HUITZILOPOCHTLI, the supreme being in the religions of ancient Mexico, and as a specialized deity, the god of war. He was the mythic leader and chief divinity of the Aztecs, dominant tribe of the Nahua nation. As a humming-bird Huitzilopochtli was alleged to have led the Aztecs to a new home. E. B. Tylor (Primitive Culture, 4th ed., vol. ii. p. 307) calls him an “inextricable compound parthenogenetic deity”; and finds, in the fact that his chief festival (when his paste idol was shot through with an arrow, and afterwards eaten) was at the winter solstice, ground for believing that he was at first a nature-god, whose life and death were connected with the year’s. His idol was a huge block of basalt (still thought to be preserved in Mexico), on one side of which he is sculptured in hideous form, adorned with the feathers of the humming-bird. The ceremonies of his worship were of the most bloodthirsty character, and hundreds of human beings were murdered annually before his shrine, their limbs being eaten by his worshippers. When his temple was dedicated in 1486 it is traditionally reported that 70,000 people were killed. See [Mexico].
HULDA, in Teutonic mythology, goddess of marriage. She was a beneficent deity, the patroness and guardian of all maidens (see [Berchta]).
HULKE, JOHN WHITAKER (1830-1895), British surgeon and geologist, was born on the 6th of November 1830, being the son of a well-known medical practitioner at Deal. He was educated partly at a boarding-school in this country, partly at the Moravian College at Neuwied (1843-1845), where he gained an intimate knowledge of German and an interest in geology through visits to the Eifel district. He then entered King’s College school, and three years later commenced work at the hospital, becoming M.R.C.S. in 1852. In the Crimean War he volunteered, and was appointed (1855) assistant-surgeon at Smyrna and subsequently at Sebastopol. On returning home he became medical tutor at his old hospital, was elected F.R.C.S. in 1857, and afterwards assistant-surgeon to the Royal Ophthalmic Hospital, Moorfields (1857), and surgeon (1868-1890). In 1870 he became surgeon at the Middlesex hospital, and here much of his more important surgical work was accomplished. His skill as an operator was widely known: he was an excellent general surgeon, but made his special mark as an ophthalmologist, while as a geologist he attained a European reputation. He was elected F.R.S. in 1867 for his researches on the anatomy and physiology of the retina in man and the lower animals, particularly the reptiles. He subsequently devoted all his spare time to geology and especially to the fossile reptilia, describing many remains of Dinosaurs, to our knowledge of which as well as of other Saurians he largely contributed. In 1887 the Wollaston medal was awarded to him by the Geological Society of London. He was president of both the Geological and Pathological Societies in 1883, and president of the Royal College of Surgeons from 1893 until his death. He was a man with a wide range of knowledge not only of science but of literature and art. He died in London on the 19th of February 1895.
HULL, ISAAC (1775-1843), commodore in the U.S. navy, was born at Derby in Connecticut on the 9th of March 1775. He went to sea young in the merchant service and was in command of a vessel at the age of nineteen. In 1798 he was appointed lieutenant in the newly organized U.S. navy. From 1803 to 1805 he served in the squadron sent to chastise the Barbary pirates as commander of the “Enterprise,” but was transferred to the “Argus” in November of 1803. When the War of 1812 broke out he was captain of the U.S. frigate “Constitution” (44), and was on a mission to Europe carrying specie for the payment of a debt in Holland. The “Constitution” was shadowed by British men-of-war, but was not attacked. In July of that year, however, he was pursued by a squadron of British vessels, and escaped by good seamanship and the fine sailing qualities of the “Constitution.” He was to have been superseded, but put to sea before the officer who was to have relieved him arrived—an action which might have been his ruin if he had not signalized his cruise by the capture of the British frigate “Guerrière” (38). Captain Hull had been cruising off the Gulf of St Lawrence, and the engagement, which took place on the 19th of August, was fought south of the Grand Bank. The “Constitution” was a fine ship of 1533 tons, originally designed for a two-decker, but cut down to a frigate. The “Guerrière” was of 1092 tons and very ill-manned, while the “Constitution” had a choice crew. The British ship was easily overpowered. Hull received a gold medal for the capture of the “Guerrière,” but had no further opportunity of distinction in the war. After the peace he held a variety of commands at sea, and was a naval commissioner from 1815 to 1817. He had a high reputation in the United States navy for practical seamanship. He died at Philadelphia on the 13th of February 1843.
HULL, a city (1875) and railway junction of the province of Quebec, Canada, and the capital of Wright county, opposite the city of Ottawa. Pop. (1901) 13,988. The magnificent water-power of the Chaudière Falls of the Ottawa is utilized for the lighting of the city, the operation of a system of electric railways connecting Hull with Ottawa and Aylmer, and a number of large saw-mills, pulp, paper and match manufactories. Hull has gone through several disastrous fires, but since that of 1900, which swept out most of the town, an efficient system of fire protection has been established. Three bridges unite Ottawa and Hull. The city is governed by a council composed of a mayor and twelve aldermen elected annually. Champlain was the first white man to set foot on the site of Hull, but long before he came it was a favourite meeting-place for the Indians. Later it became familiar to explorers and fur-traders as the foot of the Chaudière portage, and many a canoe has been carried shoulder high over the site of future busy streets. Philemon Wright, of Woburn, Massachusetts, was the first man to settle here in 1800. The report he sent back was so favourable that a number of other families followed from the same place and laid the foundations of the future city. His descendants have remained among the substantial men of the town.