HOEMAYR HORMAIR, Joseph, baron, a Tyrolese patriot and historian, born in Innspruck, Jan. 20, 1781, died in Munich, Nov. 5, 1848. He entered the Austrian military service in 1797, served in the Tyrolese militia, and afterward became direc- tor of the archives at Vienna. One of the most strenuous opponents of Napoleon, he be- came the chief promoter of the insurrection in Tyrol under Hofer against the French and Ba- varians. After the armistice of Znaym, July, 1809, he returned to Vienna, where he was made an imperial councillor. In 1813 he in- terrupted the literary labors in which he was engaged to make a new attempt to revolu- tionize Tyrol ; but he was imprisoned by the Austrian government, which was impelled to this measure by fear of giving umbrage to Bavaria, then on the point of joining the alli- ance against Napoleon. He was released in 1815, and appointed imperial historiographer. He lived in retirement in Brtlnn from 1820 to 1828, after which he held various impor- tant offices in the Bavarian service. He pub- lished Lebenabilder aus dem Befreiungslcriege (3 parts, 1841-'4) ; Geschichte der gefursteten Grafscnaft Tirol (2 vols., 1806-'8) ; Allge- meine Geschickte der neuesten Zeit (3 vols., 181 7-' 19) ; and Das Land Tirol und der Tiro- lerlcrieg von 1809 (2 vols.,. 1845). HORN, a modification of the epidermis, pre- senting the same structure, whether in the nails of man, the claws of the carnivora and birds, the hoofs and horns of ruminants, the spines of the porcupine and hedgehog, the plates of the armadillo, the whalebone of cetaceans, the quills of birds, or the shell of tortoises. The horns of the stag and other deciduous antlers, strictly speaking, are not horn, but true bone, belonging to the dermal or exo-skeleton, and shed by a process of absorption at the root analogous to that by which dead bone is cast off in necrosis. Horn is composed of hardened albumen, gelatine, and a small portion of phos- phate of lime. Its structure is a modification of epidermic cells, harder dried, more firmly adherent, and in which the nucleus is generally invisible ; the cells are arranged in regular lay- ers, each indicating a period of growth, and are marked by perceptible striae. The above named horny tissues are generally attached at the base to the dermis, and are removed with the skin; they are constantly growing and wearing away, and are liable to various defor- mities from accidental circumstances ; and the younger cells may contain pigment matter. Sections of horn under the microscope are very beautiful when seen by polarized light. The horn of the rhinoceros, as already stated in the article HAIE, in its essential character is a mere bundle of hairs ; the substance errone- ously called whalebone, formed by the lining membrane of the whale's mouth, has no con- nection with the bony skeleton, but is a horny tissue, composed of fibres whose central por- tion, like the medullary substance of hair, con- tains easily recognizable cells. In the ox, HORN 817 sheep, and the hollow-horned ruminants, there is a central core of bone upon which the horns are moulded. Horn in its many varieties is adapted to numerous useful purposes ; and it is an article of trade, horns and hoofs of cattle being largely exported from South America southern Africa, and Russia. The horns of the buffalo are brought from the East Indies. From the most remote periods horns have been ap- plied to various uses. The Egyptians and He- brews made of them musical instruments. The Latin name cornu was also the name for trum- pet, and the English name retains the same ap- plication, even if the instrument be made of brass or silver. The form of the horn adapted it for a drinking utensil, and the word is still sometimes employed in a manner to suggest this application. Horn was anciently employ- ed for bows, and sometimes for scale armor. It also served instead of glass for windows. The methods now in use for working horn are described in Holtzapffel's " Mechanical Manip- ulations." The bony horns of the deer, being cellular within, are used only in their natural forms, so as not to expose their internal struc- ture. They are sawn and filed into the shapes required for handles of knives and other im- plements. The horns particularly adapted for being converted into useful shapes are those of the ox, antelope, goat, and sheep kinds, which by reason of their laminated structure are read- ily separated into layers. They contain just enough gelatine to admit of their being softened by the application of less heat than is required for melting lead. The material may then be cut open with knives or shears, flattened into plates, divided into leaves, and finally struck between dies like metal. The first step in the treatment of horn is to separate the bony core. For this purpose it is macerated several weeks in water, which causes the lining membrane to putrefy, so that the core will fall out. This is burned, to make the bone earth used for cupels in assaying. The solid tip of the horn is sawn off, and is reserved for handles for knives, um- brellas, &c., and for buttons. The remainder, either cut into short lengths or entire, is soft- ened by immersion in boiling water, and then by heating in the flame of a fire nearly to the temperature of melted lead. The pieces, unless intended for horn cups or similar ob- jects, are then split open with a sharp-point- ed knife, and spread out flat. A solid block of iron with a conical hole, and an iron plug to fit it, are also used to open horns without en- dangering the scorching of them. Both being heated to the right temperature, the horn slit with a knife is inserted in the hole, and the plug driven into the horn with a mallet. In a minute it is sufficiently softened to be easily opened. The pieces, now called flats, are laid between boards, or between heated iron plates, and subjected to pressure. The amount of this for general purposes, as for combs, is mod- erate, for much pressure tends to make the horn split into thin lamina. But if thin plates
