the strings, instead of being struck by tangents as in the clavichord, or by hammers as in the pianoforte, are plucked by means of a quill firmly embedded in the centred tongue of a jack or upright placed on the back end of the key-lever. When the finger depresses a key, the jack is thrown up, and in passing the crow-quill catches the string and twangs it. It is this twanging of the string which produces the brilliant incisive tone peculiar to the harpsichord family. What these instruments gain in brilliancy of tone, however, they lose in power of expression and of accent. The impossibility of commanding any emphasis necessarily created for the harpsichord an individual technique which influenced the music composed for it to so great an extent that it cannot be adequately rendered upon the pianoforte.
The harpsichord assumed a position of great importance during the 16th and 17th centuries, more especially in the orchestra, which was under the leadership of the harpsichord player. The most famous of all harpsichord makers, whose names form a guarantee for excellence, were the Ruckers, established at Antwerp from the last quarter of the 16th century. (K. S.)
HARPY, a large diurnal bird of prey, so named after the
mythological monster of the classical poets (see Harpies),—the
Thrasaëtus harpyia of modern ornithologists—an inhabitant
of the warmer parts of America from Southern Mexico to Brazil.
Though known since the middle of the 17th century, its habits
have come very little under the notice of naturalists, and what
is said of them by the older writers must be received with some
suspicion. A cursory inspection of the bird, which is not unfrequently
brought alive to Europe, its size, and its enormous
bill and talons, at once suggest the vast powers of destruction
imputed to it, and are enough to account for the stories told of
its ravages on mammals—sloths, fawns, peccaries and spider-monkeys.
It has even been asserted to attack the human race.
How much of this is fabulous there seems no means at present of
determining, but some of the statements are made by veracious
travellers—D’Orbigny and Tschudi. It is not uncommon in the
forests of the isthmus of Panama, and Salvin says (Proc. Zool.
Society, 1864, p. 368) that its flight is slow and heavy. Indeed
its owl-like visage, its short wings and soft plumage, do not indicate
a bird of very active habits, but the weapons of offence
with which it is armed show that it must be able to cope with
vigorous prey. Its appearance is sufficiently striking—the head
and lower parts, except a pectoral band, white, the former
adorned with an erectile crest, the upper parts dark grey banded
with black, the wings dusky, and the tail barred; but the huge
bill and powerful scutellated legs most of all impress the beholder.
The precise affinities of the harpy cannot be said to
have been determined. By some authors it is referred to the
eagles, by others to the buzzards, and by others again to the
hawks; but possibly the first of these alliances is the most likely
to be true.
(A. N.)
Harpy.
HARRAN, Haran or Charran (Sept. Χαῤῥάν or Χαῤῥά: Strabo,
Κάῤῥαι: Pliny, Carrae or Carrhae; Arab. Harrān), in biblical
history the place where Terah halted after leaving Ur, and apparently
the birthplace of Abraham, a town on the stream
Jullab, some nine hours’ journey from Edessa in Syria. At this
point the road from Damascus joins the highway between
Nineveh and Carchemish, and Haran had thus considerable
military and commercial value. As a strategic position it
is mentioned in inscriptions as early as the time of Tiglath
Pileser I., about 1100 B.C., and subsequently by Sargon II., who
restored the privileges lost at the rebellion which led to the conquest
referred to in 2 Kings xix. 12 (= Isa. xxxvii. 12). It was
the centre of a considerable commerce (Ezek. xxvii. 23), and one
of its specialities was the odoriferous gum derived from the
strobus (Pliny, H.N. xii. 40). It was here that Crassus in his
eastern expedition was attacked and slain by the Parthians (53
B.C.); and here also the emperor Caracalla was murdered at the
instigation of Macrinus (A.D. 217). Haran was the chief home of
the moon-god Sin, whose temple was rebuilt by several kings,
among them Assur-bani-pal and Nabunidus and Herodian (iv.
13, 7) mentions the town as possessing in his day a temple of the
moon. In the middle ages it is mentioned as having been the
seat of a particular heathen sect, that of the Haranite Sabeans.
It retained its importance down to the period of the Arab
ascendancy; but by Abulfeda it is mentioned as having before
his time fallen into decay. It is now wholly in ruins. The
Yahwistic writer (Gen. xxvii. 43) makes it the home of Laban
and connects it with Isaac and Jacob. But we cannot thus put
Haran in Aramnaharaim; the home of the Labanites is rather
to be looked for in the very similar word Hauran.
HARRAR (or Harar), a city of N.E. Africa, in 8° 45′ N.,
42° 36′ E., capital of a province of Abyssinia and 220 m. S.S.W.
of the ports of Zaila (British) and Jibuti (French) on the Gulf of
Aden. With Jibuti it is connected by a railway (188 m. long)
and carriage-road. Harrar is built on the slopes of a hill at an
elevation of over 5000 ft. A lofty stone wall, pierced by five
gates and flanked by twenty-four towers, encloses the city,
which has a population of about 40,000. The streets are steep,
narrow, dirty and unpaved, the roadways consisting of rough
boulders. The houses are in general made of undressed stone
and mud and are flat-topped, the general aspect of the city
being Oriental and un-Abyssinian. A few houses, including the
palace of the governor and the foreign consulates, are of more
elaborate and solid construction than the majority of the buildings.
There are several mosques and an Abyssinian church (of
the usual circular construction) built of stone. Harrar is a city
of considerable commercial importance, through it passing all
the merchandise of southern Abyssinia, Kaffa and Galla land.
The chief traders are Abyssinians, Armenians and Greeks. The
principal article of export is coffee, which is grown extensively
in the neighbouring hills and is of the finest quality. Besides
coffee there is a large trade in durra, the kat plant (used by the
Mahommedans as a drug), ghee, cattle, mules and camels, skins
and hides, ivory and gums. The import trade is largely in cotton
goods, but every kind of merchandise is included.
Harrar is believed to owe its foundation to Arab immigrants from the Yemen in the 7th century of the Christian era. In the region of Somaliland, now the western part of the British protectorate of that name, the Arabs established the Moslem state of Adel or Zaila, with their capital at Zaila on the Gulf of Aden. In the 13th century the sultans of Adel enjoyed great power. In 1521 the then sultan Abubekr transferred the seat of government to Harrar, probably regarding Zaila as too exposed to the attacks of the Turkish and Portuguese navies then contending
