HEDBEBG. 711 work as a dramatist (1854). Afterwards he was appointed reader, and then teacher, at the Royal Theatre in Stockholm (IStil). and later director of the New Theatre, Gulhenbury (1881). In 1S83 lie gave up this position to devote himself entirely to writing. His works include comedies, tragedies, adaptations, translations, vaudevilles, and poems. The best known of his plays is Brijl- luppet pii Ulfasa (1805). He also wrote: Karak- iiiristilccr och Portriiter af Hvcnska Skudespclare (1884), and Karaktdrhtiker och Portriiter af Svensko Opcrasonngare (1885), besides other works dealing with theatrical subjects. HEDDA GABLEB, hed'da gil'bler. A play by Hendrik Ibsen (I8O9), and the name of its heroine, an eccentric woman wlio, disappointed in her marriage with a young savant, attempts to regain her influence over a former lover, Eilert, now under the good influence of a former school friend of Hedda. He lo.ses the manuscript of a new worlc which is to make him famous, and Hedda's husband finds it. but she destroys the work. When Eilert, in des])air, thinks of sui- cide, she gives him a pistol with which he ends his life in a low resort, and Hedda kills herself. HED'DING, ELI.JAH (1780-1852). An Ameri- can clergyman, bishop of the Jlethodist Episcopal Church. He was born in Pine Plains, Dutchess County, N. Y., and began to preach in Vermont when "nineteen years old. During most of the time between 1807 and 1824 he was presiding elder in New Hampshire, in Portland, Maine, and in Boston. In 1824 he was elected bishop, and during the formative period of the Church's growth he exercised a powerful infliience. He was one of the founders of Zion's Herald, the first Jfethodist paper in the country, and author of a Manual of Discipline. HEDDLE, or HEALD (of Scandinavian ori- gin: cf. Iccl. hufali], thrum for liolding the weft). In weaving, the threads of the warp are so ar- ranged that at each passage of the shuttle back ward and forward, a certain number of the warp threads are raised up, and the remainder drawn down; this is done with vertical tlireads, cords, or wires, Avitli a small loop in the middle through which the warp thread is passed, there being one of the vertical threads for each hori- zontal or warp thread. These threads or wires are known as heddles or healds. See Loom. HEDENSTIERNA; hil'den-styer-na, Karl Joseph Alfred ( 1852 — ) . A Swedish author, born at Wedasa (Sni31and province). In 1879 he became connected with the staff of the Smal- ands Posten at Wexiii, and in 1890 was made editor-in-chief of that journal. In addition to several volumes descriptive of Swedish peasant life, he wrote a series of humorous articles, published weekly in the Posten over the name 'Segurd,' and in part collected in a translation into German bv Krusenstierna and Langfeldt, en- titled Allerlei'Lciite (I^ipzig, 1892-97). HEDGE (AS. hecrj, hepc. OHC. hecf/a, hcqria, Gcr. l[ccke, hedge; connected with AS. hege, Eng. luri/, and AS. heawan, Eng. hew). A fence formed generally of growing shrubs or trees and cultivated either for defense or ornament. Hedges are much used in England, Italy, and in otlier countries where wood for fences is scarce. For many situations, they are jiarticularly adapted, owing to the protection which they af- HEDGEHOG. ford from high winds. The height to which they are permitted to grow should be accommodated to the requirements of Hie locality. Hedges in Great Britain are generally formed of hawthorn (q.v. ). Beech hedges are very common around gardens and ple;isure grounds, and a hedge of beech and hawthorn mixed is connnon in many places. Holly makes an excellent ornamental hedge, much in use for gardens and pleasure grounds. Ornamental hedges are s<mietime3 formed of yew, hornbeam, lime, and other trees. In the United States, osage orange (Madura aii- rantiaca) and honey-locust {(llcditschia triacan- thos) are considered the best hedges for fencs purposes. For ornamental hedges California privet {Ligustrum ovulifolium) , Norway spruce (Picea excelsa) , American arbor-vita; [Thuja oc- cideiitalis) , common hemlock {Tsuga Canaden- sis), Japan quince (Cydonia japonica), Ucuizia scattra, and some spireas and viburnums are used. HEDGE, Frederic Henry (1805-90). .
American clergyman, critic, and philosopher, I'orn at Cambridge, Mass. He was a son of Levi Hedge, professor of logic and metaphysics in Harvard College. He studied in Germany under the care of George Bancroft from 1818 to 1823, and graduated at Harvard (1S25), and from the Divinity School at Cambridge in 1828. He was a Unitarian pastor successively at West Cam- bridge (1829), Bangor, Maine (1835), Provi- dence, R. I. (1850), Brookline, Mass. (185G), and in 1857 was made professor of ecclesiastical histoiy in the Harvard Divinity School, and editor" of the Christian Examiner (1857-60). From 1872 to 1881 he was professor of Ger- man at Harvard. To literary criticism he con- tributed Pro.ie Writei-s of Cermanij (1848), ami Hours trith German Classics (1880) ; to religious and philosophical criticism : Reason in Religion (1865); The Primeval World of Hehrexo Tra- dition (1870) ; Martin Lvther and Other Essays (1888). He wrote also several hymns and trans- lations from the German poets, and preiiared a liturgy for the Unitarian Church (1850). His chief significance to American thought was his introduction of German scholarship and litera- ture. HEDGEBOTE. See Hayhote. HEDGEHOG. One of a genus (Erinaceus) of insectivorous quadrupeds, the tyjie of the family Erinaceidre. The muzzle is rather elongated, the neck short, the limbs short, the feet live-toed, the claws strong, the tail short, the body covered with short spines on the upper part, and with hair below, and capable of being rolled uj) into a ball. The teeth are 36 in number, 20 in the upper jaw and 16 in the lower; the middle incisors are very long, and stand forward. Like many other insectivora, hedgehogs are by no means limited to insect food, but prey on larger animals, as reptiles, small quadrupeds, and birds; they are fond of eggs and of milk, and in confinement will readily eat soaked bread, cooked vegetables, or porridge. Their power of rolling Ihemselves into a ball, from which the s[)ines project on every side, is their means of jirotection from enemies. The spines are curiously bent near the root, and so set, that on the contraction of the muscles by which the animal rolls itself up they are held firmly in their position, their points toward the adversary. They are very strong and sharp. and their elasticity is so great that the animal
