Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/294

HOTTENTOTS. 254 HOUDIN. united worship, no altars on which olTcrings or sacrifices were laid, and no class with priestly liuiction, J'et medicine men, witch doctors, or sor- cerers, were coniiiion uiiiong tlicni, called in to heal the sick by nia^ic. An iniincnse folklore is based on the primitive conceptions of ghosts, elianiis, siyns, oUcrinjp*, luck, and causation by spirit inlluences that cram the air. Accounts of the Hottentots are to lie found in the narrative of Francisco de Almeida (1509); also in the records of the Dutch East India Com- pany from l(i.')2, and of the Uritisli ociiipation after 170.5. Consult also: P. Kolben, Present Slate of the Viipc nf Hood Hope (London, 1731- .SS) ; A. .Sparnian, 'o;iu<ic to the Cape of (load Hope (Perth, 1780) ; Sir .(olin Barrow, Travels into the Interior of South .l/'rica (I.ondon, 1801) ; Kmil llolub, Seven Years in South Africa (Eng. trans., Koston. 1881). HOTTENTOT'S BREAD {Tc.itudinaria Ele- phantipis) . A s|iccics of the order Dioscoreacea;, indi^'enous to South Alrica. Its slender, many- branched, vine-like stems, which die <lown during the dry season, grow to a lieight of 30 to 40 feet, and bear brifrht. hfartshapcd leaves. The henii- spherieal or nearly {.'lobular rootstock, sometimes three feet in diameter, protrudes conspicuously above ground, and is covered with a brown, cork- like substance with many-sided protuberances sep- arated by deep cracks and lissures. lioth the scientific name and one of the common names. elephant's foot, have been derived from fancied resemblances to the foot of an elephant. It is sometimes called tortoise-plant. The fleshy in- terior alTords food to baboons and other animals, but it is said that the natives do not eat it. 'llic rootstalks are exported ap[)arently dead, but when placed in the groimd they soon throw out rootlets and stems jjrow rapidly from the upper surface. The plant is cultivated as a greenhouse curiosity. HOTTINGEK, hot'tIn<r-er. .Toiianx IlEixRicir ( 1()'2(» (J7 ) . A .Swiss Orientalist and biblical scholar. He was born at Ziirich. After studying at Geneva, Gronin^;en. and l^eyden. he Ix^eame professor of einirch history in Ziirich. where he remained until 1()").5, holding successively the chairs of thrology and Oriental languages, and rhetoric and logic. In 1('>.").5 he liecamc professor of Orient.il languages at Heidelberg. In 16G1 he returned to Ziirich to take charge of a German translation of the Hil)le; and in 1(102 he was elected rector of the University in Ziirich. which title he kept for life. In 1007 he was called to I.eyden. hut was drowned at Ziirich by the cap- sizing of his boat while on a pleasure excursion before leaving for his new work. Hettinger was a prolific writer on Oriental subjects. The most important of his works are the following: The- saurus Philolof)icus seu Claris Scripturoe i 1640) ; nistnria Keele.viastica (1051-67); and the Eti/- piolofiieon Orientale. sive Lexicon Barmonicum Hrplattlotton (1061). HOTTINGEB, .TonANN .T.kob (1783-lSfiO). A Swiss historian and educator. He was born nt Ziirich. studied (here and at Leipzig, and, re- turning to his birthplace, taught history in the girls' academy, in the art school, and in the uni- versity (1833). .Xs a memlier of the council on education, Hottinger was prominent in the in- troduction of reform measures. He edited the .IrcAir fiir Schweizer Oesehiehte und l.uiulen- lunde ( 1S27-20) nnd the Srhirrizcrisches }fuseum fiir hiiitorinrhr W'is/irnsfhafirn (1837-.30); and wrote; (lesrhirhte drr Eiflt/euoHMrji ii'ijhreud dtr Zcitcu der Sriiiceizcr Kirrhentrviiiiunii ll>^-'>-' ) ; Uuldreich Xu-iugli (1841) ; Ueschichte des Unler- gangs drr lUdginosscnschaft dcr l.i Orte (1844) ; and llinis Kiinrad Escher von der Linth (1852). HOUARIOS, iToU'ri^-Az. Small coasting ves- sels and pleasure-boats used in parts of the -Medi- terranean. They bear lateen sails, and have each t«o masts and a bowsprit. HOUBARA, hnr>^bii'rft. See Bustard. HOUBRAKEN, hou'brii'k.n. A Dutch fam- ily of artists, .k.noli) (l(i0017ly) was born at Dordrecht, and studied under .Saniucl van Hoog- straeten. In 1713 he visited England. He painted a number of historical pictures and fig- ure subjects, none of great value, and wrote a biography of Dutch painters, (Iroote schoubourgh der iietlrrliitidschr kniisfschihlrrs rn srhildtrrs- sen (1718), which is n<it reliable. — His son and jiupil. Jakiuis ( 10!)8-17S0). a well-known en- graver, was also born at Dordrecht. His first work was n series of portraits for his brother's book. He did a hundred jilates for The Heads of Illustrious Persons of (Ireat lirilain (1743- 51), by T. Hirchs. His individual portraits are said to ntiniber four hundred, but his best work is a series of scenes after C. Troost. After Hou- hrakcn's death engraving in the Netherlands be- came almost a lost art. HOUDAN, hriTi'dan. A breed of domestic fowls, in llie French class with the crcvccceur and la Heche. They are widely bred in the United States, and are hardy and [irrifitablr. These fowls are of medium size, mottled black and white in color, with black wing-bars and primaries, and a heavy crest divided in the ' middle of the crown in the cock, but falling backward in the hen. They have five toes, like Dorkings. A hen should weigh pounds; a cock 7. The other breeds mentioned are highly esteemed in I'rance, hut little known in .merica. HOUDETOT, oo'd'-tA', Ei-Isabetii Frax^oise SdTJiii: iiK i.A Live ue Beli.egrade, Countess d' (c. 1730-1813). The mistress of Rousseau and also of Saiiit-Lamlicrt. She was the wife of a French general and the sister-in-law of JIadame d'Epinay. Kousseau mentions her in his Confes- sions, and attributes to her infiuence much of his poetical inspiration. Their love is partly represented in La nouvelle Ilclo'ise. Her face was plain and slightly scarred with smallpox; but she possessed a brilliant wit and a sunny disposition. HOUDIN, oii'dflx', RoRERT (1805-71). A French conjurer and mechanician. His appren- ticeship to the watchmaking trade schooled his fingers in the manipulation of intricate machin- ery, and his hatred of shams led him to apply his mechanical knowledge to the unveiling of the j conjuring tricks of his time, especially those which appealed to the religious side of htiman nature. By producing more wonderful illusions, with the credit given to natural causes, than those which his predecessors had attributed to supernatural, he completely revolutionized the art of magic, and was honored by medals in 1844 and 1855 for his mechanical toys and the prac- tical value of some of his inventions. He was the author of an autobiography, Robert Iloudin