Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/707

 HEROLD exact and extensive knowledge ; and though his accounts are correct in outline, they lack the fulness and precision of the narrative of the >riest Berosus, who wrote more than a century jr. Being born and bred in a Greek city ibject to Persia, he doubtless came frequently ito contact with Persian soldiers and officials, id he seems to have had access also to jme of the most important documents in the jyal archives, perhaps by means of Greek ranscripts. His Persian history is, therefore, " in the main on authentic national rec- diversified especially in the earlier part >y circumstances and adventures from roman- ic chroniclers. Thus for the most important >rtions of his work Herodotus had more or 3ss trustworthy monumental records ; and his liligence, honesty, and impartiality in employ- ig the materials that were open to him, have jen generally admitted. His chief defect as a listorian is an undue love of the marvellous ; >ut he is truthful and accurate whenever he )eaks from his own observation. The skill with rhich he has interwoven his episodes, and the >revailing idea of a divine Nemesis which he mstantly presents, gives to his history the lity essential to a work of art. The peculiar- ty of his theory of divine retribution is, that regards mere greatness and good fortune, irt from any impiety or arrogance, as pro- voking the envy of the gods. This theory was le great moral which he had drawn from his irvey of mundane events ; and perhaps the lief attraction of his main theme, and the prin- 3iple which guided him in his choice of epi- les, was that he might present signal illus- rations of greatness laid low, of monarchs and itriots who gradually rose to the pinnacle of ^lory and prosperity only to experience a most lamitous reverse. The simple beauty of his tyle, the grandeur of his historical combina- tions, the amiability of his temper, and the entertainment which his narrative furnishes, lave never been questioned, and he is esteem- " by scholars the earliest and best of roman- ic historians. The best editions are those of shweighauser (6 vols., Strasburg and Paris, 1806; reprinted in London, 1818), Gaisford^ rols., Oxford, 1824), Bahr (4 vols., Leipsic, L830-'35 ; new ed., 1855-'61), Abricht (2d ed., ' 3ipsic, 1869), Stein (3d ed., Berlin, 1870), id H. G. Woods (London, 1873). The best English translation is that of the Rev. G. Raw- inson, assisted by Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir J. G. Wilkinson (4 vols., London, 1858-'60), rith copious notes and appendices embodying le chief historical and ethnographical illustra- ions that have been obtained in the progress of cuneiform and hieroglyphical discovery. See also Biidinger, Zur agyptischen ForscJiung He- rodots (Vienna, 1873). HAROLD, Lonis Joseph Ferdinand, a French composer, born in Paris, Jan. 28, 1791, died at Ternes, near Paris, Jan. 18, 1833. He studied with Mehul, Adam, and Cherubini, and having procured the means for travel by a successful HERON 689 competition for the prizes of the conservatory, passed five years in Italy. On his return to Paris in 1817 he wrote a number of works for the Opera Comique, which were successful in their day, but are now mostly forgotten. Zampa, produced in 1831, placed him in the first rank of French composers. Incessant labor under- mined his health, and after the production of the Pre aux Clercs and La medicine sans mede- cin, which were received with great favor, he died in the zenith of his fame. His later works are frequently performed, especially Zampa. HERON, a wading bird of the family ardeida, and the old genus ardea (Linn.), including also the bitterns and egrets, treated under their own names. The bill is much longer than the head, rather slender, sharp, and straight, with an emargination at the tip ; the wings are long, the first quill nearly as long as the second and third, which are equal and longest; the tail short and even, of 12 stiffened feathers ; tarsi long and slender, transversely scaled in front ; tibiae lengthened, bare for the lower third or half; outer toe longer than the inner, and united at the base to the middle one ; hind toe long, on a level with the others; claws moderate, 'curved, and acute, the inner edge of the middle one pectinated. The body is rather compressed ; the neck is very long, well feathered, and, by a beautiful arrangement in the cervical vertebrae, capable of being turned so that the head may be placed almost at a right angle with it; the bill is a formidable weapon. Herons are found in most parts of the world, migrating to the warmer regions as winter comes on ; they are generally seen alone, standing in swamps, pools, and shallow rivers, waiting for their prey, with the long neck drawn down between the shonl- Europcau Heron (Ardea ciutn ders; but no sooner does a reptile or a fish appear than the bill is darted forth and the animal immediately swallowed. They do not seize fish with their feet ; the serrated middle claw is for removing from the bill the sticky down which adheres to it after cleansing the