HORNELL
386
HORSE
The scales of the body are spiny or granulated, and the head is provided with several sharp spines. The animal is not a toad, but a true lizard.
Hor'nell, N. Y., a city of Steuben County, on Canisteo River in southwestern New York. It lies 58 miles south of Rochester and 93 southeast of Buffalo, on the Pittsburg, Shawmut and Northern Railroad and at the junction of the Western and Buffalo divisions of the Erie Railroad. The latter of these railroads has large machine shops here. Hornell's industries include boot and shoe shops; factories for the tanning of leather; dynamo and electric motor works; wire-fencing, door, sash and blind manufactories, brick and clay works, furniture and large silk-mills. In the latter industry it ranks next to Paterson, N. J., and in the making of office trimmings and furniture its operations extend abroad, for shipments are made to London, England, and an office is established there. Hornell, formerly Hprnellsville, had its name changed by legislative act in 1906. It has good schools, churches, a public library and three banks. Population 13,617.
H or'net, a species of wasp found in Great Britain and America, is usually brown or brownish red, marked with yellow, and is about an inch long. The white-faced hornet usually builds in trees, the nest sometimes of enormous size. Hornets are ancient and famous paper-makers. Their paper dwellings are waterproof, and consist of many chambers. The paper is chiefly made of decayed wood, which they manufacture by macerating it with their mouths; moss and other substances are also employed. In building, a worker flies from the nest and shortly returns with a ball of fibre; this she will turn about and about, chewing it until it is of the desired consistency. Then she goes to work to apply it to the structure, shaping the bit of paper with her mandibles. The builders patiently go over their work, retouching and strengthening the terraces of cells,— a monument of patience. After the inner cells are completed, they make a roof-covering, providing protection from weather, birds and other enemies. A hole in the bottom gives exit and entrance; through this spiders, flies and other small insects are brought in for the hundred and more hungry mouths waiting to be fed. At the end of the season a hornet's nest is nearly or quite empty. In winter all die save a few females, who, after & period of sleeping in secluded nook in house or garden, will come forth in the spring to begin n^stbuilding and the starting of a new colony. The female builds a few cells, lays eggs therein, from these develop workers, which will help her in building, feeding and other cares of the nest. Hornets are insectivorous. Their formidable |awc are their weapons, and they prey
upon flies and butterflies, waylaying the home-going honeybee to take her honey. Spring and summer they include in their food the sweets of flowers, and show a liking for fruit — as the housewife can bear witness on canning day. They are great fly-hunters, sometimes entering houses and catching these household pests. It is frequently declared that hornets will not sting unless meddled with, but when disturbed they assuredly bear out their reputation for ferocity. The hornet is so called because of its antennas or horns, horn-bearer. The white-faced hornet gave to man the suggestion of making paper from wood-pulp. See WASPS. Consult Scientific American Supplement, Dec. 30, 1905, and "Two Little Paper-Makers " in The Chautaquan for 1902 (VoL 35).
Horse, a common domestic animal having a solid hoof and only one toe developed on each foot. The horse, ass, zebra and quagga form a natural family separated from all other families of mammals. The single toe and solid hoof are not possessed by any other living animals. Horses are grass and grain eaters, but do not chew the cud. The horse has horny patches, called chestnuts, on the inside of both pairs of legs—just above the knee on the fore limb and below the hock on the hind limb. The horse has relatively small ears, a mane and a tail of long coarse hair. The long hairs of the tail grow from the base as well as the sides and tip, while the tails of the ass and zebra are tufted on the end. The horse is of especial interest on account of the peculiarity of its limbs and from the fact that its history or line of descent is known from fossil forms. It is a test case as to the evolutionary theory. (See EVOLUTION.) This animal walks upon the extreme tip of the third toe on both fore and hind feet. The splint bones are rudimentary traces of former toes. They have become so reduced that they correspond only to the second and fourth bones of the palm of the hand and the instep of the foot. (See FOOT.)
Horses were tamed many centuries ago, and probably were first domesticated in Asia. The earliest records concerning the horse are on Egyptian monuments dating 1900 B. C. The only truly wild horses are now found in Asia and Africa. Those of South America and of the plains of North America are believed to be descended from horses imported by the Spanish invaders and allowed to run wild. There are many varieties of horses, produced by breeding and crossing of different stocks. It is somewhat uncertain from what original stock the various kinds of horses have been derived. There are three main types: the more slender and rapid travelers, the heavy draft-horses and the tough, shaggy varieties. The first doubtless came from the Arabian stock; the heavy-bodied draft-horses are
