it keeps alive for several days; upon being takenout and put into water, there appears to loosen from its bodj akind of slough shaped like the creature’s body. The organ of re-spiration seems to be situated in the mouth ; for if, like an insect,it drew its breath through vent-holes, it would not subsist in oil,as by it they would be stopped up. This is the only species thatis used for local bleedings. It may be applied with great safetyi and advantage, especially for obstinate head-aches arising from ful-ness of blood, as well as in many cases of external inflammation,with a view to extract the thick and superfluous humour withwhich the vessels are overcharged. If the leech will not readilyfix itself, a few drops of milk may be rubbed on the spot whereit is to perforin the operation ; or a little blood may be drawn, bymaking a slight puncture, after which it will immediately settle.When employed lor relieving the piles, or to extract blood fromthe gums, it is requisite to secure the insect witli a piece of rush,to prevent it either from creeping into llie anus or gullet, in whichcases it would occasion great distress, in the stomach or intestines.To induce the leech to quit its hold when it adheres longer thanrequired, oil of tartar, volatile alkali, pepper, or acids, are occa-sionally employed ; though a little common salt, strewed on itshead, will answer the same purpose. On the contrary, if it beintended to draw a larger quantity of blood, the tail ol the leeclishould be cut off; in consequence of which it continues to drawblood, in order to repair the loss it lias sustained. The dischargeoccasioned by the puncture of a leech, is easily stopped withbrandy, vinegar, &c. or may be kept open by applying warm fo-mentations.

H. Muricata, the Muricated Leech, has a taper body,rounded at the greater extremity, and furnished with two smalltentacula, or horns, strongly simulated and rugged upon therings, the tail dilated. It inhabits the Atlantic Ocean , and is bythe fishermen called the sea-leech. It adheres to fish, and ge-nerally leaves a black mark on die spot. ■

II. ”Sangui-Suga, the Horse-Leech, is of a larger size thanthe medicinal leech. Its skin is smooth and glossy ; the body isdepressed; the back is dusky; and the belly is of a yellowish

green,