HER
- M. Spon gives us an Hermharfiocrates, in his Rech. Cur. de PAntiqmte, p. 98. fig. xv. having Wings on his Feet, like Mercury; and laying his Finger on his Mouth, like Har- pocrcttes. 'Tis probable they might mean by this Combina- tion, that Silence is fometim.es Eloquent.
HERMIANS, Hermiant, or Hermiotite, a Seel of Hereticks, in the lid Century; thus called from their Leader Her mi as.
One of their diftinguifhing Tenets was, that God is Corporeal. They are alfo call'd Seleucians. See SE- LEUCIANS.
HERMIT, or Eremit, Eremita, a devout Perfon, retir'd into a Solitude, to be more at Leifure for Contem- plation, and to difencumber himfelf of the Affairs of the World. See Anchoret.
The Word is form'd of the Greek, MfH//©-, Ereimis, Wildcrnefs ; and, according to the Etymology, fhould rather be wrote Eremit ■, the Spirit being foft.
A Hermit is not reputed a Religious, unless he have made the Vows. See Monk, Vow, Z$c.
'Paul, firnamed the Hermit* Paulus Eremitantis, is ufually reckon'd the firft Hermit ; tho' St. Jerom, at the Beginning of the Life of that Saint, fays, it is not known who was the firft. — ■ Some go back to St. John the Saptijf, and others to Elias.
Others make St. Anthony the Founder of the Herme- ticallAfe: But others take him to have only rekindled and heighten'd the Fervour thereof; and hold, that the Difciplts of that Saint own'd S. Paul of Thebes for the firft that pra&ifcd it. — The Perfections of Z)ecius and Valerian are fuppofed to have been the Occafion.
Several of the antient Hermits, as S. Anthony, &c. tlio' they lived in Defarts; had yet Numbers of Religious accompanying them. See Solitary.
There are alfo divers Orders and Congregations of Religious, diftingui/hed by the Title of Hermits ; as, Hermits of St. Auguftin> of St. John Baflijl, of St. Jerom, of St. (Paul, &c.
Hermits of St. Augufi'ni, is a religious Order, more frequently call'd Augufiins-, or Aujiin Friars. Sec Au-
CUSTIN.
It is commonly pretended to have been inftituted by that Father ; but without much Ground. This is pretty certain, he laid the Foundations of a Monaftic Order about the Year' 388, and retired to his Father's Eitate near Tagafia, to lead a religious Life, with fome Com- panions : But it does not at all appear, that this Order has fubfiftcd ever fince ; nor that the Hermits of St. Auguftin are defcended without Interruption from them.
This Order, in Reality, only commenced under Pope Alexander IV, in the middle of the XIII th Century; and was form'd gradually by the Union of divers Congrega- tions, which had no Rule, or at leaft had not that of St. Auguftin. — Thefe Congregations were thofe of John %o??ites, the mod antient of all ; that of the Hermits of Tufcany ; that of the Sacheld ; thofe of Vallerfuta ; of St. Slaife ; of St. Seneditl de Monte Fabulo ; of the Tower of Palmes ; of SanBa Maria de Marcetta ; of St. James de Moliuio, and de Loupfavo near Lucca.
This Coalition was not made by Innocent IV. as moft Hiftorians of the Order contend : All that Pontiff did, was to unite fome Hermits in Tujcany, to whom he gave the Rule of St. Auguftin ; But thefe were a diftinct. Body from thofe juft mention'd. — It was Alexander IV. that made the grand Union; as appears from his Bull, publifhcd in the Mare magnum of the Augujlins.
That Pontiff undertook this Union from the firft Year of his Pontificate, viz. the Year 1254. It was the Year 1255, ere the Superiors of all the Congregations could be got together. In the general Chapter the Union was effected .- Za? franc Septala, a Milaneze, was chofen General; and the Order divided into four Provinces, viz. thofe of France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Since that, other Orders have been united to the Her- mits of St. Auguftin ; as, the poor Catholicks, &c. and the Order now confifts of 42 Provinces.
After fo many Unions, the Order began to divide again into feparate Congregations, according to the Re- laxations, and Reformations that afterwards got footing. — Such, are the Barefooted Hermits of St. Augufiin ; the Congregation of Centorbi, or the Sicilian Reform ; the Congregation of the Colorites in Calabria, &c.
There are alfo feveral Congregations of Nuns, under the Appellation of Hermits of St. Augufti??-.
As alfo a third Order of Hermits of St. Augufiin. See Third Order.
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HER
Life:
whence their Name. — They fed a very auftea never eat any Meat, and failed much.
Hermits of Camalduli. See Camaldult.
Hermits of St. John Baftift, was a religious Order in Navarre ; whofe principal Convent, or Hermitage, was feven Leagues from Pamfelona.
Till the Time of Gregory XIII, they lived under the Obedience of the Bifliop of that City ; but the Pope con- firmed them a Religious Order, approved their Conllitu-
tions, and admitted 'em to make the Vows Their Way
of Living was exceeding auftere: They went bare-footed wore no Linnen, lay on Boards, with a large Stone for a Pillow, and bore a large wooden Crofs on their Breafts.
Their Houfe was a Kind of Laura, rather than a Con- vent ; canton'd out into Cells, in which they lived folitary, in the middle of a Wood. See Laura.
Hermits of St. Jerom. See Jeronimites.
Hermits of St. Paul the firft Hermit, is an Order form'd in the XIII th Century, by the Union of two Bo- dies of Hermits in Hungary ; viz. thofe of St. James de Patach, and thofe of •Pi/ilia near Zante.
Upon their being incorporated, they chofe St. <Paul the firft Her/nit, for the common Patron, and Protector of their Order ; and aflumed his Name. — They multiplied very confiderably in Hungary, Germany, Poland, and other Provinces ; and came to have feventy Monafterics in Hun- gary alone : But the Revolutions and Wars in that Kingdom reduced them again.
HERMITAGE, properly Bonifies a Convent of Hermits. See Hermit and Convent.
The Name was alfo popularly attributed to any Reli- gious Cell, built and endowed in a private and reclufe Place ; and thus annexed to fome large Abbey, of which the fuperior was call'd Hermita. See Solitary, Re- cluse, %$c.
HERMITAN, in Phyfiology, a dry North, and North Eafterly Wind, or Breeze, ufually blowing on the Coafts of Guinea in Africa. See Wind and Breeze.
The Hermitan fometimes alfo blows from other Points
HERMODACTYL, in Medicine, a Drug ufed as a gentle Purgative, SSc. See Purgative.
Naturaliils are not agreed as to the Origin of this Druff. — Some will have it the Root, and others the Fruit of a Plant. To reconcile them, one might probably allow two Kind of Hermodatlyls ; the one a Root, the other a Fruit.
The Fruit is about the Size of a little Cheflnut, in Fi- gure refembling a Heart ; ruddy without, very white within ; of a light fungous Subftance ; without Fibres ; eafily broke, and reducible into a Powder like Flower, of a fweetifli Tail, but fomewhat vifcid. It is brought to us dried from Egypt and Syria.
Authors diftl-r as to the Plant which bears it. In the common Opinion it pafTes for a Sort of Colcbicum : Others take it for a tuberous Iris.
Hermodatlyls are chiefly ufed to purge pituitous Hu- mours of the Brain and Joynts. — They are fo efficacious in fcowcring the mucilaginous Glands, and prefcrving them from the Lodgments of gritty Matters, which occafion the Gout and arthritic Complaint ; that they are denominated, by fome Writers, Anima Articuloram. — They alfo pro- mote Sweat.
HERMOGENIANS, a Seel of antient Hereticks, de- nominated from their Leader Hermogeaes ; who lived towards the Clofe of the II d Century. See Heresy.
Hermogeaes eftablifh'd Matter as his firft Principle - and made Idea the Mother of all the Elements. See Idea, &c.
The Hermogenians were divided into feveral Branches under their refpeftive Chieftains, viz. Hermians, Seleucians Materiarii, &c. See Hermians, Seleucians, SSc
The Manichees fprung from the Hermogenians. See Manichees.
HERNIA, in Medicine, &c. a Defcent of the Interlines, or Omentum, out of their natural Place ; or, rather, the Tumour form'd by that Defcent ; popularly called a Rupture. See Descent and Rupture.
When the Peritoneum happens to be broken, or extra- ordinarily dilated ; the Vifcera, and particularly the Caul and fmall Guts, are apt to tall out of their Place, and to form thefe Sorts of Tumours called Hernia's.
They happen moil ufually in the Inguen, or Groin ; the Scrotum, and Navel : Tho, fometimes, in other Places ; as above or below the Navel ; in the Side, far above the Inguen, in the upper Part of the Thigh, near the Spine, &c.
Hernia's are occafion'd by Blows, violent Concuftions,
Hermits of Srittini, was a Congregation form'd under over-flretching in Vomiting, hard Labour, or Wind ; from Pope Gregory IX. who gave them the Rule of St. Auguftin. which laft Caufe it is, that they are fo frequent in Chil-
Their firft Hermitage, or Abode, was in a folitary dren, and fo eafily hclp'd by timely Cure : In Adults Place, call'd Srittini, in the Marquifate of Amona j they are generally incurable. From Hernia's frequently arife
the
