Horn (anatomy)

“ In all other animals the horns are hollow for a certain distance, and the end alone is solid, this being the part of use in a blow. At the same time, to prevent even the hollow part from being weak, the horn, though it grows out of the skin, has a solid piece from the bones fitted into its cavity. For this arrangement is not only that which makes the horns of the greatest service in fighting, but that which causes them to be as little of an impediment as possible in the other actions of life. ”

“ As the horn {613} occupies a median position on the head,—a position, that is to say, of symmetry in respect to the field of force on either side,—there is no tendency towards a lateral twist, and the horn accordingly develops as a plane logarithmic spiral. When two horns coexist, the hinder one is much the smaller of the two: which is as much as to say that the force, or rate, of growth diminishes as we pass backwards, just as it does within the limits of the single horn. ”

“ The horns are lagest at their base, and occupy the crown of the head almost entirely. they are compressed, bent backwards and lunated; the surface swelling into wavy rings which incircleing the horn continue to succeed each other from the base to the extremity and becoming less elivated and more distant as they recede from the head. ”

“ A zone of active growth at the base of the horn keeps adding to this sheath, ring by ring, and the specific form of this annular zone is, accordingly, that of the “generating curve” of the horn. Each horn no longer lies, as it does in the rhinoceros, in the plane of symmetry of the animal of which it forms a part; and the limited field of force concerned in the genesis and growth of the horn is bound, accordingly, to be more or less laterally asymmetrical. But the two horns are in symmetry one with another; they form “conjugate” spirals, one being the “mirror-image” of the other. ”

“ The origin of the horn must be sought in remote prehistoric times, when, by breaking off the tip of a short animal horn, one or at best two notes, powerful, rough, unsteady, only barely approximating to definite musical sounds, were obtained. This was undoubtedly the archetype of the History. modern families of brass wind instruments, and from it evolved the trumpet, the bugle and the tuba no less than the horn. ”

“ It is believed by many that, when the animal is at rest, the horns are soft and pliable, but that, when on the move, they at once become hard and solid. Moreover, that it can, at will, turn the posterior horn, the other horn meanwhile remaining firm and erect ”

“ While it is not very safe, perhaps, to lay down any general rule as to what horns are more, and what are less spirally curved, I think it may be said that, on the whole, the thicker the horn, the greater is its spiral curvature. ”

“ The common characteristics which link together these widely different modern families of instruments are: (1) the more or less pronounced conical bore, and (2) the property possessed in a greater or lesser degree of producing the natural sounds by what has been termed overblowing the harmonic overtones. If we follow the evolution of the animal horn throughout the centuries, the ultimate development leads us not to the French horn but to the bugle and tuba. ”

“ The timbre of the natural horn is mellow, sonorous and rich in harmonics; it is quite distinctive and bears but little resemblance to that of the other members of the brass wind. In listening to its sustained notes one receives the impression of the tone being breathed out as by a voice, whereas the trumpet and trombone produce the effect of a rapid series of concussions, and in the tuba and cornet the concussions, although still striking, are softened as by padding. The timbre of the hand-stopped notes is veiled and suggestive of mystery ”

“ At the beginning of the Christian era it had become fashionable to wear these, and how they were enlarged and made not only badges of sanctity but marks of worldly honor, we may read in the New Testament.
The horn has been an important feature of Christian symbolism, as of pagan, and we constantly see the ram's horn, which was the successor of the bull's horn, made such from economical reasons, all over the ruins of ancient Rome. The married women of Lebanon wear silver horns upon their heads to distinguish them from the single women. ”

“ Soft horn differs from hard horn in that its horn-cells never become hard and horn-like. It is very elastic, absorbs water quickly, and as readily dries out and becomes very hard and brittle and easily fissured and chapped. ”

“ Horns are of two kinds: one being a continuation of growth of the actual bone structure and the second being a hardening of the epidermis or skin. They may be solid or hollow; the hollow horn being but a single column, as a rule; the bony or solid horn is usually branched or pronged. ”

“ The horns so fastened are said to bring good luck to those who pass under them.
The medicinal properties ascribed to horns among primitive peoples have a corollary interest here. In a letter accompanying his legend of “The Horn Worshipers,” Mr. Bertillion says: “As late as ten years ago I bought a beautiful pair of buck horns, several points of which I had to sharpen because they had been sawed off a half inch or more for the purpose of curing some disease, which, to the best of my memory, was measles, the cure being a dose of pulverized horn, about a teaspoonful.” ”

“ Above this snag, the horns have a shiny surface, are rounded, and taper gradually to a sharp tip, bent into a hook. The horns vary greatly in the males. I have sometimes shot them with the prong hardly developed, sometimes springing from the horn near the tip, and in others growing close to the head, where it is always uneven and warty. The female is devoid of horns, or only has them in a rudimentary condition. ”

“ The Horn and Cornett.
The horn takes its name from the cow’s horn, out of which the instrument was made. The resemblance includes the tapering bore of this instrument, and also the fact that it is curved. [90] In the metal p. 91instruments, made in imitation of the natural horn, we find a curvature of about a semi-circle, as in the seventeenth century hunting horn (Galpin, p. 188) . While in the horn of the early seventeenth century shown on the same plate, the tube is curved into many circular coils. ”

“ The touching-pieces (tousches) or proofs (espreuves) employed for the purpose, and considered especially efficacious against poison, were toadstones, glossopetræ, serpentine, jasper, agate and particularly the unicorn's horn. What was foisted upon the credulous public as the horn of the fabled animal was in reality the horn or tusk of a fish—the narwhal or sea-unicorn of the northern seas. Being an object of very great value, the horn was only occasionally kept entire, like the one preserved to this day at New College, Oxford. ”

“ There is ample room for the performer’s head and shoulders to pass through the circle: the length of the tube could not therefore have been much less than 16 ft. long, equivalent to the horn in C or B♭ basso. In the same book (pl. ccci.) is another horn, smaller, differing slightly in the disposition of the coils and held like the modern horn in front.
These horns were not used for hunting but for war in conjunction with the draw-trumpet. ”

“ The horn is probably the most difficult of all the wind instruments, and that it is the most treacherous is evidenced by the slips occasionably made by even the finest performers. The F horn is a transposing instrument. ”

“ Among household curios are drinking horns elaborately etched, and frequently turned in a lathe. They were popular in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, and the turned patterns then so common were copied by the silversmiths, who made silver tankards and drinking cups on the same models. The cornucopia or horn of abundance figures frequently in sculpture, paintings, and works of art. The horn is one of the early instruments of music (see Chapter XV) , and has long been associated with sports. ”

“ He is distinguished by his horn, which is supported on the end of the nose, but not connected with it, as it comes away with the hide, to which it and its broad base entirely belong."
"His horn is a powerful weapon, I believe?" said one of the boys.
"It is one of the most powerful weapons belonging to any animal," replied Doctor Bronson, "as it is more conveniently situated for use than the tusks of an elephant or the horns of a bull.
"With his horn he can kill an elephant, and frequently does it. ”

“ Those accustomed to deal with instruments having fixed notes, such as the piano and harp, hardly realize the extreme difficulties which confront both maker and performer in intricate wind instruments such as the horn, on which no sounds can be produced without conscious adjustment of lips and breath, and but few without the additional use of some such contrivance as slide, crook, piston or of the hand in the bell, in the case of the natural or hand horn. ”

“ The horns of an old male are a magnificent trophy. Kinloch records having seen a pair, of which the unbroken horn measured sixty-three inches, and its fellow, which had got damaged, had fifty-seven inches left. Forty to fifty inches is, however, a fair average. According to Kinloch the very long horns are not so thick and massive as those of average length. Jerdon says the longest horns have three complete spiral twists.
The horns of certain varieties differ so much that I may say species have been settled with less to go upon. ”

“ The Inventionshorn, although embodying an important principle which has also found its application in all brass wind instruments with valves as a means of correcting defective intonation, did not add to the compass of the horn. At some date before 1762 it would seem that Hampel [72] also discovered the principle on which hand-stopping is founded.
By hand-stopping (Fr. sons bouchés, Ger. gestöpfte Töne) is understood the practice of inserting the hand with palm outstretched and fingers drawn together, forming a long, shallow cup, into the bell of the horn ”

“ To the beasts that are cloven-footed Nature has granted two horns, but to those that have fore-teeth in the upper jaw, she has given none. Those persons who entertain the notion that the substance of these teeth is expended in the formation of the horns, are easily to be refuted, if we only consider the case of the hind, which has no more teeth than the male, and yet is without horns altogether. In the stag the horn is only imbedded in the skin, but in the other180 animals it adheres to the bone. ”

“ The hunting- and post-horns were favourite emblems on medieval coats of arms, more especially in Germany33 and Bohemia.
It is necessary at this point to draw attention to the fact that the French horn is a hybrid having affinities with both trumpet and primitive animal horn, or with buccina and cornu, and that both types, although frequently misnamed and confused by medieval writers and miniaturists, subsisted side by side, evolving independently until they merged in the so-called French horn. ”

“ The word “horn” when used by modern English musicians always refers to the French horn.
Modern horns may be divided into three classes: (1) the short horns with wide bore, such as the bugles (q.v.) and the post-horn. (2) The saxhorns (q.v.) , a family of hybrid instruments designed by Adolphe Sax, and resulting from the adaptation of valves and of a cup-shaped mouthpiece to instruments of the calibre of the bugle. The Flügelhorn family is the German equivalent of the saxhorns. The natural scale of instruments of this class comprises the harmonics from the second to the eighth only. ”

“ The section of a horn represents more an oval than a cylinder. The general colour of the horns is of a semi-transparent green, except the tips, which are jet black for about six inches, and the bases, which are very rough, irregular, gnarled, ringed, and rugged, and also black in colour. The horns gradually taper to a very sharp point ”

“ The canticle of Anna. The wickedness of the sons of Heli: for which they are not duly corrected by their father. A prophecy against the house of Heli.
2:1. My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation.
My horn... The horn in the scriptures signifies strength, power, the horn is said to be exalted, when a person receives an increase of strength or glory.
2:2. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God. ”

“ The horn is also said to be made out of the molar tooth of a dog or jackal, introduced through a small hole in a piece of jackal’s skin, round which a little blood or turmeric paste is smeared to make it look more natural. In most cases only the horn, with a small piece of skull and skin, is sold. Sometimes, instead of the skin from the part where the horn is made, a piece of skin is taken from the snout, where the long black hairs are. ”

“ The hunting horn finally adopted differs from the orchestral horn in consisting of an unbroken spiral of three turns, sufficiently large to be worn obliquely round the body, resting on one shoulder and passing under the opposite arm. The hands are thus left at liberty, and the mouthpiece can easily be brought to the lips by a single movement. ”

“ Art in horn work was practised more a century ago than it is to-day, the material being then a favourite one for drinking cups and a variety of ornamental work. Old snuff boxes were frequently made of horn impressed or stamped with beautiful designs, such as hunting scenes and mythological figures. Horn can either be cut, moulded, or turned, its natural elasticity making it very durable and difficult to break. ”

“ The Flügel horn now used in the English and German armies is a B♭ cornet with pistons and a horn mouthpiece. The pistons have superseded a clumsy kind of keys, from which it used to be called Klappenhorn. ”