Horn

[A.S., Ger., Dan., and Swed. horn; W.corn; Lat. cornu; Ar.garnum; Æthiopic kárn.] A hard substance growing on the heads of certain animals, and particularly on cloven-footed quadrupeds, usually projecting to some length, and terminating in a point. (See below, Manuf.) -Something resembling a horn, or shaped like a horn; as:-(1.) ( Mus .) A wind-instrument, made originally of horn, but now of metal; a trumpet; as, a sax- horn , a bugle- horn , a Swi - horn , . See BUGLE, FRENCH HORN, .-(2.) A drinking-cup; a beaker; - originally made of horn.- (3.) ( Fine Arts .) See CORNUCOPIA. - (4.) A flask or ve el for holding gunpowder. - (5.) A cusp or extremity of the moon, when it is waxing or waning, and forming a crescent. - (6.) The feeder of a snail, insect, . "The tender horns of cockled snails." ( Shaks .) - (7.) Any pointed excrescence or projecting limb; as, the horn of a beetle, the horn of a flower, the horn of an altar, .-(8.) ( Mil .) The curvature of the wing of a body of troops drawn up in the form of a crescent. -The substance which forms the composition of horns in their various kinds; as, a horn book, a horn comb, a horn spoon. - The emblematic antlers of a cornuted or cuckolded husband. "Thicker than a cuckold's horn."-Shaks. ( Script .) A symbol of might, strength, power, exaltation, . - To draw in the horns , to pull in the horns, to repre one's ardor; to withdraw from a umption or pretension; to retract arrogant or high-flown words; derived from the practice of snails, ., taking in their feelers when alarmed. To raise or lift the horns. ( Script .) To become self-sufficient; to raise to self-exaltation, . - To take a horn, to take a drink of liquor from a horn; as, to take a horn of ale. the required length, scalding and roasting it over a fire, placing it in a conical wooden mould, and bringing it into the required shape by driving a wooden plug firmly into the interior. It is afterwards fixed on a lathe, when cold and hard, and turned and polished both on the inside and outside. The bottom, a round flat piece of H. , is dropped in at the larger end of the cone of H. , while the latter is warm. At the smaller end of the ve el is a groove into which the bottom slips, and as the H. contracts in cooling, so the bottom becomes firmly fixed, and the drinking- H . water-tight. The proce of dyeing H. of different colors is very easy. It is usually colored of a rich reddish-brown, and spotted so as to imitate tortoise-shell. The whole of the refuse of horn manufacture is valuable. Hoofs and H. cuttings are used for making pru iate of potash and Pru ian blue; and the clippings of the comb-maker are used as manure. An artificial H. is made from the gelatine obtained from bones by muriatic acid, and converting it into a horny substance by tanning. Horn, υ. α. To furnish with horns; to form in the shape of a horn. -To cuckold; to cornute. Horn, (Cape.) See CAPE HORN. Horn-Afvan, a lake of Lappmark, in N. Sweden, falling by the river Skelleftea into the Gulf of Bothnia; Lat. 66° N., Lon. 16° to 18° E. Length , 50 m. by 9 m. of mean width. Hornbeam, n . ( Bot .) See CARP IN US. Horn'-bill, n. (Zool.) See BUCERIDE. Hornblende, n . [Ger.] ( Min .) A var. of Amphibole, q. v. It is a tough mineral, of black or greenish-black color from the presence of a large percentage of oxide of iron. It enters into the composition of several kinds of rock, as trap, syenite, and hornblende slate; the latter is a tough slate and an excellent material for flagging. Horn'blende Rock, n. ( Geol .) A rock composed principally of hornblende. Granite rock in which the mica is replaced by hornblende is called syenite, q. v. Its color is greenish-black to black.- H. - Schist . A name given to several slaty varieties of hornblende rock. Hornblen'dic, a. Consisting principally of hornHornblen'dic Porphyry, n. (Geol.) See Por blende. PHYRY.