Hallucigenia - An animal, or part of an animal, from the Burgess shales of British Columbia. With seven opposed pairs of sharply
pointed spines on one side and seven tentacles with two-pronged
tips on the other, a bulb at one end and and a tube at the other,
there is no clear idea of which end is up or whether it's coming
or going. It may be just a part of something even stranger.
Hallucigenia and her friends
Thomas Lake Harris (1823-1906) - American poet, socialist and
spiritualist. Beginning in 1854, he wrote forty volumes of verse
in which he delineated his theories, a blend of transcendentalism,
universalism, and Swedenborgian theology. He founded a utopian
commune, The Brotherhood of the New Life, in Brocton, New York,
and later moved it to California, where it eventually became the
Fountain Grove Winery. The winery name was liquidated with the
property in the 1934, and is now owned by Martini & Prati
Wines.
A microfilm collection of Harris and Oliphant papers
A gossipy description of the 1995 Fountain Grove Cabernet Sauvignon
Hartshorn - An aqueous solution of ammonia.
Hetairia - "Union of Friends," a secret Greek revolutionary society, producing several abortive attempts at revolution in 1821.
History -
Sam Houston (1793-1863) - American general and political leader.
Houston grew up on the frontier, and at the age of fifteen, ran
off to live with the Cherokee Indians rather than clerk in a store.
He served with Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812, in the campaign
against the Creek Indians. In 1817, he resigned from a position
as subagent managing the removal of the Cherokees to a western
reserve, after an inquiry was made into charges affecting his
integrity. Elected Governor of Tennessee in 1827, he married Eliza
Allen in 1829, but his wife left him for reasons that have never
been disclosed, and he resigned his office and went to live with
the Cherokees again, where he was formally adopted into their
nation. He moved to Texas, then a part of Mexico, in 1832, and
entered the political life there. After the outbreak of the War
for Texas Independence, he was chosen to be commander in chief
of the Texan army. His decisive victory at San Jacinto won Texas
its independence, and Houston, "The Raven of San Jacinto,"
was elected president of the republic in 1836 and again in 1840.
When Texas was admitted to the Union in 1845, Houston was elected
senator. He served there as a Union (as opposed to slaveholding)
democrat from 1846 until 1859. In 1859 he was elected governor
of Texas and tried to prevent the secession of that state from
the Union. He was declared deposed in 1861, when he refused to
swear allegiance to the Confederacy.
A quick, gossipy bio of Houston
Elizabeth "Henrietta" Howard (1823-1865) - A British mistress of Louis Napoleon, she helped him financially in his effort to be crowned emperor.
Huckle-my-buff - A hot drink made with beer, egg, and brandy. Also called huckle-my-butt.
Arthur Hughes (1832-1915) - Pre-Raphaelite painter and illustrator.
About Arthur Hughes
Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) - Novelist and essayist, grandson of Thomas Huxley. His fields of interest included history, religion, science, and psychoactive pharmeceuticals.His distopian novel Brave New World, first published in 1932, posited a future in which a centralized government controls the masses with technology, psychological conditioning, and a tranquilizing drug, soma.
A critique of Brave New World
Huxley Hotlinks
Soma Web
Noel Huxley (1856-1860) - Thomas Huxley's first-born child. The final entry in Huxley's unpublished notebook Thoughts and Doings: "And the same child, our Noel, our first-born, after being for nearly four years our delight and our joy, was carried off by scarlet fever in forty-eight hours.... On Saturday night I carried him here into my study, and laid his cold still body here where I write.... Amen, so let it be."
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) - English biologist and administrator,
president of the Royal Society, 1881-1885. His first reaction
upon reading The Origin of Species was "How exceedingly
stupid not to have thought of that." Called "Darwin's
bulldog," he fought valiantly on Darwin's behalf, although
Huxley did not share all his views. Perhaps the pre-eminent skeptic
of his time, he never accepted the Darwinian principle without
qualification. Grandfather of Aldous Huxley.
More about T. H. Huxley
Text of Huxley's autobiography and essays
Huxley, Darwin, and race
The Difference Dictionary was first published
in slightly different form in Science Fiction Eye, Issue #8.
Text copyright 1990, 1996, 2000, 2003,
by Eileen K. Gunn.
