[1] See Michael Praetorius, _De organographia_ (Wolfenbuttel, 1618),
tab. viii., where crooks for lowering the key by one tone on trumpet
and trombone are pictured.
[2] See Victor Mahillon, _Les Elements d'acoustique musicale et
instrumentale_ (Brussels, 1874), pp. 96, 97, &c.; Friedrich Zamminer,
_Die Musik und die musikalischen Instrumente_ (Giessen, 1855), p.
310, where diagrams of the mouthpieces are given.
[3] See Joseph Frohlich, _Vollstandige theoretisch-praktische
Musikschule_ (Bonn, 1811), iii. 7, where diagrams of the two
mouthpieces for first and second horn are given.
[4] See Gottfried Weber, "Zur Akustik der Blasinstrumente," in
_Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung_ (Leipzig, 1816), p. 38.
[5] _Les Instruments de musique au musee du Conservatoire royal de
musique de Bruxelles_, "Instruments a vent," ii., "Le Cor, son
histoire, sa theorie, sa construction" (Brussels and London, 1907),
p. 28.
[6] _Die Akustik_ (Leipzig, 1802), p. 86, S 72.
[7] _Op. cit._ p. 13, S 20, and p. 15, SS 24 and 25. This apparent
discrepancy between an early and a modern authority on the acoustics
of wind instruments is easily explained. Chladni, when speaking of
open and closed pipes, refers to the standard cylindrical and
rectangular organ-pipes. Mahillon, on the other hand, draws a
distinction in favour of the conical pipe, demonstrating in a
practical manner how, given a certain calibre, the conical pipe must
overblow the harmonics of the open pipe, whatever the method of
producing the sound.
[8] See Gottfried Weber, _loc. cit._
[9] See Ernst Heinrich and Wilhelm Weber, _Wellenlehre_ (Leipzig,
1825), p. 519, S 281, and _A Text-Book of Physics_, part. ii.,
"Sound," by J. H. Poynting and J. J. Thomson (London, 1906), pp. 104
and 105.
[10] See Sedley Taylor, _Sound and Music_ (1896), p. 21.
[11] _Id._ pp. 23-25.
[12] See Gottfried Weber, _op. cit._, pp. 39-41, and Ernst H. and
Wilhelm Weber, _op. cit._ p. 522, end of S 285.
[13] See A. Ganot, _Elementary Treatise on Physics_, translated by E.
Atkinson (16th ed., London, 1902), p. 266, S 282, "In the horn
different notes are produced by altering the distance of the lips."
Such a vague and misleading statement is worse than useless. See also
Poynting and Thomson, _op. cit._ p. 113.
[14] "Le Cor," p. 22; p. 11, S 18; pp. 6 and 7, S 8.
[15] The phraseology alone is here borrowed from Sedley Taylor, (_op.
cit._ p. 55), who does not enter into the practical application of
the theory he expounds so clearly.
[16] See Dr Emil Schafhautl's article on musical instruments, S iv.
of _Bericht der Beurtheilungs Commission bei der Allg. Deutschen
Industrie Ausstellung, 1854_ (Munich, 1855), pp. 169-170; also F.
Zamminer, _op. cit._
[17] The measurements are for the high philharmonic pitch a'=452.4.
V. Mahillon, "Le cor" (p. 32), gives a table of the lengths of crooks
in metres.
[18] Robert Eitner, editor of the Monatshefte fur Musikwissenschaft,
published therein an article in 1881, p. 41 seq., "Wer hat die
Ventiltrompete erfunden," in which, after referring to the
_Klappenwaldhorn_ and _Trompete_ (keyed horn and trumpet) made by
Weidinger and played in public in 1802 and 1813 respectively, he goes
on to state that Schilling in his Lexicon makes the comical mistake
of looking upon the Klappentrompete (keyed trumpet) and
_Ventiltrompete_ (valve trumpet) as different instruments. He
accordingly sets matters right, as he thinks, by according to
Weidinger the honour of the invention of valves, hitherto wrongfully
attributed to Stolzel; and in the _Quellenlexikon_ (1904) he leaves
out Stolzel's name, and names Weidinger as the inventor of the
_Klappen_ or _Ventil_, referring readers for further particulars to
his article, just quoted, in the _Monatshefte_.
[19] See Hector Berlioz, _A Treatise on Modern Instrumentation and
Orchestration_, translated by Mary Cowden Clarke, new edition revised
by Joseph Bennett (1882), p. 141.
[20] See Victor Mahillon, _Catal. descriptif des instruments de
musique_, &c., vol. ii. p. 388, No. 1156, where an illustration is
given. See also Dr August Hammerich (French translation by E.
Beauvais), "Uber altnordische Luren" in _Vierteljahrschrift fur
Musik-Wissenschaft_ x. (1894).
[21] See Major J. H. L. Archer, _The British Army Records_ (London,
1888), pp. 402, &c.
[22] _De re militari_, iii. 5 (Basel, 1532). The successive editions
and translations of this classic, both manuscript and printed,
throughout the middle ages afford useful evidence of the evolution of
these three wind instruments.
[23] See Wilhelm Froehner, _La Colonne Trajane d'apres le surmoulage
execute a Rome en 1861-1862_ (Paris, 1872-1874). On pl. 51 is a cornu
framing the head of a cornicen or horn-player. See also the fine
plates in Conrad Cichorius, _Die Reliefs der Traiansaule_ (Berlin,
1896, &c.).
[24] Ermanno Ferrero, _L'Arc d'Auguste a Suse_ (Segusio, 9-8 B.C.)
(Turin, 1901).
[25] See the mouthpiece on the Pompeian buccinas preserved in the
museum at Naples, reproduced in the article Buccina. The museums of
the conservatoires of Paris and Brussels and the Collection Kraus in
Florence possess facsimiles of these instruments; see Victor
Mahillon, _Catalogue_, vol. ii. p. 30. Cf. also the pair of bronze
Etruscan cornua, No. 2734 in the department of Creek and Roman
antiquities at the British Museum, which possess well-preserved
cup-shaped mouthpieces.
[26] See Bock, "Gebrauch der Horner im Mittelalter," in Gustav
Heider's _Mittelalterliche Kunstdenkmaler Osterreichs_ (Stuttgart,
1858-1860).
[27] _Dictionnaire raisonne du mobilier francais_ (Paris, 1889), ii.
p. 246.
[28] Engelbertus Admontensis in _De Musica Scriptores_, by Martin
Gerbert, Bd. ii. lib. ii. cap. 29; and Edward Buhle, _Die
Musikalischen Instrumente in den Miniaturen des fruhen Mittelalters_,
pt. i., "Die Blasinstrumente" (Leipzig, 1903), p. 16.
[29] _Le Tresor de venerie par Hardouin, seigneur de
Fontaines-Guerin_ (edited by H. Michelant, Metz, 1856); the first
part was edited by Jerome Pichon (Paris, 1855), with an historical
introduction by Bottee de Toulmon.
[30] As worked out by Edward Buhle, _op. cit._, p. 23.
[31] See Turbevile, _op. cit._, also J. du Fouilloux, _La Venerie_
(Paris, 1628), p. 70; cf. also editions of 1650 and of 1562, where
the horn is called _trompe_, used with the verb _corner_; Juliana
Bernes, _Boke of St Albans_ (1496), the frontispiece of which is a
hunting scene showing a horn of very wide bore, without bell. Only
half the instrument is visible.
[32] See "Reliure italienne du xv^e siecle en argent nielle.
Collection du Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, Vienne," in _Gazette
archeologique_ (Paris, 1880), xiii. p. 295, pl. 38, where other
instruments are also represented.
[33] See Jost Amman, _Wappen und Stammbuch_ (1589). A reprint in
facsimile has been published by Georg Hirth as vol. iii. of
_Liebhaber Bibliothek_ (Munich, 1881). See arms of Sultzberger aus
Tirol (p. 52), "Ein Jagerhornlin," and of the Herzog von Wirtenberg;
cf. the latter with the arms of Wurthemberch in pl. xxii. vol. ii. of
Gelre's _Wappenboek ou armorial de 1334 a 1372_ (miniatures of coats
of arms in facsimile), edited by Victor Bouton (Paris, 1883).
[34] For illustrations see autotype facsimile of Utrecht Psalter, 9th
century; British Museum, Add. MS. 10,546, Ps. 150, 9th century; Add.
MS. 24,199, 10th century; Eadwine Psalter, Trin. Coll. Camb., 11th
century, and Cotton MS., Nero, D. IV., 8th century; also Edward
Buhle, _op. cit._, pl. ii. and pp. 12-24.
[35] See John Carter, _Specimens of Ancient Sculpture and Paintings_
(London, 1780-1794), i. p. 53 (plates unnumbered); also reproduced in
H. Lavoix, _Histoire de la musique_ (Paris, 1884).
[36] See Jost Amman, _op. cit._
[37] _Musica getutscht und ausgezogen_ (Basel, 1511), p. 30. The
names are not given under the drawings, but the above is the order in
which they occur, which is probably reversed.
[38] _Harmonie universelle_ (Paris, 1636), p. 245.
[39] _Syntagma Musicum_ (Wolfenbuttel, 1618), pl. vii. No. 11, p. 39.
[40] _Historisch-biographisches Lexicon der Tonkunstler_ (Leipzig,
1790-1792 and 1812-1814).
[41] _De saecularibus Liberalium Artium in Bohemia et Moravia fatis
commentarius_ (Prague, 1784), p. 401.
[42] See Ernest Thoinan, _Les Origines de la chapelle musique des
souverains de France_ (Paris, 1864); F. J. Fetis, "Recherches sur la
musique des rois de France, et de quelques princes depuis Philippe le
Bel jusqu'a la fin du regne de Louis XIV.," _Revue musicale_ (Paris,
1832), xii. pp. 193, 217, 233, 241, 257; Castil-Blaze, _La Chapelle
musique des rois de France_ (Paris, 1882); Michel Brenet, "Deux
comptes de la chapelle musique des rois de France," _Intern. Mus.
Ges._, Smbd. vi., i. pp. 1-32; J. Ecorcheville, "Quelques documents
sur la musique de la grande ecurie du roi," _Intern. Mus. Ges._,
Smbd. ii. 4 (Leipzig, 1901), pp. 608-642.
[43] _Neue Zeitschrift f. Musik_ (Leipzig, 1870), p. 309.
[44] See _Die Sammlung der Musikinstrumente des baierischen Nat.
Museum_ by K. A. Bierdimpfl (Munich, 1883), Nos. 105 and 106.
[45] Communication from Dr Georg Hagen, assistant director.
[46] See Musee du Conservatoire National de Musique. _Catalogue des
instruments de musique_ (Paris, 1884), p. 147.
[47] See Captain C. R. Day, _Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical
Instruments exhibited at the Military Exhibition_ (London, 1890), p.
147, No. 307.
[48] See V. Mahillon, _Catal._ vol. i. No. 468.
[49] See Captain C. R. Day, _Catal._ No. 309, p. 148.
[50] For an illustration see _Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of
Ancient Musical Instruments at South Kensington Museum 1872_ (London,
1873), p. 25, No. 332.
[51] See _Katalog des musikhistorischen Museums von Paul de Wit_
(Leipzig, 1904), p. 142, No. 564, where it is classified as a
Jagertrompete after Praetorius; it has a trumpet mouthpiece.
[52] For an illustration see F. J. Crowest, _English Music_, p. 449,
No. 12.
[53] See Ignatz and Anton Bock in _Baierisches Musik-Lexikon_ by
Felix J. Lipowski (Munich, 1811), p. 26, note.
[54] See, for instance, frontispiece of Walther's _Musikalisches
Lexikon_ (Leipzig, 1732); J. F. B. C. Majer's _Musik-Saal_
(Nuremberg, 1741, 2nd ed.), p. 54; Joh. Christ. Kolb, _Pinacotheca
Davidica_ (Augsburg, 1711); Ps. xci.; "Componimenti Musicali per il
cembalo Dr Theofilo Muffat, organista di sua Sacra Maesta Carlo VI.
Imp." (1690), title-page in _Denkmaler d. Tonkunst in Oesterreich_,
Bd. iii.
[55] See Hugo Goldschmidt, "Das Orchester der italienischen Oper im
17 Jahrhundert," _Intern. Mus. Ges._, Smbd. ii. 1, p. 73.
[56] See "Le Cor," pp. 23 and 24, and _Dictionnaire de l'acad. des
beaux arts_, vol. iv., art. "Cor."
[57] Mersenne's drawings of _cors de chasse_ are very crude; they
have no bell and are all of the large calibre suggestive of the
primitive animal horn. He mentions nevertheless that they were not
only used for signals and fanfares but also for little concerted
pieces in four parts for horns alone, or with oboes, at the
conclusion of the hunt.
[58] See William Tans'ur Senior, _The Elements of Musick_ (London,
1772); Br. V. Dictionary under "Horn." Also Scale of Horn in the hand
of Samuel Wesley; in Add. MS. 35011, fol. 166, Brit. Mus.
[59] A horn-player, Johann Theodor Zeddelmayer, was engaged in 1706
at the Saxon court at Weissenfels; see _Neue-Mitteilungen aus dem
Gebiete histor. antiqu. Forschungen_, Bd. xv. (2) (Halle, 1882), p.
503; also Wilhelm Kleefeld, "Das Orchester der Hamburger Oper,
1678-1738," _Intern. Mus. Ges._, Smbd. i. 2, p. 280, where the
appearance of the horn in the orchestras of Germany is traced.
[60] _Das neu-eroffnete Orchester_, i. 267.
[61] See Moritz Furstenau, _Zur Geschichte der Musik und des Theaters
zu Dresden_ (Dresden, 1861-1862), vol. ii. p. 60.
[62] See "Carl Heinrich Graun als Opernkomponist," by Albert
Mayer-Reinach, _Intern. Mus. Ges._, Smbd. i. 3 (Leipzig, 1900), pp.
516-517 and 523-524, where musical examples are given.
[63] Cf. Chrysander, _Haendel_, ii. 146.
[64] See Moritz Furstenau, _op. cit._ ii. 58.
[65] See Ludwig von Kochel, _Die kaiserliche Hofkappelle in Wien_
(Vienna, 1869), p. 80.
[66] See Victor Mahillon, _Catalogue descriptif_, vol. ii. No. 1160,
p. 389.
[67] _Op. cit._ ii. 60.
[68] The Department of State Archives for Saxony in Dresden possesses
no documents which can throw any light upon this point, but, through
the courtesy of the director, the following facts have been
communicated. Two documents concerning Anton Joseph Hampel are
extant: (1) An application by his son, Johann Michael Hampel, to the
elector Friedrich August III. of Saxony, dated Dresden, April 3,
1771, in which he prays that the post of his father as horn-player in
the court orchestra--in which he had already served as deputy for his
invalid father--may be awarded to him. (2) A petition from the widow,
Aloisia Ludevica Hampelin, to the elector, bearing the same date
(April 3, 1771), wherein she announces the death of her husband on
the 30th of March 1771, who had been in the service of the house of
Saxony thirty-four years as horn-player, and prays for the grant of a
monthly pension for herself and her three delicate daughters, as she
finds herself in the most unfortunate circumstances. There is no
allusion in either letter to any musical merit of the deceased.
[69] There is an instrument of this early type, supposed to date from
the middle of the 18th century, in Paul de Wit's fine collection of
musical instruments formerly in Leipzig and now transferred to
Cologne; see _Katalog_, No. 645, p. 148.
[70] See _Dictionnaire de l'acad. des beaux arts_, vol. iv. (Paris),
article "Cor."
[71] See Dr Gustav Schilling, _Universal Lexikon der Tonkunst_
(Stuttgart, 1840), Bd. vi., "Trompete"; also Capt. C. R. Day, pp. 139
and 151, where the term _Invention_ is quite misunderstood and
misapplied. See Gottfried Weber in _Caecilia_ (Mainz, 1835), Bd.
xvii.
[72] Gerber in the first edition of his _Lexikon_ does not mention
Hampel or award him a separate biographical article; we may therefore
conclude that he was not personally acquainted with him, although
Hampel was still a member of the electoral orchestra in Dresden
during Gerber's short career in Leipzig. In the edition of 1812
Gerber renders him full justice.
[73] _Vollstandige theoretisch-praktische Musikschule_ (Bonn, 1811),
pt. iii. p. 7.
[74] See Victor Mahillon, "Le Cor," p. 28; Chladni, _op. cit._ p. 87.
[75] See Frohlich, _op. cit._ 7; and Gerber, _Lexikon_ (ed. 1812), p.
493; "Le Cor," pp. 34 and 53.
[76] See Praetorius and Mersenne, _op. cit._; the latter gives an
illustration of the trumpet mute.
[77] _Methode de premier et de second cor_ (Paris, c. 1807). The
passage in question was discovered and courteously communicated by
Hofrat P. E. Richter of the Royal Library, Dresden. There is no copy
of Domnich's work in the British Museum.
[78] See William Tans'ur Senior, _op. et loc. cit._
[79] See _Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung_ (Leipzig), Nov. 1802, p.
158, and Jan. 1803, p. 245; and E. Hanslick, _Geschichte des
Concertwesens in Wien_ (Vienna, 1869), p. 119.
[80] See _Allgem. mus. Ztg._, 1815, p. 844.
[81] "Le Cor," pp. 34-35.
[82] See the description of the instrument and of other attempts to
obtain the same result by Gottfried Weber, "Wichtige Verbesserung des
Horns" in _Allg. musik. Ztg._ (Leipzig, 1812), pp. 758, &c.; also
1815, pp. 637 and 638 (the regent or keyed bugle).
[83] See _Allg. musik. Ztg._, 1815, May, p. 309, the first
announcement of the invention in a paragraph by Captain G. B. Bierey.
[84] _Ibid._, 1817, p. 814, by F. Schneider, and Dec. p. 558; 1818,
p. 531. An announcement of the invention and of a patent granted for
the same for ten years, in which Blumel is for the first time
associated with Stolzel as co-inventor. See also _Caecilia_ (Mainz,
1835), Bd. xvii. pp. 73 seq., with illustrations, an excellent
article by Gottfried Weber on the valve horn and valve trumpet.
[85] For a very complete exposition of the operation of valves in the
horn, and of the mathematical proportions to be observed in
construction, see Victor Mahillon's "Le Cor," also the article by
Gottfried Weber in _Caecilia_ (1835), to which reference was made
above. A list of horn-players of note during the 18th century is
given by C. Gottlieb Murr in _Journal f. Kunstgeschichte_ (Nuremberg,
1776), vol. ii. p. 27. See also a good description of the style of
playing of the virtuoso J. Nisle in 1767 in Schubart, _Aesthetik d.
Tonkunst_, p. 161, and _Leben u. Gesinnungen_ (1791), Bd. ii. p. 92;
or in L. Schiedermair, "Die Blutezeit d. Ottingen-Wallensteinschen
Hofkapelle," _Intern. Mus. Ges._ Smbd. ix. (1), 1907, pp. 83-130.
HORNBEAM (_Carpinus betulus_), a member of a small genus of trees of the
natural order Corylaceae. The Latin name _Carpinus_ has been thought to
be derived from the Celtic _car_, wood, and _pin_ or _pen_, head, the
wood of hornbeams having been used for yokes of cattle (see Loudon,
_Ency. of Pl._ p. 792, new ed. 1855, and Littre, Dict. ii. 556). The
common hornbeam, or yoke-elm, _Carpinus betulus_ (Ger. _Hornbaum_ and
_Hornbuche_, Fr. _charme_), is indigenous in the temperate parts of
western Asia and of Asia Minor, and in Europe, where it ranges as high
as 55 deg. and 56 deg. N. lat. It is common in woods and hedges in parts
of Wales and of the south of England. The trunk is usually flattened,
and twisted as though composed of several stems united; the bark is
smooth and light grey; and the leaves are in two rows, 2 to 3 in. long,
elliptic-ovate, doubly toothed, pointed, numerously ribbed, hairy below
and opaque, and not glossy as in the beech, have short stalks and when
young are plaited. The stipules of the leaves act as protecting
scale-leaves in the winter-bud and fall when the bud opens in spring.
The flowers appear with the leaves in April and May. The male catkins
are about 1(1/2) in. long, and have pale-yellow anthers, bearing tufts
of hairs at the apex; the female attain a length in the fruiting stage
of 2 to 4 in., with bracts 1 to 1(1/2) in. long. The green and angular
fruit or "nut" ripens in October; it is about 1/4 in. in length, is in
shape like a small chestnut, and is enclosed in leafy, 3-lobed bracts.
The hornbeam thrives well on stiff, clayey, moist soils, into which its
roots penetrate deeply; on chalk or gravel it does not flourish. Raised
from seed it may become a tree 40 to as much as 70 ft. in height,
greatly resembling the beech, except in its rounder and closer head. It
is, however, rarely grown as a timber-tree, its chief employment being
for hedges. "In the single row," says Evelyn (_Sylva_, p. 29, 1664), "it
makes the noblest and the stateliest _hedges_ for long Walks in Gardens
or _Parks_, of any Tree whatsoever whose leaves are _deciduous_." As it
bears clipping well, it was formerly much used in geometric gardening.
The branches should not be lopped in spring, on account of their
tendency to bleed at that season. The wood of the hornbeam is white and
close-grained, and polishes ill, is of considerable tenacity and little
flexibility, and is extremely tough and hard to work--whence, according
to Gerard, the name of the tree. It has been found to lose about 8% of
its weight by drying. As a fuel it is excellent; and its charcoal is
much esteemed for making gunpowder. The inner part of the bark of the
hornbeam is stated by Linnaeus to afford a yellow dye. In France the
leaves serve as fodder. The tree is a favourite with hares and rabbits,
and the seedlings are apt to be destroyed by mice. Pliny (_Nat. Hist._
xxvi. 26), who describes its wood as red and easily split, classes the
hornbeam with maples.
The American hornbeam, blue or water beech, is _Carpinus americana_
(also known as _C. caroliniana_); the common hop-hornbeam, a native of
the south of Europe, is a member of a closely allied genus, _Ostrya
vulgaris_, the allied American species, _O. virginiana_, is also known
as ironwood from its very hard, tight, close-grained wood.
HORNBILL, the English name long generally given to all the birds of the
family _Bucerotidae_ of modern ornithologists, from the extraordinary
horn-like excrescence (_epithema_) developed on the bill of most of the
species, though to which of them it was first applied seems doubtful.
Among classical authors Pliny had heard of such animals, and mentions
them (_Hist. Nat._ lib. x. cap. lxx.) under the name of _Tragopan_; but
he deemed their existence fabulous, comparing them with _Pegasi_ and
_Gryphones_--in the words of Holland, his translator (vol. i. p.
296)--"I thinke the same of the Tragopanades, which many men affirme to
bee greater than the Aegle; having crooked hornes like a Ram on either
side of the head, of the colour of yron, and the head onely red." Yet
this is but an exaggerated description of some of the species with which
doubtless his informants had an imperfect acquaintance. Medieval writers
found Pliny's bird to be no fable, for specimens of the beak of one
species or another seem occasionally to have been brought to Europe,
where they were preserved in the cabinets of the curious, and thus
Aldrovandus was able to describe pretty fairly and to figure
(_Ornithologia_, lib. xii. cap. xx. tab. x. fig. 7) one of them under
the name of "_Rhinoceros Avis_," though the rest of the bird was wholly
unknown to him. When the exploration of the East Indies had extended
farther, more examples reached Europe, and the "_Corvus Indicus
cornutus_" of Bontius became fully recognized by Willughby and Ray,
under the title of the "Horned Indian Raven or _Topau_ called the
Rhinocerot Bird." Since the time of those excellent ornithologists our
knowledge of the hornbills has been steadily increasing, but up to the
third quarter of the 19th century there was a great lack of precise
information, and the publication of D. G. Elliot's "_Monograph of the
Bucerotidae_," then supplied a great want. He divides the family into
two sections, the _Bucerotinae_ and the _Bucorvinae_. The former group
contains most of the species, which are divided into many genera. Of
these, the most remarkable is _Rhinoplax_, which seems properly to
contain but one species, the _Buceros vigil_, _B. scutatus_ or _B.
geleatus_ of authors, commonly known as the helmet-hornbill, a native of
Sumatra and Borneo. This is easily distinguished by having the front of
its nearly vertical and slightly convex _epithema_ composed of a solid
mass of horn[1] instead of a thin coating of the light and cellular
structure found in the others. So dense and hard is this portion of the
"helmet" that Chinese and Malay artists carve figures on its surface, or
cut it transversely into plates, which from their agreeable colouring,
bright yellow with a scarlet rim, are worn as brooches or other
ornaments. This bird, which is larger than a raven, is also remarkable
for its long graduated tail, having the middle two feathers nearly twice
the length of the rest. Nothing is known of its habits. Its head was
figured by George Edwards in the 18th century, but little else had been
seen of it until 1801, when John Latham described the plumage from a
specimen in the British Museum, and the first figure of the whole bird,
from an example in the Museum at Calcutta, was published by General
Hardwicke in 1823 (_Trans. Linn. Society_, xiv. pl. 23). Yet more than
twenty years elapsed before French naturalists became acquainted with
it.
[Illustration: Great Indian Hornbill (_B. bicornis_). (After Tickell's
drawing in the Zoological Society's Library.)]
In the _Bucorvinae_ we have only the genus _Bucorvus_, or _Bucorax_ as
some call it, confined to Africa, and containing at least two and
perhaps more species, distinguishable by their longer legs and shorter
toes, the ground-hornbills of English writers, in contrast to the
_Bucerotinae_ which are chiefly arboreal in their habits, and when not
flying move by short leaps or hops, while the members of this group walk
and run with facility. From the days of James Bruce at least there are
few African travellers who have not met with and in their narratives
more or less fully described one or other of these birds, whose large
size and fearless habits render them conspicuous objects.
As a whole the hornbills, of which more than 50 species have been
described, form a very natural and in some respects an isolated group,
placed by Huxley among his _Coccygomorphae_. It has been suggested that
they have some affinity with the hoopoes (_Upupidae_), and this view is
now generally accepted. Their supposed alliance to the toucans
(_Rhamphastidae_) rests only on the apparent similarity presented by the
enormous beak, and is contradicted by important structural characters.
In many of their habits, so far as these are known, all hornbills seem
to be much alike, and though the modification in the form of the beak,
and the presence or absence of the extraordinary excrescence,[2] whence
their name is derived, causes great diversity of aspect among them, the
possession of prominent eyelashes (not a common feature in birds)
produces a uniformity of expression which makes it impossible to mistake
any member of the family. Hornbills are social birds, keeping in
companies, not to say flocks, and living chiefly on fruits and seeds;
but the bigger species also capture and devour a large number of snakes,
while the smaller are great destroyers of insects. The older writers say
that they eat carrion, but further evidence to that effect is required
before the statement can be believed. Almost every morsel of food that
is picked up is tossed into the air, and then caught in the bill before
it is swallowed. They breed in holes of trees, laying large white eggs,
and when the hen begins to sit the cock plasters up the entrance with
mud or clay, leaving only a small window through which she receives the
food he brings her during her incarceration.
This remarkable habit, almost simultaneously noticed by Dr Mason in
Burma, S. R. Tickell in India, and Livingstone in Africa, and since
confirmed by other observers, especially A. R. Wallace[3] in the Malay
Archipelago, has been connected by A. D. Bartlett (_Proc. Zool.
Society_, 1869, p. 142) with a peculiarity as remarkable, which he was
the first to notice. This is the fact that hornbills at intervals of
time, whether periodical or irregular is not yet known, cast the
epithelial layer of their gizzard, that layer being formed by a
secretion derived from the glands of the proventriculus or some other
upper part of the alimentary canal. The epithelium is ejected in the
form of a sack or bag, the mouth of which is closely folded, and is
filled with the fruit that the bird has been eating. The announcement of
a circumstance so extraordinary naturally caused some hesitation in its
acceptance, but the essential truth of Bartlett's observations was
abundantly confirmed by Sir W. H. Flower and especially by Dr J. Murie.
These castings form the hen bird's food during her confinement.
(A. N.)