Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/108

 100 HYACINTH HYAENA to be preferred. Named sorts cost much more than assorted kinds, which for the general cul- tivator may be quite as satisfactory as those with names. The bulbs for outdoor culture are usually planted in October. A rich light soil is best, and well decom- posed cow manure is the best fertilizer ; the bulbs should be set 8 in. apart and covered to the depth of 4 in. ; when cold weather comes on, the bed is to be covered with litter, which is to be left on un- til spring; when the plants come into flow- er each spike will need the support of a small stick or wire, which may be so placed as not to be noticed ; when the flowers decay their stalks are cut away, and the bulbs allowed to remain until the fading of the leaves shows that they have nished their growth ; they are then taken up, dried in the sun, each wrapped in a paper with its label, and kept in a cool dry place until time to plant in autumn. They do not bloom in subsequent years so well as the first. In some gardens the bulbs are left Hyacinth (Hyacinthus oricutaiis). English Bluebell.

from year to year; they increase and form large clumps, which produce small spikes of flowers. The hyacinth is an easy plant to force in the greenhouse or in an ordinary room ; the bulbs should be potted in October, and the pots placed in a cool dark cellar, or in a shady corner, and covered with coal ashes; when an inspection of the pots shows that the ball of earth is well tilled with roots, they may bo brought to a warm and light place, when growth of leaves and flowers will soon com- mence ; frequent failure is due to not first se- curing a good growth of roots by keeping the bulb cool and from the light. The bulbs are often forced in glasses made for the purpose, filled with water ; the base of the bulb should just touch the surface of the water, and the glass should be kept in the dark until the roots are well developed. Bulbs that have been forced are of little value; single varieties are preferred for forcing. The wild hyacinth, the bluebell of England, H. nonscriptus of the older botanists, has been successively placed in several different genera, and is probably nearer a squill (icilla) than a hvacinth. in ACINTHE, Per*. See LOYSOX, CHARLES. HYACINTHCS, in Greek mythology, son of the Spartan king Arayclas and Diomede, or of Pierus and Clio, or of (Ebalus and Eurotas. He was a boy of great beauty and the favorite of Apollo, but was also beloved by Zephyrus, who from jealousy caused his death as he was playing with Apollo, by blowing the quoit of the god against his head. Prom his blood sprang the flower hyacinth, upon whose leaves appears the Greek exclamation of woe AI, AI, or the letter T beginning his name ("ta.Ki.v6os). IIVIDKS. in Greek mythology, nymphs vari- ously described as being from two to seven in number, and bearing 18 names. According to some authorities, Jupiter placed them among the stars in honor of their care of the infant Bacchus ; while others say it was to reward them for their long mourning for their brother Hyas, who had been killed by a wild boar. HYJJNA, a digitigrade carnivorous mammal, most numerous in Africa, but found also in southern and middle Asia, where the genus has probably spread while following the track of armies and caravans. Zoologists are not agreed as to the position of this animal ; the older au- thors place it in the feline family, with which it agrees in the single true molar on each side of both jaws, and in the single tuberculate tooth on each side of the upper jaw only ; Waterhouse regarded it as a small divergent group of viverrina or civet cats ; Linnaaus ranked it in his genus eanis ; and Hamilton Smith puts it in juxtaposition to the dogs. It seems to be an osculant type, united on the one hand to the dogs by the genus lycaon, and on the other to the civets by the genus proteles (aard-wolf) ; its general aspect is decidedly ca- nine, as also are most of its habits. The dental formula, according to Owen, is : incisors, ca- nines |, premolars, |cf, and molars ~ 34 in all. The disposition of the hysena is fierce and cowardly, and its habits are revolting; it is able to withstand any temperatures and priva-