Hedge/hog

[L. Erinaceus.~\ An insectivorous ani¬ mal, with the power of rolling itself into a ball, throughout Europe, Africa, and most of Asia. The common hedgehog is about 9 or 1.0 inches long, the spines on the back measuring about an inch. It is nocturnal in its habits, hibernates, and feeds on insects, mice, and worms. It is useful in a garden, and has been rendered domestic, and of used to destroy cockroaches. ing formerly largely in use as a defensive armor. It is new chiefly used for ornament, but firemen wear it as a protection from falling materials at fires, and in hot countries helmets of white felt covered with rolls of linen are worn as a protec¬ to tion against the sun’s rays. iron, the sesqui-oxide. Vast quantities of it exist in the United States, especially in Michigan and Mi ouri. In the latter, two mountains, Pilot Knob and Iron Mountain, consist chiefly of this ore. Conium, whose leaves and root are poisonous. The common or spotted hemlock is from 2 to 7 feet in height, and grows by waysides and on heaps of rubbish. It is common in Europe and in some parts of Asia, and is now also a natural¬ ized plant in North America and Chili. A valu¬ able medicine is obtained from the leaves and fruit. Water hemlock grows in ditches, on the margins of ponds and on wet grounds in Europe aud the north of Asia. It is a very poisonous plant, and is the cause of many deaths. Hemlock spruce is an evergreen cone bearing tree, com¬ mon in North America. It is a beautiful tree, often growing to the height of 100 feet. The bark is largely used in tanning leather. Cannabis. It is cultivated in many parts of the world, but most largely in Poland and in the centre and south of European Ru ia. Hemp varies from 4 to 12 feet in height. The stem is hollow or filled with pith, and the bark contains a useful fibre, which is extracted and used for making canvas, ropes, sail-cloth, bagging, and other articles. The seed is often used to feed poultry and small birds, and it also yields an oil very good for burning, and also a narcotic resin called hasheesh. flowers and fruit only once, and then dies. Some live one year only, others two or more years. specimens of plants, carefully dried and pre¬ served. These collections are very valuable for the scientific study of plants, and there are some in existence which are centuries old. ing birds found in almost every part of the globe. The body is small in proportion to the length of the neck and the legs. The legs are very long and slender, and the bill is longer than the'head, and comes to a sharp point. Herons feed mostly on fish, frogs, crabs, and other water animals. These they greedily devour. They build their nests in high trees near the water, and feed their young with fish until they are old enough to care for themselves. The European heron is remark¬ able for its directly-ascending flight, and was formerly hunted with the larger falcons. from the root here, an army.] A well-known sea food-fish. Herrings are found on the shores of the North Sea, the North Atlantic, the Baltic, and the White Sea. They approach the coast every spring in order to spawn, and then the great herring-fishing season commences. They move about in immense schools—the main body often divided into columns of from five to six miles in length and from three to four in breadth —swimming near the top of the water, and fol¬ lowed by multitudes of larger fishes and by gulls, fish-hawks, and other sea-birds, which feed on them. Drift-nets are employed in catching her¬ ring. These are let out from boats, usually in the evening; and when the fish are taken to” the shore they are cleaned, salted, and packed in barrels. The fish locally known as herring in the American rivers south of Maine is the alewife, of the sarnie genus as the shad. It is very abundant and much esteemed. There is 'also a Pacific herring whose abundance resembles that of the Atlantic species, and whose fishing is of growing importance. found only in North America. The wood is tough and elastic, and is largely used to make hoops for casks. Handspikes, carriage shafts, wheel spokes, handles of axes and golf clubs, large screws, etc., are made of it. The trunk is slender and has a very rough bark, and the tree grows to a height of from 60 to ioo feet. The hickory-nut has a delicious flavor. One southern species yields the esteemed pecan-nut, others yield the pig-mit, bitter-nut, and mocker-nut. Egyptian writing, in which the forms of animals and natural objects stand for words, and some¬ times for syllables or letters. Chinese writing is similar in character, and all systems of writing are thought to have begun with hieroglyphics. mos, a river.] A large animal about 12 feet in length and 5 feet high at the shoulders, with short legs and four toes on each foot, a skin on the back and sides more than two inches thick —of dark-brown color and destitute of hair. It is found only in Africa, and lives mostly in lakes and rivers, and can remain a long time under water. At night it comes up on the banks of rivers, and feeds on plants and herbage. It lives in herds of from twenty to forty individuals. The hippopotamus is much hunted by the Afri¬ cans for its flesh, of which many of them are very fond. The hide is converted into shields, helmets, whips, and canes, and the large canine teeth are much valued for their ivory, and form