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 674 HERALDRY HERAT dimidiation, but this has now fallen into dis- use. If the wife is an heiress, her arms may be borne on an escutcheon over his own, called an escutcheon of pretence. A widow impales her father's and her husband's arms in a lozenge; but if an heiress, she may bear her father's arms in an escutcheon of pretence over her husband's. Where several coats of arms have been acquired by intermarriages of ancestors with heiresses, they are quartered in one shield. According to some authorities, only eight quarterings should be admitted in a family escutcheon; others admit sixteen, but more than 100 shields have sometimes been quartered in one field. Besides the devices borne on the shield, a coat of arms has often a number of exterior ornaments, viz. : the crown or coronet, helmet, mantlings, wreath, crest, scroll and motto, and supporters. The crown or coronet is borne above the shield by those privileged to bear it. (See CORONET.) Helmets are of four kinds. Those of kings and princes of the blood royal are of gold, full faced, with the beauvoir divided by six projecting bars and lined with crimson ; of nobles, steel with five gold bars, and inclining to a profile ; of knights and baronets, steel with visor open and without bars, and full faced ; and of es- quires and gentlemen, steel with visor closed, and in profile. The mantling or lambrequin is a kind of scrollwork, flowing from the helmet. The wreath is formed of the two principal col- ors of the arms, and surrounds the top of the helmet like a fillet. Out of it rises the crest (Lat. crista, a comb), the uppermost device of a coat of arms. The crest is -almost as ancient as devices upon shields, and was worn on the helmet by those of high rank or of noted valor as a means of distinguishing them in battle, from which it was sometimes called a cog- nizance. Unless stated to be on a chapeau or ooronet, it is always on a wreath. No crest is allowed to a female. The scroll and motto are placed beneath the shield. Supporters are fig- ures standing on the scroll on each side of the shield which they seem to support. The offices of heraldry are performed by heralds, whose chief duties consist in the blazoning of arms, the preservation of heraldic records and of pedigrees, and the conducting of public cere- monials, such as coronations, the creation of peers, marriages, funerals, &c. In England heralds are merged in a corporation called the college of arms or heralds' college, which was instituted by Richard III. in 1483. At the head of the college is the earl marshal of Eng- land, a dignity which has been hereditary since 1672 in the family of Howard, dukes of Nor- folk. The royal commands are directed to him, and under his care are prepared the pro- grammes for public ceremonies. Under him are three kings-at-arms, styled Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy. Their subordinates are six her- alds, called respectively Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, York, Windsor, and Somerset, and four pursuivants, portcullis, rouge-dragon, blue- mantle, and rouge-croix. The Bath king-at- arms, attached to the order of the Bath, is not a member of the college of heralds. In Scot- land the principal heraldic official is the Lyon king-at-arms, who holds the position by com- mission under the great seal. He has six subor- dinate heralds, styled Rothesay, Marchmont, Albany, Ross, Snowdon, and Islay, and six pursuivants, Kintyre, Dingwall, Carrick, Or- mond, Unicorn, and Bute. The chief officer for Ireland is the Ulster king-at-arms, who is appointed by the crown. He has two heralds, Cork and Dublin, and two pursuivants, Athlone and St. Patrick. The following are a few of the principal works on heraldry: Guillim, "Display of Heraldry" (London, 1610) ; Dug- dale, " The Ancient Usage in bearing Arms " (London, 1682) ; Nisbet, " System of Herald- ry" (Edinburgh, 1722); Berry, "Complete Body of Heraldry" (2 vols. folio, London, 1780), and "Encyclopaedia Heraldica" (3 vols., 1828); Robson, "British Heraldry" (London, 1830) ; Von Biedenfeld, Die Heraldilc, &c. (4to, Weimar, 1846) ; Burke, " General Armory of Great Britain and Ireland " (London, 1847) ; Saladini, Teatro araldico (8 vols. 4to, Milan, 1841) ; Grandmaison, Dictionnaire heraldique (8vo, Paris, 1852) ; De Magny, La science du Mason (8vo, Paris, 1858-'60); Piferrer, No- liliario de los reinos y senorws de Espana,, ilustrado con un diccionario de herdldica (6 vols. 8vo, Madrid, 1857-'60) ; Bouton, Nouveau traite du blason (Paris, 1862) ; and Boutell, " English Heraldry " (London, 1867). But the most important heraldic work of modern times is Siebmacher's Grosses und attgemeines Wap- penbuch, begun by Von Hefner and continued by Grenser and others (Nuremberg) ; it is to consist of 160 parts, of which 113 had been published up to 1874. HERAPATH, William, an English chemist, born in Bristol, May 26, 1796, died there, Feb. 6, 1868. His father was a brewer, and William succeeded to the business. From the study of chemistry in its application to brewing he turned his attention to that of the science in general. His first paper, " On the Specific Gravity of the Metallic Oxides," was pub- lished in the "Philosophical Magazine." He was one of the founders of the London chem- ical society, and was elected in 1828 professor of chemistry in the Bristol medical school. He retired from the business of brewing in 1830, and in connection with his professorship was employed in making chemical analyses. He was eminent in toxicology. HERAT, or Herant, a city of Afghanistan, on the Heri, 360 m. W. of Cabool, and 190 m. S. E. of Meshed; pop. about 50,000. It is situ- ated in a plain 2,500 ft. above the level of the sea, and is strongly fortified. The streets are ill built, narrow, and dirty. The principal pub- lic edifices are the citadel, mosques, bazaars, caravansaries, baths, and the palace of the khan. It is divided by four bazaars, which run from four gates, and one of which is 1,300