Part 238 (2/2)

HELIOPOLIS (i. e. City of the Sun), in Egyptian _On_, one of the oldest and most sacred cities of Egypt; was situated about 10 m. N. of Cairo, on the eastmost branch of the Nile; it was the centre of Egyptian learning; Solon and Plato are said to have studied there, and Potiphar was one of its chief priests; the famous obelisk PHARAOH'S NEEDLE stands near; and CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE, now on the Thames Embankment, was originally of this city. Also the name of Baalbec.

HELIOS, the G.o.d of the sun, mistakenly identified with Apollo, but of an older dynasty, was the brother of SELENE (q. v.) and EOS (q. v.); a G.o.d of the brood of the t.i.tANS (q. v.), and the source of light to both G.o.ds and men; he rises from the bosom of OKEANOS (q. v.) in the morning, and loses himself in his dark abyss every evening.

HELIOTROPE or BLOODSTONE, a variety of quartz (chalcedony or jasper) of a deep green colour, with bright red spots. The finest specimens, which come from South Asia, are of fairly translucent chalcedony; those of jasper are opaque; they are used as seals, ring-stones, &c.

h.e.l.l FIRE, the infinite terror to a true man, the infinite misery which he never fails to realise must befall him if he come short in his loyalty to truth and duty.

h.e.l.l GATE or HURL GATE, a narrow pa.s.s in the East River, between the city of New York and Long Island; at one time its hidden shoals and swift narrow current were dangerous to s.h.i.+ps, but extensive blasting operations, completed in 1885, have greatly widened and cleared the pa.s.s.

h.e.l.lAS, the name of the abode of the ancient Greeks, and of greater extent than Greece proper.

h.e.l.lE, a maiden who, with her brother Phrixus, fled on the golden-fleeced ram to escape from the cruelty of her step-dame Ino, and fell into the strait called the h.e.l.lespont after her, in which she was drowned. See GOLDEN FLEECE.

h.e.l.lENISTS, originally Jews who would fain have seen Jewish thought and life more or less transformed in spirit as well as fas.h.i.+on after a Greek pattern; eventually those who by contact with Greek civilisation became Grecianised, and were open to learn as much from the civilisation of the Greeks as was consistent with the maintenance in their integrity of the principles of their own religion.

h.e.l.lER, STEPHEN, a distinguished pianist and composer, born at Pesth; made his _debut_ at nine, and by 17 had won a reputation throughout the great cities of Europe; in 1838 he settled in Paris, and gave himself to teaching and composition; he ranks beside Chopin as a master of technique; his works are almost entirely pianoforte pieces (1814-1888).

HELMHOLTZ, HERMANN VON, an eminent German scientist, born at Potsdam, Brandenburg; was first an army doctor, and in 1849 became professor of Physiology in Konigsberg, and subsequently in Bonn and Heidelberg; in 1871 he became professor of Physics in Berlin; was enn.o.bled, and in 1887 nominated head of the Charlottenburg Inst.i.tute; to physiology he made contributions of great value on the various sense-organs, and to physics on the conservation of energy; but his most original work was done in connection with acoustics in its relation to optics; his published works include ”Theory of Sound Sensations'” and ”Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music”

(1821-1894).

HELMONT, JEAN BAPTIST VAN, a celebrated German chemist, the father of chemistry, born at Brussels; his early years were divided between the study of medicine and the practice of a religious mysticism; the works of Paracelsus stimulated his interest in chemistry and physics, and having married a n.o.ble Brabant lady, he settled down on the family estate near Vilvorde, where he devoted himself to scientific research; mixed up a good deal of mysticism and alchemy with his scientific discoveries, and made a special study of gases; he was the first to prove the indestructibility of matter in chemical changes by utilising the balance in a.n.a.lysis; he invented the word gas, first used the melting-point of ice and the boiling-point of water as limits of a thermometric scale, and his physiological speculations led him to regard the stomach as the seat of the soul! (1577-1644).

HELOSE, niece of Canon Fulbert, born at Paris; celebrated for her amour with ABELARD (q. v.); became prioress of the convent of Argenteuil and abbess of the Paraclete, where she founded a new convent and lived a pious life (1101-1164).

HELOSE, NOUVELLE, a romance by Rousseau.

HELOTS, slaves who formed the lowest grade of the population of Sparta, were descendants of the original inhabitants of Laconia, or prisoners of war; they were slaves belonging to the State, from the State alone could they receive manumission; they were employed as tillers of the ground, waited at meals, filled various menial offices for private individuals, and were treated with the utmost harshness; were whipped annually to remind them of their servile position; slaughtered when their numbers increased too much, and were forced to exhibit themselves under intoxication as a warning to the Spartan youth.

HELPS, SIR ARTHUR, essayist and historian, born in Surrey; for a time held official posts in connection with the government of the day, and finally that of Clerk to the Privy Council, in which capacity he was brought into connection with the Queen, which led to his being appointed editor of the ”Princ.i.p.al Speeches and Addresses of the late Prince Consort” and Her Majesty's ”Leaves from a Journal of our Life in the Highlands”; he is the author of ”Friends in Council,” published one series in 1847 and a second in 1859, which dealt with a variety of subjects, and was, along with ”Companions of my Solitude,” very popular; he did also plays and romances as well as historical sketches (1817-1875).

HELSINGFORS (77), a strongly fortified seaport and capital of Finland, is in a commanding position placed on a rocky peninsula in the Gulf of Finland, 191 m. W. of St. Petersburg; the numerous islands and islets at the entrance of the harbour are strongly fortified; the town is handsomely laid out, and has a flouris.h.i.+ng university (student roll, 1703), and does a good Baltic trade.

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