Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 12.djvu/119

depends chiefly on agriculture and the manufacture of iron and steel- wa es, but weaving and the making of pottery are also carried on, and there are baryta mills and polishing-mills for sandstone. By means of the Weser it carries on a lively trade. Holzmiuden obtained town rights from Count Otto of Eberstein in 1245. In 1410 it came into the possession of Brunswick. The population in 1875 was 6887.

HOMAGE (from homo, through the Low Latin komina- ticum, which occurs in a document of 1035) was one of the ceremonies used in the granting of a fief, and indicated the submission of a vassal to his lord. It could be received only by the suzerain in person. With head uncovered the vassal humbly requested to be allowed to enter into the feudal relation ; he then laid aside his sword and spurs, ungirt his belt, and kneeling before his lord uttered words to this effect : " I become your man from this day forth, of life and limb, and will hold faith to you for the lands I claim to hold of you." The oath of fealty, which could be received by proxy, followed the act of homage ; then came the ceremony of investiture, either directly on the ground or by the delivery of a turf, a handful of earth, a stone, or some other symbolical object. Homage was done not only by the vassal to whom feudal lands were first granted but by every one in turn by whom they were in herited, since they were not granted absolutely but only on condition of military and other service. An infant might do homage, but ho did not thus enter into full possession of his lands. The ceremony was of a preliminary nature, securing that the fief would not be alienated ; but the vassal had to take the oath of fealty, and to be formally invested, when he reached his majority. The obligations involved in the act of homage were more general than those associated with the oath of fealty, but they provided a strong moral sanction for more specific engagements. They essentially resembled the obligations undertaken towards a Teutonic chief by the members of his " comitatus " or " gefolge," one of the institutions from which feudalism directly sprang. Besides Jiomagium Ugeum, there was a kind of homage which imposed no feudal duty ; this was Jiomagium per paragium, such as the dukes of Normandy rendered to the kings of France, and as the dukes of Normandy received from the dukes of Britanny. The act of liege homage to a particular lord did not interfere with the vassal s allegiance as a subject to his sovereign, or with his duty to any other suzerain of whom he might hold lands.

HOMBERG, Wilhelm (1652–1715), an eminent natural philosopher, born at Batavia, January 8, 1652, was educated in Holland, studied law at Jena and Leipsic, and became an advocate at Magdeburg in 1674. In that town he interested himself in botany and astronomy, and made the acquaintance of Otto von Guericke, under whose influence, renouncing his profession, he finally devoted himself exclu sively to the natural scicncas. Having travelled in Italy. France, and England, and profited by the instructions of the anatomist Graaf in Holland, he took the degree of doctor of medicine at Wittemberg ; and, after visiting Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and Sweden, he in 1685 settled in Rome, where he practised physic with great success. At Paris, whither he repaired in 1691, he was elected a member of the Academy of Sciences, and became (1702) teacher of physics and (1705) private physician to the duke of Orleans. He died at Paris, September 21, 1715. In 1702 Homberg discovered boracic acid, termed at first the sal scdntivum Hombergi, the true nature of which was ascertained by Bergman in 1775. What is known as " IJomberg s phosphorus " is a mixture of calcium chloride and lime, which, after heating in a sealed tube and exposure to sunlight, phosphoresces in the dark. Numerous treatises by Homberg, chiefly chemical, were published in the Eecueil de I Academic des Sciences, 1692, ike. See Chauffepie", Dictionnaire, and Chemistry, vol. v. p. 461.

HOMBURG-vor-der-Höhe, chief town of the circle of Obertaunus in the Wiesbaden government district of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, is prettily situated on a small stream at the foot of a spur of the Taunus mountains, about 1 1 miles north of Frankf ort-on-the-Main, with which it is connected by rail. Homburg consists of an old and a new town, the latter, founded by the landgrave Frederick II., being regular and well-built. Besides the palatial edifices erected in connexion with the mineral water-cure, the most important buildings are the theatre, the synagogue, and the various churches, schools, and benevolent institutions. On a neighbouring hill stands the castle of the former landgraves, built in 1680, and subsequently enlarged and improved. The White Tower, 183 feet in height, is said to date from Roman times, and certainly existed under the lords of Eppstein, who held the district in the 12th century. The castle is surrounded by extensive grounds, laid out in the manner of an English park. The woollen and linen manu factures of Homburg are unimportant, the prosperity of the town being almost entirely due to the annual influx of visitors, which in the season lasting from May to Octo ber inclusive averages 9000 or 10,000. The five mineral springs which form the chief attraction to strangers are very saline, and contain a considerable proportion of car bonate of lime. Their use is beneficial for diseases of the stomach and intestines, and externally for diseases of the skin and rheumatism. The population of the town in 1875, including the garrison, was 8294.

i 1. Synagogue. 2. Rat hi mils Platz. 3. Post-Office. 4. Reformed Church. o. Roman Catholic Church. Plan of Homburg. 6. Hesse Hotel. 7. H6tel de France. 8. Europe Hotel. 9. Theatre. 10. Victoria Hotel. 11. Four Seasons Hotel. 12. Engli>h Church. 13. Kaiser Spring. 14. Park Bath House.

Homburg first came into repute as a watering-place in 1834, and owing to its gambling-tables, which were set np soon after, it rapidly became one of the favourite and most fashionable health- resorts of the Continent. In 1849 the town was occupied by Austrian troops for the purpose of enforcing the imperial decree against gambling establishments, but immediately on their with drawal the bank was again opened, and play continued unchecked till 1872, when the Prussian Government refused to renew the lease i for gambling purposes which then expired. As the capital of the former landgraviatc of Hesse-Homburg the town shared the vicissi tudes of that state.

See Sclmdt s Homburg und seine UmgebuKgen, llth ed., 1875.

HOME, Henry. See Kames, Lord.

HOME, John (1722–1808), a Scottish dramatic poet, was born on 20th September 1 722 at Leith, where his father, Alexander Home, filled the office of town-clerk. He was educated at the grammar school of his native town, and at the university of Edinburgh, where he graduated as M.A. in 1742. Though in his youth he was distinguished for vivacity, and showed a fondness for the profession of arms,