HOTBED. 250 HOTEL. manure, cither alone or mixed with litter; but tan-burk, leaves, the waste of llax, cotton, or woolen factories, etc., are sometimes substituted for it. It is necessary that the heat of very rapid fermentation be cx|)ended before the hotbed is planted; and it is usual, on this account, to pre- pare the materials some days in advance of plant- ing. A hotbed is made lii^:hest at the back, slop- injf toward the south. The l>ed extends on all sides 12 inches or more beyond the frame, aecord- infr to the temperature of the outside air. Tlie frame has a movable plass sash or sashes, accord- ing to its size, or is covered with cloth. The thickness of the hotbed, and of the earth upon it, is accommodated to the purpose intended and the de^ee of heat required. When the lieat decreases it is for some purpos»s necessary to keep it up by iininps' of the same material as the hotbed, adilcd to the sides of it. The sa.shes of hotbeds nuist be partially removed during the day to permit vrnlilation and the escape of vapor. HOTCH'KISS, ]5k.v.iami>- Derkely (1820- 85). An American inventor, born in Watertown, Conn., of humble parentajie. lie was at an early age employed in a gun-factory, where he came into contact with Samuel Colt (q.v.). in the manufacture of revolvers. During the Civil War he was engaged in the manufacture of ordnance in Xew York, and later invented the Hotchkiss magazine gun, iscd by the Inited States troops in the West and the United States Marine Corps. This was followed in 1SS2 by the Hotchkiss ma- chine gun, for use in the fighting tops of war-ves- sels, lie was also the inventor of several important improvements in projectiles and licavy ordnance. His guns were in general use throughout the armies and navies of the world until displaced in the more advanced nations by later inventions. His death occurred in Paris, where in 1870 he estab- lished a gun-factory, a branch of which he was organizing in Kngland at the time of his death. 8ee Machine (Un and Rapid-Firing Gun. HOTCHKISS GUN. See JIaciiine Gun; Kaimo-I-ikk til .; (Jku.nance. HOTCHPOT (OF. hochepot, from ODutch liutsiiot, chopped beef or mutton boiled in a pot, from liutscn, hotxcn, to shake + pot, AS. pott, from Ir. poln. puite, Welsh pot, Bret, pod, pot; connected with I.at. potare, Skt. pfi, to drink. Gk. ■)ro-(5c po/os, drunk). The mixing and blending together of advancements made to children dur- ing a parent's life and of property left at his death, in order that the whole may be equally divided among all the children. According to Blackstone the doctrine came into Knglish juris- prudence from the law of the T.ombards, but the term is explained by him in the language of Lit- tleton, as follows: "Hotchpot is in English a pudding; for in a pudding is not commonly put one thing alone, but one thing with other things together." By this housewifely metaphor, adds Blaekstone. our ancestors meant to inform us that the lands which had been given to one or more daughters in frank marriage, as well as the lands descending in fee simple, should be mixed and blended together and then divided among all the daughters. After estates in frank marriage fell into disuse the principle of the law of hotchpot was revived and applied by the statute of distributions (22 and 23 Car. II., ch. 10). The provisions of this statute have been reenacted by the Legislatures of our States with some shades of difTcrence, and on the basis of the rules as to hotchpot throughout this countrj-. The great object of these rules is to jiroduce e(|uality among the children of a deceased ]>erson. Property which has been turned over to a child as an advancement, instead of a pure gift, is to be brought into holehpot as a condition of his taking a child's share in the parent's estate. It is not necessary that he actually bring and sur- render the very chattel or other form of prop- erty advanced to him. It is enougti that its fair value be accounted for and ailde<l to the decedent's estate. In arriving at this value its worth is to be estimated at the death of the parent, relation being had to its situation at the time of advancement. Accordingly, where a slave boy, twelve years old. was given to a child a^ an advancement, the child was chargeable with the fair value of such a boy at the father's death; not the value of the particular slave who was then .an a<lult. So the profits of an advancement, or the enhanced value due to improvements, are not to be accounted for. Consult the Commen- taries of Blaekstone and Kent. HOTEL (Fr. hdtel. OF. hostel, from ^U.. has- pitale, large house, palace, inn). The origin of the modern hotel, especially in the United States, dales from the introduction of the railroad. Its advent transfonned the small road-house, which wa-s planned for occiisional guest.s. into the more pretentiou-s hotel. Again, about 1888. came another revolution in hotel-building, and tho moilern fireproof stnictures began to replace their ]iix)rly iilanned prototypes. Still later, the idea of specialization, that is, of providing particu- larly for a certain class in the community, began to gain ground. In the I'nited States there are three general kinds of hotels: (1) Those which are run on the .Vmerican plan; (2) those using the European plan; and (.3) those combining both systems. The European plan, on .which practically all the great hotels of Europe are run. consists in paying a certain daily rate for a room, and then paying separately for whatever food is ordered. l?y the American plan the guest pays a certain amount a day for both room and meals. The difference between an American hotel which is run on the European plan and the Continental hotel, is that in the former the various minor items, such as light and .service, lire included in the price of the room; while on the Continent these items are often charged for separately. One of the most characteristic es- tablishments of Europe is the road-house, which is found throughout the Continent, but especially in France, Germany, and Austria. It is, as a rule, marked by simplicity and comfort and is preferred by many to the more elaborate hotel. Indeed, the small hotel in Euroix- is a model of its kind, and its cuisine is generally superior to that of .second-class hotels in this country. The large first-class hotels of the United States are, however, unexcelled. The following descrip- tion applies to the modern hotel. By far the greater part of the space in a hotel is occupied with private rooms for guests, but the central feature of the design of a modern hotel is the great office and lobby, which is the common place for arrival and departure, and for meeting people from both without and within the building. A large and generally im- posing entrance and vestibule lead t« the office
