Harlem

Harlem ,.See Haarlem.

Harlingen

Harlingen , a fortified seaport town of the Netherlands, in the province of Friesland, on the North sea, 1G m. W. by S. of Leeuwarden, with which it is connected by a canal, and GO m. N. N. E. of Amsterdam; pop. about 10,000. It has an active trade with England, Norway, and the Baltic, being the principal commercial town of Friesland, and manufactures sail cloth, gin, bricks, paper, salt, etc. The principal exports are cattle, butter, cheese, fruit, vegetables, flax, hemp, and wool; the chief imports are corn, timber, tar, pitch, coal, chalk, and earthenware. It occupies a site where in 1134 a whole town was destroyed by an inundation of the sea. It is protected by one of the largest dikes in Holland, and contains a monument to the Spanish governor Robles, who first introduced an improved method of constructing these sea walls.

Harmattan

Harmattan , a dry, hot wind, which, blowing from the interior of Africa toward the Atlantic ocean, prevails in December, January, and February along the coast of that continent, from Cape Verd to Cape Lopez. It comes on at any time, continues sometimes one or two and sometimes even 15 or 16 days, and is accompanied by a fog which obscures the sun, rendering it of a mild red color. All vegetation is checked, young or tender plants are destroyed, and grass is turned to hay. It affects the human body also, making the eyes, nostrils, and lips dry, and at times causing the skin to parch and peel off; but it checks epidemics, and cures persons afflicted with dysentery, fevers, or cutaneous diseases. The har-mattan is the same in its character as the sirocco of Italy and the Kamsin of Egypt.

Harmonists

Harmonists ,.See Rapp, Georg.

Harnett

Harnett , a central county of North Carolina, intersected by Cape Fear river, and watered by Little river; area, 675 sq. m.; pop. in 1870, 8,895, of whom 3,038 were colored. The surface is hilly, and the soil in parts productive. Tar and turpentine are largely produced. It is intersected by the Western railroad of North Carolina. The chief productions in 1870 were 8,571 bushels of wheat, 125,410 of Indian corn, 64,290 of sweet potatoes, and 334 bales of cotton. There were 588 horses, 1,791 milch cows, 3,788 other cattle, 3,793 sheep, and 10,194 swine. Capital, Summerville.

Harper

Harper , a S. county of Kansas, bordering on the Indian territory, and drained by branches of the Nescatunga and Arkansas rivers; area, 1,152 sq. m.; still unsettled.

Harpocrates

Harpocrates ,.See Horus.

Harpsichord

Harpsichord , a keyed musical instrument, somewhat in the form of a grand piano, in which the sounds are produced by the action of oblong slips of wood called jacks, furnished with crowquill plectrums, and moved by finger keys, upon a series of stretched wires, resembling a horizontal harp. It was provided with stops for increasing or diminishing the power of the strings, and with a swell; and the best instruments had a compass of five octaves, from double F below the base to F in altissimo. The harpsichord was in use as early as the 15th century, and gradually took the place of the spinet and virginals, on which it was an improvement. It remained the highest form of the keyed instrument until the introduction of the pianoforte into general use in the latter part of the 18th century.