Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Volume 1.djvu/985

 HEL

till it come to nothing in N $ after which it will increafe again till it come to B: and laftly, be a*ecreafing again, till the Planet come to be in n, G&.

Heliocentric Place of a Planet, is the Place wherein the Planet would appear to be, if viewed from the Centre of the Sun : Or the Point of the Ecliptic, wherein a Planet vicw'd from the Sun, would appear to be. SccPlace.

The Heliocentric Place, therefore, coincides with the Longitude of a Planet view'd from the Sun. See Lon- gitude and Planet.

HEI.IOCOMETES, a Phenomenon fome times obferv'd at the fetting of the Sun.

It was denominated Heliocometes, q. d. Comet of the Sun, by Sturmius, and Pylen who had feen it, in Re- gard it feems to make a Comet of the Sun, being a large Tail, or Column of Light fix'd, or hung to that Lumi- nary, and dragging after it at his Setting, much in the Manner of the Tail of a Comet. See Comet.

In that obferved by M. Pylen at Grypfwald, March 15. 1702, at Five of the Clock in the Afternoon, the End which touched the Sun was only half the Sun's Dia- meter broad 5 but the other End, oppofite to the Sun, much broader. Its Length was above ten Diameters of the Sun ; and it moved in the fame Track as the Sun. Its Colour was yellow next the Sun, and darker further off. It was only feen painted on the thinner, higher Clouds : A little Telefcope eafily difcover'd that there was nothing of it on the thicker," and lower Clouds 5 tho' ,the naked Eye could not difcover fo much. It laftcd, in its full Vi- gour, the Space of an Hour, and then gradually di- minish 'd.

HELIOSCOPE, in Opticks-, a Sort of Telefcope, pecu- liarly fitted for viewing and obfervjng the Sun, without doing Prejudice to the Eye. See Telescope.

Heliofcopes are neccfifary in viewing the Phenomena of the Sun j as his Spots, Eclipfcs, &c. See Sun, Spot, Eclipse, SSV.

There are various Apparatus's of this Kind. — ■

As coloured GlafTcs arc found to diminifh the Force of the Sun's Rays ; to make a Heliofcope, 'tis enough that both the Object Glafs, and the Eye Glafs of the Telefcope, be of colour'd Glafs 3 the firft, e. gr. of Red, and the latter Green.

But, as there is a Neceffity for the Glaffes to be very tranfparent, and equally colour'd ; which rarely happens : Hevelius chufes rather to ufe two plain coloured Glaffes, with a Piece of Paper between, either tied, or cemented together, and applied before the Eye Glafs.

Dr. Hook, in an exprefs Trcatife on Heliofcopes, recom- mends four reflecting Glaffes placed in the Tube 7 by thefe, he obferves, the Force of the Rays will be fo weaken'd, as only to ftrike the Eye with a z<j6th Part of their Force : And this Heliofcope he prefers to all others.

M. Huygen's Method is much eafier : — ■ He only blackens the infide of the Eye Glafs of the Telefcope, by holding it over the Flame, or Smoak of a Lamp or Candle. Or, which is yet more commodious, blackens a Piece of plain Glafs, and holds it between the Eye and the Object Glafs : Or, which is befl: of all, claps the fmoak'd Glafs to another, with a Rim of thick Paper between, to keep the black from rubbing off, and fits the two into a Cell, or Frame, to be applied between the Eye and the Eye Glafs.

The Word is compounded of »a/©-, and ff»W7of«sf, video-, fpetlo, I fee, view, confider.

HELIOTROPE, Heliotropium, in Katural Hiflory, a Plant popularly call'd the Sun-flower 5 as alfo ^tournfol, or T'urnfol. See Tournsol.

The Word is compounded of the Greek, «*/©-, Sun^ and rjeTTw, verto, I turn.

Heliotrope, is alfo a pretious Stone, of a green Co- lour, ftreak'd with red Veins. Sec Pretious Stone.

'Pliny fays 'tis thus call'd, by Reafon when cafl into a Veffel of Water, the Sun's Rays falling thereon, feem to be of a Blood Colour 5 and that when out of the Water, it bears fome Refemblance of the Figure of the Sun ; and is proper to obferve Eclipfcs of the Sun withal, as a Heliofcope.

The Heliotrope is alfo call'd Oriental Jafper, on Ac- count of its ruddy Spots. See Jasper.

It is found in the Eaft Indies ; as alfo in Ethiopia, Germany, 'Bohemia, &c. Some have afcribed to it the Faculty of rendering People invisible, like Gyges's Ring.

HELISPHERICAL Line, in Navigation, denotes the Rhumb Line. See Rhumb Li?ie.

It is thus call'd, becaufe, on the Globe, it winds round the Pole Helically, i. e. fpirally, and (till comes nearer and nearer to it.

HELIX, in Geometry, a Spiral Line. See Spiral.

In Architecture, fome Authors make a Difference be- tween the Helix and Spiral.

A Stair-Cafe, according to Ziaviler, is in a Helix, or

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is Heliacal, when the Stairs, or Steps, wind round a Cylindrical Newel ; whereas the Spiral winds roimct a Cone, and is continually approaching nearer and Heal et its Axis. See Stair-C«/J.

The Word is Greek, fy'g, and literally fignifies a Wreath, or Winding, of tA/w», involvo, I inviron.

Helix, in Anatomy, is the whole Circuit or Extent of the Auricle, outwards : In. Oppofifidh to which the inner Protuberance anfwering thereto is call'd Antbe'-l ;\ See Auricle and Ear.

Helix, is alfo ufed in ArcWteflure, for the Cr.jlicoles, or little Volutes, under the Hewer of the Corp."' mi Ca- pital 5 call'd alfo Urillee. S: Caulicoles and illje.

HELL, Tartarus, Infer ms, a Place of Pui. lament, wherein the Wicked are to receive the Reward of their Beed.v after this Life. — In this Senfe, the Word Hell ftands oppofed to Heaven. See Heaven.

Among the Antients, Hell was call'd TafraQK, Tafreet," Tartans, Tartara ■ 'Aft;, Hades, Infermts, Iitfema, In- fert, &c. — . The jfe-ws, wanting a proper Name for it, call'd it Gehenna, or Gehinnon^from a Valley near Jeru- salem, wherein was a Tophet, or Place, where a Fire was perpetually kept. See Gehenna.

Divines reduce the Torments of Hell to two Kinds ; Tana Damni, the Lofs and Privation of the Beatific Vifion ; and Tana Senftis, the Horrors of Darknefs, with the continual Pains of Fire incxtinguiihable.

Mofl Nations and Religions have their Hell. — The Hell of the Poets is terrible enough : Witnefs the Punifli- ment of Tityus, Tromotheas, the T>anaids, Lapith<e, Thlegyas, &c. defcribed by Ovid in his Metamorphofis. Virgil, after a Survey of Hell, jEncid. Lib. VI. declares, that had he a hundred Mouths and Tongues, they wr-uld not fuffice to recount all the Plagues of the tortured. — ■ The New Teftament reprefents Hell as a Lake of Fire and Srimflone ; a Worm which dies not, &c. Rev. XX. 10, 14, &c. Mark IX. 4;, &c. Lake XVI. 23, &c. — The Caffres are faid to admit 13 Hells, and 27 Paradifes, where every Perfon finds a Place of Recompcnce fuited to the Degree of Good or Evil he has done.

There are two principal Points of Controverfy amor" Writers touching/ij.7: The 17?, WViber there really be any Local Hell, any proper and fpecific Place of Torment and Fire : The 2 d, Whether the Torments of Hell are to be Eternal.

I. The Locality of Hell, and the Reality of the Fire thereof, has been controverted from the Time ©f Origeiz. ■ — That Father, in his Treatife <sfei «%%av, interpreting the Scripture Account metaphorically ; makes Hell to con- fid: not in external Punifhments, but in the Conscience of Sinners, the Senfe of their Guilt, and the Remembrance .of their pafi Pleafures. — ■ St. Augufiine mentions feveral of the fame Opinion in his Time ; and Calvin, and many of his Followers, have embraced it in ours.

The Retainers to the contrary Opinion, much the greatcil Part of Mankind, are divided as to the Situation, and other Circumilanccs of this horrible Scene. — • The Greeks after Homer, Hefiod, &c. conceiv'd Hell, Toiw -nvn. -im Tin> ym luynv, Sic. a large and dark Place under the Earth : Lucian, de LuBu, and E'ljlath. in Homer.

Some of the Romans lodg'd it in fubterranean Regions, directly under the Lake Avernv.s, in Campania ; which they were led to from the Confideration of the poifonous Vapours emitted by that Lake. See Avernus. — Thro' a dark Cave, near this Lake, Virgil makes JEneas de- fcend to Hell. See Elysium.

Others placed Hell under Tenants, a Promontary of Laconia, as being a dark frightful Place, befct with thick Woods, out of which there was no finding a Paffage. This Way, Ovid fays, Orpheus defcended to Hell. — ' Others fancied the River, or Fountain of Styx in Arcadia, the Spring-head of Hell, by Reafon the Waters thereof were deadly.

But thefe are all to be confider'd as only Fables of Poets ; who, according to the Genius of their Art, alle- gorifing and perfonifying every Thing, from the certain Death met withal in thefe Places, took Occafion to repre- fent them as fo many Gates, or entering Places, into the other World. See Fable, Personifying, &c.

The. Primitive Chriftians, conceiving the Earth a large extended Plane, and the Heavens an Arch drawn over the fame ; took Hell to be a Place in the Earth, the furtheft Difiant from the Heavens ; fo that their Hell was our Antipodes. See Antipodes.

Tertullian, 2)e Anhna, reprefents the Chriftians of his Time, as believing Hell to be an Abyfs in the Centre of the Earth ; which Opinion was chiefly founded on the Belief of Chrift's Defcent into Hades, Hell, Matt. XII. 40. See the following Article Hell.


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