Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VIII.djvu/848

 830 HORSE FLY HORSE RADISH The genus was named in honor of Baron Ungnad, who as Austrian ambassador to Constantinople first sent the seeds of the com- mon horse chestnut to Vienna in 1815, and thus introduced that tree into western Europe. HORSE FLY. See DIPTERA, vol. vi., p. 129. HORSE MACKEREL. See TUNNY (American). HORSENS, a seaport town of Denmark, in Jutland, at the head of the Horsensfiord on the Baltic sea, and the mouth of the Bygholms-Aa, 45 m. S. E. of Viborg; pop. in 1869, 10,501. It has a Latin school, manufactories of tobacco, soap, and woollen goods, and a brisk trade in corn and fish. HORSE POWER, in machinery, a measure by which the capacity of engines is rated, estab- lished by Boulton and Watt at 33,000 Ibs. raised one foot high per minute. On this basis Watt reckoned the force of his steam engines, and the term has continued in use for want of a better. It is unsatisfactory when applied to a steam engine, as it is apparent that the power of the machine varies with the pressure of steam employed. A small steam cylinder of great strength furnished with abundant boiler room may be made to do the work of a much larger engine with little boiler capacity ; and it may also be objected to the use of the word, that it has no reference to the quantity of fuel the engine may consume in working up to the power named. The expression is moreover de- fective, inasmuch as the work of a horse does not continue in action, as may that of the en- gine, but is interrupted at intervals of a few hours, the length of which varies with the force exerted. Boulton and Watt allowed in their estimate eight hours as the period of work for the horse. If the measure then is regarded as anything more than a mere conventional unit and as suggesting an actual comparative esti- mate, the power of the engine, continuing throughout the 24 hours, should be called three times as great as the number commonly as- signed to it. Computations that have been made by different engineers of the average power of horses differ greatly in their results. This is to be expected in consequence of the various modes in which their strength is ap- plied, of the various rates of speed (the effec- tive force rapidly decreasing with the increase of speed), and also of the different qualities of the horses. Watt based his calculations upon the work of the powerful draught horses em- ployed at the London breweries. D' Aubuisson estimated the work done by average-sized horses in whims or hoisting machines at the mines of Freiberg, working 8 hours out of 24 in two relays of 4 hours each, amounting to 16,440 Ibs. raised one foot high per minute, less than half the result of Watt's calcula- tions ; while Desaguliers made an estimate of 44,000 Ibs., under similar circumstances as to the duration of work. Smeaton's estimate was 22,000 Ibs., and Tredgold's 27,500. Different formulas are given for computing the horse power of engines, but they may be reduced to the simple rule of multiplying the effective pressure upon the piston in pounds per square inch by the velocity of the piston in feet per minute, and dividing by 33,000. (See STEAM ENGINE.) Horse power is also a name given to various machines contrived to be worked by horses. The common horse whim in use at mines is one of these. It consists of a large drum upon a vertical shaft, which is turned round by horses attached to its horizontal arms. The drum is elevated sufficiently for the horses to pass under the rope, which is wound and unwound by its revolutions. Similar machines are made of cast iron in portable forms, by which toothed wheels or belts are made to drive other machinery. Upon ferry boats the horse power has usually consisted of a revolv- ing circular platform, upon which the horse, generally a blind one, travels, pushing this round under his feet as he draws upon the traces, which are fastened to a fixed object. For threshing machines, circular saws, &c., machines are used in which the horse works upon a narrow platform supported by endless chains, and carried round two drums; the chains are also supported upon friction rollers. HORSE RADISH (cochlearia Armoracia, but by some botanists placed in nasturtium), a cru- ciferous plant having a root from an inch to 2 in. in diameter, and a stem 2 to 3 ft. high rising from the midst of numerous large radi- cal leaves. The stem supports smaller leaves and clusters of white flowers, which bloom in June. The pod is small, of elliptical form, but is very rarely formed in this country or in Eng- land. The plant is probably a native of southern Europe, and is cultivated in gardens for the sake of its root, which is used as a condiment, and also to some extent as a medicine. It has when freshly scraped a hot, biting taste, and a pungent odor, due to a volatile oil which is dissipated by drying. This oil is similar to, if not identical with, that of mustard. It is highly stimulating in its action, promoting di- gestion in the same way and under the same limitations as the other aromatics. It has be- sides a marked effect in increasing the secre- tion of the kidneys, and has been used in dropsy and in chronic rheumatism, in the latter disease both externally and internally. It is an antiscorbutic. Horse radish bears a slight resemblance to aconite, and the root of the latter has sometimes been mistakenly sub- stituted for the former with fatal results. Horse radish is a minor crop of some impor- tance, the root sometimes selling as high as $200 per ton, but its price fluctuates greatly, and the average is not more than half that. It is usually grown as a second crop; the sets, which are pieces of the lateral roots, 4 to 6 in. long, are dibbled in between the rows of early cabbages, about 18 in. apart. In cultivating the cabbages no regard is had to the horse radish, but if any growth pushes from the sets it is hoed off as if it were a weed. The cab- bages are taken off in June, and the ground