HOMOPTERA. 179 HONDO. nish materials that are useful to man, such as cochineal lac and wax. A famous scale-insect is lilt' 'Sau Joso" scale, and the mealy bugs of green- houses are wcll-kuoun reprcseutativcs of this group. See Hemiptera; Bug; Cociiixeai,; Aphid; Cicad.v; Fboth-Fly; Scale-Ixsect. HOMOS'PORY (from Gk. on&s, homos, same + aw6pos, i/yoros, seed — literally, 'sijores sim- ilar'). A word generally used only in connection with such plants as have a distinct alternation of generations (q.v.). The se-xless generation (sporophyte) in the alternating series produces spores, which in turn produce the sexual genera- tion (gamelopli^te) . Among the liverworts and mosses (bryophytes) , most of the ferns and their allies (pteridophytes) , these spores are all alike in appearance and power, each in ger- mination producing a gametophj'te which bears both male and female organs. The term con- trasts with 'heterospory' (q.v.), a condition in which the sporophyte produces two kinds of spores, unlike in size and power, the larger of which produce female gametophytes, the smaller male gametophytes. All the seed-plants ( spernia- tophytes) are heterosporous, as well as the water-ferns, quillworts, and little club-mosses among the pteridophytes. Isospory is the same as homospory. HOM'OTAXY, or HOM'OTAX'IS (from Gk. ofiis, lioiiios, same + Td^n, tuxis, arrangement, from Td<r<r(iv, (t/s.seid, to arrange) . A geological term which signifies a similarity in the succession of strata in different regions as shown by the included life forms. HOMS, horns, or HEMS, hems (Lat. Emesa). A city of Syria, situated near the right bank of the Orontes, about S2 miles south of Hamah (Map: Turkey in Asia, G 5). It is built chietly of black basalt ; has crowded houses and narrow streets, and is surrounded by old halfruiiii'd walls. Although there are now no ancient build- ings remaining, the antiquity of the city is at- tested by numerous fragments of columns, by Greek inscriptions, and the foundations of ancient baths with specimens of mosaic pave- ments. The town has considerable trade in silk, cotton, oil, and gold ware, and has also some manufactures. The population is estimated at 60,000, including about 6500 Christians. Ancient Emesa was celebrated chietly for its splendid temple of the sun. one of the priests of which, Elagabalus. or Heliogabalus. was raised to the Imperial throne of Rome. Under the walls of Kmesa, Zenobia was defeated by the Emperor .urelian in a.d. 272. The city was taken by the Saracens in G.3G. when its old Semitic name. Hems, was revived. In 1099 the Crusaders rode tlironu'li its opened gates. Here the Egyptian armv, under Ibrahim Pasha, defeated the Turks in .July, 1832. HOMTJRAI. See IIorxbill. HO-NAN, ho'niin' (Chin., south of the river). One n the eighteen provinces nf China ]irnper. honiiiliil nn the north by the provinces of Shan-si and Cbih-li. on the east by Shantung, Kiang-su, and Ngan-hwei. on the south by Hu-peb, and on the west by Slien-si (Map: China, D n) . It lies between the parallels of latitude 32° and .'57° N., and the meridians of longitude 110° and ll(i° E. ; area, about 07,000 square miles. The eastern part is coniparativelj- level, and belongs to the Great Plain, while in the western section spurs of the Fu-niu range of mountains with a southeast trend are found. Its priucipal river is the Uoang-ho, which traverses the northern part from west to east. The soil is fertile, and in addition to the usual cereals, produces eulton, hemp, indigo, and tobacco. Patches ol the re- markable formation called loess (q.v.) by Richt- hofen, and 'lake loam" or terrace deposit by Pum- pelly, are found in both the northern and south- ern parts. Ho-nan is rich in minerals, iron, lead, tin, copper, etc., and has enormous deposits of anthracite eoal, which has hitherto been mined only by native methods. The capital, liai-fung (or feiig), is situated 11 miles south of the Hoang-lio and near the point where in 18.53 the river burst its banks and took a new course to the northeast through Shan-tung to the Gulf of Pe-chi-li, instead of .southeast through Kiang-su to the Yellow Sea as formerly. Kai-fung is a station on the new Lu-Hun or Hankow-Peking Railway. The people of the province are notori- ous for lawlessness and turbulence. Population, upward of 35,000,000. HONDA, on'da. A city of Colombia, situated on the Magdalena, in a mountainous region, 55 miles northwest of Bogota (Map: Colombia, C 2). The town has a very hot climate, as the sur- rounding mountains shut off the cool winds. Jt is important as the head of navigation, and the transit point of the trade for Bogota, as well as the depot for the tobacco and quinine from the Ambaleraa District, Population, 4000. Honda received its town charter in 1G43. In 1805 it was destroyed by an earthquake. HONDECOETER, hon'de-koo'ter, Melchiob d' (1030-95). A Dutch animal painter. His grandfather, GlLos (died 1027), was a landscape painter at Amsterdam, and his father, CiisuERT n'HoNDECOETEB (died 1653), painted animals. Melehior was born at Utrecht, and studied imder his father and his uncle, .Jan Weenix (q.v. I. From 1659 to 1063 he lived at The Hague. ;ind after that at Amsterdam, where he received the freedom of the city in 1688, and resided until his death, .pril 3, 1695. He stood in high favor with the Dutch magnates, and while at The Hague was employed by ^'illiam III., after- wards King of England, to paint his menagerie. His grandfather had made a considerable name in that form of art. Hondeeoeter painted every kind of animal, but his favorite subjects were cocks, hens, ducks, and peacocks, which be de- lineated with wonderful correctness and truth. He depicts, with great charm, motifs like the maternity of the hen, and he even lends I>eauty to subjects like 'cock-fights,' and "Ducks in a Pond." No one has excelled, or even equaled him, in painting the feathered tribe. The land- scapes which he introduced as backgrounds to his pictures are equally fnie to nature, and finished with a delicate lightness and transpar- ency of touch that harmonizes admirably with the subject of the piece. The museums of France. Germany, and Austria, and the private and public collections of England have fine ex- amples of his work, but his masterpieces are at Amsterdam and The Hague. His most celebrated work is "La plume flottante" (the Floating Feather), in the Afnseum of .msterdam, repre- senting a pond full of water-fowl. HONDO, hon'dA, or HON-SHIU, hon'shyoo' (Cliino-.Fapaneso, chief island). The name of the chief island of the Empire of Japan, often.
