HOORN  , a seaport in the

province of North Holland, Holland, on a bay of the Zuider Zee called the Hoornerhop, and a junction station 231 M. by rail N. by E. of Amsterdam, on the railway to Enkhuizen, with which it is also connected by steam tramway . Pop . (1900) 10,647 . Hoorn is distinguished by its old-world air and the beauty and interest of its numerous gabled houses of the 16th and 17th centuries . Many of these are decorated with inscriptions and bas-reliefs, some of which commemorate the battle on the Zuider Zee in 1573, in which the Beggars defeated the Spaniards under Count Bossu . Walks and gardens now surround the town in the place of the old city walls, but a few towers and gateways adorned with various old coats of arms are still standing . The fine Gothic bastion tower overlooking the harbour was built in 1532; the East gate not later than 1578 . Among the public buildings of special interest are the< picturesque St John's hospital (1563), now used for military ' This indeed is denied by Naumann, but by him alone; and the statement in the text is confirmed by many eye-witnesses . ' Under the name of Dukipath, in the authorized version of the Bible translated " lapwing " (Lev. xi . 19, Deut. xiv . 18), the hoopoe was accounted unclean by the Jewish law . Arabs have a great reverence for the bird, imparting to it marvellous medicinal and other qualities, and making use of its head in all their charms (cf .

Tristram, Nat . Hist. of the Bible, pp . 208, 209) . 4 The genera Rhinopomastus and Irrisor are generally placed in the

Family Upupidae, but Dr Murie, after an exhaustive examination of their osteology, regards them as forming a group of equal value . purposes; the old mint; the hospital for aged men and women (beginning of 17th century); the weigh-house (1609); the town hall, in which the states of West Friesland formerly met; and the old court-house, which dates from the beginning of the 17th century, though parts of it are older, containing a modern museum and some early portraits . There are also various charitable and educational institutions, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches and a synagogue . The extensive foreign commerce which Hoorn carried on in the 16th and 17th centuries has almost entirely vanished, but there is still a considerable trade with other parts of the Netherlands, especially in cheese and cattle . The chief industries include gold and silver work, and there are also tobacco factories, saw-mills and some small boat-building yards, a considerable number of vessels being engaged in the Zuider Zee fisheries . Hoorn, latinized as Horna or Hornum, has existed at least from the first part of the 14th century, as it is mentioned in a document of the year 1311, five years earlier than the date usually assigned for its foundation . In 1356 it received municipal privileges from Count William V. of Holland, and in 1426 it was surrounded with walls . It was at Hoorn in 1416 that the first great net was made for the herring fishery, an industry which long proved an abundant source of wealth to the town . During the 15th century Hoorn shared in the troubles occasioned by the different contending factions; in 1569 the Spanish forces entered the town; but in 1572 it cast in its lot with the states of the Netherlands .

In the 16th century it was a commercial centre, important for its trade, fisheries and breweries . A

company of commerce and navigation was formed at Hoorn in 1720, and the admiralty offices and storehouses remained here until their removal to Medemblik in 1795 . The English under Sir Ralph Abercromby took possession of the town in 1799, and in 1811 it suffered severely from the French . Among the celebrities of Hoorn are William Schouten, who discovered in 1616 the passage round Cape Horn, or Hoorn, as he named it in honour of his birthplace; Abel Janszoon Tasman, whose fame is associated with Tasmania; and Jan Pietersz Coen, governor-general of the Dutch East Indies .