HARTSHORN, SPIRITS OF, a name signifying originally the ammoniacal liquor obtained by the distillation of horn shavings, afterwards applied to the partially purified similar products of the action of heat on nitrogenous animal matter generally, and now popularly used to designate the aqueous solution of ammonia (q.v.).
HARTZENBUSCH, JUAN EUGENIO (1806-1880), Spanish dramatist, was born at Madrid on the 6th of September 1806. The son of a German carpenter, he was educated for the priesthood, but he had no religious vocation and, on leaving school, followed his father’s trade till 1830, when he learned shorthand and joined the staff of the Gaceta. His earliest dramatic essays were translations from Molière, Voltaire and the elder Dumas; he next recast old Spanish plays, and in 1837 produced his first original play, Los Amantes de Teruel, the subject of which had been used by Rey de Artieda, Tirso de Molina and Perez de Montalbán. Los Amantes de Teruel at once made the author’s reputation, which was scarcely maintained by Doña Mencia (1839) and Alfonso el Casto (1841); it was not till 1845 that he approached his former success with La Jura en Santa Gadea. Hartzenbusch was chief of the National Library from 1862 to 1875, and was an indefatigable—though not very judicious—editor of many national classics. Inferior in inspiration to other contemporary Spanish dramatists, Hartzenbusch excels his rivals in versatility and in conscientious workmanship.
HĀRŪN AL-RASHĪD (763 or 766-809), i.e. “Hārūn the Orthodox,” the fifth of the ‘Abbasid caliphs of Bagdad, and the second son of the third caliph Mahdi. His full name was Hārūn ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Abdallah ibn Muḥammad ibn ‘Ali ibn ‘Abdallah ibn ‘Abbās. He was born at Rai (Rhagae) on the 20th of March A.D. 763, according to some accounts, and according to others on the 15th of February A.D. 766. Hārūn al-Rashīd was twenty-two years old when he ascended the throne. His father Mahdi just before his death conceived the idea of superseding his elder son Mūsa (afterwards known as Hādī, the fourth caliph) by Hārūn. But on Mahdi’s death Hārūn gave way to his brother. For the campaigns in which he took part prior to his accession see [Caliphate], section C, The Abbasids, §§ 3 and 4.
Rashīd owed his succession to the throne to the prudence and sagacity of Yahyā b. Khālid the Barmecide, his secretary, whom on his accession he appointed his lieutenant and grand vizier (see [Barmecides]). Under his guidance the empire flourished on the whole, in spite of several revolts in the provinces by members of the old Alid family. Successful wars were waged with the rulers of Byzantium and the Khazars. In 803, however, Hārūn became suspicious of the Barmecides, whom with only a single exception he caused to be executed. Henceforward the chief power was exercised by Fadl b. Rabi’, who had been chamberlain not only under Hārūn himself but under his predecessors, Mansūr, Madhi and Hādī. In the later years of Hārūn’s reign troubles arose in the eastern parts of the empire. These troubles assumed proportions so serious that Hārūn himself decided to go to Khorasan. He died, however, at Tus in March 809.
The reign of Hārūn (see [Caliphate], section C, § 5) was one of the most brilliant in the annals of the caliphate, in spite of losses in north-west Africa and Transoxiana. His fame spread to the West, and Charlemagne and he exchanged gifts and compliments as masters respectively of the West and the East. No caliph ever gathered round him so great a number of learned men, poets, jurists, grammarians, cadis and scribes, to say nothing of the wits and musicians who enjoyed his patronage. Hārūn himself was a scholar and poet, and was well versed in history, tradition and poetry. He possessed taste and discernment, and his dignified demeanour is extolled by the historians. In religion he was extremely strict; he prostrated himself a hundred times daily, and nine or ten times made the pilgrimage to Mecca. At the same time he cannot be regarded as a great administrator. He seems to have left everything to his viziers Yahyā and Fadl, to the former of whom especially was due the prosperous condition of the empire. Hārūn is best known to Western readers as the hero of many of the stories in the Arabian Nights; and in Arabic literature he is the central figure of numberless anecdotes and humorous stories. Of his incognito walks through Bagdad, however, the authentic histories say nothing. His Arabic biographers are unanimous in describing him as noble and generous, but there is little doubt that he was in fact a man of little force of character, suspicious, untrustworthy and on occasions cruel.
See the Arabic histories of Ibn al-Athir and Ibn Khaldūn. Among modern works see Sir W. Muir, The Caliphate (London, 1891); R. D. Osborn, Islam under the Khalifs of Bagdad (London, 1878); Gustav Weil, Geschichte der Chalifen (Mannheim and Stuttgart, 1846-1862); G. le Strange, Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate (Oxford, 1900); A. Müller, Der Islam, vol. i. (Berlin, 1885); E. H. Palmer, The Caliph Haroun Alraschid (London, 1880); J. B. Bury’s edition of Gibbon’s Decline and Fall (London, 1898), vol. vi. pp. 34 foll.
HARUSPICES, or Aruspices (perhaps “entrail observers,” cf. Skt. hira, Gr. χορδή), a class of soothsayers in Rome. Their art (disciplina) consisted especially in deducing the will of the gods from the appearance presented by the entrails of the slain victim. They also interpreted all portents or unusual phenomena of nature, especially thunder and lightning, and prescribed the expiatory ceremonies after such events. To please the god, the victim must be without spot or blemish, and the practice of observing whether the entrails presented any abnormal appearance, and thence deducing the will of heaven, was also very important in Greek religion. This art, however, appears not to have been, as some other modes of ascertaining the will of the gods undoubtedly were, of genuine Aryan growth. It is foreign to the Homeric poems, and must have been introduced into Greece after their composition. In like manner, as the Romans themselves believed, the art was not indigenous in Rome, but derived from Etruria.[1] The Etruscans were said to have learned it from a being named Tages, grandson of Jupiter, who had suddenly sprung from the ground near Tarquinii. Instructions were contained in certain books called libri haruspicini, fulgurales, rituales. The art was practised in Rome chiefly by Etruscans, occasionally by native-born Romans who had studied in the priestly schools of Etruria. From the regal period to the end of the republic, haruspices were summoned from Etruria to deal with prodigies not mentioned in the pontifical and Sibylline books, and the Roman priests carried out their instructions as to the offering necessary to appease the anger of the deity concerned. Though the art was of great importance under the early republic, it never became a part of the state religion. In this respect the haruspices ranked lower than the augurs, as is shown by the fact that they received a salary; the augurs were a more ancient and purely Roman institution, and were a most important element in the political organization of the city. In later times the art fell into disrepute, and the saying of Cato the Censor is well known, that he wondered how one haruspex could look another in the face without laughing (Cic. De div. ii. 24). Under the empire, however, we hear of a regular collegium of sixty haruspices; and Claudius is said to have tried to restore the art and put it under the control of the pontifices. This collegium continued to exist till the time of Alaric.