The

HIBER'NIANS, ANCIENT ORDER OF. A prominent Catholic Irish organization. The society was instituted originally for the protection of the Catholic priesthood and religion in Ireland, but it has now for its main object "the advancement of the principles of Irish nationality." According to some authorities the order was first instituted in 1642, following the great uprising in the north; according to others, in 1651, when Cromwell had proclaimed nearly the whole native population outlawed and had put a price upon the head of every priest and made it death to attend a Catholic service. founder was Rory O'Moore, and the society was at first known as The Defenders. On the establishment of Catholic emancipation, in 1829, the society was reorganized under its present name as a beneficial and Nationalist organization. It was soon afterward extended to England and Scotland, was introduced in the United States in 1836, and later into Canada, Mexico, and Hawaii. Its membership is restricted to persons of Irish birth and descent and of Catholic faith. The order is an active supporter of the present Gaelic movement (see GAELIC LEAGUE), having endowed a Celtic chair at the Catholic University of America and contributed generously towards the support of Gaelic organizers in Ireland. In 1914 the American branch, including the ladies' auxiliary, had a membership of over 250,000. In the fiscal year 1913 there were disbursed over $2,500,000 for charitable, educational, and patriotic purposes. The American branch is closely affiliated with the parent body in Ireland as well as with those in England, Scotland, Australia, and other parts of the world.

HIBER NICISM. A term used to denote any turn of expression that belongs to, or is generally attributed to, Irish speech, and especially the Irish bull, which involves the advancing of a self-contradictory proposition or ludicrous inconsistency that a moment's thought would show to be absurd. A famous bull was made, it is said, by Sir Richard Steele when inviting a certain lord to visit him: "If, sir, you ever come within a mile of my house, I trust you will stop." Curran also used to relate a fine specimen. He started one day to attend a levee at the castle in Dublin. There was a long line of carriages, and he was suddenly startled by the pole of the carriage behind crashing into the back of his own carriage. He hastily called to his coachman to stop, saying, "The pole of the carriage in the rear is driven into ours." "And, sure, it's all right again, thin, your honor," cried Pat, "for I've just drove me pole into the carriage in front." Richard and Maria Edgeworth wrote an amusing treatise entitled An Essay on Irish Bulls (1802); and Maria Edgeworth's Castle Rackrent (1800) is full of the most delightful examples of this peculiarly Irish form of blunder. See BULL; ROCHE, SIR BOYLE.

HIBISCUS (Lat., from Gk. Iẞlokos, hibiskos, mallow). A genus of plants of the family Malvaceæ, the numerous species of which are shrubs or trees, but mostly large herbaceous annuals and perennials, natives of warm climates. The flowers of many are very beautiful. Hibiscus syriacus, a native of Syria and Carniola, has

long been in cultivation as an ornamental shrub and has proved hardy in Great Britain and parts of the United States, where it is often known as shrubby Althæa. Some are favorite hothouse plants. The characteristic mucilaginous and fibrous properties of the Malvacea are very strongly developed in this genus. Hibiscus abelmoschus so abounds in mucilage that it is used in the northwest of India for clarifying sugar. The unripe fruit of Hibiscus esculentus, an annual plant with a soft herbaceous stem 3 to 5 feet high, crenate leaves, axillary sulphurcolored flowers, and pyramidal, somewhat podlike capsules, is in general use both in the East and West Indies and southern United States for thickening soups and otherwise as an article of food. It is called okra, gumbo, gombo, gobbo, and ochro in the West Indies and southern United States; bandikai, ram-turai, and denroos in different parts of India; and bammia in the west of Africa. The bark of Hibiscus tiliaceus, a tree 20 feet high with a very thick bole, abounds in

HIBISCUS SYRIACUS.

mucilage and is sometimes used by natives of the South Sea Islands when food is scarce. This tree, the bola of Bengal, and the moho, majagua, or mohaunt of the West Indies, is one of the most abundant trees of the South Sea Islands; and the wood, which is light, tough, and durable, is used for many purposes. The very porous bark is made into cordage and matting in various tropical countries. Many other species yield fibres; but the most important in this respect is Hibiscus cannabinus, the Ambaree hemp, and Deccan hemp of western India, called palungoo at Madras, and mesta pat in Bengal-a plant very generally cultivated in all parts of India, although nowhere to a great extent. It is an annual herb with a straight, unbranched stem, 3 to 7 feet high. The fibre is not so strong as hemp and is useful only for ropes and coarse fabrics. It has been suggested that many species of Hibiscus might be found valuable for the manufacture of paper. Hibiscus sabdariffa, Jamaica sorrel or roselle, is very generally cultivated in warm countries, on account of its calyx, which, as the fruit ripens, becomes fleshy and acquires a very pleasant acidity. It is used for making tarts and jelly, resembling the cranberry in this respect, and a decoction of it, sweetened and fermented, affords a refreshing beverage. Hibiscus abelmoschus, sometimes called musk mallow, common in tropical countries, is cultivated for its seeds, called ambrette, or graines d'ambrette, which have a fragrance in

termediate between musk and amber, and are much used by perfumers. In Egypt and Arabia these seeds are mixed with coffee, and stimulant and stomachic qualities are ascribed to them. The petals of Hisbicus rosa-sinensis are astringent and are used by the Chinese to blacken their eyebrows and their shoes. A number of species of Hibiscus are cultivated as ornamental plants in the United States, while others are extensively grown as ornamental hedge plants in the tropics. A large number of ornamental hybrids have been produced. There are several indigenous species in eastern and southern United States. See Plate of YAM, SWEET POTATO, ETC. HICCOUGH, hik'kup, or HICCUP. SINGULTUS. Sudden short, convulsive inspirations, attended with a peculiar sound produced in the larynx by the inrush of air. The movements concerned in the production of hiccough are a spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm and a certain degree of constriction in the glottis. The incoming column of air striking the partly closed glottis occasions the peculiar sound. These convulsive inspirations commonly succeed each other at intervals of a few seconds. The paroxysm may last only a few minutes, or may extend to hours or days, in which case it may be dangerous to life, from the exhaustion which it causes. Overdistention of the stomach by food or drink or by gas is the most frequent cause. Certain diseases are frequently attended by hiccough. It occurs occasionally after severe hemorrhage, in debilitating diseases, pneumonia, peritonitis, appendicitis, etc., in which cases it is a grave symptom. In typhoid fever it is often the sign of perforation or general peritonitis.

When the attack is slight, it may often be stopped by making a very full inspiration, and then holding the breath as long as possible, the diaphragm being thus held in a state of voluntary contraction. A drink of water gives relief in many cases. In more obstinate cases aromatic spirit of ammonia, camphor, musk, or an emetic, may be resorted to. When hiccough continues for an hour or more and the exhaustion is great, a general anesthetic may be necessary. Hypnotism has proved successful in neurotic individuals; sticking the tongue far out of the mouth and holding it there for two minutes or more has cured others. Lastly, counterirritation over the back of the neck is sometimes efficacious.

HICH BORN, PHILIP (1839-1910). An American naval officer. He was born in Charlestown, Mass., studied in the Boston High School, was a shipwright apprentice in the Boston Navy Yard, and, having gone to California in 1860, became master shipwright of the Mare Island Navy Yard in 1862. He entered the navy in 1869 with rank of lieutenant and served as assistant naval constructor until 1875, when he was commissioned full constructor.

Four years

afterward Hichborn was sent to Europe to report on foreign dockyards, and his book on this subject became a standard textbook. For a time he served on the board of inspection and survey, and in 1881 he was appointed to the naval advisory board. In that capacity and as chief constructor, in which position he served in 189397, he was prominently connected with the construction of the new navy. He was retired in 1901, with the rank of rear admiral.

He was the author of European Dockyards, Standard Boats, and Sheathed and Unsheathed Ships, and was the inventor of the Franklin life buoy and the Hichborn balanced turrets.

HICH ENS, ROBERT SMYTHE (1864- ). An English novelist, born at Speldhurst in Kent. He was educated at Clifton College, the Royal College of Music, and the London School of Journalism. He began early to write lyrics for music, and stories. His Green Carnation (1894), published anonymously and attributed to Oscar Wilde, created a sensation. It is a satire on the decadents. Among succeeding novels are: An Imaginative Man (1895); Flames (1897); The Slave (1899); Tongues of Conscience (1900), short stories; The Prophet of Berkeley Square (1901); Felix (1902); Black Spaniel, and Other Stories (1905); The Garden of Allah (1905), elaborately presented as a play in New York; Bella Donna (1909), in which Madame Nazimova starred in 1913; The Dweller on the Threshold (1911); The Way of Ambition (1913). He also collaborated in successful plays, as The Medicine Man and Becky Sharp. In 1914 he published The Spell of the Holy Land.

HICKES, GEORGE (1642-1715). An English nonjuring clergyman, philologist, and author. He was born at Newsham, Yorkshire, studied at Northallerton Grammar School, then proceeded as sizar to Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1662. In 1664 he received a fellowship of Lincoln College and the following year received his M.A. degree. He was ordained at Lincoln College in 1666, was a tutor for a time, visited France in 1673, was appointed rector of St. Elbe, Oxford, in 1675, and in 1676 became chaplain to the Duke of Lauderdale, whom he accompanied on his journey as High Commissioner to Scotland. Several rapid promotions culminated in a chaplaincy to James II and the deanship of Worcester (1683). At Worcester his study of the Germanic languages resulted in the publication of the Anglo-Saxon and MasoGothic Grammar (1689). At the time of the revolution he refused to take the oath of allegiance to William and Mary and was deprived of his benefices. In 1693 he visited the exiled King at Saint-Germain, with a mission from the nonjuring clergy for coördinate action in regard to the continuance of their episcopal rights, and in 1694 he was consecrated by their leaders as Suffragan Bishop of Thetford. His subsequent publications in controversial and practical divinity were numerous. His greatest work is Linguarum Veterum Septentrionalium Thesaurum Grammatico-Criticum et Archæologicum (3 vols., 1703-05). Among his other writings are Controversial Letters (1710), Sermons (1711), and a volume of Posthumous Discourses, published in 1726.

HICK'EY, EMILY HENRIETTA (1845- ). An English poet and prose writer, born at Macmine Castle, Wexford, Ireland. With F. J. Furnival she founded the Browning Society (1881), and she became known as a lecturer. In 1902 she edited, and rendered from old English, the romance Havelock the Dane. Her other publications include: A Sculptor and Other Poems (1881); Verse Tales (1889); Michael Villiers, Idealist, and Other Poems (1891); Poems (1896); Our Lady of May and Other Poems (1902); Thoughts for Creedless Women (1905); Lois (1908); Our Catholic Heritage in English Literature (1910); Later Poems (1913).

HICKEY, JAMES A. HARDEN-. See HARDENHICKEY.

HICK'OK, LAURENS PERSEUS (1798-1888). An American writer on philosophy. He was