Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/146

 138 HYPOTHECATION IIYRCANUS tion in their favor is strong enough to justify their employment in connection with other treatment. The hyposulphite of soda may be given in doses of 10 or 20 grains, or more, three times a day, dissolved in water. The action of the sulphite is identical with or anal- ogous to that of the hyposulphite, and it has been used for the same purposes. HYPOTHECATION (Gr. v-6, under, and %*?, a chest), a word which, in the Roman civil law, from which it is taken, signifies more nearly what vo understand by mortgage than by pledge, for which they had a separate word, pignus; but it is not precisely the same as either. It was generally used whenever the title to property was transferred by the owner to his creditor, by way of security for the debt, but without that delivery of actual possession which was necessary to constitute a pledge. In English and American law, the word is most frequently used in the law of shipping. IIVKAV, a small pachyderm, coming nearest to the rhinoceros family, but looking much like a diminutive hare, and in some respects seeming to form one of the connecting links with the rodents, constituting the family lam- nungia of Illiger. The old naturalists had always placed it among the rodents, but Cu- vier, from its anatomical structure, ranked it with the pachyderms, of which Swainson calls it the gliriform type. The number of ribs is 21 pairs, greater by G than in any rodent, of which 7 are true; the sternum consists of 6 pieces; there are no clavicles; the suborbital foramen is small ; the dental formula is : inci- sors f, canines none, molars Z or -$~f, with distinct roots; the extinct pachyderm toxodon has long and curved molars, without roots, and incisors with arched sockets, forming another link in the chain of rodent affinities in this order. The toes are four before and three behind, as in the tapir ; the hoofs are small and flat, but the inner toe of the hind foot has a curved claw. The genus Jiyrax (Hermann) is the only one in the family, and contains four or five spe- cies. The body is covered with short, thick fur, with a few long bristles scattered among the shorter hair, and others around the nos- trils and orbits ; a tubercle in the place of the tail. The common name of the species is da- man ; it seems to bear the same relation to the rhinoceros as the existing sloths to the extinct megatherium ; it lives among rocks, and is sometimes called rock rabbit and Cape badger. The Syrian hyrax (//. Syriacus, Schreb.) is about 11 in. long and 10 in. high; the upper parts are brownish gray, the sides yellowish, and the lower parts white. Its movements are quick, and its habits much like those of rodents; it delights in heat, in cold weather rolling itself up ; it searches for narrow open- ings in which to hide itself, as its soft feet are not adapted for digging burrows like many ro- dents; its sense of smell is acute, and by it the food, which is wholly vegetable, is obtained ; it is of mild disposition, with little intelligence and little fear. It is found on the mountains near the Red sea, and in Ethiopia and Abys- sinia in caverns in the rocks, dozens being seen at a time warming themselves in the sun. This animal, according to Bruce, is called in Arabia and Syria Israel's sheep, and is the Hyrax Capensis. shaphan of the Hebrews, generally translated rabbit or cony. The Cape hyrax (//. Capen- sz's, Pall.) is about the size of the rabbit, but with shorter legs, more clumsy form, thick head, and obtuse muzzle ; the color is uniform grayish brown, darkest along the back; it lives in the rocky regions of the south of Af- rica; its flesh is delicate and savory. Other species are described in the woods of Africa. II VKCAMA, an ancient country of Asia, com- prising the western portion of the mountain region between the S. E. shores of the Caspi- an (sometimes called the Hyrcanian sea) and the river Arius (now Heri-rud). It consisted mainly of the valleys of the Nika, Gurgan, and Atrek. It was a most productive coun- try, capable of sustaining a dense population, and deserving Strabo's description of being " highly favored of heaven." The Hyrcanians seem to have been a people of Turanian race, 'intermixed with Aryans. After a short re- sistance they submitted to Cyrus. When the Persian empire was organized by Darius Hys- taspis into satrapies, Hyrcania was added to the satrapy of Parthia. After the Macedonian conquest, Hyrcania became a part of the em- pire of the Seleucidro. The Parthian king Arsaces II., or Tiridates, detached it from the Syrian empire and added it to his own terri- tories. Shortly afterward it was invaded and devastated by Scythians. It was also invaded by Antiochus the Great, in his Parthian war, but seems to have remained unsubdued. A subsequent revolt against the Parthian rule was unsuccessful. HYRCANDS. I. John, a Jewish high priest, died in 106 (or according to some in 105) B. C. He succeeded his father Simon Maccabseus in the high priesthood as one of the Asmo- nean rulers of Judea, 135 B. C. In that yi-nr Antiochus Sidetes besieged Jerusalem, and obliged the inhabitants to dismantle its forti- fications and pay a tribute; but after the de- feat and death of Antiochus in 130, Hyrcanus reestablished his independence and extended his dominion. lie razed the city of Samaria,