fought here, March 20, 1800, between the French and the Turks.

HELIOS; the god of the sun (in Latin, Sol), in the Greek mythology; son of Hyperion and Theia, and brother of Eos (Aurora, the dawn) and Selene (Luna, the moon). He dwells with Eos in the ocean, behind Colchis. From the portals of the morning, he rides through the air, in an oblique curve, to the gates of evening; and, after having cooled his horses in the ocean, he drives his chariot into a self-moving golden vessel, inade by Vulcan, which, with wonderful rapidity, bears him along the northern shore of the ocean back to Colchis, where he bathes his horses in the lake of the sun, and rests during the night, till the dawn of the morning. Later authors assign him a palace in the west, where he refreshes himself and his horses with ambrosial food. Respecting the history of Helios, the poets relate his contest with Neptune for the isthmus of Corinth, his revealing the secret amours of Mars and Venus, and his disclosure to Ceres of the ravisher of her daughter. In Sicily, he had a herd of cattle dedicated to him, with the sight of which he was delighted, as he rode through the sky. His vengeance fell heavily upon the companions of Ulysses, who slaughtered some of them. He threatened to descend into Orcus, and to give light to the dead, if Jupiter did not punish the criminals. The thunder dashed their vessel to pieces, and sunk them in the waves. As he was descended from the race of the Titans, he is often called Titan. His worship was very extensively diffused, and he had many temples and statues; for instance, in Corinth, Argos, Trozene, Elis, but particularly in Rhodes, where a team of four horses was annually sacrificed to him, by being precipitated into the sea. White lambs were also sacrificed to him. Horses, wolves, cocks and eagles were sacred to him. He is represented as a youth, with most of his body covered with clothing, and having his head surrounded with rays. Sometimes he rides upon a chariot drawn by four horses. (See Apollo.)

HELIOSCOPE is a telescope, behind which the image of the sun is received upon a plane surface. An astronomical telescope is drawn out a little farther than is necessary for common use, and directed towards the sun. The image which is formed, is received in a dark place. For this purpose, a dark chamber is employed, or the telescope is placed in a dark funnelshaped enclosure, the bottom of which is covered with oiled paper, or closed with

ground glass, on which the sun's image is formed. Upon this paper or glass a circle is described equal to the image, and divided, by five concentric circles, into 12 digits. With this instrument the spots on the sun, eclipses, &c., may be observed without injuring the eyes. For greater exactness, however, it is better to observe the sun through a telescope, the glasses of which are smoked or colored. Astronomical telescopes are commonly provided with colored plane glasses, which may be screwed on when the sun is to be observed.

HELIOTROPE. (See Quartz.)

HELL, Maximilian, a learned astronomer, was born in 1720, at Chemnitz, in Hungary, and first educated at Neusohl. Having, in 1738, entered the society of the Jesuits, he was sent to the college at Vienna, where he exhibited a genius for mechanics. He then applied to mathematics with great diligence, and became assistant at the observatory belonging to his order. In 1750, he published Adjumentum Memoria Manuale Chronologico-Genealogico-Historicum, which has been translated into various languages. In 1752, he became professor of mathematics at Clausenburg. From 1757 to 1786, he published, annually, the Ephemerides, which is much esteemed by astronomers. He was soon after recalled to Vienna, to be astronomer and director at the new observatory. In 1769, at the desire of the king of Denmark, he went to observe the transit of Venus, in an island in the Frozen ocean. He died in 1792. Hell is to be ranked among those who have rendered essential services to astronomy.

HELLAS, HELLENES, HELLENISM ('Edλas, 'EXAves). Hellas, in a narrower sense, was Greece Proper, with its eight states (the modern Livadia, q. v.); in a more extensive sense, it signified all Greece, with the islands and colonies.-Hellenes is the general name of the Grecians. (See Greece.) They are said to have derived their name from Hellen, who contributed to the civilization of the Pelasgi, the earliest inhabitants of Greece. The term Hellenes is therefore used sometimes in opposition to Pelasgi, and then we understand by it that cultivated race of men, who inhabited Greece, and have beconie immortal in history. The first dawn of civilization was spread from Thessaly among the Pelasgian savages, by the descendants of Prometheus. It is not therefore strange, that with the name of Hellenes were associated the ideas of greater refinement and superior genius. The question, How did the

savage tribes of Greece acquire the improved character of Hellenes? may be answered by a consideration of the following causes: 1. The influence of a favorable climate. In a land abounding in natural beauties, in a climate which is neither relaxing by heat, nor contracting by cold, the mental faculties are naturally developed with greater energy. 2. A finer original organization of the Greek race. 3. From these causes arose the natural activity, vivacity and inquisitiveness of the nation, a lively imagination, ingenuous feeling, a fine sense of the beautiful and the true in science and in the arts. Curiosity became the mother of knowledge. Opportunities for satisfying it were afforded by the conflux of so many tribes, general emigrations, voyages, and early intercourse with civilized nations. 4. The political freedom, and the peculiar constitution of the nation, which was divided into many small republics. This circumstance facilitated the developement of every talent according to its natural bent. 5. The situation of the country, and the frequent intercourse of the people with other nations. 6. The comforts and pleasures of life, and the spirit of social intercourse which existed among them. By the exemption of the people from heavy taxes and other public burdens of despotic governments, the numer of persons enjoying competency was increased. 7. Their education, according to which man was not made a mere machine of the state and of prejudices, and his faculties were allowed to unfold freely and harmoniously. 8. Freedom of thought. As there was no separate class of priests, the intellect and imagination expatiated freely on the subject of religion. Their religion gave them a form of worship, but imposed no constraint. It was less mystical in its tendency than plastic, and was formed and refined by poetry. Hence their fanciful and bright conceptions, and traditions of their gods, from which the plastic art created its divine forms and beautiful ideals. Even what the Greeks borrowed from foreign nations, became Grecian in their hands. From the shapeless fetiches, they first made images in the human form, and obtained from their national traditions a race of gods in the shape of men. 9. By this their attention was directed to what constitutes the true dignity of man. Frequent political and social intercourse cultivated a practical knowledge of man, which formed and strengthened in the Greeks a spirit of observation, for which their poets, orators and philosophers are so highly distin

guished. The forms of their politica. constitutions, which caused every thing to be transacted in public, afforded them a full field for exercise. How otherwise could be explained, at so early an age, those striking representations of character, that rich knowledge of mankind, that power of creating and developing ideas, that expressive and pathetic language? This is therefore a main point in Greek civilization and refinement, which explains some of the most beautiful traits of Grecian genius. 10. Some great geniuses, who fortunately sprung up in this nation. Where free observation is united with natural feelings and a lively imagination, there are the elements of poetry and art, which, however, can reach perfection only by a particular favor of nature. Great minds appeared of a truly Grecian character, and the effect they have produced, by their creations, is well known. It was under so rare a union of favorable circumstances, that the genius which characterized the inhabitants of ancient Greece, as Hellenes, was developed; and it is not strange that the word Hellenic or Grecian immediately awakens in us an idea of something beautiful in literature or art.

HELLE; a daughter of Athamas and Nephele, sister to Phryxus. She fled from her father's house with her brother, to avoid the cruel oppression of her mother-in-law, Ino. According to some accounts, she was carried through the air on a golden ram, which her mother had received from Neptune, and, in her passage, she became giddy, and fell from her seat into that part of the sea, which, from her, received the name of Hellespont. Others say that she was carried on a cloud, or rather upon a ship, from which she fell into the sea, and was drowned. Phryxus, after he had given his sister a burial on the neighboring coasts, pursued his journey, and arrived safe in Colchis. (See Phryxus.)

HELLEBORE (helleborus); a genus of plants allied to and resembling the ranunculus, but the large green, whitish or purplish flowers of the different species give them a different aspect. Ten species are known, all natives of the northern parts of the eastern continent. These plants have a bitter and somewhat acrid taste, and a nauseous, disagreeable odor. The root of one of them has been employed as a purgative from remote antiquity, and was a very celebrated remedy with the Greeks and Romans, particularly in mania. So far was this superstition carried, that the most celebrated philoso

phers drank hellebore to keep their brain clear before undertaking intellectual labor; and it was pretended that certain precautions were necessary in collecting this plant. It is still sometimes employed as a purgative, but is apt to act violently if an overdose be taken.

HELLENES. (See Hellas.) HELLENISTS; Scholars learned in Grecian antiquities, particularly in the Greek language and literature.

HELLENISTS, EGYPTIAN; the Jewish colonists, who settled in Egypt, after the destruction of the kingdom of Judah, about 600 B. C. Their number was increased by the many colonies of Jews planted by Alexander the Great, 336 B. C., and later by Ptolemy Lagus. Under the reign of the emperor Augustus, they amounted to nearly 1,000,000. The mixture of the Jewish and Egyptian national characters, and the influence of the Greek language and philosophy, which were adopted by these Jews, laid the foundation of a new epoch of Greco-Jewish literature, which, from its prevailing character, received the name of the Hellenistic. The systems of Pythagoras and Plato were strangely combined with those Oriental phantasies, which had been reduced to a system in Egypt, and with which the mystical doctrines of the Gnostics were imbued. The most noted of the Jewish Hellenistic philosophers was Philo of Alexandria (q. v.), and the chief of the learned labors of the Alexandrian Jews, was the Greek translation of the Old Testament. (See Septuagint.)

HELLESPONT; the straits between Europe and Asia, now called the Dardanelles. (For the mythological origin of the name, see Helle.) Its shores were lined with pleasant hills, towns and villages. Here were, in ancient times, Lampsacus, with its beautiful vineyards; the mouth of the Egos Potamos, immortalized by the victory of Lysander over the Athenian fleet; the cities of Sestos in Europe, and Abydos in Asia, rendered famous through the poem of Musæus on the loves of Hero and Leander. The strait is here but 7 stadia wide. In this place Xerxes passed from Asia to Europe over a double bridge. Lord Byron swam across the Hellespont, in 1810, in one hour and five minutes, in company with lieutenant Ekenhead. The rapidity of the current is such that no boat can row directly across, and lord Byron calculated that the whole distance, from his place of starting to his landing, on the Asiatic side, was more than four miles, although the strait is but a mile and 20

VOL. VI.

a half wide at the broadest part, and half a mile at the narrowest. Cocks are heard crowing from the opposite shores. The length of the strait is about 33 miles.

HELL-GATE. (See East River.)

HELM; a long and flat piece of timber, or an assemblage of several pieces, suspended down the hind part of a ship's stern-post, where it turns upon a kind of hinges to the right or left, serving to direct the course of a vessel, as the tail of a fish guides the body. The helm is usually composed of three parts, viz., the rudder, the tiller and the wheel, except in small vessels, where the wheel is unnecessary. The rudder becomes gradually broader in proportion to its distance from the top, or its depth under water. The back or inner part of it, which joins the stern-post, is diminished into the form of a wedge throughout its whole length, so that it may be more easily turned from one side to the other, when it makes an obtuse angle with the keel. The length and thickness of the rudder is nearly equal to that of the stern-post. The tiller is a long bar of timber, fixed horizontally in the upper end of the rudder, within the vessel. The movements of the tiller to the right and left accordingly direct the efforts of the rudder to the government of the ship's course, as she advances, which is called steering. The operations of the tiller are guided and assisted by a sort of tackle, communicating with the ship's side, called the tiller-rope, which is usually composed of untarred rope-yarns, for the purpose of traversing more readily through the blocks or pulleys. In order to facilitate the management of. the helm, the tillerrope, in all large vessels, is wound about a wheel, which acts upon it with the powers of a windlass. The rope employed in this service, being conveyed from the fore end of the tiller to a single block on each side of the ship, forms a communication with the wheel, by means of two blocks fixed near the mizzen-mast, and two holes imanediately above, leading up to the wheel, which is fixed upon an axis on the quarter-deck, almost perpendicularly over the fore end of the tiller. Five turns of the rope are usually wound about the barrel of the wheel, and when the helm is a-midship, the mid dle turn is nailed to the top of the barrel with a mark, by which the helmsman readily discovers the situation of the helm. The spokes of the wheel generally reach about eight inches beyond the rim or circumference, serving as handles to the person who steers the vessel. As

labors, boasted of having found the means of prolonging life, and composed visionary theories on the spiritual and physical formation of man, and on the causes and treatment of diseases. Though chemistry was still in its cradle, yet he made many discoveries, such as the laudanum of Paracelsus, the spirit of hartshorn, the sal volatile, &c. He intended to have overthrown the whole science of medicine, as it was taught in the schools, which he criticised with much justice; but what he produced himself was much more uncertain than all the existing theories. According to him, life is ruled by a principal power, which he called Archæus, the ruler, and by other subordinate powers. The system of Van Helmont resembles that of Paracelsus, yet it is more clear and scientific. Helmont never quitted his laboratory during the thirty years he lived in Vilvorde, yet he asserts that he cured annually more than a thousand men. The emperors Rodolph II, Matthias and Ferdinand II, invited him to Vienna, with promises of wealth and dignities; but he preferred the independence of his laboratory. He died December 30, 1644. Having given his manuscripts, before his death, to his son, with the request that he would publish them if he thought fit, they were printed by Elzevir.

HELMSTADT; a town, with 5200 inhabitants, in the duchy of Brunswick. The university of Julia Carolina, established in 1576 in Helmstädt, was suppressed by Jerome, ex-king of Westphalia, December 10, 1809. The town has a gymnasium, a seminary for the education of teachers, &c., besides manufactories of linen, cotton, flannel, soap, hats, liqueurs and perfumes. In the neighborhood is a mineral spring.

HELOISE, ELOISE, or LOUISA, celebrated for her beauty and wit, but still more on account of her love for Abelard, was born in Paris, in 1101. After her cruel separation from her illustrious lover, she became prioress of the convent of Argenteuil; but she attended more to study than to the monastic discipline of those under her charge, who, finally, were dispersed, in 1129, on account of their licentiousness. She then accepted the invitation of Abelard, and entered, with soine of her nuns, the oratory of Paraclete, where she found ed a new convent. Here she lived in exemplary piety. The bishops loved her as a daughter, the abbots as a sister, and the laity as a mother. Abelard, at her request, wrote the rules for her convent, which were confirmed by pope Innocent

II.

She died in 1164. Contemporary writers speak in high terms of the genius of Heloise. She understood Latin, Greek, Hebrew, was familiar with the ancients, and had penetrated the depths of philosophy and theology. Among Abelard's letters, we find three which are ascribed to her, full of fire, genius and imagination. The two first of her letters, which paint the conflict between her present duties and former feelings, and vividly contrast the inward storm of the passions with the repose of the cell, furnished Pope with some of the finest passages of one of his best productions. (See Abelard.)

HELOTS; slaves in Sparta. The name is generally derived from the town of Helos, the inhabitants of which were carried off and reduced to slavery by the Heraclidæ, about 1000 B. C. They differed from the other Greek slaves in not belonging individually to separate masters; they were the property of the state, which alone had the disposal of their life and freedom. They formed a separate class of inhabitants, and their condition was, in many respects, similar to that of the boors in some countries of Europe. The state assigned them to certain citizens, by whom they were employed in private labors, though not exclusively, as the state still exacted certain services from them. Agriculture and all mechanical arts at Sparta were in the hands of the Helots, since the laws of Lycurgus prohibited the Spartans from all lucrative occupations. But the Helots were also obliged to bear arms for the state, in case of necessity. The barbarous treatment to which they were exposed often excited them to insurrection. Their dress, by which they were contemptuously distinguished from the free Spartans, consisted of cat's-skin, and a leather cap, of a peculiar shape. They were sometimes liberated for their services, or for a sum of money. If their numbers increased too much, the young Spartans, it is said, were sent out to assassinate them. These expeditions were called KOURTEL; but this account has been disputed. Their number is uncertain, but Thucydides says that it was greater than that of the slaves in any other Grecian state. It has been variously estimated, at from 320,000 to 800,000. They several times rose against their masters, but were always finally reduced.

HELSINGFORS, in the grand-duchy of Finland, on the gulf of Finland, a seaport and commercial town, with an excellent and strongly-fortified harbor, has manufactories of sail-cloth and linen; popula