Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/106

LEFT HUMMING-BIRD BUSH 82 HUNDRED males are of more somber tint. The species are exceedingly diminutive. They hover over flowers, using their long tongues to lick up, not merely the honey, but also small insects. Their flight is so rapid as to elude the eye. The whole family are peculiar to the New World. There some have a wide range, as Me- lisuga kingii {Trochiliis flammifrons), which is found on the W. coast from Lima to the Tierra del Fuego, a distance of about 2,500 miles; others are limited in their range, some being West Indian only, and others Mexican. HUMMING-BIRD BUSH, in botany, JEschynomene montevidensis. HUMMING-BIRD HAWK-MOTH, Macroglossa stellatarum. The fore wings are smoky black, with a central black dot, a waved black line on each side of it, and indistinct black clouds to- ward the base ; the hind wings are tawny with the base blackish-brown, and the hind margin reddish-brown. The body is brownish, varied posteriorly with black and white. HUMOR, in anatomy, etc., a liquid, a fluid. See Aqueous Humor. In mental philosophy, a mental fac- ulty which tends to discover incongruous resemblances between things which es- sentially differ, or essential differences between things put forth as the same; the result being internal mirth or an outburst of laughter. Wit does so like- wise, but the two are different. Humor has deep human sympathy, and loves men while raising a laugh against their weaknesses. Wit is deficient in sympa- thy, and there is often a sting in its ridi- cule. Somewhat contemptuous of man- kind, it has not the patience to study them thoroughly, but must content it- self with noting superficial resemblances or differences. Humor is patient and keenly observant, and penetrates be- neath the surface; while, therefore, the sallies of wit are often one-sided and unfair, those of humor are, as a rule, just and wise. HUMPBACKED WHAXES, or HUMPBACKS, the cetaceous genus Me- gaptera. The flippers are one-fifth to one-third the length of the body. They are akin to the finners, but are shorter and more robust. A specimen of M. longimana, taken near Newcastle, and described by Dr. Johnston, of Berwick, was named Johnston's humpbacked whale. It is called also Balxnoptera boops. HUMPERDINCK, ENGELBERT (hom'perdink), a German composer; born in Siegburg, near Bonn, Sept. 1, 1854. After studying music at Cologne, Frank- fort, Munich, etc., and travels in France, Spain, and Italy, he taught in the con- servatoriums of Barcelona and Cologne, and was musical adviser to a publishing firm in Mainz. Wagner summoned him to assist in the production of that master's owly symphony; and it was he who prepared and coached the first cast of "Parsifal" at Baireuth (1882). He subsequently settled in Frankfort (1890), and became famous as the author of the phenomenally successful children's opera or musical fairy play, "Hansel and Gretel" (1894), which was followed by "The Snow Maiden"; "The Royal Children"; "Die Marketenderin" (1914) ; etc. He also wrote incidental music to Shakespeare's "Tempest," Maeterlinck's "Blue Bird," etc., and many choruses. HUMPHREYS, ALEXANDER CROMBIE, an American engineer and educator; born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1851. He came to the United States in 1859 and after several years spent in business he graduated from the Stevens Institute of Technology in 1881. He served as chief engineer for several gas companies, and from 1892 to 1908 was head of the gas company in London, with branch offices in New York. He made various important inventions in the manufacture of water gas. In 1902 he was elected president of the Stevens In- stitute of Technology. He published several lectures on engineering practice. HUMUS, a substance which occurs in vegetable mold, and in liquids containing decomposing vegetable matter. Humus as it exists in the soil is a product of the decay of vegetables. It is a mixture of various carbon compounds, which slowly undergo combustion with the pro- duction of carbon dioxide, water, and ammonia, which are again taken up by plants. HXFNAN, a province of China, with an area of 83,380 square miles. It is traversed by important rivers, chief of which is the Kiangsi. The soil for the most part is fertile, and the agricultural products are tea, rice, hemp, and tobacco. Hunan is one of the largest tea-growing regions of China. There are valuable mines of coal and other metals. The population of the province is about 24,000,000. The capital is Changsha. HUNDRED, a division of a county in England, supposed to be named from originally containing 100 families or freemen. A long hundred, a great hun« dred, the sum or number of 120.