motion in one plane. We have next to consider a class of movements of the forearm and hand, to which there is nothing analogous (at least to any material extent) in the leg. The movements in question are called 'pronation and supination.' In pronation (derived from pronus, with the face downwards), we turn the palm of the hand downwards, as in picking up any substance from the table; in supination (derived from supinus, with the face upwards), we turn the palm upwards, as for the purpose of receiving anything that may be placed in it.

These movements of pronation and supination are so important to the usefulness of the hand, that we

must notice the three muscles by which they are chiefly affected. One of the three muscles (A, fig. 3) passes from a projecting process on the inner side of the arm-bone, at its lower end, to the outer edge of the middle of the radius. Its contraction causes the radius to roll over, or in front of, the ulna. It thus pronates the hand, and is called a pronator muscle. Another muscle (B, fig. 4) passes from a projecting process on the outer side of the arm-bone to the inner edge of the radius near its upper part. It runs therefore in an opposite direction to the former muscle, and produces an opposite effect, rolling the radius and the hand back into the position of supination. Hence it is called a supinator muscle. The third is a very powerful muscle, termed the Biceps (q. v.), which not only bends the elbow, but from the mode in which its tendon is inserted into the inner side of the radius (see fig. 5), also rotates the radius so as to supinate the hand; and it gives great power to that movement. When we turn a screw, or drive a gimlet, or draw a cork, we always employ the supinating movement of the hand for the purpose; and all screws, gimlets, and implements of the like kind are made to turn in a manner suited to that movement of the right hand; because mechanicians have observed that we have more power to supinate the hand than to pronate it.' Supination can only be performed to its full extent by man, and even in man it is not the natural or habitual position; monkeys can partially effect the movement, and in most of the lower animals the part corresponding anatomically to the hand is constantly in a state of pronation.

The movements of which the hand itself, without reference to the arm, are capable, are very numerous, and in this respect differ considerably from the corresponding movements of the foot. Thus we

can bend the fingers down upon the palm, or we can extend them beyond the straight line; we can separate them from one another to a considerable

extent, and we can close them with considerable force. The wrist and hand are bent forwards or flexed upon the forearm by three muscles which pass downwards from the inner condyle or expanded end of the humerus, and are termed the radial flexor, the ulnar flexor, and the long palmar muscles. The first two of these muscles are inserted into wristbones on the radial and ulnar sides respectively, while the third expands into a fan-like fascia or membrane in the palm of the hand, and thus serves both to support the skin of the palm and to protect the nerves and vessels which lie below it. Beneath the palmar fascia lie two sets of flexor muscles of the fingers, and they present so beautiful a mechanical arrangement as to merit special notice.

The superficial or perforated flexor muscle passes down the front of the forearm and divides into four tendons, which become apparent after the removal of the palmar fascia, and are inserted into the second phalanges of the fingers, each tendon splitting at its termination, to give passage to the similar tendons of the deep or perforating flexor muscle, which passes from the upper part of the ulna to be inserted into the last phalanx of each finger. This arrangement of the tendons of the superficial and deep flexor muscles is shewn in fig. 6. These flexor muscles are antagonised by the common extensor muscle of the fingers, which, like the flexors, divides into four tendons, one for each finger. Besides these, there is a special extensor of the index-finger, a series of muscles forming the ball of the thumb, which move that organ in almost every direction, and various small slips giving lateral and other movements to the fingers.

It is sufficient to observe that the hand is very richly supplied with blood-vessels and nerves, without entering into any anatomical details on these

points. There is no part of the body where the bense of touch is so acute as at the tips of the

Fig. 6.

To shew the perforation of one of the tendons of the superficial flexor muscle (which is inserted into the second phalanx), in order to allow the corresponding tendon of the deep flexor to pass onwards to be inserted in the last phalanx.

fingers; but we shall defer to the article TOUCH, ORGANS AND SENSE OF, the consideration of the special arrangements which make this part of the hand peculiarly important in relation to our knowledge of external objects.

Our notice of the comparative anatomy of the Foot (q. v.) renders it unnecessary to trace the modifications presented in the lower animals by the bones corresponding to those of the human hand; as the carpal and metacarpal bones with their phalanges undergo adaptations of form to meet the individual wants of the animal, very much in the same manner as the tarsal and metatarsal bones and their phalanges. Thus, the reader will readily see that the so-called knee of the horse, for example, is the carpus, and he will have no difficulty in tracing the metacarpal bones and phalanges. See the articles BROKEN KNEES and HORSE; and Humphry, On the Human

Foot and Human Hand.

HÄNDEL, GEORGE FREDERICK, one of the greatest of musical composers and musicians, though a native of Germany, spent so large a portion of his life in England, where he composed his greatest works, that Britain may almost claim him as her own. He was born at Halle, Upper Saxony, February 24, 1684. He manifested in infancy an extraordinary passion for music, and at the age of seven, having accompanied his father on a visit to the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels, he found his way to an organ, where he was heard by the duke, who remonstrated with his father against further opposition to a genius of so decided a character. He was now placed under a music-teacher, Zachau, where he remained until he was 13, composing every week cantatas for the church-service, and learning all instruments, especially the organ. In 1698, he was sent to Berlin, where the Elector of Brandenburg was so impressed with his talents, that he wished to send him to Italy. As his father would not accept this offer, he returned to Halle, whence, on the death of his father, he went to Hamburg in 1703. Here he played a violin in the orchestra of the opera. He was soon its director, and composed his first opera, Almira, which was rapidly followed by Nero, Florinda, and Dafne. His violent temper involved him in a quarrel with a brother-composer, which resulted in a duel; the sword of his adversary was stopped by a button or a music score. He next visited Italy. In Florence, he composed Rodrigo, 1709. His Agrippina, composed in Venice, had a run of thirty nights. At Rome, he was received at Cardinal Ottoboni's, where he heard Corelli, and beat him with his own violin for not playing to suit him in his Il Trionfo del Tempo. At Naples, he composed Acis and Galatea, and in 1710 returned to Germany, where he was appointed chapel-master to the Elector of Hanover, afterwards George I. He afterwards went to England, where he was patronised by Queen Anne and the nobility.

He composed Rinaldo, Pastor Fido, Theseus, and in 1715, Amadis da Gaula, in which Nicolini and Valentini first sung in England. The opera was an exotic in England, and a plant of slow growth. A Royal Academy of Music was formed, and after some competition, was placed under H.'s management; but his overbearing temper could not cope with musical jealousies. An opposition house was started, and both soon failed, with a loss to H. of £10,000. He now commenced the composition of his oratorios. Esther was produced in 1733; it was followed by Deborah, Alexander's Feast, and Israel in Egypt; and in 1740 appeared L'Allegro e Penseroso and Saul. These were produced in the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, but with no profit. Even the Messiah, the most sublime of his comsands, was at first a failure. Tired of this titanic positions, which at this day draws tens of thoustruggle, H. went to Dublin, where he remained On his return to London, he composed his Samson, nine months, and received a generous support. and produced his Messiah for the benefit of the the same purpose, and from 1749 to 1777 brought to Foundling Hospital. It was repeated annually for that charity £10,300. H. became blind, but he still composed, and played on the organ, being led to his seat, and forward to receive the plaudits of the audience. His last oratorio was produced on the 6th of April, and he died as he wished, on Good Friday, the 13th of April 1759, in hopes,' he said, Saviour, on the day of his resurrection.' Among of meeting his good God, his sweet Lord and his works, which are in the Queen's Library, are 50 operas-8 German, 26 Italian, 16 English; 20 oratorios, a great quantity of church-music, cantatas, songs, and instrumental pieces. was a wonderful musician, and his compositions are often full of grandeur and sublimity. His operas are seldom performed, but his oratorios hold the same place in music that in the English drama is accorded to the plays of Shakspeare; and the Handel Festivals, lasting several days, in which they are performed by thousands of singers and musicians, are the grandest musical exhibitions of our times.

He

HAND-FASTING, the ancient term for betroth. ment, now disused.

HAND-GLASSES are very useful implements of gardening, for the protection of tender plants. They are of various kinds, some of them simple bells of glass, with a knob at top, for convenience of lifting them, chiefly used for covering cuttings in the green-house or stove, until they strike or send forth roots; whilst others consist of metal frames-zinc, lead, iron, or copper-filled up with panes of glass, and sometimes of a size large enough to be used for covering tree-pæonies, acacias, and other tender

shrubs.

HAND-TREE (Cheirostemon platanoides), a large tree of the natural order Sterculiacea, which receives its name from the peculiar appearance of its flowers. These have no corolla, but a large 5-lobed and angular coloured calyx-bright red within-from which project the five stamens, united by their filaments into a column, and separating and curving at the summit, where they bear the anthers, so as to have some resemblance to a hand or claw. It is not merely this, however, which makes the tree an object of interest, but the circumstance that it is an object of superstitious veneration to the Mexicans; a single tree near Toluca, which is mentioned in the earliest histories, being asserted by them to be the only one in the world, and their eager gathering of its flowers always preventing its multiplication by seed. It

was not till 1801 that cuttings were obtained from it for the Botanic Garden of Mexico, where the young plants have since produced seed abundantly. The tree has also been found in great abundance in Guatemala. It is a lofty tree with a thick trunk, a habit similar to that of a plane, and broad maplelike leaves.

HANDS, IMPOSITION OF, a ceremony which has been employed both in ancient and modern religious use as symbolising the conferring of certain interior, and, generally speaking, spiritual gifts. In the consecration of Aaron and his sons, they are directed to lay their hands upon the heads of the victims which were to be offered in sacrifice (Ex. xxix. 10, 15, 19). Moses set Joshua apart as the leader of the people by laying his hands upon his head' (Num. xxvii. 23). Our Lord is entreated to heal the ruler's daughter (Matt. ix. 18) by the same ceremony. This is the rite which He himself adopts in blessing the little children (Matt. xix. 15). The gift of the Holy Ghost was imparted by the same ceremony (Acts viii. 17), and the ministers placed by the apostles in the newly founded churches were similarly installed (1 Tim. iv. 14). In the early church, the rite of imposition of hands was employed in the receiving of catechumens and the reconciliation of penitents. From its use in confirmation, that rite is commonly designated by the Fathers under the name of Imposition of Hands. In the ancient church, this rite existed in two forms: the actual laying on of hands, which was called chirothesia; and the extending the hand over or towards the person, which was styled chirotonia. In the Roman Catholic Church, the former is retained as an essential part of the sacraments of confirmation and holy orders; the latter is employed in the administration of the priestly absolution. Both forms are familiarly used in blessing. In the mass, also, previous to the consecration of the elements of bread and wine, the priest extends his hands over them, repeating at the same time the preparatory prayer of blessing. See Wetser's Kirchen-Lexicon, vol. iv. 853. The rite of imposition of hands is used both by the Episcopalian and Presbyterian churches in the ordination of ministers. It also forms part of the ceremony of confirmation in the Anglican and in the Lutheran church. See Palmer's Antiquities of the English Ritual, Keeling's Liturgia

Britannica.

HANDSEL, sometimes used to denote earnestmoney, or part-payment, by way of binding a bargain. In Scotland, it popularly signifies a first transaction in trade, as, for example, the first sale effected in the day or week; and is likewise employed to signify a present in the nature of a New Year's gift on the first Monday in the year-hence called Handsel Monday.

HANDWRITING, in Law, is proved by calling a witness who either saw the individual write the identical words, or who by correspondence, or by having previously at other times seen the same person write other papers, can swear that he believes the paper is the handwriting of the individual to whom it is attributed. Sometimes, where no direct evidence can be had, engravers and others accustomed to compare the niceties of handwriting are allowed to give their evidence, or rather state their belief as to the writing; but this kind of evidence is looked upon with great suspicion, and is much discountenanced. In cases where a jury are called upon to determine a disputed question of handwriting, they are now allowed in England to form their own opinion by comparing the disputed writing with other writings admitted to be by the same party. But this could not be done before

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In some

1854, and it can only be done now in civil cases. In Scotland, a jury are not yet allowed to judge of the handwriting in this way in any case. countries-as, for example, in Scotland-a will, if written in the testator's handwriting, is admitted to be genuine without the attestation of witnesses, being then called a Holograph (q. v.) instrument; but there is no such privilege in England o Ireland, as all wills, by whomsoever written, must be attested by witnesses.

HANG-CHOW-FOO, the capital of the province of Che-keang, in China, on the left bank of the Tsien-tang, where that river disembogues into the Bay of Hang-chow-foo, is situated at the commencement of the Grand Canal, in lat. 30° 18' N., It is about 150 miles south-east long. 120° 15' E. of Nankin. H. is the most magnificent city of China-a Chinese proverb makes it a heaven upon earth. It was the capital of the empire during the rule of the Mongols, when it was visited by the celebrated Marco Polo early in the 14th century. There are ten gates through its lofty walls, which are 20 miles in circumference, but there are more inhabitants without the enciente than within. The population is estimated by Dr Macgowan at 800,000. The streets, which are of greater width than is usual in Chinese cities, are well paved, and in some directions lined for miles with elegant shops and The terminal ramifications extensive warehouses. of the Grand Canal are spanned by countless elegant bridges. H. is celebrated for its silk manufactures, and its embroidery excels that of any part of China. Mulberry-trees occupy every vacant spot within and without the walls. No city in China, unless it be that of Suchau, possesses wealth to compare with that of this remarkable place, which, moreover, is the most literary and most religious part of the empire. Colleges and temples, literati and priests, abound and flourish in Hangchow-foo. The imperial library in the palace of Kienlung, and the literary institutions, appear, however, to be going to decay, and could not at any period have had much educational influence. One cause of the celebrity of the city is found in the beauty of its environs. Thundering Winds, although in ruins, is still an imposing edifice; while monumental gateways, light airy bridges, and temples of the size of villages, render the natural beauties of the city 500 images of the Io-han (Buddhist saints), of the highly picturesque. One of the temples possesses size of life, richly covered with gold. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the valleys opening into the lake, richly adorned as they are with trees, chiefly the camphor and tallow trees, and the arbor vitæ. From a remote period, these scenes have been the resort of pilgrims, and every spot is hallowed by some legendary incident. At one place there is an image of Buddha, cut out of the solid rock, measuring 48 feet from shoulder to shoulder. The nose is seven feet long, and the other parts are of a proportional size; it is gilt over like wooden and clay images of the same personage. The protruding rocks are profusely carved with religious inscriptions and images of mythological characters. The north-eastern section of the city of H. is called the Tartar city, being exclusively devoted to the Mantchu garrison or military colony.. It is separated from the Chinese city by a low wall. About 25 miles below the city is Kanpoo, once a mart of considerable importance, the port of H., when that city was the metropolis of China, described by Marco Polo as an extremely flourishing place; fluvial changes have rendered it inacces sible to any but small flat-bottomed vessels. Chapoo is now the port of H., situated on the north side of

The tower of the

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the bay, about 50 miles from the capital. Chapoo has also a Tartar city; it communicates by branches of the Grand Canal with H. and Shanghai. It is the port to which Chinese trade with Japan is restricted.

The configuration of the Bay of Hang-chow-foo and the embouchure of the Tsien-tang river, which empties into it near the provincial capital, favours the formation of the tidal phenomenon designated an eagre or bore. See BORE. Dr Macgowan, the first European who has witnessed this magnificent spectacle, has published an account of it in the Proceedings of the Asiatic Society of Hong-kong. As the tide rushes into the mouth of the river, it becomes elevated to a lofty wave, which attains its greatest magnitude opposite the city of Hang-chow-foo. Generally, there is nothing remarkable in its aspect, except at the period of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes, the maximum being at the latter season. As the hour of flood-tide approaches, crowds gather in the streets running at right angles with the river, but at safe distances; boatmen stop lading and unlading their vessels, and put out into the middle of the stream. The centre of the river teems with craft. Loud shouting from the fleet announces the appearance of the flood, which seems like a glistening white cable stretched athwart the bay as far down as the eye can reach. Its noise, compared by native poets to that of thunder, speedily drowns that of the boatmen; and as it advances with prodigious velocity, it assumes the appearance of an alabaster wall, or rather of an advancing cataract four or five miles across, and about 30 feet high. As the foaming wall of water dashes impetuously onward, one trembles for the safety of the floating multitude. They cease shouting, and devote their energies to the steadying of the prows of their vessels toward the advancing wave, which threatens to submerge everything afloat; but they all vault as it were to the summit with perfect safety. This grand and exciting season is but of a moment's duration; the wave passes up the river in an instant, but from this point with gradually decreasing force, volume, and velocity, disappearing entirely a few miles above the city. From ebb to flood tide, the change is almost instantaneous; a slight flood continues after the passage of the wave, but it soon begins to ebb. Within the historic period, numerous changes have been effected by the action of this wave, the most noted being the removal of a rocky islet from the centre of the river opposite Hang-chow-foo. Chinese ingenuity has been long exerted, with imperfect success, in preserving the alluvial plain from the wasting action of the eagre. The history of the dykes that have been successively erected, of failures and disasters, found in the local annals, shew that, like the Yellow River, this part of the Tsien-tang has been a constant source of anxiety and expense to the government, costing about 130,000 dollars per annum.

HANGED, DRAWN, AND QUARTERED, the description of the capital sentence on a traitor, which consisted of drawing him on a hurdle to the place of execution, and after hanging him, dividing the body into quarters. This punishment was substituted by the stat. 54 Geo. III. c. 146, for the ancient more barbarous sentence of disembowelling alive, but the crown has power to reduce the sentence to simple beheading. See also HANGING.

HANGING is the mode by which capital punishment is carried out in the United Kingdom. In England, formerly, in atrocious cases, it was usual for the court to direct a murderer to be hung upon a gibbet in chains near the place where the crime

was committed—also at a later period to order the body to be dissected-and the execution to take place on the next day but one after the sentence was passed. But these useless severities were abolished by the stat. 6 and 7 Will. IV. c. 30.

The mode of punishing by hanging was first adopted in England in 1241, when Maurice, a nobleman's son, was hanged for piracy. Other more barbarous modes of inflicting death were long in use, being prescribed by statute, but have been abolished, and hanging has long been the ordinary, because the most humane, mode of executing capital punishment. In treason, hanging is part of the statutory punishment, coupled with mangling the body, though the crown may change the sentence into simple beheading, except in the case of women, who are only hanged, in deference to their sex. Formerly, in Scotland, on the other hand, a capital sentence pronounced south of the Firth of Forth could not be executed within less than 30 days; and if pronounced north of the Firth, within less than 40 days after it was pronounced. But now, in both cases, the day of execution must not be less than 15, nor more than 21 days, south of the Firth; nor less than 20, nor more than 27 days, if north of the Firth, after sentence passed. In all cases, the hanging or execution takes place in public. See EXECUTION.

The cause of death in hanging is complex. The compression of the windpipe by the cord, the obstruction of the return of venous blood from the head, and of the flow of arterial blood to the brain, the stretching or tearing of the nervous structures of the neck, and in some instances dislocation or fracture of the vertebræ, may concur in the production of the fatal effect, which, though attended with violent struggles in some cases, is probably as nearly instantaneous as possible. The subject, in its relations to medical jurisprudence, will be more fully considered under the title STRANGULATION.

HANGING GARDENS. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were anciently reckoned among the wonders of the world. Their construction is variously ascribed to Queen Semiramis, and to Nebuchadnezzar-seven centuries later, but still more than five centuries B.C.-who is said to have made them for the gratification of his Median queen, Amytis, because the Babylonian plain seemed dreary to her in comparison with the varied and romantic scenery of her native land. Diodorus and Strabo have given particular descriptions of them; and although it is remarkable that they are not mentioned by Herodotus, whilst Quintus Curtius speaks of them as 'fabulous wonders of the Greeks-an opinion which some of the learned in modern times have adopted, denying their very existence-yet the probability seems to be in favour of the general accuracy of the descriptions, and even that the ruins of this celebrated structure are to be recognised among the mounds which mark the site of Babylon. See BABYLON. The Hanging Gardens are said to have formed a square, with an area of nearly four acres; but rising in terraces curiously constructed covered with reeds and bitumen, and again with with stone pillars, across which were placed stones, bricks united by cement; above these, sheets of lead, to prevent moisture from flowing down, and finally a sufficient layer of earth; the summit being elevated three hundred feet above the base, so that at a distance the whole presented the appearance of a pyramidal wooded hill. There was a large reservoir at the summit, which was filled with water by pumping from the Euphrates, for the irrigation of the gardens, and the supply of their numerous fountains. Fountains and Fanqueting