HIDE; (Peau, Fr.; Haut, Germ.) the strong skin of an ox, horse, or other large animal. See [Leather].
Importation of untanned hides for home consumption; and amount of duty, in
| 1837. | 1838. | 1837. | 1838. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 332,877 | 301,890 | £46,190 | £36,647 |
HIRCINE; from hircus, a ram; is the name given by Chevreul to a liquid fatty substance, which is mixed with the oleine of mutton suet, and gives it its peculiar rank smell. Hircine is much more soluble in alcohol than oleine. It produces hircic acid by saponification.
HOG’s LARD; see [Fats].
HONEY; (Mel, Fr.; Honig, Germ.) is a sweet viscid liquor, elaborated by bees from the sweet juices of the nectaries of flowers, and deposited by them in the waxen cells of their combs. Virgin honey is that which spontaneously flows with a very gentle heat from the comb, and common honey is that which is procured by the joint agency of pressure and heat. The former is whitish or pale yellow, of a granular texture, a fragrant smell, and a sweet slightly pungent taste; the latter is darker coloured, thicker, and not so agreeable either in taste or smell. Honey would seem to be merely collected by the bees, for it consists of merely the vegetable products; such as the sugars of grape, gum, and manna; along with mucilage, extractive matter, a little wax, and acid.
HONEY-STONE; (Mellite, Fr.; Honigstein, Germ.) is a mineral of a yellowish or reddish colour, and a resinous aspect, crystallizing in octahedrons with a square base; specific gravity 1·58. It is harder than gypsum, but not so hard as calc-spar; it is deeply scratched by a steel point; very brittle; affords water by calcination; blackens, then burns at the flame of the blowpipe, and leaves a white residuum which becomes blue, when it is calcined after having been moistened with a drop of nitrate of cobalt. It is a mellate of alumina, and consists of:
| Klaproth. | Wöhler. | |
|---|---|---|
| Mellitic acid | 46 | 44·4 |
| Alumina | 16 | 14·5 |
| Water | 38 | 41·1 |
| 100 | 100·0 |
The honey-stone, like amber, belongs to the geological formation of lignites. It has been hitherto found clearly in only one locality, at Artern in Thuringia.
HOP; (Houblon, Fr.; Hopfen, Germ.) is the name of a well-known plant of the natural family of Urticeæ, and of the dioecia pentandria of Linnæus. The female flowers, placed upon different plants from the male, grow in ovoid cones formed of oval leafy scales, concave, imbricated, containing each at the base an ovary furnished with two tubular open styles, and sharp pointed stigmata. The fruit of the hop is a small rounded seed, slightly compressed, brownish coloured, enveloped in a scaly calyx, thin but solid, which contains, spread at its base, a granular yellow substance, appearing to the eye like a fine dust, but in the microscope seen to be round, yellow, transparent grains; deeper coloured, the older the fruit. This secretion, which constitutes the useful portion of the hop, has been examined in succession by Ives, Planche, Payen, and Chevallier. I have given a pretty full account of the results of their researches in treating of the [hop], under the article [Beer].