Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 05.djvu/66

LEFT HOOKER 50 HOOPING COUGH research and richness and purity of style. He died in 1600. HOOKEB, THOMAS, an English clergyman; born in Markfield, Leicester- shire, in 1586. He came to America in 1G33. In 1636 removed from Newtown (Cambridge, Mass.) to Hartford, and founded that colony, becoming minister of the First Church there. He won emi- nence as a theological writer and a preacher, and has a permanent historical importance for his instrumentality in drawing up the first written constitution in America — that of the Hartford Col- ony. His chief work is "A Survey of the Summe of Church Discipline," in col- laboration with John Cotton. He died in Hartford, Conn., July 7, 1647. HOOKER (WILLIAM) BRIAN, an American author ; born in New York City in 1880. He graduated from Yale Uni- versity in 1902. He served as assistant in English at Columbia University in 1903 and 1905, and as instructor of rhetoric at Yale from 1905 to 1909. He won several prizes for literary per- formances, and in 1911 wrote the libretto for the opera "Mona," which was awarded a $10,000 prize by the Metro- poJitan Opera Co. In 1914 he was awarded $10,000 by the City of Los Angeles for the libretto of an opera to be produced on the occasion of the city's centenary. He wrote "The Right Man" (1908); "The Professor's Mystery" (1910); "Poems" (1916). HOOKWORM DISEASE, a disease known in many countries and under many names, but ankylostomiasis and un- cinariasis are the chief in the medical vocabulary, while popular terms are miner's anaemia and dirt-eating. The malady has its origin in an intestinal worm with dorsal and ventral teeth, with which it holds to the small intes- tine usually, though it is found in dif- ferent parts of the alimentary canal. The eggs are ejected with the faeces, and as infectious larva are communicable through the skin or mouth. The disease is prevalent in tropical latitudes chiefly contained within 33 de- grees N. and 33 degrees S. of the Equa- tor. The American variety of the disease differs from that prevalent in Europe, Asia, and Africa, in the symptoms as well as in the parasite which causes it, but in both the Old World and the New it is found in all degrees of virulence. The geographical distribution of hook- worm in the United States is confined to the Southern States and is heaviest in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mis- sissippi. In four years the Rockefeller Sanitary Commission for the Eradica- tion of Hookworm Disease has treat- ed 539,107 cases in the Southern States. In the Old World the prevalence of the disease under favoring conditions may be judged by the degree of infection. Thus in Samoa 70 per cent, of the population is infected; in south China 75 per cent.; in India 60 to 80 per cent.; and in Ceylon, 90 per cent. In all these cases there is perceptible both a physical and mental deterioration, usually proportion- ate to the duration of the malady, its prevalence in childhood resulting in stunted growth and feeblemindedness which are permanent. In serious cases the body becomes emaciated, the muscles shrink and re- lax, there is abdominal protuberance, the skin becomes yellow or colorless, with swelling of the hands and feet. Often peculiar appetites are developed, and the patient has been known to eat rags piece by piece, strings, charcoal, resin, sand, clay, wood and chalk. In less serious cases there is a longing for articles of bitter or insipid taste, such as lemons, tomatoes, salt and the like. The disease in mild cases may be lifelong and almost imperceptible. In serious cases death supervenes after weeks or months. The treatment of the malady consists in the removal of the parasite, and drugs such as beta-naphthol and thymol, accompanied vdth purging medi- cine, have given satisfactory results. HOOP-ASH (Celtis crassifolia), an American tree of the order Urticacese, found in the forests of Ohio and in the Western States. It attains a height of 80 feet, and is employed for charcoal. HOOPER, WILLIAM, an American patriot; born in Boston, Mass., June 17, 1742; was graduated at Harvard Col- lege in 1760; practiced law in North Carolina and early interested himself in the colonial struggle with Great Britain; was elected to the Continental Congress in 1774 and signed the Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776. He died in Hillsboro, N. C, October, 1790. HOOPING COUGH, a spasmodic, in- fectious disease, usually of childhood, preceded by catarrh of from 3 to 14 days' duration. It sometimes terminates in six weeks, but often lasts as many months, though danger is usually over at the end of six weeks. Emphysema is a dangerous complication. In fatal cases, pulmonary collapse, bronchial inflam- mation, nervous exhaustion, and gen- eral debility are the chief factors.