HANDSAW-FISH. 526 HANG-CHOW. fishes, in reference to their rows of sharp teeth. Sec Lancet-Fish. HANDSEL (AS. handselen, Icel. haudsul, de- livery into the hand, from luind, hand -|- AS. selen, syleii, tol. sal, Eng. nalc, a giving, from sellaii, syllan, to give, OHU. selluii, Eng. nell}. A transaction of sale or barter of chattels or the striking of a bargain, evidenced by the shaking of hands — an ancient ceremonial which can be traced in many systems of primitive law. Its modern form is the giving of earnest (qv.). The term is also sometimes nsed to denote earnest- money, or part payment, by way of binding a bargain. In Scotland it popularly signifies a first transaction in trade, as, for example, the first sale efl'ected in the day or week; and is likewise employed to signify a present in the nature of a JJew Year's gift on the first Monday in the year — hence called Handsel Monday. HANDSOME SWORDSMAN, The. See BE.'^U S,BREri!. HANDS'WORTH. A suburban municipality of ShcHield. in York^liire. England,, three miles east-southeast of thal town (Map: England. E 3). It is noted for its extensive manufacturing industries. Population, in 1891, 10.300: in 1901, 14.150. HANDSWORTH. A manufacturing town of Stafford.shire. England, a suburb of Birmingham (Map: England. E 4). It has rmdergone exten- sive improements. and has a number of public works. Population, in 1891. 32,750; in 1901. 53,000. HANDWRITING. The authentic signature or other writing of a person by his own hand. Modern law, which makes the validity of many legal acts depend upon their being conunittcd to writing and subscribed by the party to be charged tl'ereon. has conferred great irajiortancc upon the handwriting of the signature of legal instruments, and where such handwriting is in dispute, it must often be proved by the evidence of third persons. This is etTeeted by calling a witness who either saw the individual write the identical words, or who by correspondence, or by having previously at other times seen the same person write other papers, can swear that the paper is the hand- writing of the individual to whom it is attrib- uted. It will be noticed, however, that unless the making of the writing in question was actually observed by the witness, his testimony will belong to the class of opinion evidence, the probative force of which is very different from that of di- rect evidence. Sometimes, where no direct evi- dence can be had. bank tellers and others accus- tomed to compare the niceties of handwriting are allowed to give their evidence, or rather state their liclief as to the writing: but this kind of evidence is looked upon with great suspicion, ami is much discountenanced. The great and growing importance of handwriting evidence in recent times has produced a class of professional ex- perts, who have given a new value to evidence of this character by the profoimd and scientific character of their study of handwriting. But their evidence remains mere opinion and con- tinues to share in the discredit which has usu- ally attached to evidence of this character. See Expert Evidekce: Forgery. In cases where a jury are called upon to de- termine a disputed question of handwriting, they are now allowed to form their own opinion by comparing the disputed writing with other writ- ings admitted to be by the same party. In Eng- land this could not be done before 1854, but it is now permitted in bolii civil and criminal cases. In Scotland, a jury may also be allowed to judge uf the handwriting in this way in any case. In some countries — as, for example, in Scotland — a will, if written in the testator's handwriting, is admitted to be genuine without the attestation of witnesses, being then called a holograph (q.v. ) instrument; but there is no such privilege in England or Ireland, as all wills, by whomsoever written, nnist be attested by witnesses. Consult: W. Anderson Smith. Pror/ress of Handwriting (1887) ; Frazier, Manual uf the Study of Docu- ments (1894). HANDY ANDY. A humorous Irish story by Samuel Lover (1842), notable for its Irish wit. HANEL, ha'nel, Albert (1833—). A Ger- man jurist and politician, born in Leipzig. He studied at Vienna, Leipzig, and Heidelberg, in 1860 became a professor at Konigsberg, and in 1863 at Kiel. One of the founders of the Liberal Party in Schleswig-Holstein after the annex.ation of the duchies to Prussia in 1866, he was elected to the Prussian Cliamber of Deputies and the Peichstag of the North German (Jonfederation, and subsequently to the Imperial Reichstag. He became known as a leader of the so-called 'Fort- schrittspartei." or Progressists, which, after the fusion with the Secessionists in 1884. was styled the 'Deutschfreisinnige Partei.' Upon the break- up of the ])arty in 1893, he represented the 'Frei- sinnige Vereinigimg' (Liberal Union), but in the elections of the same year to the Reichstag he was defeated by the Social-Democratic candidate. In 1898 he was reelected. His writings include: Studien ziim deutscken Staatsrecht (r873-88), and Die Gesel^fiehuuci dcs deutschen Reichs iiber Koiinulanrcscii uiid Scescliiffahrt (1875). HANFSTANGL, hiinf'steng'l, Franz (1804- 77). A German lithographer and photographer, born in Bayernrain. He studied litliography un- der Mitterer at Munich, and spent six years in the Munich Academy (1819-25). He went to Dresden in the following year and began his great work., completed in 1852. of copying in lithograph the canvases of the Dresden Gallery. In 1844 he returned to Munich, leaving his estab- lishment at Dresden to his brothers Max and Hans. From 1S4S to 1853 he gave up lithog- raphy for galvanography. and then devoted him- self almcst entirely to ])hotography and later to photogravure and heliogravure. His son Edgar Hanfstangl (1842 — ) succeeded to the business in 1868. The most important publica- tions of the house are the periodical Die Kunst unserer Zeit. first published in 1890. and fine collections of cai'bon-print reproductions, includ- ing- the contents of the principal European gal- leries, and the Galerie niodcnicr ileister. HANG-CHOW,^ hilng'ehou'. A foo or depart- mental cit.v of China, and capital of the Province of Chedviang. the smallest of the 18 provinces (ilap: China. E 5). It is situated near the southern end of the Grand Canal, within two miles of the left bank of the Ts'ien- (or Cli'ien-) , tang River. Its walls have a circuit of 12 miles, are 30 to 40 feet high, 20 to 30 feet thick, and are pierced with 10 large gates, controlled by the Tatar general, who has a force of 7000
